Microsoft

Studio Behind Phantom Dust Reboot Shuts Down

Independent development studio Darkside Games, which was working on the planned reboot of the cult classic Phantom Dust, shut down this afternoon in the wake of news that Microsoft had cancelled their version of the game, Kotaku has learned. Around 50 people lost their jobs, according to sources at the studio. Microsoft, however, says they’re…

The Xbox One’s Upload Studio video editor just got a whole lot beefier. Videos can now be created with up to 15 segments with a maximum run-time of 30 minutes, and users now have access to transitions, title cards, green screen effects and other tools that separate a video hobbyist from a YouTube professional.

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Behind Microsoft’s Holographic Wall: Winners! 

After Microsoft showed us what Minecraft might look like enhanced by its futuristic Hololens technology, I asked our ‘shop-savvy readers to show us what would really be behind that shattered wall. They delivered. Big time. Wow, what a contest this was. So many entries. So many duplicate entries. Seems people enjoy The Shining, Attack on…

Finally, A GTA V Stunt Montage With Birds

All the jets are grounded. GTA V‘s birds are here to show how to pull tricks off properly. Stunt montages with bikes and jets have always been popular, so it was just a matter of time before someone made a parody focusing on a recently added feature: flying as birds. 8-Bit Bastard visits all the…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Behind Microsoft’s Holographic Wall

This past week Microsoft debuted Hololens, a holographic Windows 10 interface that could hide a Minecraft-like game behind your walls. What else can the holographic Windows of the future help us hide? Strap on your ‘Shop Contest goggles, kids. Now before you get all excited, no porn. It’s not that it’s offensive so much as…

This Week In The Business: An (Over) Promising Future

QUOTE | “It did remind me of [Kinect]. You kind of want to scream ‘don’t over promise these things.'” – Designer Peter Molyneux of 22cans, talking about Microsoft HoloLens from his perspective as an early Kinect developer Elsewhere in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “There have been a lot…

If Microsoft is serious about PC games, Xbox One should be the real Steam Machine. Here’s some interesting reading fromVG247 on how Valve’s living room centric Steam Machine plot failed, and how Microsoft—fresh off a years-long stint of pretending PC gaming doesn’t exist—could partner with Steam and pick up where they left off. The gist:…

Last Year’s Halo Is Such A Mess, They’re Beta-Testing The Next Patch

Of all the broken video games that we were stuck with in 2014, none were as broken as Halo’s Master Chief Collection, which even now, months after release, isstill broken. But it’s OK! You can now sign up for a beta. For an update that may or may not fix it. Yes, that’s right. 343…

Microsoft’s Hologram Plans Apparently Leaked Back In 2012

Today, Microsoft announced Hololens, an ambitious new piece of hardware designed to make it so you can finally hang out IRL with Hatsune Miku. If that sounds familiar, that’s because it totally is: turns out we’ve kinda known about this for three years now. Way back in 2012, when everyone thought “Xbox One” meant the…

Get A Load Of Microsoft’s Holographic Vision For Minecraft‘s Future

Microsoft’s biggest reveal during today’s Windows 10 event was Project Hololens, a wearable visor that will insert holograms into a person’s field of vision. If their hype video is to be believed, it’s going to be just the thing to make Minecraft completely immersive. And completely inescapable. The presentation from today’s event showed a video…

You’ll Be Able to Stream Your Xbox One Games to Any Windows 10 Device

The games that have been locked to Microsoft’s latest home console will now be able to live on other devices running the company’s upcoming operating system, Microsoft said today. During Microsoft’s Windows event today, Xbox lead executive Phil Spencer showed a live demo of new functionality that will let users stream Xbox One games to…

Hope You Didn’t Just Pay $400 For An Xbox One

Did you buy an Xbox One at some point in the past two weeks? Well, Microsoft’s got some fun news for you: they’re dropping the price yet again That’s right, after selling the Xbox One at $350 late last year and then hiking it back up to $400 on January 3, Microsoft is now offering…

Official Minecraft Simpsons Somehow Look More Deformed Than Fan Ones

It was only a matter of time before Minecraft put out an official licensed something related to The Simpsons thanks to its new corporate overlords at Microsoft. What’s genuinely surprising about the Simpsons “skin pack” announced today is just how…unsettling it looks. The Simpsons “content packs,” which will cost $1.99, are coming out for the…

Man Stuffs PS4 and Xbox One into a Single Laptop

Modder Eddie Zarick took one PlayStation 4 and one Xbox One and put them into one laptop. Because, why not, really. Previously, Kotaku has featured Zarick’s work, such as the custom-made PS4 laptops he created. This latest project, however, was specifically requested by one of Zarick’s customers. It took about a month to complete. According…

Fans Are Bringing Counter-Strike‘s Most Popular Maps To Halo

Halo and Counter-Strike both have guns, but otherwise they couldn’t be more different. And while I really hope someone focuses on upping Halo‘s chicken count soon, for now a couple classic Counter-Strike haunts will have to do. MyHouseRules is recreating fy_iceworld and perhaps one of the best known video game maps of all time, de_dust,…

Forza 6 Announced

Microsoft just showed the first trailer for Forza 6. And by trailer, I mean commercialfor new carthat also happens to be in the game. I’m not kidding; half the video is actual footage of the car itself being shown off at the Detroit Auto Show. The other half is a slow pan around the game’s…

More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About The Sega Dreamcast

The latest from the video game trivia masters at Did You Know Gaming? tackles Sega’s ill-fated but fondly remembered Dreamcast—from inception to downfall. (Is it just me or is the rapid-fire pacing of this channel’s video releases starting to get a little crazy?) Anyway, the Dreamcast was not a bad system, but a perfect storm…

Microsoft has updated its rules regarding videos that include footage from its games to allow creators to make money from ads—as long as they don’t use the game’s title in their video titles or include anything the company considers “objectionable” (does that mean no Spartan poop stance clips?). [via Windows Central]

Taking The Minecraft Vegetarian Challenge

Minecraft is a lot of different things to a lot of different people; a place to build a word processor, recreate Westeros or trap incredible monsters. For many players it’s simply about survival, which means making sure you have shelter at night, forging armor and weapons with which you can fend off attackers, and somehow…

Spartan Crabwalks in Halo 5 Beta Glitch

Players have discovered plenty of interesting issues in the ongoing Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta, but this is probably the funniest. “Not sure if anyone has shared this before, but this is what happens when you crouch in midair and sprint upon landing at the beginning of a breakout game,” wrote Redditor coked_up_tourist. Other users…