Microsoft Announcing 720 THIS WEEK

Microsoft Announcing 720 THIS WEEK so, Is the Next Generation going to be as big as everyone expects or is there a fresh wave of complete staleness hanging over our Industry!

The internet is awash with NEXT GEN Stories however we report on these as much as any other……

The press could get its first look at the Xbox 720 this Wednesday, it is being claimed.

“Wait, select press are going to be at the Microsoft fiscal year 2014 event this week?” Superannuation Tweeted. “I thought that it was MS partners only. Hmm… There are a bunch of invite-only sessions about Xbox.” Microsoft’s FY2014 Event is not normally a place for game or tech briefings with the games press, and is normally reserved for investors and publishing partners. However, the event’s timetable shows invite-only sessions across both Wednesday March 6th and Thursday March 7th. They carry titles such as “IEB Xbox Platform Overview”, “Xbox Platform Deep Dive” and “Xbox Games”. Only one of the early sessions references “Xbox 360” by name. It is entirely plausible that Microsoft has decided to use the pre-scheduled event to grant press a first look at its new console following Sony’s decision to debut the PS4 at a globally viewed dedicated press briefing last month.

Press could likely be directed to start issuing information as early as this week – a prolonged embargo would not seem to work in Microsoft’s favour. Certainly, a behind closed doors demonstration this early in year would seem to suggest that the machine will be revealed way ahead of E3 in the summer. However the traditional games industry needs PS4 and Xbox 720 to be a big hit, so these new stats from NPD make for grim reading.

TechSpot reveals that a poll by the research firm suggests just 29 per cent of core gamers are currently planning on buying a next-generation machine as soon as they become available.

There are some caveats that need noting, however. Although over 6,000 people were polled only 887 of them fell into the category NPD would describe as core gamers – that being folk who play action/adventure/fighting/shooting/racing/RPG/sports games for five or more hours a week. The industry is currently working on the presumption that the sales struggles faced by PlayStation Vita and Wii U will prove to be the exception rather than the rule.

By the end of the year – throughout which both Sony and Microsoft will have plenty of time to convince punters of their machines worth – we’ll likely have an idea of whether or not this is the case. From a publishers point of view we all know EA are the giants of our industry whether we buy their games other studios aspire to them here is another insight into the dealing that EA have been up to recently

(Source mvcuk.com)

Meanwhile Publisher EA has in a meeting with investors revealed a few interesting details regarding the upcoming next generation of consoles.

EA’s CTO Rajat Taneja and CFO Blake Jorgensen told investors that the PS4 and new Xbox are between eight and ten times as powerful as what we’ve seen on the current generation of machines. “We no longer have to constrain our games,” they said, as reported by PlayStation Lifestyle. “1080p, 60fps… [there will be a] level of gameplay that is unprecedented.” The pair also claimed that the shift to PC-type architecture has significantly simplified console development, adding that “what used to take months in the past will now take days to do”.

Perhaps more interestingly, EA expects Microsoft and Sony to “align” the release dates of their new machines. That’s a 2013 launch for the New Xbox as good as confirmed, then.

Also of the note is the fact that EA now admits that its attempt to increase emphasis on casual gaming has “not been as successful as we would have hoped”, although it fell short of calling it a failure. Indeed, IP such as Plants vs. Zombies and Bejewelled will live on.

What this has done, though, is refocus EA on the value of core gaming. “We’ve seen the benefits of creating games like Battlefield and FIFA” it said, before adding that around $100m has to date been spent on next-gen R&D – costs that will be offset by unspecified “cutbacks”. Oh, and through micro transactions. But gamers don’t like them, right? Wrong.

“We’re building micro transactions into all our games,” the firm added. “The ability to pay for more, to unlock content. Consumers love that.”

(Source mcvuk.com)

But will this meant that we will have to pay a large slice of this? Will the report out recently by Mcv online mean that the next generation will come at a massive cost? Does the UK financially prepared at the current time for Next Gen Prices??

Here is another Article by the online news magnet on the cost of the next gen games that have been revealed so far! UK consumers are free to pre-order a handful of PS4 titles from The Hut, as long as they are willing to lay down £69.99 per game. Killzone: Shadowfall, Destiny, Driveclub, Deep Down, Knack, Diablo III and InFamous: Second Son is all available at that price, while PS4 hardware is listed for £399.99. A spokesman for the retailer told Eurogamer that the prices are “a preliminary forecast and have not been issued by the publisher”.

It’s true that The Hut is very unlikely to have had any word from Sony directly. Instead, it’s possible that it has listed the games so highly simply to see how many people are prepared to lay down cash at such a premium price.

Other

The only official word about pricing has come from Sony’s American boss Jack Tretton who previously stated that PS4 games will range in price from just $0.99 all the way up to $60 – pretty much reflecting today’s console software pricing.retailers have the games listed for under £50.

Pricing is likely to be one of the early hot topics for the next-gen consoles. With the rise of iOS and casual gaming and a huge library of games available for 69p or even for free, one of the big questions remaining to be answered is what appetite remains for £50 triple-A releases

(Source mvcuk.com)