They also said you can pause live TV for up to 30 minutes. I was hoping that also meant DVR-like capabilities, at least in a limited sense. Like if I can watch Survivor, pause it, then come back and fast forward through the ads.
Yeah, that’s usually called “trick play” after TiVo’s patent of the idea. I would assume you can do that-- but only for 30 minutes, so it’s not a DVR. But it would be nice for sports, I guess.
Games with Gold for May:
Xbox One - Castlestorm
Xbox 360 - Mafia II and F1 2013
Sigh.
I will give Microsoft this: they aren’t giving away games I’ve already spent money on at least.
Malderi
6113
C’mon, MS, give at least a single AAA title in Games for Gold. Got to be a launch title or two you can put up there instead of stuff like Castlestorm.
LocoCycle would’ve been much better.
LocoCycle at least has James Gunn and Freddy Rodriguez in FMV.
RickH
6116
Replacement XB1 now being replaced. Is there some problem with the Bluray drives that isn’t being publicized? The exact same problem has happened twice in a row now, with the added bonus of the drive refusing to eject the disc, even using the manual release by paperclip method.
This time I insisted on cross-shipping, first to ensure I got a new unit, second to avoid not having my console for 2 weeks while they ground-shipped everything. I suppose it’s worth $16 for shipping, but I would think they might comp a guy after they failed to fix the problem the first time. Nope.
Worst console reliability ever, MS.
Phil Spencer talks about Xbox, Kinect, and Windows 10.
http://www.gamesradar.com/phil-spencer-talks-future-xbox-one-and-windows-10/
Are you concerned that people will associate your Windows 10 initiative with GFWL?
This will sound funny, but I embrace the scepticism people might have because of Games For Windows – Live. It’s in our past, and wasn’t a fleshed-out programme fully supported by the Xbox team; it was another thing that was separate. But if you bet on us for Games For Windows – Live, I can understand somebody saying, “Hey, you’re going to have to earn my trust back.” And that’s why when I stand there talking about it, I’m not showing any fancy videos, I’m not trying to pizzazz you with anything other than, “Here’s what we are; here’s what we’re trying to do. And the SDKs are available now.”
We’ve been active in signing up content because we also want to use our own tools and kind of live through that progression, so that when other developers come on board, we’ve got the mileposts in place to say, “Here’s what we’ve been able to do,” and be very transparent about the areas that aren’t done, so we don’t try to pull one over on anybody. But GFWL, I don’t want to dodge it, I’m not going to say it’s not something we had before. But the Xbox team is fully committed to expanding what we’re doing across all of the Windows 10 devices, and we’re getting the response – at least from the developer community – that [it] means something.
JoshV
6118
Only really about three choices for launch titles owned by MS. Forza, Crimson Dragon (which they already gave away, and is crap), and Dead Rising 3. I wouldn’t mind a copy of DR 3…
If you’re an Xbox developer, there are some tools that we’re providing that allow you to seamlessly move from Xbox to PC – Xbox Live and the Universal App Platform will be helpful for those guys
This really does mean Steam is screwed, assuming Win10 quickly builds market share. And it’s free, and pretty good, so I think it will.
I don’t have faith in Microsoft pushing and promoting deep discount sales which is one of the big reasons that Steam’s so huge.
That doesn’t matter. If the game was ported from XBone to a windows “universal app” using microsoft’s tools, it can only be sold in the windows store.
Right. But why buy a digital PC version for full price if I can buy a used (or even new with some of these preorder deals) Xbone version for less, and then trade it in when I’m done (the generic “I” to be clear)? As we’ve seen with this gen’s hardware sales the market for video games is very price sensitive.
That’s a valid point, but some people simply aren’t console gamers. I’m one of them. I’ve played plenty of console ports to PC, though.
PC ports can be far superior to the console versions. First, PCs have vastly more powerful hardware, so games look better and run at higher framerates. That was true at launch for the current console generation, and will be more prevalent over the next few years. Second, PC ports offer additional features and modding. Skyrim on PC is a vastly different experience than on console. GTA5 is already being modded like crazy.
Also, if MS is smart they will follow Steam’s pricing strategies. They’ve worked very well for Valve, after all!
You know, I agree with all those points but I still don’t trust MS to follow the market leader. I hope you’re right because a second viable PC marketplace can only be a good thing for consumers, even if their offerings only have minimal overlap.
mono
6125
It’s a big bat for MS, but there are a lot of gotchas.
Are we certain that Windows 10 universal games will have the same modding capabilities of a typical PC port and won’t be more of a closed off ‘app’? Will Win 10 ports really run better on PC’s if they’ve been customized for console specific hardware? Does anyone want to buy from MS instead of established market leaders with avid proponents in their consumer base?
As we already see w/ PC ports, the most well received are those that have taken the time to truly support the PC platform. GTA V is a great recent example. If it’s just the Xbone version without all the value-add PC enhancements, then it’s a step back.
I’m certain there are devs who will just hit the ‘Make Universal App’ button and that’s the only way their game will be available on PC, but are those developers and games that the PC crowd cares about in the first place?
I would expect near-zero overlap between the windows store “universal” games ported from Xbone and games on Steam. For there to be overlap, the developer would need to port their game twice, duplicating effort.
Universal apps can use mods, yes. They are sandboxed, but you can install mods from inside the store. Think of them as DLC, functioning like the steam workshop. No word on whether we will be able to download zipped mods from GamenameNexus, though.
Yes, Universal apps will absolutely run better on PCs. Simple factor of dramatically faster hardware. Even if the developers don’t add features to exploit that better hardware, you’ll get higher resolution and faster framerates.
Nobody particularly wants to buy from MS. But if a game is only available on the windows store, you will not have a choice.
Yes, I care about those games too. If Rockstar could take Red Dead Redemption and press a button to make it available on windows with no real changes, even requiring a Xbox gamepad, I would play the heck out of it. Everybody tells me how great that game was, and I never played it. But of course easier porting doesn’t mean devs will simply press that button, I expect most to put some effort into supporting the PC gaming experience properly.
Will this kill Steam immediately? Certainly not. But in the 5 year horizon, it’s not looking great for Steam. Imagine it’s 2018 and you’re a studio building a new PC game. You’re Larian making Divinity 5 or whatever. You can either develop for PC-only and then commit to full console ports to Xbone and PS4 later on if it does well, or you can develop a universal windows app and release on Xbone and Win10 simultaneously for 10% additional initial effort, and then consider if you want to port to PS4 later. Choice seems obvious, doesn’t it?
Just like Origin. No one wants to really have Origin, or buy from their store, but if you want Battlefield…
Yes. On the bright side, this move from MS threatens to kill Origin and Uplay too.
It’s not great for Sony either. <HROSE>Which is why I was saying they should do exactly this stuff back in the Windows 8.0 beta period a couple years ago.</HROSE> The strategy has immense potential for MS, leveraging their dominance in desktop OS to kill gaming competitors.
Valve saw it too. That’s why they started pushing Linux gaming at the exact same time. They completely failed to execute on that initiative, unfortunately.
