Microsoft - Page 179 of 238

Review: Kinect

Microsoft says that Kinect is the next big thing for video games, a way to control both games and TV without touching a thing. This expensive future is now. It’s amazing, but you can wait for it. The Kinect sensor is a device that plugs into an Xbox 360 and uses a combination of cameras…

By Stephen Totilo Published November 4, 2010

What We Loved, What We Hated About the Xbox 360 Kinect

Microsoft calls it a new console, but the Kinect is really a fresh coat of paint for the Xbox 360, promising to deliver not just motion gaming, but controller-free gaming to the masses. We’ve had the peripheral add-on in our offices for a little more than a week now, time enough for us to play…

By Brian Crecente Published November 4, 2010

Marky Mark And Microsoft Bring Kinect To All The Good Boys & Girls Clubs

Actor Mark Wahlberg teams up with Microsoft today to help deliver a funky bunch of Xbox 360 and Kinect gaming hardware to thousands of Boys & girls Clubs across the nation. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America have been helping underprivileged children become productive, caring, and responsible adults for more than 100 years. Today…

By Mike Fahey Published November 3, 2010

People Already Lining Up For Kinect, But They’re Not Crazy

Microsoft’s controller-free add-on for the Xbox 360 officially doesn’t launch until November 4, but some clearly passionate Kinect fans are already lining up in New York City for its midnight launch. Crazy? Not really and here’s why. Microsoft is giving the first 3,000 people who line up and buy Kinect at the official launch party…

By Michael McWhertor Published November 2, 2010

So, Microsoft, Why The Xbox Live Price Hike?

This week, the price of a subscription to Xbox Live Gold went up. Want to know why? Here’s the reason Microsoft is peddling. “In 2002 it was strictly multiplayer gaming,” Xbox Live’s Craig Davison told Gamasutra. “Now we get those Call of Duty map packs before anybody else does. We’ve got Gears and Halo, of…

By Luke Plunkett Published November 2, 2010

New Xbox 360 Bundle Includes Forza 3 and Alan Wake

Microsoft yesterday revealed a new Xbox 360 bundle for the holiday season, one which packs a 250GB console in with two games. It’s the same one as we’ve already shown you for the Canadian and European markets; namely, one that also packs in a boxed copy of Forza 3 and a token for a downloadable…

By Luke Plunkett Published November 2, 2010

Indie Devs Not Happy With New Xbox 360 Dashboard

The new Xbox 360 dashboard is clean. It’s very white. It’s also got a lot of indie developers for the platform upset with Microsoft, accusing the platform holder of putting their baby in the corner. Xbox Live Indie Games used to be somewhat easily found in the “Games Marketplace” section of the dashboard. Now? They’ve…

By Luke Plunkett Published November 2, 2010

Frankenreview: Fable III

If there’s one thing compiling the Fable III Frankenreview has taught me, it’s that even the most powerful monarch is subject to the court of popular opinion. In this case the court of popular opinion features the opinion of the assembled video game reviewers, who seem to have mixed feelings when it comes to the…

By Mike Fahey Published November 1, 2010

Project Gotham Racing Making A Comeback

Project Gotham Racing’s engines have been stalled since Activision bought developer Bizarre Creations in 2007. Is Microsoft warming up European development studios for a potential PGR revival? “Trusted sources” tell game development website Develop that Microsoft is currently courting several independent European studios to revive the franchise that was the definitive racing experience on the…

By Mike Fahey Published November 1, 2010

Xbox Live’s Keyboard Gets New Coat Of Paint

Those blue menus of old? They’re gone in the fall Xbox Live update. In their place are silvery white menus. Xbox Live’s keyboard gets tweaked, too. “We’ve taken the existing QWERTY keyboard in-dash and made it easier to use for scenarios that involve repeated text entry,” Microsoft’s Larry Hryb explains, “when signing up for LIVE…

By Brian Ashcraft Published November 1, 2010

Burger King Is Giving Away A Kinect Bundle Every 15 Minutes

Burger King is giving away a 4GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle every fifteen minutes between now and November 28, and all you have to do is order a Whopper extra value meal. Is it worth it? It’s Kinect release week, and Microsoft has teamed up with Burger King to give customers a shot at winning…

By Mike Fahey Published November 1, 2010

The Problem With Microsoft’s New Way To Play Video Games

When Xbox 360’s controller-free Kinect add-on hits stores later this week it has the potential to redefine gaming in ways even the Nintendo Wii hasn’t yet done. It could just as easily fall flat on its face. While Nintendo’s motion-sensing Wii changed the way we use controllers, Microsoft’s Kinect completely removes the need to hold…

By Brian Crecente Published November 1, 2010

I Don’t Want The “EnjoyableDisc” Gamertag

Some gamers need help with creating their Xbox Live gamertag. The new fall update is here to help. It provides a more user friendly way of doing it: spinning a wheel. But its suggestions? They need work. The first two times, I spun the wheel, I got a good array of names. Then the third…

By Brian Ashcraft Published November 1, 2010

Xbox 360’s Fall Update Is Live

The annual fall update for Xbox Live is up and ready for download. The update boasts improved features like a new dashboard (for everyone), and for Americans stuff like ESPN services, a Zune Music Pass, Netflix Search and more. Regular users of Xbox Live will also be treated to improved voice chat quality, it’ll be…

By Brian Ashcraft Published November 1, 2010

2010’s Global Console Sales At A Glance

Some supplementary information provided as part of Nintendo’s latest financial results has got something interesting tucked away amidst all the chest-beating: global home console sales data for 2010. That’s data for all three home console platform holders across the United States, Europe and Japan from January 2010 until around September. What’s interesting is that, considering…

By Luke Plunkett Published November 1, 2010

Xbox Live Fall Update Arrives November 1

The Xbox 360’s dashboard will get an overhaul for the second time on Monday, November 1. That’s when the big Xbox Live fall 2010 update, complete with Kinect support, will come to Microsoft’s console. Microsoft confirmed the release date today via e-mail, telling Xbox Live members the mandatory update will “enhance the interface, navigation, and…

By Michael McWhertor Published October 31, 2010

Japan Hated The Xbox Before It Was Even Out

The Xbox never caught on in Japan. The 360 is having problems, too. Ever wonder why? There are any number of reasons why Japan won’t embrace the console now, but let’s go back to the very beginning. “…when I went to Japan to show the console, man, they really had a problem with it. I…

By Luke Plunkett Published October 29, 2010

Microsoft’s Computer Gave Birth To Japanese Gaming Legends

Microsoft has been successful the world over with its operating systems. Even in Japan, Windows is the most common OS. However, the computer giant hasn’t seen those same results there with gaming. That hasn’t always been the case. In the early 1980s, Microsoft Japan aimed to create a standard for computers akin to the VHS…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2010

After Windows, After Xbox, Kinect Is Microsoft’s Next Planned World-Changer

Microsoft says its next generation video game console is backed by a half-billion dollar ad campaign and packs in technology ripped from the fantasy world of Minority Report. It’s also already sitting in more than 40 million living rooms. It’s not a new version of Microsoft’s Xbox, but the five-year-old Xbox 360 paired with an…

By Michael McWhertor Published October 27, 2010

The People Who Made GoldenEye Were Almost Purchased By The People Who Are Making GoldenEye

Rare owned by Activision? Could have been! Giant video game company Activision, who are publishing a Wii homage to GoldenEye next month, were thisclose back in the day to buying Rare, the studio behind the original 1997 Nintendo 64 first-person shooter, according to an interview in Develop. Former Microsoft executive Ed Fries, who was instrumental…

By Stephen Totilo Published October 27, 2010