Grave Gamer News & Views — xbox one

Halo’s Reclaimer Trilogy Upgraded to a Saga

Seems like the Xbox One is heralding much more than just two more numbered Halo’s.  Powwowing with GameSpot, Microsoft Studio’s VP, Phil Spencer, teased bigger plans are in store for the Master Chief.  “While we originally said trilogy, we’ve actually expanded this to more of a saga,” said Spencer, “So we don’t want to limit the Reclaimer story within a trilogy.”

Once the FPS franchise was under 343 Industries’ wings – a development studio specifically formed by Microsoft to create and oversee all media labeled “Halo” –  Halo 4 was announced to be the first act in a new arc of the main series dubbed The Reclaimer Trilogy.

To catch you up, Master Chief himself has been ominously referred to as “The Reclaimer” within Bungie’s original three games.  Halo 4 set up a greater emphasis on the Master Chief as a character by revealing that his destiny plays a larger part in the fabric of the series’ universe than just his role as a military grunt mowing down waves of Covenant. This is reinforced by the implication that (spoiler) his fate has been manufactured by the fabled Forerunners through eons of manipulation (To what end?  Well, now we have to wait a whole saga to find out).

Now rebranded as the Reclaimer Saga, 343 has stated, “…We don’t want to limit our plans to a trilogy,” adding, “Our ambitions for the franchise are even broader than that."  They do, however, promise the main plot line of the Reclaimer Saga will follow the traditional beginning, middle, and end storytelling structure.  Personally, I feel plans for a mainline trilogy are still well in place, but fans should expect several satellite titles (likely a mix of both FPS and other genres) that dart in and out of the Reclaimer story.  Think Spartan Ops on a grander, multi-game scale.

As for the unnamed Xbox One Halo trailer shown off at E3, Phil Spencer rejects the notion that it was for a Reclaimer spin-off, calling it a "legitimate” installment…which, of course, makes me want to refer to games like Reach and ODST as illegitimate kids.  We’re still not calling it Halo 5, apparently, but Spencer confirms it is the next Halo planned for release.

Microsoft Reverses Xbox One’s Shit-tastic DRM Policies

By Zeus, you’ve done it.  We’ve done it.  Our collective bitching has effectively moved mountains.  We made Microsoft budge.  Hell, that’s the metaphorical equivalent to knocking the Earth off of its axis…Which would likely kill us, but as we hurtle through space to our unknown doom, hold onto the peace of mind that we can at least lend our Xbox One games to a friend before we die.

Forgive my nonsense and dig this: Micro’s president of interactive entertainment, Don Mattrick – ‘member him? – issued a cordial update on the Xbox One’s used games and online policies in a post titled “Your Feedback Matters” (That alone deserves a tip of the hat).  The Xbox One’s DRM-like policies have, up until now, been met with “passionate” responses from the gaming community (you’re free to replace “passionate” with whichever venomous word of your choosing; all are correct).

But it would appear Microsoft, in the first expert display of damage control since the console’s reveal, has completely reassessed their stance on connectivity limitations (i.e. the “always-online” debate):

An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

Similarly, disc-based games, which were originally to be tethered to individual profiles, thus preventing friends from using the same disc on their own consoles, has seen all potential restrictions revoked:

Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

Mattrick goes on to state that it is his and his company’s belief that while consumers will continue to support the system’s online features, including the cloud, for playing and downloading games (a steadfast march into an all-digital age that many argue is already here), Microsoft still wants to provide the “choice of both physical and digital content.”

Practically all of my criticisms toward the Xbox One were rallied against Microsoft’s policies and contorted, arrogant ideologies in regards to the future of gaming.  There is no denying that this was a good fucking move on their part.  This is exactly the compromise needed to change a lot of minds about the Xbox One’s threading within the next generation’s tapestry.

I feel much of Sony’s thunder from E3 could be muffled by this policy assessment, but policy should have never played a part in the purchasing decision to begin with.  It should have always been a battle between games and features.  We’re back to that level, yes, but the skirmish is now also pit on the dollar – our dollar, to be precise – and the PlayStation 4 still rests at a hundred bones cheaper than the competition.

Still, MS has definitely won some good graces today.  We’ll see how far that carries them when both systems launch.

The Price Remains the Same: Xbox One Games Still $60 Bones

Plus: The Big M Claims They’re “Over-Delivering Value” at $499

Rejoice, friends, for the gift of not-change has been visited upon us.  According to Microsoft representative earlier today, the company is adhering to the $59.99 pricing standard for Xbox One games.

You were just looking for the catch, weren’t you?  Ooh, you’re a savvy one.  Heads up: Microsoft has only confirmed the old, familiar price in regards to first-party titles – which covers your Halo’s and your Forza’s and your Gearses and so on.  Third-party publishers, on the other hand, are given the freedom to set whatever the hell price point their corporate hearts desire.  Trust me when I say a tightly shut wallet will keep publishers from siphoning your hard earned buckaroos through a hose.

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Here’s a real puzzler for you: You’ve just announced your next-gen system, your company’s ranks having wracked their brains for months over a fair price that’ll put up a fight in the market…But before you can even uncork the champagne, your direct competitor up and announces their own next-gen console at a hundred dollars cheaper than yours.  What do you do?

You oversell the fucking thing.  You tell your consumers that you’re giving them too much at that price.  As Mr. Don Mattrick, Microsoft’s head of interactive ‘tainment, puts it, “We’re over-delivering value against other choices I think consumers can get” and “We’re delivering thousands of dollars of value to people…”

Mattrick backed up his bold, likely italicized words by illustrating the Xbox One’s advantage in devices like the Kinect and services such as Skype.  He also stressed a one-two combo in the form of both the Halo TV series alongside Halo 5’s launch (up until now, the next installment of Halo had no name – a lot of leg work and sacrifice has led most academics and related experts to believe “Halo 5” was a potential moniker).

Before you anoint sainthood to Sony for refraining from shouting “We’re not charging you enough!”, I present to you the time Sony shouted “We’re not charging you enough!”  Ahh, I love classic PR misfires.

Will Titanfall Always Be an Xbox Exclusive?

Hindsight sometimes has a funny way of skewing the way we remember things.  Though Microsoft’s E3 presser seems to be squashed in most people’s eyes after Sony’s megaton bomb of a conference, you really can’t deny – whether the Xbox One entices or repulses you – that the Big M at least brought some really bitchin’ games with them.

One such title became one of the more memorable original IP’s danced out onto stage: Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall.  From the minds that both created and were fired from Call of Duty (which, frankly, sounded like a powerplay between artist and publisher), the mech-centric multiplayer shooter is finding its home on the PC, the Xbox 360, and the new Xbox One.

Respawn’s lead artist, Joel Emslie, cites a “fantastic relationship with Microsoft” as the reason why Titanfall’s console presence is exclusive to Xbox systems…but rumors strongly suggest that exclusivity only runs the duration of a year.  Does that mean Titanfall might make it to other platforms, namely the Xbox One’s direct competitor, the PS4?

“We of course would want to go further in the future with stuff, but we’re just starting out,” says Emslie.  “It’s pretty frustrating! We want to be everywhere. We want to put Titanfall everywhere, but that’s where we’re at. We’re starting there.”

When Eurogamer pressed the question harder, Emslie would only relent, “It’s definitely not out of the question,” adding that they’d love to follow their fans wherever they go, with whatever console they support.  That leaves PlayStation fans without intense, robot firefights for now, but take solace in the fact that “exclusivity” just doesn’t hold the same water it used to (I’m flashing back to the days when “Only on Nintendo” was a solemn promise).

Ahem…IT HAS BEGUN!

E3 2013 has hit the ground running and we saw Microsoft bolt through the gate first.  Which is a positive considering the company has found themselves braving an upward slope of bad press and consumer vitriol after unveiling the Xbox One – a next-gen console with innovations not only in graphical and computing power, but newfound abilities in preventing you from sharing games with friends or playing offline for more than twenty-four straight hours.

Putting your ear to the internet’s wall and you’d figure it’s dire straits for Microsoft.  This conference needed to be a win.  Or, at the very least, they needed to bring the exclusive titles they promised.  So, was their E3 presser an assured win?  Eh.  But, hey.  Games.  Here’s what stood out today: