Home > Videos

E3 2013 – Dark Souls 2 Trailer

A new trailer for Dark Souls 2 was released during the E3 Microsoft press conference, showing off some brand-new gameplay.

Check it out below.

[youtube id=”prEHyt2eyPg” width=”618″ height=”378″]

Dark Souls 2 arrives March 2014.

Avatar photo

James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

Home > News

E3 2013 – Watch The Microsoft Press Conference Live

We are just moments away from Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference and for those who don’t know where to watch it, we have provided you with a stream.

Watch live video from TwitchTV’s Official Channel on www.twitch.tv

Avatar photo

James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

Home > News

Call of Duty: Ghosts Tech Demo

Yesterday, developers Infinity Ward gave us a first look at what the next generation of Call of Duty is all about, revealing some exciting gameplay sequences including underwater battles and K9 espionage.

If you missed it, be sure to catch a replay of the Call of Duty: Ghosts “All Access” event right here.

As a bit of an added bonus, Infinity Ward has also revealed to us a few of the new visual techniques being utilized in their latest engine, including displacement mapping, Sub-D, HDR, volumetric lighting, and real-time ADSR. If that sounds like gibberish to you, just make sure to check out the video below to see some of these new techniques in action.

[youtube id=”tZgXfCpnx3M” width=”618″ height=”378″]

What do you guys think? Has Call of Duty ever looked this good?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > Videos

Watch Dogs E3 Trailer Leaks Early

Ubisoft has been notorious for their amazing CGI trailers, especially when it comes to the Assassin’s Creed titles.

While they’re busy preparing for E3 tomorrow, it seems that one of their trailers for Watch Dogs has unfortunately made its way onto the internet through a leaked channel.

Sets a great tone for the game, don’t you think?

Avatar photo

James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

Home > News

Call of Duty: Ghosts Campaign Footage and Screens

Earlier today, we got our first look at Call of Duty: Ghosts, an all new generation of the series in development at Infinity Ward studios.

The team is introducing a number of new gameplay elements in Ghosts, including underwater missions and the ability to control a special K9 unit named Riley, a nod to the fan favorite Modern Warfare 2 character, “Ghost.”

If you missed the live stream, you can catch the latest gameplay and screens below.

[youtube id=”MRE-1nlJTtY” width=”618″ height=”378″]

[youtube id=”CWhEjEcmb-U” width=”618″ height=”378″]

Check out some new screens below:

COD Ghosts_Federation Day Rappel

COD Ghosts_Good Boy

COD Ghosts_Server Room Takedown

COD Ghosts_Underwater Ambush

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Call of Duty: Ghosts – Live Stream From Activision’s “All Access” Pre-E3 Show

The next generation of Call of Duty is on the horizon and it’s going to be pretty awesome.

We’re getting our first look at Call of Duty: Ghosts today during a special “All Access” pre-E3 event, including some gameplay footage of the single player campaign, featuring an all new story line and cast of characters.

Screen Shot 2013-06-09 at 9.16.47 AM

Check it out the live stream below! More impressions to come from the E3 2013 show floor!

For more Call of Duty: Ghosts goodness, be sure to follow MP1st on Twitter and Facebook!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Socom 2 Director Kickstarts Spiritual Successor “H-Hour: World’s Elite”, Promises A Return To Socom’s Roots

Like many fans out there, my personal favorite Socom game out there was Socom 2. This game is begging for an HD remake, and while Sony seems to have no interest of giving one, the original creative director who left making games after Socom 2, is returning back and bringing bringing us a a new title that’s meant to stick with the original Socom formula, promising us one of the best tactical multiplayer games out there.

Creative Director David Sears has been working on H-Hour: World’s Elite for over a year now, adding the core gameplay of Socom 2 along with some new features meant to improve the online community. So I guess the question is, why not another Socom? Well the answer is quite clear as David doesn’t own the IP to Socom.

If you wish to help fund the project, visit the official kickstarter page.

H-Hour: World’s Elite™ is a tactical, team-based military shooter in which cooperation among players is required for success. A run and gun lone wolf approach quickly results in your death; only by cooperating with your team can you hope to achieve victory. But so many players who would love military shooters are discouraged by what they perceive as brutal competition from day one. Don’t worry. We’re including mechanisms that not only allow you to play with players at your skill level but teach and encourage you how to play tactically.

The design philosophy is simple: bullets are deadly, and any character not wearing body armor or staying out of the line of fire will not last long. There are no absolutes in lethality, but in H-Hour, you won’t take a shot to the head and keep fighting while you miraculously regenerate health. If you are looking for a change of pace from reckless play and want a little more realism in your combat, you’ll love the feeling of H-Hour and the game will monitor your performance, point out what you did right and wrong, and offer strategies for your improvement.

Reality is a theme of H-Hour. The game is inspired by real world events—the personal stories of Special Operations Forces—repurposed and staged in new and equally deadly locations for the purposes of preserving national security. Environments emphasize all the filth, chaos, and visual disruption common to many of the locales where savages plot and launch their insurgencies or terrorism campaigns.

All animations are sourced directly from Special Operations veterans who bring their expertise and decades of combat experience into the motion capture studio and their war stories into our offices. It’s hard not to be inspired when you work with these heroes.

H-Hour is a hybrid third person and first person shooter. The third person perspective allows you to view your character and provides increased situational awareness—an intelligence edge in combat situations. The first person view presents you with only a reticle and adjusts the field of view so that you have the feeling of being “in the shit” and a naturally enhanced “zoomed in” perspective that provides a twitch play edge.

So what do you guys think? Is this a project that would interest you?

Avatar photo

James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

Home > News

Rumor – Battlefield 4 Multiplayer Will Have Working Elevators? 58 Allegedly Leaked Images of the BF4 Alpha

An Imgur album containing 58 images what what looks like the Alpha version of Battlefield 4 have allegedly leaked on to the internet.

As you can see below, the images are presumably of a very early version of Battlefield 4’s multiplayer. Much of the map that’s featured here is still missing textures. Of course, none of what you see could even be anything near final, so keep that in mind. DICE has also not confirmed the legitimacy of any of the screens either.

We hope they’re real because that means there’ll be working elevators in Battlefield 4 multiplayer, and that’s awesome.

Feel free to check them out below, but make sure to keep your sights right here on Monday, June 10, where we’ll have some real Battlefield 4 multiplayer info and impressions straight from the E3 2013 floor.

Some interesting bits of info from the leaked screens include:

  • New loadout screen, includes “Kits,” “Vehicles,” and “Weapons”
  • New award screen includes “Ribbons,” “Medals,” and “Assignments”
  • Left and right Dog Tags are back
  • Origin integration with “Friends” and “Challenges”
  • “Quick Match” and “Sever Browser” return
  • “Battlepacks” can be accessed from the menu, Bronze Battlepack includes three items
  • 5-man squads
  • 4 kits
  • Similar loadout slots to Battlefield 3 with the exception of a selectable knife (Primary, Secondary, Gadget 1, Gadget 2, Grenades, Knife, Specialization and Appearance)
  • Coastal map named Siege
  • New HUD that matches that of the single player demo
  • Command Rose returns
  • Working Elevators?

Thanks, Josh, for the tip!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > Features

The Xbox One: An Invasion of Privacy and Affront to Ownership?

There can be no doubt, given the overwhelming flood of a backlash, that Microsoft has totally screwed up with the DRM software for the Xbox One.  Having to be connected to the internet every 24 hours just to play ANY games is, for the most part, absurd.  But why it’s absurd has had a myriad of explanations thrown at it since we found out about it.

The one that’s stuck best for me is that we’re not talking about downloading games from an online service.  We’re talking about going to GameStop or Walmart, buying a PHYSICAL copy of a game, and not being able to play it unless we have internet access at least once every 24 hours.  Note the emphasis on PHYSICAL.  You are holding the game in your hand, all the data is there, every texture, every weapon, every cutscene, it’s all right there, in your hands on something you can microwave in dissatisfaction if you so choose.   So not being able to utilize that because you’re ISP is awful or non-existent is, in plain terms, stupid.

Of course in 10 years, that’s pretty much going to be the law of the land for consumer software.  Chances are if you don’t have internet in 10 years, you won’t be able to access ANY new software.  The problem is what Microsoft is doing, and this comes from a good friend of mine Nic Gigante, is digital distribution via a physical platform.  We both agree that what Microsoft should have done is go totally digital or not at all if this was the kind of DRM they want to use.  After all, Steam seems to be doing just fine with it’s users not being able to sell, trade, or return copies of their games.

But to make matters even worse, and to address the elephant in the room, your Kinect will always be recording everything you do in front of it and you can’t disconnect it, though you can turn if “off.”

[youtube id=”9JBboPvP0kA” width=”618″ height=”378″]

Again, the issue isn’t just that you’re giving up your privacy or rights to interact with digital content, it’s that Microsoft is applying digital ideas to a physical medium.  It’s a given that everything you do on Facebook is recorded by Facebook.  But Facebook is a social platform that was built for you to share information on and connect with your friends through.  The Xbox One is not Facebook.  I don’t come home after a day’s work looking to share everything I say and do with my game console and, by proxy, Microsoft/The NSA.  I just want to kill dragons in Skyrim.  And if my internet goes out, I can’t even do that.

So I leave you with this question, is what Microsoft is doing good for their customers?  Is having a database of user information like what the Kinect can offer a good way to improve the gaming experience for everyone, or is it just another invasion of privacy by a company looking to make as much money as possible from the people using their devices and services?  Personally, I think it’s the latter, but I’m just being realistic about the fact that that’s true of just about every capitalist company in the world.  Just because it’s true, though, doesn’t make it right.

Leave your thoughts below and let’s get talking about these issues.

BOSS JEDIZOHAN

I've been a gamer since before most gamers were born. Now a full-fledged member of the PC Master Race, I'm enjoying all the best games from both AAA and Indie developers in glorious 1440p. Praise Gaben and may the Steam deals be ever syphoning funds from your life savings. Subscriber

Home > News

Call of Duty: Ghosts Sneak Peek – Single Player Campaign Gameplay

Tomorrow, the world will get its first look at Call of Duty: Ghosts as developers Infinity Ward show off some of the single player campaign during a special, “all access” event.

But, that doesn’t mean we can’t get at least a small sneak peek today.

IGN has uploaded a short clip of an underwater sequence from Ghosts’ single player campaign that will be shown off at tomorrow’s event. It’s not very action packed, but you’ll see some next-gen graphics on display, as well as some cool underwater weaponry.

Check it out!

IGN also posted an interesting interview with Infinity Ward lead animator Zach Volker where he talks about the direction Call of Duty takes in terms of gameplay, as well as some of the hardware challenges the team had to deal with moving into a new console generation.

We’ll be at the event tomorrow bringing you some Call of Duty: Ghosts footage, so be sure to keep your sights locked on MP1st. Remember, you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

We leave you with a few screens:

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

MP1st at E3 2013 – Live Blog

E3 2013 is upon us and we’re getting prepped to cover this year’s biggest multiplayer games, including Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: GhostsDestiny, Killzone: Shadow FallTitanfall, and much more.

We’ve got a number of exciting things going on. First, we’ll be at the Call of Duty: Ghosts “All Access” event on Sunday, June 9 where we’ll be speaking to some of the Infinity Ward developers and bringing you some gameplay footage from the next generation of Call of Duty.

On Monday, June 10, we’ll be bringing you live updates from a number of press conferences, including any special announcements from all of the major publishers and developers, all which you’ll be able to catch right here.

Throughout the rest of the event’s proceedings, we’ll be going hands on with games like Destiny, Battlefield 4 and a bunch of other cool titles. We’ll even be speaking to DICE general manager and vice president Karl-Magnus Troedsson, so you won’t want to miss that.

There are a few ways you can keep track of all the E3 2013 goodness:

We’re getting pretty pumped and we’re sure you are too. See you all at E3 2013!
Watch live video from TwitchTV’s Official Channel on www.twitch.tv

 

Live Updates

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Next Entry in the ‘Legacy of Kain’ Series will be Focused on Multiplayer

Late last month, it was rumored that there would be a new entry in the Legacy of Kain series titled Nosgoth, thanks to some name dropping patch notes.

For the uninitiated, the realm of Nosgoth served as the back drop for the entries in both the Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver series. While all games up to this point have been single-player action-adventure affairs, Square-Enix community manager George Kelion stated Nosgoth will be headed in a different direction.

Nosgoth exists and is in active development, but is not a traditional Legacy of Kain action-adventure game”, and added, “Nosgoth is set in the same universe as previous Legacy of Kain games, but on a different branch to the Blood Omen and Soul Reaver series. The community should not be thinking of Nosgoth in terms of a single-player experience.”

Although Kelion confirmed the existence of Nosgoth, he stated that the game will not be shown at E3. By acknowledging the game’s existence and stating its multiplayer focus, Kelion hopes to calm down speculation and rumors that Nosgoth would be a continuation of the Kain and Raziel adventures.

We don’t want people to get the wrong idea about Nosgoth following the AMD and Steam leaks ahead of its future official announcement. Nosgoth is not being developed by Crystal Dynamics,” and added, “Crystal Dynamics are not working on a Legacy of Kain game”.

So what type of multiplayer title do you think Nosgoth will be? A new entry in the MOBA genre? A ridiculous fantasy themed FPS? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks, VG247

MP1st Staff

Home > News

Battlefield 4 – DICE Wants to Deliver a “Great Experience For All Of Those on Current-Generation Platforms”

A few days ago, DICE general manager and vice president Karl-Magnus Trodsson teased a couple of surprises that the team has in store for this year’s E3. But as if that wasn’t enough, creative director Lars Gustavsson has also jumped on the tease-wagon to make the wait for E3 2013 even harder.

In a short interview with FTW, Gustavsson said that he can’t really talk about what exactly DICE will be showing when it comes to Battlefield 4, but he did say that there will be 64 players on the floor for the game’s multiplayer debut. In addition, there will also be some behind-closed-doors announcements, which we’ll be happy to share with you guys as soon as we’re able to.

He also spoke shortly on DICE’s mindset when it comes to current generation platforms, saying that while the team is happy to have those limitations lifted off their shoulders with the next-gen, they’re out to push the boundaries to deliver a “great experience for all of those on current-generation platforms.”

Check out the short interview with Lars Gustavsson in this video below.

[youtube id=”Qd7JxUxlknA” width=”618″ height=”378″]

With that, we want to ask you, will you be picking up Battlefield 4 on current, or next-generation platforms, or even both? Let us know in the comment section below!

Be sure to catch all our Battlefield 4 coverage at E3 by keeping your sights locked on MP1st.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > Features

Crysis 3: The Lost Island DLC Review

To be 100% honest, I’m actually surprised I’m even able to review Crysis 3‘s first piece of downloadable multiplayer content in the first place, considering how hard it is to even find others who will play it with me.

Crysis 3’s community is small – so small, that in the base game, the only viable game type is really Team Deathmatch. It’s the only playlist that will ever fill up enough to be able to provide some decent matches. It makes me wonder how EA or Crytek ever thought it would be a good idea to charge gamers for DLC, splitting the already miniscule community even further.

Regardless, it’s out there, and it’s actually not that bad. The issue lies not within this tropical throw-back expansion, but within the base game itself. Therefore, I’ll be looking solely at this particular add-on and how it fares as a piece of DLC, not whether or not you should buy it or whether or not Crysis 3 is still relevant as an online multiplayer shooter.

Should you choose to make the investment, however, here’s what you’re in for.

The Lost Island is basically a good excuse to show off some of the most iconic scenery that the Crysis series has become known for meshed with the gameplay of Crysis 3 and brought to life with the powerful CryENGINE 3. There is a lot of beauty to behold in the four new maps; Crossing, Coastline, Creek and Ascent. If you’ve spent a lot of time with the original Crysis, you’ll feel comforting bouts of nostalgia and familiarity. My biggest question is, if Crytek went this far to give a nod towards old-school Crysis players, why not take the approach of an old-school, open-world, sandbox-style gameplay and go the single player route? Who wouldn’t want to explore new areas of the Lingshan Islands as Prophet (or even Nomad, if he’s still alive) taking on the evolved Ceph baddies in a heavily modified Nanosuit? That is some Crysis 3 DLC I would gladly play $14.99 USD for. But, I digress. Multiplayer it is.

Crysis 3

Crossing takes you back in time to your very first encounter with enemy nanosuit-wearing soldiers in the dark swamps of the Lingshan Islands of the first Crysis game.

Crossing takes place in a dark, swampy wetlands while the contrasting Coastline boasts some of the most gorgeous, sunset-lit, tropical scenery I’ve ever seen in a multiplayer map. Creek sits in a small village high in the mountains while Ascent brings the fight to a more dense jungle environment. All four maps are actually pretty big. That doesn’t sound like it would make much sense for Crysis 3’s blazingly fast-paced gameplay, but we’ll get to how it’s handled properly when we start talking about game modes. Both Crossing and Coastline are fairly open in their layouts, allowing you to approach situations any which way you please, while Creek and Ascent feature more linear pathways. Together, all four maps offer a varying palette of colors, both visually and in terms of gameplay. Oh, and the random wildlife here and there is a nice touch.

If you were to find yourself exploring each map in a solo private match (which I highly recommend you do at first), you’d most likely ask, ‘how would anyone ever find any action in such large areas?’ That’s where the two new game modes, Posession and Frenzy, come in.

Possession tasks two teams with securing some sort of alien power source and holding on to it for as long as possible. The soldier who picks it up can wield it almost like a gravity hammer from the Halo series – swinging it around as a melee weapon or even throwing it at unsuspecting foes – or tuck it away in order to use more conventional weapons. Either way, should you possess it, you’ll move slower and must work with your teammates who will want to build a strong defensive perimeter around you. Of course, you’ll light up like a Christmas tree on the map, attracting all sorts of attention. If the device is left unattended for a certain period of time, it will reset to a new location which must be manually located again. The team who has collectively held on to it the longest wins.

Frenzy is Crytek’s free-for-all take on a more familiar game mode. Every soldier is granted the very same weapon and loadout that cycles every 60 seconds. I haven’t been able to verify yet if the rotation is set or random, however. Either way, the more enemies you smite, the larger your XP multiplayer builds, as does the bounty on your head. Soldiers with large multiplayers show up on the map and become easily locatable, whether cloaked or not. Much like Possession, it’s a great way to focus firefights to particular areas that depends on the player, making it really easy to find action. My only gripe is that both modes seems to want to spawn you after death at the most far away location possible from all the action. While you’ll usually know exactly where to go to find others, it will probably take you a long while to get there.

Crysis 3

A friendly game of Posession on the beach.

Along with a pair of new game modes, Crytek has also introduced two deadly new weapons. The Claw is a powerful lightweight assault weapon with a slow fire rate and some serious recoil. It also sounds really scary. The Rhino is a semi-automatic shotgun that fits somewhere in between the Jackal and Marshall, giving you a nice mix between the two. It, too, sounds really scary. Currently, I believe the Rhino is experiencing a bug that will often render the sensitivity of hip fire aim speed and ADS aim speed exactly the same. Basically, trying to steady the Rhino by aiming down sight will not steady it at all. At least, that’s what I’ve experienced on the Xbox 360. Anyways, I played a few rounds with each and, while I certainly thought them to be hip and cool at first, the effect quickly wore off and I found myself switching back to my preferred arsenal of weapons. What also struck me as odd was the sound design of both the Claw and the Rhino. They both seemed to be mixed differently than all of the other weapons in Crysis 3’s multiplayer. They sound good, that’s for sure, but they make all the other weapons sound like pea shooters.

To recap, we got four new maps, two new game modes, two new weapons, some new dog tags, and a few new achievements/trophies thrown in. As you can see, The Lost Island DLC is a fairly generic map pack that doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary, other than re-animate memorable Crysis locations in a shiny new wrapper. For that, I don’t think the the $14.99 price tag is very reasonable.

In an ideal world, Crytek would have thrown in The Lost Island for free. Truthfully, it actually would have fixed some major issues that currently plague Crysis 3. The Lost Island playlist is actually made up fewer game modes on older, vanilla maps, in addition to the four new maps. That means that if everyone owned this DLC, we’d all be playing on all the maps (including the new ones which are really good) with a more focused selection of game modes. Personally, even though I’ve already paid the money for it, I’m at the point where I would not be upset if Crytek and EA had a change of heart, re-released The Lost Island for free, and unified the entire Crysis community once again with a better selection of maps and playlists. BioWare did it with Mass Effect 3, releasing multiplayer DLC for free while charging for single player DLC, and it damn well worked. Everyone was happy. If Crytek wants to revive a dying Crysis 3, extend the campaign with some paid single player DLC, but keep the fragile multiplayer community together with free multiplayer DLC.

Crysis 3

This. I want this, but as single player DLC!

When it comes down to it, as a piece of DLC for a shooter like Crysis 3, The Lost Island is, indeed, pretty good. While the new weapons don’t add much, the maps are fun and the new game modes really focus the action so that you’re always finding your way into a gun fight. It definitely and clearly improves the game as a whole. But sadly, considering the lack of community currently backing this game and the price tag of $14.99 USD, I can’t recommend The Lost Island to anyone. If you got that sort of money to throw at it and manage to find others who’ve done the same, then you probably won’t be disappointed.

3 / 5

I give The Lost Island DLC itself a 3 out of 5 stars, but If I was to rate how strongly I recommend you buy it, consider it nil.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Microsoft Outlines Xbox One Connection Requirements, Privacy Policies and Games Licensing

Microsoft has recently released a set of Xbox One policies that outline how games licensing works, what sort of connection requirements you will need, and how you can control privacy measures.

There’s a lot to take note of, including some of these interesting facts: all games are stored on the hard drive for disc-free gaming, gamers can sell or trade disc-based games without additional fees, games can only be given to those on your friends list, and the Kinect can be completely shut down.

There is also the matter of constant connectivity. While a persistant connection is not required, Microsoft writes that “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.”

Checkout the complete list of policies below, as seen on the official Xbox website.

Xbox One: A Modern, Connected Device

  • A new generation of games with power from the cloud: Because every Xbox One owner has a broadband connection, developers can create massive, persistent worlds that evolve even when you’re not playing.
  • Your Xbox One is always ready: Xbox One is designed to run in a low-powered, connected state. This means your system, games and apps are always current and ready to play—no more waiting for updates.
  • Stay connected to your friends: Never miss an opportunity to play games with your friends or to catch up with family on Skype. Use Skype in Snap mode to chat while you play games or watch TV.  Or enjoy group video Skype calls with people around the world, all from the comfort of your living room.
  • Access your entire games library from any Xbox One—no discs required: After signing in and installing, you can play any of your games from any Xbox One because a digital copy of your game is stored on your console and in the cloud.  So, for example, while you are logged in at your friend’s house, you can play your games.
  • Buy the way you want—disc or digital—on the same day: You’ll be able to buy disc-based games at traditional retailers or online through Xbox Live, on day of release.

Networking Technologies

A range of advanced technologies will make these scenarios possible, including:

  • Superior wireless performance and coverage throughout the home: Xbox One is equipped with a gigabit Ethernet port and 802.11n wireless. With 802.11n, Xbox One can use the 5GHz wireless band which eliminates considerable interference from other devices in the home, such as cordless phones, Bluetooth devices and microwaves. Xbox One uses two wireless antennas, versus one in Xbox 360. This provides dramatically better coverage and sustained performance, which means faster internet speeds in more areas of your home.
  • Faster connection to a world of smart devices: With Wi-Fi Direct, Xbox One can speak directly to smart wireless devices and connect to them through the cloud. This means your smartphone or tablet will interact with Xbox One seamlessly.
  • Future proofed with power from the cloud: Microsoft has created a global network of more than 300,000 Xbox Live and Windows Azure servers, to help creators realize their visions of what is possible with a connected system.

Networking Requirements

To ensure Xbox One works optimally and can offer the experiences described above, it is designed with the following networking requirements:

  • For an optimal experience, we recommend a broadband connection of 1.5Mbps. (For reference, the average global internet connection speed as measured recently by Akamai was 2.9 Mbps). In areas where an Ethernet connection is not available, you can connect using mobile broadband.
  • 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.

How Games Licensing Works on Xbox One

  • Buy the way you want—disc or digital—on the same day: You’ll be able to buy disc-based games at traditional retailers or online through Xbox Live, on day of release. Discs will continue to be a great way to install your games quickly.
  • Access your entire games library from any Xbox One—no discs required: After signing in and installing, you can play any of your games from any Xbox One because a digital copy of your game is stored on your console and in the cloud. So, for example, while you are logged in at your friend’s house, you can play your games.
  • Share access to your games with everyone inside your home: 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.
  • Give your family access to your entire games library anytime, anywhere: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.
  • Trade-in and resell your disc-based games: 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.
  • Give your games to friends: 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.

Privacy by Design: How Xbox One and the New Kinect Sensor Put You in Control

  • 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 are in control of when Kinect sensing is On, Off or Paused: If you don’t want the Kinect sensor on while playing games or enjoying your entertainment, you can pause Kinect. To turn off your Xbox One, just say “Xbox Off.” When the system is off, it’s only listening for the single voice command — “Xbox On,” and you can even turn that feature off too. Some apps and games may require Kinect functionality to operate, so you’ll need to turn it back on for these experiences.
  • You are in control of your personal data: 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. Here are a few examples of potential future scenarios:
    • A fitness game could measure heart rate data to provide you with improved feedback on your workout, allow you to track your progress, or even measure calories burned.
    • A card game could allow you to bluff your virtual opponent using your facial expressions.
  • You can use other inputs to control your games, TV and entertainment experiences: While it’s faster to find what you’re looking for using your voice and gesture commands with Kinect, you can use a controller, your remote controls or your smart devices instead. And you can use all of these devices when Kinect is paused.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Blacklight: Retribution – E3 Playstation 4 Reveal Trailer Outed

A new trailer for Zombies studio’s free-to-play shooter, Blacklight: Retribution, has been released in preparation for E3.

PC gamers out there have been playing this neat F2P title for months now, but with the recent announcement of the title hitting the PS4 this fall, this trailer serves as a great introduction as to what you’ll be getting yourself into.

Check out the video below:

[youtube id=”xEzXFBTgXn4″ width=”618″ height=”378″]

With the list now up to 6 and still growing (the most recent being Planetside 2, DC Universe Online, and Warframe), which game do you guys hope for to be announced as the next free-to-play game to hit the Playstation 4? Let us know in the comment section below!

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

Home > News

Crysis 3 The Lost Island DLC Gets a Launch Trailer

If you haven’t heard, Crysis 3 got some DLC a few days ago.

To be more specific, Crysis 3 received it’s first multiplayer DLC on June 4 called The Lost Island. Introducing four new maps set on the Lingshan Island of the original Crysis, Crossing, Coastline, Ascent, and Creek, all offer stunning visuals and dense, jungle combat.

Crytek has also introduced two new game modes; Posession and Frenzy, along with two new weapons; the Rhino and the Claw.

It’s available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC for $14.99. If you’re still on the fence about it, you can at least catch some of the new maps, weapons and game modes in action in this recently released launch trailer.

[youtube id=”bwN2gcNj10U#!” width=”618″ height=”378″]

Have you pick up Crysis 3: The Lost Island? What are your thoughts so far?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Respawn’s First Game, Titanfall, Is Coming to the Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC Spring 2014 [Updated]

According to leaked details from an early copy of Game Informer‘s July issue, Respawn Entertainment, headed by former Infinity Ward head Vince Zampella, is working on an FPS called Titanfall which will be available on the Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

The title, Titanfall, runs pretty close to the “Titan” trademark that the studio purchased last April. Also falling in line with earlier leaked details, TItanfall will be a multiplayer-focused shooter that revolves around both infantry and mech combat, taking place in a futuristic setting.

NeoGAF user “Cartman86,” to whom the magazine was leaked early, wrote that Titanfall is being developed exclusively for Microsoft’s platforms and the PC. According to Respawn, the decision was made due to the size of the studio who didn’t want to develop for too many platforms at once. Later titles would be multiplatform, however.

Titanfall is said to run on the Source engine (with major portions of it re-written) at 60 frames per second and will heavily utilize Xbox One’s Cloud feature for dedicated servers, physics and AI. The Xbox 360 version is being developed by a separate studio, while Respawn focuses on the Xbox One and PC versions. Allegedly, the game will feature “traditional” multiplayer modes along with a “one-player mode.”

It’s also said that, “thanks to the more open maps, healthy mix of enemy AI and real players, and the ultra-powerful titans, the gameplay loop in Titanfall is more accommodating to newcomers,” and that “the average time of life seems drastically increased over the average Call of Duty, Battlefield, or Halo match.”

The magazine cover reads, “After a bitter split with Activision and Call of Duty, Respawn debuts its bold vision for next-gen multiplayer,” and shows a giant mech soldier being taken down by infantry. It also states that the game is set for a Spring 2014 release date.

That’s about all we have on the title so far, thanks to Cartman86 and Polygon.

Update

EA has confirmed the name of Respawn’s title via Twitter, stating that more will be shown during EA’s E3 press conference.

Screen Shot 2013-06-06 at 1.02.49 PM

What do you guys think? It sounds like a very interesting direction for former Call of Duty creators to be taking. We’ll certainly learn more about Titanfall during this year’s E3, where it is confirmed to be streamed on Twitch TV.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Diablo 3 Releasing On The Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 September 3

Xbox 360 owners who’ve always wanted to get their hands on the latest installment of the popular dungeon crawler, Diablo III, will be able to do so on September 3rd, when it launches worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, according to the latest announcement from Blizzard this morning.

Unfortunately it looks like no Xbox One port is in the works, as a Blizzard spokesman has told Joystiq that they’re excited for console players to get their hands on Diablo III, but don’t have any further platform announcements to share at this time. Of course, as per Blizzard’s previous announcements, PlayStation 4 players can look forward to the title as well, but at a later date.

Blizzard has also revealed that the console version of Diablo III will include all “major content and design” made to the original game, that was released a year ago.

If you’re thinking about purchasing Diablo III for the console of your choice, don’t forget to pre-order, as it’ll net you the ‘Infernal Helm’, which is capable of giving your character an XP boost.

On which console are you most interested in playing Diablo III, or are you sticking to PC-only? Let us know in the comment section below!

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

Home > News

E3 2013 – Which Confirmed Online Multiplayer FPS Are You Most Excited to Learn More About?

You may have heard of a little event called E3, or Electronic Entertainment Expo. It happens once a year and it’s a time when we learn a lot of really cool things about a bunch of really, really cool upcoming video games.

As a multiplayer-centric website that loves first-person shooters, we’re super excited for some of coolest games that will be showing up this year like Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, DestinyKillzone: Shadow Fall and Arma 3. While it might be pushing it a bit, we’re also hoping to hear word from titles like Rainbow 6: Patriots and Halo 5. We do know Respawn Entertainment’s shooter, rumored to be called “Titan,” will be present this year, but the title has yet to be actually confirmed.

But with only a few days left before the events of E3 2013 kick off this Monday, June 10, we want to know which confirmed, online multiplayer FPS you are most excited to learn more about about.

Remember, if you want to closely follow our E3 2013 coverage, keep your eyes right here, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We got interviews and meetings with folks from the DICE, Infinity Ward, Bungie, and other studios, so don’t miss out!

So, let’s here it. Vote and hit up the comment section below!

[poll id=”21″]

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber