E3 Highlights: Best Controllers - PS4 vs. Xbox One

Hmm, just watched the video again..it's twice gamespot have done this now.

They have missed the infrared information regarding the XBO controller which I think is a huge feature. They also missed the esram and compression of the XBO in there PS4 XBO video.

Gamespot, honestly. If you feel the need to educate people with these videos please include all the information currently known, don't just randomly select features to discuss.

It's extremely biased and inaccurate journalism as you are sensationalising one hardware platform with,full spec details and selectively leaving out specs for the XBO.

It could be that you guys have yet to discover these feature for XBO ( I find that hard to Beleive as its splattered on official MS sites). If so, be professional and update the videos as at the moment the information you are putting out is incorrect.

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E3 Highlights: Best Next-Gen Graphics - Forza 5, The Division, Battlefield 4

I thought MGSV looked stunning in many ways, it's probably the reason I actually was kind of excited during Microsoft's E3 press conference. The thing is, they actually said the game will be looking even better! 

I definitely think The Devision looked great and like many others for some reason I really enjoyed that cardoor being closed, which seemed really stupid afterwards, but even though this might sound weird, the only thing I kind of didn't like about what we saw of the game was the UI or HUD. I mean I really liked that virtual map on the ground, but I didn't like how it looked when the guy brought up his arm-menu thingy and perhaps it would have looked even better if there wasn't constantly that UI, which I know was already pretty minimal, next to the character.
And there were just some other things that kind of put me off on the game and tbh. I'm not too excited about it anymore.

Killzone looked graphically amazing, although I'm not sure if I'd rather have those graphics than 30FPS, especially as a now mainly PC gamer. I played the other Killzone games and they were definitely playable, but I hope I don't notice it too much were I to pick this game up. I know they have to make compromises, obviously and it might be for the better, but we'll see.

I could go on for hours about all the other games, but lastly about BF4. I'm not really sure when it comes to graphics, sure my eyes enjoy all the colours and effects at the beginning of that trailer, but it feels like that might just have been a little too much. I know that's just a small portion of the single player and the game does look great in many ways, I definitely like their art style, but I hope they don't go too overboard with the Michael Bay-ness and lense flares.

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The Last of Us - Spoilercast

I'll make this easy for you guys. Here is a list of everything Tom (guy on the left) assumes about life and about The Last of US.

1) Every single parent comes home promptly at 6PM and gives their children warm fuzzy hugs and has 0% stress in their lives.

2) Father-daughter relationships rely on said warm-fuzzy hugs to show they enjoy each other's company. Without the words "Dad, I love you very much" and "Daughter, you are the light of my life" the audience cannot comprehend the love they share, and will mislead them to think the father is a selfless bastard.

3) A modest two-story house in RURAL TEXAS is equivalent to a mansion.

4) When during a debate, you say [Joel] reminds me of x reference, and your colleague says "That is a reference I do not understand at all", explaining said reference is never needed, merely throwing it out into the wind is all that needs to be said to put everyone in their place.

5) Even if a stong female character, arguably stronger than the main character, dies out of her own choosing and her own sacrifice to potentially save the world of disease (and this person is not in any kind of romantic relationship with main character), it still remains a cliche'd plot device.

6) Because two characters out of dozens more have a somewhat more upbeat personality, there should a 50/50 on happy sad within TLoU universe, and more people should be cheery, even if it's more understood that these two characters are either a)young and partially naive, b) establishing a place to live with electricity that feels more like home, or c) both honestly just holding in the sadness in order to perservere and survive, and in contrast to Joel's dark and broken demeanor, these two are brighter figures.

7) The ending is needs to be purely logical and not emotional. Save the world, kill the girl. Duh you guys.  

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Fez 2 not coming out for Xbox consoles

Developer Phil Fish has revealed in an interview with Polygon that his upcoming game, Fez 2, will not be on Xbox consoles.

Fish and his company has had a spotty relationship with the Xbox 360 and original Fez. Polytron released a patch to fix certain bugs in the game in 2012, but the patch corrupted certain save files, which led to Microsoft pulling the patch completely. The developer did not pay for a second certification fee, and left the patch as is. Fish wrote on his blog (emphasis by Fish), "It's a [horrid] numbers game to be playing for sure, but as a small independent, paying so much money for patches makes no sense at all."

Fish shared more details about Fez 2. Rich Vreeland will be doing the music for the game. He also said that Fez 2 is an entirely new game. "Fez 2 is to Fez 1 what Zelda 2 was to Zelda 1, but more different. The biggest reason is that I just wanted to go back to that world. I want to expand on my little world and its mythology. It's not a case of wanting to recycle ideas we didn't get to put in Fez 1. Since the games are going to be so different, there's not a whole lot that could just carry over."

Fish also shared his two cents on the Xbox One just before its policy change: "I hope it's a joke. I hope Microsoft is pulling a New Coke on us, announcing a [bad] console nobody wants, only to eventually announce the Xbox Classic and winning back everybody's hearts. Microsoft is making a console for itself. Not for gamers. Not for developers. Just for its own, greedy little Orwellian self. I'm not interested."

After the change, he still hasn't shifted his opinion. "They didn't change anything about their anti-indie policies." When asked about the PS4, he was happy with how Sony is doing everything. "It's too early to tell how everything is going to unfold, but their heart definitely seems to be in the right place. Which is a weird thing to say when talking about giant monolithic corporation, but there's a handful of people working at Sony today who are really trying to do some good."

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Half-Life 3, Left 4 Dead 3, and Source 2 titles found on Valve project tracker - Report

Projects labeled after company's shooters and game engine turn up in internal documentation; other names include "SteamMMO" and "Steam Box".

Valve fan site Valvetime claims to have unearthed documentation that show Valve Software employees may be internally discussing projects like Half-Life 3, Left 4 Dead 3 and Source Engine 2.

The alleged screenshots of Valve's internal project-tracking software from an anonymous source showed a 42-employee mailing group for a project called "Half-Life 3". The screenshots also displayed a 68-person mailing group for a project titled "Left 4 Dead 3".

The project called "Source 2" had numerous groups devoted onto it like "Artists", "Builds" and "Proto-games". Other notable project titles include "Steam Box", "SteamMMO", "Return to Ravenholm", and "Piston Test" (a reference to Xi3's Piston console).

Readers should keep in mind that this leak is not an official confirmation from Valve Software. Readers can check out the full list of projects on the Pastebin link.

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.

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Xbox One policy changes will not affect 2014 release date for Asia

June 19, 2013 11:46PM PDT

Microsoft has no official comment on whether original policy has anything to do with late release window in region; or whether new policy changes will bump up release window.

Microsoft has confirmed to GameSpot that the Asia launch window for the Xbox One will still remain at "late 2014", despite the recent DRM policy change for the device.

The company has no new comments on the Asia launch date at this point in time, which includes countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Last week, Microsoft said the Xbox One would launch in the region in late 2014, but it is unknown whether the previous online policy set by the company had was a factor in the delayed roll out for Asia. 21 countries will be selling the device in November this year, including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and more.

Microsoft recently revised its online policy for the Xbox One console, stating that it will remove used game restrictions, 24-hour online check-ins, and region-locks. The console will be available for $500.

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.

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Ashes Cricket 2013 delayed to July 2013

505 Games' upcoming title Ashes Cricket 2013 has been delayed, pushing its release date to July this year.

In a news post on MCV Pacific, 505 Games senior VP of global brand and marketing Tim Woodley stated that the delay was caused by quality assurance.

"Developer Trickstar Games has taken the time to overhaul and rebuild the game engine to offer brand new features in batting, bowling, and fielding," he said.

Ashes Cricket 2013 was originally scheduled to hit PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U on June 21 this year.

The game will include the complete Ashes Series, with official England and Australia teams, as well as limited overs tournaments and leagues from around the world.

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Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition taken down from online stores

June 19, 2013 11:57PM PDT

Remake of classic RPG series removed from Apple app store and Beamdog site due to unresolved legal issues.

Beamdog and Overhaul Games have taken down their Baldur's Gate remake--Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition--from online stores.

The PC, Mac, and iOS RPG remake is no longer available on Beamdog's site or the Apple app store. Beamdog and Overhaul Games president Trent Oster said that this was due to the company attempting to "resolve a number of contractual issues." This also means that the company cannot release the latest patch and an Android version of the remake.

Oster also added that the same issues will also prevent the launch of Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. For more information, check out the post on the official site.

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.

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ESA: Women make up almost half of all gamers

A new report from The Entertainment Software Association has found that women make up nearly half (45 percent) of all gamers. The findings are part of the 2013 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry, conducted by Ipsos MediaCT and based on a poll of more than 2,000 "nationally representative" households.

The report also found that adult women (31 percent) represent a "significantly" greater portion of the gamer population that boys 17 and younger (19 percent). In addition, according to the group's findings, women are 46 percent of the time the most frequent game purchasers.

The report also highlighted trends regarding how closely parents monitor what their children purchase. According to the findings, parents are present when games are purchased 89 percent of the time, while children receive parents' permission to purchase or rent a game 80 percent of the time.

Overall, 52 percent of parents believe video games are a positive part of their child's life.

Other notable findings from the Essential Facts report include 58 percent of all Americans describing themselves are gamers in one way or another. In addition, 51 percent of all United States households own a dedicated game console; and those that do, own an average of two.

The full report is available at the ESA website.

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Microsoft defends Xbox One $500 price point--"We're over-delivering value"

Microsoft's Xbox boss Don Mattrick has spoken out to defend the Xbox One's $500 price point, saying the company is in fact over-delivering value with the next-generation system.

"It's a lower number than some of the analysts had forecasted," Mattrick said on Bloomberg TV. "We're over-delivering value against other choices I think consumers can get. Any modern product these days you look at it [and] $499 isn't a ridiculous price point. We're delivering thousands of dollars of value to people, so I think they're going to love it when they use it."

Competitor Sony will offer its PlayStation 4 at $400 this holiday season, but Mattrick believes consumers will choose Xbox One for its suite of exclusive services and applications like an improved Xbox Live, as well as Skype, Twitch TV, SmartGlass, and Kinect.

"We're really making the living room your center of fun for your family," Mattrick said.

Also in the interview, Mattrick refers to the new Xbox One Halo title as Halo 5. This game was announced during Microsoft's E3 briefing last week only as "Halo Xbox One."

Every Xbox One will include a Kinect 2.0 sensor, while PS4 gamers will need to pay $60 to purchase a PlayStation Eye camera.

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NPD: Xbox 360 US May sales hit 114,000

[UPDATE] The NPD Group has now published its full report for the month of May, which provides greater depth into how the industry fared in the United States during the period.

The original story follows below.

Microsoft sold 114,000 Xbox 360 units in May in the United States, the company announced today, citing data from the NPD Group. The Xbox 360 has been the top-selling system in the US for 29 straight months now.

That figure is well below the 270,000 Xbox 360 units Microsoft sold during May 2012.

Total retail spend for Xbox 360 (hardware, software, and accessories) for May 2013 came in at $149.8 million, more than any other console, according to NPD data.

Microsoft's future ambitions may revolve around the Xbox One, but the company does not plan to abandon the Xbox 360 anytime soon. Xbox boss Phil Spencer said last month that he believes the platform will "be very vibrant for many years."

A redesigned Xbox 360 model was announced during Microsoft's E3 briefing last week and is available now.

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NPD: Injustice: Gods Among Us May's best-selling game in US

Injustice: Gods Among Us was the best-selling title in the United States during May, a month that saw steep overall industry declines, according to data published by the NPD Group today. The fighting game from Warner Bros. was also April's best-selling game in the US.

Rounding out the top five best-sellers were Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Donkey Kong: Country Returns, Dead Island: Riptide, and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.

Overall, total industry sales slid a significant 25 percent to $386.3 million. According to the NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan, however, this data represents only about half of the true consumer retail spend for the month.

"These sales figures represent new physical retail sales of hardware, software, and accessories, which account for roughly 50 percent of the total consumer spend on games," Callahan said in a statement.

"When taking into account our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in May such as used and rentals at $91 million, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including micro-transactions, subscriptions, mobile apps, and the consumer spend on social network games at $339 million, the total consumer spend in May is $787 million."

On the hardware front, total sales dropped 31 percent to $96 million. The Xbox 360 was the top-selling console platform for the 29th straight month, moving 114,000 units in the period (down from 270,000 last year). The 3DS posted the best year-over-year trend, Callahan said.

"Nintendo's 3DS edged out the 360 as the top selling platform across hardware and portables. However, the 360 was the top selling console hardware platform this month for the twenty-ninth consecutive month," Callahan said. "The 3DS had the best year-over-year trending for hardware units, with units sales essentially flat from last May."

Sony has not disclosed PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita sales for May.

As for software, this category saw the most precipitous fall, diving 44 percent to $187.6 million.

"Softness in new physical entertainment software sales stemmed from a decline in the number of new launches, with over 30 percent fewer new SKUs, as well as poor performance of the new SKUs that were released," Callahan said. "New SKUs generated over seventy percent less units on a per-SKU basis, and a decrease of over eighty percent revenue per SKU."

Nintendo 3DS software sales were a bright spot for the month, up 60 percent from May 2012. In addition, three 3DS titles factored into the top-ten chart for May.

"Overall entertainment software declines, down forty-four percent, were driven partly by sharp year-over-year declines within PC games due to poor comparisons to last year's Diablo III release," Callahan said.

"In May 2013, the top 10 games represented a lower percentage of sales compared to games from the previous few Mays at 18 percent of overall unit sales and 25 percent of overall dollars, compared to 30 percent of units and 45 percent of dollars in May 2012," Callahan continued. "This is contrary to trends we've been seeing over the last few years with the top ten games generating a larger percentage of overall sales and may be indicative of the weak new launch performance this May."

The accessories category posted the smallest declines, falling only 6 percent to $115.3 million.

"This is best May for point and subscription card sales on record for both unit and dollar sales," Callahan said. "Year-to-date, Skylanders accessory sales are trending positively, up close to fifty percent in unit sales and sixty percent in dollars compared to last year."

MAY US GAME SALES (May 5-June 1, 2013)
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total retail sales: $386.3 million (-25%)
Non-PC hardware: $96.0 million (-31%)
Non-PC software: $175.1 (-31%)
Accessories: $115.3 (-6%)
Total software: $187.6 million (-44%)

TOP 10 GAMES FOR June 2013
Title (Platforms) - Publisher

1. Injustice: Gods Among Us (X360, PS3, Wii U) - Warner Bros.
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (X360, PS3, PC, Wii U) - Activision Blizzard
3. Donkey Kong: Country Returns (3DS, Wii) - Nintendo
4. Dead Island: Riptide (X360, PS3, PC) - Deep Silver
5. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS) - Nintendo
6. Metro: Last Light (X360, PS3, PC) - Deep Silver
7. NBA 2K13 (X360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC) - Take-Two Interactive
8. BioShock Infinite (X360, PS3, PC) - Take-Two Interactive
9. Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) - Electronic Arts
10. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (X360, Wii, DS, PS3, 3DS, Wii U, PS Vita, PC) - Warner Bros.

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