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Microsoft kicks off gradual release of Xbox One May update
Those patiently waiting for the next software update for the Xbox One won't have to wait much longer. "The latest Xbox One system update has started to roll out," tweeted Xbox figurehead Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb. The highlight of this update is new, more granular audio controls, which allow users to determine individual volume levels for apps they've snapped onto the Xbox One's main display. To put it more simply, if you're playing a game while also chatting with people on Skype, you can turn the game down, and turn the chat up, preventing your crucial conversation from being drowned out by explosions. Additionally, the update adds a new feedback tool designed to send information directly to Microsoft from the Xbox One automatically. This program is entirely voluntary, but according to Microsoft the goal is not to snoop on players, but instead to collect audio samples which may be used to improve the console's voice recognition capabilities. Like all Xbox One updates, Microsoft plans to gradually issue this new software version to users. While some will find the update available at this very moment, others may have to wait a few hours or even a day. According to Hryb, the update should be available to everyone by early next week. Full details on the update can be found on Hryb's official blog. [Image: Microsoft]
Oculus Rift user transplants his whole body into VR using three Kinects
So, not every indie developer abandoned Oculus VR after the Facebook take-over. 3D video expert Oliver Kreylos is one of those who stuck around, and we're mighty glad he did. Check out his three-way-Kinect-plus-Rift setup in the video below and you'll be glad too -- even if the second video, showing the wearer's POV (and intended solely for other Rift owners) makes you retch a couple of times. Video feeds from the three Kinects are merged to create a relatively solid 3D rendition of Kreylos as he moves about inside a VR environment. The merged feed is then sent to the Oculus so that he can look around at everything inside that environment, including his own body. Kreylos says that even though his limbs were a bit fuzzy during the experiment, due to the relatively low resolution of the cameras, the system's low latency allowed his brain to believe that the body parts really belonged to him, to the point where it felt natural to try to reach out and touch non-existent objects. And bear in mind: All of this was achieved using first-gen Kinects, rather than the much more powerful version that is (usually) supplied with the Xbox One, so there's already plenty of scope for improvement.
GameStop offers trade-in specials for pre-orders of $400, Kinect-less Xbox One
Did the news of an Xbox One sans Kinect convince you that now is the time to jump on Microsoft's wagon? If so, GameStop is ready to accept you with open arms - arms that are attached to hands, which in turn will offer you a pre-order of a Kinect-free Xbox One in exchange for your money and games. Online, you can reserve your copy of an Xbox One without Kinect for $399.99. If you need a little extra helping hand financially, you can trade in an original or 4GB Xbox 360 or 12GB PS3 and receive $75 in store credit. Trade in a 360 with 250GB or more of storage or a PS3 with 20GB or larger hard drive and you'll receive $125. PowerUp Pro members receive an additional $10. Those so inclined to travel outside (though why would you do that - the sun is out there) can also head to their local store to pre-order. We called several GameStops across the country and were told the minimum deposit for the console-only Xbox One package is $100. [Image: Microsoft]
Xbox One without Kinect is great for consumers, terrible for Kinect game developers
Sure, a $100 price drop on the Xbox One is great for us. First things first, it's less money to fork over for a new game console. Second, no Kinect, which means no all-seeing eye judging our tawdry lifestyle. But what if you're a Kinect game developer? What if you're, say, a member of the studio with the most successful third-party game franchise for Kinect, and you're in the middle of making an exclusive Disney game for it? Oh, great. Super great. - johntdrake (@johntdrake) May 13, 2014
Elder Scrolls Online, free-to-play games still require Xbox Live Gold
One of Microsoft's big announcements today was the restructuring of Xbox Live Gold; the company will now allow Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners to use entertainment apps like Netflix and HBO Go without requiring a paid Xbox Live subscription. As Microsoft's Phil Spencer clarified to Joystiq today, the latest in a series of "Xbox One-80s" doesn't apply to free-to-play and subscription-based online games. "Right now we haven't changed the policy on MMOs and free-to-play games," Spencer said. While not getting into specifics, he noted that with some games there are "engineering constraints, policy constraints and partner constraints in each one of these scenarios," so the decision to keep games behind the Xbox Live paywall reportedly doesn't rest solely in Microsoft's hands. Bethesda's latest MMORPG, The Elder Scrolls Online, will still require a Gold subscription on top of the developer's own monthly fees. For the time being, at least; Microsoft has "about six months" to consider changing its policies, as the game was recently delayed for consoles. The developer was in talks with Microsoft back in August to cut the extra fees for The Elder Scrolls Online, which won't be enforced by Sony via PlayStation Plus for PS4.
Harmonix reacts to Kinect-less Xbox One in tweets, statement
Harmonix is the studio behind Xbox One Kinect game Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, plus Xbox 360's Dance Central franchise, which also relies on Kinect – so Microsoft's announcement of a Kinect-less Xbox One hitting the market for $100 cheaper in June could have a direct impact on how Harmonix does business. Today, we see two reactions from Harmonix: gut and official.
Dis-Kinected Xbox One coming June 9
Microsoft has announced that it will release a new lineup of Xbox One consoles that do not include the Kinect motion-sensing peripheral. Starting June 9, Microsoft will offer Kinect-less Xbox One hardware bundles at $399 in North America and £349 in the UK. Microsoft cites customer feedback as the driving force behind the Xbox One's new hardware options. The Kinect was bundled with every Xbox One sold since the console's launch last year. A standalone Xbox One Kinect sensor will be released at retail this fall.
Microsoft lowers Xbox One price to $400 without Kinect
Is the $500 asking price of Xbox One too rich for your blood? Turns out you're not alone, and Microsoft's responding: the price of the Xbox One is dropping to $400, and the company's dropping Kinect from the box as well. Starting June 9th, the Xbox One will be sold in a second bundle sans Kinect (a standalone version of Xbox One's Kinect will be available "this fall," should you wish to add one later on). The "premium" bundle with Kinect packed-in will stick around after that, though it is clear why Microsoft made today's move: sales numbers. Though the Xbox One is doing well at around 5 million units, it's lagging behind Sony's PlayStation 4 to the tune of several million units.
Xbox One's May update to add audio options for apps, chat
Participants in the Xbox One's early access program can expect a new update to arrive sometime this week, while general users will see it sometime in May. Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb's post explains that with the update, snapped apps will soon be manageable with a sound mixer found in the Settings menu, which will allow users to adjust volume levels for apps independently. The same functionality will allow users to tweak volume levels while using the Kinect for chatting. The update will also allow users to opt into allowing their speech data to be collected, which Major Nelson states will "be used for product improvement only." Users will be able to toggle their related permission by visiting the Settings menu, selecting Privacy & Online Safety, heading into Customizing Privacy and Online Safety, and setting Share Voice Data to "Allow." The post explains that having additional voice samples for the software's algorithms would help improve the Kinect's responsiveness, but if you'd rather let Microsoft smooth the kinks out on their own, that's definitely an option as well. [Image: Microsoft]
Microsoft wants you to help improve Kinect 2.0's voice recognition
Using the Xbox One's Kinect for voice commands is still pretty hit-or-miss for many, and Microsoft knows it. With the console's next update, Redmond is adding an option for speech data collection as a way to crowdsource the sensor's improvement. Writing on his blog, Xbox's Major Nelson says that the more voice samples the company has to add to its algorithms, the more accurate the console can be. If you aren't keen on the company collecting samples of your voice (which is entirely understandable!), it's an entirely opt-in process. Should you want to help out, however, all you need to do is dip into the console's privacy settings and enable it. This isn't the first time that Microsoft has done such, though -- a similar function was in place on the Xbox 360 as well. Update: The 312MB update is rolling out to those in the preview program now, check the new update button under System in the Settings menu to download it.
Japan's not getting the Xbox One until this September
If we're being civil, Japan's relationship with the Xbox could be described as "tenuous" at best, and the release date for Microsoft's latest game console probably won't do much to change that. Come this September 4th, gamers in the country will finally be able to claim an Xbox One for themselves. Yes, that's around 10 months after it launched in the US and other "first tier" countries, and seven months after the PlayStation 4's Japanese debut. Redmond's Eastern wing hasn't mentioned pricing just yet (what, one announcement isn't enough?), but with E3 on the horizon it likely won't remain unknown for too much longer.
Google's digital art prize winner is a poem you control with your body
Google asked artists to prove that code could be beautiful with its DevArt competition, and hundreds delivered on that promise. However, there can only be one winner: The Metamorphosis of Mr. Kalia, a visual poem from Cyril Diagne and Béatrice Lartigue. The project lets you use your body movement to control Mr. Kalia as he undergoes strange, symbolic transformations throughout his life. Metamorphosis is using little more than a standard Kinect sensor to track your motion and send it to a Chrome browser, so it's easy to both play with and set up -- it even works over a basic internet connection.
Dragon Age: Inquisition has Kinect voice commands a la Mass Effect 3
BioWare is building Dragon Age: Inquisition with voice controls via Kinect on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, similar to the voice commands in Mass Effect 3, Creative Director Mike Laidlaw told Xbox The Official Magazine. "We're expecting that Xbox 360 and Xbox One editions will ship with a Kinect-enabled voice command feature, just like Mass Effect 3 did," Laidlaw said. BioWare is also planning to use SmartGlass in some way, Producer Cameron Lee said: "It needs to make sense, of course. But we want Inquisition to be an experience you can take with you everywhere - to work, the commute home, the living room, bed." Laidlaw also revealed that Dragon Age: Inquisition won't feature any character DLC because it would have to be partly on-disc, and BioWare doesn't want to inspire criticism from fans. "Because of how deeply enmeshed in the system companion characters are, we can't just add them on the fly – part of them has to be shipped on the disc," Laidlaw said. "Which has led to criticism that we're forcing people to pay for content they already own. It's not the case, but we've decided this time to not go that route. There will be no DLC party members."
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.
New Kinect for Windows arrives this summer
Amid the volley of announcements from Microsoft's Build conference, is word that the new Kinect for Windows has a near-future release timeframe for both the hardware and its SDK. The desktop version of Microsoft's do-all sensor will be available to the public this summer, as will its development framework. Perhaps more importantly, once they're done, developers can publish their creations to the Windows Store; meaning, there'll probably be more Kinect applications for Windows in one place than ever before. As Redmond tells it, this self-publishing will happen "later this summer." Next summer (notice a theme here?), Microsoft is adding support for one of gaming's most pervasive dev toolkits to Kinect for Windows: the Unity engine -- tools developers already know the strengths and weaknesses of, which should bolster the app selection even further. Given that the Xbox One will see Unity support this year, this could mean that cross-platform apps and games are a distinct possibility. Or, maybe we'll get a cool new bank account manager instead.
New Kinect for Windows nixes Xbox logo, adds power supply
The second iteration of Kinect for Windows revealed by Microsoft this week features a few changes. While it looks nearly identical to the motion-sensitive camera for Xbox One, its glowing Xbox logo power indicator has been replaced by a simple dot, plus the word "Kinect" is now on the hardware's top panel. Additionally, the second version of Kinect for Windows requires both a hub and separate power supply to operate. The hub includes ports to connect to the sensor, power supply unit and USB 3.0 output to the user's PC. While the power supply will vary by region, it supports voltages that range in 100–240 volts. Microsoft didn't offer a release date for the new version of the PC Kinect hardware. [Image: Microsoft]
New Kinect for Windows drops the Xbox One logo, adds a power cable
Last year, Microsoft said that the next-gen version of Kinect was coming to Windows, but has been relatively quiet since. That changes now, as Redmond has lifted the curtain on the new sensor and it looks... a lot like the Xbox One version. The unit is missing the Xbox logo power-indicator of its console-tethered counterpart, but as the Kinect for Windows Blog points out, that's about all that's different between the two. The software giant also says this reveal is a sign that we're getting "closer and closer" to launch, but didn't give any other release details. For the nitty gritty specs about power supplies and voltage ratings, check the source.
Base jumping sim Skydive: Proximity Flight lands on XBLA
If the only thing preventing you from leaping off a tall building is the fear that gravity might turn your insides into outsides, Gaijin Entertainment and Topware Interactive have a solution: Skydive: Proximity Flight. The game, which has just debuted on the Xbox Live Arcade at a price of $7, allows players to virtually strap themselves into a wingsuit and leap into the wild blue yonder. Thanks to Kinect functionality, virtual daredevils can use their bodies to maneuver through the game's "picturesque landscapes and majestic, real life locations," while those who master simply surviving the trip can turn their focus toward aerial stunts. While gracefully falling thousands of feet is the core draw of the game, Skydive: Proximity Flight offers races, descents guided by floating rings and freeform dives. While Skydive: Proximity Flight is currently only available on the Xbox 360, a PlayStation 3 version of the game is said to be in development. Additional information can be found on the game's website. [Image: Gaijin Entertainment]
Latest Xbox One update preview revives friend log-in notifications
The Xbox One's March update is so last month, those enrolled in the update preview program are already being invited to test the latest batch of upcoming tweaks. Version 1404, the April update, or whatever else you'd like to call it, will be rolling out over the next couple of days, with features and fixes being implemented piecemeal. Nevertheless, we know the full intentions of the next update, which will bring back friend sign-in notifications, make it clear who on your buddy list is engaged in multiplayer action, and allow you to check their favorite apps. A 'saving game' progress bar will be added, as well as flags that show what games/apps are being updated or have been recently. Beyond that, there's another fix for the European 50Hz media playback problem, this time for Blu-rays, and improvements to voice and motion controls, game recording quality and compatibility with A/V gear under the One's control, like TVs and set-top boxes. Most of us will have to wait until the update is properly tested, remember, but take comfort in the knowledge it's on the way. Update: Major Nelson has also posted the list of changes to expect, check them out after the break.
