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Phil Spencer Takes Over as Xbox Boss
How busy was I last week? I completely missed that Microsoft announced that long-time Microsoft Studios boss, Phil Spencer, got a promotion. The company announced that he would be taking on a newly created role as the head of the Xbox and gaming division of Microsoft.
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Is EA Not Issuing Review Copies of Titanfall on PC?
I’m used to not getting review copies of games from publishers. In fact, I would be exaggerating if I said that my success rate is better than 1 out of 10. So I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get a copy of Titanfall to review.
However, I quickly noticed something. Not only was I not doing a Titanfall review but nobody is doing a Titanfall review. At least, not on PC. A quick look online shows that either nearly no one is getting PC review copies or Microsoft swung a deal so the PC embargo is later than the Xbox One embargo.
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Microsoft to Unveil DirectX 12 at GDC
Despite some beliefs to the contrary, Microsoft’s next gaming API is coming soon to your PC and mobile devices. Microsoft will officially unveil DirectX 12 at the Game Developers Conference in two weeks time.
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The New Xbox Boss is a Man Who Wanted to Sell It Off
When Microsoft was looking for a new CEO late last year and earlier this year, the name Stephen Elop, former CEO of Nokia, was one of the name that kept popping up as a favourite. Bloomberg reported that part of Elop’s pitch for the job was that he would sell off parts of the business that weren’t part of the company’s core strategy, including the Xbox division.
So guess who was just named the new boss of Microsoft’s Devices Division, the division that Xbox falls under in the Microsoft corporate umbrella? On Wednesday, Stephen Elop was announced as the Devices and Studios Division’s third boss in seven months, replacing current head Julie Larson-Green.
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Xbox One Gets Its First Price Cut
Given that it’s lagging behind in the console war by an estimated 1.7 million units after three months of sales, it was only a matter of time before Microsoft tried something to close the gap. I don’t think, however, that anyone expected them to try a price cut so soon.
To gain competitive ground with the PlayStation Four, Microsoft UK announced a £30 price cut to £399 for the Xbox One and that Titanfall Xbox One console bundles would be available at no extra charge above the base price.
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Xbox One’s eSRAM Too Small for 1080p Games
The resolution, graphic quality and framerate differences between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games released on both platforms has been a big story since both consoles launched last November. It was expected that the PS4’s use of GDDR5 RAM would allow it to dance circles around the DDR3 RAM of the Xbox One.
However, one developer says that it isn’t that the PS4’s hardware is so much superior but that the Xbox One’s architecture is the issue. The small 32 MB of high-bandwidth eSRAM isn’t conducive to getting games to render at 1080p.
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Microsoft Denies Last Week’s Xbox One Leaks, Publishers Confirm Them
Last week, we told you about some alleged leaks from inside Microsoft talking about their plans for the Halo franchise on the Xbox One and plans for the console itself. While The Verge confirmed some of the details, Microsoft was understandably upset and denied the veracity of the leaks. It turns out that some of their publishing partners aren’t on the same page and have done some quiet confirming of their own.
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Microsoft Leaks Show Big Plans for the Xbox One This Year
After a rocky initial announcement and slower sales than the PlayStation 4 at launch, Microsoft is going full-tilt to right the ship and assert the dominance of the Xbox One in the console market.
A number of leaks by NeoGAF user nktrnl, which were subsequently verified by various gaming news outlets, indicate a number of big games and console plans for the Xbox One over the next twelve months to get it on top of the current generation of consoles.
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Microsoft Buys Gears of War Franchise From Epic Games
Sometimes the best way to remove the risk of third-party actions affecting you is to just buy them out. Microsoft didn’t outright buy Epic Games but they did buy their hottest intellectual property. Microsoft bought the Gears of War franchise from Epic and have handed it off to first-party developer Black Tusk Studios.
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EA and Xbox One Paying for Positive YouTube Videos
Anybody who is overly positive about almost anything in the gaming world is almost instantly hit with accusations of being bought by a publisher. Most of the time, statements like these are completely outlandish and unfounded. On rare occasions, though, these accusations find the mark.
Recently, it came to light that Microsoft was paying Machinima content creators for positive coverage of the Xbox One. Now, various outlets on the internet have revealed that EA has also been paying YouTubers for positive coverage of its games.
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