Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox reveal is but a mere few hours away.

How exciting is that?

If you’re unsure, it’s very exciting but there are still a number of high-profile releases on their way to the current Xbox 360?

Though we’re left scratching ours heads regarding the reasons why FromSoftware would want to miss out on the launch of the new consoles, director on the game Yui Tanimura is far more confident.

Essentially, Dark Souls 2 might be missing out on the extra processing power, but FromSoftware believes that it doesn’t really matter.

At least it won’t help it deliver on the vision it’s currently working towards. At least that’s what we got when we spoke to Tanimura about the looming next-gen reveal and Dark Souls 2’s absence…

X360: Did you consider a next-gen version of Dark Souls II for release?

Tanimura: We understand that next-gen is coming up, and it’d be a lie to say we didn’t consider it at all, but right now there’s no intent to have Dark Souls on next-gen at this point.

We feel the potential for current gen is still there and we want to deliver it to current gen consoles.

Click here to view the embedded video.

X360: That’s a shame, but what we’re really interested in is: how do you even begin designing such intricate ‘death trap’ levels?

Tanimura: The way I look at level design is, first I try to concrete the concept of what we want the players to feel, what emotional take-back or feedback the player gets from the experience.

And with that, we try to design what kind of death they will face, and what kind of challenges and what kind of tactics we want the players to learn from.

So we’ll have that concept as a base and based on that, we will then discuss how we want people to conquer this or what kind of death we want them to experience and what kind of learning we want them to take back from the challenges in the game.

Battlefield 4 has already given us a glimpse into what the next generation of console games will look like.

It’s just a glimpse mind you and we can fully expect games to get even better, but for a current benchmark, we could do a lot worse than DICE’s impressive tech.

And that’s mainly down to the incredible faces shown off in Battlefield 4’s 17 minute gameplay reel.

In terms of the uncanny valley, is it right to say that Battlefield 4 is finally approaching it and surpassing expectations of realistic depictions of human faces?

DICE’s director Lars Gustavasson certainly seems to think so…

X360: In terms of the new engine, what are the main things within Frostbite 3 that are helping you push forward with the tech?

Gustavasson: To be honest, there are a million things but a couple of the key things, I would argue that it is… if you just think about the scene, when you look out over the open construction site – birds, destruction, dynamic  objects, the wind, everything.

It’s the dynamic battlefield that we can push so much further. The fidelity.

Another thing is just being able to build this big toolbox for the player to play within. Then another one is definitely to focus on all the things when we can remove a lot of the obstacles for you to be able to tie in and connect with the digital actors.

I’m super-pleased with how far we managed to get with Battlefield 3.

People said a lot of positive things. But now we’ve taken it so much further, hopefully now the connection with you and the actors will be so much tighter.

Once you’ve gotten into uncanny valley, you need to aim beyond it since you started it. We started it ourselves so we needed to fix it ourselves. But I feel that we are in a really good place.

In case you haven’t seen it, here’s that oh so impressive Battlefield 4 footage:

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s a lot to like about Fuse, but we’re still not sure that there’s an audience of gamers ready and waiting to enjoy its brand of co-op and shooting.

If there’s not it will be a genuine shame as Fuse looks really promising and is utilising all those wonderful Insomniac traits that have helped grow the studio’s passionate fan-base over the years.

Fuse is doing a something a little bit different, but it’s coming out in a tough year.

There might not be many games to compete with, but the looming next-gen consoles are already casting pretty big shadows.

Let’s let the Fuse team speak for themselves with a few quotes regarding the game’s development and its new features…

QUOTE

“A lot of times we explore what we want to play and what we enjoy as gamers. We play a lot of games.”

“When we started developing [Fuse], back when it was called Overstrike, there weren’t a lot of four-player cover-based games out there, so we wanted to make one that was very unique and leveraged our inventive weaponry that we love to come up with.”

• JOB TITLE: Creative Director
• NAME: Brian Allgeier

What we say…

We’ll gloss over the fact that Allgeier completely ignores the existence of Gears Of War, but his sentiments are correct, there aren’t that many four player co-op-based cover games. At least ones that emphasis how four players can interact as a key element, sure you can play Gears with three friends but nothing really changes in terms of gameplay.

Fuse’s entire existence is fundamentally connected to its weapons and how four players can work together to overcome its challenges.Believe us, right now Fuse is offering a substantial challenge and, if our recent hands-on is anything to go by, it’s probably too hard.

Click here to view the embedded video.

QUOTE

“If you decide to play by yourself it’s just as much fun as if you were playing with four friends. We’ve also spent a lot of time balancing the weapons and making sure that we offer an arsenal that you won’t find in other shooters. We’ve also revealed ‘Leap’, another feature that helps Fuse stand apart and it’s new progression system.”

• JOB TITLE: CEO
• NAME: Ted Price

What we say…

Insomniac has a reputation for creating guns that are a bit on the crazy side and it’s clear with Fuse it has every intention of keeping that going.

‘Wacky’ guns found in games like Ratchet & Clank or Resistance and other PlayStation-only games, it could be argued, have over-powered or diluted the core experience, regardless of how fun they are to use.

Spread across four players this might not be an issue and played alone, Fuse’s ‘leap’ mechanic should ensure players that can’t cajole three friends into spending time with them won’t feel entirely left out.

The console war is about to kick-off again and securing exclusives will be the weapon of choice.

Wedbush Securities and long-standing videogame analyst, Michael Pachter believes that exclusives could be more important than ever before…

“Exclusives are really important. Nintendo leads by a ton, with around 30 proprietary titles (some smaller than others). Sony is a distant second with maybe 20, and Microsoft third with probably 10.”

“This all comes down to first party capability, and Nintendo will devote a lot of resources to owned IP. “

“The positions are unlikely to change much this cycle. Microsoft does some clever things, like getting 30-day exclusives on DLC, which I expect to continue. Few developers or publishers will be a to justify exclusives next cycle, so it really comes down to first party capability.”

Exclusives are set to become more important than you can possibly imagine.

The current-gen has gone on so long now that exclusives have fallen by the wayside –this year we’ve had Gears Of War: Judgment, that’s it – and as we look back at the PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s difficult to say what one console does differently to the other.

It used to be the games you could play and the online service that was provided and though PS3 players might contest that Sony’s console has a few exlcusives out this year, it doesn’t really matter anymore.

It’s all about the next-gen and though we only have basic idea how things will work the importance of exlcusive games is set to return to prominance as Microsoft and Sony prepare to battle, again (and we’ll leave Nintendo out of this).

Any new console relies on fresh IP to exploit the jump in technology, but we also have unprecedented interest in the current big name brands which Microsoft and Sony will no doubt want to exploit.

Can you imagine the pull a console would have with an audience if it could boast next-gen Call Of Duty and Battlefield exclusivity?

These are big numbers we’re dealing with here and securing a ready-made audience early on is exactly the sort of tactic that will ensure a consoles survival.

We might not know what next-gen games are being worked on behind the scenes but we can gurantee that the ‘Only On Xbox’ tag or something similar is far from disappearing.

Both Sony and Microsoft are gearing up for the biggest fight the gaming industry has ever seen and at the heart of this will be you the gamers and your favourite series; secure those with exclusives and it’s game over for the loser.

The next-gen Xbox is close and the promise of eye-watering graphics is coming with it, but some developers believe there’s plenty of juice left in the Xbox 360.

Though this answer does vary depending on who you ask within the game’s industry, it’s easy to see why some developers are still more than happy to release their games in a year they know that they’ll be competing with next-gen titles.

Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow 2 is one of these games and it’s a good looking title, that much is obvious, but if the power of the next-gen consoles is to be believed, it could be about to look very out of date come November/December time.

But that doesn’t worry Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow 2’s producer David Cox.

Cox is one of the many developers that believe there’s more than enough juice left in the 360 and the transition between the two generations needn’t be as bumpy as some are predicting it could be.

We spoke to Cox at a recent Lords Of Shadow 2 event and asked what he thought about the shift to the next generation and the next-gen Xbox’s potential…

X360: Do you think we’ve seen the last drops of processing power squeezed out of the 360 hardware?

David Cox: We’re getting there, but there’s life in the old dog yet. We’re still not fully exploiting the potential of the current gen.

Graphically and in terms of size, CLOS 2 will certainly be pushing the 360 and PS3 hard. If you want to make a good game, you have to strive to go beyond what is expected of hardware – and Mercury Engine will be a real test.

Click here to view the embedded video.

X360: Are you at all concerned about potentially launching around a time when there’s such a buzz around the next generation?

Cox: Not at all. It’s not as if everyone is going to pack up their 360 or PS3 just because a new update is out. Historically, the lifespan of consoles continues alongside new machines.

The real hardcore will no doubt be early adopters, but they are also going to want to be playing the best games available for any format. CLOS2 more than falls into this category, no matter which console it is played on.

X360: What are your main hopes and expectations for next-gen hardware, and what excites you most about the prospect of developing for it?

Cox: We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Dog, horse, now what? Beaver?

Microsoft is gearing up to reveal its new Xbox later this month (it’s seriously close now), but what games should we expect to launch with it?

Rumours circulating the internet seem to point towards a Project Gotham Racing revival, but what other Microsoft brands will make an appearance?

Will Fable, for instance, re-emerge on the next-gen Xbox as a launch title?

It has, after all, been a while since Lionhead released Fable: The Journey (or, The Horse as we like to call it) and the studio has had plenty of time to get a new project off the ground.

Even though it’s had to deal with the absence of Peter Molyneux, Lionhead is still part of the Microsoft inner-circle and you’d expect that it would have had access to dev kits (or even spec lists) before anyone else.

At least that’s what we’re speculating.

Here are 4 other reasons Fable 4 could be in the works and gearing up for the next-gen Xbox launch…

On Xbox 360? Nah…

Fable is an Xbox institution, and one that’s managed to maintain a positive relationship with its fans despite Kinect giving its best shot of ruining everything with Fable The Horse.

The thought of a next-gen Xbox arriving on the scene without a stellar line-up of triple-A games to draw in the crowds doesn’t bare thinking about. Fable is the perfect vessel to win over the RPG and fantasy crowds at launch.

No more Molyneux?

Lionhead has been working on something for well over a year now and with Molynuex’s surprise departure a long-distant memory, Fable 4 would be the perfect opportunity to prove that one man doesn’t make the studio.

There’s no denying that Molyneux’s influence on the series helped shape it, but there’s still a tremendous amount of talent at Lionhead (probably desperate to prove themselves, too).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Forget Kinect (probably)

Fable 4 has been rumoured to be in the works since before The Journey’s release and it was also suspected to mark a return to the controller.

Expecting a totally Kinect-free adventure is probably a bit much, though, and a combination of control pad and motion control is more likely. Let’s hope Kinect 2 is up to the task and Lionhead can be a bit more adventurous than it was with the dull controls of The Journey.

 MMO

Dare we say it… massively multiplayer? If Microsoft follows Sony’s lead and places its social networking infrastructure at the centre of the next-gen Xbox experience, an MMO Fable, or at the very least a Fable that utilises MMO qualities, would be a brilliant poster child.

Who wouldn’t want to explore a fully realised Albion and experience Fable’s unique RPG gameplay with others? Plus, just imagine all the wives you could have.

Xbox Infinity has quickly emerged as the frontrunner when it comes to potential new names for Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox ahead of its May 21st reveal…

…but how likely is it that this is the real deal?

Sure, it’s got a logo and everything, and lots of official sources online seem to think it’s a good idea.

But we all know how easy they are to mock up and gain traction.

We’ve all spent the last two years looking at next-gen Xbox rumours and we’ve seen all sorts of names and brands bandied about…

• The Xbox 720!
• The Next Box!
• The Durango! (though this one is claimed to be the console’s codename)
• The Xbox Infinity!

Does that last one sound right? Are we going to see Microsoft pull back the curtain and unveil a shiny new console embossed with ‘Xbox Infinity’ and that fancy little logo?

Well, there are stranger names than Xbox Infinite out there and worse ones, too. But, there are a whole bunch of reasons why this particular logo and branding could easily be a fake.

Here are 4 reasons why we think the Xbox Infinity rumour is fake…

THE COLOUR’S WRONG

That’s right, the colour. The Xbox green is a very specific shade of green and as anyone working in marketing will tell you, brand recognition relies on consistency and a recognisable design.

There’s no logical reason Microsoft would suddenly switch shades of green for its new console and risk losing that instant brand recognition.

Stuff like this takes years to cultivate and, in marketing terms, it’s worth its weight in gold.

Though it’s safe to assume some elements of the Xbox brand might go through some changes in order to distinguish itself from the previous consoles, an entirely different shade of green feels like a step too far away from the Xbox core that we’ve all come to associate with gaming (or more recently, bad Kinect games and TV apps).

THE BASELINE SHIFT IS OUT

It’s wrong, and not just because it’s different from any previous Xbox logo ever used.

The Infinity logo doesn’t have the care and attention that we’ve come to expect of a Microsoft logo, where even the smallest pixel has been placed specifically. Here each letter jumps about and is out of line with the rest of the logo. It’s subtle, granted, but it gives this logo away as being an unofficial mock-up.

If the baseline shift is all out of whack then we can safely file this logo under ‘fake’ and if that’s the case, why should we put weight behind this rumour?

We’re not averse to the Infinity brand in general, actually, of all the names that have emerged it’s among our favourite, but there’s been no indication that this is true.

For all we know it has been plucked from thin air and thrown onto the internet and the shoddy text work is just the first big indicator that this has nothing to do with Microsoft.

THE FONT

It’s different. That might not seem like a big deal, but as we explained above, brand recognition is key with stuff like this and even the smallest of changes can ruin the effect.

You have to get down to minute detail when it comes to this, but in the Xbox Infinite logo the ‘B’ is missing its little ‘wing’ that pokes out towards the ‘X’. That’s an important distinction.

Using a different font changes the feel of a brand and though it could be argued that’s exactly what Microsoft wants to do, and yes the logo changed between the last console generations, there’s no good reason it would change it this time.

There are only risks when it comes to a re-branding, even with a small re-branding like this. Changing the font (and we know this sounds pedantic) is a big deal.

The real question is, why change it? We can’t think of a good enough reason.

HAVEN’T WE ALREADY SEEN THE LOGO?

Yes, we have. We had a glimpse into the future branding of the next-gen Xbox when Microsoft announced its May event and when the subsequent invites were sent out to the press.

Compare and contrast the official logo and this rumoured one and it’s easy to see that they’re worlds apart. What’s more likely is that the next-gen Xbox will have a variation on what was revealed along with the event’s date.

It’s a cleaner, crisper Xbox logo, but still instantly recognisable and clearly part of the same family as the previous console iterations. We sincerely doubt Microsoft will change things that much. But we’re open to suggestions…

All of these reasons remove credibility from the Xbox Infinite name.

These rumours apparently come from a Reddit insider who has confirmed the Xbox Infinite’s validity, but for us there are just too many things wrong with the image itself to believe that this is what Microsoft will be calling its new console.

Obviously, we reserve the right to totally go back on all of this if this turns out to be true, and, as we said, the Infinity name and concept isn’t the worst we’ve seen.

It’s actually a pretty good idea and the symbol itself makes a lot of sense.

Wolfenstein: The New Order skips the whole E3 circus and gets a jump on the announcements early, and it’s rather exciting, too.

Not only is this a return of a classic FPS series, which, granted might not have always maintained a high level of quality over the years, but there’s a lot of promise on display in its recent teaser.

The New Order’s trailer gives a good impression, but should we be excited by what is just another sequel to a long-running series that has arguably failed to recapture its magic for a few years now?

Well, let’s not rule anything out; in fact, there are a few indicators within The New Order’s trailer that are genuinely quite promising.

Here are the top 5 things that make us want to see more of Wolfenstein: The New Order…

01 It’s Turning Point: Fall Of Liberty

While that doesn’t sound like the best thing in the world, bear with us.

Turning Point was an awful game, but we’re sure most of you would agree that the actual idea behind it – advanced Nazis invade America – was pretty good. It was just the execution that was lacking.

The New Order looks like it’s taking this same set-up, adding in Nazi mechs and dressing it up in Wolfenstein clothes and then (hopefully) doing the idea justice. What’s not to like about any of that?

Click here to view the embedded video.

02 Forget the current-gen version

It’s all about the next-gen now, right?

Even when a game is in development for the Xbox 360, it’s pretty much a given that the next Xbox version is going to blow it out of the water, so why would you even consider looking at it running on the current-gen?

Cross-gen games are going to be an unfortunate reality for gamers (for at least the first few years of the next generation), but when it comes to FPS games, like Wolfenstein, the visuals are really important.

We doubt we’ll be able to go back to current-gen games once we’ve played a next-gen one. It’s going to be that different.

03 It’s more serious

Yes, it’s a cliché to say that something is going to be ‘darker’ or ‘more serious’, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to rebooting a series like Wolfenstein.

We doubt it could ever be too serious, its main character is called BJ, after all.

But it’s good to see that The New Order is going out on a limb and doing something a little bit at odds to what the series has done before. Even if it is a rather predictable mover overall.

04 Mech gameplay?

Hawken on PC has done a lot for the mech genre and with The New Order trailer ending with all those shiny Nazi mechs facing down on BJ, we can’t help but think that a next-gen mech game would be a really exciting proposition.

Especially when the horsepower of a new console could really go some way to making for some visually stunning gameplay.

Most mech games like Hawken are essentially FPSs anyway, why wouldn’t Wolfenstein keep its tradition of crazy weaponry and explosions by adding in mechs?

05 Is the trailer in-engine?

We obviously don’t mean the current-gen version of The New Order, but what’s to say that within this trailer we’re getting our first glimpse of Wolfenstein’s next-gen visuals?

Look closely and these could easily be in-development next-gen shots, giving a hint of the tech currently being used to render the game itself.

If anything, it does give us a good idea of The New Order’s art direction and with Wolfenstein finally stepping away from the WWII style, it’s refreshing to see a new take that could lead to one impressive looking game.

What would happen if you asked a pubescent American farm boy (let’s, for the sake of argument, call him ‘Jeb’) to design a videogame? Probably he’d want some kind of shooter – something violent.

Losing hurts Jeb’s self-esteem, so he’d also want it to be easy. It would never punish Jeb for anything. Probably it’d just shell out XP no matter what he was doing: dying, having his buddy scrape him back up off the floor, murdering people, setting them on fire, shooting off their limbs and enjoying the way their blood sputts into the road.

And Jeb loves money.

That’s why every mutilation Jeb commits would be rewarded with dollars to buy more effective tools for the task. Probably, Jeb’d want some familiar mechanics in there, too.

He’d want a cover system of some kind, along with a lot of small walls to camp behind along the way. He’d want mounted turrets all over, first to lay siege to, then to turn on the enemy. He’d like a snap-to-target aim that makes missing all but impossible, even when your target is hidden from view by smoke or flying, dismembered limbs.

In fact, even shots fired into clear air should mysteriously hit nearby targets, killing them dead and rewarding Jeb, because that makes Jeb feel special. Missing, on the other hand, makes Jeb angry and when Jeb gets angry, Jeb storms up the hill to throw rocks at the cows on the high prairie.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jeb thinks death should be fun. Which is why, after stabbing a man’s throat out with a knife, Jeb enjoys the joke that Alpha and Bravo share about it. They’re funny, Alpha and Bravo. Jeb likes a bit of bromance to counterpoint the brutality.

Jeb also likes boobs. He’s never seen one in real life, but, if he were to make a game, he would put in a character who owns an entire set. He likes girls with guns, but the strength that implies threatens Jeb. That’s why Jeb would have Alpha and Bravo come save her. Jeb likes it when she’s grateful.

Jeb would also like something nice to look at as he wades through the quagmire of blood, guts and shitty writing.

He’d prefer she came back later on and led the way so he could look at her bottom.

Yes, Jeb would like that.

But, thinks Jeb, appropriate combat attire might spoil his view so, while he’s happy to have Alpha and Bravo clad in enough plock to stop a belt-fed mortar, he’d rather she wore something less suited to battle than it is to others studiously gawping at her tits.

Perhaps when she’s not around, thinks Jeb, Alpha and Bravo could make a joke about which of them wants to bang her the most. It’s just as well, isn’t it? That Jeb is just an imaginary 13 year-old and not an actual game designer.

Were he to get hold of a budget and a green light for such a thing, the outcome would potentially be among the most offensive videogames ever created. Hello Army Of Two: The Devil’s Cartel.

There are other problems too. Of course there are. Problems beyond Army Of Two: The Devil’s Cartel‘s failure to understand why it’s okay for Marcus Fenix’s brand of self-aware humour to manifest after chainsawing a Locust in the face, but not okay to apply its own hamfisted variety to its many dalliances with sadism.

Its worst offence, perhaps, isn’t even its failure to understand that if we’re to enjoy a game, we have to like who we’re playing as to some small extent and that these death-for-dollars scum aren’t it.

It’s just so boring. Level after level trundles by with nary a single memorable moment, our quest to find one only drawing further attention to broken mechanics and a checklist feature set. Here is a game that has literally no ideas. Okay, it has one.

Every kill builds your Overkill gauge which, once filled, makes you completely invulnerable and your bullets explosive.

Even on Hard difficulty the game is easy (when you die, your buddy just picks you right up again), add in Overkill and you could probably finish the game blindfolded.

The lack of challenge only adds to the boredom. In every way, Army Of Two: The Devil’s Cartel is an embarrassment to videogames.

Not just boring, but exactly the kind of ‘violence for violence‘s sake’ dross the anti-videogame lobbyists dredge up at the arrival of each new atrocity.

Jeb offered to say somthhing in its defence in this last paragraph, but he‘s too busy eating soil. Which leaves you with us, and we have nothing positive to say beyond the fact that if you put the disc in, it works.

Score: 4/10

Microsoft is only a few weeks away from unveiling the ‘new generation’ and more and more rumours continue to surface causing controversy.

With so much focus on ‘always-on’, the next-gen tech and everything else that has the internet up in arms, little has been said about the (potential) games themselves.

Games matter, and supporting a range of titles, not just the triple-A releases will be more important than ever in the next generation.

Ted Halsted, Senior Level Designer and Narrative Designer at Human Head Studios wants to see Microsoft support a range of games on its new console…

“I come from a narrative background, and am fascinated by the marriage of game and story,” explained Halsted.

“There are so many angles to presenting compelling fiction in a game. It’s not just about cut-scenes. As a developer and as a gamer, I want to see the next Xbox as a much broader gaming platform. To this end, I’m hoping that we start with a broader price range of games – more cost tiers.”

It could be argued that Microsoft’s strategy when it comes to games has been less about enticing new titles of late, and more about providing new ways of watching TV.

Indie games, XBLA titles have become less and less prevalent as the generation has gone one, but Halsted believes that the secret lies with this range experiences.

“[It] will un-stick the floodgates for creative games of a high quality that are A to AA to AA-plus – games that small to medium developers and publishers can afford to execute at high quality levels. Feature focused games with unique hooks and stories that game developers and storytellers can pour their passions into.”

“Everyone wins because gamers get more games to choose from, and pay a fraction of mega-budget AAA to try a new experience.

“Developers get to make games they are passionate about. This is what keeps us working long hours: bringing something crafted and elegant that we believe in into the light.”

“I hope and expect that we will see many more games for sale at a lower cost to consumers. I want to see high-quality A, AA, and AA+ games that are the right scale for what they do with gameplay and story.”

“If the 720 is going to be the platform for the next ten year – THE home console/platform/service/ family centre etc. – then everyone from developers to publishers to gamers will benefit from a range of lower-than-AAA games and prices.”