Be Excellent To Each Other

You're saying that, but imagine being a Japanese Sony fan right now. They must feel like forgotten children

You're saying that, but imagine being a Japanese Sony fan right now. They must feel like forgotten children

Yeah, 'rewarding' their core fanbase by giving them the new console last is a real kick in the teeth. It's unlikely to affect Sony's long-term position, which is exactly why they're doing it of course, but it's pretty shit for Japanese gamers.

Let's say the PS4 had been released in Japan at the same time - what games that appealed to Japanese gamers were ready for release?

Would you even know?

1. [PS4] Knack (Sony) – 309,304 (New)
2. [PS3] Yakuza: Ishin (Sega) – 138,158 (New)
3. [PS4] Yakuza: Ishin (Sega) – 82,540 (New)
4. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru and Luca (Square Enix) – 72,350 (Lifetime: 634,433)
5. [3DS] Kuroko no Basuke: Shouri e no Kiseki (Namco Bandai) – 45,681 (New)
6. [3DS] Yokai Watch (Level-5) – 35,125 (Lifetime: 458,961)
7. [PS4] Killzone: Shadow Fall (Sony) – 32,336 (New)
8. [PS4] Battlefield 4 (EA) – 24,799 (New)
9. [3DS] Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Nintendo) – 17,665 (Lifetime: 457,796)
10. [3DS] Puzzle & Dragons Z (GungHo) – 15,092 (Lifetime: 1,374,333)
11. [PS4] Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends (Tecmo Koei) – 14,356 (New)
12. [WiiU] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo) – 14,330 (Lifetime: 50,047)
13. [PS4] Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag (Ubisoft) – 13,862 (New)
14. [PS4] Call of Duty: Ghosts (Square Enix) – 13,701 (New)
15. [PS4] Tomb Raider (Square Enix) – 12,093 (New)
16. [3DS] Pokemon X and Y (Nintendo) – 11,302 (Lifetime: 3,961,624)
17. [3DS] Puyopuyo Tetris (Sega) – 8,859 (Lifetime: 67,204)
18. [PS4] FIFA 14 (EA) – 8,808 (New)
19. [PS3] Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme VS. Full Boost (Namco Bandai) – 7,763 (Lifetime: 321,054)
20. [PS4] Need for Speed: Rivals (EA) – 6,602 (New)

If Sony had planned to launch their console in Japan three months ago then developers would surely have altered their schedules accordingly to get some more suitable titles out for release.

I can't be bothered to find out currently (no ps4, see) but what is available in Japan basically isn't reported over here short of looking for somewhat niche news sites.

Because why would it be? chances of translation are slim, so it's basically pointless to report. Except in cases like Demons souls where it starts off English anyway.

Here's the Japan chart after the first week of the PS4 being released:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ps4-domi ... ts/0128724



Skewed by Knack being a pack-in title. There seems to be a fair mix of east and west stuff in there, but there were no jRPGs ready as far as I'm aware (unless they held them back of course).

That's the first I'm hearing about a new Yakuza game and I'm surprised they're not releasing it elsewhere, I was under the impression the Yakuza series was pretty popular outside Japan as well? The demo I played of one of the PS3 ones made it seem like it would be pretty good fun and endearingly odd.

It's rare for a japanese game to release worldwide simultaneously. Almost always the western release lags.

I hadn't thought to look but from Wikipedia there was an entire year between the Japanese and western releases of Yakuza 3 and 4 which I totally didn't realise. Excellent, that'll give me something else to play on my PS4 a year from now.

The Swapper, MouseCraft, Titan Attacks by Curve ruled out for Xbox One

Curve Digital's current lineup of games won't be coming to Xbox One, it has been revealed.

Microsoft's parity clause, which requests developers release games on Xbox One at the same time as other systems, rules out The Swapper, MouseCraft and Titan Attacks, which are coming to PlayStation platforms first.

"Unfortunately, all these titles here get ruled out by the parity clause," Curve's managing director Jason Perkins confirmed to Digital Spy.

"We feel like it's unnecessary handcuffs really," design director Jonathan Biddle added, "but that's the way they've decided to run that."

It was explained that its current lineup of spring and summer games were signed before Microsoft indie programme ID@Xbox was in place.

However, this should mean that future games from Curve Digital should arrive on Xbox One.

"That's the plan," Perkins said. "It's important for us, we want to be."

Biddle added: "We're platform agnostic. We'll support everyone. What works for us is having many as healthy competitors as possible.

"They'll all try and promote the games they've got, and that's what we want. We want a healthy ecosystem, so we want everyone to do well."

Curve Digital recently confirmed release dates for its spring and summer lineup.

It also announced Stealth Inc 2, which will launch as a Wii U exclusive later this year.

Xbone to go on sale without Kinect this autumn for a still not entirely cheap £349.

Next, we’re bringing more value to Xbox Live Gold members and offering all Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners access to entertainment apps whether or not you have an Xbox Live Gold membership. In early June, here is what you can expect from the new generation of Xbox Live:

Free games with Games with Gold**. Since Games with Gold launched on Xbox 360 a year ago, over 12 million people have enjoyed great free games, resulting in nearly 200 million hours of free fun playing Games with Gold titles. We’ve been learning from your feedback and have focused on making improvements each month to the selection of titles. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Games with Gold for Xbox 360 and as a thank you for helping shape this program, members will receive an additional free Xbox 360 game in June. The Games with Gold titles for Xbox 360 in June are “Dark Souls,” “Charlie Murder” and a bonus game of “Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.” We’re pleased to bring Games with Gold to Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox One in June. Members will have subscription-based access to free games ranging from top hits to breaking indie stars. The program will launch on Xbox One with “Max: The Curse of Brotherhood” and “Halo: Spartan Assault.” A single Gold membership will get you access to the free games for both Xbox One and Xbox 360.
Exclusive Discounts. Deals with Gold will also launch for Xbox One in June, delivering discounts for great games each month, with significant savings for Xbox Live Gold members. The first titles offered in June will include “Forza Motorsport 5,” “Ryse: Son of Rome,” and a few other surprises. In the coming months, we will offer significant savings of up to 50 – 75 percent off certain titles. This program will continue to be available for Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox 360. And new on Xbox One, we will launch a virtual VIP room exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members where we will feature free games, monthly deals, and other great benefits.
Popular entertainment apps will be available for all Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners. Xbox 360 has been a leader in delivering entertainment experiences for years, with over 170 global entertainment apps and experiences available today. We’re constantly adding new partners and experiences to the growing catalog on Xbox One. Coming in June, anyone with an Xbox will be able to access popular entertainment experiences – whether or not you have an Xbox Live Gold membership. This includes great gaming apps like Machinima, Twitch and Upload, popular video services like Netflix, Univision Deportes, GoPro, Red Bull TV and HBO GO, sports experiences like the NFL app for Xbox One, MLB.TV, NBA Game Time, NHL Game Center and more.*** Microsoft experiences including Internet Explorer, Skype, OneDrive and OneGuide will also be available to all Xbox customers.**** You can find a full list of apps and features that will be available below.

Last month there were plenty of deals to get it new , with kinect for about £330 and did not set the world on fire so charging £20 more to remove it does not seem like a bargain ?
...
So those are all 'the same or cheaper' than that new price and are all for new consoles (not second hand) , I dont see the small reduction and removal of Kinect solving their problems right now

Kinect-less Xbox One confirmed, RRP of £350. I reckon Microsoft just threw all the early adopters under the bus.

You are comparing the new RRP with the current discounted street price. That's not the same thing. There's no reason to believe the discounts won't continue below the new RRP.

Wow, how cynical! Perhaps they are just trying to listen to the people who complained about the kinect initially (and subsequently didn't buy the Xbox).

Indeed, the timing is easily the most interesting part of this. I can't see any reason other than desperation.

April 2014 NPD: PlayStation 4 outsells Xbox One again

The sci-fi shooter Titanfall was once again the top-selling game of the month, but Sony’s PlayStation 4 continues to pull ahead of the Xbox One.

Gamers spent $580.3 million at retail on new hardware, software, and accessories in April, according to industry-intelligence firm The NPD Group. That is up 17 percent from $495.3 million over the same period last year. Once again, consumers rushed into stores to get the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One systems, which boosted hardware sales by 76 percent from $109.5 million to $192.8 million.

“As seen in the past two months, overall spending in April 2014 across hardware, new physical software, and accessories were increased collectively versus April 2013,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. “The 17 percent growth [year-over-year] was due to hardware and accessory growth, despite a 10 percent decline in new physical software.”

Gamers spent $227.9 million on new physical games, which — as Callahan pointed out — is down 10 percent from $254.3 million in April 2013. This is largely due to consumers putting their money toward the high-priced consoles and the sluggish sales of old-gen releases.

An important thing to keep in mind is that these NPD numbers only keep track of new physical games sold at brick-and-mortar retailers. It doesn’t include online or digital sales, which means that these figures merely represent a snapshot of a larger picture. It doesn’t include mobile, either.

OK. Let’s get on to the best-sellers list.
Software

1. Titanfall (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC)
2. Call of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Wii U, PC)
3. NBA 2K14 (Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC)
4. Minecraft (Xbox 360)
5. Lego: The Hobbit (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, 3DS, Wii U, Vita)
6. The Lego Movie Videogame (Xbox 360, 3DS, PS3, Wii U, Xbox One, PS4, Vita)
7. Lego Marvel Super Heroes (Xbox 360, PS3, DS, 3DS, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One, Vita, PC)
8. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS)
9. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)
10. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC)

Titanfall tops the charts for the second month in a row. This time, it got some help from the introduction of the Xbox 360 version, which wasn’t available in March. That also probably helped keep Titanfall on the charts while Sony’s PlayStation 4 exclusive open-world action game Infamous dropped off completely, but it turns out that it still did pretty well when compare to Xbox One only.

“Infamous: Second Son was the top-selling new-gen software title in April,” PlayStation brand boss Guy Longworth said in a statement. Of course, that only includes physical retail games sold in the U.S. But we double checked with Sony, and it confirmed that, according to the NPD, Infamous outsold the Xbox One SKU of Titanfall.

The entire top 10 looks pretty similar to what we’ve seen over the last several months. The only new releases to make this chart are Lego: The Hobbit and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I don’t like to judge, but it’s clearly a rough month when the only new games to make this list are adaptations of blockbuster films.

Oh, and here’s our monthly reminder that Minecraft is insane. It really shouldn’t surprise anyone anymore, but the block-building title is still on this list — and it’s still only on Xbox 360 as a physical game. This is almost a year after the retail disc debuted, which was a year after Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition hit Xbox Live Arcade, which was a year after the game released on PC.
Hardware

“Sony’s PlayStation 4 was the No. 1 platform for hardware sales in April for the fourth month in a row, followed by Xbox One,” said Callahan.

Microsoft confirmed it sold 115,000 Xbox Ones and 71,000 Xbox 360s. Sony and Nintendo have not provided the numbers for their systems as of press time.

Unlike in March, April didn’t really have a Titanfall or an Infamous: Second Son to move systems. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One instead coasted along on their momentum — as did the Wii U (although with considerably less momentum). This is also a strange month because sales happened before Microsoft announced the new, Kinect-less Xbox One for $400, which should be available June 9.

With the PS4 consistently outselling the Xbox One, it does make sense that Microsoft saw the need for a change.

Looking away from the head-to-head competition for a bit, both Sony’s and Microsoft’s consoles are doing very well.

“[Home] console hardware sales increased by 120 percent in April 2014 over last year,” said Callahan. “Life to date, sales of PS4 and Xbox One hardware have more than doubled the combined sales of PS3 and 360 hardware through their first six months of sales.”

It's hardly an announcement worth making either. I don't think anybody would be surprised to hear that there's going to be a Halo 5.

While there is price parity with PS4, a brutal assessment of Xbox One is that we're still looking at a less capable machine retailing for the same price, with few points of differentiation. Communicating whatever it is that makes Xbox One unique, original and different is the new challenge facing Microsoft. Primarily it will be about exclusive titles and third-party content deals, but it's also about rebuilding a relationship with a core userbase that has lost its close sense of connection to the Xbox brand and has grown distrustful of Microsoft itself.

External Storage, Real Names and More Coming with Xbox One System Update in June

With the next system update coming in June, we’re thrilled to announce two of your most-requested features will be here soon: external storage support and real names for identifying your friends.

Since our launch of Xbox One last year, we’ve been hard at work to continue making Xbox One the best destination for all your gaming and entertainment experiences. Because of the way we’ve designed the Xbox One platform, we’ve been able to continually improve the product for you with a more regular cadence of system and app updates. Your feedback for what you want most has been our guiding light for these updates, and will continue to be as we work to bring the fan-favorite features you want most.

Real names and external storage support are just the beginning for June. With this update, Xbox Live is being improved in a number of ways as we announced last week. You will also be able to take advantage of great new SmartGlass features, including OneGuide and Universal Remote Control, select an account for automatic sign-in, and for Xbox One owners in Canada and Europe, get access to OneGuide and more TV, SmartGlass and voice features.

Easily Increase Games Capacity with External Storage Support
It couldn’t be easier to increase your storage capacity of games and apps with the external storage support features we’re bringing in June. Your Xbox One system will soon support up to two external hard drives at once. Simply plug in your 256 GB or larger USB 3.0 external hard drive and once formatted, copy and move games, apps and game add-ons to increase your storage capacity at home.

This is also a great way to take your content to a friend’s house and get straight into a game directly from an external drive. You’ll need to sign in to Xbox Live if you’ve purchased your content digitally or insert a disc to verify your game ownership when you take your content on the road. The great benefit here is there’s no need to wait to re-download your game and all the DLC. With external storage support in June, you can also choose to copy full games and all of the associated content in one easy step.

Real Names Makes it Easier to Identify Friends
With Xbox One you can have 1,000 friends and infinite followers, but as these lists grow it can become increasingly more difficult to remember the people you know by their gamertag alone. Now with real names feature you can recognize people on your friends list and more easily discover people you already know who are on Xbox Live.

Most importantly, we heard your feedback that to make this most useful you need full control. You’ll be able to share with all your friends, a subset of your choosing, friends of friends or none at all. The choice is yours. Also, your name doesn’t show up in games, and you can change your settings any time from your profile and when adding new friends.

SmartGlass Provides Access to full OneGuide and Universal Remote Control, Pin Reordering and More
We’ve made a ton of changes to your SmartGlass app for Xbox One. After getting great feedback from our SmartGlass beta, we’re thrilled to be bringing the entire OneGuide experience and Universal Remote Control to SmartGlass. Now in supported markets you can view all of your TV listings on your SmartGlass device and set and view your favorite channels and app channels on your smart phone, tablet or PC. With the Universal Remote Control, you can also easily switch channels, set new recordings and select and control recorded content from your DVR. Another great companion feature now in SmartGlass is pin reordering. With the touch of your finger you can easily organize your pins in categories or favorites based on your preferences and have those changes refresh to your console.

Other improvements to SmartGlass will help you stay current on what you and your friends are up to, even when you’re away from your console. We’re bringing hero stats and activity feed front and center, and adding more ways for you to compare achievements via SmartGlass whether you’re on a friend’s profile or viewing a game from the activity feed. Just like on the console, you can choose to get notifications on your smart phone, PC or tablet when a favorite friend signs into their console or starts broadcasting a game. For many devices, you can even choose to start watching the broadcast wherever you are.

Expanded TV and OneGuide Soon Available in More Markets
The TV and OneGuide features we began sharing with select Xbox Live members in April will be available in June to everyone in Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. The update will bring OneGuide, alongside Favorites and App Channels, for people in these markets who have their TV connected to Xbox One via HDMI-in. Additional features in these markets include Kinect voice commands for controlling your set-top box and other AV equipment. We’ve also updated TV and OneGuide settings to provide better power management and control of your devices and improved compatibility with more devices.

New Gold Membership Benefits, Access to Apps for All and More
With this update, you’ll find a new hub in Xbox One for exploring all of the great benefits available to Xbox Live Gold members, including Games with Gold and Deals with Gold. Also, with the Xbox Live Gold changes announced last week, shortly after the Xbox One system update becomes available in June all Xbox Live members will be able to access popular gaming and entertainment apps without a Gold membership.

Finally, we’ve made it possible for you to choose an account for automatic sign-in on your Xbox One – another much-requested feature from fans like you.

Coming soon, these features will be available to members previewing Xbox One system updates as they help us work through final improvements. This system update will become available to the full Xbox One community in June. We look forward to hearing what you think and keep the feedback coming.

So, as of 5 minutes ago, the Xbox One has been out for 6 months. Of all of you lot that have bought it, how's it going? Are you glad you bought it? Annoyed? Has it been worth the price you paid?

Has anyone bought one?

love the kinetic aspect of it.

But it doesn't move anywhere - just sits under your TV.

Dicks.

Malc