Xbox

​Your Xbox One Responds To ‘Sexbox.’ The PS4? ‘Babe Station.’

To access the voice-control functionality on an Xbox One, you say, “Xbox.” To access it on PlayStation 4, you say, “PlayStation.” But those greetings aren’t very fun or sexy, are they? As Stephen found when he tested it out, the PlayStation 4 actually responds to some pretty casual language. You can say “A.C. Four” or…

To be fair…

The Xbox One ad here, which features a woman who loves playing Dead Rising 3, has been running since November 11. I just saw it in a pre-roll of a GameTrailers video today. First time I ever actually appreciated seeing a pre-roll ad! If people are going to complain about Xbox One marketing that supposedly…

​The Best Next-Gen Game. The Worst Next-Gen Dialogue.

Y’know, the collective chatter amongst Kotaku writers has unofficially dubbed Need for Speed Rivals as the best next-gen game so far. Several among us have raved about the way it draws you in and entices you to keep playing. But, man, the lines coming out of the characters’ mouths in this racing game are terrible.…

As Xbox One Complaints Increase, Microsoft Promises Improvements

Day-one Xbox One adopters have had their consoles for a week and a half now, and the warts are starting to show. Over the past few days, we’ve seen a surge of complaints about the new Xbox’s interface and operating system, and today, Microsoft’s publicly promising that they’ll do better. We mentioned a few of…

Swear at the Ref in FIFA 14 and You’ll Be Reprimanded by Your Club

Kinect-supported (or sanctioned) cussin’ was introduced in the FIFA and NBA 2K series last year, but on the Xbox One, both games have stepped up their penalties if you can’t keep your potty mouth under control. In FIFA, you’ll get a nastygram from your club’s ownership, even. Deadspin noticed a couple of users who were…

​The Game That Lets You Create for Xbox One Is Now In Open Beta

Project Spark—a game creation suite that lets players make platformers, RPGs and much more—might be Microsoft’s secret weapon for the Xbox One. Today, you can sign up to be among the first to try it out as long as you’re using Windows 8.1. If you’re running the latest update to Microsoft’s OS, you can go…

Lightning Returns Has a Lot of Fun Playing Around with Music

This past week, as I’ve been working my way through Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, I’ve noticed the game has—whether it’s minstrels, treasure boxes, or even the crowd at the coliseum—loads of aural Easter eggs just waiting to be uncovered. Want to see some of them in action? Check out the video above. Lightning Returns:…

When Composers Make Music Out Of The Xbox One Startup Sound

Last week, I wrote an article about how the Xbox One startup sound is a little melody. I even made the Xbox One and Xbox 360 perform a little duet. Then, something awesome happened. Inspired by that article, the folks over at Disquiet made the Xbox One startup sound into a compositional challenge. How many…

You Can Access The Xbox One’s Developer Tools Right Now [UPDATE]

If you’d like to take revenge on the Xbox One for watching you move and listening to everything you say, you can now get inside its brain and see a whole bunch of developer settings you probably shouldn’t be looking at. Every Xbox One is rigged to be a developer kit, as Microsoft told us…

How Much Did You Spend On Gaming In November?

We’ve made it through November, a month packed with two next-gen console releases and a bunch of new releases from some of gaming’s biggest franchises. Now we’ve got time to pause and reflect on the damage we did to our wallets over the past 30 days. How much did you pay for games in November?…

How To Find Demos On Xbox One

Good news: the Xbox One has game demos! Bad news: they’re kind of annoying to find. You can’t see the free versions of each game in the Xbox One store itself—and there aren’t all that many available yet (though Microsoft’s Larry Hryb promises to keep us updated)—so if you want to find demos for the…

Peggle 2 is coming Dec. 9 to the Xbox One via Xbox Live. This comes from PopCap, in a preview of the game in VentureBeat yesterday.Peggle 2 will have 120 levels and run $11.99.

Holiday Heads Discovered in Borderlands‘ Thanksgiving DLC

The second Headhunter pack of DLC for Borderlands 2 arrived at a suspiciously large download size this week—large enough that fans went poking and probing and, lo and behold, they found something they shouldn’t have. Up above, in that video, are the holiday-themed heads and skins to be unlocked (or otherwise distributed) by some future…

The Week in Games: Gran Finale

We’re settling in for a long winter’s nap after Friday’s release of the PlayStation’s signature driving sim Gran Turismo 6. After that, well, there’ll be news this weekend from the Video Game Awards, but it’ll concern stuff well down the road. Not much cooking until February, so here is your week—or month—in games. Friday, Dec.…

Robbers Settle for PS4 When GameStop is All Out of the Xbox One

In the new console generation, the PlayStation 4 appears to be the second best choice—for robbers in Indianapolis that is. Tuesday evening, two suspsects stormed a GameStop on the south side of the city and demanded—by name—all of the Xbox Ones in stock. The GameStop employees replied, more or less, “Uh, we don’t got any.”…

Modder Shows Xbox One Can Boot From a Bigger, Faster Hard Drive

Despite the lack of support to swap in different hard drives (especially ones of a larger capacity) in the Xbox One, this guy says he’s gotten the two pieces of hardware to cooperate. Not only that, the console runs faster with a non-stock hard drive installed. Booting to the main screen goes about 10 percent…

Watch Us Play Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was released last week in Japan. As we’ve noted before, Lightning Returns is a massive departure from the previous games in the XIII series with fast-paced action and an open world to explore. But how does it work in action? Check out our video to find out. Lightning Returns: Final…

Xbox One 2013 Holiday Buyer’s Guide

The Xbox One is out and maybe someone you know picked it up. Or maybe you’re considering picking one up for someone this holiday season. Here’s some advice before you crack open your wallet. DO grab them a subscription to Xbox Live Gold. Amazon usually has some great one-year deals for a fair price. You…

Xbox One Blown Up, Shot By Sniper Rifle

As an Australian, I have little to give thanks for this Thanksgiving. So I’ll skip the turkey and instead give thanks for people who blow stuff up on YouTube using military-grade hardware. In this video from RatedRR, an Xbox One is destroyed twice over, as a .50 cal sniper rifle and a line of det…

Xbox 360 2013 Holiday Buyer’s Guide

Just because Microsoft has a new console doesn’t mean people aren’t still playing their 360s. Here are some suggestions for 360 shopping this year. DO consider maybe buying someone a 360 even if they already have a PS3 and/or a Nintendo console, but it is a bit excessive. A person only needs more than one…