Xbox Summer Stadium Starts Today

The Xbox Summer Stadium is a European promotion that intends to bring LIVE members an eight week calendar of sports entertainment and gaming. Starting today and carrying on until August 12th, the promotion will celebrate all of the sporting events taking place over the summer, including the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament and the London Olympic Games 2012. For those of you who don't like large amounts of text, have a quick look at this trailer to see what the event will offer:



The whole program kicks off with a free Xbox LIVE Gold weekend. Starting today and ending at 12PM BST on June 18th, all European gamers (not just UK gamers as we previously reported) will have access to entertainment features that would usually be exclusive to Gold members, such as Sky, Lovefilm, blinkbox, 4oD, Demand 5, MuzuTV, Filmstarts, Youtube, DailyMotion, Canal+ and Allocine. Of course, there's also the additional bonus of access to multiplayer gaming.

As we covered previously, tomorrow (June 16th) sees another attempt at smashing the Guinness World Record for the most people performing a 100m sprint simultaneously. To take part in the Guinness World Record - Charity Run, players need a copy of Kinect Sports. The attempt will take place at 6PM BST, but would-be entrants are asked to be online at least five minutes before the attempt takes place. Select 'Sprint' from the Mini-Games section of Kinect Sports and complete a 100m sprint between 6PM and 6:10 PM for your contribution to count.

Microsoft will be donating £1 or €1 to the Right to Play charity for every participant in the Charity Run. The charity aims to show "how the power of sport can be used to educate and empower children facing adversity" and they currently operate in more than 20 countries. Microsoft hopes that their donation will allow the charity to reach out to 10,000 more children worldwide. If you're unable to take part in the world record attempt but would like to do your bit for the charity, you can make a donation from the charity page here.



The Summer Stadium will pit countries and gamers against each other in a bid to top the leaderboard each week. How do you top the leaderboard? By taking part in the variety of challenges and promotions that will be running through the eight week period. Here is the schedule:

June 22nd to July 31st - Forza Motorsport 4 Tournament
A series of timed knockout rounds will attempt to find the ultimate Forza 4 champion. Go to the 'Rivals Mode' option in the 'Community' section of the game and you will see the event listed for each round. This is also the location for finding out whether you were fast enough to make it into the next round.

Qualifying Round: To qualify for the contest, all players must post a track time in ‘Rival Mode’ on the specified circuit between June 22nd and July 5th. You can run as many laps as you wish and your fastest lap will be the one that counts to take you through to the Quarter Finals. You can follow the Top 10 lap times by visiting our Leaderboard.

The Quarter Finals: You’ll be notified in-game if you have made it through to the Quarter Finals. To qualify for the Semi-Finals, all players must post a track time in ‘Rival Mode’ on the specified circuit between July 10th and July 17th. The fastest hundred will go through to the semi-finals and, as before, you can make as many attempts to improve your lap time. You can follow the Top 10 lap times by visiting our Leaderboard.

The Semi Finals: You’ll be notified in-game if you have made it through to the Semi Finals. To qualify for the finals, the remaining 100 players must post a track time in ‘Rival Mode’ on the specified circuit between July 21st and July 24th. You can run as many laps as you can to get a better chance of being the fastest 24 players that will be selected through to the final. You can follow the Top 10 lap times by visiting our Leaderboard.

The Final: The final takes place on the 31st July and the final 24 can run as many laps to log their fastest time in order to become the Official Xbox Summer Stadium Forza 4 Tournament Champion.Participants in this tournament will get a chance to win an Xbox Kinect Bundle with a Xbox 360 Chrome Controller and an Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel, a Samsung 46” 3D TV and a Samsung Home Theatre System.

June 29th to July 1st - FIFA 12 Challenge
To take part in this challenge, gamers simply have to play the game between the dates above. Interested participants will have to register through the link on this page. A prize draw between all of the participants will decide the lucky winner of an Xbox Kinect Bundle and Samsung D8000 40” 3D TV.

July 6th to July 8th - Kinect Sports Paddle Panic
Players have to play the Paddle Panic mini-game and aim for the highest score between July 6th and July 8th. The person who tops the table at the end of the time period will win an Xbox Kinect Bundle, a Samsung D8000 40” 3D TV and 2 tickets to the Olympic Basketball finals. Interested participants will have to register through the link on this page.

July 13th to July 15th - Dance Central 2 Challenge
To take part in this challenge, gamers simply have to play the game between the dates above. Interested participants will have to register through the link on this page. A prize draw between all of the participants will decide the lucky winner of two tickets to an exclusive Xbox gig performed by the Kaiser Chiefs in London, including accommodation.

July 20th to July 22nd - http://www.trueachievements.com/KS-Season-Two-xbox-360.htm Golf Challenge
Players have to play the Gold mini-game and aim for the highest score between the dates above. The person who tops the table at the end of the time period will win an Xbox Kinect Bundle and a Samsung D8000 40” 3D TV. Interested participants will have to register through the link on this page.

July 27th to July 29th - London 2012: The Official Video Game Swimming Challenge
Players have to play the Swimming: 100M Freestyle level between the dates above. Interested participants will have to register through the link on this page. A prize draw between all of the participants will decide the lucky winner of an Xbox Kinect Bundle and Samsung D8000 40” 3D TV.

Of course, even if you don't win any of the above six challenges and tournaments, you will automatically be entered into the Nation Versus Nation Challenge. This is where helping your country to get the highest amount of points will come in handy. Participating members of the country with the most points collected from all of the Challenges and the Forza Tournament will be entered into a Grand Prize Draw for a chance to win a prize package containing an Xbox Kinect Bundle with Xbox 360 Chrome Controller and an Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel, a Samsung 46” 3D TV and Samsung Home Theatre System.

Good luck to all people taking part in the event!