Halo’s Transition from Bungie to 343 Studios: Missing the “Creator’s” Touch
The original Halo games that were crafted by Bungie are widely regarded as not only the high points in the series, but rank among some of the best video game […]
Microsoft’s Costly Xbox Console Commitment: Taking Up our Cross
Launching a new console is not easy or cheap, and in order to remain relevant in the console marketplace a continuing price has to be paid… a price that Microsoft […]
Breaking Down “The Duke”, Xbox’s Original Controller
As most new consoles typically do, the original Xbox console launched with an entirely new design for their controller that was quite unique. The “Duke”, as it was affectionately nicknamed, […]
Microsoft’s “Gaming From the Cloud”: Powerful Access Requiring a Persistent Connection
When Microsoft first announced their plan to deliver a “cloud gaming” experience that would allow gamers to stream entire games without downloading them to their hard drive first, I was […]
Microsoft Game Studios: A Commitment Proved Through Sacrificial Investment
The amount of massive studio acquisitions that Microsoft has invested into over the last several years is staggering… from Minecraft developer Mojang to Bethesda and even the juggernaut of Activision/Blizzard, […]
Xbox Live: Giving Away a Free Sample
One of the savviest decisions Microsoft made when originally launching their new online “Xbox Live” service was to give away the first taste of it for free… almost every game […]
Xbox’s Unique Console Naming Process: A New Creation
Over the years every console developer has had their own specific naming style for each version of their hardware… but if I’m being honest, I’ve always found Microsoft’s choices to […]
Microsoft’s Backwards Compatibility: Amazing Grace for Even the Unworthy
While I’m a huge fan of both the Nintendo and PlayStation families of games and consoles for different reasons, I’ve always appreciated one thing about each console that Microsoft has […]
Xbox, Halo, and the Master Chief: Destined to Carry the Flag
When launching the original Xbox console, Microsoft chose to make a new and completely unknown game the star of the show… Halo: Combat Evolved. On the surface, a mostly silent […]
Gears of War: More than Just “Cogs” in a Machine
When it first came out, Gears of War appeared to be just another third-person shooter releasing in an already saturated market… but the familial bond that exists between the “COG” […]
Finding God in Video Games 