|
|
Xbox News is a site that brings you the very latest Original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One news, the latest games and releases, Part of the
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
THE LATEST NEWS BELOW
|
December 4th, 2019, 21:45 Posted By: wraggster
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has squashed the idea that virtual reality will have a role to play in the company's next console -- in simple terms, "nobody's asking for VR."
Speaking to Stevivor at X019 in London, Spencer was questioned on a statement he made in 2016, which suggested that VR would arrive on the Xbox platform when the medium moved past "demos and experiments."
Spencer made it clear that he was "not trying to demean the work that people are doing in VR." However, he also made it clear that the market has not progressed to a point where there is enough demand within the Xbox audience.
"I have some issues with VR," Spencer said. "It's isolating, and I think of games as a communal, kind of together experience. We're responding to what our customers are asking for and... nobody's asking for VR." "I have some issues with VR. It's isolating, and I think of games as a communal, kind of together experience"
There are, Spencer continued, "places to go get" VR experiences, and Xbox players are very aware of the options in that respect. This means hardware like Oculus Rift and Quest, HTC Vive and Valve Index on PC, and -- of course -- PlayStation VR from Microsoft's chief gaming rival Sony.
Spencer also noted that "nobody's selling millions and millions" of units in the VR market. It isn't clear whether Spencer was referring to hardware or software, but his statement could apply to either category -- PSVR had sold 4.2 million as of March 31, 2019, while Beat Saber had sold one million units by the end of the same month.
There is at least some indication that Xbox once believed that VR would be part of its console hardware strategy eventually. When the Xbox One X was unveiled at E3 2016 as Project Scorpio, the teaser video featured Bethesda's Todd Howard briefly talking about having a console that could play Fallout 4 in VR -- .
However, that was in June 2016, just a few months before Spencer made his comment about "demos and experiments." Evidently, VR gaming has not progressed in the way that Microsoft imagined.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...for-vr-on-xbox
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
 Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
 |
|
|
|
December 4th, 2019, 21:36 Posted By: wraggster
The Xbox family of consoles were the best-selling machines over Black Friday in the UK.
Microsoft's device was heavily discounted during the Black Friday sales period, with the Xbox One S All-Digital consoles cut to £110 in Tesco, with £129.99 offers at other retailers. The machine bundled in digital versions of Sea of Thieves, Minecraft and Fortnite, which is why all of those games charted so well in the software charts.
More than 100,000 Xbox One machines were sold last week, according to retailers, which is just slightly behind what the console managed during Black Friday 2018. The All-Digital version was the most successful edition of them all.
Xbox One very narrowly beat Nintendo Switch by "just a handful of consoles". Nintendo's machine also featured some big discounts during Black Friday, with the new 'Lite' version down to £179.99. Retailers also did some bundling around products such as Nintendo Labo, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe and Pokemon Sword and Shield.
The Neon Switch with the longer battery life was the biggest selling version of the machine. Nintendo sold more Switch consoles during this Black Friday than it managed over the same period in 2018.
In terms of revenue, Nintendo Switch was actually the No.1 console due to the higher price of the machine compared to Xbox One.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...r-black-friday
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
December 4th, 2019, 21:28 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's next-gen console plans, code-named Project Scarlett, have been the butt of speculation for several years now and still are after its official announcement at E3 2019. Now, one rumor has resurfaced: Project Scarlett may be not one console, but two.
If this song sounds familiar, it's because we've heard it before. In late 2018, reports circulated that Project Scarlett consisted of a higher-powered "Anaconda" version and a cheaper, discless "Lockhart." Though these rumors faded and other reports even indicated they were false following the official reveal of Scarlett, a new Kotaku report says Lockhart is very much alive.
According to sources speaking to Kotaku, Lockhart is still in development. For comparison, Anaconda could be seen as a successor to the Xbox One X and Lockhart as a successor to the Xbox One S in terms of performance differences, with one developer comparing Lockhart to the PS4 Pro for raw graphical power. Developers would be expected to support both consoles simultaneously for next-gen Xbox releases.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...l-in-the-works
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 25th, 2019, 18:43 Posted By: wraggster
DS4Windows v1.7.23 is released. DS4Windows is a portable program that allows you to get the best experience while using a DualShock 4 on your PC. By emulating a Xbox 360 controller, many more games are accessible.
DS4Windows Requirements
* Microsoft .NET 4.5 or higher (needed to unzip the driver and for macros to work
* DS4 Driver (Downloaded & Installed with
* Microsoft 360 Driver (link inside DS4Windows, already installed on Windows 7 SP1 and higher or if you've used a 360 controller
* Sony DualShock 4 (This should be
* Micro USB
* (Optional)Bluetooth 2.1+, via adapter or built in pc (My recommendation) (Toshiba's bluetooth & Bluetooth adapters using CSR currently does not
DS4Windows changelog:
Fixed a major fail. Launching updater routine has been fixed. NOTE: Please run DS4Updater.exe to update DS4Windows to version 1.7.23. That is needed due to the previous bug.
Added SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity attr to Program class
Updated HidGuardHelper.exe built with Visual Studio 2019
http://www.emucr.com/2019/11/ds4windows-v1723.html
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 25th, 2019, 18:29 Posted By: wraggster
Xbox has said there are currently no plans to develop titles specifically for Project xCloud.
A company spokesperson told Gamasutra that plans for the service are focused on streaming games from its consoles, rather than building ones that are entirely dependent on the cloud.
"We're very early in the multi-year journey for Project xCloud, which is currently in public preview," the spokesperson said.
"We are investigating a variety of new capabilities made possible by the cloud. However, we remain committed to an approach with game streaming that is complementary to console and have no plans for cloud-exclusive content at this time."
The suggestion of Project xCloud exclusives originated from an Stevivor interview with the service's corporate vice president Kareem Choudhry, who said Xbox was in "early talks with first- and third- parties" about cloud-only titles, although he stressed there was nothing to announce at this time.
You can read our own interview with Choudhry and other leaders of the xCloud team here.
As mentioned, Project xCloud is currently in public preview. At X019 in London earlier this month, the platform holder it was expanding the preview from four titles to more than 50 with plans to bring the service to new markets in 2020, including India, Japan and Canada.
Microsoft's main rival in the streaming space, Google Stadia, launched last week with one exclusives. When the internet giant announced the service earlier this year, it also announced a new studio that would be developing games that are only possible when powered by the cloud.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...oud-exclusives
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 22nd, 2019, 23:03 Posted By: wraggster
With the Xbox Adaptive Controller out for over a year now, Microsoft appears to be keen on keeping the focus on accessibility by publicizing its Xbox Accessibility Guidelines for developers.
In a public resource hub, the company has shared 23 chapters-worth of advice and recommendations for developing games on Xbox for accessibility. The database covers a wide range of topics, including chapters on text, subtitles and captions, audio, narration, difficulty options, UI, communication experiences, time limits, customer support, and more.
Though the guidelines are just that -- guidelines, not requirements -- they touch on a number of issues that have been in the news over the past few years due to major games launching without certain accessibility features. For example, the text display section gives specific advice on ensuring text is large enough to be read and in a legible font, while the subtitles and captions section goes beyond simply advising that subtitles and captions be implemented and offers specific guidance on how they can be used effectively by the most people possible.
In another example, the section on game difficulty is strongly in favor of "easy" modes.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...for-developers
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 18th, 2019, 22:53 Posted By: wraggster
WoJ XInput Emulator v2.1.2 is released. This is a Emulator of Keyboard, Mouse and Xbox 360 Controller for Windows.
Main Features:
1. Supports XInput gaming controllers with customizable vibrations.
2. Supports DirectInput gaming controllers with customizable vibrations.
3. Supports playing with multiple joysticks simultaneously.
4. Soft Axes movement together with "Dual-Speed Axes" feature for precise aiming with joysticks.
5. Supports any smartphones and tablets with HTML5 web-browser as Touch Gamepads. (Cross-platform)
6. Supports Orientation with X,Y,Z Axes (Flight Simulators) and customizable Vibrations for mobile devices.
7. Layout Editor for creating user-defined HTML layouts for mobile devices.
8. Playing with joysticks and mobile device simultaneously. (Telescopic gamepads)
9. Xbox 360 Controller Emulator for any other gaming controllers, with vibrations.
10. Full control of Windows by Xbox Controller.
11. Radio-player controlled from the system tray or by joysticks.
http://www.worldofjoysticks.com/
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 18th, 2019, 22:48 Posted By: wraggster
DS4Windows v1.7.22 is released. DS4Windows is a portable program that allows you to get the best experience while using a DualShock 4 on your PC. By emulating a Xbox 360 controller, many more games are accessible.
DS4Windows Requirements
* Microsoft .NET 4.5 or higher (needed to unzip the driver and for macros to work
* DS4 Driver (Downloaded & Installed with
* Microsoft 360 Driver (link inside DS4Windows, already installed on Windows 7 SP1 and higher or if you've used a 360 controller
* Sony DualShock 4 (This should be
* Micro USB
* (Optional)Bluetooth 2.1+, via adapter or built in pc (My recommendation) (Toshiba's bluetooth & Bluetooth adapters using CSR currently does not
DS4Windows changelog:
Added runtime MAC generation routine for third party controllers when serial reading fails. Change provided by mika-n
Added read only check for Startup lnk entry. Change provided by almod90
https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows
http://www.emucr.com/2019/11/ds4windows-v1722.html
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 18th, 2019, 21:55 Posted By: wraggster
I feel for the manager who had to get the budget for xCloud signed off.
I can only imagine the answers to the chief financial officer's questions. How much money will it make? Not entirely sure. What's the business model? We're still working that out. What games will people play on it? Pass. Surely you know who the audience is? *shrugs*.
Yet streaming has been signed off, and some of the biggest companies in games are racing to find the answers to those questions. Xbox launched its streaming service in the UK, US and South Korea just over a month ago in a 'Preview' state, featuring just four games.
"It's really important to us that we're very open about what we're doing every step of the way," says general manager of Project xCloud Catherine Gluckstein. "We have Reddit threads open with our community. We kicked off Preview in three countries for very particular reasons. The US and UK are obviously mature Xbox markets, but we wanted to look at what it took to extend gameplay. And then South Korea is a market leader in telcos. We're partnering there with SK Telecom to really look at the possibilities of 5G and also the potential of a market which isn't a traditional console market but a very big PC gaming market.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...te-couch-co-op
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 17th, 2019, 21:28 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has partnered with the US Department of Veteran Affairs to explore the medical benefits of its Adaptive Controller for military veterans.
The Xbox Adaptive Controller launched in September 2018, and can be customised with several different input devices, including buttons, joysticks and touchpads.
The Washington Post reports the company distributed controllers to 22 veteran rehabilitation centres last month to not only assist with therapy but also improve veterans' ability to socialise.
While this was originally a trial, the Washington DC VA Medical Center has already said it will host weekly outpatient clinics where veterans can use the Adaptive Controller to play video games.
The VA will also use these sessions to collect data on socialisation and pain management to gauge how the devices are assisting with their rehabilitation.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...te-us-veterans
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 17th, 2019, 21:11 Posted By: wraggster
Xbox Games Studios has partnered with Dontnod Entertainment on a new narrative title, one featuring a transgender man as one of the playable protagonists.
Tell Me Why was unveiled at X019 in London today and tells the story of twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan -- both of whom are playable -- who are exploring their memories of a troubled childhood through the unique bond they have.
Dontnod has worked with Microsoft and LGBTQ media advocacy organisation GLAAD to ensure Tyler serves as an authentic representation of the trans experience. Microsoft is proclaiming this as "the first playable video game hero from a major studio and publisher who is also transgender."
"Microsoft and Dontnod have approached Tyler with a real commitment to authenticity," said GLAAD director of transgender representation Nick Adams.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...in-tell-me-why
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 17th, 2019, 21:11 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft gave an update on the progress of its Project xCloud streaming service at X019 in London today, with 50 new titles coming to the current preview service.
So far, preview players in Korea, the UK, and US have only had access to a handful of first-party games, including Gears 5, Sea of Thieves and Killer Instinct. As the preview enters its second month, Microsoft is not only adding more of its own games -- including Crackdown 3, Forza Horizon 4 and Ori and the Blind Forest -- but also titles from 25 third-party publishers and developers.
Highlights include Madden NFL 20, WWE 2K20, Hitman, Just Cause 4, and Devil May Cry 5. You can find a full list of titles below.
Additional invites to the preview are now being sent out to Xbox gamers who registered their interest, with the promise of more invites in the future.
Microsoft also announced it will be bringing Project xCloud Preview to more markets in 2020, including Canada, India, Japan, and Western Europe.
Next year will also see the service brought to Windows 10 PCs, with Microsoft "collaborating with a broad set of partners to make game streaming available on other devices as well."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...kets-next-year
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 17th, 2019, 21:09 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft kicked off its annual X0 fanfest today with a special episode of Inside Xbox that unveiled new IP from two of its notable studios.
X019 was held in London and saw the debut of Grounded, a new survival action game by Obsidian Entertainment launching through Xbox Game Preview and Xbox Game Pass. In fact, it will be the first title from Preview (Xbox's answer to Early Access) to launch through Game Pass.
The game shrinks players to the size of an ant and challenges them to survive the many dangers of a suburban backyard, as they salvage objects to build bases and fight against hostile insects. It's being developed by a small team within Obsidian, and is one of many projects underway at the Outer Worlds developer.
Meanwhile, Rare also announced a new IP in Everwild. The event only gave the briefest glimpse at the game, with the promise of more information to come. The team is being led by executive producer Louise O'Connor and is described as "an experience that allows for new ways to play in a natural and magical world."
Rare also announced the next free monthly update to Sea of Thieves, entitled The Seabound Soul. This features a new campaign, introduces firebombs, and expands the range of commendations and customisations in the game.
Microsoft also announced Tell Me Why, a new narrative adventure developed by Dontnod Entertainment in partnership with Xbox Games Studios. The game is being positioned as the first title from a major publisher to feature a playable transgender protagonist at its centre -- find out more details in our story here.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-announcements
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 17th, 2019, 21:04 Posted By: wraggster
There are a lot of Xbox games in the works.
Halo, Ori, Age of Empires, Flight Simulator, Bleeding Edge, Battletoads, Everwild, Tell Me Why, Gears Tactics, Grounded... and there's more to be announced. Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, tells us that they'll be further reveals before Christmas and even more in early 2020.
"You will see one of the most exciting line-ups that we've had coming from Xbox Game Studios in as long as I can remember," he says confidently. "For the first time ever, we really have way more games than we know what to do with in terms of knowing when they'll be announced."
The reason behind this flurry of game activity is due to the number of new studios the company has acquired as it looks to strengthen its Game Pass subscription offering. Some of these studios are not what you'd describe as AAA developers, and in fact many of the games we listed above are smaller, more unusual offerings. Take the survival game Grounded, which is an Obsidian title but one developed by just 14 people.
Some of the titles seem quite risky, but Microsoft says that Game Pass eliminates some of that risk. There's no longer that worry whether gamers will be willing to spend $60 on a new title, and so the commercial pressures are reduced when choosing whether to commission something or not.
"Yeah. In general [that's true]," Booty tells us. "I'd just want to use a different word than commission. Our studios are very creator-led. But honestly, especially where we are right now, we have a very unique advantage that so many of our studio heads are very senior, very experienced, and very creator-led. We're really trying to stay out of the way and let them make the games that they want to make. And so it's for them to say: 'Hey, when I look at Game Pass, this is what I see'. They might see a game that can bring a bigger audience than they had before, or they see the ability to make a game that might be more built around community, because they know that the second that it goes into Game Pass they have this ready-made community of players. But that's really up for them to figure out."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...nsforming-xbox
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
November 7th, 2019, 20:47 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft held a trial for a new four-day working week system in its Japanese office and the results are promising.
Throughout August 2019, the company closed the office every Friday -- five days of the month -- and gave full-time employees special paid leave to account for this.
It also experimented with other aspects of daily office life, such as limiting meeting length to 30 minutes and encouraging employees to make more use of its own Microsoft Teams tool to communicate.
The trial was dubbed the Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019, and the results show that staff were 39.9% productive when compared to August 2018.
Microsoft also noted that electricity consumption was reduced by 23.1% when compared to August 2016, while the number of pages printed was reduced by 58.7%, indicating the environmental benefits of shorter working weeks.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-by-40-percent
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 29th, 2019, 22:03 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's smartphone-style subscription service will return, and this time will be available in the UK, US and Australia.
The way the service works is that gamers can pay a monthly fee for 24 months (prices start from $19.99/£17.99), receive Xbox One hardware (either an X, S or S All-Digital) and a subscription to Ultimate Game Pass - which includes Xbox Live Gold, plus a large selection of games for Xbox One and PC.
The offering was already trialled in the US and will now be coming to the US and Australia. It is available through Amazon in the US, GAME and Smyths Toys in the UK and Telstra in Australia. Microsoft says that more territories will follow.
For those that subscribe to All-Access this year, these customers will be given the opportunity to upgrade their subscription and receive Microsoft's next Xbox, currently named Project Scarlett, when it launches next year. More details and rules around the offer can be found on the Xbox blog.
All-Access is an attempt by Microsoft to offer a smartphone-style offering whereby customers can purchase the latest hardware without the upfront cost. Over this generation, both PlayStation and Xbox delivered upgrades to its hardware in the form of PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. This has drawn comparisons to how the smartphone market operates, which delivers regular improvements to hardware on an almost annual basis.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...upgrade-option
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 25th, 2019, 22:19 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's quarterly financial reports have been thin on gaming information for quite some time now, but its Q1 2020 report appears to be ready for this console generation to be over with already.
Its otherwise sturdy company-wide financials ($33.1 billion in revenue for Q1 2020, up 14% year-over-year) don't offer much in the way of specifics on the gaming side of things. Xbox content and services revenue was up a measly 1% year-over-year to $2.5 million, and overall gaming revenue was down 7%. In its slide presentation, Microsoft notes that Minecraft and subscription services did the bulk of the work, offset by "a high prior year comparable from a third-party title."
In its Q10 form, Microsoft specified that hardware sales were down 34% year-over-year.
Additionally, in Microsoft's earnings call, CFO Amy Hood stated that the company expects a Q2 decline in gaming revenues in the mid-20% range due to continued drop in console sales through the end of the generation, as well as lowered comparable content revenue due to fewer major title releases.
It's worth noting that this is Microsoft's first quarterly report with its new gaming-focused metric, called "Xbox content and services revenue growth," which falls under "More Personal Computing" and replaces the old reporting metric of Xbox software and services revenue alongside Xbox Live MAUs. The most recent number we have on the latter is 65 million MAUs, from their full-year report back in July.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...aming-revenues
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 25th, 2019, 22:14 Posted By: wraggster
Independent developers have been paid a total of $1.2 billion since the ID@Xbox initiative launched five years ago.
The figure was revealed to Kotaku Australia in an interview with the program's leader Chris Charla, who talked up the financial benefits for indie developers.
"We've paid more than $1.2 billion to independent developers this generation for games that have come through the ID program," he said. "There's great commercial opportunity. There's great artist opportunity."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...his-generation
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 22nd, 2019, 20:52 Posted By: wraggster
Cxbx Reloaded Git (2019/10/17) is compiled. Cxbx-Reloaded is an emulator for running Microsoft Xbox (and eventually, Chihiro) games on Microsoft Windows. The project began life as a fork of Cxbx with added 64-bit support. Work is currently underway to backport some of the improvements from Dxbx. Cxbx-Reloaded is still pretty unstable, don't expect it to run much at this point.
Cxbx Reloaded Git Changelog:
* Merge pull request #1754 from literalmente-game/patch-1
* Add missing dcl statement
* Merge pull request #1746 from PatrickvL/fix_vertex_decl_skip_token
* Fix vertex conversion when skip tokens are present in the Xbox vertex declaration.
https://github.com/Cxbx-Reloaded/Cxbx-Reloaded
https://www.emucr.com/2019/10/cxbx-r...-20191017.html
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
next » |
|
|
