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Microsoft clarifies which games work on Xbox Series S and X on day one
Every game that runs on Xbox One makes the cut, except for ones that need Kinect.
'Just Dance 2019' is heading to the Wii like it's 2009
Ubisoft's E3 press conference kicked off with a marching band, crazy costumes and a dancing panda and yet somehow that wasn't even the most bizarre thing about the company's announcement of Just Dance 2019. While the latest installment of the motion-capture dancing series will be released on all the usual suspects -- PS4, Xbox One and Switch -- Ubisoft's also giving fans of older systems something new to play on the Xbox 360, Wii U and yes, even the Wii.
Microsoft was right in 2013: This is the always-on generation
Microsoft lost its goddamn mind in 2013. It revealed the Xbox One on May 21st in a livestreamed press conference dedicated to its goals for gaming's long-awaited eighth generation. A lineup of executives in blazers hit the stage, punctuated by Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer in a professorial sweater set, to extol the virtues of the company's first new console in seven years. With practiced smiles, they broke it down: The Xbox One and the new Kinect would be an all-in-one system providing television, sports and, of course, video games via an improved online ecosystem. The console was more powerful than ever and it would be constantly listening, waiting for the keyword that would turn it on without users having to touch a controller. They didn't address the rumors swirling about the Xbox One's inability to play used games, its strict digital rights management (DRM), or the console's need to be constantly connected to the internet. Players were left wondering if they'd have to upgrade their internet plans, if they'd be able to play games brought over by friends, or whether they would actually own anything they purchased on the Xbox One. Instead of providing answers, Microsoft seemed content to bombard the audience with all of the shiny new TV and sports apps (and, yeah, some video games) coming to the Xbox One.
'GTA: San Andreas' gets Xbox One backwards compatibility
If your Xbox copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is stashed away on a shelf somewhere, you might want to pull it out as you'll have some use for it again next week. Starting next Thursday, Rockstar Games is adding backwards compatibility for the game on Xbox One, as well as Midnight Club: Los Angeles and the slightly off-brand Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis.
Microsoft now lets you gift PC games from its digital store
Microsoft's Xbox gifting feature was a big hit with players last fall. Now, the company has expanded digital gifting to include PC games and PC downloadable content (so things like map packs and skins). It's also made all Xbox One games eligible for gifting. It's a pretty straightforward process. Head to the Microsoft Store, find your game and select 'buy as gift'. Just enter the recipient's email address -- or choose their Gamertag if you're gifting via Xbox One -- and they'll get a redemption code. Then you can sit back and wait for the gratitude to roll in.
Microsoft's AI future is rooted in its gaming past
The Kinect will never die. Microsoft debuted its motion-sensing camera on June 1st, 2009, showing off a handful of gimmicky applications for the Xbox 360; it promised easy, controller-free gaming for the whole family. Back then, Kinect was called Project Natal, and Microsoft envisioned a future where its blocky camera would expand the gaming landscape, bringing everyday communication and entertainment applications to the Xbox 360, such as video calling, shopping and binge-watching. This was the first indication that Microsoft's plans for Kinect stretched far beyond the video game industry. With Kinect, Microsoft popularized the idea of yelling at our appliances -- or, as it's known today, the IoT market. Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana (especially that last one) are all derivative of the core Kinect promise that when you talk to your house, it should respond.
Xbox One X enhancements come to 'Red Dead Redemption' and 'Portal 2'
Red Dead Redemption 2 might not launch for several months, but Microsoft is giving you the next best thing. The company has added Xbox One X visual enhancements to six classic Xbox 360 games, including the original Red Dead Redemption. If you've wanted to revisit John Marston's saga on your 4K TV, this is likely as good as it gets until the sequel arrives. Not that the other games are obscure -- Darksiders, Gears of War 2, Portal 2, Sonic Generations (the first time it's available on Xbox One, in fact) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed are making the leap as well.
The story of the Duke, the Xbox pad that existed because it had to
Denise Chaudhari had never touched a gamepad before stepping onto Microsoft's campus as a contractor. The first woman to join the Xbox team, Chaudhari had studied ergonomics and industrial design at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design but didn't have any experience with joysticks. That's part of why Xbox's Jim Stewart was so excited to bring her on board: Her ideas wouldn't be based on preconceived notions of what a gamepad had to be. It was early 2000, and the company was preparing to enter the gaming world with the Xbox. In Nov. 2001, the console was released in North America alongside the Duke, a controller that seemed comically large compared to its contemporaries. Within a year, the oversize gamepad was abandoned by Microsoft and replaced with a smaller model, but the Duke has had an impact on every controller since.
Xbox One adds 'do not disturb' mode for distraction-free gaming
Just over four years later and Microsoft is still adding features to the Xbox One that existed on its predecessor, the Xbox 360. Next up is a do not disturb mode that will "suppress" notifications and tells your friends list you don't want to be bothered, according to a post on Xbox Wire. This should be especially nice for when you just want to kick back and watch a movie or video, or hell even play a game, in peace.
The best Xbox One games
The Xbox One has come a long way since its 2013 debut. Microsoft has fixed the console's hardware flaws with the One S and the recently released One X, but now it has a different problem to address: a dearth of compelling games you can't play anywhere else. In recent years the company has relied on timed third-party exclusives that eventually make their way to other platforms or are also available on Windows and Steam. It happens on PS4 as well, but the difference there is that Sony has a wide assortment of games that you can only play on its console. That's not to say there aren't exclusive games worth playing on Xbox; it's just that they're buried among annual Forza racing games, middling modern Halo releases and the testosterone-fueled Gears of War franchise. Microsoft has promised to break out of that predictable release cadence, though, so the future could be brighter than you may have come to expect. As it stands, these are the best Xbox One games you can play right now.
Kinect: Seven years of strange experiments
Kinect is dead. The writing has been on the wall for years, at least since Microsoft de-bundled the motion-tracking system from the Xbox One in 2014, knocking $100 off the price tag and making the system more competitive with the PlayStation 4. The Kinect debuted in 2010 with the Xbox 360, and it had a good run, overall: Microsoft sold roughly 35 million devices in total. However, across its iterations and upgrades, the Kinect never quite found its market -- the one application that would turn the hardware into an essential piece of home technology. It wasn't a conversational, connected, voice-activated system like Google Home or Amazon Alexa, and game developers lost interest in the device as virtual and mixed reality rose to the fore. The Kinect was a product out of time.
Kinect's value to artists overshadowed its gaming roots
The Kinect is officially dead. But the reality is that Microsoft signed the do-all sensor's fate years ago. Faced with slumping hardware sales in 2014, then-new Xbox chief Phil Spencer had a decision to make. Microsoft could either drop the price of the Xbox One, or continue letting Sony and the $400 PlayStation 4 eat its lunch. So it stopped bundling the Kinect with the console and cut $100 off the asking price. It worked. Microsoft doubled sales the next month, and this move has set the tone for Spencer's tenure: reversing the string of bad decisions Microsoft made leading up to Xbox One's debut. To illustrate the sensor's waning importance to Microsoft, the Xbox One S didn't have a dedicated Kinect port on the back when it was released in 2016. It's the same with the upcoming Xbox One X, except Microsoft isn't offering a free USB adapter anymore. The writing has been on the wall for a while now. If this week's news was surprising, you probably haven't been paying attention. The truth is that Kinect's greatest successes had nothing to do with gaming. Hackers adopted the sensor with open arms, using it for everything from interactive art installations to motion capture and even trippy stage shows for massive bands like Nine Inch Nails. Why? Because for the tech that's on board, Kinect was relatively inexpensive and easy to use.
Microsoft ceases production of the Kinect
Microsoft has been slowly chipping away at the Kinect's usefulness and features across its platforms, yet today's news still comes as something of a shock. The company announced today to Co.Design that manufacturing for the motion sensor input device has been shut down.
Return to 'Smuggler's Run' in the next 'GTA: Online' expansion
For the next expansion to GTA: Online, Rockstar Games is looking to its past. "Smuggler's Run" will task you to move inventory for the perpetually paranoid Nervous Ron by land and air. "Smuggler's Run opens up the air corridors above Los Santos and Blaine Country, providing new business opportunities while introducing a range of planes, choppers and even ultralights as highly viable options for transporting criminal cargo across the state -- simultaneously opening up some creative new methods of dispatching any rival gangs along the way," a post on the Rockstar Newswire says.
Hulu's live TV service is now available on Xbox 360
If you're still watching Hulu on your Xbox 360, here's some great news for you. The on-demand streaming service has just expanded its new "Hulu Experience" interface to the almost 12-year-old Microsoft console. The best part is that you won't have to do a thing — the update will happen automatically. Plus, you'll have the option to subscribe to Hulu's live TV plan, currently in beta, right from your console.
This is your last chance to buy 'Alan Wake'
One of Alan Wake's best features was its licensed soundtrack, and now the tunes developer Remedy Entertainment carefully curated are causing a bit of grief. Remedy's rights to The Black Angels' "Young Men Dead" and "Up Jumped The Devil" from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (among others) are expiring, and with them, so must Alan Wake itself. Remedy tweeted that because of this, the game will be delisted from Steam and other digital storefronts after May 15th.
What we love and hate about 'Mass Effect: Andromeda'
A veteran Mass Effect player and a complete novice walk into a bar. This isn't the beginning of a terrible joke: Instead, it's the premise of a conversation between Engadget associate editor Timothy J. Seppala and senior reporter Jessica Conditt, both of whom have been playing the latest Mass Effect game, Andromeda, over the past few weeks. Tim has devoured and adored the Mass Effect series for almost a decade while Jessica has never touched the games before. How does Andromeda compare to previous Mass Effect games? Does it stand on its own as a worthy addition to the sci-fi genre? Are the animations always this messed up? In the following conversation, Tim and Jessica discuss Andromeda's highs and lows from two vastly different perspectives -- and somehow, they end up with similar conclusions. Spoilers for the entire Mass Effect series reside below; you've been warned.
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.
'Halo' will bring back local multiplayer
When I critiqued Halo 5: Guardians, the lack of split-screen co-op was low on my list of gripes with the game. But that's not to say it wasn't a problem. In the lead-up to the 2015 game's release, developer 343 Industries crowed that there were no sacred cows on the road to hitting 60 FPS in the campaign mode -- including the local co-operative play that'd been a part of the series since 2001. That's changing, though. "I would say for any [first-person shooter] going forward we will always have split-screen," 343's head Bonnie Ross said recently at the DICE summit in Las Vegas, according to Polygon.
Head back to Liberty City in 'GTA IV' on Xbox One
Grand Theft Auto V recently shipped 75 million copies, but if you wanted to play what came before it on Xbox One you were out of luck. Until now. Starting today, Grand Theft Auto IV and its $50 million expansion packs will be playable on Microsoft's latest console. The base game and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" will run you $20 each, while the biker-focused expansion "The Lost and Damned" is $10.