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Xbox chief outlines plans to curb toxic behavior
Xbox head Phil Spencer has laid out some measures to combat some of the more negative aspects that pervade gaming communities such as toxicity and abuse. He wrote in a blog post that "gaming is for everyone" and people everywhere, from all backgrounds and walks of life, "are welcome to play and welcome to all the fun and skill-building that comes with gaming."
Microsoft vows to improve Windows app store with gamers in mind
Many PC gamers shy away from the Microsoft Store (aka Windows Store), and for good reasons: it frequently doesn't support overlays and other commonly used features, and it's buggy compared to a platform like Steam. Thankfully, Microsoft might just feel their pain. In a talk at X018, Xbox lead Phil Spencer said he had "heard the feedback" about the store and vowed to make it "tailored to the gamers that we know want to see the best" from the company. He didn't outline what those changes were, but he promised to take a "bigger leadership role" on the store.
Inside Xbox event will showcase updates to ‘Minecraft,’ ‘Sea of Thieves’
Xbox fans have a lot of news and announcements to look forward to this weekend -- and a free copy of Crackdown to play right now -- as Microsoft's X018 event gets underway in Mexico City. Tomorrow at 4:00 PM EST, X018 will host a special two-hour live edition of its monthly Inside Xbox show.
Microsoft taps 'Minecraft' leader to run its game studios
Now that Phil Spencer is managing Microsoft's broader game platform strategy, who's going to fill his shoes? Now we know: Microsoft has appointed Matt Booty, the overseer of the company's Minecraft teams, as the corporate VP of Microsoft Studios. He'll watch over all of Microsoft's own game publishing efforts, including Halo's 343 Industries, Gears of War's The Coalition and Forza's Turn 10. This isn't just about handing over the keys, though -- as Spencer explained to VentureBeat, it's also about improving the company's first-party game business.
Xbox's lack of compelling games won't be fixed next year
Microsoft's 2017 started six months early. At E3 2016, Xbox chief Phil Spencer closed out the company's keynote by teasing the "most powerful console ever." At this year's show, he finally revealed the Xbox One X, and in November, the hardware was at retail. In the time it takes to earn a bachelor's degree, Microsoft addressed one of the internet's loudest complaints about the Xbox One: that it wasn't powerful enough compared to the PlayStation 4.
Xbox chief envisions a Netflix model for narrative games
Microsoft has just tipped its hand for what the company will show off at E3 in June. In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, Xbox chief Phil Spencer laid out his plans for the future of Xbox software. Since (mostly) fixing a majority of the problems the Xbox One hardware and system software has suffered through since 2013 with the Xbox One S and the Creator's Update for Xbox firmware, Spencer is focusing on the other problem Microsoft faces: its dearth of unique and compelling reasons to buy into the improved Xbox platform.
The charity that wants video game karts in every hospital
In many ways, Jonathan Watson is like other 11-year-olds. He does his homework, dreams of becoming a doctor and plays video games when he can. Depending on the day, his favorite is either Minecraft or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Unlike most kids his age, though, Jonathan is at the hospital every three weeks for blood transfusions -- a procedure that can take up to six hours at a time. When I visited him at Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he wasn't slaying dragons or building a pixelated fortress; he was replaying the opening levels of Rayman Legends on a kart that had just been wheeled in. The kart was donated by a local Eagle Scout who raised funds through the Gamers Outreach Foundation (GO), a nationwide charity that puts medical-grade gaming equipment in hospitals around the country. The "GO Kart" Jonathan was using included everything needed to play video games: a modest Samsung television, an Xbox 360 (though any console will fit) and a pair of gamepads. The kit itself is hardly revolutionary, but anyone who's schlepped their gear to a LAN party can appreciate the simplicity of this rolling, self-contained setup. At Mott and 19 other hospitals around the country, they're the most popular "toy" available. And when you're a kid with a medical condition like Watson's, it's easy to see why.
Buy a copy of 'Resident Evil 7' on Xbox One, get it free on PC
The latest game getting the Xbox Play Anywhere treatment is Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. That's right, Capcom's upcoming horror jaunt will support cloud saves, and buying the digital Xbox One version will net you a gratis copy of the game on PC. While it isn't the first non-Microsoft produced game with the feature (indies Ark: Survival Evolved, Astroneer and We Happy Few will have it as well) it's certainly the highest profile occurrence thus far.
Cult classic 'Voodoo Vince' returns to Xbox next year
Voodoo Vince is coming back. The quirky platformer set in New Orleans and starring a voodoo doll who inflicts pain on himself to hurt enemies (because voodoo) started life on the first Xbox. But because it was an Xbox exclusive not many people played it despite how vocal its fans were. That was in 2003 when Microsoft was publishing just about anything in an effort to build a software library, regardless of how small the new console's install base was.
Microsoft announces a new super-powered Xbox console: Project Scorpio
Microsoft and Oculus announced a close partnership at last year's E3, but we haven't seen much out of it just yet. That's changing today, as Microsoft just announced a new version of the Xbox console -- one that's optimized to push 4K visuals and high-quality VR out of the box. Project Scorpio will launch during the holiday season in 2017, but most notable is the fact that all games and all accessories will work across the Xbox One, the Xbox One S and Project Scorpio.
The Xbox One revisited: Microsoft's console has gotten better with age
Engadget is re-reviewing the current generation of game consoles, starting with the Xbox One.
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer apologizes for sexist GDC party
The technology and video game industries have been unwelcoming to women in a variety of ways for years now, with the "booth babe" at big events being a prime example. Despite an ongoing backlash against such exclusionary tactics, Microsoft seemed to think it was appropriate to have a party last night at GDC featuring scantily-clad women as some form of entertainment, and the backlash has been swift -- so much so that head of Xbox Phil Spencer just released a statement apologizing for the event.
Xbox's Phil Spencer still coy about a 'Battletoads' sequel
When Xbox head Phil Spencer takes the stage at a gaming event, eagle-eyed fans pay close attention to what's on his chest -- his choice of attire is usually a subtle hint of games to come. Last January when he introduced Windows 10's Xbox app and its features, he was wearing a T-shirt sporting the cult classic Battletoads' logo. Of course, that lead to rampant speculation that a proper, 20-plus years-in-the-making sequel was under way.
Microsoft shoots down Xbox One Mini rumor
The Xbox One is a large console, but it seems Microsoft is in no rush to unveil a slimmer model. The company was rumored to be launching an "Xbox One Mini" in October, but Phil Spencer, Microsoft's head of Xbox, has shot down the idea on Twitter. His "not real" statement is pretty definitive, although of course, that doesn't mean Microsoft isn't planning a redesign for a later date. Although the Xbox One's sales are behind the PlayStation 4, it has a slew of exclusives coming out this fall including Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Motorsport 6 and Rise of the Tomb Raider (okay, that last one is actually a timed exclusive). If Microsoft is working on a "Mini" model, it's more likely to appear at somewhere like E3 next year.
Your mouse will soon work with your Xbox One
Beneath that shiny exterior, the Xbox One is, basically, a glorified gaming PC in a slightly smaller frame. As such, wouldn't it be great if you could play RTS games on the machine with your keyboard and mouse? The hardware can already support the former, and if Microsoft's Phil Spencer is to be believed, the latter is coming in the near future. The executive was asked on Twitter if it'd be possible to stream games from a Windows machine to the Xbox -- in the opposite direction to how the company has set up its game streaming system. In response, he said that it'd require keyboard and mouse support for it to work, crucially adding "those aren't far away."
Windows 10 beta on Xbox One coming 'post-summer'
Want a taste of Windows 10 on your Xbox One? It's coming sooner than you might've thought. Xbox boss Phil Spencer tweeted today that a beta of the program that ties your console in with your desktop computer is coming "post-summer." Exactly what features it'll entail or a concrete timeframe (game streaming from Xbox to desktop, the Xbox Game DVR and Xbox Live) are anyone's guess at this point. That'll almost positively change come next month's Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, though.
HoloLens is and isn't Xbox One's answer to PlayStation 4's virtual reality headset
Finally, we can stop asking Microsoft's Xbox lead Phil Spencer about virtual reality headsets. "For us, I think this is the area," Spencer told a group of interviewers at yesterday's Windows 10 event. He was responding to whether or not there's also a virtual reality headset in the works at Microsoft, just an hour after the company unveiled HoloLens: a "mixed reality" headset that enables the wearer to see holograms in real life. For Spencer, HoloLens is both Microsoft's alternate answer to the recent virtual reality explosion and a potential answer to Sony's Project Morpheus headset -- a VR peripheral that works with the PlayStation 4, where HoloLens could work with the Xbox One. "It's very cool. To me there's not a successful consumer electronics device on the planet where gaming is not a primary form of app category on the thing," Spencer said. There's even a "Minecraft-inspired" demo -- which answers that question -- for HoloLens that shows the implications of gaming with holograms. But no demo showed the headset working with the Xbox One in any capacity. Spencer instead talked around that possibility: "I think gaming will be important. Specific scenarios with the Xbox, we're thinking hard about. People could ask about streaming solutions. Could I use it as a display for my Xbox? We don't have answers to any of those things, but know it's all part of the same organization."
Windows 10 means big changes for the future of Xbox
Microsoft made a lot of sweeping statements yesterday about what it wants for the future of Xbox and Windows. We don't like broad statements here at Engadget; we like specifics. Good news! We've broken down the aforementioned statements into the stuff that really matters: how you will be affected by the upcoming launch of Windows 10, specifically as it pertains to the game console you own and the PC you use for games. We've got answers on everything from in-home game streaming to Xbox's biggest games heading to the PC, so head below for a beat-by-beat breakdown of what yesterday's big announcements mean for the future of the Xbox platform as we know it.
Engadget Daily: the future of Xbox One, a graveyard of Boeing 747s and more!
Today, we investigate the future of the Xbox One, visit a graveyard of the world's most prolific jumbo jets, round up our favorite laptops for school and more! Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
The future of Xbox One: early access gaming, Cortana and more
Since the Xbox One launched last November, Microsoft's latest game console has changed pretty dramatically. From "going all-in" on Kinect to offering a camera-less $400 model; from focused on TV and home entertainment to appealing directly to "core" gamers. The last year for Microsoft's Xbox division has been one massive pivot. The future sounds brighter. You've already read about the updates coming to Xbox One this fall. What about beyond that? Head of Xbox Phil Spencer offered us some possibilities in an interview this week at Gamescom 2014. What about, say, a version of Steam's massively popular Early Access program, which enables developers to release games still in development and gamers to participate in the development process? "I think it does make sense. I think we have to land it the right way on console," Spencer told us. That's certainly a start!
