Latest news with #XboxWire

Xbox will let you pin up to three favorite games to your homescreen

Engadget

17-05-2025

Engadget

Xbox will let you pin up to three favorite games to your homescreen

You'll soon be able to get into your favorite games even faster with the updated Xbox home screen. According to Microsoft, Xbox Insiders are due to get three new customization options later this week that will make their dashboard feel a little more personal. As detailed in Xbox Wire, certain Xbox players will have options to reduce clutter and allow them to pull their favorite games to the front of the list. The first major change lets you pin up to three of your favorite games or apps to the recently-played list. Pinning these means that they'll stay near the front of your list even when you launch other apps occasionally. Beyond that, your Xbox will get the option to "Hide System Apps" which should reduce the clutter and tuck those less important shortcuts away. To further streamline your home screen, Xbox will introduce the "Reduce Tile Count" feature that lets you set how many visible tiles are in the recently opened games and apps list. With more control thanks to these new features, Xbox players should get a cleaner homepage that lets their dynamic backgrounds shine more. "We've heard from many of you that Home should feel more like your space," Eden Marie, principal software engineering lead of Xbox Experiences, wrote on Xbox's blog. "Whether it's surfacing your favorite games, hiding what you don't use, or simply making Home feel less crowded, this update is a direct response to that feedback." According to Microsoft, these features will arrive on Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha users' consoles first. However, the company is still tweaking the Reduce Tile Count feature, adding that it "will be coming soon." Now, if only there were a way to hide those ads on the homescreen.

The Most Iconic Sega Genesis Game is Making a Comeback

Newsweek

07-05-2025

Entertainment
Newsweek

The Most Iconic Sega Genesis Game is Making a Comeback

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors The Sega Genesis is one of the most beloved video game consoles in history, and home to a host of fantastic games that are remembered fondly to this day. The console saw classics like Sonic The Hedgehog take off, but one game in particular has had a strangely enduring legacy, and it's set to make a comeback very soon. In an interview with Xbox Wire, Ecco the Dolphin creator Ed Annunziata revealed that a brand-new game in the series is on the way, with "the entire original team" apparently returning to help make it happen. Before that happens, though, Annunziata's team is going to release remasters of the first two games in the series, Ecco the Dolphin and its sequel The Tides of Time. A Sega Genesis Mini from the Showcase Trailer for the device. A Sega Genesis Mini from the Showcase Trailer for the device. Sega The team has launched a website with a very lengthy countdown timer, which is counting down to April 26, 2026. It's not known if this countdown is referring to the remasters of the original games or the new game, but it's very exciting for fans of the series, which hasn't seen a new release since the Dreamcast's Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future in 2000. Ecco the Dolphin is a strange action-adventure game, originally released for the Genesis in 1992, featuring an adorable bottlenose dolphin named Ecco, who stumbles upon ancient alien technology that allows him to travel through time and space in search for his lost pod. The game was a huge success, selling over half a million copies and spawning four sequels. The game has since been re-released on a number of different systems, including the Sega CD, the Game Gear, the Master System, PC, iOS, Xbox, the Nintendo 3DS, and the Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online service. It's remembered fondly for its unique control scheme, eclectic storytelling, and colorful graphics, and widely considered one of the best Sega Genesis games ever made.

Xbox Game Pass gets Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and 11 more games in May 2025's first major drop

Daily Mirror

07-05-2025

Entertainment
Daily Mirror

Xbox Game Pass gets Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and 11 more games in May 2025's first major drop

Xbox Game Pass is getting a little bigger in May as it delivers day one releases and a few titles taking a step down to the Standard tier of the service. It's time for a new drop of games on Xbox Game Pass, and joining the arrival of the latest Doom game is a huge heap of new titles to get stuck into. Xbox Game Pass has suffered some difficult losses very recently, but as many subscribers will tell you, in many cases, it's for the greater good. The service that offers players the chance to play modern classics and day one releases alike has plenty to offer, but it's hard to deny that the games departing leave a difficult stain on the experience. ‌ Xbox Game Pass loses games in May like Dune: Spice Wars, a quality sci-fi strategy game that not enough people played, and with Xbox Game Pass dropping Sniper Elite 5 in April, there's a lot of frustration when it comes to the titles that we've loved and lost on the service. Of course, though, there are upsides - this space has been made for the likes of the surprise-drop of Oblivion Remastered, which came to the service the moment it was announced, and with the impending arrival of Doom: The Dark Ages, it's all about to get very exciting to be an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. ‌ Luckily, too, Microsoft has revealed a collection of games set to come to the service around the return of the Doom Slayer, and it's led to a hefty delivery of titles for players to get stuck into. Here's what you need to know about the new Xbox Game Pass update. Xbox Game Pass May 2025 update 1 Microsoft has revealed a new collection of games set to come to Xbox Game Pass, featuring a day one release we've been excited for, and some new surprises we didn't see coming. Here's everything coming to the service, as reported by a blog post on Xbox Wire: Xbox Game Pass Standard Dredge (Xbox Series X |S, cloud, PC) – available today Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (console, cloud, PC) – available today Dungeons of Hinterberg (console) – available today Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (Xbox Series X|S) – available today Metal Slug Tactics (console) – available today Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed (console, cloud, PC) – May 8 Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (console, cloud) – May 13 Firefighting Simulator: The Squad (console, cloud, PC) – May 20 Police Simulator: Patrol Officers (console, cloud, PC) – May 20 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate & PC Revenge of the Savage Planet (Xbox Series X|S, cloud, PC) – May 8 Doom: The Dark Ages (Xbox Series X|S, cloud, PC) – May 15 Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo (console, cloud, PC) – May 16 It's a strong mound of games that delivers some big day one drops, but by and large upgrades a good mass of games from Ultimate to Standard tiers, like Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn and Dungeons of Hinterberg. At the very least, everything here will keep you busy until the latest adventure for the Doom Slayer, because we know that's what you're hankering for the most.

A new 'Ecco the Dolphin' game and remasters are on the way

Engadget

05-05-2025

Entertainment
Engadget

A new 'Ecco the Dolphin' game and remasters are on the way

Ecco the Dolphin , the Sega-published game series starring a time-traveling bottlenose dolphin, is making a comeback, according to a new interview in Xbox Wire. The series' creator Ed Annunziata says that both Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides of Time are being remastered, and a third game is in the works. "Me and the entire original team are going to remaster the original Ecco the Dolphin and Tides of Time games," Annunziata says. "Then we will make a new, third game with contemporary play and GPU sensibilities." Ecco the Dolphin was featured alongside games like Tchia and Coral Island for Xbox's celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and games that draw "inspiration from API cultures." For its part, Ecco the Dolphin is about a porpoise, but Annunziata says his goal was always to "create a game that sparked curiosity and respect for the ocean." Annunziata tried to get a spiritual successor to Ecco funded on Kickstarter in 2013, but failed to raise enough money to get the project off the ground. He sued Sega for the rights to the original franchise that same year, and ultimately settled with the publisher in 2016, GamesBeat reports. The settlement might be why remasters and a new game can happen in the first place. While it's considered a classic for its difficult gameplay and iconic soundtrack, Ecco the Dolphin hasn't been particularly easy to play legally if you don't already own it. The game was one of several Sega titles that were delisted from digital storefronts in December 2024. Annunziata didn't share further details about either project in the interview, but did point readers to an Ecco the Dolphin website, which currently has a countdown timer that's set to end on April 25, 2026.

The Verge