Tag Archives: Microsoft

Train2Game News: Microsoft at E3

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XboxMonday, on the eve of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Microsoft Corp. unveiled the future of gaming on Xbox One through a spectacular lineup of games from the world’s most visionary creators.

This holiday season on Xbox One gamers will enjoy the quintessential collection of the most popular game in Xbox history with “Halo: The Master Chief Collection,” as well as highly anticipated exclusives such as “Sunset Overdrive,” “Forza Horizon 2,” “Fable Legends” and “Dance Central Spotlight.”

From start to finish, Microsoft’s annual E3 press briefing featured wall-to-wall games and highlighted the deep passion for gaming that Xbox creators share with their most dedicated fans. Showcasing the power of the cloud and the best multiplayer experience on Xbox Live, Xbox exclusives shared the stage with blockbusters such as “Assassin’s Creed Unity,” “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” “Evolve” and “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” and independent games such as “INSIDE,” adding to a growing library of games on Xbox One. In addition, beginning today, gamers can choose to buy an all-new Xbox One option for $399. Xbox One with Kinect will continue to be available.

“We are committed to delivering amazing experiences that will help define this generation of games and delight the millions of passionate Xbox fans around the world,” said Phil Spencer, head of Xbox. “Xbox will be the only place you can enjoy the most-anticipated blockbusters and new franchises, including exclusives like ‘Sunset Overdrive,’ ‘Halo: The Master Chief Collection,’ ‘Forza Horizon 2,’ and ‘Dance Central Spotlight.’ In addition, on Xbox One gamers will be able to play upcoming hits like ‘Destiny,’ ‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,’ ‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ and a vibrant catalog of games from independent developers.”

Led by fan feedback, Xbox has delivered new features and updates every month since the launch of Xbox One, setting a new pace for innovation. Only on Xbox One can you instantly switch between your favorite games and entertainment, so you never miss a moment, and easily share your gameplay with others via Upload Studio and Twitch. Xbox Live Gold offers a superior multiplayer experience, with innovative features such as dedicated cloud servers for multiplayer matches, no waiting in lobbies, cloud storage for Game DVR and an advanced reputation system.

Since the launch of Xbox One, the Xbox Live community has spent nearly 1.7 billion hours on games and entertainment, an average of five hours per day per console. The introduction of the new Xbox One console option offers more choice than ever before at a great value.

“Today we’re thrilled to offer our fans more choices to play the games they love and to enjoy all of their entertainment with the new Xbox One option for $399,” said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president, Devices and Studios at Microsoft. “With an amazing lineup of exclusive games and more than 225 entertainment apps available around the world by this holiday, powered by our Xbox Live multiplayer service, we’re committed to making Xbox an incredible place to play.”

You van view more details about some of the games and features in the PDF below:

Further information from Microsoft at E3

Train2Game News Halo 5 announced

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The next Halo game has officially been announced as Halo 5: Guardians.

“Any time you transition to a new platform, there is the opportunity to look at things with a new perspective,” wrote 343’s GM Bonnie Ross in a post over on Xbox Wire. “For us at 343 Industries, the launch of the Xbox One was an opportunity to think about what stories we wanted to tell, how to tell them, and how best to push the Halo franchise to showcase the platform. And maybe, most importantly, combining our passion for Halo with the vocal and informative input from our fans.

“Halo isn’t simply a perennial game franchise, it’s a part of the Xbox platform itself,” she continued. “In terms of innovation and ideation, it’s sometimes important to people who might not even play Halo. In the past, Halo games have pushed the Xbox forward, showcasing the console and its ecosystem in entertaining and innovative ways. Making a Halo game that runs at 60 frames per second, on dedicated servers, with the scope, features and scale we’ve been dreaming of for more than a decade, is non-trivial. It’s a task that we, at 343 Industries, are taking very seriously to ensure we deliver the Halo game that fans deserve, and a game that is built from the ground up for Xbox One.

“I’m happy to reveal that Halo 5: Guardians, the next installment in the legendary saga of the Master Chief, will launch on Xbox One in fall of 2015. In the tradition of every Halo game since its debut in 2001, it is a massive and exciting project.”

Ross promised to give further details on the game, and the Halo TV series tie-in, at the Xbox E3 Media Briefing next month in LA, but she did say that Halo 5: Guardians was “a bigger effort than Halo 4. That applies to the content and scope of the game, as well as the technology in what’s now a brand new and more powerful engine. Certainly there are some core elements carried over from prior games, but we’ve invested a huge effort in retooling our tech to take full advantage of the Xbox One’s hardware and ecosystem to create worlds and experiences worthy of next-gen.”

2015 is a bit of a way off though, so to keep us on our toes, 343 also hinted at more, “extra special” Halo news coming at E3 this year. It said that the new Halo franchise endeavors are a “journey,” and that that journey begins in 2014.

Train2Game News Microsoft Accelerator Programme open to applicants

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Microsoft VenturesStart-ups and new studios can now apply to take part in the next round of Microsoft Ventures’ London Acclerator.

The programme lasts 14 weeks and gives start-ups a space to work in the UK capital, plus access to Microsoft expertise and mentoring. Past participants have even been able to get their hands on hardware such as Xbox One dev kits.

Starting in September, this will be the third round of the London Accelerator, which has previously aided new studios Whispering Gibbon, , 8-bit Studios, Gateway Interactive and Train2Game Student Studio, GallantCloud

Studios interested in taking part should apply for a place here. Spaces are limited as the Accelerator encompasses various tech start-ups, not just games developers.

The programme will end with a special event hosted by Microsoft where start-ups will be able to pitch to potential investors.

Source: Develop

Train2Game News Andy McCartney on Train2Game

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Andy McCartneyMicrosoft 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/

Train2Game News Games for gold May 2014

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Games With GoldThe 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!

Train2Game News Microsoft announce several TV shows for Xbox

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Xbox OneMicrosoft 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.

Train2Game News Microsoft reveal DirectX 12

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DirectX 12Microsoft 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.

Train2Game News Twitch dated for Xbox One

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Xbox OneAs 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”.

Train2Game News New head of Devices at Microsoft

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Xbox OneThe 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

Train2game News Microsoft cuts Xbox One Price

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Xbox OneMicrosoft 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.