Microsoft

Don’t Believe the Lines. Don’t Believe the Hype.

Whenever a new console launches in Japan, people line up. And whenever there are lines, there’s often press there taking photos. During the last several hardware launches, I was there, doing just that. For Kotaku coverage, I always try to take as many pictures as I can at several different stores to get a better…

By Brian Ashcraft Published July 1, 2011

An Obscure Board Game Stands Between European Gamers and Double Fine’s Trenched

We’ve been enjoying Double Fine’s lovable, downloadable mech game Trenched for more than a week now, but our European Xbox 360 owning compatriots have been denied its delicious blend of tower defense and shoot ’em up fun. What gives? Well, according to a report from Eurogamer, Double Fine and Microsoft have hit a legal snag…

By Michael McWhertor Published June 30, 2011

Kinect is Better Than it Was a Year ago

At E3 in 2009 (and 2010), Microsoft’s Kinect camera was promising, but also glitchy. At E3 2011, it looked more responsive. And there’s a reason for that. Xbox senior product manager David Dennis has said in an interview with Eurogamer “I think like we showed at E3, like Kudo showed with Kinect Fun Labs –…

By Luke Plunkett Published June 30, 2011

The Creator of Xbox is Also Fond of Gore-Tex Backpacks

The Clymb, a flash sales website with a focus on outdoor gear, just raised two million dollars from an unlikely source—former Xbox exec J Allard, fan of all things extreme. [Via All Things D]

By Joshua Rivera Published June 29, 2011

X-Men, Comic Jumper and TMNT are Here To Save You Money on XBLA

Xbox Live Arcade games X-Men Arcade, Hard Corps: Uprising, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Comic Jumper and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Reshelled are all 50% off this week, some of which you should consider buying.

By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2011

Buy These Five Summer of Arcade XBLA Games, Get One Free

You could be on the receiving end of a “free” copy of co-op dungeon crawler Crimson Alliance, pictured above, Xbox 360 owners, if you go all-in on this year’s “Summer of Arcade” games for Xbox Live Arcade. What’s on the list? It’s a pretty good one, including graphically beautiful games like Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet…

By Michael McWhertor Published June 27, 2011

Forza 4’s Fancy Edition Packs Extra Cars

The Limited Collector’s Edition of Forza 4 will ship with an art book (with content written by Top Gear magazine staff), metal case and a range of extra cars, including the 2012 BMW M5 and classic American muscle cars. More info at the link. [Jalopnik]

By Luke Plunkett Published June 27, 2011

Microsoft Sounding Out Developers for Free-to-Play Xbox 360 Games?

From Develop comes a rumor that Microsoft is now contacting studios “to discuss possible free-to-play game deals,” while it builds an operating system for the 360 that incorporates a microtransaction service. Develop says Microsoft offered no comment when contacted about the plans. The report attributed the rumor to “several sources connected to the matter.” This…

By Owen Good Published June 24, 2011

Xbox Live Chief: “We Don’t Want to Appear to Even be Looking to be Taking Advantage” of PSN Outage

In the throes of the 23-day PlayStation Network Outage, when people were vowing they’d sell their PS3s and go join Xbox Live, Microsoft’s most provocative comment was a low-key prediction that it would see more traffic on its service. Yesterday, though, Xbox’s senior executive finally said what’s bad for the goose is bad for the…

By Owen Good Published June 23, 2011

Playable Gears of War 3 Goes on Nationwide Tour of WalMarts This Summer

Gears of War 3 is going on a nationwide tour of Walmarts starting on June 24 in Dallas. The Gamecenter Mobile Tour will give gamers a chance to play Gears 3 and check out Horde mode 2.0 before the game’s September launch, according to a press release. You can check out the full list of…

By Brian Crecente Published June 22, 2011

Why Is Tales of Vesperia an Xbox 360 Exclusive?

In the West, Tales of Vesperia was released on the Xbox 360. Only. In Japan, it was released on the Xbox 360, forcing Japanese people to buy Microsoft’s console. Then, a year later, it was released on the PS3. But why? “Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain…

By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2011

Great Ads, If Not Great Games, Coming to the Xbox 360 Kinect

Soon Xbox 360 gamers will be able to get some use out of their Kinect: Interacting with a new suite of multimedia advertising set to hit the console and its $150 peripheral next spring. The new ads will enable gamers to send Tweets and emails about their favorite ads to their friends and family just…

By Brian Crecente Published June 21, 2011

Report: Skype Coming to PS Vita

Skype is available on the PlayStation Portable, but with Microsoft’s Skype acquisition, the future of Skype seemed to be up in the air. Skype on the PS Vita was apparently revealed at a recent PS Vita event in Brazil. Kotaku followed up with Sony for clarification. A Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson told Kotaku that there…

By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2011

Just Cause Studio Says ‘Intelligence’ Points to Next-Gen Consoles in 2014

We’ll have plenty of time to scrimp, save and perhaps land a second job to afford the next generation of video game consoles. Avalanche Studios, creators of Just Cause and the forthcoming Renegade Ops, believe 2014 is when we’ll get them. So says David Grijns, the man heading Avalanche’s new New York City-based studios. He…

By Michael McWhertor Published June 20, 2011

Halo’s Remake Has Kinect Support

Microsoft Game Studios VP Phil Spencer has told GameSpot “We believe that Kinect will be important to all genres of games. Be it racing games with Forza, combat games like Ryse…even games like Halo Anniversary have Kinect integration.” Here’s hoping it’s just to browse the menus. [GameSpot, via Edge]

By Luke Plunkett Published June 20, 2011

The Next Generation of Gamers Know How to Bust a Move

It’s not the fact that he’s cute that makes me mad. It’s that he’s cute and better than me.

By Luke Plunkett Published June 20, 2011

Crytek Says It Has No ‘Xbox 720’ and Doesn’t Know What You’re Talking About

Crytek officially denied it has any “Xbox 720” or any kind of next-generation hardware from Microsoft, putting the kibosh on a rumor that, for the second time in as many months, said the 360’s successor was coming soon. The studio, alleged to be building another TimeSplitters with the unit, sent this statement to IGN: Relating…

By Owen Good Published June 18, 2011

Report: Microsoft Finally Has Sold 1.5 Million Xbox 360s in Japan

According to Japanese site Wazap, the Xbox 360 has finally crossed the 1.5 million sold mark in Japan. The Xbox 360 launched in Japan in 2005, but didn’t sell a million consoles until 2009. Now it’s 2011, and apparently Microsoft has sold another 500,000 in Japan. [はちま起稿]

By Brian Ashcraft Published June 17, 2011

Speak Clearly and Carry a Golf Stick in Kinect Sports

“Xbox,” I say, “Streak 20,” and the huddle breaks. My quarterback trots up to the line. I instinctively half-squat and reach out my hands, placing them under the giant rear end of an invisible lineman. “Hike!” There is a slight delay between command and action, and sometimes I’m not sure if Kinect Sports: Season 2…

By Owen Good Published June 15, 2011

The Owner of halo4.com Probably Made a Lot of Money, but He Isn’t Saying

Microsoft last week announced Halo 4, not that it owed the halo4.com domain or anything. They cleared up that little detail after the fact, acquiring the name today, reports Fusible. The domain’s original owner isn’t saying anything about what convinced him to let go of it. Yes, I’m assuming it was money, as opposed to…