Microsoft fumbles UFC promotion on Xbox Live, promises improvements

By Mike Flacy January 3, 2012

xbox-picks-120111 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Partially kicking off Microsoft’s jump into becoming a provider of live television, the software company ran into a series of problems on Friday when attempting to broadcast the UFC 141 fight through the Xbox Live service as detailed by Dan Hsu. Designed to allow the purchase of UFC fights in either high or standard definition, the application brings more elements to the viewing experience including watching video of the weigh-in, choosing the winner of each fight and ranking your picks against friends who are also interested in UFC. The user can also check out the stats of each fighter as well as other information pertinent to the match.

Hoping to promote the event to hardcore UFC fanatics, Microsoft gave away approximately 30,000 free codes to access the fights. Once the matches started to kick off, technical issues on Microsoft’s end caused the application to stop loading for many users. For the users that did gain access to the app, the video feed was filled with stuttering and had a difficult time buffering to keep up with the demand. Users that invited friends over to watch the fights were forced to purchase the fight on other pay-per-view options or relocate to a local sports bar for access.

Microsoft responded with a statement that apologized to users attempting to access the app and stated “We want to ensure that the 30,000 giveaway recipients for UFC 141 have an optimal experience with UFC on Xbox LIVE, and we are currently working with our partners at the UFC to ensure we deliver just that. The gamertags of the 30,000 users who registered for UFC 141 are being safely kept on file for free access to a future UFC event, and we will have more updates to share in the near future.”

The application has support for the new dashboard and works with the Microsoft Kinect for navigation. Similar to pricing on movies and television shows, there are different price tiers based on the level of video definition. Users can also make purchases with the credit card associated with the Xbox Live account rather than having to purchase Marketplace points first.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Gaming

How to get to Monkey Island in Sea of Thieves

An election poster for guybrush in Sea of Thieves.

Over the course of its many years of updates and expansions, Sea of Thieves has had a few notable crossovers with other pirate franchises. The Pirates of the Caribbean crossover let you team up with the legendary Jack Sparrow, but the Monkey Island content felt like it came out of nowhere. For those unaware, Monkey Island is a series of pirate point-and-click games that were as funny as the puzzles were obscure. Thankfully, you don't have to intuit that you need to combine a cat whisker with a mason jar to bypass a skeleton guard to get to this new content, but it is more challenging than you might think.

Gaming

3 Xbox Game Pass games you need to play this weekend (May 3-5)

Senua in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Another weekend is upon us, and you're probably looking for some games to kill time with over the course of it. We're in a bit of a lull right now ahead of a flurry of releases starting next week, so it's a great time to dip back into the Xbox Game Pass catalog and check out some games that you may have missed. There are three games in particular that I think you should check out this weekend if you're looking for something to play.

One is an unsettling adventure that's getting an Xbox-exclusive sequel later this month. The next is a finely animated roguelike indie that recently made its way to Microsoft's gaming subscription service. Finally, there's a relaxing adventure that gives players a lot of freedom, yet is short enough to beat in a weekend. If you're having trouble deciding what to play this weekend, give one of these games a shot.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Gaming

3 underrated PS Plus games you should play this weekend (May 3-5)

The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra have been around for almost two years, and during that time the subscription service has established itself as an ample competitor to Xbox Game Pass. That means there is a wealth of great games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners to check out if they're looking for something to play this weekend. I think PS Plus subscribers should be looking toward some of the more underrated games in the subscription service this weekend too.

I have three particular picks in mind. The first is an enjoyable Metroidvania that came to PS Plus' game catalog when it launched just a couple of weeks ago and deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. After that, there's an action-platformer that pays homage to series like Ninja Gaiden that you should check out before it leaves the catalog. Finally, there's a PS2-era Star Wars game that fills the niche a recently canceled game would have.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau