Tag: console wars

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Gamer News

Sonic Mercury Mortal Kombat X,Mortal Kombat X

Mortal Kombat X Revealed

 

Hey, so uh, yeah its official. Mortal Kombat X is real! An announcement trailer has surfaced today featuring staples of the franchise Sub-Zero and Scorpion battling it out in a winter forest setting. The two donned costumes that were reminiscent of their original ninja designs yet they appeared updated and far more detailed than ever before. The end of the trailer teases a 2015 release. With that info in mind I think it is safe to say that this trailer is not in game footage but likely a CG rendering of what we can expect in the new game.

Based on the “kombat” shown it looks like the x-ray attacks from the last game will be present. It looks like the game will again be 2.5D in presentation meaning a 2 dimensional presentation in a 3D environment. This means no side stepping but the character models and levels will still be rendered in 3D. (More confused? or less?) Think Street Fighter’s presentation versus Tekken’s. The environment seems to play a bigger role this time as both Scorpion and Sub-Zero were shown interacting with trees during their battle, bouncing off of their trunks and using their branches as weapons. Individual character weapons appear to be making a comeback as well.

The setting of a snowy forest at night is noticeably less fantastical than in previous games. It looks like Scorpion and Sub-Zero are fighting in an actual forest. The overall atmosphere is darker than in previous games and the tone is serious. Despite Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s magical powers it is the most realistic MK rendition I have seen. I won’t spoil it for you but the fatality shown at the end of the trailer is just brutal.

IGN reports that every match played in MKX will have an impact on the online portion of the game. Most interesting is that it is being reported players will be able to select different versions of the same characters, effecting both strategy and fighting style. Mortal Kombat X is said to feature an original story encompassing both classic and completely new characters in the fight of good versus evil. Luckily MKX will be on show next week at E3 so we will not have to wait long to learn more about this title. Mortal Kombat X will be available on PS4, PS3, XBOX One, XBOX 360 and the PC.

Here is the link to the announcement trailer for Mortal Kombat X as posted on the Mortal Kombat Community YouTube page.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Gamer News

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Microsoft to Make Kinect Optional for XBOX One

Starting June 9th of this year you will be able to pick up an XBOX One sans the Kinect motion sensor. This is good news for many people who were turned off by the peripheral. For starters the Kinect-less XBOX One will be available for $399, dropping the cost by $100 and matching the price of its biggest competitor the PS4. More good news for XBOX One consumers is that the console supposedly will have its performance boosted by freeing up memory designated to running the Kinect.

This was a much desired concession made by Microsoft that critics of the Kinect have wanted since day one. However the decision seems to have been abrupt as multiple developers who were working on XBOX One and Kinect titles have expressed disdain. Everyone developing anything for the XBOX One less than a few weeks ago were under the impression that Kinect was a mandatory part of the system. Some developers are currently creating games that exclusively use Kinect controls and they will definitely see an impact on sales now that the Kinect install base will shrink. Even the XBOX One interface has been retooled as it was designed to function with the Kinect.

While removing the Kinect is a popular decision within the hardcore gaming community it still seems a shame that Microsoft has made it optional. I know that I was someone who in the beginning was fiercely opposed to the Kinect but now I feel like the last part of Microsoft’s identity has been lost. Games that specifically only use Kinect controls don’t necessarily appeal to me but I can’t help wondering now how a future XBOX One exclusive may have took advantage of the Kinect’s unique features to create an experience only available on the XBOX One.

There are a few reasons as to why Microsoft may have chosen to remove the Kinect so swiftly. The PS4 is still outselling the XBOX One and Titanfall didn’t turn out to be the system seller Microsoft hoped it would be. Forbes estimates that if current trends keep up the XBOX One will have close to half the install base of the PS4 by the holiday 2014 season. This information combined with the fact that XBOX One cost $100 more than the PS4 fueled the decision makers at Microsoft to make a drastic decision. Once the decision was made to make Kinect optional Microsoft felt it better to make the news public as quickly as possible as to dissipate some of the negativity that might have been associated with this move before E3.

I’m sure that the XBOX One will still have some amazing exclusive content without the Kinect and the price drop is definitely favorable. My concern now is that in removing the Kinect has the XBOX One become too similar to the PS4? With less to differentiate itself from the PS4 will the price cut be enough to persuade consumers away from the highly popular PS4? Finally does the removal of mandatory Kinect herald the end of motion gaming?

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Gamer News

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Nintendo will not be holding a traditional conference at E3 for the second year in a row. Instead Nintendo is opting for a similar approach to last year’s E3. Nintendo will have a presence at E3 showing off new software and hardware on the showroom floor but instead of the traditional conference they will broadcast an E3 specific online special called the “Nintendo Digital Event.” Along with the “Digital Event” Nintendo will be broadcasting live all 3 days from E3 from the “Nintendo Treehouse.” Nintendo will also be holding a Super Smash Bros Tournament during E3 among 16 high skilled players. Like last year, Nintendo will again have a presence in Best Buys across the country. This year the new Smash Bros will be playable on the Wii U for fans to try at participating Best Buys nationally.

I think the original reasoning for Nintendo to take this approach last year had a lot to do with the extreme hype and momentum Sony and Microsoft were carrying into last year’s E3. It also had to do with the fact that the Wii U was tanking and overall Nintendo hardware sales were down. Opting out of a traditional conference felt like Nintendo bowing out of the ring to let Sony and Microsoft duke it out for console supremacy, and to an extant that is what happened. On the other hand this new approach by Nintendo is perhaps more clever than credited. The Wii U is still tanking. Even after Nintendo severely cut yearly sales expectations the Wii U still failed to meet the quota. It’s no secret that while the Nintendo DS is still selling well, Nintendo as a whole is hemorrhaging money.

Foregoing the traditional conference saves Nintendo money. By having a live Nintendo specific channel in the “Nintendo Treehouse,” Nintendo has guaranteed coverage of everything it wants to show off during the entirety of E3. They don’t have to rely on third party outlets like IGN or Rev3Games to provide coverage on their products. This way Nintendo can ensure anything and everything they want to show off will get full coverage. The downside is that it is largely possible the only people who will tune in to the “Nintendo Treehouse” are the hardcore Nintendo fans, people who already own the Wii U, and therefore a limited audience with limited potential to grow the console install base. Showcasing a new game at local Best Buys has more potential to reach a larger audience and is a cool way to try to share the E3 experience with people who may never get to go to the actual expo.

In the end Nintendo does have fairly deep pockets so it is unlikely they will be going anywhere soon. Will this new approach to E3 payoff in the long run? If nothing else at least Nintendo is making headlines by changing it up. I mean I wrote this post right here about it. There was a rumor circulating recently that Nintendo might unveil a new console this year and just cut their losses entirely with the Wii U. I find this really hard to believe as research and development for a new console is really expensive and Nintendo is no stranger to struggling hardware. Outside of the Wii, the N64 and the Gamecube both had modest install bases compared to their competitors. E3 2014 starts June 10th this year and thus another chapter in gaming is only a month away. Where Nintendo’s story goes from there is anyone’s guess.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Gamer News

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The Game Developers Conference or GDC begins March 17th in San Francisco. Surely there will be all kinds of fresh video game related news to report on. In the meantime I would like to shine light on a rumor floating around from multiple sources in the cyberspace right now regarding virtual reality. Of course the concept of virtual reality is nothing new having been the inspiration for hardware manufacturers and fictional mediums for many years. However the hype died down after a surge of interest in the late nineties as the tech just couldn’t meet expectations.

 

Over the last few years there has been a resurgence of interest in virtual reality. This resurgence was culminated by the emergence of the VR headset prototype the Oculus Rift. The hardware though flawed and a bit buggy was optimistically reviewed by many gaming enthusiasts and industry vets alike stating that with fine tuning, the Oculus Rift experience could potentially become a viable platform for exciting new applications for gaming and other software.

 

Current rumors suggest that Sony plans to enter the virtual reality arena. Supposedly not only has Sony been developing a virtual reality headset for some time now but multiple sources including Forbes, IGN and Gamespot suggest this new piece of hardware will be unveiled at this year’s GDC. Furthermore the Sony VR headset is said to be designed for use with the PS4 and that some developers have already had dev-kits for the new hardware for over a year now.

 

Recently I was able to have a hands on experience with the Oculus Rift VR headset playing a modified version of Slender. The graphics weren’t the best but the headset combined with a pair of headphones were very effective in conveying an interactive experience. Even in a crowded room it was really easy to become completely engrossed in the game. It actually was almost too easy to become entranced in the game and forget my surroundings. As someone who is always curious about new gaming hardware I found the immersion level of the Oculus Rift fairly impressive.

 

Sony’s rumored VR headset is supposedly superior to the Oculus Rift hardware. With GDC less than a week away hopefully some facts will emerge and we can shed some light on the truth behind these rumors soon. For more on this story and other gaming news subscribe to Sonic Mercury’s mailing list at the bottom of the page.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Video Game News

Its not looking good for the XBOX One in Europe right now.  The PS4 is currently outselling Microsoft’s newest console at a rate of about 3:1. Currently sales for the XBOX One are only slightly higher than that of the Wii U in Europe. To give you a little perspective here are some recent sales numbers based on weekly hardware comparison charts from VGChartz.com. The Wii U and the XBOX One are both averaging around 11 to 13 thousand units sold per week. Meanwhile the PS4 is averaging sales around 60 thousand units per week.

 

To add insult to injury the PS3 has been outselling the XBOX One in Europe since early December. Granted recent numbers show the PS3 only outselling the XBOX One by a small margin but anyway you do the math it doesn’t bode well when your brand new next gen console is struggling against the fledgling Wii U and actually being outsold by another console that is going on 8 years old.

 

Finally just to bring the story home sales figures for the month of February indicate PS4 sales in the US outselling the XBOX One 2:1. Which is a fairly significant reveal considering the US is Microsoft’s home market.

 

Just as a side note the most anticipated title for the XBOX One Titanfall is slated to release globally next week and should potentially help sales of the new console. Titanfall was the highlight for XBOX One at last years E3 conference. Developer Respawn opted to forgo a single player mode to concentrate on a rich mutliplayer experience incorporating single player elements such as a plot and NPC’s. [ Non Playable Characters ] Certainly not the first video game to be exclusively online it is interesting to note that both publisher EA and developer Respawn have recently announced that the game will not be made available in the South African region due to a supposedly poor internet infrastructure.

 

Regardless of how big a chunk the South African region makes up for XBOX One sales Microsoft could certainly use all the help it can get to gain some traction against the PS4. The final thing to note about Titanfall is that it will also be available on PC which certainly will cut into potential XBOX One sales as it is far cheaper to buy a computer game than an entire console plus a brand new game. Right now worldwide sales of the PS4 have surpassed 6 million consoles and over 13.7 million games. Microsoft has not released recent sales numbers but it is estimated they have shipped about 3.5 million consoles worldwide.

 

For upcoming news on the console wars and other video game news subscribe to the SonicMercury.com mailing list at the bottom of the page.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Video Game News

It seems that Nintendo is starting to acknowledge the dramatic state the company is really in. With projected sales figures for the Wii U dropping from 9 million units sold to just 2.8 million on the year. Even the highly touted Nintendo 3DS is having projected sales cut from 18 million down to roughly 13.5 million.

 

President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata was recently quoted in saying that the company would consider mergers and acquisitions as an option. The President is also reportedly taking a 50% pay cut due to the poor sales of the Wii U. Intel and sales models are something that Nintendo is intent on completely overhauling as they also stated that they really had no idea what to expect performance wise from a product until after it has hit the market.

 

Things at the moment are definitely not going well for the video game legend. Could it be that we will soon see an era where Mario and his pals will continue their famed adventures on other consoles? Could Mario and his friends have a similar fate as Sonic who has had a long suffering in a purgatory of mediocre games ever since Sega left the console market to become a 3rd party developer? Whatever happens these recent revelations about Nintendo can not be comforting for long time fans of the legendary video game company. For more on this story and more like it bookmark SonicMercury.com.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Next-Gen News

I had a quick paragraph prepared about how both PS4 and XBOX One have sold over 1 million consoles in their first 24 hours of availability. Their is also this strange thing where both Sony and Microsoft congratulated each other on their respective console launches via twitter. I was then just going to make a comment about how it looks like both consoles are off to a good start and it looks like another great era of gaming has begun. That was pretty much all I was going to write, however there is just one small detail Microsoft neglected to mention. Yes they did sell over 1 million consoles in the first 24 hours of the XBOX One’s launch marking the biggest release ever for a Microsoft console but what Microsoft didn’t mention was that their console launched simultaneously in 13 different countries including the U.S. and Canada while the PS4 has only launched in the U.S. and Canada thus far. While both Sony and Microsoft had record sales for day 1 console launches Sony still has the rest of the world in which to launch the PS4. It will be interesting to see how the consoles fair at the end of the holiday season of this year but if I were a betting man I would say it looks like Sony might have a strong lead in console sales at the end of this year anyway. For more on all things Playstation and XBOX bookmark SonicMercury.com.

 

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Playstation 4 News

The Playstation 4 has arrived, and in high demand. Sony had reported record pre-orders for the new console and the official U.S. release of the PS4 looks to be record breaking as well.  More than 1 million Playstation 4’s were sold within the first 24 hrs of its release last Friday November 15th. The PS4 will be the only next-gen console on the market until the November 22nd release of the XBOX One. It will be interesting to see what kind of sales momentum the PS4 will maintain after the release of its main competitor. In the meantime the PS4 still has the rest of this week to enjoy its moment in attempting to shatter record breaking sales in the United States. It is important to note the console has yet to release in any other region as of this posting.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Nintendo News

Nintendo has announced the Wii mini, a miniature version of the Wii will be available to the U.S. this holiday season and should retail at about $99. The Wii mini is a bare minimum of the console offering no online functionality it does however come with a copy of Mario Kart Wii in the bundle at no extra charge. The Wii mini is part of Nintendo’s plans to promote “low cost gaming.” Most likely the Wii mini arriving in the U.S. has a lot to do with the less than stellar performance of the Wii’s “next gen” successor the Wii U. No doubt that Nintendo is promoting the Wii mini, which was already made available in Canada in last year, to help absorb some of the losses Nintendo is taking on the Wii U. When I last reported sales of the Wii U the tally was about 3.6 million units worldwide. That number is measured from the November launch of the Wii U to June 30th with only about 550 thousand units sold between December 31st 2012 to June 30th 2013. In contrast the Nintendo Wii had sold about 9.3 million units in the same amount of time with the Wii selling just over 6 million units worldwide in the same amount of time.

 

The Wii U sales numbers have finally been reported for the time between June 30th and September 30th of this year. In this time Nintendo has sold roughly 300 thousand Wii U’s. This brings the grand total of Wii U’s sold to just over 3.9 million units worldwide as opposed to the 13.17 million units the Wii sold in the same amount of time. I have heard from various sources as well as read on multiple sites that Nintendo has projected sales of over 9 million units sold for the Wii U and will not waver from this projection. The reality is that quarter 3 or Q3 for the Wii U is in the books and in the last 9 months Nintendo has only sold about 850 thousand units. Analysts are predicting sales at about 550,000 units for the Wii U this holiday season. The bottom line is Wii U sales coming in at less than half of projection for its launch year can not be good news for Nintendo and its future in the home console market.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Resurrecting Nintendo

I just had this idea on how Nintendo can resuscitate the Wii U. First off number one don’t do a Nintendo direct for this. Do an actual press conference, someplace very public like Sony did in NYC to unveil the PS4. Nintendo should hype this idea up a lot. Launch a worldwide ad campaign all alluding to a mysterious new thing. Give the ad campaign a tone more accessible to an older audience. The final ads should read something like this, “This fall Nintendo brings the power back! Will you be ready?” then they show a release date. People across the globe freak out, speculating are they bringing back Nintendo Power magazine?!” Nintendo lets everyone simmer for a while.

 

After maybe six weeks or more of intolerable silence Nintendo holds “THE” press conference. Lots of build up, dark lit rooms, fuzzy images, news press EVERYWHERE. Then we get an extended video with high energy, maybe even with celebrity cameos all asking, “are you ready for Nintendo to bring the powerback?!” of course they all say yes! Then lights fade to black in the convention center. They start playing the theme from Terminator 2, duh duh duh duh……duh duh, duh duh duh duh…..duh duh! Everyone freaks out, partly just because everyone loves Terminator 2. A spotlight comes on the catwalk there is someone walking down it with a suitcase handcuffed to him. The music builds mixed with  the intro for “Blind” by KoRn. At the end of the catwalk there is a table and a second person pulls out a key for the suitcase and unlocks it. Their back is turned to the audience and cameras as they reach inside. At that moment the song breaks and the lyric “Are you ready?!!!” blasts across the PA system broadcasting into millions of homes around the world and the person turns around and reaches up with their hand held high. On their hand is the Powerglove! Words across the video read “for the return of the POWERGLOVE!!” But not just any Powerglove this is the Powerglove 2.0 completely redesigned and overhauled for the Wii U. Laser lights shine and the music changes to complement an energetic montage video of people having fun playing Nintendo games with the Powerglove 2.0.

 

Powerglove 2.0 has the screen like the Wii U tablet controller built directly on to it with touchscreen funtionality. All the expected features for motion gaming would come built in including actual 1:1 hand gestures just like the original Powerglove promised 25 years ago. Seeing how Nintendo banks so heavily on motion gaming this seems like a no brainer. Think of the possibilities available now with this kind of hardware. You can literally make a first person Iron Man game where you actually use your hand to shoot his blaster. How cool would it be to get messages and videos from in game characters on the screen on your arm. Better yet how great would it be to play online games and actually interact with your friends by talking to them on the forearm of your Powerglove? Combined with use of the regular Wii controller the applications are limitless. How cool would it be to actually summon a fireball with your hand in a game or dialing in codes and lock combinations you have found in the game using the touchscreen on the Powerglove 2.0?

 

For the horror fans imagine a game like Outlast about a reporter who hears strange sounds from a nearby abandoned insane asylum and decides to investigate only to discover, as many would have guessed, was a very bad idea. OK so now picture playing a game like this with some of your friends. All of you are sneaking around inside this asylum in different areas. Each of you can find objects and information to help each other escape. The catch is you have to physically tell them what you know. You have to send a message to your friend from your Powerglove monitor alerting them that you have important information to help them progress through the asylum. Maybe even make the glove vibrate whenever you get a message so as to add to the stealth element. Either way the alert lets you know that both of you need to get to a “safe” area so that you can relay the information. This could add so much to a horror experience. Think about guiding your character to an empty closet while your friend is hiding in a locker and the two of you are whispering details back and forth on the Powergloves monitor because speaking too loudly can alert enemies to your location. Maybe as you progress you can upgrade your abilities and do stuff like take in-game pictures and videos and send recorded messages to each other in the game using the Powerglove’s forearm monitor. You could even base the whole game around the Powerglove like in the game its some kind of tool given to you by your captors. They find the hunt more satisfying if their prey has a “fighting” chance. ( Powerglove aside this is a game I would like to play )

 

To be fair though videogame development is not cheap let alone hardware development and to expect such an elaborate game based on a piece of hardware you would have to have an install base considerably better than that of which the Wii U itself currently has. Research and development for a piece of hardware like the Powerglove 2.0 I just described would not be cheap for Nintendo. That being said though the reappearance of the Powerglove would be huge in the gaming community not just for Nintendo fans. There is a huge demographic of people who grew up when Nintendo ruled the world. Many of us still remember the “Nintendon’t what SEGA does!” days and no matter what console you played on everyone knew Nintendo and what the Powerglove was. Even though I am pretty sure only three games ever came out specifically for the Powerglove and the hardware was notoriously a functional disaster many people look back on the device with nostalgic fondness. Even though it didn’t work very well the glove still looked cool. The technology exists today to actually make the Powerglove everything it was supposed to be, and then some.

 

Ultimately the biggest consideration for a piece of hardware as elaborate as the Powerglove 2.0 is how to make such a piece of hardware affordable to consumers and have the hardware still be profitable. How much are you willing to spend for something like this? $100? $150? $200? If the controller was made well, functioned like I described, was sold at a reasonable price and was supported properly I think Nintendo could gain some serious ground against the upcoming PS4 and XBOX One. The nostalgia element alone would have lots of older gamers going and buying it. I would consider buying one just to have it and I don’t even have a Wii or a Wii U. If you could use the Powerglove 2.0 as a standalone game player for Wii, Wii U and Nintendo DS games and the glove is priced respectively to the console and DS markets it would considerably increase the value of owning the Powerglove 2.0. You could even play augmented reality games like laser tag with your friends. The applications already exist and the Powerglove 2.0 would be an ideal vessel for many of them.

 

In all likelihood under the current conditions of Nintendo and its newest console I would have to say the appearance of a new and improved Powerglove is not happening anytime soon. If done properly the Powerglove 2.0 could potentially be a huge hit for Nintendo. The cost of research and development for the Powerglove 2.0 definitely makes it a financial risk for Nintendo but if done right I think it could be one of the greatest gaming devices this generation. Overall something crazy like the resurgence of a new and improved Powerglove and targeting a slightly older audience are elements that could give Nintendo the spark it needs to excite console gamers again. In this era of the Oculus Rift where we are on the verge of having actual virtual reality in our homes something like the Powerglove 2.0 has the potential to give Nintendo a much needed relevance boost in the current console market.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Rumors and GTA V News!!

I was going to write about this rumor that the PS4 is 50% more powerful than the XBOX One. Many credible sources like IGN have even weighed in on this rumor all stating that the anonymous developers who are reporting this considerable discrepancy in performance seems legitimate. The problem though is that even if this rumor is completely true about the difference in performance between the XBOX One and the Playstation 4 no one making these claims has worked with the official consoles yet. All this info is coming from people using dev kits designed before the finalized versions of the consoles were put into production. Another point made by The Red Dragon over at N4G games is that many non-anonymous developers have stated that the graphics drivers for the PS4 and XBOX One have yet to be optimized. This has been frustrating for developers as it makes it hard for them to optimize graphics if the drivers are not tuned to their peak performance. It does not matter how powerful a graphics card is if the drivers are not properly set. Another point to consider is even if one console does have considerably more power, whatever that power may be graphics/processing, it is not in multi-platform developers best interests to invest money into making a game look or perform better on one console over the other, its just not cost effective.

 

The question is will one version of a multi-platform game be downgraded to match the look and performance of the game on the weaker console. The answer is no because the developers will instead look for a happy medium between the two consoles where they know that the game will perform more or less identically to each other. The games will be optimized by developers within those constraints to make sure that the game plays properly by utilizing the different hardware of the PS4 and XBOX One but the goal of developers will never be to max out hardware performance. This revelation kind of sucks but to be honest we probably should have already guessed this is how it works. We will have to look to exclusive titles if we want to get an idea of what the true performance extent is for the Playstation 4 and the XBOX One. At the end of the day though its always the console with the best games not the best specs that has the most success.

 

OK I put in my two cents on that topic now on to what’s really on your mind. Grand Theft Auto 5 comes out tomorrow. Yes the highly anticipated blockbuster series latest installment releases tomorrow! September 17th. If you want to get preorder perks today is your last day, otherwise wait til tomorrow I am sure every retailer has packed inventory to the max for this title. Rockstar developers have made an announcement today though for XBOX 360 users, they said that for optimum performance on the XBOX 360 only install the first disc for GTA V. There is an option to also install the play disc on your 360 but don’t do it as Rockstar has stated GTA V will perform best if you only install the disc designated for installation on you XBOX. Alright I hope that is clear for you. Tomorrow is GTA V day and I just want everyone to have a good time because being a gamer isn’t so much about the console but the great games we play on them. Here is a link to the review for GTA V on IGN so you can see what they think about the game before you pick it up.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Playstation News

Sony’s newest revelation is the PS Vita TV. Essentially its a Playstation Vita that lets you play Vita games on your TV screen. The device is about as big as a deck of cards and has inputs in the back of it for HDMI, Ethernet, USB, and has slots for memory cards as well as the actual Vita games. PS Vita TV can be used to stream movies from Sony specific services as well as other online content providers. Currently the device can only be controlled by a Dualshock 3 controller, with a patch coming early 2014 to allow control by a Dualshock 4 controller. Many Vita games utilize touch functionality and it is unclear how different input functions would be adjusted to Dualshock settings. Sony did say that some Vita games will not work on Vita TV.

At $100 the PS Vita TV is looking like a very affordable option to videogame fans on a budget. Much of the PS Vita library is highly acclaimed and rated favorably. With Sony’s strong relationship with indie developers and the release of triple A titles like Killzone Mercenary the Vita library of first class games continues to grow. Vita games max out at about $40 unless you are buying special bundles. If you buy the larger PS Vita TV bundle that comes with a Dualshock 3 controller and 8 gigabyte memory card it will cost you $150.

Another interesting feature of the PS Vita TV is the ability to stream the PS4 to any TV in your house. The example shown in the commercial shows a group of friends coming home to play videogames but someone is already using the PS Vita TV to watch a movie so one of the kids powers on the PS4 and hits a button on the PS Vita TV and he and his friends just go to a different room with a TV and play a PS4 game with a PS4 controller while the people in the other room continue to watch their movie uninterrupted. Not going to lie, if it works as advertised with no latency that is pretty awesome. Sony is also promising that a large portion of PS One classic games will also be available to download and play on PS Vita TV.

To be honest this was a slightly unexpected move by Sony. The recently announced more affordable $200 PS Vita redesign was expected but I doubt many predicted PS Vita TV. Even the larger $150 bundle is still half the price of a Wii U. Any ground the Ouya may have gained with the casual market has just been swiftly ripped out from under them. Sony just stepped into the Ouya’s ring and has told them to go home they just bought the venue. This is a smart move by Sony. PS Vita just became so much more integral to the Playstation ecosystem. If all the features work as advertised PS Vita TV is a very exciting hardware edition to any gaming fan. Here is a link to the commercial so you can check it out for yourself. Offering the PS Vita as a home console instantly grows its install base making the hardware more appealing to developers who might have otherwise been on the fence about the Vita. This means that the PS Vita’s already rich and growing library will likely gain more support from all developers, promising a bright and healthy future for the hardware full of new and exciting experiences.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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For the Fans!

Hey everyone the feedback has been amazing lately. I greatly appreciate the level of passion followers have. I wanted to thank everyone for supporting Sonic Mercury. When I started I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I think that I quickly found my voice. Clearly videogames have been at the forefront of my updates lately. I promise more metal and horror related articles will be included on the site to help diversify content in the future. I am thinking a top ten 80’s horror movie list is in order.

 

Gamescom was huge! So much stuff was shown off their it really was hard to break it down. Here is a quick overview. Someone at the Sony conference said something like “unlike others, we have had a clear path for our new console.” There was outrage. People were like “Cheap shot!” “ohhh Sony slams Microsoft again!” “Scandalous!!” Honestly at this point who cares? Microsoft messed up really bad and burned a lot of bridges with gamers around the world. Whats done is done. Lets get on with what we all really care about, the shiny new consoles and their respective videogames. Nonetheless people definitely tried hard to make this one comment in a 90 minute presentation a big deal. Seeing the comment in context it sounded to me like the speaker was just saying that they have been focused with the PS4 and the path Sony was taking with their new console. Anyone who saw this as a major jab at Microsoft was reaching.

 

The PS3 slim model will have a limited edition model available next year in the color blue. Special Microsoft employee  only editions of the XBOX One were shown off and they will be white. What is it about videogame consoles in different colors that makes them more desirable? Is it that we actually like the other colors or is it more just owning something that others don’t? “I have a new console!” “That’s cool, I have it to but mine is blue.”

 

Lets see other news from Gamescom. Battlefield 4 reportedly looks a lot worse than expected in the port from high end PC’s to the PS4 and XBOX One editions. This is very disappointing news considering the game is highly anticipated and every demo of the game up until the Gamescom hands on demo were visually impressive.

 

The new revamped Dualshock 4 controller for the PS4 received positive feedback at Gamescom with many FPS fans saying they would now be more likely consider playing first person shooters on the PS4 in the future.

 

Lots more happened at Gamescom but there are some highlights for you. Thanks again to everyone who has been following Sonic Mercury and I promise plenty more content on the way. Look for more info on Sonic Mercury’s new YouTube channel SonicMercuryTV in the next few weeks. Bookmark SonicMercury.com for more unique perspectives on videogames, horror, and heavy metal.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

 

 

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gamescom 2013

Tomorrow, August 21, is the start of this years gamescom. The event has been held annually in Cologne, Germany since 2009. E3 is a big deal but Gamescom is the worlds largest gaming event. Gamescom is different than E3 because it is open to the public where as E3 is closed to the general public and is an industry only event, although if you apply early its not unlikely that a regular person could get a press pass to E3.

 

Obviously there is a lot of excitement for Gamescom this year. ( By the way really struggled with how to write it, Gamescom or gamescom because the official logo is stylized with a lowercase G. ) New consoles have been announced and their launch window is only a few months away. For Sony and Microsoft this is election year. E3 is where our potential candidates make their opening statements and this year the statements were very loud and polarized the entire gaming nation. Gamescom is like the next big debate for which console we should vote/pay for.

 

Sony to their credit really only revealed one completely new title ( The Order 1888 ) at E3 and still succeeded in one of the most exciting E3 conferences of all time with their announcements of consumer friendly policies. Microsoft on the other hand has been in a state of constant tailspin since the reveal of the XBOX One before E3. Mandatory Kinect functionality, restrictive DRM policies, poor explanations for XBOX One features and just plain arrogance on the part of former head of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment Don Mattrick did substantial damage among new and longtime gaming fans alike. Since E3 Microsoft has fought a steep up hill battle trying to win back the gaming community however recent consumer polls have shown that roughly 80% of those considering a new gaming console are in favor of Sony over Microsoft.

 

Their is plenty to look forward to this year at Gamescom. Which from the description sounds like its more like a videogame festival with rock and roll concerts and other entertainment throughout the event. Electronic Arts has promised a big announcement in regards to Europe’s largest sports franchise, so basically a FIFA 14 announcement. Earlier this summer president of Sony Entertainment Europe Jim Ryan commented when asked by a member of the press about Sony’s somewhat smaller showing of new games at E3 for Playstation hardware compared to rival Microsoft that its a long year with lots of gaming events and that Sony has a lot going on but had to hold some stuff back saying that they would still need some new stuff to show at Gamescom. Jim went on to say that the president of Sony Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment alone currently has 30 titles in development, 12 of which are brand new Intellectual Properties and overall 20 of the 30 titles in development will be shipping in the launch year of the PS4.

 

Meanwhile Microsoft interpreted the negative response to the XBOX One unveiling as having something to do with the fact that they mostly only showed the TV capabilities of their new system and not a lot pertaining to actual games. The backlash resulted in Microsoft showing a huge amount of games at E3, even the segue between game announcements had commercials for other games. Since the negative response to the XBOX One had a lot more to do with the horribly restrictive and poorly explained policies of the new system and not so much to do with the lack of games shown at its unveiling, the plethora of games shown at E3 combined with Sony really sticking it to Microsoft by announcing more consumer friendly policies and a $100 cheaper price tag, did very little to improve Microsoft’s image with consumers.

 

If Microsoft continued on the original path they had in mind for its new system it is likely that the XBOX One could very well have been known as the Damien of gaming. ( See the Omen ) Anyway Microsoft did what they did and the damage has been done. ( I still can’t believe Microsoft sent employees to BestBuy’s around the country to discourage customers from buying the Wii U. ) Policies have been overturned and management has changed. They say necessity is the mother of invention, I would have say its pretty necessary for Microsoft to show the world that they really have changed for the better and they still have great things planned.

 

Gamescom this year promises to be really memorable. Developers will be showing off their latest and greatest software. Sony will try to continue the awesome momentum it has had this year. Microsoft no doubt will try to redeem itself. One of the most interesting parts of Gamescom is that this will be the first event where regular people who aren’t press related will be able to go hands on with the PS4 and XBOX One. We will get honest feedback about how these systems really operate from people with first hand experiences. I for one can not wait to hear what they have to say.

 

There is no doubt that Gamescom is primed for some exciting announcements. I will give highlights so keep coming back to find out the latest about the greatest things from Gamescom 2013.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury