Xbox One Message Board older than one year ago

The free Garden Variety DLC pack includes a new Gnome Bomb mode, abilities, and Chomp Town map.

Microsoft's newest console just got a significant update a few weeks ago, changing a whole bunch of stuff in the process. Next month's update won't be quite as wide-ranging but it still adds tweaks that people have been asking for. Read more...

The used game market just grew immensely, as Walmart announced plans today to begin taking video game trade-ins across the United States, putting itself in direct competition with GameStop. Starting March 26, those trading their games in at more than 3,100 Walmart stores will receive a gift card usable at any Walmart or Sam's Club location in exchange. All exchanged products are then "sent to be refurbished and made available for purchase in like-new condition starting this summer."

The retailer will accept online trade-ins for all games, but will only allow in-store exchanges for hardware. Walmart provided an exchange rate calculator on its website to give customers an idea of trade-in values. As for functional hardware, when including all the accompanying cables and one controller, the Xbox One has a current trade-in value of $390, the PS4 is $375, the Wii U Deluxe is $120, a 3G-enabled Vita is $95 and 3DS XL is $105. Working copies of Grand Theft Auto 5 currently exchange at $27.72, Dead Rising 3 is $38, the PS4 version of NBA 2K14 is $35.42 and Super Mario 3D World is $38. [Image: Walmart]

"How can I best describe Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes?" I asked myself. "Ah, yes. I'll describe it as a small plate at an expensive restaurant."Read more...

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 prelude 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.

The first free DLC pack for Garden Warfare includes a new map, mode, costumes, and alternate abilities.

Xbox corporate vice president Marc Whitten has left Microsoft.

Microsoft just announced that Marc Whitten, Chief Product Officer of Xbox, will be leaving the company to take up a role with wireless audio company Sonos.Read more...

Xbox Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten has left Microsoft for a job as Chief Product Officer of Sonos, a home audio company.

Whitten had been with Microsoft since 2000 and helped launch the original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. In the announcement post on Xbox Wire, Whitten said the following:

"I have had the extreme pleasure over the last 14 years to work on the greatest product with the greatest team and for the greatest community. Xbox is so special because of the amazing team I've had the opportunity to work with and because our fans are the most incredible fans on the planet. It has been the highlight of my career to work on a product so loved. It's incredibly tough to leave but I am confident the best days are ahead for Xbox fans, in the capable hands of a very talented team."

The remaining Xbox team leadership will remain intact, the post said, and Whitten's team will now report to Software EVP Terry Myerson.

PopCap's whimsical third-person shooter Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare will pick up a host of new abilities and a new gameplay mode later this week thanks to the freshly-announced "Garden Variety" downloadable content pack.

The highlight of the pack is the new "Gnome Bomb" game mode, which centers on an explosive garden gnome statue. Both the plants and their undead counterparts will attempt to be the first team to reach this ornamental explosive, and once a team has captured the device they must make their way to one of three bomb points where the gnome will detonate. Additionally, the DLC includes three new ability upgrades for each character class, a new map, new types of zombies and "hundreds" of new character customization options.

The Garden Variety DLC pack is slated to become available on March 18 for both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare. Regardless of platform, the addition will be available for free. [Image: EA]

You're really pretty, Titanfall, and you know I'll be coming back to you eventually. It's just I've got this date with a free new map and game mode for a game where I don't feel like a complete ass for getting a low kill count. Read more...

A message from Konami, revealed when registering a copy of Ground Zeroes, suggests Metal Gear Solid 5 proper will arrive early next year.

Respawn has announced that while anti-cheat measures do exist for Titanfall, they are yet to be activated.

Idle animation Snake. Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes is keeping players waiting a bit longer in Australia and New Zealand, where the open-world stealth game won't hit retail shelves for another week. Konami confirmed the new release date of March 27 to NZGamer, and the publisher didn't offer a reason for the delay.
It's the second Konami game to receive a downunder delay in a month, after Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was pushed back by a week in Australia and New Zealand. As NZGamer notes, the downloadable versions of Lords of Shadow 2 weren't affected by what was then a "shipping delay," and while it's not confirmed there's the possibility the same may apply to Ground Zeroes.

In other Ground Zeroes news, series creator Hideo Kojima explained this morning the game doesn't feature a Platinum trophy on PS4 because of Sony regulations. Speaking on Twitter, Kojima said, "They won't allow us to have them for [a] non-full price game." [Image: Konami]

Microsoft hasn't yet released the official drivers to make Xbox One controllers compatible with a PC, but with a bit of finagling, those so inclined can make the two pieces of hardware play nice, and use an Xbox One controller on PC.

Modder Lucas Assis has a step-by-step tutorial for view on YouTube, where he explains how the magic happens: basically, what he's doing is making his computer think that the One controller is an Xbox 360 controller. Microsoft's controller wasn't drastically altered between console generations, so the buttons, triggers and bumpers all line up just fine.

That being said, this is still an unofficial modification, and those don't always work out. The video's comments are filled with people running into complications. If you choose to follow in Assis's footsteps, know that you risk damaging your hardware. If you'd rather not chance it and want to wait, Microsoft's official drivers are expected later this year. [Image: Microsoft]

Discussing whether or not Call of Duty players will migrate to the new shooter in town. This clip originally appeared in Game Scoop! Episode 296.

The next wave of Skylanders: Swap Force figures hit Toys'R'Us this weekend, leaving hardcore collectors and impressionable youngsters only two more reasons to get out of bed in the morning until the next game is announced. What's the point of it all? And then there's Scratch, a purple cat with pink wings and a golden face mask. Who hasn't wanted one of those? Fryno is the contender for Best Skylander Name Award — division. He's a fire rhino, get it?Read more...

Welcome to the first weekly installment of the Saturday Morning Stream, which is just like Saturday morning cartoons, only with more cursing. Let's kick things off with a little romp through The Elder Scrolls Online. Read more...

Prepare to laugh, cry, and be amazed in this week's Top 5 Titanfall Kills of the Week.

Alfredo tells you how to create a killer loadout for Titanfall.

This week on Game Scoop!: Titanfall, PlayStation Now, and the frustration of game delays.

In lieu of serving up in-game footage or even pre-rendered cutscenes from the upcoming sci fi survival horror game Alien: Isolation, the developers at Creative Assembly instead offer this behind-the-scenes look at how the team is translating Hollywood-style horror for the virtual world.

The focus of the clip is on the creation of the game's titular xenomorph, and specifically the artificial intelligence ruling its in-game behaviors. According to the game's designers, the alien utilizes a unique set of "senses" to actively hunt players down, leading to encounters with the creature that can last up to half an hour, depending on how cautious a player is in approaching the confrontation. The development team claims this just isn't possible with scripted cutscenes and traditional enemy behavior patterns, but the extra effort poured into the birth of the xenomorph pays off by presenting players with an enemy that is both deadly and unexpectedly cunning.

Alien: Isolation is slated for release toward the end of 2014, when it will debut on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 platforms. [Image: Sega]

This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. See our scored review of Titanfall here. Wednesday, March 14 | T-minus 27 days until final verdict
Current State of Service: Good
Summary: Launch day problems resolved. PC experiencing limited issues. Australia receives dedicated servers.

It appears that Titanfall's launch day kinks have mostly been ironed out. The Xbox One and PC versions seem to be running as intended, with Joystiq staff reporting no significant problems on either platform since launch day.

Some PC players are reporting an error that produces an infinitely looping loading screen. The Respawn Twitter account advises players encountering this problem to lower their in-game texture settings. Some PC users with Belkin routers are also having trouble connecting. Respawn has stated this problem will have to be addressed by Belkin.

Also of note, Australia now has access to dedicated servers for Titanfall. The servers were quickly inundated with players. As of earlier today, more servers are being put online.

If you encounter any problems with Titanfall, let us know in the comments or on Joystiq's Twitter or Facebook accounts (use the hashtag #sos and don't forget to specify your platform!).

Good news for Titanfall fans living Down Under: EA has announced that Australia now has dedicated servers for Respawn's robot-infused first-person shooter. According to EA's help site, that applies to all platforms, so both Xbox One and PC players should be able to take advantage of the new, local servers.

Respawn engineer Jon Shiring stated on Twitter that Australia's new servers were "tapped pretty quickly," and that more servers are already being added. [Image: EA]

Following its initial debut at the end of last month, DICE has now revealed that Battlefield 4's platoons are available to anyone playing the game, whether they paid extra for a Premium membership or not.

Though the developer has saddled the feature with a genre-appropriate name, the "platoons" found in Battlefield 4 are essentially identical to the "clans" found in many other online games. Each platoon features a unique name tag and emblem, as well as a private Battlelog feed. Up to 100 players can join a single platoon, and each virtual soldier's success on the battlefield will contribute to the group's overall rank.

Those hoping to create their own platoon of hardened online warriors will find full details under the "Home" tab on the Battlelog website, while those hoping to join a ready-made group of likeminded virtual killers should pay a visit to the "Platoons" section of the Battlefield 4 forums. [Image: EA]

The PS4 outsold the Xbox One in the US during February, with the Xbox One selling 90 percent of what the PS4 did, consumer research group NPD reports. The Xbox One costs $100 more than the PS4, meaning it led sales by dollar amount in February.

The Xbox One sold 258,000 units in February, surpassing comparable Xbox 360 launch sales by 61 percent, Microsoft says. Xbox 360 sold 114,000 units in its 100th month on the market, "more than any other seventh generation console." Xbox One owners buy an average of 2.75 games per console, with a total of 772,000 sold in February. Xbox 360, meanwhile, sold 2.46 million games.

Sales of video game hardware in the US were $347 million in February, up 42 percent compared with the same month in 2013. Software sales dropped 9 percent to $318 million, while accessories were up 3 percent, to $221 million.

Next-gen software sales in the consoles' first four months are up 80 percent compared with the combined sales of Xbox 360 and PS3 software in the same time period. The 9 percent decline in overall software sales is attributed to weakening sales for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, which is expected, according to NPD. Call of Duty: Ghosts led software sales in February, followed by The Lego Movie Videogame, NBA 2K14, Thief and Grand Theft Auto 5. See the full list after the break.

Plants vs Zombies and Peggle developer PopCap suffered layoffs today, EA confirmed. The news follows a reorganization at the studio in late February, which saw the developer split into a two teams, one geared towards mobile games and the other for console releases. PopCap CEO David Roberts also stepped down and was replaced by co-founder John Vechey in January.

"The changes we made today at PopCap were painful and we're sorry to lose some of our friends and colleagues," EA wrote in an email to Joystiq. "But it was also necessary in order to stay on course with our future plans for mobile games, live services, and new IP. PopCap is a studio that made its name building great games that the world can fall in love with, and that's what we'll continue to do."

PopCap's latest game is Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, which was good enough to earn a four-star review from Joystiq. The number of employees affected by the layoffs is unknown at this time. [Image: PopCap]

Speaking to Joystiq, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima said that around the time Grand Theft Auto 3 was released, he and his team tried to create "something similar" to its open-world design. Kojima didn't note to what extent that something similar was worked on, nor which project it was for, but he did say it wasn't up to the standard of Rockstar's crime sim.

The Japanese veteran designer presented GTA creators the Houser brothers with lifetime achievement awards at last night's BAFTA ceremony in London. Kojima has previously spoken about being influenced by the vastness of GTA 3, telling EGM back in 2012 the game "definitely opened his eyes." After the awards show, we asked him if the GTA games had inspired the open-world design of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes.

"When GTA 3 came out, we were on Metal Gear Solid 2," Kojima said, speaking through a translator. "At that point we tried to create something similar and we were completely unable to come up with this design to [a level of] similar success. Actually, around then I had with dinner with Dan Houser who I just saw [tonight] for the first time after ten years. To be honest, looking at their [Rockstar's] success at doing what we tried to do and failed, we went back and made the game engine [and] we first tried to ensure the freedom the player would have. So more than being inspired by them, to be honest they just went ahead of us, they were more successful than what we were trying to create back then.

"Now, game-wise what we are trying to create [in Ground Zeroes] is something probably different than they are trying to create. We're trying to ensure the freedom so the player can do some more realistic stealth infiltration by having all this freedom. So I believe we're creating different games."

Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes is the first game in the stealth series to feature an open world, and Big Bosses worldwide get to explore it in a few days' time. The game hits North America on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS3 on March 18, and then Europe on March 20. [Image: BAFTA]

Speaking to Joystiq, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima said that around the time Grand Theft Auto 3 was released, he and his team tried to create "something similar" to its open-world design. Kojima didn't note to what extent that something similar was worked on, nor which project it was for, but he did say it wasn't up to the standard of Rockstar's crime sim.

The Japanese veteran designer presented GTA creators the Houser brothers with lifetime achievement awards at last night's BAFTA ceremony in London. Kojima has previously spoken about being influenced by the vastness of GTA 3, telling EGM back in 2012 the game "definitely opened his eyes." After the awards show, we asked him if the GTA games had inspired the open-world design of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes.

"When GTA 3 came out, we were on Metal Gear Solid 2," Kojima said, speaking through a translator. "At that point we tried to create something similar and we were completely unable to come up with this design to [a level of] similar success. Actually, around then I had with dinner with Dan Houser who I just saw [tonight] for the first time after ten years. To be honest, looking at their [Rockstar's] success at doing what we tried to do and failed, we went back and made the game engine [and] we first tried to ensure the freedom the player would have. So more than being inspired by them, to be honest they just went ahead of us, they were more successful than what we were trying to create back then.

"Now, game-wise what we are trying to create [in Ground Zeroes] is something probably different than they are trying to create. We're trying to ensure the freedom so the player can do some more realistic stealth infiltration by having all this freedom. So I believe we're creating different games."

Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes is the first game in the stealth series to feature an open world, and Big Bosses worldwide get to explore it in a few days' time. The game hits North America on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS3 on March 18, and then Europe on March 20. [Image: BAFTA]

Debating between the two available versions of Titanfall? Maybe seeing the graphical differences between the Xbox One and the PC version will help.Read more...