Tag: Microsoft Xbox One

Xbox One Adds New Avatars And Alexa Support With Latest Update

Microsoft has been constantly upgrading the Xbox One and in their latest update they have added support for Cortana and Alexa. Cortana is Microsoft’s personal assistant and Alexa is that of Amazon. The Xbox Skill feature allows interaction with your Xbox using Alexa or Cortana devices. You can ask the assistants to start a game and they will start the device, log in and launch the game as well. One needs to download Xbox Skill to use the features. It is also being offered with an Amazon Echo Bundle. The home speakers can also reduce or increase volume.

Also Read: Fortnite for Android Now Open For All

Xbox has also introduced new avatars which focus on inclusiveness. This features all ranges of body types. One can choose any type of outfit which he or she wishes to. They also represent people with disabilities and allow avatars to have crutches, wheelchairs etc. These avatars were shown at last year’s E3 where the release date was set for Fall, 2017. Microsoft has been one year late to bring these features.

What this means for the industry

Microsoft and Amazon’s close partnership is interesting to see as both have their own assistants and this partnership could mean that they can interact with each other. Dolby Vision HDR streaming across supported televisions has also been enabled. This allows a user to stream Netflix from their device. In the future, there is a possibility that other streaming services will join the bandwagon. Microsoft is also adding Dolby Vision to the Xbox One becoming the only other than Apple TV 4K and Google’s Chromecast Ultra to support both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Tell us how this will help all you Xbox One users and if it is a welcome change or not.

The October update is available for all Xbox One, One X and One S devices.

October 12, 2018
New Halo 5: Guardians is a Mix of All the Right Ingredients That Made Halo So Epic

One of the most awaited Xbox One exclusive – Halo: The Master Chief Collection will hit the stores today. The game will include four full campaigns and over 100 multiplayer maps including the debut of Halo 2: Anniversary. The upcoming Halo has enormous gameplay value this holiday season, though the whole package won’t be available at the launch. Microsoft and 343 Industries have confirmed that they are going to give everyone an access to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta who buys a copy of The Master Chief Collection.

Meanwhile, a video footage of Halo 5 appeared online. The video was barely a few seconds, though it sent shock waves across the Internet community, especially Halo fanatics. Some Halo fans were expressing concern as the video reveals a player sprinting and aiming down sights, skills that were not included in the early Halo games. This disappointed Halo fans as they perceived that 343 Industries has buckled under the pressure of an evolving FPS ecosystem, however, Executive Producer at developer 343 Industries Josh Holmes took to Twitter to relieve his fans.

No penalty to hip fire in H5, no movement penalty when scoping/zooming, no flinch. Tune in for the beta gameplay reveal at #HaloFest Monday.

— Josh Holmes (@JoshingtonState) November 9, 2014

Halo fans got a chance to see how the Halo 5 multiplayer looks like during the HaloFest yesterday. The beta for the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians has all the elements that made Halo one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time. Some would argue that Halo 5: Guardians beta is actually a step backwards, but in our opinion, this is what made Halo one of the most popular games. Developers have done a great job by simplifying gameplay mechanics and fine tuning certain aspects. The beta feels like a perfect blend of what previous Halo games were known for.

The three-week Halo 5: Guardians beta kicks off from 29th December, delivering three maps and seven modes to a whole lot of Halo fans. Don’t miss out the world premiere of Halo 5 multiplayer gameplay below:

November 11, 2014
Xbox One At Gamescom 2013

Xbox One claims a new generation of gaming and entertainment and to push the boundaries of realism. With Xbox One, you can quickly jump from TV to movies to music to a game. Just with the sound of your voice says Microsoft.

Xbox One is said to be the perfect balance of power and performance. In addition to Xbox One’s architecture, the combination of its CPU, GPU and ESRAM is made to give users the best experience like having a supercomputer in your living room claims the company.

There’s been 50 games announced for the console so far, 23 of which will be available at launch. The other ones includes titles like Watch Dogs, Dead Rising 3, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Killer Instinct and Ryse: Son of Rome.

Few more include games from Electronic Arts(EA), 2014 editions of Madden, NBA Live and FIFA. For starters, EA has confirmed that you’ll be able to carry over a season from current-generation consoles to next-generation and Microsoft has announced that all consoles pre-ordered in Europe will include a free copy of the game.

Xbox One consoles require the Kinect motion controller to be plugged in at all times. However, that’s not deterring the company’s plans to keep the Kinect a mandatory addition to any future console bundles.

“Xbox One is Kinect. They are not separate systems. An Xbox One has chips, it has memory, it has Blu-ray, it has Kinect, it has a controller. These are all part of the platform ecosystem,” Phil Harrison, a Microsoft corporate vice president said in response to a question on whether or not the Xbox One will ever be sold without the Kinect.

What will be your choice, the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox one ? Both are said to be available in the month of November.

August 23, 2013
Microsoft Posts New Video To Discuss 40 New Improvements In The Xbox One Controller

Microsoft has published a new video in which Xbox community mouthpiece Larry Hyrb and Xbox One general manager Zulfi Alam discuss the creation of the console’s brand-new controller.

Microsoft has “redefined” the wireless protocol used in the Xbox One’s wireless controller to reduce input lag by 20 per cent over the current Xbox 360 wireless controller.

“There were two goals: first increase the bandwidth of this wireless protocol, significantly more, 20x more than what we have right now. And the other one was to reduce the latency, so the moment you press the fire button, the time it takes to go to your console and back, essentially we reduce that.”

The controller is confirmed as having haptic feedback, advanced rumble motors, and a more comfortable design. There is also a USB input on the back of the pad, which gives consumers the option of playing either wired or wireless.

“The moment you plug in the wire essentially the radio in the controller shuts down, and at that point the controller transforms into being a truly wired controller,” he adds, with data carried purely through the USB cable.

The pad also has IR LEDs so that the system knows – thanks to Microsoft Xbox Kinect – who is holding the pad. The Xbox One automatically shifts gamers profiles depending on who is handling it.

[youtube id=”m4SYaTLCWL0″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

August 12, 2013
Microsoft : Xbox One Allows Games To Be Played While Downloading

We already knew that Microsoft’s Xbox One console will allow you to play a disc-based game while it installs in the background – which is apparently required – but now it has also been confirmed that you will be able to play a game while it’s still downloading.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed with Polygon that the Xbox One will be able to play games as they download, eliminating the need to wait for dozens of gigabytes to transfer to the console before you jump in and start playing.

Sony already confirmed the convenient feature for the PS4, but this is the first time Microsoft has mentioned it.

This will certainly be a huge time saver for Xbox One gamers, especially since the games themselves will likely have large file sizes. Xbox One game discs will be based on Blu-Ray which means that the games themselves could have file sized of well over 10 GB.

The feature presumably covers Xbox Live Arcade Games, Indie Games and titles that are already available as a physical copy, dubbed ‘Games on Demand’. It’s not clear, however, whether this would cover additional downloadable content (DLC) too.

Sony’s play as you download feature will let you choose to first download the single-player or multiplayer part of the game, letting you access your favourite part faster.

[Via]

July 17, 2013