The Official NextBox Thread!

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Aslanna
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Aslanna »

Winnow wrote:I'm surprised you posted the one with actual people. Kotaku had like 20 pictures of what looked liked garage doors with no one around.
Because, unlike others around here, I am fair and balanced! I'm sure there are some people that are buying it in Japan. As I said I'd be surprised if it didn't at least beat the PS4 on the launch week.

Image

Microsoft seems a bit butt hurt about that. However considering how they suckle off the Call of Duty teat it's a bit surprising they are poking Activision with that stick.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Aslanna »

Xbox One Suffers Worst First Week Sales in Recent History for a Home Console in Japan

We just learned that Xbox One sold 23,562 units during its first week on the shelves in Japan according to the reliable data announced by Famitsu and its publisher Enterbrain.
So much for that idea. Maybe China will pick up the slack! Having said that the PS4 is only doing about 5,000 a week so hey.. Microsoft can say they beat PS4 in sales in Japan (for that week).


Microsoft is seemingly pretty desperate in the US (not sure on other regions) where they are giving away a free game this week if you buy their console. In addition to any game that comes in a bundle. So in effect you could pay $399 and get two games, such as Madden 15 and Destiny, included. I wonder if that will be enough to offset the bunch of white PS4s Sony surely sold. The numbers for September should be interesting!

I never understood the big deal about a free game as in the grand scheme of things games are pretty cheap and it's really just a carrot to get you invested in their ecosystem and spend much more money. Sure it's nice to be included with a console you already planned on getting but I don't really see it as much of an incentive if you have no desire to get that console in the first place.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

Yet another great Kinect game:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/18/xbox ... 4-swery65/

Can be used with regular controller as well.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

Forza Horizons:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/forza-horizon-2

Yet another highly rated Xbox Exclusive!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Aslanna »

The holidays are starting early this year as the Season of Xbox will begin on November 2, when Xbox One will be available for a special, limited-time promotional offer of $349 in the U.S. Special promotional pricing of $50 off the console of your choice applies to any Xbox One console, including special edition bundles
"Season of Xbox"? Really? That made me laugh.

Regardless, it seems like XBO might actually win (NPD-wise) in the US over PS4 finally which I imagine is the reason for the 02-Nov start date. Whether that carries on once promotions like this end remains to be seen.
Last edited by Aslanna on October 27, 2014, 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Funkmasterr »

It's really sad the lengths they're going to to try and keep up with the PS4, and still failing miserably.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

As long as exclusives remain better along with much less delay/network (Drive) issues, the Xbox One remains the better console despite total sales figures.

I do like the idea behind game sharing the supposedly PS4 will have but you can't count on that until it's verified as working well and is actually released. We've all been burned before by Sony promises, like DAY ONE release game Drive which was delayed a year and still doesn't work. No more hype. Results would be nice. Microsoft has been putting out their quality exclusives on time.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Funkmasterr »

This thing you do has to be getting old, even to you.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

Solid 83 Metacritic Review Score for Xbox exclusive Sunset Overdrive:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one ... -overdrive
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Funkmasterr »

Even with eleventy-billion servers MS couldn't have a smooth launch of their flagship title (Halo). Riddled with matchmaking issues, achievements not unlocking, etc. Pathetic.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Funkmasterr wrote:Even with eleventy-billion servers MS couldn't have a smooth launch of their flagship title (Halo). Riddled with mathmaking issues, achievements not unlocking, etc. Pathetic.
So many Xbox One exclusives. They're overwhelming the servers.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Aslanna »

It hasn't been the best of launches for 343 Industries and Microsoft. Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been suffering matchmaking problems over Xbox Live since the title was released at midnight on November 11.

Following yesterday's ongoing updates, day two of the online problems starts with a new update on the official Halo website. Dan Ayoub, the game's executive producer, says that the studio is rolling out fixes today for matchmaking and this weekend to address newly discovered achievement-related problems.
If only MS had delayed the release a little longer. lolz. Good job on hitting that release date though!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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The Xbox One launch of Ori and the Blind Forest is being delayed past this holiday season, with aims to release the game in early 2015, developer Moon Studios announced.
Microsoft should just change the name of their console to the Xbox One More Delay!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Animalor »

Anyone else get a free copy of Limbo due to the 1st birthday/early adopter thing? That was nice getting a copy of something that hadn't even been announced for free.

I watched their free copy of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods. And then I remembered why I hadn't bothered watching Dragon Ball Z in a really long time.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

Animalor wrote:Anyone else get a free copy of Limbo due to the 1st birthday/early adopter thing? That was nice getting a copy of something that hadn't even been announced for free.

I watched their free copy of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods. And then I remembered why I hadn't bothered watching Dragon Ball Z in a really long time.
I got a crappy Xbox One day one background and some free views of the Halo series or something.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Funkmasterr »

Same, background. I laughed and deleted the email.

The Halo show (Nightfall) is ok, it started off good and has been losing steam. At least that part of MCC works though, unlike the multiplayer. I can't believe how bad they fucked the release of this game up, this was literally the One (hurr) thing that they needed to not fuck up, and they fucked it up worse than almost any game release I can think of in recent history. I think this is seriously going to hinder their ability to move more consoles this holiday season, even with the price drop.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

It's official: PlayStation 4's streak of being the best-selling console in the United States is over. Microsoft's Xbox One officially beat out Sony's console in the United States for the month of November.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Aslanna »

When they were practically giving them away does this come as a surprise to anyone? You'd have to be a doofus to think it wasn't going to happen.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Boogahz »

I bet I counted for two of those systems, and it was all due to the Microsoft Store being a piece of shit. They've both been returned since then.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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In China, The Xbox One Is Now $80 Cheaper

Microsoft's Xbox One has had a pretty rough time in China. Despite good early sales, the system is having problems, and now with the looming PlayStation 4, Microsoft and its retail vendors have resorted to dropping the price of the console.

The price cut comes right off the heel's of Sony's own PlayStation announcement in China. Similar to when it launched in the US, the PlayStation has a lower price point, starting at 2899 RMB.
Yet another way the PS4 is helping gamers around the world. Even if they do choose to buy the inferior console.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Funkmasterr wrote: The Halo show (Nightfall) is ok, it started off good and has been losing steam.
I watched all 5 of the Halo Nightfall episodes. Overall it was..."ok".

It started off pretty well on a populated planet with a few cool looking aliens but ended up in budget mode.

budget mode =

-desolate landscape
-dark all the time where you can barely see anything
-enemy that is small and pretty featureless but massive in quantity.

Main character (black guy) and the other main character (leader of the other group) did a pretty good acting job. Might be ok with a bigger budget.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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I'm sure Xbox owners are glad Microsoft has the superior network over the PlayStation one so that they were able to enjoy their online games today.

Oh wait. That didn't happen since they were both mucked up the whole day.

Even Kim Dotcom got involved. Which seems fairly bizarre. Regardless, I'm sure Winnow will continue to live in denial.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

Today, Xbox Live seems to mostly be up and running. PSN is still down, though Sony says they're working on it.
and then there's that
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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There's what?

What I learned today is that China needs to have it's internet privileges taken away. I'm really curious what's in Saint Louis. It wouldn't surprise me if that's where PSN login servers were!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Funkmasterr »

Xbox live may be up, but we couldn't get into any multiplayer or co op in halo tonight. So Microsoft continues to disappoint, and even though Xbox live is up, it's a far cry from fully functional.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

Two days following the Christmas day outage that laid low both Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, users are still having trouble connecting to PlayStation Network services on PS4 and PS3.

While a tweet posted early this morning gave PlayStation Network users hope that all was returning to normal following two days of crippling downtime, as of this writing users are still having trouble connecting to the PlayStation Network on the PlayStation 4, while both Sony consoles are having issues connecting to the PlayStation Store.

Testing the service myself, on the PS3 I was able to connect to an online match of P4 Arena Ultimax just fine, but have been unable to access the store since last night.

Attempting to connect to the PlayStation Store or any PlayStation Network services on the PlayStation 4 returns the "connection to the server has been lost" message seen above. Being unable to connect to the network also means any game I've downloaded from the PlayStation Store will not open, as the verification server cannot be reached.

Sony has not replied to multiple requests for comment on the cause of these network issues and how it is handling the problem.

As of this writing Xbox Live services have been up and running relatively smoothly since yesterday morning.

A heavy influx of new users may have led to some of the issues we've encountered over the past few days. A popular theory regarding the outages is that they are the work of an online collective known as Lizard Squad, which had threatened previously to take down both services on Christmas day. However Lizard Squad claimed their attacks on the networks ended the evening of December 25.

We will continue to monitor the situation and update should Sony respond to our continued queries.
Microsoft's Servers and Network are more robust. My comment from many moons ago is still true that both may go down, but one goes back up sooner and goes down less often.

Sony is the same company that introduced company sponsored ROOT KITS to your windows based machines. Gee, I wonder why some people hate them. Hopefully Kim Dotcom can save Sony's network. Lets see, ROOT KITS or removing the Start Button (like taking a pacifier away from a 20 year old baby)...hmmmm, what's worse? Lets get our priorities straight.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Blah blah blah. You might want to use that pacifier yourself!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Just tested, all things working for me on ps4, matchmaking in several Xbox one games (halo and worms) still not working. Keep believing, though.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Aslanna wrote:Blah blah blah. You might want to use that pacifier yourself!
No shit
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Sony issued a statement on the PlayStation blog today explaining the PlayStation Network problems occurring over the past 48 hours as the service experiences fresh issues with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 users unable to sign in.

“The video game industry has been experiencing high levels of traffic designed to disrupt connectivity and online gameplay,” says Catherine Jensen, vice president of SCEA Consumer Experience . “Multiple networks, including PSN, have been affected over the last 48 hours. PSN engineers are working hard to restore full network access and online gameplay as quickly as possible.”

“From time to time there may be disruptions in service due to surges in traffic, but our engineers will be working to restore service as quickly as possible.”
Might be easier if you had a more robust network! Guess I'd rather suck on my pacifier and be right than smoke a cigarette and be oblivious to why that might not be the best choice!

Imagine if your cigarette pack included a USB drive that installed a ROOT KIT on your PC when used. My Pacifier package includes another pacifier in case I wear out the first one! Suck on that! Whatever you do, don't suck on your PS4 joysticks or you'll suck the rubber right off.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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You're an idiot if you don't know how a DDoS works. It has nothing to do with having (or not having) a "robust network". Good day, sir!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Aslanna wrote:You're an idiot if you don't know how a DDoS works. It has nothing to do with having (or not having) a "robust network". Good day, sir!
huh?

Robust definition: able to withstand or overcome adverse conditions.

Microsoft's network is more robust than Sony's as they are up and Sony isn't after a DDos attack.

Set up a server on your home PC and see if it withstands the same level of DDos attack. Unless that's true, then yes, the robustness of a network matters. If it didn't, Sony's weak online service wouldn't crash any time they get a slight flux in traffic. If it was robust, it'd be back up and running like Microsoft's network is. Sony is a crap company when it comes to security, marketing lies and outright moves to fuck up your hardware (22 million Root Kits delivered via CDs) They can't handle their own security (100% hack of Entertainment Division), can't handle their Network Security (PSN hacked and down for over a month in the past and down again longer than it should be), and go on the offensive by fucking up your PC with root kits. On top of that, they pissed off North Korea, a clown of a country, and managed to cause national headlines and get the NSA involved with a retarded movie release because they can't keep their shit in order.

Hell, Sony helps to screw over other companies as well. Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo, Fujitsu had to recall around 6 million faulty Sony made lithium batteries in the early 2000's. Maybe we can address Sony's lame proprietary formats like Universal Media Disks and was overpriced Memory Sticks their camera's took when everyone else's cameras took cheap SD cards later. Oh wait, the Vita still takes ridiculously overpriced proprietary memory cards!

And people are upset over a removed Windows Start Button and genius digital sharing strategies by Microsoft that the general public doesn't have the foresight to embrace? Bigger picture people!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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On a positive note, Microsoft has the resources and money to pursue these attackers and they've shown the ability to track down hackers in the past. You'll most likely have Microsoft to thank if/when they are caught.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Image

Here's a hint: Perhaps the reason Live is up is because MS is no longer being attacked yet Sony's network is. Oh shit you didn't think about that did you?!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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They also said Microsoft was easier to take down btw.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Aslanna wrote: Here's a hint: Perhaps the reason Live is up is because MS is no longer being attacked yet Sony's network is. Oh shit you didn't think about that did you?!
And why is that? Because more people hate Sony? If it really was those lizard people, they said they stopped and the "aftermath" is all that's left a day ago.

Then again, why listen to what hackers say? Unless they have a reason to favor Microsoft, it must be a god damned miracle that Live is up more often and down shorter times than Sony if it's that easy to take down. I certainly can see why there are more reasons to hate Sony over Microsoft, especially for those that don't appreciate root kits, marketing lies, etc.

Sony can start gaining some accountability by announcing some esclusives in May and getting maybe one out ten dates right instead of announce launch day titles to boost their marketing campaign that come out still broken a year later. I'm guessing they'll blow their budget again on an E3 extravaganza show instead of pumping money into their network and security, especially since all they have left is their PS4 division to make money on.

Image

Looks like PSN is back up. Enjoy! Lets hope fearsome North Korea doesn't flex its muscles against Sony.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Winnow wrote:And why is that? Because more people hate Sony? If it really was those lizard people, they said they stopped and the "aftermath" is all that's left a day ago.
This makes no sense. I'm not sure how you can quantify how much hate each company has.
Then again, why listen to what hackers say? Unless they have a reason to favor Microsoft, it must be a god damned miracle that Live is up more often and down shorter times than Sony if it's that easy to take down.
They aren't hackers and I wish people, such as just about all the 'news' sites, would stop labeling them as such. DDoS isn't a hack. Again I don't think you realize how it works so perhaps you should go learn about basic networking.
After a couple of rocky days for Xbox Live users it appears now that Microsoft is still having issues with their online services for Xbox One after initially reporting the services have been restored earlier today.

According to Xbox Live status page in a new update, Xbox Live Core Services are now "Limited" and affected services listed are "Signing into Xbox Live on Xbox One". Microsoft offers this generic explanation as of 12/27/2014 7:42:07 PM EST:

"Are you having a difficult time signing in to Xbox Live? We’re aware of this issue, and we’re doing our best to get this sorted out ASAP! Thanks for staying patient, Xbox members. We’ll let you know where we stand on our investigation in 30 minutes."
Oh that's a shame. I guess Microsoft forgot to turn on their "security" to make their network more "robust" from "hackers".

Although I do find the timestamp in that quote fairly ironic since that's shortly after you were here praising Microsoft and letting us know how awesome they are.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

Four days after an apparent denial of service attack knocked out the PlayStation Network for all of Christmas, and in the wake of a weekend during which things appeared to be working OK for most people, Sony's online service is still unstable.

About half an hour ago, we started seeing a spike of people reporting that PSN had suddenly gone down for them. Here at Kotaku HQ, we were unable to connect for a while, but right now we're online. Other remote members of the team were also able to log into the PlayStation Network without problems.

But we don't appear to be in the clear just yet, which is a serious problem given that people are paying monthly for Sony's online service—a service that's required in order to play multiplayer games on the PlayStation 4.

Over on the PlayStation website—where Sony is offering a potential hotfix that might help you connect if you've been knocked offline—the folks behind PSN say connectivity is "intermittent." But a quick search on Twitter reveals dozens upon dozens of people saying they can't connect at the moment. Here's hoping Sony can fix things for those of us who want to get in a Crota raid before the reset tomorrow.
Probably not a good idea to try and go toe to toe with down time posts when it comes to PSN vs Xbox Live. Kind of funny Sony posting MTU hacks to try and fix things.

Russia has a ton of hackers. Maybe Sony can make a movie about assassinating Putin to test out their network.
After four days I finally managed to get online last night, but today I got kicked back offline. I don't get it. It's pretty ridiculous. I just got Destiny on Christmas and I'd really appreciate being able to play it.
I feel for you anonymous internet commenter!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Winnow wrote:Kind of funny Sony posting MTU hacks to try and fix things.
Is is an option in Network Settings. How is that a hack? Well you consider Lizard Squad hackers so I guess I can see that as a possibility.
Winnow wrote:
After four days I finally managed to get online last night, but today I got kicked back offline. I don't get it. It's pretty ridiculous. I just got Destiny on Christmas and I'd really appreciate being able to play it.
I feel for you anonymous internet commenter!
I don't. An anonymous Xbox troller probably. Is that you Winnow?

Considering PSN was back up early Saturday night and all day Sunday with just minor issues for some people Monday afternoon yeah I can see how you haven't been able to play Destiny the past four days. Meanwhile I probably put in 15 hours playing Destiny in that time. Keep fucking that chicken!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Winnow »

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-im ... n-xbox-one
Microsoft improves performance of eSRAM on Xbox One

Microsoft's Xbox One gaming console has been the recipient of a lot of criticism, much of which has been the result of the console not keeping up with cutting edge graphics like the PS4 seems to. The confusing choice for Microsoft opting for GDDR3 and eSRAM to push high-end graphics has been a source of tension, but in its latest update to its SDK, the eSRAM within the Xbox One has been improved.

In talking to Gamingbolt over the upcoming Dying Light zombie-survival game, Lead Game Designer Maciej Binkowski confirmed the improvements to the Xbox One's eSRAM module:

“The new API allows you to do a lot more with the ESRAM, things devs have always wanted to do but were not easily accessible. This together with better tools (PIX) allowed us to really improve performance and tweak ESRAM usage".

For those unaware, PIX stands for Performance Investigator for Xbox, a debugging tool being used on code running on the Xbox One. Dying Light looks to be another title in which members of the Xbox team have come alongside a development team in order to properly utilize the Xbox One hardware to get the best results possible. Previously, Microsoft coordinated with Bungie and Rockstar Games to ensure that 1080p was reached on both Destiny and Grand Theft Auto 5 for the Xbox One.

The updates to the Xbox One SDK as well as other small improvements for developer tools will aid future games in achieving the best possible visual and playable results on Xbox One. It is expected that, sometime in 2015, Microsoft will push out a DirectX 12 update to the Xbox One, which should help with cross-platform development and potentially improve the performance of the Xbox One
eSRAM FTW!

It's not all bad news out there.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Funkmasterr »

Meanwhile, no one I was playing with could get party chat working last night, we tried intermittently over about a six hour period and nothing. But hey, Xbox live is up and stable, right?

Just stfu already
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Funkmasterr wrote:Meanwhile, no one I was playing with could get party chat working last night, we tried intermittently over about a six hour period and nothing. But hey, Xbox live is up and stable, right?

Just stfu already
Haven't used my Xbox One in a month so I can't verify that!

I've accidentally turned on my Xbox One more than I've intentionally turned it on over the past 4 or so months. I have a large (deep) desk. My Xbox One and PS4 sit in front of me on the back part of my desk. When I reach for something in front of the Xbox One, I tend to hit the extremely easy to activate touch start location on the front of the box. Luckily it powers off pretty fast if I hit it again! Of course, I blame PS4 for this on/off issue as I have to grab got the LAME usb/power charge cable to plug in my dualshock controller that gets in the way of everything cluttering up the desk.

Same would be true for not using the PS4 if it wasn't for Dragon Age.

eSRAM > PS4 cheap rubber on dualshock joysticks
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Whatever helps you sleep at night!

So why didn't you buy DA:I for XBO instead of PS4?
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Winnow wrote:On a positive note, Microsoft has the resources and money to pursue these attackers and they've shown the ability to track down hackers in the past.
Maybe Microsoft should use some of that money and resources to beef up their network!
While 2014 is stepping aside for 2015 in many countries, apparently the Holidays problems for our consoles’ online services aren’t out of the door yet, as Xbox Live is currently suffering from connectivity issues.

Many users are reporting inability to access their friend list and party chat over social media platforms. Luckily, online gaming seems to remain accessible for most users.
Now can we stop posting stupid articles every time a gaming network has issues? It doesn't prove anything other than all networks are susceptible to problems.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Boogahz »

Maybe the "hacker's" release of the Microsoft SDK will result in better games.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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UK police are investigating and have arrested 22-year-old Vinnie Omari, an alleged member of the group connected to the attacks on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live last week, according to multiple reports this afternoon.

The arrest, which occurred on Monday, appears to be part of an ongoing investigation by UK police into a series of PayPal thefts that have occurred over the past two years, and may be unrelated to last week's attacks. But Omari also says police seized his computers and other electronic devices, showing an apparent search warrant to the Daily Dot that authorizes police to search his stuff for connections to the DDoS attack that crippled PSN on Christmas.

Omari made bail on Tuesday and must appear in court on March 10, 2015 for this arrest, according to a bail notice obtained by reporter Brian Krebs.2

It's unclear what kind of connections Omari has to Lizard Squad, the group that has claimed responsibility for last week's PSN attack. Though Omari at first said he had helped launch the DDoS attack in interviews with various media outlets, he has since backtracked on that claim, alleging on his Twitter account that he is not actually part of the group.3

On Monday, I had a bizarre Skype call with three people connected to Lizard Squad, including Omari, who claimed he had only recently become affiliated with the group and was not involved with last week's attacks. During the call, one participant said while laughing that Omari was the "leader" of Lizard Squad; Omari fired back that this other member was "trolling." It was a strange, often incomprehensible conversation that resulted in very few answers and almost no helpful information.45

Omari has certainly made an effort to portray the image that he is part of Lizard Squad, going so far as to participate in radio calls and even an on-camera Sky News interview in which he is identified as a "security analyst." Krebs, who has extensive history reporting on cybersecurity, pegged him and a Finnish teenager as members of the group, although it remains unclear just how much responsibility they share for the events of last week, despite the interviews they've conducted with various media outlets.

Omari did not respond to requests for more information this afternoon.
Nice. Need a few arrests to at least give the kids a little scare and think twice about fucking around on the net. In other news:
The Army may ditch fitness tests for unfit, 'ponytail-wearing' hackers

It's a truth, often forgotten, that no-one can be perfect at everything. We may laud Justin Timberlake's musical, dancing and acting ability, but he's probably a terrible plumber. It's a problem that the Army is beginning to understand, since the sort of people who can successfully fight in a cyber war are more likely to be bad at assault courses, climbing ropes and carrying heavy objects. It's with this in mind that Lt. Gen. Robert Brown, head of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, says that the US Army may relax its fitness requirements for digital soldiers.
Speaking at the New America Foundation, the Telegraph reports that the officer said that the best cyber soldiers "are not natural candidates for a military career." He went on to add, delightfully, that these teens "grew up on Google and wear ponytails," and they're probably listening to some of that gosh-darn it loud rock and roll music, too. Of course, this is an off-hand remark from a single officer, although it's a sentiment that's been uttered before, most recently by Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet in October. Still, it looks as if all those hours of Uplink may just get you out of having to do the regulation 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups and 2-mile run.
Makes total sense. Physical fitness (besides basic health) means nothing in the new "cyber" war. I can foresee other potential problems as hackers typically focus on things they're interested in and may get bored fast if tasked for long periods of time on something. I'd also probably create separate units/barracks as watching a fat-ass walk around eating donuts while regular army types train might not be too motivating. I think it's doable but, kind of like when the Air Force branched off from the Army (previously known as the (Army Air Corps), they'd probably want to branch off the "digital soldier" division into it's on service branch eventually. Their theme song could be the one from Portal, "The Cake is a Lie".
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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Xbox Live is having trouble again with social features, with many users reporting trouble displaying their friends on Xbox One and Xbox 360, or connecting to a party chat. Not everyone seems to be affected, but it appears to be rather widespread.

While the Xbox Live service status shows only Xbox 360 and “Xbox on other devices” affected, it’s definitely involving Xbox One as well (showing the screen below with the rather funny “Sorry, we can’t show your friends right now” illustration) . Luckily, gaming seems to be unaffected in most cases, besides the inability to communicate.

The service suffered from this issue intermittently in the past few weeks, even if luckily most of the times it was solved rather quickly. We’ll keep you posted on how the situation progresses.

Update: the official status page has now aknowledged the outage on XBox One too.
Guess it will be down on a weekly basis.

robust!
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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I've honestly had enough of the shit on both platforms.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

Post by Animalor »

Truthfully, if it hasn't been for the smear campaign on both these threads, I wouldn't even have noticed the incidents in question.
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Re: The Official NextBox Thread!

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I wouldn't call it a campaign necessarily... But I have to counterpoint every time Winnow posts about PSN since he apparently thinks XBOX Live is some magical gaming network that never has any issues. If he would admit that both have their weaknesses we could move on.

I also have not noticed any issues with PSN other than the Christmas time one and I play Destiny almost every day. Most of the other issues PSN encountered since then were isolated and did not affect everyone.
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