Hasta La Gadget!

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!

SOURCE: Bungie

Xbox 720 Destiny teaser images head to Earth’s moon is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Android-toting game console known as OUYA has had its first teardown appearance this week, a piece-by-piece de-construction showing that it will be a relatively easy repair job for future users. The console and gaming controller are taken apart bit-by-bit with open-source and free-to-modify aims in mind – the creators of this system appear to have stuck to their word when it comes to simple modifications.

Inside the iFixit teardown the innards promised by the manufacturers of the OUYA, including – but not limited to – the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 4-PLUS-1 technology (meaning there’s 5 CPU cores, not just 4). Under the hood two Samsung 4Gb DD3 SDRAM modules sit next to one another, these two 4Gb modules together creating 1GB total.

Also inside the OUYA box is a single fan, easily removable and attached with just four standard screws and a wire. As noted by iFixit, this is good – especially since its the only moving part in the whole amalgamation of metal and plastic. The fan is, for those of you looking to stock up, a SUNON MagLev HA40101V4 DC brushless and you’ll be rolling with 12 volts at 0.8 W of power.

Perhaps oddest of all is the addition of weights to this machine. Inside the bottom of the console are five miniature metal plates added to keep the device weighed down and solid on a flat surface. Each of the five plates weighs in at 0.39 ounces, creating nearly 2 ounces of staying weight for the bottom of the box. The gaming pad coming with the OUYA is a similar bit of ease in tear down – only a few screws and you’re in!

Have a peek at SlashGear’s OUYA tag portal to see more information on this machine’s innards as well as its connections to the gaming universe at large. You’ll be able to see this device on the deck of your own TV stand later this year, if all goes as planned, and for right around a hundred bucks, too!

[via iFixit]

OUYA teardown shows near-perfect ease in repairability is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the founder of both 22cans and Lionhead gaming companies suggested that he’ll be excited to see how far the next-generation Xbox has come since he saw Microsoft’s plans a year ago. Peter Molyneux made it clear that his hopes for the Microsoft-made console centered on gaming and that the company make what he called “the ultimate gaming console.” The alternative, he said, was that the creators of the console would get distracted with living room entertainment abilities and technologies like Glass and touch.

Speaking with IGN about his future and past with the Xbox 720 – or whatever it ends up being called – Molyneux revealed that he’d been aware of the so-called “original plans” for this next-generation console. Saying he’ll be “fascinated” by the evolution of the futuristic Xbox machine between then and now one way or the other, he made clear more than once that he’d be happy without any “Netflix… Facebook… Twittering” business.

“I just want the ultimate gamer’s device. If they focus on that I’ll be a happy bunny.

If they get distracted, and overly distracted, by trying to play catch-up with some of the Glass and touch technology that’s out there, not because it makes sense for games but because that’s something they feel they have to do, then I’m going to be miffed.” – Peter Molyneux

The game Molyneux until recently was working on that’ll see the Xbox 720′s launch will be the newest in the Fable series, an MMO iteration of the epic story bringing an open landscape to the console in the next few years. Below you’ll see a trailer for the game Fable III, a game launched several years ago for the Xbox 360. It’s expected that the new Fable game will have significantly greater depth.

The team Molyneux works with now, 22cans, brought forth the game Curiosity – one which will be nearing it’s “end” rather soon. Have a peek at the latest trailer for this game below and note that it’s quite likely the game will transition to a new era right around the time the Microsoft event for the Xbox 720 will be happening – May 21st – catch SlashGear as we bring it to you right up to the second!

Xbox 720 “ultimate gaming console” focus would make Molyneux a “happy bunny” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week Microsoft has presented a concept for a system they call IllumiRoom, one made to show how the television could be expanded upon with a series of projectors. This system has been pegged for possible integration for the Xbox 720 – also known as the Xbox Infinity – a system Microsoft will announce in one form or another on the 21st of May at Microsoft’s Xbox campus. With Microsoft’s IllumiRoom, gamers will be using a combination of the Xbox’s Kinect sensor and a projector to bring a room-wide peripheral view experience enhancement to the Xbox 720.

This system has not been confirmed as being prepared for the release of Microsoft’s next-generation console, nor has it been presented as anything but a proof-of-concept thus far. Because it’s expected that the next-generation Xbox will not be released in final physical form for at least another half-year, it does remain possible that IllumiRoom will be integrated when the time comes.

It’s important to note that the Xbox Kinect originally started as a project similar to this one, presented first as a proof-of-concept like you’re seeing here. As the system proved to be more than just a mere fascination for users and developers alike, Kinect became an integrated system for the Xbox 360 – still something you’d purchase separate from the system, but marketed as an essential element.

“Ideally, IllumiRoom would be directly integrated into a next generation console and new games would be designed for IllumiRoom from the ground up. We envision an API that enables triggering illusions, changing surface appearance, controlling room lighting, inserting objects into the physical environment, etc.” – Microsoft Research

At the moment, this system requires more than one projector and is made to enhance only games that are optimized for it. You’ll see situations that range from an object jumping out of the screen to bounce across the floor towards the user to virtual reality snow falling around the user as they drive a car through some wintery mountains. If the Xbox does adopt this system when its next-generation launches, it could be a separate element that takes on the title “Xbox Infinity” while the Xbox itself summons the iPad naming convention, existing as “Xbox” from here on out.

Xbox 720 IllumiRoom integration demo suggests “Infinity” experience is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today invitations have been issued to an event for the press that will reveal what Microsoft is suggesting will be “a new generation revealed” for the Xbox. This invitation notes that Don Mattrick will be present with the whole Xbox team and that a “special unveiling” will be taking place. This timeline and recent reports combined suggest this event will be the home of the official unveiling of the rumored Xbox 720.

This generation’s console will be going to battle directly with the already announced PlayStation 4 and will be bringing with it Microsoft’s next generation of gaming software. It’s highly likely that the event will contain more than just details about the console itself, bringing with it a collection of developers and game producers from top-name brands and legacy affiliates.

“On that day, we’ll share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Then, 19-days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we’ll continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games.

We are thrilled to pull back the curtain and reveal what we’ve been working on.” – Major Nelson

This event will be happening on the 21st of May, less than a month away. This is well ahead of the gaming convention E3, this allowing game developers to ready their wares for the convention while the Microsoft-made machine has its own day in the sun.

have a peek at the brief timeline below of recent tips and suggestions from the SlashGear archive of Xbox 720 articles. As this event takes place at the real-deal Xbox campus, we can expect nothing less than a significant showing by the creators of this machine prepared for the future.

[via Major Nelson]

Xbox 720 event invite suggests first device reveal is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.