Microsoft Ventures Andy McCartney was interviewed at the recent Game Jam that Train2Game held.
Andy is CEO of the Microsoft Ventures intiative which gives independent games development studios the help and support they need throughout the course of developing an app.
You can enjoy the video interview with Andy below and found out more about Microsoft Ventures at https://www.microsoftventures.com/
The new games for gold on Xbox have been announced for this month. Dust An Elysian Tale and Saints Row The Third.
Dust, which is usually priced at £9.99 / $14.99, is now free until May 15. Saints Row The Third, which is normally priced at £14.99 / $19.99, will be free to download from May 16 until the end of the month.
Dust An Elysian Tale is a beautiful arcade game with an engaging story. The game play is a bit repetitive but the story and characters keep you engaged through out. The game was designed, created and coded all by one independent coder named Dean Dodrill. A truly astounding spectacle of one mans works.
I imagine Saints Row The Third needs less of a description with the high popularity it received along with it’s recent sequel Saints Row IV. The game is along the same lines as the GTA series but with a total level of insanity added to the mix.
Enjoy the Games with Gold this month!
Microsoft has announced no less than 12 original TV shows or features for Xbox Live, all of which “will offer interactive capabilities, as well as unique interactive features customized on a per-show basis, making it a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience you won’t find anywhere else.”
Created or overseen by the recently founded Xbox Entertainment Studios, the pickings include the previously announced Halo TV series, plus a Halo “digital feature” executive produced by Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Blade Runner. There’s also a reality TV show about up-and-coming football players, a couple of shows based on famous tabletop games, and a 2015-bound Channel 4 series about machines that look like humans. It’s a bit of a spread.
In the words of Jordan Levin, executive vice president of Xbox Entertainment Studios, “creating original TV content is a logical next step in our evolution”. This echoes comments to OXM from various bigwigs on the subject last year. According to Microsoft Soho’s Rob Stevens, for example, “game developers are realising there is a big appetite for more immersive interactive content, which we have decades of invaluable experience in making with games – creating this type of content for TV gives us the ability to reach a hugely diverse array of new audiences.”
The first shows are due to screen on Xbox Live this year – Microsoft has apparently looked at hundreds more concepts, more details on those will be announced at a later date.
Microsoft has revealed the latest version of its DirectX API at GDC. The new version has been designed to work across across multiple platforms including PC, Xbox One, tablets and smartphones.
It was claimed the API reduces CPU overhead significantly compared to DirectX 11 and was designed from scratch to take full advantage of advanced GPU hardware features on next-gen systems.
DirectX 12 was shown off on stage with a tech demo of Forza 5 running on a PC powered by an Nvidia Geforce Titan Black by Microsoft DirectX development manager Anuj Gosalia.
Nvidia, which worked with Microsoft on developing the API, will support the latest upgrade on all DirectX 11-class GPUs it has shipped in the Fermi, Kepler and Maxwell architectural families.
“DX12’s focus is on enabling a dramatic increase in visual richness through a significant decrease in API-related CPU overhead,” said Nvidia engineer Henry Moreton.
“Historically, drivers and OS software have managed memory, state, and synchronisation on behalf of developers. However, inefficiencies result from the imperfect understanding of an application’s needs. DX12 gives the application the ability to directly manage resources and state, and perform necessary synchronisation. As a result, developers of advanced applications can efficiently control the GPU, taking advantage of their intimate knowledge of the game’s behaviour.”
While initial details have covered the form of the graphics API, Moreton said future Direct3D releases would include new rendering features.
No release date has been set for DirectX 12.
As of 11th March, the Xbox One’s Twitch app will finally support livestreaming. What’s more, it’ll allow you to join a broadcaster’s Xbox Live party while watching their stream.
Livestreaming was originally planned for launch, but was delayed “to ensure that the Twitch broadcasting experience meets all of your expectations”. Microsoft and Twitch now claim that the Xbox One Twitch app is the most “complete” you’ll find on a console.
“It’s complete integration,” Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said yesterday. “It’s exciting because we’ve never had the ability to broadcast from a console like this with such a deep level of integration. The concept of being able to join a broadcasters’ party is really cool, and it’s another step in the direction of interacting more closely with broadcasters.”
The PS4’s Twitch app has supported livestreaming since launch but it doesn’t allow you to join the broadcaster’s party, however. “That’s a very certain type of experience,” Xbox vice president of marketing and strategy Yusuf Mehdi observed of Sony’s offering. “For us, we thought that was too limiting for what our fans would want. Our fans really want the full next-gen service, so that’s why we decided to take our time, do it right and have it come out in this fashion.”
“This will open up the social aspect of Xbox One in a new way,” he added. “The community of Twitch is huge, and this allows us to type into that, and frankly do something that’s never been done before on consoles. You’ll be able to broadcast to any device and consume anyone’s broadcast from any device. It’s a console experience unique to the Xbox One.”
There’s Kinect support, of course. You’ll be able to start a broadcast by saying “Xbox, broadcast”. To stop, say “Xbox, stop broadcast”.
The former Nokia CEO is taking over the Devices and Studios division, as Julie Larson-Green moves into a new role within the company.
With Microsoft acquiring Nokia’s device and services division, Stephen Elop, who had been a candidate to take over for Steve Ballmer (Satya Nadella got the job), is now about to lead Microsoft’s Devices and Studios division, which is home to entertainment, games, Xbox, and Surface.
Julie Larson-Green revealed that she’s taking up a new role to lead the My Life & Work team in the Applications and Services Group, serving as Chief Experience Officer.
“As hard as it is for me to leave Devices & Studios, I’m thrilled about this opportunity… I want to thank each and every one of you for welcoming me and supporting me as the leader of Devices & Studios over the past 7 months. I’m very proud of what we have accomplished during such a short timeframe. We launched Xbox One, Surface 2 & Pro 2, blockbuster games like Forza and Ryse, a brand new Xbox Music and Video service, PPI, and some amazing unannounced innovations just to name a few – incredibly impressive!” she wrote.
Larson-Green added that she’s looking to make the transition in the Xbox group as smooth as possible.
“I’ll remain in role leading the DnS organization in the interim until the Nokia deal closes and Stephen Elop makes his transition to Microsoft. We’ve been meeting regularly throughout and are making a lot of progress, ensuring our teams are ready for the Day 1 close and beyond,” she said. “You are all in great hands with Stephen and already we’ve shared a lot with him and his LT from Nokia regarding all of the fantastic people, teams and products in DnS. I also know many of you are looking forward to welcoming the Nokia team and working more closely with them.”
Ironically, back in November when Elop was still in the running for the Microsoft CEO position, it was reported that he would consider selling off the Xbox business, and now he’s going to be overseeing it.
Source: Games Industry.biz
Microsoft have cut Xbox One prices down to £399.99 permanently with a new bundle including a free copy of Titanfall.
The Xbox One price cut comes into effect this coming Friday, the 28th February. Microsoft are trying to boost the sales of their console ready for Titanfall being released a fortnight later.
Xbox’s UK Marketing Director Harvey Eagle said in an interview this morning “It’s about giving gamers in the UK the best possible value that we can,
“We feel the time is right now to do this because Titanfall is coming out. It’s the game that most gamers are looking forward to playing, and we think that this is a great time to offer this new price point moving forwards, and include the game while stocks last.
“Titanfall is a game that has won more than 80 awards so far, it’s incredibly hotly anticipated, and I believe it’s a game that people will buy an Xbox One in order to play. But moving forwards if you think about what I think are the three hottest games of the year to come, Titanfall, Watch Dogs and Destiny, the only place you’re going to be able to play all three of those games is on Xbox One.”
The price drop and new Titanfall bundle are very welcome but they still can’t compare with the PlayStation 4’s price of £349.99. Time will tell how this will affect console sales.
Some lucky Xbox One users may have the chance to beta test future updates. This would be incredibly helpful for Train2Game students on the QA Course.
The Xbox NewsWire states “Beginning today, Xbox is inviting select Xbox Live members to preview new features coming to Xbox One in a March system update and future system updates as they become available, asking them to provide valuable feedback before the updates are implemented worldwide. Selected participants will receive an Xbox Live message with a token to register. The next system update will begin rolling out next week to those who will preview the new features.
Once registered, participants will be able to test the early features included in the update and provide feedback on a private forum and can opt out of future waves.””
The next Xbox one update will improve multiplayer and party features ready for the release of the highly anticipated Titanfall.
So if you own an Xbox One keep an eye on your Xbox Live messages as you might just be lucky enough to be a part of the Xbox One’s future!
Microsoft are releasing the first Xbox One dashboard update. The update was due today but has been pushed back for later this week.
The system update will add the ability to manage storage, improve Kinect voice commands and add lots of behind-the-scenes updates for developers.
Chief product officer Marc Whitten wrote on Xbox Wire “Just as we did with Xbox 360, Xbox One will have regular updates to deliver new features and platform experiences designed to delight you,
“It features many new improvements – including lots of behind-the-scenes updates for developers building apps and games for Xbox One, several new features we believe Xbox fans will love, stability and product updates to improve the customer experience, and continuous improvements to the quality of Kinect voice so commands become more fluid and responsive over time.”
Some of the updates that will be coming are as follows:
Another update will follow on March 4 to prepare your Xbox One for Titanfall – it will offer many new features and improvements, most significantly a new party and multiplayer system.
“This post is the first of many announcements and sneak peeks at features in the system updates,” Whitten added. “We’ve been carefully listening to your feedback and look forward to delivering many new features that will make Xbox One even better. We’re just getting started and can’t wait to share more information in the coming weeks.”
Team17 is excited to unveil plans to release their first PlayStation 4 and Xbox One title, Worms Battlegrounds.
Worms Battlegrounds will be one of the first titles to be self-published on the Xbox One under the ID@Xbox program, of which Team17 is one of the ambassadors.
The veteran independent British publisher is proud to see its award-winning franchise make its debut on the next generation of consoles, having seen it already appear on over twenty-five other platforms since its introduction back in 1995.
Worms Battlegrounds is due for a 2014 release and will be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Nutjitsu, a lush-looking Pac-Man meets Mini Ninjas game from Ninjabee, creator of the Kefling games for Xbox Live Arcade has also been announced to be released as part of the ID@Xbox initiative.
The first ID@Xbox games will release in March 2014, according to the program’s director Chris Charla. The list of ID@Xbox applicants apparently extends into the “thousands”.
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