Thief 2014, the reboot of the series by Eidos-Montreal, the developers behind the critically acclaimed, best-selling Deus Ex: Human Revolution, revealed an all-new trailer for the new Thief from E3 2013.
“Stealing is my way of life; it sets me free in the night.
Every rivet and stitch lets me find what I desire.
The cloth that hides me, the tools that arm me…
All lead to that priceless moment.”
Some steal to survive; Garrett survives to steal…
Thief will be released for XboxOne, PS4 and PC in 2014, as one of the first major AAA next-gen titles. It will likely be playable at E3 2013 when the show kicks off two days from now!
I never got to play the Thief games, as I was always a console gamer and not a PC gamer… So can’t wait to see how this new game holds up. I have very high expectations considering how awesome Deus Ex: Human Revolution was. You can’t reboot a game any better than Eidos Montreal did with that game, so if they can 1up it that’d be a huge feat.
NBA 2K14 features Lebron James on the cover and releases on October 1st 2013 for Xbox 360 and PS3. PS4 and XboxOne version will be released later as well. This is the first time the Miami, Florida Heat star has ever appeared on the cover of a videogame! If you can believe it. But where are Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch? Absent, just like in real life! Hahahaha! BWOOSH!
Ahem.
Pre-Order NBA 2K14 and you can snag the exclusive “King James Bonus Pack DLC”, this gives you an additional 10,000 Virtual Currency to spend, as well as the “Pass to Greatness” mode as additional content, and you’ll unlock the Lebron James Blacktop Mode and Lebron James Signature Skill for the MyPlayer Mode for pre-ordering.
The game will hit on October 4th 2013 internationally.
Redbox is joining the hashtag #NoDRM Twitter campaign and asking Redbox users to give their opinions on the state of the gaming industry, the controversy over the XboxOne Used Games and PS4 Used Games policies, and where they think the videogame industry is headed in the future.
The official Redbox Gaming Site Gamingfuture.net, a forum asking people to post their thoughts on the new policies of the XboxOne and possibly PS4, was linked in a text message sent to members of the RedBox “Text Club” (a Redbox service that offers promos and information on new movies and games at Redbox kiosks via text to members).
In that text they linked to the new website, asking people to discuss the “future of videogaming” with the following message:
“Have you heard about what’s coming? Reports say that Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 might have enhanced graphics, enhanced motion control, cloud-based storage, new games and experiences. But you might not be able to play without an Internet connection, lend games freely, buy used games or rent games. What excites you about the future of gaming… and what concerns you?”
Redbox Vice President of Business Development also tweeted, “Pretty important time in the history of video games. Weigh in at GamingFuture.net.”
Lots of people have heeded the message from Redbox and posted their thoughts on the site.
To be fair, the XboxOne WILL allow you to rent games, however they can only be rented from specific retailers who take part in Microsoft’s system that allows them to know and track every person who buy’s their games. XboxOne games will then be linked to your profile, wherefore you and your family members can play any games in your collection from any XboxOne using your profile ID.
However for that convenience, you will no longer be able to simply give your friend a game and lend games out for longer than 24 hours. You’ll have to connect online every 24 hours, and lent games will have to go through Microsoft’s online system to have the digital rights transferred from your system to their’s if you give them your game. So while buying XboxOne Used Games remains intact, renting and lending games to your friends quickly and easily is a apparently a thing of the past, as is offline gaming without an Internet connection for any extended period of longer than a day…
Here’s a fun video of a Redbox “Gamebox” kiosk in action, where Redbox tested not just the renting of videogames, but the PURCHASING of new games (or used) via a kiosk system in 2009. Apparently these things aren’t around anymore… I think it’s a great idea however.
The XboxOne Reveal Event was the biggest, most watched event in Xbox history, and rivaled some of the biggest events that streaming partner Akamai had ever put on… Bigger even than their Election 2012 Romney vs Obama coverage, the Royal Wedding in 2011 and the 2010 Soccer World Cup!
Here is the entire Microsoft XboxOne Announcement Reveal Event Video:
All in all, over 8.5 million people watched the XboxOne reveal event within 24 hours, tripling the viewers of previous most-watched event in Xbox.com history.
Naturally, Xbox.com saw the highest amount of concurrent viewers ever. To quote:
“The XboxOne Reveal event had almost three times as many people watching the livestream at the same time, versus any other major event in Xbox.com history.”
Akamai stated the following:
“The XboxOne event was among the most watched live broadcasts delivered by Akamai in their history, nearly doubling peak traffic records and eclipsing concurrent viewership high-water marks set by events such as the 2010 World Cup, Royal Wedding in 2011, and 2012 election night.”
So in short, it was a HUGE and extremely popular event for Microsoft, one of their biggest of all time. Of course, how much of that turned into negative energy and how much of it was positive? That’s the real question.
PS4 vs XboxOne war, the shit just got real! Sony is taking Microsoft to the mat with this one.
While the XboxOne seems to be totally focused on the overall “entertainment” picture, specifically transforming the way people watch TV. Sony is smart enough to play up the fact that while XboxOne is focused on all things besides games, the PS4 is focused on ONE thing. Playing VIDEOGAMES on that TV of yours!
PS4 used games won’t be restricted at all… So says the rumor. The extreme XboxOne Used Games backlash Microsoft is facing over it’s XboxOne system and the fact that Microsoft wants to restructure and restrict how used games for the system are bought and sold has changed Sony’s direction on Used Games. Now Sony has reportedly completely scrapped a similar system that also would have seen used games restricted on the PS4 in a similar manner to Microsoft’s XboxOne.
However following all of the negative heat and ill-will that Microsoft has built-up since the reveal of the XboxOne, Sony has reportedly completely changed course on the Used Games issue and will fully embrace being the anti-Microsoft. A decision that the company had still been mulling over up-until-now.
Take all this with a grain of salt however, as the rumor is via a post by a NeoGAF user, albeit one with a great track record of rightly predicting Sony’s next move. Does he have some insider information? He says he does, and stated the following:
NeoGAF forum post user “famousmortimer“,
“The gist of it is that Sony is listening to the backlash that Microsoft is getting and they are basing decisions off of this. I can say, for sure, that the past week’s PR nightmare for MS has not been lost on Sony and they, in fact, do have a used game ‘solution’ working and have been going back and forth for months on whether to use it. This past week is pushing them strongly into ‘Yeah, let’s not use that’ category. And Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida in particular is very open to feedback.”
This is a very interest development, and could sight the first true “bullet heard around the world” in the next-gen console war. We’ll have to wait only a short while until E3 2013 on June 11-13 to find out whether this rumor regarding the PS4 and used games is true or not.
XboxOne $1 billion, eh? There will be XboxOne games aplenty as Microsoft has announced they are pumping over $1 billion (with a “B”) dollars worth of videogame development investment money into their successor to the Xbox 360.
And contrary to popular belief, many people suspect that these 15 new titles will all be massive AAA games, and not Kinect games, mini-game collections, or XBLA titles. But big hitters meant to sway people to purchase an XboxOne.
This is of course, on top of any third-party exclusive deals that Microsoft has paid for or deals they have developed with other developers and publishers. Something that has already happened with the announcement that XboxOne will get Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC FIRST, before any other system, and with the NFL and FIFA Sports deals announced at the reveal event.
Considering the struggles that the videogame industry has had sales-wise lately, the new consoles including the XboxOne are being banked on to breath some new life into the old bones that the industry is currently facing, when Xbox One Releases and PS4 releases worldwide this holiday 2013!
It’s good news that Microsoft is putting its full faith and money where its mouth is when it comes to the XboxOne. All that’s needed now is to get people to care about it! Of course, at E3 2013 we will see the first real game announcements for the XboxOne. And thus we wait with baited breath!
XboxOne and Skype are in a bed together, making sweet, sweet love. Thanks to the full integration of Skype built into XboxOne from the ground up, every aspect of voice and video chat is not only seamless, but far and away improved over the Xbox 360. XboxOne and Skype sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G.
Both in-game and dashboard voicechat and Party Chat will be powered by Skype, in both audio and video molds (no microphone or headset required, as the mic is build into the Kinect 2 that ships with the system. Surely you can use a headset if you want to however, I assume), and Skype has vastly improved the audio quality, audio processing and microphone configuration settings available, as well as the voice options available to gamers when it comes to voice and video chat.
And all of this Skype goodness is seamlessly integrated into XboxOne and Xbox Live, allowing you to chat at any time, either audio or video chat, as well as do so while using multiple apps.
And in a very big deal, XboxOne Remote Play Sessions via Skype where you can see the screen (and gameplay?) of your friends whom you’re chatting with may be possible as well on the XboxOne just like on the PC. Although that hasn’t been confirmed.
To quote Microsoft on Skype in an interview with Polygon:
“Skype technologies are used in Xbox One which improves voice quality during multiplayer game sessions. Skype can also be used to call any of your Skype contacts for voice or video chat exclusively or while playing a game. Additionally, we have improved the Kinect hardware, from microphone configuration to dedicated audio processing, which contributes to providing a high-quality voice experience whether you are chatting in a game or through Skype.”
All of these develops are great ones. Unless, of course, you don’t play multiplayer games or do voice chat like me! :P
XboxOne and used games. Will I have to pay a fee to play used games on the Xbox One? The answer appears to be no, at least according to some new reports.
Reportedly, at a retailers conference where Microsoft briefed retailers on the new system ahead of its reveal, it was divulged (according to Polygon) that there will be no fee associated with playing used games. As has been speculated.
However it also confirmed that, although the system will not be required to always be connected online, it will periodically check online for authenticity and ownership rights of game discs. Each XboxOne game will include a DRM on-disc encryption code. Once that game has been sold or traded to someone else and that code has been activated on another console, then the periodic online checks will transfer all the installed content from the previous owner to the new owner automatically.
Does this mean you’ll lose all DLC you’ve purchased if you sell a game? It sounds like that may be the case… As always though, take this news with a grain of salt until we learn more from Microsoft themselves.
Microsoft did release this official statement:
“Xbox One is designed to support the trade in and resale of games. Reports about our policies for trade in and resale are inaccurate and incomplete. We will disclose more information in the near future,” said Major Nelson.
Previous reports have stated that Microsoft will be employing the “Azure” Pre-owned Technology system to all retailers who want to do business with the XboxOne. Using this system, games sold are then registered to an XboxOne system that has gone online, and all games sold are tracked by Microsoft if the title has left the retailer. Additionally, you can only trade games into retailers who have accepted Microsoft’s new system. When you trade a game and its registered as in someone else’s ownership, all “data files” will be transferred to that new owner (whatever exactly that entails is unclear). Reports say that the XboxOne will “check-in” with Microsoft’s servers once every 24 hours, thus the outrage at the “always online” requirement. It’s still unclear however what happens if you never take your system online.
Microsoft insists that you can still play games offline and that they will not penalize you for not going online. However they insist that you will miss out on online features and other functionality if you never take your system online. And let’s face it, everyone is online in this day and age. EVERYONE. Amount of people I know who don’t go online to use Facebook or don’t use their cellphones online can be counted on one hand and are almost exclusively old people. So to a degree all of this makes a lot of sense.
Another big part of Microsoft’s Azure system is in regard to developer/publisher royalty. Using this system, the developers and publishers themselves will get a cut of ALL used game sales (whereas in today’s world, the retailer keeps the entire cut of all used game sales. Which is why GameStop pushes used games to such an extent), as long as Microsoft getting it’s own cut. The rest, and a much smaller amount, goes to the retailer. After a game is traded back in to the retailer and everyone else gets their cut, the retailer can then set the price of the used game at whatever price-point they desire.
As you can see, this would dramatically shake up the used games industry if not partially destroy it altogether, especially if GameStop doesn’t play along and/or refuses to sell XboxOne games or decides to drastically cut the amount of space they’re going to offer to the XboxOne in stores. It’s worth noting that GameStop’s stock price plummeted after all this hubbub boiled over.
Adding confusion to all this however is the fact that early reports stated matter-of-factly that Microsoft would require a used game activation fee of $52 (£35) dollars, but that has sense been debunked.
Microsoft for its part has told people to wait until E3 2013 or a later date, at which point it will reveal full details.
To quote,
“Our goal is to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail. We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we’ve confirmed today. While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail. Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.”
What’s interesting about all the hate Microsoft has received in the wake of the XboxOne is the fact that Sony has also dodged clarification on how used games will work on the PlayStation 4.
While they are playing up the fact that their system will not be as intrusive as the XboxOne and will focus on the games, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the PS4 as well. And things are anything but clear.
Just the XboxOne system itself. All by its lonesome!
What do game developers think of the XboxOne? A few of them have made their comments and thoughts known. As they do, I will post them here and update this article.
* Stewart Gilray of “Just Add Water” (Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee HD, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee – New N Tasty, Gravity Rush (PSP), Upcoming Oddworld: Hand of Odd Online RTS)
— “Microsoft is attempting to be the one device in the living room, but at the same time as doing that you have to have a secondary device, like a TiVo, to HDMI into the Xbox One to be able to use the TV side of it, which to me defeats the entire purpose. It’s very confusing. The only real positive for always-on is the concept of instant booting. You come into your room and just say ‘on’, and on you go. But I can do it already on the PS3 and Xbox 360. You just press the button on the controllers. I personally don’t see what an always-on system will do for us, other than background downloading when you’re not around, which will be a massive plus. I wonder if bundling Kinect with it and the fact it’s always-on is going to put a lot of people off. They’re saying, even if the system is turned off or on stand-by, you come into your living room and say, ‘Xbox On’, so Kinect is going to be watching all the time. How many people will that put off? It’s not something that sits well with me, frankly.”
* Adrian Chmielarz formerly of People Can Fly (Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgment, Duty Calls: The Calm Before the Storm, Gears of War 2, Painkiller series)
— “I don’t want to talk to my TV, I don’t want to wave my hands in front of my TV, and I don’t want to Skype with a friend when I’m engaged in a game. That’s not to say that Kinect 2.0 is useless (I’m curious about that heartbeat thing, for one), but for now I don’t see it as anything too exciting. It’s very hard for me to stay objective here. For example, with all due respect to Mr. Spielberg, a Halo TV series is not the reason for me to buy a $400 (or whatever) box. I got way more excited when I saw Jonathan Blow on the PS4 stage. Not because of his game, but because of the message that Sony was sending this way. But look, I could go on forever about this or that feature and about this or that element of the ecosystem. At the end of the day I think the problem is not necessarily with the hardware or features, but with the unveil strategy itself. It’s fine to start with the non-gaming stuff, then please gamers at E3 2013, but I wish Microsoft was more clear and vocal about it and set the expectations right. Because we all wanted to see the future of gaming, and we got almost none of that, and what we got were weak pre-rendered movies that looked worse than some of the games I have on my PC right now, or a dog and fish AI. I have no reason to prefer any console over the other, hell, I want them both to succeed – more platforms for our games, yay! But, to be honest, I don’t think anyone from Sony lost any sleep.”
