Microsoft

Halo Still Isn’t The Esport It Could Be, But ESPN Might Help

The “mainstreaming of esports” is continuing, with ESPN saying this week that they will broadcast parts of the Halo Championship Tour event at the X Games in Aspen on the main network at the end of the month, while streaming it on WatchESPN. It’s a move that will give the surprisingly low-profile Halo competitive scene…

Last Week, Microsoft Reportedly Sold 99 Xbox Ones in Japan

In a nation of 127 million people, last week only ninety-nine of them wanted to buy an Xbox One. Ouch. Double digits! In comparison, according to data tracking company Media Create (via 4Gamer), here’s how the other console sales looked for the week from January 11 to January 17: 1. New Nintendo 3DS XL: 30,172…

Microsoft and Mojang Announce Minecraft: Education Edition

Launching this summer, Minecraft: Education Edition will be an “expanded” version of Minecraft for classrooms, distributed to educational institutions worldwide. Based on the already existing MinecraftEdu program—a modded version of Minecraft, used for teaching, which Microsoft has acquired—this new edition wants to help things along by launching a community site that, as the announcement from…

Tips For Getting Back Into Diablo III

Diablo III changed a lot over the years. The expansion and the later patches added a lot more content to the game, and these changes might confuse players who stopped playing around Reaper of Souls or before, but want to come back to see what’s new. People running around in crazy gear, gaining hundreds of…

Supreme Court To Hear Microsoft’s Appeal Of Xbox 360 Disc Scratching Lawsuit

Way back in 2007 lawyers gathered together a group of gamers angry with Microsoft over scratched Xbox 360 discs to form a class action lawsuit. Nine years later the Supreme Court is preparing to hear Microsoft’s plea to have the case dismissed for a second time. Along with the infamous red ring of death, early…

Snoop Is Not Happy About Xbox’s Servers: “Fix Your Shit”

And now, a message from disgruntled Xbox owner Snoop Dogg.

Here’s Windows 95 Running On A New Nintendo 3DS

Earlier this week hackers got a build of Linux running on the PlayStation 4. Now GBATemp user Shutterbug2000 demonstrates Windows 95 running on a new 3DS. I can’t wait to run BeOS on my Xbox One. A lot of quality console hacking goes on during the winter holidays, when enthusiasts have plenty of extra time…

People Are Worried About Hackers Taking Down Xbox Live And PSN Again

As many of us get excited to find brand new games under our trees this weekend, it’s worth looking back at what happened last year, when some jerks tried to ruin Christmas for everyone. Many of you might recall the mess that transpired around Christmas 2014, when online services hosting Xbox Live and the PlayStation…

I Still Love My Kinect

In a home filled with technological marvels of all shapes and sizes, one piece of oft-derided hardware gets more love from my family and I than any other. Kinect, tell the nice people how much I cherish you. Okay, so that particular voice command doesn’t do anything. So many others do, and my household has…

The popular Steam Early Access dino game Ark: Survival Evolved is coming to Xbox One on December 16th, using the console’s own early access system, that launched earlier this year. To contact the author of this post, write to: [email protected]

Minecraft And Plenty Of Minecraft DLC Finally Arrives On Wii U December 17

Mojang’s block-building sensation makes it to Nintendo’s Wii U at long last next week, bundled with six popular texture packs with an additional 16 more available for purchase at launch. Skyrim on Wii U, anyone? It’s about damn time, really. And it’s something we’ve been asking Nintendo about for years. If there’s any game that…

You Can Stream Xbox One Games To Microsoft’s HoloLens Glasses

Varun Mani is a project manager on Microsoft’s augmented reality goggle tech, HoloLens. This is a video he took where he starts playing Halo 5 on a TV, pauses, turns around then resumes playing on a screen that he can put wherever the hell he wants. We’ve been impressed by HoloLens stuff before, but those…

XCOM, Recreated In…Excel

Having just learned how to code in VBA, crruzi thought the best way to practice would be to go and make a video game. So he went and made XCOM. In Excel. It’s not the entire game yet—the tactical battles are working, with the strategic stuff still under construction—but come on, it’s Excel There’s even…

The Art Of Halo 5

Say what you will about Halo 5 overall, but if there’s one thing Microsoft and 343 did not screw around on, it was putting together a roster of very talented concept artists to work on the game. The end result is mixed—I think the last two Halos have suffered visually from a confused identity, torn…

The Xbox 360 Is Ten Years Old Today

A decade ago today thousands of people stood outside electronics retailers in the bitter cold, waiting for their chance to sell an Xbox 360 on eBay. I blame those killer faceplates. I remember the Xbox 360 launch like it was yesterday, because in the grand scheme of things it was. I wasn’t going to get…

With its story concluded in Episode 5, Square Enix’s episodic adventure Life is Strange is ready to get its retail version. It’s coming out in the U.S. on January 19 for PS4 and Xbox One. To contact the author of this post, write to: [email protected]

Xbox One’s First Wave of Compatible Xbox 360 Games Has Hidden Gems But Not Fans’ Most Wanted Titles

Starting tomorrow this week, over 100 games originally made for the Xbox 360 will be playable on the Xbox One. But the titles that garnered the most votes in a Microsoft user poll are missing. If you were hoping you’d be able to play last-gen classics like Red Dead Redemption or Halo: Reach on your…

Halo 5 Player Snipes Entire Enemy Team Seconds After Starting A Match

Now this is how you start a Halo 5 round. Watch as Xbox player I Habb I opens up a Shotty Snipers match with a sick 4-player killstreak on Truth: [Source: XboxClips.com] That’s some sharp shooting, for sure. A well-earned Overkill! On maps like these, I tend to immediately run away so as to avoid…

A Ford-Inspired Xbox Controller Is Actually Pretty Sweet

This isn’t an actual controller, it’s just a marketing stunt by Ford and Microsoft. But, uh, Ford….I would maybe buy this It’s a mock-up for an Elite controller(via Windows Central) that has some specific changes made for driving games, like a custom driving thumbstick, and some racing pedals for triggers. Other touches include a carbon…

PSA: Here’s How To Turn Off Voice Chat In Halo 5

You just got home from a long day at work. Hoping to unwind, you hop into a match of Warzone in Halo 5. Suddenly, you hear it: the piercing, unforgettable sound of an eight-year-old bragging about his K/D ratio. Don’t worry—we’re here to help. In-game voice chat is enabled by default in the latest Halo…