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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 -
The Real Voice Of Halo Is Not Who You’d Expect
This is veteran actor Jeff Steitzer. He’s done Broadway. Law & Order. Oh, and if you’ve ever played Halo, chances are you’ve heard his voice more than Master Chief’s, Sgt. Johnson’s and Cortana’s combined. Why? Because he’s the voice of the game’s multiplayer announcer, meaning any time you’ve heard a gravelly, distant voice grunt “DOUBLE…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Joys Of A Console’s First Moments
Know what I tend to remember consoles by? Not their games, or controllers, or even hardware casings. I usually remember them for their boot-up jingles. As silly as that sounds, those first few seconds of animation and music really set the tone for what the platform holder hopes is to come, and more than any…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2011 -
Forza 4 Has 500 Cars, Lets You Touch Them (And Drive With Your Face)
We’ve known that Forza Motorsport 4, when it releases later this year, will support Kinect as a control method. A marketing survey now hints at what some of those features might be, such as head tracking to move the game’s camera, and a casual mode that allows players to steer with their hands, similar to…
By Owen Good Published March 23, 2011 -
Which Game Companies Do You Trust?
In today’s episode of Speak-Up on Kotaku, commenter Kadin is curious to know which video game hardware and software companies have earned your trust over the years, and which have lost it. Where does your trust lie? Which of the big companies out there has earned your trust and which of them has lost it?…
By Mike Fahey Published March 23, 2011