Microsoft

Here’s The Video That Convinced Microsoft To Pay For Mark of the Ninja

You might wonder why Microsoft decided to publish Mark of the Ninja, an independently-developed 2D stealth game that looks and plays like very few other games out there. Today Kotaku can reveal the pitch video that Ninja developers Klei Entertainment showed Microsoft in late 2010 to get them to fund the game. You can watch…

You’re Getting a (Slightly) New Xbox 360 Dashboard Today

Unlike some of its more drastic overhauls, today’s Xbox 360 dashboard update is a relatively subtle one. Alongside the introduction of Xbox Music and, finally, a console version of Internet Explorer, perhaps the most notable changes include the ability to “pin” your favourite programs to the home menu screen and the fact 12 new languages/accents…

Play Halo 4 Early, Get Banned From Xbox Live. Forever.

With Halo 4 not out until the first week of November, the fact people are playing it now—and getting banned from Xbox Live for doing so—all but confirms the suspicion that copies of the game have been leaked According to a report on MCV, Xbox Live users found playing the game are being given permanent…

Two More Key Developers Leave BioShock Infinite

Two more developers have left Irrational Games, makers of BioShock Infinite. According to LinkedIn, Artificial intelligence lead Don Norbury and combat design director Clint Bundrick are the latest to depart the Boston-based company. The changes to their LinkedIn pages were first spotted by Superannuation. (Who, incidentally, shares a lot of that kind of scoopery in…

Xbox Music Sounds Amazing (If You Use Microsoft Devices)

First announced back at E3, Microsoft today revealed the first serious details about its Xbox Music service, which will use the cloud to stream a music catalogue across platforms like the Xbox 360, PC and Windows 8 tablets. It’ll have around 30 million songs when it opens. It goes live on the Xbox 360 tomorrow,…

Spoiler Alert: Halo 4‘s Out in the Wild, So Be Careful What You Read for the Next 3 Weeks

Yesterday brought word that Halo 4‘s discs had leaked out, three weeks ahead of the game’s street date, which is a common claim for a major franchise and a highly anticipated game. Still, Microsoft’s security division is looking into the matter, which lends a little more credence to the report. And now, this appeal from…

Microsoft Investigating Purported Halo 4 Leaks

That image of Halo 4‘s two discs popped up on NeoGAF earlier today. Some in the forum shrugged it off, saying that reviewers must be getting their copies, to which I chuckle heartily. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, consumer codes being sent out for review three weeks before release. Please. What really…

Nothing Says Windows 8 Quite Like Anime Schoolgirls

Microsoft and anime girls are not strangers in Japan. In fact, you could say that Microsoft and Japanese anime girls are a thing. And not a new thing at that! For Windows 7, Microsoft had an OS character—or OS-tan, as they’re called. OS-tans are anime personifications of operating systems that are created online by fans.…

I. Hate. Microsoft. Points.

I hate Microsoft Points. I always have. And not simply because they’re essentially a cheap scam to confuse you on how much you’re actually paying. It’s because this crappy “currency” doesn’t act like any normal currency in the real world. Let’s put this in perspective for a moment. In Japan, the going rate for 3500…

In Japan, The Kinect May Soon Be More Common In Hospitals Than In Homes

Ah, the Kinect. The problem with the Kinect in Japan is that one of the requirements for using it, namely open space, is pretty much one of the most expensive commodities in the country. That, paired with substandard games making the headlines, and it’s not surprising that Microsoft’s motion detecting Xbox peripheral does not sell…

Xbox Live now allows you to take your account to other countries. No passport needed!

You Won’t Be Able to Buy Adult Games on Windows 8’s Marketplace

Casey Muratori wrote a great piece yesterday speaking out against Microsoft’s Windows 8 for all kinds of reasons, but one point that struck me was his suggestion that, because there are age restrictions on the operating system’s marketplace, this would affect adult video games. Surely not, I thought. Microsoft wouldn’t be that stupid. That must…

You Can Keep Making Halo Videos, You Just Can’t Make Money From Them (Except When You Can)

Fans really like making stuff based on the games they love. We feature fan-made videos, costumes, artwork, and more here at Kotaku pretty much every day. The companies that make the games that fans love, though, are not exactly always eager to see third parties profiting off of their copyrighted work. Microsoft has a lengthy…

Microsoft’s New Gadget Lets You Control Any Device With A Mid-Air Gesture

Sure, the Kinect can recognize gestures your full body makes. But wouldn’t it be nice to get the finer details of hands and fingers reflected accurately on-screen? And better yet, wouldn’t it be grand not to have to stand in the exact two square feet of living room that the Kinect can pick you up…

Crazy Expectations of a Console That Didn’t Deserve Its Third Chance to Fail

If you never saw Crazy People, a 1990 film starring Dudley Moore, I highly recommend it. Basically, an advertising agency is taken over by the insane, who decide that honesty—the anathema of marketing—is now the best policy. Volvos are sold as “boxy, but they’re good.” Another stunt offers “a free plant for fat slobs.” And…

Here, Let Kinect Show You What Isaac Newton’s Face Looks Like

Perhaps because old-timey paintings can be naught but artistic lies, it’s tough knowing exactly what a notable person from history actually looks like. Oh, unless you’ve got a record of their actual face. And a piece of modern technology that lets you scan and reproduce it. A collaboration between Microsoft, the Royal Society of London…

This Gloriously Cheesy MIDI File Was Windows’ Greatest Hit

For the longest time, I had no idea that Canyon.mid was even recognized as “a thing” by the internet at large. And then, Harmonix’s Dan Bruno posted about it (always a fount of random internet yuks, that guy), and I realized that Canyon.mid is kind of famous. But then, of course it is. For a…

Yup, the Flood Will Look Really Gross in Halo 4

We’ve already seen how the creepy cosmic symbiotes from the Halo games will come back in 343 Industries’ upcoming release. These new screenshots offer added detail as to how they engage with Spartan soldiers in Halo 4‘s multiplayer Flood mode. Previous visual interpretations of the Flood never really gave me the shivers but this new…

Obama Might Have Lost The First Debate, But The Xbox Did Even Worse

General consensus is that Mitt Romney won the presidential debate last night. President Barack Obama came in second. Jim Lehrer’s moderating skills were a distant third. But Microsoft’s Xbox Elections 2012, a platform that promised to let viewers watch the debate on their 360s and witness as audiences react in real time, might have performed…

Confessions Of A Teenage Xbox Hacker

In some ways Juvi is just an average eighteen-year-old. He speaks in short, brusque sentences. He works as an artist at a tattoo parlor. He was born in the U.K., but he now shares a loft with his girlfriend in Spain. He spends a lot of time on the Internet, and he sometimes says mean…