Category: Xbox

What We Know About Microsoft’s 2015 E3 Plans

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Microsoft is trying to cater to core gamers with the Xbox One as they leave behind the focus on Kinect and entertainment media. This June, Microsoft will try and push their exclusive lineup, advanced accessories, and still provide surprises that will try to get a lock on the US market once again, according to independent analyst Billy Pidgeon. Here's a breakdown of what we know about Microsoft's E3 presentation so far.
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  • There will be live coverage by Major Nelson, Graeme Boyd / Xbox Live's Acey Bongos, with guest stars from various developers collaborating with Microsoft.


  • Microsoft's E3 presentation will take place June 15th at 9:30am PT / 12:30pm ET, and will last 90 minutes.

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  • Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Battleborn, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Destiny Expansions, Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition, Doom 3, Forza 6, Guitar Hero Live, Magic Duels: Origins, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Rock Band 4, and Star Wars: Battlefront are all games for Xbox One that are confirmed by IGN to be at E3 in some form.

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  • There are rumors that Microsoft will launch a hard core controller, going after hard core FPS and driving game fans.


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  • There will be "a lot of surprises," according to head of US Xbox Marketing Aaron Greenberg. The holiday lineup will be detailed, including Halo 5, Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6, Fable Legends, all Xbox One exclusives.


  • You can watch the Microsoft E3 keynote presentation on xbox.com live.

Are there any titles or announcements you're hoping for in particular?

Windows 10 Beta on Xbox One Time Frame

An Xbox One Beta of Windows 10 will be coming after the operating system launches on PC. "It will be post-summer," tweets Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's Xbox Division.
We already know that Windows 10 will feature many Xbox apps and services, such as native support for friends lists, messaging, and activity feed, Xbox Live support, Game Streaming, Game DVR. On the Xbox One, DirectX 12, and Windows 10 app support will be coming, as well as the possibility of "universal" games that run both on Windows PC and Xbox One hardware.

What else could be shared between the two? Do you hope to see a dashboard overhaul on the Xbox, or mostly a behind the scenes update?

Source: Neowin

NPDs: Xbox One is US Top Seller in April

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According to the NPDs, the Xbox One outsold the PS4 and Wii U during the month of April. Microsoft was happy to spread the news of its first victory over Sony since last December. "As the best-selling console in the U.S. in April, fans set record April sales and engagement for Xbox One last month," declared Xbox Marketing chief Mike Nichols.
Console software spending increased 20% in the month of April. The PlayStation brand as a whole lead in game sales, perhaps owing to the larger cumulative user base in this current generation, as well as its presence in the handheld gaming sector.
Source: VentureBeat

Microsoft Temporarily Bans Gears Leakers From Live

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When videos of an early build of the Gears of War Remaster leaked yesterday, it didn't take long for Microsoft to react. Because of their actions breaking non disclosure agreements, leakers of the footage will be prevented from signing in to Xbox Live for an indefinite amount of time.
Testing partner VMC Games released a statement which described the punishment as rendering the affected users' consoles "entirely unusable," but this was later refuted by Microsoft, who responded to news outlets saying "To be clear, if a console is suspended from Xbox Live for a violation of the Terms of Use, it can still be used offline. Microsoft enforcement action does not result in a console becoming unusable."
Source: Neowin

Gears of War Remaster Footage Leaked

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GameDVR direct video captures have leaked through Xbox Live users ElitistPath05 and SpongyPlains6, showing Gears of War Remaster running at 60 frames per second with improved lighting effects and texture work. Hit the jump to check it out!
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In this side by side comparison you can see the drastic changes made to overhaul the third person shooter for current generation hardware. According to YouTube user EMK KrAuSeR, improved smoke and blood effects are also in place.

Here are direct links to clip 1, and clip 2, via NeoGAF. Both have been mirrored on Mega, and Gematsu.

Source: Gematsu

Xbox One Witcher 3 is 1080p… Sometimes

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Although a previous error had resulted in 1080p PC footage being shown under the title of the Xbox One version, then pegged at 900p, new information shows that this console version is indeed capable of native full HD resolution, at least some of the time. More details after the jump!
Using a technique called Dynamic Resolution Scaling, the Xbox One version of Witcher 3 will display at full resolution whenever possible, while degrading to as low as 900p during more graphically intensive scenes, such as a fight scene with many characters or a complex far reaching vista. This offers the maximum possible quality at any given moment while maintaining an optimal frame rate.
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This is not a new technique, it was already popularized with the id Tech 5 engine, designed to deliver 60fps gameplay across all platforms, and more recently used in Wolfenstein: The New Order. Developer CD Projekt Red puts their utmost confidence behind this method, "We've been working to give gamers an even better experience on Xbox One and, on day 1, we'll bring you dynamic scaling from 900p to 1080p. We're not much more than a week before launch, but we're still fighting for every line of code - we want gamers to get the best possible experience we can deliver."
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The PlayStation 4 version is locked at 1080p, and the PC version can scale with any given hardware configuration. Considering most cross-platform ports, CD Projekt Red is going the extra mile to deliver optimal performance across all target hardware configurations. Hopefully this method will become the norm in establishing parity among cross platform releases, squeezing as much possible performance out of each console.
Source: Eurogamer

A Closer Look at Microsoft’s HoloLens

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HoloLens is Microsoft's Augmented Reality peripheral for the Windows PC and Xbox One. We've heard a lot about it, seen some of the promotional material, but until recently there haven't been too many discussions about hands on experiences with the prototype. A presentation at Build 2015 has pulled back the curtain a little bit, read on for the details.
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The HoloLens features a narrow field of view, projecting holograms within your focus, starting to fade in your peripheral vision. This means that where you're looking directly, you'll see objects, but you won't be able to see these same projections out of the corner of your eye.

There is a built in Kinect style camera, which is a huge leap ahead of the capabilities of the Xbox One accessory. This allows the device to pick up the environment, as well as your hands as you interact with objects. Since the objects you manipulate are only in the center of your vision, your hands will be in direct line of sight of the camera, which answers a lot of questions about how applications will allow you to manipulate models that could be littered all about the room.

This new camera will also allow you to record what you see, including the holograms, so that a new type of video will be possible to convey the entire augmented reality experience to others.

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Close to each ear are two red speakers, which will produce sounds reflecting the current game or application, and will still allow ambient sounds through so you get a mix of both while wearing the device. You'll also be able to get feedback from Cortana, which is integrated as a digital assistant to which you can give speech commands.

With development kits already in the hands of designers, and E3 coming up fast, hopefully we will learn about the actual gaming applications intended for Microsoft's futuristic prototype. Look forward to June for more information!

Source: Neowin

Xbox One’s May Firmware Update Now Live

Major Nelson's announced that Microsoft's latest console firmware update finally brings voice messages, which can be sent between Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles. Energy saving options have also been highlighted during the initialization setup process, and adds a feature to the SmartGlass app allowing you to control the system's on/off state through your local network.
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Party chat services are now being transferred to dedicated servers, with an expanded rollout in the coming weeks.

What features would you like to see in the next update? Is there anything still missing, or are you happy enough with the experience as it is now? Are there any features in particular that you wish other console makers would adopt?

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Source: GameSpot

Halo Chief Admits Master Chief Fumble

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Frank O'Connor, Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries feels bad about the Halo collection's state upon release, and how it was subsequently handled. "Halo: The Master Chief Collection is definitely a black eye for us," is how he starts out in an interview with XboxAchievements. "We’re not going to rest on our laurels or hide from the mistakes we made." That much is true, as we can tell from his rather candid attestation.
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Says O'Connor, “To be perfectly honest, there were a lot of things that happened when we got it into a retail environment that we simply didn’t see in a test environment, so that’s what really caught us by surprise."

Most of the issues have been with the multiplayer portion of the game, so it's perfectly reasonable to assume this was correct, however considering the amount of polish previous entries received, it's entirely possible that it was difficult to recreate test scenarios that reflected regular use within the scope of the testing environment.

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"Halo 5 is being made by a completely different team. It’s a singular product. It was built from the ground up for this new technology, rather than being sort of dragged kicking and screaming from 2001 and forced and shoehorned into a 2014 console."

That's a statement that should reassure fans who are looking forward to the next entry, but at the same time it casts disparity upon the effort to enshrine Microsoft's hallmark IP in a compendium. Nonetheless, a gargantuan effort has been made to bring the Master Chief Collection up to snuff, as well as compensating early adopters with a free pass to Halo 3: ODST.

Here is the entire XboxAchievements interview for your viewing pleasure. Frank O'Connor seems to be adamant about the quality of the final version of Halo 5. "I think the beta is already a decent first step, in a retail environment, showing that we don’t have the same problems."

Please tell us your experiences with the collection, and what you are hoping for in the upcoming sequel!

Xbox One Could Get DVR Capabilities This Year

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Windows Media Center, a DVR and Media Player suite with an interface that works well on both the desktop and in the living room, is being phased with Xbox Video as a suggested replacement. For now, it lacks the DVR functionality that were introduced with Windows MCE, but this may all change later this year.
Paul Thurrott of WinSuperSite and the Windows Weekly podcast has been in contact with unnamed sources, who are assuring the arrival of TV broadcast recording functionality. Through Xbox Video, this should allow the Xbox One to act as a DVR, complementing one of its core features, the OneGuide.

Continuously adding new features through firmware updates, the Xbox One feature set now includes digital TV tuner support in North America, which has been available in Europe for over a year. Perhaps Microsoft's renewed focus on Xbox One entertainment could actually regain its momentum with DVR capabilities.

Source: Neowin