Grave Gamer News & Views — xbox one

Because the internet absolutely hates being surprised.
Still bombing around Dallas, but rest assured, we’re going to have a talk about this, folks.

Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC/PS3/PS4/X360/XOne - Holiday 2013)

Apparently game after game of mowing down Nazis like anti-Semitic grass and blowing Hitler’s head off of his mechanical body have done little to sway the tide of war in the Wolfenstein universe.  The Allies lost and Nazism has descended upon the world.

Jump to an alternate 1960, Europe, where the Germans rule with a mecha army and astoundingly destructive weapons.But a resistance is swelling, and the unfortunately named BJ Blazkowicz is not one to roll over and take a conquering lying down.  This is where The New Order begins.  BJ’s tasked with a one man counter-offensive that resembles “instant suicide” every passing minute.  You’ll infiltrate strongholds, sabotage enemy armaments, wield gaudy weapons, and continue the time honored video game tradition of shooting Nazis in the face.

Behind the scenes, New Order benefits from an all-star alliance with Bethesda producing, id’s Tech 5 engine laying the groundwork for the game, and MachineGames – a studio formed by ex-Starbreeze figureheads – developing.  While this isn’t the first reboot the Wolfenstein concept has been treated to, it’s shaping up to be the most eye-popping.  Battling legions of mechanical Nazis in war torn 1960 in the series’ first next-gen shootout?  And the developers proudly position this to be a single-player only affair?  Yeah, I’m enlisting.

Check out a Nahtzi stomping gameplay preview hereabouts.

#PS4NoDRM: Xbox One Backlash Might’ve Changed Sony’s Mind on Used Games “Solution”

#PS4NoDRM and #PS4USEDGAMES may be two hashtags you’ve come across recently if you happen to follow a huge group of, specifically, pro-Sony, avid gaming Twitter activists.  If not, hunker on down — I’ve a tale to weave.

Sony’s been experiencing a heightened amount of positive press lately, and their ace-in-the-sleeve tactic has been to simply kick back and allow rival Microsoft to fire round after round into their own foot.  Microsoft’s new console is catching flack and it’s not just because the Xbox One burst onto the scene with barely any games to show and an unhealthy fixation on TV.

The gaming community at large is pretty miffed about rumors and confusing, alarm-raising statements regarding Xbox One’s used game contingencies — namely, the one that tethers purchased titles to a single profile, forcing others to buy a sort of license to unlock a disc’s content.

Sony, on the other hand, has stated the PS4 will be able to play used games…but it’s important to pay attention to the fact that that’s all they’ve said.  As Bonus Round’s Geoff Keighley puts it, Sony is being painted as the “white knight,” when really, we may being giving them a smidge too much credit for what’s been said instead of focusing on the details they haven’t been open about.  The perception is that Sony is not restricting used games in any way, but Keighley doesn’t figure that to be the whole picture.  “Based on some of the things I’m hearing, I don’t think that’s entirely true.”

We’re going to dip into rumor-y waters right about here, but the source in question — a NeoGaf user, of course, and potential insider — hit the nail on the head with predictions made about February’s PS4 reveal.  The user now claims Sony has had a used games “solution” in mind for months now and have held their hand over a big, red DRM-shaped button, wondering if they should push it.

“The past week’s PR nightmare for MS has not been lost on Sony,” says the NeoGaf user, adding, “They are basing decisions off of this…

“This past week is pushing them strongly into ‘Yeah, let’s not use that.’”

The user — FamousMortimer if you were wondering — also cautions a guess that Microsoft is likely asking themselves the same hard questions given the — let’s be honest — terrible goddamn reception the Xbox One has received.  When it comes to used games, the publisher-retailer-consumer ladder is lousy with slippery rungs and people haphazardly hanging off the side, shouting, “Where’s my cut?!”  But in answering the next generation’s used game question, Sony and Microsoft need to assert whether or not the consumer is at the top of that ladder or all the way at the bottom.

If Microsoft had a better marketing team.

The veil has lifted, the seas have parted, and the goats have been sacrificed.  You know what that must mean; Microsoft has officially revealed their next-gen successor to the Xbox 360.  Everyone, I want you to meet the Xbox One.

Isn’t she a marvel of modern engineering?  Just look at how sleek and…VCR-like it is.  What says “The Future” better than a device that gives me the overwhelming urge to shove my VHS copy of Short Circuit into it?  Check it out, it floats, too:

Ha, lookit that shit just hovering there.  Technology’s wild, man.  But there’s way more to Microsoft’s newest console than its totally not made up ability to float a couple of inches off the ground.  Read on and we’ll tear open the system’s specs, learn about its leg up over the 360, and hopefully figure out a means to destroy these things before they’re floating a few inches over our children’s mangled corpses.