Microsoft is adding a core feature from several notable social media platforms to its Xbox app. Soon, Xbox-supported regions will be able to create, share, and view stories with their friends on the Xbox app on iOS and Android.
As a part of the May update, the Xbox app is receiving a fairly significant new feature. Previously, stories were reserved for Microsoft itself to highlight new games. Now, Xbox users can share gaming highlights with friends.
Currently, Xbox users in Australia have access to the new feature within the app. However, Microsoft claims the feature is “coming to more Xbox supported regions soon.” Once users have access to it, they can share game clips, screenshots, and achievements with friends. Users can also reply to the stories of friends with a message or quick reply.
Stories are found on the right of the Home screen on the Xbox app. As with other social media platforms, creating stories is as easy as clicking the ‘+’ button on your Gamertag within the stories channel. The user is then brought to the screen with access to all screenshots and gaming clips. Users select what to add, create an optional caption, and post.
Unlike most other social platforms, Xbox app stories last 72 hours before disappearing. Anything the user shares is also available on the activity feed within their profile.
In addition, Microsoft is adding priority tags to consoles with Quality of Service (QoS) Tagging. QoS Tagging is a new Xbox service available on Xbox consoles. These set priority tags on “latency-sensitive outbound networking traffic.” Examples of this include party chat, console streaming, and supported multiplayer games.
Once enabled, this feature supports gaming experiences when network conditions may be constrained.
Xbox has launched a new controller variant, Deep Pink.
Other than the all-pink front design with a white rear, this is a standard Xbox Wireless Controller for Xbox consoles and PC. As such, it’s priced at the usual $74.99 and can be ordered from retailers like the Microsoft Store.
Deep Pink joins a lineup of Xbox Wireless Controllers that includes standard Black and White options, as well as slightly more expensive variants like ‘Aqua Shift’ and ‘Daystrike Camo.’
The company also offers a ‘Design Lab’ service through which you can create your own custom controller at a higher cost.
343 Industries’ long-awaited and long-overdue second season of Halo Infinite content is now available in Canada.
As of 2pm ET/11am PT, Halo Infinite Season 2 Lonewolves is live in Canada. Lonewolves includes the return of classic game modes like ‘King of the Hill’ and the small-scale, battle royale-like ‘Last Spartan Standing.’
Other features include two new maps, ‘Catalyst’ and ‘Breaker,’ and a new 100-tier paid battle pass with additional armour and other cosmetic unlockables. Thankfully, 343 Industries has also added new mode variants to several playlists, including ‘Rocket Repulsors,’ ‘Ninja Slayer,’ and ‘Vampireball.’
Finally, Season 2 offers quality of life improvements to overall gameplay, and ranked multiplayer has been reset.
Those hoping for campaign co-op will need to wait until August for the update to arrive. Further, Forge, Infinite‘s custom map maker, won’t launch in open beta won’t until September 2022.
If Halo Infinite’s Season 2 update doesn’t install automatically, be sure to push it through manually (I needed to do this on the Xbox Series X).
Though Season 2 brings much-needed fresh content to the beleaguered multiplayer game, it’s also set to last six months, similar to Season 1. It’s unclear if 343 Industries has enough new content planned to keep Halo Infinite players engaged over that period.
For everything coming to Season 2 so far, check out 343 Industries’ latest blog post.
Normally, these come in two waves and now, the company has revealed what’s hitting Game Pass in the first half of May. Notably, EA Vancouver’s NHL 22 is among this batch of new Game Pass titles.
Loot River (Cloud, Console and PC) — May 3rd
Trek to Yomi (Cloud, Console and PC) — May 5th
Citizen Sleep (Cloud, Console and PC) — May 5th
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition (Cloud, Console and PC) — May 10th
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (Cloud, Console and PC) — May 10th
This War of Mine: Final Cut (Cloud, Console and PC) — May 10th
NHL 22 (Console) — May 12th [EA Play]
Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition (Cloud and Console) is leaving Game Pass on May 10th, while the following titles are exiting the catalogue on May 15th:
Enter The Gungeon (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Console and PC)
Remnant: From the Ashes (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Steep (Cloud and Console)
The Catch: Carp and Coarse (Cloud, Console, and PC)
The Wild at Heart (Cloud, Console, and PC)
As always, Game Pass subscribers can take advantage of an exclusive 20 percent discount to purchase any game in the catalogue and keep playing even after it leaves Game Pass.
Further, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs $16.99/month and is required for streaming (which Xbox refers to as ‘Cloud’) to mobile devices and browsers. On top of that, this tier includes Game Pass for both Console and PC, as well as subscriptions to Xbox Live Gold and EA Play.
Find out what came to Xbox Game Pass late last month here.
Metroid Prime has been the flagship series for 3D Metroid games. However, Samus didn’t transition to 3D graphics until the GameCube era. With this in mind, two passionate fans created their own Metroid 64 and shared footage with fans alike.
On Twitter, Luto Akino, one of the lead developers, shared the version of Metroid 64, a Unity 3D project. The two-minute-long video shows the game’s perspective and level design. Rather than Metroid Prime’s first-person perspective, this version is in third-person. Samus runs through a rather bare-bones level, comprising of purple platforms.
Akino even shares some deeper gameplay aspects like Samus using her arm cannon and transforming into the Morph Ball. Unfortunately, the gameplay shown doesn’t give any glimpse into enemies or puzzles. However, it’s a very accurate representation of what a Metroid game would look like.
Nintendo’s Metroid series first began on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. Later sequels include Metroid II: Return of Samus, and Super Metroid in 1994. However, there was an eight-year gap before Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime launched on Game Boy Advance and GameCube respectively. The Nintendo 64 generation was void of any Metroid titles.
Most recently, the series went back to its 2D roots with Metroid Dread. Our very own Patrick O’Rourke enjoyed his time with the title and appreciated its emphasis on backtracking and exploration. Nintendo also has Metroid Prime 4 on the horizon, though development hurdles have reportedly impacted its release date.
Discussions of a possible Metroid game on N64 reportedly happened. However, co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto admitted the team “couldn’t come up with any concrete ideas or vehicle at that time.”
Akino has been working on this project for quite some time with a friend. Additional updates on the project are found on Akino’s Twitter feed. However, there’s no clear indication of when the public can begin playing Metroid 64.
Wii Sports was a cultural phenomenon when it released 16 years ago as a pack-in title for Nintendo’s Wii.
For a few years, the game was everywhere, including on mainstream news broadcasts featuring anchors awkwardly waving Wiimotes and talking about the latest “Nintendo,” retirement homes, and living rooms worldwide.
While the novelty of motion-controlled gaming has faded over the past decade, with a few Switch titles and virtual reality controllers being the notable exceptions, it remains the most pick-up-and-play way to control a game, especially for those not familiar with the medium.
Fast-forward to 2022 and we have Switch Sports, a reimagining of Wii Sports designed for the Switch. Though late in the home console-portable’s life, Switch Sports is, for the most part, just as compelling as its predecessor — especially when it comes to online and, more importantly, local multiplayer.
First, let’s look at the several sports included in Switch Sports. Currently, there are only six activities available: tennis, badminton, soccer, bowling, volleyball and chambara.
As you likely already assumed, all of these sports require you to perform some sort of physical motion with the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers.
Badminton plays like tennis, but feels faster-paced.
For example, tennis plays very similarly to its Wii Sports counterpart, though with an added level of control. You really feel like you have the ability to shift the ball’s direction based on your timing and whether you opt for a forehand or backhand shot. Badminton plays similarly to tennis and offers real precision over the birdie’s direction, though it’s far more frantic and can only be played solo.
Soccer feels like the most full-fledged title in Switch Sports’ lineup, but it’s also an outlier. The game is controlled with two Joy-Cons, with one being used to move your player around and the other for motion-based kicking and the camera.
Soccer feels like a slightly less chaotic, albeit slower-paced, take on Rocket League, and has a surprising amount of depth and strategy to it, whether you’re playing 4-on-4 or 1-on-1.
Bowling is just as fun as you remember.
Because its controls are more complicated, soccer is also the most difficult sport to pick up and immediately understand. However, this makes it great for solo online play, and I can see it evolving into a go-to sport when I have time to kill and want to play on my own. If you’re deciding between the physical or digital version of Switch Sports because you think you need the included leg strap, just opt for the digital version. Soccer’s shoot-out mini-game is purely timing-based and isn’t very fun.
Next, there’s bowling, the true Wii Sports classic. Bowling is just as fun as it was years ago, but there’s an interesting twist this time around: you can bowl simultaneously against other players. This means there’s no waiting involved and everyone is bowling at once, making the game move much faster. Further, when you’re playing online, things become battle royale-like, with players with lower scores slowly being eliminated in subsequent rounds.
Volleyball is nearly entirely focused on timing.
Chambara — which was included in Wii Sports Resort — is a strategic sword fight with either a single sword or dual-wielding swords. Though the sword is surprisingly responsive to my Joy-Con movements, I found that most games devolve into a flaying match devoid of blocking, similar to Wii Sports‘ Boxing. As a result, I’ve spent the least amount of time with chambara so far.
Finally, there’s volleyball, the most timing-focused of all of the title’s sports. When you’re playing with a partner co-operatively, volleyball can feel great as you time your bumps, volleys and strikes perfectly as a team, but solo, it quickly becomes repetitive. Unlike tennis and badminton, volleyball doesn’t seem to offer precise control over where the ball is headed and primarily emphasizes timing and rhythm. It’s worth noting that my partner is a big fan of volleyball’s focus on timing, so whether or not the sport appeals to you will come down to personal preference.
There’s a lot to like about Switch Sports’ various sports, but there are a few notable omissions, including Wii Sports’ favourites like boxing and baseball. Nintendo may have plans to bring these games to the title down the line, but nothing has been confirmed yet. So far, we only know that the ability to play soccer with the leg strap and golf are coming later this year.
Chambara is too chaotic for me.
Strangely, Wii Sports‘ ‘Challenges’ are absent from Switch Sports. As someone who spent most of his time playing Wii Sports solo, this is disappointing and a perplexing move on Nintendo’s part. Some of my fondest memories of Switch Sports involve various tennis challenges like returning a specific number of serves or hitting moving targets.
Like the arrival of additional sports, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Challenges make their way to Switch Sports in the future, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Thankfully, what Switch Sports does feature is a surprisingly robust online mode that’s playable solo or with another player locally. I’ve spent most of my time online playing tennis and soccer with my partner and can confirm it’s a great experience. You can opt to play a specific sport or rank several different sports in the order of how interested you’re in playing them. After 10 matches in any given sport, you unlock a ranked mode that ensures play remains balanced and that gives you something to work towards, though I’ve only unlocked this feature with tennis and soccer so far.
Soccer is great but more complicated than other sports.
Playing and accomplishing specific goals in sports, like hitting the ball on the line in tennis or even just winning, gains you points that let you earn new in-game items like rackets, swords, balls, reactions and player titles that can often be reworked into amusing phrases (for example, my partner’s title is ‘Former Child’).
It may sound silly, but this kept me playing longer than I expected as I continued to try to unlock that coveted black toque for my tennis pro. It’s important to note that these items can only be unlocked in online play and that there’s no way to get them offline.
I like to imagine that my character looks like they’re unapproachable and smokes roughly a pack of cigarettes a day, despite being a tennis pro.
Overall, the customization options for your character in Switch Sports are rather limited, but Nintendo could have plans to add more in the future (you’re likely sensing a theme here).
Switch Sports offers solid foundation that’s missing a few key features Wii Sports fans will likely wish were included in the game. That said, the sports that are here are great, especially classics like tennis and bowling. Hopefully, Nintendo has plans to continue to add new sports and challenges to the game in the future.
Switch Sports is available now for $64.99 on Amazon on Nintendo’s Switch.
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PlayStation has revealed the new batch of games coming to its PlayStation Now streaming service in May.
This month, three titles are joining the catalogue: the fighting games Soul Calibur VI and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 and action-platformer Blasphemous.
All three games are hitting PS Now on May 3rd. Find out what came to PS Now in April here.
It’s important to note that PS Now is getting folded into an expanded PlayStation Plus in June. A full breakdown of the pricing of this service, which will simply be called PlayStation Plus, can be found here. Just note that converting to the service through existing PS Now/Plus memberships is… complicated.
Square Enix is selling its Montreal-based studios, including Crystal Dynamics, Edios-Montreal and Square Enix Montreal, to Sweden’s Embracer group for $300 million (roughly $386 million CAD).
The deal is expected to close between July and September and affects 1,100 employees across the three studios. This acquisition means that the Embracer group now owns an extensive catalogue of video game series, including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain, Thief and “more than 50 back catalogue games.”
“We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group. We recognize the fantastic IP, world-class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades. It has been a great pleasure meeting the leadership teams and discussing future plans for how they can realize their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer,” said Lars Wingefors, the co-founder and group CEO of Embracer Group, in a recent press release.
Edios Montreal most recently released Guardians of the Galaxy and has also worked on recent entries in the Deus Ex series. On the other hand, Square Enix Montreal has developed several critically acclaimed mobile titles, including Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go. Finally, Crystal Dynamics is best known for the Tomb Raider series.
Embracer owns Gearbox Software, THQ Nordic, Koch Media, Deeper Silver and more. When the company’s acquisition of Square Enix closes, it will have more than 14,000 employees, 10,000 developers and 124 internal studios.
Square Enix says that selling off these studios will allow the company to establish “a more efficient allocation of resources,” adding that it plans to launch “new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.”
When PlayStation unveiled its long-rumoured PlayStation Plus expansion, gamers quickly started wondering how their existing subscriptions would convert to the new one.
During this time, PlayStation remained quiet as it seemingly allowed people to buy PS Plus and Now memberships to stack them. Then, suddenly, the company disabled the ability to redeem codes for prepaid cards.
Now, it’s published an FAQ page for the new PS Plus — which merges the existing PS Plus with PS Now, plus adds retro games and free trials — to explain how membership conversion works.
Part of this needlessly overcomplicated process boils down to the fact that PlayStation has broken down PS Plus into three tiers, and each of which has its own “conversion rate,” for lack of a better term. This further illustrates how inelegant the new PS Plus structure is; while it’s meant to streamline PlayStation’s services offering by combining Plus and Now, it just carves up everything in a different way.
Xbox Game Pass, by contrast, has two simple tiers — an $11.99/month base subscription for console and PC, and a $16.99/month ‘Ultimate’ that includes console, PC, streaming, Xbox Live Gold and more. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s Switch Online has simple monthly and annual options for both its base membership (required for online play) and the optional Expansion Pack for bonus games and add-on content. Why is this all so much more complicated on PlayStation?
It’s even stranger, too, when you consider that we don’t yet know the single most important thing about the new PS Plus: the catalogue. So far, the only games that have been confirmed are Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal. Six games, out of “up to 400” for Essential and those, plus “up to 340 additional” titles, for Premium. That’s to say nothing of how the game trials might work — we don’t know for sure yet.
Even more frustrating is the fact that these are all modern games. What’s arguably most enticing about the new PS Plus is its promised retro catalogue, which will cover the PS1, PS2 and PSP generations. Some rumours have suggested a few titles we’ll get, including Syphon Filter and Tekken 2, but PlayStation hasn’t said anything official itself. Frankly, I’m not interested in even considering any of these conversion methods for PS Plus until we actually know what we’re getting for our money.
This is speaking to a larger trend this generation with PlayStation making things needlessly convoluted.
When the PS5 launched, PlayStation didn’t offer a way for your console to recognize which version of cross-gen games it should run. On Xbox, such a feature exists in the form of “Smart Delivery,” which automatically gives you the best version of these games on the new-gen hardware. The lack of such a feature even led to an issue in which players had to factory reset their consoles for a time. And for a while, we didn’t even know how many games would be PS5-only, despite PlayStation boss Jim Ryan once arrogantly stating “we believe in generations.”
Then there’s how the company has handled PS5 upgrades for its PS4 games. In September 2021, the company said the cross-gen title Horizon Forbidden West wouldn’t have a free upgrade path from PS4 to PS5, despite originally promising one, only to pivot and offer one after all. However, the company still ended up charging $10 more for the physical PS5 version of the game, even though you could technically buy the PS4 version then upgrade to avoid the fee. And while it’s likely the individual companies’ policies and not PlayStation’s, we’ve seen a few cases (Mortal Shell and, for a time, Final Fantasy VII Remake) where PlayStation Plus only netted you the PS4 versions of games, not their PS5 counterparts, which led to further head-scratching.
That doesn’t even touch on how storage expansion works on PS5, which requires opening up the PS5 and figuring out which compatible SSD to install. Once again, this process was far simpler on Xbox — simply insert an official third-party Seagate stick and you’re good to go. That’s not to say Xbox’s method is flawless, though, as they’re limited by lack of storage size options.
I say all of this not out of some fanboyism — I love all three platforms in their own ways. If anything, I’ve always gravitated more towards PlayStation, as my first console was the PS1. But I’m getting increasingly tired of how tedious a lot of the company’s business practices are getting, with PS Plus now especially.
Unlike many others I’ve seen, I don’t even take issue with the new PS Plus not including day-one first-party games, as I understand Microsoft can afford to do that in a way Sony cannot. But it’s really not asking too much to ask for things to be a bit simpler with the service. Hopefully, that’ll happen — if not before the new PS Plus’ June 13th launch, then shortly after.
Barcelona, Spain – June 7, 2018: Logo of Apple Inc. on a Apple store. Apple is the multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California and sells consumer electronics products.
Apple is clarifying its decision to begin removing “outdated” apps from the App Store. The criteria surrounding this decision stem from the iPhone maker’s new policy. It requires developers to provide updates to their software every three years.
Following developer complaints last week, Apple now states in a press release that this is all a part of the app Store Improvements policy. Moving forward, the company now requires developers to provide consistent updates within a three-year window and hit a minimal download threshold. Failure to do so results in Apple issuing a notice that their software will be removed from the App Store.
“As part of the App Store Improvements process, developers of apps that have not been updated within the last three years and fail to meet a minimal download threshold — meaning the app has not been downloaded at all or extremely few times during a rolling 12 month period — receive an email notifying them that their app has been identified for possible removal from the App Store.”
A handful of developers came forward last week after receiving a notice regarding their app. Moitivoto developer Robert Kabwe received Apple’s App Store Improvement Notice, stating the game has “not been updated in a significant amount of time.” Likewise, Emilia Lazer-Walker reported receiving the same.
I feel sick. Apple just sent me an email saying they're removing my free game Motivoto because its more than 2 years old.
It's part of their App improvement system.
This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.
Both developers express their personal frustrations. In both cases, the developers believe their apps and games are in a finished state. Kabwe believes his game is “fully functioning” and has been for the last three years.
Of course, this also brings the conversation of software and game preservation into the fold. Apple confirms that any user who has already purchased a removed app will experience no interruptions. Though, if an app or game is in a working and complete state, users should be able to theoretically purchase and install it for years down the road. Additionally, Apple hasn’t clarified its threshold when claiming an “app has not been downloaded at all or extremely few times.”
At the time the first reports came through, Apple warned developers that they had 30 days to submit an update. Though, Apple now states that developers will be given up to 90 days to update their apps.
This new policy puts additional pressure on developers. Smaller indie teams may not have the time or budget to invest in additional updates to completed projects.
