Fri, Jun 10, 2011 | 17:17 BST

Microsoft confirms Xbox Live integration with Windows 8

Mike Delman, VP of global marketing at Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business group has said the company plans on integrating Xbox Live into Windows 8 as an entertainment service.

Speaking in an interview with the Seattle Times, Delman said Windows 8 integration along with Windows Phones will make Live “the primary entertainment service.”

“I think that’s going to be a good play for us,” he said. “If we have that and the PCs to leverage, that will be a big Live base. It’s our job to make [it to where you can] ‘buy a movie in one place and play it everywhere, buy a game in one place and play it everywhere.’ Making things portable will be a big focus of ours.”

As far has how the services and content will be part of Windows 8 is concerned, Delman said there will be a “lot of similarities in design and service philosophy.”

“Whether it’s us or Apple or anybody else, people want to be able to navigate through multiple devices in a certain ecosystem very seamlessly so we’re committed to that,” he said. “Xbox Live will the pervasive media service across devices.

“We have a ton of assets. Unifying the assets will be good for us and good for consumers.”

Windows 8 is expected to be released next year, with a possible full reveal during Consumer Electronics Show in January 2012.

Original post Windows 8

Original Article

GameCrush is a new service, launching March 23, 2010, that hopes you will [pay money to play with girls]. The business was detailed by IGN revealing a "social site for adult gamers." Apparently, there are around 1,200 "PlayDates", as the women are called, available to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Gears of War 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Halo 3 in exchange for money.

These 1,200 women were found via a "Craigslist ad looking for ladies who want to get paid to play videogames," according to IGN. The service is free to sign-up for, but you'll need to buy credits to pay the girls. $8.25 will get you 500 credits and one game session will run 400 credits.

"GameCrush says it modeled its pricing structure after the cost of buying a girl a drink at a bar," writes IGN. "In a bar, you're basically buying the opportunity to chat a girl up. GameCrush is hoping players will look at their service the same way."

Girls are not screened in any way, but will be rated by their clients. The higher-rated girls will bubble to the top and receive more prominent placement on the site. Anyone over 18 is free to sign-up.

If this all seems like a thinly-veiled repackaging of online "adult" services, try taking gaming out of the equation and see what it sounds like:

Men browse online profiles of women that describe themselves as either "flirty" or "dirty" and select one for a virtual date. For around $7, the woman will voice or video chat with you for 6 to 10 minutes. Women are then rated by the men. Higher-rated women receive more prominent placement and will end up earning more money.

While pornography is a reality of the Internet, the merging of adult services and gaming will not help gaming and the perception of gaming.