Video Games

Microsoft will start selling its new console, the Xbox One, without the Kinect sensor, eliminating one of the biggest criticisms of the new machine and allowing for a significantly lower cost of entry. The new Kinect-free Xbox One will retail for $399. The console launched last November for $500, $100 more than the rival PlayStation Continue Reading →

It’s official: Microsoft is scared of the PlayStation 4. Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it will sell the Xbox One without the Kinect for $399, starting on June 9. The price cut levels the playing field and drops the Xbox One’s sticker price to the same level as Sony’s PS4. It also eliminates one of Continue Reading →

Microsoft already has an online file-storage service, OneDrive, and its own streaming music platform, Xbox Music, and the company appears to be combining the two to create a music locker in the cloud. LiveSino has discovered references to a OneDrive Music folder in source code files from Microsoft’s cloud-storage site. The files describe the new Continue Reading →

Sony caused a lot of fuss when it confirmed that there would be no way of turning off the DualShock 4’s light bar (the tyranny!), but do you want to know why it was really on there? Because of Project Morpheus. Jed Ashforth, Senior Designer at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, told TechRadar that Sony’s virtual Continue Reading →

  Nintendo, the Japanese video-game company struggling to win over consumers with its latest generation of consoles, plans to expand in emerging markets with new devices starting next year. The Kyoto-based company will develop completely new game machines for emerging markets rather than sell cheaper versions of existing devices such as the Wii U, President Continue Reading →

King Digital took its time handing out it first earnings report on Wednesday. But when it got around to it, the company behind Candy Crush delivered good news: Revenue, which had been declining in advance of its IPO this year, has ticked up again. And King is beginning to make the argument that it is Continue Reading →

Nintendo’s reported a staggering loss of $456 million for the past financial year. The blame is being laid squarely at its relatively young console, the Wii U. Sales have slowed significantly: Nintendo sold 2.72 million Wii Us in the last twelve months. (Running totals for the Xbox One and PS4: five and seven million, respectively). Continue Reading →

Microsoft’s new Xbox head Phil Spencer doesn’t think an Xbox gaming handheld makes sense. Spencer took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon in a surprisingly candid conversation with fans, one of whom asked if Microsoft is pursuing, “a handheld Xbox One-like gaming device at E3 or in the future.” Spencer responded with a frank, “I don’t Continue Reading →

Xbox Entertainment Studios is deep in negotiations with Showtime to develop a live-action “Halo” drama series that is a high priority for the Microsoft production unit headed by Nancy Tellem. Xbox Studios has been developing a drama series spin on the vidgame franchise with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin TV banner for more than a year. It’s Continue Reading →

Comcast may soon allow customers using its cloud-connected X1 cable box system to buy games from Electronic Arts through their televisions, according to five sources briefed on the plans. Such a partnership would come as the cable company seeks to protect its turf against a new wave of challengers. After two years of testing, Comcast Continue Reading →