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CultureXbox Celebrates Pride With A Controller You Can’t Buy
Along with a generous donation to LGBTQIA+ nonprofits, clothing featuring flag designs, and various digital rewards, Microsoft is offering a Pride 2021 Xbox wireless controller, a lovely rainbow-sporting custom gamepad that’ll only be available to select influencers and members of the media. Sporting bright red, yellow, blue, and green face buttons and a design inspired…
By Mike Fahey Published June 2, 2021 -
Here’s June 2021’s Xbox Live Games With Gold
June’s Xbox Live Games with Gold aren’t too exciting, but hey, they’re games. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription. June’s Games with Gold are: Xbox One/ Xbox X | S The King’s Bird (June 1-30) Shadows: Awakening (June 16-July 15) Xbox 360 (compatible with newer…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 26, 2021 -
Culture18 Years Later, Microsoft Is Fixing Halo’s Graphics On The PC
Halo’s original PC port, released in 2003 and handled by Gearbox, was mostly fine, but it also had some weird issues, mostly related to funky textures. Fans have just kinda put up with them ever since, but in 2021 Microsoft is finally getting around to fixing them. The video below shows a range of texture…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 24, 2021 -
CultureHere’s An Original Xbox Easter Egg That’s Remained Hidden For Nearly 20 Years
A developer who worked on Microsoft’s original 2001 Xbox console, who wishes to remain anonymous, informed Kotaku of a hidden “Easter egg” in the Xbox Dashboard that’s remained undiscovered for nearly 20 years. They told us how to trigger the secret, which displays a previously unknown credits screen. Sure enough, it works. “I didn’t really…
By Alexandra Hall Published May 21, 2021 -
Tips & GuidesXbox’s Quick Resume Might Mess Up Your Games’ Playtime Count
Last fall, while playing through Mass Effect 2 for the first time ever, I noticed that my endgame hour count tallied more than 87 hours. Weird, but whatever. Moving on. Turns out, Xbox’s ballyhooed next-gen Quick Resume feature appears to keep running the clock on some games. Of all the features introduced with the Xbox…
By Ari Notis Published May 19, 2021 -
CultureNew Xbox Series X/S Background Is A Pulsating Blob From The Past
Rolling out with the May Xbox Series X/S update that includes important updates to that handy Quick Resume feature, “The Original” dynamic theme marks the return of the glowing green glob of Flubber from the original Xbox’s startup and dashboard. Those of you old enough to remember the original Xbox know that weird amorphous blob…
By Mike Fahey Published May 12, 2021 -
CultureXbox’s Quick Resume Will Finally Show You What Games Are Suspended
This month’s Xbox update will bring changes to Quick Resume, including, at long last, an ability to see what games you currently have suspended on your Xbox Series X or S. Last year, Microsoft’s next-gen Xboxes received attention for improved performance and graphical fidelity. But Quick Resume—a feature that allows you to juggle around half…
By Ari Notis Published May 11, 2021 -
CultureEverything That’s Happening In The Apple vs Epic Case
The big court case between Apple and Epic is one of the most important legal showdowns in the history of video games. It’s also throwing up a ton of very funny and interesting looks at how these billion-dollar companies do business behind the scenes. Epic instigated the lawsuit back in 2020, believing that the 30%…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 9, 2021 -
CultureApple’s Not Happy With Epic’s Xbox Witness
On Wednesday, vice president of Xbox business development Lori Wright testified in the ongoing trial between Epic and Apple. Now, Apple wants the court to make an “adverse credibility finding,” due to Microsoft withholding pertinent documents in her testimony. Apple’s lawyers took issue with Wright’s testimony in a motion filed yesterday, pointing out that Wright…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 7, 2021 -
CultureEpic Tried To Convince Xbox To Make Multiplayer Free Alongside Apple Fight
An email between Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Xbox head Phil Spencer, made public today as part of the ongoing Epic versus Apple trial, shows Sweeney trying to entice Spencer to take “free-to-play” multiplayer out from behind the Xbox Live paywall to coincide with Epic’s war against the App Store. In an emailon August 5,…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureXbox 360 Emulation Is Coming Along Nicely
It was only a few months ago that we were taking a look at the positive steps Xbox emulation has been making on the PC, but boy, Xbox 360 emulation is also looking very good in 2021. As this excellent walkthrough video by Modern Vintage Gamer explains, some recent breakthroughs for the Xenia emulator have…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureOver 70 More Games Just Got FPS Boost On Xbox Series X/S
Microsoft added its FPS Boost to over 70 additional games today, letting players on Xbox Series X or S enjoy dramatically better performance in older Xbox One titles like Yakuza 6, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Alien Isolation, Far Cry 5, and Mad Max. FPS Boost is a feature found on Xbox Series X and S consoles…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureHere’s Everything Coming To And Leaving Game Pass Soon
Members of Xbox Game Pass will soon lose the ability to play Remedy’s beloved Alan Wake at no extra cost. On the other hand, the gnarliest extreme snow sports game since SSX Tricky will become available in a matter of days. Fair trade, if you ask me. Here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in…
By Ari Notis Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureMicrosoft Looked Into Reducing Its Xbox Store Cut From 30% To 12% [Update]
According to internal documents filed in the ongoing Epic Games vs Apple case, Microsoft has plans to reduce its cut on digital downloads on the Xbox console store from 30% to 12%. Found in court documents, first spotted by The Verge, Microsoft shares various information and data about its digital storefronts on Windows 10 and…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 2, 2021 -
CultureFall Guys Delayed On Xbox, Switch
Although Fall Guys, the jellybean battle royale developed by newly acquired Epic Games studio Mediatonic, has been playable on PC and PlayStation consoles since August 2020, it’s going to miss its planned summer release on Xbox and Switch. “This delay gives our team some time to add features like crossplay, so when we add new…
By Ian Walker Published April 30, 2021 -
CultureHere’s May 2021’s Xbox Live Games With Gold
April is almost over, which doesn’t seem right. I’m 99% sure yesterday was the start of April. How is it May already? Makes no sense. Well with a new month comes new free games for Xbox Live Gold members. As ever, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureXbox Free-To-Play Games Are Finally Free To Play
Starting today, all Xbox players can play more than 50 free-to-play games without an Xbox Live Gold membership, Microsoft announced in a blog post. The update comes on the heels of a ballyhooed reversal of longstanding Xbox policy. In January, Microsoft announced a steep price increase to Xbox Live, essentially doubling the cost of the…
By Ari Notis Published April 21, 2021 -
CultureHere’s Everything Coming To And Leaving Game Pass Soon
The baseball game is the big one, but that’s not the only game en route to Xbox Game Pass Here’s everything coming to Microsoft’s games-on-demand service in the next few weeks: April 20 MLB The Show 21 (Cloud, Console) April 22 Phogs! (PC) April 28 Second Extinction, Game Preview (Cloud, Console, PC) April 29 Destroy All…
By Ari Notis Published April 20, 2021 -
Xbox Cloud Gaming For Windows 10 And iOS Launches Limited Beta Tomorrow
As promised back in December, a browser-based version of the Xbox Cloud Gaming service for Windows 10, iPhones, and iPads is kicking off tomorrow, with a limited number of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers invited to stream and play games directly through Edge, Google Chrome, or the Safari browser. The streaming action will take place…
By Mike Fahey Published April 19, 2021 -
CultureCrysis Remastered Now Even More Remastered
Just when you thought classic shooter Crysis was as remastered as it was going to get, Crytek announces a new free update that fixes a whole slew of bugs while adding new graphics modes for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles. Who is ready for raytraced 1080p at 30 frames per second on the…
By Mike Fahey Published April 7, 2021