Really the title says it all, yes it appears Microsoft has reupped their meds and realized that the crippling DRM restrictions on their nextgen console might hurt sales a pinch (i.e. all of the sales.) In one of the greatest flip flops on console history the XBox One will NOT have to call back to the mothership/hivemind every 24 hours to continue to function, thus making it possible for off-line play. Microsoft has also decided to rescind all the restrictions on used games, meaning users are free to trade borrow and rent once more!

Hit the jump for Microsoft president of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick and the official statement: (more…)

No Comments

With Sony and Microsoft showing off all-new hardware at E3, there too comes the games.  While Nintendo played it safe with a new Animal Crossing and Super Smash Bros. for their butt system, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 showed off some surprising titles.

Over at Microsoft, 343 Industries debuted a teaser for an all new Halo title. Developed on a new engine, running 60 frames a second, Halo 5 will see Master Chief kick-space butt once more. The trailer didn’t reveal much, just a ton of sand and the Chief in a poncho.  Check it out below:

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

(more…)

No Comments

More? Jason puts a knife in the term “Boom” and replaces it with something better, and the boys tell the forbidden story of their beard love.

Subscribe on iTunes

Listen on Stitcher

Subscribe via RSS

Download

The Bastardcast: Pixelated for your PLEASURE!

No Comments

Welcome to the start of our E3 coverage and our Microsoft Xbox One Live Blog. Below you will find thoughts from the Nerdbastards team on Microsoft’s next generation console when the 1pm ET presentation begins out in LA.

Before that, take a look what we want to see from the presentation and have a conversation with us in the comment section about what you want to see.

What we already know: The Xbox One is poised to take aim at the home entertainment market, providing a broad experience that includes web browsing, live TV, social integration, a pumped up Kinect, and (allegedly) gaming.

What we want to see: A price point would be lovely, but details and gameplay are what we really want to see. The time for ambiguity and a parade of cinematic trailers has passed. Microsoft has our attention, but now they need to get our money with a presentation that speaks directly to consumers, offering clarity on some of the more controversial elements of the One while also showing us what the next generation of gaming really looks like.

How is the Xbox One not only better than the PS4 (and the Wii U… I guess) but also a clear upgrade over what we have? This is the biggest question facing Microsoft as they kick off E3.

The live blog will begin at 1pm. Watch the Microsoft presentation on Spike or online at E3 Insider. If we are able to embed the livestream, we will do so. 

12:07 – We’re still less than an hour away from the start of the presentation, but Phil Spencer is on Spike talking to Geoff Keighley and he just teased something from Rare’s past that will be revealed. Something long awaited. Naturally, the mind turns to Goldeneye 64 and a possible  XBL release.

12:21 -

12:22 – Not really a huge surprise considering the commercial holiday/start of the holiday shopping season that is “Black Friday”. Now if someone would just blurt out the price…

12:42 – Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain looks pretty damn good, gameplay was impressive. Is it next level? Pretty damn close.

12:43 – Don Mattrick takes to the stage, promises that this will be all about gaming and that there will be 13 exclusive titles revealed today.

12:44 – Interesting move here, introducing an Xbox 360 redesign that is available now. “Our commitment to the Xbox 360 has never been stronger. Again, a surprise since they’re introducing its replacement. Perhaps they realize the staying power of this generation. They also just promised 2 free game downloads to Xbox Gold members in the near future.

12:45 – 120 new games for Xbox 360 coming down the pike.

12:52 – Phil Spencer comes to the stage to talk about the Xbox One. Primetime has arrived as the trailer for RYSE begins.

12:56 – RYSE looks damn good, though not entirely fluid. Not a fan of guided attacks. Whatever happened to some button mashing X, Y, X, X, Y, Y, X, Y action people?

1:02 – Speaking of button mashing, Killer Instinct trailer plays… yawn.

1:04 – Sunset Overdrive looks like a love letter to critics of video game violence. Just ridiculous, cartoon mayhem and headshots. It looks like something that would exist if the guys from Crank made a Pixar movie.

1:08 – “Driveatar”… what a stupid fucking name that, of course, follows boasts about the end of AI from the Forza 5, which does, admittedly look freaking stellar.

1:11 – Corporate rep from Microsoft is singing a song about indie games. Oh, the word “indie”, show us on the doll where the world touched you.

1:14 – Quantum Break game footage… right after this impressive cinematic… maybe.

1:17 – D4 is a episodic murder mystery, anime noir?

1:20 – Project: Spark looks like “God: The Game” and employs Kinect and Smart Glass. You can turn a rock into a pet… and water into wine. Shitty jokes aside, this is “custom, as you go” gaming. Which is incredible.

1:23 – Project: Spark is the kind of thing I wanted to see. A clear step forward and an unexpected innovation. With that said, there will be limits and those limits will control it’s magnificence. Is this going to be an endlessly replayable and re-configurable time-waster, or will it play like a parlor trick with a limited set of options that we quickly grow tired of? Sadly, we’ll have to wait and see.

1:28 – Does anyone really care about watching other people’s gameplay videos?

1:31 – Dead Rising 3 world premiere. New town, new hero, new disappointment that we’re not getting more Frank.

1:33 – No load times and an open world. Happy to see the build-a-weapon option, though I hope they make it a bit more random. There is also a ton of driving apparently, which is awesome and once again prompts the question, “Dear Rockstar, when the fuck are you going to give us some GTA/zombie bonus content?”

The game looks good from the gameplay, but the main character’s movements are still blocky like a video game character. There is no fluidity, which takes you out of the experience when watching his run and jump and attack with the same basic set of movements.

Using Smart Glass to call in support feels like cheating.

1:41 – The Witcher 3 looks like a pretty solid RPG, but I need to see more.

1:42 – Battlefield gameplay trailer at 60 FPS. I gotta give it up to Microsoft, they are certainly bringing it in terms of showing us gameplay.

1:43 – Assuming they can actually get the clip to play.

1:46 – Battlefield 4 environments look beautiful, specifically the water effects. FPS gameplay looks tight, but as with all FPS, you have to have it in your hand to know if it is for you.

1:49 – Map pack to debut on Xbox One first for Battlefield 4. Is that all EA is showing? Really expected to see some sports titles, but perhaps they blew their wad during the Reveal Press Conference.

1:53 – I can’t be the only one whose eyes got WIDE as the hood fell back and Master Chief was revealed, right?

1:55 – Halo FPS on Xbox One in 2014.

1:59 – Titalfall looks rather good, I swear I thought it was an Elysium tie-in game when the trailer started.

1:57 – Pricepoint announcement: Xbox One will cost $499.99. Probably not unanticipated, but will you pay it? Based on what I’m seeing here, I am intrigued, I am FAR more excited about this system then I was after the Reveal, but there are still too many questions and too many other possible expenses for me to say, “Yes, certainly.”

Maybe that will change, but for now, I am still wait and see on the Xbox One, but a lot closer to where they need me and other consumers to be.

2:05 – That’s the end of the presentation, be sure to check out our PS4 Liveblog later tonight.

No Comments

Yesterday we were all blown away by the amazing reveal of Microsoft‘s next-gen console, Xbox One. No, wait, sorry, that’s what I imagined would happen, while in fact we were unbelievably underwhelmed. If you haven’t already, do read Jason Tabrys’ breakdown of the Xbox One reveal and how it single-handedly dashed all our hopes and dreams the next generation of consoles weren’t going to suck. Sony, the ball’s in your court.

Hey, speaking of courts and balls and other sport-related things, what was with all the sports talk at this presentation? And television? Who even watches live TV anymore? Has Microsoft not been introduced to DVRs? On-Demand? Streaming? VideoGamerTV hilariously abridges the Xbox One reveal down to its core components: TV, sports, and the Call of Duty dog. Give it a watch,

DOOOOGGGGSSS! If the Xbox One doesn’t come pre-packaged with the equipment needed to mo-cap your own dog using the Kinect 2.0, I’m setting it on fire.

Comment (1)

Maybe this will all change once we get a better look, but right now, you can just smell the disappointment, can’t you? As a semi-spoiled half-futurist, I think it’s safe to say that I expected more from the last big reveal of this new console generation. That’s Microsoft’s curse. They get to close the stitch on the wound of dashed hope that was borne by an unreal set of expectations for a generation that feels like a placeholder.

No real 3-D, no holo-gaming, no photorealism, and I can’t control Master Chief with the power of my mind? Fucking bullshit.

To make matters worse, we don’t even know the depths of their possible failure because they mostly refrained from showing us real and sustained gameplay; something that has become the norm in an industry that fetishizes worthless cinematics whenever they try to rap at their audience about a new property or a re-dressed old property.

Speaking of re-dressed old properties, Microsoft probably should have embraced a Kinect re-brand in light of the tepid response that the original received.

Despite what the industry tells us, motion gaming still feels nascent with a full potential achievement that remains unlocked — the fucking wand, the twitchy camera bar, the irrelevant Wii U that bleeds relevancy from a shallow well more and more everyday — reset and rebuild, but don’t deliver unto me a corpse with sprinkles on it.

The boys in the lab over at Bill Gates’ jolly green giant project are putting a lot of burden on the back of the Kinect, further committing to the wonder of voice control, recognition, and the Kinect’s ability to now (allegedly) recognize real, human body movement as well as eye movement and the beat of our hearts and fuck that is a little creepy.

“I’ve detected weakness Dave, initiating extermination function zero. Good bye Dave.”

It’s not all bad though, the Snap function — that allows users to watch live TV (through their cable system) and split screen web search — is kinda cool, but it only pulls even with PC and Tablet capability. Again, dashed expectations pepper this reveal because we won’t see an outlet for high volume ambition in gaming like this for half a decade — at minimum — and by then, Apple will have us live streaming Downton Abbey from an antenna in our assholes.

It’s funny, to Microsoft, this is a victory. They’re calling this thing the ONE most likely because they plan on selling it to you as the ONE device that you will need and that is the holy grail: ONE device to make all others obsolete, but this isn’t that. This is just another ONE, and I already have enough other ones that do 90% of what this one does. Prettier ones that don’t look like an Atari 2600 briefcase with a massive footprint.

You’ll need to hang on to that old 360 if you want to play your old games, by the way. The Xbox One doesn’t do backwards compatibility, but on the bright side, Microsoft did recognize that people didn’t want to be online all the time, especially if they just wanted to embrace the “single player, close out the outside world” experience that is a under-celebrated but hugely important part of gaming. So the system won’t need to be online all the time, though obviously, a great part of the One’s bells and whistles comes from full connectivity and an Xbox Live membership so that we can have that “relationship” with our TV that the introductory add teased. By the way, I’m pretty sure that you also need to love sports to enjoy your Xbox One, because FUCK did they hammer the head off that nail.

As for gameplay, I have to assume that it will also be a large part of this new system, but as I said before, we didn’t get anything approaching a significant look at that in this presentation… the one that mostly felt like a needless E3 appetizer.

Sure, we know that there will be a new Forza game and that Modern Warfare: Ghost has a mo-cap dog and fancy sounding volumetric lighting, but as a gamer, there was little here for me and right now, that just about sums up this next generation as a whole.

Incremental innovation, empty hype and a lot of redundancy — right now, this future looks bent. Wake me when the PS5 gets announced.

UPDATE: Now reports are surfacing that the Xbox One will indeed need to be connected to the net once daily and — though there is a bit of confusion on this — it seems like there will be some kind of fee associated with playing used games. Fees that could range from $40-$60.

UPDATE 2: Regarding the used game fee, Major Nelson has responded, saying:

We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we’ve confirmed today. While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.

Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.

Another piece of clarification around playing games at a friend’s house – should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile.

Comments (14)

Amongst the announcements at Microsoft’s unveiling of the new X-Box One this afternoon (Nerd Bastards will have more about it throughout the afternoon and evening), was the somewhat unexpected announcement that there would be a new Halo project coming soon that would have nothing to do with the new console.

After years of trying to get a live-action movie going, most notably under producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp, it seems that Microsoft is teaming up with no less than Steven Spielberg to turn Halo into a live-action TV series. Microsoft tweeted that Spielberg will also direct, but that likely means that Spielberg will direct the pilot before turning over those duties to others.

Why a TV series, and why now? Interesting questions. Right now, there’s no launch date for the series, and there’s no network or outlet announced to be air the eventual series. Microsoft reps have said though that they want this to look like a premium show a la Game of Thrones, which is a pretty big yard stick to measure themselves by, but at this point the series could end up on broadcast, cable, or online.

As to why, one of the reasons that the plug was pulled on the movie was because Microsoft wanted more creative control on the project. Producing a TV series probably gives them that.

Anyway, more news as it develops.

Source: Geek Nation

No Comments

Subscribe on iTunes

Listen on Stitcher

Subscribe via RSS

Download

This week on The Bastardcast: Jason and Jeremy return from their tour of Yo Momma to talk about the big drama surrounding a little bit of peen in Saga #12, a Game of Thrones fan’s Craigslist enabled sexy time fantasy, and world renowned sugar-tit enthusiast Mel Gibson’s possible directorial return for The Expendables vs. The Macabees: A Time Travel Adventure, aka Expendables 3.

Also on the show: Would you have sex with a robot? 9% of you would according to a new poll and apparently 50% of our adventurous hosts would as well. So, yeah, we’ll be dedicating some time to discuss Cylon banging.

No Comments

Unless you’re a video game recluse you’ve by now heard Sony has officially announced the PS4. While Nintendo’s Wii U has already been available for months, it’s the PS4′s release this holiday season that really signals the beginning of the next generation of gaming consoles. Sorry, Wii U, but serious gamers just don’t care. Shit, serious gamers use PCs, so they don’t give a fuck about all this next-gen talk anyway.

The ball is now in Microsoft‘s court, what will they be offering up to counter the substantial updates of the PS4? It’s been rumored we’d learn about Microsoft’s next-gen console by GDC, the Game Developers Conference on March 25th, but maybe we’ll see something even earlier. Eventcore, an event organizing company Microsoft has worked with in the past, just registered the domain XboxEvent.com. Visiting the site will get you nowhere, but the fact it’s been registered at all is raising some questions. And honestly, I don’t think anyone believed Microsoft would stay quiet about the Xbox 720 or whatever it is for long.

What do you guys think? Will Microsoft be announcing their next-gen console soon in order to steal a little of Sony’s thunder?

Source: Geek Tyrant

No Comments

Bungie, creator of the mega-hit Halo franchise,  has a new game on the block. Destiny is the first project Bungie will put out since the break with Microsoft after Halo:Reach.  Destiny is a “Shared World Shooter” a combination of the traditional first person shooter game and the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). Bungie hopes to bring the best of both styles of play together in Destiny.

The storyline is set in the distant future as the last warriors of Humanity struggle to protect the last safe city on the planet from the mysterious enemies that destroyed all of human kinds colonies on other worlds. The open-world game will allow players to explore those colonies and travel to and explore other planets. Bungie is planning for this game world to be one of the largest ever created for an MMORPG.

The game will include both competitive and cooperative single-player and multiplayer modes. The game’s modes are designed to “seamlessly merge” together and won’t feature the traditional multiplayer matchmaking like you might see in Call of Duty or Halo and other online games. It will be interesting to see what these changes might bring.

Bungie put together this video to help describe and explain the game play in this massive new online project:

Right now, the game is currently in only in development for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 with no release date as of yet. I’m a traditional PC gamer so I’m hoping that platform won’t be ignored by developers.

There’s some concept art that has been released to the Internet below, and you can head over to Polygon to check out the full rundown of the game and additional pics.

Via: Blastr

Comment (1)