Topic: XboxOne ~News/Rumor/Speculation~ Biggest Console Released This Gen!!

[magicpixie]

Holy fuckin' ****:
http://www.heyuguysgaming.com/news/12507/heartbroken-xbox-one-employee-lets-rip-must-read

...First is family sharing, this feature is near and dear to me and I truly felt it would have helped the industry grow and make both gamers and developers happy. The premise is simple and elegant, when you buy your games for Xbox One, you can set any of them to be part of your shared library. Anyone who you deem to be family had access to these games regardless of where they are in the world. There was never any catch to that, they didn’t have to share the same billing address or physical address it could be anyone. When your family member accesses any of your games, they’re placed into a special demo mode. This demo mode in most cases would be the full game with a 15-45 minute timer and in some cases an hour. This allowed the person to play the game, get familiar with it then make a purchase if they wanted to. When the time limit was up they would automatically be prompted to the Marketplace so that they may order it if liked the game. We were toying around with a limit on the number of times members could access the shared game (as to discourage gamers from simply beating the game by doing multiple playthroughs). but we had not settled on an appropriate way of handling it. One thing we knew is that we wanted the experience to be seamless for both the person sharing and the family member benefiting. There weren’t many models of this system already in the wild other than Sony’s horrendous game sharing implementation, but it was clear their approach (if one could call it that) was not the way to go. Developers complained about the lost sales and gamers complained about overbearing DRM that punished those who didn’t share that implemented by publishers to quell gamers from taking advantage of a poorly thought out system. We wanted our family sharing plan to be something that was talked about and genuinely enjoyed by the masses as a way of inciting gamers to try new games.

The motto around the offices for the family plan was “It’s the console gaming equivalent to spotify and pandora” it was a social network within itself! The difference between the family sharing and the typical store demo is that your progress is saved as if it was the full game, and the data that was installed for that shared game doesn’t need to be erased when they purchase the full game! It gave incentive to share your games among your peers, it gave games exposure, it allowed old games to still generate revenue for publishers. At the present time we’re no longer going forward with it, but it is not completely off the table. It is still possible to implement this with the digital downloaded versions of games, and in fact that’s the plan still as far as I’m aware.

Jeez, if that's true...

[oohhboy]

So the so called family plan itself was a load of bollocks.

[shingi_70]

Dun Dun Dun

[azeke]

I guess, this goes here since it's Xbox exclusive...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQDUdopVNPA

Aside from dubious name (this really has nothing to do with Fantasia and come on, who're to say you know better what Disney wanted to do), it's pretty interesting.

Like Elite Beat Agents only you are flailing your hands instead of moving your stylus.

[tendoboy1984]

So does anyone think Microsoft will bring back their restrictive DRM policies in a few years?

[shingi_70]

No, that would cause an even bigger shitstrom than trying to implement it in the first place.  The odd thing is without the 24 hour check I think Microsoft would have got a decent reception.
 
Its rumored that Microsoft is going to talk about indies this coming BUILD 13.

a bit more on dead rising smartglass features

Is it its own stand-alone app?

No, it’s part of an upcoming version of the Xbox SmartGlass app and will function much like the current version. After you launch the app, it notices that Dead Rising is currently being played, press a button, and in kicks our phone. It actually skins your phone to be like the phone from the game’s universe.

You’ll get calls from a character that are only on the SmartGlass device. So if you don’t have SmartGlass, you won’t get those calls from that guy. Which also means you won’t get those missions.

 Will you be able to finish the game without it?

You can finish the game without it. There’s plenty content as is without it. But we put some exclusives in the game for those who have a SmartGlass compatible device. Personally, I’m a child; I love gadgets, hearing a little ring… I can even customize the ringtones too… and hearing a little voice, that gives you exclusive missions.

 So there’s a character unique to SmartGlass?

Yes. His storyline is his own. And it interweaves with the main storyline. Without it, you’re not losing out on what the story is. But you’re getting more out of the game.

[shingi_70]

So //build/ starts tomorrow and i'm expecting a few updates for the xbox platform. Mostly
 
-The Launch of the Xbox One app/indie story.
-Updates to the Xbox Media apps (Xbox Music web app already announced.)
-Possibly an overview of the Xbox One OS/UI
The Keynote can be found here.
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2013
 
 
 
 

[shingi_70]

So the first build keynote finished and not much Xbox news. (this was told upfront). Makes me wonder if they're going to showcase it tommroow, as the guys who gave this info were right about some other stuff.
 
Xbox News that did come out was.
-Using Windows 8 to share media files to Xbone.
-some directX 11 platforming stuff.
-Kinect for Windows
-Some cool project Spark stuff.
They did show this picture which again is hinting at it

 
Xbox One Kinect for Windows developer pre-orders started as well. For the hot price of $399 you can grab one. Shows how much the Kinect did add to the price of the system.
 
Downloading the Windows 8.1 preview and it looks really good. They're not making the same mistakes google made with Android at least, which gives Microsoft a real shot in the mobile Market place. (tablet at least as windows phone needs more work done)
 

[Ceric]

I like my Windows.  About the only thing I really want at the Core is a Reply All for social Media.  More apps be nice too.

[shingi_70]

Been Playing around with 8.1 and I like its pretty great.


I let my mother have my Nexus 7 so when I get a new tablet its going to be one of those 8 inch windows models.

[BranDonk Kong]

Looks just like Windows 8...

[shingi_70]

Looks just like Windows 8...

Its an update to windows 8. Its like complaining that JB looks like ICS.

[BranDonk Kong]

Not complaining, just observing.

[shingi_70]

Not complaining, just observing.

My bad. Its a decent update that does a good job of putting the Metro framework to replace the regular windows OS.

 

[shingi_70]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-26-microsoft-no-longer-charges-developers-to-patch-their-xbox-360-games

No more charging for Patching and resubmission. All they need now is an indie guys and delf publishing and they're golden.

Microsoft no longer charges developers for Xbox 360 title updates, Eurogamer has been told by multiple development sources.

Microsoft made the policy change on the quiet earlier this year after charging developers tens of thousands of dollars to patch their games.

 Microsoft has always charged a fee when developers first submit their games to Microsoft's certification process so they can be approved for release, and the company normally grants developers one title update free of charge. This remains the case, but sources have told Eurogamer that subsequent re-certification as a result of a title update is now free. This applies to Xbox Live Arcade games and full retail games.

 There are caveats, we understand. If a developer is deemed to be making an excessive number of re-submissions due to an update failing certification, for example, Microsoft reserves the right to issue a charge. But the changes should make critics of Microsoft's closed platform happier - and align the Xbox ecosystem more closely with the likes of Steam

Update:Furthermore, we understand it is now the case that XBLA games are no longer charged for resubmission if they fail certification - there is a single charge for the first submission, but if it fails then the developer is not charged for resubmitting it.

 This has apparently been added to assist smaller development teams who don't have the resources to test games as thoroughly as the larger publishers - although as with the title updates, Microsoft reserves the right to charge for excessive submissions

[Morari]

Its a decent update that does a good job of putting the Metro framework to replace the regular windows OS.

No, it's shallow lip-service that doesn't actually address any of the issues with Windows 8... mainly that Metro even exists on the desktop.

"Look, there's a Start button, now STFU customers!"
--Steve Ballmer, whilst angrily throwing a chair at you.

[Ceric]

I prefer the Metro Start Menu over the Traditional Start Menu.  The Only real change I would make is to make it easier to pull up the all items view.

[shingi_70]

I prefer the start screen and I love how the start button just goes to instead of using the hot corner. Hell with the expection of a few apps I spend a lot of time in the metro enviorment and the stuff they showed off yesterday is slowing bringing metro on par with desktop.

[Ceric]

My problem with Metro apps on Desktop is 1 Maybe 2 apps at a time.  I normally am doing more then that on a desktop.  Also it doesn't support Dual Monitors really that hot at the moment.  I heard 8.1 helps with that.

[shingi_70]

Its fixed but My screen size won't allow me to do it. I can do the halfscreen view. Now developers have to start upgrading for to 8.1 so apps (mostly video) don't look like crap.


Also Microsoft fucking baffles me at times.

Today at Microsoft’s annual Build Conference in San Francisco, a new collaboration was announced  with Unity Technologies, the provider of Unity multi-platform game engine and developer tools. Marking one step in our ongoing commitment to provide the best developer environment for creators, this collaboration will make it even easier for developers to bring popular games, entertainment and apps to Microsoft platforms.

Developers who build games published by Microsoft Studios now have access to Unity tools for Xbox 360 and Xbox One free of charge and can create interactive 3D and 2D experiences. Unity will develop tools for Xbox One, including support for features like multiplayer matchmaking, SmartGlass, enhanced Kinect gestures and recognition, and the power of the cloud.

Steven Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President and Chief Evangelist of Microsoft’s Developer & Platform Evangelism organization said, “Unity has established itself not only as an incredible development toolset and engine, but as a significant force for creative freedom and innovation in the games development community. With Unity’s commitment to support Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Xbox One and Xbox 360, Microsoft’s gaming ecosystem will benefit from the wealth of ideas and imagination flowing from the Unity games development community.”

At Xbox, ensuring that developers of all levels and sizes can bring their creations to life on Xbox One is mission critical. As we look ahead, we look forward to sharing more information on our plans to help empower everyone from the independent game developer looking to make publishing to the console easy to the app developer who wants to bring new experiences to the television.

Guggenheimer demonstrated remote debugging of a basic web application that appeared to be running on an Xbox One, noting that the app included an xbox.js library. "Nothing to announce today, but when I talk about that common core you're seeing that common core in action, being able to target other devices devices over time that run the Windows 8 engine," said Guggenheimer. He then proceeded to tease developers by encouraging them to develop Windows 8 apps in order to build Xbox One apps. "If you want to know about how to get a head start about thinking about developing for Xbox One, the logical thing to do is go build Windows 8 applications," said Guggenheimer


The development platform is still unclear, but Microsoft did note it will support native apps on Xbox One alongside web versions. It appears that developers may need to work with development tools that are almost identical to Windows 8 tools to create Xbox One apps. Microsoft also announced a new partnership with Unity to support all Microsoft platforms, including Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. The toolset lets developers more easily develop games to run across multiple platforms

I mean how the **** do you announce Unity Support and an appstore, but not announce self publishing. I'm still in the belief its coming but not announcing it as soon as you can is bad for developers. Even the app store which is pretty much confirmed they were vauge as hell about.

Would it be so hard to come out and say this.

-Unity support for all Microsoft Platforms (One/360/Win8/Winphone)
-Windows 8 apps will be able to built and put into a Xbox One app store for TV use.
-Self Publishing for all game develoeprs
-But if you decide to publish through Microsoft Studios you get Unity for free.

[shingi_70]

I got into the World of Tanks beta and despite the servers not supposed to be up until later today you can already start playing.

Haven't played the game on PC but the controls on Xbox seem to hold up well once I changed them from the standard FPS/TPS control set that was on by default.

Got my ass handed to me my first match and was surprised this is a one death game with no respawns.

[shingi_70]

So look like Gears is going to stay Xbox Exclusive and probably the judgment team working on it. Not sure where the series can go from hear.

Also Ryse is going to be getting some sort of Graphic Novels an increasing trend for Microsoft IP.




Also despite all the new IP shown at E3, there is still unannounced stuff.


Hmmm Microsoft Apparently Owns Quantum Break. Remedy kept Alsn Wake's IP, I wonder if this is hinting at them being acquired by Microsoft.

[tendoboy1984]

Well Microsoft does co-develop and publish the Gears franchise, so they own the IP. Similar to how Sony owns Resistance and Ratchet & Clank even though Insomniac is an independent 3rd-party developer.

[TJ Spyke]

Well Microsoft does co-develop and publish Gears franchise, so they own the IP. Similar to how Sony owns Resistance and Ratchet & Clank even though Insomniac is an independent 3rd-party developer.

Um, wrong. Epic Games owns the IP. Hell, they have even said they CHOOSE to release it only for Microsoft systems. Microsoft has not co-developed any of the games, and they have no ownership in the series, it is 100% owned by Epic Games. Epic just has a contract to have Microsoft publish the games, but MS has no ownership in the series.

[magicpixie]

Heh, rumour has it that Don Mattrick is leaving MS for Zynga.  I've only read it from a couple places, but if it's true, it seems fitting.