Tag: Xbox 360

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Featured News Video Games

Will Microsoft call its next generation console the Xbox Fusion? Domain names point to yes

Xbox Fusion

If Microsoft has learned anything from its previous mistakes with launching a product without the matching domains — then it’s quite possible that the company’s next generation console will be called the “Xbox Fusion”.

Microsoft owns the name in a variety of different extensions and it has for years.

Speculation about the name being called “Xbox Fusion” isn’t anything new.  But what separates “Xbox Fusion” and only a few other names from the rest of the list, is that not only does Microsoft own the dot-com (WHOIS), it owns a slew of other domains like XboxFusion.info, XboxFusion.biz, XboxFusion.de, XboxFusion.co.uk – the list goes on and on.

Speculation of the next gen console’s name has gone wild, fueled lately by the recent leak on Reddit of what may be the logo.

Names being kicked around include the Xbox 720, Xbox Infinity, Xbox Infinite, Xbox Gold, Xbox 8, Xbox Durango, Xbox Next, and more.

Domain investor Andy Booth – who knows a thing or two about domains with names like samurai.com – dropped me an email out of the blue saying he believes Microsoft will go with “Xbox Fusion” based on the number of names the company has registered and that the “infinity” symbol is also interpreted as “fusion”.

In case you haven’t been keeping a score card of Microsoft’s matching domains, here’s a look:

Xbox720.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does not own the domain.

XboxInfinity.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does not own the domain.

Xbox8.com (WHOIS) -Microsoft does not own the domain.

XboxDurango.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does not own the domain.

XboxInfinite.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does not own the domain.

XboxFusion.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft owns the domain.

XboxNext.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft owns the domain.

XboxGold.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft owns the domain.

So will Microsoft go with a name it doesn’t currently own? Or with a name already in its portfolio?

We should know in late May.

For those of you who don’t remember, Microsoft got off to a somewhat embarrassing start with the initial release of the Xbox console back in 2001 by not even owning the trademark to Xbox.  Although it eventually acquired the mark, Microsoft, like many big companies and their worst kept secrets, has often failed to secure the domain name ahead of time before the product was announced or launched. Halo 4 and Kinect.com are just two examples.

Currently, XboxFusion.com redirects visitors to Xbox.com, while XboxNext and XboxGold redirect users to Bing.

Talking about this story: SlashGear, IGN, Joystiq, Game Informer, NowGamer, MCV, Neowin, Softpedia, Games.com, VG247, Gameranx, GamingBolt, Den of Geek, BeefJack, Game Rant, WinBeta, Connected Digital World, Ping! Zine Web Tech Magazine, This is Xbox, iDigitalTimes, iTech Post, Gamers.fr, GameZone, 411mania.com, Game Guru, Gameblog, GameStar, Digital Spy, Digital Trends, Shacknews, TechRadar UK, Xbox 360 – The Official Magazine, Ubergizmo, PC Games, PC INpact, Vandal, Eurogamer.it, WinFuture, Gaming Everything, Geekets, International Business Times, Game7, Gamenguide, Gadget Insiders, GameDynamo, gamona.de, Jeux Video.fr, jeuxvideo24.com, GameFly, playm.de, Bitbag, Develop, WebProNews, TechnoBuffalo, Xboxygen, Warp Zoned, The Slanted and NeoGAF

(Image of next-generation Xbox logo via Reddit)

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Disputes Featured News Video Games WIPO

Take-Two continues legal fight over Grand Theft Auto V beta domain names

Grand Theft Auto V

Take-Two Interactive has been plagued with scammers who register domain names, and then set up websites that falsely claim to offer beta codes to Grand Theft Auto V, which will release on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC later this year.

The legal team at Take-Two has been busy the past few months, filing several complaints with the Word Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over names like betagtav.com and gta5betacode.com.  In the last few days, five more cases involving GTA V have popped up on the website over at WIPO bringing the total case count to 12.

The latest round of disputes involves the following names.

gtavbetacodes.com (WHOIS / Case)
gta5betacodes.com (WHOIS / Case)
gta5-beta.com (WHOIS / Case)
gta5freedownload.com (WHOIS / Case)
gta5download.org (WHOIS / Case)

While some of the domains don’t resolve to a website or are parked, others are full-fledged websites with the intent to deceive users.

Here’s a screenshot of gtavbetacodes.com, which tries to get unsuspecting users to download a file to their computer.

GTA V Beta Download scam website

To date, Take-Two has won disputes over getgtavbeta.com, betagtav.com, gtavbeta.org and gtaavbeta.net.

Talking about this story: Examiner.com

(Image of Grand Theft Auto V via RockstarGames.com)

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Disputes Featured News WIPO

Take-Two going after more Grand Theft Auto V beta scammers, additional complaints filed

Grand Theft Auto V Beta

In February, Take-Two Interactive won a dispute over the domain getgtavbeta.com, which was followed by a win over betagtav.com, a phony website that claimed to have beta keys to the game.  Now, Take-Two has a total of four open cases over Grand Theft Auto V related domains.

This week, complaints were filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over gta5betacode.com (Case Number: D2013-0490) and grandtheftauto5beta.com (Case Number: D2013-0489).

While grandtheftauto5beta.com does not resolve to a web page at the moment, gta5betacode.com (screenshot above) is a full-fledged website, complete with a Facebook page that has over 1,000 likes and a YouTube account.

How does the scam work?

People who visit the website are first instructed to help unwittingly spread the scam through Facebook.  If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can see the steps.

GTA V Beta scam

If you click the “Get Your Key!” button, you’re taken to another page that has you pick a console.

After you select a console, the final page is shown that tries tricking you into downloading a file to your computer.

If you don’t think people still fall for these absurd and obvious scams, take a look at the website’s related Facebook page.  At the time of this story, it has over 1,300 likes.

GTA 5 Beta Facebook page

This case will be another slam-dunk for Take-Two.

Gta5betacode.com is owned by a resident of Pennsylvania, who first registered the domain in January 2013.

Talking about this story: VG247, playNATION.de, Eurogamer.net, Digital Trends, Attack of the Fanboy, Explosion, Menly, Product Reviews, In Entertainment, MCV, GameSpot, PSX Extreme, MegaGames, GamePro, Xbox Way, games.reveur.de, PIXEL ENEMY and Examiner.com

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Disputes News Video Games WIPO

Take-Two wins another dispute over a Grand Theft Auto V beta domain, 3 more to go

Grand Theft Auto V Beta

Take-Two Interactive has won a dispute over the domain betagtav.com, a name that was registered back in 2011 shortly after Grand Theft Auto V’s official announcement.  The game is set to be released in September 2013.

Last year, the domain owner launched a website on betagtav.com that claimed to have beta keys to the game.  Of course, the website was a fake.  But it wasn’t the only site on the internet issuing fake beta keys.  There were and are others.

At the beginning of 2013, Take-Two filed five separate complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over ‘GTA V Beta’ domains.

In February, it won a dispute over getgtavbeta.com, but there are still 3 more cases that are active and undecided.  The cases involve gtavbeta.net, gtavbeta.org, and  gta5downloadsecure.com.

You can see a screenshot below of betagtav.com from 2012.  The web address currently redirects users to Rockstar Games’ official website.

Grand Theft Auto V Beta

Expect to see more complaints filed over beta domains in 2013 as scammers continue to prey on unsuspecting fans of popular video games.

Last year, Microsoft took control of the domain names Halo4Beta.biz and Halo4Beta.net, after filing similar complaints.

Talking about this story: Examiner.com

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum Video Games

Next-generation Xbox may be called Xbox Gold, according to recent domain activity [UPDATED]

Xbox Gold

As we get closer to Microsoft revealing its next-generation Xbox console, there will be a lot more talk about the name. Over the years, people have been suggesting possible names like the Xbox 720, Xbox Infinity, Xbox 8, Xbox Next, and the list goes on and on.

Given all the information already known about the next-gen console, here’s another name to throw into the ring: Xbox Gold.

Now before you say to yourself, “No way it will be called this”, this speculation isn’t entirely from left field, as Microsoft has left a new trail of domain bread crumbs recently involving the name “Xbox Gold”.

Trail of domain clues

The first clue that Microsoft may have plans to use “Xbox Gold” came two weeks ago when the company filed a complaint (Case Number: 1483759) with the National Arbitration Forum over the domain XboxGold.org. A day later, Microsoft followed up that complaint, with another over Xbox-Gold.com (Case Number: 1484502).

Then, this week, the company acquired the name XboxGold.com from its previous owner, according to WHOIS records.

And that’s not all: over the last several days, as rumors of Microsoft preparing an Xbox event in April have been swirling around the internet, the company has been quietly acquiring and purchasing other “Xbox Gold” domain names like XboxGold.cn, XboxGold.es, XboxGold.eu, XboxGold.in, XboxGold.com.au, and XboxGold.asia.

Since Microsoft first filed its domain disputes earlier this month, I’ve been doing quite a bit of monitoring of Xbox Gold domains and have tracked the activity, which has led me to speculate on the next-gen console’s name.

Protecting IP or aligning next-gen console’s name with an already existing service?

You could argue Microsoft is doing nothing more than protecting its intellectual property, particularly its Xbox LIVE Gold subscription service.

It’s a possibility the company is simply defending its IP, but it’s also a possibility that the console could be named “identically to one of already existing services”, as was one of many rumors last October.

Users often refer to Xbox LIVE Gold as Xbox Gold, and if Microsoft decides to couple the next-gen console’s name with one of its already existing services, what better name than “Xbox Gold”?

While “Xbox Gold” hasn’t been one of the next-gen console names being tossed around the internet before, with all the recent steps the company has been taking to secure domain names this month, it’s a candidate.

Xbox LIVE Gold has been around for a number of years, so why start “defensively” acquiring and purchasing related names to the service a month before the rumored big reveal of the next-gen Xbox? Microsoft could have gone after the names a long time ago.

Microsoft’s report card on matching Xbox next-gen domains

The company’s report card on owning matching Xbox next-gen domain names is mixed.

Which name Microsoft goes with, may depend on what they already own.

Here’s a look.

Xbox720.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does not own the domain.  The web address made news last year after the owner redirected it to Sony’s Playstation 3 site.  Today, the name sends visitors to a website called eGusta.

XboxInfinity.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does not own the domain.  It is currently owned by a resident of China who registered the name after it expired in late 2012.  The domain points a parked web page monetized with ads.

Xbox8.com (WHOIS) -Microsoft does not own the domain.  It is also owned by a resident of China.  The domain name does not resolve to a web site at the time of this story being published.

XboxDurango.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does not own the domain.  It’s parked at Go Daddy and registered to a resident of California.

XboxNext.com (WHOIS) – Microsoft does own this domain, which it uses to redirect visitors to Bing.  The company has owned the domain for more than 10 years, but has never put it to use.

XboxGold.com (WHOIS) – You already know the story. Microsoft acquired the name earlier this week, but it’s unknown whether the company opened up its wallet to acquire the name, or if it threatened legal action in order to obtain it.

What next?

With regards to the XboxGold.org and Xbox-Gold.com domain disputes, the cases are still pending.  It may be weeks before we know the outcome.Last July, Microsoft’s won two Xbox 8-related names at NAF.

In 2013 alone, the company has won or filed complaints over a number of names like XboxFitness.com, XboxFitness.net, XboxAccount.com, XboxSafety.com and more.

I’ve reached out to XboxGold.com’s previous owner to inquire about the transaction, and will update this post if I hear anything back.

UPDATE 1:. “Xbox Gold & Entertainment” is mentioned in this internal Microsoft event agenda that was leaked.   It does have a “services” ring to it… via: Gamechup  source: NeoGAF

Internal Event Agenda (Microsoft Xbox) March 2013

Talking about this story: NeoGAF, Anime News Network, OnlineWelten.com, NowGamer, PC Games Hardware, PC Games, GameZone and We Got This Covered

Readers: What do you think? Is “Xbox Gold” a long shot?

(Image of next Xbox concept art via designer Joseph Dumary)