Microsoft To Announce Indie Self-Publishing, New Certification Process

[Nightwing]

That is awesome news,particularly for 360 owners like myself!

 

[Hinph]

About damn time. Microsoft is on a roll with turning around their backwards policies. I may even consider supporting them once again if the One doesn't launch with bunch of hardware failures.

 

[Mark W**a]

I preordered my Xbox Pretty much right after E3. In my opinion Sony is offering nothing but more of the same. Microsoft on the other hand has really stepped up to the plate. 300,000 dedicated servers and cloud computing through their Azure Cloud network, a vastly improved Kinect that comes standard with each and every console, an HDMI input so the system can interact and integrate other devices such as your cable box, etc.

Then there are the launch and spring titles announced so far. Forza 4, Dead Rising 3, Project Spark, and of course Titanfall all look amazing.

I will gladly pay an area $100 to get the Xbox One over the PS4. Hopefully all the 12 year olds that plagued the 360 end up going with the PS4 though.

You are definitely in the minority of gamers I've talked with. Most gamers I talked to don't want Kinect, and I was surprised how many were actually quite tech savvy and know about the 50% more powerful GPU and much faster GDDR5 ram in the PS4.

You're paying 100$ extra for the Kinect. Actually it's closer to 150$ probably since the machine itself is significantly less powerful. I know one of the huge reasons I was a 360 only gamer this generation was because the 360 had a better GPU and faster ram (10 megs embedded, made a huge difference with IQ and framerate vs. PS3 games). Now that advantage is in Sony's favor and in a much bigger way.

I think Titanfall looks absolutely lame. More big budget movie wannabe crap. Dead Rising I think looks really cool. Will wait for improved PS4 version (Just Kidding ... or am I ... I honestly don't know ).

In my experience on boards like IGN a lot of those calls to remove the Kinect are actually from Sony fans who had no plans on buying the Xbox One any ways. I think MS is wise not to listen to those folks. The new Kinect is a vast improvement over the original and its inclusion is going to allow developers to do some really exciting things on the Xbox One that you just are not going to find any where else. A couple of years from now people will think themselves nuts for ever wanting it removed.

Again no. Everyone I know, quite literally my entire gaming circle, with exception to 2 people, are 360 gamers and NONE of them want Kinect and most (if not all tbh) are switching to PS4. I like Forza a lot and I think Killer Instinct looks great but I can't justify the extra 100$. And with Prism and all this 1984 **** going on yeah you're damned right I don't want that camera in my home. ****ing telescreen coming true, and if you read up on Prism you'll know Microsoft was the FIRST company on board with that ****. **** um.

Whatever you want to call it, a lot of positives are coming out of Microsoft's recent changes. I certainly would not count Microsoft out this early in the game. As for publishers, they will totally release their games on the Xbox One so long as there is a viable and profitable way to do so.

I won't count them out because like Sony they have an army of fanboys now that don't think for themselves and will purchase anything that says Xbox or Microsoft. Not saying you, just saying in general. And Sony Fanboys are the absolute worst so I'll be careful who I add to my new PSN ID later this year.

As for the "game". I love industry speculation. If you look at the market, Microsoft has a BIG lead in the USA. But Sony has been able to keep pace because of their European and Japanese presence. Microsoft needed to get Europe into the Xbox One in a big way if they wanted to remain industry leaders going into next gen. Instead they chose Kinect, a 100$ more expensive box and a bunch of cable box features that are absolutely meaningless to anyone outside of the US. You can call Japan irrelevant but PS3 did 7-8 million units over there that's nothing to sneeze at. IMO Microsoft bet it all on the US and they are betting on Xbox One to become some Apple-level breakout success.

I highly doubt that is going to happen. But you never know.

If I had to make a prediction. I think Microsoft has lost and will not gain back a very significant portion of core gamers to Sony. I believe that casuals will not be buying a 500$ box in big enough numbers to make up the difference. I think Microsoft bet on the wrong horse and I think Sony is going to regain the number 1 position in the market. I expect significantly so this time, too. Talking 5-10 million unit lead over the Xbox One and notice I'm not calling it the Xbone I'm trying to be as civil and respectful as possible.

 

[Mark W**a]

Back on topic: not to be a negative nancy, but I think you guys are celebrating too quickly. I think Farsight has things a little twisted: the indies announcement has nothing to do with 360. I think this is actually spells more trouble for Xbox fans, not the end of our suffering.

 

[PiN WiZ]

Polygon confirmed with FarSight that the details of their newsletter were accurate and has reached out to Microsoft seeking confirmation of its Xbox 360 self-publishing plans.

 

[Ark Malmeida]

I hope Farsight doesn't get in trouble for letting the cat out of the bag! Seems like Microsoft was saving details for Gamescom.

 

[LanceBoyle]

Ooohhhhh, I hope FarSight wasn't lying about that being also applied on XBLA!

DIS GON BE GUD

 

[utblick]

Sounds like the loooong wait soon will be over. Really happy now

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

Finally good news!

 

[dave950lam]

An August 1st release on XBLA would be cool. And I hope this will include multi-player support. We (Xboxers) have been sealed off from the new tables for so long, while all the other platforms are 20 table + ahead in content.

It seems our patience will be rewarded and I'm ready.... Have been loading up MSP.

 

[ND3G]

You are definitely in the minority of gamers I've talked with. Most gamers I talked to don't want Kinect, and I was surprised how many were actually quite tech savvy and know about the 50% more powerful GPU and much faster GDDR5 ram in the PS4.

Well that may certainly be the case amongst the people you have talked to but preorders of the Xbox One are ahead of at of the 360. I have no doubt that MS has a bit of an uphill battle at this point, mostly due to the uproar over policies that were changed well over a month ago but just like the uproar over the PS3 and its outrageous price when it first came out, customer opinion isn't set in stone.

As for the RAM, in my experience most people have no idea what the difference between DDR and GDDR is. The G in GDDR stands for graphics and up until now it has only been used in conjunction with graphics cards. GDDR is faster but it also has latency issues. This is not a problem for the GPU because it can work on many different things at once but the CPU works in a far more linear manner and GDDR is not ideal in that situation.

The recent rumor that Sony is only providing 4.5 GB of ram for developers to use and keeping 3.5 GB of ram for the OS is also interesting as many expected the PS4 to have 7 GB available.

And with Prism and all this 1984 **** going on yeah you're damned right I don't want that camera in my home. ****ing telescreen coming true, and if you read up on Prism you'll know Microsoft was the FIRST company on board with that ****. **** um.

No offense but if people (Americans) want their country to stop spying on them it is up to them to do something about it. Microsoft is required by law to release information to the government, laws like the patriot act that the American people supported. I can't really blame MS for a situation that the American people themselves created.

Furthermore, I highly doubt that the Kinect is very high on the NSA's list of devices to use for spying, not when practically every house already has a laptop, tablet, or smart phone all with a built in mic and webcam.

If I had to make a prediction. I think Microsoft has lost and will not gain back a very significant portion of core gamers to Sony. I believe that casuals will not be buying a 500$ box in big enough numbers to make up the difference. I think Microsoft bet on the wrong horse and I think Sony is going to regain the number 1 position in the market. I expect significantly so this time, too. Talking 5-10 million unit lead over the Xbox One and notice I'm not calling it the Xbone I'm trying to be as civil and respectful as possible.

Another rumor claims that MS may have 2 to 3 times more Xbox One's available at launch than Sony's PS4. If that is true I think the Xbox One is going to find its way into a lot of homes this holiday season. That will have no small impact on consumer sentiment as people tend to support the system they actually own versus the one they may have originally planned to buy and if the PS4 is out of stock everywhere and the Xbox is readily available more than a few people are going to take the plunge.

In the end none of this really matters though, at least not to me. I already have my Xbox One preordered and I know I will enjoy it for years to come. If the majority of gamers decide to get a PS4 instead it really has no baring on me personally. I had the original Xbox back when the PS2 had a much larger market share and I didn't regret that purchase one bit.

 

[Ark Malmeida]

Very well said ND3G! I have an Xbox One preordered and I'm sure I'll be quite happy with it.

 

[phantomfriar2002]

I think the people claiming this console war as already being over when it hasn't even begun are off base -- to put it mildly. The DRM talk, the other issues that got everyone on message boards up in arms (and with good reason) have been corrected by MS months ahead of launch. For the vast majority of consumers, those are going to be non-issues now, and certainly going forward. It's not going to matter. On message boards, and with "hardcore gamers," they'll still be thrown around, but I think, personally, the sentiment that the PS4 has it "won already" is ridiculous. Maybe in social media circles, but wait until the systems come out and we see what the sales are. Message board posts and fanboy bickering isn't necessarily a good indication of what's going to happen.

Personally, I get the feeling many are going to be surprised by what ends up happening, especially in North America where the 360 has outsold the PS3 monthly for, what, years now? That kind of "brand loyalty" isn't going to be wiped out overnight because MS made a series of PR blunders at E3. For the majority, it's not going to matter when launch day comes -- the price obviously is still legit and on the table, but MS must feel they have an edge here and can afford the higher MSRP. We'll see how it works for them, but I know I've preordered my Xbox One and will stick with it since they reversed course on DRM. I have most of my friends on Xbox Live, I like the controller, and I want to stick with it.

At any rate -- I am very excited about the news for FS. It's good news for the 360, it's good news for the Xbox One. They need revenue, we need the tables, and they've been frozen out of the market for far too long. Let's hope it all goes smoothly for them, and us, from here on out.

 

[Mark W**a]

Well that may certainly be the case amongst the people you have talked to but preorders of the Xbox One are ahead of at of the 360. I have no doubt that MS has a bit of an uphill battle at this point, mostly due to the uproar over policies that were changed well over a month ago but just like the uproar over the PS3 and its outrageous price when it first came out, customer opinion isn't set in stone.

Preorders in USA? Absolutely I wouldn't doubt that.

As for the RAM, in my experience most people have no idea what the difference between DDR and GDDR is. The G in GDDR stands for graphics and up until now it has only been used in conjunction with graphics cards. GDDR is faster but it also has latency issues. This is not a problem for the GPU because it can work on many different things at once but the CPU works in a far more linear manner and GDDR is not ideal in that situation.

Ok so in your experience most people don't know the difference. So, do you think this is a good thing? That many gamers are uninformed? Good for Microsoft, sure.

I think Sony fanboys really shot themselves in the foot. They proclaimed, falsely, over and over to themselves and to 360 users, that PS3 was more powerful when it simply wasn't. Now Sony has a box that is significantly more powerful, and it's not a bullet point. Why? It's like crying wolf. People see the consoles and the games and since Sony fans actually were so loud mouthed they created a false general consensus and all that did was tell everyone that graphics don't matter.

They do to me. One of the biggest reasons I went 360 was superior multiplatform games, due to the more powerful GPU, faster ram solution on 360. It wasn't as close as people like to think. 360 games typically ran 5-10 (or more) frames better with less drops, significantly better alpha effects across the board, better AA and image quality, extra effects you name it. And that was a small difference in architectural design. Imagine what the PS4 is going to do with the way faster ram pool and much beefier GPU. We could be talking the difference between 30 and 60 frames per second (benchmark's for both graphics cards show a 20FPS+ advantage for the PS4's and coupled with the faster ram, and more CPU cores for gaming at a rumored faster clock 2.0 ghz vs. 1.8 ghz, it's possible.)

The recent rumor that Sony is only providing 4.5 GB of ram for developers to use and keeping 3.5 GB of ram for the OS is also interesting as many expected the PS4 to have 7 GB available.

I absolutely do not believe that. That's ridiculous. Microsoft was rumored to be using 3. There's no way PS4 would use 3.5, that's silly. Please source this since last I checked it was 3 for the Xbox One and 1 for the PS4.

No offense but if people (Americans) want their country to stop spying on them it is up to them to do something about it. Microsoft is required by law to release information to the government, laws like the patriot act that the American people supported. I can't really blame MS for a situation that the American people themselves created.

I absolutely agree. Well whether I blame Microsoft or I blame Obama it really doesn't make a difference: either way I don't want that camera in my home. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, I'm not going to stand for it period.

Furthermore, I highly doubt that the Kinect is very high on the NSA's list of devices to use for spying, not when practically every house already has a laptop, tablet, or smart phone all with a built in mic and webcam.

Well I wouldn't think YouTube would be very high on the NSA's list but it is. The Kinect would be the ultimate tool for a system like Prism. It quite literally is the telescreen. Outside of actual mind reading, it's a complete invasion of privacy.

Another rumor claims that MS may have 2 to 3 times more Xbox One's available at launch than Sony's PS4. If that is true I think the Xbox One is going to find its way into a lot of homes this holiday season. That will have no small impact on consumer sentiment as people tend to support the system they actually own versus the one they may have originally planned to buy and if the PS4 is out of stock everywhere and the Xbox is readily available more than a few people are going to take the plunge.

Where are you reading this stuff? The rumor I heard was the complete opposite. Fabrication issues meaning Xbox One will be supply constrained, not PS4. Source?

 

[Mark W**a]

Final Thoughts: I really want to play Forza and Killer Instinct. Sony's lineup sucks. But I'd drop 400$ for the best version of Pinball Arcade and wait for everything else. Or I may just wait period, and stick with 360 this year. Nothing's set in stone with me.

Polygon confirmed with FarSight that the details of their newsletter were accurate and has reached out to Microsoft seeking confirmation of its Xbox 360 self-publishing plans.

This is awesome! Right on!!

 

[ND3G]

Here is an article claiming that the PS4 will only have 4.5 GB of ram available for developers.

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/07/26/35gb-of-playstation-4-ram-reportedly-reserved-for-os

And here is one claiming that the Xbox One may have 2 to 3 times the units available at launch.

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/07/23/xbox-one-pre-orders-beating-360-ps4-may-be-biggest-sony-launch

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Let's keep this focused on Microsoft's policies for independent developers, and not degenerate into another Sony-vs-MS thread, please.

 

[dave950lam]

I have an idea for FS and am suggesting this.... And if what I am suggesting is illegal or against the rules please dis regard:

Is it possible for Farsight to make an announcement on Xbox dashboard concerning the reason TPA wasn't getting added dlc (without saying anything sensitive), mention the change in self-publishing, and announce the return of Pinball Arcade with all current dlc?

Though all of this debacle is none of Farsight's fault, it would be a good PR move and raise awareness of the coming re-release w/all the new tables.

Just a thought...

 

[Gigabomber]

MS making an official announcement during Gamescom. Farsight says it is already in practice in August, dunno why there is the delay.

 

[rehtroboi40]

An August 1st release on XBLA would be cool. And I hope this will include multi-player support. We (Xboxers) have been sealed off from the new tables for so long, while all the other platforms are 20 table + ahead in content.

It seems our patience will be rewarded and I'm ready.... Have been loading up MSP.

As one who is planning to stick with the 360 for a while longer, this news is reassuring.
August 1 would be awesome, but I think sept-oct timeframe may be more realistic. We shall see how it goes!