XBOX GAMING THREAD | PHIL TRUE 4K

E3 Game of Show

  • Forza 7

    Votes: 7 7.1%
  • Anthem

    Votes: 12 12.1%
  • Monster Hunter World

    Votes: 5 5.1%
  • Marvel Vs. Capcom

    Votes: 9 9.1%
  • State of Decay 2

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Cuphead

    Votes: 8 8.1%
  • Call of Duty 2k18

    Votes: 13 13.1%
  • Battlefront 2

    Votes: 5 5.1%
  • Crackdown 3

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • Far Cry 5

    Votes: 10 10.1%
  • Evil Within 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Wolfenstein 2

    Votes: 6 6.1%
  • Metro Exodus

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • Destiny 2

    Votes: 6 6.1%
  • Beyond Good and Evil 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Dragon Ball Fighter Z

    Votes: 20 20.2%
  • Code Vein

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Sea of Thieves

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • Southpark 2

    Votes: 5 5.1%
  • Kingdom Hearts 3

    Votes: 10 10.1%

  • Total voters
    99
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On mobile.
Phil Spencer's new vision for the Xbox One
The Xbox chief on the change of direction that will help Xbox in its fight against PlayStation.

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By Martin Robinson Published 13/03/2015

Platforms: PC, Xbox One

Things have been looking up for the Xbox One, and you can place much of the emphasis on the console's upturn following its troubled incubation and faltering early months on one person: Phil Spencer, the man appointed the head of Xbox on March 31st last year, and who's spent the past year changing the course of the console and setting it towards calmer, more promising waters.

The latest part of Microsoft's new plan for gaming has slowly been emerging over the past month: its unification of PCs and Xbox One with Windows 10 as it looks to harness the power and reach of both platforms. The plans were firmed up during Phil Spencer's GDC talk, where details were made clearer of how it will work, with cross-platform play, purchases that are eligible across both PC and Xbox One and games moving more freely between the two.

It's in the immediate aftermath of the talk that we meet - Spencer still wearing his DirectX 12 t-shirt, very much the in-look for the season - for a tightly marshalled 15-minute interview. He's looking relaxed and confident, and although he talks with the considered cadence and verbose, sometimes hollow speak of a senior executive there's something reassuringly genuine about him. That confidence, too, seems authentic.


"As the games team inside of Microsoft, we're first class citizens in the direction the company's going," he says as he reflects on the talk he's just finished. "It's been great to get that affirmation from the CEO on all the work that we're doing. We feel a commitment and a responsibility with that, and we're trying to live up to it."

The Master Chief disaster

What's it like working alongside Kirstie, Phil?
Having the backing of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella certainly helps, as does a unified approach to gaming that's never really been the case at the company before. It's a far cry from the message the Xbox One was introduced with, the disappointing, unconvincing and often confused rally call around a universal media machine and an always online console. The message has changed for the better since then, and simplified: the consolidation of Microsoft's gaming services across PC and Xbox One feels like the work of a company working in unison rather than one tearing itself apart. Was the unification that Windows 10 is bringing always planned as part of the Xbox One's offering?

"Honestly, it's new," says Spencer. "The original vision around Xbox was to deliver a great gaming console that would also be useful for TV and other forms of entertainment, which could lift it to a huge install base and success. There are still great media functions inside the box, and we stay delivering on those features.

"It's been, what, 11 months since I came on board as the head of Xbox and try and get refocussed on that game vision, showing both the company and ourselves what's going on in PC and the huge communities that are there and the opportunities for us on what's going on this screen and on this screen in a first-class, first party way, it's a unique opportunity for us that we can step into. It's something we've built out over the summer, and that's why Minecraft made sense - it's a viral thing across so many screens, and it's a conduit for us to learn about what does it mean when people touch your service across all these different screens and what do they expect - it's something that's come together over the last year."

That last year spent assembling a new philosophy on the fly has presented something of an open goal for Microsoft's console rivals. Sony's made the most of the opportunity - hours before Spencer's talk, the company announced that some 20.2 million PlayStation 4s had been sold through since its launch.

"That's great," says Spencer, before addressing how Microsoft is going about catching up. "We had a great November and December both in the UK and the US. Sony's off to a tremendous run with the PS4, and it's kudos to them and the vision they've had with that machine. And it's not in a teasing way - I applaud them, it's great to see. Here, it's interesting as I see so many companies coming to console.

"Three years ago, it was why would anyone buy a dedicated device plugged into a TV, everyone's playing on their iPad. Now you've got nVidia creating a console, Valve's creating a console, Sony's having huge success with PS4 and we're selling more Xbox Ones than we sold 360s at this point. It feels like the space is active. In terms of the question of does this help us, I think it does. What it really does is bring in a larger community of game developers who want to bring their game to our platform, because you're looking at hundreds of millions if not a billion people you can touch through this common core operating system, core application framework, DirectX, Xbox Live.

"We're trying to create a common set of tools and technologies that game developers can use to get to all the screens. We're seeing the benefit now on Xbox One of that bringing more games in - in our video, we said if you're going to develop for Windows why wouldn't you develop for Xbox One, it's basically a checkbox in the compiler. I think it's all about the games, and in the end you've got to have great content, and that's how I look at it."

The flow between Xbox One and PC could herald an influx of new games on the console, but it's also a two-way street. Fable Legends is one of the most high-profile games being launched across both PC and Xbox One. Could other big ticket Microsoft Games Studio productions get the same treatment?


Spencer touted Xbox's showing at GDC as the most important since the brand was first announced.
"I think the opportunity to reach your customer wherever they are, it's gaming today, but it's definitely the future," says Spencer. "Game developers have become so good at engagement and retention and the monetising of that time - the opportunity to engage with the customer regardless of what screen they sit down on, you want to have a game that's appropriate for the screen they sit down on. You want to have a game that's appropriate for the screen they're on. But I think the opportunity is tremendous.

"It's not something we're forcing, that a game has to support all the platforms, but more developers than not when we talk to them about the opportunity see it. Why wouldn't they want someone playing their game whether they're at home or at work, on their laptop on their television. I want that television experience to be unique and special, and you can do that with the Xbox One, but I also want them to be able to play it wherever they are."

It's possible to play Xbox One games on PC thanks to the local streaming capabilities that Windows 10 brings - and a demo later during GDC shows it working in practice, even if the execution is currently a little way off of being perfect - but will series like Forza have native ports in the future?

"There isn't a tremendous request today for racing games like Forza on PC," says Spencer. "Obviously through the streaming we showed in January you'll be able to play on any of the PCs you have in your home. I don't want to build things because you can build them, I want to build things that our customers are asking for.

"We obviously put Halo on PC before - you go back and look and there's obviously strong... The first-person shooter space on PC is a little bit different than on console if you look at the business model and other things that work, so we'd want to land the right experience. If you play this out - so let's not talk about the next 6 months but talk about the next three or four years - you'll see more and more developers that are building these games that are appropriate for any screen that the gamer's sitting down on. And that's just more opportunity for gamers and developers."

Microsoft's message at GDC has been a positive one - a world away from its muddling of 18 months ago, and suggestive of a bright future for the Xbox One as it draws nearer its rivals. The message can feel a little out of step, though, with what's happening outside Microsoft's serene, thick-carpeted booth, where Sony is showcasing its near-final build of its Morpheus VR headset, Oculus draws ever nearer and the world gets its first sampling of Vive. Microsoft has its own new toy for the world to get excited about - Hololens, the AR technology that was debuted earlier this year - but has it locked itself out of the VR ecosystem that's fast emerging?

"I don't think we've locked ourselves out," Spencer replies. "We've looked at a mixed reality space that we could do with Hololens and think about it as a unique set of features and technologies to enable, that doesn't preclude us from doing anything in the VR space either from a first-party or partnership perspective. I've used Morpheus, I've used Oculus, I'm going to see more of the demos here.


ID@Xbox, as well as the porting of games like Shovel Knight, show that Microsoft is catching up when it comes to hoovering up interesting indies.
"The conversations between all of us in this space remain strong, a lot of them look at Xbox, and obviously with Oculus on PC and other things, and the discussions are great as all of us look forward into where this space is going to go. I don't think - and this isn't a shot at VR in any way - I don't think it's landed yet on what it is and how it's gong to go to market, but the innovation work is amazing, and it's something the games industry has always done, whether it's AI or voice. The games industry is always a place for innovation."

The other story that dominates GDC is Valve's play for the living room. What started as a nebulous front with the Steam Machines that were revealed early last year has begun to take a very real shape, with their re-reveal alongside Steam Link and the final Steam Controller presenting something more tangible ahead of their November release. There's a chance that the much-vaunted scrap between Sony and Microsoft will be for naught if Valve can convince its registered users to bring their 125 million Steam accounts to the living room. Does Spencer see Valve as a very real threat?

"I think they've got a great vision," he says. "I've said it before, the work they've done on the Windows gaming side for 15, 20 years has been amazing. They've been the shepherds of that ecosystem while we've been a little bit absent. They have a great vision for where they're trying to take Steam and the whole connection, and giving away Source is a smart move.

"I think right now I see it as upside opportunity for both of us. I think there's enough both innovation and modernisation in gamers - I have a Steam account, I don't think I'm deleting it tomorrow. Ori, one of our games we're shipping this month, we're shipping on Steam. Five years from now you'll be able to buy Steam games and be able to buy games on the Windows store. The conversations we have on a regular basis with Valve - I consider them a critical ISV... er, that's independent software developer - on Windows, and very open to the feedback that they're always active to give. Are they a competitor? I see it as upside opportunity now."

Spencer's first year in charge at Xbox has been a good one, even taking into consideration some of the bumps along the way - he's lent the company a more human face, and given it some of the impetus that previously felt lacking. It's the next 12 months, with Valve becoming a closer competitor and with a Christmas period that, with Sony's current dearth of titles, seems to be there for the taking, that could yet turn into a great one.
 
 
Happy to see Phil spoke on Halo.
Why? All hes doing is lying about it...... Everytime hes opened his mouth about this game in the last two weeks all hes done is lie.... 

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=155706118&postcount=1219

Sums it all up. Dude is on the same coverup mission that 343 is on(which from a business standpoint I totally get), but this is with whom you guys place for faith. "We didnt see any of these issues in testing" The guns dont shoot properly bro, how did you not see that?

Now after five months of not saying a word, this clown Dan Ayoub is back. Dan Ayoub hasnt said a word since Nov 13th,

6c6126d6f67c448ca3488ecdddb46bdb.png


He could have been dead for all we knew, but all up until the launch date dude was all "This game is gonna be the greatest, we're the best Dev blah blah blah". Who lets their studio head go MIA for five months when his project crashed an 
By Dan Ayoub, Studio Head, Halo External Development, 343 Industries posted March 13, 2015 at 9:00 AM



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Thank you for your support, patience and engaged feedback since we launched Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Our most recent content update has normalized and improved matchmaking and the in-game experience for the majority of fans.  We at 343 are continuing to work to improve that experience with the  Master Chief Collection.  Your passion for Halo is what has fueled our team these past months and inspired the project in the first place.

We have another content update coming in April (we’ll be doing some things on the server side to help improve the experience between updates), and we’ll provide more details as we get closer to launch.  We have an ongoing commitment to our fans to make this experience the best it can be. We want fans playing and enjoying this collection for years, and you’ll continue to see improvements to the experience in the coming months to support that goal.

Halo 3: ODST  and Relic on the Way

Which brings me to Halo 3: ODST  campaign and the Halo 2: Anniversary  multiplayer map of Relic. We’re really excited about how these are coming together to expand what Halo: The Master Chief Collection offers to fans.  Below you can see a little sneak peek of our latest progress. Additionally, our test and community teams have been running daily playtests on Relic to hammer on the map as much as possible. As we finish things up, we’ll be sharing much more and providing details on launch dates soon.

halo-the-master-chief-collection-odst-plaza.jpg


halo-the-master-chief-collection-relic-establishing-comparison.jpg


In closing, thanks again for hanging in there with us. Your comments of support (and frustration) were all heard and kept us burning the midnight oil. 
 
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I haven't played heavy but the last patch seemed to help a lot was hoping ranked was in the near future. Thanks for clearing it up, I fell for the nice statement he made. @Antidope
 
 
I haven't played heavy but the last patch seemed to help a lot was hoping ranked was in the near future. Thanks for clearing it up, I fell for the nice statement he made. @Antidope
Ranks are on schedule for April at this point from what I've heard. They have to handle some things server side first like the random resets and actually enabling skill based MatchMaking restrictions but it'll happen.

The patch has been great for me the few times I played it, its just annoying that they're still sitting here lying about what happened. Like why? 
 
After playing DBZ Xenoverse, I really need a Naruto Xenoverse to be made. Let me make m own ninja and be great
 
[COLOR=#red]My BFHL initial thoughts:
Looks real good, the maps are ridiculously good! The Vehicles handle really well, need to get used to the Helicopters but was flying those fairly well towards the end. Not too much of a learning curve. Shooting in the game is different as well, not too sure how to pin point that yet.
I did three specific game modes made for Hardline:
Heist - We all played during the Beta, very hard to play without a true team. Everyone running all over the place and not PTFO is buns. Got old fast so I just hung back and leveled as best I could. Was easily getting up to 20 deaths PTFO, I had no support going in. When I gave support to others they were just sitting back half the time. I like the game mode a lot, just need a team.
Blood Money - Found this mode easier to level up and run by yourself. There is a Money pile in the middle of the map and at then opposite side of the map. You can steal from both as long as the opposite team made a deposit as well. This one goes fast, I had a lot of fun with this.
Crosshair - There is one VIP a team guarding him and then a team attacking him. The team guarding him needs to get him to the extraction point, the team attacking needs to kill him. Straight forward, simple, and I had A lot of fun playing this mode! For sure gets tricky in confined spaces.[/COLOR]
 
 
 
I haven't played heavy but the last patch seemed to help a lot was hoping ranked was in the near future. Thanks for clearing it up, I fell for the nice statement he made. @Antidope
Ranks are on schedule for April at this point from what I've heard. They have to handle some things server side first like the random resets and actually enabling skill based MatchMaking restrictions but it'll happen.

The patch has been great for me the few times I played it, its just annoying that they're still sitting here lying about what happened. Like why?
Damage control, it will hurt them more if they told the truth compared to kinda just blaming it on the technology.
 
the thing is, MCC was rushed. We already know as much. Patrick Klepek said a few months back that the game was coming in hot to make the holiday and they didn't have time to stress test it to make sure the matchmaking would work( the SP bugs and guns are a different thing).

They needed to have the main 343i team on it to be honest, but they were making halo 5 so it was put in the hands of other studios
 
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Ok it was rushed, it's 4-5 months later. It's still broken. Now what's the excuse?


343 also AGREED to the deadline. They said YES to the release date and KNEW production times would be what they were.
 
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Matchmaking works fine for me now. but honestly my thrill for the game was killed off because of all the bugs/months it didnt work.
 
[COLOR=#red]My BFHL initial thoughts:
Looks real good, the maps are ridiculously good! The Vehicles handle really well, need to get used to the Helicopters but was flying those fairly well towards the end. Not too much of a learning curve. Shooting in the game is different as well, not too sure how to pin point that yet.
I did three specific game modes made for Hardline:
Heist - We all played during the Beta, very hard to play without a true team. Everyone running all over the place and not PTFO is buns. Got old fast so I just hung back and leveled as best I could. Was easily getting up to 20 deaths PTFO, I had no support going in. When I gave support to others they were just sitting back half the time. I like the game mode a lot, just need a team.
Blood Money - Found this mode easier to level up and run by yourself. There is a Money pile in the middle of the map and at then opposite side of the map. You can steal from both as long as the opposite team made a deposit as well. This one goes fast, I had a lot of fun with this.
Crosshair - There is one VIP a team guarding him and then a team attacking him. The team guarding him needs to get him to the extraction point, the team attacking needs to kill him. Straight forward, simple, and I had A lot of fun playing this mode! For sure gets tricky in confined spaces.[/COLOR]

Cool stuff.

Im really excited to play some of the new gametypes. I'm a conquest fan though :smh: :lol:

Blood money looks like what i'll end up playing a lot when solo by your description.

Work day cant end soon enough.. need my 10 hours :rofl:

my boy said even last night he saw ppl level 40+ :wow:

that easy to rank up? :nerd: :nerd: :nerd: :nerd:
 
 
 
 
I haven't played heavy but the last patch seemed to help a lot was hoping ranked was in the near future. Thanks for clearing it up, I fell for the nice statement he made. @Antidope
Ranks are on schedule for April at this point from what I've heard. They have to handle some things server side first like the random resets and actually enabling skill based MatchMaking restrictions but it'll happen.

The patch has been great for me the few times I played it, its just annoying that they're still sitting here lying about what happened. Like why?
Damage control, it will hurt them more if they told the truth compared to kinda just blaming it on the technology.
I get it, but I wonder if they even think its working. Everytime I read one of their statements on it I just laugh, these are some of the worst lies ever told. You'd think after lying to the fanbase for 4.5 years already they would have gotten better at it.

They still havent learned what it means to have community communication either, that last update they posted told us nothing, and if they're going to move from doing weekly updates to monthly ones they could at least try and be a little more transparent.  Theres a laundry list of things wrong with this game at least tell us what you're trying to fix.

These are simple things that other devs do when stuff goes wrong. But nah give us pictures of a map that you're remaking that no one cares about, was never a fan favourite, really was just the next map you guys had on schedule when the game was only going to be H2A and not MCC, then give us DLC that you really planned on charging us for anyways (ODST) but are now doing it for free, all under the guise of doing a fan service, a fan service that if you bought this game after 12/19 you're not entitled to when the game didnt even work until 03/07, and work is really an overstatement.

Ky2Ntgw.jpg


But keep putting out pictures 343, I'm sure the 10 people that are waiting on this Relic remake are happy to see them
 
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I played halo last weekend for about 5 hours straight and had a ton of fun :rofl:


Hell yeah me too.

I know it hasn't had the best launch but I hardly play video games now, but once that last update went out that fixed matchmaking man I've been cooking.

Start playing and I get sucked in my chick laying in bed sleeping and I'm up until like 1am playing on a work night talking to myself about "this is the last game" "okay didn't like how that last one ended... one more game" :lol:

Just need ranks now though. With any FPS I hate hate hate playing with split screeners on my team :x

If I get sucked into Halo like how I did back then I might have to get rid of it because I have to focus on other things besides video games :lol:

Fun as hell playing Halo 3 again though man was having a blast before I went to Vegas for this past week for work.

Going to get Borderlands and see what's it about then I got you iYen.

Again, I'm not excusing what happened with Halo but I stuck with it will continue to stick with it and hopefully it gets to full working order with a good size community to play with. At least their trying and giving us things for the mess up for free.
 
Played dragon age for a few hours yesterday. I was blown away the game is amazing so far i might just cop when this trial runs out
 
[COLOR=#red]My BFHL initial thoughts:
Looks real good, the maps are ridiculously good! The Vehicles handle really well, need to get used to the Helicopters but was flying those fairly well towards the end. Not too much of a learning curve. Shooting in the game is different as well, not too sure how to pin point that yet.
I did three specific game modes made for Hardline:
Heist - We all played during the Beta, very hard to play without a true team. Everyone running all over the place and not PTFO is buns. Got old fast so I just hung back and leveled as best I could. Was easily getting up to 20 deaths PTFO, I had no support going in. When I gave support to others they were just sitting back half the time. I like the game mode a lot, just need a team.
Blood Money - Found this mode easier to level up and run by yourself. There is a Money pile in the middle of the map and at then opposite side of the map. You can steal from both as long as the opposite team made a deposit as well. This one goes fast, I had a lot of fun with this.
Crosshair - There is one VIP a team guarding him and then a team attacking him. The team guarding him needs to get him to the extraction point, the team attacking needs to kill him. Straight forward, simple, and I had A lot of fun playing this mode! For sure gets tricky in confined spaces.[/COLOR]

Cool stuff.

Im really excited to play some of the new gametypes. I'm a conquest fan though :smh: :lol:

Blood money looks like what i'll end up playing a lot when solo by your description.

Work day cant end soon enough.. need my 10 hours :rofl:

my boy said even last night he saw ppl level 40+ :wow:

that easy to rank up? :nerd: :nerd: :nerd: :nerd:

[COLOR=#red]
They do have everything for conquest as well.

I Think there is still 4 other game modes I haven't gotten into yet. I have gym + coaching tonight but will be on later.

Highest I saw was lvl. 33[/COLOR]
 
 
You peeped the have a Halo bundle now right @Antidope  
tired.gif
Yeah I saw, the box is dope. The game should be free though and you shouldnt have to buy a bundle to make it so, its wild that they're still charing money for it.

I'm still playing it and will be around until they fix it. They have me by the balls and they know it. Its still the only game I own.
 
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