Re: Miscellaneous Next-Gen Gaming thread

[Guest]

Yes, the Game DVR and Upload Studio features are really for capturing short game clips, making it quick and easy for anyone to make a video, e.g. drive a great lap on Forza, make a 2 min clip of it and share it for everyone to see. The Twitch streaming app is there for live streaming and recording of footage. But for making long, custom videos with custom graphics, music etc, a hardware capture device is a still the best option.

[Turbo Power 77]

Bawbags.

So even on release of Youtube uploading, it would still be easier for me to invest in this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-Component-Converter-Supports-Lifetime/dp/B002C7CCJ6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1383042947&sr=8-3&keywords=hdmi+component

What capture card have you got? Mines is component rather than HDMI which will deem it useless for the Xbox One.

[Guest]

Blockbuster have gone into administration and won't be fulfilling Xbox One (or PS4) pre-orders.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-29-blockbuster-back-in-administration-for-second-time-this-year

People should've gone to ShopTo...

[Ax4x Kane]

Holy crap. I really dodged a bullet. I used to get everything from Blockbuster, but the store near my house closed.

MAGiC, did you order from Blockbuster?

[Guest]

No, ShopTo thankfully and getting the version with a free copy of Forza 5 for £429, great deal!

[Ax4x Chaddy]

I can get a Xbox one out of ASDA for £386  

[Hainesy]

Seeing as Trevor and myself got our hands on the Xbox One and a few of the release games I thought I'd do a little preview as to what to expect:

The Pad

I've heard elsewhere that "it’s bigger" or "it’s smaller" than the current 360 pad but to be honest it seemed exactly the same size to me with the only noticeable difference being the way the bumper buttons curve around, blending in with the overall look. The triggers, and this may be just me, seemed to have a little less travel. The thumbsticks are an improvement, zero dead zone, a little shorter than the 360 ones which gives the impression of less travel and are also bit easier to move about (around 25% less force required). Of course the major upgrade is the rumble feature in the triggers, and I can report that these work flawlessly, giving you another input into what your car/character is doing. The rumble is so strong that I recommend investing a lot of money into Duracell shares as you will be going through them like no ones business. One other thing to mention is the D-Pad, the 360 pad's bane, which is a vast improvement. Overall it is an improvement in quality but at the same time users of the 360 pad will feel immediately at home.

Forza 5

Gorgeous graphics are instantly noticed but the biggest change in this game is the difficulty. Turn 10 appear to have made Forza 5 more simulation than any previous incarnation of the series which should sit well with the TORA crowd. The rumble feature on the triggers works flawlessly and seems designed for driving games with you getting instant feedback on what your tyres are going through. It’s going to take some getting used to but should make for a more rewarding experience. I can see the top drivers creating a bigger gap, lap time wise, to the rest of the pack due to the extra skill involved.

Dead Rising 3

Now then, this is where next-gen comes into its own. I don’t think we are going to see a massive leap in graphics quality as the 360 already pumps out amazing looking games, next-gen is (imo) going to be about things such as game-world size along with the amount of things/characters on the screen at any given time, and Dead Rising 3 has literally hundreds of zombies on the screen without a hint of slowdown, something current-gen machines struggled with. That being said the graphics on this game are simply amazing with everything looking so sharp they may cut you.

Ryse

Well, we all have seen how stunning this game looks graphically so I won’t even talk about that here. The main criticism about Ryse was that it had far too many QTE’s in the combat and required little skill. I can say now I’ve played it that this isn’t the case, I didn’t see one QTE (admittedly only the Gladiatorial mode was playable) and it certainly is not a button basher. It takes skill to survive when you’re facing multiple opponents with the AI seeming to initiate flanking manouvers. This, along with DR3, are probably THE stand-out games in the launch line up.

Kinect 2.0

This bit of kit really surprised me with what it could do as I’m one of the worlds biggest Kinect 1 bashers. It’s really responsive, even down to recognising if your smiling as well as detecting your heart-rate (something survival horror games could utilise with different types of music depending on your heart-rate). Somehow, possibly through witchcraft, it even detects what leg you’re putting more pressure on, and the amount of pressure being used. Something that made me laugh was when me and Trevor were watching someone else go through the tutorial. Trevor was standing to the side, about 15ft back, and the Kinect recognised him and he popped up on screen. Now, the Xbox demonstrator was cycling through what the Kinect can see and this happened to be on the “stick-man” view and it looked like Trevor had swallowed a basketball with a big circle over his middle section  . To sum up, give it a chance and it will surprise you.

I did play Killer Instinct but am not qualified to talk about it really as Ive never been into fighters of that ilk. I will say it looked great and was very responsive on the new D-Pad. Never got a chance to have a go on Battlefield 4 or Fifa 14 as that was where the annoying kids were, and they weren’t moving for no-one. Both looked very nice though.

[Guest]

Great write-up Hainesy

I'd recommend getting a decent length micro-USB to USB cable for the controller instead of batteries (or use one of a phone/tablet charger etc). With a micro-USB cable plugged in, the controller goes into full wired mode and the controller inputs etc are sent down the wire instead over wireless, pretty cool how it can be both a wireless or wired controller.

Seems that everyone thinks the physics in Forza 5 are harder to drive - I was worried they'd dumb it down and make it easier, but if anything it looks like they've pushed it further towards iRacing level of simulation. I'm guessing smoother, more precise driving will be rewarded more on Forza 5, controlling the weight transfer and tyre loading.

I think Forza 5 and Battlefield 4 will keep me amused for the next 5 months until Titanfall anyway!

[CQR Aero]

Great write up Hainesy! I will echo Mark and suggest getting a long micro USB to USB cable. I got one a few months ago so I could charge my phone whilst still having it in reach of my sofa, so will probably use that (3m cable from Maplin was about £8 if I remember right).

[Hainesy]

Cheers and yep, I'll be getting one of those cables. I use the plug & play cable on the 360 pad atm because I reckon it gives you slightly better response times.

[Turbo Power 77]

I can get a Xbox one out of ASDA for £386  

Lucky bugger!

[Guest]

Cheers and yep, I'll be getting one of those cables. I use the plug & play cable on the 360 pad atm because I reckon it gives you slightly better response times.

You know what, I noticed exactly the same thing (even though the 360 still sends the data wirelessley even when on plug and play, it definitely felt more responsive to me!). Then I just got a wired controller instead, even more responsive!

[Guest]

Well I found a spare micro-USB cable, thinking it may be a bit short for comfortable gaming though...

[Hainesy]

Just get this arm extension kit and you'll be fine Mark

[Ax4x Kane]

Just pre-ordered Battlefield 4 & Need For Speed: Rivals for X1 from Amazon. Here's hoping ShopTo can deliver the console on my 18th Birthday

[Beanz]

Well I found a spare micro-USB cable, thinking it may be a bit short for comfortable gaming though...

Think of the good bits, it'll seem like you've got a bigger telly!

[Guest]

Microsoft are going to DIRECTLY fulfil Blockbuster Day One XB1 pre-orders, but you must apply by midnight tomorrow:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/436941/blockbuster-uk-will-now-honour-xbox-one-and-ps4-pre-orders/

[Guest]

Check your emails - Xbox are giving away free versions of Killer Instinct and for some very lucky people, an Xbox One & Forza 5. I got Killer Instinct

"Xbox is rewarding loyal Xbox LIVE members by giving away a free version of Killer Instinct with all of the characters unlocked and if you're really lucky a free Xbox One with Forza 5.

Only a few reports of the free console have surfaced so far, however many more are currently receiving emails to reward them with a copy of Free-To-Play title Killer Instinct with all of the characters unlocked.

Have you received an email yet?"

http://www.shopto.net/news/44580/Xbox-rewarding-customers-with-Killer-Instinct-and-in-some-cases-a-free-Xbox-One-with-Forza-5

[CQR Jono]

Have you received an email yet?"

Nope - had an interesting e-mail from Ann Summers though  

[Beanz]

Have you received an email yet?"

Nope - had an interesting e-mail from Ann Summers though  

Was about that bag of dildos you had to return as they turned out to be fire extinguishers?

[Richy59]

Rather disappointed that PS4 is removing MP3 playing ability, CD playing ability and Media Server access. That is one of the main uses of my PS3, so pretty bad news tbh.

[Beanz]

Why would they do that?!

[CQR Myles]

It's so you have to subscribe for Sonys dedicated services

[Guest]

Full demo of the Xbox One interface and dashboard. Game DVR features from 7 minutes in (one option lets you use the Kinect camera to overlay a picture in picture video commentary screen).

[Hainesy]

Full demo of the Xbox One interface and dashboard. Game DVR features from 7 minutes in (one option lets you use the Kinect camera to overlay a picture in picture video commentary screen).

Just watched that, was about to post it here but you beat me to it lol, and it seems that everything really is as fast as MS have been telling people. Naysayers will still say it was all staged though.  

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