Gaming

Microsoft have announced the first details of their next generation console to rival Sony’s PS4, named Xbox One. The press conference was heavily weighted towards selling the X1 as a complete home entertainment system, rather than solely a computer games platform. Its features include: Integrated live television feeds from your cable/satellite set-top box with Kinect voice command support. Do two things at once with Snap, the Xbox One’s solution to surfing the net and watching a movie, for if you’re really good at multitasking. Skype – including supporting calls during gaming via Snap and group calls. Social mapping via Trending to see what’s popular amongst your friends. Extensive voice commands to control every facet of Xbox One functionality, including turning it on. “Xbox One is designed to deliver a whole new generation of blockbuster games, television and entertainment in a powerful, all-in-one device. Our unique, modern architecture brings simplicity to the living room and, for the first time ever, the ability to instantly switch across your games and entertainment.” Don Mattrick, president, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. This is not a VCR, it is the next generation of Microsoft’s gaming vision. The tech specs were unveiled as 8GB RAM, an eight-core, x86 processor and more than five billion transistors, as well as a Blu-Ray Player and a more advanced Kinect sensor. As for the games, it was a sports-centric affair, with Forza Motorsport 5 being exclusively available upon launch, as well as EA Sports announcing a partnership with Microsoft to bring exclusive content. Familiar titles FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25 and NBA Live 14 were also showcased. The conference was rounded off by a trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts, but included a teaser of Quantum Break, a game from the developers of Max Payne and Alan Wake that promises to integrate gaming and TV. “Ghost” is apt considering the lack of games titles announced. Speaking of TV, Steven Spielberg dropped in to briefly discuss an original Halo live-action television series currently under production. Spielberg is executive-producing the venture, with exclusive interactive Xbox One content. Xbox One will also have full Cloud support including profiles, save games and entertainment. A revamped Xbox Live service promises to revolutionise the process as it exists today, including installing games in segments to allow quicker gameplay, and smarter multiplayer matchmaking to minimise the amount of time players spend waiting in lobbies. Advanced AI, the ability to play against your friends’ “shadows” and recording to allow bragging rights have all been announced. The physical appearance of the Xbox One is a somewhat blocky and rectangular affair, but it boasts a completely redesigned Kinect sensor that will be much more capable than the current model. It will work better in low light, as well as more readily identifying players’ control motions as well as players themselves. A familiar but updated control pad will work seamlessly with the Kinect to allow a much more well-rounded experience. A familiar sight but updated with shiny new technology. Xbox One will launch “later this year” – no official release date yet, nor a price tag for how much this will all set you back. The press conference focussed heavily on sports games, perhaps to showcase the social tournament aspect of the new system, but fifteen Xbox-exclusive titles have been alluded to, including eight original franchises. E3 will likely prove to be the next big announcement about games for the new games console, with Microsoft trying to firmly establish the Xbox One as more than just for gamers with this Xbox Reveal. Visit the official Xbox site for more information.

Apart from its whiz-bang voice, motion and video capture features, the Xbox One also features some new tech under the hood to improve Xbox Live. In addition to a huge server boost and dynamic Achievements, the new Xbox Live will use a feature called Smart Match, which "uses advanced algorithms to pair players based on skill, language, and now reputation." Microsoft hasn't provided further details, but it sounds like reputation is the biggest difference between Smart Match and TrueSkill, Xbox Live's current skill rating system. TrueSkill only takes player skill into account when creating matches. Microsoft has also provided a little more info on the new persistent side of Xbox Live. Called "Living Games," the tech leverages cloud computing to create persistent worlds. The company adds that "your games stay in sync with the real world, which means the latest stats can be automatically fed into your sports games." Furthermore, "Advanced AI even allows your friends to play against your shadow when you're not available." We're assuming Microsoft got the idea after a late night viewing of Michael Keaton's 1996 comedy smash, Multiplicity.Xbox One incorporates 'Smart Match' matchmaking, 'Living Game' tech originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 21 May 2013 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Although lacking in game reveals, Microsoft's Xbox One announcement presentation was nonetheless host to a couple of game announcements. Phil Spencer took to the stage to announce that there were 15 exclusive titles in works that would be released in the first year of the console's life. Two of those were revealed then and there: Forza 5, the latest entry in Turn 10 Studio's hit racing franchise was one of the two, and looks sets to be a launch title for the console. The other was a brand new IP, called Quantum Break, which is being developed by Remedy (the team behind Alan Wake, for those who can't be bothered to Google).This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Forza 5 and Quantum Break Announced - News

Today's conference may not have been everything one could ask for, but it's important to remember that this was extremely close to Microsoft's E3 press conference so it makes sense that some things were left for that event in three weeks' time. One announcement that leads me to believe that Microsoft's E3 press conference could be one of the best is the announcement from Phil Spencer today that Microsoft Games Studios is hard at work on 15 exclusives which will be released for the newly announced Xbox One within its first year on the market. Today's conference only showed two of those exclusives so we still have 13 games that Microsoft has to give more details on come E3. Sure, these won't all be blockbusters, but it's a promising sign that the upcoming conference will be more games and less TV than today's. For reference, here's a link to all the studios in Microsoft Game Studios that these 15 exclusives will be coming from. This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Xbox One to have 15 exclusives from Microsoft Game Studios - News

Among the announcements in Microsoft's Xbox One reveal was the creation of a new Halo TV series, headed by Stephen Spielberg. The show will be titled “Halo: The Television Series,” and appears to only be available for viewing on the Xbox One. Details of the series are scarce, but given the widely positive reception to the “Forward Unto Dawn” miniseries, fans have a lot to be excited about. This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Live Action Halo TV Series with Spielberg Announced - News

Not mentioned at Microsoft's Xbox One presentation was the fate of used games. There had been much speculation whether Microsoft would cut used games out of the picture on their new console. Wired is reporting that they haven't, but there will be a fee. Microsoft confirmed to Wired that all games will have a "pre-owned fee". The games themselves will be installed into the first Xbox One they are inserted into. The game will then be connected to the player's Xbox Live gamertag. When another player tries to put the disc into a different Xbox One, they will be required to pay the pre-owned fee in order to install the game onto their Xbox One. The fee amount has not been disclosed. Effectively, this means sharing games with your friends is now impossible to do without ponying up some extra cash. Also briefly mentioned in the Wired article is that the Xbox One will not be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games, though purchased licenses for other content (such as movies and music) will transfer to Xbox One.This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Xbox One Has "Pre-Owned Fee" For Used Games, Not Backwards Compatible - News

Many critics have claimed that the Call of Duty has reached its peak and the franchise has started a decline. However, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg has stated that franchise has never been stronger and Call of Duty: Ghosts will set a franchise record. "Sometimes people have suggested that this franchise is cresting or has crested," said Hirshberg to MCVUK. "And I know it seems like it should. But there’s just one problem. It’s not. In fact, by just about every measure we look at, Call of Duty has never been stronger. This franchise is not only still vibrant, it is still growing. Sales of the game, sales of the downloadable content, number of monthly active users, the number of daily active users, average play, social media influence, whatever you look at, hard measures or soft measures, this is a franchise that is still on the rise after all this time." "That’s remarkable," added Hirshberg. "Keeping Call of Duty relevant, growing, thriving and still surprising people is not easy. In fact, it might actually be the hardest creative assignment of them all. We are all attracted to the blank page, the creative opportunities where there are no restrictions, but a franchise like Call of Duty has more responsibility to its fans. "And then to keep coming up with new and meaningful ways to innovate each and every time, to keep it fresh and exciting," concluded Hirshberg. "I think our teams have done that better than anyone." Call of Duty: Ghosts was first shown today at the Xbox One Reveal. The game is set to be released on November 5th for the current generation and next generation consoles.

Microsoft Xbox Live VP Marc Whitten has told The Verge that the Xbox One will not have backwards compatibility. This is due the console having a different core architecture than the Xbox 360. "No, there's not," said Whitten when asked about backwards compatibility. "The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn't really work from that perspective." The Xbox One uses an x86 CPU, while the Xbox 360 uses a Xenon processor. Games won't be able to run natively on the new hardware due the difference. The PlayStation 4 has the same problem, but Sony did promise PlayStation 3 games will be playable at some point through the cloud. It is possible for the Xbox One to do the same thing in the future, but nothing has been announced at this time.

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EA has announced China Rising, the first DLC for Battlefield 4. It is free to anyone who pre-orders the game.