Earlier today there were rumors all around the inter-webs about potential talks between Microsoft and Amazon in regards to selling off the former’s Xbox One division. However, the insider, famousmortimer who revealed this rather shocking rumor has clarified his statements.
He believes that people are taking the rumor way more seriously than he imagined. “What am I creating fud for? I own an xbox one and quite enjoy it. Am I trying to sabotage myself? I passed on a rumor that is being taken way more seriously than I imagined. That’s it. No need for Tinfoil hats,” he said on GAF.
He also revealed that he was in touch with someone from Microsoft about this deal but even if it happens, it will literally take years. “Am I being trolled? The original person to tell me might have been, I thought. I followed up with others. They said the same thing. Basically the scuttlebutt around D.I.C.E was that this made sense, one looking to dump, another looking to acquire. Then I talked to someone at ms that said there have been talks but it’s not even close to a done deal and if it does get done it will take years,” he said.
He also commented on several sites picking up his quotes and mis-representing it as if the deal is confirmed. “ I thought a few people would find it entertaining that this is a current rumor and now there are sites saying that I’m saying that Microsoft is selling xbox to Amazon. Like I said before I don’t put enough stock in this to even make a thread myself. I really wish this one was closed. I take the blame, I have serious self-awareness problems as I have no idea that I can even cause a commotion like this.”
Given that the Xbox One is doing well and Microsoft is continuously investing in buying out exclusives for the Xbox One [Gears of War and Titanfall], we think this rumor should be taken with a massive grain of salt.
Update: Chief of Staff for Devices and Studios Group at Microsoft, Aaron Greenberg has given an update on the situation. He thinks this rumor is ridiculous. As mentioned above, this rumor was indeed taken more seriously than intended.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments section below.
That isn't quite accurate. Maybe allocating production capacity differently due to an upcoming launch because of manufacturing constraints. What company wouldn't want to sell everything they possibly could?
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To make sure they don't have millions of unsold and obsolete consoles on the shelves and on the books.Its available in 53 countries right know.
Ever since the new C.E.O took over rumblings of a shift away from Xbox hardware have been surfacing around the inter-webs.
These rumours have been around for a while, and the only reason they've resurfaced is because of some activist investors mentioning it in an interview or some damn thing.
It would be going in the polar opposite direction to sell off Xbox given the 'Devices and Services' mission that has been embraced and is a key part of this reorganization.
Gameplay is looking pretty nice, but I wonder if they should just lower resolution on the Xbone to stabilize the framerate and prevent the horrible screen tearing. They still have time but PC is looking the way to go. I wouldn't be surprised if the 360 is also "good enough" for most people. If you can't see 720p to 1080p, you probably don't notice a difference between a 360 or an Xbone.
It may not be a gargantuan number as-is, but it pulls the game away from the ho-hum 1280x720 that was on most peoples' bingo cards - a step up, if not a remarkable one, in terms of the final image.
Titanfall is a healthy 60fps shooter as promised, but only as long as it's played with an on-foot Call of Duty mindset. With Portal 2's Source engine at its core, it's as fluid and responsive as you could hope for when pistolling Pilots and kicking AI grunts.
However, it all changes once you buckle into a Titan, and in this build we see lengthy passages of play (particularly by the end of a mission) falling within the 35-45fps range. Neither one of the levels on show is especially worse than the other in this regard, and it's clearly the barrage of alpha effects that ends up pressing the hardware too far.
It's also impossible to ignore the tearing that creeps up during such dips. Adaptive v-sync is in play, which taps in any time the engine detects a frame going over budget and missing a slot within its 60Hz refresh. Temporarily removing this lock helps to make control over the action feel smoother than it otherwise would, but at a big - and regular - cost to the overall presentation. As a game with a heavy focus on competitive multiplayer, these are clearly optimisation problems that need tackling before the game goes to market in March - with screen-tear high on the list.
In its current form, it's difficult to understand Titanfall's resolution choice considering the variable performance. As it renders at 792p, The game relies on the Xbox One's scaler to output at 1080p.
That said, it's unfortunate that once you stop to have a look around at the arena that the environment appears so clinical. Much of Fracture, for example, is built to a very strict and rigid wireframe, with no evidence of next-gen technologies such as tessellation to round off the more egregious corners. Shading is also largely missing, outside of baked-in shadows and ambient occlusion that fades in we near objects.
All of which leads us back to the assessment of the Xbox One version's fate. Titanfall is only a month shy of its final March release, and the tussle in this early beta is clearly between performance and effects-work. Given Respawn's reputation in the business, we'd hope frame-rate does indeed prove to be king. However, with recent suggestions of the internal resolution being pushed up higher to the 1600x900 mark, it's not clear where the GPU power can be found to maintain a large boost in pixel count while at the same time clearing up the frame-rate issues we find in the current 1408x792 version.
However, while the Xbox One beta has its own fair share technical quibbles, there is an undeniable entertainment factor to the game that takes precedence. It's a simple package, but the commitment to 60fps so far is strong enough to convince that the right talents are working on the project. In the meantime, while we have a firm handle on the Xbox One and PC versions of the game, we can't help but wonder how the Xbox 360 version will compare.
They still have time but PC is looking the way to go.
Not if you aren't a PC gamer. Then the only choice you have to make is One or 360. And I have a couple friends who have already said they aren't putting more money into their 360 because they want to move to the One. Their reason: "why invest into the old platform unless it's a 'must-have' that isn't on the next gen?"
I'm loving the game, it's incredibly fun which is not something I usually say about online first-person shooters. I'm typically pretty horrible at them and the only reason I'll play an FPS online is because my friends are playing... otherwise, I'm good with single player campaign play-through. But this one is simply too fun to care... and I'm not too bad at it either.
And having actually played it, I am starting to wonder if these technical analysis reviews really matter at all to the majority of people. To notice the issues, you really have to be looking for them instead of trying to play the game.
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GO FLAMES GO.
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Originally Posted by Azure
Typical dumb take.
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These rumours have been around for a while, and the only reason they've resurfaced is because of some activist investors mentioning it in an interview or some damn thing.
Actually it was brought up because of the ties the new CEO has to two major investors who are pushing for it. If you read all the stories on this and the reasons for pushing Ballmer out then you have to imagine XBox isn't long for Microsoft's world.
Despite Japan's rich gaming culture, the new consoles that've taken pride of place in your living room are still considered next-gen in the Land of the Rising Sun. While Microsoft still hasn't offered a firm date for the Xbox One's arrival, Sony's PlayStation 4 makes its Japanese debut this coming weekend. Now, as reparations for the three-month delay, Sony and the snake-charmers (read: game devs) at Kojima Productions have partnered on the first limited edition PS4 console that'll launch exclusively in Japan on March 20th. This "Fox Edition" PS4 has been crafted to celebrate the launch of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a copy of which'll be bundled with the console for 46,980 yen (around $462) -- the regular console will retail for 41,979 yen (around $413) sans game, since you asked. Unfortunately, this first limited run PS4 is less impressive re-skinning effort, and more, well, boring emblem.
Actually it was brought up because of the ties the new CEO has to two major investors who are pushing for it. If you read all the stories on this and the reasons for pushing Ballmer out then you have to imagine XBox isn't long for Microsoft's world.
... except that it flies in the face of the direction of the company.
... except that it flies in the face of the direction of the company.
That's the point. They're calling for a huge change in direction. This CEO was apparently put in because he may have the agreeing sentiment that they need to make that change.
Sony PlayStation 4 sales are currently sitting at over 5.3 million, ahead of the console's launch in Japan.
The company announced the figure this morning ahead of the Japanese launch due to take place on February 22. Seeing as Sony had previously announced it wanted to sell 5 million PS4 consoles by the end of the financial year on March 31, it's currently significantly ahead of schedule.
I wonder how much of this momentum is from the PS3 outselling the Xbox 360 in the later stages of the life cycle of their systems, and gamers continue to entrench themselves as PS loyalists. Or the 100 dollar cheaper price tag. Or what combo. Cuz I really find it hard to believe people think the PS4 is that much better than the XBox at the start of their life cycles (which it is better but it's not literally twice the machine xbox is).
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Well, deal with it. I wasn't cheering for Canada either way. Nothing worse than arrogant Canadian fans. They'd be lucky to finish 4th. Quote me on that. They have a bad team and that is why I won't be cheering for them.
I wonder how much of this momentum is from the PS3 outselling the Xbox 360 in the later stages of the life cycle of their systems, and gamers continue to entrench themselves as PS loyalists. Or the 100 dollar cheaper price tag. Or what combo. Cuz I really find it hard to believe people think the PS4 is that much better than the XBox at the start of their life cycles (which it is better but it's not literally twice the machine xbox is).
It might also have something to do with the huge amounts of bad press Xbox managed to get themselves at launch. They had so many "anti" consumer policies early on that a lot of "hardcore" gaming advocates/early adopters would have made their purchase decision early on. Add to that +100 price point and better performance will sway a lot of people.
Though they are now selling better than the Wii now at the same point in it's life span so I wonder how much if this is a snowball effect of momentum?
I wonder how much of this momentum is from the PS3 outselling the Xbox 360 in the later stages of the life cycle of their systems, and gamers continue to entrench themselves as PS loyalists. Or the 100 dollar cheaper price tag. Or what combo. Cuz I really find it hard to believe people think the PS4 is that much better than the XBox at the start of their life cycles (which it is better but it's not literally twice the machine xbox is).
I think the bad publicity you saw during the pre-launch is probably playing a role. I know a lot of people made up their mind then.
Edit- What that other guy said, but typed slower :|
I think the bad publicity you saw during the pre-launch is probably playing a role. I know a lot of people made up their mind then.
Edit- What that other guy said, but typed slower :|
Well you have to hand it to Sony, they pulled off an excellent marketing campaign that I really didn't think they were capable of. Sony was humble this time and with a message of listening to the consumers they ultimately serve, the news that they let an American lead the design team, instead of the usual arrogant Japanese designers, showed how much their executive team really wanted the project to succeed.
It was a very consistent message from the start and they stuck to their message and vision. That vision might be a little boring to be perfectly honest, but it was executed brilliantly. Microsoft on the other hand had so many conflicting messages and visions that no one had any idea where to look. Also price sweet point.
Gamespot benchmarked Titanfall on PC vs a $149 Geforce 750 Ti and finds the video card substantially outperforms the Xbox One.
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While the GTX 750 Ti is a midrange GPU, early benchmarks have shown excellent performance across a range of games. In GameSpot's own testing the card ran the likes of Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite at over 60fps on high settings. It also ran the beta of the new mech-based shooter Titanfall at 58fps at 1080p with 2XAA on, a feat not even accomplished by the Xbox One.
Better visual performance + keyboard and mouse input for an FPS sounds like a great combo to me, at least for Titanfall. All hail the PC master race. Link
