The software giant released Kinect for Windows, a $250 motion sensor marketed toward businesses, not gamers.
Buying a home video game console may soon become a lot more like buying a cell phone, according to a new report suggesting Microsoft is planning to offer a subsidized, $99 bundle including a 4GB Xbox 360 and Kinect sensor to anyone who commits to two years of a new, $15 monthly online service package.
Between games, practices, travel and promotional appearances, you'd think that the NBA's multimillionaire stars would be too busy.
Let me start by saying "Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings" is rated 'M for Mature' for a very good reason. There is more cursing in the game than at a Yankees/Red Sox playoff game and quite a bit of nearly full frontal nudity.
Whenever anything involves the "Star Wars" franchise, there are certain expectations that need to be met to satisfy die-hard, and even casual, fans. So when a new video game wants to bring "Star Wars" to life like never before, that's setting the bar really high.
When the Nintendo 3DS was introduced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2010, one of the announced games that drew the most favorable reaction was "Kid Icarus: Uprising."
Game developer Bethesda Softworks is ready to take role playing to the next level by adding voice commands via the Kinect controller to its wildly popular video game, "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim".
Thirty to 40 years ago, when arcade and console games were primitive and parents condemned them as a new threat to their children's schooling, it was probably hard to imagine one of America's leading museums embracing video games as an artform.
The crack of the bat and a bellowed "Play ball!" are annual rites of spring.
He's no longer the No. 1 golfer in the world, but there's no question that the sport of golf still revolves around Tiger Woods. And Woods remains a key player in the video game world, as well.
Since the iPad first appeared in 2010, video gaming has been one of the key features Apple has touted for the device, alongside video viewing, electronic reading and Web browsing.
"Mass Effect 3," the final installment in the tale of Commander Shepard and his fight to save the universe, brings the series to a resounding and satisfying crescendo with tight combat, excellent storytelling and majestic visual effects.
The widely anticipated "Mass Effect 3" will be the culmination of a story spanning a galaxy and eight years of development and drawing millions of fans around the world.
Cat-proofing your home can be a challenge, especially when frisky felines get access to every nook and cranny of the house.
The smartphones and tablets debuting at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week share one very important ingredient that has allowed Apple's iPad and iPhone devices to become mainstream cash cows: videogames.
CNN's Jim Boulden tries out one of the hottest new mobile gadgets, a phone with a built-in image projector.
You may never tame lions or swim with the sharks, but you still have plenty of opportunities to act courageously every day.
"Syndicate" tries to remake a '90s title into a modern-day, first-person shooter and as far as gameplay mechanics go, it succeeds. But, visually, the game falls so short that it ends up being far from an enjoyable experience.
The successor to the PSP faces serious competition from Nintendo's 3DS and iPhone and Android smartphones.
Sony's PlayStation Vita, which hits stores in the U.S. and Europe next Wednesday, is much more than just another portable gaming device.
"Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning" (38 Studios, Big Huge Games) blends the best of role-playing and fighting game mechanics, then uses them to back up a deep, rich story, resulting in a fresh-feeling entry into the world of fantasy gaming.
"Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning" hopes to be the next big, addictive role-playing video game, and its creators are putting an emphasis on "big" with a wide-ranging environment and a deep story line.
The name he chose for the next installment in his "Metal Gear" video game series makes Hideo Kojima seem prescient.
Singer-songwriter Katy Perry will lend her "distinctive talents, style and personality" to the virtual world of The Sims through an extensive collaboration with Electronic Arts, the computer game company said Tuesday.
To adapt to the new era of gaming, Atari is returning to its roots.
Nintendo's Wii U is a next-generation gaming console that comes with a large touchscreen controller -- which changes how the games are played. CNNMoney got its hands on the highly anticipated device.
Sony says it's not quite game over for the PlayStation 3.
Gaming in 2012 is going to be a very wild ride, with the introduction of two new consoles, a return to the "Halo" universe and the potential for even more entertainment choices.
It was a year of crippling -- and creative -- hacks, a year of blockbuster sequels and (yet again) a year of slinging vengeful birds at corpulent pigs.
Enough already about "Angry Birds" -- there were plenty of great console video games in 2011.
Video gamers who want to train for the next "Legend of Zelda" may want to enroll in fencing classes.
A long time ago, by technology standards, in this very galaxy, the founders of video game developer BioWare received a phone call.
When the Nitendo Wii Fit debuted in 2007, experts were skeptical about the system's health benefits.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of beloved Nintendo game franchises including "Super Mario," "Donkey Kong" and the "Legend of Zelda," wants to make something new.
In the 10 years since the debut of "Grand Theft Auto III," several video games have upped the ante in the naughty category -- including some other "Grand Theft Auto" games.
An update rolling out Tuesday for the Xbox Live network aims to do what Microsoft has been teasing for a while -- turn a platform designed primarily for video games into one that will be the major hub for all television viewing.
Gamers who want to kill Kenny may soon have their chance.
Tobey Maguire has settled a lawsuit that sought repayment of hundreds of thousands of dollars the "Spider-Man" actor allegedly won in secret high-stakes poker games at Beverly Hills luxury hotels, according to court documents filed last week.
"The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" is, in a way, a tough game to figure out.
Microsoft may be a relative newcomer to in-store retailing, but it's getting the hang of this Black Friday thing.
At QB9's bricked-walled workspace in Buenos Aires, about 50 employees stay busy day and night creating video games.
Latino video game developers are full-fledged players after years sitting on the sidelines. CNN's Brian Byrnes reports.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" continues the franchise's tradition of high action, detailed fighting and a highly competitive multiplayer mode while still trying to let players play the way they want.
The "Call of Duty" franchise is a perennial blockbuster, with more than 65 million units sold so far in the United States and hordes of fans lining up each fall to buy the latest installment of the war-simulation video game.
Age has slowed Sonic, the beloved blue hero from an earlier generation of video games, but Sega may have finally rehabilitated the venerable hedgehog.
"Battlefield 3" continues its franchise tradition of offering a realistic wartime experience with a variety of weapons and vehicles in a beautiful environment.
It's been 10 years since Rockstar Games released "Grand Theft Auto III" on PlayStation 2.
"Rage" starts off full of promise and beauty but finishes with clunky game mechanics and an ending that was probably the most disappointing I've experienced in years.
Sony plans to release the PlayStation Vita, a portable video game player, on February 22, 2012, in the United States, Canada and Europe, the company announced at a technology conference on Tuesday.
"Batman: Arkham City" takes everything that was great about the first Arkham title and makes it bigger, bolder and better.
Birders define "a big year" as an informal competition to see who can spot the most species of birds in a certain area in a calendar year.
They've been trained to focus for weeks at a time on a single goal. They know how to clearly identify obstacles and form step-by-step plans to overcome them.
The Steep Canyon Rangers are honored at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards in Nashville
The F-86 Sabre was a fighter jet that played a pivotal role in the Korean War. And it was a model of that plane - packed with high explosive - that Rezwan Ferdaus allegedly planned to use to launch his own war against iconic targets in Washington D.C.
When Microsoft released the first Xbox nearly a decade ago, analysts considered the then-money-losing endeavor to be a sort of Trojan horse into the living room: a bid to become the home's central media hub.
With an awesome story and continuation of the gameplay that has made the franchise great, "Gears of War 3" ties a brilliant and bloody bow atop a video-game trilogy that's been seven years in the making.
More and more, today's video game business is driven by huge military shooters like Activision's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" and Electronic Arts' "Battlefield 3."
There's "God of War" and "Devil May Cry." "Kid Icarus" and "Battle for Asgard."
Gamescom is probably the biggest video game show you've never heard of.
What do you get when you combine the top-selling PC game franchise of all time with the world's biggest social network?
Once considered a cult pastime, video games have grown immensely in the last 30 years to become a mainstream fixture alongside movies and music.
Sony is reducing the price of the PlayStation 3 game console, hoping to help the 5-year-old system reach a larger audience, the company said on Tuesday.
CNN's tech guru Mario Armstrong discusses how the security breach of the Sony PlayStation network could affect you.
Vice City. San Andreas. Liberty City. Tehran.
Two days before the price of Nintendo's 3DS gaming system will drop, the gaming company is highlighting a set of hardware and software updates geared toward spurring popularity of the groundbreaking but slow-selling handheld device.
Nintendo is slashing the price of its handheld 3DS gaming device after only five months in the marketplace, possibly signaling the company's disappointment with its sluggish sales.
Deepak Chopra discusses his research into the various regions of consciousness and well-being.
For many people, video games conjure adrenalized scenes of gunning down enemy fighters or steering race cars at thumb-blistering speeds.
Amazon on Monday temporarily suspended sales of the Nintendo 3DS, the 3-D handheld video game console, on its popular marketplace website.
Nintendo 3DS users now have access to 3-D video. And they can launch it with a laugh.
You say you want a revolution? Despite TV and console makers' best efforts, it just doesn't appear to be happening in 3-D for video game fans.
The major talking point at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer was the extent to which experts had got their predictions wrong.
If one legendary basketball superstar on the cover of your video game is great, what about three?
Popular wisdom holds that because they're more intuitive, approachable and inviting than traditional video games, social games are shallow.
Activision is reloading the golden gun to take another shot at reviving a James Bond video game relic.
Celebrities who played in secret poker games were paid with funds linked to an illegal Ponzi scheme, a lawsuit contends.
Celebrities who won big money in secret high-stakes poker games at Beverly Hills luxury hotels were paid with funds stolen from investors who had been lured into an illegal Ponzi scheme, a series of federal lawsuits contends.
"The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D" (Nintendo) is a delightful trip down memory lane that brings back memories of the original Nintendo 64 version with a new shine.
At 37, Lisa Sharp is comfortable calling herself a video-game junkie. But that wasn't always the case.
Want to play DVDs or Blu-ray discs on your shiny new Nintendo Wii U when it's available sometime next year? You're out of luck.
"Alice: Madness Returns" is full of twisted imagery, strange combat weapons and puzzles that don't really tax the imagination.
While 46,800 attendees spent the weekend recuperating from the video game industry's largest annual convention, diehard gamers were catching up on all the news from their couches.
Join Doug Gross to see the latest games on the floor of the world's biggest gaming expo, E3.
It's been a big week for video gamers.
Keep debating whether video games are art if you wish. At E3, the world's biggest gaming expo, it's a closed question. Here, video games are definitely art -- and a gallery-style exhibit aims to prove it to as many people as care to look.
Art from different video games is displayed at the Into the Pixel gallery at E3 2011.
At the world's biggest showcase for video games, Nintendo made the biggest splash this week with the unveiling of Wii U -- the next generation of its popular, motion-controlled gaming system.
"Fruit Ninja," a top 10 iPhone app is coming to Kinect, Microsoft's motion-control system for the Xbox.
Conquering the Apple Store apparently wasn't enough for these ninjas.
Sound and fury are the hallmarks of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, the biggest video gaming event of the year.
Nintendo is taking the idea of the "second screen" to a new level.
The Nintendo prototype consists of a remote control that allows gamers to play on two screens at the same time.
Live TV on the Xbox and a more mature second generation of games for the Kinect were among the promises at a Microsoft briefing Monday in advance of the E3 video-game expo.
Microsoft announces new Kinect features, live TV and an exciting new game for XBox 360 at E3 2011.
After weeks of headlines about the outage of its hacker-compromised online gaming system, Sony on Monday looked to change the conversation with Playstation Vita, a machine they say will "revolutionize" handheld game play.
The new device will feature six-axis motion sensors, front and rear cameras, a touchscreen and a touchpad on the back.
In the ever-growing society of video-game culture, E3 is the coming-out party.
© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|