NXE and Backwards Compatibility Has Landed

The New Xbox Experience launched today.  i'm not sure if this has any performance enhancements over the stock Xbox One OS.  However, aesthetically, i much prefer the old method.  Sure you can still do the same, but i liked the original Home area - now i have to scroll down to find what i want (under My Stuff), stuff like games and achievements.

Xbox 360 backwards compatibility has landed with the first 104 games.  Not surprisingly, i had a few of these.  Hopefully i can free up some GB on my 360.  This is going to take a lot of time to download.  Strangely enough, these games seem to come with a little more overhead (or percentage wise on some XBLA games, significant overhead).  That is to say that Xbox 360 backward compatible titles have a larger file size on the Xbox One.  i didn't have some games installed on the 360, so i don't know the file sizes.  These are digital games only

October's 2015 Games With Gold

Well the disappointing Games with Gold have been announced.

For the Xbox One, it is Valiant Hearts and later The Walking Dead Season 1
Xbox 360: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and later The Walking Dead Season 1

Why are they so disappointing to me?  Repeats.  In my mind, if something has been released as a Game With Gold (GWG) on one platform, it should not be released as a GWG on the other (though contractually it is probably easier for MSFT).  This has happened twice so far and will happen 2X next month: Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Walking Dead Season 1.

Xbox One Games on My Hard Drive as of September 24, 2015

Are you ready for a list post (since everyone loves those unless they don't).  This is what is currently on my Xbox One as of September 24, 2015 (like the nice title says). i've broken them down into categories.  i'm sure Blogger will mess up any formatting i attempt, yet again. Oh well, here goes....
* = haven't actually started up or played

List of Xbox One ID@Xbox games that seem remotely interesting to me

Now that GDC has come and gone, there have been some new ID@Xbox games that were announced.  There are some previously announced games that I hadn't looked into. I'm sure most of these will be out of my desired price range (why bother buying games at launch when they will be at least 20% cheaper in 3 months?).  i wouldn't go $20 for any game on this list (and these games will probably be too hard for me anyway).  I don't know enough about most of these.  Some of these will probably show up as Games With Gold

Xbox One: Has It Really Been a Year?

Time flies when you are looking back (when you live it, it seems to drag on forever).

Well, a year ago i picked up my Xbox One launch day console (bought with $420 or so in store credit from Game Stop).  Let's see... at about 3:55 PM on 11/22/13.  That was one heavy box.  Some things have changed, some haven't.

Deals With Gold. And Stuff That Maybe You Shouldn't Read (Cause it's boring and listy)

Along with the June Update came Deals with Gold (DWG) - I guess there were already deals on Xbox One games, but this is kind of like rebranding.  There supposedly will be a new deal weekly.  They awkwardly phrase the savings as "Up to 50-75% off" (the bolded part is mine).  It is really strange to phrase it this way.  Saying "up to" and then giving a range also.  They should have said up to 75% off.  I would guess retail games will probably be limited to 33% off the first time through the line-up. 




This week's deal is Crimson Dragon at 50% off.  I am considering this though I know at some point this is likely to show up on Games With Gold.  I would guess the rest of the Deals with Gold this month would be: Ryse, Forza 5, and LocoCycle (which is destined for Games With Gold in the not too distant future). 

Games With Gold

Well, the June update has finally landed - adding support for external USB 3.0 hard drives and beginning Games With Gold on the Xbox One.  I have a feeling it will probably be 2 games a month (with some potential repeats - since it's still too early to start adding retail titles to the program, outside Zoo Tycoon).


This Month (June)
* Max The Curse of Brotherhood - I have a post on this somewhere
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6514613432369960413#editor/target=post;postID=36973205634780801;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=17;src=postname


* Halo: Spartan Assault


Xbox 360
* Dead Souls (through June 15th) - I wonder if I can insanely grind levels in this game or if they have the stupid "enemies level with you" paradigm


* Charlie Murder (June 16th-30th)
* Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (June 16th-30th)

Child of Light

Child of Light is a downloadable ($15, roughly 2.31 GB) game available on multiple platforms.  I played it on the Xbox One.


Child of Light puts you in the roll of a princess of light trying to return light back to the land of Lemuria.  The gameplay is sort of reminiscent of Grandia, with a semi turn-based action bar battle system.  You can gain advantages by interrupting enemy attacks (if you're lucky enough).  You are paired up with one other character at a time and usually face 2-3 enemies.  Some enemies have weaknesses to certain elements.  Certain attacks are slower than others (a good chance to use your firefly buddy to either heal yourself in battle or slow the enemy down a little).  There is also a crafting system (adding bonuses to weapon, armor and/or accessory slot).


Overall, I spent about 11 hours on this game playing on Normal (and dying more than I would like to admit, but I hate using items - on Normal, there isn't really a "death penalty").  I wish it would have been a little less expensive, but overall it isn't that bad of a deal.  I'm not sure what replay value there is, but there is a Game + mode after you beat it and at least one other difficulty.  


I kind of hope that this generation will have more of these types of games (I could go for some full turn-based JRPG style games at about this price point).   

Nutjitsu

What is Nutjitsu? 


Nutjitsu is the second (i think) ID@Xbox release (and the first by developer Ninja Bee on the Xbox One).  If you have Windows 8, this is available from the Windows Store for Free (pay-to-play type game).  i didn't like how you had to "draw" on the screen to move in that version. 


In this game you play as a squirrel trying to save acorns from a pack of fox interlopers.  In some ways this plays a little like Pac-Man where you go through mazes collecting acorns and completing "missions" - like collect 15 acorns, etc.  Unlike traditional Pac-Man there are power ups(nothing as good as power pellets though, at least that i have access to) - like a freeze bomb (freezes the "ghosts" in their place for a few seconds), smoke bomb (you can evade enemies), speed boost, etc.  There isn't a coherent story here... you just take it level by level attempting missions (usually a single mission doesn't last that long).  There is also a Survival mode (which i haven't attempted yet).  


Unfortunately, like Pac-Man this game has control issues.  It is not always a smooth path around the mazes (especially with the thumbstick), i think the d-pad is a little better (it never got "stuck" on me).  The controls feel a little sluggish. 


If you want the full GamerScore, it is going to take a lot of grinding to get up to level 25 (relatively low XP rewards for completing missions).


This is the cheapest game currently available for the Xbox One ($6.49 US).  It doesn't have the Game DVR option. 


  

Do Not Read

I've always wondered how many people would read a post titled "Do Not Read". 

Xbox One: The Current State of My Experience: Launch to February 2014

That is a wordy title, so what does it mean.  Well, this is my monthly(?) post about what I have been up to on the Xbox One.  This is the first so, it is since launch.  Time spent is according to SmartGlass.  For some gameplay or other clips check out my Game DVR post.

Max: The Curse of Brotherhood Impressions (XB1)

Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a $15 (or whatever other currencies may be) downloadable title (platformer) available on the Xbox One (coming sometime soon-ish to the Xbox 360).

So what are my current opinions of this game (based off of the levels I have "beaten" so far (about halfway through, I think: level 4-1, edit: now stuck on 6-3 where I will probably be until the end of time)?  


Updated: I finally beat the game (somehow), I hope I never see a vine again.   

Xbox One: Game DVR Examples (Update 12/30)

So, one of the new features of Xbox One is Game DVR.  Game DVR kicks in a predetermined moments (that the developers wanted) or by saying "record that" (30 seconds).  So, to see if this works, I will be posting a few links from my SkyDrive. 

If, for some reason, you want to see the clips I would suggest opening the link in a new window or tab (the links kind of take you off site). 

Early Xbox One Impressions

I have had the Xbox One (i'll use the term X1 on this "blog") for about a day now.  So what do I think.

My Xbox One Launch Day Plans

So what will I be doing on the day the Xbox One comes out?  

Xbox One Launch Window (and 2014 Games)

Well, the Xbox One releases into the unsuspecting world less than 11 days.  So, what games for launch window (and later currently announced) interest me.

My Plan for Game Buying Next Generation

I have been looking over some numbers and things like that.  My attach rate on the Xbox 360 was around 70 retail titles (many on sale later in the generation) and probably about 100 XBLA games.  I've decided that I probably can't afford that many games this generation.  So what did I decide?

Just for Fun: Estimating Xbox One Pre-Orders

In this post you will see why my career as a financial analyst never took off (or got within 100 miles of the launch pad). 

I decided that I would try to estimate the number of Xbox One pre-orders based off of the Xbox 360 pre-orders (or the best I could find http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_launch).  Are you ready, here goes (using point estimates for some reason)....

What i Expect From This Next Generation

So, i'm getting an Xbox One in a little less than a month (I hope so, as it is already fully paid off)

What do I expect from this generation?  Not as much as you might think...

Xbox One: 35 Days Away

Barring any unforeseen circumstances I will be getting my Xbox One on November 22nd (it is paid off).  That seems like a long time away (I would like to get a certain achievement in Forza 4 before launch).

Much has been made about the "more" powerful and less expensive PS4.  But I never really cared about that (I would have pre-ordered one the day after the E3 announcements if they didn't have any Xbox One pre-orders).  Yes, the Xbox One was more expensive than I would have liked (but I offset that nicely with $420 in store credit).  I think I only paid something like $85 out of pocket for the console.