Xbox

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft thinks it has the one. The company unveiled the Xbox One, an entertainment console that wants to be the one system households will need for games, television, movies, sports and other entertainment. It will go on sale later this year, for an undisclosed price. For the past two years, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has outsold its rivals. But it's been eight years since that machine came out, and Microsoft is the last of the three major console makers to unveil a...

Gamers did get a first peek this week at the Xbox One at Microsoft's recent announcement. But it would be understandable if they felt, well, a little left out. Most of the top-line features of the splashy event were for features such as the ability to stream live television or make Skype calls. Those are interesting, compelling features, but hardly the kind that truly light up a gamer's heart. The company made it pretty clear that the real gaming news is coming next month at the game industry's big Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3—...

Gail Nichols has suffered from depression for years. When the 49-year-old resident of St. Marys, Kan., cannot sleep, she falls back on a form of entertainment that is gaining increasing credibility as a medical intervention: video games. Nichols said she discovered the mental health benefits of video games some years ago during a particularly bad spell of depression. She had just started playing a game called Bejeweled, which requires players to move gems into rows based on their color.

REDMOND, Wash. — Will gamers want One? After four years of development, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One entertainment console and touted it as an all-in-one solution for playing games, watching TV and doing everything in between. Microsoft wants the Xbox One to be central to your living room, so it packed the new Xbox with such features as the ability to change TV channels through voice commands. Although the device won't go on sale until later this year, at a price that hasn't been...

The more things change, the more they actually change. Microsoft's original Xbox never had legs like Sony's fleet-footed PlayStation 2, only managing to sell around 25 million units worldwide -- a nibble compared to Sony's 140 million. What a difference getting your system out first can make (well, unless you're the Dreamcast , may it rest in peace). Microsoft said recently that the Xbox 360 would finally muscle past the original Xbox's sell totals by the end of November, but it's happened a week earlier than expected.

Want to see a slot-loading Xbox 360? Slot loading, you know, like on a MacBook, where you put a CD or DVD in a thin auto-loading slot instead of pushing a button to make a mechanical tray slide out. The Xbox 360 has a tray-loader. The PlayStation 3, by comparison, uses a slot-loader. Until now, that is. Some homebrew genius pulled his Xbox 360 apart and converted it into a slot-loading curio . Check out the video , then have a look at how he did it, step by step with pictures . He apparently had to build...

Nintendo's Wii U sold more than 460,000 units in December — enough to outpace the sales of its predecessor but not enough to take the top spot in video-game console sales. The Wii U figures, released by Nintendo on Thursday night, are from the NPD Group's December report on the video-game industry as a whole. Overall, the numbers were in line with the flagging sales that have plagued the industry all year. But it was particularly disappointing for Nintendo, which needed an unqualified hit...

Microsoft is currently testing a modified version of Internet Explorer 9 on its Xbox 360 console, according to our sources. The Xbox 360 currently includes Bing voice search, but it's limited to media results. Microsoft's new Internet Explorer browser for Xbox will expand on this functionality to open up a full browser for the console. We are told that the browser will let Xbox users surf all parts of the web straight from their living rooms. Microsoft has also integrated Kinect gestures and voice control heavily into the...

Gamasutra pulled together a rough and ready numbers piece today, shunted from a substantial and detailed feature on Nintendo's sales , and ranked the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii according to their software attach rates. Any surprises? Just one. The PS3 had a third-party attach rate of less than two back in late 2006, just after it debuted, but Gamasutra's chart now has it nipping at the Xbox 360's heels with more than double that figure. 2.4 - Wii 1.4 - Xbox 360 0.9 -...

Halloween is coming up and if there's one thing I know it's that geeks love Halloween. The opportunity to hide behind a mask, to subvert the status quo, and to dress up like sexy nurse/sexy witch/sexy balloon boy is a cause for celebration. That said, we're offering one Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console to the winner of our First Annual CrunchGear Halloween Costume Contest.Here's how to enter.

Microsoft is hitting the reset button on the Xbox, unveiling a new version of the console Tuesday that the company is aiming at rivals both old and new. Microsoft portrayed the third-generation Xbox as a device that could take a central position in the entertainment lives of consumers. That space has become intensely competitive with similar consoles unveiled recently by traditional gamemakers Nintendo and Sony as well as an array of games, movies and other content from Amazon.com, Netflix, Google and Apple that can be displayed on...

Microsoft, on Tuesday, revealed the Xbox One , the next stage in the evolution of its Xbox gaming console, which it is using to stake a central position in users' entertainment lives. The company emphasized that the console is far more than a gaming device. The bulk of Microsoft's early presentation focused on how Xbox owners can use the device to watch movies, make Skype calls and even watch live television than use it to play video games. Microsoft wants the Xbox to extend beyond the gaming...

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft thinks it has the one. The company unveiled the Xbox One, a next-generation entertainment console that promises to be the one system households will need for games, television, movies and other entertainment. It will go on sale later this year. Don Mattrick, Microsoft's president of interactive entertainment business, said the company has spent the past four years working on the "all-in-one home entertainment system. " The...

Are you ready for the next generation of the Xbox? Microsoft is set to unveil its new console at a major launch event Tuesday, and speculation about it is flying thick and fast. Here's a look at what's been said about the console so far. The name: For over a year, bloggers have been nicknaming the new Xbox the " Xbox 720 ," (as in, the next step from the 360), but we were always pretty sure that name wasn't going anywhere. Reports have been circulating that, inside Microsoft, the engineers call the console...

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. is revamping the Xbox to fend off a breed of competitors ranging from Apple Inc. to Facebook Inc. Those companies were nowhere in gaming when the software maker debuted its last version five years ago. Now these newcomers -- along with the likes of Google Inc. and Amazom.com Inc. -- are posing a threat by introducing their own software and devices that let consumers access an array of games and entertainment on...

LOS ANGELES — It's almost time for a new Xbox. Eight years have passed since Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360, double the amount of time between the original Xbox debut in 2001 and its high-definition successor's launch in 2005. With the next-generation Xbox expected to be revealed Tuesday, anticipation for the entertainment console's latest evolution is higher than Master Chief's spaceship. "People get excited about new consoles because consoles represent the future," said...

As of next Tuesday, November 17, you'll be able to access Twitter and Facebook on your Xbox 360 . The software update is free, like previous updates, and also includes Last.fm and Zune video compatibility. ?What are you doing?? ?Losing to 12-year-olds in Modern Warfare 2 over and over again! Not fun.?The idea, I guess, is that you'll be able let your friends know just how much fun you're having while playing the latest game, or streaming the latest Netflix release , without having to go through the trouble...

Microsoft 's next Xbox LIVE update with Facebook and Twitter support went out to those of us with preview access early this morning, and I've just finished tinkering with it. The good news: It's Facebook and Twitter on your Xbox 360. The bad news: It's Facebook and Twitter on your Xbox 360. If you love Facebook and Twitter, you'll love it on your Xbox 360. If you hate Facebook and Twitter...well, you probably avoided clicking the link to...

The gaming world is about to get more interesting. Microsoft said Tuesday that it will be revealing the next generation of its Xbox console in an afternoon event on May 21. In a company blog post , Microsoft director of programming Larry Hryb — better known to the gaming community as "Major Nelson" — displayed countdown to the event and said that it will be streamed live over Xbox.com, Xbox Live and broadcast live on Spike TV. Hryb...