Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a global holiday that originated in Mexico where friends and family gather to celebrate the lives of their loved ones and to support their spiritual journeys.

To pay tribute to the holiday, the Forza Horizon 4 team partnered with three artists, Sam Rodriguez, Juan Puente, and Axis, to share their unique interpretations and to help bring their art to life in-game. Below, learn more about each artist’s creation, their gaming connection, and how you can also celebrate the holiday by downloading new in-game content now available through November 8^th.

Sam Rodriguez

“Day of The Dead is a celebration of a person’s life and identity. For this piece I wanted to celebrate the various influences of my own art which include graffiti, gaming, and Aztec images. I chose to illustrate a contemporary urban/hip-hop character with these styles so that the piece could feel like an update of our tradition. The mixing of these styles demonstrates who I am as a person. Over the Calaka’s (Skull’s) eyes reads, ‘Vida’ or ‘Life’ because the holiday is about celebrating the lives of our loved ones and accepting death as a natural and necessary life cycle.

One out of a few of my favorite things to celebrate would be gaming. I am an 80’s baby who experienced the evolution of video games. I grew up playing at arcades, laundromats, liquor stores, and home consoles and still look forward to having sessions after work! Aside from the fun I have playing, gaming provides so much visual inspiration and are in my opinion the masterpieces of our time.”

Juan Puente

“Being born in Mexico, day of the dead art and lore has always been around in one form or another. Being an artist for almost 3 decades has allowed me to create many versions of famous day of the dead images. When Xbox and the Forza team approached me to do some art for them I already had an idea in mind.

My wife 20 years ago got me into gaming and it’s been integrated into our family for quite some time. We don’t really watch much tv, but the family will get together to play when we have a free moment.”

Axis

“I was introduced to Day of the Dead, when I was a kid, through one of my teachers. I was already drawing skulls, but when I found out there was a holiday that used them as decorations, I was blown away. My piece celebrates life and death and the banner in my piece is Latin, which loosely translates to “Slow Death”.

I’ve been playing video games since 1978. I had the Odyssey 2 System, and my neighbor got the Atari 2600 soon after. I think back then I played every single game at least once, both on home systems and in arcades. To this day I often wonder how many quarters I spent from the summer of ’81 to the end of ’85.”

To get the Dia de los Muertos inspired Forza Horizon 4 content for yourself, simply follow the steps below through midnight on November 8^th:

1. Complete Autumn #Forzathon Challenges
2. Go to the Autumn #Forzathon Shop where you’ll see two out of the three shirts available
3. Purchase the Dia de los Muertos inspired gear with #Forzathon Points!

Then, on Friday, the third shirt will be available to everyone as an unlocked item in the “Character Customization > Tops” menu.

In addition, keep an eye on @Xbox’s Twitter handle this weekend for a chance to win one of these three custom Xbox One X’s. Official rules: bit.ly/2OpAlTF.

Forza Horizon 4 is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2016’s breakout hit open world driving game Forza Horizon 3. For the first time in the racing and driving genre, experience dynamic seasons in a shared open world. Explore beautiful scenery, collect over 450 cars, and become a Horizon Superstar in historic Britain.

The game is available with Xbox Game Pass and globally on Xbox One and Windows 10. Xbox Game Pass members can play Forza Horizon 4 Standard Edition on Xbox One and Windows 10, as part of their monthly membership. The membership includes over 100 more great games, including highly anticipated new Xbox exclusives the day they’re released, all for one low monthly price.

Haven’t played Forza Horizon 4 yet? Try out the Forza Horizon 4 Demo now.

© 2018 Valve Corporation. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries.

Football Manager 2019 is Now Available on Steam!

Simulation gaming perfected. Create your unique footballing story by taking charge of the club you love. Complete control of this stunningly realistic game world is yours – every decision in your hands, or yours to delegate. Your call, your way, your story. Everything you’ve ever dreamed of!

Starting at 2:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Skip Ahead will begin receiving the latest 19H1 Xbox One system update (rs_xbox_dev_flight.181022.1900). Read on for more about the fixes and known issues in the latest 19H1 system update.  This build has the same features as 1811 plus more to be announced over the coming months!

New Features:

Family Settings

• We have added a new setting that lights up the features that allow a non-adult account with no parent to accrue a parent on console.

 Mouse & Keyboard Support

• We have enabled mouse support in the build.  Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to experience mouse and keyboard support in Warframe.

 Search Enhancements

• The search function has been enhanced across the console and will now return responses from the Xbox Assist application for example to help with help, support and troubleshooting.  Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to help us gather feedback.

Fixes:

Accounts

• We have fixed the issue in which Child accounts could not login on the console.

 Audio

• We made a change to the workload scheduling of Mixer and Audio to reduce audio glitching issues. Let us know if there are any regressions in Game DVR or Mixer audio.

 Media remote

• The IR remote audio controls (volume up/down and mute functions) on the media remote are now working.

 My Games and Apps

• We have fixed the issue in which game and app updates were not automatically downloading and installing.

 Notifications

• We have fixed an issue with users being prompted and spammed by a “Welcome to Game Pass” notification.

 Power

• We have fixed issues in which the console is fully powering off when it is placed into Instant On mode.

 System

• Addressed the system Out of Box Experience to set the features of Dolby Vision, Variable Refresh rate and low latency modes when enabling 4k mode.
• Stability fixes in this build.

Known Issues:

Avatars

• It can take up to 10 seconds to view an Avatar on the profile screen after creating a new Avatar.

 Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Great news for speed demons! Rising Star Games, in partnership with UK-based independent game developer Supergonk, are bringing the co-op arcade racer Trailblazers to the Switch eShop on 15th November after a short delay.

The game features an innovative on-track game mechanic. Racing in teams of up to three-versus-three, players are able to paint the track Splatoon-style as they race, capturing key areas to alter the all-important racing line. Six-player online is also included.

That’s not all! The Switch version will also feature an exclusive character: the overbearing space frog father of Boo – Boo’s Dad! (no, not that Boo!)

It all sounds quite promising. Check out the trailer above and let us know if you plan to pick this up later in the month with a comment below.

– Fixed a longstanding bug that caused units to attack more slowly than expected at certain attack speeds.
– Fixing a bug that caused Morphling to not gain stats when leveling up while morphed.
– Fixed a bug that allowed the Silence from Riki’s Smoke Screen to be applied to units with Spell Immunity.
– Fixed a bug that caused Monkey King to become disabled when Feared during Primal Spring channeling.
– Fixed post-game scoreboard text not clipping correctly with long strings.

The first snapshot for 1.14 “Village & Pillage” is here, and oh boy, it’s a big one! With new items, new blocks, new mobs, new blocks, new enchantments, new blocks, new mechanics, even more new blocks, new commands, and not to forget all the new blocks – we’re pretty confident there’s something for everyone in this snapshot!

A full summary of the content available in this snapshot can be found in the changelog on Minecraft.net, the following is a short summary:

• Added Bamboo Blocks into the game
• Added Bamboo Jungles in the world
• Rewrote the book & quill editing to be more intuitive
• Added Crossbows!
• Added lots of new decorative blocks!
• Added new dyes and flowers!
• Added some community suggestions
• Updated the credits list
• Added in-game buttons for reporting bugs or giving feedback
• Added Illager Beast
• Added Loom into the game
• Special banner patterns can now be crafted into a new item, Banner Patterns
• We’re now using the new textures!
• Added pandas!
• Added Pillagers
• Added suspicious stew – hmmmm!

To get snapshots, open your launcher and go to the “launch options” tab. Check the box saying “Enable snapshots” and save. To switch between the snapshot and normal version, you can find a new dropdown menu next to the “Play” button. Back up your world first or run the game on in a different folder (In the “launch options” page).

Please report any and all bugs you find in Minecraft to bugs.mojang.com.

Snapshots can corrupt your world, please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds. 

Share your thoughts on how 1.14 is shaping up in the comments below!

We’ve been celebrating ID@Xbox’s incredible milestone of releasing 1,000 games through the program and as a special treat, we wanted to share a handful of sneaky in-game Easter eggs you might have missed hidden within your favorite games through the ID@Xbox program. Take a peek below and let us know if you have a favorite Easter egg of your own!

Cuphead – Try to spot the original 12 Street Fighter II characters when battling Ribby and the Croaks!

“The Ribby and Croaks fight is one giant homage to our love of fighting games. Throughout the battle, there’s a visual reference to each of the original 12 Street Fighter II characters. From the top, Ribby and Croaks’ gi colors reference Ryu and Ken. Croaks’ flaming fire flies represent Dhalsim’s yoga fire while Ribby’s spinning hand attack is from E. Honda and the flying boxing gloves are from Balrog.  In phase two, Ribby claps sonic booms like Guile while Croaks’ spinning is a nod to Zangief’s lariat. When the frogs combine, Ribby rolls into Croaks like Blanka to start phase three. As the slot machine, the snake, tiger, and bull icons denote Vega, Sagat, and M.Bison, while the spiked drums resemble Chun Li’s bracelets.”

– Maja Moldenhauer, StudioMDHR

SpeedRunners & No Time to Explain – Can you guess what crossover ties both of these games together?

“There is a fun crossover Easter egg between No Time to Explain and SpeedRunners. The Shark Boss from No Time to Explain has a ship called “SS Royale” in the background. This is the same ship name as in the SpeedRunners level “SS Royale” that takes place on a ship!”

– Alex Nichiporchik, tinyBuild 

Human: Fall Flat – Have you discovered the secret hidden in the Aztec ruins?

“There are countless ways to traverse the weird and wonderful dreamscapes of Human: Fall Flat. Each level’s physics-based puzzles can be solved any way you see fit, and with up to eight players flailing across a level together, you’re bound to come across some of the game’s hidden gems!

One of Human: Fall Flat’s most challenging secrets can be found in the Aztec level, a labyrinth of swinging platforms and perilous walkways reserved only for the most seasoned of Bobs. Once you’ve made your way across the level’s first platform and into the Aztec ruins, ignore the huge opening teasing you forward and turn around. Climb up the cage behind you and use the box above it to access a narrow grass path. Carefully climb to its peak and your reward will be a literal nest of colorful Easter eggs! Pretty clever, huh? Good luck, fellow humans!”

– Jack Gosling, Curve Digital

In case you missed it – we shared some of the Xbox team’s favorite ID@Xbox memories earlier this week, as well as favorite moments shared by our friends across the industry. What’s your favorite ID@Xbox moment? Give us a Tweet and let us know!

Communication is a large part of who we are as human beings, and today, technology has allowed us to communicate in new ways and to audiences much larger and wider than ever before. That technology has assumed single-language speech, which — quite often — does not reflect the way people naturally speak. India, like many other parts of the world, is multilingual on a societal level with most people speaking two or more languages. I speak Bengali, English, and Hindi, as do a lot of my friends and colleagues. When we talk, we move fluidly between these languages without much thought.

This mixing of words and phrases is referred to as code-mixing or code-switching, and from it, we’ve gained such combinations as Hinglish and Spanglish. More than half of the world’s population speaks two or more languages, so with as many people potentially code-switching, creating technology that can process it is important in not only creating useful translation and speech recognition tools, but also in building engaging user interface. Microsoft is progressing on that front in exciting ways.

In Project Mélange, we at Microsoft Research India have been building technologies for processing code-mixed speech and text. Through large-scale computational studies, we are also exploring some fascinating linguistic and behavioral questions around code-mixing, such as why and when people code-mix, that are helping us build technology people can relate to. At the 2018 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP), my colleagues and I have the opportunity to share some of our recent research with our paper “Word Embeddings for Code-Mixed Language Processing.”

A data shortage in code-mixed language

Word embeddings — multidimensional vector representation where words similar in meaning or used in similar context are closer to each other — are learnt using deep learning from large language corpora and are valuable in solving a variety of natural language processing tasks using neural techniques. For processing code-mixed language — say, Hinglish — one would ideally need an embedding of words from both Hindi and English in the same space. There are standard methods for obtaining multilingual word embeddings; however, these techniques typically try to map translation equivalents from the two languages (e.g., school and vidyalay) close to each other. This helps in cross-lingual transfer of models. For instance, a sentiment analysis system trained for English can be appropriately transferred to work for Hindi using multilingual embeddings. But it’s not ideal for code-mixed language processing. While school and vidyalay are translation equivalents, in Hinglish, school is far more commonly used than vidyalay; also, these words are used in slightly different contexts. Further, there are grammatical constraints on code-mixing that disallow certain types of direct word substitutions, most notably for verbs in Hinglish. For processing code-mixed language, the word embeddings should ideally be learnt from a corpus of code-mixed text.

It is difficult to estimate the amount of code-mixing that happens in the world. One good proxy is the code-mixing patterns on social media. Approximately 3.5 percent of the tweets on Twitter are code-mixed. The above pie charts show the distribution of monolingual and code-mixed, or code-switched (cs), tweets in seven major European languages: Dutch (nl), English (en), French (fr), German (de), Portuguese (pt), Spanish (es), and Turkish (tr).

The chart above shows the distributions of monolingual and code-mixed tweets for 12 major cities in Europe and the Americas that were found to have very large or very small fractions of code-mixed tweets, represented in the larger pies by the missing white wedge. The smaller pies show the top two code-mixed language pairs, the size being proportionate to their usage. The Microsoft Research India team found that code-mixing is more prevalent in cities where English is not the major language used to tweet.

Even though code-mixing is extremely common in multilingual societies, it happens in casual speech and rarely in text, so we’re limited in the amount of text data available for code-mixed language. What little we do have is from informal speech conversations, such as interactions on social media, where people write almost exactly how they speak. To address this challenge, we developed a technique to generate natural-looking code-mixed data from monolingual text data. Our method is based on a linguistic model known as the equivalence constraint theory of code-mixing, which imposes several syntactic constraints on code-mixing. In building the Spanglish corpus, for example, we used Bing Microsoft Translator to first translate an English sentence into Spanish. Then we aligned the words, identifying which English word corresponded to the Spanish word, and in a process called parsing identified in the sentences the phrases and how they’re related. Then using the equivalence constraint theory, we systematically generated all possible valid Spanglish versions of the input English sentence. A small number of the generated sentences were randomly sampled based on certain criteria that indicated how close they were to natural Spanglish data, and these sentences comprise our artificial Spanglish corpus. Since there is no dearth of monolingual English and Spanish sentences, using this fully automated technique, we can generate as large a Spanglish corpus as we want.

Solving NLP tasks with an artificially generated corpus

Through experiments on parts-of-speech tagging and sentiment classification, we showed that word embeddings learnt from the artificially generated Spanglish corpus were more effective in solving these NLP tasks for code-mixed language than the standard cross-lingual embedding techniques.

The linguistic theory–based generation of code-mixed text has applications beyond word embeddings. For instance, in one of our previous studies published earlier this year, we showed that this technique helps us in learning better language models that can help us build better speech recognition systems for code-mixed speech. We are exploring its application in machine translation to improve the accuracy of mixed-language requests. And imagine a multilingual chatbot that can code-mix depending on who you are, the context of the conversation, and what topic is being discussed, and switch in a natural and appropriate way. That would be true engagement.