Xbox

We Hear There’s A Rare Collection Coming To Xbox One

For months now we’ve been chasing down a rumor that Microsoft plans to release a collection of Rare games for Xbox One this summer to mark the storied company’s 30th anniversary. Today, a Kotaku reader sent over a retail image that seems to corroborate this rumor. GameStop is listing an entry for something called “RareReplay,”…

A U.S. judge has sentenced 23-year-old David Pokora to 18 months in prison for his involvement in a group that stole software from Microsoft, Valve and other companies. (Read more about Pokora and crew in this piece.)

One Year Later, Did Microsoft (And Friends) Keep Their E3 2014 Promises?

The gaming year’s biggest planned spectacle, E3, happens next week, which means that it’s time for us at Kotaku to once again check what the big console makers promised at E3 a year ago. Let’s see how Microsoft did. The Xbox maker had a simultaneously humble and aspirational press conference last June. They thanked fans…

Two Hours With Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

You know how Konami tried to pull Hideo Kojima’s name off the box art on their website? With Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima more than gets his due. Every mission in the newest Metal Gear game—which will almost certainly be Kojima’s last—both begins and ends with a brief credit sequence that runs…

Looks like Amazon just spoiled one of Microsoft’s E3 announcements: there’s a new Xbox One model with a 1TB hard-drive launching onJune 15. It’ll include that new controller with a headphone jack.

Far Cry 4 Is My Favorite 2014 Game Of 2015

I nearly gave up on Far Cry 4. I recently recovered from that mistake. Late last fall, faced with a stack of games to play, I gave Far Cry 4 just a couple of hours to impress me. My quick 2014 take: it’s too similar to the wonderful Far Cry 3, the tropical game about…

Oh Hey, a New Xbox One Controller with a Headphone Jack [UPDATE]

The PS4’s DualShock 4 has a headphone jack that allows you to plug whatever headphones into the controller. The Xbox One’s controller, however, only has proprietary port. Make that, only had. As revealed on the Xbox Supportwebsite (via Eurogamer), an upcoming version of the Xbox One controller will have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Here’s…

Modern Warfare 2 Deserves More Credit

Call of Duty is not supposed to be good, so the idea goes, especially not Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The sixth Call of Duty has been described as a jingoistic mess, a Michael Bay-esque cacophony of nonsensical story bits, a mere shooter that couldn’t—shouldn’t—try to be anything more. “It’s Call of Duty” has…

Bioware’s Casey Hudson is Microsoft’s New Creative Director

While working at Bioware, Casey Hudson made his name as the director of Mass Effect 3, though he left the studio in August last year. Today, Microsoft announced that he will be joining the company as its new creative director. (This article originally appeared on Kotaku UK.) His main focus is going to be on…

Microsoft Punishes Gears of War Leakers [UPDATE]

UPDATE (7:12pm): Well now here’s an interesting addendum. Earlier today, following a number of video leaks from a wide-scale beta test of the upcoming Gears of War remake, the game testing company VMC said in a memo that Microsoft had both permanently banned the leakers from Xbox Live and temporarily disabled their consoles, rendering them…

Microsoft just announced their plans for E3 2015: they’ve got their Xbox presser at the usual time (Monday, June 15 at 9:30am PT) and a daily live show they’ll be streaming from the conference floor. More info over on Major Nelson’s blog

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Has Pre-Order Incentives, Of Course

You need a cheat-sheet to figure out how to get what you want out of any new game these days. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is no different. Here’s what we’ve figured out so far about navigating your way to buying the game. Syndicate will be the next major Assassin’s Creed game, moving the series to Victorian…

“I think Banjo-Tooie’s the better game.” So says Kotaku reader BlackmanFord in a series of comments below the chat we published yesterday celebrating Banjo-Kazooie. Read his thread for some Tooie love.

In an apparent delay, Ubisoft is now describing its third-person shooterThe Division as a “fourth quarter” release. Given that their company’s financial year ends in March, that would peg the game for sometime between January 1 and March 31, 2016.

10 Xbox One Features You Might Not Know About

You know that it plays Halo games. You know it will run Gears of War. And you probably knew that it looks smaller if you stand further away from it. But did you know these other things about Xbox One? You can see how much Internet your console uses Go to Settings —> Network —>…

The Witcher 3 Lets You Have Sex On A Unicorn

Yes, you read that right. A unicorn. Not one that’s alive, mind. A stuffed unicorn! But still: a unicorn. NSFW warning. The GIF above comes from the latest “Clueless Gamer” segment on Conan. I won’t bullshit you: Conan mostly spends his time making childish bad jokes about boning all the women he comes across in…

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Isn’t As Great As I Remembered It

Everyone has that one game they still remember playing for the first time. For me, it was Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Looking back, it seems weird—other games occupy my personal best-of list, but something about Human Revolution struck a distinct chord with me. It is a game I love. With the recent announcement of a…

Gears of War Remaster Coming To Xbox One [UPDATE]

Today, a number of people across the country obtained access to a test build for “Gears of War” on the Xbox One, as shown in the screenshot above. Although we suspected it might be part of an as-of-yet-unannounced Gears collection including a number of games in the series, this may in fact just be a…

The Fake Video Game Rumor Someone Spread For… Homework

What drives a person to make up a video game rumor and spread it around the internet? They might do it for the fame or the infamy. Maybe for a laugh. Sometimes, it’s… to get a good grade on a college paper. In early March, a Reddit user going by the name certain_ability posted a…

Ezio Sure Sounds Different In The New Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed’s most beloved hero makes a welcome cameo in this week’s Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, but a change in voice casting has him sounding like a different person. Early on in the game, an elderly Ezio Auditore appears in a flashback/tutorial to train the game’s protagonist, the assassin Shao Jun. Here’s what he sounds…