Sony might not have revealed its console hardware during the PlayStation 4 unveiling, but at least we walked away with a pretty good idea of how buying and selling games would work. Microsoft finally took the wraps off of its next-generation Xbox One video game console on Tuesday and many people were left with more questions than answers. The gameplay demos we saw during the presentation looked fantastic, but how exactly does buying and reselling those wonderful new games work? More →
Bad news, Xbox fans: Your current collection of Xbox 360 games will not work on Microsoft’s new Xbox One, and the company’s used games policy is very unclear. The company finally took the wraps off its next-generation video game console on Tuesday and while there was plenty of good news to be had, there were also some some troubling announcements. More →
Microsoft on Tuesday announced a redesigned Kinect motion sensor at its Xbox One press event in Redmond, Washington. The accessory comes bundled with the new gaming console and delivers faster performance, improved gestures and voice recognition, and more. The sensor will allow for gamers to use a variety of voice commands to control the console, such as turning it on, watching tv, listening to music or searching the Web. Users can also navigate the Metro interface with pinch and swipe hand gestures. The Kinect can analyze a whopping 2GB of data per-second and is now equipped with a 1080p camera, a significant boost from the VGA sensor in the original model. Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming console is expected to be available this holiday season.
Microsoft on Tuesday finally took the wraps off its highly anticipated Xbox One, the successor to its Xbox 360 gaming console that will launch in time for the holidays this year. Earlier rumors have indicated that the new console will run on the “core” version of Windows 8 and will feature an 8-core 1.6GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, an 800MHz graphics processor, a 50GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, but Microsoft finally put all of the speculation to bed on Tuesday during its big Xbox event. More →
After years of leaks, rumors and speculation, Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox will finally be unveiled on Tuesday during a press conference in Redmond, Washington. Recent reports suggest that the new “Xbox 720,” “Xbox Infinity” or whatever else it might be called will feature vastly improved specs such as an eight-core processor, 8GB of RAM, an 800MHz graphics processor, a 50GB 6x Blu-ray drive, gigabit ethernet connectivity and enhanced TV features. The new console may also require an always-on Internet connection to play games, though reports on that front have conflicted. We’ll know all there is to know shortly, however, and here’s how to watch all the action live from your computer, Xbox or smartphone: More →
There are rumors about Wii U sales in North America slipping below 40,000 units in April. But it’s a fact that Wii U sales in its home market of Japan spiraled below 7,000 units during the week ending May 12. This is an atrocious level. The ancient PS3 sold 12,000 units and the portable console champ 3DS sold 46,000 units during the same week. The PS Vita sold 12,000 units and even its predecessor the PSP managed to top 6,000 units. This means that the closest sales comparison to the Wii U is a Sony portable console that was replaced by a newer model more than a year ago. More →
A video game console’s exterior hardware is undoubtedly the least important part of the gaming experience, but fans were still angry when the PlayStation 4 event came and went with no physical console having been unveiled. As expected, however, Sony plans to debut its new console design during the annual E3 conference that kicks off next month on June 10th. In a newly released promotional video, Sony teased the PlayStation 4 console for the first time, showing blurry images of the box and zoomed-in pictures of various parts. It’s impossible to make out the PS4′s final design for the time being, but all will be revealed in under a month during Sony’s E3 press conference. In the meantime, the full teaser video follows below. More →
The Xbox 360 topped the charts again in April, marking the 28th consecutive month Microsoft’s gaming console has outsold Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii consoles. According to research from NPD Group, the Xbox 360 accounted for 42% of current-generation sales with 130,000 units sold last month. It wasn’t all good news, however, as sales plummeted 50% from 261,000 units in March. As a whole, the industry continued to struggle in April with total gaming sales down 25% year-over-year from $657.5 million to $495.2 million. Microsoft and Sony’s next-generation consoles are expected to help sales pick up when they launch ahead of the holidays this year.
Google on Wednesday at its annual I/O Developers Conference in San Francisco announced Google Play game services. As earlier rumors suggested, the gaming suite is similar to Apple’s Game Center and allows developers to add support for leaderboards, achievements, matchmaking and the ability to save game data to the cloud. Early partners include developers such as Gameloft, Glu, Ironhide Games and Miniclip. Google Play game services is cross-platform and can be integrated into applications on Android 2.2 or higher, as well as iOS and web apps. More →
NVIDIA on Tuesday announced the upcoming availability of its Shield gaming console. The Android-powered handheld will be one of the first devices to be equipped with NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 processor, which includes 72 custom graphics cores and four Cortex-A15 processing cores. The controller features dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers and A/B/X/Y buttons, and can even stream PC games from a GeForce GTX GPU-powered computer. The Shield is also equipped with a built-in 5-inch 720p multi-touch display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD slot, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI port and runs a stock version of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. More →
Google has long been rumored to be developing a Game Center rival for Android smartphones and tablets. Information from a new Google Play Services file, which was obtained and broken down by Android Police, indicates that Google Play Games isn’t too far off. The service appears to include a number of interesting features such as multiplay support, cloud syncing, matchmaking and game invites, achievements, a leaderboard and even support for in-game chatting. All the social aspects of the service are expected to be managed by Google+, allowing users to chat and share achievements with specific friends and followers. Google is expected to announce its new Play Games service on Wednesday at its I/O Developers Conference in San Francisco.
In the video game industry as in many popular video games themselves, a fierce rivalry has taken center stage. Sony took a commanding early lead and its PlayStation and PlayStation 2 systems are both among best-selling video game consoles of all time at No.4 and No.1, respectively. Then the tide turned and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 edged out the PlayStation 3 in the current generation console wars, having recently posted its 27th consecutive month as the top-selling console in the U.S. But we may soon see this rivalry fade as the missions of Microsoft’s next-generation “Xbox Infinity” and Sony’s PlayStation 4 begin to diverge. More →
