NEWS: Xbox Loop/720/NextBox Updates

Well there's a bit more information flying around the new Xbox system. Mainly that the AMD Radeon technology will be powering the graphics with a similar chipset to the 6670. Therefore it will have six times the raw processing power of the current Xbox 360 and will also make it faster than Wii U. Development kit should be with gaming companies as early as August.

The new Xbox console will also bite the bullet and play Blu-Rays, something it should be doing now anyway but doesn't want to admit total defeat by using a Sony product after the HD war between the consoles.

The big news is that this week it has been leaked that the new console will not allow you to play used games. There was talk an authentication code would be needed, or online verification. The seeds of this have been planted in games already but this really would be a shocking turn for gamers and something I think Sony should get behind the gamers on. It could give them the edge.

Also we're finally getting rid of the ridiculous Microsoft points system and going back to cold hard cash. I still to this day don't know how many points it is to the pound. It's a stupid currency that cheats gamers into thinking it's not real money that they are spending. Tut tut.

So there you have it, anything else people have heard that I haven't mentioned?

NEWS: Dead Island Gameplay Update!

More word on the Dead Island game that after it's successful trailer released a little while back, got a few tongues wagging...


According to testers, Dead Island is perhaps not going to be the dramatic survival horror the trailer promised, instead it will be "zombie zombie zombie all the time" so say the developers. Instead, it follows Dead Rising where you can basically pick up anything, combine and upgrade it, and make it become a bad-ass weapon. Except as you guys know from my review of Dead Rising, it was somewhat of a chore.

It's also completely ripped off Left 4 Dead by giving you a 4 player co-op option, but worse in that once you pick your character, you stay with it. This leaves out the 'pick-up-and-play' aspect that made Left 4 Dead so popular in the first place. If you're going to rip off a game, why leave the best aspects?

Apparently, part of the story is that you're immune to the zombification, meaning that if you're bit you don't have to worry about turning (or finding Zombrex), but instead can worry about the fact you've got a chunk missing from your arm. The game is a fast-paced, balls out shooter which is more cartoonish than dramatic. For those hoping for a more intelligent, Heavy Rain feel to the zombie genre, I'm afraid you might have to wait a little bit longer because it looks like Dead Island might as well be another Dead Rising in the form of an FPS.

NEWS: LA Noire New Trailer - Gameplay

Latest trailer for Rockstar's LA Noire. How amazing does this look? One of the biggest games of 2011 and will be released in May.