Microsoft - Page 174 of 238

There’s A Trick To Playing R.U.S.E. With Kinect

You won’t be able to play Ubisoft’s strategy game R.U.S.E. using Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect anytime soon, but the PC version is another matter entirely. Here we see multitouch and gesture computing company Evoluce boss Wolfgang Herfurtner navigating the opening battle from Eugen System’s R.U.S.E. using a combination of his company’s software and Microsoft’s motion-sensing…

By Mike Fahey Published January 3, 2011

Microsoft Researchers Made An Xbox Game

For years, getting a computer to play chess has been a badge of honour for AI programmers. Getting an Xbox Live game to play something 10x more complex, then, seems like something to be proud of. Microsoft has quietly released a first-party game on Xbox Live Arcade called “Path of Go”, a computerised version of…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2011

Red-Ringed Xbox 360 Faces Celebratory Firing Squad

You just wrapped up another semester of college. What are you going to do to celebrate? Shoot up a dead Xbox 360 with semi-automatic rifles of course! Ben Strauss sends in these pics of the celebratory firing squad that both wrapped up another year at a local college near Kansas City and bid adieu to…

By Brian Crecente Published January 1, 2011

Possibly Illegal Lengths To Get Xbox 360s In Japanese Homes

In Japan, generally speaking, you cannot rent video games, nor can you rent consoles. It’s just not done. Software and hardware companies successfully pushed for a ban on rentals, which is why used games in Japan are in such good shape. Players buy new games, complete them very quickly and then sell them second hand.…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 31, 2010

Kinect Gives Life To This Humanoid Robot

Using Microsoft’s Kinect to control a modified Roomba is impressive. Using it to get a kit-built humanoid robot to mimic your actions is pretty damn amazing. Once again hobbyists beat Microsoft at their own gaming peripheral, utilizing Kinect’s impressive technology in ways that go so far beyond gaming. Here we see software engineer Taylor Veltrop…

By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010

Forbes Predicts the Rise of Apple and Google Gaming and Decline of Sony and Microsoft

In light of Forbes amazingly perceptive 2000 piece about the computers of 2010, Forbes’ Paul Tassi decided to take a stab at predicting what gaming will be like in a decade. Some of his ideas seem spot on, others a bit dated, but it’s still an interesting read. The most likely prediction Tassi makes is…

By Brian Crecente Published December 28, 2010

New Owner of an Xbox Phone? Play These Games

If you’re the owner of a brand-spankin’-new Windows Phone 7 device, then “Ilomilo” is a game you should play. But there’s a catch. The new operating system just launched in November and hasn’t exactly been doing gangbusters in terms of sales. Still, the phones have much to offer gamers. After all, Windows Phone 7 devices…

Winda Benedetti Published December 28, 2010

The Consumer Electronics Show Cometh

One week from today team Kotaku descends on Vegas to prepare for the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show. While there are no expectations of huge news shaking loose from the annual gadget and gear show, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a boring week. Sony often drops interesting nuggets about their gaming division during…

By Brian Crecente Published December 28, 2010

Local News Scares Parents With Kinect Sex Game

Microsoft has already taken action to block developer ThriXXX’s adults-only girl-groping Kinect game from PC release, but that hasn’t stopped the El Paso, Texas Fox affiliate from terrifying parents with the thought of their young children touching virtual breasts. ThriXXX began showing off technical demos for a Kinect-enabled girl fondling simulator earlier this month, with…

By Mike Fahey Published December 27, 2010

It’s Like Gamer Achievements For Your Car

To motivate gamers, Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network give players achievement points and trophies. How does one motivate drivers? With achievement points and trophies, of course! Upcoming electric car the Nissan Leaf is outfitted with “Regional Ranking” software that ranks drivers’ driving efficiency and ranks it against other drivers. Rankings include Bronze, Silver, Gold…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 27, 2010

Motorola Wants Ban On Xbox 360 Sales

The US International Trade Commission currently has Microsoft under investigation, following a complaint from Motorola that the Xbox 360 violates a number of patents held by the telco. It’s seemingly a response to a lawsuit filed by Microsoft earlier in the year, alleging Motorola was ripping the Xbox 360 manufacturer off with “royalties that are…

By Luke Plunkett Published December 24, 2010

Giving your loved one a Wii this holiday season? A piece of Congo’s war zone may be inside

Conflict minerals from eastern Congo’s war zone will be in our holiday gift stockings this year in our smartphones, flatscreen tv’s, and video game systems, but is there any difference among the companies that make them? After two years of working to educate the largest electronics firms on the fact that circuit board parts and…

Sasha Lezhnev Published December 23, 2010

Nothing Says Christmas Like Controller Cookies

Dig in! Spotted on Not So Humble Pie via geeksugar via Technabob]

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 23, 2010

Was All That Final Fantasy XIII Fuss Worth It?

In one word, “no”. When Final Fantasy XIII was originally revealed, it was slated as a PS3 exclusive. Square Enix was adamant about it. Incredibly adamant. Then, at the E3 gaming expo in July 2008, the inevitable happened: Final Fantasy XIII was coming to the Xbox 360, but only in Western markets. The game was…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 23, 2010

First Kinect Game For PC Coming From Korea?

While Kinect will inevitably come to PC gaming one day in an official capacity (it’s of course already being used by hackers), there have been no games actually revealed making use of the peripheral. Until now! Korean developer GamePrix reckons its upcoming massively-multiplayer online game Divine Soul “is scheduled to support Kinect, a new control…

By Luke Plunkett Published December 22, 2010

Black Ops’ First Downloadable Content Is Oscar Mike

The first downloadable content for Call of Duty: Black Ops has been revealed. It’ll go on sale on the Xbox 360 on February 1, and cost $15. The DLC comes in the form of a multiplayer map pack, containing four “regular” levels and one for the game’s zombie mode. Two of the regular maps are…

By Luke Plunkett Published December 20, 2010

There Will Be No Kinect Sex Game

ThriXXX, the developer behind a title claiming to be Kinect’s first sex game, won’t be doing anything of the sort after platform holder Microsoft decided to block its release. “Xbox is a family friendly games and entertainment console and does not allow Adults Only (AO) content to be certified for use on its platform, and…

By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2010

Microsoft Wants To “Quadruple” Kinect’s Accuracy

While Kinect’s hardware is locked in and finalised, the firmware that controls it is flexible and able to be upgraded. And that’s exactly what Microsoft is planning on doing, according to a report on Eurogamer. It’s being reported that Microsoft is currently investigating ways of improving the compression technology that dictates how much code can…

By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2010

Goodbye Gal☆Gun Panties!?

Looks that way. Creepy cute Japanese shooter Gal☆Gun used to be wall-to-wall underpants. Now it’s just wall-to-wall wtf. Seventy-nine days before the game’s release in Japan, Microsoft called a meeting with Gal☆Gun developer Alchemist. On the game’s official site, the developer declared a “state of emergency” and suspended the game’s countdown clock. Microsoft, it seems,…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 17, 2010

Seems The Xbox 360’s Indie Uprising Was More Of A Mild Wag Of The Finger

Sick of being neglected by MIcrosoft and ignored by most consumers, developers of indie games for Xbox Live Arcade went and had a little uprising. So was it a success? Well… The original plan was to have 14 games released during the early days of December, a smorgasbord of independent talent that was supposed to…

By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2010