According to a leaked NDA document, Microsoft is going to be releasing "Avatars" this Holiday season. These "Avatars" are apparently the MS version of the Nintendo Miis. Of course, this is rumor mill for now, but the site seems pretty convinced that this is real.

It seems that all three of the console makers claimed victory for the month of May in terms of sales. According to NPD though, Nintendo was the biggest winner with the Wii and DS in first and second in the hardware charts. Nintendo also dominated the software chart with 7 out of 10 spots held by DS or Wii games. Microsoft responded with how GTA IV on Xbox360 outsold PS3 by about 2:1, and how the console continues to be a revenue generating machine for third party software companies. Sony, then, was quick to point out that "more than 32 percent of U.S. PS3 owners have purchased a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, a 6 percent higher attach rate than Xbox 360." The company also noted that PS3 hardware sales grew 155 percent in May. The NPD numbers can always be interpreted in a number of ways folks, remember that.

MS Game Studio has revealed that Shane Kim will be taking on the new position of Corporate VP of Strategy and Business Development. His old job will be taken over by Phil Spencer, who was head of the Microsoft Game Studios Europe. Hopefully this leads to MS taking a few more chances on games. Finally Jeff Bell, the former Corporate VP of Global Marketing, is leaving Microsoft altogether to pursue other opportunities. OH well, we wish them all the best of luck.

Speaking to GI in an interview, MS Game Studios EU boss Peter Zetterberg claims that once the studio signs a game, they see it through - no cancellations for them.

"Maybe we sometimes announce them earlier than we should, but we stick with them, we have our resources team work with them as much as we can."

We guess he felt compelled to share the fact that of over 600 games, only about 3-5 make it to actual production and get signed, and this differs from the US team, it seems. It is an interesting interview.

According to Major Nelson himself, the next two Xbox Original games that will be available on XBox Live are Guilty Gear XX #Reload and The Legend Of Spyro: A New Beginning. They wil be available on Monday, June 16, for 1200 MS points each. Let's hope the horrendous netcode from Guilty Gear is fixed now as well.

Apparently, the Red Ring of Death issues that have plagued Xbox360 units, may finally be explained. According to Bryan Lewis, research VP and chief analyst at Gartner, Microsoft insisted on manufacturing the GPU unit for the Xbox360 in-house, rather than paying an experienced third party to do it. Eventually, to try and fix the problem, said Lewis, MS went back to an unnamed ASIC vendor and redesigned the chip. According to him, it was probably ATI.

"Had Microsoft left the graphics processor design to an ASIC vendor in the first place, would they have been able to avoid this problem? Probably. The ASIC vendor could have been able to design a graphics processor that dissipates much less power."

MS has revealed its RPG lineup for Japan today, as we told you.
At the 360 RPG Premiere 2008 stage show, they introduced a number of games to be released in the next 12-18 months from both Namco Bandai and Square Enix. Star Ocean 4, Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remnant, and Tales of Vesperia were named, among others. Sounds like MS is really trying to woo Japanese gamers.

Consumers are adopting Blu-Ray faster than they embraced DVD, according to a Singulus Technologies report. This directly contradicts reports by Microsoft's Robbie Bach that consumers were hesitant to upgrade. Good news for movie fans.

MS is holding an event in Japan this week called Xbox 360 RPG Premiere 08. It happens tomorrow, and there is a scheduled event called Microsoft is holding an event in Japan next week called the Xbox 360 RPG Premiere 2008. It's happening June 10 (Tuesday) with the "RPG Title Announcement Media Event" going from 4:00-5:15. This lends itself to the fact that new RPG games are indeed in the pipeline for the MS consoles. Whether or not they will make it to the US remains to be seen. More info as soon as we have it.

Speking of the XBLA, the two games due this Wednesday, frankly, sound like another pair of stinkers. Let's hope at least one turns out decent, though.

PRESS RELEASE

LONDON - 2nd June, 2008 - Experience the thrilling retro arcade space shooter “Aces of the Galaxy,” and enjoy a new type of action-puzzler, “Roogoo,” both launching on Xbox LIVE® Arcade this Wednesday 4th June, 2008 at 09.00.