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Xbox Update Stealth Kills Call Of Duty Pirates
Seems like that innocent little Xbox 360 update yesterday wasn’t just to restore the option to boot the console straight to a disc. It also contained secret pirate-fighting juice. Now that it’s been mentioned, it did seem a little strange that the update came out of nowhere. And for such a tiny fix clocked in…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2011 -
Game Studio Calls New Game Hardware “Horrible”
Right now, gamers play video games on the Xbox 360, the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. One day, we will have new consoles. Won’t that be great? Um, no, not according to one of gaming’s biggest studios. “It would be horrible,” says THQ’s Danny Bilson. “It still costs us a fortune to make games on…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2011 -
Kinect Hacked To Perform Surgery
We’ve seen the Xbox 360 Kinect control robots before, but never robots with tasks this important. A group of graduate engineering students at the University of Washington are using Microsoft’s device to guide the actions of surgical robots. Scientists and engineers have been working for years to integrate gaming technology into the human-controlled robots that…
By Mike Fahey Published January 18, 2011 -
See Halo’s Heroes Get Stabbed Over And Over And Over…
Tom Saville, an animator at Bungie Studios, had a great job on Halo: Reach. He got to do all the stabbings. Here, then, is a highlight reel of his work. Which means it’s two minutes of stabbings. OK, so that’s not all he did, as there are space ostriches and Noble Team member Jorge in…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2011 -
Is Microsoft About To Let Kinect Play Nice With Windows?
With hackers showing the world what Kinect is truly capable of, it was only a matter of time before Microsoft decided to release its own, official PC support for the Xbox 360’s motion sensing camera. PC gossip site WinRumors reckons that Microsoft “is currently preparing an official Kinect SDK and driver support for Windows based…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2011 -
The Xbox 360 Is Coming For Your Daughters
Steve Ballmer, head honcho at Microsoft, argues that Kinect for the Xbox 360 is the way to get 15-year-old girls cursing up a storm on Xbox Live in a new interview with USA Today The animated Microsoft CEO ends that quote by saying “we haven’t done as good a job drawing in that broader set…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 17, 2011 -
2 Years Later, Broken Xbox 360 Game Gets Fixed
One of the greatest arcade shooters ever got mangled to hell when it was brought to the Xbox 360. Two years later, the game is finally getting patched up. ‘Bout time. Bullet hell shooter DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou stormed into Japanese arcades back in 2002. When the game’s developer, Tokyo-based Cave, was looking for one…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 17, 2011 -
Kinect Boxing Match Ends In Tactical Knock-Out
In Sweden, a team of cops stormed a couple’s home after a neighbor reported that five people were beating the crap out of a woman. Turns out they were all playing boxing on Kinect Sports. At least I hope that’s what Robert Johansson and his five friends were playing; otherwise they should have been arrested…
By Owen Good Published January 16, 2011 -
Kinect-Controlled Gundam Mech Stands On Its Own One Foot
In the evolution of Kinect-controlled robotics, we’ve gone from a Roomba in November, to a robot moving its arms in December, now to one that may stand on one foot. We should be slaves to our robot overlords by May. This is a Kinect-controlled V-Sido humanoid robot, dressed to resemble a Gundam mech. Sort of…
By Owen Good Published January 15, 2011 -
Would You Play Kinect Games In The Arcade?
The Game Gate VU is an arcade cabinet that houses an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 – a coin-op kiosk, more or less, with some other features. It’s now been outfitted for Kinect. Anybody seen one of these yet? BMI Gaming, a heavyweight distributor of arcade machines, lists the unit for $4,875 – with a…
By Owen Good Published January 14, 2011 -
The Xbox 360 Is Scarce Right Now, Due To ‘Viral’ Kinect Effect
Microsoft warned this week that getting your hands on a new Xbox 360 right now may be more difficult than normal. You can blame Kinect‘s eight million sales for part of that, says Microsoft. This is essentially Microsoft saying “Bad news, guys: we had a totally awesome Christmas. Sorry!” The Xbox maker boasted at CES…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 14, 2011 -
GameStop Wants Access To Your Xbox Live Account
While GameStop is perfectly happy selling you Xbox Live points cards at the moment, in the future, the retailer wants to do more than that. It wants your Xbox Live details, so it can send you the stuff it’s selling. “Today you pick the card up off the rack that’s associated with that map pack,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2011 -
The Xbox 360 Tries Again To Replace TV Programming
Starting this spring Microsoft will again test the waters for a video game that replicates, perhaps replaces, something you might watch on television. In 2009, Microsoft turned the once-popular television game show 1 Vs. 100 into a very popular mob trivia game on the Xbox 360. The game had a regular season, a live audience…
By Brian Crecente Published January 12, 2011 -
Microsoft’s Answer to Portable Gaming is Windows Phone 7
Don’t expect a portable, dedicated gaming platform from Microsoft anytime soon. There will be no answer to the DS or PSP, no portable Xbox 360. That is unless you count the Windows Phone 7. “This is our mobile platform for games,” Kevin Unangst, senior global diretor of PC and mobile gaming at Microsoft, told Kotaku…
By Brian Crecente Published January 11, 2011 -
This Is How Kinect Turns Your Face Into A Talking Avatar
At CES 2011, Microsoft unveiled Avatar Kinect, a new Xbox 360 app that uses the Kinect camera to track your facial expressions for a personalized, glorified chatroom. Just what does Avatar Kinect see? More than you might think. This brief tech demo illustrates how Kinect follows the head and multiple points on a person’s face…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 10, 2011 -
Can This Pop Princess Be A True Gamer With No PS3?
During the last decade, Japanese singer Maki Goto was a big pop star. Now, she’s a big gamer. That is, a big gamer apparently without a PS3. Earlier this week, Goto appeared on popular variety show Downtown DX, hosted by the popular comedy duo Downtown. On the show, celebrity guests typically show photos or videos…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 10, 2011 -
ReviewsReview: ilomilo’s Surprising Depth Is A Matter Of Perception
A pair of friends vow to meet each other in the park each day, despite a twisted world that strives to keep them apart. This is the simple story behind ilomilo, a puzzle game much deeper than initial appearances. Poor ilo and milo. Every day they venture into the park to spend valuable time together,…
By Mike Fahey Published January 7, 2011 -
Fable For The Phone Is A Fun Round Of Coin Golf
The Fable series may be known best for its wild ambition, but the Windows Phone 7 spin-off keeps things perfectly simple. This is Fable: Coin Golf. Microsoft says the mobile phone take on Fable draws upon traditional British pub games like Shove Ha’penny, Bar Billiards and Skittles, tasking you with launching the “Hero Puck” into…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 7, 2011 -
What’s Up With Xbox 360 As A Cable Box, Virtual Game Room, And Game Show Host?
Microsoft has a lot they want to talk about at this Consumer Electronics Show: Their big Kinect sales numbers, the future of that tech, their new phone. But they also have a few things they’re not keen to discuss. The makers of computer and cell phone operating systems and the Xbox 360 likes to push…
By Brian Crecente Published January 7, 2011