Top Story
New Xbox strategy puts players first
Xbox boss Phil Spencer says players will be front and centre in Microsoft’s new Xbox strategy, with Xbox Game Pass playing a key role in their plans.
“All Xbox Game Studios titles launch into Xbox Game Pass the same day as their global release,” according to the Xbox blog, including tentpole franchises like Halo, Forza, Age of Empires, Gears of War, Minecraft, Microsoft Flight Simulator and more.
Legacy support: Spencer is proud of the power of the Xbox Series X and calls it a game changer – but notes that you won’t need to get an Xbox Series X at launch to enjoy exclusives: First-party titles will be playable on Xbox One as well, at least the initial wave of games.
If you do buy the new console at launch, you can enjoy your entire Xbox game library on it thanks to backwards compatibility that incurs “no additional cost and with no work from developers.”
Game Pass xCloud: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is also merging with Project xCloud at “no additional cost” to subscribers, and grants access to “100 Xbox Game Pass titles on your phone or tablet.” Xbox One X and Xbox One S production is being discontinued in preparation for the next console generation, starting this holiday season.
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
What was the name of the graphics mode that enabled F-Zero’s fake 3D?
- Mode 3
- Mode 5
- Mode 7
- Mode 9
The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today’s issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.
Daily Fact
Shining Force II features a secret fingering-wagging Sonic battle
Sega’s 1993 tactical role-playing game Shining Force II featured a spiky little Easter egg in the form of a secret battle.
If you complete the game, then you can fight in a special battle against … Sonic the Hedgehog, complete with his famous finger-wagging pose. And that’s not all: You can also fight against all the game’s bosses and two prism flowers if you wait until the end credit roll has finished.
Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.
F-Zero Sighted
Fans discover F-Zero Twitter account
Nintendo might be reviving the F-Zero series, since they registered a Twitter account for the series in March.
Internet sleuths discovered that Twitter account is registered to an email address similar to the one used for the Ultimate Smash Bros. and Splatoon Twitter accounts, as well as the recently discovered Super Mario Bros. 35th anniversary account.
New tech first: The F-Zero series began on Super Nintendo in 1990, and had entries on Nintendo 64 and GameCube before the final game F-Zero Climax appeared on Game Boy Advance in 2004. Nintendo has considered reviving the series before, but according to Shigeru Miyamoto their hardware hasn’t been a great fit.
Unknown future: “Maybe if we create a new type of controller interface, and we find a controller interface that’s particularly suited for F-Zero, then maybe we’ll do something with it again in the future,” said Miyamoto in a 2015 interview. Could this mean the Switch finally fits the bill, or are they just making sure no-one else registers an F-Zero account?