Microsoft

​Your Xbox One Responds To ‘Sexbox.’ The PS4? ‘Babe Station.’

To access the voice-control functionality on an Xbox One, you say, “Xbox.” To access it on PlayStation 4, you say, “PlayStation.” But those greetings aren’t very fun or sexy, are they? As Stephen found when he tested it out, the PlayStation 4 actually responds to some pretty casual language. You can say “A.C. Four” or…

​The Best Next-Gen Game. The Worst Next-Gen Dialogue.

Y’know, the collective chatter amongst Kotaku writers has unofficially dubbed Need for Speed Rivals as the best next-gen game so far. Several among us have raved about the way it draws you in and entices you to keep playing. But, man, the lines coming out of the characters’ mouths in this racing game are terrible.…

As Xbox One Complaints Increase, Microsoft Promises Improvements

Day-one Xbox One adopters have had their consoles for a week and a half now, and the warts are starting to show. Over the past few days, we’ve seen a surge of complaints about the new Xbox’s interface and operating system, and today, Microsoft’s publicly promising that they’ll do better. We mentioned a few of…

​The Game That Lets You Create for Xbox One Is Now In Open Beta

Project Spark—a game creation suite that lets players make platformers, RPGs and much more—might be Microsoft’s secret weapon for the Xbox One. Today, you can sign up to be among the first to try it out as long as you’re using Windows 8.1. If you’re running the latest update to Microsoft’s OS, you can go…

Here’s More Proof A Retro Run And Gun Borderlands 2 Would Be Fantastic

Borderlands 2‘s fast and frenetic gameplay could be perfectly converted into a classic 2D run & gun arcade game, similar to the Metal Slug series. Olsonmabob on DeviantART couldn’t resist further playing with this idea and made a pretty lively piece of concept art. His demake features the utopian city of Opportunity from Borderlands 2,…

Artists at Rovio were asked to mix Angry Birds with other games, and this Street Fighter mashup is what Javier Burgos came up with. Awesome coloring! And he really had to make those birds look upset to avoid mockery. Dayshot is an image-based feature, that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related…

When Composers Make Music Out Of The Xbox One Startup Sound

Last week, I wrote an article about how the Xbox One startup sound is a little melody. I even made the Xbox One and Xbox 360 perform a little duet. Then, something awesome happened. Inspired by that article, the folks over at Disquiet made the Xbox One startup sound into a compositional challenge. How many…

Battlefield 4 Reinvents Jousting With Jet Skis And Bazookas

Having a good time in Battlefield 4 in an unconventional way doesn’t always mean stacking 64 players into an elevator or changing pilot seats mid-air. There’s jet ski jousting! Jackfrags and his crew show us how to play this grand sporting spectacle. Two teams battle for supremacy on water, while jet skis and rocket launchers…

You Can Access The Xbox One’s Developer Tools Right Now [UPDATE]

If you’d like to take revenge on the Xbox One for watching you move and listening to everything you say, you can now get inside its brain and see a whole bunch of developer settings you probably shouldn’t be looking at. Every Xbox One is rigged to be a developer kit, as Microsoft told us…

How To Find Demos On Xbox One

Good news: the Xbox One has game demos! Bad news: they’re kind of annoying to find. You can’t see the free versions of each game in the Xbox One store itself—and there aren’t all that many available yet (though Microsoft’s Larry Hryb promises to keep us updated)—so if you want to find demos for the…

Xbox LIVE Gold 1 Year Subscription For $35

eBay has 1 year of LIVE Gold for $35. Basically if you own a Microsoft console then you want this deal. [eBay] The Best Cyber Monday Gaming Deals The Best Cyber Monday Deals Follow Kotaku Deals on Twitter to never miss a deal. Get in touch with Shane Roberts onTwitter or by e-mailing Shane@Gawker This…

The Bittersweet Story of Francis, YouTube’s Biggest Video Game Nerd

It’d be easy to think that getting a PS4 four days before most of the world was the coolest thing to happen to the man who plays combustible video game nerd Francis on YouTube. Or maybe it was having Xbox exec Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb fly down to his house for a trash-talking lightsaber battle…

Modder Shows Xbox One Can Boot From a Bigger, Faster Hard Drive

Despite the lack of support to swap in different hard drives (especially ones of a larger capacity) in the Xbox One, this guy says he’s gotten the two pieces of hardware to cooperate. Not only that, the console runs faster with a non-stock hard drive installed. Booting to the main screen goes about 10 percent…

Expect The Phantom Pain When Lots of People Have PS4s

Excited about Metal Gear Solid V? Wondering when the main part, The Phantom Pain, is coming out? Game creator Hideo Kojima recently named a launch window for the game. It’s incredibly vague. Hideo Kojima was in New York for the release of the PlayStation 4 earlier this month and was approached by Weekly Famitsu about…

Xbox One Boxes Going For Nearly As Much As The Console Itself on eBay

Typically, spending a ton of money and only ending up with a box is a scam people don’t want to buy into. Unless, apparently, you really want special Xbox One packaging. Last time we looked at Xbox One listings on eBay, we found that people were paying money for the special “Day One” achievement—they’re a…

Xbox One 2013 Holiday Buyer’s Guide

The Xbox One is out and maybe someone you know picked it up. Or maybe you’re considering picking one up for someone this holiday season. Here’s some advice before you crack open your wallet. DO grab them a subscription to Xbox Live Gold. Amazon usually has some great one-year deals for a fair price. You…

Xbox One Blown Up, Shot By Sniper Rifle

As an Australian, I have little to give thanks for this Thanksgiving. So I’ll skip the turkey and instead give thanks for people who blow stuff up on YouTube using military-grade hardware. In this video from RatedRR, an Xbox One is destroyed twice over, as a .50 cal sniper rifle and a line of det…

Xbox 360 2013 Holiday Buyer’s Guide

Just because Microsoft has a new console doesn’t mean people aren’t still playing their 360s. Here are some suggestions for 360 shopping this year. DO consider maybe buying someone a 360 even if they already have a PS3 and/or a Nintendo console, but it is a bit excessive. A person only needs more than one…

The Inevitable Black Friday Supercut Is Nutso

This Friday is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Things are bound to get crazy, and maybe you were thinking of doing some shopping. This video might change your mind. Above is a supercut of the Black Friday shopping chaos. The footage is like something out of a zombie movie. If you…

Xbox One Letter Needs Some Changes

When the Xbox One launched, Microsoft tried to get clever and provide people with a pre-written sick note so they could take the day off. It wasn’t very funny, but it was harmless. Their next attempt at an Xbox One letter is a touch worse. Called “We got your back”, it’s aimed at prospective new…