Back at E3, Microsoft showed us a brief demo of how Skype was going to interact with the X1, and needless to say, it all seemed quite impressive. Today, Microsoft further discussed the integration of Skype in the console. The powerful app utilizes Kinect’s voice and gesture controls to execute on-screen actions. The Kinect 2.0 camera will be able to make Skype video calls in full 1080p. The camera also features a “wide-angle field of view”. The service will be included into the Xbox One console, allowing gamers to activate calls using just their voice aka voice commands. The Kinect 2.0 has a remarkable microphone that will be able to interpret background noise unrelated to your call and drown it out such as TV’s or radio’s playing.
As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people
Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much
Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region
Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.
I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games
Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo
The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.
Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"
Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”
Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever
Nice one ☝️
This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.
No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.
Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.
Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?
Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.
Microsoft's future in the video game space is murky right now, so let's break it all down.
Not anytime soon. But they're on that path.
One thing not mentioned in the article is Microsoft's money bags. If Sega had Microsoft's money, they would have still been around as a hardware manufacturer. Xbox as a platform only survives because of the money bags. They can continue making consoles for the core and port to PC.
The multiplatform strategy is only the result of arrogance and misguided leadership that blew up in their face. They thought gamers would jump on Xbox in droves if they knew that many of their favorite games would be only on Xbox. But that's not happening at all. Sales didn't increase. They decreased. Why? Because the dumb asses thought giving away these expensively made games in a cheap service would also turn the tide.
Gamers on other platforms are willing to buy quality. They don't need to be handed nearly free games in a service that aren't even finished and sometimes average in their development. Gamers buy Nintendo games. They buy Sony games. Microsoft groomed their base to not buy games. Even the quality ones. It has always been their plan to go digital. But most gamers still like single player gaming. Still like physical releases.
Microsoft's problem has always been that they don't produce high quality games at the same output as Nintendo and Sony. Actually, they should be producing quite a lot more because they're worth over 2 TRILLION. How they don't have more is ridiculous and no excuse. Buying publishers to take away from competition only backfired. Because it still takes millions of dollars to continue to make those games from the publishers they snatched. Their only choice was to crawl back to their competitors to help sustain those developers because Nintendo and Sony platforms were the ones buying games.
Am I sorry for Microsoft? Hell no! They deserved last place for putting in the least effort. They deserved the fallout for buying up the industry and didn't make a single blip on the radar against their competitors where they now need those same gamers they took away games from to support them. Part of it may have been to cash in on their competition. But the result is the slow death of their platform. They may go 3rd party. They may keep making hardware. I don't give a shit about them to worry about it. I only give a shit about the destructive nature of their industry moves that only negatively affect gamers. They could sell and drop out of the industry and I wouldn't blink. Probably laugh. But not blink. They deserve whatever comes to them. At least Sega put in the effort when it came to games. They just had poor leadership. Microsoft has poor leadership and barely makes memorable games. That's a killer combination. And not in a good way.
Not sure about that. It's been two decades and I still think about Power Stone, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Seaman and others, but I'm not sure I'll remember Xbox Series X/S games in a few years from now... Maybe I'll remember about the franchises that the Xbox brand spawned, but I don't believe that the Xbox Series lives up to the late Dreamcast or even to the Xbox name itself. I do have great memories about the 360 with Blue Dragon, Gears 2 and Lost Odyssey though
No, Dreamcast was ahead of it's time and most still have very fond memories of it that had one. It also had some good games on it even in it's short lifespan. Xbox has none of these qualities.
I already can skype on my lg smart tv, tablet, phone, computer. Another thing that the Kinect can do is watch, listen, and transmit to the NSA even when you're not using the xbone because it's always on even when you think it's not. Don't forget that Micro$oft participates in the prizm project for the nsa. FACT google it. No thanks. I don't need a spy camera to allow me to skype.
Thanks guys for the feedback, really appreciate it. I do understand you're concerns with Skype's past cooperation with our US Government and with all the crazed media focus on the Edward Snowden NSA leaks, I feel alot of people are in a hyper paranoid state right now. The fact is every company from our cell phone providers all the way to our credit card companies all report our information to intelligence agencies around the country. This is a growing concern among many, unfortunately it is also the state of the world we live in today. When it comes to hobbies such as gaming I like to use these consoles as a time to break away just from the pressures and issues on the News, and enjoy myself just as the way these systems were manufactured for. Regardless thank you guys for the read I do hope you continue to check our site daily for updates and reviews.
That's the thing I am saying. People are saying I won't get a One because I don't want to be spied on.
Well too bad at this moment you already are due to your phone, tablet, computer, email, etc.
And then you use all your energy to get mad at Microsoft and not your own government lol NSA won.
Ok for the xbot fans on here who keep defending xbone and saying its not going to be spying on you I want you guys to do a little test and tell me how it works out for you. Since you like the idea of throwing away your privacy so much. At night leave your curtains and windows open completely, keep your front doors unlocked, when going to the bathroom leave the door open so everyone can walk by and see you using the bathroom.
PRIVACY is a BIG deal to people. Its why we do the things we do to keep our self's safe from danger. Its a natural thing homo sapiens do to cope with trying to feel safe in our own environment. Putting a listening and watching camera in your living room even IF the NSA chooses to or not to listen and watch you is up to them weather true or not true.
Snowden has said that with windows they were using it to spy on Americans. What did Microsoft just announce they were adding to Xbox 1 oh that's right WINDOWS 8. What was the NSA using since 2010 to spy on people? Skype! What is Microsoft running around and praising about the Xbox 1??? Common... guess it... Its Skype! There are only so many connections that can be made. Weather you choose to connect them or not is up to you but the facts are still the same.
So I'm playing my xbox ine in the future playing a future elder scrolls game or something walking through say a cave. The lights are off and the volumee is high and I'm very immersed in my gamaing experiance. I'm skulking something and my heart is racing for the up coming skirmish when bam! Incoming seamless skype call as I'm about to pounce i n my prey!!! I shit myself and the experiance is ruined....
Doesn't sound like a nifty feature for a games console at all