Fully Charged: The Witness releasing in January, plus major Xbox 360 system update goes live

The Witness releases in January

While we’re sad to pull the game off our list of the 30 most anticipated games for the rest of 2015 (the update is going live shortly), we are glad to finally have a proper release date for The Witness. The stunning Myst-inspired adventure game will hit both PlayStation 4 and PC on 26 January.

Don’t miss the new trailer above: the island you explore is impossibly gorgeous, and it’s packed with hundreds and hundreds of tricky puzzles to solve. The Witness hails from Jonathan Blow – the man behind indie great Braid – and his team of contributors, and several in-depth previews and interviews went live alongside the release date yesterday. Ars Technica and Polygon have standout pieces, but search around and you’ll surely find more.

[Source: YouTube]

Read More › The 30 most anticipated games of 2015

Major Xbox 360 update live

The Xbox 360’s release schedule has thinned out considerably since the Xbox One released two years back, but Microsoft’s older console is still getting love from its maker in the form of a significant system update this week.

The update gives all users 2GB of free cloud storage – ideal for transferring saves to Xbox One for the upcoming backwards compatibility – along with an updated activity feed that includes info on what Xbox One and PC friends are doing. Groove Music has also been updated on the console, plus your Microsoft account balance is visible when browsing the marketplace.

[Source: Major Nelson]

BBC to launch U.S. streaming service

Seemingly under constant attack from politicians who want to pull its funding, the BBC is looking for ways to generate additional revenue. And one of those ways is apparently a Netflix-style subscription streaming service – for American viewers. It’s planned to launch next year, and it will exist separately from the iPlayer.

“We need to raise commercial income to supplement the license fee so we can invest as much as possible in content for U.K. audiences,” BBC director-general Lord Hall said at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge. He said that top shows like Doctor Who and Sherlock (pictured) won’t be available initially, due to American rights already licensed to BBC America or other networks. However, considerable other content that never hit the States will be available.

[Source: Politico]

See new Apple Store design

Jony Ive is the man responsible for Apple’s product design, and now he’s taking lead in designing its retail stores as well. Brussels, Belgium just got its first Apple Store, and ANV (via 9to5Mac) was there for a tour. Check out the source links to see photos of the massive glass facade, single large screen, and interesting new accessory drawers. Also, trees: lots of indoor trees.

[Source: ANV via 9to5Mac]

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.