360 GAMER MAGAZINE »
Issue 128, on sale NOW!
Tag // "Microsoft" »
19:21, 21st May
Yep, we're going to have to get used to calling ourselves 'One' gamers, as Microsoft has announced it's next-gen console with the name Xbox One and a worldwide release date of 2013. There were no real shocks and a lot of things not discussed (always-on, second-hand etc) but at least MS managed to squeeze a few games in among all the TV talk and get us just a little bit enthused.
16:01, 21st May
It’s a bit like Wii Sports only with full body Kinect controls. There, we’ve said it, and before the hardcore Nintendo fans start whinnying about a lack of originality and Microsoft and Rare following the market leader they should riddle us this: what gaming genre do you think would best suit a new motion control peripheral? Exactly, though that’s a hard angle to push once you see your Avatar in motion. Comparisons are going to be made, but there is a fundamental difference. Kinect Sports isn’t about casually waving a wand and you can’t play it while sat down eating instant noodles. It wants your entire body to get involved, your ceiling to be high and for participants to not mind that much if they accidentally kick each other in the shins. Despite some slight finesse issues, the results are exhaustingly excellent.
10:22, 21st May
We’re training our children to see man-eating animals as cute little playthings now, are we? Apparently so, and very engaging and happy the results are too – even though you can use your own voice to make your Bengal tiger respond to the name ‘Hitler’. We’re probably not Kinectimals’ target audience, clearly, but even so there’s no denying its quality is so high that it offers far more than many of the other launch titles. It’s not just about tending to a virtual creature; it’s about showing what Kinect can do more than any current title can.
16:04, 20th May
ture the scene. It’s Christmas day, snow is falling all around, Cliff Richard has just left, his aftershave still hanging in the air as flakes fill his footprints, and so the kids’ attention goes to those presents lying suggestively under the tree. After an ecstasy of fumbling – ‘wow, a Kinect! Thanks Santa!’ And what’s this? It comes with a game? Good job, because it seems Santa forgot to provide any more.
09:37, 14th May
Ah, a pair of little cute felt thumb humanoid things with little arms, little feet, and little backpacks and a little problem. The two, the red Ilo and the blue Milo, want to meet up, high-five each other and do whatever else mute little cute felt thumb humanoid things do. Fate, however, has conspired against their union, so it’s your job to get them together so they can move to the next level and get separated once again, and on and on until your brain flushes itself through your eyes and you can’t take any more.
16:27, 30th Apr
If you didn't have much planned for the weekend, then why not treat yourself to a few days of online 360 action - as Microsoft has confirmed an Xbox Live Gold Unlock Weekend, that includes free Gold access to all, and double XP on a range of multiplayer titles.
16:00, 21st Apr
Cast your memory back to E3 2009, when you first saw Kinect and all those cool tech demos, and how your mind was blown by the potential of the device. Pretty cool, wasn’t it? Well, while it still falls short of what Microsoft told us to expect, The Gunstringer is the closest thing yet to seeing Kinect’s potential realised. It’s responsive. It’s immersive. It’s brilliant to play. And it might just restore your faith in that hundred-quid hunk of plastic sitting somewhere between your Xbox and your TV.
16:04, 17th Apr
We have to admit that we spent a fair while wrestling with ourselves about how to score Gears of War 3. We could easily have taken the negative route and started docking points for its obvious flaws. Yes, it’s linear and largely repetitive. Yes, it’s almost exactly the same as both Gears 1 and 2. Yes, it still insists upon a rather bland palette of browns and greys. And yes, we can see why not every gamer (or reviewer) will be as intoxicated by the whole experience as so many others clearly are.
17:58, 11th Apr
So, it turns out that maybe, just maybe, those rumours about the next-gen Xbox needing an 'always-on' internet connection weren't entirely accurate. Instead this applies to a secondary 'Xbox Mini' device designed to offer backwards compatibility and TV services.
16:09, 11th Apr
The problem with making a great leap forwards from one game to the next – especially when the series in question happens to be a big-name exclusive – is that it tends to result in over-inflated expectations for every subsequent new instalment in the series.
18:48, 8th Apr
As if all the consumer concerns over Microsoft's potential plans for an 'always-on' internet connection for its next-gen console wasn't enough, a senior MS official has made a bit of dick of himself via Twitter in trying to defend (and worryingly, condone) the concept.
13:34, 8th Apr
How about pre-ordering Grand Theft Auto V and receiving a big virtual bag of Microsoft Points for your trouble? Sounds tasty, but there's a catch.
09:21, 3rd Apr
If a quick glimpse at any screenshots or videos of Joe Danger make you think of Trials HD, we wouldn’t hold it against you. After all, it didn’t matter previously that both seemed to be cut from a similar cloth – one was on the 360, the other was on the PlayStation3 and ne’er the twain shall meet. But now they do.
16:28, 2nd Apr
Within seconds of starting RAAM’s Shadow, the new slice of single-player DLC for Gears of War 3, a massive sinkhole opens in the city of Ilima and the Locust pour out, ready to crush anyone left and turn it into a dark haven for the Kryll.
16:00, 28th Mar
Alan Wake is a writer. A dream weaver. A man who takes readers on a journey beyond the realms of imagination from where they will return forever changed, and stuff. We know this because the narrator keeps on telling us so, again and again, in what should be a story worth putting up with but eventually turns out to be the ramblings of a mad and, even worse, boring man.
18:24, 27th Mar
The Marketplace deals continue to pile up thick and fast, with a bundle of new discounts running until 02 April, including Games on Demand and XBLA titles, as well as a few other handy price cuts.
Tags:
Microsoft, Spring Sale, XBLA, DLC, The Walking Dead, Hitman Absolution, Just Cause 2, LA Noire, Terraria
15:45, 20th Mar
In a rather busy day for Microsoft, it's announced that you can now buy temporary 24-hour access to all Sky Sports channels. GameTrailers is also now Live, there are discounted 360 imminent and some more scaremongering about the horrible things MS could be doing with its next-gen console.
18:20, 18th Mar
Would you be willing to splash out Microsoft Points in exchange for a temporary XP boost? Microsoft is certainly hoping so, with the impending launch of Gears of War: Judgment.
18:01, 11th Mar
It's called the Castle Map Pack, will include three new maps and a six-on-six playlist, is coming out on 8th April and will cost anyone without a War Games Map Pass or a Limited Edition of the game 800MSP.
14:12, 26th Feb
If you're looking for a bargain but don't like the idea of hiking down to your local gaming store, then you might want to take a peek at the Games on Demand section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, as Microsoft is having something of a fire sale right now.
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