General Gaming Article

Development of Xbox One VR Headset Said to be in Full Swing at Microsoft
System-wide “Ok Google” Voice Search Comes to Chromebooks
Assassin’s Creed Unity Free Game Offer Has a Caveat

Development of Xbox One VR Headset Said to be in Full Swing at Microsoft

Posted: 21 Dec 2014 08:43 PM PST

Dev kits have reportedly already reached some developers

Rumors of a virtual reality (VR) headset for Microsoft's Xbox One console first began to swirl in March — around the same time as Sony's Project Morpheus announcement at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) — but almost ten months later we have yet to see such a head-mounted display (HMD) with our own eyes. However, with Xbox boss Phil Spencer, admitting time and again to "playing with virtual reality", we can be certain of one thing: we are not dealing with a piece of vaporware here.

Well, going by recent reports from VRFocus and our sister site TechRadar, it seems that not only is the Xbox One VR headset real, it is at a fairly advanced stage of development as well. Apparently, the entire effort is so far along that some developers are already in possession of Xbox One headset dev kits. Meanwhile, Digitimes is reporting that its sources expect the company to showcase the rumored device, allegedly being developed by the Surface development team, at the E3 gaming convention in June.

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System-wide “Ok Google” Voice Search Comes to Chromebooks

Posted: 21 Dec 2014 05:26 PM PST

Available in the Dev channel

Google's hotword-activated voice search has been available on Chrome OS for a while now, but in its current form the feature is somewhat limited on Chromebooks. As of now, you can only search in this way from the App Launcher or when you open a new tab. Well, that is unless you like to live on the bleeding edge of technology and have switched your Chromebook to the Dev channel.

The latest Chrome OS Dev channel update contains a new "Ok Google" search experience, Google's François Beaufort announced on Google+ Friday. As long as you are running the Dev channel version of Chrome OS and have enabled the chrome://flags/#enable-hotword-hardware flag, you can now search using the "Ok Google" hotword from any screen. (Note: The device must be on and unlocked.)

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Assassin’s Creed Unity Free Game Offer Has a Caveat

Posted: 21 Dec 2014 02:17 PM PST

Ubisoft is offering a free game to Assassin's Creed Unity Season Pass holders

Announced late last month, the free Ubisoft game offer for those who own the Assassin's Creed Unity Season Pass or Gold Edition is now live. In case your memory needs some jogging, let us remind you that this is not an act of festive largesse on Ubisoft's part but a form of recompense for the bug-riddled mess that is Assassin's Creed Unity. But wait! Turns out there's more to the free game offer than meets the eye.

If you look inside the offer's terms and conditions, as the folks over at Game Informer did, you will find that those availing of the offer are effectively waiving their right to sue Ubisoft over any issues with the latest title in the popular franchise: "You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally release, waive, and forever discharge and covenant not to sue Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., and each of its past, present and future divisions, parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns, together with all of their respective past, present and future employees, officers, shareholders, directors and agents, and those who give recommendations, directions, or instructions or engage in risk evaluation or loss control activities regarding the campaign (all for the purposes herein referred to as "released parties") from any and all liability to you, your assigns, heirs, and next of kin for any and all claims, demands, charges, lawsuits, debts, defenses, actions or causes of action, obligations, damages, loss of service, compensation, pain and suffering, attorneys' fees, and cost and expenses of suit, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, arising out of or related to the purchase, acquisition, rental, possession and/or usage, and/or the intent to purchase, acquire, rent, possess and/or use, the assassin's creed unity video game and/or the assassin's creed unity season pass on any and all platforms, and/or related to the campaign, whether caused by the negligence of the released parties or otherwise."

Before you freak out, bear in mind that such waivers are not new and we have seen many a litigation-wary company turn to them in a bid to limit, if not completely block, any future legal claims. Moreover, as pointed out by Polygon, a free Ubisoft game is probably worth as much as what individual "class members" would receive in a successful class action lawsuit over the game, anyway.

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