Microsoft

Here’s a Peek at Halo 4‘s Next Map Pack—Before Bungie’s Date with Destiny

Today’s the big day for Halo‘s ex, Bungie, which will soon tell all about its new affair, Destiny. That makes the discovery of these four images for Halo 4‘s forthcoming Majestic Map Pack quite a coincidence, indeed. It’s probably not as nefarious as it sounds, actually. NeoGAF user Wifiplayer13 found them by altering the URL…

Kinect + Department Store Mannequins = Horrible Waking Nightmare

Microsoft exec Larry “Major Nelson” tweeted out this melding of Kinect and commerce earlier today. Nelson is likely proud of the execution here, since it shows the flexibility of the company’s motion-sensing camera in a non-gaming setting. But me? All I can think of is how utterly disturbing it would be if a mannequin in…

What People Used To Say About The First Xbox

We don’t know every last thing about the new Xbox. Some leaked details, for the most part, sprinkled with a liberal helping of rumors. While we wait for new bits and pieces to be revealed, why not reminisce a bit? Let’s have a look at how the very first Xbox, turning 12 years old this…

The Next Xbox Has Mandatory Kinect, Game-Swapping and New Controllers, According To Leaked Info

The next-generation Xbox—the one that will follow the still-popular Xbox 360—will run multiple games at once, require game installations, and will only work when a much-improved version of the popular but divisive Kinect sensor array is plugged in, according to a source who says he has access to development hardware. Those are a just a…

The Reaction to a Console Rumor Explains Why Some Gamers Aren’t Buying

The rumor going around earlier this week wasn’t really anything new. The console that locks out used games is an anticonsumer bogeyman going back years and though the technology to do it exists, it’s yet to come true, for whatever reason. Still, a report this week repeated the same year old rumor about the next…

Japanese Xbox Users Made a Miiverse Clone. Yep, It’s Covered in Dicks.

Dicks, why does it always have to be dicks? Before the Wii U’s user forum, dubbed the Miiverse, launched, I said that it would be a dick drawing inferno. Little did I know that Japanese Xbox users would launch their own Miiverse clone. But, I’ll tell you what, I sure saw the dick drawings coming.…

Report: The Next Xbox Will Require An Internet Connection, Block Used Games

A new Edge report suggests that Microsoft’s next Xbox gaming console, code-named Durango, will require an Internet connection to use. It also won’t be able to play used games, Edge says. We have not been able to confirm the veracity of this new report, which claims that Durango discs will ship with one-time-use activation codes…

Microsoft’s Surface Pro sounded pretty good for gaming. Shame getting Civ V running sounds like pulling teeth

Call of Duty isn’t a big deal in the world of e-sports. Microsoft, Activision and $1 million are hoping to change that

Bungie Replaces a Defective Disc It Didn’t Manufacture of a Game It Didn’t Make

The secret to good customer service is not necessarily that the customer is always right. It’s in pretending he is always right. While, of course, pointing out he may, in fact, be wrong. Politely. Here, Bungie takes one for the Halo team, despite the fact it parted ways in 2011 with the franchise it created.…

How One Store Explains the Xbox 360’s Lack of Popularity in Japan

This sign was apparently spotted in Japanese retail chain Momotaro, and it does an interesting job of explaining why the store doesn’t have many Xbox 360 games. The poster reads, “Teacher! Why are there so few new Xbox items at Momotaro? Is Xbox not popular?” Below that in green, it reads, “That’s not the case!…

The Xbox Team Just Hired A Very Classy Designer

Andrew Kim turned a lot of heads last year with a bold redesign of Microsoft’s corporate branding, a vision and set of logos far braver (and classier) than what Microsoft eventually came up with for products like Windows 8 and Surface. It was all unofficial “fan” work, of course, but things just got a little…

They Said Alan Wake Couldn’t Be Modded; Hello Kitty Says They Were Wrong…

When it released for PC in February 2012, Alan Wake came with no mod tools. Developer Remedy Entertainment said tools wouldn’t be released because of their complexity, and their dependence on third-party tools which would presumably require permissions or licenses. That hasn’t stopped Alan Wake‘s community from hurling itself at the task, which, to change…

Report: Microsoft Replacing Xbox Chat With Skype For Next Console

According to “A person familiar with the matter”, website CVG is reporting that, as part of Microsoft’s continuing efforts to consolidate Skype (which it now owns) as the standard communications platform for the company’s products, it’ll “become the default chat service on the next generation Xbox console”. What would this mean, exactly? Who knows, the…

Microsoft Would Like To Remind Valve That Selling Hardware Is Hard

I said earlier this week that Microsoft and Sony should be worried about Valve’s Steam Box plans, because they appear to have traditional home consoles square in their sights. Well, in an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft’s Phil Harrison (still feels weird typing that) seems to get awfully defensive, issuing what amounts as a warning to…

Tomb Raider‘s Collector’s Edition Controller Comes Pre-Distressed

As we’ve seen in trailers going back to E3, Lara Croft gets the crap beat out of her trying to escape from the bandits’ camp in the Tomb Raider reboot, though to be fair, she gives as good as she gets. That must have been on the mind of whoever came up with this design…

Here’s What (Some) Japanese Developers Are Looking Forward To In 2013

And so this is 2013, and what have we done? Another year over, and a new one’s just begun… Holiday songs aside, 2013 is upon us, and that means reflecting on the past year and looking forward to things to come. This week, Weekly Famitsu asked several Japanese game developers about their plans for 2013.…

There’s An Official Xbox 360 Car Being Sold In Mexico

Because… somebody wills it, Volkswagen’s Mexican branch will soon be selling a limited edition Beetle based on the Xbox 360. With branded stripes down the side and a colour range that (mostly) matches that of Xbox 360 consoles, it’s certainly a thing Strangely, there’s no Xbox 360 integration in the car (sorry, this isn’t Pimp…

Microsoft’s IllumiRoom Concept Turns Your Entire Room into a Video Game Level

Microsoft and Samsung apparently think that your TV—no matter how big it is—isn’t big enough. That’s the only possible explanation for the two companies’ partnership on the IllumiRoom project, which projects images and colors across the space that you’re playing video games in. Shown off at CES during Samsung’s keynote today, IllumiRoom pairs up a…

Xbox Support Staff Say They Were Fired After Posting About Their Jobs On Kotaku

If you do customer support for Microsoft, don’t post about it on this website. You’ll probably lose your job. Over the past week, I’ve been in touch with two former Xbox support staff. Both people, who asked that we not use their names, say they were fired for writing comments about their jobs on Kotaku.…