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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 -
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…
By Owen Good Published June 15, 2011 -
The Original Xbox Controller is Coming Back in an Extremely Limited Way, Only for ‘Halo Fest’
Halo studio 343 Industries is offering only the most authentic of Halo: Combat Evolved experiences at this year’s Halo Fest, letting players go hands on with the Anniversary remake of the Xbox original with its original controller, the beastly gamepad nicknamed the “Duke.” 343 Industries’ Frank O’Connor let slip on the NeoGAF forum that the…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 15, 2011 -
Timesplitters Developers Already Working With the Next Xbox Console?
Last month, there were reports that an “unnamed Electronic Arts studio” already had new Xbox hardware sitting on its desks. EA swiftly denied the rumours, but now another British source is saying almost exactly the same thing. What makes this particular report interesting is that the source in this case is alleged to be from…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 15, 2011 -
Maybe A Laugh Track and Tower Defense Are Just What Gears of War 3 Needed
Gears of War‘s developers certainly didn’t invent “Horde Mode.” But Epic Games, creator of Gears, is lucky in that every other game developer who copies their popular multiplayer mode gives the studio credit for it when showing off their own take on Horde. Gears of War 3 design director Cliff Bleszinski is the one that…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 14, 2011 -
The Big Games, Big Gadgets, Big Surprises of E3
The promise of uncompromising gaming on the go, a sexy new console from the makers of the Wii and a robust line-up of must-have, must-play games topped this year’s celebration of all things gaming in Los Angeles last week. This year’s E3 kicked off early last week with a look at what the makers of…
By Brian Crecente Published June 13, 2011 -
Eventually, all Microsoft Games will Employ Kinect
For Microsoft, the E3 2011 recipe read much like E3 2010’s—Kinect, and lots of it. The head of Microsoft’s Game Studios noted the company’s focus on the device and said at some time in the future, all first-party games from the Xbox 360 maker will include Kinect support. “It’s not a mandate that everything we…
By Owen Good Published June 11, 2011 -
The Sights and People of E3 2011’s South Hall
I’ll give E3 this: It’s colorful. We did a few laps to see the big dogs: Square Enix, Activision, Ubisoft, Konami, Sony Ericsson, Microsoft…Robot Entertainment. (I can’t help it. Orcs Must Die looks really fun!) Photos by our fearless photog, Isaac Viel
By Joel Johnson Published June 8, 2011 -
Dance Central 2 Will Take Two to Get Down
Though the game only recognized one player’s moves, whenever someone broke out Dance Central at a party, invariably someone else joined the fun. Multiplayer, therefore, was priority No. 1 for Dance Central 2, and is the most notable feature of a game that still gets the best of the Kinect. A second player may drop…
By Owen Good Published June 8, 2011 -
Rise of Nightmare Recreates a Drunk’s Bloody Wander Through a Zombie Cavalcade
There is something wonderful about air chainsawing zombies. And air cleavering them. And air sheering them. I stand in a darkened room facing a big screen, feet apart, my hands are held in front of me as if I’m holding a chainsaw. On the TV I am. More specifically, two disembodied virtual arms and hands…
By Brian Crecente Published June 8, 2011
