Xbox One Leakage - White Console Coming Later this Year, Huge Update in March, and Other Rumors

An anonymous poster on NeoGAF dropped a ton of leaks on the forum a couple days ago, and plenty are juicy. The Verge was able to confirm a couple of them with Microsoft, one being that the sleek white model is coming this year. It was previously only available to employees before the release. Additionally, the first big update for the console is coming in March to deal with system fixes and issues with Xbox Live.

But who needs truth when we have RUMORS. Speculation ahoy!!

The poster, "ntkrnl," said that the white console would be releasing with a 1TB drive along with Sunset Overdrive in October, and that there would be a version off the console without a Blu-ray drive and with a Bluetooth adapter, running for $399. The Verge was again able to confirm that Microsoft was testing a disc-less One, but was unsure if it would see release to market.

The poster also mentioned a release time for a new Forza Horizon, around September, and said that Quantum Break would hit shelves during the Holiday season. The Halo 2 Anniversary Edition is said to come out November 11th, and have a beta key for Halo 5 with other goodies in the collector's edition. Also, Platinum Games is supposedly working on something called Project Nagano set for 2016, and news about Crackdown 3 is said to come to E3 later this year.

Do what you always do with rumors - grains of salt. Lots of them. Microsoft as confirmed only two of the rumors, and while this guy says he works for the company, I think it's best not to get a lot of hopes up. Still, if true, this is some exciting stuff to come from the company and could help them catch up to Sony. There's more on the forum including a Titanfall-designed console, so take a look.

-- NeoGAF, The Verge, CNN

A Steeper Slope: Looks like a Ravine down thereAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HULLO!!!!

After a good little vacation from everything, and by vacation I mean nonstop work for almost certainly illegal amounts of time, I found time to stumble back onto the fields of justice. But things had changed I feel like I may have missed something, what is that patch number there? Four point O'....OH SNAP

SEASON FOUR 
Yay!!!!! Well kinda.
At the beginning of every new season your ranking gets erased and everyone starts on the same level, with 10 soloque placement matches to determine a starting point for their ranked career that season.
You see the preseason was very iffy with the huge changes to the game and I wasn't in top fighting condition when the time came to play my placement matches.

Without going into to much detail, I made some pretty bad decisions about when to play the game and well I didn't do so great in my placements, in fact I went 4/6. I was certain the depths of bronze was where I would land but the Riot god of ranked decided I deserved forgiveness and placed me at silver 3. I can work with this.

So I made it to the top of my golden hilltop, and whilst looking at the greater mountain of platinum I fell back into the silver ravine. That's well faithful followers that's just fine, because I see the path onward and upwards lain with perils and tragedies.
But I have found someone interesting here though, he said he was an unforgiven swordsman, looking for redemption. And whilst the wind kicked up all around us we set forth together on this path to vindication, I Julian TheGrumpyKitten, and Yasuo the Unforgiven.

To follow my progress and stats use these links to find my lolking page and  op.gg page.
My Stream is http://www.twitch.tv/amissus, I'll be streaming league there when I play soloque, and to make sure you know when I stream follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JulianEMuhr I'll announce all manner of league things there.
Remember there will always be slopes, but will you always climb them ?

Candy Crush Saga Makers Almost Trademark "Candy" (seriously); Go After The Banner Saga for "Saga" (Seriously!!)

So King.com, the guys that made Candy Crush Saga (that Bejeweled clone infected with microtransactions) have nearly managed to trademark the word "candy" for use in the App Store. It was approved for publication on the 15th of this month by the United States, with only a few weeks to go before it's official. If made official, it would mean that any other application in the Store with the word "candy" in it either has to change the name or pony up the cash in court.

Total bull, right?

It get's better - now these...people, have decided to go after a game with whom they fear that the titling of such may confuse customers when they try to buy CCS.

Yep, that game is - Wait.

The Banner Saga? The indie Viking strategy/turn-based RPG with the beautiful-yet-nostalgia-inducing artwork? The one where you lead your desperate clan to safety from invaders that have taken the land from them? That one. The one where there's no candy involved, just a fight for survival in a cold world.

...right. Never mind the fact that "saga" literally means "viking epic."

Back on December 27th, King filed a "Notice of Opposition" with the US Patent and Trademark Office against Stoic, the folks who made The Banner Saga. In it, they argue that because they hold 13 (!) trademarks with the word "saga" Stoic is not allowed to use the word. For fear that again, a colorful, beautiful, hand drawn game about Vikings trying to survive against a foreign invasion, would be mistaken with some game about colliding candy until you lose lives then pony up some real cash to keep playing up until you've lost your paycheck for the week.

Read this - Applicant is Stoic, Opposer is King:

So, no money grabs here, King just wants the name of Stoic's title changed if CCS gets approved first.  To be fair, this sort of thing is common: where one company will file against another company with a similarly titled product just to protect its own from outside copycats. 

However, it wouldn't be so maddening if King weren't going up against a small indie studio, though. The little guy who just wants to make a great game versus the second coming of Angry Birds. A game that just so happened grow big enough to let their creators get heads parallel in size. 

Let's hope that Stoic gets out of this alright. They're going to fight it out with King, so good luck to them. 

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- Here's King's take on the situation and why they're going through with this.

- Stoic on VG247, explaining why a sequel isn't possible right now due to the claim.

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This is The Banner Saga



This is CCS



--- Kotaku, VG247

Deadpool, other Marvel Titles Pulled From Steam, XBL and PSN

In what could be described as "one" way to ring in the new year, it's been revealed that Marvel has pulled a bevy of their games from digital storefronts. Deadpool, X-Men: The Official Game, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men Destiny, and pretty much all of the recent Spider-Man games that aren't based on the films (read: Shattered Dimensions, Web of Shadows, Edge of Time, and Friend or Foe) have all been pulled . Activision confirmed the removals through Game Informer.

The Deadpool Steam disappearance was first found out by NeoGAF user "Deluisbeta," according to GI. Afterwards, a tweet from Activision's community manager Dan Amrich confirmed that the group of games were pulled in due to contract dates. Understandable for the other games, but Deadpool just came out in June, which makes it confusing as to why it had the short shelf life (besides being fun, yet basic). This does however fall in line with Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 being pulled from digital stores back in December.

The Game Informer article also said that physical copies of the games might not be restocked once grabbed from store shelves. This might be a problem if you lost your copy of the fantastic X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Like me.

...crap. Get 'em while you can, folks.

--- NeoGAF via Game Informer via Cinema Blend