Microsoft

Long-Promised Minecraft Graphical Overhaul Is Canceled

Today, Mojang announced that it has ceased development on Minecraft’s Super Duper Graphics Pack, citing technical difficulties. It’s been just over two years since the feature was announced on stage at E3 2017, “Some of you might remember us announcing the Super Duper Graphics Pack during E3 2017,” the studio announced on its website today.…

Kinect may be dead as a video gaming peripheral, but its technological uses live on. The latest example is in Sydney, where it’s being used to help control the speed and frequency of train boardings

Two Years Later, Minecraft Still Doesn’t Have Its Xbox One X Graphics Enhancements

The Super Duper Graphics Pack for Minecraft was announced at E3 2017. Just over two years later, it’s still never been released, and there has been little news about the update’s progress. Back in 2017, the team sounded optimistic. “Today we’re revealing a new look for Minecraft that we’re super duper excited for you to…

I Wish Nintendo And Sony Made Elite Controllers

Out of every single video game purchase I’ve ever made in my life, across games, consoles and accessories, I don’t think I’ve made a more sensible purchase than Microsoft’s Xbox Elite controller. First released in 2015, it was—and remains, even with a successor on the way!—expensive as hell. As Phil Spencer said at the time,…

The Video Game Industry Can’t Go On Like This

At about this time next year, we’ll have a pretty good idea of what the next generation of video games will look like. New consoles will likely be shown off, bold new streaming initiatives will begin to launch, and we’ll see all the wonderful kinds of games they will bring us. All these new things…

July’s Game Pass games have been announced with Shadow of Mordor: Shadow of War arriving on July 4 alongside My Time at Portia and Undertale, while Blazing Chrome will be a release day addition on July 11. Unfortunately, Warhammer Vermintide 2 and some other big games are also leaving this month.

Halo Reach’s PC Test “Illegally Distributed”, Players Facing Bans

Around 1000 Halo fans have been given the chance to test a single level from the upcoming PC version of Halo: Reach. A lot more than 1000 people want to play it, though, and so as I type this it’s being shared online. Aware of the leak, in a forum post made on Saturday, 343…

In its latest ID@Xbox showcase Microsoft announced a bunch of indie games that will soon be coming to Game Pass including Bad North, Gonner, The Banner Saga 3, and Yoku’s Island Express It also announced that others, like Undertale, Timespinner, and For the King, are headed to Game Pass on PC. 

Nintendo’s Lawyers Need To Chill

By the letter of the law, all this is fine, but the letter of the law can and often does suck

Sony, Microsoft, And Nintendo Come Out Against Trump’s Tariffs On Gaming Consoles

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have joined forces to tell the U.S. government that its newly-proposed tariffs on goods imported from China would hurt consumers, put jobs at risk, and stifle innovation, according to a joint letter sent by the companies to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. As part of its ongoing trade war…

Telltale’s Minecraft Currently Costs $700 On Xbox 360 (But You’re Not Supposed To Buy It)

If you really think about it, all video games—dazzling feats of technical mastery assembled over the course of countless man hours—are priceless. But if you think about it even harder, you probably still won’t want to pay $100 for a single episode of the soon-to-be-delisted Minecraft: Story Mode Currently, each episode of the eight-part narrative-driven…

Walking Around Minecraft Earth Feels Amazing

I’ve been a casual player of both Minecraft and of the augmented reality game Pokémon Go, so when Minecraft Earth was announced as an augmented reality version of Minecraft, I was curious. There’s a lot to Minecraft, so I was skeptical that the entire game could be scaled to a touchscreen experience on your phone.…

Xbox Players Can Now Have The Same Gamertag, If They Don’t Mind Numbers At The End

Frustrated that someone else got the Xbox Gamertag you wanted before you did? Thanks to changes implemented by Microsoft this week, players can now choose a Gamertag that’s already in use, as long as they don’t mind having a hashtag and random numbers next to their display name. There can be only one MasterChief, MajorNelson…

Microsoft Ends Xbox Backward Compatibility Efforts With A Final Batch Of Games

Some bittersweet news this E3: Microsoft has announced another batch of games from the original Xbox and Xbox 360 that it will bring to the Xbox One via backward compatibility—but it’ll be the final batch. “After this week, we have no plans to add additional Original Xbox or Xbox 360 titles to the catalog on…

Hands-On With Microsoft’s New Elite Controller

The current Elite is already the best controller (a lot of) money can buy, but Microsoft is showing off a new and improved version at E3, which you can get a closer look at in this video. Stephen got some time with the controller earlier today, and aside from some general specs and features rundowns…

It Took Over 400,000 Lego Bricks To Build This Car

For both Lego and Forza fans, one of the coolest things on stage during yesterday’s Microsoft E3 2019 press conference was a full-scale Lego brick McLaren Senna, punctuating the announcement of Forza Horizon 4‘s Lego Speed Champions expansion. It’s made of more than 400,000 Lego bricks, along with some real car bits. The body is…

Age of Empires II is 20 years old in 2019, and so here we have a Definitive Edition of the game due out later this year to celebrate, with 4K visuals, remastered audio and a new campaign. It’ll be available on Xbox Game Pass for PC.

Everything Microsoft Announced At E3 2019

The first details on a powerful new Xbox console, release dates for anticipated games like Cyberpunk 2077, and another developer acquired by Xbox Game Studios led Microsoft’s packed slate of announcements for its E3 briefing on Sunday. Project Scarlett, the next-generation Xbox console, will be released for the 2020 holiday season. Halo Infinite will launch…

A Brand New Look At Halo Infinite, Which Will Be An Xbox Scarlett Launch Title

Microsoft finally showed off some more footage for Halo Infinite—a weighty name for the sixth major game in the 18-year-old franchise. Halo Infinite will launch on Windows 10, Xbox One and Xbox’s newly-announced Project Scarlett console fall, 2020. Rightfully so, Halo fans were very curious about what the actual game would look like. Today’s trailer…

Microsoft Announces Project Scarlett, The Next-Gen Xbox

Microsoft today teased some of its first plans for Project Scarlett, the next-generation Xbox, and the buzzwords make it sound impressive: up to 120 frames-per-second, a solid state drive, ray-tracing, and so on. It’ll be out in the fall of 2020. And of course, Halo Infinite will be a launch title. “For us, the console…