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Deals With Gold: Dead Rising 3, Ryse permanently discounted
This week's Xbox Live Deals With Gold sale bring permanent discounts to the Xbox One's "top titles," while Capcom takes a hatchet to the prices of its various downloadable offerings on the Xbox 360. From August 6 onward, Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5 and Kinect Sports Rivals will be priced at $50 - a $10 discount off of each game's launch price. According to Microsoft, this new price is universal, so you'll be able to pick up any of these games either at retail or through the Xbox One's digital store at the new $50 price point. Capcom's discounts are much more impressive, as every game and DLC listed has been reduced in price by at least 50 percent. Highlights include Dead Rising 2: Off the Record for less than $7, Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara at $5.09 and the phenomenal Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition for only $3.74. [Image: Capcom]
Layoffs at Rare, 16 employees reportedly let go
Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark studio Rare has been hit with layoffs, with reports putting the figure at around 16 employees losing jobs. According to Eurogamer and CVG sources, the layoffs affect a number of high-profile staff, while Eurogamer adds 150 people worked on the team's most recent release, Kinect Sports Rivals. "At Xbox, our goal is to constantly create new fun, social and interactive entertainment experiences," a Microsoft spokesperson told Joystiq. "As part of Rare's commitment to this goal, we have made a decision to change our development process and methodology at Rare to best support our future projects, this has led to us reviewing the skills and the makeup of our development teams in our business." According to CVG, the layoffs include studio Battletoads lead programmer Chris Sutherland and 15-year company veteran Gavin Price. According to Price's LinkedIn profile, he moved on from Rare this month and joined Priceless Pixels as an independent design consultant. The news comes just a few days after an interview with Phil Spencer, in which the Xbox boss discussed how Rare's evaluating what it wants to do next. The UK studio's last game, Kinect Sports Rivals on Xbox One, failed to set critical pulses racing, while in Rare's home nation it entered the charts at 14th before disappearing from the top 40 five weeks later. Rare has been a major proponent of Microsoft's motion-sensing tech, making it one of the developers most affected by last week's announcement of a Kinect-less Xbox One. [Image: Microsoft]
Joystiq Weekly: PAX East, The Last Of Us: Remastered, Super Smash Bros. and more
This week's reveal of Charizard in Super Smash Bros.' roster is a bit of a blow to our argument that Squirtle is the best starter from Pokemon Red/Blue. Yes, both pocket monsters were in the Pokemon Trainer's arsenal in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but Charizard flying solo is a whole different level of awesome, one that's left us Squirtle enthusiasts drowning in envy. Playground rivalries aside, there's a lot more going on this week beyond Pokefeuds. Sony admitted that The Last Of Us is coming to the PS4, Borderlands fans are finally going to be able to play as Claptrap in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and we've got a faint glimmer of hope for the Xbox One to eventually be backwards compatible. This is also the weekend of PAX East, which you can treat as a source of news or, if you're attending, a giant game of "Where's Waldo?" Track down Joystiq's away team and say hi! Provided you can catch them between appointments, panels and the lone meal of their day, that is.
Joystiq Streams: Picking a fight with Kinect Sports Rivals [Update: Never mind!]
Joystiq's Jess Conditt did not much care for Kinect Sports Rivals. "The biggest challenge in gameplay is often hassling with the Kinect," chided Jess in her two-star review, "Overall, the games themselves are insultingly simple." Everything's worth a second look, though! In the interests of due diligence, entertainment, and a desire to do something with that fancy Xbox One Kinect, Jess will return the Kinect Sports Rivals on Joystiq Streams at 4PM EST today on the Joystiq Twitch channel. Marvel as she tries to see if there's a way to actually get a gutter ball in bowling! Be confused as we all try to figure out why David Tennant is narrating the action. Mike Suszek will be hanging out in the chat, feeding your questions to Jess as she plays. Joystiq Streams broadcasts every Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST. Update: It looks like our efforts to stream Kinect Sports Rivals were fruitless. We'll be back next week with a new, functional stream after we take it in to the shop for a tune-up! [Images: Microsoft]
Kinect Sports Rivals review: The crowd goes mild
Kinect Sports Rivals looks like a mobile game for the new, hit reality sports show that all of your friends will be watching, according to its prime time commercials. The game is crowded with bright colors, an excitable narrator, a hard-ass trainer, prompts to buy perks for your character and ads for State Farm. It differs from a tie-in mobile game in a couple of important ways: It's on the big screen and is designed to use Xbox One's Kinect for every interaction. The entire game can be controlled with voice and hand motions, in theory. That theory breaks down if your pets are running around and confusing the Kinect as you play, or if your friends all want to sit on the couch behind you, or if you happen to be 10 years old, like my little brother, and miss important instructions among all the banter and color explosions.
David Tennant is the 'voice of God' in Kinect Sports Rivals
Former Doctor Who star David Tennant is providing Kinect Sports Rivals with his hearty Scottish lilt - officially he's the game's narrator, but we prefer the actor's own description of the "voice of God." If you've only heard Tennant in his role as television's greatest time-traveler - sorry, Sam Beckett - then yes, that Scottish accent he put on in the episode with Queen Victoria is closer to the real thing. Tennant says it's the first video game he's provided voice work for, and that's surprising given how the BBC likes to pump out Doctor Who games. Luckily for Tennant, by the time puzzle-platformer The Eternity Clock arrived in 2012 he'd jumped ship, leaving poor Matt Smith to fend for himself. As for Kinect Sports Rivals, Rare's new collection of motion-controlled mini-games is coming to North America, Australia and New Zealand on April 8 and Europe on April 11. Sportsball fans can take on tennis, bowling, soccer, target shooting, climbing, and wave racing in the Xbox One game. [Image: Microsoft]
Kinect Sports Rivals gets pumped for April showdown
The finish line is finally in sight for Kinect Sports Rivals, after Microsoft announced the Xbox One game hits North America on April 8. Rare's collection of sporting mini-games comes to Australia and New Zealand on the same day, while Europe signs up on April 11. Kinect Sports Rivals was an Xbox One launch game originally, but Microsoft delayed the motion-control showpiece to give Rare a little more time to spruce it up. In the meantime, a "preseason trial" has been available since launch, letting players take to the waves for free with the wake racing mini-game. The full Rivals experience adds tennis, bowling, soccer, target shooting, and climbing, as showcased in a new trailer. Going by the video, there's something of a Hunger Games vibe to the whole thing, what with the rival teams and their fancy pants get-ups. True, it doesn't look as violent as Suzanne Collins' dystopian YA sensation, but you never know. [Image: Microsoft]
Kinect Sports Rivals Preseason holding international tourney in Feb.
On February 1, a global wake racing tournament goes down in Kinect Sports Rivals Preseason, the free trial version of the delayed Xbox One game. Nearly one million players have downloaded Kinect Sports Rivals Preseason, making it the most popular Xbox One demo. Preseason International Champions, as this tournament is being called, will catalogue racers' best times on both national and international leaderboards. On February 28, the best racer will win a golden wake racer in the game, while all participants who manage to set the best time in their home country will receive a silver wake racer. Finally, all participants from the top racer's country will unlock a special wake racer covered in a livery based on that country's flag. Unique daily challenges will also be presented to players throughout February, yielding rewards only accessible during this event. And all rewards will carry into the final version of Kinect Sports Rivals when it launches this spring. In order to be eligible for these prizes, you'll need to download the Kinect Sports Rivals Hub companion app.
Watch the Xbox One makes waves on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
In this, the Great Console Wars of The Year of Luigi, we'll let you decide which system came up trumps in the battle of the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon demos. For its part the other night, Microsoft went with a brief demo of the Xbox One's personalized user interface, followed by some beard-enhancing scanning ahead of a spot of jet-skiing in Kinect Sports Rivals. As Microsoft's Blain Howard noted, that Sports Rivals jet-skiing game is a temporary freebie for early adopters. As long as you download the Preseason trial before November 30, you'll be able to make some motion-controlled waves until March 2014.
Kinect Sports Rivals 'Preseason' free trial coming to Xbox One at launch
To make up for the delay of Kinect Sports Rivals to spring 2014, Microsoft will offer a free trial version of the game when the Xbox One launches on November 22. Called Kinect Sports Rivals Preseason, the trial offers players the game's wave racing mini-game along with monthly challenges until March 2014. Microsoft notes that players will need to download the Preseason trial before November 30 to start earning points to unlock a "Founder" player title as well as a wetsuit and wake racer avatar items. The free trial will launch alongside a Kinect Sports Rivals hub that distributes Preseason's monthly challenges and rewards, which carry over to the full version of the game.
New Kinect can understand two people talking at once
The new Kinect for Xbox One can pick up two people speaking at once and discern what each one is saying. Kinect Sports Rivals studio Rare sounded off on the sensor's features via a new video, as shown by Microsoft Corporate VP Phil Harrison to the audience at the Eurogamer Expo in London today. "It can not only hear two people speaking at once and understand two people speaking at once," said New Technology Lead Developer Nick Burton, "It can also see if their mouths are moving in a completely dark room. And that allows us to do crazy levels of detail." Included with every Xbox One, this Kinect is certainly a significant upgrade from its predecessor. The new sensor can detect 25 various joints for 6 different people, recognize which player is using which controller, estimate players' heart rates, map faces to 1,400 points, and tell you if you're too fat. Wait, one of those is the Balance Board... we bet the new Kinect can do that too, but we probably shouldn't give it any more ideas.
Gamescom trailers and screenshots giga-post
Psst, hey kid. You want some ... trailers? How about some Gamescom trailers? C'mere for a second. Yeah that's right, we got all kinds of trailers. Murasaki Baby, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Resogun, Infamous: Second Son, Watch Dogs, pretty much any kind of trailer you wanna put in your eyeballs, we can hook it up. Hey, and you know what? Since you seem like a nice kid, we're gonna throw in some screenshots too. Oh no, put your wallet away – the first one's free.
Kinect Sports Rivals delayed past launch on Xbox One
Rare's Kinect sensor showpiece, Kinect Sports Rivals, will miss the Xbox One's launch window, Microsoft confirmed today. Kinect Sports Rivals was originally slated for release in November, offering up a collection of minigames that require the Xbox One's bundled Kinect peripheral. A representative from Microsoft told Polygon that the delay was necessary in order to give developer Rare enough time to polish up its work before launch. Kinect Sports Rivals is now set for release during spring of next year.
Xbox One media overflow: Kinect Sports Rivals, Zoo Tycoon and more
Microsoft's Xbox One event was a veritable cornucopia of game reveals and trailers for next-gen releases, but apparently the time allotted wasn't enough to show every single trailer for all of the new games coming to both the Xbox One and Xbox 360. In addition to this trailer for Rare's Kinect Sports Rivals for Xbox One, looks at Starbreeze Studios' new Xbox 360 jam Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Frontier's Xbox One iteration of Zoo Tycoon and Zoë Mode's Powerstar Golf are also available beyond the veil.
Microsoft announces Kinect Sports Rivals for Xbox One [Update: Trailer]
Rare's Danny Isaac announced the Xbox One launch title Kinect Sports Rivals during a pre-E3 interview with GameTrailers. Following up on its Kinect Sports series for the Xbox 360, Rivals includes a new selection of minigames powered by the Xbox One's improved Kinect sensor. Rival data will be stored in the cloud, allowing players to compete with friends at any time during gameplay. Isaac noted a November release date for Kinect Sports Rivals, strongly suggesting that the Xbox One will launch that month.
