Xbox One owners awaiting an official background music feature may want to get comfortable.
Responding to a fan on Twitter today, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said this feature won’t be delivered until after Windows 10 integration comes to Xbox One.
“We have to land Windows 10 on Xbox One before we’ll get background music,” Spencer said. “So a little later.”
Xbox One owners can currently use the Xbox Music app to listen to music while playing a game, but only with Snap. This takes up a portion of the screen, making it a less-than-ideal solution.
There is clearly demand for a better alternative. On the Xbox Feedback site, more than 19,000 people have voted for “Play Music From Apps Without Snap (Background Music).”
Also on Twitter today, another fan asked Spencer about the possibility of a new Xbox One feature that lets users broadcast party chat while streaming on Twitch. Spencer said Microsoft is currently looking into how this could work, though he provided no other details.
“It’s a feature people have asked about, we are looking at what it would take to implement,” he said.
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games released so far haven’t come close to taking full advantage of those systems’ power. That’s according to Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Rockstar and 2K Games parent company Take-Two Interactive, who said during a recent presentation that the best is yet to come.
“We have yet to see entirely what the technology can allow,” Zelnick said during the 43rd Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference this week in New York City. “We’ve had a couple releases for new-gen, but I don’t think we remotely have seen what can be done, and that’s super exciting. And that speaks to many of our titles; hopefully all of our titles, ultimately.”
Zelnick’s comments follow those from PlayStation president Andrew House, who said earlier this week that he’s optimistic that E3 2015 next month will deliver games that take fuller advantage of the new consoles.
“I think it will be a show where we see the next generation of hardware really start to deliver great content and experiences that, if not take full advantage of the platform, take a lot more advantage than we’ve seen before,” he said at the time.
The most high-profile of Take-Two’s current-generation releases thus far was Grand Theft Auto V. This comes with something of an asterisk, however, as the game is an updated version of a last-generation title, albeit with some major new features and changes.
The Borderlands games, much like action RPGs such as Diablo, are essentially loot-driven games. Legendary items are among the most exciting things you can find, and starting this week, you’ll see them drop far more often in recent Borderlands games.
Following a series of tests, Gearbox has tripled the drop rate of legendary items in Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (which is comprised of the former two games). This change is now in effect across all platforms; simply allow your game to download the hot fix that went live earlier this week, and you’ll find it much easier to build up your collection of legendaries.
Last month, Gearbox began experimenting with the rate at which legendary weapons are dropped, tweaking the likelihood every week without giving players exact figures on how things had changed. This was done to avoid having players’ opinions affected by their perception of the numbers, rather than simply how things felt.
Feedback was collected through surveys and the official forums, and after more than a month of testing, Gearbox arrived at the new 3x bump. “After digging through all the data, we discovered that standard drop rates were perceived as too rare but that anything over a 3x boost felt like too much–almost to the point where it was starting to take away the challenge and excitement from seeing that beautiful orange glow,” Gearbox’s Jeff Skal explained.
Ahead of E3 2015, which is now just a few weeks away, video game retailer GameStop has teased that the show will deliver “fantastic” announcements and have a major focus on virtual reality. GameStop chief operating officer offered the tease as part of the company’s latest earnings presentation.
“There’s going to be a lot of gameplay at E3, and we’re excited to see that,” Bartel said. “We’re excited to have others see what we’ve seen already, which is fantastic innovation amongst these games.”
Bartel went on to say that he thinks, presumably based on conversations with key players, that virtual reality will be front and center at E3.
“I think another thing that’s going to take a lot of space and time at E3 is virtual reality,” he said. “I think that’s something that a lot of people spend a lot of time on.”
Zelnick made his comments this week as part of the 43rd Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in New York. Though the executive appears to be pleased with Evolve’s performance so far, he acknowledged that the game’s multiplayer-focus might have held it back somewhat.
“As you know, Evolve is very multiplayer focused, and that’s worked for people–we’ve had something like 27 million game sessions played,” Zelnick said. “And we’ve sold-in over 2.5 million units. We’re really happy with where it’s going. It isn’t 10 million units…yet. But it is an important franchise for us.
“I think we come out of that experience reminding ourselves we have to have a strong single-player opportunity. But we knew that about Evolve,” he added. “We think we’ve developed another permanent IP. But if there were something lacking, I would say it would be that it was probably a bit too multiplayer-focused, which we knew all along.”
“Our goal is to try to create permanent franchises, that’s the unique goal in the industry,” he said back in 2013. “Our competitors do not see it that way. Our competitors’ view is that our franchise will have a certain life, and at the end of that life, you move onto the next thing, so you better make hay while the sun shines. Our view is to the contrary. The best franchises are permanent franchises. Outside of our business you can look at James Bond, for example.”
Take-Two has not announced plans for Evolve’s future, though Zelnick labeling it “permanent” would suggest that the company plans to return to it someday. Until then, players can expect even more add-on content for Evolve. Just this week, Turtle Rock released a new Arena mode for the game.
If all goes to plan, Microsoft’s next-gen API will usher in a new standard for visuals and performance across a whole range of devices, from high-end PCs, to modest laptops, to even the Xbox One.
But the extent in which each platform will benefit from the new software is a matter for debate. Xbox One developers, in particular, have tempered their expectations, with none going as far as publicly claiming that the difference will be day and night. Other developers and publishers, meanwhile, have suggested that the API will pave the way for meaningful enhancements to visual fidelity and performance on PC. But how far can DirectX 12 go? Below, GameSpot provides a guide explaining how each platform is expected to benefit from DirectX 12 support, explaining each of its key new features step by step.
DirectX 12 on Xbox One
Smarter Graphics Rendering
On the Xbox One, DirectX 12 could bring about meaningful improvements to its games and the system as a whole. The Xbox One currently works through DirectX 11, with several tweaks made specifically for the system. In many ways, using the older API of DirectX 11 had limited the full potential of Xbox One, with developers being forced to using an older, less efficient API.
In particular, using DirectX 11 prevented the system from using Asynchronous shaders (or Async shaders), which spreads the graphical load across multiple threads, and lets the system compute it simultaneously, rather than having to wait for the graphics queue to finish up before moving to the next job. In theory, DirectX 12 could speed up the time it takes to usually render post-processing effects. Async Shaders are something that the PlayStation 4 already uses in a variety of games such as Infamous: Second Son (the Async shaders helped the PS4 render the particle effects seen in-game). A similar effect will likely come to Xbox One games utilising similar rendering methods. In practice, this means more rendering ability, potentially paving the way for enhanced visual effects.
Unlocking the potential of eSRAM
The biggest update coming with the DirectX 12 update is a complete revamp in how the Xbox One’s 32Mb of superfast eSRAM is used. Many developers believed that the way the Xbox One’s eSRAM API was a pain to use. However with the DirectX 12 update, Microsoft has introduced a new tool to specifically optimise eSRAM usage.
In the company’s own SDK Documentation for DirectX 12 (which leaked in January), it has specifically stated that “optimising to reduce memory bandwidth usage (Of the eSRAM) is a key strategy for Xbox One.” This could potentially boost performance of the system, and result in a slight bump in performance in future games and titles. That suggests, but doesn’t quite guarantee, that more Xbox One games will render at the same resolution and framerate as PlayStation 4 games.
A Faster Dashboard and 4K Possibilities
The boost that DirectX 12 gives the Xbox One is not strictly limited to performance bumps in-game. Phil Spencer, the head of the Xbox division, has expressed an interest in speeding up the responsiveness of the console’s dashboard. During a recent discussion with a fan on Twitter, who asked Spencer whether the Xbox One’s system software would take advantage of the upcoming DirectX 12 API, he replied: “Yes, dashboard can take full advantage of [DX12] platform features.”
“The Xbox One Dashboard can take full advantage of DX12 platform features.”
He added that a more fluid Xbox One UI is “high on the list of improvements we want to make.”
So far, developers have been somewhat conflicting with regards to how the performance of the Xbox One will be improved with DirectX 12. Damien Monnier, senior game designer at CD Projekt RED, recently suggested that DirectX 12 would not likely solve the issues the Xbox One has with resolution with certain games, stating that “resolution changes would require a much bigger change from Microsoft than DX12 upgrade.” Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock and developer behind upcoming title Ashes of the Singularity, sits on the opposite side of the fence, remaining positive about the API upgrade and claiming that it could potentially solve the Xbox One’s resolution woes. “I do think it’ll largely address the Xbox One resolution issue but that is speculation,” he recently stated.
The full impact of DirectX 12 on Xbox One will not be perfectly clear until developers begin to utilise it in practice. Along with conflicting statements from developers, we are not completely certain as to how much the update will impact the system on a technical level. We can however tell that it would give the system a welcome push in efficiency that will help the Xbox One in the long run.
DirectX 12 on PC
Unlocking More GPU Power With Multiadapter
Arguably the biggest feature of DirectX 12 on PC is the GPU Multiadapter. Since Microsoft has developed the new API to be low level, it allows a “deeper” access to the hardware that can unlock the unused power of graphics processing units inside your system. This processing is brand-agnostic and can combine the power of an integrated GPU as well as external cards. On the DirectX Developer Blog, Microsoft explains that performance can be enhanced by around 10 percent just by utilising a CPU’s integrated graphics. According to Microsoft’s tests, this does add a frame of latency, however the boost that the extra power gives should even things out. This means that if you just have an integrated GPU onboard your CPU, you should see tangible benefits once developers start to utilise this feature.
This boost in performance is achieved by dividing the workload across all of the hardware available instead of attempting to process it all on one single card. The way that this extra power is being used is completely up to software developers on a case-by-case basis. It’s possible that the system will use a “Master” GPU, which will carry the brunt of the heavy lifting, leaving the other GPUs to handle tasks such as post-processing. In addition to this, the Multiadapter is also able to pool VRAM between external GPUs. Which essentially means that the larger RAM pool can handle bigger textures, meaning more efficient rendering at higher resolutions, such as 4K.
Windows 10 is expected to launch along with DX12 in late 2015
Backwards Compatibility with DirectX 11 Cards
Microsoft is pushing the release of DirectX 12 alongside Windows 10 to maximise the adoption of its new operating system, and coming along with it is a host of game-changing features. But the best news? The DirectX 12 API will be compatible with all DirectX 11 class GPUs shipped, which eliminates the absolute necessity to upgrade your card or system to enjoy the benefits of DirectX 12. Of course, for the best jump in performance, you’ll need to upgrade your GPU, especially if your card is more than two years old.
GameTech’s DirectX 12 API Overhead Test
We tested DirectX 12 in 3DMark’s API Overhead test, which measures how fast your CPU and GPU communicate with one another by sending “Draw Calls” and then rendering it onscreen. The slower the API, the less we will see onscreen. The benchmark tests three different APIs; DirectX 11’s single threaded performance, DirectX 11’s multithreaded performance, and DirectX 12’s multithreaded performance. Basically, the more draw calls per second, the faster the performance being pushed out of the same hardware.
One thing to note about this, is that it is not a CPU or GPU test, and doesn’t measure the performance of the components themselves, but instead measures the driver behind it. For our test we used an Intel i5 2500k and a GeForce GTX 970 across all three APIs.
The results are pretty staggering, with DirectX 11’s single threaded performance at 1.4 Million Draw calls per second, the multithreaded performance at 2.1 Million and DirectX 12’s multithreaded performance at 13.1 Million per second. This all sounds amazing, however, bear in mind that this is just a simple test showcasing the efficiency of the new API. It does not exactly reflect the real-world performance that DirectX 12 would have in-game. This test shows us how the new API harnesses the power within multi-core CPUs in a more efficient manner, letting it communicate with the GPU even faster. Once developers start using the DirectX 12 API, we could see the requirement for a multi-core CPU become a standard in games, due to just how incredibly efficient the DirectX 12 API is in using multiple CPU threads.
Fact or Fantasy? Square Enix’s DirectX 12 Showcase
Microsoft has bundled all of these new features into a quite staggering showcase of DirectX 12 with a demo by Square Enix, titled “WITCH – Chapter 0 [cry]”. The demo was seen running on a bank-busting four Nvidia GTX Titan X cards in SLI. With the sheer processing power and DirectX 12 in tow, the demo touted over 63 Million polygons per scene and was also rendered with 8k by 8k textures.
This level of graphical fidelity is a scintillating tease of the future, a look into the potential of DirectX 12 and the ever-improving power of external GPUs. It may take some time for game developers to utilise the power of the Multiadapter and DirectX 12, but the potential gains from the new API are too great to ignore. This demo is essentially a showcase of rendering power and technology that we’re likely to see from mainstream games in the coming years, and boy does it look pretty.
DirectX 12 on low-end systems
The benefits of DirectX 12 on PC are not strictly limited to high-end gaming systems, but also standard mobile devices and notebooks. Intel has showcased benchmarks running on a Surface Pro 3, using a Core i5 CPU with an Intel 4400 internal GPU. The Benchmark is split into two modes, one running a fixed framerate benchmark at 19 frames-per-second, which can flick between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12.
In this particular benchmark, we see that when switched to DirectX 12, the CPU power consumption plummets dramatically by what Microsoft claims is 50 percent. As for the second benchmark, the framerate is unlocked, and when switched from DirectX 11 to 12, the framerate jumps from 19FPS to 33FPS. This shows, in theory, that even lower end systems should be able to enjoy a jump in performance and power once the new API is widely adopted by developers. From these tests that we can see that DirectX 12 on PC has a dramatic effect upon systems of all kinds, from the high-end all the way to the lower-end of GPUs.
DirectX 12’s 4k Future
It’s clear that DirectX 12 will have a significant long-term effect on both PC and Xbox One with a clear, forward-looking focus on rendering games, content and video at 4K. Ian Bell, head of the development team behind Project CARS, was asked recently what he believed would be the benefits of utilising Direct X 12. His laconic response: “30-40 percent”.
Because the new API’s true capabilities remain to be seen on the Xbox One, it’s not completely clear whether or not the update will serve to extend the console’s performance. On the PC side, it’s looking like DirectX 12 will have a profound effect on almost every PC capable of running Windows 10, but the real gains will be found when developers start using the GPU Multiadapter in new, innovative ways to optimise performance. Microsoft still needs to ensure that DirectX 12 marks a technological leap that will see tangible benefits to gamers everywhere, but for now, an exciting future lies ahead.
DirectX 12 is due to roll out Holiday 2015 on both Xbox One and PC.
Electronics Arts’ upcoming open-world racing game Need For Speed will need an online connection to play. The news was revealed today via the official Need For Speed Twitter account in response to a fan question about whether the game will require players to be always online.
@DeanRheims NFS will require an online connection, but the benefits are nice. More variety and a more rewarding experience with friends.
Another Tweet explained that being connection will allow for other players to become a part of the game’s “narrative experience,” and that this could be achieved through online play. In a recent interview with GameSpot, Ghost Games general manager Marcus Nilsson confirmed that the game will build upon the seamless online mode that was featured in Need For Speed Rivals, called AllDrive. An offline mode has not yet been confirmed.
Need For Speed will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this year and is a “full reboot” of the iconic racing series. The game is being developed by Ghost Games, who also worked on 2013’s Need for Speed Rivals with Criterion Games. Need For Speed will be an open-world, day-to-night racer, include customisation features, and feature an “immersive narrative.” More on the game will be revealed at E3 this year.
You might have noticed that the Villager Super Smash Bros. Amiibo, one of the hardest to find (and thus most expensive) Amiibo has recently been a bit cheaper on the re-seller market. A recent re-release of the figurine in Japan has helped drive down prices, but a few users have pointed out that the character has gone through a few changes.
We had an original run Villager figurine in the office, and we’ve compared him to the recent re-release in the photos below.
The most notable difference is, obviously, the eyes and the smile. While there’s no noticeably difference in the figures overall size, the larger eyes in the original figure give it the illusion of looking larger overall.
No official announcement has been made about bringing the re-release to the US.
Note: Credit for all photos goes to GameSpot video producer Mary Kish.
The latest update for Destiny will see players who cheated in the Trials of Osiris player-versus-player event be issued punishment. Detailed on the Bungie blog, the developers will be investigating players who cheated in the event and issue temporary time-outs, as well as permanent bans. The developer also confirmed that the OLIVE error some players were encountering has been fixed.
Players really liked those tunnels.
Bungie also released data showing where players spent the most time on the map during the Trials of Osiris event (see image on the right), as well as figures which reveal over 3.7 million matches played in Trials of Osiris. Of these, nearly 300,000 players earned a perfect scorecard.
The post also revealed the upcoming return of the Iron Banner event, which will allow players an opportunity to earn the elusive Etheric Light currency.
Destiny’s Trials of Osiris event first launched on May 22. The event featured two teams of three players going head-to-head without respawns. Trials of Osiris was released as part of Destiny’s recently launched House of Wolves expansion. For more on Destiny’s latest content, check out our coverage.
It’s been a long time coming, but EA’s FIFA series is finally putting female players into the game.
FIFA 16 will include 12 of the top women’s international teams–including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, and the USA–and will be playable across multiple modes. Whilst those modes are yet to be confirmed, EA has stated that women’s teams will not be able to be played against men’s teams in order to remain “authentic” to real-world football.
The inclusion isn’t a mere reskinning of existing players, however. According to FIFA 16 producer Nick Shannon, new technology–including animations, body types, and even hair physics–had to be retooled or created from scratch to accommodate the introduction of female players.
We talked to Shannon to find out more details about women’s teams in FIFA 16
How long has this been in the works for?
Nick Shannon: It’s been a while. The most important thing for us when we wanted to add the women’s international teams was that we wanted to do it right. We wanted to do it properly. For us to be able to do that, there were a lot of things that we actually had to change within our game. We wanted to make sure that the body types looked good, so we actually created new body types. We created new body scaling technology that’s actually helped with the men as well, so you’ll now see a bigger differentiation with a tall, skinny player than a bigger, well-built player. That was down to us wanting to make the women’s models look right in the game.
We also wanted to make sure we could get our scanning technology. We sent that out on the road, so we’ve scanned many of the teams to make sure we make the faces look as authentic as possible. We’ve never been able to do hair simulation during game play as the we’ve had problems maintaining 60 frames a second. We managed to be able to do that and maintain 60 as well. We wanted to do it right. We wanted to do it properly. This year was the year that we could do that.
It seemed like there was quite a lot of work to put into this. Can you quantify how much extra development it took?
It’s not really something we’re looking at because ultimately a lot of these things as I said with hair and body types are across the entire game, and it was something we needed to do to make the women’s feature run properly.
Why is now a good time to introduce female players?
It’s the right time because we’re able to get the technology in place to do it properly. It’s as simple as that.
Is this something that you’re looking to expand in future features?
We’ll see. I mean we obviously don’t really talk about the future–we’re still focused on what we’re doing this year. Beyond that we’ll have to wait and see. We’ll again listen to feedback and what people liked and didn’t like about it. Then we’ll go from there. We’re just really excited to be bringing it to players.
