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We Dance With Slave Leia To Weird, Lucas-Approved Christina Aguilera Star Wars Remix
We’ve had a copy of Star Wars: Kinect in our New York office for a few days now. Which means, aside from Stephen’s upcoming review, people have been dancing their asses off to pop songs. Pop songs that have been re-worked to include lyrics from the Star Wars universe. While Lando and Boba Fett dance…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 3, 2012 -
Xbox 360 Gets Two Shiny New Chrome Control Pads
Complementing the limited edition chrome controller released previously (the one with the improved d-pad), Microsoft will be releasing two more of the model next month. There’ll be a red one and a blue one, to go with the existing silver model. All three will feature a chrome finish and the better d-pad, and all three…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 2, 2012 -
Microsoft Investigating Claim That Used Xbox 360s Contain Credit Card Info
Microsoft has addressed yesterday’s Kotaku report that hackers could access credit card information in used and refurbished Xbox 360 units In a statement to Kotaku today, Microsoft’s Jim Alkove, General Manager of Security of Interactive Entertainment Business, said they are investigating the Drexel University study: We are conducting a thorough investigation into the researchers’ claims.…
By Jason Schreier Published March 30, 2012 -
Hackers Can Steal Credit Card Information From Your Old Xbox, Experts Tell Us [UPDATE]
You might not want to sell or give away your Xbox 360 any time soon. Not without taking a hammer to the hard drive. Even restoring your console to factory settings won’t remove some of the data it stores, according to an ongoing study from researchers at Drexel University. And with a handful of common…
By Jason Schreier Published March 29, 2012 -
The Average Xbox User Is Online For 84 Hours Per Month, Gaming For About Half Of It
The Xbox 360 is perhaps the country’s most beloved current generation gaming console, with millions of units sitting in millions of living rooms entertaining millions of gamers. But for all that the 360 is the platform of choice for players to devour blockbuster and indie game titles alike, its biggest draw may be for watching…
By Kate Cox Published March 27, 2012 -
Pretending to Use the Force Works Better with Kinect Star Wars
We’re just a week away from the April 3 launch of Kinect Star Wars, the game you get when you buy that sexy new Star Wars Xbox 360 bundle. While my hopes aren’t particularly high for the game, at least it gives pretending to Force Choke someone important context. Kinect Star Wars stands to play…
By Mike Fahey Published March 26, 2012 -
$20 Minecraft, New Fable Hit Xbox Live This May [UPDATE]
Indie smash hit Minecraft will mine its way to Xbox 360 on May 9, Microsoft’s Major Nelson said today on his blog. It will be 1600 Microsoft Points, or a whopping $20. You’ll be able to play the sandbox game using Microsoft’s controller-free Kinect interface—in other words, you’ll finally be able to dig things with…
By Jason Schreier Published March 22, 2012 -
Is Windows 8 the Biggest Threat to the Future of PC Gaming?
Stardock is now best known s the publisher of the Sins of a Solar Empire and Elemental franchises, after selling online distribution service Impulse last year. They have just released their annual customer report, talking not only about their experiences in 2011 but also looking into the crystal ball of PC gaming in 2012 and…
By Kate Cox Published March 21, 2012 -
Microsoft Working on a Gaming Helmet, Glasses
Since 2010, Microsoft has been working on a gaming display system so small that it wouldn’t need to be sitting on an entertainment unit or even held in your hands. You could wear it in a pair of glasses. Or in a stupid helmet. The company sees two avenues for such technology: the glasses are…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 19, 2012 -
Microsoft: New Xbox Won’t Be Shown at This Year’s E3
Microsoft’s saying that the successor to the Xbox 360 won’t be the star of the show at 2012’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. Speculation had been rising that Microsoft would be the next major platform player to show the successor to their current hardware. Rumors reportedly have the console code-named Durango , claim that it won’t be…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 15, 2012 -
Rumor: Obsidian’s Cancelled Project Was For The Next Xbox, Published By Microsoft
Obsidian’s ill-fated ‘North Carolina‘ game was slated for the next Xbox and published by Microsoft, according to sources familiar with the project who spoke to Kotaku today. Yesterday, after almost seven months of development, Microsoft cancelled the project, our sources said. Obsidian consequently had to let go of 30 people, as reported by several outlets…
By Jason Schreier Published March 14, 2012 -
Microsoft Says It Has Fixed Mysterious Xbox Gamerscore Disappearances [UPDATE]
Many gamers panicked this morning when their Gamerscores—records of everything they’ve done on their Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles—zeroed out. Microsoft says not to worry. They’ve resolved the issue. “For those experiencing Gamerscore issues, please sign out and then back into your profile to resolve,” the company said on its @XboxSupport account. The account has…
By Jason Schreier Published March 13, 2012 -
Console Companies Continue to Keep Inspectors Out of Factories
We’ve written many times before about the working conditions at Foxconn and other Chinese plants at which nearly all of the electronics used for gaming are manufactured. The short version is, its not great. Factory workers manage extraordinary hours for very little pay, living in cramped conditions. Following a spate of suicides in 2010 and…
By Kate Cox Published March 9, 2012 -
The Next Xbox Won’t Have a Disc Drive? [Update]
As Kotaku revealed last month, work has begun on the next Xbox. It’s codenamed “Durango”. Today, website MCVUK reported a source revealed that the next Xbox apparently won’t have a disc drive. Instead, according to MCVUK, the next Xbox “will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage, although it is not known…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 9, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Taiwanese Ladies Awkwardly Holding Xbox Hardware
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Holding hardware makes pretty much anyone look like a doofus. There really isn’t a “good” or “correct” way to hold gaming hardware. No, scratch that. The correct way is to hold it in your hands as if you are playing. But that makes for crap photo…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 6, 2012 -
Imagining a Future Without Xbox Live Arcade
It’s an established part of the current gaming landscape, for some perhaps even their favourite, but in a recent interview Microsoft’s Michael Wolf reminds us it won’t always be here. Asked by nefarious pirate Brian Crecente whether the service was eventually “going to go away”, Wolf replies “Personally, I’d say absolutely, yes.” “I think digital…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 6, 2012 -
How Stretching Your Thumbs Could Make Your Games Feel Better
The University of Utah News Center reported today that their engineers are hard at work developing a new video game peripheral that stretches the skin on your thumbs. But why, you ask me, would I want little red tactors located on the center of the controller’s joystick to awkwardly move my thumb skin around? Because…
By Tina Amini Published March 5, 2012 -
Xbox 360 Split-Screen Offers a New Way To Play Minecraft
Saying the word “change” in the same sentence as “Minecraft” can really set off a lot of alarms. Mojang’s open-world crafting phenomenon has been tweaked, rearranged, expanded, and adjusted many times since its rise to popularity in the fall of 2010. But with each new version number comes some grumbles and complaints—after all, the game…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 5, 2012 -
Fable: Heroes Turns the RPG Series Into a… Brawling Party Game?
Seemingly jumping the gun ahead of next week’s Game Developers Conference, a listing on Xbox.com has appeared for a game called Fable Heroes Here’s the product description: Fable Heroes is a fresh spin on the beloved Fable franchise in which up to 4 players play both cooperatively and competitively in this hack-and-slash adventure. Work together…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 4, 2012 -
Leaked Promo Trailer Says Forza Horizon Arrives This Fall
There’s no gameplay in this trailer, it’s just a teaser for Forza Horizon, the next entry in the Xbox 360-exclusive driving title. But it does say the game will arrive this Fall, which I suppose is to be expected. Word has it the formal announcement will be made on Monday. If the trailer is taken…
By Owen Good Published March 3, 2012