Xbox 720: Blu-ray equipped & no support for used gaming titles?

Earlier this week news broke around the production of the system-on-a-chip (SoC) that will be utilised by the next version of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, making it around six times as powerful as the current console.

Now, a report by Kotaku has revealed that the informally named Xbox 720 will sport an updated, faster and more accurate version of Kinect, as well as a Blu-ray player, as opposed to the DVD-drive offered in the current Xbox 360 consoles. If this proves to be the case than the next Xbox console disc’s will give developers access to 25-50 GB of data storage space compared to the 9 GB that they have available via DVD.    

More important though is the rumours that the Xbox 720 may include some kind of anti-used game measure, preventing users from obtaining more affordable second-hand games at shops or handing down titles to friends and family. Kotaku’s “reliable industry source” could not provide any details on how the anti-used game set-up is going to work, as merely linking a game to a specific Xbox Live account for example, would not mean much to gamers that do not play games online and thus keep their console offline.

Insomniac is done offering Resistance

Alas, it’s official. Resistance 3 will be the last Resistance title headed by Insomniac Games. In a YouTube address, Ted Price, Insomniac Games’ CEO, explained that Resistance had “reached its logical conclusion in terms of the story it wanted to tell.”

However, he stressed that this didn’t mean the Resistance franchise wasn’t continuing, as it was already being helmed by Nihilistic, which was responsible for a Resistance title for the forthcoming PlayStation Vita.

Price acknowledged Resistance fans and those who have played Resistance 1, 2, and 3, thanked fans for their comments, and added that the studio looked forward to having fans along for the journey as it moved on to other games, such as Overstrike.  

Fans familiar with Insomniac Games’ work know that for the past several years, the studio has been well loved for two franchises in particular: Ratchet and Clank and Resistance, which for quite some time was considered to be the PlayStation 3’s answer to the Xbox 360’s Gears of War series.  

As their name suggests though, we somehow don’t think Insomniac will be sleeping on the job anytime soon, and cannot wait to see what will supplant the Resistance series in its place.

 

The Witcher 2 set to bewitch Xbox 360 in April

Some good news for Xbox 360 owners who never played the Witcher 2 on PC, is this week’s reveal by CD Projekt Red that the game will be making its way to their console in April. More good news is that the Xbox 360 version will include all of the downloadable content (DLC) available for the PC version.

According to Joystiq, the developers have promised not to “fire and forget” on its console version either, explaining that it may offer new content moving forward, based on player feedback.

The one thing that won’t be included in the Xbox 360 version is the same high-end graphics as was possible at maximum settings on the PC. Nonetheless, by Xbox 360 standards, all indications are that it will be a very attractive game despite this.  

 

 

Qualcomm Snapdragon GameCommand

Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon GameCommand application to the Android Market earlier in January. With this app the company delivered a way for smartphone and tablet users to easily discover, organise and access the latest Snapdragon optimised mobile gaming titles and gaming news.

During an interview with the Android and Me tech blog, Dave Durnil, director of Advanced Content and Gaming at Qualcomm said that the company was already working on the next version of GameCommand, which should be out in February.

This updated version of the app will incorporate functionality such as a new landscape layout specifically done for tablets and the ability for users to add custom RSS feeds to their in-app gaming news reader.

Durnil also revealed that Qualcomm now possess its own in-house game development studio that is tasked with creating Android games for Snapdragon-powered devices. This team will be aiming to release a flagship mobile gaming title annually, adding to the more than 100 gaming titles already available via GameCommand. The first of these will be a sequel to mini-game Desert Winds.