Call of Duty: Ghosts debuts this fall as the latest entry in a popular series, but our most in-depth look at it so far comes today. On the eve of E3 2013 press conferences Activision and Infinity Ward are giving a preview of what it will be like on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, and even on the 122-ft wide screen they’ll have in their booth. This is our best look at the game since a brief teaser trailer and word that its DLC will arrive first on the Xbox One. Other than a look at more next-gen gameplay, it also highlighted new elements like a dog named Riley that will accompany you in single player and can take commands via headset and broadcast video back to the player’s character. Video of the preview event and the new gameplay footage are ready to view after the break. Check out a few new screenshots below before you click through.
Bungies upcoming sci-fi shooter is getting teased yet again. A new live-action trailer for Destiny has been released, featuring Giancarlo Esposito, who starred in Breaking Bad and is currently starring in NBC’s Revolution. The trailer involves Esposito reading Rudyard Kipling’s The Second Jungle Book to his child, while Destiny CGI clips play in the background.
A passage from the book is read out loud and it describes the characters in the upcoming game, giving us a little tease at who gamers are going to control while playing the game. However, we’re still not given a taste of any gameplay, which has gamers frustrated and wanting more, but it seems Activision will be milking this one out for a while.
The trailer was directed by Jon Favreau, who is best known for directing Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and his style certainly shows in this new Destiny trailer. Of course, though, we still don’t know many details about the game, other than that they’re calling it “shared-world shooter” that looks a lot like Halo, which isn’t too surprising, as the same developer is behind both games.
A look at the trailer reveals that some of the action takes place on the Moon, as well as what looks like Mars, but as you can clearly see a close-up planet in the sky, it looks to be a fictional planet that the developers made up for the game. Overall, Destiny definitely won’t be coming to an Earth near you. The game is set to release on both current- and next-generation consoles sometime in 2014, so don’t expect it to launch alongside the Xbox One or PS4 in time for the Holiday season — you’ll want to put it on your birthday wish list instead.
We knew that Infinity Ward’s latest Call of Duty installment would be headed to the Xbox One, as revealed earlier this week during the unveiling of the new console. Naturally, then, it would make sense that the game would head to the PlayStation 4, and official confirmation was given by Infinity Ward that, indeed, Call of Duty: Ghosts is headed to the PS4.
The developer confirmed the news via Twitter yesterday, saying that the game will be heading to Sony’s newest console, joining the PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. However, publisher Activision still says that DLC for the game will be exclusive with Xbox consoles, meaning that if you want all the CoD content you can get, going the Microsoft route seems like the best choice at this point.
As for the Wii U, Activision hasn’t confirmed or denied that Call of Duty: Ghosts will come to Nintendo’s newest console, but it’s not looking good overall. If the publisher wanted the new game on the Wii U, we certainly would’ve heard confirmation by now, but judging by the poor sales of the new console, we’re guessing Activision won’t waste their breath.
Call of Duty: Ghosts went up for pre-order earlier this month, and it became the highest-selling video game on Amazon in less than a day from becoming available for purchase before its launch. While some may think the Call of Duty series is getting stale, the turnout that the pre-order received shows that many gamers are still interested. The new installment is expected to be some sort of spin-off featuring Lt. Simon “Ghost” Riley, who was known for wearing that iconic skull-laden balaclava. However, we’ll have to wait and see in November when the game officially releases to the masses.
The game developer group known as Bungie have revealed several screenshot images of their upcoming top-tier title for Microsoft and Sony’s next-generation gaming consoles: Destiny. This game has been teased several times before, this week’s additions being a set of choice visions of our own planet’s futuristic moon. Up close and personal, Bungie has given another look at what the Xbox 720 will be delivering in the way of graphics.
Of course the PlayStation 4 and gaming PCs will also have their shot at this title in 2014. This title is being made by the same company that created Halo and has partnered up with Activision, the company that brings you Call of Duty. With such big-name titles on the line, Destiny has a lot to live up to.
The images above and below are only small versions of the actual detail you’ll be able to see, Bungie delivering full-resolution pictures to the public to allow them a taste of full-screen possibilities. Though these images make the game look like a backdrop from a blockbuster film event, the final product will be an online exclusive first-person shooter.
This means that the Xbox 720 and the PlayStation 4 will continue down the road suggested for them in the latter days of their predecessors – this is a very connected future we’re starting soon.
Images of what Bungie calls its Abandoned Earth segment of the game – or environment, however it’ll be presented – have been unveiled as well. In these images its revealed that the planet is not simply a barren wasteland in this distant realm of possibility – it’s a place where nature has taken back what it owned before humans came along. Much like what’s seen in such apocalyptic films as I Am Legend, cities have been overgrown.
Bungie has also revealed information about the plot of this game. One of the several races available for use by you and your compatriots are the Guardians.
“You are a Guardian of the last safe city on Earth, able to wield some of the Traveler’s incredible power. You are taking this mantle just as a new day dawns. Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks have finally returned to our long-lost worlds, only to find out we are not alone. ” – Bungie, on Destiny
There are also Warlocks, Hunters, and Titans, each of which appear like they came directly out of the next Halo title. That or backup robots for Daft Punk. These and the visions of the Moon, also known as a “Forbidden Zone” by the newest reveal of the contents of the game, will provide for some rather interesting waves of unveils when this multi-platform title comes to fruition.
Above see full-sized versions of each of the images in this post for up-close inspection. Also have a peek at SlashGear’s Xbox 720 tag portal as well as our PlayStation 4 tag portal for the race to the finish line. As far as game developers are concerned, these two consoles are bringing the same beast to the party!
Microsoft and Sony’s enthusiasm about the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 may not be matched with equally vigorous sales, Activision president Bobby Kotick has warned, admitting that the game publisher is preparing itself for a potential slump come launch. “We continue to face the uncertainties of the console transition” Kotick said during Activision’s financial results call with investors earlier this week, highlighting Nintendo’s struggles with the Wii U as evidence that all is not well with next-gen hardware. The Wii U “has had a very slow start” Kotick pointed out.
The so-called transition Kotick describes is one of an evolving gaming industry, where players aren’t perhaps so wedded to their dedicated, heavy-duty consoles as they were at the launch of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Factor in the remaining questions that surround even Sony’s officially announced PlayStation 4, and Kotick is readying for an uphill struggle.
“There are still many unknown factors,” he explained on the call, “such as pricing, launch dates and quantities, the level of first-party support and, importantly, consumer purchase intent in a world where consoles are no longer just competing with each other, but also with new platforms, such as smartphones and tablets.”
Those mobile platforms have risen in gaming prevalence over the intervening years, with more casual titles at the $0.99 price point in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play market gaining traction on iPhone and Android. Apple’s iPod touch has also become a compelling gaming system, with improvements in the company’s homegrown processors leading to more impressive, near-console-quality titles.
In short, it’s a very different market from what Microsoft and Sony are used to, and one in which Kotick seemingly suspects they may find the reception to the Wii U to be the rule, not the exception. “All of these factors further heighten our concerns heading into the back half of the year,” he concluded, “particularly during the very competitive fourth quarter.”
Activision has already warned that World of Warcraft online multiplayer subscribers are dropping, though the game publisher says it is confident its other projects will maintain sufficient momentum to keep profits up.
Activision has published the financial results of its first quarter, which showed a rise in net income from $384 million to $456 million. All is not looking up, however, with the company also reporting that World of Warcraft subscribers are down, and as a result it has adjusted its expectations for the rest of the year, citing reasons of increased competition and poor Wii U sales, among other things.
Such expectation changes are due to a position of uncertainty about how the rest of the year will play out, including the upcoming holiday season, as specifically noted by the company’s CEO. Uncertainty about the next generation of the Xbox and PlayStation, for example, were factored into Activision’s outlook on the rest of the year, something that caused its shares to drop 6-percent.
Said Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick in a conference call today: “While we do believe further declines are likely, and we expect to have fewer subscribers at year-end than we do today, World of Warcraft remains one of the most successful franchises in the history of entertainment.” To help mitigate their current woes, Activision plans to roll out more content at a faster rate for the game.
For 2013, Activision estimates making $0.82 per share with $4.25 billion in sales. As of now, World of Warcraft subscribers sit at 8.3 million, a hefty drop from the all-time high of about 12 million. Although there are plans to push out content faster, the Wall Street Journal reports that no big updates are slated to happen until 2014.
According to Amazon’s Best Sellers list in the video game category, the game is in third place behind PSN and Xbox Live memberships. Thus, Call of Duty: Ghosts is the best-selling video game on the website. The game leads in the Xbox 360 category and comes in second place in the PS3 category behind BioShock Infinite. Sadly, it’s a no show on Amazon’s Best Seller list for PC games, but that could change.
As for the UK, Call of Duty: Ghosts takes the number one and two spots with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, respectively. While many people would argue that the Call of Duty series is quickly dying, it seems many gamers are still loyal to the series, and want to continue on with the story that each game extends on.
We’ll get our first look at the new game on May 21, when Activision and Infinity Ward will make an appearance at Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox unveil, which confirms that we’ll see Call of Duty: Ghosts come to next-gen consoles like the rumored Xbox 720 and the recently-announced PlayStation 4 from Sony.
Earlier today, Activision and Infinity Ward revealed a teaser trailer for its latest Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Ghosts. The game is set to be the 10th installment in the series, and is confirmed to be heading to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC, and of course, the upcoming Xbox 720 (or whatever it’s going to be called) on November 5th. What’s surprising is that we’ll see this game’s first demo on the next-gen Xbox.
We’ll get to see Call of Duty: ghosts and all of its glory come May 21st when Microsoft holds its event for the unveiling of the Xbox 720. The game will most likely be used as a marketing tool to get more gamers to purchase the next-gen Xbox instead of buying the game for their current Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3′s. Because wouldn’t you rather play the game on a next-gen console that has a better GPU and is less prone to lag?
Having first-showing rights would help Microsoft hype up the Xbox 720 even more, however, if the rumors are true that the Xbox 720 will require an always-on connection, chances are Microsoft is going to need to do a lot more than show off the next Call of Duty in order to sell its systems. If the always-on feature is a reality, this Call of Duty unveiling would still convince many users to purchase a next-gen console, however they would be more likely to purchase a PlayStation 4 instead.
One of the major changes Call of Duty: Ghosts has to offer is a completely revamped single-player campaign. If its most important selling point is its single-player mode, players will wonder why they need an internet connection to play it. For gamers who live in remote areas with spotty internet, or who have roommates who hog all of the bandwidth, having a console that is required to always have access to the internet would be a punishment, which has been pointed out by many game developers.
While Microsoft hasn’t officially confirmed that the Xbox 720 will have an always-on connection requirement, it has been hinted at several times through interviews, in leaked documents, and from controversial tweets involving Microsoft’s former Creative Director. We’re hoping that Microsoft will take note of EA’s situation with SimCity and kill all plans of requiring an always-on connection. Be sure to check in with SlashGear on May 21st, where we will be covering the Xbox Reveal event live and seeing if the rumors are true.
Ever since the box art for what seemed to be the next Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Ghosts, appeared on the Internet last week, we’ve been hearing little bits of info with an expected unveiling of the game happening today. It looks like that’s exactly what is happening as Activision is announcing Call of Duty: Ghosts today.
Call of Duty: Ghosts is being developed by long-time Call of Duty franchise developer, Infinity Ward, and is expected to be the first Call of Duty title that is being made available on next-generation consoles as well as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on November 5. According to the press release issued today, Call of Duty: Ghosts “ushers in the next generation of the franchise” by delivering “a riveting all-new gameplay experience built on an entirely new story, setting and cast of characters, all powered by a new, next generation Call of Duty engine.” (more…)
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