You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Activision and Infinity Ward have bundled expensive gadgets with the last few Call of Duty special editions, and they’re keeping up this recent tradition with Call of Duty: Ghosts. Buy the Prestige Edition of the game on November 5th and you’ll get a 1080p, water-resistant “tactical camera” with a 4GB memory card. While it’s not clear which company makes the wearable cam, Activision claimed during its Ghosts multiplayer unveiling that the device should hold up against counterparts sold in stores. The Prestige Edition is appropriately expensive at $199, although you’re getting a lot for your money — besides the camera and game, the box also includes a carrying case, a Season Pass for downloads and a paracord strap. If you’ve ever wished you could record your adventures beyond your game console, this is certainly the bundle for you.
Source: Call of Duty
If we may paraphrase a sacred text, Microsoft giveth and Microsoft hath taken away. Earlier today, the company announced that the Xbox One would be launching in only 13 markets (as opposed to the originally planned 21), but not all news out of Redmond is bad. To allay the concerns some Xbox 360 owners had over switching over to the new system, Microsoft has announced the Season Pass Guarantee. Basically, all it means is that season passes purchased on the 360 will carry over to the Xbox One, provided you own the same game for both consoles. Big names like Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are on board and have plans on offering exclusive content for season pass holders for games like Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 on both systems. The Xbox One may have gotten off to a rocky start, but Microsoft seems keen on smoothing the transition when the console hits stores later this year (for some of us, at least).
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Source: Xbox
It looks like the Xbox One won’t be as widely available at launch as originally planned. Citing a need to meet demand, Microsoft said today that its new console will be available in 13 countries at launch, instead of the 21 initially promised. Instead, the remaining eight markets will get it sometime in 2014. All told, those 13 lucky countries include: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand. The other eight — Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland — will still sell it eventually, but for now Microsoft isn’t committing to a firm launch date. For now, all we know is that it’s promised to arrive “as soon as possible next year.” As a “show of appreciation for your patience,” to use Microsoft’s words, people who placed pre-orders in those eight cut-off countries will receive a free game. Feeling consoled, guys?
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Gaming with an Xbox 360 controller on a PC isn’t exactly a wallet-friendly situation, considering a wired version of the gamepad or an additional dongle are required. Things sound like they’ll be simpler with the Xbox One, however, as a Microsoft representative told the Penny Arcade Report that the pad will operate with desktops once fresh software hits in 2014. Since the new gamepad “shares no underlying technology with the current Xbox 360 controller,” the code will enable it to function with PCs and support games that are playable with the existing pad. It’s likely that Redmond will lean on the gear’s micro-USB port and wired mode for desktop-compatibility, but it’s not clear whether a wireless adapter will be an option. If this gives you even more reason to pine for the next-gen hardware, set aside seven minutes to ogle at Ballmer and Co.’s controller.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Penny Arcade Report
Yes, you can unplug the Kinect sensor without your Xbox One turning into a useless brick. In an update to an ask-me-anything style Q and A hosted by IGN, Xbox One Chief Platform Architect Marc Whitten was asked if the console would still work if the previously mandatory Kinect sensor were to fall onto a hardwood floor and break. Whitten responded that “like online, the console will still function if Kinect isn’t plugged in, although you won’t be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly used the sensor.”
Whitten also detailed that you can turn the sensor completely off in the One’s system settings. “When in this mode, the sensor is not collecting any information,” Whitten said, adding that it’s still in use for IR blasting in this configuration. He added that “entering into a required Kinect experience” with the sensor off will prompt you to enable it before proceeding. Like earlier announcements concerning daily DRM check-ins, indie self-publishing and headset inclusion, Microsoft is backpedaling on unpopular news from the Xbox One’s launch.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Via: Kotaku
Source: IGN
It’s better — in fact, we’ve told you as much on a couple of occasions. But for those who seriously can’t manage another day without listening to Microsoft’s own blood wax poetic about the Xbox One controller, there’s a seven-minute infomercial video waiting for you just after the break. Oh, and be sure to take notes; there might be a quiz at the end!
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft (YouTube)
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Microsoft just detailed how the Xbox One’s “Home Gold” will spread the Xbox Live Gold love across multiple users of a particular system, but what about those with the current generation’s Xbox Live Family Plan? The folks in Redmond stopped accepting new subscribers to the $99 / year package back in March, and now users are receiving an email (included after the break) with details about what happens next. First, the good news: As of August 27th, if you have the family plan then each one of your activated subaccounts get full Xbox Live Gold status for the duration of your remaining subscription, plus three extra months. Prior to the conversion, you can still add sub accounts to the maximum total of four, and if you’re set to auto-renew prior to conversion then that will still happen. The conversion may not happen exactly on that date, but subscribers can expect another email a week before it actually occurs.
Now the downsides: Activity reports and Microsoft Points allowances are going away, with reports disappearing at the time of conversion and the latter with the next system update. Another issue will apply to those who used it to game on multiple consoles in or across multiple households, since they’ll need multiple individual XBL Gold subscriptions to do so — one of the big problems the Family Pack resolved when it launched back in 2010. That could make sticking with the Xbox 360 or upgrading to an Xbox One more expensive going forward, check out the FAQ for all the details and run the numbers for yourself.
[Thanks, Corey]
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