The NEW Official Xbox® Thread: $399 system without Kinect coming in June

[GeoG2]

Xbox, Record That! | Share and Promote your Xbox One Videos and other Gameplay...

New site for submitting your game clips.

[subt-L]

Next-Gen Face-Off: Titanfall

There’s been plenty of talk about Titanfall’s sub-native resolution, but while that is not exactly ideal, the biggest problem we have with the game in its current format is that the magic combination of ingredients that made Modern Warfare work has come slightly off the boil here: the Xbox One version simply cannot sustain the required 60fps. The consistency in performance just isn’t there and so the gameplay often doesn’t feel quite right.

So, just like the beta, we see Titanfall frame-rates on Xbox One dip into the mid-30s at its worst, and at those points the rock-solid consistency we saw in the early iterations of the Modern Warfare experience is gone, and with it - arguably - the essence of the “twitch” shooter. In mitigation this does tend to happen while you’re seated in your Titan, so the need for ultra-low latency controls is lessened, but there’s no doubt that the player’s immersion in the experience is dented by the compromised performance.

Respawn’s adaptive v-sync decision works out OK for general, on-foot pilot gameplay but there’s still too much of the ‘adaptive’ and not enough of the ‘v-sync’, resulting in an obvious tearing that impacts visual consistency. However, the effects vary: with little in the way of left/right panning, it manifests almost like a ‘wobble’ - noticeable, but nothing that unduly affects the quality of the gameplay. However, in the middle of pitched battle, with the player spinning around to tackle new threats, the tearing is very obvious and highly distracting.

i’m happy i chose pc. and i’m happy i didn’t pay anything for it. BUT, i am not happy i had to install origin. wtf is this garbage.

[Amazing_Funbags]

X-1 could last 12 years.

videogamer.com/xboxone/kinect_sports_rivals/news/xbox_one_could_last_12_years_rare.html

[GeoG2]

PvZ: Garden Warfare DLC coming Tuesday (new mode, abilities and map). This along with most/all other DLC in the future will be free.

Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare: Garden Variety DLC offers new map, mode and...

This is the game I play the most on my X1.

[GeoG2]

Beta preview for the next system update is coming this week. This is what they’re saying on the forums:

What’s new in this release?

Game and app saves and updates. A game save progress bar will show you the status of your game saves. You will also be able to easily tell what games and apps are being updated or have been updated recently.
Friends improvements. Notifications will be added to see when favorites and friends sign in to Xbox Live. This actually was one of the most frequently requested features from the first preview wave and we made it a priority to include it in the April update. Also, friends who are in multiplayer will be identified in the friends list. We’ll also add the ability to view friends’ most popular apps.
Blu-ray 50 Hz video output support for content recorded at 50 Hz will resolve video playback issues some Xbox Live members in Europe are experiencing.
Kinect voice and motion improvements will continue to fine tune the quality and reliability of Xbox One commands.
Improved GameDVR video quality through compression algorithm improvements.
Updates to Xbox One device management to address issues controlling TVs, set top boxes, and receivers that our customers have reported.
New audio settings to tune how much volume is lowered when Kinect is used in communications.

New feature I’m 60% sure about is the ability to take screenshots because of recent leaks (and Major Nelson confirmed it 2 months ago on Reddit anyway). External storage, probably not. Looks like they might still be working on that.

Edit: first update preview is already rolling out tonight and I just got it.

• UI feels significantly less sluggish in some areas, especially when checking friends. Some system apps DEFINITELY are opening faster than before.

• A little green star in upper right of an app/game icon signifies that it was recently updated.

• When a game or app is snapped, you can now adjust the volume of either the main screen or the snapped screen.

From what I’ve read, the planned features will be coming little by little each week until April. But the speed/performance alone has me enjoying this.

[Rampage]

I got to play TitanFall for a bit. It seems fun, but it’s pretty stupid to me that you need to be connected to a server to play the tutorial levels. My girlfriend rebooted my router in the midst of running through those levels and I got disconnected lol.

I’ll put some more time in this week though now that it’s finally working, and develop a real opinion on the game other than “oooh, big mechs”.

[Gren]

I’m interested in seeing how their external hard drive support works. One of my favorite 360 features was being able to backup full games to a flash drive (granted, it was limited to 32GBs). What with game filesizes only getting bigger & bigger, being able to archive is more important than ever, imo.

[GeoG2]

The messaging system is still lacking. Improvements for this is what I’m gonna try to push as much as possible on the forums for preview testers. Multi-select/delete, voice messages, attach game clips, predictive text, group convos by user, sent message archive… etc.

[Gren]

Xbox One Coming to 26 new markets in September

I hope it’s worth MS’ time & money to launch in some of those regions after such a considerable delay.

[Gren]

20% of Windows Store gift card on NewEgg

Use code EMCPGWB87 to get the 20% off. Credit can be used to buy games off Live. Thanks goes to cheapass.

[Sexperienced]

So is Titanfall the only next gen fps that’s similar to quake live?

[GeoG2]

So I spotted this on Reddit:

http://imgur.com/a/FTFVq#14

It’s a timeline of things Microsoft had planned for Xbox in recent years, all the way up until 2015. Looks like most of this stuff was/is confidential. It turns out, yes, the X1 was originally going to be called the Xbox 720 and (shocker) it would’ve launched for only $299.

[Sexperienced]

I thought everything on that time line was already known. Especially the xbox1 being initially called the Xbox720.

[Gren]

Microsoft announces 25 indie games coming to Xbox One

1001 Spikes by Nicalis
Calibre 10 Racing Series by Bongfish GmbH
CastleStorm by Zen Studios
Chariot by Frima
Chuck’s Challenge 3D by Niffler
Contrast by Compulsion Games
Divekick Addition Edition + by Iron Galaxy Studios
Forced by BetaDwarf ApS
FRU by Through Games
Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition by DrinkBox Studios
Gunscape by Blowfish Studios
Habitat by 4gency
Hyper Light Drifter by Heart Machine
It Draws a Red Box by Other Ocean
Nutjitsu by NinjaBee
Pinball Arcade by FarSight Studios
Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut by Toxic Games
Riptide GP2 by Vector Unit
Roundabout by No Goblin
Sixty Second Shooter Prime by Happion Laboratories
Spectra: 8bit Racing by Gateway Interactive
Strike Suit Zero by Born Ready Games
Super Time Force by Capybara
The Last Tinker by Mimimi Productions
Wulverblade by Darkwind Media

I thought this part was interesting:

Of note are It Draws a Red Box and FRU, which feature Kinect integration. It Draws a Red Box is “a chaotic eight-player eSport jumping jetpack future arena ball game” inspired by Bomberman and Smash Bros. Fru is described as a Kinect-based puzzle platformer in which the player uses a joystick and their body to control the game. The player’s silhouette is used to reveal what lies beneath the world at first glance, Microsoft said. “Fru’s gameplay changes according to the player’s shape, pose and movement.”

If indies can’t pick up the slack of the major devs & find some innovative use for Kinect in games, no one can.

EDIT: Included the list.

[GeoG2]

Sounds like DirectX 12 is about to change the game based on what’s coming out of GDC and net chatter. Big performance boosts for the Xbox One. Bad news is Direct X 12-powered games won’t start showing up until around Holiday 2015 at the earliest.

Read up: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/directx/archive/2014/03/20/directx-12.aspx

By the time this is a thing, Windows 9 will probably also be a thing and will be used for a system update no doubt (since X1 runs a Windows 8 kernel for one of its three OS). In 2015 we’ll be seeing some hefty evolution in a lot of things for the Xbox One.

Also:

http://www.totalxbox.com/73688/you-can-port-a-windows-8-game-to-xbox-one-in-a-day-in-theory/

MS is pushing the notion that PC games for Windows 8 could be ported to Xbox One in a day, theoretically.

[GeoG2]

Phil Spencer talking about E3:

Richard Jay Walken (PotentialyGreat)

Phil Spencer (XboxP3)

Do they really have THAT much to reveal/talk about that they have to remove things from the show?? Wow… they’re hyping it up tremendously.

[Gren]

If any of you bought your Xbox from Amazon, try contacting them about price matching the current promo they’re running (XIAMAZON for $50 off).

There have been multiple reports on GAF of Amazon crediting/refunding early purchasers, even those of Day One Editions.

[Dios_X]

I hope its all about the games last year. I was there and had a fucking blast playing Dragons crown, bayonetta 2, killer instinct, beyond two souls, ducktales and alot more.

Im pretty sure im going again so please, bring on the games!

[GeoG2]

If any of you bought your Xbox from Amazon, try contacting them about price matching the current promo they’re running (XIAMAZON for $50 off).

There have been multiple reports on GAF of Amazon crediting/refunding early purchasers, even those of Day One Editions.

That thread shows why GAF is so atrocious. People talking about “MS is desperate” and “There’s no way they could raise the price back up now.” They’re ignorant to the fact that MS has nothing to do with the price cut. Walmart slashed the price and Best Buy/Amazon price matched. They can’t control what retailers do.

[Gren]

Xbox One Japanese Exclusive is "From an Awesome Studio;" Something "Never Seen...

Prolly that Project Nagano (Platinum joint) hinted at by ntkrnl.