Xbox

Microsoft Announces Xbox One X, Will Be $499

Microsoft’s next console, codenamed Project Scorpio, will be called Xbox One X, the company said today. It will be out on November 7 worldwide and cost four-hundred-ninety-nine U.S. dollars (aka $500). The big buzzwords are “True 4K,” and Microsoft is touting Xbox One X’s higher resolution. It’ll support all previous Xbox One games and accessories,…

Watch The Xbox E3 2017 Press Conference Live, Right Here [UPDATE: Over]

From teraflops to teraflips, Microsoft’s holding its E3 2017 press conference at 5pm Eastern today, and you can watch it right here. Expect first-party games like Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3 as well as big third-party games like Anthem and maybe Assassin’s Creed: Origins. And of course, expect Microsoft to reveal details on Xbox…

Data Shows Xbox Gamers Aren’t Using Backward Compatibility Much [Update: Microsoft Contests]

Backward compatibility is a big draw for console gamers nostalgic for older titles, but new data shows that Xbox One players don’t spend much time revisiting backward-compatible Xbox 360 games. A new Ars Technica report that grabbed stats from nearly a million Xbox Live users showed that, on the Xbox One, only 1.5 percent of…

Gears of War 4 gets a big Horde mode update today and the addition of Inconceivable and Ironman difficulty modes. More details here. Who’s keeping up with the game? Are you enjoying it? Are the updates what you’re looking for?

One Year Later, Did Microsoft Keep Their E3 2016 Promises?

E3 is right around the corner, and that means we’re about to get deluged with colossal news and shiny new trailers. And as we do every year before the hype, let’s first take a look back to see if the three console makers delivered on all the grand promises they made at last year’s E3.…

Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s $10 monthly gaming subscription program, will go live on June 1, the company said today. Unlike Sony’s streaming service, PlayStation Now, Xbox Game Pass will let you download its games. It’ll be fascinating to see whether Microsoft can amass a library big enough to create gaming’s version of Netflix.

Phantom Dust Is Still A Great Time (And Totally Free)

Phantom Dust is a 2004 action game that mixes Magic the Gathering deck building and frantic arena brawling. A free remaster was released yesterday for Windows 10 and Xbox One. Heather and Chris collect magic spells and slash their way to a few victories in this archived stream. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Phantom Dust…

Every Big Game Coming Out In Spring 2017

Spring has arrived, and with it, a new slew of big releases. Here’s what to look out for from now until summer. March 23rd Super Mario Run | Android | Runner March 24th Zero Escape: The Nonary Games | PC, PS4, Vita | Visual Novel/Puzzle March 28th Snake Pass | PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One…

PlayStation Player Finally Wins A FIFA Regional

In Madrid today, some of Europe’s best virtual footballers gathered to determine who would move on to Berlin for FIFA 17 championship and for once, a PlayStation player pulled out the win. The bracket of each regional is divided by platform, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Once a champion for each has been determined, they…

The Best Xbox Games

It’s hard to believe given its place in history, but the original Xbox was only really around for four years. That’s not long in console terms, but as we all found, when it came to Microsoft’s first console the focus was on quality, not quantity. Leveraging the console’s horsepower, hard drive and online capabilities, the…

Here’s May’s Xbox Live Games With Gold Lineup

May’s Xbox Live Games with Gold lineup features a couple Star Wars games and some Lara Croft. Remember, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription. May’s Games with Gold are: Xbox One Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams—Director’s Cut (May 1-31) Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (May 16-June…

Microsoft Tests Steam-Style Refunds For Xbox One

Microsoft is testing out a digital refund service on Xbox One, although it’s currently only available to alpha testers and might not make it to the public. If this service does go wide, Xbox One players will be able to return games that are less than two weeks old and that they’ve played for less…

Microsoft Reveals Xbox Scorpio’s Impressive Specs

Microsoft has promised that their next console, Scorpio, will be “the most powerful console ever,” and today the company delivered on that promise, revealing a set of beefy specs that, in terms of raw power, surpass any video game console on the market today. In a PR reveal with Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry, Microsoft unveiled that…

Ubisoft Makes More Of Watch Dogs 2’s Remaining DLC Free

In another sign that something wasn’t quite right with the roll-out of last November’s Watch Dogs 2, the game’s publisher said today that it is moving some of the planned paid content from the game’s season pass to a free update. For paying customers, Ubisoft is replacing it with other stuff. Showdown, a team-based PvP…

Microsoft Is Making A New Xbox Controller Inspired By The Military

Xbox just announced a new controller: the special edition Recon Tech wireless controller, to be released next month. With a stylized utilitarian look Xbox says was inspired by “military technology,” combat armor and sci-fi mechanical gear,” the controller has etched textures on the front and back, apparently for grip. Like other Xbox wireless controllers, it’s…

It Stinks That Nobody Talks In Diablo III‘s Public Multiplayer

In Diablo III, a good deal of high level play revolves around entering farming runs with random strangers and marching through content to try and get the most items and gear in the shortest amount of time. It’s fun, but it’s disappointing that it seems to exist in a cone of silence. You can easily…

YouTuber Thoreaufare has completed Titanfall 2‘s obstacle course in style, zooming the course backwards in less than thirty seconds.

A Very Pretty Xbox One S

This box, featuring a custom Xbox One S, controllers and a pair of Atmos x Air Max 1 ‘Elephants’, was a giveaway at Laced Up, a sneaker con in Germany. The “43″ is for 43einhalb, a sneaker store in Fulda. I could live without the Air Maxs, but the colour scheme on that console is…

The Level That Shows Why Halo: Reach Is Awesome

You drop right into a firefight, plasma crackling as it flies past your head. You push forward, blasting away at a pack of grunts, causing them to panic. An Elite taunts you with a burst of blue fire from his rifle, but he backs off when, having caught your attention, you go after him. Starting…

Ghost Recon Wildlands: The Kotaku Review

Ghost Recon Wildlands seems innocuous at first glance. It is a passable open world shooter where cooperative play leads to exciting gunfights and silly stunts. But Wildland’s core is far more insipid. It is propaganda. It is jingoism made playable, perpetuating the failed logic that all it takes to solve the world’s woes is enough…