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Report: Xbox One controller precision being tuned for Titanfall [update]
Update: A Microsoft representative has confirmed the planned update, which will arrive sometime this month. "Yes. The February update will increase the sensitivity of the outer boundaries of the thumbsticks on the Xbox One controller. The update will happen automatically when your controller syncs with your console." Microsoft and Respawn Entertainment have been working together to improve the Xbox One controller's performance prior to the launch of Titanfall next month. At a recent preview session for Titanfall, a Respawn representative told Game Informer the "analog sticks are more precise, and we worked very closely with [Microsoft]" to make that happen. The special edition Titanfall controllers will ship with the firmware enhancements, but all Xbox One consoles will receive the update prior to Titanfall's launch. We're checking with Microsoft about how this will occur, exactly, and whether players will be notified or prompted by the system. Last we saw, the controller firmware update process is no simple matter. Titanfall will kick-off a closed beta test starting on Friday, February 14. You can sign up for the beta on PC or Xbox One right now, though a valid Origin account is required to access the PC beta. [Image: Microsoft]
Titanfall video preview - burn 'dem mechs
Joystiq's latest video preview explores the multiplayer-only world of Titanfall, the first game from developer Respawn Entertainment. Watch as Xav attempts to survive the onslaught of other eager pilots, utilizing giant mechs with devastating weaponry and the fancy footwork involved when a player's mechanical pal isn't quite ready to join the fray. Titanfall is coming to the Xbox One and PC on March 11 from Respawn and on the Xbox 360 on March 25 from developer Bluepoint Games. Players can sign up for a beta happening later this month on Xbox One and PC. Though the game is being published by EA, Respawn's Justin Hendry reminded Joystiq that the game will use Microsoft's cloud for its online structure, doing away with some of our fears that Titanfall will see a similarly shaky launch as Battlefield 4. Game Director Steve Fukuda further clarified that Microsoft's cloud will be the platform for all three versions of the game (Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC). [Image: Respawn Entertainment]
Titanfall beta sign-ups now open [Update: Beta on Feb. 14]
Update: EA has issued a press release dating the Titanfall beta for February 14. The beta will include three game modes: Attrition, Hardpoint Domination and Last Titan Standing. Attrition is Titanfall's spin on the classic Team Deathmatch mode, Hardpoint Domination is a capture-point objective mode where teams battle over three checkpoints and in Last Titan Standing, all players spawn with a Titan – when all of a team's Titans are destroyed, that team loses. Respawn Entertainment will conduct a beta test for Titanfall and all are welcomed to sign up. You can toss your name in the hat by heading the official site here. After signing up, EA will respond to the provided email no later than 11:59 PM PST on Feb 17. A valid Origin account is required to join the Titanfall beta on PC, which has some reasonable minimum system requirements. Titanfall, a fast-paced multiplayer first-person shooter with gigantic mechs, launches on Xbox One and PC on March 11; the Xbox 360 version drops on March 25. An update for Xbox One, planned for early March, will streamline the friends list interface interface and social features prior to Titanfall's launch on Xbox One. [Image: Respawn Entertainment]
Meet the IMC, Titanfall's miners turned corporate army
Developer Respawn Entertainment has unveiled another Titanfall faction spotlight, this time focused on the IMC, or Interstellar Mining Corporation. Originally known as Hammond Engineering, the group that would become the IMC was first formed to extract resources from various planets for use in industrial construction and fabrication projects. Once the hulking Titans hit the battlefield and demand for the bipedal weapons platforms increased, the IMC achieved stratospheric levels of wealth. Driven by shareholder demands, the IMC now seeks even greater riches, and has employed a well-funded military presence to ensure that nothing gets in its way. More details on the IMC can be found on the Titanfall website, along with short biographies on three of the group's key members. Titanfall is slated to reach the Xbox One and PC on March 11, with an Xbox 360 version of the game arriving on March 25. [Image: Respawn Entertainment]
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Titanfall devs explain how the mech combat game came to be
It's strange to think Titanfall was borne from developers mulling things over in an abandoned office for two months, all sat in a circle of folding chairs. The Respawn team, led by ex-Infinity Ward devs, soon grew and grew, and with EA behind it the studio's now a month away from releasing arguably the Xbox One's most anticipated game to date. As such, the news train is in full flow as Respawn drip-feeds info, mostly through Twitter. We now know the mech-toting shooter has an imminent beta on Xbox One and PC, and it uses codes rather than being fully open. The game itself features SmartGlass integration of some kind, but Kinect isn't supported. Finally, the Xbox 360 version was outsourced to Bluepoint, and it's due two weeks after the game hits Xbox One and PC on March 11.
Titanfall lands on Xbox 360 on March 25, after Xbox One, PC launch
Titanfall on Xbox 360 has been delayed to March 25 in North America and March 28 in Europe, EA announced. Titanfall launches on Xbox One and PC on March 11 in North America, and before now, that date has been associated with the Xbox 360 release as well. Bluepoint Games is developing Titanfall for Xbox 360. "In these last few weeks before launch, Respawn is in the final stages of polishing the Xbox One and PC versions of the game," EA Studios EVP Patrick Soderlund said. "Bluepoint is doing the same with the Xbox 360 version. To give them the time they need to put the finishing touches on the current-gen version of the game, we are moving the Xbox 360 ship date to March 25 in North America and March 28 in Europe. The extra two weeks will ensure the full world of Xbox gamers has an awesome experience." [Image: EA]
Xbox One party and multiplayer update before Titanfall in March
The incoherent party and friend systems on the Xbox One aren't ready for Titanfall - not even in Microsoft's opinion. A system update scheduled for March 4 will introduce "many new features and improvements, most significantly to our party and multiplayer systems," Microsoft has announced. Microsoft has not divulged details yet, but says a new party and multiplayer system will be in place prior to Titanfall's arrival on March 11, 2014. The futuristic multiplayer shooter, which sees combatants run across walls and jostle around in muscular mechs, is viewed as one of the Xbox One's flagship games, though it is also being developed for PC by Respawn Entertainment, and for Xbox 360 by Bluepoint Games. If all goes according to plan, we'll be inviting you to our party with just a few effortless presses on that snazzy Titanfall controller. [Image: EA]
Titanfall PC system requirements revealed
Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella has revealed the minimum specs for Titanfall on PC. As expected, you're going to need a decent rig to run the multiplayer mech shoot-em-up. Minimum requirements for Titanfall on PC: OS: 64-bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1 Processor: AMD Athlon X2 2.8GHz or Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz Memory: 4GB RAM Video card: 512MB VRAM, Radeon HD 4770 or GeForce 8800GT In response to the question of a Mac port, Zampella said the studio is "talking about it" and that he'd "like to see it happen." Zampella offered a similar answer when the question of mod support arose last month. Titanfall launches on Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC on March 11. [Image: Respawn Entertainment]
Respawn: Titanfall server-side updates won't cause downtime
During Titanfall's recent closed alpha playtest, developer Respawn Entertainment instituted several changes at the server-side level. As a result, Titanfall changed, yet players were never locked out of the game during these periods. In a post on the Titanfall forums, Respawn Programmer Jon Shiring revealed the studio "rolled out 3 new server builds and completely moved players from one build to the next without interrupting gameplay." He added that players "never noticed a difference" outside of certain bugs vanishing from the multiplayer shooter. Shiring went on to say this is how the majority of updates will be handled in the final version of Titanfall, though obviously not every problem can be corrected on the server side. "We will definitely be rolling out new server builds to fix issues that we find. Not every issue can be patched entirely on the server, and so some fixes will require a client patch. But new server builds are definitely something we will be doing." Titanfall launches on March 11 for the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. During an investor's call yesterday, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said Titanfall DLC is already in the works and will "evolve over time as we see how the player base evolves through the year."
EA prepping Titanfall DLC, to 'evolve' depending on player base
We all assumed there would be DLC for Titanfall, but EA has confirmed it's currently working on supplemental content for Respawn's multiplayer shooter. "We're planning extra content already for the product," EA boss Andrew Wilson said during today's investor call, "but in the nature of the live service, I think that that will evolve over time as we see how the player base evolves through the year." Wilson failed to offer any further details on what that content may be. Titanfall, exclusive to the PC, Xbox One and Xbox 360, is set to launch on March 11. The Xbox One and PC versions of Titanfall are currently in development at Respawn Entertainment, the outfit formed by ex-Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West, while Bluepoint Games is handling the Xbox 360 version.
Titanfall on Xbox 360 to land courtesy of Bluepoint Games
Titanfall on Xbox 360 is in the hands of Bluepoint Games, the port specialists responsible for the HD Collections of Metal Gear Solid 1-3 and Ico & Shadow of the Colossus. Respawn's Vince Zampella, whose studio is developing the mech-stuffed shooter on Xbox One and PC, confirmed the 360 version was outsourced to Bluepoint's Texas-based studio. Bluepoint also developed the PS4 and Vita ports of the rather less mech-stuffed Flower. The news comes as Zampella also confirmed the game's inevitable beta on Xbox One and PC, with details "in the coming days." As soon as they drop from the sky, we'll let you know. As for the game proper, all versions are being deployed on March 11.
Strap yourself in and watch 10 minutes of Titanfall alpha footage
For games as big as EA's Titanfall, it's all but inevitable that footage slithers out of an alpha test, and oh how footage has slithered out. This 10-minute or so video is just one of plenty of examples out there, but it neatly showcases the Respawn shooter's mix of on-the-ground warfare and colossally mechanized bloodshed, all in one round from start to finish. If you're unlucky enough to not be meching around in the alpha, the good news is the game proper is less than two months away. To recap, Titanfall drops from the skies and onto retail shelves on March 11 in North America and March 13 in Europe, when you'll be able to embark on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.
Beat and shoot-em-up in former Titanfall, God of War devs' To The Death
Indie developers Scary Mostro and Section Studios launched their Kickstarter campaign for To The Death today. The game combines beat-em-up and arcade shooter elements together, as players control one of two warriors that are dashing towards one another, hacking away at everything in their path. As To The Death's story goes, the warriors killed each other and are now stuck in The Crawl, a purgatory-like world between life and death. The two studios are led by developers with a deep history in the industry, with To The Death's game design and engineering coming from Scary Mostro's Todd Alderman and Francesco Gigliotti. Both Alderman and Gigliotti are credited as lead designer and engineer respectively at Infinity Ward on the Call of Duty series, and later worked on Titanfall for Respawn Entertainment. Likewise, To The Death's art direction comes from Section Studios Creative Director Cecil Kim, visual development lead for God of War 3. To The Death is in development for PC, Mac and Linux with early access tentatively planned for August. Scary Mostro and Section Studios are seeking $400,000 by February 19 to fund its development.
Titanfall alpha invites going out to Battlefield 4 players
Electronic Arts is now sending out alpha trial invitations for the Xbox One version of Respawn Entertainment's upcoming mech-combat FPS Titanfall. Competitive console shooter resource Beyond Entertainment reports that Battlefield 4 players who are registered with EA's Origin service are being randomly selected for the alpha. EA's invitation encourages players to "take part in an exclusive trial for an upcoming title on Microsoft's Xbox One." The e-mail then leads Origin members to submit an alpha application here, warning that "availability to this trial is extremely limited." Speaking to Joystiq, an alpha participant notes that players do not receive immediate access to the Titanfall test version upon registering with EA. Instead, accepted players are told to wait for further details after filling out a brief application.
Prepare for Titanfall controller
Control your Titan on March 11 with the limited edition Xbox One wireless controller, announced by Microsoft today in preparation for Titanfall's drop in two months. We're working on finding out a price, but controllers for Xbox One will normally set you back $60. It's listed at $65 on the Microsoft Store. [Thanks, @GamerCrash]
Titanfall devs cite proper balance for 12-player limit
When the giant mechanized suits of Titanfall touch down in March, its battlefields will be populated by a maximum of 12 combatants, according to Vince Zampella, founder of Respawn Entertainment. Zampella was asked point-blank how many players the game will support in a single match. "6v6 is max player count," he replied. "Turned out to be the best balance with AI for us." Following Zampella's tweet, prospective Titanfall players reacted negatively, throwing around descriptors that we'd rather not republish on a family website. In response, a Respawn Entertainment employee calling his or herself "DKo5" took to the NeoGAF forums to offer a more comprehensive explanation of why Titanfall is limited to six-on-six skirmishes. "[W]e tried a huge amount of playercounts (all the way down to 1v1 and up quite high) and designed the maps, gameplay mechanics, and entire experience around which played best," DKo5 wrote. "And FYI, for amount of stuff happening at once in a map you'll be hard pressed to find a game that keeps the action higher. I literally have to stop playing every few rounds because my heart just can't take it some times. Remember, you can get out of your Titan and let it roam on AI mode - meaning there can be 12 Pilots wallrunning around, 12 Titans stomping below, and dozens of AI doing their thing." Finally, DKo5 addresses player speculation over what Zampella meant with his mention of AI: "Oh, and I keep seeing people thinking we've got 'bots' when we talk about AI. Thats not how they are. The AI in Titanfall are not replacements for human players. Our playercount is not 6v6 because of AI - AI play their own role in the game and are a different class of character in the game."
No mods for Titanfall on PC, studio to 'evaluate' after launch
Titanfall on PC will not support mods or offer any map editor tools to players at launch. Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella confirmed as much on Twitter, though he did say that the studio "will have to evaluate after launch." Former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were dismissed by Activision in early 2010, spurring a lengthy legal battle between the duo and publisher. The two would quickly go on to form Respawn Entertainment, partner up with EA and begin work on Titanfall. Titanfall launches on March 11, 2014, exclusively for the Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. While Titanfall will remain exclusive to these platforms throughout the lifetime of the game, Respawn has said it plans to develop games for PS4 down the line.
Snipers confirmed for Titanfall, but quick- and no-scope shots are 'ineffective'
Beyond the joys of stomping people into goo from the cockpit of a giant robot, Titanfall is largely a traditional shooter, though unlike other, modern console shooters Titanfall won't allow snipers to cheat the system. "Sniping is in the game, but due to how the game plays it's a pretty different animal than you'll find in your run of the mill modern military shooter," claimed "scriptacus," a representative of developer Respawn Entertainment in the game's forums. "Quick scoping and no scoping are ineffective." For those unfamiliar with the terms, "quick scoping" and "no scoping" allow snipers to drastically increase their fire rate by exploiting the way virtual rifles work. No scoping is simply firing without aiming and relying on the power of your gun to offset your lack of precision. Quick scoping is a practice in which virtual snipers learn to bring up the scope reticle only long enough to squeeze off one, quick shot. On consoles, where auto-aim has become standard, those who have mastered quick scoping can almost guarantee a hit - which is usually all a sniper will need. How Titanfall's developers plan to counter these tactics is unknown. It could be that players simply move too fast for quick scoping and no scoping to work properly (as in Tribes: Ascend), or Respawn may have increased the amount of time necessary to aim and then fire. We have attempted to contact the developer for further information, but have yet to hear back.
Meet Atlas, Titanfall's mechanized workhorse
When Titanfall touches down on the Xbox One, it will be the Atlas leading the charge thanks to its balanced blend of armor and firepower - a design feature adding much-needed versatility to a machine that would otherwise spend its days stomping puny humans into goo.
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Stryder class mech strides proudly in Titanfall reveal trailer
The Stryder class titan will be stridin' across your Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC when Titanfall lands on all three systems on March 11, 2014. This lithe and shapely mech outperforms every other class of bipedal death machine in speed and mobility but it lacks the heavier armor of other classes.
