Video Games, Xbox | featured news

Microsoft Corp will unveil its much-anticipated next-generation Xbox on May 21 following months of speculation the company is gearing up to announce a new video game console this summer.

The next generation of Xbox could finally be announced this spring. On May 21, the company will forget about the troubled Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems and lavish a bit of attention on the Xbox, according to bloggers who cite sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

Software and tech hardware companies have to protect their secrets and shield their upcoming products from the prying eyes of competition right up to the day they choose to announce. In a multi-billion dollar industry like gaming, market players take this kind of thing seriously. Very seriously. An Australian hacker was visited by a handful of law enforcement officials this week on allegations that he’s been stealing intel about the not-yet-released new Xbox, a Microsoft product.

Sony has announced its next-generation gaming console - the PlayStation 4 - at an event in New York. Its new hardware is designed to offer superior graphics as well as new social features including the sharing of recorded gameplay clips. It will succeed the PlayStation 3, which went on sale in 2006 and has sold about 75 million units. The PS4 will eventually compete against Microsoft's still-to-be-unveiled Xbox 360 successor and Nintendo's Wii U.

An Ohio woman has confiscated the Xbox of her teenage son who was hospitalized for dehydration after playing a video game for four days.

Gears of War 3, which arrives in stores Tuesday, is Microsoft's biggest Xbox exclusive game ever out of the gate — surpassing even pre-orders for the flagship Halo games. Sales of this final chapter in the Gears series topped 1.3 million at last tally and are expected to surpass the first two installments, which sold about 13 million copies combined.

Intelligence agencies warn that gangs and terrorists use gaming consoles, Xbox and PS3, to recruit and plot all kinds of evil. No surprise to gamers, but in light of the Oslo massacre, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and WoW "violent" video games are getting blamed as playing a part in the mass killings.

The father of a 20-year-old “gamer” – who died after playing a marathon session on his Xbox – has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the health risks of playing video games for extended periods of time.

Microsoft recently announced that it sold more than 2.5 million Kinect motion sensors for its Xbox 360 game console globally since it was launched on November 4, 2010.

Microsoft has just announced the 17 games that will be available on launch day with Kinect for Xbox 360, the tech giant's highly anticipated controller-free gaming system.