Official Thread XBOX Hardware

[Frozpot]

I do not think it is bulls***, but at the same time I think the "hate" is self imposed by MS. Much like Sony at the start of the last-gen the "Hate" stems from the decisions these companies make. Sony did a ridiculous price point, their PR was egotistical, and their software was lacking. For MS this-gen it is sort of similar, the obsessed nature around Kinect, the poor PR for their original policy, and their lack of proving kinect to be worth the high price point.
If we look at last-gen, where did the "Hate" come from for MS ? they did very little wrong, they were highly praised by most, but things like the RROD fiasco earned them some continual hate. Their Pay for MP earned them some thanks to PSN+ being free. Then they kept the generation going longer than some were comfortable with, their software offerings fell off some too.

I think when you look at it purely subjectively you can see than people do not hate this company or that one, they simply hate some of the decisions they make. This is normal, understandable, and at the very least it is normal for businesses.

I'd say that's true, except that many of those issues were blown waaay out of proportion. MS wanted to expand the entertainment features, but people were saying they were abandoning games. This was demonstrably false. Their E3 was one of the best they'd had in years because of how game-centric it was.

People still to this day refer to the initial reveal as their E3 showing which as all games( and the unfortunate pricing). The whole TV,TV,TV bs was just that. I was very interested to see where their TV programming was going, and I use my HDMI in capability and the Kinect every day for everything. The product was it's own thing, and it whatever innovations they had in store have been massively delayed or scrapped all together.

People didn't want to understand the DRM thing, but I do believe the digital only stuff was premature. I also think that choice is important. I think some very good things came from the backlash, but there were some things lost as well.

I definitely think people over-reacted to it, but I'm not sure it's an "MS hatred" thing or a "this is too different" thing. People use the Word hate too easily.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Isn't it possible to upgrade your internet subscription? (for a fee oc)

I'm pretty sure they will gladly give you their fastest connection instead of the slow connection you got now.
Btw I didn't even know it was possible to get that slow connections nowadays ?!?!

I called them and they checked if they could bring me from 20mbit(although i've never reached that speed ever) to 40mbit. But it was not possibly for my neighborhood. I still got ADSL, and i want cable. But that won't be until March 2015....goddamn. Anyway....downloading a full game like Dragon Age ain't gonna cut it..who's to say it's not even bigger than 40 or 50GB in the first place? Nah...it seems like i will be buying my games mostly on disc at first.

Another option is....i go for the other ISP , but i cannot cancel my current subscription, so that means i will be paying for my old unused one and new one. I checked it...and basically that would mean i'd be paying 189 euros for nothing. No way!

There are some games i can download digitally though, basically only the ones that can be preloaded. I don;t mind putting a game in preload while i am playing another game at the same time. This is possible i assume? So let's take Forza Horizon 2 for example...that one can be preloaded, right?

 

[Kerosene31]

I'd say that's true, except that many of those issues were blown waaay out of proportion. MS wanted to expand the entertainment features, but people were saying they were abandoning games. This was demonstrably false. Their E3 was one of the best they'd had in years because of how game-centric it was.

People still to this day refer to the initial reveal as their E3 showing which as all games( and the unfortunate pricing). The whole TV,TV,TV bs was just that. I was very interested to see where their TV programming was going, and I use my HDMI in capability and the Kinect every day for everything. The product was it's own thing, and it whatever innovations they had in store have been massively delayed or scrapped all together.

People didn't want to understand the DRM thing, but I do believe the digital only stuff was premature. I also think that choice is important. I think some very good things came from the backlash, but there were some things lost as well.

I definitely think people over-reacted to it, but I'm not sure it's an "MS hatred" thing or a "this is too different" thing. People use the Word hate too easily.

I agree totally. MS showed as many games as Sony at that E3. Launch lineups are always weak and unimpressive. However someone edited a youtube video to show them only talking about TV and the myth was born.

Ever since Kinect 1 people have been saying that gaming is a secondary feature of the console, which is laughable. Xbox has always been primarily a game console based around controller-based games.

I'll never understand why additional features on a game console freak some people out so much?

 

[Kreten]

I am now downloading Street Fighter AE, it's 6.54 GB, i started the download an hour ago and it's at 50%.

So your download speed is 952kB/s

40GB would take 734Minutes(12 hours 15 minutes)

 

[A7]

Preview: Sunset Overdrive

“Can you save Sunset City? Of course you can, it’s a f*****g videogame!”

The former quote sets the tone for what seems to be Insomniac’s most insane game yet. Best known for the Ratchet & Clank franchise, Insomniac Games has always been known for their storytelling and humour, but so far they haven’t reached their prime yet. Sony and Insomniac’s collaboration, Resistance didn’t get the reception both parties had hoped for, and 2013′s Fuse received not so favourable reception. But now Insomniac seems to have gone back to their Ratchet & Clank-based roots, and their newest creation Sunset Overdrive seems to be right in their alley creativity wise.

Sunset Overdrive is a third-person shooter which seems to lean on its over-the-top comedic art style, and gameplay that definitely doesn’t follow the standard shooter pattern that a lot of games seem to do nowadays. The game is set in the fictional location of Sunset City, which has been overrun with infected citizens turned by the new Overcharge energy drink, which seems to have had some issues post-release. Here’s where you come in, and you’ll have to use advanced traversal, an arsenal of insane weapons and your wits to rid the city of the infestation.

Whilst we didn’t get any time with the game’s single player mode, we were given the chance to play a short demo of the co-op Chaos Squad mode, which sets eight players against hordes of enemies whilst defending specific points on the map. Seven of us were set-up along with an employee from Insomniac and after a quick introduction we were immediately thrown into the world of Sunset Overdrive.

The goal of the mode was what you’d expect, you have to defend points on the map from the incoming hordes of enemies, which include different factions of enemies and mini-bosses that spawn on different ends of the maps. In this aspect Chaos Squad was actually a lot of fun, though for demo purposes it was incredibly short and if you need a while to get into different styles of gameplay, your opinion of the game may differ because of the extremely short timeframe you have to get an initial impression of the title.

In the first minute of gameplay, the game really reminded me of inFamous 1&2 when it comes to traversal, and grinding on rails and such really felt incredibly fluid. The thing with grinding and such is, if you don’t like the mechanic and refrain from using it, you’ll make the game much harder for yourself. Whilst I really enjoyed the way of traversal, other players in the session spent a lot of time on foot, which really slowed the game down on their part. Traversal is incredibly important in Sunset Overdrive, and unlike a lot of other third and first person shooters you won’t be able to spend much time in one place, if any. You’ll be advancing and moving around constantly, both defending yourself and flanking the constant streams of enemies, which aren’t incredibly intelligent considering their nature, but still offer enough challenge to players.

The weapons and gadgets of the game are set up in the same style as the Ratchet & Clank games, by which I mean that most of them are just insane concept-wise, and offer interesting and humorous ways to take out enemies as you go along. You have access to a weapon wheel much like the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance games, and even when one of your weapons runs out of ammo you’ll have enough guns and ammo to continue your reign of mayhem on the enemy, which is extremely satisfying thanks to the nature and styles of the weapons, which is something Insomniac has always been spot on with. Variety doesn’t seem to be an issue with the arsenal, and every player should have no issue finding an appropriate weapon that’ll complement their play style.

The mode consisted of multiple waves, with each wave coming from a different direction, and the last wave coming from multiple directions. Initially each wave starts with the standard-sized enemies, but every once in a while the game will offer some more challenge by throwing larger-sized mini-bosses that may require multiple players to work together to take them down. The scenarios create some well-needed variety and in its whole Chaos Squad is a fun mode that has players fight their enemies, but also compete with each other for the highest ranking of the match. It’s unclear whether the full game will provide players with different difficulty levels, but it might be welcome as it does feel a little easy when you’re doing well, and some extra challenge might be a good fit for experienced players.

The health system was something I didn’t really expect, and rather than having a regenerative health system Sunset Overdrive provides a pickup-based system with an actual health bar for a change. Health pickups are spread throughout the map, though if you keep moving and choose the appropriate weapons for the situation health isn’t exactly the most important thing you’ll have to worry about throughout a session.

Visually Sunset Overdrive is a very colourful and stylish game, resulting in a clear visual style that’s very nice to look at and refrains from using any of the grey, color-muted schemes that plague many action games nowadays. Each frame of the game is vibrant, sharp and incredibly well-made. Characters en environments are heavily stylised, and are generally incredibly well-designed, and compliment the tone of the game very well. The game is presented at a resolution of 900p, but still looks very sharp considering. The frame rate is set at 30 frames per second, and luckily during my session the issues presented in some of the earlier builds and previews didn’t seem present. However the campaign does seem to have a lot more going on at the same time compared to the multiplayer, especially since Chaos Mode only offers a limited portion of the map. I can only speak for the visual fidelity of the game, which is stellar, but the frame rate for the single player is something we unfortunately won’t be able to analyse till we get closer to the release date.

Sunset Overdrive funny enough felt more like a PlayStation game than an Xbox game considering the familiar ground, but it looks like Microsoft has scored an awesome exclusive with Sunset Overdrive, that in my opinion will be well worth the purchase upon release.

Sunset Overdrive is set to be released exclusively on Xbox One on October 30th. The game will also be available in a limited edition white Xbox One bundle on the same date.

 

[Blandina]

I called them and they checked if they could bring me from 20mbit(although i've never reached that speed ever) to 40mbit. But it was not possibly for my neighborhood. I still got ADSL, and i want cable. But that won't be until March 2015....goddamn. Anyway....downloading a full game like Dragon Age ain't gonna cut it..who's to say it's not even bigger than 40 or 50GB in the first place? Nah...it seems like i will be buying my games mostly on disc at first.

Another option is....i go for the other ISP , but i cannot cancel my current subscription, so that means i will be paying for my old unused one and new one. I checked it...and basically that would mean i'd be paying 189 euros for nothing. No way!

There are some games i can download digitally though, basically only the ones that can be preloaded. I don;t mind putting a game in preload while i am playing another game at the same time. This is possible i assume? So let's take Forza Horizon 2 for example...that one can be preloaded, right?

oki, go for disc's untill until March 2015 then.

yes, you can download a game while you play another. I downloaded 4 games in the background while playing F5 when I bought X1 last year.

Forza Horizon 2 can be preloaded

 

[Nervusbreakdown]

I'd say that's true, except that many of those issues were blown waaay out of proportion. MS wanted to expand the entertainment features, but people were saying they were abandoning games. This was demonstrably false. Their E3 was one of the best they'd had in years because of how game-centric it was.

People still to this day refer to the initial reveal as their E3 showing which as all games( and the unfortunate pricing). The whole TV,TV,TV bs was just that. I was very interested to see where their TV programming was going, and I use my HDMI in capability and the Kinect every day for everything. The product was it's own thing, and it whatever innovations they had in store have been massively delayed or scrapped all together.

People didn't want to understand the DRM thing, but I do believe the digital only stuff was premature. I also think that choice is important. I think some very good things came from the backlash, but there were some things lost as well.

I definitely think people over-reacted to it, but I'm not sure it's an "MS hatred" thing or a "this is too different" thing. People use the Word hate too easily.

This is by far the most realistic post I have read. This was very good information.

People did jump the gun way to early for nothing.

 

[menace-uk-]

I'd say that's true, except that many of those issues were blown waaay out of proportion. MS wanted to expand the entertainment features, but people were saying they were abandoning games. This was demonstrably false. Their E3 was one of the best they'd had in years because of how game-centric it was.

You jumped straight to E3, but the damage was done by their xbox reveal months before.

People still to this day refer to the initial reveal as their E3 showing which as all games( and the unfortunate pricing). The whole TV,TV,TV bs was just that. I was very interested to see where their TV programming was going, and I use my HDMI in capability and the Kinect every day for everything. The product was it's own thing, and it whatever innovations they had in store have been massively delayed or scrapped all together.

Again, the reveal is where the damage was done. Yes, their E3 showing was good, but as we all know it is far easier to break something than it is to fix it.

People didn't want to understand the DRM thing, but I do believe the digital only stuff was premature. I also think that choice is important. I think some very good things came from the backlash, but there were some things lost as well.

Again, I think people did want to understand it, but MS fooked it. Even days after the reveal they will giving out mixed messages as several MS employees went to the web and social media.

I definitely think people over-reacted to it, but I'm not sure it's an "MS hatred" thing or a "this is too different" thing. People use the Word hate too easily.

Look, I do not disagree that people overreacted a little, but it is pretty clear why they did.
People use a lot of words too easily. Is it hate in the strict definition, no, but there is certainly some residual animosity from that reveal, but it does seem MS is starting to win folk back over.

 

[Frozpot]

You jumped straight to E3, but the damage was done by their xbox reveal months before.



Again, the reveal is where the damage was done. Yes, their E3 showing was good, but as we all know it is far easier to break something than it is to fix it.



Again, I think people did want to understand it, but MS fooked it. Even days after the reveal they will giving out mixed messages as several MS employees went to the web and social media.




Look, I do not disagree that people overreacted a little, but it is pretty clear why they did.
People use a lot of words too easily. Is it hate in the strict definition, no, but there is certainly some residual animosity from that reveal, but it does seem MS is starting to win folk back over.

Oh, I'm not arguing that MS fooked up the the messaging, but people didn't wait for an explanation, and a lot of it was distorted from the get go. Lots of people seem to just go into instant outrage before getting the entire picture. They get their confirmation bias and run with it. That's a problem larger than gaming though.

The big problem with the E3 vs Reveal conferences is that people didn't want to separate them. MS kept the TV and broader entertainment features separate because they wanted it out of the way for the gaming stuff at E3. People blew that wwaaaayy out of proportion just because they showed that first.

The best thing that came out of this was that MS got knocked down a peg, and some humility never hurt anyone- and we got Phil Spencer. It's a classic problem when the big company starts drinking their own cool-aid and think they know their audience better than they do. Spencer, I think was a perfect choice, and the result is MS will have someone who "gets" gamers. I just wish some of the broader entertainment didn't take a hit, and I'm really sorry Kinect got the shaft, as I think it's trans-formative from a device standpoint.

 

[Kreten]

You jumped straight to E3, but the damage was done by their xbox reveal months before.



Again, the reveal is where the damage was done. Yes, their E3 showing was good, but as we all know it is far easier to break something than it is to fix it.



Again, I think people did want to understand it, but MS fooked it. Even days after the reveal they will giving out mixed messages as several MS employees went to the web and social media.




Look, I do not disagree that people overreacted a little, but it is pretty clear why they did.
People use a lot of words too easily. Is it hate in the strict definition, no, but there is certainly some residual animosity from that reveal, but it does seem MS is starting to win folk back over.

The reveal was 15 days prior to E3, which made common sense to get the features out of the way so you could focus on games during E3. Many people didn't like the fact that console could do more than just game and chose to jump guns and grabbed pitchforks and bats to get all the details which just started to be worked out by MS. So people went with, if it sounds slightly bad it might be very bad and ignore 10people sharing a single game and up to 4 playing it at once.

Media didn't help either by only reporting bits and pieces of things for clickbaits that ended up making people angry even more.

At Sony reveal they only showed Controller and some CGI and yet they did good? LOL
MS shows console and all that it could do and that was bad because they didn't focus on games only two weeks prior to e3. LOL

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

So your download speed is 952kB/s

40GB would take 734Minutes(12 hours 15 minutes)

oki, go for disc's untill until March 2015 then.

yes, you can download a game while you play another. I downloaded 4 games in the background while playing F5 when I bought X1 last year.

Forza Horizon 2 can be preloaded

It's not all bad news then. I'll buy FH2 digitally and preload it as soon as that's possible, and while it's downloading i'll just play some Max or maybe even Titanfall. Is that possible? To play online and have a download happening at the same time? It always cancelled it on 360 for me...or well..it paused it. Or i can just go to sleep and leave it as a background download.
Even for other non-preload games i'll probably end up downloadng them. Take Dragon Age for example..it releases a few days earlier on the US marketplace than on the European and stores in my country. So when it's about to release on the European marketplace and stores here, i've been playing the US version of it for a while already.

But if downloads stop when i am gonna play some Titanfall or PvZ...that would suck.

 

[menace-uk-]

Oh, I'm not arguing that MS fooked up the the messaging, but people didn't wait for an explanation, and a lot of it was distorted from the get go. Lots of people seem to just go into instant outrage before getting the entire picture. They get their confirmation bias and run with it. That's a problem larger than gaming though.

Well how long are people supposed to wait ? MS told us, poorly, and people reacted. Even in the aftermath MS still had issues clearing up their message.

The big problem with the E3 vs Reveal conferences is that people didn't want to separate them. MS kept the TV and broader entertainment features separate because they wanted it out of the way for the gaming stuff at E3. People blew that wwaaaayy out of proportion just because they showed that first.

It sends the wrong message. When your initial audience are "core" gamers, you need to show what appeals most to them, games. Showing TV, things more likely to interest those who will buy several price drops later is going to riffle feathers. Perhaps people thought E3 was simply a knee jerk reaction to the initial fallout.

The best thing that came out of this was that MS got knocked down a peg, and some humility never hurt anyone- and we got Phil Spencer. It's a classic problem when the big company starts drinking their own cool-aid and think they know their audience better than they do. Spencer, I think was a perfect choice, and the result is MS will have someone who "gets" gamers. I just wish some of the broader entertainment didn't take a hit, and I'm really sorry Kinect got the shaft, as I think it's trans-formative from a device standpoint.

How hard is it to get gamers ? we want games, great games. Simple, easy, and anybody can get it. Is hard to judge Phil Spencer since all he is doing is the most obvious thing he could do, and he was left with a disaster to fix.

 

[Frozpot]

Well how long are people supposed to wait ? MS told us, poorly, and people reacted. Even in the aftermath MS still had issues clearing up their message.

The initial reaction was pretty instant. How about waiting for more information? The machine wasn't out for months. And yes, the response was convoluted. They didn't seem to have everything worked out, really, but there was no waiting so it's a moot point.

It sends the wrong message. When your initial audience are "core" gamers, you need to show what appeals most to them, games. Showing TV, things more likely to interest those who will buy several price drops later is going to riffle feathers. Perhaps people thought E3 was simply a knee jerk reaction to the initial fallout.

I'd consider myself a "Core" gamer, and I got it. What wrong message? There was no diminished game support- there was actually more emphasis than there had been recently. I also take those extras into consideration when I make a purchasing decision. Some of us are grown-ups, or at least try to be. Still no reason for the ridiculous angry mob mentality than went down.

E3 was for the games. They stated that AT the initial reveal, so I doubt it was knee-jerk anything, but that isn't what people wanted to see. I really wanted to see more games during that reveal, but I understand that they wanted save that stuff for E3.

How hard is it to get gamers ? we want games, great games. Simple, easy, and anybody can get it. Is hard to judge Phil Spencer since all he is doing is the most obvious thing he could do, and he was left with a disaster to fix.

Apparently it's not as easy as you or I think, lol. MS is hardly the only company who has stumbled in this area. The problem with trying something new is that innovation isn't necessarily a good thing, or even if it is, people are really slow to adopt a different approach to something well established.

 

[Kerosene31]

It sends the wrong message. When your initial audience are "core" gamers, you need to show what appeals most to them, games. Showing TV, things more likely to interest those who will buy several price drops later is going to riffle feathers. Perhaps people thought E3 was simply a knee jerk reaction to the initial fallout.

How hard is it to get gamers ? we want games, great games. Simple, easy, and anybody can get it. Is hard to judge Phil Spencer since all he is doing is the most obvious thing he could do, and he was left with a disaster to fix.

"Core" gamers went in with their eyes and ears shut. MS hit games just as much as Sony. Console launch lineups are always weak. MS just had other features to show in addition to games. If anything, MS had a better launch lineup than the competition and they showed every game they had.

 

[Nervusbreakdown]

Media kills everything

 

[BIGJOHN]

I agree totally. MS showed as many games as Sony at that E3. Launch lineups are always weak and unimpressive. However someone edited a youtube video to show them only talking about TV and the myth was born.

Ever since Kinect 1 people have been saying that gaming is a secondary feature of the console, which is laughable. Xbox has always been primarily a game console based around controller-based games.

I'll never understand why additional features on a game console freak some people out so much?

Microsoft told people when they were revealing the XBOX ONE that it was not going to be focused on games because they were saving them for E3 and then some people whined about the lack of games at the event. That is bizarre behavior.

Then E3 came around and Microsoft cleaned SONY's clock with more awards for the XBOX ONE game lineup than Playstation 4. Yup. That happened.

The launch lineup was better for XBOX ONE. By looking at the review scores, Microsoft came up ahead. Again, that happened.

Fortunately, as more and more good games and features come to XBOX ONE, the impressions will turn around. It's already started.

 

[sharkboy1200]

"Core" gamers went in with their eyes and ears shut. MS hit games just as much as Sony. Console launch lineups are always weak. MS just had other features to show in addition to games. If anything, MS had a better launch lineup than the competition and they showed every game they had.

I thought MS had the best overall line-up out of the three. That's just one man's opinion though.

 

[Mcmasters]

I thought MS had the best overall line-up out of the three. That's just one man's opinion though.

2...

 

[menace-uk-]

"Core" gamers went in with their eyes and ears shut. MS hit games just as much as Sony. Console launch lineups are always weak. MS just had other features to show in addition to games. If anything, MS had a better launch lineup than the competition and they showed every game they had.

Again, E3 is irrelevant. The damage was done before E3 even began. Why is that so hard to grasp. Yes, MS had the stronger launch line up (IMO), and yes their E3 was solid and just as good as the competition, but all that is irrelevant when you just revealed a games console and concentrated so much on non game specific stuff. It gives the wrong message, you can not even argue otherwise since the history shows it to be true. This is not a hard thing to grasp.
People can keep brining up events after the damage was done all they like, it changes nothing.

Should gamers have been a little more patient like Frozpot said, perhaps, but the fallout over some of the xbox one aspects started long before the reveal. The rumours about DRM and Kinect in the box were already met with outrage. MS should have made damn sure their message, their explanation of the policies were clear, plain, and precise. Instead they added confusion. Then gaming edia and world wide media compacted it with bold articles.

 

[Mcmasters]

Again, E3 is irrelevant. The damage was done before E3 even began. Why is that so hard to grasp. Yes, MS had the stronger launch line up (IMO), and yes their E3 was solid and just as good as the competition, but all that is irrelevant when you just revealed a games console and concentrated so much on non game specific stuff. It gives the wrong message, you can not even argue otherwise since the history shows it to be true. This is not a hard thing to grasp.
People can keep brining up events after the damage was done all they like, it changes nothing.

Should gamers have been a little more patient like Frozpot said, perhaps, but the fallout over some of the xbox one aspects started long before the reveal. The rumours about DRM and Kinect in the box were already met with outrage. MS should have made damn sure their message, their explanation of the policies were clear, plain, and precise. Instead they added confusion. Then gaming edia and world wide media compacted it with bold articles.

Honestly, those people who didnt hear MS say "We'll show the games at E3!", really have themselves to blame. How hard is that to understand? If you knew what was coming, it wouldve been no problem. In fact, there has been a great deal of reading comprehension regarding MS news lately.

 

[David]

Sorry if this has been brought up. Doing my bing points, and all of a sudden dX12 pops ups, and cloud as NEWS. So basically the articles saying dx12 is doing a major upgrade for the X1 and MS is figuring out latency issue for cloud

So is this stuff legit?
First DX12


DirectX 12 For Xbox One Could Help CPU Utilization By 50%, Arrives Holiday 2015
AUTHOR: WILLIAM USHER

So DirectX 12 was showcased during this year's Game Developer's Conference. New information has indicated that the API is aiming to work like a low-level access tool for developers, possibly as Microsoft's attempt to compete with AMD's Mantle.

Gaming Bolt did a nice rundown of the new info that came out of Microsoft's DirectX presentation, where they revealed that the new API will be better optimized to bring CPU utilization down by more than 50%, even for the Xbox One. That's great news for CPU intensive games. It's too bad the Xbox One's problems aren't CPU intensive.

I'll get back to the Xbox One utilization in a bit.

DirectX 12 will also be fine-tuned for mobile and multi-GPU use. This means that the Glorious PC Master Race members running two or three different graphics processing units, either in SLI or CrossFire, will be able to see massive performance gains from DirectX 12 (theoretically). Some of you might know that when running a lot of DX-reliant games either in Xfire or SLI, you sometimes get worse performance than when running on a single card. Supposedly, DirectX 12 will fix this issue and finally stabilize compatibility for those of us who like to pump out twice the amount of power with multiple GPUs.

One of the things that really bothers me, though, is that despite DX12 being designed for mobile processing units and the latest tablet-based APUs, there's no word that DX12 will be made to support Windows 7, very much like DirectX 11.2. Technically, this makes absolutely zero sense that you would have an API designed for mobile devices – many of them running Android operating systems – but it won't be available for Windows 7? Seriously? The only reason I can see this being done is to force adoption of Windows 8, which will be the primary platform for DirectX 12, alongside other metro-based operating systems, like the Xbox One and devices running Smartglass.

Microsoft also demoed Forza 5 (a game that's already running 1080p at 60fps) on aGTX Titan Black at 60fps to show the power and compatibility of DX12, as reported byWCCF Tech, but that seems like a moot point. Unless they reversed the effects ofThe Forzaning, I don't think anyone cares.


NOW CLOUD.

Although Microsoft have been pushing the power of the cloud ever since the Xbox One’s announcement, we have yet to see anything that will help the console push barriers. Granted that Microsoft have showcased a single tech demonstration that gives us a good taste of the cloud’s potential but then again players need to see something in action to have faith in this technology.

Even if Microsoft is able to implement cloud powered games on the Xbox One, they still have to beat the biggest beast of them all, latency. Simply put, majority of the locations across the world, including some places in the USA, do not have latency free connections. Ever a round trip latency of 100 milliseconds will create issues for seamless cloud gameplay. In short, if you are cloud gaming developer, latency is your nightmare and this is perhaps one of the reasons why we may actually never see cloud powered games on the Xbox One in the future. However Microsoft is working to resolving this issue.

In a research paper published by Microsoft, the development team is working on DeLorean. DeLorean is an execution system that is able to cover up or mask latency up to 250 milliseconds. The system’s algorithm is based on predicting future inputs, state space subsampling and time shifting, and misprediction compensation. It also includes algorithms for bandwidth compression which is crucial as it will reduce download times and improve response times.

DeLorean does not work on buffering the games but instead depends on mitigating latency via speculative execution. The system considers the user’s historical actions and based on accumulative data, the system decides a list of actions that are highly predictable. But what about actions that cannot be predicted? For that purpose, state space subsampling and time shifting is used to predict a long list of user actions. State space subsampling also helps in narrowing the important data only, saving bandwidth in the process.

Now there might be a possibility that the predictions were not correct and in this case the system will correct that frame using interpolation. This process is called misprediction compensation and it employs a checkpoint system to recover the data in case of an error. And lastly, the system uses a custom video encoding scheme that will save bandwidth.

The developers have already tested out DeLorean games like DOOM 3 and Fable 3, and according to the research paper the results have been satisfying. We encourage you through the research paper as it has additional information regarding the underlying architecture of DeLorean.

 

[TheGeneral]

The biggest issue with the Xbox One reveal wasn't the content of the presentation but rather the manner in which they opened by talking about TV. If they started off talking about the consoles and games first the reaction wouldn't have been so bad. There is no one to blame but MS, they should have known who their core audience was in the beginning of the consoles life cycle. The entertainment and Kinect stuff comes later. Sony is a lot more experienced in catering for the core gamer and MS got side tracked by the entertainment offerings. But the silver lining to all of this is that this has invigorated MS and we are seeing some fantastic updates to make the console even better. History has also shown how fickle the hard core gamers are and in the long run if MS keep pushing their console with updates and exclusives the future is bright. Sony has done tremendously well but they themselves are worried if the PS4 sales are heavily front loaded. MS problem is now fighting perception and they can't allow a huge gap to continue and let Sony run away with it.

 

[ZombiesRUCrazy]

Honestly, those people who didnt hear MS say "We'll show the games at E3!", really have themselves to blame. How hard is that to understand? If you knew what was coming, it wouldve been no problem. In fact, there has been a great deal of reading comprehension regarding MS news lately.

How hard is it to understand that you have one chance to make a good first impression?

Microsoft's first impression was absolute s***.

If balmer and matrick weren't so disconnected with the consumers that would be willing to drop $500 on a game console, they would have never made the downright stupid and idiotic choice to lead the first reveal of your next gen game console with talking about tv. It's just damn common sense.

If there was any shred of logic in the xbox division leading up to the reveal, they would have actually taken into consideration the internet rumblings regarding the bulls*** check in every 24 hours and packaged in kinect, and would have had an initial reveal focused solely on the gaming aspects of the console, had the same great E3, and then between E3 and gamscon discussed the media stuff.

I mean seriously, how dumb are you to plan a game console reveal, invite the gaming "media" and tech journalists/bloggers looking to get blown away by the next xbox, fully knowing hundreds of thousands if not millions of gamers would be tuning in to the first reveal of the 3rd xbox to spent it talking about tv for 85+ percent of it.

I would gladly pay for a book that details on the bulls*** that went on in the development of the xb1 and it's a reveal. wouldn't be surprised to find out lower level people were telling the suits like mattrick and balmer that their vision was stupid and mattrick and balmer wore ear muffs and ignored all criticism eternally and from devs.

 

[Mcmasters]

The biggest issue with the Xbox One reveal wasn't the content of the presentation but rather the manner in which they opened by talking about TV. If they started off talking about the consoles and games first the reaction wouldn't have been so bad. There is no one to blame but MS, they should have known who their core audience was in the beginning of the consoles life cycle. The entertainment and Kinect stuff comes later. Sony is a lot more experienced in catering for the core gamer and MS got side tracked by the entertainment offerings. But the silver lining to all of this is that this has invigorated MS and we are seeing some fantastic updates to make the console even better. History has also shown how fickle the hard core gamers are and in the long run if MS keep pushing their console with updates and exclusives the future is bright. Sony has done tremendously well but they themselves are worried if the PS4 sales are heavily front loaded. MS problem is now fighting perception and they can't allow a huge gap to continue and let Sony run away with it.

I honestly saw nothing wrong with presenting other features of the XB1 before the games. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that games were a huge part of the new console, and they stated that with the first initial reveal. The first impression was actually a very good one! So good in fact, that many thought the features we were seeing with voice and motion control navigating through the UI was a hoax. "Yo, had a remote in his pocket", and such.

I expected games too, being a gamer and all. But I also understood that they would be there in full glory at E3, and it happened just as I predicted. No matter when they revealed the games, they still had the best showing of the bunch. That was pretty much destiny. Microsoft held their own special event, bank rolled by them to show off the entertainment features for the X1 which I think was the perfect time to do so, seeing as if they wouldve done such a thing at E3, it would've been even worse than it is now. Now that would have been a travesty! Still, even with its initial reveal the XB1 console by itself won numerous awards, reviewed better then its competition and had the much better game line up. It also happened to have the best looking game of any generation at launch! The only thing I saw a reason for concern was with the price. Still all things considered, it was the best selling $500 console ever. EVER.

Sure some will disagree with me, but thats a testament to how great the product was/is. A mere gaming console couldn't have accomplished that.
Not to mention that "other" console didnt even have an exterior or controller for the public. I dunno but my opinion, I saw nothing wrong with it personally. Thats my stance on it.

 

[BIGJOHN]

How hard is it to understand that you have one chance to make a good first impression?

Microsoft's first impression was absolute s***.

If balmer and matrick weren't so disconnected with the consumers that would be willing to drop $500 on a game console, they would have never made the downright stupid and idiotic choice to lead the first reveal of your next gen game console with talking about tv. It's just damn common sense.

If there was any shred of logic in the xbox division leading up to the reveal, they would have actually taken into consideration the internet rumblings regarding the bulls*** check in every 24 hours and packaged in kinect, and would have had an initial reveal focused solely on the gaming aspects of the console, had the same great E3, and then between E3 and gamscon discussed the media stuff.

I mean seriously, how dumb are you to plan a game console reveal, invite the gaming "media" and tech journalists/bloggers looking to get blown away by the next xbox, fully knowing hundreds of thousands if not millions of gamers would be tuning in to the first reveal of the 3rd xbox to spent it talking about tv for 85+ percent of it.

I would gladly pay for a book that details on the bulls*** that went on in the development of the xb1 and it's a reveal. wouldn't be surprised to find out lower level people were telling the suits like mattrick and balmer that their vision was stupid and mattrick and balmer wore ear muffs and ignored all criticism eternally and from devs.

(I am not upset but I wanted to match the rage)

You realize that SONY launched a game console for 600 m***** f****** dollars and that's without a camera/voice recognition/motion detection technology??!!! How high does that rate for bullsh**?

Oh, and SONY made the tag line, "It Only Does Everything.". Give us an f*****' break with this B.S. outrage about extra features!!! SONY is trying to do the SAME THING!!!!!

(How was that? )

 

[ZombiesRUCrazy]

(I am not upset but I wanted to match the rage)

You realize that SONY launched a game console for 600 m***** f****** dollars and that's without a camera/voice recognition/motion detection technology??!!! How high does that rate for bullsh**?

Oh, and SONY made the tag line, "It Only Does Everything.". Give us an f*****' break with this B.S. outrage about extra features!!! SONY is trying to do the SAME THING!!!!!

(How was that? )

You missed the best part of the sony ps3 reveal. "people will work two jobs to buy the ps3." (btw, the reason the ps3 was so expensive was because each one cost $700 to manufacture at launch. 360 cost something around $525 to manufacture at launch)

Though it wasn't as good as mattrick's response when he was asked about the xbox ones 24hr checkin and military personal, " we have a consoles for them, the xbox 360."

 

[Mcmasters]

You missed the best part of the sony ps3 reveal. "people will work two jobs to buy the ps3." (btw, the reason the ps3 was so expensive was because each one cost $700 to manufacture at launch. 360 cost something around $525 to manufacture at launch)

Though it wasn't as good as mattrick's response when he was asked about the xbox ones 24hr checkin and military personal, " we have a consoles for them, the xbox 360."

Yeah. Matrtricks response is no where near as bad as those that came from Sony. Hell no.

 

[Dno69]

One man, Don Mattrick, he soured the Xbox brand and is a main reason many 360 owners jumped ship so early on.

Take a look at Sony, they even say they're not sure why there are so many PS4's sold and again, I blame Don Mattrick for his stupidity (he had the wheel, all the f'ups were under his direction).

I'm 50/50 about Major Nelson but I like Phil Spencer, guys seems legit.

I always wondered if Mattrick was the scapegoat for all tne bad policies decisions. And I'm asking because I'm not sure. I'm not sure if he had the final say in all these things or if it was a group effort? He was a clown either way.

 

[Mcmasters]

To that end, how many people actually disconnect their console from the internet, anyway? I've not done it once since Ive had my XBO. I dont think MS were confused about their target audience or their fans about how always online worked. It was pretty clear that they assumed that people left their console always online anyway, which in fact they do. So the 24 check up deal was really non issue for most gamers. The outrage that came from that was ridiculous, and thats putting it nicely. They could literally activate the always online right now, and most gamers with XBO wouldnt know the difference, if any. It was something that happened in the background and not something that would be in your face. It was an awful display of how ignorant and just plain r******d people can be when left to their own devices when it comes to the internet and information. MS was approached by plain ignorance, and wasnt prepared for it.

Maybe MS shouldve just kept their mouths shut instead of giving "gamers" all of that complex information that they had no clue how it worked to begin with, no matter how it was explained. It was like giving a child a loaded gun and hoping he wouldnt blow his own head off. Or rocket scientists trying to explain the workings of launching a space shuttle to football players....take your pick.

 

[Mua'dib]

Its Saturday,fellers. Give it a rest for today. (sips ice tea)