A collection of thoughts from Visceral and DICE employees.
Visceral's Battlefield: Hardline looks quite a lot like Battlefield 4, at a glance - no real surprise, given that it runs on the same, much-hyped Frostbite engine. Both Visceral and franchise creator DICE are, however, adamant that the game is a significant technical advance. Here's a round-up of thoughts on the subject, courtesy of PSLS, VentureBeat and PC Gamer.
And we're "going to sell millions more Xbox 360s before this generation is done".
If you want to start a punch-up at a geekmeet, consider introducing the topic of games that release on both the new and out-going generations of consoles. One side of the room should leap to its feet, bellowing about how Shooter #124 has been compromised by the existence of a "gimped" version for an older platform. Everybody else should then stand on tables as one, yelling that they can't afford the new consoles and don't want to be "abandoned" by manufacturers. Now might be a good time to step out onto the patio.
Movie streaming app not feeling entirely well today.
Why would you even want to use Netflix on your Xbox? That machine's for games, son, not silly "critically acclaimed" TV shows where you can't even set NPCs on fire to move the plot along. Still, if you absolutely must befoul the console with such things, know that Microsoft is looking into today's upsurge of sign-in problems.
We mean 'dark' all too literally.
The less you know, the more you want to know. This is human nature. As it turns out, the less you see in a game screenshot, the teresting it becomes. Capybara's mysterious roguelike, Below's been teasing us for a while with almost comically imperceptible images, and that trend continues today, with eight new shots revealed.
Special version of massively popular card game won't be heading anywhere else.
FIFA 15's Ultimate Team Legends mode is once again exclusive to Xbox, EA has revealed. If you want to field an Ultimate Team that includes both modern players and the all-time heroes of the sport, don't buy it for anything else.
Daniel Sturridge is England's top overall goal scorer.
You can't escape from the World Cup. It is everywhere, on your screen even when it's not on TV, and EA Sports are determined to show off the parallels between the virtual festival of the boot and the real one with this Very Interesting Infographic.
Kickstarter behemoth could be on its way to Xbox One.
Have you played the original Superhot prototype? If not, I really must insist you do so. Look, here it is, it takes, like, 15 minutes to finish. I'll just wait here.
Oh, and Deadfall Adventures.
This week's Xbox Live Deal of the Week is like an absolutely brilliant party with one uninvited guest. Bash those hands together if you please for... Red Dead Redemption, cowboy sim first class! Max Payne 3, in which all shooty-bangs occur at the speed of soup!
New cars, guns, Jobs and effortlessly cool tat for GTA 5 multiplayer.
GTA Online's "post-ironic, artisanal, organic, entirely independent, 100% re-claimed "I'm Not a Hipster" update is now available to download for GTA 5 players on Xbox 360. It packs additional cars, Jobs, weapons and a host of tweaks, all guaranteed to transform your character into an irritating louche trend-setter in retro shades.
Project was too ambitious for one game.
I wrote about eight games that didn't appear at E3 2014 yesterday. One of those I didn't mention was the first Deus Ex game for Xbox One, in development at Eidos Montreal on behalf of Square Enix, which forms part of a "an ongoing, expanding and connected game world built across a generation of core games".
"We're still optimising," cautions Sledgehammer.
This year's Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a dramatic technical leap over last year's Call of Duty: Ghosts, Sledgehammer's chief operating and development officer Michael Condrey has told OXM. That's possible in large part because Sledgehammer has been working on the game for three years, as per Activision's plan to "ensure even greater levels of innovation and creative excellence for each Call of Duty title".
Skin Pack 6 to release on Xbox 360 and Xbox One "soon".
Here's something we missed during the E3 madness - the publication of a whole three new screenshots for Minecraft on Xbox One, guest-starring the cast of Killer Instinct. What's the spider lady called again, Aoife? I want to be the spider lady.
That's according to Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, anyway.
Oh, Kevin Conroy. You may be the closest thing we have to the real-life Dark Knight, but you sure don't have his predilection as the strong, silent type. After leaking the existence of a new Batman game last summer, the veteran Batman/Bruce Wayne voice actor may now have leaked its new and improved release date as well.
Microsoft promises "tangible and impactful" benefits for holiday 2014 games.
Microsoft has now unlocked Xbox One GPU resources hitherto dedicated to Kinect for general use, allowing developers to make "tangible" changes to all aspects of a game, including its frame rate and resolution. But what does this mean for certain of Kinect's less intrusive, but worthwhile peripheral features, such as the ability to record gameplay clips using voice controls? Seemingly, these features will still run even if a game is making use of the extra power.
But there isn't one in development right now.
Between that Star Wars project and Battlefield: Hardline, is it any wonder that Visceral doesn't have any time for a new Dead Space game right now? No it isn't, but I can't help feeling a pang of sorrow nonetheless. Were I in a Dead Space game, this would be the part where I take my helmet off and stare moodily at a terminal, right before some Ghastly Entity descends on me from behind. Cue credits.
Title update 3 also released, includes multiple 360 improvements.
It's already available for Xbox One and PC, but Titanfall DLC pack Expedition, which adds the three new maps Swampland, Runoff and War Games, finally drops for the Xbox 360 today.
Ex-Sony God of War dev possibly involved.
Titanfall creators Respawn are recruiting for a new project, and it isn't simply Titanfall 2 - unless Titanfall 2 is a third-person action game - nor is it limiting itself to pumping out brand new maps.
Keep your morally-upright hands off our screaming housewife, Mr Policeman.
Dear enforcers: when will you learn to live and let live? Honestly, we run off with one measly hostage and you come over all Attack of the Light Brigade. If dogs and cats can get along - and I've seen copious Youtube evidence to this effect - shouldn't Counter-Terrorists and Terrorists be able to settle their differences like grown-ups, too? No? Fine. Have fun with all the barbed wire we left in the stairwell.
"Of course, [we have] our partnership with Xbox and all the exclusive content...".
The Xbox One has changed dramatically since reveal in spring last year, and continues to shapeshift as Microsoft adjusts or adds features via downloadable update. This is good news for players, by and large - many of the tweaks and additions, such as a real-name option for Gamertags, have been made in response to fan feedback. But what of developers, who must presumably account for the platform's evolution in how they code and design their games? As regards Ubisoft Massive and Tom Clancy's The Division, at least, there appears to be nothing to worry about.
Xbox One and PS4 versions "should be locked in together".
Your eyes are safe. The tyranny of 900p, otherwise known as "The Pauper's Perspective", is slowly being broken, and Visceral is leading the vanguard. In an interview with GamingBolt, creative director on Battlefield: Hardline, Ian Milham, revealed that his team is aiming for total parity between the Xbox One and PS4 versions of his new game.
