Kinect - The Future

The motion sensor device Kinect has been in stores for a good few months now and has slowly been encouraging people around the world to part with their hard earned cash. The concept is simple – play games with the movements of your body – pushing the boundaries of fun for the whole family.

I’m probably going to sound like a cynic here but the Kinect hasn’t really achieved enough so far to grab my attention. The potential is there and the ideas are starting to head in a direction where the hardware may become more appetising in the future.

The set of games currently heading the Kinect range have their focus in one of three groups. The first is the health and fitness market which allows games to show exactly what the system can achieve and how exercise at home is both fun and productive like the hugely popular Zumba Fitness. The second major group includes many varieties of games that compete for the whole family - mainly offering the quick pick up and play options. Finally the third group is still a newbie to the system and focuses on sports games that can be played from the comfort of your lounge like the recently released Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13.

These broad groups show the main targets that Kinect has focused on since its release and as you can see the hardware mainly caters to the causal gamer. It’s a hard market to break and one that Microsoft obviously looked at as an opportunity missed.

Nintendo’s Wii console has been one of the greatest examples of a casual video game success and its release in 2006 was only assisted by the global war on laziness. At the time it was a regular occurrence to see campaigns and newspapers deliver negative publicity towards what was dubbed as the ‘lazy video game population’. We were constantly being bombarded with stories about kids being fat due to excessive gaming and that their social standing suffered as well as their education. Call me an arse but I’m sure that is more the fault of their parents than a piece of entertainment. Either way the publicity didn’t hurt the volume of Wii consoles sold. As families become more health concerned the greater the market becomes for fitness based products, especially those that can be enjoyed in short doses.

In steps Kinect - Microsoft’s answer to the critics.

As much as I love the concept of an electronic fitness centre at home the fact that I can go running for free and in the sunshine means that the Kinect isn’t as appetising as it might otherwise have been. I can see why families find it useful though as it can be used at any time and can plug a game in an otherwise busy day. It works with you and the time you can personally invest into it.

Now is the time for Microsoft to expand their Kinect horizons. Hardcore gamers would love to be able to use their Kinect for more than a short burst of time and want it to be incorporated into their favourite games and this is looking like more of a possibility everyday.

With Kinect reaching a large volume of the casual market and the Xbox 360 hitting the hardcore gamers it’s fast becoming the time to merge the two together. Microsoft needs to make the Kinect more of a must-have peripheral and the only way to do this is to ensure that everyone who has an Xbox 360 has a Kinect.

We are starting to see the use of Kinect functionality filter down to the more hardcore game series of course Mass Effect 3 being the most notable release so far. Yesterday though also heralded that another of our console favourites will be introducing Kinect functions into their current gameplay. The role-playing game The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim will be getting voice input support within the next month.

Support for Microsoft’s motion sensing devise will come via a free title update that will include over 200 voice commands for everything from Dragon Shouts to Follower Commands. It doesn’t end there though as these commands can also create and load saves, access menus and manage inventories.

It’s in these small but inventive ideas that Microsoft are starting to see the potential of their motion hardware. With games like Blackwater and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier headed our way this year it’ll soon be time to get fully functioning heavy duty Kinect Games.

Imagine running around a fantasy world swinging your sword with the movement of your arms or overtaking Lewis Hamilton on your favourite F1 track – all without the use of a controller.

If the concept ideas (easily found online) are anything to go by then this whole system is shaping up to put a completely different perspective on the video game landscape. Many people have said that Kinect is the future of entertainment and judging by it’s resounding approval you would be stupid to bet against it.

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Bioware DLC Update

In a response to the huge fan feedback BioWare have decided to extend the ending of their ever popular Mass Effect franchise but the problems didn’t stop there. It’s safe to imply that this article will include several major storyline spoilers for those that haven’t finished the game and will touch on many aspects that cause controversy with the final instalment.

The ending of course disappointed many fans due to the lack of impact the players ‘decisions’ had on the final sequence. Many of the initial promises made by BioWare and it’s spokespersons about the branching endings were not entirely truthful; this left many people disappointed by the outcome that they’d spent 5 years affecting.

The ending of the game came down to a fairly standard 3 option decision that didn’t in any way take into account your alignment, your friendships or the characters choices you had made along the way. Without delving too far into the story it’s safe to say that the outcomes are fairly similar and full of plot holes which aren’t regular BioWare problems. In fact they are known for creating deep and fulfilling worlds.

A certain group of particularly aggravated fans launched a campaign shortly after the launch to get the ending change entirely. Their project call ‘Retake Mass Effect’ raised over $29,000 for the Child’s Play charity. Their mission statement read "We would like to dispel the perception that we are angry or entitled. We simply wish to express our hope that there could be a different direction for a series we have all grown to love."

Obviously BioWare have now taken steps to expand on their otherwise disappointing ending by introducing a free piece of DLC coming this summer. Set to include new cinematics and narrative they are hoping to clear up the issues and make the whole experience more complete.

The first batch of downloadable content for Mass Effect 3 also caused its fair share of controversy following the global launch. The From Ashes DLC was free to those whom purchased the N7 Collectors Edition but was 800 Microsoft Point to everyone else.

The probably was with the fact that this was released on day one and contained important story elements and an important squad member  when this could have been include in the standard release package. In fact EA added further problems but outlining that the characters likeness was already on the disk.

Another failed area on BioWare’s part came in the form of a rekindle romance and a lover’s photograph. Continuing to pursue Tali in Mass Effect 3 was for some fans their most anticipated endeavours pre launch and was always going to be a heavily adopted choice by many of the players.

The problem here was that if the romance was rekindled fully then a photo of her would be given to you for your captain’s quarters, sensible enough you may say. Not however if the photo was of a Human Female and not a Quarian as Tali is supposed to be. Granted we’ve never seen her face before so what do we know but many fans were outraged by the lack of attention put into the whole thing.

In fact looking for "getty images hammasa royalty" pops the photo right up on Google.

Shortly after the games worldwide release a behind the scenes video about  its development sparked further fan confusion. This showed back in 2010 BioWare were actually creating a multiplayer FPS to support the Mass Effect universe. The game was being dubbed Mass Effect Team assault and was expected to be released as a downloadable game.

The game was worked on for four months and took much of it’s inspiration from the Batlefield series and Unreal Tournament. In fact as the game progressed it developed into the Galaxy at War section of Mass Effect 3 that we are able to play today.

There have always been many issues with any of the bigger game releases but Mass Effect 3’s post launched was littered with them. Whether this was because of the absolutely enormous hype or bad game design remains to be seen but I can tell you that from what I’ve played the third instalment lives up to my anticipation.

Next time a developer fires games into space though please make sure you are a little more careful if you are going to try and chase one….

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Skyrim DLC Update Due

Skyrim has been floating along over the last 6 monhs and many people are still plugging hundreds of hours into their playthroughs. In fact the average playtime of all games on all platforms is now up to 85 hours; with 30% of all games being played exceeding the 100 hours mark.

We can therefore safely assume that this has become one of the most popular RPG of the current generation but what is around the corner to keep people playing?

Although there have not yet been any concrete downloadable content plans released we are being handed a handful of helpful hints about what Bethesda have been working towards.

On 30^th March 2012, Pete Hines tweeted, “Some things coming down the road in April for all you Rage and Skyrim fans. April is gonna have some cool news and surprises. Stay tuned."

This has basically reopened the debate on what content is heading out way.

Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax Media has apparently submitted a trademark application for  new downloadable game content. The project has been named ‘Dawnguard’ and is specifically being referred to as "computer game software for use with computers and video game consoles" and "downloadable computer game software offered via the internet and wireless devices."

Apart from this the specifics are fairly scarce and we don’t know if this will mean a new area, a new quest line or something completely different. In fact we don’t even really know if this is what it says it is.

To further add sauce to our content speculation, Todd Howard at the 2012 DICE convention said that his team had been working on a number of exciting ideas. Some of these even made it into a video package that can be found online and opened up a whole selection o ideas that could be used in the future.

The ideas shown included:

■Spears

■Kill cams for magic

■Water arrows

■Giant mud crabs

■Paralysis runes

■Seasonal foliage

■Speedy water currents

■Dragon mounts

■Dark dungeons

■Adoption of children

■Advanced home building

■Epic new mounts

■Fast travel portals

■Kinect dragon shouts

■Enhanced water visuals

■Ice and fire arrows

■Lycanthrope perk tree

■Vampire imp minions

■Goblins

Overall we still have no concrete ideas on DLC but this new news is sure to put most fans of Skyrim on the alert… watch this space!

Is there anything you would love to see in the future? Are there any areas of Tamriel that you would love to explore? Sound off in the comment section below.

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Mass Effect - The Ending

So Mass Effect 3 has received its fair share of backlash since its worldwide release last month – I’ll touch on this over the next few days. One of these particular problems was picked up by fans who outlined their disappointment with the ending of the Shepard saga – incidentally BioWare are now looking at giving the whole thing a fresh facelift.

In short BioWare have announced a patch to fix various glitches and also one to flesh out the finale.

The bug fixer will come into play tomorrow on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 but hit the PC community today.

The patch is being used to fix game crashing bugs, connectivity issues and general issues with the Mass Effect 2 facial import.

Alongside this patch will be a free multiplayer DLC offering being dubbed the Resurgence Pack which will bring with it new characters, weapons and maps to the Galaxy at War mode.

A full list of the specifics can be found on the BioWare website and also on the official Mass Effect 3 fan zone.

The ‘Extended Cut’ is due for release in the summer and is poised to address the fan’s concerns at the endgame by providing ‘greater content’ but not a whole new ending.

This DLC will feature new cinematics, epilogue scenes and expand on the current ending thus providing more details and a much clearer story.

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Gaming Baggage

I read an interesting article on IGN the other day about our dirty little gaming secrets. I mean we all have some sort of ‘Baggage’ and it would be difficult not to have some relating to our favourite pastimes.

Here I am talking about my gaming secrets, of which some have never been heard before, so feel privileged you’re reading this. These might relate to some of you too as I’m sure we all have a few games we’ve never played or stories about games that never really happened. Some of these secrets come with a level of deniability but in the age of online gaming it’s slowly becoming more and more difficult to hide the truth.

Firstly I must tell you one of my secrets that is probably one of my most shameful. It’s one of those subjects in gaming that always seems to come up in conversation and inevitably I lie (in part).

One of my favourite games series ever is Final Fantasy, mainly because I love a good Japanese RPG. I had completed the majority of them in full until I saw Final Fantasy XI and thought it was toss. I’ve never gone back to the series either which probably doesn’t make me a real fan at all. I cracked out Final Fantasy XIII but as soon as it let me explore at my own place I discarded it to the bottom of my collection forever. Maybe it was the fact that the game wasn’t holding my hand anymore but I didn’t want to grind and I’m not as hardcore as I use to be. Completing a complicated JRPG requires dedication and hours of game time – something I struggle to have.

In all honesty I’m probably not the right person to talk RPG’s with at all even if I do say it’s the genre I hold the most affection towards. I love Mass Effect, The Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age but none of these are Role-Playing Games in the sense I mean. A true role player can take on any adventure for its story and not for its action. Unfortunately action is the main reason I love these games – yes Origins did have a wonderfully crafted story but Skyrim’s was shit at best.

Actually all the RPG’s that are not action based are generally discarded shortly after I played them through. I guess I’m not a true RPG fan after all.

One of my other disappointing gaming moments came from the fact that I almost didn’t buy an Xbox 360 but had spent my time preparing to save my money for the inevitable release of the Playstation 3. I know, I know; sickening right?

What truly happened was that I completed a pre-order for the Playstation Portable device that was taking up a lot of headlines at the time. Feeling like this was the best use of my money before the next generation of Playstation was released excited me a lot and I can remember feeling like Christmas was coming sooner than usual. Anyway a few days following the official PSP release I popped into my local games retailer who told me that my fully paid pre-order slip had not been processed properly. To say I was angry was an understatement and to make things worse they told me that they could order one but it could be a couple of weeks due to demand. I was horrified and withdrew my order for a full refund straight away. The shop clerk apologised for the mistake and offered me another pre-order at a discount. In fact this offer was for an Xbox 360 at the same price I was paying for the PSP only I needed to pay a little more to ensure I got it on day one buy purchasing at least 2 other games.

Obviously I took up this offer and walked out with a day one pre-order for completely the other console I was after and with 5 games coming with it too. Let’s just say the night I got my console home and popped on Perfect Dark Zero was the day I stopped looking at Sony. That’s definitely saying something as I’d never play Perfect Dark Zero now due to how terrible it really was. Still great graphics can do that to you.

One of my other big gaming gripes is with Call of Duty… not just Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops but with the entire range of games. I would go as far as saying I hate them but in all honesty I don’t have a legitimate reason why.

This isn’t that easy to explain and I feel quite red-faced about the whole affair. I have been trying to hide this for a very long time but I’ve never really played them; at least not in full. Yes, I’ve seen them in action loads of times and they look beautiful but I like my FPS titles to have something different about them and that is where I find my first gripe.

Call of Duty looks like every other run around gunner and doesn’t feel all that polished either. Granted I have almost no Multiplayer time to stack this down to but it just seems like a fastest finger first kind of game. Maybe it’s my poor dexterity but I hated the multiplayer (at least the 1 hour I put into Modern Warfare 2).

The single player campaign sits poorly in my mind too as the over-the-top shenanigans only furthered my hatred. It’s not that Call of Duty is a bad game but I love the DICE based combat shooters much more; the vehicles, the weapons and the gameplay just seem far superior in every way – granted only in my opinion. Ok it’s not big and it’s not clever to hate a book by its cover but I do. I suck at it too which probably doesn’t help!

Another one of my big gaming failures is the fact that I have several games of various varieties sat packaged in their original plastic sleeve. The reason for this isn’t because I had anything against the games – I paid for them didn’t I – but is mainly down to increasing amount of good games being released at the same time.

It’s disappointing to buy a great game; especially one that you really want to play, only to find you get caught up in something else. It’s a realisation that I am truly having a few problems dealing with and several of you reading this will find yourselves in the same predicament I’m sure.

The scariest thing for me is that sitting here I can think of 6 Xbox 360 games currently in this state (Dead Space 2, Dragon Age: Awakening and Fallout New Vegas to name a few) each of which probably cost my on average £50.00. This doesn’t even take into account all the DS and PC games in the same condition. What an extortionate amount of money to pay for something you’ve never used… I may as well just give my money to some random person on the street instead.

Anyway one day I will get around to finishing them all in some form or other as its fast becoming an endless entertainment offering gathering dust. In fact I could pour hundreds of hours into all of these unopened games without scratching the surface of the content too much. If I don’t start playing these games now either than chances are they are going to multiply further.

And to finish I have saved probably my most personal gaming gripe and one that came a fair few years ago at the end of my N64 days. With all the press releases and next generation information floating around I came to the realisation that I needed to get rid of my games or start winding down my collection before it was too late.

I passed some of my games to friends, traded in others and generally tried to reduce the volume I had accumulated before they weren’t worth anything. I always wanted to be ahead of the curve in my teenage years and never had the fondness for classics like I do now. I played games, finished them and discarded them like yesterdays leftovers. One of these greats that I still miss to this day was WWF: NO Mercy.

In itself it is almost certainly the most complete wrestling game to date and still surpasses most of the newer iterations fairly easily. With backstage brawls, a clever character creation and a good story mode this was the WWF at i’s finest and had the longevity to produce hours upon hours of flawless entertainment.

That was until I traded it in for a mere £10.00 store credit. I mean come on what could you really pick up for £10.00 anywhere at that time let alone now?

Now to be perfectly clear although this is a great game it’s not the fact that I traded it in that I hate so much but what I traded it in for…. Shortly after putting WWF: No Mercy back in the shop I found an article confirmation that my game was worth £50.00 in cash easily and probably even more now.

In fact I actually went back to try and reclaim my game but it wasn’t there though, and is probably exactly what is deserved. The guy even said to me that ‘this will fly off the shelf’ so I should have known straight away.

So come on then - let it out; what's your secret gaming shame? Sound off in the comments.

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Are Console's Dying?

So the Video Game Industry is worth around $25 billion a year so why do we keep seeing articles on consoles being dead? I know this is scary stuff, being a gamer too the thought of losing my beloved Xbox 360 is hopefully a worry I will never have to contend with – at least not until the Xbox 720 or whatever it’s going to be called is announced, - but the hazards to the industry are very real.

So console gaming is obviously a massive market; games litter our high streets, supermarkets and online retail sections but many people still suggest that our world is suffering from an inner sickness and a sense of impending doom is rife. Many markets go underground in a spectacularly short amount of time especially those focusing on technology and entertainment. I mean look how fast VHS left us…

It has been estimated that between Sony and Microsoft there has been a massive $10 billion pounds lost since 2000 purely through their console offerings. The tools that are looking to ‘replace’ the console market aren’t that good at playing games either and obviously in most cases aren’t designed specifically with games in mind. The death of the console markets would therefore be a disaster to gaming and gamers too – Yes we have a PC at home but nothing quite feels like the pick up and play of a console controller.

The recent rumour mill circulating about the next generation of consoles has got me thinking about whether there is even a point in continuing this market – at least from manufacturing perspective. Obviously the launch period of a new machine represents the biggest risks to both the company and their partners. If they get something wrong or the advertising campaign doesn’t reach enough people then they are in for a pretty terrible time.

It’s little wonder really that the big console giants are trying to increase the shelf life of their consoles in an attempt to decease the chances of having a failure eon their hands. There are no plans for either Sony or Microsoft to show off any new machines at E3 this year which probably means that their next generations won’t hit until 2013 at the earliest.

The reason both Sony and Microsoft hit their current generation hard was due to the opportunity they had on their hands back at the turn of the new millennium. At the time they were both vying for ownership of the world’s living rooms but becoming everyone’s central hub for entertainment. 

Let’s face it that opportunity is not nearly as attractive now especially with all the new gizmos and gadgets offering their own spins on the entertainment industry. In 2000 we were still a year away from Apple launching the first iPod and thereby changing the entertainment sector or the next decade at least. In fact a lot has changed since 2000; Facebook wasn’t even created, free-to-play looked increasingly more unlikely, PC gaming was screwed and the Dreamcast was still halfway through its short life.

Back when the Microsoft and Sony were looking at the Xbox and the Playstation 2 respectively their marketing plans were very different from what they are now. They were genuinely looking at consoles as the main media hubs across the world. They expected people to use their consoles as their standard entertainment offering, communication device and at the time this seemed quite plausible.

The problem with the new console launches is that there is a much smaller opportunity than before; which is no doubt why both companies are looking at the possible USPs they could offer the general public. Obviously the risks are still there too which is why no-one has predicted that the next generation will be bigger than the current one – in fact the chances are it won’t be.

The main reason why there is this growing dread across the community is first and foremost because the manufacturers themselves don’t seem to keen to run out their next piece of hardware. Especially since history would dictate that we are well overdue their next iterations too.

 At the beginning of 2012 Nanea Reeves was mocked for suggesting that one of the big two might drop out of the console war completely. Ok, it’s unlikely but the lady has a point. Sony are exceptionally short of capital at the moment and Microsoft have only just started to claw back their start up investment from issuing their own consoles. It’s possible that they might both see an investment opportunity that they think surpasses their current console options.

One of the other major stepping blocks ahead for both Microsoft and Sony is that they really need a definite USP for selling large volumes of their new consoles, especially in the current climate. Not many people will be willing to shell out a few hundred pounds again for slightly better graphics.

The rumour mill has been ticking as normal and one of the more recent notions was for a new Xbox without a disk drive. This signals the changing reality we are having to deal with; many entertainment and technology products are coming around to the idea of downloadable or cloud gaming which may be the path that one of our console giants decides to take. Until a few days again the UK’s biggest Video Game retailer was going bust which is just another reason for us to think that spending £40.00 at your local store is a think of the past.

It’s even worse when you look at the handheld market too which apart from showing us that Nintendo are still a superpower in the industry also identifies that they are far behind the likes of the iPhone. We all keep being told that the 3DS is now a success but not in comparison to the iPhone which seems to be owned by every other person on the planet. I’ve not conformed but I can see why many have.

Maybe more surprisingly is the fact that the Wii U, the only "next generation" console that we have seen, looks a lot like a certain other Apple product. I mean it has a handheld screen after all.

Everyone wants to see what’s happening with the next generation of consoles and until then we will be worried that one of the big guns are going to pursue new interests. The major fans of the industry are easily able to write off a 20% year-on-year decline in game sales by simply saying it’s down to the lifecycle period winding up. It’s the other symptoms that are not so easily brushed under the rug.

Developers and publishers have been witnessing a steady drop in their stock value over the last few years. While this could be down to the economy it does seem strange that other sales tactics have gradually increased in popularity,

PC gaming has completely exploded over the last few years with more people spending more time playing game online than ever before. The main markets raking in the cash are those with free-to-play subscriptions and social options that mean people can part with their cash on are more irregular basis.

Ben Cousins said it best at the GDC a few weeks back but showing the world a graph comparing the history of arcade machines with the current cycle of home consoles.

At some point in 1999 consoles overtook arcades in popularity – and incidentally became almost entirely irrelevant – which is the point we are approaching in consoles today. In fact the graphics of our home consoles became as good as or better than our arcades with the launch of the Dreamcast.

The current climate suggests a similar switch in emphasis with the iPad becoming the most popular entertainment device on the planet. With the new iPad on the horizon holding the power of a household console, the war really is on.

People keep telling me that 50 million people have played Angry Birds while only 25 million have played Call of Duty. It’s to these people that I laugh… what competition does Angry Birds really have? Is it really as complicated as half the console offerings? Don’t get me wrong Angry Birds is the basis, pick up and play action that is ideal for entertainment devices like your phone but if it had been released as a console game I’m 100 percent sure it would have flopped.

The biggest issue with losing consoles (apart from the unhappy people) would be the lack of competition and therefore no doubt a fall in standards. Consoles are specifically designed with games in mind; they live and breathe the excitement of bashing in an enemies skull or scoring a goal from 35 years out. Their handheld controllers have no other purpose other than positioning your sniper rifle correctly or timing your jumps to perfection.

The fact is simple consoles will always be under attack by alternative forms of entertainment devices and much like the arcades before, it will weather many storms. Different platforms and option will sway certain individuals but while the enemy has the options the console has the big hitters to keep knocking them back.

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GAME Saved

GAME have been saved – Administrators PwC have confirmed OpCapita’s purchase of GAME UK.

In fact to be more specific Baker Acquisitions Limited, an entity advised by private investment company OpCapita, has picked up GAME's UK assets, including all 333 UK GAME and Gamestation stores that remained open during administration.

This acquisition is great news for the company and for the industry itself too. The gaming giant have now come of our administration, which they have been in since last Monday. At the time being it looks like GAME and Gamestation stores will function as normal and that the 3200 employees are all safe in the knowledge that their jobs will continue.

Baker will also seek to re-employ a "small number" of staff who previously worked at GAME's head office but were made redundant last week. There are "no plans" for any further store closures, it also said.

Although the specific financial terms have not been disclosed it is reported that it was brought for a £1.00 nominal fee. The costs comes mainly from paying off the £85 million in debt that GAME Group owed to the lending syndicate, led by The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Obviously this means that the GAME brand will not be another one of the retail names that has recently disappeared from our high streets. In fact it’s even better news that they have come out of administration not least because of the supermarkets getting ready to mark their territory.

In fact Tesco jumped on the GAME bandwagon a few days ago when it quoted in ads that it was now the "The Home of Gaming".

The ad boasts that the chain has more gaming stores in the UK than any other retailer, 393 of which open at midnight for new releases.

On top of that, it claims to have over 10,000 titles available online, free UK delivery and day-one pre-order shipping. It also flags up its in-store used game trade-in programme and Clubcard rewards system.

It follows the Sainsbury’s tactic from earlier this week where they launched a massive sale and announce it was increasing stocking of new titles

At least we can all still pop into GAME and get an honest opinion of what’s on offer. Every gamer in the UK can not breath a big sigh of relief.

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Xbox Lite Rumours...

So another rumour has hit the web this week in relation to another new Xbox model in development at Microsoft. Originally reported by REDDIT user MSNerd the post stated that Microsoft are working on an ‘Xbox Lite’ that they hope to release during 2013.

This new system would be released before any of their next-generation offerings and be based on the current Xbox 360 system but in a much more stripped down form.

The post itself mentioned that this might be so stripped down that it would basically be an entertainment system without even the facility of a disk drive. Instead the system would be comparable to the Apple TV and have the ability to download current live apps and arcade game but that will also function with Kinect.

MSNerd also states that the system will cheaper to sell at around $100/£100 and be a competition item for the non gaming community.

Many of the bigger sites have contacted Microsoft for confirmation of their plans but have found their responses to be of the ‘no comment’ variety.

While this seems like a good market for Microsoft to branch in to the concept itself would need an original and unique selling point to breach the market in a constructive way. For now this is definitely rumour only but is one of the more likely possiblities as Microsoft have expressed their desires to expand their current horizons.So another rumour has hit the web this week in relation to another new Xbox model in development at Microsoft. Originally reported by REDDIT user MSNerd the post stated that Microsoft are working on an ‘Xbox Lite’ that they hope to release during 2013.

This new system would be released before any of their next-generation offerings and be based on the current Xbox 360 system but in a much more stripped down form.

The post itself mentioned that this might be so stripped down that it would basically be an entertainment system without even the facility of a disk drive. Instead the system would be comparable to the Apple TV and have the ability to download current live apps and arcade game but that will also function with Kinect.

MSNerd also states that the system will cheaper to sell at around $100/£100 and be a competition item for the non gaming community.

Many of the bigger sites have contacted Microsoft for confirmation of their plans but have found their responses to be of the ‘no comment’ variety.

While this seems like a good market for Microsoft to branch in to the concept itself would need an original and unique selling point to breach the market in a constructive way. For now this is definitely rumour only but is one of the more likely possibilities as Microsoft have expressed their desires to expand their current horizons.

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The Good, The Bad and The Walking Dead

So with the success of AMC’s the Walking Dead many developers have been pitching their ideas to create a game based on the series for some time. Finally we are now being fed tasty snippets of information relating to the series tie in from Telltale Games. The Walking Dead: The Game as it’s being called will be an episodic series available via download and will tie in with both the Television adaptation and the original comic book series by Robert Kirkman.

Available via Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, PC, iPad and Mac the first episode is due to be released sometime in late April 2012 with a further 4 episodes due at various points later in the year.

Although the game is set in the same universe the story will not directly follow the plot of the comics or the TV series. It will actually take place during the initial infection period when Rick Grimes is still in a coma.

This article will not spoil any of the storyline elements but will discuss points raised in the trailers and press releases. As this is the case those whom want to go in without any knowledge of the adventure should probably stop reading now.

The game itself will follow a similar platform to Telltales previous episodic outings; like Back to the Future and Jurassic Park this game will follow a decision making path with quick time events as opposed to being an action centric adventure.  You are likely free to explore 3D worlds but much of the gameplay will involve making choices and finding objects to progress through areas.

The moral choices dynamic will involve very bleak and consistently ‘grey’ decisions that will impact the game in numerous interesting ways. This will follow the same formula as the hugely successful Mass Effect games as a decision will always come with ramifications; a character saved in episode one may come back in later sections to help/hinder your progress.

While the game is set in the same universe the protagonist of The Walking Dead: The Game will be a completely new character. His name is Lee Everett, a convict and in most cases an opposite to Rick Grimes himself. At the beginning of the game Everett is being taken to prison after being found guilty of killing his wife. Obviously he breaks free and will shortly afterwards stumble upon a young girl hiding out in a tree house. She is being described and the bit of light in an otherwise bleak, destroyed world and is being used to add a protection element to the proceeding.

Although the game will not direct follow the plot of the comics or TV series there will be some areas of overlap; common locations will be replicated in the game and some of our favourite characters are due to make cameo appearances. The world Everett will explore is in an around Atlanta and will follow a lot of the courses already known including the city itself and Hershels farm. We are also due to meet Glenn, Hershal, Lilly and even Rick along the way.

The game is shaping up to be a lovely addition to the universe that will hopefully give us a bit more depth about some of the characters, the world around them and also the overarching storyline. To say I’m excited might be a little bit of an understatement.

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