Xbox

Xbox One China, Right On Schedule

Chinese media is reporting that Microsoft’s Xbox One console is right on schedule for its September 23 release in the middle kingdom. Shanghai-based Dragon TV reports that the Xbox One has already gone through and was approved by the customs process in Shanghai and is now being packed onto trucks for shipment across the country.…

Argghhhh. I want to be able to transfer my Diablo III save from Xbox One to PS4 and back but can’t. So frustrating, given all the other transfers Blizzard allows.

Destiny Really Needs Beards

Destiny is big on its customisation, but there’s one thing missing – beards. This came to the fore when I asked Jonty Barnes, director of production at Bungie, what the team had learned after Destiny’s beta. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK “Here’s a funny one for you – this was a surprise –…

Once Again, Atlus Doesn’t Want You to Spoil the New Persona

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is out in stores in Japan right now, and once again, Atlus is asking that people be considerate. If you access the Japanese Persona 4 Arena Ultimax homepage right now, you’ll be greeted by an image overlay of the character of Teddy – or rather the shadow version of Teddy –…

Minecraft–Doctor Who Partnership Results in Awful Pun

“Doctor Who is set to become ‘Blocktor Who’ when characters from the series arrive on the Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft in September.” Ugh. The above line is from BBC Worldwide’s official Doctor Who website, where it sits on top of an article presenting an upcoming skin pack for Minecraft’s Xbox 360 version. The pack…

Stand-Alone Xbox One Kinect Will Cost $150

In June, Microsoft started selling the Xbox One without Kinect. In October, you’ll be able to buy the Kinect on its own—but it’ll cost you $150. Standalone versions of the Xbox One’s Kinect will go on sale October 7, Microsoft said today. The motion-sensing accessory will come with a digital copy of Harmonix’s Dance Central…

Co-Op Multiplayer Coming to Dragon Age: Inquisition

Bioware’s upcoming fantasy epic isn’t going to just have a huge single-player campaign. Dragon Age: Inquisition is also going to have co-op multiplayer, too. Get ready to battle for loot. IGN has the first details on Inquisition‘s online component, which sounds like it shares some DNA with the multiplayer seen in Mass Effect 3. Designed…

How I Broke My Addiction To Achievements

The first piece I ever wrote for Kotaku chronicled my fun-sucking addiction to achievements. 15 months later, I’m back to tell you how I overcame that addiction. Even back then, at the peak of my achievement obsessing, my resolve was starting to crack. The grind had become too tedious, too time-consuming, and too much of…

Diablo III On Xbox One vs PS4 vs PC

Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition dropped for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this week, and it’s good. So good, in fact, that it has Kotaku‘s Yannick LeJacq switching his Diablo allegiance from PC to PS4 Now the folks at Digital Foundry have put together a helpful side-by-side comparison of the game running on all three…

Microsoft Says Free Xbox Live Game Download Was An Error [UPDATE]

For a while there, it looked like Xbox One owners might soon be able to download and try out even more games from Microsoft free of charge. But Microsoft says that the screen teasing this possibility was an error. First spotted overnight by Reddit users who who’ve downloaded the latest XB1 firmware beta, a tile…

Microsoft’s Pretty New Platformer Is Looking Great So Far

I went into Ori and the Blind Forest… well, blind. I had seen a trailer for it back at E3, but other than that I hadn’t bothered with any information. Nothing against it, I just hadn’t bothered. [This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK] I came out of my demo session with it at Gamescom…

The Xbox One’s August update will start rolling out today, Microsoft says. Improvements include a better friends list, new activity feed updates, and a low-battery notification for the controller.

How Xbox is Changing its Dudebro Image

You know the strange thing about my eight years with the Xbox 360? Despite the fact that I played it most days, I often felt kind of alienated by it. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK The ads it was serving me, the language used on the dash and the games that Xbox always…

Xbox One Will Soon Let You Play Pirated Movies & TV Shows

It’s not the kind of news that makes the headlines during a press conference, but it is the kind of news that can help sell systems: the Xbox One is getting native, official support for .mkv, one of the world’s most popular video formats (well, containers). Let’s get real: while they have many technical benefits,…

“We will clearly spend money on marketing the game, there’s no doubt about that. And we do [that] on games where we have very little to do with development, and with games that we fully develop. And we will definitely be spending money on developing the game – I want to make sure that it’s…

Rise of the Tomb Raider Isn’t Really An ‘Xbox Exclusive’

Yesterday, Microsoft dropped the first bomb of Gamescom 2014: that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be an Xbox exclusive. Except, wait. It’s not. Turns out this was yet another a case of shady corporate double-speak, and this is actually a timed exclusive. “Yes, the deal has a duration,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer told Eurogamer.…

The Witcher 3 Sure Is Pretty

It’s hard to discern much about how The Witcher 3 plays, or whether it will feel as grand as it looks, or whether the combat is any good. But there’s one thing we can tell from this new gameplay footage: The Witcher 3—out in February for PS4/Xbox One/PC—sure is pretty. I mean, look at that…

No, You Can’t Bite People in FIFA 15

Sebastien Enrique is the lead producer on the PS4 and Xbox One versions of FIFA 15. He’s been at EA Sports since FIFA 06 – in other words, when the series was still awful – and he’s been there to see its rise to greatness. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK I think he’s…

People Are Pissed That Tomb Raider Is An Xbox Exclusive

This morning’s biggest Gamescom news was that Rise of the Tomb Raider, the next big console installment in Lara Croft’s adventures, will be an Xbox exclusive. And people are pissed. Well, to be honest, it’s not really clear whether Rise of the Tomb Raider is a permanent Xbox exclusive. Game publishers like Microsoft and Sony…

Watch The New Call of Duty Blow Up A Bridge

Most of the Call of Duty news since Advanced Warfare was first announced has focused on the multiplayer. That’s understandable. But it also means that one of the shooter franchise’s other important assets hasn’t had a chance to shine through: its unique ability to make blow up iconic pieces of architecture. Cue giant bridge explosion:…