Tag Archives: Microsoft

Train2Game News: Xbox One update beta testers

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Xbox OneSome 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!

Train2Game News: Xbox One System Update

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Xbox One Dash updateMicrosoft 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:

  • The ability to see and manage your storage space. With this update, you will find it easy to find how much space your content takes up and better manage your content. You can also control your install lineup and more easily manage your download queue. Microsoft have separated My Games and My Apps into separate lists, so you can easily create separate queues for both. Now you can pick the order in which you want your content to load and we’ve added a boot progress indicator so you can better track updates while they load.
  • The battery power indicator is back! You can see it right on the home screen, so you can easily track how much battery life is left on your controller.
  • And, you will be able to use your USB keyboard with your Xbox One.

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.”

Train2Game News: Team17 announces next gen Worms

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WormsBattlegroundsLogoTeam17 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”.

Train2Game News: Razer developing Xbox One accessories

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Razer_green_logoRazer, the world leader in entertainment devices and software, today announced its ongoing partnership with Microsoft will include development of new products for Microsoft´s record setting Xbox One console.

A suite of products for the Xbox One, including a controller, arcade stick and more, will be made by Razer, which also produced a popular line of premium accessories for the Xbox 360.

“Razer is dedicated to improving the overall experience from the games themselves to the player, be it console or PC,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. “By working with a company as prestigious as Microsoft on a system as sought-after as the Xbox One, we’ll be able to accomplish just that. This is an exciting time for the hundreds of millions of gamers all over the world, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”

With this announcement and the previous announcement of Project Christine and the Razer Nabu, Razer are definitely on their way up in the development world.

Products, pricing and release dates will be unveiled in the coming weeks. For more information, visit www.razerzone.com.

Train2Game News: Microsoft buy Gears of War

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Gears Of WarMicrosoft have announced that they have purchased the Gears of War intellectual property from Epic.

Microsoft purchased the Gears franchise from Epic to allow the unreal engine creators to concentrate on other projects that are already in the pipelines.

Microsoft have also announced that Canadian studio, Black Tusk will be in charge of creating the next game with Gears of War veteran Rod Fergusson in charge of overseeing the project. He was former director of production at Epic Games before leaving to help BioShock Infinite get out of the door. He said his new job “really feels like a homecoming”.

Clifford Bleszinski has confirmed that he will not be working on the next Gears game in any capacity.

“I’m not going to move to Vancouver and work on it,” Bleszinski said on his Clifford Unchained blog. “I’m not going to consult on it. 343 knocked it out of the park with Halo and I think Black Tusk will do a fantastic job with Gears”

Microsoft and Black Tusk will release more news on the next Gears of War game later on in the year.

Train2Game News: Microsoft post good sales results

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Microsoft, the world’s largest software firm, has posted better-than-expected earnings for the October-to-December quarter.

The firm reported a net income of $6.56bn (£3.94bn) for the quarter, up from $6.38bn a year earlier.

Its earnings were boosted by strong sales of its new Xbox game console and its Surface tablets during the holiday season.

The company also saw strong demand from businesses for its cloud services.

Overall, the firm’s revenue rose 14% during the quarter to $24.5bn. Its shares rose close to 4% on the news in after-hours trading.

Microsoft’s chief executive, Steve Ballmer, called it a great quarter and said that investments the firm was making in devices and services was driving the strong results.

The quarterly results showed a 13% increase in consumer sales. This was boosted by 7.4 million unit sales of Xbox consoles, up from 5.9 million a year earlier.

The new Xbox One, which was launched in November, contributed more than half of overall Xbox sales numbers in the quarter.

Sales of the firm’s cloud programs, such as Office 365 and Azure, more than doubled in the December quarter from a year earlier, while sales of its Surface tablets doubled from the previous quarter.

Train2Game News: Max: Curse of the Brotherhood Review

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MaxFor my first review of 2014 I got to review my first Xbox One Game, Max: The Curse of the Brotherhood.

Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a 2.5D side-scrolling platform video game developed by Press Play for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The game is a reimagining of Press Play’s previous work, the 2010 Max and the Magic Marker.

This is in essence the first arcade game to be released on the Xbox One and it is a good starting point. The graphics for the game are not the ultra realistic that most current games for the XB1 are, they are a nice cartoon style that still looks very attractive on the next generation console.

The game play reminds me of Limbo but it does miss that charm that Limbo has which makes it the classic game it is. Max uses his Magic Marker to create; pillars, vines, branches, water slides and Fireballs to navigate his way through the levels and overcome puzzles. When I first saw the trailers for the game I assumed the magic marker was going to be controlled using Kinect which could have shown off how well it can work but the game only uses the controller.

There is a nice level of humour within the game with the main antagonist being called Mustacho which never failed to make me smile. Speaking of Mustacho though, when facing him it has to be one of the most frustrating final bosses I have ever faced.

Throughout the game where death doesn’t hold much of a punishment apart from being restarted at the puzzle you were on, during the boss this becomes incredibly irritating.

My issue with the final boss aside, Max: Curse of the Brotherhood was still an entertaining first arcade game for the Xbox One. If you enjoyed Limbo you will enjoy this.

Max: Curse of the Brotherhood is out now on Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Train2Game News: GallantCloud pitch video

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Gallant CloudThe pitch at the Microsoft Ventures demo day that Train2Game Student Studio, GallantCloud, gave is now available to view. The guys did incredibly well and their game, Ether, sounds great!

Enjoy the video below

Train2Game News: GallantCloud Coverage around the web

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WP_20131027_023This year Microsoft started their Acceleration Programme and one of the teams involved was a Train2Game Student Studio.

The studio, GallantCloud, was made up of Train2Game students trying to get their foot in the door of the games industry and this has certainly helped them do just that. As a result of the initiative the team were put in touch with the wider gaming industry.

They attended games industry events and conferences. The team were mentored by Train2Game and Microsoft experts. They also received further tutoring from members of the gaming and business community.

Coverage of the initiative was extensive, with placements on: The Microsoft Accelerator Website,numerous mentions in games industry trade publication – Develop and on Gallant Cloud’s own official website. Train2Game also covered the scheme extensively with videos and content on Train2Game’s official YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, accounts.

In the link below, you can view all of GallantClouds story as this leg of their games industry journey has come to an end.

http://train2gamewinners.co.uk/downloads/Gallant-Cloud.pdf

Good luck from all of us at Train2Game for everything you do in the future guys!

Train2Game News: GallantCloud Blog – Final Week

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Gallant CloudThe week before demo day has just begun. What happened with the time?
It seems to accelerate before a crucial deadline like this. We had the amazing opportunity to go to Lionhead Studios and refine our pitch and our game with Gary over the whole week.

As always we felt very welcome by Gary and his generous support for us and our game was invaluable. I can’t stress how important it is to have a mentor on board who has 28 years of game design experience. It makes a huge difference.

The demo day at the Level 39 in Canary Wharf has finally arrived.

This is what we are working so hard towards the whole 12 plus 1 weeks. As always there are thoughts of how things might go terribly wrong, but practising the pitch on stage a few times made us more confident and it became more a routine over time. Keeping focused on delivering our passion and excitement for our game helped a lot.

I brought my Oculus Rift along to demonstrate that we have a cutting edge game that is ready for the future next year.

The pitch and the demonstration of our game went very well and we where all relieved that it was finally over. Time to celebrate and enjoy the successful demo day with Microsoft!

It has been a great journey indeed.

I highly recommend this accelerator experience to anyone who wishes to move on the fast track and learn very fast and likes challenges.