Posts Tagged ‘microsoft’
VGP Ep. 4: The DSi of Podcasting
This week Fred and Trees chat about hitting goals, New Hammy, Ori and the Blind Forest, Ridge Racer Type 4, listener mail, and play a good old game of MFK.
Opening Song: Facehammer – Ozzed
Find this track and many other fantastic chiptunes at ozzed.net.
Closing Song: Eat ‘Em Up! – Ridge Racer Type 4
E3 2019: Xbox Impressions
Click on image to be taken to the briefing stream.
Fred is joined by Andy (42 Level One), Chip (The B-Team), Chase (Scarcasm Live), and special guest Normii to discuss Microsoft’s massive plans for the next year.
Want to just read all the announcements as bullet points? Click here.
Co-Operative Episode 3: Gears of War Ultimate Edition
Fred and Gren get together to discuss the co-op experience of Gears of War, which quickly becomes a discussion about the changes of the 360 original and the extra content of this edition from a 2 player standpoint.
Podcast: Celebrating 15 Years of Xbox
It’s about two weeks late, but the original Xbox is 15 years old now and we figured it was high time to celebrate. As the first attempted console/PC hybrid, there’s a lot to say and talk about surrounding the history, development, and release of the original Xbox. Fred and Jam go through all of it, including the launch titles and gaming enthusiast opinions, before finishing strong with a slew of notable games for Microsoft’s first console.
E3 2016: All Games Xbox Press Conference Impressions
Microsoft comes out swinging with big plans for the Xbox both this year and next. The All Games crew breaks down all of the games, known and previously unknown, as well as hardware and back end announcements from the press conference. #YearOfTheFist
Collector’s Cache: Unboxing of 20 Mystery Xbox Games
Fred found a pack of 20 “mystery” original Xbox games at a local used game store. He’s expecting it to all be terrible, but who knows what may be inside. Discover the ups and downs of random boxes as he opens it and reveals each game one by one.
Cross Talk: Dissecting Microsoft’s Vision of the Future
This is an article that is going live simultaneously on Gaming History 101 and The B-Team Podcast as the topic is applicable to both. This was based on a conversation started on B-Team Episode 354 and continued without me on Episode 355 with Chip and Ryan. It regards the news from Microsoft’s Spring Event regarding Xbox One and Windows 10 gaming (this link provides a VR 360 video of the whole 30 minute announcement and was the only video I could still find of the actual Phil Spencer speech). Once the event ended, everyone wanted to chime in on what this means for Xbox One (the “updated hardware” announcement), Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps instead of Win32 (.exe) programs, and just what the heck Microsoft is planning. This also led to a series of articles rightfully criticizing many of Microsoft’s claims about PC gaming. Professional acquaintance Jason Evangelho did a great piece dissecting it on Forbes, Tim Sweeny (co-founder of Epic Games) flat out wants us to fight UWP, and Peter “Durante” Thoman (the modder responsible for the DSfix on Dark Souls PC and overall fixer of broken PC ports) explains how UWP renders many of the tweaks/mods PC gamers go to the platform for completely impossible. With all the discussion, I figured I would break it down for you and explain why I think that the future can exist with consoles, UWP, and PC games, but they all need each other.
What Was at the Microsoft Spring Showcase
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox at Microsoft, took to the stage to make the content-filled half hour presentation. For the record, I like Spencer and feel he is not only good for Microsoft but also the industry as a whole. That doesn’t mean he can avoid the corporate overlords above him or that he can spill the beans to the public outright, but that he probably knows what the masses are going to say. He also has legacy on his side. In the last 2-3 years we’ve seen the public scorn digital content, attack Microsoft’s disc-less future to the point that it reversed its decision only to read countless opinion pieces asking for it back, and even recently Microsoft announced it would add cross-platform play with PC/PS4 as well as look into “loaning” digital games. This isn’t new, kids, it’s something Microsoft led this console generation with, but the public wasn’t ready…until now?
The focal point of the presentation were the goals of Windows 10 as a PC gaming platform, the bright future for Xbox One hardware/software, and how the two may work in tandem. I already know that last sentence is enough to get some people heated and opinionated so just let that soak for a minute. Of the efforts we heard about plenty of games that were previous Xbox One exclusives hitting Windows 10, Windows 10 getting some proprietary ports as the process of Xbox One/Windows 10 games is streamlined, and a potential upgraded hardware future for Xbox One. If this doesn’t fill you with more questions then this is for you because it not only dissects what this could mean (Microsoft has been its typical vague self since the Showcase) but what I think about it.
Podcast: Emergence Day
What started off as a spin-off for the Unreal series evolved into a technical showpiece for the Unreal 3 Engine and eventually became the powerhouse series Gears of War. A staple in the Microsoft family, Gears of War broke through the fears of HD console gaming and was responsible for some of the most influential multiplayer mechanics from co-op to horde mode.
Extra Credit: Top 10 Xbox Games
Microsoft’s big clunky box from 2001 may have been laughable at first, but whether you were aware or not it hit like a limited interest storm that holiday. From a certain shooter to the catalog of Sega and a myriad of PC ports, there’s no denying the Xbox started to bridge the gap between console and computer. Fred and Jam duke it out once again with 40 more of their favorite titles to see which 10 remain in this month’s Top 10 Xbox games.
Gaming History 101 