Sony has started to make settlement payments to PlayStation Vita owners, six months after the Federal Trade Commission found that the company had run misleading ads about the handheld console. If you bought a PS Vita before June 1, 2012 -- and haven’t already returned it for a full refund -- you are in line to receive $25 cash back.

Alternatively, a voucher that can be exchanged for merchandise worth at least $50 is also available. Despite the FTC's findings Sony still "neither admits nor denies liability", the payouts offer some compensation for gamers who feel they were misled.

Yes, you did read that headline correctly. Microsoft has announced that due to the popularity of Kinect for Windows, the sensor will no longer be produced. While an increase in demand would normally lead to an increase in production, Microsoft is taking something of a different approach.

Rather than maintaining two Kinect product lines -- a model for Xbox One and a model for Windows -- the company will instead sell an adapter that allows the console sensor to be connected to a PC. Microsoft says that this will help to keep things simple and create consistency for developers.

It's time for a new update to roll out to Xbox One consoles around the world, and April's offering has some key changes that are sure to go down well. The headline addition sees the reappearance of a feature that Xbox 360 owners will remember from the previous generation of Microsoft's console -- voice messaging.

Forget time-consuming typing, now a quick double-tap of the Xbox button is all that's needed provided you have the messages app snapped into place. This week's rollout builds on the features that were added to the version that Preview program members gained access to a week ago.

The Sony PS4 is seemingly doing well in its head-to-head battle with Microsoft's Xbox One. But that doesn't mean the company can just rest -- snooze and you could fall behind to a competitor that is updating often and at a quick pace. Sony isn't sleeping though, today announcing an update that will be coming to your box very soon.

The update is codenamed "Yukimura" (yes, I had to look it up as well and it's still vague -- we'll go with the Samurai by that name since it sounds cool). Name aside, what's important is features, and Sony promises a number of them.

Ransomware is one of the latest tactics used by cybercriminals to extract money from victims. CryptoLocker hit the headlines last year, encrypting the files on infected machines until a ransom was paid. Now the same idea has spread to the world of gaming thanks to Teslacrypt.

Teslacrypt works in much the same way as CryptoLocker, but its raison d'etre is seek out game saves and download content for dozens of popular titles and hold them to ransom. Until victims cough up $500 in Bitcoins, or make a $1,000 PayPal payment, there is no way to access the games.

Microsoft continues to update its latest gaming console on a regular basis, though the company also keeps the Xbox 360 alive as well. Now a new update rolls out to the Xbox One, bringing all sorts of features that fans have been waiting for since the box debuted in late 2013. In fact, Xbox Live's Larry Hryb, AKA Major Nelson, states "This month’s system update on Xbox One brings you some of the most-requested features by our fans".

First up is screenshots, which should make many gamers happy. Simply double-click the Xbox button on the controller to snap a shot, then press Y to save it. Or, even better, you can say "Xbox take a screenshot" and handle both tasks at once.

Gaming has become a major function of today's mobile devices, allowing for hours of wasted productivity time. In fact, it's so popular that today's set-top box makers are building the feature right into their hardware, Amazon going as far as offering an Xbox One-like controller for customers to purchase separately.

Now the retail giant is in attendance at PAX East, a gaming conference being held in Boston. The show kicked off March 6th and runs through the 8th. Amazon is there to show off several new titles it has. These are more than just for Fire devices, as the company is making them available for iPhone and iPad as well.

While many users likely don't give much thought to the computer mouse, there is a segment of the population that cares a great deal -- travelers want portable and gamers tend to look for fast response times, extra buttons to control things and a bit of bling to go along with it. After all, if you invest in a computer from, say, Alienware then you'll want a mouse that matches up with that tower case.

The mouse is an area of computing in which Logitech excels, designing several top products, including the specialty models. Now the company is introducing the latest member of its family, the G303 Daedalus Apex.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.