Microsoft

E3 Day One Podcast: Microsoft, EA, Xbox One X

Jason and I kick off our Kotaku Splitscreen E3 coverage with reactions to EA and Microsoft’s press conferences. Is Xbox One X a good name? Was Janina Gavankar enough to carry EA’s disappointing show? Are we more stoked about BioWare’s Anthem than Destiny 2? (The answers: No, no, hard to say.) Listen here: As always,…

Here Are The Xbox One X’s Specs

Xbox One X Specs has a nice ring to it. Maybe that should have been the name? Whatever, here are the new console’s specs, handily compared to those of the Xbox One S and original Xbox One. You’ll see that most of the improvements come in terms of raw performance; aside from some new video…

The Xbox One X Sure Will Be Hard To Market

Today, Microsoft revealed its latest console upgrade: the Xbox One X. Sure, it’s powerful. Yes, that design looks sleek. Still, I think the new hardware is going to make things confusing for a lot of people. The most superficial complaint we can make is that “Xbox One X” is not a good name when compared…

Take A Look At The Xbox One X

There’sa new Xbox in town. There wasn’t that much of the actual hardware on show in the company’s E3 presser though, so here’s a better look at the Xbox One X’s design. As you can tell by the size of the controller there, this thing is pretty small! For an all-around look (including the back,…

Xbox One X And Everything Else Microsoft Showed At E3 2017

Microsoft kicked off their E3 2017 press conference by officially revealing their beefy new console, the $499 Xbox One X. WITNESS. The new console may have been Microsoft’s big hardware announcement, but they actually didn’t spend too much time talking about the device itself. With the announcement out of the way, their focus quickly shifted…

Microsoft Announces Ori And The Will Of The Wisps

As part of its E3 2017 press conference, Microsoft announced a sequel to painterly platformer Ori And The Blind Forest. It’s called Ori And The Will Of The Wisps. It looks extremely pretty! I feel bad for the blind forest, which presumably cannot see itself. The game doesn’t have a release date yet, unfortunately.

Cuphead Is Finally Coming Out In September 

Cuphead, the long awaited indie game beautifully animated in the vein of classic cartoons, will finally get released September 29 on Xbox One and PC. Originally revealed at E3 2014, Studio MDHR’s boss-centric platformer focuses on tough combat rendered in the style of old animation studios like Disney, Van Beuren, and Fleischer. The game was…

Crackdown 3 Features Terry Crews, Is Out November

Microsoft’s open-world adventure gameCrackdown 3 will be released on November 7th for Xbox One and Windows. And it features beloved actor-slash-athlete Terry Crews as the character Commander Jaxon. Crackdown is an Xbox-exclusive sandbox franchise in which the player is a superhero “Agent of Justice” who, uh, cracks down on crime. Crackdown 3 takes place in…

Minecraft Gets An Official High-End Graphic Makeover

Minecraft is getting a major graphics overhaul according to an announcement made by Mojang at Microsoft’s E3 press briefing today. These improvements, including 4K treatment, will be part of the “Super Duper Graphics Pack,” available this fall. The new texture pack will also come alongside a “Better Together” update which will introduce cross-play among the…

Microsoft Announces Xbox One X, Will Be $499

Microsoft’s next console, codenamed Project Scorpio, will be called Xbox One X, the company said today. It will be out on November 7 worldwide and cost four-hundred-ninety-nine U.S. dollars (aka $500). The big buzzwords are “True 4K,” and Microsoft is touting Xbox One X’s higher resolution. It’ll support all previous Xbox One games and accessories,…

We’re Liveblogging Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference [Update: We’re Done]

E3 is underway, which means tons of games and a lot of people in suits talking. Microsoft’s press conference starts a 2PM Pacific time today. Hopefully they’ll bring the games to go along with the Scorpio. Gita Jackson and I will bring you all the details live, starting in a few minutes. You can watch…

Watch The Xbox E3 2017 Press Conference Live, Right Here [UPDATE: Over]

From teraflops to teraflips, Microsoft’s holding its E3 2017 press conference at 5pm Eastern today, and you can watch it right here. Expect first-party games like Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3 as well as big third-party games like Anthem and maybe Assassin’s Creed: Origins. And of course, expect Microsoft to reveal details on Xbox…

Project Scorpio Hasn’t Even Been Unveiled Yet And It’s Already Become A Meme

Speaking of t-shirts, Microsoft is handing out its own ahead of the press briefing later this afternoon. They read “I witnessed the most powerful console ever” and naturally the Internet is having a field day. Here are just a few of the best entries already swirling around Twitter:

The Xbox One S Will Be $50 Cheaper Starting Tomorrow [UPDATE: ‘For A Limited Time Only’] 

Ahead of unveiling Project Scorpio at Sunday’s press briefing, Microsoft announced today on Twitter that the existing Xbox One S will cost $50 less starting June 11. Just about every version of the console currently available at places like Amazon and GameStop are offered as bundles, meaning that come tomorrow, the 500GB Xbox One S…

Data Shows Xbox Gamers Aren’t Using Backward Compatibility Much [Update: Microsoft Contests]

Backward compatibility is a big draw for console gamers nostalgic for older titles, but new data shows that Xbox One players don’t spend much time revisiting backward-compatible Xbox 360 games. A new Ars Technica report that grabbed stats from nearly a million Xbox Live users showed that, on the Xbox One, only 1.5 percent of…

Fable Card Game That Survived Death Of Lionhead Coming Out In July

Last year, to the surprise of many, Microsoft closed down renowned British studio Lionhead. Fable Legends, a multiplayer entry in the fantasy RPG series, went down with the ship. Fable is not, however, entirely done. Fable Fortune, a card game spin-off developed by ex-Lionhead employees, is coming out next month. Fable Fortune is coming to…

Microsoft’s Twitch competitor Beam just got some new bells and whistles. Now rebranded as “Mixer,” the platform now offers co-streaming, which lets up to 4 streamers combine their streams into one broadcast, and a mobile streaming app, currently in beta.

Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s $10 monthly gaming subscription program, will go live on June 1, the company said today. Unlike Sony’s streaming service, PlayStation Now, Xbox Game Pass will let you download its games. It’ll be fascinating to see whether Microsoft can amass a library big enough to create gaming’s version of Netflix.

Phantom Dust Is Still A Great Time (And Totally Free)

Phantom Dust is a 2004 action game that mixes Magic the Gathering deck building and frantic arena brawling. A free remaster was released yesterday for Windows 10 and Xbox One. Heather and Chris collect magic spells and slash their way to a few victories in this archived stream. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Phantom Dust…

Phantom Dust’s Remaster Out Tomorrow, Will Be Free

Phantom Dust, which we very recently named one of the best Xbox games, is re-releasing tomorrow on Xbox One and Windows 10. And it’ll be free. The property has had a tortured time at Microsoft of late, with a planned new game killed off and its studio closed A remaster of the original game was…