Windows Central has been livestreaming a wide variety of Xbox One games on Twitch every Saturday for quite a while now. As our viewership continues to grow, so does the number of games we want to share with you! Thus we'll now be streaming a different game every Wednesday as well. That's twice the chances to tune in and chat along with your fellow readers while our staff showcases a great game.

Tonight we kick off our regular Wednesday streams with an early look at The Escapists, the Xbox One exclusive sandbox game in which players have to break out of prison! The Escapists doesn't launch until February 13th, so our stream is a great chance to learn what the game will be like before release.

To tune in during the livestream, follow me on Twitch.tv/Eastxtwitch and watch along at 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific). You can also watch the stream right here live or after the fact.

Microsoft today pushed out an update for Xbox Music on Windows Phone 8.1. The update is the first for 2015 and the first since the update last December.

Although no new features were introduced, the 2.6.656.0 update does address numerous user complaints and issues with the app. The changelog itself is quite substantial, and we will post it in its entirety.

After a brief hiatus, the Windows Central weekly photo contests are back! Now we've had the holidays, CES and the Windows 10 event come and go, it's time to return to (some) normality. So, we've got a new contest for all the Windows Phone photographers out there with a theme that's pretty apt for a lot of people right now. Cold.

That's not to say that you need to take a picture of snow. Be imaginative, be creative, and show us absolutely anything you think represents cold! The image up top was taken by our own Daniel Rubino with Lumia Camera 5 on the Lumia 930 with a little added HDR for good measure.

National Public Radio today has released their new NPR One app for Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1. The app is universal, appearing to use the same code across both platforms. It is also very minimalist, modern, and well done.

NPR One is not your standard public radio app. Instead, it is a new effort by NPR to create a more "personalised" experience based on your preferences. You get a combination of live radio from your local radio station, in addition to suggesting programs. You can also search things you are interested in, and the service will begin to cater to your tastes.

Update: According to its store listing, it looks like Bank of America will be dropping its Windows 8.1 app in March as well (thanks, Brent, for the tip).

Original story: Yet another major US bank is ending its support for the Windows Phone platform. This time it's Bank of America, which has posted a note on its app's store page that it will stop supporting Microsoft's mobile OS sometime in early March.

Back in July of last year, Microsoft announced plans to release Zoo Tycoon Friends for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone. In addition to being an Xbox title, the game looked to fit into the growing trend of simulation and management games for mobile. Later in October, the game finally launched after some limited testing and things were looking good for the game.

Jump ahead to early 2015, and it does not take much to find complaints in the Store about the title. Reviews are littered with the same grievance, which includes the backend servers essentially not working, rendering the game (and any purchases) useless.

Today, Microsoft is throwing in the towel. In an email sent to those who are playing the game, Microsoft Studios have announced that Zoo Tycoon Friends is shutting down on April 28, 2015. Microsoft says that the closure is part of their "ebb and flow" of portfolio management, but there is little doubt that the game's constant problems likely forced their hand.