Microsoft have announced that they’re bringing new features to the Xbox One and Xbox App on Windows 10 later this month through the preview program. Starting with the Windows 10 Xbox app, you can expect to see Game DVR for PC Games, letting you record clips from your favourite Windows titles. You’ll also be able to capture screenshots of Windows PC games by hitting the Windows+Alt+PrtScr keys. Not quite as simple as what Steam offers, but it’s a step forward.

You’ll also be given access to Xbox Live Tiles on your Windows 10 start menu, these will welcome you back, display your personal gamerpic and even alert you to new activity and messages. This will tie into the Avatar app that will let you customise the look of your avatar. All the aforementioned features can be used in conjunction with your user profile which will now allow you to use Real Name Sharing.

Windows 10 users will also be able to make use of the Xbox One Now Playing and Media Controls which let you easily access recently used apps as well as use the pause, fast forward and rewind options. You will also be able to enjoy the benefit of built in Xbox One Controller Drivers, meaning no more downloads and installs for PC users that upgraded their controller.

Also rolling out will be Xbox One and Smartglass updates, which will include the Over-the-air TV Tuner functionality for the US and Canada. Users of Smartglass can also now power up and power down their Xbox One from your Windows, Windows Phone and Android Device. You can also alter your power mode, be it the “instant on” or “energy saving” mode.

Microsoft’s Xbox Live seems to be facing its share of issues today. A trip to the status page shows that not only is TV, Music and Video limited for “Xbox on other devices” but that the Core Services for Xbox Live are limited on the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and other Xbox-related devices (i.e. SmartGlass). Currently, members will face issues logging into Xbox Live.

Oddly enough, problems emerged roughly two hours ago for Core Services and seemed to escalate around 8 AM EDT. If you’re playing games offline, then you should be fine (Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition and Sunset Overdrive, for example) but titles like Destiny and multiplayer modes for Battlefield: Hardline may face issues.

It’s not the first time Xbox Live has seen outages like this (and as far as we know, it isn’t raining lizards). Stay tuned for more information on its status and let us know what you think the problem may be in the comments below.

SmartGlass is definitely one of the best features Microsoft has come up with in its bid to expand the range and conception of a gaming console, and is probably the best instance of universal second screen gaming done right. Microsoft doesn’t just rest on its laurels either, and keeps updating the app on all the platforms it is available on to ensure it stays relevant.

Their newest update does just that, and makes the app, along with its very core, base, fundamental idea, very appealing. Along the list of new features added is included:

• Like a Game Clip
• Like an item in the activity feed
• View items that have been shared to you from a message
• Purchase Xbox One games & add-ons
• Browse for recent and popular games & add-ons
• General stability and polish improvements
• Bug fixes
• Some features may require a console update to take full advantage of them
• Improved Feedback tools that no longer use email

Sounds like Xbox is slowly and slowly moving towards being more like Facebook.

Phil Spencer may have promised that Xbox will be about games first and foremost as soon as he took the wheel of Microsoft’s Xbox division yesterday, and that’s good and all, but at least until those changes begin to take effect, we’re still stuck with Microsoft trying to sell us on the Xbox One as an all in one entertainment device.

And that is why Microsoft has taken the time to show us some of the changes they are bringing to Xbox SmartGlass (which is great, because SmartGlass is awesome) and Xbox Video, along with discussing launching the system’s media features in markets not called USA or UK.

The new features include video viewing syncing across devices (meaning if you left watching your Xbox Video on one device, you can pick it up from that exact spot on another one of your Xbox Video devices), and a slew of SmartGlass updates that are minor, but should enhance the usage experience a fair bit.

You can check out the full list on the Xbox website, or just watch the video above.

Although there is a lot of hype around it, it becomes hard to ignore the fact that Respawn Entertainment’s upcoming Titanfall feels distinctly… barebones. I mean, there’s no single player mode for a start. It only allows for twelve players per map. There are only sixteen maps. The graphics themselves aren’t pretty, using what looks like an unoptimized Source engine. And the game only has three of the eponymous ‘Titans.’ I mean, it looks cool and all, but will it really be worth $60?

At least it looks like Respawn is planning on adding more content to the game post release. Speaking on his Twitter feed, Vince Zampella said that ‘he wants to add features and support the game after launch.’ He discussed, in addition, the game’s SmartGlass features, stating that details would come with time.

In addition, we learned about the game’s localization features- The game will come with French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Japanese (ironic, because the Xbox One hasn’t even released in Japan yet, with no release date yet announced)  voice overs, while Brazilian, Korean and Traditional Chinese will be supported with subtitles.

What do you think? Are you excited?

The Gears of War franchise is now in the hands of Microsoft, who purchased the rights from Epic Games and passed development duties to Black Tusk Studios (who was developing a separate, unannounced IP that was teased at E3 2013).

Now, two new job listings have appeared in the wake of the announcement, with Black Tusk searching for a Lead Writer who can “help us bring Microsoft’s next big IP to life. This individual will help us develop the characters, story arc, emotional tone, pacing, dialogue, and flavor of a story that will shape the spirit of this new franchise.”

Interested candidates will be required to “Act as a champion of story, characters, and emotional engagement across the game and game team,” “Create a cast of distinctive, engaging, and imperfect characters that players love (or love to hate),” along with defining “A compelling story that takes the player on a hero’s journey, with a keen eye to story structure and pacing.”

A job listing for a Senior Online Engineer has also been posted and it indicates that the next Gears of War could integrate SmartGlass. Candidates “will be responsible for design and implementation of robust, secure, and scalable web services, and deployment processes to support customer-facing applications. The successful candidate must have strong communication skills and be able to work side by side with programmers, designers and production staff, and be passionate about owning a reliable high-traffic web application to support console and multi-screen end points.”

The next Gears of War will be led by former series producer Rod Fergusson, who has joined Microsoft to head up the game. What are your thoughts thus far on the direction being taken? Let us know below.

As announced earlier, Lionhead Studios revealed that players could control both heroes and villains of Albion in the upcoming Xbox One exclusive Fable Legends. How would that work and would players ever be able to actually confront heroes face to face? Not quite.

Community manager Chris Hohbein clarified on the forums that, “Villain players will have different sorts of minions at their disposal,” Hohbein confirmed, “some more powerful than others – so, while you won’t get to physically fight the Villain ‘one on one’ as it were, the Villain is able to control every minion you encounter including the more powerful ones.

“The idea of villain players attacking towns sounds interesting! But I’d imagine that would be a huge challenge, both technically and in terms of gameplay for those in the town! Nevertheless, always good to hear ideas!”

Interestingly, you can also act as a villain remotely using SmartGlass – it “won’t be mandatory,” though and is only there “as an option to improve your experience.”

Sound good or were you hoping for something more direct? Let us know below.

Microsoft’s ID@Xbox program, responsible for the development of indie games for the Xbox One, has attracted its fair share of flak with its parity clause. Nonetheless, according to boss Chris Charla, it’s bringing forth some rather interesting concepts which will make use of features such as Kinect and SmartGlass. He also indicated that these would be tough to do on any other platform.

Speaking to OXM, Charla answered as to whether any of the ID@Xbox indie titles could become exclusive to the platform. “I really can’t say. Not because I don’t want to, but because I’m flicking through the Rolodex of game concepts I’ve seen come in…It’s gratifyingly all over the map, I’ll put it that way. I don’t know, because the developers have only told me about the version they’re making for Xbox One!

“But I will say that there are some really cool concepts that have come in which make use of Kinect and SmartGlass, so it’s pretty exciting in that way – some of those games would be hard to put on another platform.”

As of now, we haven’t seen many titles from the ID@Xbox program. Microsoft has revealed that it will be showcasing such games in early 2014.

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.

To know more about this intriguing new IP from Crytek we caught up with Mike Read, Producer of Ryse: Son of Rome. Check out our conversation below.

Ravi Sinha: Ryse was originally scheduled for the Xbox 360. Now it will be coming to the Xbox One, and we can see how functions like mandatory Kinect support have been leveraged for the gameplay. However, what was the original intent for the game given that Kinect is still optional on the Xbox 360? 

Mike Read: The game you see now is very different than what we showed some years ago as a purely Kinect-based title. There were a series of prototypes that were put together and the version that we are showing now is what ultimately ended up as the winning idea in the end. The option for Kinect integration is ultimately left up to the developer as to how far they want to take it. We experimented with a series of things including things like hand gestures as a method of control.

At the end of the day we found that things like this took away from the player experience we were trying to deliver. That’s not to downplay the Kinect at all. It’s a very powerful device and with the standard inclusion of this with the Xbox One it will be interesting to see what kind of things developers will be able to pull out of it in the years to come.

"What we showed at E3 was a small slice of what we had planned to deliver for the final game. Unfortunately, we had to make a series of cuts to the demo to make it a more enjoyable and polished experience for both the visuals and the gameplay."

Ravi Sinha: The story is supposed to span an entire lifetime (at least the protagonist’s). What kind of play-length can we expect? 

Mike Read: The story in Ryse will focus on a segment in the life of Marius Titus. While there are references to his past throughout the story, it will not follow his entire lifetime. As for the length, we are still going through the initial passes with the gameplay itself and will talk more about that soon.

Ravi Sinha: Ryse has certainly looked intriguing with all its conflicting elements such as hack and slash gameplay and commandeering troops for various purposes. However, there is a worry that the game is all flash at the moment, especially with all the QTEs showcased. 

Mike Read: What we showed at E3 was a small slice of what we had planned to deliver for the final game. Unfortunately, we had to make a series of cuts to the demo to make it a more enjoyable and polished experience for both the visuals and the gameplay. After E3, we took note of the response to it and felt that we could have done a better job in explaining where we were going with the combat systems. We feel that coming into Gamescom last month helped to dispel some of the negative views people had on what we presented with regards the “game playing itself” or being “nothing but a series of QTE’s”.

Ravi Sinha: How many soldiers will you be able to command in the final game? Will there be a chance to lead thousands of warriors to their doom? And how free-form will be your command over the soldiers? Will it be context-sensitive depending on the situation? 

Mike Read: The focus of the game will be on Marius and his story and therefore the focus will be mainly on him. There will also be elements like we showed in our E3 demo where you will command a group of men towards objectives. I wouldn’t say that these are free-form at all, but integrated gameplay segments as you progress through the story.

"There is a SmartGlass component that will be available for Ryse that taps into the cloud content sharing and menu capabilities. There has been a huge step up from the time Smartglass was introduced until now. One example is that it now provides experiences like full menu integration."

Ravi Sinha: Is Ryse primarily centered on hack and slash gameplay, or will we other gameplay elements? Maybe turret sequences where you take control of a catapult yourself or something along those lines? 

Mike Read: The primary focus is indeed on the hack and slash style of gameplay, but there are some other elements like the utilization of pilums in combat, testudo formations, archers, etc… In addition, there are other weapons that the player will be able to interact with throughout the single player campaign and multiplayer.

Ravi Sinha: Will the character in the game be able to level up and gain new skills? And how all of this ties up in the internal micro transaction system? 

Mike Read: There are two sides for both SP and MP. For the SP side you can unlock executions using XP. The unlocking of executions also transfers over to the MP side and vice versa. Also for SP only you will have upgrade options for things such as health bars, health regen, XP gains, and focus bonuses.

For the MP side, your character earns in-game currency in addition to XP.  It’s important to note that in-game currency microtransactions only apply to MP. As you progress in experience, you unlock the ability to purchase more powerful equipment and additional execution moves that provide greater rewards.

Equipment is purchased in the ‘booster pack’ style where you receive a random assortment of gear with different stat bonuses in each pack and then you choose which items to equip on your gladiator from your collection.  Equipment packs and executions are purchased with the in-game currency that you can earn by playing or you can supplement your earned currency by purchasing more via the Xbox Marketplace.

Rashid Sayed: Are you looking at integrating SmartGlass feature for Ryse? If yes, can you please share details about the same? 

Mike Read: There is a SmartGlass component that will be available for Ryse that taps into the cloud content sharing and menu capabilities. There has been a huge step up from the time Smartglass was introduced until now. One example is that it now provides experiences like full menu integration.

What you see on the menus in game is replicated in the Smartglass app giving you the ability to see your own and your friends progress, manage inventory, and upgrade your character and abilities whether you’re playing the game or not. In addition, all of this information is stored on the cloud allowing you to perform this functionality regardless of whether you’re in your living room or on the road.

" Given the amount of work we put into our previous titles in pushing PC hardware to its max, we were more than ready for what the Xbox One had to offer. There are always a number of challenges and compromises from many different areas when working with new technology and ways of doing things, but nothing that our team hasn’t been able to handle."

Rashid Sayed: Judging by the recent vidoc, you guys are putting in every effort to make the game feel as realistic as possible. Can you please tell us what aspects of Xbox One’s architecture are helping you achieve the same? 

Mike Read: The massive leap in hardware is the most obvious thing that has helped us bring things to life with visual fidelity never seen before on a console platform. One of the big advantages over previous console generations is the graphics capabilities. Disregarding any speed improvements the modern architecture of the system and DX11 support means we can now do on console what we could do on PC.

Another advantage is having effectively a PC architecture for the CPU side of things, this allows threading models and optimizations that have been done on PC to be used, and allows faster prototyping of any of the more ambitious optimizations we have put in place.

Ravi Sinha: How difficult was it to modify the CryEngine 3 for the Xbox One? Were there any compromises made along the way? 

Mike Read: Given the amount of work we put into our previous titles in pushing PC hardware to its max, we were more than ready for what the Xbox One had to offer. There are always a number of challenges and compromises from many different areas when working with new technology and ways of doing things, but nothing that our team hasn’t been able to handle. One thing people tend to forget is that there are a lot more moving parts with this from us developing an engine, alongside a game, mixed in with new hardware, and new development tools to support that.

There is no silver bullet to developing a game and the challenges we face here only help to put us in a forefront position in understanding the new pipelines we’ll be dealing with in the next generation.

Rashid Sayed: Coming back to Kinect Commands. Can you please explain the different types of commands I can issue to my troops? 

Mike Read: The Kinect component of Ryse is focused around voice commands to issue support orders. We tested a number of different things including gestures, but it was something that just didn’t feel natural in the end. Players will have the option of either calling out the commands or pressing the RB on the controller to issue them. One of the things that you can do was highlighted in the E3 demo when you issue orders for Archer support and firing the catapult at the end of the level.

Rashid Sayed: What can you tell us about multiplayer and the different modes that players will be able to take part in? 

Mike Read: At launch there will be a single mode available we are calling “Gladiator”. Gladiator is a two player co-op mode set in the Colosseum and will come with 11 different tile sets at launch. We’ve also added the ability for the player to create their own experience using the challenge editor to mix and match maps and events into custom playlists. Optionally, these can be shared amongst your friends or in a public capacity with the world. Each of these challenges will have their own leaderboards associated with them.