Microsoft

Lips Delivers Xanadu Magic For Valentine’s Day

The classic 1980 film Xanadu finally gets some video game loving, as Microsoft announce Olivia Newton John’s “Magic” as part of their Valentine’s Day downloadable content for karaoke game Lips. Three new tracks drop for Lips on February 13th, celebrating the holiday of love with the songs such as Avril Lavigne’s “My Happy Ending” and…

360 Commercial Banned Over Movie Purchase Claims

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority say 99% of video games ads are responsible. This commercial, however, for the Xbox 360’s video marketplace, is part of the remaining 1%. The ad (which particular ad it is goes unnamed) basically claims you can buy movies. Which you can’t, you can only rent them. A single user complained to…

Xbox Live Goes Free Of Charge For Grand Theft Auto IV Expansion

Displaying the same kind of “throw that money away” attitude that won them exclusivity for the Grand Theft Auto IV expansions, Microsoft have announced that Xbox Live Gold will soon go (sort of) free. Between February 17 and February 22, anybody playing either Grand Theft Auto IV or its upcoming expansion, The Lost & The…

Crippling Gears Of War Glitch All Fixed Up

Few days back, Gears of War on PC stopped working, courtesy of an expired Windows digital certificate. Meant people owning the game couldn’t play it. Few days later, it’s OK! Everything’s fixed. Epic have since released a patch for the game, which will turn up as a mandatory update. If by some chance you were…

No More Xbox Support For Japan

Starting March 3, Microsoft Japan will no longer service first generation original Xbox consoles (not Xbox 360s). This includes Xboxes that are under warranty as well as out-of-warranty consoles. Microsoft Japan, however, is offering an upgrade to those owners with still-under-warranty first generation Xbox consoles in need of repair: Swap that busted console for an…

Rare Teasing User-Generated Avatars For The 360

The 360’s avatars are, all copy-cat jokes aside, surprisingly endearing. Only problem is, some of the wardrobe and body options are a little…limited. That’s something user-generated content could address. So, uh, will it? According to the team behind the little guys, the answer is a resounding maybe. Rare’s Dale Murchie says: User-generated content is a…

Electronic Arts Won’t Run From Risk

Despite the cuts, despite the layoffs, despite the economic apocalypse, Electronic Arts will continue to take chances with its upcoming games. That was the message Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello delivered to the more than 9,000 employees earlier this week at the company’s annual town hall meeting. The company-wide meeting came just a day after…

Go Get Your Halo Wars Demo

It’s a Halo game without Bungie! It’s a real-time strategy game on a console! Halo Wars is all kinds of unexpected. So with a demo now out, feel to try before you buy/vomit opinions. It’s well over 1GB, and while at time of writing there were still a few kinks in downloading it (namely, despite…

Scene-It Add-On Celebrates Award Winning Movies

Fans of the Xbox 360 quiz game Scene It? Box Office Smash are getting a fresh batch of movie trivia next week with the release of the Award Winners game add on pack. Celebrating the best that that the silver screen has to offer, the Award Winners game pack for Scene It? Box Office Smash…

Master Chief Is The Batman Of The Future

The latest video documentary for the real-time strategy game Halo Wars takes a look at the individual units appearing in the game, from hordes of Spartans to swarms of Locusts. Seeing the units in Halo Wars up close and personal like this, even a moderate Halo fan like myself can’t help but get a little…

Microsoft Finally Fixes NXE HDMI SNAFU

The Xbox 360‘s “New Xbox Experience” wasn’t filled with the joyful noise of Avatar belches for some owners of the console. Some found their HDMI-ready systems without sound, which Microsoft is now, finally, addressing. Following the NXE roll out in November 2008, a segment of the Xbox 360 population found their previously working audio cutting…

Japanese People Swarm Star Ocean 4 Kiosks, Kiosks Show New Faceplate

This past Sunday from noon to 5pm, eight Xbox 360 demo kiosks playing Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope were rolled out at the Akihabara Yodobashi Camera. Before the event began, numbered tickets were passed out to those lining up, and only 100 posters were handed out. Players experienced a 15 minute demo session. According…

Xbox Live Catches Super Bowl Fever

Super Bowl’s on this weekend. People are excited. Few as excited as Microsoft seem to be, as they’ve just announced that, all day Sunday, Xbox Live will be going bananas for all things football. For the 24 hours that encompass the day, Microsoft will be setting up a dedicated Xbox Live “channel” called “Football Fanfare”,…

Microsoft Talks Future of Halo Wars And Ensemble Studios

Just because Ensemble Studios is dead that does not mean the studios’ Halo Wars are gone. The game will live on! As Jason Pace, Halo Wars lead producer and MGS Halo franchise overseer, points out, Ensemble is forming a new company and will help support the game with bug patches and whatnot. When asked about…

This Is The New Xbox Experience That Could Have Been

Design firm Grid/plane worked with Microsoft on early design ideas for the New Xbox Experience. While the NXE we ended up with is a different beast, it’s interesting looking at what could have been. While Grid/plane’s ideas obviously centred around a new menu system, they also “dreamt up an immersive 3D environment for users to…

Europe’s Getting A “Best of Halo” Xbox 360 Bundle

Halo Wars‘ attach rate should be comfortably boosted in Europe, thanks to a new bundle that Microsoft looks to be introducing in the continent. Swedish retailers are now listing a “Best of Halo” hardware release. What, according to the box, comprises the “best” of the Halo franchise? Ensemble Studios‘ Halo Wars and Bungie’s Halo 3,…

360 Avatar Update Only Sings When It’s Winning

There’s a whole swathe of new clothing options for your 360 avatar today. Thing is, unless you’re European, and a European football fan at that, they won’t be of much use to you. Eighteen shirts were added today, to make up what Microsoft are calling the “European National Football Teams” collection. If Europeans/football fans were…

Fable II, Banjo Kazooie Sales Are Chalk & Cheese

Microsoft released three first-party games towards the end of 2008. Gears of War 2, we know, is a smashing success. But what of the other two games, Fable II and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts? Sales data released by the NPD Group today reveals that the games’ experience on store shelves couldn’t have been more…

Microsoft: Windows Still a “First-Class Gaming Platform”

Despite deep cuts into Microsoft’s gaming division, the company says today they remain dedicated to Windows as a “first-class gaming platform.” The company also confirmed to Kotaku that Chris Early, former general manager of Games for Windows Live, was indeed laid off. Ron Pessner, who comes from Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division, will be assuming…

Halo Wars DLC A Definite Possibility

At a preview event for UK journalists, the lead producer behind Ensemble Studio’s real-time strategy take on the Halo universe suggested that downloadable content for the game could be in the works. UK tech news site Electricpig spoke with Halo Wars producer Jason Pace at the preview event for the game, who indicated that while…