Microsoft and Sony’s rivalry in the gaming console market has long been standing.  For some time, Microsoft was leading the race. At other times, it was Sony in the lead.  When the two released their latest consoles last year, people were divided.

Now, it looks like Sony is winning the war.  According to Sony, it has sold 5.3 million PlayStation 4 as of January 2014, far more than Microsoft’s 3.6 million Xbox Ones sold in the same period.

And its lead is only getting bigger, especially when it launched in Japan last February.  It quickly sold 370,000 units as of March 2.

So is there hope for the Xbox One to catch up?

Release of Titanfall

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Titanfall is a critically acclaimed game which has already received over 75 awards.  It was crafted by one of the co-creators of Call of Duty and other key developers of the Call of Duty franchise.  It has been shrouded in mystery for three years and now that it’s finally launching on the market tomorrow, March 11, 2014, it is expected that many will fall in line just to get their hands on the game.

So how will this be beneficial for Microsoft?  Titanfall is exclusively launching for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows PC.  With all the hype surrounding Titanfall, Microsoft is hoping this will drive up the sales of its flagship gaming console.  The game will be bundled with an Xbox One to push sales of the console but no news as to how much the bundle will cost.  No price for the Xbox 360 version and the game may also be bundled with the console.  As for the PC version, the game costs $58.41, while the Digital Deluxe edition costs $80.91.

Twitch

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Also happening tomorrow is the launch of Twitch, the gameplay streaming platform, on the Xbox One.  The launch of Twitch on the console it timed with the release of Titanfall in North america and it is expected that those who will be buying the game will be enticed to livestream their gameplay.

Twitch also allows players to join games with broadcasters, use voice commands to create your own game broadcasts, archive game clips, and be able to watch those clips later on any device.

The Twitch app also offers exclusive features for Xbox One users, such as allowing users to broadcast games they are playing in full-screen, use an on-screen viewer indicator to track how popular your feed is, get Media Achievements simply by watching streamed games, streaming text chat for users, and an option to create private parties using voice chat outside of the broadcast.

“It’s complete integration,” Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said in an interview back in February. “It’s exciting because we’ve never had the ability to broadcast from a console like this with such a deep level of integration. The concept of being able to join a broadcasters’ party is really cool, and it’s another step in the direction of interacting more closely with broadcasters.”

DirectX 12

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DirectX is Microsoft’s collection of APIs tasks related to multimedia, especially in game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms.  It has been the go-to platform for game developers who want to create the fastest and visually games.  For the first time in five years, DirectX is getting a major update, the DirectX 12.  Not much is known about the update as Windows graphics development manager Anuj Gosalia will be the one unveiling what’s in store for developers at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on March 20.

“You asked us to bring you even closer to the metal and to do so on an unparalleled assortment of hardware. You also asked us for better tools so that you can squeeze every last drop of performance out of your PC, tablet, phone and console,” Gosalia said.

We can expect that DirectX 12 will pave the way for more visually appealing games in the future.  Which in the long run, hopefully, would mean more sales for the Xbox One.

photo: wuestenigel via photopin cc