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It was announced today by Bungie that they had set the release date for Destiny for September 9th 2014. Below is an excerpt from the Bungie Weekly Update for 12/6/2013 and a news article from the site. Relevance of the Date The date falls almost 9 months to the day from this day. It is the 9th day of the 9th month of the year. This is a Tuesday in the second week of the month. There will be a full moon on that date. There appears to be no relevance with the date other than that, unless there is some 'in house' reasoning for selecting it. It falls well before the shopping period for the Holidays and after the summer break for schools. Update excerpt This week, we set that date in stone: September 9th, 2014. In an interview with the community back in 2001, Jason Jones once lamented the inexorable tick of the clock. More recently, he reminded our studio just how valuable the coming months will be, and challenged the team to make every second of Destiny development count. It’s an exciting time to be at Bungie. The stage is set, and we’re going to make these moments matter. We believe Destiny will be worth the wait, and we’re anxious for the chance to prove it to you. News Article Since then, Destiny has continued to reveal its promise. Every new build brings us closer to our original vision. With those goals in sight, we intend to use every moment from now until the release of the game to ensure that Destiny lives up to your expectations, and our own. Today, in partnership with Activision, we are proud to announce that the worldwide launch of Destiny will happen on September 9th. Accordingly, the Destiny Beta will kick off in the summer of 2014, available first on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. The early support and enthusiasm for Destiny has been inspiring and humbling. We believe this is the right decision for our game, our studio, and our passionate community. Thank you for coming along with us on this adventure. See you starside.

UPDATE http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/29631-the-family-sharing-was-not-a-demo-system-after-all/?do=findComment&comment=269643 With the big news announced by microsoft on them taking a u-turn on their policies some of their features that were meant to be implemented had to be removed due to this decision. One of those features was Family Sharing, a feature many thought was to be very useful and were keen to use. Sharing games with friends on Xbox all over the world with just a push of a few buttons. But there were fans who didn't care about the implementation of the used games policy and were very happy and keen to for the family sharing feature and with the backtrack of the policies those fans were not happy about the loss of this feature. Getting to play games that friends can share with you digitally from a different part of the world seemed pretty cool. But we didn't realize the family sharing feature only shared a portion of the game to his/her's selected friend. It was just a demo. After the big news a microsoft employee gives his thoughts and explain the proper nature of this feature. "When your family member accesses any of your games, they’re placed into a special demo mode. This demo mode in most cases would be the full game with a 15-45 minute timer and in some cases an hour." "This allowed the person to play the game, get familiar with it then make a purchase if they wanted to. When the time limit was up they would automatically be prompted to the Marketplace so that they may order it if liked the game." Full blog can be read at heyuguysgaming Is seems clear now why Microsoft never flaunted this feature about too much and did it come as a big loss as some fans may have felt?

At a time when Microsoft (MS) is planning to unveil it's next generation XBOX it may be just the time to reflect on the past. Some companies will, seemingly, will unabashedly promote their newest products well beyond any realistic measure in order to get the biggest sales return possible. A story I recently read by Andrew Groen of Wired took a look back at all the hype offered by Microsoft surrounding the XBOX 360 and he provided an interesting retrospective of sales versus reality. These insights may better help the gamer to weed through the onslaught of hype, as experienced most recently with Halo 4, and the reality, as seen by the current population that still plays the game. The reality there is an unfinished game was sold to the consumer to hit a sales period for the holidays instead of taking the time to finish the product, which without a doubt, would have given the playing population a fully functional game that met the standards spoken to by it's producer and maintained a much stronger presence in the gaming world. The jubilation they thrived in briefly about sales was soon darkened by the reality of the disenfranchised fan base. This decision also affected a supporting company, Certain Affinty, whose reputation, and most likely income, depended on DLC content and their work on forge for Halo 4. Hopefully these companies will see this reality for themselves in a manner that will allow them to continue to produce quality products and experiences for their consumers without loosing sight of the consumers need to be able to trust in the very products and services they provide. The story as offered at wired.com 7 Years Later, Has Microsoft Kept Its Xbox 360 Promises? BY ANDREW GROEN - 04.25.13 - 6:30 AM Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wasn’t shy about predicting that Xbox 360 would change the world of entertainment as we know it, but has the company delivered on its huge promises? Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com Microsoft was more than a little bombastic when it began hyping up the Xbox 360 before its 2005 launch. “In the next generation, Xbox 360 will transform the way people play games and have fun,” said Robbie Bach, former president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, at the company’s 2005 press briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Certainly it did, but not necessarily in the ways that Microsoft promised. Xbox 360 was a great gaming device, one that Microsoft continually improved upon in a way that was unheard of in the game business until this generation. It constantly added significant new features, upgraded the user experience and moved from an also-ran to a major player, forcing the competition to follow suit. The PlayStation 2 you bought in 2001 was the same exact machine in 2005, but the Xbox 360 you bought that year would be unrecognizable now. Xbox 360 did change everything. But many of the things Microsoft talked about at the beginning of the generation turned out to be so much vaporware. And often instead of pursuing them, Microsoft allowed the competition to. It’s pretty clear Microsoft was shining us on about… well, a lot. On Wednesday, Microsoft officially announced what all of us have known was coming for years now: It will unveil the next generation of Xbox hardware at an event in Redmond, Washington on May 21. This follows the sort-of unveiling of PlayStation 4 by Sony in February, at which it made grandiose pledges such as saying that PlayStation 4 will “make you feel emotions that you have never felt in real life.” Sure it will. As we pointed out at the time, Sony made many similar promises about PlayStation 3, many of which failed to materialize. What about Microsoft’s hype about Xbox 360, back in 2005? Here’s what executives said, and what really happened. “A product with games at its core, surrounded by limitless connected digital entertainment.”— J Allard, then Xbox chief experience officer, at the 2005 E3 press briefing. “Limitless” was obvious hyperbole, and yet it ended up being truer than even former Microsoft evangelist Allard probably believed at the time. At the time, “connected digital entertainment” meant people would use their vast knowledge of 2005 technology to plug in an iPod to hear songs through the TV. Today, 360 users can access the internet, Twitter, Facebook, ESPN apps, live presidential election coverage and thousands of movies, TV shows and songs. Verdict: True ^ “For us to say we’re going to go through a whole generation without an HD capacity drive — I think that would be naive to assume that we’ll be sitting here at the end of the Xbox 360 generation and no such device will have shipped… We’re not going to be sitting here in five years saying, ‘Oh jeez, we don’t have HD DVD-type storage.’” – Steve Ballmer, Engadget interview, published May 2005. We suppose that Ballmer was technically correct: After launching Xbox 360 with a standard-capacity DVD drive instead of a high-density disc, Microsoft did release an HD-DVD drive that plugged into an Xbox 360 via USB. This was only for watching HD-DVD movies, not playing games, and Microsoft hastily discontinued it when HD-DVD lost the format battle to Blu-ray — a battle that may have been won solely because Sony put Blu-ray into every PlayStation 3. Had every Xbox 360 played HD-DVD discs, Blu-ray might have gone the way of Betamax. Seven years later, Microsoft is sitting here saying, “Oh jeez, we don’t have HD-DVD type storage.” Just call him Naive Steve. Verdict: False ^ “On the [Xbox Live] Marketplace… she might never pick up a controller, never take a run in the halfpipe but she’ll be able to design and sell stickers, shirts, boards, soundtracks and even design her own skate park for those hardcore gamers.” — J Allard, 2005 Microsoft E3 Press Briefing. The “she” in this particular statement was the infamous “Velocity Girl,” the online screen name of a hypothetical young female non-gamer who would use her Xbox 360 as a place to create and sell her own designs and products. Microsoft promised an online modding community where users could sell their digital wares for cash on the Xbox 360 marketplace, but the company never really even tried. Throughout the system’s lifespan Microsoft never implemented any large-scale programs that would have brought about the non-gaming hipster-design revolution that it prophesized. We’ve seen a couple small attempts over the years, though. The Forza Motorsport storefront, for instance, allows players to create car designs and other goods to sell for in-game credits — but not real cash. Players creating items and selling them at a profit has actually has become a reality — but it’s Valve doing it on the Steam service, not Microsoft. Verdict: False ^ “It’s a future where my games are always personalized to match my desires.” — “Kim,” the ultra-hip introduction presenter at Microsoft’s E3 2005 press briefing. In the early days of its marketing campaign, Microsoft used cringe-inducing statements like this to brag about how much Generation Me was going to be able to “express themselves” through their Xbox 360. While Microsoft has done some great work in making the console itself more flexible to the user’s interests (you can even still buy those staggeringly pointless faceplates that Microsoft abandoned years ago), the games themselves have rarely fit that description. Downloadable content has provided an avenue for players to somewhat personalize some games, but giving a company more money for new digital character outfits hardly counts as “personalization.” Verdict: False ^ Microsoft executive Robbie Bach had to walk a careful verbal tightrope when he talked about Xbox’s backward compatibility. Photo courtesy Microsoft “We will make money, and a lot of money in this next generation!” — Steve Ballmer, interview with Engadget published May 18, 2005. Microsoft spent four tough years with the original Xbox in which it operated the division at a big loss — reportedly $4 billion over four years — in order to try to gain a foothold in the videogame market. So investors wouldn’t have been pleased if Microsoft said they’d have to wait another generation for the profit to begin flowing. Though Xbox 360 also operated at a loss for its first few years, Microsoft’s fortunes finally turned in late 2008 when it posted the first net profits for the Entertainment and Devices division (which includes Xbox, Windows Phone, PC gaming and Zune) since its entry into consoles. It got off to a rough start, though. Xbox 360 faced a $1 billion setback when Microsoft extended the system’s warranty to three years due to the dreaded Red Ring of Death error, resulting in a disastrous $1.9 billion operating loss for the division in 2007. It will take more time for Microsoft to erase the massive multi-billion dollar loss accrued in the early years, but the division is now profitable and Microsoft is now a major market player. Verdict: Somewhat true ^ “Tonight we are pleased to announce that Xbox 360 will be backward compatible with the top-selling Xbox games.” — Robbie Bach, E3 2005 Microsoft Press Briefing. This is Microsoft’s most infamous statement prior to the launch of the Xbox 360. When Bach made this announcement, the crowd went wild before he finished his sentence, allowing him to mumble the “top selling” bit. It seemed, at first, that he had just said the Xbox 360 was backward compatible with original Xbox games, and anybody who purchased a 360 would be able to catch up on the first Xbox’s library of games. We soon found out that you really have to parse every single word of Microsoft’s statements. It indeed only intended to make the top-selling Xbox games backward compatible with Xbox 360, not the entire library. And it didn’t even do that, not at first: Less than a third of the Xbox’s library worked on Xbox 360 at launch, and the emulation software that ran the games was often glitchy, sometimes to the point where the game played much worse than it did on the less powerful machine. Many of the “top-selling” games were actually missing, since they were harder to emulate than the cheapo games: Splinter Cell didn’t work, but Barbie Horse Adventure was good to go. Over the next two years, Microsoft did work to add more games, eventually getting about half of the library emulated and adding most (but not all) of the biggest games on the platform. Verdict: A sneaky half-truth ^ “Microsoft will inevitably succeed in Japan.” – Takashi Sensui, general manager of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business division in Japan. The worldwide videogame business was a much different industry in 2005. Though Japan’s influence has recently begun to slip, in 2005 it was seen as a major key to success, and the original Xbox tanked miserably there. With Xbox 360, Microsoft devoted considerable resources to changing that, but not even two exclusive RPGs from one of the most famous designers in Japan (Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi) could overcome the widespread apathy toward Xbox 360. In June of 2011, Microsoft announced it had sold 1.5 million Xbox 360s in nearly six years. To contrast, the Nintendo DS has sold over 33 million consoles there to date. Hardly a good showing. Verdict: False ^ “We’ll get there by making games more approachable for people who didn’t grow up with a game controller.” — Robbie Bach, 2005 E3 press briefing, on expanding the market. Microsoft didn’t manage to do this when it launched Xbox 360, but Nintendo did the next year with the Wii’s motion controller. It was later revealed that Microsoft had turned down the rights to the underlying core technology of Wii. After Nintendo’s success, it was much more receptive to the idea for Kinect, a different type of motion controller. Kinect has brought about some of the most wretched games in the history of the console. But it did have a couple of highly successful, demographic-expanding, controller-free games like Dance Central. On the other other hand, Kinect has mostly been successful at selling to small kids who can’t yet handle a controller, not grownups who never learned to use one. Verdict: Half true ^ “Wouldn’t it be cool to have the game that has the person on the PC being the general who is driving the strategy, and the person on the console on Xbox Live executing the strategy? That is a completely new genre… and it leverages everything that Steve [ballmer] talked about that we’re putting in place.” — Robbie Bach, interview with Engadget, published May 18, 2005. Seven years later, no game even remotely approaching this type of PC-console cross-play has been released. There have been some instances of console and PC players being able to play the same game together, but unfortunately for Microsoft they were mostly on PlayStation 3. The only game that seems somewhat similar to this dream is Dust 514, a multiplayer shooter which is bound to the outer space MMO EVE Online. In Dust 514, players can coordinate with groups in EVE for funding and even artillery bombardments which can help them win battles. But this, too, is a Sony exclusive. So yes, it would absolutely be cool, but Microsoft hasn’t bothered to do it. Verdict: False ^

Microsoft has been sending out emails to selected customers giving away free digital copies of Killer Instinct for the Xbox One for when it launches on November 22nd. The emailed said "You're a fan of ours and we're a fan of yours.Thank you for your dedication to Xbox. We want to show you our appreciation, so we're giving you Killer Instinct." Some have been told that this offer is not legitimate but it has been confirmed that it is on the Xbox Support twitter account. It hasn't been clear what exactly Xbox gamers need to do or to have done to be awarded this freebie but Xbox Supported has stated, "We've selected a bunch of our Xbox fans for their support and as a celebration for the upcoming Xbox One," They also said, "We don't have any specifics on that other than that some users have received a gift." "We considered a variety of things like Gamerscore, Live tenure and other factors in markets where Xbox One is available." Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-06-microsoft-is-emailing-select-gamers-with-free-xbox-one-killer-instinct-offer

Recently it was reported that Sony will not be making the PS4 compatible was used games and speculation began if the same thing will happen to the next gen Xbox and it seems that it going that way too and not only that user will be required a constant internet connection to operate the console. So as well as not being able to play used next gen games does this also mean the next gen Xbox won't be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games and will we not be able to play our beloved games like Halo 3, Reach, Halo 4 and many others on the new xbox? Well there is a possibility that the feature that prevents used games to be played will only be aimed at next gen games, or it could be like the 360 only selected games will be playable on the new console or the whole backward compatibility could be wiped out completely. This article is from Examiner With the expected announcement of Sony's next-generation console, the PS4, coming later this month, today we have acquired a few new details regarding Sony's direct competitor, Microsoft's Xbox 720. Through the information that was delivered in an article posted by Edge Online today, it seems that Microsoft's Xbox 720 will require users to have a constant Internet connection to operate the device. Along with the always online function, the Xbox 720 will completely eliminate the used game market. It is stated that Microsoft will still make physical copies of software available with the use of 50 GB capacity Blu-ray discs. These discs will be supplied with a one-time activation code and will be useless after this code has been used. Since Microsoft is targeting the online delivery model, it is stated that the Xbox 720 will have a sizable hard drive shipped with the system. Continuing to drive for the use of motion control, the Xbox 720 will be shipped with a new Kinect device bundled with the system. It is stated that this device will be much more responsive than the original Kinect.

Thanks to AD for finding this article This article is from Deadline Deadline has learned the meetings were an intimate preview of the new Xbox One capabilities before next week’s E3 confab where secretive Microsoft will unveil details of the device’s technology. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was escorted by his entertainment studios president Nancy Tellem for the visit late last week to lobby her closest Hollywood pals: her former boss CBS chief Les Moonves, Sony TV boss Steve Mosko, and WME co-CEOS Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell. It’s all part of Ballmer’s effort to drum up exclusive content after Microsoft intends to launch 40+ new voice-controlled customized TV and entertainment apps on Xbox One. But it was also more, one insider tells Deadline, “to reiterate Microsoft’s commitment to transitioning its business to devices and services and to explaining that Hollywood entertainment is a big part of that. Microsoft in the past has just dipped a toe but now has a real commitment.” Tellem wanted to give Ballmer 3 different perspective: the broadcaster, the independent producer, and the agent. Deadline has learned that Ballmer touted “what we could do with” the Xbox One in sports, music, reality and scripted programming, promising execs that they’d see more sophisticated technology and that his company “doesn’t want to be a cable channel”. He also met Tellem’s Santa Monica team for the first time and outlined his vision for a new Xbox One world. Ballmer’s trip to Hollywood will only anger more hard-core gamers who already were miffed by Microsoft’s focus on entertainment when it unveiled the product on May 21. (Xbox One will be on store shelves later this year). The hard-core gamers fear Microsoft sees its new Xbox One more as a souped-up Internet-connected, voice- and motion-controlled cable box than a next-gen gaming console. T ellem has said Microsoft has studios in Los Angeles, London, Seattle and Vancouver producing content that merges “the story-telling magic of TV with the interactive power of the Xbox One.” More recently, Microsoft said Steven Spielberg will create a new live-action TV show based on the Halogame franchise. Microsoft also announced a new partnership with the NFL that promises side-by-side integration of a viewer’s fantasy football stats with live game broadcasts. And the company also set a partnership with ESPN for broadcasts of other sports. This isn’t the first time Microsoft has tried to entice Hollywood with the Xbox. Peter Chernin for one discussed producing Conan O’Brien’s talk show on the platform when the host was booted from NBC’s The Tonight Show. Hollywood’s big problem with Microsoft: it moves slowly. The Xbox One was designed to establish its primacy in the industry-wide effort to develop a single box that can handle all of a home’s entertainment needs. But company watchers have had mixed reactions to the Xbox One. Turnoffs include the expected high price (rumored at as much as $499), the possibility that it won’t play certain used games without an additional payment, and a suspicion that it take liberties with users’ privacy for example by reporting whether a TV viewer watched certain commercials.

It's been said 343 Industries are looking to hire people with MMO experience. Could this mean a future Halo game will be an MMO game? Read the article below for more details. Source: Gamespot Microsoft has put out a call for staffers with massively multiplayer online game development experience to join 343 Industries to work on future Halo projects. Two job listings at 343 Industries were posted yesterday, both for software development engineers who will work on "building the next generation of backend services to power Halo 4 and our new game saga." These job listings follow additional requisitions posted last week that indicated 343 Industries was staffing up for mystery "incubation projects." A Microsoft representative declined to comment. If Microsoft is building a Halo MMO, it will not be the first time the company has done so. The Microsoft-owned (and now defunct) Ensemble Studios spent three years on a Halo MMORPG codenamed Titan that reportedly held a $90 million budget before it was canceled in 2007. Microsoft shipped Halo 4 earlier this month to a warm critical reception and day-one sales of $220 million. Halo 5 and Halo 6 have been confirmed as part of the Reclaimer Trilogy, though platforms for these games have not been revealed. Job listings from July suggest 343 Industries is at work on a Halo game for a next-generation platform. Microsoft will reportedly have its next Xbox on store shelves during the back half of 2013.

The patch for the rank reset glitch. Read below for more details Source: Halo Waypoint Halo 4 is officially here! Thank you to everybody who celebrated the occasion at one of our launch events, and we hope you’re enjoying the game. We have been overwhelmed at the response, and we’re grateful for your continued support. As you can imagine, there are a tremendous number of new players connecting to Halo 4 right now. We’re aware that some users are experiencing occasional issues connecting to the Halo 4 services, and we are currently narrowing down possible solutions. We will be providing regular updates across all our channels, so stay tuned to the following places for the latest information: • Halo Waypoint Twitter • Halo 4 Facebook • Halo Waypoint Forums Please report issues in this thread. Thank you for your patience, and we’ll continue working around the clock until the situation has been resolved. 3PM Update We are narrowing down possible solutions. While we continue to investigate, we are aware of issues impacting the following server-side functions: • Spartan Rank (typically drops to 1) • Spartan Ops • File Share • Service Record • Commendations • Challenges • Custom Loadouts • Armor Unlocks Once you are able to connect to the server again, you will need to recreate your custom loadouts but your armor and SR should return to their normal state. We apologize for the inconvenience, and many thanks for your continued patience. 6PM Update We’ve seen improvement and are still closely monitoring the situation. We'll provide another update this evening. Thank you for your patience.

The Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn statue revealed and Cortana statue teased. Read below for more details Source: Gameinformer.com, IGN.com McFarlane Toys revealed the new Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn resin statue "The Master Chief vs The Hunter." "This highly detailed, hand-painted, cold-cast resin statue depicts the series’ climactic scene, when the Master Chief - out of ammo and out of options - single-handedly faces the unstoppable rampage of an invading Covenant Hunter to save the lives of UNSC Cadets," the company says. The statue is limited to 500 pieces and retails for $225. It's available this December is can be pre-ordered through the McFarlane store now. As if our review of Halo 4 wasn't enough to get you amped for the game's impending release, we've got an exclusive first look at a new Sideshow Collectibles premium format figure for Master Chief's partner-in-crime, Cortana. Check out Sideshow's website for more information on the piece, and stay tuned to IGN for release date information in the upcoming months.

According to an article published yesterday regarding the potential return of 'Family Sharing' Microsoft states it's removal was based off of consumer feedback for other features they needed to make room for and not because of the mindset "...we're going to take our toys and go home", as offered by Xbox One chief product officer Marc Whitten. Read the full article below from videogamer.com. Xbox One Family Sharing will return if consumers want it, says Microsoft Publish Date 15/07/2013 - 12:32pm GMT+1 The feature was removed when Microsoft did a U-turn on its Xbox One policies. When Microsoft pulled a complete reversal on its Xbox One policies, one of the casualties was the much-anticipated Family Sharing feature. But the feature may well return at a later date if consumers want it, Xbox One chief product officer Marc Whitten has told IGN. "If it's something that people are really excited about and want, we're going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back," Whitten said. He continued: "We believe really strongly in how you build a great experience on Xbox One for me as an individual, but also for my family. Family Sharing is a great example of how you do that with content. I think you're going to see us, both with examples like that and with other things, keep pushing on how that's something great. An example is some of the stuff we're doing with what we announced around Gold, where other people in the house get the advantages of Gold when I'm a Gold member. You're going to see us continue to push in those areas." Family Sharing allowed users to share their game library with a group of 10 friends and family, and was one of few Xbox One features which had people excited. Regarding the decision to remove it, Whitten said it was a matter of making room for the other features consumers were asking for. "We took some feedback and realised there was some stuff we needed to add to the program," he said. "To add it to the program, we had to make room, just from a pure engineering perspective, to be able to get that work done. So taking Family Sharing out of the launch window was not about 'we're going to take our toys and go home' or something like that. It was just sort of the logistics of 'how do we get this very, very clear request that people really want, that choice, and how do we make sure we can do an excellent job of that, get to launch, and then be able to build a bunch of great features?'" Whitten concluded: "You know, if there's anything I think that Xbox 360 has proven, it's that we're super committed to this constant cycle of improving the experience and the software, and it's what we've been doing for 360 for the past seven years, and it's certainly where we're going to go with Xbox One." Xbox One releases in November.

Microsoft received a lot of unsettling feedback from gamers after their Xbox One presentation due to the lack of games being shown despite the fact that the presentation was to show off the console itself where as E3 would be the main spotlight for the games. But this may bring some hope back as Microsoft told OXM in an interview they will be investing 1 billion dollars into Xbox one exclusives. Microsoft announced that 15 Xbox One exclusives will be released in the first year of the new consoles launch and 8 of those 15 will be brand new IP's, being one of them. "Thankfully, a glance at the bigger picture reveals that this is more a question of presentation than strategy. Microsoft will invest no less than $1 billion into games next gen - an unprecedented sum for the firm - and Xbox One will swipe 15 exclusive titles in its first year at retail, including eight new IPs. All that's on top of a two-year period of bulking up, which has seen Microsoft Studios open new games studios in London, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia while snapping up talent for its existing operations." Microsoft stated that one of their game studios Black Tusk is working on a new title that is set to compete with Halo and Gears of War. "Black Tusk Studios is working on a mysterious action title that's designed to compete with Halo and Gears of War. Microsoft has opened Lift London to create and incubate smaller scale cloud-based games. New projects are underway at Microsoft Studios Osaka, reflecting IEB president Don Mattrick's assertion that the company remains "committed" to Japan. Perhaps most hearteningly, Microsoft has acquired Press Play and Twisted Pixel to work on "weird, unique" titles for Xbox Live. In short, there's a lot more bubbling away under the surface than the Xbox One event suggests." So will this restore any faith to the core gamers who felt abandoned by the Xbox One reveal?