"Sure, it would have had an impact at launch, but I think it's coming at a perfect time for us," argues Spencer.
The Xbox One launch line-up is pretty sturdy, I think we can all agree, with Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5 and Killer Instinct seemingly poised to claim top honours. But where's the exclusive first-person shooter? And on that note, did Microsoft ever think about pressuring EA and Respawn to ship the much-anticipated Titanfall this November?
Major Nelson confirms interest, but says it won't be available it launch.
Generous Xbox One owners may one day soon be able to give the gift of games without the need for wrapping paper and sticky tape, Microsoft has hinted over on Reddit.
Will Microsoft bring the deal to UK and US audiences, too?.
Another free Xbox Game with Gold will soon be upon us - is already upon us, when it comes to the good people of Korea. Microsoft appears to have lopped the price tag off Halo Wars for Xbox Gold users in the region. Alas, it still costs #163;14.99 in the UK.
Studio's founders also hint that Season Two of The Walking Dead isn't too far away from release.
With Season Two of The Walking Dead finally announced a few days ago, the founders of Telltale Games - Dan Connors and Kevin Bruner - hosted a Reddit AMA session to answer fan questions about the new series and the work the team at Telltale.
"We are playing with them and seeing what these new systems have to provide," says DeeJ.
Bungie isn't saying no to the idea of non-traditional controls for Destiny, its star-faring Xbox One and PS4 debut. Pressed for details at a community event this weekend, community manager David "DeeJ" Dague revealed that the developer is experimenting with Kinect and other, more esoteric "next gen" features, but has nothing to announce for the moment.
Single player arena mode demonstrated with Microsoft Studios commentary.
Mornings are for being productive and a good team-player, or they're for watching a solid hour of Ryse: Son of Rome - I forget which. Are you unable to call a day complete unless you've seen a guy whisk somebody's arms and legs off with an 1800 year old sword? The video below is for you, then.
Machinima presents four-part series charting the path of protagonist Marius Titus.
Given Crytek's mission statement of bringing the worlds of cinema and gaming closer together with the next generation of consoles, this is hardly surprising news. Its Xbox One launch title Ryse: Son of Rome is to receive a four-part live action web series, the first chapter of which debuts on Machinima's YouTube channel next week.
"We optimized each console to hit 60 FPS and the game looks great on both," says Rubin.
This should go down well. Call of Duty: Ghosts will offer 720p visuals on Xbox One, Infinity Ward's Mark Rubin has confirmed, upscaled to 1080p. This is necessary, it seems, to ensure that the new shooter runs at the franchise's much-sung 60 frames per second.
Things that go "ARRRRGH" in the night.
Halloween is almost upon us... and so is Dead Rising 3. Capcom and Microsoft have released a seasonally themed trailer that should give you a pretty solid sense of (a) the Xbox One launch game's capacity for both terror and idiocy, and (b) the things a man can make out of a pair of gloves and some gunpowder.
35 Perks, seven categories, plenty of flexibility.
In real life, a soldier who enters the fray armed with nought but a knife and his trousers is dead meat, pretty much. In Call of Duty: Ghosts, he could be a superhuman force of destruction, invisible to radar, proof against bullet and boom-boom alike. Taking its cue from Black Ops 2, Infinity Ward has implemented a points-based Perk system in which you can discard all weapons and grenades for the sake of additional abilities.
A few tips from DICE for a smoother experience.
Are you among the Chosen Few (i.e. North Americans, Germans, the Danish and residents of the Philippines) who are now playing Battlefield 4 on Xbox 360? Or are you languishing in the grip of a bug of some kind? Fear not, EA and DICE are labouring to fix a number of the game's (inevitable) launch week issues.
Keep that hair short...
I'm not crying, it's just raining on my face. The new teaser trailer for The Walking Dead Season Two just caused all the emotions experienced during Season One to come crashing back, and now I'm feeling rather fragile as a result. No Clem, things can never go back to the way they were before you and Lee broke all our hearts forever.
Expect both sequels and "revolutionary new intellectual property", promise execs.
Grand Theft Auto 5 publisher Take-Two Interactive has over 10 next generation titles in development, according to company executives, including the mysterious Evolve from Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock, and NBA 2K14. Some of these titles will be announced in "the next several months", and there are "multiple releases planned for fiscal 2015", which falls across calendar 2014-2015.
But will it be a DLC add-on to FIFA 14 or a full retail release?.
EA Sports would appear to be working on a new edition of that there game where overpaid men kick a little ball around a big field. The game, entitled FIFA World Cup, was name-dropped by CEO Andrew Wilson during an EA investor call last night (transcript via SeekingAlpha) when the men with the money began discussing the company's next gen line-up.
Aw, just look at their cute little death throes.
Microsoft has released the first Xbox 360 and Xbox One screenshots of Halo: Spartan Assault - the top-down shooter spin-off that shot up phones and tablets earlier in the year, and will appear on consoles in December. Unsurprisingly, they look quite a lot like the touchscreen version. Check them out below.
UPDATE: PS4 and Xbox One preorders will be refunded.
Electronics retailer Blockbuster will go into administration for the second time, according to a BBC report, and Xbox One and PS4 pre-orders will be affected. The chain's 264 stores will continue to trade while a new buyer is sought, according to present owner Gordon Brothers Europe, but there will be 32 redundancies at its UK headquarters.
"Both EA and MS have been great with supporting us to realize the vision of the game," says Respawn.
You'll never be able to play Titanfall on PS4, according to EA, but the odds of a sequel veering multiplatform are high. Speaking to investors last night, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen put paid to rumours that the much-anticipated game would be a timed console exclusive. "It's exclusive only, for the life of the title, on Xbox One, and Xbox 360, and PC," he said. That's that, then.
Cram undead flesh into your Xbox 360's gaping maw.
Before we discuss the latest Deals of the Week, a few talking points. One, why don't zombies eat each other? I can understand them preferring living humans, with their juicy unrotted brains, but fellow undead surely make an acceptable (and easier to catch) substitute? Two, what happens when a human bites a zombie? Does the zombie turn into a human? And three, why hasn't anybody announced The Darkness 3 yet?
"We're sorry some of you haven't received your calls yet. They're happening as we type.".
Electronics retailer Blockbuster will go into administration for the second time, according to a BBC report, and Xbox One and PS4 pre-orders will be affected. The chain's 264 stores will continue to trade while a new buyer is sought, according to present owner Gordon Brothers Europe, but there will be 32 redundancies at its UK headquarters.
Thirst for controversy is "clouding logic and reason", protests Penello.
Xbox One has had a bit of a rough weekend, thanks to an outbreak of claims about buggy development kits, via Twitter and NeoGAF. Posting on Reddit, Microsoft's director of product planning Albert Penello and a "Confirmed Xbox One Dev" have hit back at what the former terms "the frenzy for news, drama and behind-the-scenes dealings".
