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Game over for used games: How Xbox One and PS4 could gut gamers' wallets

In case you missed it, Microsoft unveiled a new game console the other day, the Xbox One. We now know a lot about it, but as with most game console launches, we were left with a few unanswered questions that my colleague Dan Ackerman summed up nicely in his "Unanswered questions about the Xbox One" piece.

It's the last one seems to be generating the most controversy: "Will used games work on the Xbox One?"

Simple question, complicated answer You'd think the answer would be a simple yes or no, but alas, it's … Read more

Xbox One's unexpected pitch: It's the Dad Box

For years we've heard about the ever-widening appeal of video games and game-playing devices. Women gamers, senior gamers, casual gamers, and even the kind of social/mobile gamers who would never refer to themselves with the dreaded G word.

But, when it was time to reveal its first major gaming hardware of the post-iPhone era (the first-gen iPhone was released in 2007, the Xbox 360 in 2005), what did Microsoft do? It narrowcast the launch presentation of the Xbox One to a very targeted demographic group. And no, it wasn't the cliched teenage or twentysomething twitch gamer, it … Read more

The 404 1,274: Where Microsoft makes the same mistakes (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Amazon's Kindle Worlds will pay writers to write fan fiction.

- Hire your favorite musician to write you a song .

- And now a reading from the worst fan fiction I've ever read.

- Follow Russ Frushtick on Twitter.… Read more

Microsoft to launch Kinect for Windows sensor in 2014

Microsoft will finally deliver a Kinect sensor for Windows sometime next year.

The company announced Thursday that the Kinect for Windows sensor will use the same set of technologies key to the new Kinect sensor for the Xbox One, both of which will allow people to issue commands using voice and gestures.

The sensor will include a high-definition color camera and a noise-isolating multi-microphone array. Also part of the system will be a technology called Time-of-Flight, which measures how long it takes for photons to bounce off a person or object. Combined, these features promise greater accuracy and precision in … Read more

Microsoft to take Bing deeper into Windows Blue, Xbox One

In all the talk about Microsoft's makeover into a devices and services company, one service many forget the company has in its back pocket is Bing.

Bing is evolving into more than "just" a Web search engine for Microsoft. It's also gives the company a way to harness and make use of data using Microsoft's myriad machine learning and computation capabilities. And though it may be hard to see through all the "Scroggled" fog, Bing may be more important as a service than a "mere" search engine to Microsoft going … Read more

HTC One reaches about 5 million units sold since launch

HTC's flagship smartphone, the One, has inched towards 5 million units sold since its launch about a month ago, an unidentified HTC executive has told the Wall Street Journal.

Speaking to the Journal on Wednesday, the unidentified executive said that "orders are pretty good so far and are still more than what we can supply." He blamed the shortage on issues with component availability, and nothing his own company is doing.

HTC has been in a world of trouble over the last couple of years as demand for its devices has fallen. Although 5 million units sold … Read more

Forget what you know, next-gen consoles change everything

For the better part of a decade the video game landscape remained mostly unchanged, complacent in a sea of sequels, motion controls, and downloadable content.

It's a generation that has lasted longer than any other before it, albeit for generally good reasons. And perhaps most impressive is that though their PC gaming counterparts have long since passed them by, these aging consoles are still able to render great-looking games.

So while the sun begins to set on what will go down as a pivotal generation for video games, we look ahead to see what owning a console will be … Read more

How Sony and Nintendo can battle the Xbox One

Microsoft's Xbox One is out of the bag, and the next-gen console war's in full swing. So what happens next? Truthfully, the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U are still big boxes of mystery -- even though one's already been out in stores for months.

So, how will this new gaming landscape shake out? Sony and Nintendo, the also-rans to the current success story of Microsoft and the Xbox 360, will have options. But they're not always pretty.

Sony

Differentiate or die Under the hood, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are more similar than … Read more

Xbox Live Arcade games won't work on Xbox One

Gamers hoping to bring their library of Xbox Live Arcade games with them to the Xbox One are out of luck. Microsoft has confirmed that these games will not carry over to the next-generation platform.

"Those games will continue to run on your Xbox 360 for as long as your Xbox 360 runs," Microsoft Game Studios VP Phil Spencer told GameSpot. "The box is not backward compatible and we think for somebody who invests in a large digital library that you want to keep your [Xbox 360]. Keep that as a vibrant part of the ecosystem." … Read more