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Gamer’s Last Name Deemed Obscene by Xbox Live Cops [UPDATE]
A gamer says his handle has been censored by Xbox Live because it seems too much like a slang word — even though it’s his last name. Christopher Gooche uses his surname as his gamertag on Microsoft’s online service. He says he’s been using “Gooche” as a name since the days of the original Xbox…
By Jason Schreier Published February 23, 2012 -
More Gears of War 3 DLC Coming
A new set of downloadable content for Gears of War 3, Forces of Nature, will be out on March 27. It includes three new character skins, three new maps, two old maps, seven weapon skins and Gears of War 2’s Guardian Mode. Forces of Nature will cost 800 MSP. [GameTrailers]
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 -
Here’s Why Master Chief’s Going to Look Different in Halo 4
343 Industries, you so sneaky. We’ve already noticed that the Microsoft division tasked with the future of all things Halo debuted the new look of the sci-fi shooter series’ hero at Toy Fair 2012. And the Chief’s new duds are quite different. Leaner, meaner and perhaps more aerodynamic. Since we’ve gotten a good look at…
By Evan Narcisse Published February 16, 2012 -
The Next Xbox is Code-Named…Durango
Kotaku has heard from multiple sources close to the project that the code-name for Microsoft’s next console is Durango. Yup. Durango Note this is a code-name. Like the Katana (Dreamcast), Dolphin (GameCube) and Revolution (Wii) before it, it’s not the name that will appear on the finished product when you finally get your hands on…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 15, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Korean Gyms Subjected to Kinect
Microsoft Korea joins World Gym Fitness Center in the Ilsan district to promote the Kinect throughout February. Members of the gym will be able to participate in the “Dance Time with Kinect” program, held twice every Tuesday. The promotion will use Dance Central 2, and during the last week of February, there will be a…
By Chi Lee Published February 15, 2012 -
Microsoft “Cares Deeply” About Hijacked Accounts, Asks For “Trust in Us”
Offering the company’s first detailed and dare I say it human response to a recent flood of hijacked Xbox Live accounts, Microsoft’s Alex Garden, General Manager of Xbox LIVE, has issued the following statement: (I’ve bolded what I think are the important bits!) Your Security is Important to Me Since today is Safer Internet Day,…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 7, 2012 -
Xbox Live’s Top Cop Turns in His Badge
Stephen Toulouse—known as StepTo to those listening to Major Nelson’s podcast, or unfortunate enough to feel the cold kiss of the Xbox Live banhammer—has given his two weeks notice to Microsoft. The director of Xbox Live Policy and Enforcement will leave Feb. 16, after 18 years with the company. On his personal blog, Toulouse calls…
By Owen Good Published February 3, 2012 -
Microsoft Exec Says No New Xbox In 2012
According to Xbox France’s Marketing Director Cedrick Delmas, there’ll be no new Microsoft console released in 2012 to compete with Nintendo’s Wii. “What is certain is that there will be nothing new in 2012” Delmas told Le Point. “If we had to counter Nintendo, we would have to be capable of releasing something immediately, and…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 31, 2012 -
Microsoft Moves to Seize Fake Halo 4 Beta’s Domain
Whether motivated by trolling or delusional wish fulfillment, some guy tossed up a page pretending to be a registration site for a Halo 4 multiplayer beta last week. 343 Industries, the game’s developer, quickly branded that as a fake, and the site was taken offline. That’s not good enough for Microsoft. The company has filed…
By Owen Good Published January 28, 2012 -
Do Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo Really Care? Do We?
For Westerners, the conditions are shocking. Workers slave away for hours on end, pulling overtime, until their legs swell or they suffer from crippling disabilities. Our iPhones and game electronics are made by hand, probably because it’s cheaper to pay a worker in China to fit, solder, and polish products than it would be to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 26, 2012 -
Why an Xbox With Anti-Used Game Tech Makes Perfect Sense
So, we’ve heard from a source that the next Xbox may feature some kind of anti-used games technology. When you first read that, your first instinct was probably to think it’s either bullshit or the worst idea a video game company has ever had. It is, I believe, neither. In fact, if it ends up…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2012 -
Sources: The Next Xbox Will Play Blu-Ray, May Not Play Used Games (And Will Introduce Kinect 2)
Microsoft will upgrade its disc technology for its next Xbox from DVDs to Blu-Ray discs, catching up to rival Sony, games industry sources tell Kotaku Sony’s PlayStation 3 currently supports Blu-Ray, which can contain 25 or 50GB of data compared to DVD’s 9GB. But that disc detail could be far less impactful to the next…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 25, 2012 -
Next Xbox Out In Oct/Nov 2013, Chips Already Being Made
Time for the latest instalment of “shit people are saying/guessing about the next Xbox console”! This week we have two reports, one from IGN and the other from Fudzilla. The IGN rumour says the next console will be out in October or November next year, and that it’s graphics processor will be based on the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 24, 2012 -
Forget MacBook Pro, This Guy Is Playing His Xbox 360 at Starbucks
At Starbucks, you see people with their iPads, their MacBooks, and, yes, their gaming portables. What you don’t usually see are people with their home consoles. There’s a reason for that! “Home consoles” are called “home consoles”, because gamers play them at home. “Portable consoles” like the 3DS and the PS Vita are created for…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 24, 2012 -
Rumor: Microsoft Killing Microsoft Points, Will Use Real Money Instead
Good news, haters of arbitrary online currencies! The end for Microsoft’s confusing “Points” system may be near, if a report on Inside Mobile Apps is to be believed. The mobile site claims that Microsoft’s Points will be “phased out” by the end of 2012, with transactions to be listed in a user’s local currency instead.…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2012 -
Anonymous Deletes CBS, Universal Sites; is Xbox Live Next?
Anonymous continues to lash out following the seizure of Megaupload and the jailing of its founder, having momentarily deleted both CBS.com and UniversalMusic.com. Xbox Live has been threatened, but is that credible? Put it this way, if hackers can obliterate corporate presences of that size (even if they are now back up), as well as…
By Owen Good Published January 22, 2012 -
The Xbox 360’s Video Playback “Issue” Acknowledged, Microsoft “Working on a Fix”
After a few months of people pointing the issue out, Microsoft has finally acknowledged that the 2011 dashboard update has created a problem with the console’s video playback. Xbox spokesman Larry Hryb has said the company is “aware of the colorspace issue” affecting “some Xbox video apps”, and that Microsoft is “working on a fix”.…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2012 -
Microsoft now has Achievements for…Developers
Taking the notion of institutionalised rewards maybe a little bit too far, Microsoft has begun awarding achievements to developers Earlier today the company unveiled a beta plug-in for the Microsoft’s Visual Studio development environment, which offers 32 achievements for developers based on how well they’re coding. There are even leaderboards, and the achievements can be…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2012 -
Microsoft is Not Doing Enough to Help Xbox Live “Hack” Victims
So there’s been some kind of security problem with Xbox Live accounts for a while now. Microsoft denies there’s been any compromise of its own data, yet still, for months now users have complained of having their accounts hijacked by people making unauthorised transaction. A theory emerged last week that the cause of the issue…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 16, 2012 -
This Might be the Reason Behind the Xbox Live “Hacks”
Ever since the first wave of “FIFA Hacks” surfaced last year, a lot of people have been complaining that their Xbox Live accounts had been “hacked”. Microsoft has continually denied any such breach of security, but you know, there have been too many cases for too long now for this to be nothing So, uh,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 15, 2012