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New Xbox head Phil Spencer promises renewed focus on gaming across all Microsoft platforms
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the new head of its Xbox division this morning: Phil Spencer, longtime Microsoft Studios leader and Xbox game dude. In Spencer's initial letter to the legions of Xbox owners the world over, his approach comes across as scattershot. See for yourself: "This past year has been a growth experience both for me and for the entire Xbox team. We've taken feedback, made our products better and renewed our focus on what is most important, our customer. Our mission is to build a world-class team, work hard to meet the high expectations of a passionate fan base, create the best games and entertainment and drive technical innovation. As we continue forward, this renewed focus and mission will be a foundational part of how I lead the Xbox program." Given that, our first question to Spencer in a short phone interview this afternoon was one of clarification. With so many aspects of Xbox to oversee, where will he begin? "I'm gonna lead with a gaming focus and making sure that's where we're led. That's the North Star for the organization," he told us.
Xbox gets a new leader at Microsoft: Phil Spencer
When longtime Xbox lead Marc Whitten left for Sonos recently, Microsoft was left without an exec to lead up one of its most powerful divisions. Today, Phil Spencer is stepping in to fill that spot -- not exactly a surprise given Spencer's past role leading up the Xbox software side (specifically games). Beyond just Microsoft Studios and Xbox, Spencer says he's, "leading the Xbox, Xbox Live, and creative teams including Xbox Music, Xbox Video and Microsoft Studios." It also stands to reason that we'll see a lot more of Spencer during Microsoft's annual E3 briefing and in press interviews; what we're trying to say is "expect to hear from him a lot more going forward." Not sure who Phil Spencer is? Rest assured, we've got more on his background below.
MLB.tv and Epix streaming apps are coming to Xbox One
Xbox One owners already have their fair share of video services to choose from in the US, but they're about to get a pair of welcome additions. Major League Baseball now says that MLB.tv Premium should be available to stream live games on the console in time for opening day. Meanwhile, Epix has revealed plans to bring its primarily movie-focused service to the Xbox One in the near future. And don't worry about being left out if you're still hanging on to your Xbox 360 -- Starz has just launched Encore Play and Movieplex Play apps for the earlier system, while Major League Gaming released its e-sports app yesterday. All told, it looks like you'll have plenty of viewing options this spring.
Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes: The Joystiq Review
It's a pleasure being lost in the universe of Metal Gear. With every game, and with every return of director Hideo Kojima, the fascinating stealth series redraws the boundaries of its dense military fiction, pushing them back to include more and more characters and conspiracies. We feel like time-travelers in Metal Gear's byzantine blend of fact and fiction, leaping back and forth between the future and past of a legendary soldier named Snake. Now we enter 1975 in Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, and bless its prequel heart – there's a spot in the statistics screen reserved for time paradoxes. Kojima's fiction may be impenetrable to the newcomer, but one man's convoluted is another man's complex, and it's your job to infiltrate the latter. Ground Zeroes effectively acts as the cold open for the upcoming and separately released Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, sending Snake through a massive rain-drenched encampment in Cuba. It's not quite the glorified demo your cynical self might suggest, but this tantalizing playground does show how Metal Gear Solid will change its crouching silhouette yet again. The mission to rescue Chico and the duplicitous Paz, two important figures from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, is just the first step in a new, freely explorable environment. It feels daunting at first, but clear goals keep you pointed in the right direction. Ground Zeroes is a confident game for the confident player – the one who sees the playground hiding beneath Metal Gear's tankers and army bases. This one's just a whole lot bigger. Click here for more
Watch us play Titanfall for Xbox One (poorly) right here! (update: and it's over!)
Xbox One's first major release officially drops this week: Titanfall, from the folks who made Call of Duty into the 800-lb. gorilla it is today. Well, specifically, it launches tomorrow, but we've got it right now and thought you'd like a taste before deciding if it's your next thousand-hour addiction, so we're streaming it via Twitch just below the break. Though both Ben Gilbert (that's me!) and Tim Seppala are on the stream today, you'll have to settle for just Ben's audio as we try and figure out how to incorporate more editors into the mix. Technology is hard, folks. And hey, this is our first stream, so let us know what you think in the comments: love it? hate it? what would you like to see? what don't you? Your input is appreciated! Now let's go shoot some robots. Update: Sorry for the troubles, folks. With the Xbox One Twitch app still in beta, we're having some issues keeping a stream up and running. Bear with us! Update 2: Okay folks, we're out! Again, please let us know how you feel about this concept in the comments/via email/on Twitter/etc.! Head below for the archived video, and thanks very much for joining us!
WWE Network wrestling is now streaming on virtually every device you own
WWE promised that Americans would be watching body slams and piledrivers on a myriad of devices toward the end of this month, and that moment is finally at hand. WWE Network apps are now available in the US for almost every major platform under the sun, including Android, Apple TV, iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Roku players, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. In all cases, you'll pay $10 per month to stream live wrestling events as well as beyond-the-ring content like documentaries and classic matches. The app also serves as a second screen companion when you're watching live TV shows. International grappling fans will have to remain patient, however -- WWE Network won't reach other countries until late 2014 or early 2015.
PlayStation 4 tops next-generation console sales in the US for January
As it turns out, Microsoft's lead in US next-generation console sales was short-lived. NPD has just released estimates which show that the PlayStation 4 outsold the Xbox One during January. Neither the NPD nor Sony is providing exact numbers, although Sony Senior VP Guy Longworth states that PS4 sales were almost twice as high as Microsoft's. The system was certainly alluring enough to drive game sales during the quarter -- the PS4 was the platform of choice for five of the top 10 games, while the Xbox One was never higher than second. Microsoft also isn't divulging Xbox One figures, although NPD tells us that the system was the runner-up in hardware sales. The company can trumpet the strength of the overall Xbox brand, though. Together, the Xbox 360 and Xbox One represented 47 percent of game sales; the Xbox 360 was also the most popular system for five of the top 10 software releases. Nintendo has a silver lining on its dark cloud, too. Game sales for the 3DS and Wii U respectively increased by six and 26 percent year-over-year. That's no mean feat when overall spending was down by a quarter. Whichever platform you prefer, we wouldn't declare the console wars over -- not when expected system sellers like Titanfall could easily shift the balance of power.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best-selling game of 2013
Between a $1 billion debut and rave reviews, it's probably not a huge shock to you that Grand Theft Auto 5 was the best-selling game of 2013. Regardless, Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive confirmed suspicions today in its financial earnings release. "Grand Theft Auto V finished as the best-selling video game of 2013," the release states, attributing that claim to NPD. "To date, Grand Theft Auto V has sold-in more than 32.5 million units." Even with the game's mass popularity and somewhat staid approach to world-building, we can't help but commend Rockstar Games on the achievement -- we loved our time in GTA5's single-player and (occasionally troubled) online worlds. Now all we can do is hope for an even prettier version on these new game consoles (or PC, for that matter) in 2014, though we don't expect a repeat performance in the "best-selling game" category. Let's not get too crazy.
Microsoft buys Gears of War franchise, new game in development
Microsoft now owns another major franchise tied to its Xbox game consoles: Gears of War. That includes "rights to all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise," and it looks like a new game (likely for Xbox One) is already in production at Black Tusk Studios in Canada (Microsoft actually teased a project from Black Tusk back at E3 2013 during the company's press briefing). The franchise's former director of production, Rod Fergusson, will take on oversight. The Gears of War franchise was exclusive to the Xbox 360 (and later on PC as well), and Unreal Engine developer Epic Games used the third-person shooter series to show off its engine's graphical chops. Beyond being a graphical showcase, however, Gears of War developed a loyal following among online console gamers -- last year's Gears of War: Judgment was the first entry in the franchise co-developed by Epic and Bulletstorm dev People Can Fly, and it was expected to be the final entry in the series. Beyond a new entry in the massively popular shooter franchise, we expect re-issues (perhaps prettied-up re-issues) will happen at some point (a la Tomb Raider's "Definitive" Edition). At the very least, Gears fans can rest assured that more tales of meaty space marines taking down Locust are on the way care of Microsoft.
Microsoft: Xbox One is #1 in the US for December with 908,000 consoles sold
Microsoft and Sony already went head to head with worldwide sales numbers for 2013 and while the PS4 rode is out front there (4.2 million to 3 million), the Xbox One apparently sold more systems in the US last month. December figures from the NPD group arrived today, and Microsoft is touting 908,000 sales for the XB1 that put it atop the next-gen videogame systems, and 643,000 for the Xbox 360. That puts it third overall on the home hardware list and first for its generation of hardware. Per Joystiq, Sony's response to the data is that the PS4 remains "cumulative leader for next-gen sales" since its launch November 15th, a week ahead of the Xbox One. Nintendo hasn't released specific data yet, but the 3DS was the highest selling console overall for both the month of December and all of 2013, and Liam Callahan of the NPD said the Wii U enjoyed its "highest month for unit sales." The NPD's release has more details about software, where GTA V took the crown overall for 2013, ahead of Call of Duty Ghosts, Madden NFL 25 and Battlefield 4. Microsoft is also pointing to those numbers, saying the Xbox One took six of the top 10 spots for next-gen game sales, and total software sales of 4.8 million to PS4's 4.2 million. Now that fans have plenty of sales numbers to represent why their chosen next-gen game system is the best, the rest of us can get to the exciting business of waiting for the first round of major software updates.
Microsoft's first Xbox-exclusive documentary is digging up Atari's past
Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios will launch its first original documentary production next year, a film exploring the rise and fall of game industry legacy Atari. You read that right: a modern game console manufacturer is creating a documentary about a failed game console manufacturer. A bit meta if you ask us! Anyway, the documentary will focus on digging up the symbolic grave of the early game industry: a burial site with "millions of unsold game cartridges" in New Mexico. The game in question was the Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T., a holiday 1982 release -- often called one of the worst games ever made. A new production studio co-founded by Simon and Jonathan Chinn (Man on Wire, FX's 30 Days), named Lightbox, is heading up production; filming is slated to start in early 2014, with an exclusive debut on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One at some point later in the year. It's unlikely that the Atari doc will be the first product from Xbox Entertainment Studios to launch in 2014, as shows are scheduled to roll out starting in early 2014.
Xbox 360 Time Warner Cable app finally gets video-on-demand
It's been a long wait for Xbox 360-faithful wanting Time Warner Cable video-on-demand through their console, but the feature has finally arrived with some 5,000 promised titles (there's good news for Roku users too, where TWC TV has added VOD to go along with that new YouTube app). If you somehow still aren't entertained, well maybe chatting with other TWC customers via the app's messaging feature will do the trick. This seems a tad redundant when the 360's native messaging client is a few button presses away, but we dig having another way to spoil the latest New Girl for our pals.
Bungie's Destiny ships worldwide on September 9th, 2014
Wondering when you can get Bungie's first big post-Halo project, Destiny? Wonder no more: the company has revealed that its ambitious, MMO-like shooter will ship worldwide on September 9th, 2014. PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 users will get first crack at the beta test sometime earlier in the summer, although Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners should eventually have their turn. That's a long time to wait, especially if you're using a new console that doesn't have many titles to start with, but Bungie's track record suggests that patience will be a virtue.
U-Verse dropping Xbox 360 receiver support after December 31st
We hope you weren't bent on using the Xbox 360 as a U-Verse TV receiver. AT&T is now telling customers that it will drop IPTV support for Microsoft's older console after December 31st, leaving viewers with little choice but to use a conventional set-top box. Subscribers will get a $99 credit in return for their troubles, the provider says. We've reached out to AT&T for more details regarding the move, but there are no signs of an official Xbox One substitute on the horizon. [Thanks, Chuck]
Xbox 360 tops NPD console charts one last time before next-gen begins
How do you close out a console generation? By reclaiming your crown. According to NPD's October figures, Microsoft is back on top: The Xbox 360 is once again the best-selling home console. It's hardly surprising -- Microsoft has dominated home console sales for years, losing out to the PlayStation 3 for the first time in ages just last month. It almost wouldn't be notable, save for the fact that this month's numbers are the last NPD figures before the industry moves on. The PlayStation 4 launches at midnight tonight, and the Xbox One will be available in just a few days. You can almost see the anticipation in the numbers. Hardware sales totaled $171.7 million for the month, 8 percent less than the same period last year and over $10 million less than the previous month. Business as usual, really. Care to take stab at who will take the cake in generation eight's first NPD report? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Halo series spinoff Spartan Assault to end Windows exclusivity for Xbox One and Xbox 360
Once again proving the Halo adage "Spartans Never Die," the twin-stick top-down shooter Halo: Spartan Assault lives on with ports to Xbox One and Xbox 360. Both will arrive "this December," having first launched on Window 8 and Window Phone devices earlier this year. Halo: Spartan Assault was the first Halo video game to launch on mobile and PC ahead of an Xbox platform, and it was developed in-house at Microsoft's 343 Industries (aka "the Halo studio"). It may also be the last Halo game launched on Xbox 360; Halo's next-gen iteration is planned for Xbox One and touts a 60FPS lock, which the 360 can't compete with. The debut trailer is just below the break.
Titanfall reaches Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC on March 11th
The many gamers buying an Xbox One for Titanfall (or don't mind the Xbox 360 and PC versions) can now mark a date on their calendars: EA says that the shooter will reach North America on March 11th, 2014. While that's more than four months away, the company is offering a Collector's Edition that just might encourage a few pre-orders among well-off players. If you can spend $250 -- yes, that's half as much as an Xbox One -- you'll get an 18-inch, LED-lit Atlas Titan figurine that's likely to be the centerpiece of your gaming den. You'll also receive an art book and a large schematic poster. You'll want to act quickly if you like the idea of a miniature (albeit stationary) robot, though. EA says that the Collector's Edition is available in "extremely limited" numbers, which suggests that supply will run out by launch day.
Xbox 360's 'Games with Gold' becomes permanent, still no word on Xbox One version
Microsoft's Xbox 360 monthly free game promo, "Games with Gold," is being extended indefinitely. The program is essentially Microsoft's response on Xbox 360 to Sony's PlayStation Plus initiative on PlayStation 3 and Vita: members who pay the monthly or annual fee to the programs receive a variety of free games each month. Sony announced an extension of its program to its next game console, the PlayStation 4, back at E3 2013 -- anyone who already pays for PS Plus on PS3 or Vita is automatically a member on PS4. Microsoft, however, won't say if "Games with Gold" will extend to its upcoming game console, the Xbox One."We're excited to announce we are extending Games with Gold for Xbox 360. We will share more details on the program soon. Stay tuned for our plans on Xbox One," a Microsoft spokesperson told Engadget. There are, of course, many other benefits to paying for an Xbox Live Gold account on the Xbox One, the least of which is the ability to play online multiplayer games. Games with Gold kicked off in July 2013 with the aged Xbox Live Arcade title Defense Grid, and has since offered a smattering of other titles, from Crackdown to Dead Rising 2. This month's free games are Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes and Halo 3.
IRL: FIFA 14 for Xbox 360
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Soccer (excuse us: football) might not be a popular sport on this side of the Atlantic, but at least one Engadget editor is fan enough for all of us. In addition to playing the sport and following the pro leagues, our own Edgar Alvarez has made a point of buying every new edition of FIFA for Xbox 360. Naturally, he's already had a chance to get comfy with the 2014 version -- and critique it too. Read on for a lightning review from someone who knows a little something about the franchise.
Microsoft unveils three Xbox 360 holiday bundles for Xbox One refuseniks
Microsoft is no stranger to launching Xbox 360 holiday bundles, but it faces a new challenge this year -- it has to include games that won't make us wish we had an Xbox One instead. It may have achieved that feat with a new trio of bundles launching worldwide. Its base 250GB kit ($300) includes both Halo 4 and Tomb Raider, two better games from recent memory. A 4GB Kinect pack (also $300) isn't very memorable with its inclusions of Kinect Adventures and Kinect Sports 2, but a 250GB Kinect offering ($400) supplements these with Forza Horizon. As it did last year, Microsoft is also slashing $50 off the US price of these holiday systems between launch (around October 13th) and the end of the holiday season. We're sure that many would still prefer the latest and greatest Xbox as a gift, but a new 360 bundle could be a nice consolation prize.