Ready Set Pixel

So the next iteration of the Xbox was finally revealed and Microsoft is calling their new system the Xbox One. From what I gather the name implies the box will be and all-in-one type of system or if you prefer the one box to rule them all. Nerd. Anyway, the system seems powerful enough but Microsoft didn’t really want to waste to much time getting into that. It will have 8 GBs of RAM which is important for porting games to and from the Playstation 3 and as we all predicted will come with a Blu Ray player. Thank goodness. 

A few games were revealed with the most exciting of the bunch being Remedy’s Quantum Break. If you know Remedy you know they are masterful story tellers and with the type of action that was revealed this will be one to watch. Besides Quantum Break, Microsoft revealed that they will release no less than 15 games in the first year of the Xbox One, eight of which will be new IPs. Which leads me to wonder if Microsoft actually has seven games they can make sequels for. 

The Xbox One will be able to edit and share gameplay footage but Microsoft didn’t spend too much time on that either, what they did take a lot of time to talk about was their multimedia functions. Being able to watch live TV is very cool and being able to see your fantasy league updates in realtime is even cooler. The Xbox One will be able to multitask in a similar way that Windows 8 can. Snapping a second windows to the left of your main window will allow you to search Bing, pull up stats for the game you are watching, and in theory do almost anything the system can do.

The system seems fast. The new Kinect has been upgraded to probably what Microsoft originally envisioned and responsiveness was very impressive. Switching from live TV, to gameplay, to Internet Explorer was buttery smooth. Last time I ever use buttery smooth to describe something I promise.

In typical Microsoft fashion, the reveal was heavily geared towards the casual market, so we only saw a few games, Forza 5, Madden, UFC, and Call of Duty Ghosts among them. 

I need to sit on all the info for a bit before I give my full impressions but I’ll say I’m happy about what I saw if not a bit unsurprised.

Oh one more thing, the new controller looks pretty good, they fixed the D-pad which is great but the handles seem to my eyes a big wider apart. Odd. Thank you Wired for the image. 

A small patch has been released into the wild for the Wii U. The 3.01 update is said to correct some compatibility issues with certain software and will improve general stability, and that’s pretty much it. What do you expect from a .01 update?

At the very least it’s nice to see Nintendo being aggressive with updates to their new platform. 

So with all the names bouncing around for the next Xbox what do you think it will end up being? Xbox 720? Xbox, Xbox Infinity? Or perhaps plain ole’ Xbox 3.

My money is on simply Xbox, but I wouldn’t mind Xbox Infinity, has a nice ring to it. 

So my 31st birthday passed and my wonderful wife gave me a Wii U to celebrate the occasion. Knowing what I was getting into with another Nintendo console I have to say I am really liking it a lot. The UI is a bit of a mess and you can tell Nintendo is really trying to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers at the same time, but as I said I know what I am getting into with a Nintendo console. Right now I have Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U but mostly I wanted the thing because I’m a huge retro gamer and I wanted a new console to hold my old Virtual Console games on. 

Overall, I’m a very happy camper.

So I finally beat Bioshock Infinite. Of course, no spoilers will be said but I’ll just say this; If you like video games, and chances are that you do. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to play this game and finish it.

Polygon has some details regarding Microsoft’s next console. A few interesting tidbits have been revealed. First of which is the ability to setup auto capturing of what they are calling “magic moments” as in setting up the system to record when you reached specific achievements, but it can also be as simple as getting a headshot. 

The “always on” talk is still there, and seems very likely at this point, but according to their sources, whether the system will need to constantly check back with the network or just a one time thing at startup is up to the publisher. 

Another interesting detail is that Microsoft may allow developers to add achievements without the need of DLC. The thought process behind this seems to be that this greater freedom allow developers to track gameplay habits and perhaps steer gamers into a specific direction in need comes up. Interesting, but I’m not sure if I like that idea just yet.

A few other things were mentioned but I’ll let you read it for yourself. 

So here we have it. Microsoft is set to reveal their next iteration of the Xbox in style May 21, 2013. What do you think we’ll see? Or more importantly do you see this as being more media heavy or game centric?