Microsoft - Page 201 of 239

Obama Administration Wants Microsoft To Make A Video Game

The Obama administration has sounded out Microsoft’s main man, CEO Steve Ballmer, on the possibility of the company producing a video game which would task players with balancing the US budget. Not as fun as tearing up a desert nation looking for weapons of mass destruction, I agree, but it’s just as important. Erskine Bowles,…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 15, 2010

The Original Xbox Live…LIVES! (For Now, At Least)

The original Xbox Live service was supposed to have been shut down at midnight. But midnight has now passed, and the people playing Halo 2 online in anticipation of its demise are…still playing Halo 2. We don’t yet know whether this is a last-minute hiccup or whether Bungie and Microsoft have made a deal with…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 15, 2010

Microsoft Supplier Factory Treats Workers Like “Prisoners”

A damning report from the National Labor Committe, released earlier this week, has highlighted atrocious working conditions at Chinese company KYE Systems Corp, which among other things manufactures control pads for the Xbox 360. The NLC’s report claims that KYE, an electronics manufacturer that supplies hardware for companies like Microsoft (the firm’s biggest single customer),…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 15, 2010

The Voice Of Xbox Live Is Now Taking Your Calls

This week’s episode of Kotaku Talk Radio is now live, featuring none other than Major Nelson, the living embodiment of Xbox Live. Okay, maybe not the living embodiment of Xbox Live, but Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb is the official mouthpiece for the service, bringing fans constant updates through his own weekly podcasts and the Major…

By Mike Fahey Published April 14, 2010

Today, The Original Xbox Live Dies

It’s April 14. If you own an old Xbox and play online with it, or still play original Xbox games on Xbox Live via your 360, you should know this is the last day you’ll ever be able to do so. As Microsoft promised earlier in the year, at midnight tonight the plug will be…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2010

New Forza 3 Rides Suitable For Road And Track

Forza Motorsport 3’s car lineup continues to grow by leaps and bounds, with ten new rides for the Xbox 360 racer now available for purchase in the Road & Track Car Pack. Jalopnik readers and AutoWeek have taken their turns selecting cars for Forza Motorsport 3, and now it’s car enthusiast magazine Road & Track’s…

By Mike Fahey Published April 13, 2010

Let’s Round Up Gears of War 3 Stuff

Lots of Gears of War 3 news broke last night. Perhaps while you were sleeping. Or maybe you were doing other things. I don’t know. Your First Look At Gears Of War 3 Gears of War Designer Talks To Jimmy Fallon Gears of War 3 Now Has Actual Worldwide Release Dates What Is That Mesmerizing…

By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2010

Gears of War 3 Now Has Actual Worldwide Release Dates

When asked on variety program Late Night with Jimmy Fallon when Gears of War 3 would be released, designer Cliff Bleszinski replied, “probably April 8”. Microsoft is giving another date for North America, however. According to an official release, Microsoft states that Gears of War 3 will be out on “April 5, 2011 in North…

By Brian Ashcraft Published April 13, 2010

Your First Look At Gears Of War 3

While we already know Gears of War 3 is on its way in April 2011, the game made its public debut earlier tonight on the Jimmy Fallon show, giving us our first 73-second look at the Xbox shooter. As you can see in the teaser trailer shown above, Gears of War 3 introduces a number…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 13, 2010

Why The Halo MMO Was Cancelled

A few years ago, Microsoft-owned Ensemble Studios, the team behind Age of Empires, was working on a Halo massively-multiplayer online game, code-named Titan. That project ended up a bust, and was cancelled by Microsoft. Here’s why. “We had all this incredible talent, we had the right people, the right passion, we had a phenomenally successful…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 13, 2010

Conan Takes Show To TBS, But He Could’ve Gone To… Xbox Live?

Former Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien is headed back to television this fall, inking a deal with cable station TBS to establish a new late night show. One report says that Conan was in talks for a very different deal. News of O’Brien’s deal with TBS comes from Variety, who writes that the former Late…

By Michael McWhertor Published April 12, 2010

Sci-Fi Author: Halo Full of “Bull**** Archetypal Characters”

You might like Halo. You might not. Crysis 2 lead writer and sci-fi novelist Richard Morgan says he doesn’t like Halo at all “I don’t like the Halo series at all,” says Morgan, best known for his dystopian novel Altered Carbon. “Okay Halo is not actually bad, it’s just, you know, average.” Average? Do explain!…

By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010

Report: Machinarium/Microsoft Deal Breaks Down Over Exclusive Issue [Updated]

The studio responsible for last year’s indie adventure/puzzle hit Machinarium says six months of talks with Microsoft ended with no progress on bringing the Indie game to the Xbox 360, because Microsoft doesn’t want to support games that aren’t Microsoft exclusives. Update: The original source of this report now says: “When asked about their plans…

By Owen Good Published April 10, 2010

Gears Of War 3, Coming April 2011

Somebody at Microsoft appears to have flicked a switch a little early, with an advertisement appearing on the Xbox 360 dashboard tonight for Gears of War 3. There’s the trademark Gears of War logo, and a tagline that reads “The epic story concludes April 2011”. The ad appears to have jumped the proverbial gun, with…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 9, 2010

Microsoft Hasn’t Given Up On The Halo Movie

Once upon a time, Microsoft was going to make a big budget Hollywood version of the Halo franchise. Until it spectacularly fell apart. That doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen, says the company. Back in 2005, a film version of Halo was first penned by Alex Garland, writer of The Beach novel and 28 Days…

By Brian Ashcraft Published April 9, 2010

Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack Pricing Doesn’t Bother 2.5 Million Xbox 360 Owners

Activision and Microsoft are exploding with joy over the performance of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 “Stimulus Package” map pack, proclaiming today that the downloadable add-on “shattered Xbox LIVE records” to the tune of 2.5 million sold. One million of those purchases and downloads occurred within the first 24 hours, according to…

By Michael McWhertor Published April 7, 2010

Alan Wake’s Release Date…Pushed Up!

Microsoft slipped us word this morning that Alan Wake’s European release date has been changed. Thing is, it’s been changed for the better The game was originally due for release towards the end of the week of May 20, but for some reason, it’s now been pushed up to Friday, May 14. A whole week…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 7, 2010

Halo Reach’s Gun Porn (And Vehicle Porn, Too)

Halo creators Bungie love guns. Love big, bulky space vehicles,too. Love ’em so much they’ve released a ton of renders showing how both will appear in the upcoming Halo: Reach. Alongside those mechanical moneyshots we’ve also included some older shots of the game’s cast of Spartans, Covenant and cannon fodder Marines. Halo Reach’s beta kicks…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 7, 2010

Xbox Live Gets Double Impact, Half Price Deals In April

Microsoft has laid out a good portion of the Xbox Live Marketplace release schedule for April, ensuring that no one will buy a copy of The Maw or Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned this week. That’s because both of those downloadable goodies will drop to half price later this month, priced at just…

By Michael McWhertor Published April 6, 2010

Second Out of the E3 Press Conference Gate: Sony!

Last week Microsoft surprised many of us with news that one of their twin E3 press conferences would be on the Sunday before the half-week show. Today Sony tells us when they’ll be dropping their big news. Sony’s official Save the Date for their press conference tells us that they will be taking over the…

By Brian Crecente Published April 6, 2010