Xbox has their E3 Press Briefing at 1100 AM Mountain Time today (10:00 am pacific time). We’re hoping for a release date a price point and launch titles! Join us in the chat below!

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Make no mistake the gaming industry as a whole is in flux. With studios doors shuttering and the word restructuring being thrown around the industry we’ll be looking at in 2 years will be 100% different. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have acknowledged this in their own way and their consoles are moving forward to “change the landscape”, and keep themselves in the good graces of stock holders. Stock holder’s are usually a word thrown around with venom in the common circles, and they do, indeed, earn their fair share of distrust. It is because of a duty to them that Microsoft and Publisher’s are making the current decisions thus far. People invested in a company are looking for a short list of things to make their stocks valuable. They need return on investment (profit) and good public image with an outlook of growth. It’s with this pressure that Publishers and Microsoft decided to roll out their new used game policy, and always-on connectivity. To guarantee they can squeeze as much cash out of a title as possible. From a developer standpoint they can, or at least expect to begin taking a cut of used game profits with the Xbox One, therefore expanding their profit margin and making their share holders happy. What Microsoft didn’t expect was the venerable backlash that hit the media shortly after the announcement, before they even had a chance to announce how used game sales would be handled.

With Sony sitting on the fence there are really only 2 potential outcomes in the next-gen battle. If, Sony sides with the publishers and Microsoft and embeds this same technology, then the consumers have the choice of 2 evils. The decision then falls to the usual console war problems, who has the exclusives I want and who has the synergy between all of my products. For this reason Microsoft has developed their system into an all purpose media giant. It will run your cable, blu-ray, integrate with your Windows PC media, browse the web, and play all of your next gen consoles. If Sony follows the trend Microsoft is loaded for bear. The hard core gamers like the crew here at BSR will switch to PC and Steam where we know the company has their customers in mind and their shareholders second, but the market will continue on divided with the casual and every day crowd sticking to what they know while the marketing pulls customers here and there. To cut down my yammering, if Sony plays ball with Microsoft’s plan, things won’t change a whole lot.

We know Sony has been watching the media explosion from Microsoft’s information, they had to acknowledge the stock drop for MSoft and the stock spike for themselves. It makes you wonder if they were smart enough to wait on integrating this type of solution until they saw Microsoft’s backlash. They already have content available at the click of a button with back ground enabled downloading, Blu-Ray, and live streaming direct from the console through U-Stream. Let’s say Sony doesn’t tap into the publisher’s need for more profit and simply allows gamers to trade their software the old fashioned way, while making it more convenient to buy the software directly from them. Industry greats like Gabe Newell have related issues like Piracy and resale to a “customer service problem” not a consumer problem. And this is the perfect example. Requiring an internet connection alienates that 10% of Americans that don’t have a connection available. Building your system as a connected device is a phenomenal idea with everything moving towards data connectivity, but requiring it on a high end game console when you can’t guarantee 100% connectivity across the board is risky. Sony has an opportunity to simply ignore the situation and continue doing business as they had before. At first Sony’s share holders may be upset, the company outlook might not be “as good as expected” and their stock may take a hit to the tune of a few points. But if we as gamers then vote with our wallets Sony could force the hand of the publishers to come along for the ride. If sales of the Xbox One are abysmal then the Publishers launching exclusive content for it won’t sell what they need to make their profit work out, they’ll have to launch multi-console or give Sony the exclusive rights.

I don’t usually consider myself a fan boy, I own all 3 consoles both handhelds and a high end gaming PC. I can’t help but watch what’s happening right now with fixated horror and excitement. I don’t really want Microsoft or Sony’s new console to fail, but I want the right thing for the customer to be done by a major manufacturer. Many companies (I’m looking at you Apple), started with the mantra of making customers happy and then slowly began to reign in their profit control, (usually by making policy changes that upset their customers.) I’m not saying that the gaming industry can survive on the status quo, THQ and the mountain of closed studios next to it are proof enough that change is needed. I’m simply stating that some of the developers and console manufacturers may be looking for change in the wrong place. Sony has all the tools in place this year to crush Microsoft this fall, all they have to do is vote with their customers.

Vampires, stealth, techno, this trailer has it all. DARK is releasing July 9 for Xbox 360. Via Evil Avatar

“DARK is a stealth action game with RPG elements that lets you slip into the role of the ultimate killer… a vampire. Stalk your enemies from the shadows then use powerful vampire abilities to attack and silently dispose of them! The exciting story of DARK immerses you in a world full of blood and darkness in which the hunter can become the hunted at any time. As you unravel the mystery behind the omnipresent and powerful global conglomerate, Geoforge, you must continually improve your character by developing powerful skills to aid you in remaining unobserved, or silence those unfortunate enough to take too keen an interest in you.”

This trailer posted to Vimeo before Ubisoft’s conference could reportedly unveil it tonight. Watch Dog’s looks phenomenal, and this all CGI trailer does a great job at showing off it’s main content. Hopefully we’ll also get some game play tonight, perhaps on a PS4 or Xbox One?

WD-E3-CGI-Trailer-UPlay-EXP 480 from Aiden Pearce on Vimeo.

Via IGN

Yesterday Mad Catz and IGN announced a new console releasing in Q4 of this year. Based on ideas similar to the Ooya, Project M.O.J.O will be Android based, have an HDMI out, come with a Mad Catz C.T.R.L.R controller, and have space to expand memory with an onboard allocation of 16 gb to start. What makes this different from Ooya? Driver support for Mad Catz controllers and interface devices including Mouse and Keyboard, while integrating the stock App store as well as the Amazon and any other market place.




I’d be lying if I said I backed Ooya, because I didn’t. The reviews thus far have been lackluster seeing as it is an open source console there were a few noticeable bugs pointed out by different reviewers. M.O.J.O might not be perfect at launch either, but with the entire Android Market behind it with no tweaks needed I think it has a great opportunity to shine this fall. Video Below:

Such an usual place for The Lord of Darkness to hide….
With their pre E3 continence complete Konami has released details of Lords of Shadow 2. Focused solely on Gabriel Belmont as Dracula, you will take him through a dark part of his quest to be either or “brightest hope” or our “worst nightmare”. I’ve been foaming at the mouth for this since finishing Lords of Shadow, and cannot wait to see Draculas story retold.

Here is the in depth look from the developers:

And here is the 6 minute trailer from the conference.

https://youtu.be/M7Ujh-8iqiY

This is an amazing platformer set to and stylized to music, a perfect game for a Saturday morning stream.

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The internet has been abuzz, and video game messages boards have been flamed ever since the Xbox One announcement last month when Microsoft hinted that there would be fees to play used games (up to the full retail price of the disc), that the Kinect would always be on, and Xbox One would require an always online connection. Many people were (rightly) upset that this would ruin the ability to rent and buy/sell used games and that people’s privacy could possibly be violated by a camera that would always be recording your every move, sound, even heartbeat.

Much of this was speculation, of course, as Microsoft had only alluded to some of these requirements, but people were up in arms and threatening Xbox One boycotts if these rumors came to fruition.

Thankfully, the Redmond company came out today and spelled out in detail what these policies would be.

On an always online system:

While a persistent connection is not required, Xbox One is designed to verify if system, application or game updates are needed and to see if you have acquired new games, or resold, traded in, or given your game to a friend. Games that are designed to take advantage of the cloud may require a connection.

With Xbox One you can game offline for up to 24 hours on your primary console, or one hour if you are logged on to a separate console accessing your library. Offline gaming is not possible after these prescribed times until you re-establish a connection, but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies.

So you CAN play offline for a little bit, but the system will have to daily check in with their servers to verify the games and what you have installed on the system, although DVDs and blu rays will play normally. I’m not too opposed to this, as whenever I use my gaming system, I’m always online as it is, so this isn’t too much of a problem. What I was really worried about was a DRM system like Diablo III or Sim City wherein one wouldn’t be able to even game if their internet connection went down. Will there be some players who will be unable to purchase the Xbox One due to the lack of a broadband connection? Yes, but that will only be for a very small section of the demographic. With Microsoft making the required broadband connection at minimum of 1.5 Mbps, I don’t see this being a huge problem for gamers.

Privacy concerns with Kinect?

You are in control of what Kinect can see and hear. By design, you will determine how responsive and personalized your Xbox One is to you and your family during setup. The system will navigate you through key privacy options, like automatic or manual sign in, privacy settings, and clear notifications about how data is used. When Xbox One is on and you’re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded. You can play games or enjoy applications that use data, such as videos, photos, facial expressions, heart rate and more, but this data will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission.

Basically, while the Kinect is required to be plugged in whenever you’re using your system, you can pause or cancel any of its data collecting features. And while it’s nice that Microsoft claims nothing you do or say is being recorded or uploaded online, it’s only a matter of time until someone develops a loophole or patch that would enable this feature. I’m not entirely convinced how private this really is.

And of course, the biggie — used games:

Your friends and family, your guests and acquaintances get unlimited access to all of your games.  Anyone can play your games on your console–regardless of whether you are logged in or their relationship to you.

It’s good to see that once a game is installed on your system, anyone using it will have access to every game that you have purchased.

Xbox One will enable new forms of access for families. Up to ten members of your family can log in and play from your shared games library on any Xbox One. Just like today, a family member can play your copy of Forza Motorsport at a friend’s house. Only now, they will see not just Forza, but all of your shared games.  You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time.

So apparently, any family member will be able to access and play any of your installed games at any time from another Xbox One. How exactly they will determine who is a family member isn’t clear at the moment, but this is a really cool feature. The fact that my brother will have access to my games and vice versa is a pretty smart idea, as it will encourage a higher saturation rate among families, especially with siblings who have moved out of their parents’ house.

Xbox One is designed so game publishers can enable you to give your disc-based games to your friends. There are no fees charged as part of these transfers. There are two requirements: you can only give them to people who have been on your friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be given once.

Want to give a friend a game? Go for it, so long as they have been on your friend’s list for at least a month. Just keep in mind, you can only do it once.

Today, some gamers choose to sell their old disc-based games back for cash and credit. We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers.  Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games.

In our role as a game publisher, Microsoft Studios will enable you to give your games to friends or trade in your Xbox One games at participating retailers. Third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale and may set up business terms or transfer fees with retailers.  Microsoft does not receive any compensation as part of this. In addition, third party publishers can enable you to give games to friends. Loaning or renting games won’t be available at launch, but we are exploring the possibilities with our partners.

Microsoft will allow games to be traded or sold to a 3rd party, such as Gamestop or Best Buy, so there will apparently be a system in place for those retailers to contact Microsoft and the game publishers to inform them that the game is no longer owned by the original purchaser, needs to be uninstalled from their Xbox One and the license made available for resale. Here’s the sticky part and actually a very smart move by Microsoft — they won’t be charging any used game fees or blocking used game sales. Instead, publishers themselves will have the power to charge fees, block sales or allow free trade of their games. By making this decision, Microsoft has effectively taken itself out of the used game argument and let the publishers be the bad guys. Pissed that you have to pay a $30 used game fee to play Call of Duty 5? Don’t blame Microsoft, it’s Activision’s fault.

Is this a perfect solution? Not for gamers, but it’s a wise decision by Microsoft, and it will be interesting to see how Sony reacts to this information.

It’s also important to note that games will not be available to rent around launch day, so we’ll have to wait and see when the used games system is fully fleshed out and supported by publishers and retailers.

What do you think about all this? Has it influenced or changed your decision to buy and Xbox One? Let us know in the comments below!

Capcom announced yesterday that the remastered Duck Tales from NES would be launching for multiple digital platforms on PC including Steam, right around the same time it hits Virtual Console, XBLA and PSN. I don’t have much more to say about this, I love Duck Tales. You can bet that I’ll be taking Scrooge McDuck on an adventure day one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6N0PzqF9gWY#!

June? Already? Where has the time gone? It’s practically E3 already!

I’m not sure where EA thinks it’s announcement of Grass Effect is going to fit in at E3, what with all the hubbub for PS4 and XBoxOne, but they’ve announced that they’re announcing. As much as I’m annoyed by publishers announcing their announcements and teasing their teasers, it might have actually worked in this case. I’m not sure what to expect of Plants vs. Zombies mashed up with Mass Effect, but I do want to know more. I’m also intrigued by all the smoke in the promo picture for a game with the word “grass” in the title.

Microsoft’s list of games for their E3 presser may have been leaked. This is supposedly from a screen grab of their schedule but nothing can be verified at this time. Take these titles with a grain of salt, but there is definitely an air of legitimacy to them, as some have been publicly announced and others are currently under press embargo:

A billboard posted at the Los Angeles Convention Center for E3 has outed Dark Souls II for a March 2014 release. That’s not an unreasonable release window, but it’s curious that the sign sported logos for PS3, 360, and PC. With PS4 and XBoxOne releasing later this year, why is this not being billed as a next-gen title?

Eidos Montreal is also playing the tease. A tweet from their official channel yesterday simply asks “Are YOU ready for The Fall?” This was clearly related to the registration of domain names several months back for Deus Ex: The Fall. This was confirmed through a teaser on Vine today, with the promise of a real announcement tomorrow. This all makes for good timing with Deus Ex: Human Revolution joining the PS Plus Instant Game Collection today.

Other additions to the Instant Game Collection this month will include Machinarium (PSN), Saints’ Row: The Third (PS3), Orc Attack (Vita), and Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (Vita). Several titles will also be leaving the IGC this month, meaning you might want to grab these before they go away: Sleeping Dogs (6/4), Closure (6/11), Ratchet & Clank All 4 One (6/11), inFAMOUS 2 (6/11), LittleBigPlanet 2 (6/11), SOULCALIBUR: Broken Destiny (6/18), and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND (6/25). Other PS Plus benefits this week will include discounts on Let’s Fish! Hooked On (Vita), Portal 2 and Portal 2 in Motion (PS3, Move), and Grid 2 (PS3).

Have you been wondering what Harmonix is up to after they discontinued Rock Band DLC a few months ago? Wonder no more, they’re making Fantasia: Music Evolved for the Kinect. The game is based on the 1940 Disney classic, casting the player as Yen Sid’s new apprentice. According to Harmonix’s John Drake, “You have the power to become a great musical sorcerer.” You’ll use the Kinect’s motion capture to play through at least 25 songs in 12 levels. Songs will have multiple mixes you’ll be able to play and remix yourself. You’ll also be able to save your new mixes and share them with friends. The whole thing seems a little off the wall, but this is Harmonix and they haven’t steered me wrong yet. I’m interested to learn more, especially since we aren’t just talking about the traditional score from the film. Five songs have been announced for the game so far:

• AVICII – Levels
• Bruno Mars – Locked Out Of Heaven
• Fun. – Some Nights
• Kimbra – Settle Down
• Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody

There should be plenty of huge news coming down the pipe next week with E3. Nintendo has let it be known that they will be demoing three new Mario games for WiiU. Microsoft should be revealing details on the 15 exclusive titles they have planned for the first year of XBox One. June 10th should also see Sony’s reveal of the PS4 design. New console years are always a blast at E3 and this one is shaping up to be one of the biggest.