By Rob Gordon CEO blogger gets chatty One of the things we love here at Xbox Today are CEOs who blog. It's a great way to find out juicy gaming information that isn't public, as well as not-so-juicy details about how they like to mix Butterfinger in their french vanilla yogurt. Thankfully, we've got the former today. Game Republic's CEO Yoshiki Okamoto announced on his blog recently that a new game is in the works for the Xbox 360. From the man's bloggerino:The Xbox 360 project that we're working on now hasn't been announced yet, but I think it's safe to say that this game is well worth looking forward to. Okamato worked on games like Street Fighter and Resident Evil back during his 20-year Capcom run, so whenever he's developing a new project, our interest is piqued. Game Republic previously released Every Party for the Xbox 360 late last year in Japan, but the title hasn't arrived on this side of the globe yet.

By Rob Gordon Almost 3,000 gamers show up to snag swag; chuck stuff Normally, we wouldn't cover such light frivolity such as an Xbox 360 Australian launch celebration breaking a world record in the oh-so-competitive field of water balloon throwing. But it's Saturday and 25% of each registration fee went to charity, so we figured Microsoft deserved some free publicity. All in all, 2921 gamers flung 55,000 water balloons on Australia's Coogee Beach, shattering the record held by 2,677 Spaniards in 2005. Will the Spaniards return in 2007 to reclaim the world record? Sadly, we shall have to wait until next year to find out the answer to that burning question. The big winner was Coogee Beach, since $5 from each paid registrant was donated to the Coogee Surf Lifesaving Club. Almost three thousand people at five dollars a pop looks like a little under $15,000 raised for a good cause.

By Rob Gordon Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies... From the American Heritage Dictionary: ru·mor (rū'mər) n. 1. A piece of unverified information of uncertain origin usually spread by word of mouth. 2. Unverified information received from another; hearsay. Of course, the unwritten number three defintion would be: 3. Juicy, if not confirmably true, information that is the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast. With that public service announcement out of the way, have we got some delicious Xbox 360 rumors for you! These are allegedly by way of a Microsoft employee who posted on a spanish language forum and was translated by "spanix" on TeamXbox. Are they true? Who knows. But the best lies have shreds of truth in them, so if even 1/3 of the following tidbits are correct, Xbox 360 owners will have reason to celebrate. Here are the rumors in all their unbelievable glory:

By Brandon Smith Speaking with the German site Spiegel Online, Chris Lewis compares the Blu-ray vrs HD-DVD war to VHS and Betamax In a recent interview with the German site Spiegel Online, Chris Lewis, Microsoft's regional vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and the head of the company's Xbox gaming business in Europe, compared the Sony supported Blu-ray discs to Betamax - and we all know how well that turned out. "Blu-ray right now reminds us of another technology from Sony: Betamax. A bit like VHS—we think that HD DVD is the format that consumers, film studios and publishers will embrace. As you're mentioning the cost of Blu-ray—we think it's about giving consumers choice, we think it's about not necessarily asking them to pay over the odds for a technology that, at the moment, is unproven."

By Sean Lennox Creating a unique faceplate is a snap, as Nyko gives gamers endless options for customizing their 360 faceplates Nyko’s highly anticipated GameFace 360, a fully-customizable faceplate accessory for the Xbox 360, is now available at most major retailers The GameFace 360 is a unique accessory that promotes creativity and individuality by giving users a fun and easy way to create faceplate skins at home. Nyko’s GameFace 360 will allow gamers to upload pictures, photos, drawings or their own artisticic masterpiece into the Nyko program, then print their design and clip it to their facepate. “Microsoft designed a product with a removable faceplate; Nyko is answering the gamers’ call to fully exploit the fun option of personalizing the 360,” said Susan Corben Cox, vice president of marketing, Nyko Technologies. “At Nyko, we listen to the gamers, and design products to enhance their gaming lifestyle.”