To date, Microsoft is not able to establish an Xbox One website because both domains XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net were previously registered to a resident of London, UK back in 2011 – December 29th to be exact – thanks Fusible. Microsoft’s complaint to NAF – Case Number 1501205 – came only two days after the worldwide unveiling of the XBox One – increasingly becoming known among skeptics as the ‘X Bone’.

I expressed high hopes for Xbox One prior to reveal, and until E3 I’ll gingerly reserve my optimism, but it’s painfully unclear why Microsoft would’ve put the cart before the horse on this one. I can’t help but adopt a cynical outlook that fits comfortably for skeptics – easily surmised as Microsoft’s lack of preparedness.

Remember a couple weeks back when we thought that MS would officially name the new Xbox Infinity?

Well, assuming that MS would have went through with that name, they would have again found themselves in the same quagmire – because oddly enough, Xbox Infinity was already registered to a firm in China called, HangZhou AiMing Network Co., Ltd in November 2012.

Seriously?!

The dispute is expected to go in Microsoft’s favour, however – taking into consideration their successful track record – and their abysmally deep pockets – You know somebody’s about to get paid!

The post Microsoft Not Legally Able To Use Xbox One Domain Names appeared first on Hard Reset.

During the PS4 unveiling, Sony announced that the console would see a 2013 release in at least one of its three major territories, Japan, Europe and the US. With Europe seemingly always the last territory on Sony’s agenda, European fans were left in doubt as to whether they would get their hands on the next generation PlayStation this side of Christmas.

However , if you open a copy of today’s UK newspaper, Metro you’ll see a full page ad is dedicated to the PS4. The ad reads;

“Now is the time. The world’s greatest players are going to entertain, create and amaze on the ultimate stage. This year a new generation will push the boundaries of play and share in moments of wonder. This year players will become legends.”

At the bottom of the ad the words “Coming 2013”are written in big, white, joy filled letters, suggesting that this time around Europe won’t suffer a considerable delay in getting the console to its shores.

Seemingly playing down the significance of the ad, Sony responded to Edge saying;

“We announced at the PlayStation Meeting event on Feb 20th that PS4 would be coming in 2013… the adverts are simply re-stating that message. More information about PS4 and all PlayStation Platforms will be announced at E3.”

The news of a suspected worldwide 2013 release for the PS4 comes just days after Microsoft announced that their next gen offering, the Xbox One, would be launched around the world before the end of the year. The PS3 launched significantly later than the Xbox 360 in Europe, to Sony’s peril, so the console giant looks set to make sure the same does not happen this generation.

Recently CVG reported that Sony is ensuring the PS3 is not delayed in Europe and is making the territory a high-priority in the race for next gen supremacy. The gaming site quoted an insider at Sony as saying the company is “prepared to do whatever it takes” to ensure there is no delay  in the PS4 reaching European consumers.

Official details on the release dates for the PS4 are expected at Sony’s E3 press conference on 10^th June at 6pm Pacific Time.

The post PS4 Getting 2013 Release In Europe appeared first on Hard Reset.

It’s also surprising just how good it is.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (XBOX 360/PS3/PC)

Developer: Techland

Publisher: Ubisoft

Released: May 22nd, 2013

Gunslinger continues the recent trend from Ubisoft of releasing downloadable versions of their larger franchises using the tech developed for the boxed game, while taking the opportunity to experiment with storytelling, art, and established mechanics (started with Far Cry 3:Blood Dragon).  While it doesn’t quite offer the length and variety of gameplay as their big brothers, they provide quite the compelling package for the price point, and definitely make their contemporaries pale in comparison.

The events of the game are delivered in a series of stories being told by our hero Silas the bounty hunter to the patrons of a local bar.  Recounting his various past adventures, we learn of his journey to find a notorious outlaw responsible for wronging our hero, busting up all kinds of wanted bandidos along the way.  The entire game is narrated by Silas, and regularly he will forget or change his story as the details come rushing back to him, which really puts an interesting spin on things in terms of new paths opening up or enemies changing entirely in the middle of a fight.  It’s rare that video games feature an unreliable narrator, even rarer when it plays into the mechanics or level design in any significant way.  The writing is really authentic and very playful, making you care about characters you never really see.

The gameplay is pretty simple first person shooter fare, though very finely crafted.  The controls are tight and aiming is very precise, which allows for easy combo chains.  Much of it ends up a bit repetitive as the formula for enemy encounters has little variety, but the actual gunplay is just so satisfying and fun, you don’t mind doing it again and again.  It is all very guided and briefly paced, which gives it the feel of a shooting gallery more than anything.  With this game comes the addition of a skill system, which along with the art direction, seem to be borrowed from Borderlands.  They provide various perks that range from increased ammo and reload speed, down to the ability dual wield pistols.  While the game is relatively short, the skill tree opens up so quick that it really helps breath extra life into the flow of the game.

The art direction also exceeds expectations, with beautifully rendered mountains, farms and canyons, as well as really detailed weapon textures that really have a satisfying pop to them when firing or reloading.  Enemy animations are a bit stiff, but more often than not they get taken out before you really get up close to see them in detail.  Everything in the game has this sketchy, comic book feel to it, right down to the dynamic entry screens for boss fights (also straight out of Borderlands).  When you look at how much they were able to cram into a very small game, it’s all the more impressive.  In terms of the music, it manages to strike a perfect balance between classic western twang and tense modern action film scoring, which feels right at home with such a playful and light genre romp

Outside of the main campaign, there are side modes like Duel Rush (ugh), Score Attack and New Game+, which may have legs for those who can’t get enough of those little numbers flying everywhere ala Bulletstorm.

The one area in which I feel the game stumbles is the dual mini-games   Every chapter ends with a one-on-one draw contest between Silas and his bounty, where you have to use both analog sticks to focus down reticles for both aiming at your target and inching your hand ever closer towards the holster (which determines draw speed).  The entire process is frustrating and unintuitive, and more often than not you’ll find yourself repeating these segments until you manage to work around the shoddy controls.

That said, the flaws here are minor drops in the bucket compared to how much polish and charm there is.  It’s a quick, fun, inventive little game, and makes me want to see what they can do with what they learned here (in this setting of course).  Unfortunately, there seems to be little fanfare for this game, and odds are many will simply ignore it.  Here’s hoping this won’t be the last we see of the franchise, as this entry shows a ton of potential.

The post Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Review appeared first on Hard Reset.

Although if you don’t want to listen to us, you can always watch.

//Get The Show

• iTunes
• Stream
• Stitcher Radio

//Find Us

• Tweet at us 
• Facebook us
• Subscribe on Youtube

//Credits

Starring
Dan Hobbs
Hasari Ennis
Ben Quy
David Treharne

The post Xbox One – Reveal Reactions Podcast appeared first on Hard Reset.

XBLA will not be around for Xbox 1 – ever. All XBL channels; i.e., indie will be consolidated into one virtual bucket of games from which you can rifle through. Whether this is Team Xbox living up to the XB1 credo of “oneness” or not is definitely an underlying point to the primary question of – why?

According to a Gamasutra interview with Microsoft’s Phil Harrison, a more philosophical approach will be taken – in terms of game segregation, one that he believes, “will solve fantastically some of the challenges that independent developers face, particularly around discovery and connecting their game to an audience, by some of the platform features we have in the machine itself.”

“With Xbox One and the new marketplace, they’re games. We don’t make a distinction between whether a game is a 50-hour RPG epic or whether it is a puzzle game or whether it is something that fits halfway between the two.”

So essentially, they’re removing the ‘Browse Games’ search option while simultaneously bringing smaller devs to the forefront. i.e., placing an indie title like Braid between Borderland and Brothers in Arms – right up their with the big boys. If this were today’s XBL setup, only the ‘Search Games’ option would be available from which you can browse alphabetically or by simply typing the name.

The only foreseen problem with this model is that it completely shafts the hungry, and talented indie developers out there hoping for a bit of recognition. By eliminating their ‘spotlights’ or popular titles – the display windows beneath the ‘featured, arcade, on demand, and indie channels – it seems this would in fact contradict bringing smaller named titles to the forefront, but Harrison promises that the spotlights we see for popular genre-specific titles will still be intact.

“We don’t give that up, says Harrison. “We don’t give up the ability to put a spotlight on the products that we think are going to be exciting to our user base.” And thankfully so – for all those hungry, talented devs out there trying to make a buck. He continued with:

“What your friends are playing, what other people think is hot in your area, your country, your continent, will propagate up the most interesting and exciting games.”

It will be interesting to see how far Team Xbox will continue to take this philosophy of ‘oneness’. I can just imagine with XB1′s voice activation feature finding your title will be simply a matter of speaking it aloud.

Lets see where this takes us.

The post XBLA Format Dropped From Xbox One appeared first on Hard Reset.

Metro: Last Light (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Developer: 4A Games
Publisher: Deep Silver
Released: May 14, 2013 (NA) / May 17, 2013 (EU)

Players familiar with Metro 2033 will feel right at home taking control of Artyom again. For those not familiar, Artyom is one of the last surviving members of the human race, now living underground in the Metro tunnel of Russia. Here houses 3 distinct factions at war: Polis, The Reds and The Reich. Oh, and a bunch of crazy monsters, but you blew up a large portion of them in the previous game’s end, known as the Dark Ones.

Last Light takes the cultural feeling of all 3 factions and bumps it up. Now when you venture into civilization from time-to-time you will actually feel like the inhabitants are alive and interacting with the horrible living conditions that surrounds them. I personally spent a long amount of time just wandering around and listening to the vast amount of dialogue from the NPC’s, which sound beautiful in the Russian/Ukrainian tongue, and average in English.

Venturing into the wild Metro tunnels is easier this time around, in a way. Ammo is much more common, allowing you to take a faster course of action compared to 2033, where you had to stealth around or die quick. Enemies also feel less like sponges for your bullets, and you feel more sturdy. Gone are the days where one bullet would take you down. However, my first problem arises with “dirty ammo” and “military grade” . These ammo types provided you with cheap, expendable ammo (dirty) versus super great quality ammo that could also be used to buy things (military). They deal very similar amounts of damage now. Couples this with the fact that regular “dirty ammo” is so easily found, you never have to spend your military grade ammo. Upgrades and supplies came way too easy, even on the harder difficulties.

Stealth gameplay is still a lot of fun and rewarding much like the original. Many lamps, lights and candles can be interacted with, providing you with a nice amount of concealement for taking out enemies quietly. The darkness does a much better job of covering Artyom this time around. Last Light does however improve the feel of how Artyom is experienced. Throwing knives from across a room to take out a guard or shooting headshots with your silenced pistol feel like a Call of Duty soldier. Artyom is a grizzled survivalist not a trained Spec-Ops soldier, and the game seems to have taken him to that level. Survival in the dark seems like an afterthought.

Ranger Mode is back, this time around as a preorder only, or paid download for the game. 4A labels it as “the way Metro was meant to be played”, reducing ammo, taking away the HUD and making the world harder overall. I played the game in this mode for my second run-through and can say that it does enhance the experience slightly. I still found myself going to the same tactics as other difficulty levels, but did have to watch my ammo and air filters more closely, considering I had no HUD and reduced amounts of both. So if you don’t have access to it, you really aren’t missing that much.

Last Light moves the majority of exploration from the underground to the surface. Here you have a much wider area to manuever and places to hide, but it won’t save you from the harrowing phantoms and monsters that lurk here. The game does an amazing job with its audio and pacing in the grey wasteland. The surreal supernatural feel is something players have to experiencefor themselves as it really puts you on the edge of your seat. My most memorable, and frighting experience, was entering a field area that housed spirits. These spirts put Artyom into multiple states of “flashbacks” where some pretty creepy things were happening. Many times this would happen unexpedily as well when in the Metro system, even during combat.

Now you are probably asking what the game looks like. Well, it looks amazing, even on consoles. The game uses 4a Games proprietary engine, which makes games utterly astounding looking. The game still has that war-torn brown and grey feel, but makes itself unique and interesting with beautiful design and atmosphere. Above ground players will experience acid rainstorms that makes you feel great despite the world being so horrible.

Sound is as great as it was in 2033, but as I mentioned before, the English acting is average. Guns echo in the Metro tunnels, monsters cry in the darkness, the sound of rain patters your helmet and an eerie soundtrack plays in the background. It’s the quintessential atmosphere setter.

Last Light is a full game that gives us players who loved 2033 a better look at other parts of the world. Fuller narrative, more fluid combat, even better visuals and new horrors lurking in the shadows. If you even remotely enjoy survivor-horror or action-shooters try out Metro: Last Light. I’m positive you will love it.

The post Metro: Last Light Review appeared first on Hard Reset.

Microsoft has confirmed that all games played on the Xbox One must be installed onto the systems 500GB HDD. Games are linked to the users Xbox Live account and any subsequent owners must also install it onto their system, incurring a fee.

Speaking to Wired, a Microsoft representative explained, “Microsoft did say that if a disc was used with a second account, that owner would be given the option to pay a fee and install the game from the disc, which would then mean that the new account would also own the game and could play it without the disc.”

When questioned by Kotaku about the fee, Microsoft’s Phil Harrison explained that, gamers wishing to activate a pre-owned retail disk will have to pay the same amount as the original owner did for the game; “let’s assume it’s a new game, so the answer is yes, it will be the same price.”

No further details were given, but it’s reasonable to assume that, like new releases, the price of pre-owned versions of older games will remain the same as that of new versions of the same game. If true, this method would be less than welcome for those that depend on the reduced costs of pre-owned games to finance their gaming needs.

However, after many rumours suggesting that Xbox One would completely block the use of second-hand games, the addition of pre-owned titles for the new console does come as a relief for many that relay on the selling of one game to fund the purchase of another.

Speaking to CVG, Phil Harrison also discussed how games will function on multiple systems in the coming generation. He explained that game disks can be used across multiple systems, but having the installed content without the disk will mean you’ll have to purchase the game, from Xbox Live, to use the content.

“I can give that disc to somebody else – maybe my son who has his own Xbox One somewhere else in the house – and he can install and play it on his machine. I can come to your house with that disc, I can install it on your machine and we can play it and while I’m with you we can have all of the capabilities of that game.

“The moment I go home and notionally take that disc with me, you no longer have the ability to play that game. But the ‘bits’ are on your hard drive, so if you want to play that game you can buy it – you can go to the online store, buy it and its instantly unlocked and playable on your machine. All of the privileges I just described in my house would now apply in yours as well.”

Microsoft announced yesterday that Xbox One will be available worldwide before the end of the year.

The post Xbox One Has Pre-Owned Fee appeared first on Hard Reset.

First, my opinions on the conference itself. If you went into the #XboxReveal event today wanting Microsoft to show of awesome games for awesome gamers, you were letting yourself in for a barrelful of disappointment. When a company like Microsoft doing an hour long announcement, live on TV, you are bound to get them pandering to the mainstream. Let’s be honest, if you were a business, you would be doing the same thing. Don Mattrick and the Xbox team want those boxes underneath as many TVs as possible and in that respect they nailed it. A Minority Report style user interface combined with TV and music and movies alongside “dudebro” games, like COD and Fifa, with a surprise appearance by Steven Spielberg and the Halo TV show. That as about as mainstream as it gets without it coming out of Apple headquaters. If you want games, just wait a couple of weeks until that little video games trade show. E3, I think it’s called.

As far as the box itself goes, it is pretty fully featured. 8gb of RAM, a Blu-Ray drive, 8 core CPU and HDMI in and out ports. A whole 15 games are coming in the first year of the console and eight of those will be brand spanking new IPs. As for the name, Xbox One. Fine, whatever. I’ll end up calling it Xbox. All I want to know is how to abbreviate it. I think I’m going with XBone.

The worst part of this whole reveal is the after party. Numerous stories coming from everywhere across Microsoft conflicting each other.

Engadget is reporting that the Xbox One will not play Xbox 360 games, nor digital games built for the 360 architecture. Fair enough – it’s a technical impossibility. However, as small consolation, gamertags and scores will carry over to the new system. At least that’s one thing.

Wired’s report on the new console says that the system won’t always be online. Yay! However, developers could make use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service, which could present situations where the system would have to be online. However, Microsoft exec Phil Harrison then came out, in a chat with Kotaku, and said the console does have to be online in order to get the most out of the system. And here’s the bombshell:

Kotaku: If I’m playing a single player game, do I have to be online at least once per hour or something like that? Or can I go weeks and weeks?

Harrison: I believe it’s 24 hours.

Kotaku: I’d have to connect online once every day.

Harrison: Correct.

But don’t worry, Microsoft have clarified the situation with a Q&A on their newswire saying that “it does not have to be always connected, but Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet”.  A sentence which makes zero sense.

The XBone being always online may have something do with the used game market. The above report from Wired states that games can be installed to the system, and may have to be. For games that have been previously installed, second players would be prompted with a note saying they could pay a fee to add their account to the game and install it. Other sources have been saying that the activation “fee” could be as much as the price of the game new.

Then Microsoft stated that this was wrong via their customer services Twitter account. OXM UK editor, John Hicks, added on Twitter: “At no point when I was talking to MS did they say there was a fee for used games. They said used games were important and supported.”  Then the editor of T3 said on Twitter: “[MS] told me that once you sell a game, the license transfers in the cloud. So a new gamer activates it, it’s removed from yours.” 

Upon reports of this breaking the stock of US retail giant Gamestop’s stock dropped 6% – who then said they were working with the platform holder on a solution. The official Microsoft line is ” We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We’ll have more details to share later.”

Major Nelson, the Xbox mouthpiece, posted a blog saying that. “Another piece of clarification around playing games at a friend’s house – should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile.” Which sounds to me like if you want to play it on another profile, you cannot.

The long and short of it that I have no goddamn idea. It is beginning to seem like the somewhat shitty reveal event was the shining moment for the newly announced system. Clusterfuck does not even begin to describe what’s going on here. The not really full showing of much at the event stunk of Microsoft pulling stuff at the last minute thanks to Sony forcing their hand back in February. This kerfuffle is just another reason for many people to back #teamSony (whose stock price rose after the event) and tweet rage at Microsoft until, they can sort themselves out.

Microsoft is catastrophically unprepared for the most predictable questions surrounding its console. I’m sure E3 will bring countless games and, that by launch day, you will clawing at the windows of your local GAME to try and get one. However, at the moment, the Xbox One has left a bitter, and downright complicated, taste in our mouths.

Wait, Call Of Duty: Ghost has a dog it in. Video games are awesome.

The post Xbox One’s Messaging An Awful Mess appeared first on Hard Reset.

 //Xbox One Exclusives

Forza Motorsport 5 – Microsoft Studios/Turn 10

Quantum Break – Microsoft Studios/Remedy Entertainment

//Multi-Platform Games

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal

Battlefield 4 – Electronic Arts/DICE

Call of Duty: Ghosts – Activision/Infinity Ward

Destiny – Activision/Bungie

FIFA 14 – EA Sports/EA Canada

Madden NFL 25 – EA Sports/EA Tiburon

NBA Live – EA Sports/EA Tiburon

Thief – Square Enix/Eidos Montreal

UFC – EA Sports/EA Canada

Watch Dogs – Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal

The post The Official List Of Confirmed Xbox One Games appeared first on Hard Reset.

As well as officially unveiling the Xbox One to the world, Microsoft’s press conference played host to the reveal trailer of Call of Duty: Ghosts, the next instalment in the hugely successful shooter series.

Attendees were also treated to footage that offered a sneak peek into the offices of Infinity Ward, to get a glimpse of the new features that will provide an innovative gaming experience for players, by utilizing compelling narrative, superior graphical quality and more immersive gameplay mechanics.

Call of Duty: Ghosts offers a new story with brand new characters; Infinity Ward is attempting to create more emotional engagement  between player and character and has recruited Oscar winning writer, Stephen Gaghan, to pen the new tale in order to provide a deeper sense of ‘emotional reality’.

The narrative begins with America devastated and its army and military forces overwhelmed. The player will fight alongside the remnants of the US Special Forces. Your new squad isn’t limited to humans either as, in a first for Call of Duty, you’ll also have a dog fighting alongside side you as part of the team. “He does everything from sniffing out explosives to protecting the team” Mark Rubin, Executive Producer at Infinity Ward explained.

The overall beauty of Ghosts is thanks to it being powered on a shiny new engine, with the tech also showcasing new gameplay features such as vaulting, leaning and sliding, to better immerse the player in the action.

The main draw for any Call of Duty game is of course the multiplayer. This time around Infinity Ward is planning to provide a more engaging and diverse experience with ‘dynamic maps’, so players have hazards like floods and explosive traps to contend with, on top of the usual mix of bullets, knives and grenades.

For those that simply can’t wait for new CoD maps, the Xbox One version of Ghosts will have extra content available for purchase before its next gen rival. As they did with the 360 iterations of previous CoD titles, Microsoft have secured timed exclusivity for all DLC that will be available in Call of Duty: Ghosts.

The post Call of Duty: Ghosts – First Trailer and Details appeared first on Hard Reset.