Xbox
HHW Gaming: FTC Suing Microsoft To Block Its Activision Blizzard Acquisition
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Xbox Microsoft and Xbox are having a hard time closing this Activision/Blizzard acquisition, and this latest news isn’t providing any more hope that it will happen soon. The FTC announced in a statement it would sue Microsoft to block the $68.7 billion Activision/Blizzard acquisition from happening. The Federal Trade Commission believes Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision/Blizzard will allow Xbox to “gain control of top video game franchises” and would “harm competition in high-performance gaming consoles and subscriptions services by denying or degrading rivals’ access to its popular content.” Related Stories To back its suit, the FTC points to Microsoft’s previous record of acquiring content “to suppress competition from rival conso...
HHW Gaming: Xbox Partners With Calm To Support Gamers Mental Health
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Xbox / Calm Playing video games is widely considered a means to decompress and relieve stress. Xbox and Calm are teaming up to give gamers and those who don’t pick up the sticks a chance to experience the stress relief gaming provides. Wednesday, December 7, the Microsoft gaming company announced its partnership with Calm, the highly toted sleep and meditation that will see the first-ever video game soundscapes from Xbox’s first-party games Halo Infinite and Sea of Thieves. Starting today, Calm users can relax and say woosah to the “meditative sounds of whirling waves and chattering birds from the ocean expanse of Sea of Thieves and the ambient alien sounds of Zeta Halo from Halo Infinite,” a press release stated. Both soundscapes are available to su...
HHW Gaming: Microsoft Commits To 10-Year Deal With Nintendo For ‘Call of Duty,’ Gamers React
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Infinity Ward / Call of Duty Microsoft really wants this Activision deal to happen and to ensure it does. The company has reached a 10-year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles. It’s been nine years since the world’s most popular game, not called Fortnite, was on a Nintendo console, but that has all changed thanks to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, currently walking on thin ice. To prove to regulators that Microsoft is not trying to keep the competition from being able to compete, the company agreed to a 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles if the Activision Blizzard acquisition clears the hurdles in front of it. Microsoft has also agreed to bring Call of Duty games to Steam on th...
HHW Gaming: Yesterday’s Price, Will Not Be Today’s Price For New Xbox First-Party Games In 2023
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bethesda / Starfield / Xbox Those first-party Xbox games you were patiently waiting to hit digital stores and shelves in 2023 will cost you a bit more. According to a Eurogamer report, Xbox will join the likes of PlayStation and raise the price of its first-party games to $70. That means games like Arkane’s Red Fall, Bethesda’s Starfield, and Forza Motorsport will be the first games with the new price tag. This will also be more incentive for Xbox Series S|X owners to signup for Xbox Game Pass being those titles will be available on the popular video game subscription service on day one when those games launch. “We’ve held on price increases until after the holidays so families can enjoy the gift of gaming,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Eurogamer. “Start...
The Best Black Friday Deals On Video Games, Smartphones & More
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Kamil Krzaczynski / Getty It’s that time of the year. After you chow down on your momma’s Thanksgiving cooking, you break out the credit card and start swiping to take advantage of those Black Friday doorbuster deals from the couch. Over the years, the approach to Black Friday has changed dramatically. No longer is it just relegated to people running to department stores like Best Buy or GameStop to take advantage of great sales prices. Now, most of the sales happen on websites. Also, most Black Friday deals take place days before November 25, giving shoppers a head start on their holiday shopping. While you can find anything on sale during the shopping holiday, Black Friday is the best time to stock up on new video games, gaming accessories, laptops, VR ...
HHW Gaming: Xbox Teams Up ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ For Custom Xbox Series X & More
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever One thing you can count on from Xbox is a collaboration, and this latest one is pretty damn dope. On Thursday, November 3, 2022, Xbox is teaming up with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever for a custom Xbox Series X and accessories that are as rare as vibranium and other incredible initiatives. It’s only fitting that Xbox enlists Wakanda’s Master Scientist, who *in our best M’Baku voice* “scoffs at tradition” to unveil the custom goodies. Five lucky individuals could own a custom Xbox Series X console that draws inspiration from the iconic Wakandan salute, custom controller holders bundled with replica Kimoyo beads, and custom sterling charms. Source: Xbox / Black Panther: Wakanda Forever If you want to win one of the...
HHW Gaming: Xbox Wants To Help Black Youth Start Careers In The Video Game Industry With ‘Project Amplify’
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Microsoft / Xbox Project Amplify The video game industry severely lacks melanin, and Xbox wants to help rectify that issue with its latest initiative called Project Amplify. Right on time for HBCU Week, Xbox announced Project Amplify. The company describes it as “a video series that aims to magnify Black voices within Xbox to inspire, educate and motivate youth across the U.S. to aspire towards careers in the gaming industry through real-life storytelling from Black leaders and employees across the Xbox ecosystem.” Project Amplify will highlight fourteen Black employees from across Xbox who will share insight on their roles in the company and experiences while working in the video game industry. At the same time, it will teach Black and Brown youth about ...
HHW Gaming: Here Is How Xbox Is Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Xbox / Xbox Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month Xbox continues to push the message that all gamers matter. The Microsoft-owned company announced a series of initiatives it is doing to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Thursday (Sept.15), Xbox announced in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, it would celebrate Hispanic and Latino communities in gaming. Hispanics represent 19% of the US population and are widely known for playing more video games than their caucasian counterparts. Recognizing that stat, the Microsoft-owned company announced a series of initiatives that will highlight Hispanic gamers. Per Xbox: Announcing LatinExplorers: A Hispanic Heritage Journey in Minecraft Education Source: Latin Explorers: A Hispanic Heritage Journey in Minecraft E...
HHW Gaming: Xbox’s Phil Spencer Says ‘Call of Duty’ Will Remain on PlayStation For “Several Years”
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Activision / Call of Duty Following Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision, the million-dollar question that many began to ask was if Call of Duty would become an Xbox-exclusive title. Phil Spencer is doubling down on the game, staying on PlayStation for now. The Verge reports that Xbox chief Phil Spencer verbally committed in a letter to PlayStation’s Jim Ryan that Activision’s uber-popular first-person shooter franchise Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation platforms for “several years.” While that is still highly vague because several years could mean anything, it’s the most clear-cut sign that the game isn’t leaving PlayStation platforms. “In January, we provided a signed agreement to Sony to guarantee Call of Duty on PlaySta...
Xbox boss keen on Metaverse but ‘cautious’ about play-to-earn games
Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s gaming company Xbox is optimistic about the Metaverse but remains “cautious” about play-to-earn (P2E) crypto games due to its economic and speculative aspects. Speaking with Bloomberg anchor Emily Chang on Aug. 25, Spencer suggested that while many gamers are not yet sold on the current concept of a Metaverse, according to his definition, they have essentially been playing in Metaverse worlds for decades: “My view on Metaverse is that gamers have been in the Metaverse for 30 years. When you’re playing games, if you’re playing a World of Warcraft game, you’re playing in Roblox, you’re playing in a racing game where everybody’s in a shared world.” In Spencer’s view, the Metaverse is essentially a “3D shared world” in which people can freely communicate w...
HHW Gaming: Microsoft Unveils Its First-Ever “Singing Xbox Controller”
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Xbox / Xbox singing controller Did you ever want your controller to sing to you? Well, your wish has come true thanks to the singing Xbox controller. Microsoft has teamed up with Interscope Records, DJ benny blanco, K-Pop band BTS and rapper/actor/gamer Snoop Dogg to celebrate the release of their new single “Bad Decisions” with its first-ever singing Xbox controller. Related Stories The controller’s frame is decked out in red with white thumbsticks, D-PAD, and a speaker on the back right below the battery cover. “Bad Decisions” plus the artists’ names are also written in white on the front of the controller. With a button press, “Bad Decisions” will play through the controller’s speaker. The controller will surely stand out among your collection and will...
HHW Gaming: Verizon’s Xbox All Access Program Will Help You Get Your Hands On Microsoft’s Next-Gen Consoles
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: JUNG YEON-JE / Getty Are you still looking for an Xbox Series X or Series S console? Verizon might be your best bet, thanks to its new Xbox All Access program. Xbox All Access Launches On Thursday Tuesday (Jul.26), Verizon announced that starting Thursday (Jul.28), it will be teaming up with Microsoft to get Xbox’s next-gen console into the homes of Verizon customers via its new Xbox All Access program. Related Stories The program will be available in select stores and online and will get customers an Xbox Series X or Series S and access to hundreds of games and day one releases via Xbox Game Pass. Per Verizon: Join Xbox All Access and get the option of either an Xbox Series S or Series X and two years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — allowing you to play a l...
