Minimur, WTH Happened This Week? Next-Gen Special!

Following the announcement of the Xbox One, I thought I’d do a special version of the weekly roundup, one based on what we’ve learnt about the Xbox and PS4 this week. (Most will be Xbox though)
Don’t worry guys, I’ll still be back to the normal news next week, I decided to do this just for this week, maybe I’ll do it again if I’m blogging in 10 years time, who knows.
The Xbox One was announced on Tuesday, to which there were many different responses. Some were ‘it’s awesome!’ others were ‘I can watch tv ON my tv!?! That’s even more awesome!’ and a few people were like this ‘Does it play games?’

But here’s my opinion, the Xbox One has some pretty cool features, one that was released recently outside of the presentation was how it has a siri based program, where you can talk to it, which is always good if you are living in the basement and want to know what the weathers like. But what would really make it amazing would be if you could change its voice, if you can I’m going for a Dalek. Or maybe Yoda!

THQ…
Everyone has been wondering about this used game malarkey, well the air has been cleared… A bit.
From what I’ve read on multiple websites, is that you can buy used games, but, when you put the disc in you must pay a fee to use that game. The fee can be anywhere from the original game price to below it.
What do you think of this?

The Xbox One is region locked! I mean, it’s not really that much of a problem, is it? I’ve never bought a game from abroad other that GTA IV when I was on holiday, and I’m buying TLoU abroad due to the special edition is so much better than the European edition.
It was confirmed with an interview with a Microsoft rep talking to Digital Trends, he said:
Similar to the movie and music industry, games must meet country-specific regulatory guidelines before they are cleared for sale,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Digital Trends. “We will continue to work with our partners to follow these guidelines with Xbox One.
As far as I know, the only region locked game for PS3 I know of was Persona 4 Arena, and believe it or not, Metal Gear Rising Revengance Japanese DEMO was region locked as well. Strange.

Phil Spencer, Microsoft Studios boss spoke about how for this generation, there won’t be another ‘red ring of death’ disaster. Now there may be 2 ways why this won’t happen, one could be because the hardware is built to quality and the team building it have spent a lot of time thinking about the type of hardware used, or it could just be because half of the console is an air vent. I wonder which one?
Phill said:
Xbox One is built by the same Trinity team with the same learning that went from Xbox 360 into Trinity, and I’m confident in the quality of the new box.

Skype Skype Skype, the best app ever to be invented. It was shown in the event as being ‘snapped’ while he was watching a movie. There was a leak on how it has been improved and catered for the Xbox. The feature that has been put in is a little bit like what is in Skype already, but with a tweak. Remote play. Say you’re stuck in a game…. CoD Ghosts for example, and you need help, then your friend can take over your console and get you past that bit. Which is pretty cool!

According to Geoff Keighley, he has said that the PS4 will have used games DRM, and to fight against this a clever soul on NeoGaf has come up with a… twitter campaign?
If you are against used games DRM, then voice… or type your opinion by tweeting to @yosp (Shuhei Yoshida) with #PS4NoDRM and #PS4USEDGAMES. There have already been many people tweeting this, just look here.
Okay, Being as the PS Vita’s code name was ‘NGP’ which ha the words ‘Next Generation’ in I’ll include the Vitas news!
Not much has come in terms of Vita news, from what I have found anyway.
Dying: Sinner Escape
Clandestine: Anomaly
Gunslugs
For those of you waiting for the Epic Mickey 2 game, it has finally got a release date, you will be able to get your hands on it on June 18th get those days counting!
From some concept art that surfaced recently, it seemed that there was a medal of honour game in the works, but has been cancelled. It’s such shame, I would’ve loved a MoH game on my Vita.
Weekly blog re-cap
The Xbox One Reveal, Salesmanship, and You TStrauss gives his opinion on the Xbox reveal and also the Xbox One
Sony Release A PS4 Teaser Video For Their E3 Conference – Shows Hardware – Is this the PS4?
Microsoft will announce ‘tons of exclusives’ at E3, 21st Is ‘Laying Down The Foundations’ – I report on how Aaron Greenberg has spoken about Tuesdays event, along with their E3 conference as well.
Related links
Xbox Siri-type program – Article
Used games – Article
RROD disaster – Article
Region Locked – Article
Skype remote play – Article
PS4 Used Games – Neogaf Topic
Dying Sinner Escape – Article – Trailer
Clandestine Anomaly – Announcement – Kickstarter Page
Gunslugs – Article – Announcement (On twitter by Shahid Ahmad)
Epic Mickey release date – Article
Medal Of Honour cancelled game – Concept Art Picture – Article
Oh, and can someone please tell me what that woman meant when she said ‘Xbox is about to become the next watercooler’?
I’m sorry i’m late. Here’s 2 videos to make up for it:
I’m not liking M$ approach to any of this. They’ve taken the view off of the gaming and are trying to make it a generic “Total Solution” console. I don’t think it has a chance. And their “We know best” approach to used games simply infuriates me.
it doesn’t appeal to me much either but i think that the total-solution idea will appeal to many people though. even people who don’t play games might be interested in it.. especially later on. i think microsoft wants to tap into a market that normally wouldn’t buy a gaming console.
As a big Xbox 360 supporter, I am very disappointed with the One. Has nothing to do with th games, since I know they will come–it’s the hellish money-grubbing policies.
Trying to get publishers a cut of used games is one thing. Putting thousands of jobs out business by trying to kill the retailers of used games, massively run up used game prices, and give yourself (Microsoft) money from a market YOU DON’T BELONG ANYWHERE NEAR is another. Get your filthy hands away from used game sales; you have no business there.
Viva used games, screw the developers, honestly I wouldn’t have an issue with the used game costs IF the money went back to the developer, not the publisher just the developer and not a lick to microsoft.
There is no indication that the ps4 will have it either despite the neogaff rumour, it is all baseless.
Going by the title I thought you’d have this video some where in there. XD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMYso30L9zI
Sir, you have made my day with that video. I am laughing so hard that it hurts
That is among the best xD
Could Microsoft be holding off for E3?
For what purpose?
People can say that the event was aimed at non gamers but who would watch it otherwise? And all the journalists were gaming journalists for the most part.
Nobody else cares or knows that it is even coming outside of the games industry and places that have very low news traffic and wanted to fill a small slot.
ALL of the tv functions are going to become less and less important over the next two years as EVERYONE slowly replaces their tv’s with smart TV’s or smart boxes.
Oh and it has been confirmed that the ps4 simply has better hardware, which due to them sharing the same processor and x86 architecture it is pretty damning considering the focus sony has on exclusives this time around and allllllllllllll of the positive press especially from developers who seem to be inlove with developing for it.
Now with exclusives and a similar release date to the xbox it really is going to come down to wow factor I believe.
People talk about hardware not mattering, the wii was an anomaly and had a great gimick that got people in a way “watching TV on your TV” won’t, the only people who can pull that off are apple and tivo. The ps3 was released a year later than the xbox360, had a complex architecture and lacked exclusives AND came out slightly more expensive (comparing both release prices, the xbox had dropped significantly by the time the ps3 released)
The wow factor between these consoles will be a major deciding factor, especially if the ps4 can get out the gates first, generate noise and THEN deliver better visuals and performance… At the moment console gamers aren’t used to gaming over 30fps but the second that they get a taste of it I think people will make decisions based on it alone.
nice console ! although i hope new hacks for the vita come out soon ! i want to play all gba and psx games on the vita
WTH ! no new homebrew releases since the elease of ofw 2.12 ! 🙁
no wonder minimur articles are ***,hes an xbot fanboy who sleeps with bill gates and major nelson.
Im a total xbox fanboy, which is why I own a PS1, PS3, PS Vita and have owned a ps2.
Total Xbox fanboy over here.
this just shows how dumb kids overuse terms without even knowing what they mean
oh, and I don’t know if you knew this, but bill gates retired as CEO of Microsoft 13 years ago.
Steve Ballmer now 🙂
haha, microsoft forgot to register xboxone.com – someone in the uk registered it just after the announcement.. man, they’re gonna get a nice fat check.. wish i thought of it first.
Well fun for you that you do not care for region free products, for me, I do not really play much mainstream game and I’ve import ganes en mase, my current PS3 library over 70% of the game is imported, and 30% of them is not even released here. Why I import? Well I could wait a half year for fun… or I could just buy the darn game already and play? Not to mention all titles you CANNOT play when your console is region protected.
This is personally a KILLER function for me, making Xbox One totally useless.
man that sucks, I am aware theres many games that never make it over to the west, but that’s probabluy due to money and translating.
Catherine is a prime example.
*Catherine being it takes ages to get over here*
if dual os then thing be like ram 1/520/128_(32/_2×128 1/3 cpu two64_132 with wat is like three core i guess two be fore the xbox ui n one be for the outher os. since most ofthe xbox is hardwired in the outher os mosly be emulated sandboxed ***..
guessing the outher os be mostly media center n windows home server
last time we was like game stop probly b**** on the used game thing but then i guess u buy it from then at then daller n wen u load it u pay ten dallers wich is same as new or maybe save five dallers.
the call for help in game i would be weirded out on that abit weird locked network *** this ge.n… seems fun….
think the vita be used bluthooth remote wifi remote play .
watercooler cold soda .. think there be like t.hree fans …..
or vita be wifi remote bl..uth…ooth then can have he.ad se.t think bluthooth. be still locked down..
network …
think apps from the vita like party chat, near n contain manager be pre installed in the ps4 but then mobile apps sandboxed with outher games for psp psone pstwo ps3. xbox one probly have sandboxed xbox n xbox 3three60 usedgames pays off ***. shity thing i have sum games for awhile but i still have to get charge to play.. hope there not to much charge for online play.
can you please in future rather than posting 15 comments, just one that includes what you want to comment?
Hey , i´ve got a question. How microsoft managed to mget blu-ray technology on X1? I mean, it was created by sony.
royalties. kinda funny sony makes a little bit of money off the xbox one. it’s a bit like how apple uses samsung components. sony is involved in so much technology it would be impossible to avoid.. they even had a hand in making hdmi.
even the cd and dvd themselves are, in a large part, sony creations.
I find it halairious, but its exactly the same for AMD, they’re supplying their tech for PS4 (as far as I know)
so theyll be getting money from every ps4 sold, right?
“it has a siri based program,” please fix this to say “it has a natural language interpreter”
I don’t like how you sugar coat everything for microsoft. They did a terrible job on that “reveal” PERIOD.
If only someone had written an article explaining why the XBone reveal was disappointing to gamers!
minimur, this isn’t related but i must say, your avatar is amazing… squirtle! JUST WHO THE heck DO YOU THINK I AM
squirtle squirt
I read in some website that the used game fee is gonna be paid by the shops itself..can’t find where I saw it but…
Another website says that there will be authentication checks or something -http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/05/24/report-xbox-one-used-games-will-not-require-a-fee-will-require-authentication-checks.aspx
Here’s something to think about for ya’ll..
http://puu.sh/324Y5.png/clip%20%282013-05-27%20at%2012.52.53%29.png
What about people who have kids that will use the Xbox ONE? Aren’t there laws in the US that prevent the use of devices like Kinect when the user is an underaged kid?
It’s one thing to use Kinect to add on to the experience but it shouldn’t be required. The heartbeat thing is great for exercising games. I also hope that voice commands are not required as this would be bad for users who live in apartments and want to use it during the night and not want to disturb their neighbors.
Some of this would be bare able if the Xbox ONE could play 360 games like MS said it would a few years ago. They made a statement that 360 games would be forwards compatible and the graphics would be enhanced by the next Xbox.
HDMI only is another big mistake as not everyone has a shiny HDTV with and HDMI port. My friend’s HDTV doesn’t have any HDMI ports. It has an F-Port (Coax Port), Component and Composite ports. Same for the TV in his living room. a better approach would be an all in one port like the Wii uses. All of the HD STB’s in my house have multiple outputs from Coax, S-Video, Composite, Component and HDMI. Most of the TV’s in the house are of the CRT design.
I should be able to share any single player games I bought with my sister without her paying a used game fee. What’s next? DLC to be profile locked and other users must buy a separate license to use it on the same box? All of this *** has nothing to do with devs not making money from used games, it is purely a way for MS to make the most money they can from a product.
The sad part is people will praise MS for their efforts at ripping us off and DRMing us to death.
Not everyone has broadband (believe it or not) and even in the US there are places that don’t have reliable broadband if they have it all. When I go on vacation, the resorts I go to use wireless broadband from AT&T (which is *** BTW) and in order to access the internet you have to open up a web page to enter a password. The problem is that in order to open up a web page on the 360 you have to log into Xbox LIVE Gold which can’t be done unless I enter the password in a web page on the 360, which I can’t do since I have to sign into Xbox LIVE Gold to start 360 IE. See the problem here?
The biggest concern isn’t immediately a problem but a problem when MS shuts the Xbox ONE LIVE server down during the life of the Xbox 4 or whatever its called. Once they do, the Xbox ONE will be a brick with a bunch of target practice discs.
I hope that they do something so we can play 360 games on it. I am concerned that when the Xbox ONE is out, they will shut the 360 LIVE servers down and I’ll loose the $1000+ I’ve spent on 360 digital content.
Another big mistake is the unremovable 500GB hard drive. 500GB is way to small for today and since you have to install those Blu-Ray Xbox ONE game onto the hard drive to play them, that 500GB will fill up fast. They should put a 2TB drive which is the largest 2.5″ drive out at the moment. I shouldn’t have to buy an external drive because of MS’ cheapness. The Xbox ONE looks sleek and an external drive will take away from that sleekness.
I will get an Xbox ONE only if MS fixes the following issues:
1. Give us 360 BC
2. Don’t require the internet or Kinect to use the system.
3. Don’t screw with used games.
4. Don’t lock game discs to a profile.
Yeah, I’m sure those demands will find their way to the circular file.
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