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Halo, Titanfall lead Xbox One games at E3

Microsoft has announced the lineup of games for its upcoming Xbox One console at its 2013 E3 press conference in Los Angeles with highlights including Ryse: Son of Rome and the god-sim Project Spark.

The first game announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference in Los Angeles was Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, featuring Kiefer Sutherland as the voice of Snake.

The trailer opened with a scene on horseback reminiscent of Red Dead Redemption and detailed gameplay elements such as "deeper stealth action" and "tactical espionage."

The next exclusive Xbox One game to be … Read more

Xbox One launching in November for $499

It's official: the Xbox One is coming this November for $499.

Microsoft announced the official pricing for the Xbox One at its E3 press conference this afternoon, with the new console also selling for $499 in the US, 499 Euros in Europe and £429 in the UK.

Microsoft also confirmed that Xbox Live Gold Memberships would carry over to the Xbox One, as well as a new program starting July 1 where Xbox Live Gold members will get two free game downloads. The first two games announced for the program are Assassin's Creed 2 and Halo 3.… Read more

Microsoft's Xbox One E3 2013: Join us June 10 (live blog)

Editor's note: At its E3 event, Microsoft announced the Xbox One will be released in November for $499. For the key points from today's announcement, check out our summary post here. For more on the Xbox One games that Microsoft announced, go here. Also, see our story on the new, smaller Xbox 360.

Think of this as Microsoft's Xbox One presentation, take two.

Just weeks after Microsoft unveiled its next-generation video game console, the company is back at it again at this year's E3 conference. The press conference begins at 9:30 am P.T. on … Read more

Why Xbox One's used games policy doesn't need to be the end of gaming as we know it

Last week, Microsoft finally provided some additional information on how the "game licensing" policy will work for the company's newly introduced Xbox One. It was our first peek behind the curtain on how discs, digital downloads, game sharing, and Xbox Live accounts will work and interact on the upcoming game console.

The new policy explicitly states that the new system was designed so that "game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers." But reading between the lines of that lawyery language, most gamers took that to mean that the aftermarket … Read more

Uproar over PRISM government surveillance

CNET Update is reading 1984:

This episode of Update, get a better understanding of the controversy around the National Security Agency's PRISM program. Thanks to broadly defined security laws, the government is gathering intelligence with data from Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, AOL, Facebook, Apple and other big tech companies. The U.K.'s government is also tapped into the PRISM program. President Obama has defended PRISM and NSA gathering phone records from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.

And that's not the only controversial tech news. Microsoft's Xbox One console will make it complicated to loan a game to a friend, … Read more

AT&T offers $99 HTC One 32GB package in error

AT&T subscribers eyeing the HTC One were able to save $100 and get a free Beats speaker to boot due to an error from AT&T.

The carrier's HTC One 32GB package includes the 32GB edition of HTC's flagship phone and throws in a Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker, which by itself retails for $199.

On Friday, the price listed for the entire package was $99, which almost seemed like too good a deal. And in fact, it was. The $99 price was actually put up in error. However, AT&T will honor the price … Read more

Game industry spending stays flat in first quarter of 2013

The game industry's sales during the first quarter remained flat, new data from research firm NPD has confirmed.

During the first quarter of 2013, total game content spending in the U.S. hit $3.5 billion, matching what was spent during the same period in 2012. A total of $1.37 billion was spent on physical console and PC games (meaning discs) while used and rental spending hit $559 million. Total spending on digital content reached $1.59 billion.

"Digital spending fully offset the declines in physical format spend in Q1'13," said Liam Callahan, industry analyst … Read more

NBA 2K14 shuns Wii U, opts for next-gen consoles instead

NBA 2K14 has no love for Nintendo and the Wii U.

2K Sports, the Take-Two Interactive-owned studio responsible for the hit NBA 2K franchise, said on Thursday that its latest basketball game would launch on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 1. However, there will be no version for Nintendo's Wii U this year.

Instead, a "distinct and dynamic" experience would come for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, said Jason Argent, senior vice president of sports operations for 2K Sports. He confirmed that NBA 2K14 would be a launch title for both systems.

"… Read more

Xbox One restricts disc resales, requires daily gaming check-in

Gamers using Xbox One will find new, and more restrictive, rules regarding selling used games when the console debuts later this year.

Microsoft will let game publishers set the rules for reselling games to retailers.

"We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers," the company posted on the Xbox news Web site. "Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games."

The company doesn't say, though, if those publishers will be able to take a fee … Read more

Microsoft's game plan for E3 2013: Damage control

Microsoft's pre-E3 Xbox One reveal event in Redmond, Wash., wasn't a presentation targeted at gamers. In fact, most gamers hated it. Why? Because Microsoft used the opportunity to boast about the Xbox One's live TV integration and the seamless experience it will supposedly provide.

That mantra won't fly at E3 2013 in Los Angeles, where the priority is always games. The company teased with some details about what the Xbox One's gaming future will look like, but as of now it's still mostly unknown.

Here's a preview of what Microsoft needs to accomplish … Read more