Casual Gaming News: 10/26/20 – 11/01/20
We’re back again to break down the gaming news for this week. If you have any suggestions for news headlines we’ve missed, let us know in the comments!
First up on Casual Gaming News this week:
Phil Spencer Confirms all First-Party Xbox Series X Games are ‘Coming to PC’
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has been doing the rounds to promote Microsoft’s latest console, and he’s been talking a little more about the company’s cross-platform approach. Essentially Xbox is making the ‘box’ part of the equation less central, and transitioning into more of a software platform.
Spencer was speaking to Gamereactor about consoles traditionally being closed platforms, before moving onto Xbox Series X games and PC.
“There is this expectation from customers like there is now on PC, where people don’t really question—there might be some timing things, on when certain things happen—but if we are shipping the first-party game it’s coming to PC. If we are shipping the first-party game on PC it’s coming to Steam and our own store. Like we built an expectation from our customers.
This is great news for all PC gamers out there, as this was a feature that a lot of people were requesting. Spencer obviously saw that this would be a big deal for Xbox – and it will be!
Read more at PC Gamer here.
Odeon Make Full Screens Available to Rent for Gaming Parties
The UK-based cinema chain took to social media to announce a new service known as Big Screen Gaming. After numerous films have been postponed or moved to streaming services due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company has been forced to think outside the box, and their latest offering will allow gamers the opportunity to rent out a screen to play out their most beloved titles.
The pandemic has been tough on businesses, so for Odeon to use this opportunity to make every gamer’s dream come true (Who doesn’t want to game on a big screen?) is probably one of the best ideas! If you’re from the UK and have some spare money, definitely make use of this opportunity!
Read more at NME here.
Facebook Takes its First Small Steps into the World of Cloud Gaming
Facebook is the latest tech giant to get into the world of cloud gaming — but the company’s offering is quite a bit different than the competition. Unlike Amazon or Google, which both offer standalone cloud gaming services for a fee, Facebook is introducing cloud games to its existing app — several of which are playable right now.
“We’re doing free-to-play games, we’re doing games that are latency-tolerant, at least to start,” says Jason Rubin, Facebook’s vice president of play. “Not promising 4K, 60fps, so you pay us $6.99 per month. We’re not trying to get you to buy a piece of hardware, like a controller.”
Facebook Gaming being honest about what they have to offer, rather than trying to sell something they can’t promise is a great way to gain trust. And they’ve gained ours! We’re excited to finally give Facebook Gaming a try.
Read more at The Verge here.
Mobile Game Aims to Help Mental Health of Children During Pandemic
A new mobile app designed to help improve mental health in children during the coronavirus pandemic has been released in the UK. Kai’s Sanctuary uses exercises linked to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and applies them in a game setting to help young people manage their emotions and introduces them to mindfulness and relaxation techniques.
The mental health of children has suffered a lot because of COVID-19, especially with a lot of them not fully understanding what’s happening. For a gaming developer to make a game that focuses on people’s mental health is a great step in the right direction. We mean, it’s already been proven that video games have helped people immensely during this tough time!
Read more at Peeblesshire News here.
Introducing the new PlayStation App, redesigned to enhance your gaming experiences on PS4 and PS5
The PS App introduces fresh features such as voice chat, native PS Store integration, and a smoother experience delivered in an all-new design.
Key features:
- Updated user interface – The first thing you’ll notice is the sleek new user interface of the redesigned PS App. The new home screen lets you quickly see what your friends are playing and access details about your recently played games, including your Trophy List.
- Messages integration – For a unified experience, the PS Messages app feature will now be integrated into the updated PS App so you can seamlessly message your friends all in one place.
- Voice Chat and Party Groups – You can now create party groups from PS App, and voice chat with up to 15 other friends through your mobile phone.
- Natively integrated PlayStation Store and remote downloads – The new native PS Store experience enables fast and smooth shopping and browsing, with the ability to remotely download games and add-ons directly to your PS4 and PS5.
- New features for PS5 – When PS5 arrives, you’ll be able to remotely launch games, manage storage on your console if you run out of space while downloading a game, and quickly sign in to PS5 straight from the PS App.
- All the latest PlayStation news – The Explore tab surfaces Official News from game developers and PS Blog content to help you stay up to date with the world of PlayStation.
The new PlayStation App seems like it’s had a lot of thought put into it. For us personally, we found the old PlayStation App to be really hard to use and pointless for any help with gaming. Now, it’s a handy dandy tool you don’t want to miss out on.
Read more at PlayStation Blog here.
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