Xbox revenue grows 27% in Q4

Microsoft sees "strong growth in consoles, Xbox Live transactions and first-party games"

Microsoft today reported its fourth quarter earnings for the period ended on June 30, 2015, and while the company as a whole saw an operating loss of $2.1 billion on revenues of $22.2 billion, the Xbox business itself saw an uptick in sales, as the company said total Xbox revenues grew by 27 percent.

Microsoft sold 1.4 million consoles in the fourth quarter compared to 1.1 million consoles during the same period a year ago. More specifically, Xbox Platform revenue increased $86 million (10 percent) thanks to higher volumes of consoles sold, but "offset in part by lower prices of Xbox Ones sold." 

Microsoft specifically cited an increase in Xbox Live transactions (revenue increased $205 million or 58 percent, "reflecting increased users and revenue per user") and first-party games, which increased $63 million or 62 percent (Microsoft noted that the Minecraft franchise, acquired last November, was part of that).

Rise of the Tomb Raider coming...

The details for the timed exclusivity for Square Enix's latest Tomb Raider game have been revealed. Previously it was announced to only be launching on the Xbox 360/One in November of this year, and other platforms "at some point". Today, Square Enix announced that PC gamers will be getting the game a few months after launch in early 2016, while console exclusivity will last for an entire year, pushing the Playstation release to Holiday 2016.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has died at age 55

Nintendo has sadly confirmed that Iwata-san passed away on July 11, 2015

"Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth," the company said in an official announcement today. Iwata-san had been battling illness for some time now. Last year he skipped E3, as doctors recommended he not travel overseas and he then had surgey for the aformentioned bile duct growth.

Iwata was a champion for Nintendo, introducing the "blue ocean" strategy and overseeing two incredibly successful platforms in the Wii and DS, which not only changed Nintendo but had a drastic impact on the industry. He became Nintendo's fourth CEO, succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi as president in 2002 and he was named CEO of Nintendo of America in 2013. Prior to that, Iwata was a top programmer at HAL Laboratory, which is primarily known for popular franchises like Kirby and Super Smash Bros.

Gamer Drugged His Girlfriend So He Could Play Xbox for a Few More Hours

A gamer drugged his girlfriend to avoid interruption while playing on his Microsoft's Xbox Live.
The 23-year-old German man, who has not been named, was fined EUR€500 by a judge in a Castrop-Rauxel district court, German website The Local reports.

The man admitted in front of judge that he put between four and five drops of a sedative in his girlfriend's tea to make her fall asleep, so he could keep playing the video game on his console.

His girlfriend fell asleep for more than 12 hours and wake up midday on the next day, but even after waking up she felt constantly drowsy.
"Then I got up and drove to work although I was nodding off again and again," the victim told.

Girlfriends Broke-Up with her Boyfriend

Swedish media house buys world's largest eSports company

Professional gaming is a hot item in the investment world right now and even the largest eSports organizations are getting in on the action. On Wednesday, international entertainment company MTG purchased ESL, the largest eSports organization in the world. MTG spent 78 million euros ($86.4 million) for a majority stake -- 74 percent -- in ESL's holding company, Turtle Entertainment GmbH. This deal marks the first acquisition of an eSports company by a traditional media organization.