Hasta La Gadget!

Rumor has it Respawn Entertainment is working on a science fiction online shooter mech game that will be an Xbox 360 and Xbox 720 exclusive. The project is said to have been underway for some time now, and a teaser image has been released, which you can check out in all its blurry wonder after the jump. This information comes from multiple sources that spoke to Kotaku.

The sources who spoke to Kotaku said that the game is a “battle of Davids and Goliaths,” with the Davids being foot soldiers decked out in heavy armor and the Goliaths being huge exoskeltons called Titans, which are piloted by the soldiers. Reportedly, the Titans are more agile than similar offerings found in Steel Battalions and Mechwarrior.

To keep the Titans from pummeling everything and everyone into the dirt, the game maps keep the number of them allowed in game play to a limited amount and foot soldiers are equipped with weapons that allow them to destroy the mech machines. Such a rumor follows in line with some recent trademarks that Respawn Entertainment has nabbed, including things like “Titan” and “Titanfall.”

The sources went on to say that the game will allow for 16-player matches, and that it will run on the Valve Source Engine. A gamer’s own progress is implemented into an “overall balance of power” via the utilization of a faction system. While nothing official has been said and no hard dates were given, word has it the game will be, at the least, playable by next year.

[via OXM]

Xbox 720 integration tipped for TITAN mech exclusive is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Techland, the developer of the popular PC titles Dead Island and Call of Juarez, has officially confirmed that the next title they’re working on will be called Hellraid. The game will be a first-person perspective slasher that you can choose play solo or play with your friends. Techland began work on the game last year under the codename “Project Hell”, but they decided that they needed to give their child a real name.

Hellraid is described as more than just a normal hack-and-slash game, but hey those can be fun too. Techland describes the game as having an “entirely new level of hack & slash action”, where players will have to be precise with their actions, and time out their parries, blocks and attacks. As you advance in the game, you will be able to develop new skills, craft new weapons, and more to help with your journey.

While you can choose to play Hellraid entirely in single-player mode, Techland encourages players to play through the game in multiplayer mode. You can team up with 3 other people to make the game more fun. To ensure this, Techland added “an element of coopetition”, where even though players are helping each other, they are also competing with each other to earn the most points and special rewards offered in multiplayer mode.

Techland hasn’t announced an official release date for Hellraid, but it did say that the game will be available for the PC, PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360 sometime this year. The developer also promises that in the coming weeks, it will be releasing tidbits of information regarding Hellraid and what its all about. There’s no word yet whether or not the game will be heading to the Nintendo Wii U, PlayStation 4, or the next-gen Xbox.

[via Hellraid]

Dead Island project dubbed “Hellraid” for slasher game officiality is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re a fan of the videogame XCOM: Enemy Unknown, you will be very interested to hear about a new game in the franchise. This new game isn’t a sequel or a follow up to Enemy Unknown, rather it goes into the original story behind what happened before the events in Enemy Unknown. The new game is called The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

The game will launch in North America on August 20 with the international launch set for August 23. 2K will offer the game on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows computers for $59.99. The game is set in 1962 at the height of the Cold War. The storyline takes players into the original story for the clandestine XCOM organization and its first encounter with the enemy.

In the game, The Bureau was initially established to provide covert defense against the Soviet Union. Players will play as Special Agent William Carter leading a squad of agents to defeat the unknown enemy. 2K promises that the game will offer calculated combat designed to force players to think and act tactically.

The Bureau will be a third person perspective game and players will be able to transition in and out of a unique Battle Focus ability. The game also uses the concept of permanent consequence making each decision that the player makes effect the outcome of the game. The game is up to pre-order right now and those who do pre-order will get a special Codebreakers side mission as a bonus.

[via Erasethetruth]

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified lands on August 20 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Albert Shum, Windows Phone Design Studio General Manager, and Todd Simmons, Creative Director at Wolff Olins, announced at the Design Day 2013 Event in Norway that there will be some rebranding coming to Microsoft soon. There will be logo rebranding for several of Microsoft’s services, including Bing, Yammer, Skype, and Xbox. They figured that since Windows 8, Microsoft, and Office all got new logos, why shouldn’t these services?

All of the logos seemed flattened out, matching the design scheme that Microsoft is currently going with. The approach that Microsoft was trying to go for was to create products that feature similar looking logos, but are still identified as their own brand. Simmons, whose company has been working with Microsoft for quite a while, says that while coming up with Microsoft’s new look, they were influenced by Nike’s design. He says,

“We thought about Nike. When you experience the Nike brand in whatever form you may experience it, there’s always a Nikeness right… you can certainly see it without the logo.”

The focal point of this rebranding has to do with the consumers. According to Shum and Simmons, “people, reach, and choice” were the prime reasons for this change. They both want to align design, marketing, product, and branding all into one “harmonious” package. They wanted to stray away from Microsoft being just a big business with products, and be more of a business that represents the consumers that use its products.

In the presentation, Simmons and Shum provided sketches of what some of the new logos may be. In the video above, you can see the concept logo that they have for Bing. These new logo rebrands are all part of a process Microsoft calls “re-imagining” itself. Simmons says that the entire project is a huge risk, especially since they’re rebranding products used by millions of people, but that you can’t be innovative without taking a chance.

[via The Verge]

Microsoft set to rebrand Bing, Skype, and Xbox is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Before XCOM: Enemy Unknown was made available on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as a turn-based strategy game, it was supposed to be a first-person shooter. The XCOM shooter mysteriously disappeared with its existence not even acknowledged by 2K Games of Firaxis, but today, both companies have announced its FPS XCOM game will finally be made available later this year.

The game will be called The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and will take place in 1962 back when John F. Kennedy was in the White House and will play as the origin story for the modern XCOM initiative, which we’re sure by now you’re aware is what we experienced in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. In XCOM Declassified, players will assume the role of Special Agent William Carter as he takes customizable agents into the field. Gameplay will be in real-time, which is a departure for the series since its previous games have been turn-based, and the death of squad mates will still be permanent. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Splinter Cell: Blacklist Highlights Wii U Exclusive Gameplay In New Trailer, Bethesda Teases Unannounced Game Through Vine Video,