Microsoft has a new NFL app for Xbox One and Windows 8
The start of a new NFL season is just around the corner, and Microsoft’s been working hard to improve the experience for football fans on the Xbox One. What’s different now, among other things, is that the company’s NFL application is expected to be ready by Week 1; as opposed to last year, when it showed up in Week 12 because of the timing of the Xbox One’s launch. This time out, there are a lot more features too, with Fantasy Football and NFL Now, the league’s upcoming online video service, playing a huge role in the refreshed version. First and foremost, Microsoft wants its NFL app to feel like your own, which is why it lets you personalize it with content from team and players you’re interested in, as well as different media provided by NFL Network, NFL RedZone, NFL Sunday Ticket and, of course, NFL Now.
As far as Fantasy Football goes, the Xbox One now gives you quick access to a ton of stuff, including a feed of recent events (such as a touchdown catch by one of your receivers), exclusive in-game highlights and the ability to manage teams, all right from inside the app. At the moment, fantasy data is still only integrating with NFL.com leagues, but Microsoft did tell Engadget it’s constantly working to bring more services into the fold — think Yahoo Sports or ESPN’s fantasy offerings. Not surprisingly, the NFL League Feed (pictured above) takes advantage of core Xbox One features like Snap, allowing you to easily keep track of your Fantasy Football stats, even while you’re playing a game or, you know, watching an actual NFL matchup.
Furthermore, the very same application is also coming to Windows 8 devices for the first time. And although differences between platforms do exist, like no HDMI-in TV signal on tablets or PCs, a Microsoft representative told us that the NFL for Windows 8 and Xbox One apps are indeed the same, a universal one, if you will. Conversely, Xbox 360 owners can expect similar functionality to what’s available already — though there is going to be the addition of NFL Now, which brings more on-demand content from the National Football League to the aging console.
Microsoft has promised that its NFL-rich app will arrive in time for the regular season, both on Xbox One and Windows 8, but a “late August” delivery is what it is willing to commit to for now. Don’t you worry, it’ll be here soon enough.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Microsoft
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Sony makes money on movies and games, but not on smartphones
It wasn’t long ago that Sony, almost inexplicably for a company of its size and heritage, was losing money everywhere it went. After a few years of pain, however, things have begun to look up, with the company posting a first quarter net profit of around $265 million. The bulk of the good news comes from the PlayStation 4 and Sony Pictures, the company’s film and TV arm that benefited from the successes of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 22 Jump Street. The only sore point on the company’s financials is that its mobile division continued to see sales of Xperia handsets drop — a loss that even managed to offset a favorable bump in the exchange rate. The corporation is still predicting that it’ll eat around $487 million in losses across the year, so don’t be surprised if someone greenlights 23 Jump Street in the next couple of weeks.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Gaming, HD, Mobile, Sony
Source: Sony (.PDF)
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The second Oculus Rift headset uses the Samsung Note 3 screen, literally
Back when Oculus VR first showed off its second virtual reality development kit, the Facebook subsidiary wasn’t saying anything specific about the origins of its new, higher-resolution screen. But now that that second dev kit is shipping to pre-order customers, the teardowns have begun and we have a better idea of what it’s using: the screen from Samsung’s Note 3. Not a similar screen, but the screen directly taken from a Note 3 smartphone — an AMOLED pushing 1080 x 960 into each eye. Oculus VR even kept the touch module attached, though we’d strongly suggest against trying to use it while wearing the Rift headset.
As iFixit notes, the screen is being overclocked to run a higher refresh rate (75 Hz), which is important in creating what Oculus calls “low-persistence”. Hilariously, when the headset’s taken apart, you can see the directness of the screen’s use, camera-holes and all. Check out the video below for a full walkthrough of the new Rift dev kit.
Of course, Samsung and Oculus working together is interesting unto itself. We reported in May that Oculus VR and Samsung are collaborating on another VR headset — “Gear VR” — which Oculus is creating the software for while Samsung creates the hardware. That Samsung is providing the screen for Oculus’ new dev kit looks to be another component of the partnership.
Interested in learning more about the second Oculus Rift dev kit? Check out the video below!
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Wearables, Software, HD, Mobile, Samsung, Facebook
Source: iFixit
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Sony explains what ‘s in the PlayStation Now open beta for PS4
Sony’s had limited tests of its cloud-based gaming service running for the last few months, but it’s taking PlayStation Now to the next level tomorrow by letting anyone with a PS4 (that’s in the continental US or southern Canada) join in. There’s a new blog post and video up now telling gamers what to expect: PS3 games, cloud saves, trophies, and “a variety of rental periods” depending on the game. As far as an all-you-can-eat option following the lead of Netflix or EA’s just-announced EA Access — that Sony doesn’t think you need — Sony reaffirmed that it’s working on a subscription option for PS Now, but didn’t provide any more details. As for how much it costs now, there will be four-hour rentals for $2, as well as 7-, 30- and 90-day options for between $3 and $20, across a library of more than 100 titles. You can check out our hands-on impressions from CES after the break, or check out Sony’s website for more information like which games are available (Metal Gear Solid V, Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus, Ultra Street Fighter IV and more.)
PS4′s PS Now open beta begins tomorrow: http://t.co/0PBLST2eey Rent and stream 100+ games, with more added regularly http://t.co/OnXhAcE5RK
– PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 30, 2014
Source: PlayStation Blog, PlayStation Now
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Twitch streams its first live concert tonight
If this weekend’s Lollapalooza festival doesn’t have enough electronic music for you, tonight you can catch a live DJ set from Steve Aoki (above) as he spins from Ibiza, Spain. The Twitch broadcast starts at 10 p.m. Eastern, so you might have to pull the neon hula-hoops and rainbow leggings out of the closet a bit earlier than you’re used to. It’s a free show of course, and you can watch it on basically every platform at hand — gaming console, mobile device or even via this Chromecasted browser tab on your flat-screen. If competitive gaming is more your style, however, the streaming behemoth has something more traditional in store for you. Following its PAX Prime booth broadcast, Twitch is doing a digital premiere of Die Noobs, a documentary following two decade-long online gaming pals as they finally meet in person and then train to compete in their first-ever eSports event.
Should the initial August 29th broadcast date not work with your personal schedule, there’ll be a rerun 24 hours later at 9 p.m. Eastern — maybe Google will have finally fessed up to its purchase by then.
Watch live video from SteveAoki on www.twitch.tv
[Image credit: Getty]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Twitch (1), (2)
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Sony rejected EA Access for the PS4 because it’s not worth the money
EA revealed its new Access subscription service for the Xbox One yesterday, which lets you play a bunch of EA titles, take advantage of discounts and get upcoming games early in exchange for a small monthly (or yearly) fee. While it might’ve looked like a platform-exclusive partnership with Microsoft, Game Informer has learned that Sony actively rejected EA Access for the PlayStation 4. “We evaluated the EA Access subscription offering and decided that it does not bring the kind of value PlayStation customers have come to expect,” Sony said, adding that the success of PS Plus “shows that gamers are looking for memberships that offer a multitude of services, across various devices, for one low price.” And, just in case we hadn’t got the message, Sony’s statement concluded: “We don’t think asking our fans to pay an additional $5 a month for this EA-specific program represents good value to the PlayStation gamer.”
It appears, then, that Sony would rather not support a service of questionable value than leave that decision up to PS4 owners. As we said yesterday, Access doesn’t seem particularly overpriced, especially if you’re a fan of EA’s sports game franchises — you can always drop $5/£4 for a month, grab a discount code, try out the new FIFA early, and revisit an old title to while away a weekend without any long-term commitment. But perhaps Sony would rather those gamers get acquainted with the PS Now rental model instead.
Via: The Verge
Source: Game Informer
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‘Mario Kart 8’ couldn’t save Nintendo from a $97 million loss
Mario Kart on the Wii U is really good. Unfortunately it’s just one game — and it looks like it won’t be enough to rescue the Wii U’s sales. Nintendo apparently agrees, stating that its 9.9 billion yen loss was due to a lack of hit titles outside of the flagship racer. Matter-of-factly, Nintendo said:
“The operating loss was 9.4 billion yen because total selling, general and administrative expenses including fixed expenses exceeded gross profit. “
Which is, well, exactly how you work out an operating loss. The company is now betting on the power of Super Smash Bros. as well as the best-selling Pokemon series to improve results later this year. Wii U console sales have improved in the Americas and Europe: 510,000 units were sold worldwide in the last three months, compared to 160,000 in the same period last year. In Japan, however, Wii U sales have decreased year-on-year. Revenue was 8.8 percent higher than the same period last year and Nintendo is hoping its plans for a series of console-connected toy figurines along the lines of the hit Skylanders series will help to improve that bottom line.
Mario Kart 8 managed to sell 2.82 million copies so far, meaning that relative to Wii U console sales, most players already had the games console to play it on — and that it wasn’t quite enough to convince other consumers to buy what could possibly be a second console.
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Sky’s Now TV streaming app comes to the Xbox One
Well that didn’t take long. Less than a week after it rolled out the app to the PlayStation 4, Sky’s now brought Now TV to the Xbox One. With today’s launch, Sky now has Microsoft and Sony’s new and old gaming consoles covered, as well as a number of smartphones and tablets, giving it a firm footing on which to challenge Netflix. Now that Microsoft doesn’t require a subscription to access Live apps, you only need to stump up the cash for one of Sky’s movie, sport or entertainment packages to get streaming on your next-gen Xbox.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
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Making an indie game for Xbox One costs just over $5,000
So let’s say that you want to quit your day job and start making indie games. It’s a noble pursuit to to be sure, and with Microsoft’s Independent Developers @ Xbox program for Xbox One, it’s supposedly pretty easy. What Redmond doesn’t tell you, however, is just how much it’ll cost you. That’s where Jamie Fristrom, the developer behind Sixty Second Shooter Prime comes in. On his blog, Fristrom breaks how much everything from URL registration and maintenance ($19) to paying to have the game rated in foreign markets ($2,042) costs, with the total coming in at $5,143 — a stark contrast to something like Destiny‘s $140 million price-tag. He notes that even with Redmond giving away free development kits, Xbox isn’t the cheapest indie platform around but that the costs to publish there were “absolutely worth it.” What’s more, he says that if you choose to skip stuff like releasing in other territories, making a game for under $3,000 could be totally feasible. Good to know.
And even though he’s yet to see Prime‘s first sales report, Fristrom estimates that given the game’s leaderboard population he’s more than covered the cost of development and even made a living wage. How’s that two-week notice looking now?
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Happion Laboratories
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AIVAnet 