Xbox

Quantum Break: The Kotaku Review

A new console generation starts, and you wait for something special. The launch games are okay, but they are really just shinier versions of last-gen releases. Eventually, though, you play a game that hadn’t been done before, couldn’t have been done before. For this generation, for me, that game is Quantum Break, which is imperfect…

It’s 2016 And Warframe Is Still An Excellent Free-To-Play Game

In the distant future of Warframe, you are a space ninja who has woken from a long slumber to find the solar system in disarray. Armed with a variety of exciting powers, you must fight an army of decaying clones, tech-minded science jerks, mutant freaks and other awesome enemies. The entire game is free to…

Destiny Is Getting A Bunch Of Cool New Gear In April

Bungie just showed off some really nice-looking new armor sets and some other little additions coming next month to Destiny, a sci-fi shooter video game whose biggest fan picked the wrong week to go on vacation. The star of Bungie’s sneak-peek livestream was the new Desolate armor. It was teased last week and is modeled…

Microsoft just announced a new feature that should be make it easier for game developers to create on Xbox One. Shown at the company’s annual Build conference, Xbox Dev Mode will turn ordinary retail Xbox One units into developer kits.

Spelunky’s Journey From Pixel Game To Console Classic

It’s rare that gamers ever get to hear the full story behind how (and why) a game was made. So it’s awesome that Derek Yu, the creator of Spelunky, has written a book that does just that. Published by Boss Fight, Spelunky is Yu’s autobiographical, full-blown account of the making of the game, going very…

Xbox Survey Wonders If You’d Trade In Your Digital Games For Store Credit

Refunds notwithstanding, digital video game purchases are normally a one-way street, but what if they weren’t? A question from a recent Xbox survey asks gamers if they’d part with their digital acquisitions for 10 percent store credit. The image belowpopped up on Reddit yesterday, and the hypothetical it presents is interesting. Trading in a $60…

Xbox One Gets Another ‘Limited’ Price Drop

The Xbox One will drop to $300 for a “limited time” next week, Microsoft said today. In other words, don’t ever plan to spend more than that on the console. See, Microsoft has a habit of announcing “limited” hardware discounts that transform into permanent ones, which is bad news for anyone who buys at the…

Gears of War 4 is getting a beta next month. It’ll start on April 18 for those of you who bought the Gears of War Ultimate Edition; for other Xbox Live members, it’ll go live on April 25. More details over on the Xbox Wire

A Few Hours With Adrift, The Astronaut Survival Game Born From Trauma

“Everyone has done something and disappointed someone–or hurt someone–whether it’s a small thing or a big thing,” the game designer Adam Orth was telling me a couple of Fridays ago, after I played a few hours of his newest game. “And recovering from that, everyone has had that. It’s a universal truth. It’s a universal…

Hitman Episode One: The Kotaku Review

I’ve often noticed a conflict between the way games tell me I’m a master assassin/spy/soldier and the more bumbling, experimental way that I play. One moment I’m panicking and shooting the wrong person in the face, the next I’m coolly walking away as a chandelier drops on a target behind me. The new Hitman, the…

Epic Games Founder Slams Microsoft For Trying To ‘Monopolize’ PC Gaming [UPDATE]

This week, Microsoft has touted a new initiative that they’ve said will unify platforms, making it easier to for developers to release games on both PC and Xbox One. But at least one major developer isn’t thrilled with Microsoft’s plans. In an opinion piece published in The Guardian this morning, Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney…

Far Cry Primal: The Kotaku Review

Far Cry Primal is frequently violent and occasionally, unexpectedly sweet. The caveman action game is an excellent concept best experienced by people who haven’t been playing every entry in Far Cry, another of gaming’s perpetual franchises. It’s an iteration. It’s a tweak. It’s another reprise of 2012’s Far Cry 3 formula of first-person open-world hunting…

One of the Rarest and Most Beautiful Xbox Ones Ever Made

Apparently, there are only two of these consoles in the whole world. They are official, from Microsoft, and given out this month to two lucky winners in South Korea. Earlier this month, Microsoft Korea held a contest for these very limited-edition Xbox Ones. As tipster Sang points out, these traditional Korean style mother of pearl…

The Dangerous Animals I’ve Pet In Far Cry Primal

Who needs guns in a video game when you can tame and command bears and saber-toothed tigers to kill for you? That’s what I’ve been doing in Far Cry Primal, though there’s something to be said for just stopping and petting these furry four-legged instruments of death. I made a video of my favorite new…

Far Cry Primal Has A Roundabout Storyline Connection To Far Cry 4

There were no easy opportunities for any of the characters in today’s new Stone Age Far Cry Primal game to overlap with those of 2014’s modern-day Far Cry 4, but publisher Ubisoft has found a way to confirm they’re in the same universe. The connection—which isn’t a spoiler for the game, in case you’re wondering—holds…

Xbox Live Is Down

We’ve been getting emails and tweets all week about this, in increasing volume, but this evening Xbox Live seems to have finally dropped out for pretty much everyone trying to access the paid service. This went out four hours ago (from time of posting): And this went out two hours ago (at time of posting):…

Reasons To Give EA Access An 8 Out Of 10

I guess at some point I rated the EA Access service I subscribe to on my Xbox One. I know this, because my EA Access app just asked me to explain my 8 out of 10 rating. That’s not a bad score, right? It’s not like a simple, unvarnished “YES,” but still pretty good. How…

Smart Way To Keep Players From Getting Lost Underwater, Dying Light

It’s easy to get lost when you’re swimming underwater in a video game. You’re moving in the right direction, but you look down for a moment, lose your bearings, swim some more and wind up back where you started. I guess you accidentally turned yourself around. Whoops! Come on, that never happened to you? Not…

Here’s What’s Changing For The Division‘s Second Beta

Patch notes for Ubisoft’s open beta for the company’s early-March shooter The Division have some good news for those who tried the game’s recent closed beta and saw some flaws in its promising quasi-player-vs-player Dark Zone section. The notes indicate, among other things, that the Dark Zone will have more enemies and give a little…

Excellent Art Direction In The Newest Assassin’s Creed Sidescroller

The third and presumably final 2D Assassin’s Creed Chronicles game is out this week and looks even better than last month’s one set in India. We captured video of its first level. Look at that smoke! Look at this skyline! The game’s mouthful of a title is Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia. It’s set in 1918…