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Titanfall runs 'above 30fps' on Xbox 360, is 'the true experience,' according to dev
Bluepoint Games had its work cut out for it when the studio agreed to port the Xbox One's flagship shooter Titanfall to the Xbox 360, but to hear senior producer Daryl Allison tell it, the jump was a success. "Titanfall on the Xbox 360 is the true experience: all the maps, modes, pilots, titans, weapons, burn cards, you name it, found in the Xbox One and PC versions," Allison recently wrote on the Titanfall website. "The game looks great, sounds great, and above all it plays great. There are of course some technical differences that are due to the technical limitations of the hardware – for example, the game runs above 30fps - but rest assured, the intense 6v6 wall-running, titan dropping action is all there." Allison then defends the decision to delay the Xbox 360 version of Titanfall by saying that the game was just not ready for release alongside its PC and Xbox One brethren. "We wanted Xbox 360 gamers playing Titanfall at the same time as everyone else, but it needed more time," Allison wrote. "EA and Respawn made the right call and the extra time has paid off. Titanfall on the Xbox 360 is definitely a game that Bluepoint Games is proud of, and we're excited for you to get your hands on it." The Xbox 360 version of Titanfall is currently slated to be released on April 8. [Image: EA]
Titanfall now features improved matchmaking
Following last week's Improved Matchmaking Beta, developer Respawn has issued an update for mechanized shooter Titanfall that improves matchmaking in both the "Attrition" and "Hardpoint" game types. This update has been designed to counter one of Titanfall's most glaring flaws: its seemingly random method of matching would-be titan pilots in multiplayer. Titanfall itself has received glowing praise, but few would argue that the original matchmaking system made any sort of sense. Though this update will not affect matchmaking in the Campaign portion of Titanfall, Respawn claims that further matchmaking updates are on the way, just as soon as the studio can properly test their changes. Titanfall's matchmaking update is available to all players at no charge and should be installed the next time you fire up your giant robot of choice. [Image: EA]
Titanfall State of Service: Week Three
This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. See our scored review of Titanfall here. Tuesday, April 1 | T-minus 9 days until final verdict Current State of Service: Good Summary: PC version experiencing limited issues. Matchmaking update in the works. Anti-cheating system enabled on PC. Apart from a brief server outage last Tuesday, and an issue with Australian servers in particular, Titanfall appears to be humming along on both PC and Xbox One. Servers for both versions went down during the afternoon on March 25, apparently as the result of broader problems with Xbox Live. Servers were back online that evening. Meanwhile, Australian players encountered an issue in which servers would return a ping of -1, making them unusable. The problem was "sporadic," and it was corrected as of March 31, according to official Titanfall Twitter account. Joystiq staff members have been playing both versions with no significant problems to report. In other service news, Respawn is working on an update to Titanfall's matchmaking to keep weaker teams from being consistently dominated by stronger teams. Furthermore, the PC version has been updated to combat cheating. Cheaters detected by the game are subsequently only allowed to play with other cheaters, where they will enjoy what Respawn calls "the Wimbledon of aimbot contests." If you encounter any problems with Titanfall, let us know in the comments or on Joystiq's Twitter or Facebook accounts (use the hashtag #sos and don't forget to specify your platform!).
Prepare for Titanfall figures from Threezero
Designer toy manufacturer Threezero has acquired the rights to produce figures based on Titanfall's towering automatons in 1/12 and 1/6 scale. The first figure to be introduced will be the 1/12 scale Atlas, which is about 20 inches tall and comes with a pilot. Threezero has released a teaser image of the figure, which you can see uncropped after the break. The price for the Atlas will likely be nothing to shrug at (get it?): Threezero's 1/12 scale Fullmetal Ghost figure, which is of comparable size and likely similar quality, costs $320. Just tell yourself - and your wallet - that at least it's cheaper than the real thing. [Image: Threezero]
Titanfall matchmaking updated to discourage dominating teams
Titanfall's matchmaking system has been updated in the new "Improved Matchmaking (Beta)" playlist in Classic MP mode. The new program changes up the teams more frequently – if one team is kicking the snot out of another, the dominating team's skill level will be updated and it'll be paired with a better team. "Did you lose to a really great team?" Respawn asks. "We'll make them disappear and replace them with a new opposing team – and they will have no idea that you just got your butts kicked. This should end some of the frustration with playing for extended periods when you're having an off night." Finding appropriate teammates may take longer with the new system now, but the end goal is to build more suitable, and longer-lasting, matches. The graph above shows Respawn's behind-the-scenes skill curve, with level 25 as the average. [Image: Respawn]
Titanfall cheaters pool live on PC now, here's how it works
Titanfall's anti-cheating system, FairFight, is now active on PC, and it places all cheaters in the same pool to play with each other – and only each other. As Respawn puts it, "You can play with other banned players in something that will resemble the Wimbledon of aimbot contests. Hopefully the aimbot cheat you paid for really is the best, or these all-cheater matches could be frustrating for you. Good luck." If you're not banned and invite a banned friend into your party, you'll all end up playing in the all-cheater pool. Respawn promises that playing with cheaters won't raise your risk of getting banned. Only cheating can do that. If you think you've been unfairly banned, Respawn says to hit up anticheat@respawn.com.
Titanfall State of Service: Week Two
This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. See our scored review of Titanfall here. Tuesday, March 25 | T-minus 16 days until final verdict Current State of Service: Good Summary: PC version experiencing limited issues. Balance patch deployed. Xbox 360 version delayed. After two weeks on PC and Xbox One, Titanfall's service performance remains mostly solid. The PC version is still experiencing isolated issues, notably infinite loading screens when trying to connect to a game. It seems most players on both versions, however, have had a smooth experience. For its part, the Joystiq staff has encountered no significant issues on Xbox One or PC (though matchmaking still has a confusing habit of pairing low-level players with high-level players). Servers briefly went offline around 10pm Eastern on Thursday, March 20, and began to come back online within an hour. Titanfall has also received its first balance-tweaking and bug-squishing patch, and you can find the patch notes right here. Finally, neither Joystiq or players at large will be able to test the service of the Xbox 360 version this week, as it was delayed to April 8 in North America and April 11 in Europe. If you encounter any problems with Titanfall, let us know in the comments or on Joystiq's Twitter or Facebook accounts (use the hashtag #sos and don't forget to specify your platform!).
Other retailers follow suit with $450 Titanfall Xbox One bundle
Other outlets including the Microsoft Store are following Walmart's lead by reducing the Titanfall Xbox One bundle to $450. Target, Microsoft and Amazon (with the promo code XIAMAZON) are all offering the Titanfall bundle with the $50 discount, and both Target and Microsoft have the same price on the Standard bundle that includes a Forza 5 code. The Microsoft Store denotes the bundles as "limited time discounts," so don't expect the reduced price to hang around for long, even if the console got a permanent price drop in the UK. On a side note, our pals at Engadget spotted Amazon getting a bit overexcited this morning after the retailer briefly marked down the Forza Xbox One bundle to $400 with the XIAMAZON code applied. It looks like it was an accident, though, since the bundle is back up to $499 and the code no longer works with it. [Image: Microsoft]
Nvidia, Respawn implementing GameWorks support for Titanfall
Titanfall just got an update yesterday to squash bugs and balance general gameplay elements, but it didn't do anything to pretty up the game's visuals. A recent Nvidia post explains that visual improvement updates are still coming however, outlining a collaboration with developer Respawn Entertainment to implement GameWorks features for players piloting PCs. Among the additions will be support for Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TXAA), which boosts image clarity and reduces a flickering effect sometimes seen with games in motion. Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion+ (HBAO+) is in, which creates shadows based on what a scene's lighting can realistically reach. SLI support is also planned, which allows multiple GPUs to be used at once. An update to include support for 4k displays is coming as well, in case you're dreaming of dropping Titans on opponents in a new-age resolution. Unfortunately, release windows weren't shared for any of these updates, so you'll likely be playing Titanfall as-is for a while longer. If you're an Xbox One user that's a little jealous after reading this post, know that there's still a chance for the Titanfall's visuals to be improved on the Xbox One, too. [Image: EA]
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Titanfall patch helps players escape, crushes bugs under robot boots
While Titanfall's online service has been pretty stable - barring some launch day hiccups - that doesn't mean that Respawn is done with tweaking the game experience. A server update has been applied to the game that fixes a handful of issues, as well as re-balances some of the gameplay. For example, Cluster Missiles now do less damage against Evac Dropships, which is good news for anyone who loses more than a handful of games (see: us once, and us again) and needs to hitch a ride out of the game's hectic warzones. You can check out the full list of fixes and tweaks after the break. [Image: EA]
Rumor: Titanfall 2 rights secured by EA, won't be Microsoft-exclusive
Electronic Arts has the rights to publish the sequel to Respawn shooter Titanfall, according to what GameSpot describes as a "reputable source." EA refused to comment on "rumor and speculation" to GameSpot, but the site says EA's option to secure the rights was based on the first game's sales performance. Polygon backs the claim EA secured the rights to a Titanfall sequel, adding that according to its sources the game won't be a Microsoft exclusive. EA is only releasing Titanfall on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. While EA is refusing to comment and the sources' claims aren't confirmed, the bits and pieces we've heard from EA and Respawn seem to back up the speculation. Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella already assured fans that his studio will make games for the PS4, just "not the first Titanfall." EA Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen previously said, "I'm sure that there will be future Titanfalls at some point that may be on multiple product platforms. [I] don't know, that's up to the teams that are going through that now." In any case, the Xbox 360 is still waiting on the first Titanfall. The Bluepoint-developed version was due to hit the platform on March 25, but EA delayed it yesterday to early April. [Image: EA]
Titanfall for Xbox 360 delayed
Titanfall for Xbox 360 is receiving a two-week delay. Originally scheduled for titanfall on March 25, the game will now be ready for pilots on April 8 and April 11 in North America and Europe, respectively. "We see a few things that can be made even better, so we're giving Bluepoint a little more time to do just that and deliver an epic Titanfall experience for Xbox 360 players," said EA's Patrick Soderlund in an official post. "The game will feature the same 6v6 gameplay, maps, modes, weapons and Burn Cards as the Xbox One and PC versions of the game." We should note that we've yet to see or touch the Xbox 360 version. The Xbox One version is pretty fantastic. [Image: Respawn]
Titanfall State of Service: Week One
This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. See our scored review of Titanfall here. Tuesday, March 18 | T-minus 23 days until final verdict Current State of Service: Good Summary: Launch day problems resolved. PC experiencing limited issues. Australia receives dedicated servers. One week out, Titanfall seems to be running strong. Isolated reports of lag and hanging matchmaking screens are reaching us, but the Joystiq staff is reporting no significant issues on either PC or Xbox One. The biggest complaint so far seems to be uneven matchmaking, with low-level players regularly being matched with high-level and even Prestige level players. Some PC users with Belkin routers are still having trouble connecting, but Belkin offered a workaround that's less expensive than "buy a new router." If you encounter any problems with Titanfall, let us know in the comments or on Joystiq's Twitter or Facebook accounts (use the hashtag #sos and don't forget to specify your platform!).
Titanfall helps the Xbox One almost double weekly sales in the UK
The Xbox One saw UK week-on-week sales jump by 96 percent alongside the arrival of Titanfall, with the game's bundle accounting for 70 percent of the hardware shifted. It's no surprise, then, that EA's multiplayer shooter went top of the country's sales charts, despite a valiant effort from Dark Souls 2. Namco brought Demon's Souls to Europe almost a year after Atlus released it North America, and it debuted sixth in the UK charts back in June 2010. A year later, Dark Souls landed in third, and its sequel went one better with a 20 percent rise in UK sales over its predecessor. Not a bad performance for the action-RPG series, especially since at one stage it looked uncertain to even reach Europe. Looking down the UK charts, a month that's been packed with new releases meant there wasn't enough space in the top ten for Yoshi's New Island. The 3DS game placed 12th. [Image: EA]
Titanfall developer wants to see game on OS X
Titanfall -- a first-person shooter from a team comprised of many former Call of Duty development veterans -- debuted this week for Windows and Xbox One. It's a massively popular game that has a good chance of becoming a franchise in short order, and according Respawn Entertainment CEO Vince Zampella's twitter account, the team is interested in seeing the game on Apple's hardware. When asked by a Twitter user if his company's new baby would appear on OS X, Zampella claimed that talks are already in the works about just such a thing. "We are talking to Aspyr," Zampella tweeted, "they should do it." "Aspyr" is Aspyr Games, a publisher that specializes in bringing beloved games to Apple's various platforms. In fact, Aspyr is the same company responsible for the Knights of the Old Republic on iOS, which I happen to love. The company's other work includes BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, and several Call of Duty releases. If Titanfall were to appear alongside those titles on OS X, it would be a pretty big deal for Mac gamers, so keep your fingers crossed. [via Joystiq]
Titanfall State of Service: Day Three
This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. See our scored review of Titanfall here. Friday, March 14 | T-minus 27 days until final verdict Current State of Service: Good Summary: Launch day problems resolved. PC experiencing limited issues. Australia receives dedicated servers. It appears that Titanfall's launch day kinks have mostly been ironed out. The Xbox One and PC versions seem to be running as intended, with Joystiq staff reporting no significant problems on either platform since launch day. Some PC players are reporting an error that produces an infinitely looping loading screen. The Respawn Twitter account advises players encountering this problem to lower their in-game texture settings. Some PC users with Belkin routers are also having trouble connecting. Respawn has stated this problem will have to be addressed by Belkin. Also of note, Australia now has access to dedicated servers for Titanfall. The servers were quickly inundated with players. As of earlier today, more servers are being put online. If you encounter any problems with Titanfall, let us know in the comments or on Joystiq's Twitter or Facebook accounts (use the hashtag #sos and don't forget to specify your platform!).
Australia gets dedicated Titanfall servers
Good news for Titanfall fans living Down Under: EA has announced that Australia now has dedicated servers for Respawn's robot-infused first-person shooter. According to EA's help site, that applies to all platforms, so both Xbox One and PC players should be able to take advantage of the new, local servers. Respawn engineer Jon Shiring stated on Twitter that Australia's new servers were "tapped pretty quickly," and that more servers are already being added. [Image: EA]
Respawn: Titanfall not originally planned for Xbox One
While Titanfall might be one of the Xbox One's most popular games this year, Respawn said the game wasn't originally in production for the console at all. In an interview with Eurogamer, lead engineer Richard Baker explained that Titanfall was initially in development for PC only, saying that "originally we weren't planning on an Xbox One version of the game." Baker added that Xbox One development made the PC version of the game that much better, as it "justified the effort in moving to [DirectX 11] and even 64-bit." Those changes were necessary to adapt the Source engine so the game would run properly on Xbox One. This heavily involved making the engine "multi-threaded" so it "buffered commands as soon as they were issued." Among the other development decisions made by Respawn was the use of uncompressed audio in the PC version's 48 gigabyte download. [Image: EA Games]
Titanfall pushes Guinness World Record holder to 1,000,000 Gamerscore
Raymond Cox - or Stallion83 as he's known on Xbox Live, Twitter and Twitch - has reached a level of gamer previously thought unobtainable. We've seen gamers, even Super Gamers. Cox showed us back in August 2011 what it looked like when a Super Gamer ascended past a Super Gamer - or, you could just call it a Super Gamer 2. But this ... this is to go even further beyond. This is one million Gamerscore. Cox hit the one million mark at approximately 2:35 a.m. EST, March 13, 2014, after completing a game of Titanfall. His score has to be verified with Guinness to be recorded as the official highest Gamerscore, but considering Cox broadcast his ... uh, achievement to the world on Twitch, it's unlikely there's any sort of shadiness going on here. Congrats, Raymond! [Image: Microsoft]
Titanfall K'Nex sets drop in on the US this fall
Now you can own a real-life mech from Titanfall – scaled down and made out of plastic, and with some assembly required. The K'Nex Titanfall line is due out this fall in the US, with six sets including various environments and robots, running from $13 to $100. The $100 option is called "Titanfall: Ultimate Angel City Campaign Building Set," and it includes 1,200 pieces to build two 12-inch Titans, six other figures (Pilots and Spectres), and "an assortment of working weapons and stationary turrets." Here's hoping that "working weapons" means they shoot little plastic sticks that look like rockets, and not actual tiny rockets. The MILITIA Ogre Titan set and IMC Atlas Titan set each run $35 and include their respective mechs, plus a Pilot that works with the Titan. The remaining sets focus on buildings. See the breakdown of each option below. [Image: EA]
