Xbox One Controller Firmware Update Live

A little while back XOGS talked about some of the fruits of working with Respawn Entertainment’s development crew and how they were working with Microsoft to better the Xbox One software and hardware.  Now live is the controller firmware update that Respawn suggested to add more input precision, especially in the joysticks.  Respawn claimed that there was some dead space on the controller and that games like TitanFall could benefit from having more immediate input response when moving the sticks even slightly.  In response, Microsoft worked with Respawn Entertainment to create the now-live Xbox One controller firmware update.  To get the update, simply connect your Xbox One controller to your Xbox unit via a micro-USB cable.  If you’ve picked up Microsoft’s play & charge kit for the XB1, use that cable.  If you have not picked up that set, perhaps you have a Windows Phone or an Android phone that uses microUSB, to which that same cable can plug your Xbox controller into the USB port.  Once you’ve connected the controller, go to your dashboard and follow these instructions:

• Press your “start” button (just right of the white “X”, indicated with three lines)
• Select “Settings” from the contextual menu
• From the settings menu, find the “System” tile and select it
• Within the “System” menu, you’ll see at the bottom left of the available options the words “Update Controller”.  Select this and confirm that you’ve plugged your controller in
• Allow the firmware update to progress – it should only take a few minutes to update and apply
• Once complete, you’ll be asked if you wish to update another controller.  Simply swap the microUSB cable with another controller and you’ll be able to do a 1-step update per controller from here on out

That’s it!  You’ll have the new firmware update for the Xbox One controller and you’ll probably notice a little more precision in the subtle movements and aiming of the joysticks.  Now all we need is TitanFall and we’ll be ready to roll.

Think TitanFall 2 Will Be On PlayStation? Go Home, You’re Drunk

There are analysts coming forward about the plan to push TitanFall 2 on the PS4 in 2017, when they expect the next iteration to come out.  While it may not be the greatest stretch of the imagination ever, thinking Respawn and EA would launch on additional platforms, it’s also the least likely scenario of the possible venture into a sequel of the yet-to-be-released TitanFall.  Michael Pachter, one analyst pushing the idea of a multi-console TitanFall 2 the most, goes on record to say:

“I think that this might be the last exclusive that you see from a third-party for a long, long time. I think that had [EA] known at the time that the Xbox One was going to be $100 more than the PS4, I don’t think that they would have done it. I think that they believed that Microsoft was going to kick Sony’s butt this cycle”.

There is a shred of possibility to the statement of third-party exclusives, but that shred is basically dangling in the .1% category.  It could happen, but realistically it won’t.  The reason why is simple: business competition.  Microsoft bought the exclusivity deal for TitanFall.  This wasn’t EA or Respawn saying “yeah, lets cut 1/3 of our profits and sell exclusively on Xbox and PC”.  No, this was Microsoft being strategic and offering the cash up to keep Sony out of the picture and give Microsoft its first exclusive that really drives the reason to buy an Xbox One way over any reason to buy a PlayStation 4.  There are plenty of good games on both next-gen consoles but the reality is neither have offered up anything that demands your decision to buy one or the other.  The Xbox One has more unique exclusives to its platform, but Sony would likely catch up before the summer of 2014 with games like Infamous: Second Son.  Still, TitanFall is Microsoft investment in itself, just like the Xbox-exclusive Halo was back in 2001 when it launched.  There were hardly any other reasons to buy an Xbox, but it didn’t matter because it had Halo and that’s all that mattered in the world to FPS gamers at the time, and Halo was owned by Bungie and Microsoft went forward to acquire Bungie for the game – a piece of history that we shouldn’t expect to repeat itself, but a partnership is certainly likely.

To get back to Pachter and his thoughts on TitanFall 2 being multiplatform:

“I don’t think that you will see EA go exclusive for Titanfall 2. I would guess that this is not a multi-game exclusive deal, it’s just for one – and I think that [the next game] will most definitely come to the PS4.  It probably isn’t going to come out for three years, so it’s probably a 2017 release, but it’ll probably be worth the wait”

This, again, is not the likeliest scenario.  If Microsoft wants to keep the money coming, locking a TitanFall 2 deal would be a big step in doing so.  This all depends on the success of the first game, but at this point it’s kind of silly to assume TitanFall will be anything other than the true Call of Duty killer – one that will destroy that franchise’s popularity and restore balance to the gaming order (something we feel has been long overdue and welcome with great joy).  Microsoft have the cash to spend and the Xbox One is nearing its comeback tour after a first round win going to Sony for consoles sold.  Pachter makes the claims that foresight on the Xbox One’s $100 price difference would have swayed EA from striking this deal and that Sony’s expected demise not coming true changes the winds of favor for future titles in the franchise.  Not true.  This game will launch on PC, and there are a legions of gamers on PC that aren’t buying Xbox One or PS4 and will happily pick this game on via Origin and play the crap out of it.  The PC sales could easily top ten million, though anything is possible either up or down.

The very best EA could hope for between both XB1 and PS4 platforms is maybe nine million, and that’s if every single console owner picks up a copy of TitanFall.  But there’s more – the Xbox 360 will see a TitanFall launch on March 25, and since there’s well over 70 million of those in the world, there’s a chance to cash in heavily on that platform as well.  To be honest, TitanFall on PS3 and PS4 would have probably delayed the game several more months because these platforms are somewhat unique and testing would have taken much longer to get through before being in a comfortable place to launch, meaning we’d still probably be in the “looking ahead” stages instead of being less than one week from launch.  There’s also the angle of the PS4’s dominance being attributed solely because of more market availability and its recent Japan launch.  Having fifty markets for PS4 to the XB1’s mere thirteen is a huge advantage, but the One will pick up the slack this year and it will catch up rapidly with Sony.  TitanFall will ensure that as it has moving power and it’s about to launch in an Xbox One bundle that makes the game essentially free when you purchase an Xbox One.  A deal like that will greatly help the One move all on its own, but TitanFall as a standalone game is going to push millions of console out the door and Prachter’s whole debacle of EA shying away from exclusivity in the future due to PS4’s stronger out-the-gate sales erodes.

In the end, EA lose little or nothing.  Having more potential customers is nice, but there’s a good chance that EA understand the long game that Microsoft is playing and TitanFall will ultimately sell more on the Xbox platform than Sony’s PlayStation platform even if it were released on both consoles to start.  To that end, we recommend you never, ever, ever listen to analysts on gaming trends & predictions.  They’ve been incorrectly forecasting gaming trends for years and, unfortunately, game-based publications have been going along with them.  In the normal business world, it’s easier to work with these kinds of forecasting, but in the gaming world there’s a much greater openness to how business is conducted and to say that a yet-to-be-confirmed TitanFall 2 is a lock-in for PS4 is likely Prachter hoping he’s right to earn credibility rather than being smart about assessing the bigger picture.  Nobody can predict the outcome of the next TitanFall game unless you work for Respawn or the part of EA handling the franchise.  But what you should remember is that Microsoft is able to drop the cash to keep it on Xbox and away from PlayStation and that they will not hesitate to go there after they’ve seen the impact that the game has on their platform.  In fact, Sony won’t have the ability to drop cash on any big sellers in the near future because the rest of their company is becoming a meteoric disaster (TVs, computing especially).  Still, just like Halo over a decade ago, TitanFall will make the Xbox One the better purchase simply because you will want to play this with all your friends.  If you were going to place any bets, you’d probably be better off betting on Microsoft, especially with all the team-play going on between Respawn Entertainment and the Xbox hardware/software engineering groups to improve the console.

UPDATE: If you’re wondering what the next most likely scenario is to Microsoft paying to keep TitanFall an Xbox console exclusive, you’ll likely see Microsoft shell some cash out for a timed-exclusive similar to what Sony is doing for Destiny and what Microsoft has done with Call of Duty in recent years.  Microsoft can pay to delay another TitanFall game by weeks or even months to get people to opt for the Xbox version over the PlayStation version.  We still think Microsoft will go for a console exclusive move to support the sales of its consoles down the road, but in the event they decide they don’t need to then this would be the next most likely scenario to play out in years to come under the assumed TitanFall franchised.

Prepare For TitanFall

Here we are just one week prior to the heavily anticipated and much-talked-about TitanFall launch for Xbox One and PC.  To that end, we ask you a simple question: remember when games came out and you merely got a tease about what the experience would be like?  Those days seem to be long gone as gamers and marketing teams push to get more and more content announced well before a game launch.  In movies, this completely takes away any mystery and replaces it with expectations – those expectations can sometimes downplay wonder and awe, like the first time you ever used a chainsaw bayonet on Gears of War or perhaps the first time you called in an AC-130 gunship on Modern Warfare 2.  Don’t plan on that for TitanFall, though, as the game is still largely a mystery to even those of us who sunk hours into the open beta until our hearts exploded.  With just under a week to go, TitanFall is still a game we’re itching to know more about, and we absolutely love it.

But besides that, there are some things gamers can find out ahead of the games launch.  First, a new Official Gameplay Launch Trailer for TitanFall can be viewed via YouTube (see below) which features game footage of the Xbox One.  If you’re watching carefully, you’re going to see some of the graphical content noticeably better than the demo content (which seems to have been incorporated into the demo at times) that was available during the beta.  The resolution of 900p may have been achieved with excellent upscaling methods used to minimize the difference from native 1080p.  What’s even more interesting is the story elements that are woven into the game get a little more air, albeit short-lived.  The whole mission-based multiplayer aspect was almost absent from the beta, yet it still remains a big part of the game that we’re going to play on March 11.  Respawn Entertainment have been pretty quiet about this, but recent leaks have pointed toward match-changing dynamics and events that will happen while you’re facing off against your enemy.  It’s not just Attrition and Last Titan Standing matches that constantly cycle.  No, there’s more to this beast that makes us think that perhaps we really did only get the tip of the iceberg.  Again, we love this idea of this.

Some other leaks to come forth are the inclusion of zip-lines for pilots for better mobility around higher locations.  Pilots will be able to access them from end-to-end and can travel either direction (we’re thinking maybe a jetpack thrust helps maneuver a pilot along the line) to better assist players in staying out of the killzone that is the open ground where titans can roam free.  Also, turrets have been spotted in the final build under certain game mode variants that are autonomous yet controllable by either side.  Fifteen maps were also leaked to be available with the final product.  That’s a lot of maps for a launch game, but it is multiplayer-only so it does make sense.  Respawn Entertainment have been able to focus exclusively on the multiplayer aspects which is why we’re so freaking excited to play this game with our friends.  Other than that, talks about monsters and pilot-vs-pilot modes were also discussed over on Reddit, where a number of these leaks have come forth in the last few days.  Perhaps “monsters” of some kind are going to be a part of the game-changing methods that could take place that will pose a threat to any within their vicinity.  We can dream all day and dig all we want, but the good news is that TitanFall drops on March 11, just seven days from the posting of this article.  Get ready, people.

XOGS Podcast – TitanFall Beta Impressions & Footage

Well it’s done, and we’re sad, but the TitanFall beta sold us hard on what we can expect in terms of exclusives when owning an Xbox One console.  The beta may be done, but the final product will be available on March 11 for unlimited play time.  We’ve posted a little video for you to get a glance at some of our play sessions and what the game looks like.  Hope you enjoy!

TitanFall Is Best. Period.

After 20 hours of beta play and plenty of time to learn and digest the fraction of what TitanFall will be come March 11, there is one inescapable truth that has been unfolded before myself and hundreds of thousands of beta players: TitanFall is incredible.  The open beta on Xbox One, just like the PC counterpart, features two levels (Angel City and Fraction) and gives gamers the opportunity to sample three different game modes: Attrition (team deathmatch), Hardpoint (domination/territories), Last Titan Standing (self explanatory).  You can choose to run one playlist or randomly cycle through all three.  On top of that, you get to play up to level 14, which is extremely reminiscent of Call of Duty’s leveling system.  As you level up, more opportunities and gear become unlocked for your disposal in-game.  The game features 6 v 6 multiplayer only matches, though artificial intelligence players are inserted to keep things feeling slightly crowded, and even though it’s not on the scale of the massive Battlefield 4, it still works extremely well.  The only disappointment to this game really comes at the limitation of you and five other friends that can play together. Because of how popular this game is already, as long as you have plenty of real life or online-met friends, you’re going to have a massive group to play with.  Should levels ever be slightly larger in the future, 7 v 7 or 8 v 8 would sit well for TitanFall.  But as it stands, the game is nearly impeccable and shows that single player campaigns aren’t necessary for first person shooters.  We all just want to crush other players hard – something that TitanFall makes absolutely possible without appealing to only hardcore gamers.  The AI makes certain of that since they’re more cannon fodder than helpful ally assistance, thus both lesser and more experienced players can have a sense of contribution and excellence while playing this rather straight-forward shooter.  The addition of mechs simply adds a deeper level of combat to be experienced and keeps the feel of the game varied.

TitanFall is so good it’s hard to imagine how other games like Destiny, The Division and Halo 5 are going to meet this new level of addictive and frantic fun

Oh, I’m sure they’ll actually find ways to compete, but for how immediate TitanFall is I’m absolutely blown away by how fun it is to repeatedly play for hours on end when only a limited selection of game variants and equipment are available.  This is something Call of Duty could stand to learn from.  TitanFall isn’t hard to learn – the tutorial really walks you through all of the basics very well.  Whether you’ll be a master on the field of battle is entirely up to you and your ability to think three-dimensionally and be strategic in your approach.  Even the run-and-gun approach can be a strategy as long as you’re quick on the trigger and don’t run into any mechanized giants strolling into your path.  It’s truly impressive to think that playing as a “pilot” (standard foot soldier with the ability to control a Titan) can be just as advantageous as playing as a Titan, only you’re more frail and thus need to be careful with how you will approach certain encounters.

While the game doesn’t feature Call of Duty’s iconic and steadily-dulled killstreak system, Burn Cards act as a way of allowing players to gain an upper-hand so long as they don’t die, otherwise a burn card is consumed and nullified.  Burn Cards can be used to call Titans in faster/immediately, gain extra XP, gain access to special weapons/abilities, and so much more.  You can play as many as three of them per match and can hold a maximum of 26 cards before you have to cycle out cards.  Some cards are more common than others, so be sure to consistently use a card or two per match in case there’s an opportunity to earn more rare cards.  Titan are on a 4-minute countdown at the beginning of a match, so using a card like “Pull Rank” to eliminate 80 seconds off of your timer can be a huge advantage in a game of Attrition, and eliminating enemy players and AI can further shorten that countdown, allowing you to gain access to a powerful Titan well before enemy players do.

All the pieces together make for the greatest FPS experience I’ve seen in many years.  Games like Far Cry 3 and Halo 4 were great, but just like so many others, they didn’t keep everyone mesmerized for hours on end without throwing what some might call fodder content to keep things somewhat fresh (something Call of Duty has really fallen prey to post-Modern Warfare 3).  TitanFall could easily be addicting day one as it is month six, and that is why March 11 cannot come fast enough.  I don’t want to play anything else right now.  I just want the full TitanFall experience to waste my hours on.  If you would have told me parkour + mechs + FPS = best shooter of the last five years, I would have been very skeptical.  But playing this open beta has convinced me that everyone owning an Xbox One or a PC (capable of playing the game) needs to pick up TitanFall the day it comes out if possible.  Unless you have a pure hatred toward FPS’ and aren’t open to reinvented experiences, you are going to love this game.  Now I have to wonder where a game like this can go with future iterations.  But for the time being, I know it only has one place it can be: at the top.

This is what Microsoft needed to convince on-the-fence buyers to empty store shelves of Xbox Ones.  This is what we can call next-gen gaming.  Get ready.

Forget Beta Codes, TitanFall Beta Available To All Xbox One Owners – PC To Follow

The TitanFall beta has become the feeding frenzy of the year.  Gamers on the Xbox and PC platforms have been clamoring for beta codes left and right.  Only some Xbox One owners were receiving beta codes after signing up.  We haven’t been told as to whether it was just random selection or not, but Respawn Entertainment’s Vince Zampella confirmed over Twitter last night that the beta will be fully open to all Xbox One owners.  So, if you’re still wanting to play but never picked up a beta key, head on over to the Xbox One’s Games section via the Dashboard and you’ll see TitanFall’s beta (if it isn’t advertised on the main page).  PC players can expect TitanFall to be opened up soon via Origin as well.  Good hunting!

TitanFall Beta Keys Starting To Roll Out – No 1080p For Xbox One

Happy Valentines Day to everyone, especially those lucky gamers that are already receiving beta keys for TitanFall (I just received a PC code myself, woohoo!).  The beta is live for those who receive the keys, so if you just not got your email you should be able to install the game and get going.  Xbox One users are being told that the beta on TitanFall is not running in 1080p.  In fact, the game is currently set for 792p.  That’s a weird resolution to push out natively, but Respawn Entertainment did offer some comfort for graphics enthusiasts, saying that the final build of the game could get bumped up in resolution but the beta was set for 792p so they’re sticking with it for the time being.  PC players will be able to push the graphics out at full HD as long as you have a graphics card that’s capable of playing it at that detail without heavy frame rate loss.  So if you’ve gotten your beta code, congrats!  If you haven’t, you still may.  Should you not have registered, head over to titanfall.com and fill you their beta request and perhaps you’ll get an invite too!

UPDATE:  Xbox One keys are officially in the open, but Respawn has confirmed that perhaps not everyone that signed up will get an invite immediately.  No length for the beta period has been commented on, but Xbox One owners that signed up for the beta could get their keys as late as Feb. 17.  In addition to the beta keys, Respawn also confirms that TitanFall will likely see a resolution upgrade, but nothing beyond 900p is expected because they’re trying to achieve a stable 60 FPS without dipping, something that Call of Duty first imposed upon consoles when Call of Duty 3 launched.  Even with roughly four months after launch to tighten up the game, it’s likely that developers still aren’t entirely sure how to harness the full power of the Xbox One, largely indicative by a game like TitanFall not achieving a native 1080p resolution.

On the PC, the game looks fantastic, but don’t expect it to blow your skirt up – even with Radeon 7800 class cards like the 7870, which are roughly 18 months old right now, TitanFall can be ran with maximum graphics settings at 1080p without any drop in framerate (as far as we can tell, anyways).  Respawn may offer something beyond their “high” graphics settings at launch, but for now it’s just a good looking game that doesn’t know the meaning of “down time”.  If you get a chance to play the beta, you’ll fully understand its balls-to-the-walls approach.

TitanFall Beta Signups Are Live – TitanFall Footage Available Online

If you head over to titanfall.com, you’ll be able to sing up for the PC and Xbox One multiplayer betas, which are said to go live somewhere around 2.14 and 2.17.  For the record: these two dates have been reported by different sources, but the announcement video showed 2.14.  TitanFall is getting heaps of praise and heavy press coverage right now as closed beta invite gameplay footage has been allowed to make it’s way to various news reporting sites.  Over at theverge.com, there is a 24-minute gameplay video available if you really want to see this game in action.  But if you are looking for a description of what is to come, “controlled insanity” might be the best way to summarize TitanFall.  In interviews with Respawn Entertainment devs, TitanFall is said to be designed with a balanced approach to open conflict that avoids one-sided domination by either team.  The game will make newbies feel good about their skills and make skilled players feel incredible, something found in a game like Battlefield but with a smaller learning curve.  All the words in the world can’t really give you a good idea of what to expect, so peruse the web and find your in-game footage videos.  For the moment, enjoy the beta signup video which shows TitanFall’s nearly-finished HD graphics.

Speaking of graphics, TitanFall may not run at 1080p on Xbox One but Respawn Entertainment is working with Microsoft to create a superior upscaling method to narrow the differences in detail between a 720p or 900p image and one set natively at 1080p.  We haven’t heard anything for sure about the final product, only that the game is output at 1080p but whether that’s its native resolution remains to be confirmed.  Graphics aren’t everything, yet they are the most noticeable element of any game.  TitanFall will look good, it’s just a question of how good it will look.