Microsoft

Shadow Complex Sets Xbox Live Sales Record

Chair Entertainment’s Shadow Complex is officially the most downloaded single-player title in Xbox Live Arcade history, with 200,000 copies purchased during its first week of release alone. We loved Shadow Complex, and so did you folks apparently, with stellar review scores and one-week sales so spectacular that Microsoft had to issue a celebratory press release.…

Oh Good, More Doritos Games For Xbox Live Arcade

Cheesy indie advergaming returns to the 360, as Doritos announces the return of the “Unlock Xbox” video game design competition, calling creators to capture the essence of the snack chip in video game form. Last year’s “Unlock Xbox” winner, Doritos Dash of Destruction, was downloaded nearly a million times, so while we endlessly poke fun…

Xbox Live Succumbs To Beatlemania

Microsoft’s Xbox team of executives must be shrieking like teenage girls in the 60’s at the moment, what with the amount of Beatles-related cash-ins on the horizon for Xbox Live. With The Beatles: Rock Band due on September 9, Microsoft have announced a range of ways users can “relive the magic of Beatlemania”, which include:…

250GB Xbox 360 Looking More Likely

One listing for a 250GB Xbox 360 could be an accident. A typo. But two in two days, on opposite ends of the planet, well, that’s something else. This is an ad from South African retailer BT Games, showing a “Super Elite” Xbox 360 that packs a 250GB HDD. Interesting. Certainly makes the German version…

Cryptic: Microsoft’s Behavior Means No Champions This Year

Jack Emmert, the Cryptic chief creative officer, says Microsoft has a “baffling” issue with MMOs, and it’s holding up the console release of Champions Online. In a VG247 podcast, Emmert says Cryptic has a 360 version of the game “ready to go,” but it’s not likely to arrive this year. “It just takes time for…

A Reignited Console War Means A Happy Holiday For Gamers

The long-simmering war between the Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 has boiled over in time for the holidays thanks to dual price drops that put all three consoles within $50 of each other. In a much anticipated move, Sony announced a new $300 model for their Playstation 3 in Cologne, Germany during the Gamescom…

Early Halo: ODST Players Won’t Be Banned (So Long As They Bought A Copy)

Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, you’re French. And somehow, your local game store was selling copies of Halo: ODST weeks before it was meant to be out. Then Microsoft threatens action. You’d think “action” meant “XBL bans”, right? Gladly, that’s not the case. Well, provided you bought the game, at any rate. Xbox Live Chief of…

Fable II Gets A Game Of The Year Edition

Hot on the heels of a Gears of War 2 GOTY bundle comes the news that Fable II will also be repackaged, also in a “Game of the Year” edition. It’ll include both the game’s downloadable content packs (Knothole Island, See The Future), and while there’s no release date or US pricing available, we do…

Twitter, Facebook On 360 Might Be For Gold Subscribers Only [Update]

Buried at the foot of the press release announcing Microsoft’s 360 price cuts this morning was this little nugget: “Xbox Live Gold Membership will be required for Twitter and Facebook when they are available”. Seems a strange move, what with both Facebook and Twitter being 100% free on both PCs and phones. In defence, a…

Microsoft Taking Action Against Those Who Buy and Play Halo 3: ODST Early [Update]

Microsoft is investigating how copies of next month’s Halo 3: ODST went up for sale at a French retail store, officials told Kotaku. “We are investigating a very small breach in our distribution process around the early delivery of ‘Halo 3: ODST’ units,” a Microsoft spokesman told Kotaku. “We are also investigating Xbox LIVE accounts…

Xbox 360 Not Even At Halfway Point, No Slim Planned

There are no plans for a slimmed down version of the Xbox 360, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku. “We feel like our system has done very well for us in the current form,” said Greenberg, director of product management for the Xbox 360. “We have no plans for a slim.” Instead of reinventing the outside…

Exchange Rates Make Microsoft’s 360 Price Hike A Little Iffy

Like the US, the 360 Elite is getting a hefty price cut in the UK. But unlike the US, the price of the Arcade 360 in the UK is about to go up. Hey, Microsoft, what’s the deal? Microsoft Europe’s Chris Lewis has told MCV “We are making modest increases on the Xbox 360 Arcade…

UK Gets Xbox 360 Price Cut And Price Hike

It’s not only the US that is seeing an Xbox 360 price drop, but the UK, too. Starting tomorrow, the Xbox 360 Elite 120GB will be priced at £199.99 (US$324). The new price is a £30 drop from the current retail price, and the the Xbox 360 Pro will be phased out in the United…

Microsoft Confirms Xbox 360 Price Drop, Denies Slim 360 Rumors

Microsoft’s priciest version of the Xbox 360 is getting a $100 price drop this Friday, the publisher told Kotaku, and its top selling model of the console is being phased out. The 120GB Xbox 360 Elite will sell for $299.99, while the popular 60GB Xbox 360 Pro will be cut to $249.99. Despite being Microsoft’s…

The Xbox 360 Controller In Tasty Bento Form

As seen on Hawty McBloggy.

360 Price Cuts Also Tipped For UK Market

British sites are reporting that, ahead of an expected announcement later this week, Microsoft are to copy the rumoured North American moves by implementing both a price cut and a lineup shuffle for their range of 360 consolse. MCV say that retailers across Britain are being told they can’t order any/many existing 360 consoles, while…

NCAA 10 Patch Resolves ‘Gay’ Filtering

Probably not the biggest gameplay issue NCAA 10 players are concerned about, but the “gay” filtering foofaraw has been cleared up as part of a massive patch, the second put out for this game in two months. You might remember, earlier this month, we reported the egg-on-face situation where auto-named rosters from NCAA 10’s Teambuilder…

Guest Op/Ed: Toxics, Electronics and Why Consoles Matter

Here at Greenpeace we’re no strangers to controversy. Sparking it is part of the reason we exist: sometimes it’s the only way to raise an issue up in the public dialogue to a point where a discussion is had, a decision gets made, and action taken. And that’s what our work on games consoles is…

FASA’s Dev Culture Was “Destroyed” By Microsoft

The name “FASA Interactive” will be familiar to anyone who loved them some Mechwarrior back in the day. Sadly, they’re no more, having been shut down by Microsoft, who bought the company in 1999. Bought then, allegedly, ruined. FASA founder Jordan Weisman has said that once Microsoft bought the studio, things changed. When Microsoft bought…

Japanese Store No Longer Buying Old Xbox 360 Consoles

This sign was spotted in front of a Japanese game shop and states that the store will no longer be buying back used Xbox 360s that went on sale before August 2007. The poster tells customers how they can check the serial number on their machine’s date. The store will buy Xbox 360s will the…