360voice Dev Blog

It has been awhile since the linky...

I am going through the RSS reader today... here are some fun links to 360voice.

Threevue.com
"...maybe pretty soon my 360voice blog will stop guilt-tripping me…"

PhilCanavan.com
"It redefines the term ‘blogging’. so if you have a 360 pop along and sign up!"

FDNY Shadow
"Its pretty cool. It even writes the blog for you."

Video Games, I Play Them
"Seeing my 360 complain about what a jerk of an owner I am on its own fake blog makes me sad..."

Everyday Gamer
"The website tracks what games are being played for each registered user and automatically displays them in a blog..."

Comic Relief
"...it makes me pick up a controller, just to keep my streaks going!!"

Most of the links in my queue were articles about the GamerDNA/360voice merger... so I spared you that rehash as they all linked to the same press release and all said the same things... and we already linked about that, so we didn't need the retread! :)

Thanks everyone for the mentions!

Interview at Xboxpodcast.com!

The guys over at Xboxpodcast.com interviewed Squidpunch and myself about the announced merger with GamerDNA. It turned into a great conversation. I suggest you head over and give it a listen if you want to find out what some of the goals and ideas are. Wingman709 and Bjswick33 asked some good questions!

Episode 55
This week we talked about Pirates in GTA IV, Battlefield Bad Company weapons clarification, and a few release dates in honor of the cow. Our feature this week covers an unknown game called GTA IV and we have some HUGE community news from one of our friends that you won't want to miss. Then to close out this weeks show have answer a few viewer questions. Enjoy!

Listen to the show! [mp3]

Our interview comes at the 27 minute mark if you want to jump to it.

Working with data feeds (our API)

Jerry Lees published a great article at the IT Knowledge Exchange about using the 360voice API and I just wanted to call it out. It is fun when you read about people really understanding what we are trying to do by publishing an API. If you are technically inclined, feel free to dig deeper by reading more:

...I remembered a great community site, that I’ve been a member of for a little over a year or so, called 360voice. Basically, those guys have a truly awesome idea over there… I play games with my Xbox 360 and it blogs about the times we have—and I don’t have to do any work on my own.  If you have a 360 and don’t have an account setup, go over and check it out, tell ‘em Jlees sent you. Heck, while you are at it watch my blog there and drop me a note.

At any rate, one of my challenges was to get everyone the same XML file, while not creating it myself because I wanted the script to be useful under certain circumstances. 360voice came through with their API Documentation! Think about it… now your scripting life has insite into your gaming life (and other’s as well) you could write a script to compare your achievements to your buddies, show the games you haven’t completed, and all sorts of ither stuff. Why?? Because you can!

Read more

Remember, if you do something cool with our API, email us or post in the community showcase!

Linky linky time!

Here it is... people who are taking their sweet-time and writing about us. Bless their hearts!

Breakingwindows.com
"My 360 officially went through an Emo stage earlier in the week, and how now turned into pure, unadulterated hatred."

Andrew's Blog
"I recalled a post by Richard Costall - What's your Xbox 360 Saying? whereby there is a service offered called 360Voice and this enables your Xbox 360 to write it's own blog - so you get to hear what your Xbox is thinking.  I thought it would be quite funny to see what my Xbox 360 would say about my gaming activity, especially as I am not a very heavy gamer."

NowGal's Corner
"I don’t do anything but play on the Xbox, and then check the blog and snicker a bit."

411Mania.com
"Unfortunately the system isn't perfect, and there are still some pretty widely known - or at least suspected - cheaters who've managed to stick around. Could that guy be any more blatant? Check out his 360voice page, where he's gaining score without playing games."

Xbox Cheater watch
"Thanks to the work of 360voice.com, we have yet another tool at our disposal to investigate alleged cheaters."

Worldwide Gamers Blog
"Why not give your Xbox 360 a voice? surely you would like to know. At 360Voice you will be able to. That what ive been doing since i have had mine."

Cougar's Corner
"It almost sounds like a MySpace type account for your Xbox 360. It’s free to sign up so I gave it a shot."

Jasarien.com
"I’ve also gone and gotten myself one of those 360Voice blogs, so effectively my 360 now has its own blog, which is interesting."

ChapsNet
"Check out my Xbox's Blog ... to hear him whining about how neglected he is."

Thanks everyone! And sorry again to all of you who had your mentions deleted... I am sure if you mention us again... I will see it! :)

Fatty Chubs is a "super MVP"

To know him... is to love him... Our very own Fatty Chubs has been mentioned on Xbox.com as a Super MVP!

Lurking at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina is another of our Super MVPs, Fatty Chubs. His coworkers know him as Stephen Sopp, but what they don't know is that, after his job as a web developer, he moonlights as a Super MVP. This includes the power to create and run 360voice.com, and to set up great tournaments like the 360voice challenges and their Old Spice Rewards contest.

Read about the other super MVPs!

If you are wondering to yourself, "What is this MVP madness?" you can find out more information in the Xbox.com forum FAQ.

Rabid72's Spotlight on 360voice

I was going through my feeds and came across Rabid72's blog where he did a spotlight on 360voice:

While the website drew initial attention from its unique and humorous “Give your Xbox its own blog” features, 360Voice.com has grown into one of the most comprehensive statistic-tracking websites in existence.

Read more

Rabid72 is an Xbox MVP and runs a great blog that focuses on the community. Go check it out.

Lot O' 360voice Links

Check out this latest link dump from people around the net... talkin' bout 360voice!

Plane of Nonconformity
"A personal project, GamerScoreGoal.com, that I have been working involves tracking Xbox live GamerScore.  One of my personal favorite Xbox sites is 360voice.com where your Xbox 360 blogs about your playing habits.  360 voice has an API set including one that returns the GamerScore history for a particular Gamertag."

Tuaw.com
"There are quite a few ways online to see what your friends are up to in Xbox Live -- the most fun way is probably the 360 Voice site (that lets your Xbox blog about what you've been playing lately"

Starpulse.com
"So do you think you're the best Xbox 360 gamer out there? Do you like pumping up your GamerScore and showing it off online? Then 360 Voice and Old Spice have the challenge for you."

Gamer Hero
"I registered my Xbox live gamertag (well TootieCarparts did) and a few days later I had a personalized blog from my 360’s perspective. Weird huh? I thought so too but after a few days of reading the snarky remarks it made about my gaming habits it got to be quite addictive."

MadLion's Blog
"Seeing as my current badge is “Emo” I think I better go and turn on my 360 and play with it before it red rings itself."

Kalamaf Drackonsbane
"In a strange but entertaining turn of events, my XBox 360 is blogging about me behind my back! "

Zaam IT
"Somebody of you may know that 360FriendSpot was initially born thanks to a little project called Xbox Live Friend Finder. I started it thanks to 360Voice..."

The Ramblings of a Bilbo
"I hate it when my gaming system lies about me."

Outside the box
"My friend Jeff recently introduced me to a fantastic little web site that gives voice to your Xbox360 Live Profile, and documents your gaming progress in a humorous manner."

Edwin Soto's Blog
"I love gaming but still manage not to totally obsess over it. That being said, lately I’ve been on a gaming binge thanks to Achievements."

At Last! a place to keep my memory
"My Xbox 360 writes its own blog, without any interaction from myself!"

Generation Zune
"If you are a gamer and are looking for a new Zune, 360voice.com has got your back..."

Detour
"Thanks to the folks @ 360voice, we can now see everyone’s current streak on their blog page. (my idea!)"

Yahoo! Tech
"We're trying something new here at Yahoo! Tech, and I think it's something you'll like: FREE STUFF. To wit, we're giving away, right here on this very blog, a big prize package courtesy of the Old Spice Ultimate Challenge, 360voice.com, and Xbox. "

Gaming Bits
"Remember the Xbox Live Rewards program Old Spice Experience Challenge that was going on last year? Well, although Microsoft is no longer involved in that, the Xbox 360 blogging site 360voice.com and it's community has been handling the promotions and giveaways for the continuing Old Spice Challenges."

A slice of my life
"...every day I play it says some random weird thing about my pounding it's buttons or having greasy fingers. Creepy."

Matt Hester's Weblog
"That's right folks, my Xbox has it's on blog, I know that is sad, but oh man it is so terrifically geeky."

Paused
"I don't know if you're aware of this, but the future is now. How do I know this? Because video game systems have become sentient."

Random Encounters
"I set this up the otherday, you can watch as my xbox  360 blogs it’s silicon heart out."

So there you have it... almost two years in and still getting the linkage! Thanks everyone!

Interviewed by Frag Doll Jam

Steve and I had a really fun interview with Jam from Frag Dolls UK. She asked great questions and she put out a very well edited podcast... I think during recording it... Skype crashed... and my daughter shattered a wine glass in the kitchen. Good times. Anyhow, check it:

Or is it?  Frag Doll Jam grabs the scoop from Trapper Markelz and Stephen Sopp, creators of massive community site 360voice.com.  How did they come up with the idea?  How much of a role did Microsoft play in its creation?  And what they think about those notorious Avatar: The Burning Earth achievements…

Go listen!

There is also a funny picture of Steve and I that she posted... bonus! Thanks Jam!

Link dump action

Check out these sites checking out us. It is our way of linking back in thanks for the in coming linkage.

About.com Xbox Games
"Not only does your Xbox 360 "blog" and tell the world everything you played and how angry it is when you don't play, but it keeps track of consecutive days played streaks, day-to-day gamerscore changes, and rankings against other members among many other things."

Blogster McTavish
"I've been signed up for 360voice for some time and that site gives my 360 it's own 'blog' so to speak. It also reports my most frequently played games, topped by Guitar Hero ][, Bejeweled and Rainbow Six: Vegas."

Blend Games
"The formation of challenges this time around has been updated to make it accessible to the casual gamer just as much as the hardcore. There will be four tiers involved, and all you have to do to get involved is find enough friends to compete against. You can have your own little challenges with those you know, trust and love."

Life in the Valley
""What on Earth would your Xbox blog about?" you ask? Simple. It talks about the games I play!"

Unofficial Xbox 360 News Blog
"As long as your Xbox 360 is connected to the internet under the corresponding Gamertag, the site will moniter everything you do each day and 'write' about it!"

Chronic Gamer Chronicles
"I am a very competitive gamer, and this challenge is right up my alley. I am pulling every imaginary rabbit out of my proverbial hat to win, and I have no hesitation stabbing my friends in the back to do so."

Crystal Perceptions
"What's up with web 2.0 anyway? Some of it is cool, like Blogs and Wiki's, but much of it is silly, like Twitter? I mean who really cares what you are doing at "this second" in two lines or less? And why would i want it on my cell phone? *shrug* Too old school I guess. :) But 2.0 does do one thing cool, who ever thought you game system could blog for you."

Blades of 360
"It seems that rwgriersr  has developed a gamerscore graph for his iPhone app and now you too can get your own personalized graph."

Vegetable Soup
"In further proof that machines are taking over the planet and will one day rule over us in a tyranical mecha-droidal type way, my Xbox360 has now developed the capacity to produce its own blog."

Tunnels of Doom
"I signed up for one of those Old Spice Gamerscore Challenges run through the 360 Voice site. In this case it was instituted by some folks on Goozex’s forums and the reward is a $100 Best Buy gift card, which isn’t shabby."

PastePotPete
"Sure, it has little, if anything to do with comic books.  But it’s true! And that rapscallion of a 360 is blogging faithfully..."

GameZone
"Old Spice and 360voice.com have announced their collaboration on the Old Spice Experience Challenge (www.oldspiceexperiencechallenge.com)."

Rakkoon
"I didn’t loose my streak after all. Sweet!"

Thank you everyone, big and small, for the mentions!

ChangeAgent interviewed by Speak Xbox

Hey all, check out my interview by DarkSteelKiller over at Speak Xbox! I reveal a few things about myself that you might not know... please don't use it against me:

I was able to arrange an interview with Trapper Markelz aka ChangeAgent. ChangeAgent is the owner of 360voice who has made a superior site that is extremely popular for the Xbox 360 community. 360voice is an excellent site to be apart and has some cool new features being added all the time.

Read the interview

(promotional graphic taken from Speak Xbox to promote their interview)

360voice Link Dump

It has been a LONG time since I have done one of these 360voice link dumps from various mentions around the web... with the release of the Old Spice Experience Challenge there are honestly hundreds of links coming in (people posting challenge links, new users posting their blog links, etc). I can't possibly cover them all so I am picking out the ones I liked the most.

You might think on the surface that many of these links are about Old Spice. But what you will find is that our partnership with Old Spice is winning some accolades in the advertising industry. We are happy to be out there on the "edge" with them, pioneering a path that is a win/win for both them and gamers.

Adweek
"By enlisting this and using the grassroots appeal of 360Voice.com, which hosts the competition and will promote it on its site, the brand should be able to achieve authenticity with tough-to-impress gamers..."

Common Sense PR
"The numbers look small compared to a TV ad campaign, but Old Spice is reaching intense people who are very motivated to participate and just happen to be the ideal demographic. A match made in heaven."

Behind the Buzz
"The brand [Old Spice] is getting recognition in a key age group, where it faces stiff opposition from Axe, and doing it in a way that makes it mean something without it being intrusive advertising."

Beneath The Brand
"Old Spice could have created an in-game advertising bit or some other uninspired mini game but instead created an environment where gamers develop an online challenge and reach out to friends to participate. In this respect the users have a chance to create a somewhat unique challenge as well as having the opportunity to improve their prize if more individuals engage in their challenge. It’s almost a gaming meets viral marketing approach."

Gaming Nexus
"The fine folks at 360voice.com have partnered with Old Spice for a whole new kind of Gamerscore challenge. This time you'll be competing with your friends to see who can rack up the most points in certain period of time. Trapper Markelz and crew provide the coding, Old Spice provides the rewards."

Gaygamer.net
"The crux of the site is simple. You register your Xbox Live gamertag with 360voice. "It" blogs. You read its blog via web or RSS feeds. I am always a bit cynical about some of the gimmicky value-add services that are around these days and didn't understand immediately how reading a daily account of my Xbox shenanigans could actually affect my gameplay habits. But thanks to the clever and amusing writing, I found myself feeling guilty for even being on turkey day vacation..."

The JeepCruzer Chronicles
"If you felt like you were behind the times because you don't have a blog yet, hold on to your trousers cause now you're almost a dinosaur. My inanimate, non-sentient electronics now blog - on their own no less. My XBOX360, to be exact, has a voice of it's own..."

Xbox 360 Fanboy
"The Old Spice Experience Challenge is coming back for a second helping with extra gravy, but this time they've got a new format and a new partner."

Ryangrier.com
"I had just gotten my iPod Touch and wanted to develop something specific for it (Web-app based). I had also wanted to play around with the 360Voice API. I have been a member of their site for almost a year now. I have really enjoyed using their site and obsessively check my Xbox 360’s blog there everyday. I also try to make sure that I play every day so that my 360 doesn’t start to talk bad about me."

Sargonas.com
"I want to take a moment to tout my buddies over at 360voice.com. Trapper and Steve (ChangeAgent and Fatty Chubbs) have been working hard on a new thing they rolled out, their new Gamerscore Challenge system."

About.com
"ather than waiting around for the next Microsoft backed contest, the folks at 360voice.com (you know, the site where your Xbox 360 "blogs" and tells everyone what you played) decided to take matters into their own hands."

IAM Blog Engine
"The site keeps track of your gamer score and I guess there are also challenges on the website that you can compete in for your own personal pleasure. I’ll check back with this later once I know exactly what the site is all about."

Since we have seen a ton of new members lately, if this is the first time you are seeing this link dump, know that if you blog about 360voice, send me the link and I will add it to this feature!

360voice interviewed on the Xbox Podcast!

Head over to XboxPodcast.com and check out episode #39! Not only do they cover End War, COD 4 and MX vs. ATV Untamed, they interview Steve and I about the Old Spice Experience Challenge!

In episode 39 we bring back our good friends from 360Voice.com and discuss the new Old Spice Experience Challenge.  We also cover the upcoming Call of Duty 4 patch and maps, Xbox Live gamers get arrested, and new Team Fortress 2 maps and fixes.

Kyle discusses IGN Hands on with End War, yes you can get COD 4 for $40, and this week’s feature game is MX vs. ATV Untamed.

Listen now! [mp3] or Watch now! [WMV]

Our interview starts at 32:30 in the WMV... I assume the mp3 timing is similar.

A special thanks to Mark, Kyle, and Brun for giving us another opportunity to come on the show again! We were originally on there in May 2007.

Co-executive producer ‘Heroes’ mentions 360voice!

This was a nice little surprise today. Major Nelson is talking with Jesse Alexander, Co-executive producer ‘Heroes’, and he mentions us! I did my best to type out the quote... apologies if I didn't get it exact. Quote taken from around [2:05:25] in the podcast:

Jesse: There are ways with a game that your story experience could expand beyond the game. Something I was just screwing around with this morning that was so cool was...the uh... 360voice is that what it is?
Major: Yes
Jesse: The one where it makes a blog for your 360? Something like that is such an incredible tool if you applied it to be used for something like an in-world game experience.

Listen to the show

Honestly, the auto-blogging concept could be applied to a myriad of applications... anywhere that conversational data might be more compelling to consume or where personification could be used to invoke a response. I actually think auto blogging is quite inevitable. I wrote about this previously in a dev blog post title Blog of the Future.

Question for Major... come on! No link in the show notes? ;)

J Allard mentions 360voice!

Ok, is it pathetic that this made my week? I am just getting around to some old podcasts... one of which is Major Nelson interviewing J Allard (HiroProtagonist) as part of the Live is 5 series. At the 40 minute mark, this whole exchange surprised the hell out of me:

J Allard: the other thing is the communities have just been great.
Major: Yeah...
J Allard: Whether it is the guys in the community developer network and what they've done.
Major: Right...
J Allard: 360Achievements, or 360voice or uh...
Major: Those are some good stuff isn't it?
J Allard: It's great stuff! Ya know? It's just mind blowing! We never conceived of that and I hope we open up more data and more APIs for them to do things.

Download the podcast and listen yourself!

I mean really! Out of all the sites! He names us!!! Freakin' awesome!

He sends out a lot of praise to the community in general. And earlier in the podcast he talks about the Zune being able to keep a blog about your music.... if you want us to help with that Mr. Allard... let us know... All we are waiting for is the feeds... zunecantalk.com is already registered (zunevoice was taken boooo!). :)

Go cast your vote for 360voice and others!

As we previously mentioned, 360voice.com was nominated by Gamertag Radio for community site of the year! The voting is now open, so go vote in all the categories and get a shot at some cool prizes!

You have to be a registered member of Gamertag Radio to vote, but it is a quick and easy forum registration... something I am sure all of you are familiar with by now!

Good luck to everyone that was nominated!

The #10 reason to love Xbox Live

According to xbox.com, the #10 reason to love Xbox Live is 360voice.com! Check out the top 20:

1. 100 Xbox LIVE Arcade games
2. 290 million downloads of gaming and entertainment content
3. 2K Sports
4. 2old2play.com
5. 3 USB ports
6. 3,600+ GamerchiX in 29 countries
7. 300 backward-compatible games
8. 32-bit audio processing
9. 360style.net
10. 360voice.com
11. 3-core CPU
12. 5.1 Dolby surround sound
13. 50+ co-op kids games
14. 500 MHZ ATI graphic processor
15. 8 Million friends and rivals on Xbox LIVE
16. 9 million text and voice messages sent via Xbox LIVE each week
17. 9,000 pieces of gaming and entertainment content on Xbox LIVE Marketplace
18. Acey Bongos
19. achieve360points.com
20. Achievements

Read the whole list... 406 items of goodness...

If you couldn't tell, the list is in alphabetical order... but we will take top 10 anyhow. :) I mean come on... our site is way cooler than 3 USB ports. And I am sorry but Achievements should be number one! But yeah... still #10... w00t.

360voice nominated by Gamertag Radio for Community site of the year

Steve and I just want to thank the Gamertag Radio team for nominating 360voice for Xbox community site of the year. We are happy to be nominated with our good buddies Squidpunch and Zaam IT at LiveEye!

1. TheLiveEye.com
2. PregameLobby.com
3. XBL10Kclub.com
4. 360voice.com
5. AllGames.com
6. ThumbBandits.com

Head over to Gamertag Radio and listen to the nomination show!

These are some really great communities and we are happy to have been noticed by the GTR team. A special thanks to all of you... our community... which we hear time and time again is the reason people show up and the reason they stay. You all make this a lot of fun...

People are talking, we are listening...

It has been awhile since I did a link dump of the latest 360voice mentions across the web. That is primary because, as our site gracefully ages, we are just plain old news around here! There are some pretty funny ones in here thought. If anything, read the first one on the list... a pretty funny post:

That guy's a maniac
"[An Xbox reviews Halo 3] Amen my little anthropomorphised brother. Amen."

Adult Gaming Enthusiasts
"360Voice.com has a new Game Score Challenge feature that I thought would be fun to give a try."

The Joshua Tree
"Shall we play a game? - Joshua in WarGames"

Gamerscore Blog
"I've [BWOzar] also recently discovered 360voice.com which is a pretty funny site, it computer generates a blog from your 360's perspective based on your gaming activity."

Carsinigin
"An update to the 360voice main blog back on Oct 24th had a comment that they were working on a new feature.   I had a sinking feeling that it would be related to what I was doing at Gamerscoregoal.com."

Bradfucious' other other blog
"Apparently, your Xbox 360 is not just a game machine any more. In fact, it has taken on some of the qualities found in semi-sentient beings..."

The Way of the Web
"I know the service [Xbox Live] is a walled garden, with a small window looking out at Windows Live Messenger, and a skylight from which a feed can escape to sites displaying gamertags, and even blogs written by Xbox 360s. But, like Facebook, it's so comfortable, that trying to escape is like trying to rouse yourself from a comfy armchair after a Sunday roast dinner."

Tunnels of Doom
"I find myself ceaselessly lost in such statistical marvels as the Badge Calculator from 360Voice.com and other data tracking services that make similar use to the public profiles your Xbox presents when connected to the Internet."

AcheaShadow
"This site is great fun, basically you sign up and all the clever coding turns your page into a blog written by your 360..."

81Studios.nl
"Een van de grappigste dingen die ik na de lancering van Xbox360, alweer bijna 2 jaar terug, tegenkwam was 360voice."

I really hate the word blog
"That's definitely ... an interesting concept I guess..."

Global Cop
"Check it out to see whether it is sad because I'm neglecting it, or if it is bragging on all the achievements we've scored together."

Where's Drew?
"I’d totally forgotten that my Xbox 360 had its own blog until today, when I saw it in my “Blog” bookmarks. I decided to take a look at see what it’d been up to."

Phronk.com
"...my Xbox is still blogging as if nothing's changed."

Nosuch.org
"It is a sorry state of affairs when my Xbox 360 is blogging more than I do."

Shaun's Blog
"This place is great :) a blog just for your 360."

Ramblings of the Mad Cow
"I also broke down and got my 360 profile it’s own blog, since it seems to be all the rage."

Sarawanan Ravindran
"...apparently my 360 has been blogging about my gaming habits."

Thunderblog
"It’s no real use now but my xbox 360 does have a blog at 360 voice"

Kar-El
"Very, very soon computers will become self aware. And I for one welcome our new digital overlords."

That's it for now! Remember if you post about us in your blog... especially if it is some sort of review article, let us know so we can link back to you as thanks.

360voice in D+PAD Magazine

Jump over to the D+PAD Magazine site and check out Issue 03! 360voice has a link on page 61 as part of a discussion about achievements.

360voice.com
360Voice.com tracks your Xbox 360’s movements, writing a humorous daily blog on the previous day’s activity, as well as offer a whole host of intriguing statistics about your playtime.

Go read the issue! #03 (PDF)

Everyone should be supporting D+PAD. They are doing great work over there... for free!

A big list of linkers

It has been a little while since I put up a list of the latest people linking to us. Here it is for your scanning pleasure!

mfischer.com
"The 360's online / Internet functionality is light-years ahead of the Playstation 3 and Wii -- even though those consoles came out a full year after the 360."

The Married Gamers
"Yes my 360 has gained sentience and is blogging..."

Hawty McBloggy
"If you don’t have your 360 blogging for you yet, you should go sign up for those services."

Gamebar 360
"GamerBar360 has been a few months in the making and I’m very proud to finally open it up to the Xbox and 360Voice community."

Tales from the Road
"They get a little redundant, but it's definitely an original concept!"

McWilliams' World
“Do you have an account at 360Voice.com?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you have a web site?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you may want what I have.”

Brewtality
"Check out 360 Voice and sign up."

Virtual Vacancy
"I don't really blog anymore, but my Xbox 360 blogs, and it's kind of funny."

Butwheaty's Blog
"My 360voice blog is quite happy about my playing time, and I was happy to oblige it."

Borandi's Xbox 360 Diary
"I like to give a shoutout to a great site called http://360voice.com. I just found out about it recently."

The World is Naive
"Crazy concept huh?"

Thierry's Space
"It's kind of funny."

Ramblings of the Mad Cow
"Not only does everyone and their mother have a blog nowadays, but so do gaming systems."

The Perry Hyatt Show
"I even found that site Joe talked about when he got his 360, where your xbox keeps it's own blog."

Soupdog50's Blog
"Lately my xbox has been blogging more than me."

Azereki
"Anyway, in the past two weeks since my 360 started it's own blog I have managed to raise my Gamerscore up to 3640."

Blisslogs
"It seems to think it’s better than us humans too..."

God Hates Me
"To keep our stupid streak going, we took advantage of a dear friend’s Xbox who is upstairs from us, and then managed to borrow another friend’s machine to make sure nothing went wrong."

Look at that mammoth list! (ok it looks bigger when I just type it up less frequently!) My copy paste fingers are tired! Thanks everyone out there who is keeping the conversation going!

Why did we create 360voice?

I was looking through some old feeds and came across an Achievements 101 article over at Xbox360fanboy.com by Knuckles Dawson... it perfectly captures why we made 360voice in the first place:

Upon my return home with my streak intact, I picked up TMNT, for two reasons: First, it has been recommended by you readers as an easy 1000, a secondly, the value of the Achievements allowed me to get my cumulative Gamerscore to end in a 4, in time for me to hit 44,444, and then find an opportunity to even in out close to 45,000.

Read more

Do you see it? See how he linked to the specific day where he got the scores 44,444 and 45,000? Both of those moments, now locked in time. There was no way to do that (automatically) with a gamer card before 360voice was on the scene. Every gaming day is now linkable...  You can point people to a certain moment when you did certain things. It makes your gaming more bloggable... (is that even a word?)... and sure... we could have just done a page of stats per day... that would be so much easier that building an entire Personality Processor to wrap it in blogeriffic text... but where is the fun in that? Steve and I like to take the hard road! :)

Lots of linky goodness

Here is the time... when we... 360voice... link back... to all... of you...

The Mixed up world of Cluskevird
The Power of Groups - Some people may think that violence is the only way for people to take notice, but from a simple little experiment it is proven again that the pen is mightier than the sword.

Simple Duck
"My 360 was orgasmic on Saturday, but then Sunday when I tried to cuddle afterward he got all “step off”."

Chimps with keyboards
"...where it really comes into it's own is the RSS feed. I subscribe to the feeds of a few friends and it's a perfect way for me to see what they've been playing recently."

Kwynn's Space
"Of course if they didn't give me a badge for getting to 100 days I probably wouldn't have done it."

ShaperMC
"So, yeah, kind of stupid, but I wish that I had done it before."

Mr. Achievement
"360voice.com is the most unique Xbox Community site on the web."

John
"It's really wasted so check it out!"

Graemef.com
"My Xbox360 is feeling so neglected that it's started blogging!"

Nate's Nation
"360voice is a good way to keep track of your gaming friends’ habits (if you’re into that)."

Vee to the L O is Back
"...my 360 blogs about me and it loves me YAY!"

Unruly behavior
"Thanks to 360 Voice, my XBOX 360 has something to say about me each and every day."

Buttonmashing.com
"My name is Dark Reyule, and I am an achievement addict. I’m not sure when it happened… well, OK I know exactly when it happened. According to chart on my 360voice.com blog..."

Thanks everyone! It is always fun to see our name in virtual print. It never gets old. If you keep talking about us (in a good way!) than I guess we are still doing right by you all.

I feed on links

Here are some people linking to us... so as defined in the great circle of linkage, we doth link back to thee:

Steamed-design.com
"Ok i know this is old news but I think it is pretty cool anyway..."

Adam Creighton
"...I think of it as an androgynous, pissy version of HAL. With an eye problem."

Gleamd
"...the slightly creepy online service that gives your Xbox 360 the ability to blog..."

Entertain Us!
"This is the story of an emo 360..."

The home of the wiggly header
"How sad I know…"

Kevin
"Yeah these days everbody has a blog even my 360"

Rengle
"My 360 is a nerdy asshole."

Elbulus’s Tasty Blog
"My 360 has a blog ! ( it doesnt like me much :( )"

End of the Beginning
"I have my Xbox 360’s blog (powered by the awesome 360voice)"

...and there it is! Thanks everyone!

Which is better? Sony Home or... 360voice?

Steve came across a fun mention by Chris Pereira about 360voice in Gearlive.com's E3 coverage:

Back onto the subject of HOME, Phil Harrison shows that he has it running (albeit not in its full 3D self) on his mobile phone (a Sony, natch). He takes a picture of some audience members and puts the phone away. The main hub in Home has changed from the mall-like setting we saw at GDC, and has been replaced with a more summer-oriented outdoor environment.

We get a Singstar trailer, which likens the game to iTunes crossed with MySpace. You’ll be able to download songs you want to play through the PlayStation Store.

Now we see a framed picture in Phil’s apartment which has in it the photo he took a few minutes prior on his phone. He goes on to explain that you can output your going-ons and photos from HOME onto a web page – think 360 Voice, but much more fleshed out and feature-rich.

Read more 

MORE fleshed out and feature-rich? We resent that sir! ;) Although in all fairness, if Sony with their millions of dollars and hundreds of full-time developers can't beat Steve and I, even a successful PS3 can't save them.

So what do you all think? Is Sony going to add a blogject angle to their product?

(Click the title of this post to leave a comment)

Linking to those of you that get your linky on

It has been awhile since I have did a little acknowledgment post for the people linking to us from their blogs. Time to clear out my link log... here are the peeps:

Takarae
"In other living machine news, apparently if you buy a 360 Elite, you are buying a sentient device. My sexy black box of gaming goodness has apparently reached out to the internet and found that blogging is cool."

Yes and No
"It's kind of fun, and the posts seem to be written like a hyper, eager to please puppy or something."

geNghis DoN
"I wasn't quite how sure this works but its really cool."

Shamus writes
"And just how is my 360 blogging when it doesn’t have any more access to the Web than I do?!"

The world according to Josh Grime
" Hey what's up xbox? I ask him. He replies, not much Josh, just waiting for you to join me. So I join him. And when together, we become one. Console, and human. I call it - The Humsole."

Social Technology Innovation by Alex Vorbau
"With 360voice.com, your Xbox can publish a blog for you! It writes about (what else?) your gaming activity and it talks about you like a dear old friend. Quite amusing."

Craig
"yes, my 360 blogs everyday whether I play or not, if you don't believe me, visit..."

Xbox 360 Fanboy
"Frankly, the technical wizardry that must go into such a process amazes and frightens us, so it's probably good that they won."

J Money
"I wrote none of this, but found it creepy/hilarious."

Muhammed "I'm 'Ard" Bruce Lee 
"It seems to have quite a nice bouncy personality, though that may change if I don't play with it as much as it likes..."

The mixed up world of Cluskevird
"I have to say that with everyone over at 360Voice.com painting up their cars in Forza Motorsport 2, I had to deviate from my usual car dressing and attempt my very own 360voice car."

Panic Button
"So yeah, my XBox 360 blogs about how and what I'm playing on it."

So there you have it! Thanks everyone for keeping the conversation about this website going! I see everyone that is registered and many of them name your gamertags for sending them here! Word of mouth is how it works!

360voice wins 360friendspot community award!

360friendspot has announced the winners of their first annual community awards! 360voice was nominated in the "Best Community Site" category, and with 57% of the vote, we pulled it out! Thanks to everyone who voted!

The cool cats over there put together a rad little video announcing the winners. Go check it out! Steve and I even give a little speech.

Watch the 360friendspot awards video!

Thanks again Squidpunch and Zaam IT for putting on the awards. Good times!

Latest list of linkers

As is custom here at 360voice, I have been watching the vast internet unfold, and the following people were kind enough to carve out a little content about us:

Geo Holyhart
"Its a fun concept, everyone should try out."

Ryman's Blog Thingy
"Nifty site where your 360 automatically generates a gamerscore related blog using info from your online gamercard!"

Limaceous
"We make a pretty great team!"

I Am Always Right
"Whomever came up with this thing had WAY too much time on their hands."

Xbox Buds
"Your Xbox 360 can blog about you.  It's pretty cool, really."

A Writer's Ramblings
"Pretty Funny! Check it out!"

On the count of three
"I mean how do you beat a self-blogging entertainment machine?"

Dinah and Chris
"Want to see a blog by us that is updated daily?"

The J's World
"In case you didn’t know, my Xbox 360 keeps a blog."

Double Stealth
"Visit today!"

Thank you one and all!

Latest list of community links

Here are all the people linking to us... so this is us linking back to you!

XboxSpace.com
"You may not have realized it, but even with the technical demands of modern games your Xbox 360 still has a lot of processor power going unused. So much power, in fact, that it's become sentient and done what all thinking creatures are compelled to do: start a blog. "

SoupyC's Blog of Wonder and Mystery
"I love my 360! But ever since joining 360Voice I have been over-playing my 360, just so that it can write about me..."

Trixie
"Holy crap. I just checked my 360s blog and learned I passed the 200 hour mark for Zuma."

Liontamr
"My 360 Blog says I have played 69 games up until this point (heh heh..  69..  that's a good number.. heh..  sorry..)"

The Sock Drawer
"My Xbox will tell you..."

DaKing240.com
"My good friends over at 360voice never stop working..."

Un-deprived.com
"...your 360 can [have] its own blog that it can bitch?

Lei Chat Blog
"I haven't dropped by my 360 Voice blog for a while, till this morning... they've been busy, new layout, new stats. I like it... a lot!"

Gamerscore Blog
"We had a great time tonight, visiting with Trapper from 360Voice, Brad (Wiseguy) from TeamXbox, Luther from TheEverydayGamer, Charles from GamingNexus, and Dan from XboxAmerica."

Inside the Nexus
"Gamerscoreblog Roadshow Rocked!!"

SoupyC's Blog of wonder and Mystery
"I've decided today that I'm gonna try and develop SOMETHING for the 360voice API, just so I can get the badge, lol!"

StuffMart
"I assume he (yes my 360 is a he) will spend most of his time writing about gaming."

RyanGrier.com
"I managed to kill both Fatty Chubs [360voice.com] and ChangeAgent [360voice.com] (who run the 360Voice site). That felt pretty good (sorry guys)."

BadBoyHouse.co.uk
"Apparently their site communicates with your Xbox 360 whilst you're using the console which in turn creates a blog/feed based on your gaming activities."

My Gaming Blog
"My 360voice blog keeps telling me that I'm playing Crackdown. It lies. I just use it for the Halo 3 Beta."

Thanks everyone for the links! SoupyC gets TWO links this time around. I also want to let everyone know that if you run a gaming news site/podcast and you want us on to talk about the site or gaming or whatever, Fatty Chubs and I are always looking to talk shop with the community... so instead of talking ABOUT us on your blogs behind your back, how about talking WITH us eh? EH?

360voice nominated for best community site!

The good guys over at 360Friendspot are closing in on their one-year birthday! In celebration, they are holding an Awards ceremony with the winners picked by you!

360voice also happens to have been nominated in the Best Community Site category!

The voting begins May 14th! Go check it out!

360voice featured on the Xbox Podcast!

Head over to the Xboxpodcast.com and check out our interview! We spoke with Kyle aka Moroniccow about our site, where it has come from, where it is going, and everything in between.

Episode 10 brings us screen shots from “Tom Clancy's End War”, the return of mad cow and his Halo 3 update, the answers to the missing hard drive transfer cable in the Xbox 360 Elite, and a very special interview with 360voice.com.

Go get the links

Not only is there an audio version, but a video version as well that shows game clips during the entire show.

Definitely give it a listen and subscribe to the podcast. The guys over at at xboxpodcast.com are good people! Thanks for the interview and we hope to do it again some time!

The latest linkers

We like to link to people that link to us. We track it through the weeks and compile it for you all to enjoy. Click over to some of these blogs and maybe you will meet some new friends!

DaKing240 Presents
"I was able to play a good 5 hours of Texas Hold ‘Em poker with some great members of the Xbox Community including…Trapper and Fatty from 360Voice.com"

McWilliams' World
"I had a suggestion to add whether a gamertag is a Gold or Silver Xbox Live subscriber. In their latest blog update they added that data field and gave me credit for suggesting it. Pretty dang cool! Thanks guys!"

No, I'm not l33t
"Yes, give it a couple days, but soon you can get snide comments from my 360."

The Sock Drawer
"My Xbox will tell you, I love this game."

360GL.com
"ChangeAgent from 360voice once called me (Mr Achievement) the New Hotness… Well, time has worn on and I am still the Hotness but I am no longer New…"

Turnabout Ramblings
"Speaking of lame, is it sad that the XBox is blogging more than we are?"

Zath
"I’ve not had chance to play on my Xbox 360 at all in the past couple of weeks, so it must have been feeling rather neglected, when I checked its blog it turns out I was right."

Dusty Gamer
"The bloody console is not too happy, though."

SuburbanJoe
"I'll be commenting on his posts, and occasionally I'll let him post over here. He can't talk about everything over there, as he has to play by their rules, but I have a feeling he'll figure out a way to get his message out."

Notes for the Vortex
"Some people have blogs for their cat, some people for their favourite teddy bear - now my best friend has a blog too! check it out!"

D-Dub AKA Super-crazy
"As far as the gamerscore gain goes, check out www.360voice.com/tag/TigerDame for the official gain..."

Lord Wize
"360 voice has my complete gamelist"

Shamus Writes
"My Xbox 360 is a liar"

Silencer2404's Games Blog
"Also. my 360voice page should now reflect my gaming activities more accurately since I purchased the wireless adapter a while ago.."

Somefoolwitha.com
"Oh and here's my 360's blog - as is popular"

Thanks everyone! Keep the links coming! Traffic is like air for us. :)

Featured in The Record - Part II

DaKing240 over at Xbox360Achievements.org was nice enough to send us a PDF of the The Record article that we previously mentioned. The link switched to subscription only after the first day online, so for those of you that missed it, here is a lovely PDF copy in all of its graphical glory!
 

360 Achievements open new gaming frontier (PDF)
Innovative feature has caught on around the world

Give it a read! Not only are games from the 360voice community quotes, but other sites as well. It is always fun to come across stuff like this.

The community is quoted!

Major Flankage pointed us to an article that contains a few quotes from members of the 360voice community!

A quick look at the interactive forums on the popular 360voice.com website shows the impact -- good and bad -- of the achievement system.

"It seems to me that peeps just want to play games these days just to get points, what happened to playing games because you enjoy the experience?'' writes DARK WOLF RIP, a gamer from the United Kingdom.

ChangeAgent, a U.S. gamer, replied: "I find that I don't game on anything else . . . because I could be using that time to get closer to achievements.

"I don't know why, but regardless of how hardcore you are, it still is fun to always be pursuing something beyond your gaming experience . . . that is what the achievement system gives you.''

Another American gamer, known as Mr Achievement, added: "The simple fact is that although the achievement system has made some of us into rats on a wheel chasing a piece of cheese that is always going to be out of our reach, for others it is just something that we enjoy doing.''

Read more (subscribers only)

Fun stuff everyone! A special thanks to Wayne Chamberlain for the article.

Update 4/20/2006

BOOOOO! It looks like after one day, the article turned into a subscription-only link. I have changed the link to explain this.

Link Overload

The links have piled up... it is time to let them free!!

Please state the Nature of the Medical Emergency
"Check it out for a digital brain's view on my gaming habits. "

The Digital Outdoors
"It was kinda of a shock to see how much information is actually recorded about my fun-time."

Jame Healy
"You'll notice however that my Xbox has long since given up on me, and I have to admit I'm not really a gamer.  That said I almost feel compelled to tell my Xbox that I've been out of town a lot, I was in Vietnam for a month, work has been busy, and I just got married... wait a minute... am I actually explaining myself to a machine?!"

BelievedDog's Gaming Diary
"Thanks to the wonder of 360voice.com and my recently acquired wireless adaptor, my Xbox 360 now has its own regularly updated blog."

thoughthead
"Perhaps more then the Xbox Live community built through friends lists and game invites is the dynamBo that has been created though Xbox.com, the achievement system and the ability for 3rd party sites to grab that data and do things with it. MyGamerCard.net, 360Voice.com, Achieve360Points.com, etc.

Area Man - Myspace
"The first time I saw it i thought I had some weird cyber stalker until I figured it out."

Silencer2040's Games Blog
"Unfortunately my 360 Voice site is not reflecting all of this activity since I have not been connected to Xbox Live while playing or for quite some time for that matter."

Skidoo - Myspace
"I really don't show it much love based off its blog (yes... my xbox 360 has its own blog that it writes on its own)."

John - Myspace
"I don't think it realizes that I use it mostly for watching TV & videos"

Inner Voices
"Think I should at least turn the Emo-Box 360 on before it gets another mental breakdown."

n47h4n
"It's as if my 360 was alive and writing its own blog. Neatness."

Rehab's Blog
"If my Wii could have its own voice in a way similar to a Xbox 360 user blog, it would probably say something along the lines of "goddamn man, you have played a ****-ton of Twilight Princess."

Astrakan
"...since getting my DS I haven't even turned on the Xbox, and its blog entries have been getting more and more desperate, culminating in today's pretty amusing entry..."

Thanks everyone for including us in the discussion!

Mentioned in Yahoo Tech!

Ben Patterson over at Yahoo contacted us to let us know we were in the Yahoo Tech! column recently:

If your gaming console could talk, what would it say? Would it crow about all the attention it's getting, or would it moan that it's been gathering dust in the den? Xbox 360 owners curious about the inner lives of their precious beige (or black) boxes can get a daily dose of praise—or venom—thanks to 360voice.com.

Read more

Thanks for the mention Ben! It is cool to know people are still having fun with our circles in the sand.

Some links from you to us

A special thanks (as always!) to those of you linking or talking about us!

Lunchtime Conversation (Gamerscore Blog)
"Better late than never!  Coming off the MVP summit was harder than we anticipated, although we still managed to get a podcast this week!"

Pedlez World
"360Voice.com is a cool site which gives your Xbox a blog which reports things like what games you played"

Table Scraps
"Not to be out-done by me, my X-Box 360 has started it's own blog about my game playing and habits."

Going in circles
"The site basically takes information about the games you've been playing during the day and writes itself a blog post with some fill in the blank pre-made scripts."

ZowJournal
"It has It's own blog, and it used to be pretty damn depressed, apparently, until I made it happy by turning it on and playing videogames with it."

Thanks everyone!

The links from all of you to all of us

Here is the latest set of links I have seen from all of you linking over to 360voice.

ZaaM IT Blog
"Somebody's got plenty of free time lately"

m4rk0551
"The best part is, you don’t have to do anything. Just sign up and watch your 360 talk about you and your events!"

MrKniceGuy’s Video Game Page
"So far it’s been very fun to see what my 360 will say each day."

Mygamercard.net
"...the ever useful 360voice.com shows only about 300 members of their userbase playing Dead or Alive 4, so with 30 prizes up for grabs, you might be in with a good chance..."

Unscripted 360
"Days like this make me happy that my Xbox 360 has a voice."

Next-Gen Gamer
"I just want to take some time tell you guys about a awesome little site called 360Voice.com."

Bored.Box
"...it gives you an even bigger reason to play everyday just so you can say that I have played for a month straight without missing one day of gaming."

Mark Blackwood
"Oh check out my 360 Voice blog so you can see what games i've been up late playing."

Inbox Cutter
"This is neat idea. Might be better if it didn't update every single day"

Aaron
"It's kind of cool in a dorky 'I like to pretend my 360 is a live and is my friend,' way."

Thanks everyone! Keep those links coming!

Welcome Gamespark readers!

I was checking the logs and saw a huge influx of people from Game*Spark, so I just wanted to tell you all hello! There is a good community article (posted in Japanese) over on that site. Go check it out! Lots of great Xbox community sites get a mention.

360voice.com
最後は自分のXbox本体が、"一人称で"Blog日記を付けてくれるという怪サービス。内容は英語ですが、Liveサーバーからプレイ履歴を取得して1 日1回その日遊んだ日記を書いてくれます。たまに見てみると、自分ではほとんど変動に気づかない評判の話が書いてあったり、ほったらかしてるとやたら切な い日記を毎日つけてくれてたりするのでなんとも妙な感じ。こちらから自分のゲーマータグを登録しておくだけで、後は擬人化された360タン（？）とあなたのプレイ日記が勝手に育まれていきます…。

Read more

360voice mentioned in MyArcadePlanet podcast

MyArcadePlanet.com is a website that is just getting rolling. They were nice enough to give 360voice a mention in there very first podcast. Listen for it 2/3 of the way in.

We take time to analyze febuary console sales, discuss next weeks Xbox Arcade Release, rave about some awesome sites out on the web, talk movie box office, and give out the coveted myarcadeplanet member of the week award. We also have a special appearance by Hashbashishand his goat to discuss the latest news. All this and more from Myarcadeplanet.com...

Listen to the podcast

Fatty Chubs at the MVP Summit

360voice's own Fatty Chubs is at the MVP summit this week. We have photographic proof thanks to dirtydiva.

Steve also participated in the latest Gamertag Radio round-table discussion while at the summit. Head over to their site and give it a listen.

We are back with a new episode for GTR! This week I came to Seattle, WA for the MVP Summit 07. Here is more information about the global summit:

MVP Award recipients are invited to attend the MVP Global Summit, one of the largest multiday Microsoft MVP events. At the MVP Global Summit, MVPs receive access to exclusive technical content, participate in direct feedback sessions, and meet with Microsoft executives, product teams, and their peers from around the world.

Go give it a listen!

The links are still coming

You are all linking to us in greater and greater numbers. Here is the latest selection of blog mentions. Because the link traffic is getting so high, I have to be a little more selective about the ones I include, so if I missed you, I am sorry!

Mark Blackwood
"I am seriously considering getting one for myself next time I have the spare 290 pounds (which in comparrison to the playstation package, is awesome), I think I will always be a Playstion (fan boy as Gareth likes to say) but right now with all the shit be thrown about with PS3 and the constant set backs I really think I’ll just wait a year or so and stick with the x-box. Shock horror, as I have been an avid playstation gamer for 7 years."

Zath
"Well I’ve found out exactly what my Xbox is saying about me behind my back, just take a look at this, I mean the absolute cheek of it!"

Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle
"While I haven’t quite figured out why someone would build a bunch of blogs powered by Xbox 360 gamer scores, I find the concept fascinating."

Luck 13 X - Xbox Customer Care
"...the consoles I visit get lonely once I leave them but that is the life of an Xbox Support agent that is on the move and must be available to help as many customers as possible on Xbox.com and on the phone."

Squid Vicious 
"My xbox 360 now has his own blog. It's not fake, he does it himself. Really, he does it himself. I know, what the hell is this world coming to?"

The Way of the Web
"Combined with the likes of Amazon and Last.fm, that got me thinking about how cool it would be to share everything you're doing. Websites viewed, applications used, music listened to, videos watched etc, all in one place, and all automatically presented, so you don't have to blog about it."