160°

Microsoft's Spencer: No 'Mandate' For First-Parties To Use Kinect

While Microsoft has confirmed over 15 first- and third-party launch window titles for the Kinect, the company tells Gamasutra there is no internal requirement for first-party developers like Fable studio Lionhead or Forza house Turn 10 to develop games that implement Kinect motion control.

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gamasutra.com
Bigpappy4968d ago

It gives them freedom to come up with ideas they want to work on. Intead of just putting stuff out there.

ComboBreaker4968d ago

That means that they will not really be supporting it. They just want to sell you the hardware, then don't come out with any software.

nygamer284968d ago

there saying the develepers are not being forced on to make their games,MS wants them to work on contriller based games and kinect titles,which develpers seem really interested in,but i really dont want to see shovleware games

feelintheflow4968d ago

if they force developers to use it, they are hurting their creativity and forgetting their core audience. When they don't force them they aren't really supporting it. So I am confused. Not saying that you, ComboBreaker said anything about hurting creativity, that is just the N4G audience in general. One of those damned if you do, damned if you don't things.

T9X694968d ago

How is that bad? MS is saying they are not forcing 1st parties to use the hardware and can choose to do so if they want. That's good, that means less development time for 1st parties because they don't have to spend time coming up with ideas and making sure it works with their game, which could cause delays. If MS forced Epic to use Kinect with Gears, we probably wouldn't see Gears 3 until 2012.

MuleKick4968d ago

Microsoft has 1st party studios?

karl4968d ago

actually,

you are damned if you are Microsoft

badz1494968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

someone beat me to it but M$ 1st parties? other than Rare, Lionhead = Fable, Turn10 = Forza, and then what else? I can't see fable or forza having Kinect as their main "controller" at all! M$ is banking on Rare and 3rd parties for Kinect and it's clear as sunny days!

EDIT: @T9X69 Epic Games was never M$'s to begin with! M$ can't force them to do nothing! Gears is owned by Epic, not M$! and...

"If MS forced Epic to use Kinect with Gears, we probably wouldn't see Gears 3 until 2012." - probably never will at all! Gears Kinect? u out of your mind??

ComboBreaker4967d ago

there will not be much support for it.

It'll just be another add-on like EyeToy all over agin.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4967d ago
gaden_malak4968d ago

I agree it's a good thing. My main concern with Move/Kinect is it will be the 'future' and that will suck.

Bigpappy4968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

Just part of the future-- which is good because it gives options.

gaden_malak4968d ago

It does give options but hopefully it is still a secondary option to all the Halo\Metal Gears\Uncharted\Gears of Wars etc. of the future.

gypsygib4968d ago

@T9X69

Epic is a third party, re: Bullet Storm.

Elven64968d ago

RE: Unreal Tournament

ಠ_ಠ

ZombieAssassin4968d ago

lol why is gypsygib getting disagrees EPIC is a third party developer

It is good though that MS isn't forcing first parties to use it as I think some of them would have trouble finding practical uses in games like Halo aside from maybe reloading and throwing a grenade, still though I hope all motion controls do good just to get the casuals away from NiN.

tinybigman4968d ago

do they even have first party studios? serious question.

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noxeven4968d ago

Good gives them time and hopefully that way we wont get a ton of shovel ware or at least a ton all in one go

SmokexFFx4968d ago

"His response counters rumors that Microsoft is shying away from controller-based games to put all of its resources towards Kinect-based games."

Who ever said Microsoft is abandoning the hardcore?

theafroman4968d ago

its doest matter thought they best 1st party is lionhead and rare is dead the rest are so so. so far they probaly will use kinect

pinkyxyz4968d ago

they only have 3 studios, so its not like some sort of deal breaker or anything

van-essa4968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

343 Industries
Lionhead Studios
Turn 10 Studios
Rare Ltd
Wingnut Interactive
Good Science Studio
BigPark
Firebird Studios
Xbox Live Productions
MGS Mobile Gaming

Troll_Police4968d ago

Tell me, what games have 343 studios, Wingnut Interactive, and Firebird Sutdios made?

Iramo4968d ago

are you high or just blind.
they own lionhead studios,Rareware,MGS mobile gaming,turn 10 studios,343 industries.good science studios,Big park studios,wing nut interactive,Firebird studios,and xbox live productions.plus their about 5 inches away from buying studios like remedy entertainment, mistwalker and epic games.Plus they could buy out ska studios any day now heck they could do that right this second

radphil4968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

I don't think they'll be buying out Mistwalker any time soon. They worked on, and are still working on projects on the Wii and DS. Japanese companies have a distinct way of not merging with US companies.

sack_boi4968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

If even Apple could buy Sony, I'm guessing Micro could as well since they're richer. 50% of Sony's stock (they don't even need that much) is worth less than $36bil and they offered 45bil for Yahoo.

I think no company is interested in Sony right now because they keep bleeding money out of every orifice.

Both comapany have different strategies. If Microsoft wanted to buy a Studio right now (anyone) they could.

Sheikh Yerbouti4968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

Microsoft could buy up a whole hell of a lot of studios, true. The question then is "Why haven't they. That's what is funny. Despite all the studios you mention, they still rely on Epic and Activision to remain relevant.

Why? Because ironically lramo is only mentioning relevant studios! Really you might as well as throw in the Windows Vista team.

Good Science is making a Kinect title...Kinect Adventures...yawners.
Firebird Studios is the 360 Graphic and Audio Department...the A/V club
MGS is for the Windows 7 phone...this is not the Droid you're looking for
Wingnut was the partnership for the Halo franchise...CANCELLED
And the fine folks who give us LIVE.

That leaves 3. I HOPE Microsoft buys up some studios.

EDIT:

sack_boi

Apple is the biggest company in the United States in market value. More than even mighty Microsoft.

sack_boi4968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

They did buy Bungie and Rare and look what they've become: Rare is just an empty shell and Bungie left them.
I'm guessing this is why they just prefer having contracts with 3rd paty studios nowadays

Rare and Lionhead have expanded though (each of them bought a new studio) and 343i keeps expanding but we still don't really know what they're up to.

Elven64968d ago

Sheikh Yerbouti:

Typical...

First N4G claimed Microsoft had no first party studios, they get some, now they claim they don't make titles that appeal to them so technically they don't exist/count...

van-essa4968d ago

M$ is still $4bil more valuable than Apple and they still have a bigger "war chest" than Apple.

Sheikh Yerbouti4968d ago (Edited 4968d ago )

van-nessa

you are about four months too late...and about 60 billion off. The link is real-time btw.

http://247wallst.com/page/r...

Sorry about below

Iramo4967d ago

those studios do count dude

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 4967d ago
Sheikh Yerbouti4968d ago

I don't consider the people who give me PSN a GAME studio. I do understand programming is as much for the hardware as it is the software, but I'm talking software. More specifically software for the 360. Not yesterday's 360 games - some studios are inactive or were short-term to begin with. And not some studio that's around to fill in as help or work on the GUI.

For the PS3, we have Zipper (MAG) Santa MONICA! (GOW) Polyphony (wait for it...GT5) Liverpool (wipEout) Guerilla (KZ3) evolution (Motorstorm) Media Molecule (Little Big Planet) and Naughty Dog ('nuff said).

There are studios out there today that would probably love to be under the MGS umbrella. I HOPE they buy some. Don't be so much of a fanboy that you don't either.

pinkyxyz4968d ago

whats up with all of this rage?? when i said 3 i meant the big 3, you know THE MAIN STUDIOS WHO GET THE BIGGEST BUDGET!! the one's that EVERYONE always brings up. do u really care about the next Firebird Studios project??? really? dumb fanboys

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150°

10 Biggest Xbox Mistakes of All Time (So Far)

The Xbox brand has done a lot of good over the years, but their various blunders are pretty wild to look back on in their magnitude.

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culturedvultures.com
piroh8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

Ironically number 9 can save them at this point (releasing games on multiple platforms)

ChasterMies7d ago

By “save them” you mean make more profit for Microsoft. Xbox will still be a dying hardware platform.

OtterX7d ago

You could add the naming scheme for the consoles, it just confuses customers. I know they wanted to avoid traditional numbering bc it would always be lower than their competitor, but this whole 360 then One then Series thing is confusing af. Imagine a Soccer Mom trying to figure this stuff out. I still mistakenly call the Series X the One from time to time on accident.

RNTody7d ago

Don't forget about the Xbox One, Xbox One X and Xbox Series X! Good luck to Soccer moms around the world.

S2Killinit7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

They did that on purpose to confuse and direct attention away from the generational numbering.

MS doesn’t like reminding people that they joined the industry after others had already been involved in gaming.

For instance, they called the xbox “360” to combat PlayStation “3” because they wanted to seem like “more” than “3”, so instead of xbox 2, they opted for xbox 360. Also this had the additional benefit of selling consoles to uninformed parents who might purchase a “360” instead of a “3” by mistake, or because they thought 360 was more than 3. Kind of a disingenuous move.

They have been continuing with their confusing naming patterns for pretty much the same reasons. Frankly, it fits with who and what they are as a brand.

FinalFantasyFanatic7d ago

I can understand their reasoning, but whoever came up with that naming scheme should be fired, bad naming schemes have killed consoles (I'm pretty sure it was the major reason for the downfall of the WiiU). They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo and Sega have had for their consoles, far less confusing for the consumer.

rob-GP3d ago

@FinalFantasyFanatic "They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo..."

lol, you mean:

NES, SNES
GameBoy, GameBoy Advanced, GameBoy Colour, GameBoy SP
DS, DSi, DSXL
3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL
Wii, Wii U
Switch, Switch OLED

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Cacabunga7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

Phil Spencer is the worst that has happened to Xbox.
They built a respectable brand up to Xbox one. Then this guy took over and things became a joke

Reaper22_7d ago

He still has his job. Something you can't say about Jim Ryan.

Cacabunga7d ago

Both bad execs. One is on job and one thankfully retired.

FinalFantasyFanatic7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

I didn't like either person, both people damaged their respective brands and produced worse outcomes, but Phil did save the Xbox brand from being retired by Microsoft. Although in hindsight, he should have just let it die, rather than languish in limbo like it is now.

Rainbowcookie6d ago

Yeah but the one that was "bad" didn't even affect sales.

bunt-custardly7d ago

Phil Spencer was also on the team back when 360 was around, alongside Shane Kim, Peter Moore etc. I think the damage that did the most harm was the Don Mattrick "Always Online" console (ahead of its time basically). They handed Sony and Nintendo a free-pass when that was revealed. It went downhill from there. Then the corporate machine went into full swing to try and recover. They have to a degree as a games company for the masses, and less so for the core gamer. Outside USA, the Xbox brand does not sell as well as Japanese based consoles (citation needed).

Cacabunga7d ago

Want a decision maker. The always online and TV plans was a disaster yes, but they caught up by announcing 1st party games that gamers actually kept the hype going.. until this moron took over and introduced the PC day one release.. e all know where that ended..

S2Killinit7d ago

I dont think they were ever a respectable brand, not since the beginning, when their goal was never to be involved and share in the gaming space. I think the OG xbox was an exception because MS as a brand was still getting its foot in and so the people behind that were people of the gaming industry.

FinalFantasyFanatic7d ago

The 360 was the brand in its prime though, everything went downhill towards the end of that generation. Its staple games like Halo, Forza and Gears are what kept the console relevant and afloat for so long.

MaximusPrime_7d ago

Really good video.

I remember the days with RRoD was big news on here, N4G.

Microsoft had it turbulence number of years.

Looking at the success of Sea of Thieves despite being 6 years old, time to release Halo, Forza horizon 4 & 5 on PS5. It'll help their revenue

shinoff21837d ago (Edited 7d ago )

2 of the 4 games they did already sold really well. So it's definitely going down. Idk about halo or forza but I feel those studios they've bought in the last 5 years, their coming

ChasterMies7d ago

I found this video painful to watch. Can someone list them out?

Top 10 for me from are:
1. 2013 reveal presentation
2. Bundling Kinect 2 with Xbox One
3. RRoD or why rushing to market with hardware is always a bad idea.
4. Buying studios only to close them.
5. Ads on the Home Screen
6. Letting Halo die.
7. Letting Geard of War die.
8. Every console name
9. Charging for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 when Sony let PS3 players play online for free.
10. Cancelling release of OG Xbox games after the Xbox 360 launched.

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150°

Microsoft to Add Copilot AI to Video Games

Microsoft recently revealed its plans to incorporate Copilot directly into video games, with Minecraft being the first showcased example.

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xpgained.co.uk
Fishy Fingers12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

F*** AI

"Hey Copilot, what's a good meme to prove I dislike AI".... https://giphy.com/clips/sou...

Einhander197212d ago

Two trillion dollar company that just can't wait to put as many people possible out of work as fast as possible.

It feels like every single thing they do is making gaming worse and destroying the industry.

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darthv7211d ago

....you know it takes people to program the AI.... right? It isnt like it is sentient. We haven't reach skynet level of situation or anywhere close to the matrix just yet.

That's next Thursday.

Einhander197211d ago (Edited 11d ago )

It takes a people to program the AI then that AI is used for who knows how many games eliminating countless jobs which only grows as AI is used for more and more game creation functions.

What you're saying is so ridiculously short sighted and truly larking any kind of understanding and foresight.

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CaptainFaisal11d ago

Why all the hate? Im actually excited about this! Always wanted this kind of immersion, and an AI companion with me all the time helping me out knowing the status of my skills/inventory/progress and giving me tips on the best approach or how to craft something specific is game changing for the industry.

Hate all you want about AI, but this is just the start and I can see the potential already. You wont be complaining in the next 5-10 years about this, but rather complain if a game hasn’t implemented it.

MrDead11d ago

Yes we can't wait for the work of others to be used without the need to pay them so that MS can profit even more from the people they fire.

I_am_Batman11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

There is no chance I'd ever use something like this, especially if it's not part of the core game design, but a layer on top of it. It's way too much handholding. Many games already feel like busy work, because they don't let the player figure things out on their own. Having a real-time interactive guide defeats the purpose of playing the game in the first place in my opinion.

If this were to become the standard like you predict, we'll see more and more video games get away with bad design, because people will just be used to ask for help from the AI companion anyway.

Number1TailzFan11d ago

Well Nintendo don't need this with some of their games these days, with invincible characters, items, easy bosses etc.. they do the hand holding built in

helicoptergirl11d ago

Takes "hand holding" in games to a whole new level.

BlackDoomAx10d ago

Because human nature xD Almost every new technology had these kind of comments.

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70°

Activision team is opening a new game studio in Poland 'Elsewhere Entertainment' to build new AAA IP

Microsoft's Activision subsidiary announced today that it is opening a new game development studio to take advantage of the huge talent pool growing in Poland. It'll be the second Activision studio based in the region, joining Infinity Ward Krakow, although this studio is, in fact, not working on Call of Duty.

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windowscentral.com
Psychonaut8515d ago

They’re not working on Call of Duty? Give it time.