As part of the Warner Family, Flixster on Xbox 360 also allows users access their existing UltraViolet movie collection. The app is available to download in select regions and only to those with a continued appreciation of DRM.
Microsoft tells Joystiq that the pack will feature unique challenges for every single car in the game, including the cars from the standard game and those that have been released as DLC.
PSA: Xbox Live sign-in issues ongoing, Microsoft working on them [update]
by Jordan Mallory
(10 days ago)
Update: Limited connectivity appears to have returned, although Microsoft warns that users may still encounter errors while managing their friends lists and/or while attempting to send text or voice messages over Xbox Live.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
The retailer's Easter sale brings savings across a ton of Lego, Disney, Skylanders, and Sims content - and yes, Dance Central 3. Harmonix's third moves-buster is down to just $19.99, while the Kinect Sports Ultimate Collection bundle is at $28.46.
Meanwhile, Epic Mickey 2 falls to $19.99 on Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U, Lego Batman 2 on 360, PS3, Vita and Wii is $14.99, and SimCity is already down to $39.99 - or $19.99 if you buy it alongside some clean-sounding stuff. You know what: there are a lot of Easter deals which you can check out on Amazon, and we'd love to tell you about every single one of them but chocolate here now so no*.
*turns out we also want chocolate
Kinect for Windows SDK version 1.7 includes 'Kinect Fusion' 3D modeling, available March 18
by Jordan Mallory
(1 month ago)
Perhaps most importantly, SDK version 1.7 will include "Kinect Fusion," Microsoft's at-home 3D modeling solution that allows the Kinect to capture and fabricate real-time 3D models of people and objects. We first saw this technology in action way back in August of 2011, when the concept surfaced as a Microsoft Research project.
Additionally, the new SDK also includes "Kinect Interactions," which adds support for new gestures such as "push-to-press" and "grip-to-pan," as well as "support for smart ways to accommodate multiple users and two-person interactions," according to Engadget.
"Well, the game has been delayed and I know people are waiting for it, but it is definitely moving ahead," Futatsugi says. "Microsoft will announce it when they're ready."
A demo for Crimson Dragon launched briefly – and accidentally – on the Japanese Xbox Live Marketplace in January 2012, demonstrating the game's early mechanics and design. We're not saying the gameplay looks like doing the Hokey Pokey in front of a Kinect, but it looks like doing the Hokey Pokey in front of a Kinect. With dragons.
"When we started working on it I realized that a rail shooter is perfect for Kinect," Futatsugi says. "Kinect can't handle too much movement – you can't move totally freely. Also, it's better to keep the number of recognized movements simple so as not to confuse the Kinect system, and these things make a rail shooter the ideal choice."
What makes this different than the previously widely available software development kit? Microsoft says it has issued these samples for the sake of convenience, allowing fledgling flailers access to bite-sized segments designed for specific functionality and lessons that don't require a lengthy download of the full SDK. Convenient.
Kinect for Windows officially launched on February 1, available now for a suggested retail price of $250 – though some retailers like Amazon and Newegg have it listed on the lower side of $200.
This is the second time Harmonix has made such an announcement this year. Last month, the developer revealed that Rock Band 3 will receive no more DLC after April 2. The Rock Band franchise as a whole has had weekly DLC since the original game debuted in 2007.
That raises the question: Just what is studio working on now? Dance Central has consistently been one of the best-received products for Microsoft's Kinect, so it wouldn't be surprising to see a new Dance Central debut on the next Xbox, which is believed to have a more advanced Kinect sensor. The PS4 Eye is capable of motion-track as well, so a multiplatform title is also possible. Or who knows, maybe we'll see something entirely new.
Kinect Fusion will be implemented in a future update to the Kinect for Windows SDK. The applications for game development are pretty obvious. Imagine being able to easily insert yourself as a playable avatar in a game, for example. Check out a video of Kinect Fusion in action after the break.
Matter, a Kinect game expected to launch on Xbox Live Arcade in 2013, has been cancelled by Microsoft. It was to be the first game developed in partnership with film director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Rango) and Blind Wink Games.
"Microsoft Studios is no longer pursuing this title," says a company representative. "We have no further details to share at this time."
Phil Spencer, Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios, told Joystiq in June last year that Verbinski had pitched Matter as a means to instill and demonstrate emotion in typically motionless game players. A futuristic metal sphere, seen moving through a futuristic landscape in the game's E3 2012 trailer, represented an active control surface implemented through Kinect.
"To a lot of people who haven't played games for a long time, somebody standing completely stationary with a controller in their hands kind of seems emotionless, even though we know that we'll be sweating or twitching," Spencer said. "And [it was] his feeling, that with motion and movement, that the connection of the emotion that's happening on screen and how the player feels would be more natural."
Blind Wink, which is attached to a film production company partnered with Universal Pictures, has not responded to requests for comment.
This month's Dance Central 3 downloadable content celebrates both single-name performers, and former child actors. Degrassi: The Next Generation alum Drake's "Take Care," featuring Rihanna, will be available March 5. The next week, Rihanna's own "Umbrella" and "SOS" will be available as a 400 MSP ($5) bundle or alone for $3 each.
Finally, on March 19, "London Bridge" by Fergie of Kids Incorporated fame will be released as danceable DLC.
Zona Latina, available in the US, collects all Latino-oriented media, including TV shows, movies, music, news and sports, with content from Telemundo, Univision HBO GO, Hulu Plus, NBC Latino, and VEVO. Slacker, available in the US and Canada, offers millions of songs and streaming playlists, along with music news and recommendations, all with Kinect voice control options.