There's a lot that went on for Microsoft this week. Not only did they game assets/ data revealed, they also have movie adaptations of their games to look forward to, as well as new online features for the XBL. And what's this? A hundred bucks' worth of price cut on the Elite unit? Maybe that's why they're not too worried about the rumored PS3 price cut, cos they're gonna get a headstart on it? We'll see when it happens. But in the meantime, catch all of that and more in this issue of the Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior.

Great news to all US-based Xbox gamers, you can now use PayPal as a method of payment on Xbox Live Marketplace. PayPal on Xbox LIVE allows users to buy Microsoft Points without having to associate your credit card information to your Xbox LIVE account.

It's quite an emotional rollercoaster, this week really was. Straight off from the news that the King of Pop has died, we went on to have the usual string of gaming news that rocked our own worlds. With the usual news on lawsuits, layoffs, company shutdowns, convicted murderers over consoles, it was looking to be a sad state of affairs. Good thing we've got our own Neverland to brighten things up a bit. And now we've come to the Fourth of July weekend. Time to kick off those shoes, stretch out, unwind and celebrate. You know we all deserve it. Happy FOJ weekend, everyone!

Want to play Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Xbox 360, PC) but don't have a credit card to pay for the monthly dues? Well, you won't need one since Funcom has partnered up with PayByCash. Want to find out more? Check out the full article by clicking on the "read more" link below.

There's a new game trading site in town, and it boasts of a quality way to get the games you want, so long as you take care of the games you own yourself. It's called GameZola, and they boast some unique features.

For starters, they're banking on increased security to give themselves that boost among conscientious gamers by tracking games from the moment they're sent into their offices and out of their base. At the same time, trading is done with gamers in mind, letting you see the activity happening with the trades you're making and allowing people to buy tokens through PayPal with which to purchase trades rather than subscribing to a service to get your games.

Simon Lee, Chief Operating officer of the service, had this to say, "We were simple gamers who just got tired of spending so much on used or new games from retailers. So we started developing Gamezola for gamers by gamers." Well, with a distribution service that's easier on the wallet, you can be certain that they'll be getting themselves a pretty faithful userbase soon enough.

Well, we know microtransactions are here to stay, especially with the rise of point-payment schemes within the public consciousness. Now that all three consoles are out and micropayment transactions are more or less common knowledge to anyone tech-savvy, you can expect that Microsoft wants to get in on the action.

In fact, they intend to do so by building their own brand of micropayment service, one which Bill Gates thinks could stand on top of the world of micropayments.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Gates was looking into ways to make micropayments even more viable online. The DOW Jones Newswire mentions that Gates said,

If you want to charge somebody US$ 0.10 or US$ 1 a month, that will just be a click... you won't have to manage some funny thing or pay some big credit charge, where half of it goes to the clearing.

To do that, credit card fees have to be undercut, a feat that basically asks credit card companies to make a lot less money.

Ars Technica notes a couple of possibilities that Microsoft could take. For starters, they could expand upon the current notion of Microsoft Points, letting people buy as many points as they need to acquire a particular item they want. On the other hand, they could also try to beat out credit card companies and PayPal by making their own real-money service that intends to beat PayPal at their game. All in all, if Gates can pull it off successfully, you can expect a different way of paying for your games in the next few years, and perhaps, even your groceries.

Amidst the bad PR we gamers usually get, Child's Play trudges on to get the world to think otherwise. This year, it has raised around US$ 963,000 for sick children in hospitals around the world.

Child's Play is a Seattle-based charitable organization founded in 2003 by gamers Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, aka Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade. The organization donates games, DVDs, books, and other toys to sick kids around the globe, including hospitals in Canada, Britain, Egypt, and Australia. Gamers, or people who simply wish to help, can see the wish lists at Amazon.com or donate cash through PayPal.

This helps a lot of sick kids go through uncomfortable treatments and gives them some sort of relief that they would be able to play while in therapy. And some people think gamers are mindless zombies with cash to burn. Think about it, hitting the one million mark would be a great milestone for all of us.

There have been several reports that certain e--mails supposedly from Lik-Sang are being circulated. These emails are suspected to be phishing attempts which are taking advantage of Lik-Sang's recent and very public announcement that they are going out of business and that they would issue refunds to everyone with outstanding orders with the company.

For those unfamliar with the term, "phishing" is defined as "a criminal activity using social engineering techniques. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out using e-mail or an instant message, although phone contact has been used as well."

In the case of this fake Lik-Sang e-mail, the e-mail states that the receiver of the message is due to receive an additional US$9.99 refund on top of whatever else they are supposed to receive. The e-mail will then request the user to confirm his or her PayPal account by clicking on a link.

As with any suspicious-looking e-mail, DO NOT CLICK ON THESE LINKS as it leads to a fake PayPal log-in page which uses the domain "LJK-SANG.COM" (note the "J" in the name) instead of "PAYPAL.COM". This page is likely meant to gather people's PayPal log in information as well as financial details.

Read the Full Article and view the e-mail message in question after the Jump!

Interested? Then read on for more of the contest details: To be able to participate, simply post your idea for a game that you intend to develop over at the XNA Creator's Club Contest Forum. Use Game Studio Express and XNA. You also have to post once a week on a blog at the xbox360homebrew site where you will put up screenshots and snippets about the progress of your game.

You will be given your own blog on the said site where you can post as often as you want so that the voters will also get an idea on what you're developing and to also help you track your own progress. As for criteria and judging, this will be left entirely up to the community via polls at the site.

Timeline:

• September 25 - October 9 : Signups
• October 9 - December 9: Contest
• December 9 - December 16: Voting
• Distribution of Prizes will happen when Microsoft opens registration for the Creator's club.  A cash prize for ($ 99 for 1st place or $ 49 for second place) can be chosen by the winner via PayPal instead.

Legal Information: You should know that the contest is subject to change at any time and that xbox360homebrew will not be held responsible for changes in dates, rules, or prizes. Moreover, if Microsoft decides to delay the Creator's Club's release, or change the availability and/or pricing of the annual or 4-month subscription, you can choose to receive $ 99 or $ 49 respectively instead if you do win. Cash will be sent via paypal.

There you have it, so if you're interested in making your own game, it's time to get those creative juices flowing and do something cool for the xbox360 community. For those who are planning on joining, we wish you tons of luck and we look forward to featuring you on our site as well. Cheers!