The Specs

We are pretty sure we know what the guts of the new Xbox look like. It’ll have a 64-bit, 8-core, 1.6GHz processor made by AMD with x86 architecture and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. (x86 means, broadly, that it’s a lot like the chips in your home computer, which is a change for Xbox, which had until now run on PowerPC.) The GPU is an 800mhz DirectX 11.x, and will be accompanied by custom hardware to accelerate certain Xbox-specific tasks. It’s also got an ethernet port, an optical disc drive (reported Blu-ray), a default 500GB SATA 2 HDD, USB 3.0 ports, and HDMI out and in ports.

For reference, the current Xbox 360 has a 500MHz GPU, a 3-core 3.6GHz processor, and 512MB of RAM. The upcoming PlayStation 4 also has an 8-core 64-bit processor and 8GB of RAM.

Price

This one’s tricky. There is zero official information out there. But we do have some clues. Microsoft supernerd Paul Thurott spitballed a “$500, $300 with subscription” number that hints at the real issue with the new Xbox: subsidized pricing.

Microsoft already offers a subsidized Xbox 360 + Kinect package for $100 up front, if you sign up for two years of Xbox Live Gold at $15 per month. That comes out to $360 for just the two years, which is more than you’d pay if you’re bargain hunting for cheap subscription renewals.

A two-year subscription for a next gen Xbox probably wouldn’t stick in the craw as much as being locked into two years with the current system (though there’s no reason to think the current subscriptions won’t work on a new Xbox). But the relative surety of the subsidized pricing implies two things. One, this is probably coming in higher than the $400/$300 levels of the 360. And two, Microsoft understands that a gaming console, no matter how many features you pack in, is a tough thing to swallow as that big of an up-front cost.

The Controller

Largely the same! Most of what we know about the new Xbox controller comes from our friends at Kotaku, who tell us the controller is mostly the same, if a little smaller.

According to Kotaku’s sources:

The controller, according to Kotaku sources, actually seems quite similar to the current Xbox 360 one. Same two analog sticks in the same upper-left/lower-right position, same positioning of the d-pad and face buttons and forward and back buttons. Triggers. Bumpers. Top-center power button. It all seems to be the same, though we can’t tell if any of these buttons have been improved-if, say, the d-pad responds more crisply, if the triggers pull more deeply, and so on.

More broadly, this means that you won’t see new points of interface on the new controller, like the Wii U’s 5-inch LCD or the PlayStation 4′s touchpad.

Kinect 2: Mandatory

OK, so the part about the controller being mostly unchanged is only partially true. Why? The Kinect will be standard with every next gen Xbox sold, making it even more of a de facto controller extension than the current iteration.

The Kinect 2 will be upgraded significantly, to not just detect broad arm movements and laborious, seizure-like movements generously described as “dancing”, but finer hand gestures sent from multiple users. It’s also said to implement more natural language controls (think Siri), as well as features like wake-on-speech.

Which sounds great. But in reality, it’s probably more realistic to expect the new Kinect to perform the tasks the original was meant to at a now-acceptable level, and for these new features to be at about the same level as the curent Kinect (that is, passable, at times). So look for refined gesture recognition and improved speech control accuracy, chiefly.

Other less certain rumored features include eye-tracking, which can be amazing in the right environment, and features like pausing videos or games when you turn your head (which might be the most pointless feature being adopted by multiple companies right now).

“Always On”?

This has been a major sticking point. Rumors have persisted that the new Xbox will require a persistent internet connection, presumably at broadband level, in order to play games. And the people have not been amused.

The move, which we’ve seen with individual games like Diablo 3 and SimCity, would presumably be to enforce stricter security and anti-piracy features. It would also prevent a smaller-every-day but still significant group of people from playing and enjoying Xbox games. But we’ve also heard that it could only pertain to entertainment features, which would make slightly more sense, since that would require constantly pulling down information about content.

Microsoft has kowtowed to public sentiment on other future-facing issues after backlash from the slow- or unreliably networked, like its original musings about ditching the optical drive this generation in favor of downloaded games. So it could go either way.

Xbox TV

One of the underplayed details is that the new console will reportedly have an HDMI in port. What does that mean? The Xbox is in all likelihood going to be used to control literally everything your TV does.

How would that work? The HDMI-out from your cable box would route through your Xbox, which would then apply its own interface on top of it. Theoretically, that would let Microsoft integrate all sorts of features into that. It’s likely where the reports of the Kinect controlling your cable box came from.

Don’t sleep on this as a major feature of the new Xbox. It could include capabilities ranging from deep content recognition to DVR to (hypothetically) picture-in-picture TV shows in games. This is especially interesting given the reported capability to “hot switch” between two games, effectively running both at once.

And don’t forget, Microsoft is also reported to have a cheaper, set-top-box-only version of these features coming later this year, too.

Original Content?

Back in September, Microsoft hired a CBS executive to head up production of “original video content” for the Xbox. We still don’t really know what that means. (The UK Xbox is already getting into the business of distributing movies, for instance.) It could be that, like Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu, Xbox Live Gold and the Microsoft Video Store is going to get its own original series. Which would be sort of insane. But don’t rule it out.

Windows Integration

This is based on speculation, but hear us out anyway. The new Xbox will probably integrate tightly into Windows 8, and the broader Windows Universe that Microsoft is building. It will do this as a gaming system, but also as a set top box.

The first thing to note is that this is actually possible this generation. The new Xbox has moved to an AMD x86 chip, meaning it’s using the same type of chip that Windows PCs have. Rumors have the new Xbox running Windows 8, but even if it’s not quite running the same operating system, the change of platforms should make developing games, especially for indie developers, a lot easier.

Consider: Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is hugely successful. It’s a wonderful place to find and enjoy indie content. And that’s exactly the sort of thing that Microsoft would love to get into its Windows Store, which is doing fine, more or less, but still hasn’t reached the level Microsoft would like.

Further, tighter integration of apps like Xbox Music, Internet Explorer, and other Windows 8 features, would make sense for the central location of Windows 8 in your home. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’d just fire up the Xbox and see the Windows 8 start screen. The Dashboard has been revamped a few times, but it’s already in tune with the Windows 8 aesthetic (and, really, was the incubator for it), so figure that’ll go along mostly untouched.

Goodbye, Used Games?

The biggest bummer to come out of the rumor mill is that the new Xbox might ditch the ability to play, and therefore buy and sell and trade, used games. It’s unclear whether that will happen, but we do know that games will have to be installed to be played, though that will take place in the background over the course of play, instead of up front before you can even get into the game.

Xbox Tablet?

Microsoft is also rumored to have a 7-inch Xbox tablet coming this year, running on an ARM processor (possible Intel SoC in the future). Originally reported by the Verge, the tablet is supposed to be running a “custom Windows kernel” instead of Windows RT, which would make sense if it’s to retain ties to older XBLA titles.

The post The Next XBOX: Everything We Think We Know appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

Maybe this small gem has been overlooked thanks to the recent DLC that was released.

I seemed to have looked this over myself during most of the recent double XP weekend that took place just prior to the release of the Uprising map pack. But while switching from Core to Hardcore I noticed Domination was there. I found it rather odd as I honestly could not remember seeing it before; keep in mind I am not one of the hardcore few that was begging for it. I definitely thought it was cool to be in there as it is my preferred game type, so off I went to play. For the first time since purchasing the game I was able to call in high point score streaks. The first few times I called in a Warthog I felt so vindicated for all the times that stupid plane crapped its payload all over my spawning points for countless measures. When I got my first chance to call in the dogs, an evil grimace began to stare back at my television screen that screamed with childish vengeance. It really felt like I jumped out of the trunk of a car and proclaimed “You want to fuck on me?!?” It felt so good to finally get those high kill numbers.

The point here is that I often explain to people how bad I am at this game. Literally… I suck. There is not one single good reason I can give you for why I play this game. I find anyone who talks about their kill to death ratio to be a douche bag. Anyone who calls in high point score streak rewards is the immediate subject of my purest hatred. I wish the contraction of serious diseases on all the kids who think that they are “pro players”. And yet I am so addicted to this stupid game that I can not quit playing. And with Domination being added to the hardcore playlist, allowing me to hold my own and call in high score streaks, guess what it only took me a few seconds to turn into…

Yep.

A complete douche bag that finds no better joy than knowing that I am keeping the opposing team in a constant state of spawn. Muahahah! Go ahead and quit you losers!!! Screw all of you bastards!!! Ahahahahah!

Ahem. Excuse me… I am not sure what just came over me there. I am curious though, with a large part of the COD community begging for the game type to be added I thought for sure I would find some feedback on the fact that their wish had come true. However these praises appear to be lost in my initial searches. But why search? Why don’t you express your opinions right here? Scroll down and leave a comment. Let me and everyone else here at MGC know exactly what you think about Domination being added to Hardcore.

The post Domination is Hardcore appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

The issues came to our attention at roughly 11:45 Pacific time. Microsoft promised an update in 30 minutes time. That update was delivered,reaffirming the issues, and asking for cool heads:

We’re still hard at work fixing the issue members are having signing in to Xbox LIVE. Thank you for your patience during this time. Keep checking back here every 30 minutes for an update on our progress.

This sort of network issue is embarrassing for Microsoft, a company that recently endured a very public squabble concerning gaming console access; an employee at the company went on a public tirade on Twitter, claiming that ‘always -on’ consoles that require Internet access to function are not to be avoided, but expected.

That employee no longer works at the company.

Naturally, Microsoft will have another update soon, at which point we will amend this post with the latest information. For now, be patient, and perhaps play a PC game while you wait.

The post Having a hard time logging onto Xbox Live? appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

Activision has announced a Double XP weekend for the upcoming Uprising DLC pack. The double XP period will begin today and will run through Monday, April 15th at 10:00 am PST. The Uprising DLC pack will launch on April 16th for Xbox 360 and will have a period of exclusivity, where it will finally be released on other platforms.

Also this Saturday you can hang with us as we play custom Black Ops 2 Drinking Games! Double XP and Double Hangovers are a great combo. Join in on the fun!

Are you planning on taking advantage of this during the weekend? Let us know in the comments!

The post Black Ops 2 Double XP Weekend – Let’s Drink! appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

ROUND ROBIN

Fariko began their campaign riding their momentum from EGL9 and MLG Dallas. They were completely rampageous throughout Group 1; taking out Immunity, Phoenix and Pain Gaming 2-0, to take a 3-0 sweep of the group. This gave Impact the number one seed in their group and an easier placement in the double elimination bracket.

VS. EPSILON

Fariko started out the second day with their round one match-up against Epsilon. The Europeans were essentially worn-out from the previous day’s action; fighting off Vintage, to gain access to the next round. Parasite and his crew relished this opportunity, as they went on to win 3-1.

VS. OPTIC GAMING

Impact’s second round match-up was a long awaited grudge match versus OpTic Gaming. The last time Fariko met OpTic at a LAN event, was at UMG Chicago which resulted in an OpTic triumph. The Fariko squad never let that happen for a consecutive time though, as they continued their tear through the competition; winning 3-1 and moving onto the third round of the Upper Bracket.

VS. COMPLEXITY

Impact progressed and further met CompLexity. As if taking down OpTic wasn’t enough for the lineup, Fariko showed that they truly were dominant, by beating Aches and co. 3-1, and booking their place in the Upper Bracket final and a guaranteed top three finish.

VS. ENVYUS (UPPER BRACKET FINAL)

Now on the horizon was EnVyUs. After splitting the first four maps in the best of five, it came down to Search and Destroy, which ultimately decided who would book their place in the Championship round on Sunday. The map went into a 5-5 tie and the atmosphere was incredibly tense. EnVy’s strength prevailed in the sudden death overtime, to take the series by the finest of margins. Fariko was now scheduled to face-off against OpTic Gaming in the Lower Bracket final.

VS. OPTIC GAMING (LOWER BRACKET FINAL)

This rematch was broadcasted to just short of 100,000 viewers, and Fariko came flying out of the blocks, with a dominant 250-190 win on Hardpoint. Then, in a 5-5 S&D overtime, Parasite went huge with a 1 vs. 2 clutch – putting Impact up 2-0 in the series. After OpTic took a nervy CTF on Slums, the boys-in-pink showed that their Hardpoint was too advanced for OpTic, as they were triumphant on Raid. Further qualifying for the Championship match, where they would face EnVy for a potential $400,000.

VS. ENVYUS (CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH)

Now Fariko went on to play EnVy in a continuation of their last match-up. Being down already in the best-of-eleven series 3-2 things were not looking good for the Fariko squad. Fariko came in huge during CTF, to win in stopwatch and tie the series up at 3-3. Following this, both teams traded maps until Fariko threatened to take the Championship by taking a 5-4 lead in the series. But EnVy wasn’t having any of it, as they took Hardpoint in dramatic fashion – fighting off every one of Fariko’s comeback attempts, with a stand-out play from Proofy right at the very end. Now it came down to a $400,000 game of Search and Destroy, on Meltdown. Rounds were constantly traded back and forth, as neither team could break-through. But the Impact lineup made the break, by winning two rounds in-a-row, and breaking a 4-4 tie to take the series 6-5 and win the Call of Duty Championships!

The post Fariko Impact Black Ops 2 Champions appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

New maps for the content pack include Magma, Encore, Vertigo, and Studio – all teased in the video above. “Uprising is the most fan-centric DLC package we’ve ever created,” David Vonderhaar, game design director at Treyarch claims in the video.

Adding to that fan service is “a re-imagining of the classic map Firing Range,” and a new “zombie adventure” called ‘Mob of the Dead.’ In the new zombie story, players are trapped in a zombie-infested Alcatraz as four prohibition-era mobsters, played by Hollywood badasses: Ray Liotta, Chazz Palminteri, Joey Pantoliano and Michael Madsen. In a “new twist” on the zombie mode, “if a player becomes an unfortunate victim, ‘Mob of the Dead’s’ new feature known as ‘Purgatory’ sends players into the afterlife.” No further details, beyond new challenges and a “unique experience,” were revealed about the zombie mode’s ‘Purgatory’ feature.

PlayStation 3 and PC players should expect the standard one-month wait time for their shot at the content, due to the timed-exclusivity agreement between Microsoft and Activision.

The post Black Ops 2 Uprising appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

While gossip surrounding this console has been churning around inside the rumour mill for a good few years now, there’s no doubt that we’re getting closer to learning some cold, hard facts.

We fully expect the Xbox 720 to launch in time for Christmas 2013. We know that Sony is launching the PS4 in at least one territory in time for ‘Holiday 2013′ and Microsoft will surely want to make sure it doesn’t give away a head start.

So what can we expect from the Xbox 720 when it is finally revealed by Microsoft, and when will it finally hit the shelves?

Xbox 720 release date

Many industry experts predicted that we’d finally get some hard Xbox 720 info at GDC this year but Microsoft confirmed to TechRadar that this isdefinitely not the case.

Instead, we can probably expect a bespoke event in April/May this year and then a full roster of launch excitement at E3 in June.

All indications are that the next Xbox will arrive in time for Christmas 2013. Microsoft briefly stated that the new Xbox is imminent in an interview withthe Verge before swiftly backtracking and issuing a moderately embarrassing denial.

This is further backed up by a Microsoft job advert which confirms a new Xbox launch is imminent.

Further rumours of an Xbox 720 release date of pre-Christmas 2013 was backed up at the end of November 2012 by a Bloomberg report which citessources at Microsoft and says we are likely to see the Xbox 720 make its debut at E3 2013.

But then! In January, a report from Game Informer suggested that we’d actually see Microsoft bust out an all-singing all-dancing event to launch the Xbox 720 around Game Developers Conference in March.

Why no E3 reveal? Because Microsoft wanted to make a splash away from the noise of the mega-show. Unfortunately, the report indicated that Sony had the same idea for the PS4…

Xbox 720 specs

If the Xbox 720 is to be as popular and last as long as the Xbox 360 – without the frankly appalling hardware failures which blighted its early days – it’s going to need some reliable and powerful components.

From what we can tell, the Xbox 720 will come packing very similar specifications to the already-announced PS4. However, it is rumoured strongly that the Xbox 720 will come with reduced graphics potency.

The Xbox 720′s CPU will be an AMD Jaguar-based CPU clocked at 1.6GHz – possibly very similar to that of the PS4, possibly identical in every way. That would certainly be a boost for game developers as it would make cross-platform development much easier than it is currently.

Graphics-wise, rumours suggest that the console will contain a revision of AMD’s 7000 series graphics, which is based on its 28nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) Southern Islands tech.

The PS4 graphics are provided by a bespoke AMD chip from this family somewhere along the lines of a Radeon 7850 card with 18 GCN processing clusters, each with 64 cores.

It is thought that the Xbox 720 will have just 12 processing clusters which could well mean that Microsoft is using a version of the (rumoured/forthcoming) AMD Radeon 7790 chip. That means less power and cheaper bits, basically, but it’s not all doom and gloom.

The PS4 comes packing 8GB of unified GDDR5 memory which combines system and graphics memory for super-fast gaming. But the Xbox 720 is rumoured to contain 8GB of general system memory and separate graphics memory.

That means that the Xbox 720 might not be as potent a gaming rig as the PS4, but will be more efficient at other tasks, making the Xbox better and faster outside of gaming environments.

That certainly tallies with some gaming devs who say the Xbox 720 is a lot less about gaming than the PS4 is.

Xbox 720 controller?

Many rumours suggest that the second version of Kinect will sit at the heart of the Xbox 720 experience, and we reckon it’s a no brainer. A console built around motion detection has lots of promise and it seems highly likely that this is the direction Microsoft is taking, given the way it’s currently pushing Kinect hardware and software.

However, you can be sure that the trusty control pad will remain a core component for hardcore gaming. The 360 control pad is wildly popular amongst both console and PC gamers so we can’t see the design changing too radically, either.

Microsoft recently filed a patent relating to projecting augmented reality 3D images onto the walls of the room you’re gaming in, in an effort to more fully immerse you in the experience.

The codename for this project is ‘Fortaleza’ and has Kinect at its heart. It is all supposed to work with wi-fi enabled Fortaleza glasses much like Google’s Project Glass glasses. Who wouldn’t want a Star Trek style holodeck in their front room?

Xbox 720: to Blu-ray or not to Blu-ray?

Will the Xbox 720 come with a Blu-ray drive or not? We’ve seen dozens of rumours pointing both ways and we’re still no further to really finding out.

One rumour says that the Xbox 720 will not have a BD drive. Other rumours say it WILL arrive packing a Blu-ray drive.

Microsoft was, if you remember, a staunch member of the HD DVD Promotion Group and went so far as to launch an external HD DVD drive for the 360. So it represents a bit turn-around for Microsoft to embrace Blu-ray, but it also makes perfect sense.

Read speeds from DVDs are still faster than from Blu-ray discs, but BDs can hold vastly more data. A standard dual-layer BD can contain 50GB of data compared to the Xbox 360′s dual-layer DVDs which contain between 8 and 9GB.

Many current Xbox 360 titles come on two or three discs, and with the size of Xbox 720 games destined to dwarf current titles, that extra capacity is a fundamental requirement.

A document that leaked in June 2012 indicates that the Xbox 720 will come packing 1080p 3D support, Blu-ray player and DVR functionality. This would indicate that Microsoft is trying to position the Xbox 720 as the single does-it-all set-top box in your living room.

Xbox 720 games

It looks as though games developers are already playing with Xbox 720 hardware – a recent job advert from Peter Molyneux’s Lionhead studio asks for developers with a background in DirectX 11 – a platform not used by any of the current consoles but is rumoured to be used in the AMD-powered Xbox 720.

It’s a bit of a no-brainer that titles are in development from all the big studios if you ask us.

Xbox 720 to be called Xbox Infinity?

Microsoft recently went on a domain name shopping spree, snapping up a whole bunch of Xbox-related URLs. One of them, and the one that immediately catches the eye, is Xbox8.com. Could this mean that the next Xbox could be called the Xbox Infinity? It’s just speculation at the moment, but it’s possible!

It’s also entirely possible that Microsoft could call it the Xbox 720, but as we said we predict it will just be called ‘Xbox’.

Noted Microsoft blogger MS Nerd outed the name Xbox Loop, claiming that the long-awaited console will be “far smaller”, cheaper and quite Kinect-focused when it finally lands on our shelves.

Other reports indicate that Microsoft’s internal codename for the new Xbox is ‘Durango’. Sean Tracy, a technical designer at games developer Crytek,said on Twitter: “Enjoying the Durango developers summit in London. So far, great swag and interesting talks”. The tweet was very quickly taken down but the codename was out of the bag by then.

Will Microsoft kill the second-hand games market?

There have been rumours cicrulating that the new Xbox console will feature a system aimed at preventing owners playing used games. That would mean no trading-in of old titles in order to fund the purchase of new ones – a move that would not be warmly received by gamers or highstreet store.

The rumours centre around the concept of the new Xbox demanding an always-on internet connection. That sounds like a horrifying idea to us – say it ain’t so!

Xbox 720 price

That leaked document we mentioned earlier mentions a $299 (£190) price point which sounds gloriously ambitious to us. Expect the Xbox 720 price to be a bit more than that but assuming the PS4 launches around the same time, expect some competitive pricing.

The post Xbox 720 Release Date, News and Rumors appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

The video below showcases a recent Halo Drinking Game night hosted by a good pal (and newcomer to MGC) of mine. The rules are laid out right in the beginning in case you too wish to destroy your liver the way we do. Just remember to be safe, have fun and find a designated warthog driver should you become too intoxicated.

The post Drinking Games Anyone? appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

The post Call of Duty: Ghosts – MW4 Leaked Info & Title appeared first on My Gaming Clan.

The games seem to remain pretty similar, with only very minor changes coming with the yearly titles. It almost feels like the bare minimum is being changed in Call of Duty games to keep the ultra-fast, smooth gameplay feeling the same. The pattern over the last few years has seen two studios trade off who releases a title for that year, with Treyarch and Infinity Ward being the two. For the longest time, Infinity Ward (the series’ creator) was known to release the games of higher quality, that was until Modern Warfare 3 was released and it became clear that Infinity Ward was having hosts of problems internally. Since the moderate failure of Modern Warfare 3, Sledgehammer Games was called into action to be the third studio working on Call of Duty titles and will be the driving force behind this year’s game.

While many of us might decry the Call of Duty games for not having enough variety or changes made to them, there are some hardcore fans who have certain expectations of the games and with a new studio at the helm, this year’s title is uncertain, the say the least. So while Call of Duty will be trying out something new this year, a pivotal year with next generation console launches, EA will have DICE once again at the helm with Battlefield, providing tried and true gameplay and the Battlefield experience in Battlefield 4.

If anything, fans of the Battlefield series have loftier expectations, something that DICE has been able to meet time-and-time again with the Battlefield series. That being said, there were some aspects of Battlefield 3 that hardcore fans saw as a betrayal, like some of the smaller maps that was focused more on close-quarters “Call of Duty” style gameplay. But, Battlefield 3 was able to provide enough of what they knew and loved to let stuff like that slide. This year’s Battlefield 4 has an opportunity to knock off Call of Duty from the top of the food chain by providing a better game, a better experience and by marketing it towards a wider group of gamers than what Call of Duty can.

So if the analysts are right and Call of Duty might keep slipping, that leaves the door wide open for DICE and EA to step in and take over as kings of the FPS jungle with their larger, destructible environments, more methodical approach to realistic gameplay and of course, the amazing vehicles in Battlefield 4. And we may not have to wait that long. Just check out THIS website which suggests we may see Battlefield 4 in the near future.

Credit: explosion.com

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