Microsoft plans to release an Xbox Live update beginning in less than two weeks, according to Joystiq. The update will add support for Microsoft's new disc format and add Paypal as a payment option for Xbox Live. Meanwhile, Microsoft will also be launching Avatar Kinect on May 27th as a separate download. [Joystiq] More »
According to reports from Gamasutra and Eurogamer, Crysis developer Crytek is planning on laying off a number of employees at its Budapest studio. The team at Crytek Budapest was knee-deep in developing the Xbox 360-exclusive fantasy title Kingdoms (which both reports also mention will be Kinect-compatible) -- however, the project has now been placed in the charge of Crytek's Frankfurt studio. The reports claim that Crytek Budapest will now focus on tablet-based games, and will see its staff size cut from 80 down to 30-35 as a result.
Crytek managing director Avni Yerli did not directly confirm the layoffs, but did respond to the reports, saying, "We can confirm that our Budapest studio is getting a new direction and focus." The reports claim that whatever changes might go down will happen in the next few weeks, so we're sure to know more soon.
So, you want to know how to synesthese with the best of 'em? Q? Entertainment is here to help with a new tutorial trailer for Child of Eden. Don't worry, you won't need any special accessories. The use of mood enhancing substances -- like candy, of course -- is left entirely to your own discretion.
#claponclapofftheclapper
There are two control schemes for upcoming trippy space shooter Child of Eden: Both involve the Xbox 360 Kinect's ability to track movement in real time, this is how you play without clapping. More »
#howto
When the Kinect first launched last November, gamers were (to put it charitably) a bit skeptical. Here was a device with incredible technological potential, and the most impressive game that came out with it was a dance simulator. More »
Amazon has, once again, sweetened the pot for purchasers of a new Xbox 360. For a limited time, folks who buy a 4GB or 250GB console (or their respective Kinect bundles) not only get a free $50 credit for future purchases, they also get a complimentary 1600 Microsoft Point card.
#iknow
The official Star Wars game for Kinect isn't looking so hot. This unofficial Star Wars application for the motion-sensing camera, however, looks way cooler. More »
Ever wonder how Stimpy would fare against Robinson Cano from the New York Yankees on the baseball field? All the time, right? 2K Play is giving you the chance to experience this ultimate matchup, while also seeing the athletic prowess of characters like Fanboy, Spongebob, Chum Chum and even Invader Zim.
Nicktoons MLB for Kinect, Wii, and DS allows you to play baseball as either a bunch of Nicktoons characters or a roster of more than 30 real, human Major League Baseball players. High Voltage is developing the two console versions, and Black Lantern is working on the DS version, all due this summer.
Nice to see all those characters from cancelled shows getting work!
#kinect
Xbox 360 owners looking to use their Kinect controller to do some hands-free killing may want to pay attention to what young Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver is currently working on—a new "core AAA shooter experience using Kinect." More »
Based on the resume of one Shawn Woods, Microsoft is currently working on "a core AAA shooter experience using Kinect." Woods serves as art director for Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver, which appears to be a brand new branch focused on making "core" titles. The studio's "mission" is to "push the limits of proven and unexplored game development and show the world what's possible on Microsoft's game consoles."
It's worth pointing out that the MGS Vancouver website makes no mention of a Kinect focus, nor do the job listings on its front page.
Rumors regarding a core shooter for the Kinect have been circulating for quite some time, ranging from a possible "on-rails" Gears of War title to Halo. The latter is more likely in this case, given that MGS Vancouver is an internal Microsoft studio. Then again, it's possible that the studio is working on something entirely different.
Whatever the studio is cooking up, here's hoping we hear more by the time E3 rolls around.
Microsoft reports results were up across the board in its fiscal-year third quarter (ending March 31, 2011), with the Redmond giant's Entertainment & Devices Division (EDD) -- that's Xbox and other stuff -- one of the standouts, enjoying 60 percent growth year-over-year. The group generated $1.94 billion in revenue and saw $225 million in profit in Q3, up 50 percent from the same period last fiscal year.
2.7 million Xbox 360 units were sold during the quarter, a new record for the console in Q3 sales (and up 70 percent over last year). Kinect sales followed suit with 2.4 million units sold in the quarter -- and passed the 10-million mark to boot. Microsoft expects revenue growth of at least 25 percent for the EDD during Q4, with "more to be shared at E3 in June."
Overall, thanks to strong sales of Windows 7, Microsoft recorded Q3 revenues of $16.43 billion and a net income of $5.23 billion.
Tap and slash mobile hit Fruit Ninja will make the leap from phone to Kinect, according to a Korean Game Rating Board approval. Siliconera spotted the rating, issued April 27, which heralds the arrival of Fruit Ninja Kinect. Maybe we'll see this one at E3... More »
According to Korea's Game Rating Board, the iOS, Android and Windows Phone sensation Fruit Ninja is headed to the Xbox 360 with Kinect functionality in tow.
The game will be billed Fruit Ninja Kinect and, presumably, will have us all karate chopping virtual melons in front of the TV like idiots. In other words, it sounds like a grand ol' time. We can only hope it winds up a little something like this.
We knew it was coming, but Microsoft has finally gotten around to confirming the news: Hulu Plus will officially launch on the Xbox 360 tomorrow, April 29. Not only will it feature Kinect support, but it will also be free to all Xbox 360 users (Gold and Silver) for the first week thanks to a partnership with Jack Link's Beef Jerky. And to think, your mom said consuming so much beef jerky would never benefit you in the end. Shows what she knows.
After that free week, feel free to indulge in another free week by going on over to the Hulu Plus page -- just don't tell anybody we tipped you off! We're afraid you'll have to pony up some cash after that if you want to continue to use the service: $7.99 a month.
Trevor Grimshaw, a lead artist for Planet Moon (when it was still Planet Moon) posted a bunch of concept art and screens from an "Unreleased Adventure Game" for Xbox 360, which Superannuation identified as a "first-party Kinect game" called My Amazing Story. That title does appear on the artist's resume, and the screenshots have "MAS" in their filenames, so it's a reasonably safe assumption.
The project, an action-adventure game, featured creepy monsters, various suits that the player could wear to gain powers -- including spacesuits and some kind of cat costume -- and cute Kinect integration in the form of "postcards."
Given that there's no Kinect-based action game like this on the market now, it's disheartening to learn of this one only after it was cancelled.
#video
This spring, Microsoft will release an official software development kit for its Kinect camera, catching up to the open source community and giving fully sanctioned creative control of its motion sensing Xbox 360 controller. Here's Microsoft's pitch on what Kinect can do in the hands of, well, anyone. More »
This spring, Microsoft will release the Kinect for Windows SDK, presumably opening up the hardware to mind-boggling possibilities beyond those we've seen in mere hacks. In the meantime, check out this featurette promoting the SDK and recounting some of the impressive uses already conjured.
A newly published patent application, submitted by Microsoft to the USPTO back in October 2009, describes the personalization of a "gesture-based system" -- presumably, what would become Kinect -- through detailed user profiles that could be stored on a network. It's anyone's guess if this is a glimpse at where Kinect profiles are going (through potential updates) or what they could have been.
The patent outlines a "gesture profile" that could record user preferences for various tasks and system commands. "For example," the application proposes, "a user may prefer to use a checkmark to indicate 'checked' while others may use an X. A user may have a different manner for performing the gesture, such as quicker or more exaggerated motions." Over time, "the system may more fully identify and/or distinguish the user's gestures, thus providing more accuracy and speed for gesture recognition."
The proposal also suggests that such a profile could be "roaming in a network." In other words, the user's gesture profile could be connected to any number of potential devices (as pictured). Networked profiles, too, good be updated by the system to make "intelligent" changes to an application's default gesture data based on the users' region. As the patent writers warn, "Different cultures may use similar gestures to impart markedly different meanings."
"For instance, an American user who wishes to tell another user to 'look' or 'use his eyes' may put his index finger on his head close to the distal side of his eye," the writers continue. "However, to an Italian user, this gesture may be interpreted as a reference to the mafia." And that's always awkward when you're playing with that shady, old Italian guy.
#hardwarefailure
It is with great misplaced pride that I report that I am the first Kotaku writer to suffer from a dead Microsoft Kinect. Also, it's incredibly difficult to get a close-up picture of the Kinect with the sensor powered on. More »
Initially, you might be excited to hear that Willow Garage is now accepting pre-orders for its Kinect robot, the TurtleBot. For just $1199.99, you get everything necessary to construct and program the TurtleBot, and the idea of programming it to fetch victuals from the kitchen seems awfully keen.
That is until you consider the amount of time required for the TurtleBot to achieve sentience. How long could it possibly take? Weeks, days, hours? One minute it's bringing you a delicious, flaky croissant, and the next it's serving up a steaming hot plate of human extinction. As the video after the break explains, this thing is literally designed to track your skeleton and map out your home. Think about it, and don't say we didn't warn you.
#e32011
Just a few days after Sony told us when to expect its E3 2011 showing of all things PlayStation, Microsoft chimes in, letting us know when and where to expect their big E3 media briefing. More »
Sure, Hulu Plus may not be part of the public beta preview of this spring's Xbox 360 Dashboard update -- at least that's what Microsoft's saying -- but that doesn't mean we can't see what it may look like when it does launch, as scheduled, sometime in the next few months. Images sent to us by a trusted tipster show the Hulu Plus app in action (and being controlled by Kinect), as well as the revamped Kinect Dashboard.
Like the Netflix app, the Hulu interface resembles the Xbox Dashboard itself, offering a rotating layer of categories with selectable content. As for the updated Kinect Hub, it looks fairly similar to what is currently available on the Xbox, only it adds access to both Netflix and Hulu Plus.
Though our tipster doesn't know whether Hulu Plus will be added to the current public beta test of the next Dashboard update, our source did note that the application seems fully functional, as does Avatar Kinect (also not currently part of the preview). Our tipster said the Kinect-controlled Avatar showcase app wasn't especially exciting, but that "it was good at tracking my movements and the response time was pretty fast like everything else with the Kinect." Hopefully we'll find out for ourselves soon enough!
#missedkinections
"Let's find out how long it takes to select and watch our favorite Netflix movie using Kinect instead of the Xbox 360 controller!" That was the simple metric we wanted to try to test the new Kinect support in the Xbox version of Netflix. I suspected that it'd take a little bit longer to use Kinect's motion controls, but that it'd be worth the extra time to forgo the controller entirely. More »
It's only been 25 days since spring officially started, but it appears that Microsoft is already rolling out one of its promised spring updates -- Kinect-enabled Netflix control. That's right, folks, now you can wave your arms and speak commands directly at your Xbox when you've had enough Say Yes to the Dress for one evening.
We imagine Kinect will work in a pretty cursory capacity -- as the announcement video demonstrated -- with the release describing two options for accessing Netflix via Xbox 360: "With Xbox LIVE, take your Xbox 360 online and browse the full Netflix library to find the movie or TV show that you want, or launch Netflix from the Kinect Hub and select from one of the recommended titles using your voice and hand gestures as the remote control." Well, that sounds ... limited!
If you use Netflix on your Xbox 360 and have a Kinect, you'll now be able to control the interface with all the waves and solo high-fives you've been using for the regular video player. Reboot, ya dummy! [Major Nelson] More »
#webuiltthiscity
Looking to remind people, hey, we made this thing, Microsoft's upcoming Kinect software development kit for the PC will include a variety of features most hackers and code enthusiasts haven't been able to manage on their own. More »
#furniture
The best part about this Kinect-powered armchair? Microsoft's going to release the source code for it. Shown off today at the company's MIX11 coder symposium, the Kinect-powered La-Z-Boy is a proof of concept for the Kinect PC software development kit, which will open up development over Visual Basic and C++. More »
#onlyubisoft
Your Xbox Live avatars can engage in mortal combat with the Kinect powered PowerUP Heroes, scheduled to brawl on the Xbox 360 this June. Along with the announcement, in Ubisoft's trademark oddball style, comes a deliciously goofy live action trailer for the game. More »
