Family Sharing could return to Xbox One, says Microsoft's Whitten
(2 hours ago)
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Xbox corporate VP
Marc Whitten wishes that Microsoft had done a better job explaining the features of the Xbox One, many of which were removed when the company
reversed the console's "always-online" connection policy. Speaking to
IGN, Whitten responded to a recent online petition asking Microsoft to re-reverse its decision and re-implement features like Family Sharing, which would have allowed users to share their digital games with other Xbox One owners via Xbox Live. "The thing that's really gratifying is that people are excited about the types of features that are possible," he said, "and it's sort of shame on us that we haven't done as good of a job as we can to make people feel like that's where we're headed."
"We need to do more work to talk about what we're doing because I think that we did something different than maybe how people are perceiving it." For one thing, he said, Family Sharing isn't necessarily gone for good. "If [Family Sharing] is 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." It would require additional engineering to enable Family Sharing after always-online was dropped, so the feature was removed from the Xbox One launch window.
Whitten said Microsoft "learned a lot of lessons" over the course of the Xbox One's reveal, and the company will be "engaging more with the community" going forward. "I think it's the number one thing I'd want to do if I went back, was have the conversation more open and more complete."
411
Deal
Best Buy opens Xbox One Day One pre-orders, Gamestop officially out
(2 hours ago)
27
Best Buy pre-orders for the Xbox One Day One Edition
are now live (
again), while many other retailers are quickly selling out of their stocks.
The Xbox One Day One Edition is
no longer up for pre-order at Gamestop "due to high demand," a spokesperson tells us. Those interested in learning when more consoles are available at Gamestop can sign up for
the mailing list.
Gamestop
halted PS4 pre-orders for the same reason on July 9, so if an intense feeling of déjà vu just assaulted anyone, it's totally normal. Or you're in the Matrix.
Here's the latest next-gen retailer run-down: Amazon is out of Xbox One Day One consoles, but it has the
standard edition, and it also has
standard PS4 bundles. Wal Mart has
Day One editions and a variety of
PS4 launch bundles for pre-order. Best Buy, of course, now has
Xbox One Day One for pre-order, along with the
PS4.
Source:
IGN &
Best Buy
Microsoft's reversal of its publishing philosophy for the Xbox One has obvious and wide-reaching implications for the indie development community. While the original plan mandated that developers release games through a third-party publisher or broker a deal with Microsoft itself, indies will now be able to self-publish. Furthermore, retail Xbox One SKUs will function as development units, which historically are more expensive and more difficult to acquire than off-the-shelf models.
