Microsoft is doing its best to erase a 56-page document detailing its plans for the "Xbox 720" off the Internet with a series of DMCA takedowns. The lengthy document was leaked onto the Internet over the weekend, and offered a glimpse into some of the things Microsoft might have planned for its next-generation system. If there was any doubt as to the document's authenticity these series of DMCA takedowns prove that Microsoft cares about it being read.

You may think the Wii U isn't all that powerful, but Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli claims that it is just as powerful as the Xbox 360. Speaking to CVG, Yerli said that a "respected" but unnamed developer is working on a CryEngine 3-powered Wii U title, and it runs as smooth as silk.

According to a tweet from the official Twitter feed for Xbox Live Rewards, future achievement points earned by Xbox 360 players will reward players with MS Point rewards. According to the tweet, Microsoft will begin rewarding players for unlocking achievements with MS Points:

"We've hit 50,000 followers, which means it's time for an announcement! Coming Fall: a new way to earn Rewards based on your Achievements!"

As if you didn't have enough distractions on Xbox Live, Microsoft has decided to create new ads that take advantage of the Xbox 360's motion sensing Kinect technology. Coming to Xbox Live this fall, the ads (called NUads) will let consumers choose an ad-inspired adventure - a little mini-game you can play while you soak in the deliciousness of being served up information about this or that product.

Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb announced via his official blog that Microsoft will skip two key gaming events later this year: Gamescom in Cologne, Germany and TGS in Tokyo, Japan. Hryb said that Microsoft is changing its focus from participating in large scale gaming events to doing more localized, smaller events.

A short story on Boston.com details yet another criminal using an Xbox 360 to smuggle drugs. According to Jamaican authorities, they have seized 24 pounds of cocaine concealed inside the shell of an Xbox. The seizure was conducted by the Jamaica Customs Department, who say that they discovered the cocaine at Kingston's airport shortly after a Guyanese traveler cleared customs with a laptop and a suitcase.

Several Congressmen have signed onto a letter urging the International Trade Commission to express their strong concerns over a potential ban of the Xbox 360 related to a complaint filed by Motorola (now owned by Google). The list includes Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, co-sponsor of last year's patent reform bill (the America Invents Act), and the sponsor of SOPA; Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Cal.), the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Rep.

Imagine Publishing announced that its top two Xbox 360 magazine brands, X360 and 360 Magazine, will be combined into one publication. The new "enhanced publication" will be led by Editor Dan Howdle. Issue #87 of X360 will be the first issue to reflect the changes. It goes on sale July 11 and will feature articles on every major title from E3, exclusive interviews and an enhanced DVD.

Florian Mueller, patent law expert and proprietor of the wonderful web site Foss Patents, passed along a note letting us know that the Federal Trade Commission recently sent a letter to the International Trade Commission asking the organization not to ban the sale of the iPhone, iPad or Xbox 360 related to complaints filed by Google.

If you were aching to get that $99 Xbox 360 deal (we detailed the pitfalls of it way back in Episode 2 of the Super PAC) then you might be happy to hear that Microsoft will extend the pilot program beyond the Microsoft store to other retailers including Best Buy and GameStop later this month.

According to a couple of tweets from the guys at Mojang today, the Xbox Live Arcade version of Minecraft is the "best selling Xbox Live Arcade ever."

"Best-selling Live Arcade game ever, in less than a month," said Minecraft creator and Mojang boss Markus Persson on Twitter earlier today.

Mojang business developer Daniel Kaplan later tweeted that the Xbox 360 version of the game has already managed to sell over 2 million units.

According to a Dealnews survey (accompanied by a handy dandy infographic) that polled 1,551 Dealnews readers the Xbox 360 is the gaming console of choice according to 38 percent of respondents. PC gaming comes in at second with 27 percent of those surveyed, followed by 20 percent who said they use the PS3, and 6 percent said they play exclusively on their smartphones.

Note to Microsoft: If you are going to host your E3 Media Briefing on Xbox Live, you might want to consider that when you issue commands to Kinect that they might activate commands on viewer's local systems. During the entire briefing I fought a war of words with my system yelling at it to "play" every time it paused or tried to exit out of the video I was watching.

Yesterday we reported that International Trade Commission (ITC) judge David Shaw recommended to the full ITC Commission that the import of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 slim models should be banned to the US, but patent expert Florian Mueller doesn't see it happening.

Earlier this month we reported that some consumers who purchased Minecraft on Xbox Live wanted a refund because they couldn't play the game in split-screen co-op. The problem related to the game requiring a high definition television set to play the game that way - a fact that they did not disclose to consumers in any of the game's information or on the product page. Because of this fact consumers felt misled and were demanding a refund.

In a post on the official Comcast blog, Tony Werner (Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, in Network and Operations) says that his company's video-on-demand service on Xbox Live, Xfinity, in no way violates net neutrality rules. In fact, he claims, the service is not an Internet service at all but a cable service served up using cable resources and not internet bandwidth.

Not long ago AT&T U-verse TV customers could order a "hardware kit" for their Xbox 360 that allowed them to use Microsoft's console as a set-top box. But according to a report from Multichannel.com, AT&T has suspended the program so that it can improve the service. In a statement on its website for the service AT&T wrote:

This week on the podcast we talk with Ben Sawyer, Project Director for Games for Health. Ben gives us a preview of what the event will offer next month and even talks a little bit about the impact of gamification on our privacy.

Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight delve into the fine print of Microsoft's recently announced $99 Xbox 360 and detail why it's not really a good deal for anyone. They also discuss the sorry state of the big three console makers.

According to this Kotaku report Microsoft is refusing to give some customers a refund for the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft. Why would people want a refund? Well, yesterday Kotaku uncovered the fact that if you don't own a high definition television set then the game won't allow you to play split-screen multiplayer with friends.

Minnesota Senator Al Franken (D) says that Comcast is thumbing its nose at net neutrality rules by offering an exemption to data caps when it comes to its Xfinity video services on Xbox Live. He feels so strongly about it that he has sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking both agencies to investigate the company. At the heart of Franken's complaint is that the content that is streamed directly to the Xbox console will not be counted against subscribers' 250GB monthly data cap.

Microsoft has a new Xbox 360 bundle that costs $99, but consumers that buy it will have to commit to a two-year contract for an Xbox Live Gold membership. And that two year membership will cost you about $15 a month. While the idea might be to subsidize or finance the console as a trade-off for the low price point, the move also smacks of false advertising because the console will ultimately cost consumers $99, then 24 months of paying $15, for a grand total (not including sales tax) of $459 (24 months x $15 = $360, plus the price of the console at $99).

A traffic stop in El Paso, Texas led to the arrest of a local man who found an exciting new way to hide his drug. While his method for concealment was certainly current generation thinking, it wasn't clever enough to trick the El Paso County Sheriffs' office. During a routine traffic stop because the driver failed to use his turn signal, police discovered three bundles of cocaine - two of which were hidden inside an Xbox 360 console - in a bag on the passenger seat of his older Mercedes.

Motorola Mobility has won an injunction against Microsoft in Germany prohibiting the sale of products in the country including Windows 7 and the Xbox 360. The injunction is the latest punch thrown in a bitter patent lawsuit between Motorola and Microsoft

A United States District Court has ruled that Microsoft can continue to sell Windows and Xbox 360 products in Germany - even if a German court rules in favor of an injunction request filed by Motorola. The dust up (as reported by Ars Technica) is related to a patented technology essential to the H.264 video standard, which Microsoft uses in its software products. To say the ruling is unusual would be an understatement because a U.S.

According to this C&VG report, the reason that owners of Mass Effect 3 on the PlayStation 3 do not have access to the multiplayer challenges that other platforms enjoy is because "Sony won't approve them."

Registered sex offenders of all designations residing in the state of New York will no longer be able to interact with children in some online console and PC games. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office has convinced several platform holders and game companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. and Disney Interactive Media Group to shut down the communication privileges of registered sex offenders.

The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Navy have launched a new research initiative that will find new ways to let the government gain access to information stored on home console systems like the Xbox 360 and PS3.

According to data gathered by Bungie, players have spent 235,182 years playing various Halo titles - Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach since 2004. They also say that over 20 billion Halo matches have been played on Xbox Live. Broken down by game titles, Halo 2 accounted for 5.4 billion games, Halo 3 / Halo 3: ODST were played 11.5 billion times (including ODST online co-op), and Halo: Reach matches were played 3.9 billion. Around 108,548,288,596 total kills were recorded across Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach.

Another, day another rumor about the next Xbox console from Microsoft - and this one is a whopper. According to a new rumor at VG247, the next Xbox console system will use "always on DRM" and its disc format will be Blu-Ray disc based. 

Comcast has dropped the term "Private Network" from the Xfinity On Demand on Xbox Live FAQ. The company did this after several sites - including VentureBeat (the source of this story) - called the company out on it. Comcast claimed that it used Xbox Live (which it described as "private network") to deliver its video content, but critics pointed out that the public internet and private networks are delivered over the same broadband infrastructure.