Latest Features
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (March 28th)
Bit of Bleeding Edge?
If there's one upside to the boredom induced by self-isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, it's that we finally have time to dig into our Xbox backlogs and explore some great games. There are a bunch of free titles on offer this weekend as well, so let us know if you'll be taking advantage in the comments below. Fraser...
Introducing Fraser Gilbert, Pure Xbox News Editor
Forza Fraser
It's been two weeks since we relaunched Pure Xbox, it's fair to say we've been pretty busy bringing you countless news stories, talking points and a few reviews as well. But who, I hear you ask, is this guy "Fraser" that appears to be posting the majority of the content? Let's find out together after we recently sat down with our...
Talking Point How Important Is Backwards Compatibility To You?
Critical or a waste of time?
One of the big talking points here at Pure Xbox over the weekend has been backwards compatibility, with Microsoft recently announcing the Xbox Series X would support "all Xbox One games", before retracting its statement to confirm that while it's still in the process of validating, it can confirm "thousands" of games...
All The Games, Packages and Deals
Heard about Xbox Game Pass and wondering what all the fuss is about? We're biased, but it's arguably the best subscription service in all of gaming right now, offering hundreds of quality titles at a low monthly cost. You should find all the information you need to know about Xbox Game Pass in this article, but if...
Talking Point Has Yesterday's PS5 Deep Dive Changed Your Opinion On Xbox Series X?
Share your thoughts
It's been a wild few days for Xbox Series X and PS5 news, hasn't it? We here at Pure Xbox have only just launched our brand-new site (tell your friends!), and we've already been thrown into the thick of it. We wouldn't have it any other way though -- this has been a really great week for Microsoft and Xbox Series X, with the...
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...
Talking Point Which Games Should Be Enhanced For Xbox Series X?
What do you want to see?
Yesterday was a big day for Xbox Series X news, with Microsoft sharing new information relating to tech specs, the controller, Quick Resume, HDR and more. We also found out more about backwards compatibility on the console, and heard that Gears 5 will be receiving an optimized upgrade for Series X in the future. So that's...
The very best games for the system
It's hard to believe the Xbox One first came out nearly seven years ago. In that time, it's developed quite the library of games, including some superb exclusives, and we've picked out ten of the best below. We'll be adding more to this list in the future, but for now, here are some absolute must-plays on Xbox One.
Talking Point What Is The Xbox Series X's Most Important Feature?
What has your attention so far?
We're still some way out from the release of Microsoft's Xbox Series X in Holiday 2020 (if indeed it survives that projected window due to coronavirus concerns), but we already know quite a lot about the upcoming system. The company seems willing to dish out information more freely than it did back in the pre-release...
Talking Point Coronavirus Worries Mean The Xbox Series X Faces An Uncertain Year Ahead
Will it be delayed until 2021?
It's impossible to escape the discussion surrounding the Coronavirus at the moment, and like everything else, the games industry is already being affected heavily by it. This year's Games Developer Conference was postponed last month "after close consultation" with various partners in the game development industry,...
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...
Feature The Weird World of Awful Xbox Hardware Ripoffs
Attack of the clones
When it comes to console hardware design, Microsoft have always gotten a bit of a bad rap. The original Xbox was the size of a tank (and about as heavy as one) and the follow-up Xbox 360 wasn't designed well enough to stop boards from warping and giving millions of people the infamous "Red Ring of Death" error. The Xbox 360...
Feature Getting to Know the Latest Mortal Kombat X Kombatants
The roster expands by four (or is it six?)
Last Tuesday, Mortal Kombat X received a brand new bundle of DLC. The Kombat Pack 2, as it's called, comes with four new kombatants (Alien, Bo' Rai Cho, Leatherface, and Triborg) and a few skin packs. We've spent the better part of the last week getting to know these fresh additions to the MKX roster, and...
Editor's Opinion Give Me A Quantum Break
Bellowing at a stratocumulus
Help me, pX Community, for I am confused. I've been trying to work out why Xbox fans would boycott a video game that they want (not that they actually will, given that it's all talk and standard internet rage and we LOVE looking for things to be outraged about now) because it's coming out on another platform as well as...
pX Asks What Does Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility on Xbox One Mean to You?
We team up with the pX community to answer the question
Later this year, Xbox 360 backwards compatibility is coming to Xbox One. The announcement of this much requested feature came from the mouth of Xbox boss, Phil Spencer, during Microsoft's 2015 E3 press briefing, and it's been getting steady attention since then. For the most part, it appears...
Feature From Worst to First, We Rank the Batman: Arkham Games
Will you be friend or foe after reading our list?
A lot of people like to argue about which Arkham game is the best Arkham game. On one side of the fence are the fans who adore Arkham Asylum, the Metroidvania-esque debut that put developer Rocksteady Studios on the map, while the other side consists of folks with a special love for Arkham City, the...
News Editor's Opinion: Indie Game Promotion on Xbox One Has to Change
Evolution required
Back in the Xbox 360's heyday, Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade was a stellar way to bring new titles to gamers. A platform within a platform, it appeared to have the full backing of the console manufacturer, with regular arcade-focused promotions and a dedicated area on the dashboard for people to find out about what was available...
These achievements come fast for furious drivers
Achievements and Gamerscore are a big part of Xbox culture. Not only do we like to unlock the most brutally difficult achievements to showcase our skills to our friends and followers, but sometimes we just like to send our Gamerscore skyrocketing by any means necessary. The best way to do that is to...
Feature These Are the Xbox 360 Games We Want to See Remastered for Xbox One
Providing old favorites with a minor facelift
Whether you like them or hate them, it seems that remasters, definitive editions, and last-gen ports will continue travelling over to the Xbox One for some time to come. We'll admit that we're not entirely fond of the idea if it means that potential sequels get the shaft, but we do welcome the remaster...
News Xbox One February System Update Begins Rolling Out Today
Gotta love that new update smell
The first major Xbox One system update of 2015 has begun rolling out today, confirmed Xbox Newswire. The new update, which we previously detailed last month for Preview members, brings with it some welcome new enhancements and features to the machine. First and foremost, each and every Xbox One game will have its...
Pure Retro Pro Evolution Soccer 5 - The Master of The Leagues
Better than the rest
Back in the day (I promise not to use that too much in our retro articles, but just let me have this one) things were very, very different to how they are now when it came to console football. Now, we have the yearly battle between EA's FIFA and Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer franchises and that's pretty much your lot. Any new...
Pure Retro Did You Know That James Bond 007: Nightfire Had a Thrilling Multiplayer Mode?
License to Kill
When the Xbox 360 was the latest and greatest console on the market, that meant the original Xbox was only last-gen, which didn’t make it all that old. But now that the Xbox One has ushered in a new generation, it finally makes sense to slap the retro label on those classic Xbox games. That’s where Pure Retro comes in. From here...
Feature Game of the Year - Staff Lists
Another year bites the dust
With just a few days left in 2014, we thought it would be the perfect time for Pure Xbox to put a Game of the Year list out in the wild. Instead of featuring a single list of games voted on by our entire team of writers (like we did for our Most Wanted Games of 2015 article), we've instead decided to feature each writer's...
Pure Holidays Our Guide to the Best Xbox One Games Available This Holiday Season
If you need Xbox One gift ideas, this guide is for you.
The holiday season is now fully upon us. That means, not only do you have to start buying gifts for family, friends and coworkers, you also have to let others know what's on your wish list. So, if you or the person you're buying for owns the latest Xbox console and is uncertain of what to...
Editor's Opinion Why Refusing Review Embargoes Isn’t the Way to Go
Taking a stand by not taking a stand
Well, it’s all been kicking off this week, hasn’t it? You probably already know the story, but I’ll give you a brief bit of background. Background Players: Assassin’s Creed Unity was set to come out digitally in the US at midnight on Tuesday, 11th of November. Ubisoft decided to set a review embargo in...
Guide The Best Pinball FX2 Tables Money Can Buy
Are you ready to have a ball?
Are you interested in buying Pinball FX2 but aren’t sure which tables to download first? Well, considering some of us at pX are massive pinball junkies, we’ve compiled a little guide of sorts to help you get started. These are the tables that we find the most enjoyable to play, and ones we believe would be great...
Exclusive Guess What? Your 100% Save File In Guacamelee: STCE Isn't Quite Complete
DrinkBox spills the beans about the "Super Secret Meme Room"
Sure, 100% completion status sounds like you've done and seen everything a game has to offer, does it not? But with Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition (STCE), that's just not the case. Since the launch of STCE, the game's Level Designer, Jason Canam, has been teasing this...
Guide Moving Games and Content to Your Xbox One External Drive
Logical progression.
So, you've set up your external drive on your Xbox One, and you want to take the logical step of making a little breathing room on your internal drive, by moving some stuff to your shiny new storage. Fortunately, it's as easy as 1, 2, 3...well...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, anyway. 1) Head into the "Games & Apps" area of the Xbox...
Guide Setting Up External Storage on Xbox One
Step by step.
The Xbox One June System Update is now live, and it gives you the ability to add external storage to your Xbox One console. All you need is a USB3.0 compatible external drive which is 256GB in size or larger, and you're away. But, how do you set it all up? Well, let us show you via the medium of dance. Or just with some screenshots...
Guide Setting Up US Netflix on Your UK Xbox One
A whole new world.
With Microsoft confirming that Netflix will be usable by non-Xbox Live Gold members on the Xbox One soon, we thought we'd give you a couple of quick tips on how to open up a a whole new world of content on the popular streaming service. How? Well, with a subscription to a service that makes Netflix believe that you're in the US,...
Interview Beenox Spins a Web of Details About The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Building on the foundation of its predecessor
Canadian developer Beenox is no stranger when it comes to Spider-Man. To web-rush you up to speed, they're responsible for three games starring the friendly-neighborhood superhero, with another just days away from launch. That's right, next week The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swings onto the Xbox 360, just in...
Feature Ways to Satisfy Your Thirst for Adrenaline While Waiting for Trials Fusion
10-ish games that certainly aren't caffeine-free
While Trials HD may have taught us about persistence and anguish – in the most feel-good, rewarding way possible – it was the sequel, Trials Evolution, that turned us into hardcore adrenaline junkies. Reset after reset, while learning the art of transforming trip-up into triumph, we found it...
Feature These Are The Xbox Games Coming In April
Will we be showered in greatness?
After a slow start to 2014, March showed up and had us putting in overtime with our Xbox consoles. It was all thanks to games like South Park: The Stick of Truth, Dark Souls II, Thief, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, and Titanfall — which were all either fantastic or, at the very least, good enough to be worth...
Feature Three Reasons Why Phil Spencer Is Just What the Xbox Brand Needs
Phil's the boss.
Phil Spencer - head honcho at Microsoft Studios - has been promoted and will serve as the head of Microsoft’s Xbox, Xbox Live, and creative teams, including Xbox Music, Xbox Video, and Microsoft Studios (still.) The announcement came yesterday after a period of leadership that didn’t seem to have a great deal of direction. With...
News The Fix-Up: Improvements The Next Xbox One Dashboard Must Include
Get it sorted, Microsoft!
The Xbox One dashboard, or operating system, will be getting updated at some point in the future. There haven’t been any announcements regarding timing, but given that the Xbox 360’s dashboard was given a complete makeover via a firmware update at least twice, it’s pretty much a given. At launch, the Xbox One...
Friday Five Five Things Microsoft Got Right With the Xbox One Reveal
Contrary to apparent popular belief
How can we put this? The Xbox One Reveal was not to everyone’s tastes. OK. It wasn’t to the majority of people’s tastes. Despite the chortling at the name, the look of the console, the fact that Kinect needs to be connected at all times, and that playing a preowned game will cost you more than it used to,...
Friday Five Five Reveals That Would Bring The House Down on May 21st
We're excited. Can you tell?
The next generation of Xbox is coming, and when Microsoft step to the stage on May 21st to finally confirm what the Xbox 720/Infinity/Durango/Next (or whatever they finally call it) will consist of, there will be bombs aplenty dropping all over the show. We know that the company has promised to leave the gaming focus to...
Friday Five Five PS3 Exclusives We Wish Weren't PS3 Exclusives
If wishes were fishes...
With the announcement this week that Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection isn’t coming to the Xbox 360, we started thinking about titles that we wished had made the jump to Microsoft’s platform. We came up with a list as long as your arm, that spanned several consoles but in the end, the Xbox 360’s natural closest...
Happy New Year!
Some Kinect owners – OK, a lot of Kinect owners – are probably feeling a little bit as if Kinect is done and dusted. A quiet release schedule in 2012, where most of the blockbuster titles that featured Kinect support were limited to voice commands or tacked-on mini-games that didn't work, combined with a somewhat thin release...
News Kinect PlayFit - First Impressions
Free. Worth every penny.
So, Kinect PlayFit has been out for about a week, and it seems that folks are racking up the burnt calories like there's no tomorrow. The free app (available from your Xbox dashboard) tracks your play across 10 different Kinect titles, tracking how many calories you burn and awarding achievements and avatar awards based on...
Guide Starting Out with Kinect
Get the most from your sensor right away
So you've unwrapped all your presents and found a shiny new Kinect and games. Congratulations, and welcome aboard! Unlike every other motion controller on the market, you don't need anything in your hands to play Kinect — with no controllers and no buttons you're free to use your body and voice to play the...
Feature Kinect Holiday Gift Guide 2011
What's worth your money?
There are over 80 games available for Kinect now, and knowing exactly which one to pick up as a present can be a tough proposition. That's why we've put together our Kinect holiday game guide 2011 to let you know exactly what you should be looking for when picking a game this season. We've split this article into five...
Talking Point What's Kinect Doing Right or Wrong?
One year on, how's it going?
Kinect has had a full 12 months to bed itself in, and arguably the standard of releases this Christmas is higher than what the sensor launched with last year, but the sensor still hasn't established itself as a home for quality games. In the past few days we've seen an encouragingly healthy discussion about the matter...
First Impressions Kinectimals with Windows Phone 7
Kitty in your pocket
Unlike Nintendo and Sony consoles, sadly you've never been able to take your Xbox games on the go with you, something even Dreamcast offered over 10 years ago. Now with Windows Phone 7 devices and Xbox 360 you're able to access select content wherever you are, something we recently got chance to try out with Kinectimals and...
Reader Blog Losing 80 Pounds with Kinect and Dance Central
It can be done
In the first of a new series of reader blogs, we're sharing stories from Kinect fans just like you. We want to hear bout any success stories you might have had — a great video you made in Yoostar 2, a world record score in Kinect Sports or something awesome made possible by Kinect. You can contact KINECTaku to share your story, and...
First Impressions The Black Eyed Peas Experience
Rock that body
Michael Jackson: The Experience was a pretty good attempt at bringing the King of Pop to the living room, but the Black Eyed Peas are a totally different undertaking: whereas the MJ game put you in Michael's shoes in his legendary live shows and music videos, in The Black Eyed Peas Experience you don't play as Will.i.am, Fergie or the...
First Impressions Just Dance 3
Get on the floor!
Until now Harmonix has undoubtedly had the Kinect dancing market all sewn up, but that dominance will meet its sternest challenge yet in October when Ubisoft brings the astonishingly successful Just Dance brand across to Xbox 360 in the luridly coloured form of Just Dance 3. At first glance, very little has changed from its Wii...
First Impressions Kinect Sports: Season Two
Another big score for Microsoft?
Last night we brought you our First Impressions of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier from Microsoft's Christmas showcase, and next on our travels was the sequel to Rare's Kinect Sports, without doubt one of Kinect's best launch games. We were quickly told that the motion tracking had been vastly improved from the first...
First Impressions Fruit Ninja Kinect
Ripening nicely
If you happen to own a modern smartphone then you’ve probably already sampled the delights of Halfbrick’s amazing Fruit Ninja. The game has now registered over 20 million downloads across mobile formats, and rightly so — it’s one of those unique titles that takes a very basic premise (in this case, the slicing and dicing of...
Talking Point What Should Microsoft Do With Kinect At E3?
Tell us your hopes
Microsoft's E3 2011 news conference is only a few weeks away, and our thoughts are turning towards what the company will show off on Monday 6th June. Here's a list of what we believe Microsoft should do with Kinect in order to capture the imagination like it did at E3 2010. Improved Tracking: In its current form, Kinect can track...
Features A Guide to Kinect Fitness Games
Let's get sweaty
If you're looking to lose a few pounds as part of your New Year's Resolution, grabbing a fitness game for Kinect is a good way to go, but with so many out there how can you pick the one that's best for you? Here a brief rundown of all the fitness games currently available for Kinect, all of which we've exhaustively playtested and...
