Displaying items by tag: XboX 360

When Microsoft and Sony announced the move to x86-64 based gaming consoles some (pronounce that many) in the gaming community were more than a little annoyed that they would not be able to play their older games. Both companies hoped that the move would drive gaming innovation and also get people to buy new games as well as leave the option for developers to create new versions of older games with improved graphics. We saw both of these start to happen during the first few months of the Xbox One and PS4’s life. Now that things are settling down we are finally getting to a time when companies are going to circle back around to those older games.

Microsoft has finally released a driver that allows you to use the Xbox One Controller on a PC. For some this is big news and they have been waiting for it since shortly after the release of Microsoft’s latest console. For others this might not be such a big deal as you can simply use the older Xbox 360 controllers or buy a PC game controller if you really need to get your PC gaming fix (many PC gamers still use a keyboard and mouse).

World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition will from January 31st become accessible to a lesser extent of the previous beta testers, and over the next few days should first take hold of one, and then spread to other regions of the world.

Although Steve Ballmer is leaving Microsoft they have made statements that the company will continue to follow the plans he laid out for it; at least for the near future. Remember that Ballmer decided to cut the company back to only 4 divisions and decided to put people in charge of these divisions that are already running departments that are less than successful at this point. We have already given our analysis on these moves but want to remind you that most of these moves are intended to bolster Ballmer’s plans for Microsoft. But will Microsoft really follow these plans to the letter? We have a feeling that they will not once Steve is gone.

The next game in the mega popular Assassin's Creed franchise is titled Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, if you believe the promotional materials that have appeared on the Internet. The poster released on Reddit confirms a recent story by one of the users of the aforementioned forum.  The user claims he has seen the Powerpoint presentation with new material from Assassin’s Creed.

Halo 4 will be released worldwide on November 6, 2012 but a pirated version of the game has already leaked to the web and can be found on popular torrent sites. We are not surprised that Halo 4 has already been pirated as this is one of Microsoft’s most popular games especially if you consider the multiplayer side. Users are eager to try it and they will, in most cases download the pirated version, at least to try it. This really pissed Microsoft off; they decided to permanently ban all Xbox Live users that are caught playing a pirated version of the game while their console is connected to the Internet.

DLC (Downloadable Content) is a big thing with gaming especially console gaming. It offers the possibility for expansion, new adventures and more features to make the cost of the game and console (both of which are usually locked into their original format) seem more appropriate. Some of the DLC offered is pretty impressive and gives console players features that you just do not get in the PC world. Other times things are not so impressive; this is the case with the new Hearthfire DLC for Skyrim.

The secret is out; Microsoft wants to own your whole home with their devices at the center of your connected living space. Of course, this is nothing new. I can remember talking with Microsoft about the “digital home” in 2007 and before. At the time they were looking to build the blocks needed to create an entire (and viable) ecosystem for the home and the enterprise. Of course back then most of Microsoft was still trying to find ways to keeps users data in their own hands. This is something that has changed (because it is not a money maker), but the original concept has remained the same.

Today was an interesting day in gaming. Considering that it is a Saturday in the US (May 19^th 2012) which is normally not a big new day we found some of the information interesting to say the least. One of the first is a bit of news from Microsoft. Here the title in question is Halo 4, the next episode with the now famous “Master Chief” in a new “trilogy” of Halo games. The new was an interesting counter to the claim that the November 2012 launch date for Halo 4 was going to signal the launch of a new XboX.

A few years ago we had hope for Microsoft in the phone and mobile media player market. There was a new device on the tablet with a new SoC (System on Chip). This we had one in the lab and it was looking very promising in terms of performance and even style. Then something happened; Microsoft. For those of you that have been around the IT game for a while you will know what I mean here. As for the device; I am talking about the ZuneHD. This was (and still is) arguably the best media player that I have ever owned.