Xbox One is now $349
Word? Man I'm just going to have to take that plunge. When the price returned to $399 I said fuck it, but now...we might have to exchange gamertags to check it up in fifa.
Xbox One Console Reviews
- Thread starter Gemini
- Start date
Word? Man I'm just going to have to take that plunge. When the price returned to $399 I said fuck it, but now...we might have to exchange gamertags to check it up in fifa.
I've got a feeling either lower or they will include the Kinect at the $349 price.
This is a great system.
they better not add Kinect back in..
I hope they don't since I didn't get one but if they include it and drop the price from $150 I wouldn't trip.
I never used my old one on the 360 but I hate typing in those 25 digit codes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>We’re thrilled to be bringing Ori to Xbox One and Steam for 19.99$ on the 11’th of March!
<a href="http://t.co/AvzY8Fn3hE">http://t.co/AvzY8Fn3hE</a> <a href="http://t.co/PhTEAGMnNQ">pic.twitter.com/PhTEAGMnNQ</a></p>— OriAndTheBlindForest (@OriBlindForest) <a href="https://twitter.com/OriBlindForest/status/557539346937421825">January 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<a href="http://t.co/AvzY8Fn3hE">http://t.co/AvzY8Fn3hE</a> <a href="http://t.co/PhTEAGMnNQ">pic.twitter.com/PhTEAGMnNQ</a></p>— OriAndTheBlindForest (@OriBlindForest) <a href="https://twitter.com/OriBlindForest/status/557539346937421825">January 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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In very rare moments, failure can be fun. Screamride managed to make one of the most penalizing moments in a game not a burden, but a chance for awesome destruction. So instead of trying to complete the difficult time bonus challenges in Screamrider mode, I looked for opportune moments where I could derail my exploding car and crash into buildings.
Screamride takes place in futuristic roller coaster testing facility, so there are tons of cool tools for players to construct, test, and destroy coasters in the sandbox mode and in campaign. The campaign features three jobs — Screamrider, Demolition Expert, and Engineer — so there’s a nice mix of simulation, puzzles, and action.
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Screamrider is all about making it from the beginning to the end of the roller coaster as fast and as skillfully as possible. You’ll dodge obstacles, hit a command on special rails to gain speed boosts, and tilt your car at insane angles for bonus points. When I wasn't purposefully launching my car into the environment, I was trying my best to master the pattern of tracks.
When I did inevitably knock my car off the rails, loading up the most recent checkpoint or restarting the level was thankfully quick. Even in the short time I had to play, I found myself obsessed with perfecting my runs, bringing down my time, and completing bonus challenges.
The Demolition Expert job is entirely about destruction. While there is a roller coaster car in this mode, I threw a majority of my testers in amusement ride cabins. My favorite of the bunch was the fragmentation cabin, which can split into three parts for even more tactical destruction. Demolition Expert seemed rather simple at first, but as I played later levels, the buildings had stronger foundations and the bonus challenges became increasingly more difficult. I couldn't just throw my cabins and expect destruction. I had to play with strategy and develop a little bit of skill. It’s like two parts Crash mode from Burnout and one part Angry Birds.
When multiple buildings started to crumble or sometimes when I restarted the level in both Demolition Expert and Screamrider, unfortunately, the frame rate would drop. The lagged destruction sometimes ruined the moment. Another strange thing I noticed was the absurd amount of twins among the ride testers. It was a little awkward when two of the testers had the same model doing the same animation, but that doesn't matter much once I was flinging them into a tower. Fortunately, these are issues that could potentially be rectified by the time the game’s March 3 release rolls around (also, FYI: it’ll be $40 on Xbox One and $30 on Xbox 360, where it’ll be missing the user-generated content sharing features).
Jumping into the Engineer job was a nice change of pace. The focus of Engineer, as you could probably guess, is building roller coaster tracks. Building is limited by objectives, but, like the other modes, the bonus challenges really pushed me to do my best. There are a lot of tools and track pieces, but it wasn't too difficult to figure out the controls. Unlike the sandbox mode, there are some strict restrictions when constructing tracks in Engineer mode. Instead of feeling like a limitation, the restrictions instead helped me better learn the building systems of Screamride. For instance, the first few levels I played only had me building a small section of the track, so I was limited on the distance of rails and the available rails.
Once I let the testers take it for a spin, I received a great amount of feedback. Tracks are rated in screams, nausea, and intensity. Points are also awarded based on the types of track pieces used, drops, and more. Additionally, Screamride points out issues with your track, such as showing exactly where riders fell out of the coaster car. I was able to use this information to alter my track so I could score more points and clear bonus challenges.
I didn't have much time with the Sandbox mode, but I still managed to complete one small coaster of doom. After throwing some crazy pieces together, I was able to quickly build my track with the autocomplete tool. The tool wasn't able to complete my roller coaster the first time I tried it, but after adding two short pieces and trying again, it worked. There are also pre-built roller coasters and environment pieces, so I was able to make a cool little attraction in a short amount of time.
Screamride gave me control of some of the most fast paced, chaotic destruction I've experienced. Pass the Dramamine!
Microsoft and Undead Labs have announced that State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition will be available via disc or download on April 28 for $29.99. Those who own State of Decay for Xbox 360 will receive a 33% discount, making Year One Survival Edition $19.99 for them. Existing State of Decay owners also get an exclusive playable character.
The Xbox One version of the game bundles in the Breakdown and Lifeline expansions as well as every patch. It also features a handful of new vehicles, weapons, mission types, and various graphical touch-ups.
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In case you don't remember State of Decay or missed it in 2013, see our video review above or our written review. Hint: we really, really liked it.
Also, stay tuned for an hour-long interview with Undead Labs CEO Jeff Strain on Podcast Unlocked tomorrow, in which he discusses his past working at Blizzard, forming Undead Labs, whether or not co-op is ever coming to State of Decay, and what's next for the studio.
By Steve WattsXbox One owners will be able to play Battlefield Hardline first, thanks to the publisher's EA Access program.
The official Twitter account confirmed that Access' selling point of offering games a few days early would apply to Hardline, letting players try the full game for free a few days in advance.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/MaximumXtreme">@MaximumXtreme</a> Yes, you will be able to get early access to Battlefield Hardline through EA Access.</p>— Battlefield (@Battlefield) <a href="https://twitter.com/Battlefield/status/556964679243665408">January 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
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EA Access is Xbox One exclusive, so that gives Xbox owners with a subscription to EA's service a leg up on PC and PlayStation 4 players. However, the trial isn't unlimited, as EA has generally kept them to six hours even for much longer games like Dragon Age: Inquisition. Battlefield: Hardline is likely to be similarly limited. EA Access also tends to let players carry progress into the purchase of the full game.
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EA planned to offer Access across both of the new generation consoles, but Sony passed on the offer saying it didn't offer a good value. For those who don't get early access, Battlefield Hardline is coming on March 17.
The Windows 10 Media Briefing is Wednesday, January 21st at 5p GMT/12n ET/9a PT and it will be live streamed here. You’ll be hearing from senior leaders from the Operating Systems Group including Terry Myerson, Joe Belfiore and Phil Spencer as well as our CEO Satya Nadella.
Find out what time the live stream starts in your timezone.
Watch the stream here: http://news.microsoft.com/windows10story/
If you can’t watch the live stream, you can also follow me on Twitter where I’ll be hitting the highlights as well.
Or you can track the goings on with the hashtag #Windows10
Rumour: Call of Duty World at War II to be revealed in May
Developer Treyarch is reportedly planning to reveal Call of Duty: World at War II later this year, according to an alleged teaser poster leaked online.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here's the reveal poster for Call Of Duty: World At War 2. We've added our watermark so it doesn't get copied. RT <a href="http://t.co/mA2OFnHdTP">pic.twitter.com/mA2OFnHdTP</a></p>— Anonymous Protection (@AnonymousUK2015) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnonymousUK2015/status/554312500356063232">January 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here's the reveal poster for Call Of Duty: World At War 2. We've added our watermark so it doesn't get copied. RT <a href="http://t.co/mA2OFnHdTP">pic.twitter.com/mA2OFnHdTP</a></p>— Anonymous Protection (@AnonymousUK2015) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnonymousUK2015/status/554312500356063232">January 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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This morning, Anonymous Protection posted the above image on Twitter announcing a World at War II reveal event for May 4, 2015.
The picture states that the reveal will be "presented by Xbox" at 10am PDT on May 4.
Last year on the same date Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was meant to be revealed, though it was leaked a few days beforehand.
The Call of Duty series cycles developers, in order to keep to an annual release schedule without restricting development time.
Treyarch, developer of 2008's Call of Duty: World at War, is behind this year's entry in the series, and have teased a return to the World War II setting.
Last December, the studio posted a link to the Wikipedia page for the attack on Pearl Harbour on Facebook, along with a quote from Franklin D Roosevelt, on the anniversary of the event.
Not-final box art for World at War II was also reportedly leaked by Amazon earlier last year, but was later found to be a hoax.
If this latest leak is accurate, there's a good chance we'll hear more about the game between now and May.
NZGamer.com
The picture states that the reveal will be "presented by Xbox" at 10am PDT on May 4.
Last year on the same date Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was meant to be revealed, though it was leaked a few days beforehand.
The Call of Duty series cycles developers, in order to keep to an annual release schedule without restricting development time.
Treyarch, developer of 2008's Call of Duty: World at War, is behind this year's entry in the series, and have teased a return to the World War II setting.
Last December, the studio posted a link to the Wikipedia page for the attack on Pearl Harbour on Facebook, along with a quote from Franklin D Roosevelt, on the anniversary of the event.
Not-final box art for World at War II was also reportedly leaked by Amazon earlier last year, but was later found to be a hoax.
If this latest leak is accurate, there's a good chance we'll hear more about the game between now and May.
NZGamer.com
Here are this week’s games and add-on deals on the Xbox Games Store. Discounts are valid now through 26 January 2015.
Xbox One
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 411pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="547"> <tbody> <tr class="xl6616947" style="mso-height-source: userset; height: 16.5pt;"> <td class="xl7116947" style="height: 16.5pt; width: 209pt;" height="22" width="278">Content Title</td> <td class="xl7216947" style="border-left: none; width: 121pt;" width="161">Content Type</td> <td class="xl7416947" style="border-left: none; width: 81pt;" width="108">Discount %</td> </tr> <tr class="xl6616947" style="height: 16.5pt;"> <td class="xl7816947" style="height: 16.5pt;" height="22">Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition</td> <td class="xl6916947" style="border-left: none;">Xbox One Game</td> <td class="xl7016947" style="border-left: none; width: 81pt;" width="108">40%</td> </tr> <tr class="xl6616947" style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl7916947" style="height: 15.75pt; border-top: none;" height="21">Sunset Overdrive</td> <td class="xl7316947" style="border-top: none; border-left: none;">Xbox One Game</td> <td class="xl7516947" style="border-top: none; border-left: none;">40%</td> </tr> <tr class="xl6616947" style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl7816947" style="height: 15.75pt; border-top: none;" height="21">Sunset Overdrive Deluxe</td> <td class="xl6916947" style="border-top: none; border-left: none;">Xbox One Game</td> <td class="xl7016947" style="border-top: none; border-left: none; width: 81pt;" width="108">40%</td> </tr> <tr class="xl6616947" style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl7916947" style="height: 15.75pt; border-top: none;" height="21">Chariot</td> <td class="xl7316947" style="border-top: none; border-left: none;">Xbox One Game</td> <td class="xl7716947" style="border-top: none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr class="xl6616947" style="height: 15.75pt;"> <td class="xl7816947" style="height: 15.75pt; border-top: none;" height="21">Crew Platinum Pack*</td> <td class="xl6916947" style="border-top: none; border-left: none;">Consumable</td> <td class="xl7616947" style="border-top: none;">20%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Please note: prices and availability are subject to change and may vary by region.
*These deals are available for Xbox Live Gold and Silver members.
Xbox 360
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 411pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="547"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl6824958" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 209pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: windowtext; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: 1.0pt solid windowtext; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: 1.5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #92D050; mso-pattern: black none;" height="20" width="278">Content Title</td> <td class="xl6824958" style="width: 121pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: windowtext; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: 1.0pt solid windowtext; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: 1.5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #92D050; mso-pattern: black none;" width="161">Content Type</td> <td class="xl6824958" style="width: 81pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: windowtext; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: 1.0pt solid windowtext; border-right: none; border-bottom: 1.5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #92D050; mso-pattern: black none;" width="108">Discount %</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7324958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;" height="20">Skyrim</td> <td class="xl6924958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">Games On Demand</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;" height="20">Farming Simulator</td> <td class="xl6924958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">Games On Demand</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;" height="20">Adventure Time: Secret (2014)</td> <td class="xl6924958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">Games On Demand</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;" height="20">Pool Nation</td> <td class="xl6924958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">Arcade</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;" height="20">0 Day Attack on Earth*</td> <td class="xl6924958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">Arcade</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;" height="20">Crystal Defenders*</td> <td class="xl6924958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">Arcade</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;" height="20">Final Fantasy XIII 2*</td> <td class="xl6924958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">Games On Demand</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;" height="20">Gyromancer*</td> <td class="xl7224958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">Arcade</td> <td class="xl7024958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;" height="20">Moon Diver*</td> <td class="xl7224958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">Arcade</td> <td class="xl7124958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;" height="20">Space Invaders Infinity Gene*</td> <td class="xl7224958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">Arcade</td> <td class="xl7124958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;" height="20">Yosumin! Live*</td> <td class="xl7224958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">Arcade</td> <td class="xl7124958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #D8E4BC; mso-pattern: #D8E4BC none;">50%</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.0pt;"> <td class="xl7424958" style="height: 15.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; color: blue; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: single; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: .5pt solid white; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: none; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;" height="20">Crew Platinum Pack*</td> <td class="xl7224958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">Consumable</td> <td class="xl7124958" style="font-size: 11.0pt; color: black; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; text-underline-style: none; text-line-through: none; font-family: Calibri; border-top: .5pt solid white; border-right: none; border-bottom: .5pt solid white; border-left: .5pt solid white; background: #EBF1DE; mso-pattern: #EBF1DE none;">20%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Please note: prices and availability are subject to change and may vary by region.
*These deals are available for Xbox Live Gold and Silver members.
It’s the end of October, when the days have already grown short in Redmond, Washington, and gray sheets of rain are just beginning to let up. In several months, Microsoft will unveil its most ambitious undertaking in years, a head-mounted holographic computer called Project HoloLens. But at this point, even most people at Microsoft have never heard of it. I walk through the large atrium of Microsoft’s Studio C to meet its chief inventor, Alex Kipman.
The headset is still a prototype being developed under the codename Project Baraboo, or sometimes just “B.” Kipman, with shoulder-length hair and severely cropped bangs, is a nervous inventor, shifting from one red Converse All-Star to the other. Nervous, because he’s been working on this pair of holographic goggles for five years. No, even longer. Seven years, if you go back to the idea he first pitched to Microsoft, which became Kinect. When the motion-sensing Xbox accessory was released, just in time for the 2010 holidays, it became the fastest-selling consumer gaming device of all time.
Right from the start, he makes it clear that Baraboo will make Kinect seem minor league.
Kipman leads me into a briefing room with a drop-down screen, plush couches, and a corner bar stocked with wine and soda (we abstain). He sits beside me, then stands, paces a bit, then sits down again. His wind-up is long. He gives me an abbreviated history of computing, speaking in complete paragraphs, with bushy, expressive eyebrows and saucer eyes that expand as he talks. The next era of computing, he explains, won’t be about that original digital universe. “It’s about the analog universe,” he says. “And the analog universe has a fundamentally different rule set.”
Translation: you used to compute on a screen, entering commands on a keyboard. Cyberspace was somewhere else. Computers responded to programs that detailed explicit commands. In the very near future, you’ll compute in the physical world, using voice and gesture to summon data and layer it atop physical objects. Computer programs will be able to digest so much data that they’ll be able to handle far more complex and nuanced situations. Cyberspace will be all around you.
What will this look like? Well, holograms.
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First Impressions
That’s when I get my first look at Baraboo. Kipman cues a concept video in which a young woman wearing the slate gray headset moves through a series of scenarios, from collaborating with coworkers on a conference call to soaring, Oculus-style, over the Golden Gate Bridge. I watch the video, while Kipman watches me watch the video, while Microsoft’s public relations executives watch Kipman watch me watch the video. And the video is cool, but I’ve seen too much sci-fi for any of it to feel believable yet. I want to get my hands on the actual device. So Kipman pulls a box onto the couch. Gingerly, he lifts out a headset. “First toy of the day to show you,” he says, passing it to me to hold. “This is the actual industrial design.”
Oh Baraboo! It’s bigger and more substantial than Google Glass, but far less boxy than the Oculus Rift. If I were a betting woman, I’d say it probably looks something like the goggles made by Magic Leap, the mysterious Google-backed augmented reality startup that has $592 million in funding. But Magic Leap is not yet ready to unveil its device. Microsoft, on the other hand, plans to get Project HoloLens into the hands of developers by the spring. (For more about Microsoft and CEO Satya Nadella’s plans for Project HoloLens, read WIRED’s February cover story.)
Kipman’s prototype is amazing. It amplifies the special powers that Kinect introduced, using a small fraction of the energy. The depth camera has a field of vision that spans 120 by 120 degrees—far more than the original Kinect—so it can sense what your hands are doing even when they are nearly outstretched. Sensors flood the device with terabytes of data every second, all managed with an onboard CPU, GPU and first-of-its-kind HPU (holographic processing unit). Yet, Kipman points out, the computer doesn’t grow hot on your head, because the warm air is vented out through the sides. On the right side, buttons allow you to adjust the volume and to control the contrast of the hologram.
Tricking Your Brain
Project HoloLens’ key achievement—realistic holograms—works by tricking your brain into seeing light as matter. “Ultimately, you know, you perceive the world because of light,” Kipman explains. “If I could magically turn the debugger on, we’d see photons bouncing throughout this world. Eventually they hit the back of your eyes, and through that, you reason about what the world is. You essentially hallucinate the world, or you see what your mind wants you to see.”
To create Project HoloLens’ images, light particles bounce around millions of times in the so-called light engine of the device. Then the photons enter the goggles’ two lenses, where they ricochet between layers of blue, green and red glass before they reach the back of your eye. “When you get the light to be at the exact angle,” Kipman tells me, “that’s where all the magic comes in.”
Thirty minutes later, after we’ve looked at another prototype and some more concept videos and talked about the importance of developers (you always have to talk about the importance of developers when launching a new product these days), I get to sample that magic. Kipman walks me across a courtyard and through the side door of a building that houses a secret basement lab. Each of the rooms has been outfitted as a scenario to test Project HoloLens.
A Quick Trip to Mars
The first is deceptively simple. I enter a makeshift living room, where wires jut from a hole in the wall where there should be a lightswitch. Tools are strewn on the West Elm sideboard just below it. Kipman hands me a HoloLens prototype and tells me to install the switch. After I put on the headset, an electrician pops up on a screen that floats directly in front of me. With a quick hand gesture I’m able to anchor the screen just to the left of the wires. The electrician is able to see exactly what I’m seeing. He draws a holographic circle around the voltage tester on the sideboard and instructs me to use it to check whether the wires are live. Once we establish that they aren’t, he walks me through the process of installing the switch, coaching me by sketching holographic arrows and diagrams on the wall in front of me. Five minutes later, I flip a switch, and the living room light turns on.
Another scenario lands me on a virtual Mars-scape. Kipman developed it in close collaboration with NASA rocket scientist Jeff Norris, who spent much of the first half of 2014 flying back and forth between Seattle and his Southern California home to help develop the scenario. With a quick upward gesture, I toggle from computer screens that monitor the Curiosity rover’s progress across the planet’s surface to the virtual experience of being on the planet. The ground is a parched, dusty sandstone, and so realistic that as I take a step, my legs begin to quiver. They don’t trust what my eyes are showing them. Behind me, the rover towers seven feet tall, its metal arm reaching out from its body like a tentacle. The sun shines brightly over the rover, creating short black shadows on the ground beneath its legs.
Norris joins me virtually, appearing as a three-dimensional human-shaped golden orb in the Mars-scape. (In reality, he’s in the room next door.) A dotted line extends from his eyes toward what he is looking at. “Check that out,” he says, and I squat down to see a rock shard up close. With an upward right-hand gesture, I bring up a series of controls. I choose the middle of three options, which drops a flag there, theoretically a signal to the rover to collect sediment.
After exploring Mars, I don’t want to remove the headset, which has provided a glimpse of a combination of computing tools that make the unimaginable feel real. NASA felt the same way. Norris will roll out Project HoloLens this summer so that agency scientists can use it to collaborate on a mission.
A Long Way Yet
Kipman’s voice eventually brings me back to Redmond. As I remove the goggles, he reminds me that it’s still early days for the project. This isn’t the kind of thing that will be, say, a holiday best seller. It’s a new interface, controlled by voice and gesture, and the controls have to work flawlessly before it will be commercially viable. I get that. I love voice controls, and I talk to Siri all the time. But half the time, she doesn’t give me a good answer and I have to pull up my keyboard to find what I’m looking for more quickly. Project HoloLens won’t have a keyboard. If the voice and gesture controls don’t work perfectly the first time, consumers will write it off. Quickly.
That said, there are no misfires during three other demos. I play a game in which a character jumps around a real room, collecting coins sprinkled atop a sofa and bouncing off springs placed on the floor. I sculpt a virtual toy (a fluorescent green snowman) that I can then produce with a 3-D printer. And I collaborate with a motorcycle designer Skyping in from Spain to paint a three-dimensional fender atop a physical prototype.
As I make my way through each, Kipman seems less nervous than when we began, but no less focused. It has been three hours since we met. In each scenario, he watches a screen that shows him what I am seeing, and he watches me trying to use his device for the first time. His eyebrows draw down in deep concentration as he checks to see if every calculation is perfect—noting the touch of my thumb and forefinger as I make an upward gesture, the words I reach for instinctively to instruct the computer. Seven years in, he is trying to see Project HoloLens as if for the first time. To see it through the eyes of a 30-something female New Yorker. But that is one thing his magical head-mounted holographic computer cannot do. At least not yet.
Millions of people use Windows every day, and they spend countless hours playing all kinds of games - from World of Warcraft and League of Legends to Minecraft and Minesweeper – on a variety of devices, whether they are PCs, laptops, tablets, or phones.
Gaming with Xbox has always been inherently personal and social – your games, your friends, your triumphs and stories. But moving from your console to your PC or phone is a challenge. We saw an opportunity to bring your gaming networks on the console and PC together. Most commonly, the game you play on Xbox doesn’t allow for multiplayer play with someone on the PC. And your gaming legacy only lives on one device or the other.
This morning at the Windows 10 media briefing, Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox at Microsoft, shared the company’s vision for gaming on Windows 10 and Xbox One. With Xbox on Windows 10, we’re bringing some of the most exciting features from Xbox Live and some of the most popular Xbox experiences into Windows 10 itself. The built-in Xbox app is the place where your world of gaming comes together. It’s a unified view of the games you care about, your friends, and your gaming activities. And with Xbox Live, more than 50 million members will now connect across screens in new ways.
“Over the last 13 years, Xbox has been focused on creating and expanding great gaming and entertainment experiences on console. We’re incredibly proud of the Xbox One and are fully committed to ensuring it’s the best place to play console games in 2015 and beyond,” said Spencer. “Now, we are also bringing that same focus, passion, and commitment to gaming on Windows 10, enhancing the PC games and gaming devices you already love, including the Xbox One. We’ve listened and learned from our past efforts in PC gaming and I am excited about what the future holds.”
Let’s take a closer look at what this means for gamers. Here are some highlights of the news announced today at the Windows 10 media briefing.
- The Xbox App. Whether you only game on the PC, the console or both, the Xbox app brings together the most important aspects of your gaming life: Games, Friends, Messages, Activity Feed, your gaming legacy with Achievements, and much more.
- Xbox Live and multiplayer across devices. Xbox Live is social, interactive, and seamlessly integrated directly into Windows 10, bringing gamers the experiences they love across devices, like multiplayer gaming on Windows 10 against players on an Xbox One, and messaging and chat with friends. And developers will get full access to the Xbox Live API, making it easier to create more powerful gaming scenarios across devices.
- Game Streaming. Thanks to the deep integration of Xbox on Windows 10, games on Xbox One can be streamed through your home network to your Windows 10 PC or tablet, anywhere in your house. Xbox One gamers will now be able to play many of their favorite console games on their PC. And many Xbox One accessories will work interchangeably on the console and PC (with more on the way), so you can customize your experience in whatever way you see fit.
- DirectX 12. We’ve enhanced our graphics technology to squeeze every ounce of performance out of your supported hardware and open up a new wave of innovation for high-end graphics. Delivering greater complexity and detail on your current PC, games authored or updated for DirectX 12 are able to run faster and have richer visuals. And this technology is already in the hands of developers today. The engines used to power hundreds of games are implementing DirectX 12, including Unreal Engine 4 from Epic and, as we announced today, Unity.
- Game DVR. On Xbox One, one of the most popular features used by gamers is Game DVR, which gives simple access to recording, editing, and sharing out your most epic gaming moments. It’s not easy or consistent to do that for PC games today. We’re bringing this beloved feature to Windows 10, now accessible by simply pressing Windows+G. With the games you love playing – whether on Xbox Live, Steam, or other services – you can record, edit, and share game clips with all your social networks.
- Fable Legends. Today we announced that we are bringing Fable Legends to Windows 10 PCs, day-and-date with the Xbox One version in 2015. This means Fable fans running Windows 10 will be able to play against their fellow gamers on Xbox One. It’s the same game, in the same world, on the same map. Fable Legends is just the first of the major game franchises from Microsoft Studios coming to Windows 10 and we will have more to share in the coming months.
In the next week, anyone will be able to download the Windows 10 Tech Preview to begin interacting with an early version of the Xbox app. We’ll post a video walkthrough of the app in the coming weeks so you can have a closer look at the initial features available to gamers.
Now, while Xbox is coming to Windows, Windows 10 is also coming to Xbox One. As you know, Xbox One runs on Windows today for its app environment. Later this year we’ll update to Windows 10 to enable seamless interaction with PC gamers and to give developers who want to extend their applications to the television an easy path to do so.
Today marks a new era in gaming for Microsoft, and we’re looking forward to sharing more about what Windows 10 means to Xbox One at Game Developers Conference in March.
Director Mike Ybarra also says that Microsoft is hoping to achieve as little latency as possible.
Microsoft's just-announced Xbox One-to-PC game streaming service is targeting to run at full 1080p resolution and 60 frames-per-second. Partner director Mike Ybarra said today during a group interview attended by GameSpot that the service is running at 720p/30fps right now in the testing labs, but Microsoft expects this to improve to full HD by the time it launches publicly later this year.
Achieving maximum graphical output will, as you might expect, depend on bandwidth speeds in your home. "It will really largely depend on the scenario to which someone is trying to play," Ybarra said. "But we want to make sure that we can get the optimal experience."
Microsoft's game-streaming service will allow gamers to stream their Xbox One titles to Windows 10 devices in their home over a Wi-Fi connection.
Ybarra also addressed the issue of latency. Without making any specific promises, Ybarra said, "Certainly our goal is to be as low-latency as possible."
Windows 10: A New Generation of Windows
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Dag I wanna get both Dead Rising 3 and to buy Sunset Overdrive again, but I've got 5-6 games I haven't even touched yet 
Rumour: Call of Duty World at War II to be revealed in May
Developer Treyarch is reportedly planning to reveal Call of Duty: World at War II later this year, according to an alleged teaser poster leaked online.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here's the reveal poster for Call Of Duty: World At War 2. We've added our watermark so it doesn't get copied. RT <a href="http://t.co/mA2OFnHdTP">pic.twitter.com/mA2OFnHdTP</a></p>— Anonymous Protection (@AnonymousUK2015) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnonymousUK2015/status/554312500356063232">January 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This morning, Anonymous Protection posted the above image on Twitter announcing a World at War II reveal event for May 4, 2015.
The picture states that the reveal will be "presented by Xbox" at 10am PDT on May 4.
Last year on the same date Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was meant to be revealed, though it was leaked a few days beforehand.
The Call of Duty series cycles developers, in order to keep to an annual release schedule without restricting development time.
Treyarch, developer of 2008's Call of Duty: World at War, is behind this year's entry in the series, and have teased a return to the World War II setting.
Last December, the studio posted a link to the Wikipedia page for the attack on Pearl Harbour on Facebook, along with a quote from Franklin D Roosevelt, on the anniversary of the event.
Not-final box art for World at War II was also reportedly leaked by Amazon earlier last year, but was later found to be a hoax.
If this latest leak is accurate, there's a good chance we'll hear more about the game between now and May.
NZGamer.com
This has my attention. The first World at War is one of the best COD to date.
It's the only studio left that can drop a REAL COD.
Advanced Warfare is getting a bit played.
I might need to go back to Titanfall.
Dag I wanna get both Dead Rising 3 and to buy Sunset Overdrive again, but I've got 5-6 games I haven't even touched yet
Me too. I need to finish Dragon Age, AC unity, Black flag, Diablo & Sunset Overdrive. Every time a log on Live somebody wants to play COD AW or 2K
same here
I'm currently at 77% capacity.
Have any of you all run out of storage space yet?
Have any of you all run out of storage space yet?
Rumour: Call of Duty World at War II to be revealed in May
Developer Treyarch is reportedly planning to reveal Call of Duty: World at War II later this year, according to an alleged teaser poster leaked online.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here's the reveal poster for Call Of Duty: World At War 2. We've added our watermark so it doesn't get copied. RT <a href="http://t.co/mA2OFnHdTP">pic.twitter.com/mA2OFnHdTP</a></p>— Anonymous Protection (@AnonymousUK2015) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnonymousUK2015/status/554312500356063232">January 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This morning, Anonymous Protection posted the above image on Twitter announcing a World at War II reveal event for May 4, 2015.
The picture states that the reveal will be "presented by Xbox" at 10am PDT on May 4.
Last year on the same date Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was meant to be revealed, though it was leaked a few days beforehand.
The Call of Duty series cycles developers, in order to keep to an annual release schedule without restricting development time.
Treyarch, developer of 2008's Call of Duty: World at War, is behind this year's entry in the series, and have teased a return to the World War II setting.
Last December, the studio posted a link to the Wikipedia page for the attack on Pearl Harbour on Facebook, along with a quote from Franklin D Roosevelt, on the anniversary of the event.
Not-final box art for World at War II was also reportedly leaked by Amazon earlier last year, but was later found to be a hoax.
If this latest leak is accurate, there's a good chance we'll hear more about the game between now and May.
NZGamer.com
thats a shock,they going back to the WWII era..meanwhile Infinity Ward going to do a Ghosts sequel
I ran out months ago. I need an external. Too many free games, arcade games and apps. Plus I like to have all my current discs installed already.
Rumour: Call of Duty World at War II to be revealed in May
Developer Treyarch is reportedly planning to reveal Call of Duty: World at War II later this year, according to an alleged teaser poster leaked online.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here's the reveal poster for Call Of Duty: World At War 2. We've added our watermark so it doesn't get copied. RT <a href="http://t.co/mA2OFnHdTP">pic.twitter.com/mA2OFnHdTP</a></p>— Anonymous Protection (@AnonymousUK2015) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnonymousUK2015/status/554312500356063232">January 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This morning, Anonymous Protection posted the above image on Twitter announcing a World at War II reveal event for May 4, 2015.
The picture states that the reveal will be "presented by Xbox" at 10am PDT on May 4.
Last year on the same date Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was meant to be revealed, though it was leaked a few days beforehand.
The Call of Duty series cycles developers, in order to keep to an annual release schedule without restricting development time.
Treyarch, developer of 2008's Call of Duty: World at War, is behind this year's entry in the series, and have teased a return to the World War II setting.
Last December, the studio posted a link to the Wikipedia page for the attack on Pearl Harbour on Facebook, along with a quote from Franklin D Roosevelt, on the anniversary of the event.
Not-final box art for World at War II was also reportedly leaked by Amazon earlier last year, but was later found to be a hoax.
If this latest leak is accurate, there's a good chance we'll hear more about the game between now and May.
NZGamer.com
Easily my favorite Call of Duty........hands down my favorite.....
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