The hardest of the hard-core Xbox 360 gamers bought redesigned Xbox 360 Slims and snagged Halo: Reach after it was released at midnight Tuesday morning ready to battle invading Covenant forces with friends. And some were severely disappointed because the newer Xbox 360s don’t allow gamers to play cooperatively through the campaign. [More]
xbox 360
After 6 Years, Microsoft Makes Xbox 360 Controller That Works Right
By 9.1.10
Ever since Microsoft released the Xbox 360 in late 2005, gamers have had to put up with a clunky directional pad that lacked precision and actually made it possible for fools out there to get lucky enough to beat me at Tecmo Bowl once in a while. Now the company has announced a redesigned controller, but it will cost players looking to upgrade. [More]
Microsoft Hikes Xbox Live Subscription Fee
By 8.31.10
In what seems like a clever ruse to get gamers to quickly buy an extra year or two of Xbox Live Gold service — which offers online multiplayer as its main draw — Microsoft announced it’s raising the annual subscription fee from $50 to $60. One-month subscriptions rise from $8 to $10 and three-month hitches go from $20 to $25. The price changes go into effect Nov. 1. [More]
Microsoft Upping Xbox 360 Online Voice Chat Quality
By 8.27.10
One problem with the Xbox 360’s online play is it’s often difficult to determine exactly which swear words, racial slurs and homophobic epithets the teenager on the other end spews after you off him in Modern Warfare 2. Aware of the problem, Microsoft says it will upgrade the quality of the sound that pumps through your headset. [More]
Xbox 360 Glitch Gives Away Five Downloadable Games
By 8.12.10
In a bizarre fluke that sounds like an urban legend come true, five downloadable Xbox Live Arcade games are available for free for those willing to bend their ethics. [More]
Your Xbox Sells You Movie Tickets
By 7.26.10
Microsoft has struck a deal with MovieTickets.com that allows the company to sell gamers tickets through the Xbox 360. Sorta. [More]
Microsoft Falsely Accuses Me Of Modding Broken Xbox, Wants $100 To Fix It
By 7.9.10
Zach’s Xbox 360 opted to play for Miami rather than Cleveland, but what he expected to be a routine repair has turned into a standoff. He says Microsoft accuses him of modding his console despite Zach’s contention that the unit, which he says is clean, shows no physical signs of being modded. [More]
Best Buy Wouldn't Exchange My Broken Xbox Because It Was Saving Stock For Sales Event
By 7.8.10
Sean bought an Xbox 360 at Best Buy, took it home and it did what Xbox 360s tend to do, never mind that it was a redesigned Xbox 360 S model. He took the insta-broken console back to the store, which was sold out of the 360s. An employee called a nearby Best Buy that had plenty of 360s in stock, but that location refused his exchange because it was saving consoles for a sales event. [More]
Go Easy On Tapping The 'A' Button If You're Getting An Xbox 360 Demo
By 7.6.10
Jonathan wishes his trigger finger wasn’t so itchy, because while going on an Xbox 360 free demo downloading binge he accidentally bought a game. [More]
Microsoft, Sony Charge You Fees On Top Of Fees To Use HuluPlus On Consoles
By 7.1.10
Tech bloggers who dug through some hidden text on Hulu’s page announcing pay service HuluPlus discovered unwelcome news for PS3 owners. The text indicates Sony plans on reserving HuluPlus access for those who sign up for its $50-a-year PlayStation Plus online service. The probable move, for now unconfirmed by Sony, falls in line with Microsoft’s decree that only paying Xbox Live Gold members will be able to access HuluPlus. [More]
Five Months From Now Microsoft Will Stop Gouging Families For Xbox Live
By 6.23.10
Microsoft’s indispensable Xbox Live service was always tough on gaming households, requiring family members and roommates to piggyback on one another’s accounts or spring for separate $50-a-year subscriptions. Yesterday the company announced it will start selling 4-for-the-price-of-2 Xbox Live Gold Family Packs, which give you four subscriptions for $100 a year. [More]
Everyone But Microsoft Says Xbox Motion Controller Will Cost $150
By 6.21.10
Microsoft is staying mum on the price of Kinect, its motion and voice controller due out in November, saying it’s evaluating options. [More]
What Do You Think Of Ads In Video Games?
By 6.14.10
In the recently released Xbox 360 video game Alan Wake, players can’t help but notice that — in addition to playing the game — they’re also being heavily advertised to by Verizon. At one point, they’re even fooled into watching a Verizon ad. [More]
Xbox To Slim Down, Get Motion Controller With Odd Name
By 6.14.10
Microsoft’s PR machine has sprung a couple of leaks on the eve of the E3 video game mega-conference in Los Angeles: A USA Today report that seems to have since been taken down identified the motion and voice controller previously known as Project Natal as the Kinect. Microsoft later confirmed the moniker. Also, a quickly pulled Italian ad identified a slimmed-down Xbox 360 with a 250gb hard drive. [More]
Microsoft Stops Carnival Trickery, Sells Online Currency In Regular Increments
By 4.12.10
Microsoft used to pull the old carnival trick while selling you Microsoft points, having you buy them in 1,000 point ($12.50) increments to buy a game that costs 800 points ($10). You’d end up with some left over, which you’d feel as though you were wasting unless you re-upped and bought more games to reduce your balance to zero. Now that’s changed, Kotaku reports: Microsoft lets you buy them in 400 point increments. [More]
USB Storage Now Available For Xbox 360
By 4.6.10
Remember a couple weeks back when Microsoft announced that they would finally be allowing USB storage for the Xbox 360? Well, that day is finally here. [More]
Hallelujah, Microsoft To Finally Allow Xbox 360 USB Storage
By 3.19.10
In a savvy move that helps defray one of the big knocks on the Xbox 360 — that its storage options are limited — Microsoft will release a firmware update that allows gamers to store games and saves on portable devices, up to 16GB in size, that connect to the console via USB, Joystiq reports. [More]
Call This Number If Your Xbox Has Broken Multiple Times And You Need Your Replacement Pronto
By 2.24.10
While submitting his busted Xbox 360 for repair, Ben stumbled upon a valuable piece of info for those whose have suffered multiple system breakdowns: A special phone number that expedites the shipping your refurbished replacement console, provided you have your reference number and the extension of a CSR who helped you with your problem when you called 1-800-4MY-XBOX. We first reported the secret number (1-888-236-0927) two years ago. [More]
