Xbox

Man Gets Sick Of Playing Xbox, Asks To Go To Prison

You’d think a 19 year-old convicted criminal would be happy to avoid jail in favour of home detention and the chance to get some gaming done, but nope, not in the case of this unnamed New Zealander. Having already served ten months of an eleven month sentence for an undisclosed crime, the man called his…

Deadline Hollywood says that Microsoft’s trying to get Hollywood bigwigs excited about the Xbox One. CEO Steve Ballmer reportedly said that Microsoft “doesn’t want to be a cable channel.” Well, that’s a relief.

Survey: Half of You Won’t Tolerate Any Online Requirement for Xbox One

Just over half of the more than 400 respondents to an informal Kotaku survey about the Xbox One say they will not accept an online requirement for single-player gaming. The other half said they would be able to live with it but offered wildly divergent replies as to how long they’d tolerate their single-player games…

The Vultures Circle To Pick At The Carcass Of Used Game Sales

Responding to a report last week that claimed Microsoft would be taking a cut from all pre-owned game sales on the Xbox One, Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick chimes in with the inevitable follow-up. It’s equally hard to imagine used game sales surviving attitudes like this. Even if they technically make it past this generation of…

Achievements Have Ruined How I Play Games

It‘s almost midnight and I have spent the last hour killing myself over and over and over again. 205M. Too far. 199M. Almost there. 199M again. So close. This continues, the tapping of my space bar sharpening behind the force of frustration with each failed attempt, for dozens of playthroughs. 201M. Fuck, seriously? This is…

Why The Xbox One Is The “Blackest Black” A Black Can Be

The Xbox One is not just black. It is “liquid black”. There’s an element of marketing fluff behind this, of course, and the console’s design team are not short on marketing fluff, but behind all that, there’s some interesting reasons for the decision. No, really. Here’s an excerpt from a design piece on Microsoft’s new…

Marine Vet Justifies His Argument For Xbox As “Anti-Empathy Machine”

Today on televison, somebody said something reasonable about violent video games. Karl Marlantes, an author, Marine veteran and author of the book “What It Is Like to Go to War” fielded a question on C-Span2 about the long-term effect that unrealistic depictions of war in media and specifically gaming will have on the military. Despite…

Chart: How Microsoft Confused Everyone With the Xbox One

For the past week or so, we’ve all been a tad confused about how Microsoft will be handling used games, online requirements and indie developers on its new Xbox One console. So many official Microsoft comments about these things! Not all of them backwards-compatible with each other. Friend-of-the-site Superannuation suggested that someone make a chart…

Get So Close To An Xbox One You’ll Think You Can Touch It

Seeing as precious few people on Earth have actually been up-close with an Xbox One in the flesh, why don’t you check out this 3D model of the console, which you can explore right here. You can rotate, pan and zoom to your heart’s content, getting close to all the lines, ridges and ports there…

Microsoft Vows To Support Indie Developers on Xbox One

A report last week that the next Xbox console won’t allow independent game developers to self-publish on the Xbox One gave people yet another next-gen Xbox thing to stew about. But Microsoft’s Xbox chief says that Xbox One will have some sort of indie-friendly program. We’re not necessarily in contradiction territory here but rather in—stop…

Xbox One’s Kinect Can Turn Off, Microsoft Says, Noting Privacy Worries

The state of confusion around the new Xbox One console is such that we’re delighted to bring you the news that Microsoft’s next console has a power button. What’s more: its watchful new Kinect sensor that must be plugged in for the console to run can be turned off. Oh brother, big brother! Maybe this…

Want To Play Xbox One Offline? Make One Out Of LEGO.

The Xbox One requires an Internet connection. This LEGO version of the Xbox One—made by YouTuber and LEGO aficionado Kooberz—does not. It might not be able to render Call of Duty dogs, but at least you can put it under your television and play pretend.

Putting The Xbox One’s Reveal In Perspective

LaserFrog’s summary here of last week’s big console reveal may well be the first time something has been so melancholy it’s made me smile. Then again, it doesn’t matter how you say “bag of farts”, that’s normally enough to get a laugh out of me. Run, Play, Think! – Xbox One Reveal Revealed [YouTube]

Halo Music Video Catapults You Into The Middle Of a Spartan Firefight

This Halo insipred and -themed music video easily wins “the most Spartan costumes featured in a clip ever trophy,” as a whole division of Spartans get into an intense firefight in an odd, but awesome setting with a piano in the centre. A pretty large-scale video for William Joseph and Lindsey Stirling’s song—, must have…

Microsoft Thinking About Giving You Achievements For Watching TV

Achievements are changing on the new Xbox One. They might be changing even more than we realise, though, if a Microsoft patent application for TV achievements ever actually comes to fruition. Yes, according to a report on GI.biz, last November Microsoft applied for a patent aimed at giving you achievements for watching TV. “Television viewing…

Report: Retailers Can Charge Whatever For Used Xbox One Games

According to “retail sources”, trade publication MCV is reporting that stores will be able to sell Xbox One games for whatever price they want. The catch? Both Microsoft and the game’s publisher will get a percentage of that sale. The way used games will be controlled and sold on the console has been one huge…

The 360 Figures to Hang Around a Lot Longer than the Original Xbox Did

The Xbox 360 launched Nov. 22, 2005. Within two years, Microsoft unceremoniously discontinued its predecessor. The company expects the 360 to be with us a little longer this time. Yusuf Mehdi, a senior Microsoft executive, told Official Xbox Magazine that the company has a goal for the Xbox 360 of reaching a 100 million-unit installation…

The Onion Takes On Xbox One

The Onion is ready for the next generation of video game consoles. Here’s their report on Xbox One. It’s surprisingly accurate. Xbox One Capable Of Controlling Users With Simple Voice Commands

Normal Human Beings Likely Won’t Play The Xbox One Like This

Phil Spencer, Microsoft Game Studio’s vice president, has a relationship with games that seems kind of terrifying. VideoGamerTV recreates it here, and it may give us an early glimpse at what using the full extent of the Xbox One’s capabilities may be like. Seriously though: do any of you actually play games like that? I…

The Xbox One Uncertainty Principle

At the start of a cocktail party that was to end an exciting, bewildering and altogether odd day at Microsoft’s Redmond campus, I approached Microsoft v.i.p. Aaron Greenberg. Hell of a debut day for the Xbox One, I told him. Some impressive stuff, some confusing stuff. Some fierce reaction online. Greenberg nodded and told me…