Gamer's Outpost Press (Archived)

by Eddie Makuch

Improving Xbox One install times ranks highly on Xbox boss Phil Spencer’s platform priority list, though it remains to be seen when gamers might start to see zippier install periods.

“It’s high on my priority list,” Spencer told IGN.

Part of the reason that Xbox One install times are slower than PlayStation 4 times in some cases, Spencer said, is a result of Microsoft dropping the always-online requirement for Xbox One. He said Xbox One launch titles like Forza Motorsport 5 and Ryse: Son of Rome were developed with the assumption that all Xbox Ones would always be connected to the Internet, but this changed. “The change to having to deal with an offline-only state meant that all the install code-flows weren’t as perfect as they could be,” Spencer admitted.

“It’s really our developer pipeline and our ingestion system where we have to do the most work” — Spencer said about improving Xbox One install times

In response to this, Spencer asked him team to install third-party games on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to measure the differences in install times. He said in some cases, Xbox One install times are in fact faster, but in others, Microsoft’s console does “significantly worse.”

“Are there systemtic reasons for that? Our drive’s obviously the same speed, moving stuff into memory takes the same amount of time; hard drive speed’s basically the same, so what’s going on?” he said. “I’m capturing the data. I want to be state-of-the-art in install times so people can start playing games as soon as possible. It’s high on my priority list.”

So what, then, is the issue? Spencer wouldn’t say outright, acknowledging only that, “There isn’t one thing to say why are we two seconds slower on this game or frankly why are we two seconds faster on a different game. The issues are a little bit in the weeds. It’s really our developer pipeline and our ingestion system where we have to do the most work.”

“I’m not defending it at all, because I do think install times should be faster,” he added.

Asked to specify where on the roadmap improving Xbox One install times is, Spencer reiterated that it’s high on his priority list, though he didn’t have a specific timeline to share.

“It’s kind of a constant,” he said. “It’s one of the things that’s on top of my list in terms of the parity experience between us and Sony, and making sure that the install times aren’t deficient on Xbox in any way.”

In January, Spencer first admitted that Xbox One install times need to improve. What are your thoughts on Xbox One install times? Let us know in the comments below.

by Douglas Veney

As we inch closer to the release date of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, it appears that more & more users are getting their hands on the game early. Last night, the length of Advanced Warfare’s story was revealed, as well as the scorestreaks, maps, ranked playlists, and other items.

A user on the Call of Duty forum posted a few different images that gave a better look at some of the more desirable options in Advanced Warfare. A user posted the credits to the game, and stated that they were able to finish the campaign in roughly 5 hours. While 5 hours may seem short, that’s generally the length we see in nearly every Call of Duty title.

We also received a look at a list of all the Advanced Warfare multiplayer maps that are not downloadable content. We’ve compiled the list of each map below:

Advanced Warfare Multiplayer Maps
•Ascend
•Bio Lab
•Comeback
•Defender
•Detroit
•Greenband
•Horizon
•Instinct
•Recovery
•Retreat
•Riot
•Solar
•Terrace

Hardcore playlists were revealed as well, stating that we’ll see the following playable modes in the playlist at launch: Hardcore TDM, Hardcore Kill Confirmed, Hardcore Domination & Hardcore Search and Destroy. An image in that same thread also shows off 12 different scorestreaks for players to equip in-game.

For all that we’ve seen on Sledgehammer’s first full entry in the Call of Duty series, it does seem that they’re doing fans right. There’s a wealth of modes and playlists that offer both new modes and fan favorites.

What do you think about the latest details revealed for Advanced Warfare? Be sure to let us know what you think by leaving us a comment below, or continue the discussion in our community!

by Chris Morris

A developer who threatened the life of Valve Software honcho Gabe Newell via an angry Twitter rant Monday has left the company he co-founded, and has hinted he might leave the video game industry as a whole.

In a fit of rage, Mike Maulbeck, co-creator of the game Paranautical Activity, made the threat Monday, resulting in his game being yanked from PC game distribution service Steam, owned and operated by Valve.

Maulbeck was upset that Steam listed his just-released game as still being in Early Access, rather than final. That classification, he feared, would “cripple sales.”

Instead of showing patience and restraint, he took to Twitter and called the company incompetent. And that anger and frustration continued to feed on itself, culminating in Maulbeck claiming he was “going to kill Gabe Newell. He is going to die.” (Maulbeck has since deleted that tweet, though it’s been preserved by Player Attack).

That was enough for Steam to pull the game outright.

Maulbeck attempted to convince Valve to change its mind, but he didn’t exactly pour on the charm.

“I have since … replied to them saying that I didn’t mean what I said and pleaded that they consider the monopoly they have on the PC market before totally writing us off,” Maulbeck wrote.

He probably didn’t help his case by changing his name on Twitter to “Mike Murderback,” which might be fine for Halloween but terrible for a person making death threats. Throwing a full-on Twitter pity party while still continuing to point a finger of blame at Valve didn’t do him and favors, either.

Today, Maulbeck announced he was leaving Code Avarice, the small development team that made the game.

“I’m really, deeply sorry that my short sighted, hot tempered actions resulted in not only my own dreams and aspirations being destroyed, but those of the entire team I worked with,” he wrote. “I’m sorry that my statements made Valve and/or Gabe uncomfortable and upset (rightfully so). … I’ve sold my half of Code Avarice … Given up all my rights to CA as a company, and all it’s intellectual properties. I won’t receive any money from the sale of Paranautical Activity or any future games CA develops, I won’t be consulted on business decisions, and I won’t have any hand in development. I’m out.”

Maulbeck admits that what he said was “unacceptable” and was never meant as an actual threat, but the damage to his company’s relationship with Valve was done. Valve has reportedly cut off all communication with him.

Whether Maulbeck’s departure will result in the game returning to Steam remains to be seen, but his partner Travis Pfenning seems to be following along the same tone-deaf line of apology, tweeting “I feel like this wouldnt be such a big deal if it werent for the gamergate people threatening people and meaning it.” Death threats are kind of always a big deal, Travis.

by Michael McWhertor

Next month’s system update for Xbox One brings a number of new features to the console that focus on personalization, TV, Twitter and more. Perhaps the most visible (and apparently most requested) of those new features is the ability to customize your Xbox One dashboard’s background.

In a new preview video of the Xbox One November update, Microsoft’s Larry Hryb and Richard Irving show off some new customization features. Initially, the option to use a custom background image will be limited; players will only be able to use artwork from the Xbox Live achievements they’ve unlocked. A forthcoming update to the Xbox One media player will give users the ability to use any image as the background on the dashboard home, however.

The Xbox One November update will also add the option to add a player bio and location to a user’s profile settings. And Microsoft is adding a showcase of user’s accomplishments on Xbox One, sort of like a personal highlight reel.

There’s a lot more to the update, including the ability to share gameplay clips through Twitter and features that focus on what TV shows are trending. Other new additions in the November update focus on improving Xbox One Store pages, SmartGlass, Internet Explorer and more.

by Jeffrey Grubb

Ubisoft recently found its foot in its mouth when talking about how well Assassin’s Creed: Unity runs on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but it’s not gonna make the same mistake when it comes to The Division.

Executive producer Fredrik Rundqvist at The Division developer Massive made it clear that his team is squeezing everything they can from the newish systems. In an interview with website PlayStation Universe, Rundqvist explained that Massive began The Division with the new consoles specifically in mind. It’s no surprise that a developer would come out and say its game is doing something really well, but Ubisoft is likely skittish about permitting its developers to talk after recent issues with Assassin’s Creed. The Division producer also baked in a bit of an excuse for why Ubisoft’s other games might not look as good.

“We developed both the engine and the game specifically for this new generation of consoles,” said Rundqvist. “So we didn’t have any problems at all, it was perfectly built for that.”

Rundqvist pointed out that this is different from a game like Assassin’s Creed, which runs on an older technology that Ubisoft upgraded for Sony’s and Microsoft’s new systems.

“Ours was built from the ground up [for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One],” said Rundqvist who went on to specifically praise Sony’s tech. “[The Division] takes full advantage of the PlayStation 4. It’s an amazing machine.”

Last week, Ubisoft dealt with some unhappy fans after Assassin’s Creed: Unity producer Vincent Pontbriand explained the game is 900 lines of horizontal resolution and 30 frames per second on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The reason he gave was to avoid “all of the debates.” Fans thought this meant Ubisoft purposefully held back the PS4 version of the game — although Ubisoft came out and denied that is the case.

While Rundqvist is taking pride in maximizing the PlayStation and Xbox One, that doesn’t mean the game will run at 1,080 lines of horizontal resolution and 60 frames per second, which is an ideal that many gamers want to see. Instead, the studio has previously said that it wants to lock The Division in at 30 frames per second. That will enable the developer to put more effort into the visual fidelity.

by Sam Machkovech

On Monday, Ubisoft Toronto announced that its managing director, Jade Raymond, was parting ways with the game-making company to “pursue future opportunities separately.” The co-creator of the Assassin’s Creed series and executive producer of its first two games offered a statement within the company’s announcement, calling the exit “one of the hardest decisions of my career” while asking fans to “stay tuned for more on what’s next for me.”

During her ten-year tenure at Ubisoft, complete with production credits on titles like Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Raymond rose within the company’s leadership ranks. She was tasked in particular with growing the game studio’s Toronto division “to 800 employees by 2020,” according to her Ubisoft profile (already deleted by Monday morning). She talked openly about efforts to bring Ubisoft series like Assassin’s Creed to the big screen.

Long before a recent rash of anonymous backlash against women in the games industry, Raymond attracted negative attention for her efforts as a game maker, in spite of rarely making public comments about her gender affecting her work. (That continued on Monday, with Raymond’s Twitter feed mostly talking about her departure.) While she offered no hints about new games or companies, she responded to questions about her games-industry future by saying, “rest assured, I’m a lifer.”

by ‘Chris’

Black Tusk Studios, the developers who have been tasked with carrying on the Gears of War series, are currently working on a new title for the Xbox One, though there’s also a chance that there’s an Xbox 360 version in development too.

A job posting on the official website for the company gives the most subtle hint that the next Gears of War game will be a cross-gen release.

The job posting states that “experience working on the Gears of War franchise” would be a significant advantage and that “PS3 or Xbox 360 development experience” is a requirement for the role being advertised.

Another thing worth noting is that none of the job adverts actually mention any specific console or next-gen for that matter. It’s entirely possible that the new Gears of War game will be a cross-gen release as it would generate more sales for Microsoft, something the company was smart to realise with Forza Horizon 2 which also saw a cross-gen release.

An email has been sent to Black Tusk but we’re not holding our breath for any meaningful reply. If we actually get given any information worth writing about, I’ll eat my hat. I’ll have to buy one first, but non-the-less, I’ll eat it.

by Chris Smith

In addition to the arrival of Lollipop, Android fans have one more reason to be excited about their favorite platform — especially those people who play plenty of games on their smartphones and tablets.

Google on Thursday announced on its Android Developers’ Google+ page that Android gamers will be able to engage in local multiplayer action following an update to the latest Play services version.

“Google Play Games has added the ability for players to find each other nearby in multiplayer games with the latest Play services update,” the company said on Google+. “Through games that support Play Games multiplayer, players can now invite others nearby into the same game when starting a multiplayer session, creating more local competitive and cooperative experiences. Learn more about Play Games services and multiplayer support here.”

The feature will be available on any Android device as soon as its running the latest Play services version, not just to Android 5.0 Lollipop users.

by Simon Sayers

Hatred, the new PC game by Polish developer Destructive Creations, is currently causing controversy due its violent theme of mass murder, though that’s not stopped the indie studio from considering bringing its isometric shooter to Xbox One and PS4 at some point in the future.

Hatred focuses on the slaughter of civilians by a man driven by pure hatred. Judging by the announcement trailer, the tone is extremely dark and the gameplay very bloody and brutal, but the indie studio makes no excuses for pushing the boundaries, saying that the game “takes no prisoners and makes no excuses.”

In the official press release, Destructive Creations tells us how the idea of Hatred came about:

“Destructive Creations is an experienced indie team that, in times where a lot of games are heading to be polite, colorful, politically correct and trying to be some kind of higher art, rather than just an entertainment, wanted to create something against trends. Something different, something that could give the player a pure gaming pleasure. This is how the idea of Hatred – the team’s first game, was born”.

PSU contacted Destructive Creations CEO Jarosław Zieliński to ask whether he had any plans to bring Hatred to consoles. Though he said they would “love to” he also stated that the development team right at this moment is too small, but it would be a consideration “in the future”. We pressed a little further: “So, if Hatred sells well on PC, this could be a possibility, right? As you’d be able expand the team?” we asked. “Yep, exactly,” said Jaroslaw.

So, if Hatred does well on PC, which it probably will do judging by the attention it has already received, then it could well get the green light to appear on consoles. Is this the sort of game you’d want to see on PS4, or does the idea of mass-murdering innocent people upset you? Let us know in the comments below….

#DestructiveCreations #Hatred #GamersOutpost

by Edgar Alvarez

When the long-awaited Halo: The Master Chief Collection gets released next month, the first thing players will have to do is download what’s estimated to be a 20GB update, according to developer 343 Industries. The day-one patch, which is required to unlock multiplayer and add other features, isn’t particularly shocking when you consider that this a 4-in-1 title — still, that’s asking for a lot of hard drive space from users.

“Our philosophy has been to give Halo fans the best possible experience and not compromise the quality or features of the collection,” Dan Ayoub, Halo External Development’s studio head, wrote in a blog post. “The result is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will take up almost all of the usable space of a single Blu-ray (45 GB).”

In addition, Ayoub let it be known that Spartan Ops, a co-op mode for Halo 4, won’t be coming to The Master Chief Collection until December, which will likely disappoint a few fans of the franchise. But, most importantly, how do you feel? Let us know in the comments section.

#Halo #MasterChiefCollection #GamersOutpost