» Home

THE STREAM

• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Backwards compatibility a backwards notion, Xbox head says

  31 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Shinn They'd rather spend that money making their drm more pervasive and restrictive.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Technodude

    Does anybody working at Microsoft even play games? What the hell kind of statement is this? I know many people [...]

    Does anybody working at Microsoft even play games? What the hell kind of statement is this? I know many people that regularly enjoy playing old school titles (myself included): the reason why I still attempt to revive my 60GB PS3 now and again to play crash bandicoot and crazy taxi. It could be that I happen to know more people who use backwards compatibility regularly but there's still a market for things like this - GAME in the UK still sell PS1 games for crying out loud! For a company that just release a console that claims to do everything all the devices in your living room can do but not offer backwards compatibility, it seems a little hypocritical don't you think? Even though the PS4 doesn't technically support backwards compatibility at least Sony look like they're making an effort for the streaming service. Because they know what the console should be about - GAMES.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    scott-cornish All this is going to achieve is driving down 360 software sales until xbox one comes out.
  • View all 31 comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Xbox reveals then and now - Xbox One vs. 360

  16 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Seal100 I wonder who Microsoft's demographic is... Because it definitely is not gamers.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Camberf Wow, I guess it COULD have been worse.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    death4us

    This doesn't even feel like a console release at all and on a side note what is with the puny [...]

    This doesn't even feel like a console release at all and on a side note what is with the puny 500gb hard drive. If you have to install all your games completely its going to run out of room fast.
  • View all 16 comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  RadarPlays - Resistance 3

  4 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Xtapolapopotamus O'Henry Gilbert is my favorite Irish GamesRadar editor.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    PlainLikeVanilla You can still buy Mountain Dew Whiteout, I don't know a major chain that doesn't carry it.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    winner2 I could listen to the "SSSUUURRRGGEEE!!!!" war cries all day lol
  • View all 4 comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Alan Wake Humble Bundle comes with sequel regrets

  6 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Child Of Death Damn that sucks. I thought Alan Wake was a brillant game.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    antiAntag0nist I just got Alan Wake through Games on Demand, I hope it turns out well.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Unoriginal

    That is really nice and, dare I say, admirable of him to adress us directly like this and give such [...]

    That is really nice and, dare I say, admirable of him to adress us directly like this and give such a no-bullshit explanation. It's rare to see this kind of honesty and transparency from this degree of developer. Whenever Remedy decides to make Alan Wake 2, I'll be there.
  • View all 6 comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Xbox One is the always-online, used-game-killing nightmare we feared

  54 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    JacksonShadow

    The two big issues on everyone's mind about Microsoft new system are the same ones that have been for the [...]

    The two big issues on everyone's mind about Microsoft new system are the same ones that have been for the last two months. Is it always online? Can it play used games? Vague responses from Microsoft, while not clear or useful, are being taken by many as affirmative on both subjects. The problem though is that they're being taken as affirmations because people made up their minds long before we saw the new console. When you think about the prospect of being always online it scared people, a lot start thinking about security issues, and control issues, and things of that like which is a natural assumption, especially in our electronic age. What they aren't considering is how many people are already always online. The truth is whether you have an Xbox 360 or a PS3,if you use Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network you are in fact always online. While there are users that don't use either service and do enjoy the use of their systems is it really such a large number that a daily check in, a hardware usage check more likely than not, a deal breaker for the rest of us? Never mind Microsoft for a second though, what about Sony and their stated plans to move away from physical media as much as possible within the next generation. They are looking into engineering a system that uses digital only media. What will people do without a connection then? The industry, not just Microsoft, not just Sony, is moving in that direction. More and more gaming is an expensive hobby and it was never cheap to begin with but now, the technology and the companies using it have very specific plans. Welcome to the future, plug in and play your games, watch TV, search the Web, do your homework. We're hitting that point where the living room appliances and desktop PCs are starting to hybridize. We're getting to that weird part of our existence where the lower end of science fiction is coming true. On the subject of playing used games I've read a few things, including someone saying that Gamestop was dying because Microsoft is killing them. To that I say a few things, 1) let them. Hell, watch them burn and pour on some gasoline. As a gamer and a former employee I've never been exposed to such an awful company as Gamestop and I would happily see them go the way of the Buffalo if not dying completely. They treat employees like disposal paper cups, they have no standard as to product care, the upper management is self serving and petty, and depending on who you deal with they have no integrity. 2) Gamestops own bad business decisions, mistreatment of product, and poor planning is the only thing to blame for whether or not they will die. Did you know that for most preowned titles the amount of profit Gamestop makes is between 25 and 70 percent? When you sell a game to them they have a set internal rate based on demand for a title/product. That rate is the lowest likely rate they can allow themselves to pay. Once the product is ready to be sold again however it gets a markup dependant on the same factor. That's why last year's sports game will trade for a dollar but sell for $35. The compani s that manufacture and package the games in the first place only make money off of the first sell. Anytime money trades hands in a Gamestop after that it all belongs to Gamestop. Because of that publishers weren't making as much money as they felt they ought to and we ended up with season passes, dlc codes, multiplayer activation passes, and so on By saying that the X1 would require a newly purchased code for use with a game disc on your profile Microsoft is saying that you're going to have to pay the publisher for the game they made even if you bought it second hand. They aren't trying to kill Gamestop they're trying to keep companies like THQ from ending up the way they did. They're trying to keep the masses happy by giving money to people who both need and deserve it. (hopefully) The term full price is a sketchy term admittedly. Over the last few years standard "full price" for a new video game has been $64.94 tax and all. As well know however a preowned title can range in price from $2.99 to $54.99 so what exactly is full price for a preowned game with a newly generated usage code? I admit that I'm not fond of the idea of having to pay nearly seventy dollars for a preowned game, especially with how well Gamestop takes care of their product but at the same time I am curious how this end of the industry will be handled. I have no issue with Gamestop disappearing, I don't need to by games from them and the obvious direction the industry is moving is taking us away from physical games. These are my opinions based on what I've read here and there over the last few months. What I find most interesting about Microsoft new system is that we have officially known about it for a day, there is still way too much that we don't know about it, but in spite of that the popular opinion is to hate it as though it exists only for that reason. As gamers we are meant to be curious and ask questions, we're supposed to flip every rock and find all of our answers wide eyed and full of wonder, we're the supposed to be geeks who love this stuff. But then again, we used to do more than just play sports games and Call of Duty.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Eightboll812

    What evidence is there that publishers are on the verge of extinction if they don't find more revenue? Seriously, that's [...]

    What evidence is there that publishers are on the verge of extinction if they don't find more revenue? Seriously, that's your assumption, but where is the evidence? Don't give me a specific example or two, since no matter what industry you look at, some businesses fail, others prosper. If indies like Mojang can prosper, how can anyone argue that big publishers need propping up????? You are arguing publishers just need this. Well, if movie rentals started doing the same thing, charging full price for a rental, you don't think you might just be a little suspicious that it's just driven by greed? You'd be on Redbox's forum defending the price hike from $1 to whatever Blu-rays run for these days, saying these poor movie makers are just struggling and I really want to see Fast and Furious 7 some day??? I get you don't like Gamestop. But how is Gamestop the evil empire here? Microsoft has stated "visions" for employees that essentially equate to explicit Orwellian world domination aims. And Gamestop is bad because they treat employees like crap, so let's feed them to the bigger beast who has been sued (rightfully, IMHO) for anti-competitive practices in the past, was at one time on the verge of fitting the definition of a monopoly, who used that position to run other companies out of business. But hey, they make a GAME SYSTEM so it's all good, homiez... Seriously, just think through some of what you just said. Gamestop is not the evil empire here. Piracy is what needs to be squashed, not trading and selling a game that I bought with my own money.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    lordgodalming

    Thank you, Microsoft PR person "JacksonShadow" who created this account today, probably so you could write this post. Your argument [...]

    Thank you, Microsoft PR person "JacksonShadow" who created this account today, probably so you could write this post. Your argument has the perfect amount of rational plea and slight disappointment, but with the problems that it's too long and doesn't make any sense. The industry may eventually go all online all the time, but I can think of no single piece of technology that requires me to be online once a day to function, including my smartphone. I can turn off the internet for the rest of my life and it will still function as a phone. The Xbox goes offline for a day and becomes a very pretty paperweight. Second and more importantly, there are many, many people in the world--gamers, even!-- who simply can't get online everyday. Microsoft is essentially telling them and the rest of us that they don't want people without internet to buy their console. How is that different than Abercrombie & Fitch saying it only wants "beautiful" people to wear their clothes? The only thing true thing you said is that Gamestop sucks the root. Totally with you on that one. Anyway, I hope MS is paying you what you're worth, because you're a good writer. Cheers.
  • View all 54 comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition hits PC this summer

  1 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Shadow Of Death

    You know, I never really expected this to happen. Good to hear. I suck at the fighter genre, but I'll [...]

    You know, I never really expected this to happen. Good to hear. I suck at the fighter genre, but I'll be getting this.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Livestream @3pm PDT

  1 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    g1rldraco7 This was really fun, you guys rock :)
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  6 ways Microsoft can win us back at E3 2013

  37 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    Swedish_Chef Killer Instinct. Perfect Dark. Banjo-Kazooie. Conker. Microsoft... The time has come to do what has to be done.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    avantguardian

    c'mon you guys. i think rage is beginning to cloud our minds, a bit. i've NEVER been impressed by a [...]

    c'mon you guys. i think rage is beginning to cloud our minds, a bit. i've NEVER been impressed by a console reveal. ever. the recent examples were due to either my ridiculous expectations (ps3) or my complete disinterest (360, hated the original xbox). it just makes no sense to get this riled up over them at this juncture. it seems really pithy and butthurt for no GOOD reason. i didn't want a ps3 ($600!!)...until i saw metal gear 4. i could not have given less of a fuck about the 360...until i saw mass effect. and honestly, that's all it's gonna take this time, too. that one (or more) thing that just blows you away. the hardcore gamer in all of us knows this. that said, nice article, ryan. microsoft had to know they were going to get steamy, messy hate vomited and shat on them for this. i almost respect them more for going through with it. curious to see if it really is hubris, or supreme confidence in their current vision.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    avantguardian btw if they can get a decent initial install base, publishers are going to LOVE this thing.
  • View all 37 comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Call of Juarez: Gunslinger nuggets of truth locations guide

  0 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    
• 

  

  Loading...

  ---

  Indies may not be able to self-publish on Xbox One

  9 Comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    SnakeinmyBoot

    I can't believe indie devs still care about xbox. Valve, Sony, Android, and even Apple treat them better. Is it [...]

    I can't believe indie devs still care about xbox. Valve, Sony, Android, and even Apple treat them better. Is it even worth it for a team of less than 10 to release a game to the xbox audience while jumping through MS's expensive flaming hoops. Although, they probably have some fans who can only get their game through xbox and care enough about the fans to put up with this malpractice.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    TheDudeFromNowhere Oi, what are they thinking. Another bad move. Looks like Sony might win this chess game.
  • 

    Loading...

    ---
    shawksta

    Ouch, that's the most ironic thing I have ever seen, considering Microsoft welcomed Indies with open arms out of the [...]

    Ouch, that's the most ironic thing I have ever seen, considering Microsoft welcomed Indies with open arms out of the big 3 and gave them their own section to give birth to popular Indie games. Funny how the tables have turned, with Sony and Nintendo getting Indie support.
  • View all 9 comments
  • 

    Loading...

    ---