Those who may have skipped on the option to download the Developer’s Preview of Windows 8 last year don’t have to wait for the full retail release of Microsoft’s new OS to take a glance. Today, Microsoft has made the Consumer Preview available to download. I’m absolutely in love with the redesigned look and feel of Windows, and the new tile metro style they’re utilizing across all Windows products.

As part of the Consumer Preview, Microsoft has announced that all applications in the Windows Store will be free during the preview. Of course, once the retail version of Windows 8 launches, you’ll have to cough up some coinage. Still, quite a fantastic opportunity to really test out what Microsoft has been working on for the past few years.

You can download the preview here.

Microsoft

The original Xbox is celebrating a milestone today. It’s been 10 years since the console hit the market, marking Microsoft’s first attempt at breaking into the gaming console development market.

Obviously given the success of Windows both as an OS and as Microsoft’s first gaming platform, the successes of both the Xbox and Xbox 360 weren’t exactly unforeseen. Still, Microsoft introduced a different type of console to the market, a console they didn’t know they needed.

Congratulations on your 10th birthday, original Xbox. There are rumors that your parents might have another baby. If that’s true, may your new “Xbox 720″ brother gain all your wisdom.

Earlier this week, I booted up the ol’ Xbox 360, as I wanted to play Black Ops one last time before placing it in a dusty box as a result of an inevitable Modern Warfare 3 addiction. First thing I noticed after boot up was a different looking dashboard, where only two rows of content were displayed — I quickly realized it was because I was no longer signed in with my gamertag. No big deal. As expected, I booted up Black Ops and figured I’d just sign-in within the game. That is until I was told my gamertag was invalid. Womp.

It’s all over, folks! This year’s New York Comic Con is officially over, and it was glorious. If you didn’t make it out to NYC’s Javits Center, no worries. I took some photos of the convention, all for your viewing pleasure. I took more shots of the different exhibits rather than the attendees, figuring that you’ve probably seen your share of cosplayers elsewhere.

Enjoy!

[Show as slideshow]

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If you’re a fan of first-person shooters, then there’s a good chance you want this bad boy. Introducing the special Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 themed Xbox 360.

While it’s not as cool as the Star War themed Xbox 360 revealed earlier this year, it’s still pretty legit to have a Xbox that looks like it was found in a war zone.

The MW3 Xbox comes with a 320GB hard drive, a black headset, a copy of the game, two controllers, and exclusive avatar items, all for $399. Oh, and a custom sound when ejecting the disc tray — I’m assuming it’s the sound of someone yelling “n00b.”

Who’s picking this bad boy up when it releases this fall?

Xbox

This made me laugh out loud. Am I going to hell? Probably.

The picture to my left is a fake ad for American History X: The Game, featuring a happy couple doing their best curb-stomp. Although not a real game, I do hope developers see this as an unexplored avenue of motion control.

I truly would love to curb-stop someone’s face, just give me a game and a reason. Perhaps I’m a cop on the hunt for a rapist? I don’t know, be creative!

Full image below the break.

[As Seen on StrikeGently, NSFW]

[UPDATE: This post was originally written on May 30, 2011. It's extremely timely, however, given the state of Nintendo. Here's what we thought about the company's situation two months ago. Were we right?]

Welcome to GameDay, DaftBit’s back and forth banter about the topics you need to hear about, by the people you need to hear it from — Pete Betcher and Jason Leavey. Do your homework (politely waiting for you below), put on some tunes, and try not to hate.

Today we cover the likelihood of a major shift in the console hardware race, either a disappearence of a current player, or the explosion onto the scene of a new gladiator looking for blood money.

Homework:

• Sega Shifts to Third Party Status
• iPhone enters as a gaming console
• OnLive lives

And onward! To the cup of life!

Ubisoft has announced The Black Eyed Peas: Experience, an all new dancing game for Wii and Xbox 360′s Kinect. I hate to sound like one of those old timers that hates the younger generation’s music — I’m 26 — but freakin’ seriously? There’s enough of you out there to warrant a game based on the “music” of these fools? Not only is this a slap in the face to quality, but the game is the second Experience title, only after the first based on Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. What a giant leap down.

Ugh. Well you can go dance and be merry with your peas of a black eyed nature, but I’m not going to be happy about it.

[NintendoUniverse]

Welcome to GameDay, DaftBit’s back and forth banter about the topics you need to hear about, by the people you need to hear it from — Pete Betcher and Jason Leavey. Do your homework (politely waiting for you below), put on some tunes, and try not to hate.

Today we cover the state of motion controls, and whether there is a future in Kinect and Move for Microsoft and Sony.

Things you probably already know:

• Nintendo’s new approach to game control
• Microsoft could give Kinect a booster shot
• Old habits die hard

Enlightenment is just a click away!

At Microsoft’s big press keynote yesterday, we learned about a new Kinect dashboard app that will provide several free motion-based applications for Xbox Live users. Kinect Fun Labs will allow gamers to get up and use Kinect functionality in fun and quirky games without having to enter a disc.

As a demonstration, I gave two of the software offerings, Kinect Me and Googly Eyes, a try. Check out my videos as I give both titles a whirl, above and below the break, respectively. Kinect Me creates your avatar by scanning your face and body, and Googly Eyes turns a household object into a big-eyed creature. Both pretty fun uses of Kinect.