Activision on Wednesday announced that the latest installment of its best-selling Call of Duty franchise, called Call of Duty: Ghost, will launch later this year on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and “next generation platforms.” The latest Call of Duty game is being developed by Infinity Ward, the studio behind the original Call of Duty and the critically acclaimed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series. Activision’s first-person shooter has consistently shattered game sale records year after year and its latest installment is expected to continue this trend. Call of Duty: Ghost is scheduled to be released on November 5th. Starting today, fans can pre-order the game at retail stores. Activision’s press release follows below. More →
We first saw Microsoft’s vision of the future of gaming last year when a patent filing revealed a potential Xbox 720 feature that projects images from a video game all over a room, extending the gaming experience beyond the TV screen. Our interest was piqued again when a video demo of “IllumiRoom” made the rounds earlier this week alongside rumors that the exciting new feature might be available on Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox. The feature would undoubtedly give the next Xbox an edge over rivals but unfortunately, Microsoft has confirmed that IllumiRoom won’t be included in its next-generation video game console at launch. More →
While Microsoft’s next Xbox won’t feature virtual reality headsets, it will try to do the next big thing by making your entire living room into a big video game screen. Microsoft on Monday posted a new demonstration video showing off the new Xbox’s IllumiRoom feature that projects aspects of games onto the walls surrounding your television set to increase immersion within virtual environments. The new feature comes with several options for filtering content if you’re not interested in having your entire living room transformed into a game world: For instance, you can choose to only have weapons or enemies displayed on the peripherals of your television set or you can choose to only have the bare outlines of the game environment displayed outside your TV. It goes without saying that IllumiRoom will likely be one of the key features Microsoft shows off when it formally unveils the new Xbox on May 21st. The full video demonstration of IllumiRoom is posted below. More →
Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox video game and home entertainment consoled will be unveiled in less than a month on May 21st, and we should expect a steady flow of rumors and leaks leading up to the official debut. The latest report comes from Forbes, which claims that the next Xbox may launch as the “Xbox Infinity,” though recent rumors suggested the name might simply be “Xbox.” More interestingly, Forbes claims multiple sources at Microsoft have said that the next Xbox’s controllers will feature a clickable touch-sensitive area that will support gestures and other functions. Other recent reports suggest that the upcoming Xbox 360 successor will not require an always-on Internet connection as had previously been rumored, but game publishers will have the option of requiring an Internet connection for individual games if they desire.
The next-generation Xbox is expected to include high-end hardware and a variety of software improvements when Microsoft announces the system next month. According to a new report from Polygon, the console will incorporate the controversial requirement that users will need an Internet connection to play some games, although the decision on whether a game will require a constant Internet will be decided by the game’s publisher. Polygon warns that Microsoft’s current guidelines can still change, however. More →
Even if PC sales continue tanking, Windows 8 could get a significant boost in adoption later this year just from eager gamers picking up the next-generation Xbox. Paul Thurrott of WindowsITPro reports that the next-generation Xbox will release in early November and will run on the “core” version of Windows 8 that “suggests a common apps platform or at least one that is similar to that used by Windows 8.” Thurrott speculates that Microsoft could use the common app development platform as a way to “open up this platform to enthusiast developers” and encourage more development of native Xbox apps. More →
Microsoft has big plans for this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. Following its unveiling of the next-generation Xbox video game console on May 21st, the company plans to “continue the conversation” at the annual gaming convention. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Polygon that the company will “showcase the new console’s software line-up” and a “full line-up of blockbuster gaming experiences” for the next-generation Xbox. More →
In line with earlier rumors, Microsoft on Wednesday invited members of the press to an event next month for its next-generation Xbox gaming system. The new console is rumored to be equipped with an 1.6GHz 8-core AMD processor, 8GB of RAM, an 800MHz graphics processor, a Blu-ray Disc drive and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. The next-generation Xbox is expected to be released in time for the holiday season. Microsoft will announce the system at a press event on May 21st in Redmond, Washington at 10:00 a.m. PDT.
Nintendo is running out of time to sell the Wii U before it gets heavy competition from both the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox. As Engadget points out, Nintendo has reported selling just 390,000 Wii U consoles over the past quarter, which puts its total number of consoles sold at just 3.45 million. This means that Nintendo didn’t even hit its sales target of 4 million consoles sold by the end of March, despite the fact that it was a downward revision from an earlier sales target of 5.5 million. But this isn’t even the most humiliating aspect of Nintendo’s anemic Wii U sales record, since T3 notes that Nintendo has actually sold around 4 million of its original Wii consoles since the launch of the Wii U, meaning that gamers are still much more interested in its years-old model than the current version.
Nintendo’s new Wii U has been labeled a flop with estimated sales of only 55,000 units domestically in the month of March. Nintendo of America’s chief executive Reggie Fils-Aime isn’t worried, however. The executive told GamesIndustry.biz that digital downloads are soaring and fast becoming a “notable contributor” to the company’s bottom line, a trend he believes will continue. More →
Microsoft’s gaming console has remained the best-selling system in the United States for the 27th consecutive month, according to new data from NPD Group. The Xbox 360 sold 261,000 units in the U.S. in March, beating out Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii U. As a whole, physical sales were down 10% year-over-year from $1.1 billion in March 2012 to $992.5 million in March 2013. Software sales remained almost flat at $554.8 million, only inching down just 1% from a year ago. The steepest decline came from hardware sales, which dropped a whopping 32% to $221.6 million. Portable consoles are said to have experienced a “stronger decline” than traditional ones, however sales of the Nintendo 3DS grew an estimated 9% year-over-year. Microsoft is expected to introduce an update to the Xbox, possibly called the Xbox 720 this spring.
What do you get when you combine a 3D virtual reality headset with a passive omnidirectional treadmill? The future of gaming, today. Virtual reality accessory startup Virtuix on Thursday posted a demo video of its upcoming Omni — a “natural motion interface for virtual reality applications” — being used in conjunction with the Oculus Rift 3D virtual reality headgear. The video showcases the killer combination being used to play a first-person shooter and the result is mind-blowing.
