Adam Orth, the Microsoft Studios creative director who came under fire for controversial comments on "always-on" consoles, has left the company. The news was first reported by Game Informer, and Polygon has independently confirmed his departure with two sources. It's unclear, however, whether Orth was fired or left his position voluntarily. Microsoft declined to comment to Polygon, saying "We do not comment on private personnel matters."
Microsoft is investing in TV in a big way with its next Xbox console as part of a fight for the living room. Multiple sources familiar with the company's Xbox plans have revealed to The Verge that Microsoft will introduce a feature that lets its next-generation console take over a TV and set-top box in a similar way to Google TV. We understand that the next Xbox will require an online connection to use the entertainment services, allowing them to be always-on for streaming and access to TV signals.
The functionality will work by taking a cable box signal and passing it through to the Xbox via HDMI, allowing Microsoft's console to overlay a UI and features on top of an existing TV channel or set-top box. We're told that this is a key part of the next-generation Xbox and that it will go a step further than Google's TV implementation thanks to Microsoft's partnerships with content providers. Extended support for various cable services will be rolled out gradually, but the basic functionality will be available at launch.
The internet is up in arms over rumors that the next Xbox console will require an always-on connection. Imaginations are running wild, and we haven’t heard any official announcements from Microsoft. Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll be waiting even longer than we once thought. While the original plan was to announce the Xbox 360′s successor later this month, it now looks like it will be unveiled on May 21. Is the event being pushed back to give Microsoft time to remove the always-on DRM that is rumored to be employed by the Xbox 720?
One month after Sony announced the PlayStation 4—an announcement that didn’t actually include showing of the console itself—the next-generation of the video game industry is slowly springing to life. Big game studios and indie developers have been pushing high end game technology on PCs for a few years, but the mainstream commercial industry is revving its engines now with new games like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Thief announced each week.
The much rumored new Xbox from Microsoft, however, remains a mystery. The Durango, Xbox 720, or just plain Xbox as it’s sometimes called has yet to receive any type of official confirmation beyond game developers saying their work is coming to PlayStation 4 and “other next-gen consoles.” As time passes, more and more rumors spring up around the device. A new rumor - based on details from what’s purported to be the console’s software development kit – suggest the next Xbox will require players to install full games from discs to their hard drives.
Android-based gaming console Ouya seems to be coming along nicely and will have multiplayer game support by year's end, reports Forbes.
During a South By Southwest panel in Austin today, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said the console would have support for streaming audio and video apps, but wouldn't say if big names like Hulu and Netflix were on board. Regardless, she hopes to be able to offer those services at launch.
Ouya, the Android-powered gaming console, will start shipping to customers on March 28.
Despite the tremendous interest in the device (it raised $8.5 million on Kickstarter), the device still has quite a road ahead of it.
Will it be facing off with the Xbox? Will Android fragmentation become a problem?
And will people outside the tech world even care about it?
We still have absolutely no idea what the PlayStation 4 looks like, but we're getting a better picture of what's within: Sony's just released a list of tech specs for the console. Confirming months of rumors, the PS4 will primarily have AMD silicon inside, in the form of a "single-chip custom processor" with eight AMD Jaguar CPU cores, and a next-gen Radeon graphics engine capable of 1.84 teraflops of performance.
Here's the full spec sheet:
Single-chip custom processor, with eight x86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU cores and 1.84 TFLOPS next-gen AMD Radeon based graphics engine
8GB GDDR5 memory
Built-in hard drive
6x Blu-Ray and 8x DVD drive
USB 3.0 and auxiliary ports
Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1
HDMI, analog AV-out, and optical S/PDIF audio output
DualShock 4 controller, with two-point capacitive touchpad, three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer, vibration, light bar with three color LEDs, mono speaker, micro USB port, stereo headset port, extension port, 1000mAh battery
PlayStation 4 Eye camera, with two 1280 x 800 cameras, f/2.0 fixed focus lenses, 85-degree field of view, 30cm minimum focusing distance, four-channel microphone array
What does it all mean? Looking at the existing PlayStation 3, it's immediately clear that Sony's playing to its strengths while trying to address some of its former weaknesses.
Sony's next PlayStation video game console will let you stream games over the Web, according to The Wall Street Journal.
That means some games won't need a regular disc. Instead, the games will be stored virtually on Sony's remote servers and beamed to your console.
The WSJ says the service will mostly be used for older games, and the next PlayStation will still let you play games stored on traditional discs.
It's no surprise that the PlayStation 4, code-named Orbis, is going to debut at Sony's big event on February 20. But until gaming blog Destructoid got its hands on a leaked image of the controller and published it on Thursday there wasn't much concrete information on what any component of the device would look like.
On Friday, All Games Beta offered up its own leaked image, from an unknown source. Whether this new image - which gives viewers a slightly different angle from which to furiously theorize about the new console's possible features - is from same source as Destructoid's is unclear.
But the two are likely of the same version of the prototype, which Kotaku has confirmed is indeed a controller of Sony's new system, though it could change significantly before the final version comes out.
Well here's something we weren't expecting. Sony just teased us with a super secret, super mysterious, super probably a new PlayStation (because, what else?) event next month. Let's start speculating and freaking out about a new console war.
We're finding out as much as we can, bu for now, set your watches for February 20th, where something big is going to go down in NYC. And you thought you'd have to wait until E3!
Many of us think that the video game consoles started with the Atari 2600 in 1977 or even the NES in 1983 and the introduction of Super Mario, but they date back tot he 1960′s when “The Brown Box” was introduced. RIPT Apparel, the premier site for video game t-shirts, takes you on a journey though the evolution of video game consoles from The Brown Box in 1967 through the Wii U that was just introduced this year (2012). What will be next?
China is considering lifting a decade-long ban on video game consoles, the official China Daily newspaper reported on Monday, sending shares of major hardware makers such as Sony Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd surging.
In November, Sony’s PlayStation 3 received a quality certification from a Chinese safety standards body, prompting speculation that Beijing would lift the ban, which the government said was imposed in 2000 to safeguard children’s mental and physical development..
Paris designers Anthony Veloso and Quentin Dron of Retro Game Addict created great animated Nintendo History timeline that takes us on an artistic journey from the Game & Watch handheld (1980) to the Wii U (2012).
Nintendo Co.'s Wii U, the company’s first new home videogame machine in six years, will finally reach the hands of consumers on Sunday when the new console goes on sale in the U.S.
The three-year development process of the Wii U offers a glimpse into how the Japanese videogame manufacturer comes up with its new consoles.
Around 2009, the company’s top brass started looking into the idea of creating a game machine that offered a “second screen” controller. The managers saw it as a smart solution to overcome some of what it felt were the shortcomings of the Wii — mainly that the Wii was a secondary accessory to the television and not a primary device on its own.
Mobile gaming dominates most people's video game time but the industry still hasn't figured out how to most effectively monetize mobile.
No one working in the video game industry will claim that video game consoles are the future of the industry. That era is over. Where cloud gaming, mobile, and all PC gaming from social to browser will ultimately intersect with console games in the medium’s near future is unknown but today, we know this: mobile gaming is huge and growing. Major publishers like Electronic Arts aren’t making the biggest bank from it yet—mobile accounted for $284 million of EA’s total $4.14 billion in revenue—but mobile is growing swiftly.
It was just yesterday that Nintendo unveiled the Wii U Gamepad, but today is the big announcement. Everybody welcome the Wii U.
The new console, coupled with the Gamepad, will change gaming entirely, according to Nintendo: “at its core, Wii U changes gaming, how you interact with your gaming friends, and it changes the way you enjoy your TV.”
That means Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Video and YouTube, along with the brand new form of gaming brought about by the marriage of the Wii U and the Gamepad.
The Gamepad sports a pressure-sensitive touchscreen along with traditional buttons and directional pad. Nintendo also packed an NFC reader/writer and a gyroscope/accelerometer.
The Wii U will support two different Gamepads.
This might not be the best gaming setup ever but it's easily the most historically awesome. Like a Hall of Fame for video games, Pete's (or 16bitghost's) gaming setup is a video game shrine. It has nearly every console you could ever think of in its TV stand.
Behind the perfectly plump couches is a just as impressive collection of video game paraphernalia and handheld consoles. This room is the historical archive, the room of record for so many childhoods. I gotta say, I hope all these old machines work because if I walked into this room, I'd be itchin' for some old NES or GameGear action. Check out a video tour of Pete's video game lair:
Sony has announced that it’s working on a new video game called PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. As the title suggests, this video game will have characters from some of the coolest and most popular games that have ever hit the PlayStation series of game consoles. The game is being developed for the PS3 and is a four-person fighter with online aspects.
Kotaku is reporting that Nintendo might be dialing up the awesome (finally) in preparation to debut a new console this year at E3 – a console that will apparently leapfrog both the Xbox 360 and PS3 in performance. And that wouldn’t be half bad – while the Wii was a smash hit upon its debut, who cares about motion controlled gaming now? You? If it’s you, I’m sorry.
The Wii is sadly on its last legs; third party development is weak, motion control is dead(ish)… hell, the Wii doesn’t even have a hard drive or HD Out. These things do not a viable console make, and if the rumours are true, Nintendo’s about to get serious. If they can revolutionize gaming as they’ve done so many times before (Gamecube notwithstanding), it should be a very exciting June.
Some call it Durango, some call it Loop; however, we would just stick with plain ole progression of numbers by calling Microsoft's next generation console: Xbox 720. Now in this regard, we did harp about how the console gaming industry is going through a favorable phase, with figures alluding to a $34.7 billion market by end of 2012. And, what's better than to ride upon this commercial crest by releasing a state-of-the-art console system. Well, if credible rumors are anything to go by, then Microsoft will be doing that by Christmas of next year. And, even if that's a long time off (especially for an ardent gamer), we did salvage some foreseeable features expected from this futuristic device.
