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Jaffe: Sony Lawyers Should Start Sending Out Some Letters
On his blog, David Jaffe writes that similarities between Microsoft’s upcoming Scrap Metal and Sony’s Twisted Metal, as well as the film title “War of the Gods,” should both rate “a sternly worded legal letter,” from Sony’s lawyer-mans. Jaffe, the designer who directed both Twisted Metal and God of War emphasizes that he doesn’t own…
By Owen Good Published March 5, 2010 -
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy Nixed on Xbox 360 Live
A change to the Xbox Live code of conduct this morning now allows gamers to express their sexual orientation in Xbox Live profiles or Gamertags. The new policy states: “You may use the following terms to express your relationship orientation in your profile or Gamertag: Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender, Straight. Other terms regarding relationship orientation…
By Brian Crecente Published March 5, 2010 -
Microsoft Offers Halo: Reach Beta, Free MS Points To “Loyal” Halo Players
Original Xbox games will no longer be playable over Xbox Live as of April 15, but Microsoft is easing the pain of Halo 2 players by offering “avid” players free stuff and a shot at the Halo: Reach beta. Several Kotaku readers have received word from the Xbox Live Team, breaking the bad news about…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 4, 2010 -
Reviews
Toy Soldiers Micro-review: A Farewell To Arms?
Being a kid is great. Your toys aren’t just toys, they’re real. And your bedroom or table top can serve as the terrain for your imagination. Does Xbox Live Arcade game Toy Soldiers capture the feeling of playing with toy soldiers? Developed by Signal Studios, Toy Soldiers is a tower defense game in which players…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 4, 2010 -
Don’t Throw Up, Xbox Japan Man!
The guys from “Xbox Mission Department” have returned and are securing titles for the Xbox 360. The guy with the Xbox 360 logo for a noggin is named Sanrokumaru, or literally three-six-o. He speaks only through the Xbox 360’s “X” noise. In one of the ads below, there is a teaser for the next Xbox…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 4, 2010 -
Red Ring of Death In Robot Sculpture Form
Things break. And this generation, the Xbox 360 has broken more than any other console. Some gamers might simply become resigned. Jasper Steven is not one of those people. When his Xbox 360 croaked, he decided that he’d had enough so he gutted the machine and made this Xbox 360 sculpture. It is not held…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 4, 2010 -
A Bit More On that Halo Reach Multiplayer Vid
Last night we posted a version of the Halo: Reach multiplayer video that leaked out a tad early, but now that it’s official Bungie has a few more details about it. The trailer, they say, features a C Paul track originally orchestrated for the Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack. The studio brought in Ivan Ives…
By Brian Crecente Published March 3, 2010 -
Buy The Forza 3 VIP Car Pack, Help Haiti
Microsoft has unlocked the Forza Motorsport 3 downloadable content previous exclusive to new copies of the game, and developer Turn 10 have unlocked their hearts, donating $10 towards earthquake relief in Haiti for every VIP Membership Car Pack sold. The Sidewinder Proving Grounds Track Pack, Benchmark High Speed Ring Track Pack, and Motorsport Legends Car…
By Mike Fahey Published March 2, 2010 -
Collateral Damage In The War On Piracy
Last month the worldwide effort to thwart the illegal copying and sales of video games took a turn to the draconian, with a number of publishers introducing new measures that often seemed to impact legitimate gamers as much as pirates. France-based Ubisoft rolled out a new form of digital rights management that require players of…
By Brian Crecente Published March 1, 2010 -
PS3 Failure, You Are Not Alone
A large number of console hardware devices failing all at once. This sounds familiar. On December 31, 2008 at around midnight PST, Microsoft’s first generation Zune 30GB portable device began to go kaput en masse. “Upon when turning on, the thing loads up and… freezes with a full loading bar,” a tipster told sister site…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 1, 2010 -
Natal Marketing Effort Targeting Women’s Magazines
You know those women’s magazines like Glamour and Cosmopolitan that promise BIG SEX NEWS every single month? Well, if a report’s to be believed, they’re going to be delivering BIG NATAL NEWS as the product nears release. MCV reports that Microsoft’s ramping up marketing plans for Natal that go after Nintendo’s top-of-mind awareness in nontraditional…
By Owen Good Published February 28, 2010 -
Windows Games On Demand Drastically Discounts Arkham Asylum
Every weekend in March, Microsoft will be discounting Games on Demand for Windows titles, kicking things off with 75% off the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum this Friday through Monday. Perhaps Microsoft’s Games on Demand program for Windows isn’t getting as much attention as the company hoped, or maybe they just feel like passing out…
By Mike Fahey Published February 25, 2010 -
Project Natal’s Lag, As Judged By Stopwatch
Microsoft’s controller-free add-on Project Natal may be perfect for virtual painting and hyperactive ball-swatting, but is it responsive enough for something more intense? What does MTV’s stopwatch tell us? The MTV Multiplayer folks performed a little stopwatch-based survey of Project Natal’s real-life movement to on-screen movement interpretation capabilities, deeming that the average lag time was…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 22, 2010 -
Microsoft Prices And Dates The Xbox Live Block Party
Microsoft gets its Xbox Live Block Party started right, scheduling the weekly releases of Toy Soldiers, Scrap Metal, Perfect Dark, and Game Room, with a chance for players to score Microsoft points and a month of Xbox Live Gold. The Xbox Live Block Party is a month-long celebration of….something or another, taking place over the…
By Mike Fahey Published February 22, 2010 -
Halo Legends DVD Review: Ring Around The Halo Universe
Delve deeper into the Halo Universe with seven animated shorts from acclaimed animation studios in Halo Legends. Does anime and Master Chief mix? Announced in July of last year, Halo Legends is an animated anthology that gives five of Japan’s top animation studios a chance to expand on the fiction of Microsoft’s beloved franchise. Studio…
By Mike Fahey Published February 17, 2010 -
Come Chat with Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg on Kotaku Talk Radio Today
Join us live today on CBS Radio for our latest episode of Kotaku Talk Radio with the Xbox 360’s director of product management. Hot off his appearance at last week’s big Xbox 360 showcase event in San Francisco, Aaron Greenberg joins us live to chat about the console, gaming in general and to take your…
By Brian Crecente Published February 17, 2010 -
Report: Microsoft May Drop $200 Mil On Facebook Game Dev
Microsoft could be the next company to drop big cash on a Facebook game maker. Bloomberg reported last week that the Xbox 360 maker is one of the companies in talks to buy CrowdStar, supposedly valued at $200 million. Who is CrowdStar? And why would they command a $200 million buyout? They make Happy Aquarium,…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 15, 2010 -
How Xbox Live Works On Windows Phones 7 Series
As expected, Microsoft’s Steve Balmer announced Xbox Live support for the upcoming Windows Phone 7 series at the Mobile World Congress, but what exactly will Xbox Live users be able to do on their phones? According to the official press release, not all that much. Accessing Xbox Live through the Windows Phone 7 Games hub…
By Mike Fahey Published February 15, 2010 -
Microsoft To Unveil Xbox Live Mobile Today
While we at Kotaku have known Xbox Live has been coming to Windows Mobile for a while now, it appears that later today, Microsoft will finally get around to officially unveiling the project. Some lazy security at the Mobile World Congress at Barcelona (due to open later today) has allowed these shots to get out,…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 15, 2010 -
Project Natal Meets Superman (Well…Superman’s Supporting Cast)
In case you missed it – and let’s face it, you probably did – over the weekend, Microsoft decided that the perfect place to promote Project Natal was…on TV show Smallville. Here it is, complete with French subtitles, which make it look a lot sexier than it actually is. What’s best about it is not…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 15, 2010