Microsoft’s highly rated racing franchise Forza Motorsport comes to their new console with Forza Motorsport 5. It looks, expectedly, gorgeous. The trailer showed off some incredible particle effects that made it hard to believe that this game teaser is running in-engine. More on Forza 5 will be announced at E3 in just a few weeks.
Starting their event strong, Microsoft has officially revealed the name of their next Xbox console: Xbox One. Far from the speculated Xbox Infinity, this new system promises to be an all-in-one entertainment system bringing all of your gaming, television, and film experiences together in one cloud-based device.
The reveal of the system’s official name was followed by a teaser video showcasing the design of the system’s design, the new Kinect, and the redesigned controller. The system is sleek, but, in my opinion, boxy and ugly. It looks like a satellite box, honestly. However, the redesigned controller looks incredibly comfy. The design is familiar with some minor tweaks that change the overall feel of the device. The d-pad is new and the teaser promised more precision than the Xbox 360 controller–the disc d-pad of the 360’s controller and it’s “tilt” input has been criticized for years.
Windows 8 features having multiple programs running with one on the main display and the other snapped on a sidebar. Skype has also been finally added to the Xbox suite with chat across platforms being confirmed. The system’s multi-app capability is a welcome feature and it seems to be able to cycle through all of those apps quickly and seamlessly. It’s really quite impressive.
Stay tuned to PowerUp Online for more Xbox One news.
The next generation of Xbox is revealed today. You can view the live stream on GameTrailers. For your convenience, I’ve posted the link below:
In just one week, all of the rumors and speculation regarding Microsoft’s next videogame console will be confirmed or denied. The latest rumor floating around is regarding the name of the console itself. Casually referred to as the “Xbox 720” and codenamed “Durango,” it’s now believe that the system will be called “Xbox Infinity.” There was some speculation after Microsoft registered the domain for Xbox Fusion, but an “inside source” has told IB Times that Microsoft has settled on the name Infinity.
Microsoft is set to reveal its next console on May 21. What the system will be called, its capabilities, and, most importantly, the games will be showcased on that date. E3 follows shortly thereafter, so expect some exciting news in the gaming world in the next few weeks.
Source: GamesRadar
As posted yesterday, and all over the internet over the past week or so, Activision’s next Call of Duty game will be subtitled Ghosts. The game will feature an “entirely new story, setting and cast of characters, all powered by a new, next generation Call of Duty engine that redefines the series for the next generation.” As you can see, it’s very next generation-y. Ghosts is scheduled to release on November 5th and is in development for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and next generation consoles. The first gameplay footage will be shown at Microsoft’s next Xbox event on May 21.
Remedy’s psychological action thriller Alan Wake has managed to sell over 2 million copies on both Xbox and PC. The game, which debuted on Xbox in May of 2010, has taken just under 3 years to complete this task, but Remedy remains hopeful about the future of the franchise. Being a new IP from a small studio, it’s entirely understandable that sales for Alan Wake weren’t on par with bigger budget games from the powerhouse developers, but it’s proven to be financially and critically successful.
News of this sales milestone comes just in time for Microsoft’s next Xbox reveal in just under a month. While Remedy owns the Alan Wake IP, Microsoft is the series publisher and Remedy has stated in the past that the software giant is in charge of the franchise’s future. Remedy has also been teasing a reveal of their latest project for some time now, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we see an Alan Wake: Season 2 reveal at Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox reveal or E3.
Source: Games Radar
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything about the long-planned Gears of War movie. First news of the film came back in 2007 when New Line Cinema gained the rights for the film, but it’s been trapped in development hell for several years after losing its director and $100 million budget. However, the film now has a new producer: Scott Stuber. Stuber served as the producer on Seth McFarlane’s Ted as well as the blockbuster bomb Battleship (among others, but Battleship is a pretty stand-out disappointment).
It’s easy to be disappointed with a film adaptation of a videogame before its release given the less than stellar track record of past videogame movies, but it is promising to hear that the script for the film is being developed with Epic games, IP owner of the Gears of War franchise. No one else has signed with the film at this time, but Epic’s involvement with the script and the film now having a producer shows some interest in getting the project off the ground. Whether or not it actually makes it to cinemas (or is actually good) remains to be seen.
Sources: Destructoid, Variety
Respawn Entertainment, the product of a long-winded battle between Infinity Ward creators & staff and Activision, has been rather quiet regarding their debut title since the studio’s founding. Rumors are now circulating that their first game will be an Xbox-exclusive. Sources are stating the next Xbox as the primary system with a focus on online gameplay requiring an always-on connection. An Xbox 360 version is possible, but ports for Nintendo and Sony consoles are not being considered.
The game is said to be set in the future and will have players facing off in David and Goliath battles. “Davids are heavily armed foot soldiers. The Goliaths are giant exoskeletons–Titans–that these soldiers can pilot.” It’s worth noting that Respawn recently filed a trademark for Titan.
According to these sources, Respawn is working on the Xbox 720 version which will utilize a modified Source engine with the developer outsourcing for the Xbox 360 port.
Microsoft will unveil its next-generation Xbox on May 21 with E3 following shortly thereafter, so the legitimacy of this rumor will likely be sorted out in the near future.
Dark Horse Comics will be releasing a new Halo comic miniseries. Titled Halo: Initiation, the series will follow Spartan IV Sarah Palmer in her ODST days and will chronicle her service in becoming the first Spartan IV commander; her character was first introduced in Halo 4. Halo: Initiation is being written by Brian Reed who previously worked on the comic book adaptation of Halo: Fall of Reach as well as the screenplay for Halo 4.
In other Halo news, Epic Games’ global marketing lead Kendall Boyd has parted with Epic in order to work at Microsoft Studios as the Director of Halo Global Marketing. He has shipped over 35 games at Epic as well as EA Sports and THQ.
Sources: Major Spoilers, Destructiod (1), (2)
Microsoft has confirmed that it will be unveiling its next-generation videogame console in nearly a month. With the date set for May 21, we still have quite the wait to find out what they have in store for the future of Xbox, but it’s nice that they’ve finally said something about the inevitable Xbox 360 successor.
The reveal is set to take place just 19 days before E3, so hopefully their E3 conference will focus more on the games and less on the system’s new features (it’d also be refreshing to have a conference that doesn’t flaunt Kinect and all the terrible games that have been made for it).
According to Major Nelson’s blog, the conference will focus on the future of Xbox and give us a “real taste of the future.” The conference will stream on Xbox Live, xbox.com, and be broadcast on Spike.
Sources: Facebook, Major Nelson
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