In machine learning, mel-filterbanks — fixed, hand-engineered representations of sound — are often used to train algorithms that classify sound. Decades after the design of mel-filterbanks, research shows that they exhibit desirable mathematical properties for representation learning; in other words, they represent strong audio features. But the design of mel-filterbanks is also flawed by…
On Friday morning, Microsoft announced it was increasing the price of its Xbox Live Gold subscription service. By Friday evening, it reversed that decision and then some. In an update to its news post about the price change, the company explained that it had “messed up.”…
GamesBeat Decides: The best (and worst) ‘core’ Mario games
January 24, 2021
Many Mario games are some of the best pieces of digital entertainment ever created. The series seemed like an obvious choice for a new tier list-making video series … so here we are.
My cohort Jeff Grubb and I rank every game in the core Mario series. What does “core”…
Earlier today, Microsoft announced a price increase for Xbox Live Gold, the subscription service that lets Xbox users play games online. Somehow, Microsoft was surprised to find out that this was an unpopular move.
So less than 24 hours later, Microsoft is backtracking. Xbox Live Gold will not see its price raised. Further, free-to-play games like Fortnite will no longer require Gold to play…
In one of the first positive Friday night news dumps I can remember, Microsoft has not only reversed course on its poorly-received plan to raise the price for Xbox Live, it’s adding a treat. Soon, for free-to-play games (like Fortnite or Apex Legends), multiplayer access…
Microsoft is raising the price of Xbox Live Gold from $60 per year to $60 every six months. It included some caveats to that, and this increased fee doesn’t even affect Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. But it still seems like a miscalculation from a company that so…
YouTube finally delivers HDR videos on the Xbox One
January 22, 2021
You can finally watch YouTube videos in HDR on last-gen Xbox One S and One X consoles, along with the latest Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X models, according to Google. As spotted by Flat Panels HD and confirmed by Engadget, opening a YouTube HDR video on a recent Xbox One console, then bringing up “stats for nerds” shows that it’s streaming in the PQ Rec.2020 HDR format using the VP9-2…
Microsoft increases Xbox Live Gold prices for new members
January 22, 2021
Microsoft continues sending not-so-subtle signals that it would really, really like you to drop Xbox Live Gold in favor of Game Pass. The company has raised prices for new Xbox Live Gold memberships across the board, with the changes becoming more noticeable the longer…
Resident Evil: Village is heading to PC and consoles on May 7. Publisher Capcom also revealed for the first time that it will release the survival-horror adventure for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in addition to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
This game picks up the story of Resident…
Former EA exec Peter Moore returns to gaming as Unity SVP of sports and live entertainment
January 21, 2021
Peter Moore made his mark on video games as one of the top bosses at Electronic Arts, Microsoft Xbox, and Sega of America. And now he’s coming back to games, albeit by a bit of a circuitous route.
Moore tweeted on Wednesday that he was joining Unity as senior vice president of sports and live entertainment. He’ll be working for an old colleague, John Riccitiello, the former CEO of EA. Unity is…
