With E3 coming next month, news is a little slow. Most of the major announcements won’t come until the press show, but a few things are trickling out in advance.
An anonymous developer has released a picture that seems to confirm Microsoft’s plan for external hard drive support for XBox One is actually coming “soon.” As you can see in the picture, the OS is clearly saying an external drive is ready. When this actually becomes available for consumers is not confirmed, but we should expect is “soon” (possibly E3?) if this anonymous developer is to be trusted. The last official information for this update indicated any USB external hard drive will be useable on your console.
The Titanfall Companion App is available now. If you’re a serious player, you’re going to want it. In addition to the interesting but useless stats and information about characters, weapons, maps, etc. there are some very useful in-game benefits. If you connect your app to the XB1 version of the game, you’ll have an interactive map, your teammates locations, and “additional map information that cannot be accessed anywhere else, giving you an advantage in the game.” Sounds like not having it will give you an instant handicap in the game. The app is available now through Google Play and the App Store.
We haven’t received official confirmation, but early indications are that Twitch, the videogame streaming service, has been sold. While Microsoft has been a contender to purchase the service, Twitch went with a better offer ($1billion cash) from YouTube, itself owned by Google. The deal may actually be hampered by the FTC who could see the move as monopolization. While internet service providers have come under FTC scrutiny in the past, internet content has always been a gray area. We’ll certainly be getting more information about this deal throughout the week, so be sure to check back on Friday’s VGQH.
There are a few franchises you can always count on to hit every possible device as soon as they can get the code ready. One of those franchises is Worms. Team 17 has set May 30th as the date to join next-gen. Worms Battlegrounds will be releasing for Xbox One and PS4 in digital and retail formats. Bullet points on this iteration include 25 single-player missions, 10 “Worm-Ops” time attacks; Inca, Feudal Japan, Industrial Revolution, and Prehistoric environments (with day/night cycles); multiplayer deathmatch; Fort mode; landscape editor; clan support; 65 weapons/gadgets; and ten new items. The war of the worms continues.
That’s all for this week’s early edition. Come back on Friday for the stories from throughout the week.