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Here’s How Microsoft Spends Nearly a Billion Dollars
Advertising for two new products. That’s right, the company behind Windows, Office, Xbox Live, the Xbox 360 and a myriad of nearly successful consumer electronics is planning to spend an estimated $900 million to market the Xbox 360’s Kinect and Windows Phone 7, according to two recent reports. This morning The New York Post reported…
By Brian Crecente Published October 18, 2010 -
Kinect’s 17 Games “Launch Portfolio” is One Shy of Xbox 360 Launch Line-Up
This morning Microsoft unveiled the 17 games that will be part of the Xbox 360’s motion-sensing Kinect “launch portfolio” next month. The titles include an eclectic mix of Wii-like casual games, big titles with a Kinect controller option and a couple of big titles created for the motion controller from the ground up. Of course…
By Brian Crecente Published October 18, 2010 -
Fable Is Not Limited To A Trilogy
Action role-playing game Fable III is out this month. Fable III? That’s a trilogy, and trilogies are a good way to end a series. “Forget about the word ‘trilogy’,” Fable designer Peter Molyneux said. “I hate limiting ourselves to a trilogy.” “I want you to feel that you’re on a journey in Fable and I’m…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 18, 2010 -
Kinect’s Solved Its Sitting-Down Problem
The subject of much gumflapping post E3, Kinect’s ability to handle players who are sitting down has been more finely tuned, Eurogamer reports. It’s now calibrated to focus on your neck-al area rather than your ass-al area. The “base node” used to create the skeletal models that the controller recognizes has been switched from the…
By Owen Good Published October 17, 2010 -
Making the Armor and Enemies for a Live Action Halo Commercial
Deliver Hope, the live action commercial for Halo: Reach, was the highlight for the Bungie shooter’s marketing, giving us a short glimpse of what all of that upcoming gameplay might look like in real life. This 4-minute making of video shot on the set in Prague documents the making of television commercial Spartans and how…
By Brian Crecente Published October 15, 2010 -
250GB Xbox Includes Forza, Alan Wake
A new Xbox 360 means new Xbox 360 bundles for the holiday season, and one of the first cabs off that yuletide rank for 2010 seems to be this Canadian offer, including two full games with a 250GB console. Those two games, both Microsoft exclusives, are a boxed copy of Forza 3 and a download…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 15, 2010 -
Halo: Reach Sells Over 3 Million Copies
For a game where you know how it ends before you even fire it up, the fact Halo: Reach has sold over 3 million copies since its release a month ago is some tidy work on the part of Bungie. Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg took to Twitter earlier today to reveal that the game, the fourth…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 15, 2010 -
Spend Xbox Live Money, Make Xbox Live Money
For the rest of October, if you spend a certain amount of Microsoft Points on Xbox Live stuff, you’ll be given points in return, which you can then spend on more stuff. Specifically, if you spend 2400 points on “Xbox LIVE Arcade and/or game add-on content” you’ll get 800 points dumped back into your account.…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 15, 2010 -
Halo: Reach Gets Its First Map Pack Next Month
Xbox 360 space marine shooter Halo: Reach gets its first map pack on Nov. 30, according to Microsoft. The Noble Map Pack will include three new maps and new Achievements worth an extra 250 Gamescore points. It will cost 800 Microsoft Points, or about $10. Here’s a run down from Microsoft of the three maps,…
By Brian Crecente Published October 14, 2010 -
Pick Up Speed And Lets Watch This Fable III Trailer
Slated for release later this month, action role-playing game Fable III raises the stakes. The game is about more than being good or bad. It’s about causing a revolution. This new trailer features the tune “Young Men Dead” by Texas rockers The Black Angels. Those who have played Xbox 360 thriller Alan Wake might recognize…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 13, 2010 -
How TV On An Xbox 360 Works
So, Americans have finally joined the ranks of nations that can use their Xbox 360 to watch TV on. For those wondering, here’s how it all works. Sure sounds a lot more convoluted than, say, the British (or upcoming Australian) solution, which is…have a subscription to the relevant service, plug your Xbox 360 into the…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 13, 2010 -
The Whores (And Man Whores) Of Fable III
Xbox 360 and PC role-playing game Fable III, not one to shy away from the sexier side of humanity, contains prostitutes. Here are some of them. Warning: coin purses ahead. This image comes from an upcoming Fable III artbook, which is mostly full of beautiful images of uniforms, posters, characters and environments. Then you get…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 13, 2010 -
Turmoil In The Land Where Your Consoles Are Made
This year, a rash of suicides at the factories of manufacturing giant Foxconn has focused attention on working conditions. Improvements were apparently made, but a recent report suggests otherwise. Foxconn assembles the Xbox 360, the PS3, the Nintendo Wii and the iPhone, among many other electronic devices. A recent report features interviews with over 1,700…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 12, 2010 -
How I Met Your Kinect
The most recent episode of American comedy program “How I Met Your Mother” featured not one, but two cameos. One of them was talk show host Maury Povich. The other? Microsoft’s forthcoming Kinect motion control system. The show is actually a series of flashbacks narrated by Bob Saget of Full House fame about how he…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 12, 2010 -
Taking Pictures, Watching Movies, Typing and Playing Games on Windows Phone 7
This morning Steve Ballmer filled a New York “meeting space” to capacity to unveil the specifics on the November launch of Windows Phone 7. Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect from what appears to be the only mobile phone that will support Xbox Live. This is how Microsoft put it today: “Windows…
By Brian Crecente Published October 11, 2010 -
Watch U-verse TV On Your Xbox 360 This Friday
Xbox 360 owners that subscribe to AT&T’s U-verse television service can return one of their set-top boxes this Friday, when the service goes live on Microsoft’s console. Would you pay $99 to turn your 360 into a cable receiver? Last Friday we posted information indicating that the U-verse experience would launch sometime next month. How…
By Mike Fahey Published October 11, 2010 -
EA Readies The Sims 3 And More For Windows Phone 7
Continuing its tradition of making a splash whenever a new gaming platform launches, EA is gearing up for the Windows Phone 7 launch with a suite of titles, including The Sims 3. Revealed during the Windows Phone 7 launch event in New York today, the Windows Phone 7 version of The Sims 3 doesn’t look…
By Mike Fahey Published October 11, 2010 -
Xbox Avatar Editing and Gaming on Windows Phone 7 in Action
Microsoft spent Monday morning walking gathered press through the release dates and details for their Windows Phone 7 phones, due to start hitting in early November. Here’s a look at the gaming they walked us through on the phone.
By Brian Crecente Published October 11, 2010 -
First Windows Phone 7 Devices Drop In November
The first wave of Windows Phone 7 devices kicks off with the November 8 release of the Samsung Focus in North America, with eight more Xbox Live-ready devices making it to market worldwide in time for the holidays. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 initiative launches on November 8 in North America with the release of the…
By Mike Fahey Published October 11, 2010