Xbox Next PC | The rumoured PC/Xbox 360 hybrid

With Microsoft wanting Xbox to be the ultimate Windows device for your living room, a rumour started circulating about a proposed PC/Xbox hybrid alongside the base Xbox successor.

Xbox Series Console Exclusives | the complete list

With Xbox now full force into transitioning into a third party publisher, the notion of a full exclusive game on Xbox hardware is over. Halo is now coming on PlayStation and Pandora's Box is now fully open and anything is possible. But when it comes to console exclusives, is the Series S/X worth it? With no lists visible anywhere, I am going to take a look at the full Series exclusives that cannot be found anywhere else other than PC. Let's take a look!

Infamous Bill Gates Burger Xbox Advert | where did it come from?

You've probably seen these infamous piece of advertisement before. To advertise the launch of the upcoming Xbox in Japan, we have a visibly edited Bill Gates holding a Japanese controller S in one hand and a big American burger in the other. The metaphorical genius of symbolising the west and east coming together thanks to our old friend Bill. But have you ever wondered where this image came from? Probably not, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

Kodi Released for Xbox One | It's finally here

Kodi finally makes its way onto Xbox One intact and complete.



What originated in the homebrew scene as a multimedia OS for the original Xbox known as XBM, now comes full circle and makes an official release on Xbox One

Surprisingly Kodi releases with all the features seem in various other platforms. Yes that means pirates can happily stream thousands of movies for free but this time at the risk of Microsoft banning their console or profile if caught.

While Kodi is mostly known and used for pirating movies, it does have a host of features that come intact when you download the program. The advertised add-ons include gaming streams, South Park episodes, international radio stations and other nifty programs like YouTube to MP3 converters.

What makes this release exciting is the prospect of game emulation. Kodi comes complete with a file browser much like other versions on other platforms allowing emulators to run rooms from a selected USB device.

Unfortunately the program is limited at the moment, offering basic functionality until more features get fleshed out in the future under Microsoft's watchful eye. USB devices are unsupported with no access to the Bluray drive of the console.

Nevertheless it's an exciting release offering increased flexibility in how users want to use the Xbox One for multi-media purposes. Definitely something to keep your eye on in the future.

Xbox Features in Retro Gamer

On the front cover of this months Retro Gamer is the original Xbox baring the trusty controller S. Looks like Retro Gamer aren't a fan of the trust Duke eh?

The feature includes Seamus Backley and Ed Fries who shed some light on the history of the Xbox, as well as some words from some UK devs who strongly supported the Xbox such as former Bizzare Creations, Oddworld Inhabitants and Rare developers.

Now the history of the Xbox is well documented and this special article doesn't really tell you what you already know. Though I did learn some new info here and there such as a mention of a few Age of Empires prototypes running on Xbox hardware and Blitz was in the process of making Fusion Frenzy 2 for the Xbox before being cancelled.

I won't spoil too much because it's a nice little article that condenses the history of the Xbox into a neat 10 page section. It's nice to see new interviews with former developers who haven't publicly shared their opinion on the console in some time or ever before. These sections are easily the best parts, shedding some light on some truly interesting development stories.

It's good to see the original Xbox get some love from Retro Gamer which has been criminally overlooked since the magazines inception with the PS2 and even the GameCube having their fare share of special overviews.

The issue is on sale now, so check it out before December issue roles out!

Xbox Kinect | Its time is up

After nearly 4 years of being on the market, the Xbox Ones Kinect is finally being discontinued. The writing was on the wall years ago wasn't it?

It started when the Xbox One S came out and users had to buy a bulky adapter in order to use their Kinect. Every month the new OS slowly phased out Kinect compatability with an ever changing UI that favoured controllers over voice and motion control.

Then there's the games. The Xbox 360's Kinect had some neat games, most of which could be played with a controller anyway. Games like Steel Battalion showed promise with a phenomenal presentation but being limited to motion controls only made the game damn near impossible. Damn shame...

We thought things were gonna change with the Xbox One, but it didn't. The only game of note is Kinect Sport Rivals which has some surprisingly good games packed in such as the Jet Ski racing which will forever be shackled to the Kinect.

I'm gonna be honest, I've never liked the Kinect. Don't get me wrong, as a piece of tech, i really do admire it. Recently I visited a medical exhibition where the Kinect was used to monitor the Doctors posture during their surgical training. Examples like this is why the Kinect is still utilised for a whole host of non-gaming projects that show just how good the tech is.

When it came to gaming however, it was a bit of a dog. The Quick and accurate responses required by games meant the Kinect could never really keep up and you end up just wishing you could play the damn thing with a traditional controller. I could make some tiring gesture to get something to happen which I may have to repeat a few times to work, or I could press a button? Which would I rather do?

Despite its demise the tech will live on thanks to the IPhone incorporating the technology in its front-facing camera which is doing some neat things for face recognition. Oh and Ubisoft with the next 10 years of Just Dance games.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/17/16315510/iphone-x-notch-kinect-apple-primesense-microsoft

Original Xbox Backwards Compatability | It's finally here

Original Xbox compatibility is finally here, meaning every generation of Xbox can now be played on the Xbox One.

The Original Xbox is undoubtedly my favourite console. It's the peak of western AAA output and still in an era when Japan still dominated the gaming landscape. While the first selection of backwards compatible games are a little lacking for me, the commitment and quality of the emulation is an exciting prospect.

Popping in one of the selected 13 games will prompt a download of the game file working exactly the same way as Xbox 360 emulation. Once done, you will be greeted with nostalgia overload as you see the original Xbox boot up screen in 1080p glory.

I say 1080p but the resolution is actually 960p which isn't a problem really as it doesn't mess with the games original aspect ratio. You won't notice a difference anyway as the games have cleaned up rather nicely. I've always felt the original Xbox has always aged well due to developers respecting the consoles limitations (unlike 7th gen) while still having the graphical fidelity to create believable worlds.

Not all games are available to purchase on the store which does signal some slight concerns when it comes to licensing. Cult classics like the PGR series still haven't made its way to Xbox 360 and most likely never will. Highly requested titles like Jet Set Radio a Future for example will have to overcome music licences if it's to ever see a release.

Doom and gloom aside, this is very exciting for Xbox fans. Microsoft has done a phenomenal job of emulation on such underpowered CPU's which has always  led me to believe that Xbox 360 emulation was impossible. Original Xbox emulation was always going to be possible, but I never would have thought Microsoft would have much interest going that far back.

This is the part where I would start to write a list of titles I would like to see, but I'm just too engrossed in Knights of the Old Republic.