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Microsoft reverses maligned Xbox One policies

By Sam Laney
Published: June 19, 2013
xbox one system
Courtesy of Microsoft

Microsoft has relented against the torrent of Internet backlash regarding the sharing and trading of used games on it's upcoming console, the Xbox One.

In a blog post entitled "Your Feedback Matters" on news.xbox.com, Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, said the next-gen console will no longer force users to check back with Microsoft servers once every 24 hours for the console to function — a move that had been called "a sin against all servicemembers" and drawn collective moans from gamers in deployed areas, where steady Internet connections are hard to come by.

From the E3 showfloor, PC titles make their case

“Company of Heroes 2” fights on WWII’s Eastern Front. Courtesy of Sega
By Timothy Bowers, special to Stars and Stripes
Published: June 19, 2013
Elder Scrolls online
The world of Tamriel, most recently seen in “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” comes to the MMO format.
Courtesy of Bethesda Softworks

Console games were in the spotlight at the Electronic Entertainment in Los Angeles this month, but several computer games also looked very promising.

In most cases, developers did not have release dates, but they all had short hands-on demos for E3 attendees.

Sony, Microsoft lay the next-gen gaming details bare

A controller for the new PlayStation 4 is on display at the Sony PlayStation E3 media briefing in Los Angeles, Monday, June 10, 2013. AP
By Brian Bowers
Published: June 11, 2013

In recent months, Sony and Microsoft announced their entries in the latest battle between the consoles. Monday brought Round One of the brawl.

Dueling news conferences prior to the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles provided an odd spectacle: One fighter landed heavy body blows while the other punched himself in the face.

 
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About the Authors

Brian Bowers is Stars and Stripes’ Assitant Managing Editor for Europe and Mideast and one of its video game reviewers. He joined the newspaper in 1992 in Germany, where he worked on the news desk and the city desk. He has a wife and three children, who are always eager to help him test games.

Sam Laney joined Stars and Stripes’ in 2007 as a copy/layout editor, and slowly convinced upper management to support his video game habit. Since then, he’s added game reviews and previews to his list of duties and moved on to the iPad. When he’s not rocking newbies in “Left4Dead2,” he covers PC and Nintendo systems.