Tag: Playstation 4

Are You Not Entertained? – Actually… No. – The Downward Spiral of Annual Game Releases

If sports and first person shooter (FPS) Video Games were a ‘Nation’ and I were the President of Sports and FPS Video Games, I would have to say that the State of our Union is weak.

This isn’t coming from the stand-point of the gaming companies like Electronic Arts or Activision (judging by their weakening stocks I would say that they feel the same), but from the aspect of gamers.  There are numerous games that have grabbed our attention and held onto it for a few years such as the Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Mass Effect and some others that you might be able to throw out there in the comments section below.  However, sports games and some shooter titles are constantly being thrown at us every year during the summer or fall.

What is becoming more evident as we get closer to the end of this generation of consoles (XBox 360, PS3 and Wii) is that sports and shooter games are really coasting along for the last few quarters before they jump into a new fray of next-gen console development (aka – more of your money).

We have recently focused on games like Madden NFL and NCAA Football sense they are the primary Summer Releases for EA Sports.  The next game that will get our full attention is Black Ops 2.  Call of Duty is a game that is technically released every two years if you want to dive into the fact that it is split between development teams (Infinity Ward and Treyarch).  However, the series itself is pretty much the same concept with a few nuances that make each game slightly different.

These games feel disposable at this point.  We aren’t in a time period of creative thoughts in entertainment in general.  Movies are the same way with sequels and remakes that really aren’t too dissimilar from what annual sports games and FPS games like Call of Duty are doing.  The publishers of these games like to sell you on trailers and big budget marketing rather than actually take the time to be creative and take a chance with something new.

If in 2013 there would be an announcement that Madden and Call of Duty would not be released in order to drive creativity and innovation in each series, would you applaud this decision or take it upon yourself to scream in ALL CAPS that it is the worst thing that ever happened to gaming?

NoobTubeTV would applaud this decision but what is your take?

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XBox 720 and Playstation 4 – The Race Has Already Started

Once again, it seems that more details keep ‘leaking’ about the new XBox 720.  Most of the time these leaks are more or less just a way to get people talking and let some exciting news out for eager consumers.  This is also what we like to call ‘free marketing’.

If you consider the fact that Microsoft wants to allegedly release the new console for $300 with a Blu Ray player and cloud services for gaming it adds up to an interesting situation.

This is the first realistic ‘model’ of the XBox 720… what do you think?

The current standing of online gaming on XBox 360 has people paying $60 a year for XBox Live services.  These services include 512 MB of Cloud Game Save Space and then full access to play games like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Madden against other opponents online.  XBox Live is far and away the best online service for consoles (when compared to Wii and PS3).

The issue that Microsoft is going to run into is that people won’t be too happy to keep paying for games that are located on a cloud service rather than on disc.  Consider the risk of if the network goes down or is simply down for maintenance you won’t be able to play it at all.  This isn’t exactly a complete denial of the future of disc or hard copy gaming but the notion is starting to become more real as we get closer to the next generation of consoles.  Granted, the risks of getting rid of discs (even blu ray) are too numerous to take the idea of complete cloud gaming seriously at this point.

As of right now – everything is rumors, conjecture and absolute speculation… but one thing is certain.

The XBox 360 and PS3 have reached the end of their life cycle and at this point we should start looking for the first official announcement of a new console.

Let The Rumors Start Rolling In! – XBox 720 Info Leaked?

Well, it is that time of year again.  Just after E3 when some people are holding out hope for the announcement of a new console – only to be disappointed to see that no such announcement will take place until at least next year.  As soon as that happens, you will start seeing the most devoted (insane) gamers start scouring the internet for any sort of leaks of new information about the next consoles to be released.

The latest ‘leak’ was posted on EGM (via Scribd) and it was then pulled down and removed through the advising of one of Microsoft’s corporate law advisers.

Some of the rumors have the new console being released at the $300 mark.  If that is the case, it could be one of the most shocking aspects of this ‘discovery’.  Although, one shouldn’t forget that Microsoft and Sony have started to make a habit out of releasing multiple consoles in different versions since 2005.  Some have been stripped down shells of what they should have been (4GB 360 Slim and 20GB PS3 – I’m looking at you!).  So, please keep in mind that $300 could be the low end model (if this is even legitimate in the first place).

If this is fake, it is fake… If it is real it could be the best thing Microsoft could do to make Sony re-think another console release at $600.

We won’t be devoting a lot of time to this rumor due to the nature of it being just that… a rumor.  However, it is intriguing to consider the possibilities of a system that could have some of the specifications listed in the brief article.

What are you looking for at this point in a console?  Does this rumor excite you about the future or were you expecting something different altogether?