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Master web developer by trade, Ken guided Pure Xbox through its first incarnation around the time of the Xbox One. Nowadays, you'll find him selling a wealth of retro goodness via SuperChallenge.
Feature So, Did Much Happen While We Were Away?
Following a 4-year slumber, we're back. Former editor Ken fills you in...
Four years is a long old time, huh? It’s the time between England losing in one World Cup and losing in another World Cup. It used to be roughly the amount of time a console generation would last. It’s almost as long as Pure Xbox has been offline. So, I thought it would...
Site News So Long, And Thanks for All the Clicks
Game Over
On July 18th, 2012, I took over as editor of the very site you're reading. Back then, of course, it was a Kinect-focused publication by the name of KINECTaku. Within a relatively short space of time, it was obvious that we needed to refocus on the bigger picture. There's only so many times we can write articles about the different voice...
News New Backward Compatibility Releases Teased for This Week
The fog lifts
Update (16/06 17:54 UK): Well, it's not even remotely as we'd imagined. So far today, Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, Flashback, Babel Rising, and Brain Challenge have joined the backward compatibility list. There may be more to come... Original Story: Back in May, Amazon US listed a whole wave of new backward compatible titles that were set...
News Xbox One Prices Crash in Wake of Xbox One S Announcement
Rock bottom
Microsoft announced the upcoming Xbox One S console at their E3 press conference on Monday and, as expected, that's had a knock-on effect at retail with regards to the price of the currently available models. With the new console due to launch in August at varying price points (depending on the size of HDD you go for), retailers are...
E3 2016 Xbox One S Has No Kinect Port, But Don't Worry
Don't worry, Kinect fans
Earlier on today, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One S will be launched in August. Being 40% smaller and yet somehow containing on-board power, so you don't need that ugly external power brick anymore, you'd expect some things to have been cut. It seems that everything has survived, with the exception of the dedicated...
E3 2016 Xbox One S Release Window and Pricing Confirmed, Stand Sold Separately
Well, sort of
Update: The Xbox One S with 2TB drive and the streamlined controller is actually $399.99, according to Amazon.com, who are accepting preorders now. The $299 model is the base device containing the 500GB drive, while the 1TB drive bundle is $349. It will also include a 4k Blu-ray drive, so will play 4k Blu-rays, as you'd sort of...
E3 2016 Microsoft Conference Liveblog
The next year of Xbox gaming, revealed!
The show starts at 5:30PM UK time, so we'll be back then...feel free to chat away in the comments box! [liveblog=XboxE32016]#XboxE32016
E3 2016 Xbox One S Details, Image Leaks Ahead of Microsoft Conference
With a vertical stand
Those intrepid devils over at NeoGAF have turned up the first image of the much-ballyhooed Xbox One Slim, ahead of Microsoft's E3 Conference tomorrow. The new console - called the Xbox One S - will be available in (at least) white, with a black base. The machine is 40% smaller than the original Xbox One, will come with a 2TB...
News Microsoft Adds New Free Xbox Live Gamerpics For All
Spice up your profile
Microsoft has released a whole batch of free Xbox Live Gamerpics for players to use on their profile. From right now, you can get your hands on new pics from Minecraft, Killer Instinct, Quantum Break, Gears of War 4, Tom Clancy's The Division and a fair few others. All you need to do is hit up the profile customization page on...
News You Didn't Get Fallout 4 For Free, Collect $10
You have won a beauty contest
On Thursday evening UK time, there was a bit of a bug on the Xbox Games Store that set the price of both Fallout 4 and the Fallout 4 Deluxe Edition to approximately $0.00. A whole stack of people obviously cottoned on as soon as it was posted on Reddit and waded in to get their free game. The price was fixed an hour or...
News Microsoft Ditches Xbox One DVR Plans to Focus on Gaming
Cord cut
Last year, Microsoft announced that they were working on adding a DVR feature for over-the-air TV to the Xbox One. Reaction to the announcement wasn't particularly what the Redmond giant expected, with most people sweating over the fact they'd doubtless need to buy another external drive. That, and the fact that more and more people are...
Shine on
In a world where top-down shooters aren't exactly thin on the ground, it takes a brave developer to release one these days and hope that it draws money. With Neon Chrome though, developer 10tons have mixed things up somewhat. Rather than dealing in the sort of relatively throwaway fun the likes of Crimsonland and Polychromatic (amongst many...
Review Dangerous Golf (Xbox One)
Out of bounds
They say that golf is a good walk spoiled. The ex-Burnout developers at Three Fields Entertainment have attempted to put paid to all that walking nonsense though, instead opting to take the sport largely indoors. With Dangerous Golf, their goal is clearly to take the essence of Burnout's "Crash" mode and apply it to a very different...
News New Xbox One Dashboard Update On the Way
But what does it contain?
It seems that Microsoft are gearing up to resume their periodical dashboard updates for the Xbox One, at least according to a message that has been doing the rounds from the Xbox Live team in the last 24 hours. The message, which has been sent to select Preview Program members, has been sent via the Xbox Live messaging...
Review Dead Island: Definitive Collection (Xbox One)
There and back again
While fans of the Dead Island franchise try to work out exactly what is happening with Dead Island 2 – a game that's doing a great impression of being a feline owned by Erwin Schrödinger – Deep Silver and Techland have decided to hold back the hordes of rabid fans by releasing this remastered collection of the first two...
News Fallout 4 Mods Come to Xbox One on May 31st
Back to the wilderness
Bethesda have confirmed that they'll be rolling out Fallout 4's mod system on May 31st for Xbox One. The company have noted that for the time being, mods will be limited to 2GB each, although that may increase in the future depending on demand. Players should take note that when you activate a mod, your game save gets moved...
Hurt me plenty
Making a game that's due to be a part of one of gaming's most cherished franchises must be an absolute nightmare for developers. Remastering something that came out a few years ago so that it has shinier graphics and tweaks but still retains the feel of the original must be difficult enough, but to take a game that's so well thought...
News Deals With Gold: Mammoth List of Discounts Now Live
There goes the money...
This week's Deals With Gold are now live, and there's something for everyone in the absolutely mammoth list of offers. On Xbox One, there's everything from soup to nuts and in something Microsoft is dubbing the "Xbox 360 Super Sale" there's even more to be found. You don't need any more of an introduction than that, really,...
Review Not a Hero: Super Snazzy Edition (Xbox One)
Get snazzy, ya clown!
Not A Hero is a side-scrolling 2D cover-based shooter where you're employed by a pink rabbit who wants to be the mayor but who needs to show his ability to clean up the town so that people will vote for him. To do this, he's hired you, playing as one of several anti-heros, to pretty much go in and blow away bad guys in order to...
Rumour New Wave of Backward Compatible Titles Coming During E3
Retailer spills the beans
There are plenty of rumours revolving around the Xbox One backward compatibility feature at the moment. The main one revolves around EA Access, with a recent rumour suggesting that more B/C titles - including Mass Efffect - are heading to their service as part of the Vault. Now though, Amazon US have added a bunch of new...
News Deals With Gold: Over 60 Xbox Offers Thrown Into The Mix
Lara Croft, Call of Duty...they're lining up
There's a whole host of offers this week as part of Microsoft's Deals With Gold, with a publishers sale from Square Enix loading the list with bargains. Not to mention a somewhat eye-opening amount of Call of Duty titles suddenly getting trimmed, especially on Xbox 360. Wink. If Black Ops does appear via...
Review Super Night Riders (Xbox One)
Burnt rubber
They say that you can't judge a book by its cover. The same could be said of videogames and trailers. In the case of Super Night Riders though, you can throw all the sayings out of the window. We had our reservations about the retro motorcycle racer when we first clapped eyes on the announcement trailer but – as we have to - gave it...
Review Grand Prix Rock 'n Racing (Xbox One)
The Pits
Fast forward seven months from EnjoyUp's first Xbox One release – the dire Rock 'N Racing Off Road DX - and the developer is back again with a slightly more ambitious title. Grand Prix Rock 'N Racing is another almost-top-down racer, but this time we're looking at F1-style cars racing around much larger tracks with a helicopter-based...
News Deals With Gold: Call of Duty Slashed on Xbox One and Xbox 360
Sure to be a popular move...
This week's Deals With Gold have been announced and the list is sure to set the cat amongst the pigeons. In a week where Activision are under fire for any number of reasons over the announcement of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, they've decided to have a bit of a sale, chopping prices on a fair percentage of the Call...
