Microsoft Consoles and Updates

[Sambob]

I read that Microsoft hadnt planned anything and then when Sony unexpectedly announced that they were making another playstation console, called the playstation 4, that it spurred them into action and that Microsoft will now be announcing that THEY TOO will be making another console.

[halfagogo]

all we really know is that by halfway through this year we will know as much about one machine as the other. most of us will also have made up pour minds as to which & when we will buy.

they will also both be out so close together that there will be very little "oh fuck it, im buying machine A because i cant be bothered waiting 2/4/6 weeks for machine B to come out" behaviour.

[Sly Reflex]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/21651921

An independent British film is being released via a digital games console platform, rather than through the cinema or DVDs, for the first time.

Pulp, a comedy about a struggling comic book publisher recruited by the police to bust a crime syndicate, will be available to Xbox 360 Live subscribers.

Creator Adam Hamdy says the avenues to allow British independent films to get to audiences have narrowed.

Microsoft says it will be distributing more films this way in the future.

Adam Hamdy admits that as an up and coming film maker it is getting harder to get movies seen.

He said: "At the top end of the indie film business the UK is still pretty healthy, but it's the middle tier and the lower budget tier that's struggling.

"Where they would have been released straight to DVD, the opportunities for doing that have really declined.

"Retailers have gone out of business because of the threat of piracy and because of legitimate digital downloading.

"There has been a decline in the middle to lower budget tier of films that used to get made."

Adam Hamdy blames the large costs around the marketing of the films.

"Theatrical distribution, nowadays, costs on average about £2 million per movie for marketing, prints and advertising," he said.

"For a film like Pulp, that doesn't have bankable stars with a track record, it's a challenge for any distributor to take that gamble."

This year the British film company Revolver, the team behind Plan B's Ill Manors, cut around 12 of its 40 staff.

In a recent statement, UK company Intandem said it only wanted to distribute British films with another distributor and that they wanted those films to bring in cash.

Xbox Live product manager Pav Bhardwaj said it was important for platforms to support British talent.

"It's a great fit," he said. "The film is really well aligned with our audience.

"All our audience like that sort and types of film and it's great to support British talent."

Pulp is available to Xbox 360 Live subscribers from Monday 4 March.

It's very nice you're doing this MS, but you really need to stop fucking about on stuff only a few people care about. Concentrate on the games please.

[Jimboxy]

Yeah fuck those poor Indy film makers trying to get their shit seen. Fuck them in the ass.

[Craymen Edge]

1420M$ (£12) HD or 1180M$ (£10) SD. And I'll only be able to watch it on my xbox.

Yeah Microsoft and indie film bloke, I'll get right on that.

[wholehole]

It's a nice idea and good gesture to Indie filmmakers, but I don't think a lot of people would be willing to drop £10+ on an unknown film they haven't seen advertised anywhere else.

I don't actually know of anyone that regularly rents films via their Xbox if I think about it. It's mostly all Netflix and Lovefilm.

[Sly Reflex]

Yeah fuck those poor Indy film makers trying to get their shit seen. Fuck them in the ass.

That's bullshit because...

It's not distribution cost of British films that's to blame. It's that they're shit 99% of the time having been made by certificate huggers with no individual flare, originality or natural talent.

And...

1420M$ (£12) HD or 1180M$ (£10) SD. And I'll only be able to watch it on my xbox.

Yeah Microsoft and indie film bloke, I'll get right on that.

And...

It's a nice idea and good gesture to Indie filmmakers, but I don't think a lot of people would be willing to drop £10+ on an unknown film they haven't seen advertised anywhere else.

I don't actually know of anyone that regularly rents films via their Xbox if I think about it. It's mostly all Netflix and Lovefilm.

It is a really nice gesture but their going about it totally wrong. If the indie film makers really wanted to do OK out of something like this they'd be better off selling the rights to Netflix of Lovefilm. I cannot see them getting any exposure from MS or making any money from it. It's a venture neither party are going to benefit from.

[Jimboxy]

Well I sort of agree with you, although Lakitu is jumping to a lot of conclusions there. £10-12 is a joke though. £5 tops I'd have expected.

Again, I think it's a nice idea to try. It is so hard to get something distributed these days, why not seek other revenue streams. I don't think it's as easy as rocking up to Netflix's office with a DVD saying put this on your service.

A better bet would be Youtube I'd have thought.

[wholehole]

Again, I think it's a nice idea to try. It is so hard to get something distributed these days, why not seek other revenue streams. I don't think it's as easy as rocking up to Netflix's office with a DVD saying put this on your service.

A better bet would be Youtube I'd have thought.

Maybe Netflix could set up a You've Been Framed style scheme where they pay out £250 for every indie film they receive.

YouTube or Vimeo is probably an indie's best bet at this point, then just parp it round all the blogs and hope the coverage picks up.

[Sly Reflex]

A better bet would be Youtube I'd have thought.

That's a great way to do it thinking about it. Didn't something Cyperpunk was watching appear on the youtubes? I wonder how much penetration it got and how much money it earned?

[Jimboxy]

ManicM was watching the new Battlestar Galetica on there the other week..

[Sly Reflex]

I was going to give it it's own thread until I saw it. What a waste of time and effort this game is. Really MS, this is what you think people want?

[Jimboxy]

I was going to give it it's own thread until I saw it. What a waste of time and effort this game is. Really MS, this is what you think people want?

wooo?

[Sly Reflex]

http://majornelson.com/2013/06/30/games-with-gold-for-july-1-defense-grid-the-awakening/

Free Defense Grid for gold users. It's worth a DL, it's a little gem.

[RoboticMonk3y]

Hold on while i pick my heart up off the floor, I think it burst out of my chest at the excitement over the opportunity to get "FOR FREE" some pooey little nugget microsoft squeezed out in front of me like a proud little puppy.

a 3 year old xbla title?

whoop de fucking woop, way to get back in the game...

on a side note, major nelson can fuck right off too, obnoxious loud-mouth that he is.

[RoboticMonk3y]

[Sly Reflex]

Free is free man. You don't have to take it.

I'm getting tired of the MS hate post XO stuff. It's getting really tired now. I can't say I'm sold on it either, but the internet needs to get bitch slapped out of being a hysterical little slag.

[DANGERMAN]

it's easy to understand why people would react badly to it though. People have seen what sony offer, MS launch their counter to it, they say it's Assassin's Creed 2 and Halo 3, neither of which are exactly new but are a fine start. Then those games don't appear and you get years old xbla games instead

I think if PS+ didn't exist (then this wouldn't either) then MS would be hailed as offering a really good deal, but it does so people are going to compare.

Personally I think it's better than nothing but I can see why people are laughing at them

[RoboticMonk3y]

Here is a picture of a puppy and a kitten

here is a grumpy rant

It's a bit like my first car.

I have fond memories of having learnt to drive, and owning my own car. I bought stuff for it, I kept it polished and waxed. I went out with friends, and there came I time when I knew I needed to get a better car.

I really should have done this much sooner than I did, the car ended up being almost literally worthless, but with such fond memories I found it hard to imagine that my once beloved car was now a heap of shit. A heap of shit that to this day I'd still love to take a drive in, only now someone else has been driving it and thrashed the shit out of it, plastered it with a pair of massive wheels form halfords and a giant spoiler on the back. Stickers plastered all up and down the sides advertising sports and films. Would you like a free magic-tree air freshner? it smells of Lynx Africa....

So yeah, I can be as offended as I want to be, something that was once great has now been reduced to a gaudy monstrosity of what it once was.

For every person who says that I'm over-reacting or jumping on the backlash bandwaggon it make me frustrated, I don't understand why everyone isn't jumping up and down and calling shenanigans on MS. They say that they read opinions of their end users, but having filled in a customer survey month-in, month-out saying how i give zero fucks about sports, tv or kinnect, each month these things slowly find their way onto my 'customer experience'. If they're making a serious effort at 'increasing people's value for money', then there should have been some more consideration over what games are being released. It seems like a panicked knee-jerk reaction rather than a carefully considered customer response.

TL:DR

like Nag says, I'm an grumpy fucker right now...

[edited to add more kittens and to hide the grumpy opinions of a tired man deprived of coffee]

[Sly Reflex]

None of us are on best terms with MS right now. It doesn't mean you can't enjoy the twilight years before something new comes along.

For what it's worth DG:TA is a waaaay better game than Fable III. For a start it's actually a game and not a 3D area you sort of walk through until the credits roll. It'll piss people off who play nothing but CoD, but seriously, fuck those guys. They are doing as much damage to gaming as it can sustain with their shitty game buying choices.