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We posted about this briefly in our Twitch schedule; however, I wanted to update everyone on tomorrow’s stream. We will be hunting down as many Achievements as possible from likely near a dozen different games. Nothing is pre-prepared, so we aren’t going for any kind of world record here. It should be a fun stream highlighting a lot of awesome titles, many of which have very easy Gamerscore.

We also had a bunch of awesome developers send us a ton of giveaway codes for the stream, which we will be giving away throughout the full 12-hour marathon. Just to highlight some of those games which you will for sure see during the stream as well as in giveaways: Roundabout, LA Cops, The Escapists, Dive Kick, and Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalkers. We also have another half a dozen games we will be running through.

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Last month, XBLA Fans was streaming Resident Evil Revelations 2 on our Twitch channel when something unexpected happened: the feed abruptly cut to the pause screen pictured above. XBLA Fans’ Michael Cheng hadn’t stopped playing and was still attempting to actively broadcast gameplay, so we knew something external was affecting the stream.

That something was Capcom. The game’s developer-slash-publisher, in an effort to minimize gamers’ exposure to certain scenes that are critical to determining what ending players receive, blocks segments of Revelations 2 from being streamed via the Xbox Twitch app. Capcom kicks all Xbox Twitch streams to the pause screen during the final boss fight, cutscenes, credits and after-credits cutscene. Speaking with XBLA Fans, a representative for the company explained that it wants to “give players a pure and un-spoiled experience,” so it “chose to disable the native capture so that video sharing during those segments was limited.”

This got us thinking: how do other ID@Xbox game developers view Twitch streaming? Are they worried about potential gameplay or story segments being ruined for viewers? We asked a few developers if they had official Twitch policies and whether or not they felt streamers were helping their games to find larger audiences. Official stances on Twitch were a bit mixed, but everyone we talked to agreed that streaming could benefit them. One in particular, however, cautioned against giving streaming codes to anyone and everyone and noted that not all games companies need help from streamers.

Of streams and spoilers

There is perhaps no ID@Xbox developer more well-known for story-driven experiences than Telltale Games. Unfortunately, the studio that popularized episodic game releases declined to comment directly on the issue. Telltale, however, did partner with The Nerdist to stream the entirety of the first Tales from the Borderlands episode a week ahead of its release last November. It also got together with voice actors Troy Baker and Laura Bailey to stream the second episode a few days after its release late last month. It remains to be seen whether or not Telltale will be so eager to stream the season’s surely spoiler-filled final episode in full, but its past actions paint a picture of a studio that does not shy away from streaming spoilers.

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Tower of Guns was developed by Grip Games and Terrible Posture Games and published by Grip Games on Xbox One. It was released on April 9, 2015 for $14.99. A copy was provided by Grip Games for review purposes.

Tower of Guns is another in a series of recent roguelike games to reach the Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program. At first glance, it’s is a throwback to old school first-person shooters in both design and gameplay. While unexciting to start with, Tower of Guns grows on the player with the strange charm of its story mode and the straightforwardness of its objective. After that, it will make you rage. Roguelike games tend to spawn enemy and room patterns that will eventually kill the player in brutal manners. In some games, defeat can be deflating and cause the player to not want to play again. Meanwhile, Tower of Guns is a fantastic game for players who refuse to lose and find motivation in trying until they win. Even if you lose, progress is made toward unlocking new guns and new perks to use for future attempts to finally beat the tower. It’s a win/win for all (not a guarantee). So what do I like about the title? Take a look below.

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Some players were lucky enough to get their happy on a little early yesterday. On Thursday, April 9 at 5:00 pm PST/8:00 pm EST, Happy Wars for Xbox One …
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It could be said that time has not been kind to the humble shoot-em-up. Over thirty years ago, games like Space Invaders, Defender, Asteroids and Galaxian were drawing mullet-sporting teens in stonewashed skinny jeans and tight leather jackets to amusement arcades like moths to the glowing neon lights that would hang above the entrance. Today, such arcades are a rarity; mostly replaced by shops or trendy bars and often pulled down entirely, whilst the teenagers of 2015 queue all night outside their local grocery store to buy the latest copy of Call of Duty minutes after its launch.

The shoot-em-up genre has never been keen to go quietly into the night, however, and every generation of consoles has had its fair share of classic static, scrolling and roaming shoot-em-ups for players to consider. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a couple of days with Project Root, an upcoming shooter from Argentinian developer OPQAM that is positioning itself as the definitive next-generation take on this classic genre.

Project Root claims to feature a unique open world aspect in addition to crisp controls, cutting edge graphics, a comprehensive upgrade system and a truly exceptional level of challenge. The game isn’t scheduled for release for a few more weeks, but my experience with it over the past couple of days leads me to suggest that it may yet need a little work to live up to the lofty expectations set by the forebears which it aims to emulate.

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Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, the 2.5D action game coming out later this month, will not be the only entry in the Chronicles series. Ubisoft recently announced two future titles that will take place in India and Russia; these games will feature new protagonists and distinctive settings. Stylistically, the games will stand on their own. The setting in China, for example, is heavily influenced by 16th century China melded with a more modern ink aesthetic, creating what Art Director Glenn Brace calls a “romantic, impressionist vibe.” He goes on to discuss the importance of rich, bright colors in India and how Russia, which takes place in the 20th century, makes use of the advent of “photography, graphics, poster art, [and] constructivism.”

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The April system update rolled earlier this week, adding even more features to the Xbox One. Party chat has been improved to make resolving common problems easier. The new …
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We take a look at Ares’ abilities and a successful build to use in arena mode. Check out gameplay showing how to play him and vs him in this mirror match up. He can be incredibly powerful and fun to play in arena, offering a lot of damage from a tanky-CC guardian that has offensive incentives to buy aura items for his team. Smite is currently in alpha on Xbox One and should move into beta in May.

If you play Smite on PC or Xbox One we would love to know some of your favorite Gods and builds for them in the comments.

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R.B.I. Baseball 15 was developed and published by MLB.com. It was released on the Xbox One on April 1, 2015 and is priced at $19.99. A review code was provided by Major League Baseball.

When MLB.com decided to bring back the classic R.B.I. Baseball series, the developer had a decision to go one of two ways. They could have swung for the fences and attempted to hit a home run by building a game that would rival The Show and really showcased the product that MLB.com represents. With its first rendition in R.B.I. Baseball 14, Major League Baseball was caught looking at a called third strike. In other words, MLB.com just kept alive the horrors baseball fans on Xbox systems had come to expect thanks to the 2K series of games.

Last week, MLB.com released its second attempt at bringing baseball back to Xbox users with R.B.I. Baseball 15. With Opening Day upon us, and just like Cubs fans before the season starts, all Xbox gamers could do was hope that MLB.com would release a game at least decent enough to be called a “single.”

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If you’ve been playing the Smite alpha on the weekends you have likely earned a solid amount of gems. For those unaware, Hi-Rez has unlocked all gods and allowed players to earn gems for their win of the day bonuses on the weekends during the alpha. There are three skin bundle sales on the Xbox One. You can find them by clicking on any of the skins listed below. It’s a great way to spend those gems and get a high bang for your buck.

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