biteho.com

Xbox employees are celebrating Phil Spencer‘s 30th anniversary at Microsoft, where he has worked across many roles but most notably on its Xbox consoles and gaming division.

While 2020 marks the 30 year anniversary of Spencer’s full-time employment with Microsoft, his first ties with the company were an internship beginning in 1988, which led into a job offer when he graduated.

While working in Microsoft’s internal game publishing division, Spencer worked on games like Fable and Rise of Nations, and was an influence on many of Microsoft’s biggest gaming franchises.

Spencer took over as head of Xbox after the underwhelming launch of the Xbox One, and oversaw the launches of the One S and One X editions of the console.

Now in his 30th year at the company, Phil Spencer is overseeing the launch of the much anticipated Xbox Series X, which has promised to be a huge step up in console technology. While he’s looking to oversee more console launches yet, Spencer has also talked about a goal to build Xbox as a brand beyond just the console.

For more on Spencer’s history with Microsoft, check out GameSpot’s recent profile of the Xbox lead.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

After a huge livestreamed event revealed the PS5’s design, controllers and many of the games that will be coming to the new console, one of the biggest questions remaining unanswered is the price. With both Microsoft and Sony promising huge technological leaps on their next-gen consoles, everyone is wondering how much the next-level tech will set them back.

One of the most recent figures to weigh in is former Xbox marketing head Albert Penello, who tweeted “no way this console is over $499” with some certainty.

Having overseen marketing on the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, Penello certainly has the chops to comment on a situation like this. He also mused a little on how price would be the deciding factor on who ‘wins’ this generation of the console war.

Sony has had difficulty with the price issue before–when the PS3 launched at an astonishing $599, it tanked initial sales of the console. Even at that high price point, Sony was still making a loss on each console. Even two generations later it’s certain that Sony won’t fall into the same trap again.

The PS4 launched at a far more reasonable $399, to great success. Gamespot’s staff have predicted the PS5 will fall somewhere between $450 and $500 at launch, within Penello’s estimation. Gamespot has also looked at potential pricing for the competing Xbox Series X, which you can read all about here.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Microsoft has filed a new trademark application for “Xbox Series,” which has sparked renewed speculation that the company is planning to release at least one more next-generation Xbox this year.

The trademark application, which was first reported on by WindowsCentral, can be seen here at the United States Patent & Trademark Office website. The application is for a game console, and the trademark drawing can be seen below.

This new trademark filing renews the speculation that Microsoft will release another next-generation Xbox alongside the Xbox Series X, which is Microsoft’s most powerful console. Like the iPhone has different models that exist under the same “iPhone” name, it would appear that Microsoft has filed this trademark to pave the way for the company to do something similar with Xbox.

The popular rumor is that Microsoft will release a less powerful, disc-free version of its next-generation Xbox. The rumored codename is Lockhart, and it’s expected to be announced soon, according to reports.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer told GameSpot that it might release additional next-gen Xbox SKUs, and the Lockhart console is probably one of them. “Obviously, in the name ‘Series X,’ it gives us freedom to do other things with that name so that we can create descriptors when we need to,” Spencer said in December 2019, all but confirming multiple next-gen Xbox consoles are coming.

For what it’s worth, Sony just recently announced a disc-free PlayStation 5 that has the same power as the regular model, just without the physical media drive. This could be a key point of differentiation if the Lockhart rumors are true, as they suggest that console will have weaker specs and not have a disc drive. Since the console hasn’t been announced yet, however, this is all hearsay for now. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.

As we near the midpoint of June, New Releases is here to bring you more of the hottest games launching each week. Two long-awaited sequels are coming soon: The Last of Us Part 2 and Desperados 3. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch is getting some love with Burnout Paradise Remastered and Pokemon Sword & Shield‘s Isle of Armor DLC. This week is also home to a fresh new game not tied to any existing franchise: Disintegration.

Desperados III — June 16

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

The wild west tactics series hasn’t seen a new game since 2007’s Helldorado. Now there’s a new gang in town, and each of the five members has their own special weapons, like knockout gas and bear traps. THQ Nordic promises a hardcore game that requires strategy, stealth, and six shooters.

More Coverage:

Disintegration — June 16

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Disintegration fuses first-person shooting and real-time strategy, as you command troops on the ground from the cockpit of your grav cycle above the battlefield. You have your own weapons to fire as you direct your soldiers to take cover, focus on certain enemies, and use their own special abilities. Once you’ve gotten the hang of the hybrid gameplay, you can test yourself in online multiplayer too.

More Coverage:

Pokemon Sword & Shield – Isle of Armor — June 17

Available on: Switch

The Isle of Armor is full of tons of new Galarian forms and Legendaries to catch, including Kubfu and its evolution Urshifu. It also includes new Gigantamax forms for the Galarian starts, plus old-school Pokemon Blastoise and Venusaur. You can only get Isle of Armor via the Expansion Pass on the Switch Eshop–just be sure to buy the right pass for your version of the game, as there’s one available for both Sword and Shield.

More Coverage:

The Last of Us Part II — June 19

Available on: PS4

There’s not much to say about The Last of Us Part 2, and not just because the game has been largely kept under wraps. We know that it focuses on a revenge-seeking Ellie, and you should expect a mix of nail-biting stealth, brutal combat, and deep weapon crafting and customization. Ellie also has new traversal options up her sleeve for exploring the game’s variety of environments.

More Coverage:

Burnout Paradise Remastered — June 19

Available on: Switch

This week, Switch owners can race through Paradise City at a smooth 60 frames per second. This remaster includes the original game and all eight of its DLC packs, so that’s more than 130 cars to choose from. Of course, you can race with and against other drivers online too.

More Coverage:

There are still plenty of June video games to come. Next week, we’ll take a look at the free-to-play Switch game Ninjala and a fresh remaster: SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. GameSpot’s Play for All event continues to run as well, as we raise money for COVID-19 relief and Black Lives Matter.

Netflix’s TV adaptation of The Witcher was generally well-received when it premiered on the streaming platform last December, with the main complaint being the series’ confusing split timeline. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has confirmed that the Season 2 timeline will stay linear now that the stories of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri have all linked up, in an interview with The Wrap.

Of course that doesn’t mean the timelines are going to be limited to the single time period. “What we’ll see in Season 2 is that all of our characters are existing on the same timeline. What that allows us to do storywise though is to play with time in slightly different ways,” Hissrich told The Wrap. “We get to do flashbacks, we get to do flash-forwards, we get to actually integrate time in a completely different way that we weren’t able to do in Season 1. Because, if you can imagine, if we were in three different timelines (in Season 1) and then flashed forward or flashed back, we would have been in four or five or six timelines — even I know that’s too much.”

With the second season introducing Geralt’s fellow Witchers, including his mentor and father figure Vesemir, it’s likely that these flashbacks may include a look into Geralt’s childhood and Witcher training.

Hissrich has expressed excitement about meeting the other Witchers, as some of the many new characters that will be introduced in Season 2. “Probably my favorite additions for Season 2 are the new Witchers,” she said. “In Season 1, we got to know Geralt and he’s our prime example of a Witcher. And then there is one other Witcher, Remus, who we meet in Episode 103, who quickly dies. So it was, for us really, about getting Geralt back to his roots and sort of learning where he came from and what his story is and what his sense of family is.”

The showrunner also talked about the future of Geralt and Ciri’s bond, which was one of the main themes of the first season despite the two only meeting for the first time in the very last episode. “Coming out of Season 1, you have a pretty good sense of who Ciri is, you have a pretty good sense of who Geralt is. And now we get to throw that all in a blender and see what happens when two people who are completely different have to be forced together in circumstances,” Hissrich said. “And I think it’s really fun. It’s not always pretty. They will argue. They will fight.”

The interview also discussed the effects the coronavirus pandemic had had on the production, with Hissrich mentioning that the team was in the middle of shooting a big sequence when production was halted. The production also experienced a scare when cast member Kristofer Hivju tested positive to COVID-19 on his return to Norway, though he appeared to be asymptomatic and no other positive tests resulted from the cast or crew.

While the UK has officially allowed film and TV production to resume, The Witcher team hasn’t confirmed when it will continue filming. “Right now, it’s a lot of production meetings, a lot of talking about how to keep people safe,” Hissrich explained. “A lot of it is just about flexibility, not just in the planning phases but when we get back on sets. It’s about personal comfort and personal safety.”

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.