Xbox One was set to receive a DVR feature that would allow users to record TV shows and play them back on their consoles. This feature would have also worked on any Windows 10 device connected as well. However, Microsoft recently revealed to The Verge that DVR has been put on hold.

“After careful consideration, we’ve decided to put development of DVR for Over-the-Air TV on hold to focus our attention on launching new, higher fan-requested gaming experiences across Xbox One and Windows 10.”

Of course, no estimate on when it could be expected was provided. There are UI updates that will be revealed at E3 2016 so it’s not like Microsoft is resting on its laurels. That being said, it’s still somewhat disappointing that a feature touted for this long is placed further on the backburner.

What are your thoughts on Xbox One DVR being put on hold? Let us know in the comments below.

Microsoft announced a ton of different upcoming features for the Xbox One, one of them being the ability to DVR television shows as they air and play them back across various Windows devices.

However, it’s now been confirmed to VG247 that the Xbox One DVR will only be available in three countries when it launches in 2016. These are the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Details for other countries like Germany and France would be announced “at a later date” but it will remain to be seen when they actually release.

The Xbox One DVR functionality is interesting for TV viewers but it will require external HDD capability for recording shows. What are your thoughts on the same and when do you think it will eventually come to different countries? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information on the same in the coming year.

The Xbox One February system update is now live, and a Reddit thread has reported on some of the other changes the system has seen either than what Microsoft promised. First of all, players can now see how long you’ve been friends with some one by heading to your Followers list.

Furthermore, when uploading game clips, you’ll now see that all the thumbnails are of a uniform size. Earlier, some thumbnails would be larger than others. That’s make it easier to scan through clips when deciding what to upload. Perhaps the biggest change is that the game clip time has been increased. Earlier, it was five minutes. Check out the screenshot below which has the clip at 6 minutes and 39 seconds long. More information is incoming on the same – it could be a bug for all we know.

You can also report players for unsportsmanlike conduct including quitting. This is reportedly better than the file complaint process. Finally, the Achievement Unlocked notification now has the X icon moving to the side. “Hold X for Details” is centered now, which looks better for the player. You can also now report gamers for stuff such as rage quitting and unsporting conduct this is much better than the file complaint process that was the only option before.

Microsoft’s Xbox One console comes with a litany of features including SmartGlass, Kinect, DVR and much more, but according to corporate vice president Phil Harrison, the company has five new features to be revealed for each feature already showcased.

Speaking to OXM, Harrison stated that, “When you’ve been around for a long time, you know what platforms are like. The games you celebrate and are proud of in the first year, when you look back at them from the perspective of ten years from now; you’d be amazed at the difference. It’s a combination of the tools getting better, developers beginning to understand the unique architecture to work with.

“Crucially this time around, there’s the power of the cloud and what that means for game design. That can grow and scale indefinitely – of course there is a practical limit but in effect you’re uncapped. And I think, from a player’s perspective, that’s the most exciting part; that it’s not just about the chips in the box under the television or wherever you position your console of choice, it’s about what the platform will provide you with over time. We’ve not had that in a console generation before.”

“There are more ideas and vision for what games can be than available time to build them into the launch games. So for every feature you’ve seen in the launch titles – SmartGlass, GameDVR, use of voice with Kinect – there are five features in the queue waiting to come out, either in an update or a sequel or in a future version of a game. The kind of creative and technical innovation that we’re seeing in the industry – it’s a really good time.”

Are you satisfied with the Xbox One’s features? Have they added more innovation to games like Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5 and Ryse: Son of Rome? Let us know in the comments below.

Sony has announced that the Share button on the DualShock 4 has seen over 6.5 million shares since the launch of the PlayStation 4. This include screenshots and videos – including on Twitch and Ustream.

The PlayStation 4 launched on November 15th in North America and on November 29th in Europe, releasing for 32 territories worldwide in this year alone. The console has been a stupendous success since launch, selling more than 1 million consoles in the US within the first 24 hours and averaging more than 250,000 units within the first 48 hours in the UK. Sony has since announced that it managed to sell 2.1 million consoles since November 15th worldwide.

It’s also the fastest selling platform in UK history, besides totally outclassing the Xbox One in sales. This is keeping in mind the hardware issues it has faced since then. Are you satisfied with the console and have you been abusing the Share function since receiving your console? Let us know below.

For instance, if you’ll notice when trying to record using the DVR function and the “Xbox, Record That” command, you’ll only get a 30 second clip. You might think this is misleading, considering that Microsoft boasted about being able to record up to five minutes of video. Penello clarified this on Reddit, stating that, “We are always buffering 5 min. ‘Xbox, Record That’ grabs 30 sec. Think about it like a holy crap moment you want to grab. To get the past 5 min, you would snap Game DVR and get the full 5 min. You can also snap GameDVR and manually record 5 min forward.”

As for those who saw this story about not installing the Day One update, Penello stated that, “No, it’s just that this file is not the day one update. It’s a recovery file. It’s much larger than the day one update, is more complicated to install, and you still have to connect to Xbox Live when you are done. It was never intended to replace the update.”

Meanwhile, on NeoGAF, Albert was issuing clarifications regarding the Xbox One’s hard disk drive management. There was a furore created apparently due to the console itself handling the deletion of files and that too when you’re low on space. Penello stated that the console doesn’t delete things automatically. “I confirmed again. I’m correct. Its possible that Jeff [Gerstmann] misunderstood the question. Additionally, since people asked, a copy of your saves is stored locally for access offline.”

On the issue of HDD management, he gave a long explanation about what data you could and could not manage. “I’ve never suggested that people don’t need storage management. I completely understand why people want to see what storage they have left. It’s a feature that will be enabled later, once we get external storage supported and people need to move things around.

“I do think it’s unlikely to be an issue in the short term, as people probably won’t have enough games to run out of space. But it’s something we know is needed and will be enabled later. In the meantime, we aren’t going to be randomly deleting your files IF you end up running out of space. You can manually delete any file as shown in the screen above. Like 360, that will delete the file but the save game will still be stored.

“Save game files (and Upload Clips) are not user manageable. In order to prevent save-game collision across different consoles and different states, we manage the sync between the local save game and the cloud. A copy of your save game is stored locally and synced to the cloud automatically in the background. If you loose internet connectivity, you can play offline and keep saving no problem. Once you reconnect everything syncs again.

“The data that is ‘automatically’ deleted are things like DVR caching and other OS or system level caches. Hope that clarifies. With the exception of automatic save game syncs, data management features are still there. We need to add HDD capacity views and will have that feature in the future.”

He also confirmed again that you can delete stuff on the fly. “Yes you can. The only thing you can’t see is the amount of storage available on the HDD. You can manually delete things, and when (if) you run out of space you manually delete to make room. We don’t just start deleting things.

“We went with user-upgradable external storage vs. internal replaceable. That feature is coming after launch, and at that point there will likely be more sophisticated storage management.”

And to think, we’re not even past launch day yet! Stay tuned for more details on the Xbox One in the coming weeks.

For the most part, Kinect appears safe in terms of facial recognition information gathered, with the information being deleted once you switch the console off. Kinect will “measure distances between key points on your face to create a numeric value that represents only you” and is represented as a “very long set of numbers”. Hence, “[n]o one could look at the numbers and know they represent you.” Regardless, the data stays on your console. Even the distance between your joints, represented by a stick-figure for properly tracking the player, are deleted once you turn the console off.

As for online play, “Microsoft may collect those numeric values to enable and improve gameplay and improve the gaming experience” with said values to be “destroyed after analysis is complete.” Players will also be able to decide what to do with photographs, voice commands and other information gathered.

Now, when it comes to voice chat, whether over Kinect or otherwise, then you “should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features such as voice chat, video and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions offered through the Services.” Microsoft will even monitor communications “to the extent permitted by law, but we cannot monitor the entire Service and make no attempt to do so.” Interestingly, “[c]ommunications in live-hosted gameplay sessions may also be broadcast to others.”

Regarding DVR recording: “When playing multiplayer on Xbox Live, any player in that session can use GameDVR to record their view of the gameplay taking place in that session. The recording may capture your in-game character and gamertag in the game clips created by other players in the gameplay session. No audio chat is recorded in these game clips.”

Skirting the edge of surveillance or very much within NSA-like borders? Let us know what you think of the new Privacy statement in the comments. The Xbox One will launch on November 22nd in 13 territories worldwide.

We have some interesting new information about the user interface, social features and media capturing for Sony’s next generation console, the PS4.

First, it seems you can send friend requests using either your username or real name, which would explain the friend and name requests we’ve been seeing. The “Edit Username” function won’t be for your PSN ID – it will instead serve to change your local name.

It has also been indicated the UI, running with full images, backgrounds and music looks “f**king sweet” with 1080p, 60 frames per second video. You’ll also be able to drop in out of games very quickly, similar to the Vita’s speed.

However, the man is unaware about themes and personalization. Will you be having game pages with music playing like when you highlight the same on the PS3? Yes.

As far as the Start-up Screen goes, there is currently a blue background with the logo appearing on screen. You’ll then head to a log-in menu, which has been described as “quick, slick and simple…since the machines will a rarely be turned on from cold, Sony might not bother [to make a different one].” Check out the main interface to be used for selecting games below. Selecting “Overview” brings up more details like trophies, videos and such.

More social information: You can display your real name along with your PSN ID, and this will display above the latter. You can also choose any first and last name you want, with no need to link to Facebook or anything else for confirmation. It’s already known that you can keep names from being displayed altogether. But you can also just display your first name if you like. Press “Up” and you’ll be able to head to the XMB.

Pressing the PlayStation button will bring up the UI as seen in this video, while holding it allows you to adjust controller settings similar to changing music controls on the Vita after a long press.

Interestingly, Leaderboards will have the potential to support real name and PSN IDs together and has been described to be working well. As of now, nothing has been seen to indicate the amount of time you’ve spent on the game but it could be included later. What has been seen on the SDK it the ability to save any videos or screenshots locally and store the same on a USB stick. The PS4 will record gameplay at 720p but this may not be the final resolution when the console rolls out. The same goes for screenshots at 1080p.

Another dev confirmed the same resolutions for DVR and video capture, and also stated that DVR is 30 frames per second which could again change later. He also stated that the PS Store is integrated in the UI and there’s no app for the same. So rejoice, for now you can have access to the store at all times. The dev also revealed that, “You can use the PS camera to stream a picture in picture of yourself where you can live comment on your stream.”

The PlayStation 4 is currently set to launch on November 15th in North America and November 29th in Europe.

Source: NeoGAF user [who is a confirmed PlayStation 4 developer], via: (Reddit)

However, a Microsoft representative speaking to Game Informer has snuffed out any hope of recording being longer than 5 minutes. “We are committed to giving gamers the ability to produce high quality videos easily and quickly. We can confirm the recording buffer in Game DVR is 5 minutes, which we feel is optimized to take advantage of high-quality production features and advanced social mechanics in Xbox One.”

In comparison, the PlayStation 4 allows players to record up to 15 minutes of video footage. Will the Xbox One suffer in light of that? We’ll find out when both consoles launch this November.

However, the screen above shows that you can either choose between recording the final five minutes or record manually. For his part, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President Phil Harrison stated that “you can record as much or as little as you want.”

There are many questions that arise from this: For example, the default function is to record the last five minutes from your gameplay. Does this mean that when you record manually, that you’ll be starting from any point and be able to record a maximum of five minutes of gameplay? Or will you really be able to record as much footage as you want with manual recording?

Stay tuned for more information on the same, as the Xbox One prepares to launch on November 22nd.

Via: Reddit