Shopping for Xbox gifts at this seasonal time also presents the opportunity to browse the best games, peripherals, and setup-enhancing accessories from the past year or so – and given this has been the new consoles’ first year there’s plenty of new hardware and games to choose from. Plus, a lot of these products have seen prices fluctuate wildly over the past couple of months – meaning you could grab a tidy deal while Xbox gift shopping too.

Whether you’re looking for a headset to upgrade someone’s audio, one of the biggest games of the past year to make someone’s holidays, or something a bit more specialist like a charger or some storage, we’ve got it all here.

And what with there being such a wide range of gift options available, we’ve split this article into relevant sections below that’ll help funnel your search and give you some great options across the price spectrums for that lucky Xbox fan in your life. Happy Xbox gift shopping!

Christmas Xbox gifts – Best deals right now

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Razer Wolverine V2 | $100 $79.99 at Best Buy (opens in new tab)
Save $20 – This is a wonderful price for a specialist third-party, fully-licensed Xbox controller from a respected and trusted brand. This gift will bring individuality to the recipient’s setup and is a quality controller that can offer a competitive edge. At this price, it’s a great deal too!

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Razer Wolverine Ultimate | $160 $80 at Best Buy (opens in new tab)
Save $80 – This is the predecessor to the above controller but it’s no slouch. Razer’s quality still shines through and for anyone looking for a different controller that can offer something edgy then this is still a strong contender. Ultimate taking it down to exactly 50% off today. It’s the second-lowest price ever for this controller too which means the value on offer is strong.

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Back 4 Blood | $59.99 $24.99 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Save $35 – This is the lowest price we’ve ever seen on the brand new game Back 4 Blood, which is impressive considering this is such a heavy-hitting release. This is perfect for those looking for something to play online with friends and teammates, offering enjoyable chaos along the way.

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Christmas Xbox gifts – Games

Let’s face it, if you’re looking for a straightforward but still excellent Xbox gift, one of the biggest and best games going is likely to hit the spot. And there have been some absolute bangers to come out on Xbox consoles over the past 12 months or so. While the latest and greatest may make up many a shopping list – we’re looking at you Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 – it’s also worth checking out some older titles that your loved ones may have missed. I’ve recently bought a friend Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to play on their new Xbox console, and that is possibly the perfect Christmas game going. One of the best Xbox One games or best Xbox Series X games is an ideal Xbox gift this year.

Christmas Xbox gifts – Headsets

A new headset can elevate someone’s gaming experience to exceptional new levels in one simple, fell swoop. And the great news is that the market is bursting at the seams: the best Xbox One headsets are still relevant and excellent, while the best Xbox Series X headsets and Xbox Series X wireless headsets can take a new-gen setup to an even higher level with a model straight out of 2021 and the main players’ latest ranges. Covering the entire price spectrum, a headset Xbox gift is an excellent choice.

Turtle Beach Recon 50

MSRP: $24.95 / £19.99

Starting off at a budget, entry-level point, Turtle Beach are known for making some great Xbox headsets that punch above their price point, and the Recon 50 line is just one of those. If a player is looking for a quick and easy hit from a headset then this line is an excellent choice. We’d probably argue that, if you’re looking for an Xbox gift to last, you’re better off investing a bit more money as the quality will shine through, but this is still an excellent starting point.

Microsoft Xbox Wireless Headset

MSRP: $99.99 / £89.99

Arguably the best sub-$100 Xbox headset you can get from the entire market, the official Microsoft Xbox Wireless Headset offers excellent quality, value, features, and that ever-attractive ‘official’ badge. This headset proves that you don’t have to throw money at an Xbox gift to get someone something truly excellent, and the headset is a worthy upgrade for anyone.

Razer Kaira Pro

MSRP: $129.99 / £129.99

If you’re looking at the premium end of the scale then the Razer Kaira Pro is definitely worthy of your attention. Razer is known for making some of the very top headsets for gaming, and this wireless model is currently the company’s premiere Xbox headset. It has all the features of a top product, and its audio quality is excellent. It’s also a great contender for a gift at the top-end of the range, because it has consistently seen discounts in recent weeks, meaning you can get even better quality for your money.

Christmas Xbox gifts – Controllers

Console owners will always slowly expand their controller collection, and often for many reasons. At a base level, it’s just eminently sensible to have more than one controller in your setup to fall back on (I always have a ‘one on charge, one in hand’ policy on the go). However, it’s also nice to have different colours and styles to personalise your setup a bit, too – fun colors and uniquely designed controllers are always worth a go. And, of course, there are some controllers out there that just offer something different, something specialist and something that can gain a player an advantage. That’s why controllers, like the ones below, make great Xbox gifts.

Turtle Beach Recon

MSRP: $59.99 / £49.99

The cost of controllers can spiral – like any quality Xbox gift range, of course – but before you get into the premium prices, you can find absolute gems like the Turtle Beach Recon Controller right in the cheap seats. We were really impressed by this wired controller this year – it offers an excellent third-party choice from a trusted manufacturer and something new over the go-to obvious choices. It has excellent customisation options, exquisite buttons, and punches well above its price point.

Xbox Wireless Controller

MSRP: $59.99 / £54.99

You can’t go wrong with official (again), and Microsoft’s own Xbox controller is an instantly excellent idea for an Xbox gift. Proven quality, proven longevity, and a proven reputation make this an easy purchase to make as a gift.

Xbox Elite Series 2

MSRP: $179.99 / £159.99

Cranking it up somewhat, if the recipient of this particular variant of Xbox gift is after something premium, something with bells and whistles, then the Elite Series 2 controller is the one to go for. It’s also official so offers confidence in design, build, and reputation, but also features coming out of its screw holes to ensure a player can get every edge, and play games exactly how they want to.

Christmas Xbox gifts – Accessories

And with more controllers, comes more need to ensure the charging situation is taken care of – there’s nothing worse, as we just mentioned, than running out of juice. Luckily, there’s a great range of accessories that can be vital providers of fuel in keeping an Xbox setup going. While perhaps not the most exciting of Xbox gifts, these can be lifesavers, and genuinely useful. No matter our setup, we’d be happy to receive one.

Venom Twin Charging Dock

MSRP: $24.99 / £19.99

Venom is now a household name in the third-party console accessory territory and their double charging dock is an easy recommendation to make – particularly at such a low price point.

Fosman Dual 2 Max Charger

MSRP: $29.99 / £24.99

This is one of our favourite third-party chargers and is a second iteration of a product that was already quite good. Building on its predecessor nicely the MAX edition provides excellent battery and charge time for controllers and is well worth the extra investment.

Christmas Xbox gifts – Storage

While the price of hard-drive-based Xbox gifts can get out of hand, there are also some perfectly priced options too. Given the storage of some Xbox One consoles, and the new Xbox Series S only begins at the 500GB mark, extra space to keep games at hand is crucial for some. That’s where external hard drives (for non-optimised Xbox games) come in very handy, and that’s where there are the most cost-effective solutions are. However, if you want to give the best storage-focused Xbox gift, the official Seagate expansion card is the premiere solution, ensuring no drop in performance or quality for the player. Models generally start out at 500GB, which is a little on the small side for longer term usage but is certainly still a nice to have if you’re shopping on a budget. 

Crucial X6 1TB portable SSD

MSRP: $129.99 / £119

The Crucial X6 is a value-busting storage solution and makes a perfect Xbox gift for those whose games libraries need a bit more room to breath. Offering solid (if unspectacular speeds of transfer) it’s still an excellent portable SSD to add to the setup.

WD Black P50 external SSD

MSRP: $179.99 / £149.99

Taking the external SSD option up a notch, if you’re looking for premium performance for your money then the WD BLACK P50 external SSD gets our vote. It’s as good as having a high-powered PC-component on the end of a USB cable and ensures that games and files are always safe but accessed and moved speedily. One of the best.

Seagate Expansion Card

MSRP: $219.99 / £219.99

The Seagate Expansion Card is the best of the best for additional Xbox Series X|S console storage. Tailor-made to work with the new-gen consoles, this is literally the perfect companion for those needing a storage boost, slotting straight into the consoles’ hardware – directly. The capacities start at 512GB but the 1TB model – regularly seeing some discounts nowadays – offers better bang-for-buck value.

Christmas Xbox gifts – Subscriptions

You can’t have fun online without a subscription to Xbox Live, and without a subscription to Xbox Game Pass, a player loses out on access to hundreds and hundreds of games to play. This means such subscriptions are undoubtedly some of the best Xbox gifts you can buy someone.  What’s more, they also stack – this means that no matter how long a player has to run on any given subscription, a new one can be added on top of it and it just extends their run. In turn, this means that such subscriptions can almost never be ‘bad’ gifts! It’s a total win-win!

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

MSRP: $44.99 / £32.99 for three months

Basically existing hand-in-hand with an Xbox console in 2021 (and going forward) is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The easiest, best, and highest value way of getting online with friends but also access to that enormous library of games, a Game Pass Xbox gift is a safe hit.

Xbox Live Gold

MSRP: $39.99 / £29.99 for six months

However, if the intended recipient doesn’t need this kind of game access and just enjoys playing online with friends, then a simple Xbox Live Gold subscriptions is a belter of an Xbox gift too.

Looking for some ideas for the other side of the console field? Check out the best PS5 headsets, best PS5 SSD and PS5 external hard drives, and best PS5 accessories for gift ideas.

If you’re in the UK, it’s also worth noting that the Boxing Day sales will be hitting the shelves later this month as well. 

The post Best Xbox gifts guide 2021 – our top picks for the Microsoft fan in your life appeared first on Game News.

Games for Windows Live will live no more come July of next year. Microsoft said its PC gaming service would shut down in an update to an Age of Empires Online support page earlier today, Polygon reports, though it has since removed the following text:

“Games for Windows Live will be discontinued on July 1, 2014. Although it is available through Steam, Age of Empires Online requires features of the Games for Windows Live service. You can continue to enjoy all the features of Age of Empires Online as the service will remain 100% operational until July 1, 2014 when the server will shut down.”

Microsoft plans to shut down the Games for Windows Marketplace on Aug. 22, 2013, though it said last week the service itself would persist. GFWL will be little mourned by PC gamers, many of whom found the service to be clunky, buggy, and–worst of all–not Steam.

Still, GFWL powers several PC ports such as Batman: Arkham City and Dark Souls. It’s not clear if they will transition to another service or simply cease to function online when it shuts down.

We’ve asked Microsoft for more details on the (non) announcement and will update this story with any response.

UPDATE: Microsoft confirmed that Age of Empires Online will shut down on July 1, 2014, but declined to comment on GFWL’s ultimate fate.

The post Games for Windows Live shutting down in July 2014, Microsoft (briefly) says appeared first on Game News.

The new head of Xbox is 20-year Microsoft employee Julie Larson-Green. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today announced a large-scale reorganization for the software giant in a letter to employees (opens in new tab), including a new Devices and Studios Engineering Group responsible for Xbox.

Larson-Green will be accountable for all hardware development and supply chain operations for Xbox and other Microsoft devices like Surface Tablets. She was formerly engineering head for the Windows operating system.

Don Mattrick was formerly in charge of Xbox as president of its Interactive Entertainment Business, a role he vacated last week. Wired published a brief profile on Larson-Green, if you’re interested in learning more about the new Xbox boss.

Ballmer said Microsoft means to improve company-wide collaboration with the new divisions and positions.

“We will see our product line holistically, not as a set of islands,” Ballmer wrote. “We will allocate resources and build devices and services that provide compelling, integrated experiences across the many screens in our lives, with maximum return to shareholders. All parts of the company will share and contribute to the success of core offerings, like Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox, Surface, Office 365 and our EA offer, Bing, Skype, Dynamics, Azure and our servers. All parts of the company will contribute to activating high-value experiences for our customers.”

Hear that, everyone? High-value experiences!

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Above: Nothing will compare to seeing Chief in-game, promises 343. Right now he just looks all tooled-up with no place to go

Art director Kenneth Scott says one of the main concerns when designing Chief’s armor is conveying “his physicality and putting the player in those mighty shoes.” The team looked at contemporary military vehicle design for inspiration, piling “800 pounds of tank and jet fighter” into the character’s design. “A Spartan tossing his chest plate should feel like an anvil dropping,” explains Scott: “Putting on your helmet should feel like powering up an F-15E. These are the sorts of experiences we want to give the players.”

The team also worked to convey the character’s positive, inherently optimistic nature. “Of all FPS heroes,” says Scott, Master Chief “is distinct in that his arc is aspirational and not a cynical view of the universe.” To that end, the character’s helmet and visor are tilted so that, as the OHI points out, “he’s typically looking up into the danger that he needs to conquer.” Also, because his enemies come from space, he’s able to reflect positive values while keeping an eye on whose face needs a-shootin’ next…

The post 343 Industries teases Halo 4s redesigned Master Chief appeared first on Game News.

Above: At least Indie fans have plenty to choose from

Indie games also can’t access new features such as Cloud Saves, Beacons or presence on the XBLA iOS app. This isn’t the first time indies have felt slanted by Microsoft’s service: for a long time now, XBLIG titles have had to make do without features such as Achievements, Leaderboards or the ability to launch without an XBLA connection.

The new update comes alongside a revision of Microsoft’s Terms of Service, which must be approved before players can access XBLA. The new TOS severely limits Microsoft’s liability and restricts subscribers’ options in the event of a dispute, forcing XBLA users to submit to binding arbitration and forbidding participation in class-action legal proceedings against Microsoft. This is in line with the revisions by Sony to the PSN’s TOS earlier this year.

If all this trampling of indie devs and legal rights has you steamed, you could consider blocking advertising in protest. For now, anyway – we’ve a hunch advertisers’ concerns may be addressed more promptly than those of bedroom coders. Then again, perhaps you should be grateful: in territories such as the Pacific, ratings hassles prevent XBLIG titles from showing up on the dashboard at all…

The post Indie Games are the biggest losers in new XBLA update appeared first on Game News.

Because everyone obviously took it for granted that the footage being shown as part of Nintendo’s Wii U showcase was indeed from 360 and PS3 games, Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aime had no problem confirming this was the case in aninterview with GameTrailers (opens in new tab).

When asked if the sizzle reel footage was taken from Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the games shown, Fils-Aime replied, “Absolutely, because we’re a year away from when the system’s going to launch.” Then in his mind he probably thought ‘What an asshole question. Who the fuck would be stupid enough to not realise that?’

Above: This didn’t happen. Why would it? Everyone knew already

So that’s that. Just thought it was worth mentioning in case you know someone not as smart as you that may have foolishly assumed the footage was actually from work-in-progress Wii U games. What silly-heads. They won’t make that mistake again.

June 9, 2011

The post E3 2011: FYI – the Nintendo conference featured footage from Xbox 360 and PS3 games. Just sayin appeared first on Game News.

Dribbling is
devastating

The good news for cack-handed FIFA players is thatyou no longer have to rely on the right stick twirls and swirls to trick your way past defenders. It’s great for mocking opponents but in truth twiddlingthe stick – unless you’re an expert – is like spinning a roulette wheel and hoping the right number drops out. In FIFA 12 you can beat a player with close control andthe right player.

EnterArsenal’s Samir Nasri – destroyer of worlds. Well,not worlds but definitely defences. Myinstant reaction to the news that the dribbling had been fixed was to give a silent shout and tiny air-punch in celebration. As we only had Arsenal and Chelsea to play with Ichose the Gunners because they have more flair playersto try out this new control system with. A couple of runs with French international, Nasri,left my opponent with twisted blood as heturns them inside out with close, quick movements. You have far more space thanks to the new defensive system in place (more on this later) whichmeans defenderscan beisolatedand ripped to bits.

Above: OK, it’s Andrei Arshavin here but he’s almost as devastating on the ballas his team-mate, Samir Nasri

Holding R2forprecise control (I change thedefault buttons) keeps the ball really close to Sammy’s body.Chelsea’s Ramires is trying to dispossess him – he can’t. He’s being made to look a fool and keeps stepping in fortackles and leaving himself off-balance. Finallymy frustrated opponent dives in to try and snap Nasri’s little legs, but a quick flick of the leftstick andhe’s leapt the danger leg andleft the Chelsea midfielderon the floor in his wake. Magic.

More personality

The whole system is an evolution ofPersonality Plus from FIFA 11. PPaims to make key players stand out from the rest of the cloggers by emphasising their individual traits.It’s worth mentioning that at preview stage with FIFA 11there was talk much talk of Iniesta Touch – a phrase coined to describe how the Barcelona midfieldercould keep possession in tight situations evenagainst powerhousedefenders such as Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic. The results were incredible, and as David Rutter – FIFA’s line producer – admits, it had to be dialled down as it was creating super-players.

Only time will tell whether Samir Nasri will have his winged-heels clipped, but right now it’s a welcome treat. EA are planning to drip-feed us with morePersonality Plus attributesuntil the launch in September, but they did give us a taster of how giant players like Peter Crouch will become a real force to reckon with in the air. It’s exciting and we can’t wait formore of these.

On the next page… injuries, tweeked defending and more

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Marty O’Donnell, the man behind Halo’s musical score, said in a recent interview, “I would love to score the Halo movie. No doubt about it. I think that would be great.”

“I feel like, knowing Hollywood just a little bit, they would most likely say, ‘We have to have a tried and true Hollywood composer’ and ‘These themes are appropriate for games but not appropriate for movies.’ Or something like that.”

And he may be right – it seems unlikely that the film’s producers would go with a composer who lacks silver screen experience. O’Donnell, however, doesn’t think that should be a barrier, and asserts that composing a game score requires all the same skills as composing a film score, and then some.

“It’s technically harder. In my opinion, you have to have all the same chops that you have for linear media and then you have this other added technical and artistic vision to make it adaptive and interactive and all the rest,” he said.

While a generic score might fly in other film adaptations, Halo’s music is too highly-regarded and recognized to ignore. It would almost be unthinkable to create a movie and not use the game’s signature score. But will the guys down in their movie studio cabanas and golf carts pay attention to that?

“I think Hollywood is sort of an insular place and their friends hire their friends and people that they’re comfortable with,” said O’Donnell.

I personally think it would be a travesty if O’Donnell was not at least asked to be a consultant for the big-screen project. If I can’t start humming along to the music in the background at some point, I’ll be sorely disappointed.

Got a newstip? Let us know attips@gamesradar.com (opens in new tab)

Mar 24, 2011

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