Sony PlayStation offers the ability to capture game footage of any length, and obviously people can do the same with a pc. So why are xbox users limited to 5 minute videos?
I suggest a reworking of the Game DVR that automatically allocates a certain amount of HDD space strictly for captures. Then allow the player to decide how they want to fill that space, whether it be many short videos, or one large video that fills up the entire space.
Couple this with an ability to use external usb condenser mics (like Blue Yeti or Snowball) and external, wireless, third party headsets to record voice during capture, would lead to Microsoft getting better YouTube publicity.
Obviously, the current five minute clip system is not the worst thing. It’s exactly five minutes more recording time than what was available for the 360 and PS3. Considering the way PS4 does it, though, it just feels like loyal Xbox customers (like me) just aren’t being considered in this.
Check out my Xbox One game capture montage, below!
I’m a YouTube content creator, who loves Xbox and desperately wants to be able to share xbox gameplay, without resorting to paying an extra $150 to a company unaffiliated with Xbox (or having to perform extreamly tedious edits to string a bunch of five minute videos together) just so i can show pride for my brand. Maybe there is hope in this cycle of consoles (or should we just go ahead and call it a “generation”), because Sony showed their hand deadly early. PS4 Pro had already been released, nearly a year before the Scorpio. If Microsoft has any sense they’ll use this as an opportunity to one up Sony (kind of like Sony did with PS3). They have the advantage now and with any luck they will fix their game dvr along with all the other upgrades.
Help us YouTubers give Microsoft the alternative media push that has benefited Sony, for so long, in the flourishing YouTube gaming economy!
One of the biggest reasons that I purchased an Xbox One was so I could play ESO. I’ve never really been a very big fan of traditional MMORPGs, but I’ve always been into Bethesda’s games. The Elder Scrolls is one of the best video game franchises in my personal opinion. However, since the beginning ESO has been plagued by a menacing, and quite frankly, malevolent presence; The MMO traditionalists (or more acurately, though not as poetic, World of Warcraft fanboys). There is still hope, but it has a cost, a cost that may prove to be more of a boon than a true deficit.
At E3 Zenimax Online announced some very serious updates to the Elder Scrolls Online, the most important being the upcoming Update 12, a.k.a. “One Tamriel”. When it launches in October, U12 will remove many alliance restrictions in the PvE game, and adds one on one dueling in to the fray as well. It was originally planned to include player housing but this feature was pushed back to either late this year or early 2017. These things are all big improvements that will make the game more playable, and yes, even more lore friendly.
One might ask what I mean by “more lore friendly”, considering that the alliance war is currently waging during the game’s setting. Well, many people argue that you wouldn’t see any Bretons or Dunmer wandering around Auridon during this period, but those people are wrong. If you pay attention to the NPCs that you encounter you may note that there are many people that could be considered out of place. For example, there are Breton NPCs in Vaulkel Guard, Argonians in Grahtwood, Altmer in Glenumbra etc. This means that racial restrictions on travel simply did not exist from a lore standpoint. There may have been regulations or severe security checkpoints, but all we really have to go on are the plain facts that can be seen by anyone. The presence of these NPCs are not exceptional, but instead are the rule that shows the Three Banners War as a political construct rather than the race war that it is usually assumed to be. All of the gripping about Allience Restrictions being lifted, seems to stem from the same change-hating people that have held ESO back from the start.
When ESO was announced all those years ago, I was excited to get to play an all new Elder Scrolls game. It was disappointing for me to discover that was mostly a WOW clone with a better story, graphics, and a first person option during beta. I gave up on it quickly and didn’t take it back up untill it was released on console. Admittedly, the game was far better the second time around, but still had problems, and after countless hours of browsing the official ESO forums it is obvious that Zenimax is constantly being attacked by people that want to make ESO into WOW! I understand that WOW is the most influential MMO of all time, but people don’t by something with the Elder Scrolls label just to get the same tired MMO that they were playing 15 years ago. My advice to those people has always been; if you want to play World of Warcraft go fork out the subscription fee and play it, and don’t muddy up someone else’s game. You don’t see Rugby fans coming to the US and telling people how to play American Football, or vice versa.
One Tamriel is about bringing the freedom associated with the main TES series to ESO. Personally, the class system of ESO is very limiting, and I would have preferred a classless system like skyrim, or at least the old system used by TES I-IV.Even if you were a warrior you could master any school of magic, all that your class determined was the start of game bonuses. However, I am still more or less happy with the choices presented to me. Now that Zenimax is dropping alliance restrictions, I can play with my wife without having to make an alternate, (and if we have a disagreement we can duke it out.) When the update launches I can do Craglorn without out having to wait for my guildmates (who only come on at 3:00 am).
Not everyone likes the new freedom, but honestly, those who have a serious problem with this are not fans of The Elder Scrolls, they are just MMO junkies that are squatting on ESO untill the next game comes along. Zenimax should do more to bring the experience of the main franchise to their MMO, because the only people we will lose are those who don’t have their hearts in the game anyway. Zenimax had the opportunity to make Elder Scrolls Online truly unique, and dropoed the ball, but they are taking that opportunity back, and making up for their mistakes. Slowly we are weeding out the people who have never played any other TES games that once had all the influence in the forums, and they are being replaced by die hard fans of the franchise. I have faith that if we stick with Zenimax we will eventually win out and have the game we were promised from the start.
In early March Phil Spencer said that he envisioned a future where Xbox One could be upgradeable. This conjured ideas that one could replace standard components like GPUs with more advances ones, for unknown reasons the greater YouTube audience panicked about this. Personally, I would love such a change, but I’m a techie and regularly take things apart and do my own repair jobs. I can see, however, that this might not appeal to console regulars. A majority of people chose consoles because of simplicity, making console upgrades could conceivably complicate the traditional console atmosphere. Fear not, though, in an interview last week on Major Nelson’s podcast Phil “clarified” by saying he meant that the Xbox would be subject to upgrades similar to that of iPhones. This is somewhat misleading, because this could either mean that people will be able to go to the store and exchange their Xbox for a newer version (Xbox 1.2; Xbox S 1, etc.) , or just some kind of extension of the current software updates. No matter what it means, I can insure you that none of this means that Microsoft has giving up on Xbox (I really don’t know where that theory comes from) .
On the subject of Microsoft giving up; Lionhead Studios is stopping production on Fable Legends, and the studio itself is being closing down. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The Fable franchise has being going downhill for a very long time, and after a long sequence of screw-ups, it’s not surprising that they’re shutting down. Not many studios get as many second chances as they have. Don’t get me wrong I’m a huge Fable fan, but ever since Fable 2 I’ve been increasingly disappointed with the newer games, and as a Fable Legends Beta tester, I can personally tell you that Legends (though entertaining) quite simply was not a Fable game. Again these things actually prove that Microsoft cares about Xbox rather than “giving up” on Xbox.
Finally, good news! No Man’s Sky has an official release date. Devs have given official release dates for both PS4 and PC. Releasing first on Playstation on the summer solstice (June 21, 2016) and then on the PC three days later. As of yet, no word on a Mac or Xbox One release. No Man’s Sky, for those people who live in a cardboard box under the stairs in the corner of the basement, (if you get that reference, I applaud you) is an immense space exploration sandbox game, with an entire universe of world-sized worlds to explore and plenty of alien civilizations to observe, or fight with, or form alliances with.
Elder Scrolls Online is due for a new update this month for Xbox One and PS4. The update coincides with the release of the Thieve’s Guild dlc that has fans like me exited, and includes a series of game play fixes, which are obviously always welcome. Thieve’s Guild will bring with it a new map region, a new faction and a series of new quests, in hopes of satiating the need for new content. Rumors also abound relating to a Dark Brotherhood based dlc as well. Hopefully, one day Tamriel might truly be unlimited.
Fallout 4 should be seeing it’s new patch this month as well. Clearly, Bethesda has been busy lately. The patch, initially will fix bugs and glitches, and will also allow for dlc compatibility for the 3 new dlc’s scheduled over the next three months and for eventual mod content in console versions of the game. Allegedly the Creation Kit should be available for PC players either at the end of March or in April. The following month will bring mod support to Xbox One and then PS4 the month after the X box.
When Bethesda first Announced Fallout 4, excitement flooded the gaming community as it became one of the most anticipated games of 2015. Despite the storm of hype the internet, the games release was met with less than favorable reviews, citing sub-par graphics, and complaining about general bugginess. However, when examined the game is very functional, and really is a vast improvement over previous titles in the franchise, which is actually exactly what Bethesda promised for the game, So why are so many people upset? Well, the answer has less to do with Bethesda or the IP, and more to do with the fans. So let’s examine the nature of the hype that revolved around the announcement of FO4 , along with the fickleness of the gaming community.
The beginning of the Fallout 4 discussion started as far back as Fallout: New Vegas, because ,just like today (with FO4), New Vegas was not well received by Fallout fans. People were dissatisfied with New Vegas to the extent that some people wouldn’t ever consider it as a sequel to FO3, claiming that it was more of a expansion than a stand alone game. As unfair as that may sound today, it was a very real trend in the Fallout fandom, Although New Vegas was clearly not a very large technological leap, it did have some game play improvements like; the ability to use iron sights aiming, weapon customization, and a more balanced perk upgrade system like FO2. Despite, all this, today the fandom has been hailing NV as the best Fallout game ever made. When Fallout 3 came out the Interplay purists condemned it and held the original two games FO1 &FO2 aloft upon the highest pedestal, preferring the old turned based combat to the New FPS style combat.
Power Armor in FO3And the obvious improvements….
So, in light of these past trends, one could draw conclusion solely off of this information alone.We will, however, note the tendency of nostalgic longing among the FO fan-base and move on to yet another friend; the hype factory.
I have noticed the hype engine that pops up around game announcements. Not just a FO problem , it tends to extend it merciless grasp into all games. What happens; is that a developer/ studio/ publisher will make an announcement like,’’ We are working on our next game,’’ This is what it’s called,’’ it’ll be the the best game we’ve made yet.’’ From this point forward, unless you see a statement on the company website, everything else you will hear about the game will be, far the most part,conjecture. For most IPS the hype wagon is a short ride that isn’t taken seriously but Bethesda has a fairly good history with making game of the year (GOTY) titles, and fan’s expectations are set on this idea, and subsequently want the next title to reach that status. Yes, this may he unreasonable, and quite possibly short-sighted, but Bethesda fan a are very proud and passionate people, and they always want their favorite publishes on top. Furthermore, Bethesda has a very strong modding community, one that Bethesda fully supports and encourages. In the past the company has shown appreciation for modders, by using the ideas that the modders came up with, so Bethesda has a reputation as a company that listens to it’s fans. What we fans have to realize, though, is that Bethesda is still a small studio and can’t possibly implement all of our ideas. I know that fans are aware of all of this, but it seems that a large portion are still offended that FO4 didn’t their ideas (“ I know they can’t do every games ideas, but my ideas was the best, it was essential,’’
I suppose that what I’m trying to say is that Fallout 4 is an excellent game by every standard. It may not he the best game in the world. Or even the best Bethesda game, but these are relative terms what is true for you may not be true for Todd Howard or Pete Mines, perhaps they like Fallout4 better than their past games, perhaps not.The fact remains that FO4 is one of the funnest, most entertaining games on the nest gen market. Sure graphics could have been better, but if production started after Skyrim, then chances are FO4 started its life being designed before the next gen came out. I can assure that the next Elders Scrolls, or the next Fallout will be 100% next gen in design. As small as they are starting over 1/2 way isn’t an option.
… and now, for something not all that entirely different…..
Weather, you like it it as not, FO4 is great. If you don’t like it perhaps you should examine your own expectations. Our tendencies, as fans, to expect Flawless production from such a small studio, and the hipster-like nostalgia envy, is really unrealistic. Bethesda is not at fault for making a ‘’ Bad Game’’ they are victims of the pedestal we put them on.
A little man in a jumpsuit riding a rat bike, zooms in and out of traffic on some highway in Kenya, nearly hitting a cow that, for some reason, has decided to take a nice morning stroll in the middle of the road, and just when he thinks he is out of dangers way, another motorcycle pulls up beside him and he get a face full of a led pipe as the new racer swings away with astonishing fury and vigor. The force of the blow sends the little man and his bike flying off to the edge of the road, but he corrects in time to get back next to the man with the led pipe, and when the pipe starts swinging again, this time he reaches up and takes it from the guys hand and gives him the thrashing he rightfully deserves.
Road Rash is one of the memories of the times of Sega Genesis that I remember a touch more fondly than most. My Dad and I used to play that game almost endlessly during the early springtime of my life. I couldn’t have been much older than five or six at the time, and my introduction to the Racing Game genre set me up for many disappointments by raising my standards to a point that I had to have some sort of senseless violence built-in with it. Racing games never did get up to par for me until at least the time of the Sega Saturn, with Need For Speed when I could functionally go through and run other cars off the road without my car exploding as a result. Of course these days that kind of racing experience is a dime a dozen, because any one of the genre will allow you to drive recklessly (however, if you are online people get upset, which is why I don’t play Forza online). I watched many genres of games evolve into something much greater than what they really were, and I’ve even watched genres appear out of thin air on occasion (Like GTA), but that’s what anyone born in the 80’s would have seen.
The FPS (First Person Shooter) genre is another one that I can look back on fondly, and it all started with shooting demons and zombies in Doom, for me. That was one of the first games that truly amazed me. All the blood, monsters, labyrinth style maps that you could easily get lost in for hours, and some of the coolest music of its time (goofy sounding computerized versions of what sounds like Metallica), kept me busy from the time my uncle David introduced me to it, to the time that Soldier of Fortune (SOF)was made. Both games were extremely revolutionary, in the fact that they both had rather immersive 3D maps that you could explore. In Doom you could find hidden passages filled with cool stuff and new enemies that got increasingly scarier for a kid my age. SOF was fun just because it was the first game I played that allowed you to freely aim your weapon, and the bullets were interactive with the body part you hit, if you had the Desert Eagle equipped you could blow a man’s head off, and furthermore, if you had the 9mm all you would do is put a hole in his head. SOF was way before it’s time however, because the only game quite like it was Cold Winter. Call of Duty and Medal of Honor never really got into blowing people’s body parts off, and I think that would still be a good addition to their physics engine.
Last but not least, is the genre of RPG (Role Playing Games). David also introduced this to me, but I didn’t like them at all first. They were way too boring for a little kid I think, and i never really got into them until Bethesda the Awesome, took away the stupid turn based fighting, and made it into a new first person type of game. Morrowind and Oblivion were both amazing games thought up by Bethesda, they both had extremely large worlds that were highly interactive. Oblivion itself was only surpassed by the recent Skyrim. I still don’t think I’ve done everything there is to do in Morrowind or Oblivion, but I also have a tendancy to mod, (so expect an article about modding) which may be the reason I’ve never fully completed these games. I would like to talk about Fable, as well, which I think has been unappreciated by most of the mainstream gamers. The game makes choice it’s core development, and thus makes the world even more interactive than you could realize at first, especially in Fable 2 and 3. It is unique every time you play it, but more than that, I believe it is the most successful merging of RPG and Action gaming ever invented and I will always hold Lionhead Studios in high esteem for it.
I’ve seen video games come from, a squiggly little frog running across the road, to the massive interactive worlds created by the last three Elder Scrolls games, and Grand Theft Auto. I’ve seen games go from 2D to 3D and from simple like Double Dragons, to complicated and bizarre like Spore. I don’t know where they will go next but I honestly can’t wait to see it (no matter how corny that sounds).
Mephooger Studios 