Social Gaming

Microsoft’s next-generation console, Xbox One, won’t function if you don’t connect it to the Internet. Following Microsoft’s big reveal event today, the company posted a series of answers to the questions many people were asking. The first issue the company addressed is the console’s Internet requirement. “No, [Xbox One] does not have to be always connected, but Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet,” reads the FAQ. “We’re designing Xbox One to be your all-in-one entertainment system that is connected to the cloud and always ready. We are also designing it so you can play games and watch Blu-ray movies and live TV if you lose your connection.” The wording of that answer is broad but telling. Xbox One can lose its online connection, but it requires one to function. They are “designing” it so you can still play your games if you lose the connection — something that the Xbox 360 is already capable of. The FAQ goes on to say the Internet requirement enables Xbox One to access the cloud to make games better. “The cloud makes every experience better and more accessible,” the FAQ continues. “Because Xbox One is powered by the cloud your games have more power available to create new gameplay, persistent worlds, and deeper experiences. You games and entertainment are stored and save in the cloud, so you can access them anytime, from any Xbox One. Start a game, movie, or TV show on one console and finish exactly where you left off on another.” We’ve repeatedly contacted Microsoft and asked its executives to clarify if this means Xbox One needs a connection to start single-player games. “We cannot go into these specifics as we haven’t made any announcements about that yet,” a Microsoft spokesperson told me. Immediately following the Xbox One event, Spike TV’s Geoff Keighley asked Microsoft’s Xbox president Don Mattrick if the system requires an “always-on” connection for single-player games. “No, you don’t always have to be connected,” Mattrick told Keighley. “But for a lot of things, like multiplayer gaming and for streaming content from the Internet, you’re going to need an Internet connection. That’s the world we live in.” Keighley accepted this answer saying: “So gamers can calm down?” “Gamers can calm down,” said Mattrick. “We got you covered.” Only Mattrick was very careful in his wording. He emphasized “always” in his response, which suggests an Internet connection is necessary to run a single-player game, but the game will still work if that connection is lost temporarily. Kotaku seemed to confirm that today when it revealed that Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison told it that Xbox One requires players to connect once every 24 hours in order to function. We asked Microsoft about that and again it told us that they haven’t announced any specifics, so we don’t know if that is true or what would happen after that 24-hour period. And that’s the problem. Microsoft isn’t telling us anything. It thinks it can control the message about its exciting new box, but it’s left gamers worried and confused. Finally, we asked Microsoft about the 15 to 20 percent of Xbox 360 owners that never connected that device to the Internet, according to a study by industry tracking firm IDC. “The vast majority of our Xbox 360 owners have Internet in their homes, and we’ve built this platform to take advantage of the tremendous benefits of a connected device,” a spokesperson told us. Or — in the words of a former Xbox employee — deal with it. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to com

Amid the storm of Xbox One coverage around the web today, Microsoft Store attempted to build up even more hype and demand for their next-gen console by offering an enticing freebie offer. If you sign-up for preorder email notification on the Xbox One, you’ll receive a $10 Microsoft Store credit in return for your trouble. This offer was so good, in fact, that the Microsoft Store servers got hit hard by bargain hunters on deal sites and deal forums from across the web. Things got even more out of hand when people found loopholes for the $10 credit, resulting in many $0 orders being cancelled. Essentially, the $10 credit is only valid on items over $10 MSRP, but it turns out this didn’t exclude items on sale. Thus, anything originally over $10, on sale for under $10 was free and ripe for the picking. It didn’t take long for Microsoft to wise up and cancelled thousands of 800 Xbox Live points orders en mass. Having said that, there are still some choice deals you can get with the $10 credit. Here are a few examples: Universal Cassette Adapter – $2 after credit (yep we’re serious) Kingston DataTraveler 16 GB Flash Drive – $3 after credit Xbox Live 1600 Points – $10 after credit Belkin 8-Outlet Surge Protectors – $10 after credit The $10 credit offer is valid until June 9th and the credit itself expires on the same date, so don’t bother holding onto the credit thinking you can get $10 off your actual Xbox One preorder. Why Microsoft didn’t allow that is beyond us, but the credit does work on numerous Xbox 360 titles. Heads up: Microsoft Store’s server is still being hammered quite a bit, so error messages are still being reported left and right when trying to order something. Definitely a YMMV situation. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .blurb-cat-games hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

World, meet the Xbox One. Microsoft unveiled Xbox One, an all-in-one console that's fashionably late to the next-gen brawl, promising to turn us into couch potatoes. We'll fill you in on everything we know about Xbox One, it's controller and the all-new Kinect. Stay tuned for further coverage of Xbox One and more on Games.com News as we get closer to E3. Console Specs The Xbox One is powered by an eight core x86 CPU providing enough power to "instantly switch between a game and your entertainment app with ease." Adapting to industry standards, it will come equipped with a Blu-Ray drive with which you can "watch movies and play games in stunning HD..." Competing directly with the PS4 spec-by-spec, it also comes built with 8 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive, which as Microsoft elaborates, will be smaller due to "...significant amount of storage..." consumed by the Xbox One's required software. Keeping things moving briskly and lag-free will be a critical part of the Xbox One's experience and "the combination of its CPU, GPU and ESRAM is like have a supercomputer in your living room." Controller details The thought of Microsoft changing the near-perfect Xbox 360 controller could make a grown person cry, but just look. It's not bad. It's rather good, actually. First of all, the analog nubs are extra grippy and concave to enhance your comfort and precision. The D-Pad will be easier to use and more accurate, which means no more screaming when you mess up trying to string together combos. One of the most interesting changes to the controller are the "vibrating, impulse Triggers". Who knows if this will act to provide natural resistance to actions like firing a gun or executing a melee action in-game. Similar to the PS4's Dual Shock 4, the Xbox One controller will act as another form of player identification for the Kinect. By pairing the controller to the person who is using it, the Xbox One can intelligently sign in and sign out of user accounts dynamically. Awesome. Kinect The Kinect is not necessary to fully enjoy all the Xbox 360 has to offer. As a serious gamer, I know I'm not alone when I say that it's hard to find a reason to justify using a Kinect, mine is in its retail box at home. It's a great idea, incorporated sloppily as a competitive push in motion gaming, an afterthought. However, with the Xbox One, the depth of Kinect's interactive capabilities shown at the event were impressive. We are, after all, dealing with "rocket-science level stuff" here. The most consumer-friendly addition is the inclusion of HD Skype calling. Introducing video chat, gestures and voice commands that can switch television inputs, change channels, update your sports fantasy leagues are all nice but at the heart of Kinect, we need better gaming interaction. If the Kinect can make good on its promises and developers can grasp the technology in creative ways, it just might finally compliment the Xbox One experience instead of getting in the way. Are you happy with the Xbox One announcement? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment [Credit: Xbox] Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Microsoft revealed the Xbox One today at the Xbox: A New Generation event in Redmond, Washington. The successor of the Xbox 360 will boasts features such as a blu-ray drive, improved Kinect camera capable of 1080p capture. Stay tuned for further details. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

It's time. As promised, we're bringing you a live feed of the Xbox event at Microsoft's HQ in Redmond, Washington. GameTrailers will provide the feed below, hosted by the legend himself, Geoff Keighley. Expect a new console, new games, new experiences, and possibly, an awkward celebrity appearance. Sound off in the comments below. I'll be chiming in from time to time to answer questions and to hang out with you guys. Add comment > [Live stream credit: GameTrailers] Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One console today. It’s a next-gen multimedia hub that will play games, TV, and movies in one seamless experience. Xbox Live, the Xbox name, and your Gamertag will all transition to the new hardware — but you’re gonna have to leave some things behind — like Super Meat Boy. The company confirmed today that the Xbox One isn’t backward compatible with the 360. That means the Xbox 360 games you own wont’ work on the new device, but it also means those digital Xbox Live Arcade games you purchased won’t migrate to the next system. @JeffGrubb Xbox One was built to play an entirely new generation of games, it is not backwards compatible. xbx.lv/XBOFAQ ^JD— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport1) May 21, 2013 Those digital goods are forever stuck in the Xbox 360 ecosystem unless Microsoft and other publishers make an effort to port the old games to the new hardware. Xbox One uses a PC architecture that is very different from the 360. In order to add support for those games, Microsoft would have to include 360 inside every Xbox One. That would shoot up the price on a unit that already includes a console, a controller, and a Kincet motion camera. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .blurb-cat-games hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

For more on Xbox One, check out our complete coverage. GameStop president Tony Bartel says that with two new next-gen consoles this year, “the gamers win.” The gaming retail giant is preparing for the upcoming releases of two major consoles: the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, which Microsoft announced today, and the ramifications this could have on one of its major sources of revenue: used games. In a phone interview with GamesBeat, Bartel spoke about the importance of the used games market and his concerns for next-gen consoles from Microsoft and Sony, both of which launch before the end of the year. We talked to Bartel to get a major retailer’s perspective on a new console announcement and what it means for the world’s largest seller of games. The Xbox One may seem like an odd name for the new box. It’s Microsoft’s third console. We asked Bartel his perspective as a retailer on that branding. “[It's] definitely surprising after we heard the speculation. We are going to have to stop saying Xbox 720 and say Xbox One,” he said. “It’s simple. I think that’s what they were after. By the time that this thing comes around, it will be rolling off the balls of our tongue.” Bartel would not go into specifics about used games, which will require a fee for play on separate Xbox accounts according to Wired. “They have not discussed that with us yet. What they are going to say, if they haven’t said it already, is that they are going to design it [Xbox One] to work with trade-in and resell games. [Even Microsoft isn't sure -- Ed.] We’re going to work very closely to make this a seamless transition from Xbox 360 to Xbox One,” said Bartel. GameStop president Tony Bartel Bartel used Electronic Arts as an example, “EA said, ‘Look, our Online Pass isn’t working.’” The publisher recently discontinued its Online Pass program, which had players pay an extra fee for full online features when they purchased games used. ”Any type of friction implemented into the system would make it more difficult [for consumers],” and Bartel says that retailers and console makers want as little friction as possible. Pressed further on used games, Bartel says, “We can’t speculate. I’ll go with what we do know. The point is that the buy-sell-trade model is very positive. Over a billion dollars of trade credit is applied mostly toward new games [About 70 percent of trade-in credit goes into new games, according to Bartel].” Microsoft and Sony won’t kill the used games market, but whose console will launch first? Microsoft or Sony? “That’s a good question,” said Bartel, saying that we know both will come before the end of the year, but “the gamer wins in this whole deal, and that’s what I’m excited about. I like that Microsoft says they have more games in development than they’ve ever had in their history.” In preparation for upcoming launches, GameStop announced its “First to Know” list. The retailer already has gamers signing up. “First to Know” is a service GameStop offers to those who want to receive email and notifications about upcoming consoles, such as price announcements, release dates and other relevant information. “We are going to have a good idea of which people are going to want these consoles,” said Bartel. The retailer keeps track of members of its “PowerUp Rewards” program, which GameStop customers sign up for to receive additional trade-in credit and bonuses for being frequent shoppers. That information helps GameStop learn what kind of purchases certain consumers are likely to make and which gamers to target with specific games or consoles. When asked what the most important thing for a retailer to nail down during a console launch, Bartel said, “I think it’s two things. It comes

Here’s something you might not know: One mouse click burns 0.00142 calories. In action-role-playing PC games like Diablo III, you’ll click that mouse literally thousands of times. And according to developer Blizzard Entertainment’s statistics (assuming one monster death equals one click), all that clicking has led players to burn 4.7 billion calories. Who needs exercise when you have Diablo III? Blizzard celebrates the first year of its action-RPG with an infographic [see below] full of all sorts of crazy numbers, like players killing 3.3 trillion monsters or finding over 648 trillion pieces of gold. Diablo III requires a constant Internet connection, which led to a catastrophic launch last year filled with errors, negative user reviews, and memes. In spite of its rocky start, 14.5 million unique players have fought against Diablo’s horde of demons. For its second year, Blizzard is exposing Diablo III to a new set of players — PlayStation owners. During Sony’s PlayStation 4 event in February, Blizzard revealed that Diablo III will head to both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 with console-specific changes and features. I can’t wait until Blizzard tells us how many calories we’ll shave off from pushing those analog sticks. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .blurb-cat-games hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

Microsoft wants to make sure you always have a friend online. The company announced through its official Xbox Support Twitter account that it will allow for up to 1,000 friends on Xbox Live. Polygon spotted the confirmation from Xbox Support, shown below: @clear_then_die 1000 friends is indeed confirmed ^JG— Xbox Support (1-5) (@XboxSupport) May 21, 2013 Xbox Live currently restricts your friends list to 100. That’s a limit that many gamers have already met, meaning they have to turn down new friend requests. With the new 1,000 limit, it’s going to take much longer to fill that list. But we’re sure someone out there will manage to do it. For more, check our Xbox One hub page or our roundup of all available Xbox One information. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .blurb-cat-games hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

Fast and Furious 6: The Game is an iOS and Android game from Kabam. It is available now for free in the App Store, and coming soon to Google Play. It carries additional in-app purchases. Fast and Furious 6: The Game is based around the newest installment of the Fast and Furious film series. In the game, players travel around the city, meeting characters from the movie, and drag and drift their way through the ranks with the goal of becoming the city’s top racer. It’s a setting that looks to appeal to fans of the movie series, but the references are light enough to not push away players who aren’t familiar with source material. The game starts off by dropping players behind the wheel and walks them through the process of a drag race. Since the race is a straight shot from point A to B, there’s no steering wheel, gas pedal, or break system. Instead, each race starts with a countdown at the end of which, the player hits a “launch” button. During a drag race, the only controls are a lever to shift gears and a nitrous oxide boost. There are also drift races, which work identical to drag races, but about halfway through a race, the gear shift lever is replaced with a drift button, and players must hold it as they float along curves. Both race types are simple enough for most players to grasp, but the timing required to compete with high-level opponents may be a bit much for some players. Winning races and completing challenges earns credits. These credits act as one of the in-game currencies and they can be used to purchase nearly everything in the game. Players are given enough credits for a car at the start, and from there they can purchase more as they progress. There are currently about twenty cars available, and only three are available from the beginning. As players win races and advance to different areas of the city, more expensive cars become available. Fast and Furious 6: The Game isn’t going to draw in car aficionados with its relatively small array of vehicles, but fans of the movies may enjoy the style and speed of the lineup. Players can also use their in-game credits to purchase upgrades to their available cars. These upgrades improve how the car performs, but any purchase made with credits may take a few minutes to arrive. Players who don’t want to wait can receive their purchase automatically by using gold, the other form of in-game currency, and how Fast and Furious 6: The Game monetizes. Gold can purchase everything credits can, but can also buy design changes and save time. There are various instances where players need to wait due to an energy mechanic  which limits how long a user game session time. Whether they’ve purchased an upgrade or ran out of fuel, players can continue with the action by spending gold. A little bit of gold can be earned by playing the game but more can be purchased in the shop. Gold pricing ranges from $2.99 to $99.99, although any bundle cheaper than $19.99 won’t likely be enough for serious players. Fast and Furious 6: The Game is a fun experience. There aren’t many notable drag racing games on the market, so it still feels somewhat rare. Because it’s a licensed title, a lot of players are likely to pass on it before they try, but those who give it a shot are likely to find themselves entertained. It lacks a bit of staying power, partially because it uses a movie license, and partially due to a lack of multiplayer interaction. However, there’s still a fun experience that’s likely to draw in both racing fans and Fast and Furious fans. You can follow Fast and Furious 6: The Game’s progress on AppData, our tracking tool for mobile and social apps and developers.