Hasta La Gadget!

We’re just a few hours away from Microsoft revealing its next-generation gaming console, but Sony is trying to take a bit of the attention away from that. Yesterday, the company teased its PS4 console in a video that showed the box itself from various close-up angles, and it has created some chatter amongst the PlayStation

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Back in February during Sony’s PS4 reveal, the company didn’t show off the console itself because it’s merely “just a box.” Instead, we were treated with a look at the DualShock 3 controller, as well as a glimpse at some upcoming games that we can look forward to playing once the console is released. Today, however, Sony has teased the console itself, with several close-up angles that really don’t tell us much in the end.

The teaser video, which you can watch below, gives us a very blurry view of the PS4 console box itself, although it doesn’t look like much through an unfocused lens. Throughout the video, we get treated with quick flashes of various close-up angles of the console, including its edges, corners, vents, and logos (which we’re guessing the image above is a new logo of some sort).

At the end of the teaser, we’re treated with a date of June 10 at 6 pm PT, which is during Sony’s press conference at E3, meaning that we’ll get treated with the full PS4 treatment at E3, including more details about the hardware, as well as a release date for the console. Microsoft is also expected to show off its next-gen console at E3 this year.

Speaking of Microsoft, the company is set to announce their next-generation Xbox console tomorrow, so we’re pretty sure that today’s teaser from Sony was strategically timed to attempt to take a bit of day-before excitement away from Microsoft. However, come tomorrow, all eyes will be on the Redmond-based company and their new gaming console.

The PS4 is planned to release in time for the holiday season, and we can only expect Microsoft to do the same with their console. However, it’ll be up in the air on who out-shines who when Santa comes to town. Needless to say, it’ll be nice to have the console wars heated up again after neither company has released a new console in quite some time.

PS4 console teased ahead of full E3 hardware details is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week Microsoft is heading in to an event that will almost certainly reveal the next-generation gaming console code-named Xbox 720. While the specific specifications surrounding processor power and physical shape of the console will have to wait until tomorrow (at the earliest), there’s plenty able to be assumed at this time in this device’s abilities right out of the gate.

This so-called Xbox 720 is ready to jump off the blocks with abilities inclusive of its predecessors. You’ll still be able to play games on it, of course, but you’ll also be able to use the Xbox 720 as your one-stop shop for home entertainment. The Xbox TV will be part of this equation.

Microsoft will need to keep the power of the Xbox 720 as a gaming console intact in order to continue to compete with Sony, of course. As the PlayStation 4 was revealed only in a very basic way, it’s expected that Microsoft will use the opportunity to come in with a bit more solid force.

Essentially: “hey Sony, that’s a nice wireless controller you’ve got there – we’ve got an actual machine to show the public.”

That said, it won’t be long before Sony shows their PlayStation 4 console hardware off to the public, either. Have a peek here at the first E3 teaser video released earlier today, straight from the source.

So it’s a black box with sharp edges – exciting! Will Microsoft come back at Sony with a white box with rounded edges? We shall see!

The abilities of the Xbox 720 will likely spread their way across your living room and enter your smartphone and tablet as well. As Microsoft already uses a system called Xbox Smartglass to allow owners of iPhones, iPads, Android and Windows Phone devices, and likely more platforms to control the Xbox remotely. With the Xbox 720, Microsoft will likely expand how this system works, allowing users to control their Xbox system in ways not yet available: game control, for instance.

As the Xbox becomes more a part of the living room entertainment system family, so too must it work at all times. It’s been suggested that the Xbox 720 will be placed between your cable or TV box and your television screen itself. As you watch the content you love each day, you’ll also have Xbox notifications on-screen for for your convenience.

Of course if you like to change inputs on your TV like you’ve always done, it’s up to you.

Microsoft will certainly expand the Xbox’s ability to work with the web, likely making a point to show the machine’s ability to game in the cloud right out of the box – if they do anything more with the cloud at all, that is.

Kinect will very likely be getting an upgrade, and its expected that the Xbox 720 will be sold initially as a Kinect-included system only when it first goes on sale. Tips of IllumiRoom being integrated into the system when it launches have been shut down by Microsoft earlier this year – the same is likely true with any other 3D augmented reality integration – at least at the start of this release.

The Xbox 720 – rumored to be called simply “Xbox” from this point forward – will be shown off on Tuesday, May 21st with few, if any, game titles attached to it. The reason for this is the imminent approach of the E3 gaming convention where Microsoft has promised waves of games being announced in a fantastic display.

The actual release of this system has also been rumored – of course – this time being suggested for a November release. If that were true, Microsoft would likely beat Sony to the punch or have a hammer-drop at nearly the same time as the PlayStation 4.

Xbox 720: what’s to be expected at tomorrow’s announcement is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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.

As launch time approaches, the game developer teams at Ubisoft have revealed a full 6-minute gameplay video of the upcoming title Watch Dogs. This game works with a hero character that, at the time this game began development, was a futuristic smart city dweller. Fast forward 4.5 years later when the game is about to be released and the entire environment has become so real that technology security experts have been brought in to consult on the final product.

What this demonstration of the game presents is the world promised by early previews, one in which the gamer lives in a sea of information. As citizens of this connected Chicago walk by, the user has the option of hacking their electronic connection to everything. Name, occupation, cash, and all.

Watch as a woman named Chandra Prince walks by the hacker hero of this game and, with a tap of the display of his smartphone, he finds her age, occupation, income, hobbies – and has the option to steal from her bank account digitally. Every citizen of this city has a machine in their pocket or in their hand, and through that machine they’re open to attack.

It’s in this world that Watch Dogs is shown to be not just the silent killer’s playground of games like Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, but one where a villain can – at first – walk around in broad daylight. Of course once the user finds himself on the wrong end of the law, the police make cameras and sound detection tools an all-encompassing web for our hero.

As you’ll remember from SlashGear’s previous investigation into the world of Watch Dogs, this city has Batman-like sound detection capabilities. It’s not safe to speak without a muffler – not if you want to remain anonymous. Fire a gun and you’ll be triangulated – break a window and it’ll be heard by the cops.

Just as it is with any caped crusader-type situation, the player of this game will soon find themselves addicted to making full use of their ability to see and hear all. As “potential criminals” roam the streets with Crime Probability meters attached to them, following them like a Pre-Crime unit will be the gamer’s prerogative.

This video game will be able to be played in an open-world fashion if the user wishes, this the same sort of deal made popular by the Grand Theft Auto series on the original PlayStation. They’ll also be able to follow plotlines that lead them into heavy trouble with both digital crime syndicates and the police, both of which have access to the big brother cover that intertwines the city.

Watch Dogs will be coming to a gaming machine near you on November 19th. It’ll be released to your high-powered gaming PC, WiiU, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and more – those four bases being the first wave only. This game will eventually also have mobile components so the user can continue playing while on-the-go on smartphone and tablet machines, making the game as real as its story – watch yourself! And don’t forget your stealth skill!

Watch Dogs gameplay depicts 21st century ninja is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.