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Flight Simulator Devs Grounded By Microsoft Job Cuts
Microsoft are slashing jobs. 5000 of them. While most of those won’t affect gaming divisions, some of them are, with sweeping cuts announced for the company’s Flight Simulator development studio. According to sources speaking with Gamasutra, “a large portion” of the staff at ACES Studio – based in Redmond, and wholly owned by Microsoft –…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 22, 2009 -
Microsoft Slashes 5,000 Jobs
Microsoft is cutting 1,400 jobs today and another 3,600 over the next 18 months in the wake of today’s news of a 11 percent drop in fiscal second-quarter net income, the company announced today. The cuts will be in R&D, marketing, sales, finance, legal, HR, and IT. These reduction will reduce the company’s annual operating…
By Brian Crecente Published January 22, 2009 -
Pachter Breaks Up Fight Between Kaz, Greenberg, Claims Both Are Right
Gentlemen, gentlemen, please. Why don’t we stop all this console manufacturer bickering and make peace? Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai and Xbox 360 director Aaron Greenberg are both right. How can that be? Surely both mouthpieces, whether they’re boasting “official leadership in this industry” or whether they’re claiming the…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009 -
Only One Xbox 360 Game Made Top 100 Sellers of 2008
Crunching the sales data from game publication Famitsu, we have a breakdown by platform of the 100 biggest selling games of last year in Japan. Here goes: DS: 47 games Wii: 15 games PSP: 15 games PS2: 12 games PS3: 10 games Xbox 360: 1 game And that one Xbox 360 game is Tales of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 21, 2009 -
Aaron Greenberg Disagrees With Kaz Hirai, Bites Him In Face
Gotta love this harsh economic climate. It’s dragging executive shit-talking back to its 2006-07 heyday. Latest example? Aaron Greenberg’s response to Kaz Hirai’s “console leadership” quips to the Official PlayStation Magazine. Not liking what he’s read, Greenberg does not politely rebuff the Sony man’s point of view. He does not choose to ignore the man.…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 21, 2009 -
Maybe Microsoft WILL Fire Some People (Like, 8000 People)
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reckon Microsoft will hold off on massive job cuts. But analysts speaking to Reuters think otherwise, and believe the company will lay off between 6000 and 8000 workers. And that might just be a start. While those numbers would put a dent in the company’s 95,000-strong workforce, McAdams Wright Ragen analyst Sid…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 20, 2009 -
Microsoft Cuts Likely to Focus More on Buildings Than People
Still no word on when or if those rumored major cuts will be hitting Sony in the next month, but the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that Microsoft’s cuts will be laid out later this week. The cuts will be detailed during the company’s second-quarter earnings report on Thursday, the P-I reports, but no word yet…
By Brian Crecente Published January 20, 2009 -
What Does Windows 7 Mean To You?
Will the upcoming new version of Windows be yet another Vista for PC gamers to worry about, or will Windows 7 be a boon for the mouse and keyboard set? TechRadar takes a look. When I first upgraded to Windows Vista, I wasn’t just disappointed. I was depressed. It looked lovely, had all these new…
By Mike Fahey Published January 20, 2009 -
More Gears Of War 2 Achievements? Sure, Why Not
While we don’t yet have a release date for the Gears 2 patch Chocolate Rein promised the other day, we do have a little more information, in the form of seven new achievements. They’ve recently turned up on Xbox.com, and appear certain to go live once the patch is released to the public. In all,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2009 -
Don’t Buy a 360 Wi-Fi Adapter, Read This Instead
That “peddling add-ons” thing may work for most of your stuff, Microsoft, but when it comes to paying $90 for a wi-fi adapter, the argument gets a little shaky. The PS3 has built-in wi-fi. The Wii has it. The PSP has it. Heck, even the DS has it, making the prospect of spending $90 on…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2009 -
Mass Effect Re-Release Is Loading In An Elevator Near You
Retailers will often hedge their bets when it comes to a game’s platforms, but they rarely just make shit up. So we’re inclined to trust this listing for a Mass Effect special edition. Turning up on GameStop over the weekend, the listing gives a release date of February 10 for the re-release, and says the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2009 -
Tired of “Mortal Kombat Killer”? How About “Xbox Taco Assailant”
Law enforcement near Orlando, Fla., have in custody a 19-year-old who refused to stop playing games to join his family for dinner and threw a taco at his mother after she unplugged his Xbox. Intrepid and indispensible local news resource WOFL-TV of Orlando reports that alleged Xbox Taco Assailant Zachary Moir is in the Volusia…
By Owen Good Published January 18, 2009 -
Microsoft Retires Gamerscore Blog
Gamerscore Blog, an important part of Microsoft’s Xbox community outreach for several years, is being retired. Microsoft will now focus that effort through Xbox.com and the Xbox dashboard. In the final post, published yesterday at 5 p.m., Gamerscore said that internal housekeeping had organized community outreach into several channels, making Gamerscore a little redundant, making…
By Owen Good Published January 17, 2009 -
The Death of Evil Obi Flies in the Face of Flush Video Game Industry
These are such things as dreams are made on, the colorful concepts of dying developers, the universes that will never be. A recent glimpse into the unpublished works of a now-defunct game developer shows us one such universe which includes fabled Star Wars good guy Obi-Wan Kenobi, corrupted and evil. In the original concept art…
By Brian Crecente Published January 16, 2009 -
Microsoft: Peddling Add-Ons Works For Us
Sony recently called out Microsoft and Nintendo for having consoles that require add-ons in order to offer the total package. Now Xbox 360 group PR manager David Dennis responds, and fires right back. Speaking to Edge, Dennis offered his response to Sony’s add-on peddling claims, much like Xbox 360 group product manager Andrew Greenberg did…
By Mike Fahey Published January 16, 2009 -
Microsoft Responds To December NPD Sales, Seems Pleased
Microsoft is pretty positive about the Xbox 360s showing in December, calling it “the biggest month for Xbox 360 in history.” The company boasts outselling its Sony competition two-to-one for the holiday quarter. Mmmm… selective! But let ’em gloat, we say. While the Xbox 360 didn’t quite double sales of the PlayStation 3 last month,…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 15, 2009 -
Gears Of War: Nine Million Served
You may hate its multiplayer modes. You may abhor the fact it’s characters are so testosterone-fuelled they border on self parody. That doesn’t matter. The Gears of War series has sold nine million copies. Speaking with GameDaily, Microsoft’s Guy Welch has revealed that since Gears of War 2 was released in November, it’s sold four…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 15, 2009 -
January Lips DLC Finds That Lovin’ Feelin’
With nine new songs from the likes of Fallout Boy, The Pussycat Dolls, and The Righteous Brothers due out in January, the Lips song catalog should exceed 70 songs by month’s end. Nine new songs are headed to Lips this month, beginning on January 16th when we’ll finally be able to recreate the bar scene…
By Mike Fahey Published January 15, 2009 -
Sumthing Else Releasing Halo Wars Soundtrack
Sumthing Else Music Works continues to release music for every big game Microsoft releases, with the announcement that the Halo Wars Soundtrack by Stephen Rippy will be available for purchase on February 17th. The entire Halo Wars soundtrack, composed by Stephen Rippy and performed by FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir Prague is represented in the upcoming…
By Mike Fahey Published January 15, 2009 -
Microsoft Considering Sizable Layoffs
According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is considering “significant” layoffs across various corporate divisions. Insiders close to the company did not disclose whether Microsoft’s Xbox division will be affected. Nothing has been set in stone reports The Wall Street Journal, and Microsoft could find alternatives to keep costs down. If Microsoft goes through with…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 14, 2009