‘Destiny’ and the 9.5 million ‘registered users’ number
Activision is the most profitable game publisher in existence. The company’s behind the Call of Duty franchise, the Skylanders franchise and many more. You know World of Warcraft? Activision owns the company that makes it, Blizzard Entertainment. The company’s latest big release is Destiny — a $500 million bet that Activision’s making on the studio that previously created the Halo franchise (Bungie Studios). The game launched on September 9th across four platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg says the game was “profitable from day one,” but the company’s yet to release up-to-date sales numbers. Instead, it’s offering a “registered user” statistic: 9.5 million. But what does that actually mean? That’s a good question. Hirshberg offered the following clarification during a quarterly financial call this evening:
“To date we have over 9.5 million registered users — of course there’s a relationship to sell through, it’s not exact. Because some people have more than one identity, but obviously that’s directional.”
Okay, what?
There are two ways to interpret Hirshberg’s explanation, and those interpretations hang on one particular bit of language in the statement. “Some people have more than one identity” is the problematic bit — is Hirshberg referencing folks who have more than one Xbox Live/Sony Entertainment Network login? Or is he referencing how many player characters have been created within Destiny?
These two interpretations come with starkly different outcomes. Should he mean the former, the correlation between 9.5 million “registered users” and sales of the game aren’t completely divorced. After all, there are only so many folks who purchase the same game on multiple platforms. We can pretty safely assume the actual unit sales of Destiny wouldn’t be very different from the “registered users” number if this is what Hirshberg is referencing.
But if he means the latter, that 9.5 million number could shrink pretty dramatically in terms of unit sales. Each copy of Destiny enables three character creation slots. It doesn’t cost anything extra to create extra characters (other than time, of course), and part of the appeal of Destiny is trying out different character builds. It also doesn’t help that there’s a relatively low level cap in the game thus far, meaning multiple characters is the way that many are extending their gameplay experience.
Thus, if “registered users” means “all created characters,” the correlation between that 9.5 million number and actual copies of the game sold to human beings is pretty weak. To the extent that the number could be divided by a factor of three, in fact. That’s a huge difference!
We’ve asked Activision for clarification and will update this should we hear more. That said, Activision not outright stating Destiny sales (for the second month in a row) says a lot unto itself.
‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’ is having a rocky launch on Xbox One and PlayStation 4
Call of Duty continues to be a pretty big deal. Despite annualized releases and the occasional stinker (we’re looking at you, Modern Warfare 3!), people still love to wage virtual war on Activision’s battlefields. Hey, we hear this year’s game is pretty good! And when you’ve got a new Xbox One or PlayStation 4 this holiday, there’s a strong possibility you’ll want to check out this year’s entry, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare — statistically speaking, anyway. Should you be one of those folks: beware! Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of CoD are having issues. The kind of issues that make the game outright unplayable.
Somewhere in Los Angeles, Kevin Spacey is shedding a single tear and he doesn’t know why.
So, what’s going on with Call of Duty? It’s down to platform. First up:
PlayStation 4
If you pre-loaded the game on PlayStation 4, Sony suggests deleting the file (nearly 40GBs) and pulling down the whole shebang once more. More specifically, it looks like Advanced Warfare issues on PS4 are strictly limited to folks who pre-loaded the game before launch (today). If you took advantage of said functionality, that may be why you’re experiencing issues starting the game.
Here’s what Sony suggest you do, in full:
- “Restore PS4 licences. [Settings] > [PSN] > [Restore License].
If this doesn’t solve the issue continue to [following steps]:
- Go to Library, highlight Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and press Options.
- Delete Game Content.
- While still in the Library highlight Call of Duty: AW and press X to re-download the content.
Please ensure you download all available updates for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and your system is running the latest system software.”
Activision has yet to acknowledge the issues publicly, and we’ve not heard back from reps.
Xbox One
We’ve got firsthand experience with this one, and the issue is a little more prevalent than PlayStation’s equivalent. If you buy Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on disc, beware not to allow the game’s update to download when you first insert the disc into your Xbox One. We said yes, and the game was unable to install from the disc. It ends up looping between “Installing” and “Queued,” occasionally spinning up the disc, then quitting, then spinning again, then quitting again, ad infinitum. In the business, we call that “pretty whack.” If you end up in this situation, we’ve got a tested solution — and it works, at least on my Xbox One — care of Crave Online:
- Remove the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare from the Xbox One disc tray.
- Navigate to My Games & Apps, then select the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and hit the Xbox One gamepad’s Menu button.
- Select “Uninstall game” and hit A
- Re-insert your Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare game disc
- When asked whether you want to install the game’s update, select “Update later”
- The game will install like normal! Hooray!
Again, Activision has yet to acknowledge the issues publicly. We’ve asked. The company has forum threads set up to address issues with digital versions of the game, and an overall setup/installation page (which warns against playing the game before it completely installs, despite current-gen consoles allowing you to start before installation is finished). There’s even a page dedicated to Xbox One installation issues, but nothing regarding the installing/queued loop that some folks are experiencing with disc versions of the game on Xbox One.
We’ll update this piece as we hear more, but for now: Beware!
Microsoft Office will soon tap into your Dropbox
Microsoft would just love it if you used OneDrive for all your document storage needs, but let’s face it: loyalties to rival cloud services run deep. That’s why, in the spirit of compromise (or acknowledging user demand), the folks in Redmond have inked a curious deal with Dropbox. Over the coming weeks, you’ll be able to access your Dropbox files from your Microsoft Office apps, and edit those Office documents from within the Dropbox mobile app. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too, as Dropbox is working on connecting its website to Microsoft’s Office Online tools and prepping a Dropbox Windows Phone app for a launch within the next few months. It might seem a little odd for Microsoft to so openly embrace an apparent rival, but the company can’t deny the facts. Dropbox currently has over 200 million users dumping their files into accounts all the time, and Microsoft isn’t trying to beat them over their heads with word of OneDrive’s superiority this time. No, it’s meeting people on their cloud-based doorsteps with a terribly useful feature, and it just might win some new fans because of it.
Source: Dropbox Blog
Microsoft and Dropbox team up to provide seamless integration across services
Microsoft and Dropbox have announced a pretty unlikely partnership that will allow Microsoft Office customers to integrate Dropbox into their day-to-day work. You’ll be able to keep your documents and work synced across all of your devices at work and at home, and you can make quick edits on just about any device you have.
Microsoft Office customers will now be able to access Dropbox right from Office apps, and you can edit your files right from Dropbox. Sharing files from Dropbox has also been integrated into Office.
Right off the bat, you can expect this functionality in mobile applications, and it’ll be added to web versions later on down the road.
It’s strange to see Microsoft partnering up with a company like Dropbox right after offering unlimited cloud storage space for Office 365 users, but at this point Microsoft is probably just trying to keep everyone they can from defecting to Google’s office options. This will also likely help Dropbox compete with Google’s recent extreme price cuts for Google Drive.
source: Microsoft
Come comment on this article: Microsoft and Dropbox team up to provide seamless integration across services
Microsoft is slowly prepping OneDrive for music storage
You know all that OneDrive storage Microsoft’s been giving away lately? Turns out there could be a new way to put it to use soon: music storage. A tipster to Windows Central points out that going to this link will automatically create a folder for your tunes in Redmond’s cloud ecosystem, and when the feature officially hits it’ll apparently bring an additional 20GB of free storage with it too. A few graphics indicate that there’ll be a web version, as well. We’ve embedded one from Windows Central after the break. Oh, the service supposedly won’t cost anything (much like Google’s music locker) and your music will be accessible across a range of devices including Windows 8.1 computers, phones and tablets; browsers and, of course, Xboxes. Not that the Xbox One actually needs any extra media options mind you, but more are always welcome.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: Neowin
Source: Windows Central
Skype’s Translator preview goes live for Windows 8.1 users
We first heard about Skype’s Translator feature back in May, and that it should arrive before the end of the year. Well, in keeping with that timeline, the video-chatting outfit opened up a preview for Windows 8.1 devices. As its moniker suggests, the new feature converts speech in real-time, to keep the lines of communication open without the need for a third person to do the translating. It also shows an on-screen transcript during calls and can sort IM translation in 45 languages. If you’re wielding a computer or tablet that’s running the aforementioned OS, head over to the source link to opt in to the preview ahead of the new tool’s official arrival.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
Source: Skype
AT&T launches new HTC phones, Lumia 830 and G Watch R on November 7th
When it rains, it pours — on top of its Galaxy Note Edge announcement, AT&T has unveiled launch plans for no less than six smart devices that should reach stores by November 7th. It’ll be a particularly big day for HTC fans, who’ll get the Desire Eye ($150 on contract, $550 off), One (M8) for Windows ($200/$670) and RE camera ($199 contract-free). And that’s just the start. The previously promised Lumia 830 will arrive at the same time, costing $100 on contract and $450 up front; you’ll get a free Fitbit Flex activity tracker with the Windows Phone if you act quickly. Meanwhile, smartwatch lovers will like that both LG’s G Watch R and Motorola’s Moto 360 will go on sale for respective prices of $299 and $249. That’s a lot of release info to digest, but it’s hard to complain too much about getting so many gadgets in one day.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Mobile, Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, AT&T, LG, Lenovo
‘Call of Duty Advanced Warfare’: The Joystiq Review
You get just a novel snippet of peace in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. In this shooter’s future, technology has trumped terrorism, rooted out the last evil masterminds and flexed its bionic muscles in total defiance of lead-footed politicians who’d rather talk than get things done. “The world is running out of bad guys,” your partner says, hopeful but tragically unaware that he’s basically describing a video game glitch. Call of Duty never runs out of bad guys.
This one gets points for honesty, though, in that there is no pretentious cover-up of why the good guys beat the bad guys (or why the plot finds them easily interchangeable). In Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, you win because you have better guns, stronger sights, super abilities and superior movement. Whether it’s in the rich and varied multiplayer mode, or the frantic, thrill-a-minute single-player campaign, you’re constantly relying on cool weapons and combat data to make taking lives easier. Advanced Warfare front-loads the benefits of power in a franchise that has always made technology the exalted, almost fetishized solution to every problem. And you know what? It’s more fun when it admits as much.
Click here for more
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft
Source: Joystiq
This is what Microsoft’s first Nokia-less Lumia looks like
If we’re honest, Microsoft’s RM-1090 doesn’t look like a device that’s destined to pop up on future trivia quizzes. Yet, when you’re asked “Which smartphone was the first to carry Microsoft’s branding?” it’s this slab that you’ll have to remember. The dual-SIM handset has popped up at both the FCC and its Chinese equivalent, packing a 5-inch qHD display and 3G-only radios, so it’s clearly a low-budget device. Still, the vertical stripe running down the back is just as we’d expected, although it’s still surprising to see the Microsoft logo beneath the earpiece instead of good ol’ Nokia. Since the handset has now popped up at the regulators, we can expect it to hit stores sooner rather than later, if you’re looking for a piece of technology history, at least.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia
Via: Engadget Chinese
The Xbox One will get more affordable thanks to a new processor
Microsoft may have already cut the Xbox One’s price to $349 for the holidays, but there are hints that the game console may get a permanent price drop before too long. An AMD chip design manager recently updated his LinkedIn resume (since made private) with word that he worked on a more efficient, “cost-reduced” version of the Xbox One’s processor. There aren’t any clues as to when this spruced-up silicon will arrive, but recent AMD roadmap leaks suggest that its first CPU architecture based on the technology will ship in 2015. In other words, you could be buying a cheaper Xbox by this time next year.
Processor upgrades are nothing new in the console world. They’re crucial for both price cuts and smaller, cooler-running systems that aren’t so noisy. However, there’s added urgency this time around — the PlayStation 4 has been outselling the Xbox One due in part to its initial price advantage, and lower prices should both help Microsoft stay competitive and leave more money in your wallet.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft, AMD
Source: Mosen (Beyond3D Forums)
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