Cortana finally arrives on Xbox One

After months upon months of delays, Cortana is finally ready for your Xbox One. Microsoft has started rolling out its promised summer update with Cortana's smarter, richer voice control as its centerpiece.

You can use your headset or Kinect to search games, invite friends to play and otherwise accomplish tasks that required either stiff commands or (gasp) your gamepad. This also represents another step toward tighter integration of the Xbox and Windows 10 experiences, such as platform-independent party chat and streamlined shopping that lets you redeem Xbox credits.

Even the not-quite-headline-worthy updates are fairly substantial. You can play background music from supporting apps (Pandora is first) when a game's soundtrack just won't do. It's easier to sift through your game collection, and you can set your language independently of where you live -- handy if you've moved to another country. No, the software doesn't fulfill all of Microsoft's promised Xbox One changes for this year (you'll have to wait until September for Play Anywhere), but it's undoubtedly one of the biggest updates in a long while.



Source:Xbox Wire
Via: Engadget 

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Pokémon Go: augmented reality game goes viral

If you’ve been on the internet lately, you may have noticed that a game called Pokémon Go is suddenly taking the world by storm. It may have you wondering what the hell is going on ?

Pokémon Go is a location-based augmented reality mobile game, developed by Niantic, published by The Pokémon Company, and part of the Pokémon franchise. It was initially released in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices, starting with Australasia, the United States, and parts of Europe, with Asian and other European releases to follow.

Well, after a few years lying relatively low, the Nintendo-owned Pokémon, which exploded in popularity in the late 1990s, is again taking the world by storm. This time, through Pokémon Go: the series’s biggest entry into the mobile space, now available for a free download on Android and iOS. It’s so popular that it’s now competing with Twitter in terms of daily active users on Android.

Unlike previous Pokémon games, it’s not for Nintendo’s handheld consoles; it’s a free download for Android and iOS devices but it supports in-app purchases of additional gameplay items. It also doesn’t play at all like previous Pokémon games: Although the goal is still to catch ’em all, Pokémon Go is  a location-based augmented reality mobile game — it mixes real-world elements with the game. 

The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual Pokémon who appear throughout the real world. Pokémon Go uses your phone’s GPS, camera and clock of compatible devices to decide which Pokémon appear in the game. If you’re at the park, more bug and grass types appear. If you’re by a lake, more water types appear. If it’s night, more nocturnal ghost and fairy types do. So Pokémon won’t just come to you; players have to traverse the real world to catch ’em all.

 

Pokémon Go also has gyms — where you can fight gym leaders — and PokéStops based on real-world locations, which create hubs where players can meet. (You can buy, with real money, items to lure Pokémon to these stops; that’s how Niantic, the game’s developer, makes money.)

So why is the game taking off now? Well, it just came out, so it’s new and exciting. But it’s also free, making it easy to pick up. And it taps into nostalgia for those who played Pokémon in the ’90s. 

Specifically, Pokémon Go realizes a vision Pokémon fans have had since the series came out: What if Pokémon were real, and inhabited our world?

It’s also exciting because it’s the first big augmented reality game. Although others (like Ingress and Life Is Crime) tried before, none reached the heights of Pokémon Go. But with Pokémon Go’s success, it’s something you can expect more of in the future.

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Final Fantasy VII Now Available On Android

Final Fantasy VII, the classic role-playing game that brought 3D graphics to the series, has finally been released for Android devices. It's now on just about every major platform, as it arrived on Steam in 2013, hit iOS last August, and has been available on the PS4 since December, 2015. While originally intended for the Nintendo 64 console, it was first launched on Sony's PlayStation in 1997 and helped popularize the console.

As with the iOS version, there are a couple of significant cheats; you can instantly max out your stats and turn off random battles. If you're keen to get it (and you are, if you're a FF fan), beware that the game costs a gasp-worthy $15.99 (£12.99 in the UK) and will eat up 2GB of space, with 4GB free needed to install. In addition, there's a pretty horrendous bug that could cause a crash and the loss of your data. As a result, "we recommend saving frequently and/or utilizing multiple save files," according to the release notes.



Source: Square EnixVia: Engadget

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Xbox Play Anywhere program officially launches on September 13

Xbox Play Anywhere, which delivers certain games to the Xbox One and Windows 10 PC with a single purchase, goes live on Sept. 13, Microsoft confirmed to Polygon this week.

The new program was during last month’s E3 Microsoft press conference. Play Anywhere saves your progress to a single file, tracks a single set of achievements and won't cost any more than a regular game. It also means that any DLC you purchase will be playable on both systems. This includes game add-ons, season passes, consumables and in-game unlocks.

The service requires that you have the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition update on your PC, which hits on Aug. 2, and the the summer update on your Xbox One console. It only supports the download version of the game, not the disc version.

While Microsoft has already listed the launch titles supported by the service, they had been a bit unclear on when the service would go live. But earlier this week, they confirmed the timing.

"The Windows 10 Anniversary Update and the related Xbox update coming this summer

enable the Windows Store on Windows 10 and Xbox One to support Xbox Play Anywhere games,"

A Microsoft spokesperson told Polygon. "Then, beginning with the launch of ReCore this fall and continuing with Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4, Halo Wars 2 and others, when you digitally purchase a game that supports Xbox Play Anywhere, you have access to the game on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs for one price and your progress, game saves and achievements are shared seamlessly across both platforms."

Games that support Play Anywhere will be listed on the official site and include a Play Anywhere icon in the online store.

Here’s the existing list:

• Gears of War 4
• Forza Horizon 3
• ReCore
• Sea of Thieves
• Halo Wars 2
• Scalebound
• Killer Instinct Season 3
• State of Decay 2
• Ark: Survival Evolved
• Cuphead
• We Happy Few
• Crackdown 3

 Source: Polygon

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Microsoft Announces Project Scorpio, the next Xbox One console, arriving late 2017

Project Scorpio is official, and it’s coming in the holiday of 2017. Microsoft is calling it “the most powerful console ever.”

Microsoft pulled out a sizzle reel full of developers to talk about how excited they are to make games on Scorpio, and they’re saying that all future Xbox games will be compatible with both that and the older Xbox One and Xbox One S models.

Microsoft says the machine will run at a performance speed of six teraflops and support both 4K gaming and ‘high fidelity VR.’ They’re touting the new GPU’s power and speed, promising a major boost. “I think it’s gonna be magical,” Bethesda’s Todd Howard said.

Scorpio will compete directly not just against the PC but against Sony’s high-end PlayStation, codenamed Neo. Kotaku first broke news of Neo back in March, and Sony confirmed it last Friday, saying that they wouldn’t be talking about the so-called PS4.5 at E3 this week.

Here’s a video of developers talking about Scorpio:

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The 'Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare' Trailer Is The Most Disliked Gaming Video On Youtube Ever

 

It seems that Activision’s popular shooter series Call of Duty will not be receiving the warmest reception when it releases later this year.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was announced earlier this week to tepid applause. Looking at the YouTube video for the latest reveal trailer, gamers are not to thrilled with the new game.  It’s possible that franchise fatigue is setting in, as there has been a new Call of Duty game every year since 2007. Activision did announce that Infinite Warfare would be bundled with a remastered version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which is beloved by fans.

 

As of publishing, the video has more than 12.2 million views, with 235,903 likes and 885,553 dislikes. Many of the comments express dissatisfaction with where the series has been heading. Since its more realistic roots with Modern Warfare, the series has been getting steadily crazier, and is currently pursuing sci-fi-inspired technology themes. Another reason for the dislikes is the fact thatthe  Modern Warfare re-master will not be sold separately, meaning that if gamers want to relive the glory of the 2007 hit, they’ll need to pay the Infinite Warfare ransom.

While the Call of Duty series does have its fair share of critics, the games tend to sell phenomenally well. But the number of dislikes this reveal trailer has received is not at all par for the course. Compared to previous reveal trailers, Infinite Warfare seems to really have struck a nerve, and not a good one. The last Call of Duty game, Black Ops III, sits at over 22 million views, with 394k likes to 79k dislikes. The one prior to that, Advanced Warfare, featuring Kevin Spacey, has over 30 million views with 222k likes to 50k dislikes.

Franchise fatigue is definitely real. Gamers may have grown tired of the relentless Call of Duty push this past decade. Other popular franchises like Assassin’s Creed have decided to stop the annual release schedule in hopes of creating some breathing room for consumers. If things go poorly for this iteration of Call of Duty, it will be interesting to see what Activision does to increase consumer confidence.

Source: Digital Trends

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Final Fantasy XI shuts down on PS2 and Xbox 360, but PC version is still up and running

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and one of Final Fantasy’s most misunderstood chapters is no longer available on two of its platforms. As has been planned for months now, Square Enix has shut down the servers powering both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 versions of Final Fantasy XI, making the magical realm of Vana’diel accessible only through your PC.

Back in the day and even during the beta test, when this idea of “online console gaming” was still new, I used to play Final Fantasy XI on the PlayStation 2, and I was somewhat in love with it. True, back then, it was a brutally punishing game, exacerbated by the PlayStation 2’s shaky network, but I still pushed on my adventures, taming Chocobos, learning magic, squabbling with the PC crowd.

Sadly, many fans never gave Final Fantasy XI the love it deserved, blasting it for outlandish ideas like “subscription fees,” “international servers,” “cross-play servers,” and “forced multiplayer.” It’s amazing how far the mindset of gamers has come since 2002, isn’t it? However, these fans missed out on one of Final Fantasy’s most complete worlds, loaded with lore, storylines, and interesting characters and locations.

Even series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi claims it is the closest “modern” game to his original vision for the series.

Final Fantasy XI also proved to be Square Enix’s most profitable game of all time, with the decade of continued support easily able to eclipse the money made off of Final Fantasy VII. Now with Final Fantasy XIV enjoying critical praise and a slowburn to success, Final Fantasy XI’s heir has already been established, meaning Square Enix has no more need for its trailblazing MMORPG.

At least things aren’t all gloom and doom. The PC version is still up and running, and hopefully it lasts for years to come. I’ve always dreamed about visiting Vana’diel once again and seeing how it’s changed over time, and that option will always be there, even once the “pirates” take over when Square Enix totally pulls the plug.

Plenty of games go the way of the dodo these days, but Final Fantasy is in a lucky enough position to be blessed with passionate fans that will never let it die.




Source : TechniBufalo

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“Minecraft Education Edition” Coming Soon For Classrooms, Following Acquisition Of Learning Game by Microsoft

Microsoft is further expanding on its investment in Minecraft, bought in 2014 for $2.5 billion, by acquiring a learning game called MinecraftEdu for an undisclosed sum. The game, produced by a company called Teacher Gaming LLC, allows teachers to use Minecraft in the classroom, and includes a library of lessons and activities used to teach subjects including STEM, history, language, and art. Microsoft says it will use this acquisition to build out its own “Minecraft Education Edition,” which will launch into free trials as of this summer.


Minecraft is already known for being a tool that encourages kids to learn more about game design and programming, among other things, but MinecraftEdu was specifically designed with the goals of educators in mind. Teachers could adapt the product to their own curriculum needs, while also eliminating the need to set up or manage their own hardware, thanks to the tool’s hosted environment.
Plus, the learning game offered a range of activities created by other teachers, as well as hands-on workshops and courses, and technical support.

Already, notes Microsoft when detailing the acquisition, over 7,000 classrooms in more than 40 countries worldwide use Minecraft as part of their curriculum today. The launch of its own supported Education Edition could easily increase those numbers.

The company says that by having students create virtual worlds in Minecraft, they can learn a range of skills, like digital citizenship, empathy, social skills, and can even improve their literacy, while also getting real-time feedback from their teacher. Some examples of Minecraft in the classroom today include elementary school students learning about city planning and engineering; middle schoolers learning the building blocks of computer science in a Minecraft coding camp; or college students learning the history of the New Zealand and its people by re-creating historic landscape and events in the program.

Microsoft notes that following this deal’s close, it will roll out a new version of this game that will include an expanded feature set focused on empowering educators to “foster deeper student engagement and collaboration,” says Anthony Salcito, vice president of Microsoft Education in a blog post.

This new version, dubbed “Minecraft Education Edition,” will be available as a free trial starting this summer.

As MinecraftEdu, the company charged for server subscriptions at $25 per month per server instance. (A single classroom server supports already 30 simultaneous users.) In addition, teachers had to buy a one-time Server Software license at a cost of $41. The BBC reports that Microsoft will charge an annual fee of $5 (£3.50) for each teacher and child, though pricing wasn’t mentioned directly in Microsoft’s announcement.

A website for Minecraft Education Edition is now live, offering starter lessons, educator forums, and other resources. Teachers can also join a mailing list to be notified of updates. Meanwhile, Teaching Gaming says that current MinecraftEdu users won’t be affected for the time being, and sales will continue until Microsoft’s version is ready. Existing customers will be offered a year of Minecraft Education Edition for free at that point.



Source : Techcrunch

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Assassin’s Creed Movie Concludes Its Filming

We know when you hear about video game movies, you cringe a little, and we don’t blame you. We’ve seen what disasters many of them have turned out to be, but hopefully lessons have been learnt because it looks like the Assassin’s Creed movie has officially concluded its filming, in time for its scheduled launch at the end of the year.

This was announced by Assassin’s Creed head of content Azaïzia Aymar on Twitter in which the message read, “It is my honor to announce that #assassinscreedmovie last shot was taken minutes ago! Congratulations guys!!!” What this means is that post-production work will now begin, which will hopefully transform into a great movie.

Considering that Assassin’s Creed is one of Ubisoft’s biggest franchises, we’re sure there’s a lot more than just the movie riding on this. Ubisoft had vouched for the movie (unsurprisingly) back in November, calling it “extremely promising”. Stills from the movie have also shown characters in costume, which we have to say looks pretty good.

Assassin’s Creed the movie has been pegged for a release on the 21st of December where it will star Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Ariane Labed, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, and Michael Kenneth Williams. The official trailer for the movie has yet to be released, but you can bet we are excited for when it does.



Source : Ubergizmo

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Call of Duty is again the top-selling game of the year, the seventh year in a row

Call of Duty is continuing its unprecedented run at the top of the gaming charts.
For the seventh year in a row, Activision’s shooter franchise has topped the sales U.S. sales charts. Call of Duty: Black Ops III was the best-selling game worldwide, and the series as a whole — including the sales of Advanced Warfare and other legacy entries — helped the series stave off competition from releases like Fallout 4. This comes as many gamers claim they have grown tired of the Call of Duty franchise, but its popularity continues in the face of those criticisms. That means we’re likely going to keep getting a new yearly release in this series for a while as its publisher continues turning it into cash.

Here’s a statement from Activision’s Rob Kostich, the senior vice president and general manager for Call of Duty:

“Call of Duty: Black Ops III was the top-selling title of 2015 globally by a wide-margin in both units and dollars sold-thru. This also marks the seventh year in a row that Call of Duty has been the No. 1 selling franchise in North America, according to NPD. In fact, Call of Duty has surpassed 250 million units sold life-to-date worldwide.  This achievement is thanks to the amazing experiences created by all of our development teams, and would not be possible without the  incredible passion from the Call of Duty community. We congratulate Treyarch on creating an incredibly engaging and an enormously fun game with Black Ops III and look forward to what’s to come in 2016.”

Call of Duty’s rise to the top started way back in 2007 when Activision released Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. That game brought a level of polish and progression that players hadn’t seen before in a shooter on console or on Windows. It was an immediate smash hit and earned a number of Game of the Year honors. Since then, between developers Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer, we’ve had one new Call of Duty every November.
And while Grand Theft Auto V outsold Call of Duty: Ghosts in the United States in 2013, the franchise as a whole still made more money than any other console game every year, according to Activision. And while Grand Theft Auto comes and goes from the sales charts, Call of Duty never leaves.



Source: Venture Beat

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Rise Of The Tomb Raider Release Date For PC Confirmed

Following Rise of the Tomb Raider’s highly successful release exclusively for Xbox One and Xbox 360, Square Enix® announced that the game will be available for Windows 10 and Steam on January 28, 2016.

Bringing the game’s thrilling narrative and perilous environments to PC in stunning new detail, developers Crystal Dynamics® and Nixxes Software added numerous features, including Windows 10 support and 4K resolution. Rise of the Tomb Raider® was nominated for Best Action/Adventure for The Game Awards and follows the critically acclaimed, award-winning Tomb Raider®.

“The PC release of Rise of the Tomb Raider continues the positive momentum from our highly successful partnership and collaboration with Microsoft for the launch on Xbox One and Xbox 360,” said Scot Amos co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics.

“PC players are a passionate, devoted audience and we know they’ll embrace the version created for their systems,” said Ron Rosenberg, co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics.

After uncovering an ancient mystery, Lara must explore the most treacherous and remote regions of Siberia to find the secret of immortality before a ruthless organization known as Trinity. Lara must use her wits and survival skills, form new alliances, and ultimately embrace her destiny as the Tomb Raider. Experience high-octane action moments, conquer beautifully hostile environments, engage in brutal guerilla combat, and explore awe-inspiring deadly tombs in the evolution of survival action. In “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” Lara becomes more than a survivor as she embarks on her first Tomb Raiding expedition.

The PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider will be available as a digital download via Steam®, the Windows Store, Amazon™, the Square Enix e-store and other major retailers – both in-store and online. Standard edition pricing is $59.99. The Digital Deluxe edition is $89.99 and includes a Season Pass to nearly all current and future DLC.

A Collector’s Edition, which includes the Digital Deluxe version of the game, a 12-inch Lara Croft® statue, replicas of Lara’s journal and jade necklace, and a steel case, will also be available from the Square Enix e-store for $149.99.



Source:  press.na.square-enix

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