Topic: The Unoffical Xbox One Thread

-Rare is going to revive an old franchise. (Killer Instinct)

Sony_70

-Rare is going to revive an old franchise. (Killer Instinct)

If that is true than it makes getting an Xbox One very tempting.

Umbra Software announced today that its Umbra 3 Visibility Solution middleware is available for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft.

The Umbra 3 middleware powers up real-time graphics performance and productivity with automatic occluder generation and software based occlusion culling. The software has been fully optimized to utilize the power of Xbox One.

Umbra 3 improves development workflow by enabling both rapid content iteration and the creation of more sophisticated levels and more detailed graphics content. The software automatically generates occluders from "polygon soup" empowering artists to spend their time on what really matters – creating awesome looking game worlds.

"We are very excited to be working on the powerful new Xbox One platform and being able to help our many clients realizing their vision for next-generation video games utilizing Umbra 3" said Otso Mäkinen, the Chief Technology Officer of Umbra Software.

Umbra 3 is being used in upcoming games such as Bungie's Destiny and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from CD Projekt RED and it has been licensed for future projects from such developers as Eidos Montreal and Remedy.

A report last week that the next Xbox console won't allow independent game developers to self-publish on the Xbox One gave people yet another next-gen Xbox thing to stew about. But Microsoft's Xbox chief says that Xbox One will have some sort of indie-friendly program.

We're not necessarily in contradiction territory here but rather in—stop me if you've read this one before—the land of more-details-to-come.

"We're going to have an independent creator program," Don Mattrick, Microsoft's head of interactive entertainment (read: he's in charge of the Xbox), told me last week. "We're going to sponsor it. We're going to give people tools. We're going to give more information."

Mattrick mentioned this during my brief interview with him regarding the future of game consoles. We didn't get into self-publishing and he declined to share specifics just yet. He did, at least, praise the success of Minecraft and other indie-developed games and cited his own career trajectory. He may be an executive now, but back in the day, he was a game designer, starting young with racing games such as Test Drive.

"That is something we think—I think—is important," he said of an indie program. "That's how I started in the industry. There's no way we're going to build a box that doesn't support that."

1. Yes, it's an increase. I'm not disputing that in any way. It's a ridiculously tiny increase, but it is an increase.
2. I brought it up because you mentioned the Wii U and this is a discussion forum, so I wanted to discuss it. I also very clearly said that the double standard was not something you'd said.

I'm not wildly speculating. I'm speculating with a good deal of logic. Microsoft will end up paying publishers a percentage of preowned sales. That makes it a LOT easier for Microsoft to bargain for console exclusives from third parties. It also means that they can pay developers of first-party-published titles more, or pay them a higher recurring amount due to the preowned sales, making it easier for them to sign new studios. It ALSO means that they can offer higher percentages on both first sales and preowned sales in exchange for, say, console exclusivity on a multi-platform release for a month. FIFA 15 as a platform exclusive for two weeks - as an example - would sell an awful lot of consoles - like it or not.

Everyone I know - in real life, I'm not talking about folks on Twitter and Facebook - who had the intention of buying Microsoft's next machine, still has the intention of buying Microsoft's next machine. Two or three said "they didn't show many games, did they?" and as soon as I said "It was a hardware reveal, the E3 presser in June will be where they show tons of games" - they were fine with it. There are also a few folks who had no intention of buying the machine - they're more "casual" players - but as soon as they saw the cool stuff it did with TV, they were asking about the price and release date.
The three people in a row who preordered the machine at my local branch of Game while I was in there for 10 minutes on Saturday picking up Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - and who paid £20 each in order to do it (meaning they're very likely to follow through with the full purchase) - don't seem to have a problem with it. The "internet amplifier" - which is a few thousand people making a LOT of noise, alongside a few hundred thousand PlayStation stalwarts making even MORE noise, think that it's in trouble.
In fact, after speaking to a few of my friends in retail, they'd disagree wholeheartedly given the brisk rate of preorder - which apparently means nothing but yet somehow convert into lots of sales - but we'll see what happens on launch day.
I'm not covering my eyes and hoping for the best, despite my position. Microsoft have screwed up in lots of ways with the reveal, and their messaging is AWFUL. Just AWFUL. However, I don't think the console is in as much trouble as everybody thinks it is (or wants it to be, depending on your level of fanboyism.)

That Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I'll be hosting a live one-hour show from the show each day. During each hour we'll take a closer look at some of the announcements, interviews with developers, gameplay and more.

Also, I don't know a single person excited about getting an Xbox One. Who we know does not reflect the industry as a whole.

Most likely going to get a PS4 but as far as conferences go.

Microsoft>>>Sony

From a content perspective Microsoft showed more exclusive content for the One than Sony did for the PS4. Exclusive wise

Microsoft
Killer Instinct
D4
Quantum Break
Titanfall
Below
Ryse
Sunset Overdrive
Dead Rising 3
Halo
Project Spark
Crimson Dragon
Forza 5
Minecradt
Black Tusk's game

Sony
Knack
Drive Club
Killzone Shadowfall
infamous second son
Final Fantasy 14
Elder scrolls online

But Sony wins on price so there's that.

This gen is going to play out like last one on the games front. MS takes the early lead, Sony smashes 'em in the second half. I don't think MS will drop the 360 as fast as it did the original Xbox but the homerun hitters will be launching on Xbox One meanwhile Sony will be trying to provide good support for two consoles to the detriment a little bit of PS4. By the second or third year of the gen when all Sony's teams have moved onto PS4 I expect Sony will start to pull ahead.

This gen is going to play out like last one on the games front. MS takes the early lead, Sony smashes 'em in the second half. I don't think MS will drop the 360 as fast as it did the original Xbox but the homerun hitters will be launching on Xbox One meanwhile Sony will be trying to provide good support for two consoles to the detriment a little bit of PS4. By the second or third year of the gen when all Sony's teams have moved onto PS4 I expect Sony will start to pull ahead.