Microsoft Creating ‘GameChat on Xbox Live’ Television Series for Xbox Live
H They’re still making original programming. Maybe not all hope is lost, maybe Nancy Tellem is involved. One can only hope. This is something I’ve only just noticed. So today, Microsoft uploaded a video to its Xbox YouTube channel promoting a new series coming soon to Xbox Live called “GameChat on Xbox Live”. At first glance, I thought it was an Xbox One advertisement. Then I realized it was a lot more. According to the video description, Will Arnett is playing a role in the series which involves looking at some of the biggest games on Xbox One in an entertaining fashion, such as Evolve which launches this Tuesday. The description also mentions “Will and his friends game on Xbox Live weekly and are probably playing alongside many of you in some epic multiplayer sessions”. Apparently, next week they invite Shak from 2K to check out Evolve (makes sense, right?). Microsoft also said in the description to expect the full episode on Monday to air on Xbox Live and later in the week on their Xbox YouTube channel. I’m intrigued. The video also mentioned “Presented by Verizon” which tells me that they’re sponsoring this. It also means the possibility to the show being US only but let’s hope not. They may have different sponsors lined up for different countries. My guess is the series will be available on Xbox Video under the ‘Xbox Originals” category of programming that includes everything produced by ‘Xbox Entertainment Studios’. And here’s the part that I don’t get. So last July, we heard Microsoft would be closing Xbox Entertainment Studios as part of its 18,500 job layoffs and company restructuring under CEO Satya Nadella. A few months ago, we heard the studio had finally closed and Nancy Tellem and Jordan Levin were laid off as they finished the slate of programming. This ‘Game Chat’ series has only being filmed recently and probably mostly isn’t done yet if it involves checking out new games. Therefore, what studio is working on this? Microsoft never officially said it was stopping its approach to making original content and television series. Microsoft do still plan to release the blockbuster live-action Halo Television Series later this year to coincide with the launch of Halo 5: Guardians, however, we haven’t heard much since. If Nancy Tellem is involved, it’s hard to know. We were never told the full story of what happened to Xbox Entertainment Studios and the future of Microsoft’s vision for original content continues to remain vague. Overall, I’m interested in seeing what happens. With Microsoft’s exclusive IP’s like Forza Motorsport, Halo, Age of Empires, Gears of War, Fable and many more, there’s a great variety of Television companions that could be made for these games. And of course, 1 vs 100, one of my favourite Xbox 360 experiences. I believe Nancy Tellem was working on a competition show like 1 vs 100 for the Xbox One, if it ever sees the light of day, we may never know. Hopefully. You can check out the trailer for ‘GameChat on Xbox Live’ below:
Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, shows teaser image of screenshots on Xbox One
Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, tweeted today an image of how screenshots will be taken on the Xbox One. Via the snap centre, pressing Y will “save a screenshot” No Kinect command has been confirmed, however I believe it is very likely that we will have a command like “Xbox, save a screenshot” or something similar. In the image, Phil Spencer is also playing a game called “Beat Drop” a musical faller where you play as a businessman. Spencer later tweeted that Beat Drop is a game they use for internal testing. I’m interested in seeing more on screenshots – stay tuned for more info. I personally believe that this highly anticipated feature will be available pretty soon for preview program members, and possibly even in the March update. @originalporkbun Beat Drop is an internal test game we use, @XboxQwik has crazy BD skills. — Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 6, 2015
Nintendo and Netflix reportedly developing a live action Legend of Zelda series
A new report coming in from Wall Street Journal claims that Netflix may be partnering with Nintendo to bring The Legend of Zelda universe to the popular streaming service. They state that it will be in the style of Game of Thrones but for a family audience. Netflix has been developing many of their own shows lately, but nothing as ambitious as bringing the Zelda universe to life. We’ll continue to update on this story if any news breaks on it. Stay tuned!
Gun Game confirmed for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Earlier today, Michael Condrey, Studio Head of Development and Co-Founder of Sledgehammer Games, revealed that Gun Game would be coming to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. For those not in the know, Gun Game is a game mode which was featured in previous Call of Duty titles, where you cycle through 20 different guns – to cycle through these, you must kill someone with the gun you are holding to progress. If you are knifed, you get demoted back to the last gun. In my opinion, Gun Game is a very fun game mode and I can’t wait for it to come to one of my favourite Call of Duty games in years, Advanced Warfare. The image below shows Condrey’s tweet, where he states “Slow news day. If you were at the studio you could play some #AdvancedWarfare with us” with a picture of Gun Game in the map Bio Lab. No release date for the game mode has been confirmed at this time, but we’ll keep you updated – stay tuned. Slow news day. If you were at the studio you could play some #AdvancedWarfare with us. pic.twitter.com/5yJ8bKdBkv — Michael Condrey (@MichaelCondrey) February 6, 2015
Zombie Army Trilogy dated, gets some blood splattered new screenshots
Sniper Elite’s Nazi zombie spin off, Zombie Army Trilogy has received it’s release date – ‘Zombie Army Trilogy’ will release on March 6th 2015. For those unaware, Zombie Army Trilogy includes Sniper Elite’s Zombie spin off games – 1, 2 and the currently unreleased third instalment in the franchise. Your goal is to fend off the zombie army that Hitler has summoned in a last ditch effort to win WW2 – Zombie Army Trilogy contains 4 player co-op across it’s gory 15 levels.
Xbox One with Kinect Available for $449 Starting Sunday February 8th
Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox One including the Kinect Sensor will be available starting at $449 for two weeks, from Sunday February 8th 2015 up to Saturday February 21st 2015. In the United States, you can get Xbox One with Kinect for $50 off the $500 price tag for those two weeks in places such as Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Toys R Us, Walmart and the Microsoft Store. On January 16th, Microsoft lowered the price of the Xbox One without Kinect to $349 in the United States. Unfortunately, no word has been given on worldwide sales yet, however your local retailer may have some deals of their own so be sure to check with them. Xbox One with Kinect for $449 is great value, so take advantage!
Xbox One February 2015 System Update Rolling Out To Everyone: Improves Party Chat, Adds Game Hubs & More
Today, Microsoft started rolling out the 1502 February 2015 Xbox One System Update for all Xbox One owners. This update adds a variety of new TV features, the new Game Hubs area and drastic improvements to party chat and invite notifications. Let’s take a deeper look at what’s happening: Xbox One Controller Update: allowing your controller to connect to your console in about two seconds in comparison to 4-5 seconds as it was previous. Stability improvements for controller connectivity and disconnect issues has also been added. Party Chat Improvements: New icons are now shown in Xbox Live Parties to give you a better idea of what’s the current party chat status. A Clock icon means a player is connecting to chat while a Squawker Ring indicates a successful connecting and shows who is currently speaking while the X means there’s a networking limitation typically caused by NAT. NAT and P2P – Improvements have also been made for when players with Strict or Moderate NAT try to connect to each other. P2P person-to-person connectivity for party chat has been streamlined for the “retry logic” and connectivity is also much quicker for P2P when setting up party chat. Notifications – For Game and Party invites, you now see immediately who is inviting you without waiting for the text to scroll. Game hubs – Every Xbox One game, released and in the future will have a game hub where you can see which of your friends are playing the game, compete with your friends in game leaderboards, watch game clips and game broadcasts, and follow the game’s VIPs and top players. To get to the game hub for your favourite game, find a game in your pins, recently played list, or My games and apps, then press the ‘Menu’ button and select ‘View game hub’. You can also search for any game in the Xbox Store and click on the game hub tile from the game’s store page Custom backgrounds and tile transparency – You can now add tile transparency to the Home tiles to make your background images more visible. Microsoft have said some items can’t be made transparent due to usage rights/restrictions for certain images. TV updates – Updates to the live TV experience and features which are being released to additional countries in preview this month: OneGuide for the Netherlands – Support for OneGuide will continue in preview for the Netherlands and the missing channels for the Netherlands OneGuide listings will become available over the next few weeks. TV trending in OneGuide – As you scan the detailed OneGuide TV listings, you can see which shows are trending by a “Trending on Xbox” note and associated icon. Xbox – live TV trending is based on the number of Xbox One owners currently watching that show in each country, pulled from anonymous data collected at a national level. Currently, Xbox TV trending is available to all members in the U.S., UK and Canada. Live TV trending (new countries) – France, Germany, Brazil and Mexico will begin seeing live TV trending data in Xbox OneGuide. Improved control of TVs, set-top boxes and audio/video receivers – Xbox One will work even better with more devices. This month’s preview release contains updates to the IR blasting database for new models and addresses issues reported by our fan community. “Trick play” with Xbox One Digital TV Tuner – Preview members with the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner in supported countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) will now be able to see video frames when fast-forwarding or rewinding paused TV on your Xbox One consoles. Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android – The preview of live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android devices for Xbox One Digital TV Tuner owners in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain is continuing for into February. Yep, that is a long list of improvements and features for your Xbox One thus month! Let us know what you think about these changes our forums!
