-
Kinect for Netflix is a Catastrophe. Microsoft Has No Idea What to Do with Kinect
“Let’s find out how long it takes to select and watch our favorite Netflix movie using Kinect instead of the Xbox 360 controller!” That was the simple metric we wanted to try to test the new Kinect support in the Xbox version of Netflix. I suspected that it’d take a little bit longer to use…
By Joel Johnson Published April 14, 2011 -
Microsoft’s Official Kinect Software Is Better Than Most Hackers’
Looking to remind people, hey, we made this thing, Microsoft’s upcoming Kinect software development kit for the PC (which anyone can grab) will include a variety of features most hackers and code enthusiasts haven’t been able to manage on their own. One of those features is the ability for the camera to track the skeletal…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2011 -
We’re One Step Closer to a Wall-E Society with This Kinect Powered Chair
The best part about this Kinect-powered armchair? Microsoft’s going to release the source code for it. Shown off today at the company’s MIX11 coder symposium, the Kinect-powered La-Z-Boy is a proof of concept for the Kinect PC software development kit, which will open up development over Visual Basic and C++. The recliner code will be…
By Owen Good Published April 13, 2011 -
From Gears To Deals To Games On Demand, This Is Xbox Live For April
April is shaping up to be a big one for Xbox 360 owners, especially if they like getting their hands on Gears of War 3 early. That multiplayer beta leads a long list of content that Microsoft confirmed for April today, from Xbox Live Arcade games to deals on tons of other stuff. If you’ve…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 12, 2011 -
Using Kinect To Make Your Own Action Figures
I’ve always wanted to have my own action figure. And had I been in Barcelona earlier this year, I could have had the chance, thanks to a 3D printer and a network of Kinect cameras. A collaborative effort between street artists and science, “Be Your Own Souvenir!” was a little project run in January in…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2011 -
We Might Be Getting “Free” Games On Xbox Live
According to a report on IGN, Microsoft will next year be making free to play titles available on Xbox Live. You know, the ones that like to take $5-10 of your money a month in tiny chunks instead of $60 all at once. So think Lord of the Rings Online. Or Battlefield Heroes. Those kind…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2011 -
Promoter Sues Microsoft Over Kinect Launch Event
Remember the Times Square launch event for Kinect last fall? It took some begging, pleading, and cold hard cash just to happen, when the cops made the last-minute discovery a full blown concert didn’t have the requisite permits. The promoter who made all the bad stuff go away says Microsoft owes him $63,000 for it.…
By Owen Good Published April 10, 2011 -
Kameo 2 Artwork Hints At The Pretty Sequel That Might Have Been
In 2005 developer Rare graced the newly-launched Xbox 360 with Kameo: Elements of Power, a cartoon-styled action-adventure game starring a fairy with the power to transform herself into various magical creatures. Slow sales killed its rumored sequel, but the art lives on. The launch of the Xbox 360 and Kameo heralded the beginning of the…
By Mike Fahey Published April 6, 2011 -
A Limited Edition, Customized Xbox 360 Just For Japan
Japan’s DEZAEGG is like a car painting and body works shop for game consoles. They take consoles, handhelds and computers and make them look all purdy. Its latest effort is a limited edition Xbox 360 to mark the anime broadcast of visual novel Steins;Gate Steins;Gate debuted on the Xbox 360 in 2009, so DEZAEGG is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 5, 2011 -
Hackers Snare Website of Xbox Live’s Top Cop [Update]
Stephen Toulouse, known to many as Stepto, is Microsoft’s director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live. That means he’s the guy with the biggest, baddest banhammer on that service, making him a prime target for grudge-nursing hackers. Apparently one just seized control of his personal website, stepto.com Update: A hacker took control of his…
By Owen Good Published April 3, 2011 -
Super Meat Boy Creators Went Through Hell To Get Their Game Done, Felt ‘Taken Advantage Of’ By Microsoft
You thought playing Super Meat Boy was hard? Because making the notoriously difficult indie platformer sounds like pure hell, according to a Super Meat Boy post mortem that lays out what went right (fun design environment, Steam) and what went wrong (financial drain, Xbox Live Arcade). Team Meat’s Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes recount the…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 1, 2011 -
Leaked Forza 4 Video Confirms Kinect Features [Update]
Realizing it is April Fool’s, if this video is a fake, someone went to a lot of trouble to create something that delivers no punchline. Here is a solid three minutes jampacked with in-game footage of Forza 4, touting a lot of features we’d scented from a marketing survey that went out last week. Details…
By Owen Good Published April 1, 2011 -
Fukushima Nuclear Plant Getting Help From…An Xbox 360 Controller?
The situation at Fukushima is far from over. The Japanese government is working hard to cool the nuclear cores and contain the problem. Help from outside is being enlisted, too. Help that is powered by an Xbox 360 controller. North America’s QinetiQ deployed its unmanned Talon robots in Fukushima. According to QinetiQ, the robots are…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 1, 2011 -
Microsoft Finds A Way To (Maybe) Make Kinect Better
Microsoft’s research team in Cambridge has published a paper outlining several ways the speed and accuracy of Kinect can be improved. Lucky Kinect is also made by Microsoft! The team’s research does not build on Kinect’s existing technology; rather, it strips it away at the base level and replaces it with a new way of…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 30, 2011 -
Xbox Live Indie Games Hit By Ratings Manipulation
Now this isn’t fair. It’s hard enough for Indie games on the Xbox 360 to be noticed as it is, let alone when crazy gamers are knocking out their only real way of getting in the spotlight: a game’s ratings. Microsoft is currently “investigating a possible misuse of ratings” affecting a number of titles on…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 30, 2011 -
Video Game Shopping Gets EXTREME On Xbox Live This Week
Now’s the time to strike on select Xbox Live games and add-ons, as Microsoft is offering deals through its “Extreme Shopping” promotion. You could get a copy of After Burner Climax, Costume Quest or Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare cheap! The following deals run until April 4, with Xbox.com warning that “special one day only…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 29, 2011 -
Microsoft Tests A New Xbox 360 Disc Format In The Latest Update Preview
Microsoft is seeking U.S.-based Xbox 360 owners to test out the next Xbox 360 system update, paving the way for an “updated Xbox 360 disc format”, whatever the hell that means. There’s a new Xbox 360 system update in the works, and as always, Microsoft is looking for stateside Xbox owners in the thousands to…
By Mike Fahey Published March 29, 2011 -
Bring Your Xbox 360 Avatar Kicking And Smiling Awkwardly Into The Real World
Your Xbox 360 avatar lives on your Xbox 360. And the internet. If you’d like him or her to live on a shelf in your office as well, you should speak to custom toy company FigurePrints. For USD$50 they’ll take your avatar and produce a figure replicating its appearance and dimensions. The only catch is…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2011 -
Kinect Powered Glass Eye Is The Stuff Of Nightmares
Sure, Kinect can be used for good – stuff like possibly helping the blind. But it also can be used for evil. And I’m not just talking about rumored Forza 4 motion controls. UK-based Pufferfish design makes spherical displays for a variety of uses that range from Coldplay’s Viva La Viva Tour to Disney’s Epcot…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 29, 2011