Welcome to our weekly ICYMI for Xbox news!
We'll still be posting major Xbox announcements in the main feed. However, I'll be collecting some of the more nuanced news, rumors and talking points into one handy post every weekend! You can also rely on this weekly column to keep up to date with all the latest game releases.
So without further ado, here's the latest edition of This Week in Xbox One News.
Rise of the Tomb Raider has no multiplayer
Rise of the Tomb Raider is heading to Xbox One as a console exclusive this November. The previous game, simply named "Tomb Raider" featured a rudimentary multiplayer mode, which was light on features and heavy on clunk. Thankfully, rather than spend dev time cobbling together an unexciting multiplayer mode, Crystal Dynamics are focussing 100% on the game's single player.
..."With multiplayer cut from the experience, Crystal Dynamics needed to make this core campaign as entertaining as possible."...
The quote comes from the Official Xbox Magazine September issue as part of their Rise of the Tomb Raider coverage (via AOTF).
Forced multiplayer modes are a pet-peeve of mine, but there's some business logic behind their construction. The idea being that a multi-player mode is a relatively low-cost way of extending the playable life of a game, stemming the tide of potential trade-ins. If Crystal Dynamics is focussing all of their efforts into the single-player mode, it could mean we'll get some serious longevity from the game's campaign. Here's hoping.
Rise of the Tomb Raider launches on November 10th for Xbox One, Q2 2016 for PC and Q4 2016 for PS4.
Fallout 4's dialogue is complete, features more lines than Skyrim and Fallout 3 combined
Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are both so vast that the average player will struggle to see every piece of content the games have to offer. It seems as though Fallout 4's volume will be similarly daunting.
Bethesda recently announced via Twitter that they've completed Fallout 4's dialogue, which sports an astronomical 110,000 lines of dialogue.
..."Many years of #Fallout4 voice recording complete! Just over 111k lines. More than Fallout 3 and Skyrim combined."...
For voice acting projects, the current world record holder is EA's MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, claiming the record with 200,000 lines of dialogue. SWTOR features 8 separate, fully-voiced stories for each individual class, in addition to 2 variations (for gender) and narration for each quest, no matter how trivial.
As a single-player RPG with only two main voice actors (one for male characters and one for female), for Fallout 4 to hit 110,000 lines of voice overs is pretty astronomical. It's going to take hundreds of hours to hear all of that dialogue.
Fallout 4 launches on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on November 10th, 2015.
Former composer for both Halo and Destiny defeats Bungie in lawsuit
The mind behind the iconic Halo theme recently defeated his former employer, Bungie, in a lawsuit pertaining to unpaid earnings (via ICXM.net).
Back in April 2014, composer Marty O'Donnell announced that his contract with Bungie was "terminated without cause".
..."I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014."...
Rumors suggest that the rift began when Activision outsourced the music for Destiny's marketing. Bungie reportedly filed a complaint about the omission of O'Donnell's music, but Activision overruled. Additionally, O'Donnell's requests for Destiny's soundtrack to get released as a standalone item, like Halo before it, was refused by Activision. O'Donnell attempted to sew discord against Activision becoming 'disruptive', according to the reports.
The falling out kicked off legal proceedings, which O'Donnell has now won. O'Donnell picked up $142,500 in unpaid profit sharing, plus $95,000 in unpaid wages. O'Donnell also won the right to shares in Bungie, which run into "significant" amounts.
Congratulations aside, perhaps now that Mr. O'Donnell is free of Bungie, he'd be up for scoring Halo 6.
Bid farewell to Metal Gear Solid with this emotional video from Hideo Kojima
It's no secret that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's development suffered difficulties. A rift between the series' creator, Hideo Kojima, and parent company Konami threatened to overshadow the entire game. Thankfully, it seems as though MGSV has emerged unscathed, with many reviewers calling it a masterpiece.
Hideo Kojima has finally bid farewell to the series. He states in the above video that MGSV bridges the gap between the story arc of Big Boss (MGS3, Peace Walker) and Solid Snake (MGS1, 2 and 4). Hideo also meets various developers from the project, famed press members and the family of a Metal Gear super-fan who recently passed away. Kojima dedicated the video to his memory, as part of a wider tribute to fans of the franchise. If you're a Metal Gear fan, be sure to give it a look.
ICYMI - Some of Windows Central's biggest Xbox articles of the week
- Castle Crashers Remastered will burst onto the Xbox One on September 9
- The PowerA FUSION Pro Controller is yet another high-end Xbox One gamepad
- Microsoft's new Forza Motorsport 6 TV ad celebrates over 40 years of racing games
- Exclusive: Mythological MMO Onigiri comes to Xbox One next week
- If you own Destiny, you can play some of The Taken King's content for free next week
- Hands-on with the Razer Wildcat controller for Xbox One
- The Xbox 360 version of Borderlands to support Xbox One backward compatibility
- Early impressions of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on Xbox One
- Star Wars Battlefront beta coming to Xbox One and PC in early October
- Check out the action-packed Halo 5 opening cinematic and prepare for the ultimate drop
New Xbox One game releases for the week ending Sept 6th, 2015
Rugby World Cup 2015 (opens in new tab) - Sports - HB Studios
"Experience the passion of rugby in the official 2015 Rugby World Cup video game. Choose from among the 20 teams in the World Cup and take part in the most prestigious competition in rugby."
Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart (opens in new tab) - Puzzle - Artifex Mundi
"On a cold, stormy night, the Caribbean Museum curator Sarah Black is making the final arrangements for the grand pirate exhibition's star attraction – the mummified corpse of the fearsome 18th century pirate, Captain Henry Remington."
Quest of Dungeons (opens in new tab) - RPG - Upfall Studios
"Quest of Dungeons is a turn based dungeon crawler game, a roguelike featuring a good old 16-bit retro artistic look. An evil Dark Lord has stolen all the light, so your mission is to enter his lair and defeat him."
Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse (opens in new tab) - Action & Adventure / Puzzler - Revolution Software
"Paris in the spring. Shots ring out from a gallery. A robbery... a murder... and the beginning of another epic Broken Sword adventure. From multi-award winning Revolution comes the latest mystery in this much loved adventure-puzzle series."
Super Toy Cars (opens in new tab) - Racing - Eclipse Games
"Super Toy Cars is a tabletop arcade combat racing game featuring fast and cool looking cars, impressive tracks made of everyday objects and a bunch of power-ups that will let you destroy your opposition!"
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN (opens in new tab) - Action & Adventure - Kojima Productions
"Ushering in a new era for the franchise with cutting-edge technology powered by the Fox Engine, MGSV: The Phantom Pain, will provide players a first-rate gaming experience as they are offered tactical freedom to carry out open-world missions."
The Deer God (opens in new tab) - Platformer - Crescent Moon Games
"The Deer God is a breathtaking 3D pixel art adventure that will challenge your religion and your platforming skills. It's a game about survival, reincarnation, and karma; all set in a breathtaking and unique 3D pixelized world."
Mad Max (opens in new tab) - Action & Adventure - Avalanche Studios / WB Games
"Become Mad Max, the lone warrior in a savage post-apocalyptic world where cars are the key to survival. In this action-packed, open world, third-person action game, you must fight to stay alive in The Wasteland, using brutal on-ground and vehicular against vicious gangs of bandits."
And that's a wrap!
I'm 45 hours into Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, sitting at 35% completion according to the game's stats. It seems difficult to find a place on the net that isn't talking about The Phantom Pain right now. After all, you can drive a golden tank. What have you lovely people been playing this week? Hit the comments!
