Microsoft continues to expand the Halo universe. They just recently announced a Halo TV project with Steven Spielberg for Xbox One, and are planning the next two installments in 343 Industries' Reclaimer Trilogy (i.e Halo 5 and 6). But now we find out about another project called Bootcamp that is unrelated to any of that.
Microsoft and Motorola have been continuing to trade legal blows over the last few months, and Microsoft recently scored a victory in the long-running patent war. The International Trade Commission ruled yesterday that the Xbox did not violate Motorola's wireless communications patent.
Like the rest of the gaming world, the eyes of the Shacknews community was on Tuesday's Xbox One reveal event. Some enjoyed the hardware and entertainment features, others are taking a wait-and-see approach until E3, but many others left the event disappointed. To help gauge our community's reaction, I reached out to some of the longer-tenured members of the Shacknews Chatty community for their thoughts.
Microsoft's Xbox One presentation lasted just under an hour, and a significant chunk of that time was spent on entertainment, including a video highlighting its partnership with the NFL. So why so much time devoted to football? Well, if you had committed to a multimillion dollar contract, you'd probably want to show it off too.
A chunk of the indie gaming sector observed the Xbox One presentation (either live or secondhand, via channels like Twitter) with a sense of disappointment. Given that Sony's PlayStation 4 unveiling put game development at the forefront to the point that indie darling Jonathan Blow was given a forum to speak, some indie developers had hoped for more from the Xbox One event.
With a new console generation came hopes that Microsoft would relax their strict standards for indie developers, who currently must have a publisher in order to see their product on a Microsoft console. That does not appear to be the case.
Given that the PlayStation 4 won't run PlayStation 3 games natively, and the Xbox 360's rocky history with emulating Xbox games, it didn't come as much surprise that the Xbox One isn't backward compatible. You'll have to keep your 360 hooked up to play the last eight years of games. Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment division at Microsoft, says the demand for the feature just isn't there.
Yesterday at a special presentation, Microsoft formally announced the Xbox One. Now that the company has finally produced a clearer impression of the console, we can look back at the rumors that had been following it for the last several months. Here's a list of what came true, what didn't, and what we still don't know.
Microsoft pulled the plug on 1 vs. 100 back in 2010, but fans of the defunct online game show hybrid have been vocal about missing it. Phil Spencer hasn't promised to bring it back specifically, but says that type of game is something they'd like to explore more in the future with Xbox One.
Read more: 'That's a category that lends itself to our community' »
The original Kinect always felt like a beta. It was the first implementation of something we collectively imagined should be much better. Our vision of Kinect had it be more precise, less laggy, and more natural to use. And that's precisely what Kinect for Xbox One is.
Following its Xbox One reveal event, Microsoft invited us to get "hands on" time with a few tech demos--the ones that you can see here. Because none of these demos represent actual gameplay, it's difficult to gauge how well this tech can be implemented. However, the potential is very real--and our excitement for Kinect has been rekindled.
Who knew something as gimmicky-sounding as "impulse triggers" would prove to be so fun to use? The addition of rumble motors on the shoulder triggers may sound like an insignificant change at first, but it really does significantly enhance the immersion that vibrating controllers can offer.
The impulse triggers are quite possibly the most significant upgrade made to the Xbox One controller. Microsoft PR likes to say there are over 40 improvements made, resulting in all new thumbsticks that have better grip and take 25% less force to move. There's also an entirely new D-Pad, quite possibly the weakest aspect of the original Xbox 360 controller. And there's magnetic sensors in the triggers for "added precision."
Does Xbox One require a persistent online connection? Does it play used games? Microsoft has been so coy that anxious gamers are left with no choice but to assume the worst. Answers to these questions should be clear-cut--a simple "yes" or "no" would suffice, and help us all.
Yet, even Microsoft's so-called "clarifications" do little to ease concern that the next Xbox will be plagued by draconian anti-consumer practices. Major Nelson updated his blog saying "while there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail. Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios."
Okay, that's fine. But here's the kicker: "Should you choose to play your game at your friend's house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile." By mentioning the f-word there, we can only assume that there will be fees to play games in any other scenario.
Could Xbox One be the end of Xbox Live Arcade? Possibly. But don't worry, smaller games aren't going away from Microsoft's next-gen console. Instead, the XBLA designation may be phased out, in order to make smaller games and AAA titles equally visible, Matt Booty, general manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms told us.
Independent developers cannot self-publish their own games on Xbox Live Arcade. Instead, they must get a publishing deal--either with Microsoft Game Studios or with a third-party partner. Games published on Xbox Live Indie Games are exempt from that policy, but that marketplace isn't necessary seen as viable.
Limitations imposed by Microsoft have prevented a number of games from ever appearing on Xbox 360. And apparently, Xbox One won't change how Microsoft approaches indie games.
Read more: 'Microsoft Studios works with a wide range of partners' »
Remember when Microsoft used to make games for PC? With their Xbox business thriving, the company has long shifted focus away from PC gamers. That attitude will continue in the Xbox One generation, it appears.
At its Xbox One reveal event, the company announced 15 exclusives coming to the console in its first year. When asked if PC gamers could possibly get access to some of that content, Matt Booty, general manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms told us that "the Windows 8 gamer is certainly going to participate in some of that content," but not in the way you might expect or want.
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