Tag: Microsoft

Microsoft Acquires Gears of War From Epic Games

On By AnjelIn Entertainment, Games, Games, News, Online, Xbox 360, Xbox OneLeave a comment

Gears of War Logo

 

Microsoft announced this morning that they have acquired the rights to the entire Gears of War franchise; including all existing and future games, merchandise, as well as entertainment experiences (TV shows, movies, etc) from Epic Games. They also announced that there will be a new team, Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver, B.C  taking over development of the Gears of War franchise, similar to how 343 Studios took over Halo from Bungie.  Joining Black Tusk Studios will be former Director of Production at Epic Games, Rod Fergusson, who will be taking a key leadership role at this new studio and helping to drive the franchise forward.

Epic Games also announced in a statement that they are licensing the Unreal Engine 4 technology to Microsoft in support of their future projects. They also said they are very proud of the “Gears” franchise and are happy with this agreement, as this allows Microsoft to forge ahead with the “Gears” franchise while they themselves concentrate on new projects.

This is pretty huge news, especially for the Vancouver video games industry. Hopefully this will help to rejuvenate a once healthy game industry, that recently has seen many games and studios going elsewhere. I look forward to seeing what Microsoft does with the franchise and I guess this ends the question of if we will ever see a “Gears” game on a Sony platform, although, now maybe we will get gears on PC…… *crosses fingers*

Via- Microsoft

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

Xbox One Sells More Than 1 Million Consoles Worldwide In Less Then 24 Hours

On By AnjelIn Games, Games, News, PlayStation 4, Xbox OneLeave a comment

Xbox One Launch Event

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox One, which launched today in 13 markets around the world, has officially sold more then 1 Million consoles, thus surpassing the day one sales of the Xbox 360, and setting a new record for Microsoft.

Microsoft has stated that the Xbox One is sold out at most retailers and that they are working on replenishing stock as quickly as possible.

“We are humbled and grateful for the excitement of Xbox fans around the world,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, Xbox. “Seeing thousands of excited fans lined up to get their Xbox One and their love for gaming was truly a special moment for everyone on the Xbox team. We are working hard to create more Xbox One consoles and look forward to fulfilling holiday gift wishes this season.”

So, both the PS4 and Xbox One are off to a fantastic start in this new console generation. Here is hoping that both can continue to get consoles out to fans and keep up with demand around the world. Microsoft has launched in 13 Markets around the world today, ranging from New Zealand all the way through North America and into Europe in the UK and Germany. Sony has launched in North America already, and launches in Europe next week. As this holiday season starts to heat up, I just hope that both these console juggernauts can keep up with, what is quite simply, phenomenal demand from consumers.

Via- Microsoft

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

Ryse: Son Of Rome Gets Launch Trailer, Looks Truly Stunning

On By AnjelIn Game Videos, Games, Games, News, Videos, Xbox OneLeave a comment

Screenshot_Dover (4)

To celebrate the launch of Ryse: Son of Rome for the Xbox One, Microsoft has released this launch trailer for the game. I have to admit, they did a great job putting this one together. I have had the chance to play Ryse and I walked away not all that impressed, but this trailer sure makes it look like something special. Here is hoping the game is a lot more then what I have seen of it so far. Take a look at this fantastic launch trailer below.


Ryse: Son of Rome is launching this Friday, Nov 22 alongside the Xbox One.

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

Xbox One Won’t Have Twitch Streaming At Launch

On By AnjelIn Game Videos, Games, Games, News, Videos, Xbox OneLeave a comment

TwitchTV

Microsoft has announced more details about its upcoming Twitch app today, among them, the fact that the Xbox One will not be able to stream over Twitch at launch, but it will be a feature they are hoping to have sometime in early 2014. The Twitch experience on Xbox One will be open to Xbox Live Gold members when they launch the app. So to at least get all of us excited for it when it finally does come around, they have released this video showing off how the Twitch app will work when it comes out.

I will be very interested to see how this compares to the built in Twitch on the PS4 when it gets released.

Via-Microsoft

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

New Video Showing Off The Xbox One’s Dashboard

On By AnjelIn Game Videos, Games, Games, News, Online, Videos, Xbox OneLeave a comment

xboxone

In the newest video from Microsoft, we get a step by step walkthrough of the new Xbox One dashboard. It is 12 minutes of Xbox Dashboard goodness, so if you are curious how the Xbox One will work when not playing games and how it will feel to navigate, look no further.


The Xbox One is slated to be released in North America on Nov 22, 2013.

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

Call of Duty: Ghosts Sells Over $1 Billion In First Day At Retail

On By AnjelIn Games, Games, News, Online, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox OneLeave a comment

codg

Activision this morning announced, that Call of Duty: Ghosts has sold more then $1 Billion into retail on the first day of release. Since being released yesterday, it has moved into the #1 spot on Xbox Live, according to Microsoft. Activision has also stated that the average play session on Xbox 360 has been longer on Ghosts then either Black Ops II or Modern Warfare 3 during the same time period. They also went on to state that Call of Duty: Ghosts is Gamestop’s Most preordered Next Gen Title, and that Activision saw more then 15,000 midnight launch events around the world for the title. The Full press release is below.

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), announced today that the company sold more than $1 billion of Call of Duty®: Ghosts into retail stores worldwide as of day one.

“Call of Duty is by far the largest console franchise of this generation,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “More people have played Call of Duty this year than ever before, logging four billion hours of gameplay. And in the last 12 months, Call of Duty®: Black Ops II, including its digital content, generated more revenues than any other console game ever has in a single year. Although it is too early to assess sell-through for Call of Duty: Ghosts, it’s launching at a time when the franchise has never been more popular.”

Millions of people are already playing Call of Duty: Ghosts online. Since its release yesterday, Call of Duty:Ghosts has moved to the #1 spot as the most played game on Xbox Live, according to Microsoft. Additionally, Activision confirmed that on the Xbox 360 videogames and entertainment system from Microsoft, average player sessions for Ghosts have been longer than either Black Ops II or Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3, during the same time period.

Call of Duty: Ghosts launched at 15,000 midnight openings around the world. Fans around the world shared their excitement in social media, with Call of Duty-related terms trending an astounding 20 times globally on Twitter in the last 24 hours.

“Ghosts is an amazing game which ushers in the next generation of Call of Duty. The team at Infinity Ward has delivered yet another epic thrill ride in the campaign, and what I think is our best multiplayer game yet,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “This is the must have launch title for the next generation of consoles, and we expect Call of Duty: Ghosts to be the most successful launch title for the Xbox One and PS4 by a wide margin. In fact, according to GameStop, Call of Duty: Ghosts is their most pre-reserved next gen title.”

Call of Duty: Ghosts is out now across PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U and I even saw it for sale for the PS4 when I was in the store yesterday.

Via Press Release

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

Call Of Duty: Ghosts Compared on PS3, Xbox 360 and PS4

On By AnjelIn Game Videos, Games, Online, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Videos, Xbox 360, Xbox OneLeave a comment

codg4

So our friends over at IGN have thrown up a video showing current gen (PS3 and Xbox 360) up against Next Gen (PS4), Sorry guys, no Xbox One. It is a pretty great video, and I highly urge you to take a look if you are curious what the next gen is going to look like on console. Take a look below and feel free to tell us what you think.


Source- IGN

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

PS4 To Run Call of Duty: Ghosts In Native 1080p, Xbox One To Be Upscaled From 720p Says Infinity Ward

On By AnjelIn Games, Games, News, Online, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox OneLeave a comment

codg2

Today Via Twitter, Mark Rubin from Infinity Ward, the Studio Behind Call of Duty: Ghosts, has cleared the air about resolutions on the two next gen consoles. According to Rubin, the PS4 will run native 1080p and the Xbox One will be native 720p upscaled to 1080p.

Hey, been on the road last couple weeks so haven’t had a chance to update, but wanted to confirm that for Xbox One we’re 1080p upscaled from 720p. And, we’re native 1080p on PS4.  We optimized each console to hit 60 FPS and the game looks great on both. Still on the road, but glad to see the great reception to Extinction.  Can’t wait for next week’s launch.

So there we have it, finally an answer to all the questions that have been swirling around in the media these last few weeks.

Source- Twitter

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

Microsoft Putting The Games Back Front and Center In Latest Video

On By AnjelIn Game Videos, Games, Games, News, Videos, Xbox OneLeave a comment

MS titanfall ad

Microsoft has released their newest Xbox One video Ad this morning, and in it they seem to remember that the Xbox One plays games. It’s a good video showcasing the gaming and media features of the Xbox One. I won’t lie though, it seems oddly similar to the Sony PS4 Video Here. But compared to the previous Xbox One Commercial, this is definitely a step in the right direction. Take a look at the trailer below and let us know what you guys think.


The Xbox One is slated to be released on Nov 22.

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody

Windows 8.1 Is Now Available

On By AnjelIn News, PC, Tech, TechLeave a comment

Windows-8.1 Logo

The long awaited return of the start menu (well long awaited by some people)  is finally upon us….kind of.  Windows 8.1 is finally out today, as a free upgrade for Windows 8 users, and with it they have brought back the Start Menu Button. This time though, it just launches into the Start Screen that we have all come to either love or hate (personally I am a big fan, really like the forward movement here, but I digress) But at least for those people that found Windows 8 confusing and didn’t know how to get back to the start menu, the lovely button is there now. They also have included the option to boot straight into desktop mode, instead of going into the start menu first, which for some people is a big deal (not like it was hard to click one button…) Windows 8.1 also includes a plethora of small changes throughout the OS that really do make it feel much more streamlined. So if you haven’t made the upgrade to 8.1 yet, I highly recommend it. You can access the upgrade from within your Windows Store on Windows 8, if you don’t have Windows 8 yet, you can head over to Microsoft and grab it there, or if you would prefer, you can also get it at your nearest retailer who sells Microsoft software.

Win8.1Boxshots

I upgraded earlier this morning, and I must say it was a VERY painless experience, I went to the Windows store, saw there was an update and clicked yes to download, once that was complete I just restarted like it asked, waited a little while, filled a few things out and Viola! I was on 8.1. All of my programs and settings are all the same, it was a wonderfully easy and painless experience. So again, what are you waiting for? Go get your upgrade on!

Windows 8.1

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody