Articles about Gaming

Microsoft and Minecraft are two of the biggest entities in their respective fields -- software and gaming. While the former captures most desktop users, the latter has become an almost obsessive fascination for kids and even many adults. Logic dictated the two should team up, and that's exactly what happened when Microsoft bought Mojang and Minecraft last year.

As a testament to the partnership, two kids -- Alec Baron and Alessio Tosolini -- are using Minecraft in a cool and geeky way. The work, according to the boys, took more than 100 hours of collaboration. When they were finished, they had recreated the Microsoft Production Studios in Minecraft.

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When I was a young man, around the age of 8 or 9, a friend of mine got a NES and Super Mario Brothers. I went to his house almost every day to watch him play. Yes, he would give me turns, but you know how that goes -- you play for maybe 5 minutes while your friend plays for 3 hours. After a while, this became unbearable -- watching someone else play was torturous. I begged my dad for my own, so I could play as much as I wanted. My pops came through for me after a while, coming home with a NES, Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda. I had to play it on a black and white TV, but I didn't care; no more watching people play.

Fast forward to 2015 and I don't have the time to play video games; it is tragic. With that said, I do find time to watch others play. I know this sounds crazy, as I used to hate never getting a turn to play, and having to watch watch my friend, but now I watch Pewdiepie on YouTube, and many others on Twitch, playing video games. Why is this enjoyable? I have no idea. I'm not alone, however, as Twitch is massively popular. In fact, it is so popular that the first-ever TwitchCon has been announced. Will you be going?

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Microsoft has released its earnings report for Q2 FY2015 (that's Q4 CY2014 for everyone else), revealing figures that closely match analyst expectations. The software giant achieved $26.5 billion in revenue, with operating income coming in at $7.8 billion. Gross margin and diluted earnings per share were $16.3 billion and $0.71, respectively. However, in after-hours trading, Microsoft's shares dropped by $2, or 4.28 percent, to $45 per share.

Microsoft has delivered some good news through its earnings report concerning its Devices and Consumer part of the business. Surface revenue reached $1.1 billion at the end of the quarter, which translates to a healthy increase of 24 percent over Q2 FY2014. Lumia sales topped 10.5 million, which, again, is better than the same quarter from a year prior as well as the previous quarter, Q1 FY2015. And the list goes on.

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Just yesterday Microsoft held its big Windows 10 event -- you likely may have seen something in the news about it. Sort of hard to miss. There was much more to the show than just a new operating system. Surprises included HoloLens and more. One thing that featured prominently was the company's gaming console.

Yes, Xbox will be a part of Windows 10, and a big one if Phil Spencer is to be believed. The head of this wing of Microsoft did an extensive presentation during the event. According to Spencer, games are about being social, and that is one of the things the company tried to work into this. He also talks about gaming as a personal experience.

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Regardless of which console you prefer, Xbox One or PlayStation 4, one thing is for sure -- you love video games. Sure, the consoles can do much more than gaming, but it would be silly to spend so much money to just watch video services; you can buy a Roku or Fire TV instead. So again, if you own a game console, you do love video games.

With that said, I am sure you love reading and talking about them too. Tonight, Larry Hryb, aka 'Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson', is conducting a live Google+ Hangouts session with fans. Not only can you listen to and watch him speak about video games, but interact with him and the Xbox team too. Even if you are a PlayStation fan, you should be excited for the opportunity to chat with the Director of Programming for Xbox Live. So what are you waiting for? Watch it here with us, live!

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January is the time of year when people traditionally decide to lose weight and get fit. Partly it’s because a new year equals a new start, and secondly it’s because the month follows the holidays when we’ve all overindulged and packed on the pounds.

This is the perfect time for companies to release fitness products, and veteran games company Atari is hoping to cash in with the announcement of a new 'gamified' fitness app that offers an unusual nostalgic twist.

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As a system builder, I am a sucker for all hardware. What really gets my motor running is when something is the "world's first". Yes, I am an early adopter. What does this mean? I buy unproven new hardware at a premium, just for the glory of having it first. Smart buyers will wait for price drops and bug fixes, but not I!

Today, MSI announces a new motherboard that has a world's first, and quite frankly, it is something the world has been waiting for. Here it is folks, the first-ever motherboard with an integrated reversible USB 3.1 Type-C port! This is definitely something that will have early adopters drooling.

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In late 2013, the Internet Archive introduced a new area of its site called the Console Living Room which lets visitors play classic console games from systems of the past (including the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, ColecoVision, Magnavox Odyssey and Astrocade) in a web browser. In 2014, it made over 900 classic arcade games playable in its Internet Arcade. And now, in 2015, playable DOS games arrive on the site.

If, like me, you spent a lot of the 90s playing games on the PC, this is like a late, but very welcome, Christmas present. There are currently 2,391 games available to play, including classics like Cannon Fodder 2, Boulder Dash, Duke Nukem 3D, Prince of Persia, Championship Manager, The Incredible Machine, Eye of the Beholder (and its sequels), Hexen, Sim City, Wing Commander Academy, and the Kings Quest, Space Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry series -- to name just a few. More titles are promised, and the collection will change over time.

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The news the past couple of days has been filled with security, or lack thereof, as the case may be. Really, it has surrounded DDoS attacks launched against gaming networks. Both Sony and Microsoft experienced outages beginning Christmas day. The attacks have been credited to hacking group Lizard Squad.

According to security researcher Brian Krebs, the group has done a poor job hiding its members' identities. "While most of the group’s acolytes are known to U.S. enforcement investigators, many are minors, and the sad truth is that federal prosecutors don't really know what to do with underage felons except to turn them into informants".

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As a system-builder, I take great pride in building my own machines. Quite frankly, selecting all of your components, one by one, can be very rewarding. Unfortunately, buying piece by piece can be rather costly, adding up to more than many pre-built systems. Not to mention, it can be time and labor intensive, and many people, including myself, are very busy. It is for these reasons that I am considering forgoing a new build next year, and instead, opting for a pre-built desktop.

Let's be honest though, it can be confusing to pick a manufacturer for your new PC -- there are so many companies to choose from. Today, one such company, Digital Storm, announces the ECLIPSE -- a PC that it calls "Slim Gaming Tower of Power". Not only is the computer powerful and sexy, but starts at a very low $699. Hey, this is just in time for Christmas -- this will surely make the gamer in your life happy.

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Ralph Baer, the man credited with helping develop the world's first commercial video games console, died this weekend at the age of 92. He may not have been exactly a household name, but without Baer, video gaming as we know it might have taken a very different turn. Without him, the Xbox One and PS4 might not yet exist.

The German-born electronic fanatic and inventor's work led to the creation of the Odyssey console. The games unit was launched by Magnavox in 1972, managing to pre-date Pong, and Baer went on to invent the first light gun for games as well.

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The Street Fighter franchise is one that has been quiet for a while now, but Street Fighter V is on the way. Capcom has confirmed that work is currently underway on the latest instalment of the game, bringing an end to months of speculation and rumor. But that is not the end of the news.

It has been revealed that Street Fighter will appear exclusively on PS4 and PC. Owners of Microsoft's Xbox One console will miss out this time around, but there's an interesting feature for anyone who does buy the game on the two supported platforms -- cross-platform play.

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Sony has been hit with an order to issue partial refunds to customers who bought PlayStation Vita consoles. The Federal Trade Commission found that the company had produced false advertising for the handheld console which suggested that the PS Vita had certain features when in fact it did not. Anyone who bought the console before June 1 2012 is entitled to either $25 cash or credit, or a $50 voucher.

Adverts for the three year old console suggested that players could start a game on a PS3 and pick up from where they left off on a PS Vita console. This feature was only supported by a small number of games. Ads also suggested that 3G subscribers could engage in live online games when in fact this was not possible.

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Video games are currently a wildly popular entertainment medium for all ages, but earlier perceptions were that they are only for children. You see, in the early days of video games, they were viewed as somewhat of a toy; appropriate for young people. Guess what happened? Those children and teens grew up, but they did not grow out of playing the games. More importantly, some of them grew up to become game developers.

Sadly, not all of us could become developers -- the world needed boring and mindless jobs to be filled too. With that said, earlier this year, Logitech launched 'Together We Game' -- a crowdsourced video game project, where anyone on the internet can contribute and vote on ideas for the development of a tower defense video game. In other words, for those of us that never got to make our own game, Logitech is empowering us to get involved with one. BetaNews recently had the opportunity to ask Frank Lantz, director of the project, some questions.

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Most people don't think of a set-top box as a gaming device, but that concept has been changing recently. Amazon's Fire TV and  Google's new Nexus Player are both enabled with capability that has the gamer in mind. Now Roku is stepping up as well.

The company announces that the classic game of Tetris is now available to its customers. "Casual gaming is a great feature available on Roku players and is perfect for a little friendly competition on family game nights. The addition of the Tetris game to the Roku Channel Store provides another great option for a fun, engaging game to keep your whole family entertained".

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