With Xbox 360 having started well but ended in a very confused state, I worry that Microsoft is about to carry over much of its baggage to the new console. Will the company make the same mistake of not listening to the market that it has often made in recent years? Will it continue to believe that there is a burgeoning market for an everything box? Or will it refocus on what matters? → Read More
Microsoft has just sent out a round of invites to the press to attend a special event at its Redmond, Washington campus on May 21 at 10 AM PT. The event is associated with the hashtag #XboxReveal, and promises to show off a “new generation” of Xbox, so it’s safe to say we’ll get our first glimpse of Microsoft’s next-generation home gaming console at the event. → Read More
After a very public defense of rumors about the next Xbox’s always-on Internet requirements, a new report claims that Microsoft creative director Adam Orth is no longer with the company. In a series of Twitter posts, Orth defended the move by countering that “every device” is now constantly connected, and then delivered a low-blow when someone responded suggesting always-on connectivity might not… → Read More
Netflix is quickly building a stable of its own original content, but those programs end up getting lumped in with all the movies and TV series that it’s licensed from other content providers. To combat this, Netflix is running landing pages on a wide range of devices to show off the new series that it’s investing in, with the next one being Eli Roth’s Hemlock Grove. → Read More
Microsoft’s next Xbox, which could get an initial unveiling as early as next month, will use an AMD system-on-a-chip according to a new Bloomberg report. The new AMD SoC will mean that Microsoft is moving to an x86-based system architecture, which Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4 is also adopting. The change is great news for AMD, and for gamers, and bad news for AMD’s chief rival Intel. → Read More
Microsoft announced today via its blog that it will be selling its Mediaroom properties to Ericsson, in a deal that will see Ericsson become the dominant IPTV player in the industry with over 25 percent market share.
Mediaroom operates as a pretty much separate company from Microsoft, with its own HQ in Mountain View and around 400 employees, and powers TV offerings like AT&T U-verse, as… → Read More
Console wars are a complex and many-parted affair, and Sony has launched its full salvo, with all eyes now on Microsoft to see what kind of return shot they can manage. The next-generation Xbox, codenamed Durango, will apparently get a preview at a special event in May, The Verge’s Tom Warren reports, with an official splashy unveiling at E3 in June. → Read More
A number of solid reports, including a new domain name, XboxEvent.com registered to Microsoft, are pointing to an Xbox event in April. While most console reveals happen at E3, as evidenced by Sony’s mystery-filled conference, Microsoft will probably announce specs and some launch titles and leave the money shot for Los Angeles in June. → Read More
What I’m about to say is undoubtedly going to piss some of you off. And that’s fine. Because in a few years, I’ll be right and you’ll look silly.
While everyone is focused on the next generation video game consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft — the latter two of which should be coming later this year — Apple is going to dominate them all. And it won’t even be that… → Read More
The war for your living room rages on, and Microsoft has no intention of yielding any hard-fought ground to its gaming rivals. Rumors of a new Xbox have been flying around for months now, but Kotaku has put together the mother of all next-gen Xbox (a.k.a. Xbox 720, a.k.a. Durango) posts thanks to a secretive-but-chatty source known as SuperDaE — if the moniker sounds familiar, he’s the guy who… → Read More
The news that next-generation consoles may lock games to devices is not controversial by itself, but the willingness to price those games effectively is not historically a strength of Microsoft or Sony. More likely a have-cake-and-eat-it attitude is at play, but that risks driving away younger players to microconsoles like the OUYA. → Read More
One of the most-rumored features of the mythical Apple television set is Siri integration that would allow you to naturally ask questions and issue commands to your TV, but Microsoft may beat Apple to the punch, if a new report from The Verge is accurate. Microsoft already has some voice features built into the current generation Xbox, but the next-gen console will get much-improved abilities… → Read More
Home video game consoles seem somewhat quaint at this point, and it’s not an issue of graphics capabilities or raw power, on which scales they both still beat out mobile devices. ‘More power’ will likely be the clarion call of the next generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft, and new details leaked around Microsoft’s Xbox 360 successor, codenamed Durango, suggest they’ll have specs to boast… → Read More
Microsoft is making a big push to bring more content to Xbox and some of the more recognizable names in entertainment have responded by building apps for the console, bringing their services into your living room. After bringing ESPN to the platform two weeks ago, the company is again beefing up its entertainment catalog, rolling out a handful of new apps worldwide today, including Rhapsody… → Read More
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console has given the company a good foothold in the living room, but the company apparently isn’t content with that and wants to increase traction with a new lower-cost device, the Verge reports. According to “multiple sources,” the blog says Microsoft will offer a streamlined media device that provides access to TV and entertainment services, as well as casual gaming… → Read More
Today, ESPN announced that it is bringing live programming from its major properties — ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Goal Line — to the Xbox with the official launch of WatchESPN. WatchESPN has been an important part of the sports media behemoth’s cross-platform aspirations, representing a single resource where fans can go to get live ESPN programming on their computers and mobile devices. → Read More
In an effort to keep the kids from going with all Apple everything, Microsoft has teamed up with a number of vendors to offer a new “Buy a PC, Get An Xbox” plan along with a $15 upgrade to Windows 8 when it lands later this year. Non-gamers get a $100 Staples gift card, which sounds like cold comfort. → Read More
There’s a ton of speculation around what Microsoft will be announcing on Monday in Los Angeles. Both the Wrap and ATD claim the event will showcase a Microsoft built Windows RT/Windows 8 tablet. According to folks with knowledge of the situation, they’re somewhat right but mostly wrong. We’re being told that a tablet/e-reader built in conjunction with Barnes & Noble is on tap and that it will… → Read More
The current gen Xbox may be a year past its halfway point but a purported “leaked” document dating back to August 2010 from a Microsoft presentation details the next gen Xbox 720 in great detail.
Features for the next Xbox, according to the document, will include native Blu-ray playback, full support for HD and 3-D, and beefed up hardware (graphics and processor) under the hood. Other bits and… → Read More
Microsoft just announced an upcoming improvement to the Xbox 360 that allows you to search for movies and video content simply by calling out a few simple phrases (“bing action” for action movies, for example.)
Microsoft also announced Bing voice support for 12 additional countries as well as more languages. They’ve also added more media channels including Machinima, Nickelodeon, Univision, and… → Read More
Microsoft’s Don Mattrick announced at the Microsoft media event at E3 that the Microsoft Xbox 360 has moved from the top console in North America to the top console worldwide, beating out the PS3 and Nintendo Wii.
Microsoft has not yet announced a successor to their popular 360 console but the success is attributed to high Kinect sales as well as improved media offerings for the console. → Read More
Amazon just announced that its Instant Video service is now available on Microsoft’s Xbox 360. With the Amazon Instant Video app for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, Xbox users can now access the roughly 120,000 movies and TV episodes available for renting and purchasing on Amazon’s streaming video service. The app also offers access to the more limited Prime Instant video selection, Amazon’s video… → Read More
Our good buddy Farhad Manjoo writes over at Slate that he believes Microsoft has already beaten Apple at the living room game. Why buy an Apple TV – either in its current form or in some sort of Siri-powered large-screen LCD form (which we’ll call ATV) – when your Xbox 360 does everything you want it to right now.
Sadly, he’s wrong. While Microsoft has improved their offering considerably and… → Read More
Japan’s video game industry is the world’s second biggest (after the US), but it’s on a downward streak for the fifth consecutive year. Based on sales, the country’s video game industry has contracted by as much as 8% year-on-year, Japan’s biggest gaming magazine Famitsu is reporting [JP].
Between December 27, 2010 and December 25, 2011, Japanese game companies generated US$5.9 billion in… → Read More
Microsoft has ported Kinectimals, the Xbox 360 game that involves the care and feeding of dangerous animals in the wild, to the iPhone, suggesting that (at least in the short term) even Microsoft sees the value of releasing on iOS.
The $2.99 game recreates the Xbox version fairly faithfully but without the Kinect motion controls. Interestingly, the app also allows you to “unlock” new cubs on… → Read More
Microsoft’s wonderfully shiny new Xbox 360 dashboard is now available to most, and, while it’s a bit of a letdown in some ways (more on that later, probably), it has plenty of very, very cool new features. Cloud storage for game saves! New Netflix! HBOGO (Eventually!)
One of the niftier features, however, is being saved solely for those rockin’ Windows Phone 7 phones. Called Xbox Companion, it… → Read More
The upcoming Metro update to Microsoft’s Xbox, shipping tonight and arriving on your console some time this week, pushes Microsoft’s gaming product away from the traditional run-and-gun of gaming consoles and into a new realm: that of the home media center.
While the Xbox existed as a media center before, allowing you to download video and music content and stream content from your home… → Read More
Microsoft just posted some impressive sales stats: this week they sold 980,000 Xbox 360 consoles and 750,000 Kinect sensors, both “standalone and bundled.” The sales week is probably due in part to the perfect storm of titles hitting the platform, including Skyrim, as well as Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. → Read More
Yesterday morning, we reported that Microsoft had acquired Israeli video startup, VideoSurf, for approximately $70 million. The deal indeed has been greenlighted, as Microsoft confirmed in its blog post yesterday. However, at the time, the price of the acquisition was unclear; several sources (who wished to remain anonymous) pegged the number at $70 million. But, today we’ve heard from a solid… → Read More
You already know about Verizon bringing live TV to the Xbox 360, but it turns out that was just the tip of Microsoft’s great big television-related iceberg.
In an effort to transform the television experience, Microsoft has struck deals with nearly 40 entertainment providers to start injecting more media into their gaming platform. → Read More
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