It's no secret that Microsoft is rather struggling in the mobile industry, with the uptake and general market share of Windows Phone devices having not improved a great deal since its inception as Windows Phone 7. But Microsoft is trying its utmost to get folks on board, and right now, is offering a free Nokia Lumia 520 as leverage to anybody willing to purchase an Xbox Music pass. Although the device is mid-range in every sense of the phrase, it's still a free handset, and since it nicely ties in with the Xbox / Windows family, surely any prospective Xbox Music subscriber would find some use for it.
To win any war, sometimes you have to fight dirty, and while this might be a bit of a loaded term to describe Microsoft's latest marketing ploy, it's fair to say that the proverbial gloves are well and truly off. The Redmond company is trying hard to sell you its new and improved Xbox One, and if you happen to be in ownership of the PlayStation 3, then it is especially interested in your custom. So much so, in fact, that those trading in their PlayStation 3 at any US-based Microsoft Retail Store can save $100 off the purchase of the One, which arrives with the second-gen Kinect as standard.
Microsoft's Xbox One console is going head-to-head with Sony's PlayStation 4 and while in excess of a million more PS4s were sold in 2013 than Xbox Ones, market research firm NPD is reporting that it's Microsoft's offering that had the upper hand during December.
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One may both have sold well in their first couple of months (although some fared notably better than others), but while many gamers like to flock to stores and get their shiny new consoles in early, some wait for special edition models of both console and peripheral. These can take various forms, although tend to be offered as part of a promotion of a big new title , and with Titanfall on the horizon, the game's makers have collaborated with Microsoft to deliver a very nifty looking limited edition controller for the Xbox One.
Keeping up with the latest game technology sure isn't a cheap proposition. You go out, possibly lining up to get your hands on the latest and greatest gaming machine that money can buy - we'll let you argue over which one that is! - and then you're faced with the question of what software to get for that machine. The problem is that you've spent so much on that shiny new box of tricks that you want to be sure, really sure that you're choosing the right games. Especially when they're as expensive as the current generation of games seem to be.
GTA Online, after the initial blip at launch, seems to have gone down well with purchasers of Grand Theft Auto 5 on both sides of the PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 divide. Last week, we brought you the news that GTA 5 Online was going to be getting quite a significant update, and today, Rockstar Games has commenced the process of rolling it out. The highlight here is the new Capture mode, which, as Rockstar describes, is "a GTA twist on classic capture the flag style confrontations," and if you've been looking forward to playing some CTF on GTA, now you can!
With Microsoft desperately trying to market the Xbox One as less than a game console and more of an entertainment hub, getting content providers to jump on board will be equally as important as getting top gaming titles onto the machine and now one of the biggest players in the game is all set to stream TV content.
Waking up on Christmas morning and unwrapping an Xbox One will usually be enough for most of us, but if being the same as everyone else just doesn't cut it for you, then maybe you could ask Kris Kringle for the 24-karat gold plated Xbox One that is currently available at Harrods in London.
The Xbox One might only have been out for a couple of weeks, but it was always inevitable that a system update would not be too far behind. With the console now in the hands of millions of users, the process of refining the experience can finally commence, and as per a blog post by Major Nelson, there are plenty of tweaks and alterations with the Xbox One's inaugural system update.
The renewed console war has officially begun, with both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One having released across several major markets. Having already heard that Sony managed 2.1 million consoles sold in just a couple of weeks from its launch in November to the end of the month, figures shared by Major Nelson suggest that Microsoft is right on its tail.
