Digital Commandos

When I heard that Microsoft was going to enable the use of external hard drives with a minimum size of 256 gigabytes over USB 3.0, I was very excited.  I immediately started to research what external hard drives I would buy to facilitate this.  There was a 2 terabyte Seagate external hard drive.  There was a 2 terabyte Western Digital My Book.  If I really wanted to go portable, I could get a 2 terabyte Western Digital My Passport.

I then realized something when looking at their specs.  Most of those drives tout how fast they are with the perspective of USB 3.0 or how many movies, mp3’s, or documents the drives could hold.  There was really nothing about the drives.  That wasn’t going to work for me because in my experience, they normally put slower RPM drives in to those types of enclosures to minimize manufacturing costs as well as power drain, which provided increased portability and profit.  That’s not a bad thing if you’re the seller of these technologies.  But for me, I had to go a different route.

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Anyone already in the Project Spark beta will be sent a second key.

The Xbox One beta for game creation suite Project Spark will begin in February, Microsoft has announced. 

The full software is due out later this year, with a Windows 8 beta currently ongoing.

“Project Spark Xbox One closed beta begins in February,” wrote developer Team Dakota on the game’s Facebook page.

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Audio hardware maker Turtle Beach brought its first Xbox One-compatible headsets to CES 2014 this week, showing off three forthcoming models. But the company is still waiting on Microsoft to provide the adapters that will ultimately make those headsets work with the new console.

On display at Turtle Beach’s CES booth were the XO Four, the company’s $99.95, entry level Xbox One headset, and the XO Seven, a premium offering based on its tournament-level line, with memory foam ear cups, a mobile inline microphone and customizable earphone panels. It retails for $159.95. Those Earforce brand headsets will plug into the Xbox One controller, through the required hardware adapter, which the licensee is still waiting on.

That hardware adapter is due sometime this quarter, Turtle Beach said.

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“The feedback we’ve gotten is pretty valid,” says Xbox executive Marc Whitten.

Sorting out Xbox One’s tricksy social functions will be the priority focus of the console’s first major update, Microsoft has revealed.

Speaking to Engadget at CES 2014, Xbox executive Marc Whitten explained the incoming update. “The feedback we’ve gotten is pretty valid; some of the social stuff is hidden or harder to use than it was on the Xbox 360. So you’re gonna see us come out with an update where, well, we’re going to fix those things.”

Many of the Xbox One’s social functions–Achievements, friends lists, and, crucially, the party system–have all been split into separate applications on the new console, as opposed to the being baked in to the OS as they had been previously with the Xbox 360. While this allows for a clean and elegant interface, many users have reported that it makes using the social features cumbersome and fiddly.

“As a person who’s been pretty involved in building Xbox Live for the last decade, I take it pretty seriously when people say it’s harder to get into a party, and the defaults aren’t right, and I don’t like the model,” continued Whitten.

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It’s safe to say that fans have been enjoying the additional power and exclusive software that accompanied the Xbox One at launch, but there are a few issues that upwards of two million gamers who picked up the platform have begun to notice. Key features like cross-game chat that were so prominent on the Xbox 360 are sorely lacking on its successor, but Microsoft has plans in motion to improve various features of the Xbox One.

During an interview between Canada.com and Larry Hyrb, Microsoft’s director of programming for Xbox Live, it was confirmed that the company plans on implementing serious updates to the existing operating system and tweaking features to better suit the desires of the players. Similarly to the evolution of the Xbox 360 during its lifespan, the man known as Major Nelson assured concerned fans that additional features are en route.

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Ben Heck’s latest mod will be donated to Able Gamers Foundation.

Celebrity console modder Ben Heck has created a single-handed Xbox One controller mod, designed to be accessible for gamers with a disability preventing them from using two hands.

The creation of the controller will be chronicled on this Friday’s installment of The Ben Heck Show. A teaser for the program gives a first glimpse at the unit, as do the images posted above and below.

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Getting 5 kills in a row will never be the same again.

Starting today, Call of Duty: Ghosts owners on Xbox One and Xbox 360 can pay $1.99 to replace the game’s guard dog pointstreak reward with a wolf.

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Since its November 19th release date, the Xbox One has been in scarce supply at the $499.99 retail price. For those of you who avoided the long lines on Black Friday but still want one in time for Christmas, a new hope has emerged at Best Buy.

This morning Best Buy put five bundles on sale with prices ranging between $529.98 to $649.96. The cheapest is the standard console bundled with a 12 month Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription for $529.99, which is just the $499.99 console price plus $30 for 1 yr. membership. In fact, that puts it at a $30 discount, since an Xbox LIVE membership normally runs $59.99.

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DICE will release new update for Xbox One version of Battlefield 4 today.

A new update for Battlefield 4 on Xbox One will be released today, DICE has confirmed.

A previous patch for the game, due to go live at the start of December, was delayed. DICE’s work on the previous patch has been rolled into today’s update.

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