Latest Xbox One Updates

In an announcement that should surprise basically no one, Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox One, like many other consoles, will be region locked. There is still no word regarding region locking on PlayStation 4.

"Similar to the movie and music industry, games must meet country-specific regulatory guidelines before they are cleared for sale. We will continue to work with our partners to follow these guidelines with Xbox One." — Microsoft Representative

We can't really comment on the validity of the reason, but it this sentiment echoes decisions made by many other companies a number of times. Are you upset about the news, or does region locking not really affect you?

Shortly before the Xbox One reveal, Microsoft was caught buying up several website domains, fueling rumors about the system's name. As it turns out, they missed a few crucial domains: XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net. According to WhoIs, both domains are owned by a UK resident who registered them in late 2011. Microsoft is now attempting to obtain the domains via a complaint through the National Arbitration Forum. Furthermore, it seems Microsoft forgot to register a Twitter account for the new system, which has already been taken and so far has no tweets.

While both of these things are annoying for Microsoft, they still hold Xbox.com and the original Xbox Twitter account. One can't help but wonder why Microsoft didn't take care of these problems before. Was the name Xbox One a last minute decision or were they trying to keep the name a secret? This just adds to even more confusion surrounding the Xbox One reveal.

Microsoft's reveal of the Xbox One may have created one of the greatest uproars of any console reveal in ages. From the moment the One was revealed, the internet has been a flurry of hate, hater-hating, and incredibly contradicting information. With legitimate reports from interviews with Microsoft representatives stating that there both are and aren't used game fees, for example, it's clear there's at least some false information out there -- and Jonathan Blow thinks it's all lies.

More specifically, when Microsoft said they would use Cloud processing to enhance the hardware's capabilities -- such as adding lighting and improving physics -- with support from 300,000 servers (a 2000% increase from the 15,000 they have now) he responded with disgust. Head past the jump to see what Blow has to say.

I am sure many potential Xbox One customers just breathed a sigh of relief after reading the above headline. Yes, it's true, all the talk the last few days combined with the severe backlash appears to have been heard by someone...because used games for the Xbox One no longer require a fee. That is, assuming they ever did to begin with, since Microsoft has been fairly unclear on the matter. According to sources at Polygon:

The Xbox One will automatically authenticate a game using an encryption code built into a game's disc, when it is installed on the machine. That authentication on the console's hard drive tied to the game is then verified regularly through an internet connection.

When a person sells the game or it is installed and played on another system, the game is deauthenticated on the original machine until the disc is brought back and used to re-authenticate the installation.

Thoughts inside.

It has been approximately 5 days since Microsoft revealed their upcoming next-gen console, the Xbox One. Following the announcement, Microsoft stocks actually went down in value by around 0.70%, and coincidentally Sony's stocks actually increased in value by 9%. The Wii U, on the other hand, has been doing even better. The disappointment in the Xbox One has caused the Wii U's sales rank to skyrocket 875%.

Recapping on the Xbox One features introduced at the Reveal event, the One will include split-screen multi-tasking, voice recognition, video chat capability via Skype, live television viewing, an upgraded Kinect, and better specs than those of the Xbox 360.

Ever since Microsoft's response to the PlayStation 4 was introduced, the fight between Microsoft and Sony has been heated on the stock market. As of today, Microsoft takes the lead, going up only by 0.35%. Unfortunately, Nintendo's stocks have depreciated by 1.58%. 

Now if you're someone who judges a game console based off of what you hear, then prepare to have your virtues tested. Both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are looking at release dates of late 2013 and according to many, the Xbox One proved to be a let down. However, there are those of the opinion that the variety of mediums offered by the Xbox One are great for today's society.

What are your thoughts on the Xbox One, now that you know how it affected Microsoft's stocks? Comment down below!

There was a lot of controversy surrounding Xbox One's reveal a few days ago. From vague descriptions of Xbox One's used games policy and the perhaps-exaggerated response to Xbox One's supposedly heavily constrained indie strategy, Microsoft has been getting quite a bit of flak about the unveiling from a significant portion gaming community. However, it may be that some of this criticism is unwarranted, as indie developer James Silva, of Ska Studios, has provided an interesting response to all the ruckus around Xbox One's seemingly regressive indie game-publishing plan. In a blog post on Gamasutra, entitled "We're Indie, we like Microsoft. Too Controversial?" Silva had this to say:

"I wrote this post on our blog a few months ago to express how absolutely weird and unfortunate I thought it was that the trending perception of Microsoft and indies had gotten so bad that silly creative decisions of mine were being taken as Microsoft's ever-burgeoning evilness toward indies, or something. My message was this: we're indie, we make the games we want to make, Microsoft publishes them, and the past five years of this have been great, and it's too bad that that's not super newsworthy, because this whole time it just feels like I must watch, powerless, as Lumbergh keeps taking my red stapler." — James Silva

Over the course of the blog post, Silva also makes a point to be sure he gets across that the meaning of "no self-publishing on Xbox One " is really "that the partner/publisher relationship [between Microsoft and indies] is currently the same [as it was on Xbox 360] but they're exploring ways to improve it."

Perhaps the gaming press as a whole may have jumped the gun a bit too quickly on this one, but what do you think? Has there simply been a misinterpretation on the whole "self-publishing" issue? Or has James Silva just been lucky in his interactions as an indie developer with Microsoft? Sound off in the comments!

PCs are incredibly powerful systems. The games created specifically for computers are leaps and bounds ahead of console titles in the graphics department. High-end PCs are the pinnacle of the hardware, creating some of the most seamless and impressive video games on the market, although they do come at quite the cost.

Enter the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. They could be seen as part of another round of consoles, but Electronic Arts Executive VP and Chief Technical Officer Rajat Teneja says to look closer.

"Both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have adopted electronics and an integrated systems-on-a -chip (soc) architecture that unleashes magnitudes more compute and graphics power than the current generation of consoles. These architectures are a generation ahead of the highest end PC on the market and their unique design of the hardware, the underlying operating system and the live service layer create one of the most compelling platforms to reimagine game mechanics."

"You don't have to be an engineer or even a gamer like me to appreciate the power of these new devices"

Teneja also had a statement on the impact of cloud gaming.

"The power of connected data is going to be an integral part of the gaming experience. We see 2.5 billion monthly game sessions and 50 [terabytes] of daily telemetry data on our network alone. The Xbox Live network required 500 servers when it launched a decade ago and as was mentioned yesterday, they are now provisioning 300,000 servers to handle Xbox data in the cloud. That growth is staggering, but it also means we'll really start to see more examples of true cross-device play."

Personally, I find his statement on consoles versus PCs a tad unbelievable. The sheer power of a high-end desktop shames the demos we have seen for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But there is a card another generation of consoles can play: the consoles' OS can be streamlined and innovative. Add in the fact that truly powerful PCs can cost upwards of one thousand dollars, and it becomes hard to say which systems are superior.

Cloud gaming, on the other hand, is obviously a part of the future of gaming consoles. The growth is increasingly apparent, with even Nintendo slowly moving to digital and interconnected online services. Cloud gaming already has a gigantic impact on the video game industry, and that footprint will only get bigger.

What do you think about EA's statement on the power of Xbox One and PS4?

Since the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were unveiled, their price tags have been a big subject in both rumors and discussions alike. Microsoft and Sony have opted to keep the matter under wraps, presumably until E3. As it turns out, however, our first legitimate hint regarding the consoles' price tags doesn't come from either hardware manufacturing company, but rather from a GameStop employee. According to GameStop's chief financial officer Rob Lloyd, the new Xbox and PlayStation platforms will hit retail at a "lower opening price point than they did last cycle."

For some perspective, way back in 2005 and 2006, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hit stores at price points of $300/$400 and $500/$600 respectively. Those prices are far from chump change, so a drop in price rather than a rise is definitely good news.

Dying Light is a recently revealed zombie free-running, open-world title from Techland. The game is being published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and has been revealed for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3, as well as PC. The game is said to contain a fantastic day-and-night system, and will combine upgradeable weapons with a Mirror's Edge-esque free-running gameplay style.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has also confirmed the game is not coming to Wii U.

Many games have been announced for both current and future consoles, but dozens are skipping out on the Wii U. It's sad knowing another title will not see the light of day on Nintendo's new console, although that's hardly surprising news at this point.

Dying Light releases in 2014.

“NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

Bungie, the studio behind development for the Halo franchise up through Halo Reach, is currently developing their first ever game, entitled Destiny, since their departure from Microsoft to become third party. Recently a new trailer dubbed "The Law of the Jungle" was uploaded to Youtube on the "destinygame" channel. The trailer is comprised of live-action and pre-rendered CG scenes, but it seems this particular trailer is more about the thematic elements of the game rather than the game play, so that's an OK choice.

Destiny is confirmed to be releasing on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. A Wii U and PC release may still be a slight possibility, but according to Bungie's Twitter account, "Destiny will absolutely be shipping on four platforms: [the above four]."

Be sure to check out the trailer after the jump!

Nowadays, many companies have exceedingly high expectations. Capcom was disappointed with the release of Resident Evil 6, Square Enix with Tomb Raider, and EA with Dead Space 3. These games sold really well by most standards, but in the eyes of the developers it wasn't enough. 

And now Microsoft has come forward with their predictions for the entire generation. Yusuf Mehdi – the senior vice-president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business – believes that the combined might of the next generation will result in a billion consoles sold. 

More juicy news after the jump.

Recently, we updated you guys about some box art that had been spotted on the Battlefield 4 sites for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game. Now, one of those designs has been confirmed.

Larry Hyrb, Xbox Live director of programming (more commonly known as Major Nelson), posted this image of the Forza Motorsport 5 box art, confirming that this is the official design for Xbox One boxes.

I now think that the PlayStation 4 box art that was previously seen will also be the official art, but we'll find out soon enough!

What do you think of the box art's simplistic design?

Since the reveal of the Xbox One, many people have almost literally jumped on the Nintendo hype-train, resulting in gifs like these. And this one. And since that reveal last tuesday, sales at Amazon UK have skyrocketed. There has been an astounding jump in sales rank for Wii U consoles – an increase of 875 percent to be precise. 

There has also been a price cut to support this growth, going from £289.99, or $437.42 – a lot by American standards – to £219.99 for the basic pack, which translates to $331.83. The system was at #390 in the list of Amazon's PC & Gaming Bestsellers before the conference, but currently has shot up to #48 because of fan backlash due to the reveal.

It's interesting that so many people immediately bought the Wii U after the Xbox One reveal, especially after so many people bashed it for its relatively unimpressing launch. It's a great time to buy a Wii U. After all, there are many great titles coming, and it still has some interesting games like ZombiU. We'll have to see what the reveal does to the performance of the Wii U in the long run.

EA does it again. Its newly announced Need for Speed game – Need for Speed: Rivals – won't be coming to the Wii U. EA's reason? Frostbite doesn't run on the Wii U. Need for Speed: Rivals will make its way to all the other consoles, including the Xbox One and the Playstation 4. It will be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 19th, and the game comes to the other consoles at a later date. EA had this to say:

“Yeah, Frostbite is not really set up for Wii U. I don’t have all the information, so it wouldn’t be right for me to speak about it. Frostbite 3 is a really capable engine, it’s scalable and it gives us a big advantage on the next generation to support the Xbox One and the PS4, but it’s not being developed on the Wii U.” — EA Representative

Here's some more news coming out of Monday's Xbox One reveal.

You guys all remember that obnoxious cheering during the conference, right? Many people, myself included, wondered who could be that excited about the Xbox One. According to reports, it was not the press.

Adam Sessler of Revision3 tweeted this during the show:

The cheering in the audience is not coming from the press...

Additionally, Jeff Gertsmann of Giant Bomb reportedly tweeted something similar; the tweet has since been deleted, but not before it was documented by NeoGAF user MedIC86:

Applause is coming from the back of the room, for those of you who asked. Pretty sure that's where all the MS employees are.

Many people believe that Microsoft intentionally planted these people in the conference to make the reveal look good, while others believe that the employees were just excited about their products. Personally, I don't believe that anyone cheers that loud without some sort of payoff, but who knows?

What do you think? Was the cheering artificial, or was it genuine? Sound off in the comments!