Microsoft Xbox One Takes The Game To Sony PlayStation 4 This Fall

Xbox One is looking more and more like a serious contender for console champion of 2015 with its lineup of exclusives and the upcoming Elite Bundle

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox One or Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation 4? If you are in the market for a new console, it may be hard to decide which one to go for. The PS4 is the king of consoles, having sold over 25.3 million units. The Xbox One is the unsung hero and not ready to give up. Which console would your wallet trust more? While priced more or less in the same region, both consoles offer an unparalleled gaming experience. So where does it boil down to? As always, it’s about the games.

If you are in the market for one this fall, it seems like the Xbox One is a better bet. Lot of things are in its favor. In November, the previously announced backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games will be made available to public. This will greatly increase the library of games available for Xbox One although they will be a selection of the back catalog.

Another big reason is the lineup of exclusives coming up this year. In comparison to what the PS4 offers, Xbox One has a much better selection of exclusives. Rise of the Tomb Raider (timed exclusive), Halo 5: Guardians, Fable Legends and Forza Motorsport 6 are some of the big names being released this year. It is obvious that Halo 5: Guardians will be a major hit for Xbox One bringing the beloved shooter franchise to a new console generation. Racing fans will definitely get a kick out of Forza Motorsport 6. Rise of the Tomb Raider sees Lara Croft embark on more exciting adventures.

This is one strong lineup. If you still haven’t bought the Xbox One yet, then consider waiting for the Elite Bundle later this year that comes packed with 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive and a brand new Wireless Controller which looks state of the art for $499. The new hard drive will improve performance by 20% in terms of load times. It clearly is a very awesome deal and will possibly be packed in with a game come Black Friday. Since the PS4 has historically done well with multi-platform titles, there will be a plethora of them coming this fall as well. That being said, Xbox One looks like a better bet since you get a better choice of exclusives to boot.

This could be Xbox One’s year to finally step up its game and show the PS4 who is boss. However, next year may be a different story…

Microsoft Corporation Opens Pre-Orders For Xbox One Elite 1 TB SSHD Bundle

The console is available for pre-orders at select retailers






Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox One Elite bundle is now available for pre-orders at the official Microsoft Store, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME). The bundle is set to ship November 3 and interested fans can now pre-order it from the mentioned retailers.

Announced very recently by Microsoft, this Xbox Elite bundle comes in with a 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive (SSHD) and with an Xbox Elite Controller, which comes with many interchangeable parts such as replaceable analog sticks and tweakable triggers. The console is available for pre-order at a price of $499.99 and you might want to head over and pre-order right now if you want to get the shiny new console shipped to you in the first batch of shipments.

Interestingly, most of the people get the hard drive specification on the new bundle entirely wrong. The new Xbox Elite Bundle includes a 1 terabyte Solid State Hybrid Drive, which is actually a regular mechanical hard drive with a very small portion of the space being a Solid State Cache. This makes sense especially when you consider the fact that a 1 terabyte Solid State Drive costs upwards of $500 on its own so you might have thought that Microsoft is selling the bundle at a loss which is not the case. For those who like comparisons, a hybrid drive like the one in the elite bundle costs somewhere around $80.

The Hybrid drive should help with the overall performance of the system and speed up things in general, but it will not be anywhere near the performance of an actual Solid State Drive. With that being said, the bundle does include the customizable controller, which retails for $150 on its own. This makes the elite bundle a very good bargain for the price, especially for those who are planning to get an Xbox One this holiday for a plethora of exclusives that are to be released for the system in the coming months.

You can pre-order the console from GameStop, Microsoft Store or Amazon.

What are your thoughts on this? Will you be pre-ordering the Xbox Elite Bundle? Let us know in the comments below.

Bungie’s Destiny: Year One Moments Of Triumph Emblem Deadline Extended

Players now have more time to finish the challenges for the emblem, so if you were falling behind, this is your chance to catch up

Activision Blizzard Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ATVI) Destiny is almost here and as always, there is some new information on the game every day. In the most recent weekly update from the game's developer, Bungie, they made new announcements regarding the upcoming DLC and the changes and features players can expect when it launches.
As we already know, the game launched almost a year ago and has seen players in large numbers playing actively almost every day. As a persona for the players who spent their time in the game in year one of the game, Bungie had released a list of challenges called “Moments of Triumph” which had to be completed by the players to get an exclusive Year One Emblem to signify their time spent in the game. These challenges had to be completed by September 9, and players who complete the challenges mentioned, will get the emblem when the upcoming expansion, The Taken King launches on September 15.
According to the recent weekly update, the deadline for completing the Moments of Triumphs has been extended and players now have up till September 14 to complete all the challenges. This is a smart move from Bungie since players will now have more time to complete all the challenges that are mentioned and now they will have until the release of The Taken King to complete the said moments.

To check on your current progress for completion of the Moments of Triumphs and/or to know about what the challenges actually are, you can head over the online portal for Destiny on Bungie.net and then log in with your respective Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation Network or Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox live account and then once you have your page loaded up, go into the Profile option from the Legend tab. From there, you can go into the triumphs tab to check on your status and the remaining challenges that you have to complete.

Now that you have until September 14 to complete the challenges, be sure to finish them off so that you can show off to the world the rare and exclusive emblem which will tell the tale of your adventures in Destiny’s Year One.

Physical Discs Still The Future Of Gaming

Shiny game discs games aren’t going the way of the dinosaur anytime soon; they will be around for quite a long time!






A lot of people have been predicting the end of physical media for years saying digital is the future. However, this generation has not seen a shift to digital media yet. One of the reasons is that console manufacturers also don’t want to force digital due to the limitations of internet connectivity worldwide and the huge size of games, which are now as big as 100 GB and console hardware also now sport 1TB hard drive space.

It’s very easy to fill up storage if you just download digitally and then micromanage space. If you delete digital content, you need to re-download it and then that may take any amount of time, depending on your internet connection. Physical discs are not internet dependent and you can just load the data off the disc as and when you please and delete it as often as you want. This makes micromanagement very simple.

Plus, physical media offers unlimited freedom to gamers in terms of ownership rights as it is easy to sell or buy used copies. The downloadable content code vouchers may have been redeemed by previous owners but one saves money buying used most of the time. It was Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) that first marketed this as part of the PlayStation 4 reveal and gamers loved the Japanese giant for this move. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) initially did not support this for Xbox One but after a severe backlash, it followed suit. Also, midnight releases of games won’t be possible if stores won’t carry physical copies of games and fans are known to really enjoy picking games up in store at launch and meet other gamers as well.

Physical media clearly is the future. At the same time, collector’s editions come with awesome goodies along with the physical disc. When you pay $60 for each game, you want something tangible to represent it so physical discs really are awesome for that. Clearly, physical discs are still the future and it will be a long time before digital completely replaces them. As for now, both will co-exist and complement each other.

What To Expect From The Upcoming Electronic Art Inc. FIFA 16

Bidness Etc highlights what to watch out for, in the latest edition in the video game FIFA franchise







  Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) is about to release FIFA 16 within days. The latest edition of the simulation soccer video game will be the twenty-third title in the FIFA series. It will be the fourth title in the series, to feature Lionel Messi as the athlete who adorns its cover. FIFA 16 will make a first in the series; as female athletes and women's football clubs, will make their maiden appearance in the video game.

EA has a whole host of other features in store for its latest offering. FIFA 16 boasts better animations, improved gameplay, better skills and an overall smoother experience, in the upcoming title. One notable feature, is that players' facial features, physical attributes as well as their reactions, will be closer to reality than in earlier versions of the game. Whether its the joy of victory, disappointment over a missed shot on goal or the frustration of injuries; players will now appear closer to their appearances in real life. Offense and defense systems will also incorporate many of the improvements suggested by fans of the game.

Among other notable upgrades is the introduction of the Swing Step Defender option which lets users pin defenders to skilled attackers. This is expected to enhance balance in the game. It also allows defenders to easily make the transition, as the attacker they mark, moves from one flank to the other. If the other team steals the ball in midfield; the defenders will move positions quickly to react.

FIFA 16 will also upgrade the Slide Tackle feature, with new animations and context; as players can now recover from a slide tackle to take possession of the ball. The game’s midfield has also been upgraded such that two players are able to interact simultaneously. Better interception logic has also been introduced to give it a more realistic experience. FIFA 16 will also allow gamers to make quick passes, from anywhere on the field. A new dribble technique; called No Touch Dribble, is also new to the game. It ties into skilled attackers who use body swerves and feints to dodge defenders. Players can use this feint in one direction and leave the ball behind; then return to get past even the most skilled defenders. FIFA 16 will be released on September 22 in North America for all major consoles.

Microsoft Corporation Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Gets New Title; Changes To Xbox Live Reputation System

Changes to the Xbox live reputation are in the works, while Backwards compatibility gets a new title








Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been in the spotlight since E3 this year, when it announced the big surprise of backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 on the Xbox One. Since then, Microsoft has been working hard to add popular games from the Xbox 360 era to the backwards compatibility list.

Recently, it was reported on Major Nelson’s blog that the critically acclaimed open world first person shooter, Borderlands by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) is being added to the long list of backward compatible titles. The game should be available now for Xbox Preview Program members and should be available to everyone once Backwards Compatibility with Xbox 360 launches. Users who own a digital copy of the game should see it added to their download queue automatically next time they turn on their console. Those with a physical copy can download the game once they insert the disc in the console. As always, you will need the disc to be inside the console if you do not own the digital version of the game.

In other news, Mike Ybarra of Xbox, revealed on Twitter that the Xbox team is working to change Xbox Live’s reputation system to make it better. The reputation system on Xbox live currently has 3 levels; Good, Needs Work, and Avoid Me. The system gauges your reputation, based on the number of hours you play and if you are in the bad reputation zone because of repeated reporting, you will face penalties such as long matchmaking queues.

Microsoft said that it is working on a new system that will filter out bogus reports so that players who were incorrectly reported, do not face any penalties.

‘This is Forza Motorsport 6’ Gameplay Video and Impressions

The Forza series is celebrating its 10th birthday this year. Forza 6 is slated to arrive on the Xbox One in just a few days. The latest of iteration of the series includes some notable changes to the racer, which includes online leagues, an expanded lineup of Forzavista Cars, and tracks with night racing & wet racing to name a few of the notable changes to the game.

William and Kyle sit down to play a few rounds of the racer. While Kyle isn’t a huge fan of the Forza series, William has played every one of them. We take a couple of different vehicles out for a spin in the final version of Forza 6 on the Sebring International Raceway in the rain, Rio in dry and sunny conditions, and try to tackle Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in the darkness.

Forza 6 offers a familiar feature set to what it has offered in other recent releases in the series. Deep customization for cars, the Drivatar system returns, the Forza series has never looked better than it does with Forza Motorsport 6 in 1080p 60FPS on Xbox One.

The biggest changes to the gameplay are in the night and wet racing options on tracks, which changes things up pretty significantly as you can see in the video below.