960°

User Made Xbox One In-Game Menu Is Simplistically Brilliant

GearNuke: "Xbox One has the same Metro UI interface as found on Windows 8. Enthusiastic designers tend to bring their own imaginations to life by modifying the designs with their own ideas and sometimes the results are mind blowing"

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gearnuke.com
Snookies123789d ago

Yeah, that's a great design. Nice and easy, simple and efficient.

Bigpappy3789d ago

I am convinced that M$ just focused on basics, and decided to patch later. They really weren't prepared to launch in 2013.
They do have a nice console with neat features though. They can do some unique stuff with multiple OS running at once. I want to see where they go with it the rest of the year.

Major_Glitch3789d ago

@mister Funny, the sales figures would say otherwise. Or perhaps you know something the rest of us don't?

testerg353789d ago

Major, I think he meant that the PS4 is also missing features and has some bugs.

theRell3789d ago

How do sales figures tell if a console was ready to be released or not? There's no logic with that. Ready or not, the people were going to get it.

DragonKnight3789d ago

@Mister_Dawg: Yeah they were. PS4 began design phase in 2007. The features that are missing from the PS4 were due to a change in focus, not an oversight.

Yes, that means they purposely left out mp3 playback and DLNA support. They wanted to focus on getting the gaming and sharing aspect of the console done before frivolous extras that may be nice to have but are unimportant in the grand scheme.

And before anyone says BC, keep your PS3s and you won't have a problem.

Droidbro3789d ago

@mister true but irrelevant to the article
@glitch sales have nothing to do with the states of either UI

AndrewLB3789d ago

Dragon- If what you say is true, it doesn't reflect well on Sony. 6 years should have been plenty of time to make sure the PS4 was capable of playing MP3's and CD's, DLNA (since sony invented it), HDMI video capture, perhaps some youtube support, and most of all.... They could have designed an interface that doesn't look like a first year compsci student designed it.

You neglected to mention what Sony was focusing on all these years if they weren't adding the above features, or polishing the interface. The vast majority of the hardware was done by AMD since it was a slight adaptation of their current APU and not some ground-up new creation.

Oh yeah... it was DRM! Remember how they had pretty much the exact same DRM crap that Microsoft initially had, but Microsoft caught all the flack from the media because they opened their mouths about it. Sony saw the sh*t storm, stayed quiet, and removed all the DRM in their day one update.

christocolus3789d ago

@bigpappy

I totally agree.Ms has major plans for their os but they tried to launch same time with sony and i feel its one of the reasons alot of features are missing out of the box and also the reason why twitch streaming isnt supported yet..im expecting big things down the line though.Ms is good at software and they will keep updating/improving the xbx one os functionality over time.

ITPython3788d ago (Edited 3788d ago )

Both consoles were essentially incomplete upon release, however unlike Microsoft, Sony had some focus on what they wanted done and what they were willing to leave out as a sacrifice. They left out non-gaming stuff so they could focus on the gaming aspects to get that completed. And will add the non-essential stuff later.

The XB1 launched with a jack-of-all-trades mentality including a ton of non-essential gaming things, but they are all incomplete.

Think of it this way, say you had 4 different pieces of homework you needed to get done for a college class. What Microsoft did was do a little bit of each one (each 50% finished), but didn't complete any of them. Sony however, finished the first two pieces of homework 100%, but they didn't work on the other 2 at all.

It's technically the same percentage completed, but Sony had the focus to finish two of them completely. IMO, Sony's approach was the right way to go about it. I would rather have less completed features (especially if it's focused on gaming) rather than more features which are all incomplete.

DragonKnight3788d ago

@AndrewLB: Your post is funny. Ever considered taking it on the road to comedy clubs? Might get a laugh.

Think for a second. The PS3 was the all inclusive console. It had every conceivable feature and came at a premium because of it. And what happened? Years of "the PS3 has no games" and "the PS3 is too expensive" and "I want games, I can play mp3s on my mp3 player"

Sony decided that everything game related had to come first, everything else was non-essential. You only have yourselves to blame. Sony is always in a lose lose situation. When they give you everything, it's too much. When they take stuff away to make it cheaper, you cry because it's gone. When they try to focus on the games, you cry for pointless extras.

The vast majority of the hardware was done by AMD? Are you nuts? All AMD did was design an APU. That's one chip. Sony did the rest. That took research and development time you know.

"Oh yeah... it was DRM! Remember how they had pretty much the exact same DRM crap that Microsoft initially had, but Microsoft caught all the flack from the media because they opened their mouths about it. Sony saw the sh*t storm, stayed quiet, and removed all the DRM in their day one update."

Remember how that was actually a B.S. lie made up by MS fanboys to try and lump Sony in with Microsoft's bad moves? Well I do. Sony said MONTHS before MS even hinted about DRM that the PS4 wouldn't have it. None, at all.

So, I'm sorry but, you're wrong. It doesn't look bad on Sony that they cared more about games and game development than you having yet another device among the millions that can play mp3s. It looks bad on people that care about these things so much that they'd cry about them instead of being happy that Sony didn't launch another PS3. You know, with difficult to use hardware, a price that most don't want to pay for, and a long road of them having to make their own machine look good when it comes to games because 3rd party developers don't want to put the work into it to do it themselves.

TheRedButterfly3788d ago

I beg to differ. Microsoft /was/ ready to launch in 2013, but everyone demanded they alter their polices, resulting in a complete OS/UI overhaul… And considering what they launched with only 6 months later? More than a job well done!

You try reworking an entire operating system in 6 months and have better results.

hobbit1533788d ago (Edited 3788d ago )

@DragonKnight Sony revealed in Feb. 2013 did not say anything about DRM. Microsoft revealed in May 2013 talked about DRM. Microsoft from reveal till E3 2013 tried to explain/damage control DRM stuff. E3 2013 Sony comes on stage, says they care about the gamer, no DRM etc. get high praise for it. But Instead of watching the magic show the Sony wizards were putting on, You need to go back and look behind the curtain. (Hint: Sony had/has the same DRM policy as Microsoft.) It is fact! Stop spreading FUD!!! After E3 2013 Sony president said Sony/1st party not doing DRM but, they would not tell 3rd party not to use DRM. Why do you think EA, Ubisoft etc. got rid of online passes. (This part, speculation on my part: because of Microsoft DRM AND Sony DRM in place, But after May 2013 Microsoft reveal Sony backed out).

ziggurcat3788d ago

@ andrewLB:

"it was DRM! Remember how they had pretty much the exact same DRM crap that Microsoft initially had, but Microsoft caught all the flack from the media because they opened their mouths about it. Sony saw the sh*t storm, stayed quiet, and removed all the DRM in their day one update."

no one remembers that because there was no actual DRM planned for the PS4.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 3788d ago
3-4-53789d ago

XB1 was rushed. We will get an interview or article that tells us so within the next 1-2 years.

We all know it.

Whatever Microsoft spent on XB1, could have been done for %50 by many other companies.

They probably wasted millions trying to design a new controller.

It would have taken me 5 minutes to be like " Keep the same controller, we spend the money elsewhere"

Boom done.

Drewidian3789d ago

I think a large part of its incomplete and missing features is largely due to the redesign of the system they had to make due to policy changes. They literally had about 4- 5 months to make it work. I personally think that under the circumstances they did a decent job. I just wonder how it compares to the original planned one and what it would have looked like with those months of extra development time. We'll never know, but I too will look forward to the retrospective reflection of this Year's changes.

oof463789d ago

The system wasn't rushed. Both Sony and Microsoft had mapped out what they wanted to do after the ps3 and 360.

What WAS rushed was Microsoft fixing things to comply with their backtracking on the "always online" component.

MajorLazer3789d ago

Your genius knows no bounds /s

AndrewLB3789d ago

oof46- You mean like Sony disabling the exact same intrusive DRM in their day one patch? Sony got away with it because when they saw Microsoft catch hell from gamers, they kept quiet about it and removed it on day one.

oof463788d ago

@AndrewLB: Plausible, but we'll never know unless someone from Sony says anything. But, as far as I know, you don't have to download the day one patch to play your ps4 offline. For the Xbox One, it's mandatory.

But, looking back, it was a genius move by Sony to take notes on everything gamers hated about the Xbox One when it was revealed and go the opposite direction.

DragonKnight3788d ago (Edited 3788d ago )

@AndrewLB: Your ignorance is amazing. If Sony disabled that same DRM with their day one patch, why was the patch not mandatory and you could play offline hmmm?

Oh, you don't have a PS4 so you didn't know that? Exactly. Stop spreading lies and FUD.

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

That article is from Feb. 21st 2013. That's right at the official reveal of the PS4, before the official reveal of the Xbox One, before the E3 where (if we were to believe your terrible logic) Sony would have had to make the last minute decision (a terrible business decision to make when you have stock holders to answer to, and actually I believe is illegal) to cancel DRM and begin creating that "day one DRM removing patch" you keep talking about.

What's your explanation for that? That Sony already did their corporate espionage and found out a year before that MS were going to have that DRM and then predicted the fan outcry a year later and decided to wait until they were proven correct so they could remove the DRM from the PS4?

So Sony is now...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

ziggurcat3788d ago

@ andrewLB:

sony's stance had always been they there would be no DRM.

it's always amazing when people like you keep blathering on with unsubstantiated nonsense like that, and you don't provide an ounce of proof.

so, please... enlighten us all with the copious amounts of evidence that you seem to have pointing to sony not only planning the same DRM as MS, but also removing it in a day one patch.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 3788d ago
oof463789d ago

I believe Mister_Dawg was referring to the OS of both systems. From what I've read online and heard on podcasts, both were coming in hot for launch. They'll get things fixed and added as time goes on, so no biggie.

Amplitude3788d ago

the lack of a music player is the only thing really awful about the ps4. MusicUnlimited is great but the ps4 app randomly stops playing, plays the same library songs on shuffle over and over, and is in maintenance half the time. Not to mention the app takes just long enough to load that picking a new artist mid-game is frustrating...

like its honestly not even excusable, its 2014 lol

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IRNMUNKEY3789d ago

Yep it's great and Major Nelson said he has already passed it on to development team. Hopefully we get something similar.

Cueil3789d ago

it looks like consolidation of apps... soemthing that I imagine will happen... and I think that the Friends List may be one of the first things we see go this route with party chat

DragonKnight3789d ago

Major Nelson is lying. That's just a typical PR response to say "hey, looks good" but it won't go further than that.

andibandit3788d ago

"That's just a typical PR"....

Just like your typical BS

DragonKnight3788d ago

@andibandit: Ouch, you sound extra butt hurt today. Did Major Nelson promise something to you too?

IRNMUNKEY3788d ago

Hmm why not? So does the same hold true for the Sony god Yosh? Or has he promised things that haven't happened.

They already said the next update is going to be based on customer feedback so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Tctczach3788d ago

@dragon I love how you automatically jump to he is lying and think it is PR. Maybe he did like it. Seems to be a little immature...

DragonKnight3788d ago

I never said that he didn't like it. I said he's lying, and I meant about passing it on. That's not going to happen and you know it.

TotalSynthesisX3789d ago

Very nice. Bravo! Microsoft, take notes.

XiSasukeUchiha3789d ago

Nice menu MS write this down now!!!!!

H0RSE3789d ago

The console just launched, and it hasn't even received any real updates yet. Compare the UI for the 360 at launch to what it is now...

oof463789d ago

I would like to respond to your comment, but it's buried beneath an offer for 15% off my car insurance.

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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
piroh4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

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

ChasterMies2d ago

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

OtterX3d 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.

RNTody3d ago

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

S2Killinit2d ago (Edited 2d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic2d 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.

Cacabunga3d ago (Edited 3d 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_3d ago

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

Cacabunga3d ago

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

FinalFantasyFanatic2d ago (Edited 2d 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.

Rainbowcookie1d 14h ago

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

bunt-custardly2d 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).

Cacabunga2d 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..

S2Killinit2d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic2d 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_3d 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

shinoff21833d ago (Edited 3d 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

ChasterMies3d 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 Fingers7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

F*** AI

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

Einhander19727d 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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darthv726d 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.

Einhander19726d ago (Edited 6d 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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CaptainFaisal7d 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.

MrDead7d 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_Batman7d ago (Edited 7d 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.

Number1TailzFan7d 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

helicoptergirl7d ago

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

BlackDoomAx6d 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
Psychonaut8511d ago

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