Microsoft

Director: “Microsoft/Xbox is the Most Dreadful, Non-Talent Friendly Company”

James Gunn, one of the directors signed on to last year’s “Horror Does Comedy” original content series on XBox Live, says Microsoft rejected his first film and “cut the living shit” out of the second. To be fair, Gunn calls “Humanzee” the “most balls-out, fucked-up thing I’ve ever shot.” But he says the XBL folks…

Microsoft Refunds Braid Overbill, Plus a Little Extra

If you bought Braid back in February when it was XBLM’s first “Deal of the Week,” check your points balance. Microsoft mistakenly overbilled for it, but they’ll be refunding the difference plus 100 points. We’ve gotten word through a few readers about the mistake, which Microsoft attributed to a “technical glitch.” The virtual money should…

What AJ Learned About Machinima Law Today

Today kicks off Stanford University‘s Play Machinima Law Conference with panels of machinima artists, copyright lawyers and legal representatives from Blizzard, EA and Microsoft. Machinima is one of those hazy areas of artistic expression not quite covered by copyright law and not quite insignificant given how many people have jumped on the bandwagon. Kotaku first…

Rumor: GTA IV Getting Xbox 360 Elite Bundle Treatment

Microsoft looks like it may be prepping yet another Xbox 360 Elite bundle for later this year, according to retail sources, bundling its higher-end console with Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV. Listings for the Xbox 360 Elite GTA IV Limited Edition bundle were sent to Kotaku earlier this week—alongside information on the recently revealed…

Microsoft Has $13.65B Quarter, Sells 1.7 Million Xbox 360s

Software giant Microsoft announced its quarterly earnings today, boasting $13.65 billion in revenue, with $1.57 billion of that from the division responsible for the Xbox 360. That means some bad, some good. Revenue was down across the company by six percent on lowered software sales, but Microsoft’s net income for the quarter (roughly, the company’s…

Xbox Japan Trailer Shows Off Its New Games

At its Tokyo press conference, Microsoft showed off upcoming titles for the Xbox 360. Some of the titles, like Mass Effect, are localized games that have already gotten released outside Japan. Other titles aren’t. Games like visual novel TimeLeap or Mamoru-kun Has Been Cursed! are very much Japan Only. See anything that grabs your fancy?…

Halo Wars DLC Presents Strategic Options

Three new multiplayer modes are making their way to Halo Wars courtesy of the Strategic Options Game Add-On Pack. Available “in the coming weeks”, the Strategic Options pack adds several new ways to experience Halo from a top down perspective online against your friends. In Keepaway Mode, players struggle to capture a free-roaming Forerunner Sentinel…

Right Now, Microsoft Showing 31 Games For Japan

Today in Tokyo, Microsoft is holding its spring 2009 press conference. Xbox Japan boss Takashi Sensui announces that 31 titles for Japan will be covered. Before we get to them, Sensui confirms that a million Xbox 360s have been sold in Japan. To mark the occasion, a million Microsoft Points will be given out nationwide.…

Halo 3 And Fable II Bundled Together

It’s two great tastes that taste great together next month, as Microsoft introduces an Xbox 360 Elite with Halo 3 and Fable II bundled together inside. Arguably two of the console’s most defining game experiences come together in the Xbox 360 Game Of The Year Bundle, available in limited quantities beginning next month. You get…

What Does Peter Moore Know About The Xbox’s Motion Control Plans?

Now that former Xbox exec Peter Moore is well established at EA Sports, he’s probably going to be willing to spill the beans on the oft-rumored motion controller planned for the Xbox 360. Right? Well… Moore, when asked by GameTrailers TV‘s Geoff Keighley about his knowledge of Microsoft’s plans—plans that may have formed during Moore’s…

Microsoft Explains the E74 Code, Sorta

When Microsoft announced they were extending their warranty for Xbox 360s that received a E74 error, I was curious how different the code was from the red ring of death. Not very, it turns out. I contacted the company earlier this week to find out what a E74 code meant and whether it was possibly…

Microsoft Responds To March NPD Sales, Seems Pleased

While both Nintendo and Sony saw hardware sales slide for the month compared to March 2008, Microsoft’s sales were up, bucking the trend. Which has the company feeling, well, pleased. 360 sales were up 25% over the same time last year, with 330,000 sold in the US, while Microsoft were also beating their chests over…

Microsoft Introduces New Xbox 360 Platinum Hits Packaging That Actually Looks Good

In a bold move to make “greatest hits” console game packaging that doesn’t make one want to stab oneself in the retina, Microsoft has apparently deployed new Platinum Hits box art to retail locations. Kotaku reader Justin spied the new Platinum Hits design, which may no longer induce vomiting, at an upstate New York Target…

Microsoft Extends Warranty For “E74” Failures

For a few months now, Xbox 360 users have been quietly venting about a “new” hardware fault with the console, where instead of displaying three red rings, machines would show an “E74” error. Just because it didn’t flash the iconic red rings, though, doesn’t mean it wasn’t bad! If you got it, your console would…

Microsoft In Talks With Gay Rights Group Over Xbox Live Policies

Microsoft took a lot of flak last year for the way they handled some gay-related stuff on Xbox Live. And rightly so. But time heals all wounds, and Microsoft are trying to make amends. In the latest “Major Nelson” podcast, Microsoft’s Larry Hryb and Xbox Live cop-on-the-beat Stephen Toulouse reveal that the company have been…

Lost & Damned Sells 1 Million Copies

Microsoft have boasted that Grand Theft Auto IV expansion The Lost & Damned has broken Xbox Live revenue records. But what does that mean for unit sales? The Cut Scene reckon that, according to “a good source”, the add-on has sold “around one million units on Xbox Live”. Microsoft can’t confirm this number, but it…

Catch Microsoft Points With The Deadliest Catch

Microsoft has teamed up with Discovery to deliver 2 million Microsoft points via the Deadliest Catch Text to Win Sweepstakes. Microsoft is doing up Discovery’s crap-fishing television series big across all of its various networks, including MSN, MSN Mobile, Hotmail, and of course, Xbox Live. The promotion, which started on April 10th and ends tomorrow…

New Halo Project To Span Console, Web & Mobile

The future of the Halo franchise may not be as straight-forward as you’d imagine, if a Microsoft job advertisement is anything to go by. The listing – for a software development engineer – suggests that Microsoft are working on a Halo project that transcends the idea of a single platform or genre, and suggests they…

Online Game Corps Not Panicking Over Time Warner Pricing

A broadband tiered-pricing trial by Time-Warner Cable has rankled many, particularly gamers, who fear sock-it-to-me overages incurred by online gaming. Sony, Microsoft and OnLive have now weighed in, and they’re not too worried. The three companies, who manage three of the leading online gaming services (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, OnLive), had the following to say…

Xbox Live Silver Members Get Free Halo 3 Multiplay This Weekend

Microsoft is giving Xbox Live members of the “Silver” class a chance to get out of the online gaming ghetto this weekend for a few rounds of Halo 3. They’re not just doing it out of the kindness of their hearts, mind you. Microsoft obviously wants you to experience the benefits of going Gold and…