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135-757: As of October 2016, there had been 719 Xbox Live Arcade titles released for the Xbox 360, with 27 being released for the original Xbox. The release of the Xbox One did not carry the Arcade branding over, and following the closure of the Xbox Live services for the original Xbox in 2010 and the Xbox Games Store in 2024, the Xbox Live Arcade branding is effectively defunct. The Xbox Live Arcade service

270-465: A Twitter message in April 2013 that said, "Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an 'always on' console...Every device now is 'always on.' That's the world we live in. #dealwithit". Orth's message drew further ire towards Microsoft, with concerns about digital rights management and practices against the sale of used games with an "always on" unit. Orth opted to leave Microsoft a few days later due to

405-593: A database , Voice over IP , or add-in interface software; this is also known as middleware . Examples of this include SpeedTree and Havoc . Independents are software developers which are not owned by (or dependent on) a single publisher. Some of these developers self-publish their games, relying on the Internet and word of mouth for publicity. Without the large marketing budgets of mainstream publishers, their products may receive less recognition than those of larger publishers such as Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. With

540-467: A micro USB port; when attached via a micro-USB cable, the controller can operate without battery power and can charge remotely, and is supported on computers running Windows 7 or later with drivers . The Xbox One Wireless Adapter accessory allows wireless use of Xbox One controllers on Windows computers also running Windows 7 or later. The Elite Wireless Controller was released in October 2015. It

675-412: A publisher allowed a game to be traded or resold, users could do this at "participating retailers", and could also transfer a game directly to any Xbox Live friend who had been on their list for at least 30 days, but only once per game. To synchronize licenses, the console would be required to connect to the internet once every 24 hours ; if the console could not connect, all games would be disabled until

810-473: A 2019 interview, Phil Spencer , head of Xbox at Microsoft, recalled that this approach not only confused consumers about the intent of the Xbox One, but also Microsoft employees who had been working on the console. Spencer stated that several employees complained to him about the presentation "blow[ing] up all the good work that [they]'ve done by talking about the product in a way that's not really matching what

945-415: A Friend" messages. The original size limit imposed by Microsoft for Xbox Live Arcade games was 50 MB, in order to ensure any downloaded game could fit on a 64 MB Xbox memory unit . The limit has since been changed to 150 MB, then 350 MB, and now 2 GB, the latter of which is a technical limitation of the system (rather than an arbitrary limit imposed by Microsoft). On September 12, 2012

1080-465: A USB/power adapter to use the accessory. A free USB adapter was provided by Microsoft to Kinect owners who registered their ownership of Kinect and Xbox One S online up until March 2017. The adapter was sold separately thereafter but has since been discontinued. Kinect for Xbox One was officially discontinued on October 25, 2017. The Xbox One runs two operating systems within a hypervisor ; games run within one separate operating system, while apps and

1215-400: A case that is 40% smaller in size and supports vertical orientation with a stand. The main Xbox One S SKU is colored in an entirely matte "Robot White" finish, with half of the console adorned with machined holes, and a visible circular vent on top of the console's right half. It utilizes push-button controls rather than capacitive keys, the side USB port and controller sync button were moved to

1350-452: A culture of "toxic geek masculinity" within the workplace. In addition, the conditions behind crunch time are far more discriminating towards women as this requires them to commit time exclusively to the company or to more personal activities like raising a family. These factors established conditions within some larger development studios where female developers have found themselves discriminated in workplace hiring and promotion, as well as

1485-528: A curved shape for ergonomics . "Menu" and "View" buttons have replaced the Start and Back buttons. Each trigger features independent rumble motors called "Impulse Triggers", which allows developers to program directional vibration. One trigger can be made to vibrate when firing a gun, or both can work together to create feedback that indicates the direction of an incoming hit. The controller also contains light emitters that allow it to be tracked and paired using

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1620-571: A first-party company. As a balance to not being able to release their game for other platforms, second-party developers are usually offered higher royalty rates than third-party developers. These studios may have exclusive publishing agreements (or other business relationships) with the platform holder, but maintain independence so that upon completion or termination of their contracts, they are able to continue developing games for other publishers if they choose to. For example, while HAL Laboratory initially began developing games on personal computers like

1755-410: A fixed period and generally work similar hours as full-time staff members, assisting across all areas of video game development, but as contractors, do not get any benefits such as paid time-off or health care from the employer; they also are typically not credited on games that they work on for this reason. The practice itself is legal and common in other engineering and technology areas, and generally it

1890-499: A fraction of the levels, modes, and content of the full game. A full version of the game must be purchased to allow the user to upload scores to the leaderboards, unlock achievements, play online multiplayer (with a few exceptions), and download bonus content. Several new features and enhancements have been added through software updates including a friends leaderboard, additional sorting options, faster enumeration of games, an auto-download feature for newly released trial games, and "Tell

2025-492: A future update to add Dolby Vision HDR support for streaming video). 4K video can be played from supported streaming services and Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, however, since Xbox One S is a first-generation Ultra HD Blu-ray player, it cannot output the dynamic HDR10+ or Dolby Vision metadata from a disc encoded with either or both formats (such discs play only in standard HDR10 .) Games are upscaled from 1080p resolution, and are not rendered at 4K. The GPU on Xbox One S has

2160-701: A game created by three Microsoft interns, TotemBall , a game that can only be played with the Xbox Live Vision camera, Yaris (a Toyota -backed advergame ), and Dash of Destruction , which was released on December 17, 2008, as a Doritos advergame . On November 30, 2007, Microsoft introduced "Xbox Live Arcade Hits", where games are permanently reduced in price (a similar concept to their "Platinum Hits" for regular retail Xbox 360 games). As of July 22, 2008, current Arcade Hits include Lumines Live! , Assault Heroes , Zuma , Doom , Bankshot Billiards 2 , Small Arms , Puzzle Quest: Challenge of

2295-403: A game on schedule. The complexity of workflow, reliance on third-party deliverables, and the intangibles of artistic and aesthetic demands in video game creation create difficulty in predicting milestones. The use of crunch time is also seen to be exploitative of the younger male-dominated workforce in video games, who have not had the time to establish a family and who were eager to advance within

2430-406: A game's profits. Current examples of first-party studios include PlayStation Studios for Sony, and Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Gaming . Second-party developer is a colloquial term often used by gaming enthusiasts and media to describe game studios that take development contracts from platform holders and develop games exclusive to that platform, i.e. a non-owned developer making games for

2565-428: A higher clock speed and ESRAM bandwidth than the original model, which can provide some performance improvements on games with dynamic resolution scaling (DRS) or uncapped frame rates. The console can monitor its internal temperature and adjust accordingly to prevent overheating ; alongside increasing fan speed, additional measures can be taken, including throttling the hardware to a low-power state—a feature that

2700-797: A leader in development on the Xbox One, announced his departure from Microsoft to become CEO of Zynga . Analysts speculated that his departure was predicated on the poor response and subsequent reversal of the plans for Xbox One. Microsoft also backtracked on a similarly controversial requirement for the Kinect sensor to be plugged into the Xbox One at all times for it to function. Privacy advocates argued that Kinect sensor data could be used for targeted advertising and to perform unauthorized surveillance on users. In response to these claims, Microsoft reiterated that Kinect voice recognition and motion tracking can be disabled by users, that Kinect data cannot be used for advertising under its privacy policy , and that

2835-408: A light color option for the console's user interface. In 2024, it was reported that original Xbox One models operating on firmware versions prior to 2019 were experiencing update failures, which led to the disablement of the majority of the console's functions due to mandatory online requirements. Microsoft fixed the issue shortly after. The issue raised concerns regarding the preservation status of

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2970-534: A local area network on supported Windows 10 devices. The console can play Blu-ray Disc , and overlay live television programming from an existing set-top box or a digital tuner for digital terrestrial television with an enhanced program guide . The console optionally included a redesigned Kinect sensor, marketed as the "Kinect 2.0", providing improved motion tracking and voice recognition . The Xbox One received positive reviews for its controller design, multimedia features and quieter internals, but criticism

3105-536: A memory bandwidth of 68.3 GB/s. The APU is built on TSMC 's 28nm process. The memory subsystem also features an additional 32 MB of "embedded static" RAM, or ESRAM , with a memory bandwidth of 109 GB/s. For simultaneous read and write operations, the ESRAM is capable of a theoretical memory bandwidth of 192 GB/s and a memory bandwidth of 133 GB/s has been achieved with operations that involved alpha transparency blending. The system includes

3240-559: A monthly basis. The Xbox SmartGlass app provides extended functionality on Xbox One, allowing devices running Windows Phone , Windows 8 , iOS and Android to be used as a companion device for Xbox One features, such as powering on the console, a remote control , accessing messages and the Activity Feed, purchasing content, and providing integration with certain games and content. The SmartGlass app can also be used to stream live television to Android and Windows devices if

3375-500: A non-replaceable hard drive and a Blu-ray Disc optical drive. 138 GB of hard drive space is used by the operating system, with the remainder available for the storage of games. Since the June 2014 software update, up to two USB drives can be connected to Xbox One to expand its capacity. External drives must support USB 3.0 and have a capacity of at least 256 GB. It was reported that 3 GB of RAM would be reserved for

3510-437: A position in a medium to large video game company. An experienced game-development employee, depending on their expertise and experience, averaged roughly $ 73,000 in 2007. Indie game developers may only earn between $ 10,000 and $ 50,000 a year depending on how financially successful their titles are. In addition to being part of the software industry, game development is also within the entertainment industry; most sectors of

3645-638: A prize draw with a grand prize of 100,000 Microsoft Points , 12 Month Xbox Live Gold subscription, and an Xbox 360 Elite console. Another Summer of Arcade began the next year on July 22, 2009. Anyone who purchases all the titles released ( 'Splosion Man , Marvel vs. Capcom 2 , TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled , Trials HD and Shadow Complex ) will receive an 800-point reward. The next Summer of Arcade began on July 21, 2010, and features Limbo , Hydro Thunder Hurricane , Castlevania: Harmony of Despair , Monday Night Combat and Lara Croft and

3780-649: A roundtable discussion with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), the professional association for developers. Statements made by the IGDA's current executive director Jen MacLean relating to IGDA's activities had been seen by as anti-union, and Game Workers Unite desired to start a conversation to lay out the need for developers to unionize. In the wake of the sudden near-closure of Telltale Games in September 2018,

3915-601: A series of connectors corresponding to standard Xbox controller buttons—which are used to attach specific types of buttons and other assertive peripherals. The controller can also be used in conjunction with Copilot—a feature introduced in 2017 that allows multiple controllers to be used in tandem on behalf of a single player. As of the November 2018 update, developers may now optionally allow their titles to support computer mice and keyboards as input. Microsoft also unveiled an exclusive partnership with Razer Inc. to produce

4050-547: A sidebar with access to common functions such as the friends list, apps, the user's party, and settings. Users can go back to the dashboard while using games or apps using either the Xbox button on their controller or a voice command; up to four apps can run (either actively or in the background) at once, but only one game can run at a time. Use of Kinect enables the ability to control the console via voice commands . Xbox One's voice control capabilities are similar to, albeit richer than those of Xbox 360. The voice assistant Cortana

4185-407: A single publisher; one canceled game may devastate a small developer. Because of this, many small development companies are short-lived. A common exit strategy for a successful video game developer is to sell the company to a publisher, becoming an in-house developer. In-house development teams tend to have more freedom in game design and content than third-party developers. One reason is that since

Xbox Live Arcade - Misplaced Pages Continue

4320-400: A specific line of Xbox-optimized keyboard and mice peripherals, with Xbox system keys and support for Razer's Chroma LED lighting platform. The Kinect 2.0, an updated natural user interface sensor, was redesigned and recreated to provide motion-tracking and voice commands for the Xbox One. Kinect 2.0 features a wide-angle time-of-flight camera and a 1080p camera, in comparison to

4455-403: A strong STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) background for women at the secondary education level, but there are issues with tertiary education such as at colleges and universities, where game development programs tend to reflect the male-dominated demographics of the industry, a factor that may lead women with strong STEM backgrounds to choose other career goals. There

4590-473: A system to help users locate players to join their party for multiplayer play. Players can use the Upload Studio app to edit and share clips from the last five minutes of gameplay footage that is automatically recorded by the console. Games can also be developed so that recording can automatically be triggered in response to notable events, such as achievements. Xbox One supports streaming directly to

4725-646: A unique case where nearly all parts of its labor force, including white-collar jobs such as video game development, may engage with labor unions under the Employment Protection Act often through collective bargaining agreements. Developer DICE had reached its union agreements in 2004. Paradox Interactive became one of the first major publishers to support unionization efforts in June 2020 with its own agreements to cover its Swedish employees within two labor unions Unionen and SACO . In Australia, video game developers could join other unions, but

4860-493: A user's Xbox Live Gold subscription benefits apply to all other users of their designated "home" console as well, rather than requiring a separate subscription for each user. Since June 2014, applications no longer require an Xbox Live Gold membership to use. Additional subscriptions for outside services such as Netflix may still be required. Microsoft also extended its Games with Gold program to Xbox One, providing free Xbox 360 and Xbox One games to Xbox Live Gold subscribers on

4995-670: Is a home video game console developed by Microsoft . Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox series . It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Australia, and South America in November 2013 and in Japan, China, and other European countries in September 2014. It is the first Xbox game console to be released in China, specifically in

5130-1164: Is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with employee responsibilities split between individual disciplines, such as programmers , designers , artists , etc. Most game development companies have video game publisher financial and usually marketing support. Self-funded developers are known as independent or indie developers and usually make indie games . A developer may specialize in specific game engines or specific video game consoles , or may develop for several systems (including personal computers and mobile devices ). Some focus on porting games from one system to another, or translating games from one language to another. Less commonly, some do software development work in addition to games. Most video game publishers maintain development studios (such as Electronic Arts 's EA Canada , Square Enix 's studios, Activision 's Radical Entertainment , Nintendo EPD and Sony's Polyphony Digital and Naughty Dog ). However, since publishing

5265-482: Is also a significant gap in racial minorities within the video game industry; a 2019 IGDA survey found only 2% of developers considered themselves to be of African descent and 7% Hispanic, while 81% were Caucasian; in contrast, 2018 estimates from the United States Census estimate the U.S. population to be 13% of African descent and 18% Hispanic. In a 2014 and 2015 survey of job positions and salaries,

5400-512: Is available to save music, films, games and saved content, and developers are able to use Live servers (along with the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform) to offer dynamic in-game content and other functionality. Users can have up to 1,000 friends. The December 2016 software update added the new social networking feature Clubs, which allows users to join groups focused on specific interests or games, and Looking for group (LFG),

5535-449: Is expected that this is meant to lead into a full-time position, or otherwise the end of the contract. But more recently, its use in the video game industry has been compared to Microsoft 's past use of " permatemp ", contract workers that were continually renewed and treated for all purposes as employees but received no benefits. While Microsoft has waned from the practice, the video game industry has adapted it more frequently. Around 10% of

Xbox Live Arcade - Misplaced Pages Continue

5670-533: Is generally illegal, companies often target their oldest workers first during layoffs or other periods of reduction. Older developers with experience may find themselves too qualified for the types of positions that other game development companies seek given the salaries and compensations offered. Some of the larger video game developers and publishers have also engaged contract workers through agencies to help add manpower in game development in part to alleviate crunch time from employees. Contractors are brought on for

5805-494: Is still their primary activity they are generally described as "publishers" rather than "developers". Developers may be private as well. In the video game industry , a first-party developer is part of a company that manufactures a video game console and develops mainly for it. First-party developers may use the name of the company itself (such as Nintendo ), have a specific division name (such as Sony's Polyphony Digital ) or have been an independent studio before being acquired by

5940-400: Is the successor to Xbox 360, Microsoft's previous video game console, which was introduced in November 2005 as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles . Over the years, the 360 had received a number of small hardware revisions to reduce the unit's size and improve its reliability. In 2010, Microsoft's Chris Lewis stated that the 360 was about "halfway" through its lifecycle; this

6075-474: Is usually conducted in a casual business environment, with t-shirts and sandals as common work attire. Many workers find this type of environment rewarding and pleasant professionally and personally. However, the industry also requires long working hours from its employees (sometimes to an extent seen as unsustainable). Employee burnout is not uncommon. An entry-level programmer can make, on average, over $ 66,000 annually only if they are successful in obtaining

6210-653: The Official Xbox Magazine and as part of the Forza Motorsport Xbox console bundle The service launched with six titles and expanded its library to twelve titles by the end of the year. Once connected to Xbox Live , customers could purchase additional titles by using a credit card , or download a limited trial version of a game. Prices for the games range from $ 4.99 to $ 14.99. 11 titles were japanese exclusive as download, but released also as physical versions. On November 22, 2005, XBLA

6345-483: The 2 GB limit was raised to an unknown number with two titles, Red Johnson's Chronicles and Double Dragon Neon weighing at 2.68 GB and 2.24 GB, respectively. On July 12, 2006, Microsoft launched the "Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays" program, which promised a new Arcade game to be launched every Wednesday for the rest of that Summer. When that summer ended, Microsoft announced that new titles for XBLA would also be released on Wednesdays. In order to promote

6480-659: The AFL–CIO writing an open letter to video game developers encouraging them to unionize. In January 2020, Game Workers Unite and the Communications Workers of America established a new campaign to push for unionization of video game developers, the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE), in January 2020. Initial efforts for CODE were aimed to determine what approach to unionization would be best suited for

6615-456: The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), are conducting increasing discussions about the problem; they are concerned that working conditions in the industry cause a significant deterioration in employees' quality of life. Some video game developers and publishers have been accused of the excessive invocation of "crunch time". "Crunch time" is the point at which the team is thought to be failing to achieve milestones needed to launch

6750-516: The MSX , they became one of the earliest second-party developers for Nintendo, developing exclusively for Nintendo's consoles starting with the Famicom, though they would self-publish their mobile games. A third-party developer may also publish games, or work for a video game publisher to develop a title. Both publisher and developer have considerable input in the game's design and content. However,

6885-528: The Me Too movement and have tried to address the symptoms of these problems industry-wide, the video game industry has yet to have its Me Too-moment, even as late as 2021. There also tends to be pay-related discrimination against women in the industry. According to Gamasutra 's Game Developer Salary Survey 2014, women in the United States made 86 cents for every dollar men made. Game designing women had

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7020-504: The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union doing work for video games struck several major publishers, demanding better royalty payments and provisions related to the safety of their vocal performances, when their union's standard contract was up for renewal. The voice actor strike lasted for over 300 days into 2017 before a new deal was made between SAG-AFTRA and

7155-548: The Shanghai Free-Trade Zone . Microsoft marketed the device as an "all-in-one entertainment system", hence the name "Xbox One". An eighth-generation console , it mainly competed against Sony 's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 's Wii U and later the Nintendo Switch . Moving away from its predecessor's PowerPC -based architecture , the Xbox One marks a shift back to the x86 architecture used in

7290-457: The VGA resolution of the Xbox 360 version, and processes 2 GB of data per second to map its environment. Kinect 2.0 has an improved accuracy over its predecessor; it can track up to 6 people simultaneously, referred to as "skeletons", perform heart rate tracking, track controller gestures, and read QR codes to redeem Xbox Live gift cards. By default, voice recognition is active at all times, so

7425-586: The original Xbox ; it features an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) from AMD built around the x86-64 instruction set . Xbox One's controller was redesigned over the Xbox 360's, with a redesigned body, D-pad , and triggers capable of delivering directional haptic feedback . The console places an increased emphasis on cloud computing , as well as social networking features and the ability to record and share video clips or screenshots from gameplay or livestream directly to streaming services such as Mixer and Twitch . Games can also be played off-console via

7560-530: The GPU processing power. These resources were previously reserved for Kinect skeletal tracking, regardless of whether the Kinect sensor was attached or in use. A Windows compatible Kinect 2.0 was released on July 15, 2014. Kinect 2.0 was released as a standalone and optional item in October 2014; it is bundled with a digital copy of Dance Central Spotlight . Xbox One S lacks the Kinect connection port, requiring

7695-457: The Guardian of Light . A "Shopping Spree" promotion ended November 1, 2010, in which anyone who spent over 2400 points during October 2010 received an 800-point reward. By March 10, 2006, three million downloads had been made on the service. By January 30, 2007, that number had grown to 20 million. The service reached 25 million downloads on March 6, 2007 with 45 million downloads projected by

7830-446: The IGDA found that people of color were both underrepresented in senior management roles as well as underpaid in comparison to white developers. Further, because video game developers typically draw from personal experiences in building game characters, this diversity gap has led to few characters of racial minority to be featured as main characters within video games. Minority developers have also been harassed from external groups due to

7965-527: The Japanese market, and Middle Eastern markets. Microsoft initially announced a different game licensing scheme for Xbox One than what was used upon its release: all games, including those purchased at retail, would be bound to the user's Xbox Live account. Users could access their purchased games from any other Xbox One console, play games without their disc once installed, and allow users to "share" their games with up to ten designated "family" members. If

8100-405: The Kinect sensor, and to detect when it's not being held to automatically enter a low-power state. An updated revision of the controller was released in June 2015, which includes a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack and other minor changes. A third revision was introduced alongside and first bundled with Xbox One S, with textured grips and Bluetooth support. The Xbox Wireless Controller includes

8235-520: The Kinect sensor. Microsoft stated the decision to offer Xbox One bundles without Kinect was to "[offer] a choice to people that would allow people to buy an Xbox One and then ramp up to Kinect when they can afford to", while also allowing games to use processing power that was previously reserved for Kinect. An updated Xbox Development Kit issued in June 2014 allows developers to explicitly disable motion tracking functionality in games, allowing access to additional system resources that represent about 10% of

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8370-705: The Night , and Contra . With Xbox One , Microsoft has decided to forgo placing different types of games in different channels. As such, Microsoft has discontinued use of the Arcade moniker, instead grouping all types of games (would-be Arcade titles, retail, and indies) together. Xbox Live Arcade titles range in price from $ 2.50 to $ 20 with the vast majority selling for $ 10 and under. The games are generally aimed towards more casual gamers, striving for "pick up and play" appeal. Several games were temporarily free, including Texas Hold 'em , Carcassonne , and Undertow . Others are permanently free including Aegis Wing ,

8505-418: The November 12, 2015, system update. Alongside its new layout, support for Kinect motion controls on the dashboard were removed. The UI was refreshed again in April 2017, adding the new Guide sidebar and other new features. At this time, the ability to "snap" apps as a sidebar for multi-tasking was removed. The UI was further revamped in October 2017, adopting Windows 10's "Fluent" design language. and adds

8640-477: The Warlords , and Marble Blast Ultra . On June 24, 2011 video game website 1UP.com reported that Microsoft was preparing to bring free-to-play games to Xbox Live and said games will include a microtransaction service. The first free-to-play game, Happy Wars , was released on October 12, 2012. In May 2007, Microsoft announced that games older than six months would become eligible for delisting from

8775-590: The Windows platform. Xbox One's user interface uses Microsoft's Fluent Design System ; previous iterations of the console's software used the Metro design language . The dashboard is divided into "Home", "Mixer", "Community", "Entertainment", and "Store" sections, with the "Home" page further divided into "blocks" that can display pinned games/apps, as well as other content. Pressing the Xbox Guide button opens

8910-491: The Xbox 360, users would be able to share and resell physical games without restrictions, and beyond a mandatory software update upon the console's initial setup process to enable playback of Blu-ray and DVD video, the console would not require a permanent internet connection to operate. These changes required the family sharing features, along with the ability to play games without their disc after installation, to be dropped. Xbox One chief product officer Marc Whitten stated that

9045-423: The Xbox One S at $ 249 and was made available on May 7, 2019. Microsoft ended production of the Xbox One family throughout 2020 in preparation for production of future hardware. The original Xbox One's exterior casing consists of a two-tone "liquid black" finish; with half finished in a matte grey, and the other in a glossier black. The matte side of the top of the console consists of a large air vent. The design

9180-462: The Xbox One nicknames such as the "Xbox 180", in reference to the Xbox 360 and Microsoft's decision to reverse its controversial decisions, and "Xbone", suggesting that the company was " throwing a bone " to consumers by making these changes. In 2015, four members of an international hacking group pleaded guilty to gaining unauthorized access to Microsoft's computer network and obtaining sensitive information relating to Xbox One and Xbox Live. At

9315-535: The acquisition of Activision Blizzard , stated it supported these unionization efforts. After this acquisition, the employees of Bethesda Game Studios , part of Zenimax under Microsoft, unionized under the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in July 2024. Over 500 employees within Blizzard Entertainment 's World of Warcraft division also unionized with CWA that same month. Sweden presents

9450-572: The advent of digital distribution of inexpensive games on game consoles, it is now possible for indie game developers to forge agreements with console manufacturers for broad distribution of their games. Other indie game developers create game software for a number of video-game publishers on several gaming platforms. In recent years this model has been in decline; larger publishers, such as Electronic Arts and Activision, increasingly turn to internal studios (usually former independent developers acquired for their development needs). Video game development

9585-486: The backlash. Despite Microsoft's statements following the situation, denying the rumors, the mood it created lingered over the next several months. In a press conference on May 21, 2013, the new console was publicly unveiled under the name Xbox One and was presented as an all-in-one home entertainment device. The event focused heavily on the device's multimedia capabilities, demonstrating integration with television for over 30 minutes before any video games were shown. In

9720-431: The closest equity, making 96 cents for every dollar men made in the same job, while audio professional women had the largest gap, making 68% of what men in the same position made. Increasing the representation of women in the video game industry required breaking a feedback loop of the apparent lack of female representation in the production of video games and in the content of video games. Efforts have been made to provide

9855-564: The console and its game library. The Xbox One can view and play content from DLNA servers and USB storage devices using the "Media Player" app. An application allows playback of video from Blu-ray Disc , DVD and CD media. The console provides the ability to feed live television by serving as an HDMI pass-through for an existing television provider's set-top box or an optional Digital TV Tuner accessory that allows use of digital terrestrial television . The console provides its own electronic program guide known as OneGuide, augmenting

9990-426: The console can receive voice commands from the user, even when the console is in sleep mode . It is possible to wake the console with a command, although settings are available to change which individual Kinect functions are active. Prior to and after the mandate, all Xbox One consoles initially shipped with the Kinect sensor included. On June 9, 2014, cheaper Xbox One bundles were introduced, which did not include

10125-585: The console is using a USB digital television tuner. On Windows 10 , SmartGlass is succeeded by the Xbox App, which supports the local streaming of games from Xbox One to personal computers and tablets running Windows 10. An Xbox One controller must be used, but Windows-compatible headsets and microphones can be used for voice chat. Games requiring Kinect are not supported, while Game DVR and online streaming are not available while using this functionality. First-party developer A video game developer

10260-416: The console manufacturer (such as Rare or Naughty Dog ). Whether by purchasing an independent studio or by founding a new team, the acquisition of a first-party developer involves a huge financial investment on the part of the console manufacturer, which is wasted if the developer fails to produce a hit game on time. However, using first-party developers saves the cost of having to make royalty payments on

10395-431: The console was connected again. Reaction to this digital rights management scheme was extremely negative in light of the previous concerns about the "always on" console from earlier in the year. Critics felt that the changes would infringe on consumers' first-sale rights for games purchased on physical media, as games would only be licensed to users rather than sold, and the disc itself would only be used to install

10530-522: The console would "work in tandem" with existing television services, but that Microsoft would need to work with them directly to provide extended functionality, such as DVR integration. The digital TV tuner accessory allows limited DVR functionality for pausing and rewinding live TV for up to 30 minutes. In June 2016, Microsoft announced that their plans for full DVR functionality for the Xbox One were on hold. The Xbox Live service has been scaled up to use 300,000 servers for Xbox One users. Cloud storage

10665-422: The console would not redistribute user-generated content without permission. Alongside the above changes, the Xbox One did not require the Kinect to be plugged in to operate by launch, though the initial bundles still included the Kinect device. In response to these pre-launch changes and a belief that Microsoft's initial decisions for the console were in poor judgement, journalists and consumers jokingly gave

10800-508: The console. This established the use of licensing fees as a model for third-party development that persists into the present. The licensing fee approach was further enforced by Nintendo when it decided to allow other third-party developers to make games for the Famicom console, setting a 30% licensing fee that covered game cartridge manufacturing costs and development fees. The 30% licensing fee for third-party developers has also persisted to

10935-444: The developer if the game is not meeting expectations. When each milestone is completed (and accepted), the publisher pays the developer an advance on royalties . Successful developers may maintain several teams working on different games for different publishers. Generally, however, third-party developers tend to be small, close-knit teams. Third-party game development is a volatile sector, since small developers may depend on income from

11070-417: The developers are the publisher's employees, their interests align with those of the publisher; the publisher may spend less effort ensuring that the developer's decisions do not enrich the developer at the publisher's expense. Activision in 1979 became the first third-party video game developer. When four Atari, Inc. programmers left the company following its sale to Warner Communications , partially over

11205-417: The device on these newer Xbox One models, and requiring a special adapter to break the connector out into USB and AC power connections. Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition on April 16, 2019, which included three digital games, Forza Horizon 3 , Sea of Thieves , and Minecraft . The console does not have a physical disc drive, and all games must be downloaded. It is $ 50 cheaper than

11340-416: The end of 2007. On March 27, 2007, Microsoft declared Uno to be the first Xbox Live Arcade game to exceed one million downloads. Nearly 70 percent of Xbox 360 owners connected to Xbox Live have downloaded an Arcade title with the attach rate being 6–7 titles per user. Original games typically receive 350,000 downloads in the first month. Titles have an average 156% financial return over twelve months with

11475-467: The entertainment industry (such as films and television ) require long working hours and dedication from their employees, such as willingness to relocate and/or required to develop games that do not appeal to their personal taste. The creative rewards of work in the entertainment business attracts labor to the industry, creating a competitive labor market that demands a high level of commitment and performance from employees. Industry communities, such as

11610-485: The event, Microsoft announced that the console would be released in 21 different markets on November 22, 2013, but this was later amended down to 13. The change, which pushed the release date for the other eight markets to 2014, was attributed to unforeseen complexity in localizing the device's voice recognition capabilities. In September 2014, the Xbox One was released in 26 markets, including remaining markets in Europe,

11745-414: The existing streaming functionality to provide show recommendations based on viewing history, integrated access to "App Channels" corresponding to online video services, and voice control via Kinect. The set-top box and television are controlled by OneGuide using an IR blaster . The Xbox One does not provide full DVR functionality for recording television programs: executive Yusuf Mehdi indicated that

11880-439: The family sharing feature may return in the future, but could not be implemented on launch due to time restraints. Don Mattrick , then president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, stated that the licensing changes were in response to the negative public reaction. Other analysts believed the change was in direct response to Sony's aggressive position during its E3 conference. On July 1, 2013, Mattrick, who had been

12015-508: The first two months of sales accounting for just 35% of total volume. Average conversion rate (from trial download to purchase) across all titles is 18% (a low of 4% and high of 51%). On September 19, 2007, Microsoft announced the top ten Arcade downloads worldwide as Aegis Wing , Uno , Texas Hold 'em , Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved , Bankshot Billiards 2 , Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade , Worms , Castlevania: Symphony of

12150-572: The first video game-specific union, Game Workers Unite Australia, was formed in December 2021 under Professionals Australia to become active in 2022. In Canada, in a historic move, video game workers in Edmonton unanimously voted to unionize for the first time in June 2022. In January 2023, after not being credited in The Last of Us HBO adaptation, Bruce Straley called for unionization of

12285-404: The front of the console, and its power supply is integrated into the console's casing rather than sitting externally (plugging directly into an outlet rather than using an external "brick"). The Xbox One is powered by an AMD " Jaguar " Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) with two quad-core modules totaling eight x86-64 cores clocked at 1.75  GHz , and 8  GB of DDR3 RAM with

12420-627: The game and not confer ownership of its license or permission to resell. Microsoft also stated that game publishers would decide whether the physical copies of their games would be eligible for resale, and could impose restrictions or activation fees on second-hand copies of games. In addition, loaning or renting games would not be possible at the console's launch, and Microsoft was "exploring the possibilities" with its partners. GameSpot editor Tom McShea went on to say that Microsoft had become anti-consumerist , trying to "punish their loyal customers" with strict restrictions, and that "by saying no to

12555-404: The gaming industry, while a 2017 IGDA survey found that the female demographic in game development had risen to about 20%. Taking into account that a 2017 ESA survey found 41% of video game players were female, this represented a significant gender gap in game development. The male-dominated industry, most who have grown up playing video games and are part of the video game culture , can create

12690-403: The hackers also committed a physical theft by entering "a secure building on Microsoft's Redmond Washington campus" and carrying away three "Durango" development kits. On June 13, 2016, during its E3 2016 press conference, Microsoft unveiled Xbox One S , a revision of the original Xbox One hardware with a streamlined form factor and support for HDR10 and 4K video. The Xbox One S replaced

12825-636: The highest-end graphics. We targeted more as a broad entertainment play and did it in an intelligent way." —Greg Williams, GM of Xbox silicon development The original Xbox One supports 1080p and 720p video output; unlike the Xbox 360, the Xbox One does not support 1080i and other interlaced resolutions. Xbox One supports HDMI 1.4 for both input and output, and does not support composite or component video . Xbox One supports 7.1 surround sound , Dolby Atmos , and DTS:X . Xbox One S additionally supports 2160p ( 4K resolution ) video output, and high dynamic range (HDR) color using HDR10 (with

12960-457: The industry by working long hours. Because crunch time tends to come from a combination of corporate practices as well as peer influence, the term "crunch culture" is often used to discuss video game development settings where crunch time may be seen as the norm rather than the exception. The use of crunch time as a workplace standard gained attention first in 2004, when Erin Hoffman exposed

13095-480: The lack of a native Kinect port were noted. A high-end model, named Xbox One X , was unveiled in June 2017 and released in November; it features upgraded hardware specifications and support for rendering games at 4K resolution. The system was succeeded by the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, which launched on November 10, 2020. Production of all Xbox One consoles ceased at the end of that year. The Xbox One

13230-431: The lack of respect that the new management gave to programmers, they used their knowledge of how Atari VCS game cartridges were programmed to create their own games for the system, founding Activision in 1979 to sell these. Atari took legal action to try to block the sale of these games, but the companies ultimately settled, with Activision agreeing to pay a portion of their sales as a license fee to Atari for developing for

13365-559: The movement again called out for the industry to unionize. The movement argued that Telltale had not given any warning to its 250 employees let go, having hired additional staff as recently as a week prior, and left them without pensions or health-care options; it was further argued that the studio considered this a closure rather than layoffs, as to get around failure to notify required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 preceding layoffs. The situation

13500-448: The nature of the video game culture. The industry also is recognized to have an ageism issue, discriminating against the hiring and retention of older developers. A 2016 IGDA survey found only 3% of developers were over 50 years old, while at least two-thirds were between 20 and 34; these numbers show a far lower average age compared to the U.S. national average of about 41.9 that same year. While discrimination by age in hiring practices

13635-442: The new console would include an improved Kinect sensor, cloud access to games and media, integration with phone and tablet devices, and technology to provide players heads-up displays on glasses worn by the player, codenamed "Fortaleza"; Microsoft did not comment on these reported features. Leaked design documents also suggested that Microsoft was seeking to eliminate the ability to play used games, though Microsoft later clarified it

13770-540: The news, there have typically been followup discussions towards the potential to form a union. A survey performed by the International Game Developers Association in 2014 found that more than half of the 2,200 developers surveyed favored unionization. A similar survey of over 4,000 game developers run by the Game Developers Conference in early 2019 found that 47% of respondents felt the video game industry should unionize. In 2016, voice actors in

13905-474: The operating system and utility software , leaving 5 GB for games. With DirectX 11.2 as the console's API , the graphics processing unit (GPU) is based on an AMD GCN architecture with 12 compute units, which have a total of 768 cores, running at 853  MHz providing an estimated peak theoretical power of 1.31 T FLOPS . For networking, Xbox One supports Gigabit Ethernet , 802.11n wireless, and Wi-Fi Direct . "We purposefully did not target

14040-432: The original launch hardware which had been discontinued around the same time. Microsoft also teased a high-end version of Xbox One with upgraded hardware codenamed "Project Scorpio", which was unveiled and released the following year as Xbox One X . After failing to attract interest from game developers and users, Microsoft had also begun to phase out Kinect from the consumer market—removing the proprietary connector used by

14175-694: The present, being a de facto rate used for most digital storefronts for third-party developers to offer their games on the platform. In recent years, larger publishers have acquired several third-party developers. While these development teams are now technically "in-house", they often continue to operate in an autonomous manner (with their own culture and work practices). For example, Activision acquired Raven (1997); Neversoft (1999), which merged with Infinity Ward in 2014; Z-Axis (2001); Treyarch (2001); Luxoflux (2002); Shaba (2002); Infinity Ward (2003) and Vicarious Visions (2005). All these developers continue operating much as they did before acquisition,

14310-414: The primary differences being exclusivity and financial details. Publishers tend to be more forgiving of their own development teams going over budget (or missing deadlines) than third-party developers. A developer may not be the primary entity creating a piece of software, usually providing an external software tool which helps organize (or use) information for the primary software product. Such tools may be

14445-429: The publisher's wishes generally override those of the developer. Work for hire studios solely execute the publishers vision. The business arrangement between the developer and publisher is governed by a contract, which specifies a list of milestones intended to be delivered over a period of time. By updating its milestones, the publisher verifies that work is progressing quickly enough to meet its deadline and can direct

14580-467: The publishers. While this had some effects on a few games within the industry, it brought to the forefront the question of whether video game developers should unionize. A grassroots movement, Game Workers Unite , was established around 2017 to discuss and debate issues related to unionization of game developers. The group came to the forefront during the March 2018 Game Developers Conference by holding

14715-497: The purchase by Warner Bros. of some assets of Midway Games, including certain rights related to the nine games. Id Software 's Doom was pulled from the catalogue due to Id being purchased by publisher ZeniMax Media , and as such the publishing rights were removed from then publisher Activision . From January 19, 2012, Doom was restored to Xbox Live Arcade under new publisher Bethesda . In 2011, Ubisoft announced that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled

14850-564: The service Twitch . Users can use voice commands to immediately begin streaming footage of their current game directly to the service, and use Kinect's camera and microphone to record video and audio narration. Users can feature recorded clips on their Xbox Live profile page in a "Showcase" section. The console had also supported Mixer prior to its shutdown in July 2020. As with Xbox 360, premium online features such as multiplayer, voice communication, broadcasting and Upload Studio require an Xbox Live Gold subscription to use. Unlike Xbox 360,

14985-570: The service if they had a Metacritic score below 65 and a conversion rate below 6%. The objective was to "focus the catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for." However, Microsoft has never removed a game using this method. In February 2010, it was announced that nine games from Midway Games would no longer be available for purchase, "due to publisher evolving rights and permissions" (even though Sony's PlayStation Store never did as such with its own downloadable Midway games), referring to

15120-424: The service in retail, Microsoft released Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 as a compilation disc of six games. On October 18, 2007, Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 Arcade console SKU which includes full versions of Boom Boom Rocket , Feeding Frenzy , Luxor 2 , Pac-Man Championship Edition , and Uno . On May 22, 2008, Microsoft's general manager of Xbox Live , Marc Whitten, detailed changes for

15255-572: The service that included increasing the size limit of the games to 350MB and "improving" the way digital rights management is handled. Furthermore, Microsoft created an internal games studio to create "high quality digital content" for XBLA. On July 30, 2008, Microsoft announced the XBLA Summer of Arcade. Anyone who downloaded one of the titles released over August, ( Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 , Braid , Bionic Commando Rearmed , Galaga Legions and Castle Crashers ) would be entered into

15390-402: The soul of an Xbox console is about and what [their] customers are looking for from [Microsoft]". As a result of the negative feedback from the May presentation, the press event for E3 2013 focused on the video game functionality of the Xbox One first and foremost; Don Mattrick, then Microsoft's president of Interactive Entertainment Business, described the event as "all about the games". At

15525-545: The target of sexual harassment. This can be coupled from similar harassment from external groups, such as during the 2014 Gamergate controversy . Major investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct that went unchecked by management, as well as discrimination by employers, have been brought up against Riot Games , Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard in the late 2010s and early 2020s, alongside smaller studios and individual developers. However, while other entertainment industries have had similar exposure through

15660-467: The time of the security breach, Microsoft was in the development stage for its next-generation gaming system. Between 2011 and 2013, the hackers spent hundreds of hours searching through Microsoft's network copying log-in credentials, source code, technical specifications, and other data. Group members say they were driven by an immense curiosity about Microsoft's then-unreleased Xbox One console and associated software. "Using stolen access credentials", two of

15795-484: The toxic nature of the video game culture. This racial diversity issue has similar ties to the gender one, and similar methods to result both have been suggested, such as improving grade school education, developing games that appeal beyond the white, male gamer stereotype, and identifying toxic behavior in both video game workplaces and online communities that perpetuate discrimination against gender and race. In regards to LGBT and other gender or sexual orientations,

15930-487: The use of crunch time at Electronic Arts , a situation known as the "EA Spouses" case. A similar "Rockstar Spouses" case gained further attention in 2010 over working conditions at Rockstar San Diego . Since then, there has generally been negative perception of crunch time from most of the industry as well as from its consumers and other media. Game development had generally been a predominately male workforce. In 1989, according to Variety , women constituted only 3% of

16065-483: The used game restrictions and always-online that Microsoft is so happily implementing on the Xbox One, Sony has elevated the PlayStation 4 as the console to grab this holiday season." Xbox Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Yusuf Mehdi explained that the system was built with digital distribution in mind, but that Microsoft wanted to maintain the availability of games on physical media. He also noted that Microsoft

16200-560: The user interface run within a stripped-down version of Microsoft Windows ; the original system software was based on Windows 8 , but it has since been changed to Windows 10 . This architecture allows resources to be allocated specifically to different aspects of the console's functions, including multitasking and Kinect processing, ensuring an "absolute guarantee of performance" for games. Xbox One supports Universal Windows Platform apps, which can be designed to run across Xbox One, Windows 10, and Windows 10 Mobile in synchronization with

16335-508: The video game industry typically shares the same demographics as with the larger population based on a 2005 IGDA survey. Those in the LGBT community do not find workplace issues with their identity, though work to improve the representation of LGBT themes within video games in the same manner as with racial minorities. However, LGBT developers have also come under the same type of harassment from external groups like women and racial minorities due to

16470-678: The video game industry. Whereas some video game employees believe they should follow the craft-based model used by SAG-AFTRA which would unionize based on job function, others feel an industry-wide union, regardless of job position, would be better. Starting in 2021, several smaller game studios in the United States began efforts to unionize. These mostly involved teams doing quality assurance rather than developers. These studios included three QA studios under Blizzard Entertainment : Raven Software , Blizzard Albany , and Proletariat; and Zenimax Media 's QA team. Microsoft , which had previously acquired Zenimax and announced plans to acquire Blizzard via

16605-504: The workforce in video games is estimated to be from contract labor. Similar to other tech industries, video game developers are typically not unionized . This is a result of the industry being driven more by creativity and innovation rather than production, the lack of distinction between management and employees in the white-collar area, and the pace at which the industry moves that makes union actions difficult to plan out. However, when situations related to crunch time become prevalent in

16740-499: Was added in 2016 to provide expanded voice command functionality with natural language recognition . The dashboard originally used a layout similar to Windows 8's " Start screen ", with a horizontal-scrolling, tile-based interface. This design was replaced for Xbox Preview Program members in September 2015 with the current interface, known as "the New Xbox One Experience", which was publicly released as part of

16875-429: Was aided by the introduction of the Kinect motion sensor that year, which Lewis stated would extend the lifecycle by five years. Initial hardware for the 360's successor, commonly referred to by the industry as the "Xbox 720", was reportedly under development as early as May 2011. The official developer kit was codenamed Durango, and appeared to be available to developers by mid-2012. Leaked documents suggested that

17010-724: Was argued to be "exploitive", as Telltale had been known to force its employees to frequently work under "crunch time" to deliver its games. By the end of 2018, a United Kingdom trade union, Game Workers Unite UK, an affiliate of the Game Workers Unite movement, had been legally established. Following Activision Blizzard 's financial report for the previous quarter in February 2019, the company said that they would be laying off around 775 employees (about 8% of their workforce) despite having record profits for that quarter. Further calls for unionization came from this news, including

17145-523: Was described and marketed as "an elite controller for the elite gamer", containing interchangeable parts, "hair trigger locks" for the triggers that allow users to reduce the amount of distance they must be pressed to register a press, and software for remapping buttons. In May 2018, Microsoft announced the Xbox Adaptive Controller —a special controller designed for users with disabilities . It features two large dome-like buttons, and

17280-553: Was due to be removed from the Xbox Live service on June 30, 2011, due to an expired license. Chessmaster Live has also been removed. On December 15, 2013, Capcom announced on their blog that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would be removed from the XBLA store. Although no specific date was listed, the last date for DLC for these titles was listed as December 26, 2013. Xbox One The Xbox One

17415-430: Was initially given to its user interface. A revised version replaced the original in 2016, called the Xbox One S , which has a smaller form factor and support for HDR10 high-dynamic-range video , as well as support for 4K video playback and upscaling of games from 1080p to 4K. It was praised for its smaller size, its on-screen visual improvements, and its lack of an external power supply, but its regressions such as

17550-487: Was intended to evoke a more entertainment-oriented and simplified look than previous iterations of the console; among other changes, the LED rings used by Xbox 360 are replaced by a glowing white Xbox logo used to communicate the system's status to the user. Due to the overall ventilation design of the console, the original Xbox One is designed to only sit horizontally. Xbox One S utilizes a refreshed version of this design, with

17685-482: Was not "giving in" to publishers' objections to used games, but rather trying to balance the needs of consumers and the industry, and that the trading and sharing abilities of the platform added a level of flexibility not seen on other online distribution platforms at the time. On June 19, 2013, shortly after E3 2013, Microsoft announced (in response to the negative reaction) that it would change its Xbox One DRM policy and game licensing model and reverse course. As with

17820-465: Was not present on Xbox 360. Restricting power consumption lowers maximum performance, but the setting would be intended as a last resort to prevent permanent hardware damage. The Xbox Wireless Controller maintains the overall layout found in the Xbox 360's controller , but with various refinements to its form. Among its changes include a smoother form, textured analog sticks, a four-way directional pad , and redesigned triggers and shoulder buttons with

17955-468: Was officially announced on May 12, 2004, at Microsoft's E3 press conference and launched on November 6, 2004, for the original Xbox game console. The XBLA software was obtained by ordering it on Microsoft's website. It was sent by mail on a disc that also contained a free version of the Ms. Pac-Man video game. To generate greater publicity for the service, the disc was also distributed with special issues of

18090-474: Was relaunched on the Xbox 360 . The service was integrated into the main Dashboard user interface, and the Xbox 360 hard drives were bundled with a free copy of Hexic HD . Every Arcade title on the Xbox 360 supports leaderboards, has 200 Achievement points, and high-definition 720p graphics. They also have a trial version available for free download. These demos are playable and most of them offer only

18225-522: Was still reviewing the design and were "thinking about what is next and how we can push the boundaries of technology like we did with Kinect", but did not comment on the validity of the information. Prior to the official unveiling, a rumor had circulated that the next Xbox console would be an "always on" system requiring a persistent Internet connection, though Microsoft had not confirmed this. This had drawn some concerns from consumers, which were heightened when Microsoft Studios employee Adam Orth stated in

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