Microsoft have called this a revolutionary entertainment experience and it works like this; how you play the game impacts the show and the show will inform you how you play the game.

Remind you of Defiance at all?

Remedy, the developers who are making Quantum Break and also made Alan Wake, also admitted that this was never going to be Alan Wake 2. That will be revisited when the time is right. Interesting.

Here’s the Quantum Break trailer again, in case you missed it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Last Light continues to tell the story of Artyom,

Metro 2033 did a remarkable job of tackling some rather complex issues surrounding war and nuclear devastation and this time around Metro: Last Light is back doing more of the same. Are hope and God a symbiotic idea? And if man’s struggle to survive lead him to discard all forms of morality, then is the empire formed afterwards even worth saving? Last Light opens, quite boldly, expressing that God may in fact be dead, having abandoned his flock. Should we survive?

Last Light continues to tell the story of Artyom, once a common soldier now a war hero and “Ranger” since his valiant destruction of the Dark Ones, a race of humanoid mutant beings who posses physic powers. Assuming that players chose “the bad ending” in 2033 and chose to detonate a rather large explosive to obliterate the Darks Ones, the game kicks off with the discovery that a Dark One in fact survived the blast that Artyom and his squad set off to save their Metro, before almost instantly throwing you into the bleak but breathtakingly beautiful wastelands that occupy the Metro universe.

This is where Metro: Last Light triumphs. It looks amazing and will immerse you, whoever you are. As you tread the wastes with your gas mask on you’ll have to keep an eye on your watch so you know when to change air filters and watch your step, if you go splashing about in the mud puddles you’ll need to wipe the sweat and filth from your visor if you want to see past the end of your nose.

The vast tunnels of the metro are just as stunning, each shanty town shows a great deal of work that’s gone into making a living breathing community. Encouraging you to stop and listen, each survivor adds more and more interesting back story into an already rich universe. There’s not a lot to do in each town besides from restocking ammunition and other equipment, but it feels alive. I know I’ve wasted hours just wondering and eavesdropping like the nosy neighbour I am.

Last Light takes you through all manner of different locales from creepy catacombs, hidden prisons, shanty towns, abandoned buildings in the wastelands and even the dark camps of the Fourth Reich

Paced extremely well, Last Light takes you through all manner of different locales from creepy catacombs, hidden prisons, shanty towns, abandoned buildings in the wastelands and  even the dark camps of the Fourth Reich, a communist army hell-bent on massacring not only the Dark Ones but anyone they consider not to be genetically suitable (Imagine the Nazis but even worse and you’ll get the jist)

The story shifts your play styles from exploration and stealth to all out gun fights –  with fights breaking out between you and hordes of monsters making Last Light full to the brim with a survival horror feel not seen in a while. One moment you’ll find yourself in a factory taking on squads of well-armed soldiers, and shortly afterward you’ll be alone in a swamp facing off against gruesome flying demons and bear-like monsters. This is something that 4A have mastered quite well, this sense of pacing which is akin to the highs and lows of bigger titles such as the infamous Half-Life 2.

Just like in 2033, Arytom is able to carry three guns at any one time along with a wide arsenal of throwing knives grenades and other survival tools. As you would expect, weapons are available in a small variety of Rifles shotguns, pistols and sniper rifles, all of which can be fully upgraded with silencers, scopes, stocks and more. The weapons have been created with great attention to detail, not just in looks but sound too, each having its own personality and purpose with my favourite being “the bastard” a nifty little submachine gun which has made a return. It fires bullets like nobodies business, with immense power but is often liable to jam, hence its delightful moniker.

Gunplay feels a lot more solid this time around

This is where Last Light has improved upon its predecessor, gunplay feels a lot more solid this time around, each battle leaves you feeling like you’re prepared and stand a chance of survival. Human enemies aren’t bullet sponges anymore and in fact provide some of the most enjoyable firefights in the game. Stealth missions are highly enjoyable – armed with a knife and a silenced six-shooter. Head shots had a suitable POP and, if I was feeling generous, a good square punch to someone’s jaw!

The main currency of military-grade ammunition makes a welcome return, kept in a separate stockpile from your everyday ammo, they can be used to purchase upgrades and other supplies but they’re also life savers in harsh combat, offering up a bigger bang for your buck. Literally as you stand there firing a clip of money into your enemies. You’ll have to constantly toe the line as ammunition is scarce, so do you use your cash/bullets to survive with an unhealthy bank balance, or run away with your riches so you can buy more everyday-value ammo later?

One of the most refreshing things you’ll find with Last Light is the complete lack of hand holding. On occasion there will be button prompts on-screen to inform you how to do something but you’ll never be pushed in the right direction or told exactly what to do. Your watch will let you know if you can be seen, or if you need to change the filter on your gas mask but again this isn’t shoved in your face, over time I learned that Artyomn’s deep breaths meant it was time for a new filter and could instinctively accommodate the breathless hero.

One of the most refreshing things you’ll find with Last Light is the complete lack of hand holding

During stealth missions, lights can be tackled by simply unscrewing bulbs, a simple act of discovery which adds some truly satisfying moments. Much like Dead Space, if you need to check your next objective or get some directions Artyom can pull out his handy notebook, but this won’t pause the action, forcing you to rely more on your own instincts rather than waste time flipping through your note pad.

With an engrossing story, great visuals and solid mechanics Last Light does its job well, but it’s not completely without fault. The enemy AI is a little bit uneven, humans can often miss a knife going through their friends head directly next to them or on occasion continue running for cover that they arrived at moments ago.

Mutant creatures have their own issues too, often opting to just continuously charge in a straight line, acting like moving target practice and soaking up clips of ammo before eventually falling. This bullet-sponge concept is something which can be a bit of a let down, especially some of the boss battles – even then the game isn’t unenjoyable it just simply detracts from the immersion a little bit.

The world  of Last Light looks fantastic and feels vibrant and real. The conversations that people have are interesting and sound great drawing you into Last Light’s world, at times you’ll snap out of your gamer trance and realise you’re watching static dummies speak which begs the question, if robots quote Shakespeare, are they great actors?

Minor AI issues aside, Metro: Last Light is a bold take on the post apocalyptic adventure, with a story told from a rather unique point of view. The story is simply brilliant, and although it gets a little bit rushed nearer the closing act, it will drive you to play through to its conclusion. The surroundings are stunning, with a brilliant soundtrack –  you’ll play for the sights and stay for the story.

Well, retailer Zavvi may have just dropped the bombshell, sending out a mail shot offering the chance to pre-order with no need for a deposit, which adds some legitimacy to the supposed price as the PS4 has hinted at no price point forcing retailers to take deposits.

So what is this magic price point? £399.99 for the console, solus. Zavvi have even been bold enough to list it for a November 30th release date, this could be a place holder but something tells me they’ve made a mistake and put the right info up at the wrong time.

So what do you think? Too much? Just right? check it out and let us know what you’re thinking in the comments below!

It is packed to the corners with the latest technology including an AMD 8-core x86 based CPU, 8GB of RAM, Blu-Ray drive and a a large 500Gb HDD for game saves and downloads.  You want connectivity, well, Xbox One can provide it. Wireless, wired LAN, USB 3, HDMI out and HDMI in, S/PDIF, it’s all there and offers everything you could need for your new entertainment setup.

Kinect comes in the box, but it’s not the old Kinect you were looking for. This is the new, more angular Kinect 2.0, with an impressive 1080p camera at 30 fps. The Kinect control software has been tweaked to support the new hardware and it now has more points of articulation and can even detect your heartbeat.

Even the controller, so well designed already, doesn’t escape a facelift. The device has had a redesign, and the chunky battery pack has gone, to be replaced by a flatter, more ergonomic rear. The triggers have been tweaked as well, with the ability to provide force-feedback through them.

Powering the hardware will be the best bits of the current dash, with more added besides. Running alongside this will be a Windows Kernel and tying it all together will be the Kinect. Microsoft dubbed this the Xbox One Architecture.  Part of this will be the new Snap-Mode system that will allow you to multi-task and switch between your game and TV.

Yes, I mentioned TV, and this is one key theme running through this entire entertainment system, and let’s face it, that’s what this ultimately is. TV will play a large part in the full experience, should you wish it to and Microsoft announced a partnership with the NFL to set this in motion, although TV will initially be released only in North America.

With all the investment Microsoft has made in Smartglass, it would be folly not to mention that Smartglass will be incorporated into the new Dash. This will seamlessly integrate your Smartglass enabled device into your Xbox One experience.

So, what about games? Well, the bad news is, your current 360 games will not be compatible with your sparkly new hardware, and neither will your XBLA games, which is a shame. Your gamerscore will travel with you though and Microsoft have invested heavily in cloud-based Xbox Live servers to accommodate the new system, 300,000 of them to be precise.

Several AAA titles have been revealed for launch including an exclusive partnership with EA Sports for the release of  FIFA 14, NBA 14, Madden NFL 25 and UFC, all using the impressive new Ignite Engine for extra realism. Forza 5 was also showcased along with the announcement of several other games, including the already revealed Destiny and incredible Call of Duty Ghosts.

So, what else? Well, the small matter of a Halo driven live action TV series, directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg, announced by 343 Industries’ very own Bonnie Ross.

So, is there more to come? Well, we’ll have to wait for E3 I guess but it’s fair to say, the jury is currently out although there are plus points so far.

The panel will feature information about the design decisions behind the “ultimate all in one gaming and entertainment box.”

Panel guests include:

Todd Holmdahl, Corp. Vice President, IEB Hardware
Nick Baker, Distinguished Engineer, Console Architecture
Boyd Multerer , Director of Development
Dan Greenawalt , Creative Director Turn 10 Studios

Watch it live on Twitch.

Luckily for those of you that are scared of ubiquitous wait times while Smart Match tries to find you a partner, Microsoft aims for the Xbox One to be able to switch between applications quickly enough (including the use of Snap) to avoid boredom!

In the following tweet Keighley reported that Don Mattrick has been teasing a reveal for a Black Tusk game at E3 in a few weeks.

In post show interview, Don Mattrick says box is not “always on” and teases a new game from Black Tusk studio to be revealed at E3.

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 21, 2013

From what we saw at the Xbox Reveal show Microsoft is obviously saving the majority of the game announcements for the world’s biggest video game expo, so we can look forward to hearing more about what Microsoft and Black Tusk have up their sleeves pretty soon.

The release confirmed that Live TV with Kinect navigation, Live TV with One Guide, Trending, and NFL on Xbox will only be available in North America at launch. The release added that Microsoft anticipates a global roll-out over time. It was also confirmed that “Live TV will require a supported receiver device with HDMI output,” which is sold separately.

The good news is that Microsoft are planning a global roll-out over time.

What we are led to believe by this is that the Xbox One is heavily based on Windows 8, and that makes perfect sense given the new hardware they’ve chosen being much closer to PC hardware. It’s also more than likely that the Xbox One will rely heavily on DirectX, Microsoft’s coveted rendering engine.

Kinect [is] to be connected to Xbox One in all cases, yes.

Though he went on to say that Microsoft understands the issues with people playing in small rooms. As such, the console is said to be as functional in all room sizes, though admits that console is designed with living room play in mind:

We use the living room almost as a moniker – that’s where we assume the best screen is in the house. But if you like to play in any other room in the house, the Xbox One will deliver the same quality of experience whatever the environment.

Infinity Ward are outshining themselves, if that’s even possible.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And here’s the behind-the-scenes info on the new game engine and the buzz that the developers are feeling for the new Xbox One architecture.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s looking good and it’ll be out this year.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You’ve then got three specific parts of the engine; human intelligence, true player motion and living worlds. Take a gander at all four trailers below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Slightly more information here this time though, as the game is slated to come out on October 29th. Possibly giving more insight as to when we can expect the Xbox One.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

No confirmed date though is to come out in 2014.

Today it’s been confirmed that all Xbox One games will require a mandatory installation onto the systems hard drive, surely this would mean you could buy one disc or rent it and pass it around right?

Well, no. If it has been installed elsewhere before you get your hands on it, there will be a fee. Individual games will be tied to Xbox Live accounts, meaning that the console will be able to detect whether the game came from a retailer or is in fact pre-owned.

The plus side is that once discs are installed on the hard drive, games can be played without a disc being in the tray.

Microsoft spoke with Wired to elaborate.

“On the new Xbox, all game discs are installed to the HDD to play, What follows naturally from this is that each disc would have to be tied to a unique Xbox Live account, else you could take a single disc and pass it between everyone you know and copy the game over and over. Since this is clearly not going to happen, each disc must then only install for a single owner.”

“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.”

Microsoft havent gone into much more detail and havent said exactly what the second-user fee would be, but at this point im thinking any amount is too much.

This certainly seems like a bold move which will most definitely alienate a lot of Xbox users. Not a good day Microsoft.

Up next.

Bungie have confirmed that Destiny will come out on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Today it seems however that there may have been some truth to the rumours, sure there isn’t any broad rule of a mandatory always online function, but should developers choose then some games can send certain processes across the cloud as opposed to working from the Xbox One itself which means..you guessed it, you’ll need a constant connection to play.

According to a hands on report in Wired.

“developers can make games that use Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service, which means that they might be able to offload certain computing tasks to the cloud rather than process them on the Xbox One hardware itself”.

Yes, such a game would need online connections, but according to Xbox Live director Marc Whitten, this isn’t obligatory. All though he hopes to see developers use this feature.

The Xbox One will not feature any form of backwards compatibility for games. Microsoft Xbox Live VP Marc Whitten spoke to The Verge about what is going to be bad news for many.

 ”The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn’t really work from that perspective,”

Whitten was asked if there would be any alternate solutions, for example the PS4 will allow players to stream PS3 games, Whitten admitted no plans were in the works. On the brighter side, Microsoft confirmed through Wired that any music or movies purchased through Xbox Live will transfer to the Xbox One.

Eric Hirshberg came to the stage to discuss some more about Ghosts before showing a brand new trailer.

Promising an entirely new world, narrative, cast of characters and graphics engine. Stephen Gagan (the brains Traffic and Syriana) has been brought on board to write the story of Ghosts, which tells the tale of a small band of soldiers who are the last remains of all the many different US Special forces branches, who have clubbed together to save the world from a threat (an unknown one at this moment in time)

graphically the new engine looks pretty stunning, going so far as to show clearly the dirt under your heroes fingernails, but the ever popular multiplayer has also been improved. Not only can you expect character customisation but now there will be dynamic maps. Yes that’s right, finally you’ll also have to keep your wits about you and dodge your surroundings as well as the enemies bullets. Nice!

Well, I know I cant wait to see more at E3, but what about you?

Nancy Tellem also announced a partnership between Microsoft and the NFL, allowing for more information driven and detailed analysis when watching the NFL on your Xbox One.

TV to be personalised to your needs.

As we can see from the demo, the Xbox One is capable of much more complex models. The car models they debuted showed rich detail on the car treads and interiors, including the fabrics; this is a definite step up from the capabilities of the Xbox 360.

Throughout the presentation Microsoft protests that it wants the Xbox One to have environments that reflect the effects of time, weather and even wear and tear. This may have been leading up to their next game they wanted to show off: Quantum.

Not much information was given about Quantum, except that a little girl enables a woman to peer into another part of time and space where a ship cascades with a bridge. The trailer is followed up by Delmore Schwartz’s phrase, “Time is the fire in which we burn”, suggesting this is going to be another fun physics-bending game. They want ‘one world to affect the other’, which may provide insight into the game content.

Microsoft finally state they have 15 exclusive titles planned for the Xbox One, including 8 brand new original content properties.

Wilson said that new engine was “designed to blur the line between real and virtual”. EA wants to bring the “speed, agility, human intelligence and dynamic environments” of real sport to the games console. He then proceeded to announce that Fifa 14, Madden 25, NBA Live 14 and UFC were all coming to Xbox One.

The engine was further introduced with real athletes talking about how they feel when playing their sport, and how the game engine links up with that reality. We saw two UFC fighters, Jon Jones and Antony Pettis, plus football player Lionel Messi, NBA player Kyrie Irving and NFL player Robert Griffin III.

EA Says that sport is as much about your head as your feet and hands, so that’s why the engine does 4 times more calculations per second to create the ability to make smart decisions and “human like intelligence” thanks to the advanced processing power. It’s also about the atmosphere of the stadium as the athlete steps out, which Wilson said EA have been working hard on recreating as ‘living worlds’. This means 3D crowds, dynamic sidelines and 10 times more animation, depth and detail. There will also be a daily stream of new content over Xbox Live.

The trailer that showed off gameplay from all four games did look pretty spectacular, and we’ll get it up here as soon as we have it. Wilson also announced that more will be revealed from EA at E3, including more about the Xbox One exclusive Fifa 14 Ultimate Team.

Aussie Andrew Wilson strolled on stage during the Xbox Reveal event to announce a new, although unsurprising, partnership between EA Sports and Microsoft. He revealed four games that are coming to the Xbox One, revealing the EA Sports Ignite engine and showing off a bit of footage.

Wilson said that new engine was “designed to blur the line between real and virtual”. EA wants to bring the “speed, agility, human intelligence and dynamic environments” of real sport to the games console. He then proceeded to announce that Fifa 14, Madden 25, NBA Live 14 and UFC were all coming to Xbox One.

The engine was further introduced with real athletes talking about how they feel when playing their sport, and how the game engine links up with that reality. We saw two UFC fighters, Jon Jones and Antony Pettis, plus football player Lionel Messi, NBA player Kyrie Irving and NFL player Robert Griffin III.

EA Says that sport is as much about your head as your feet and hands, so that’s why the engine does 4 times more calculations per second to create the ability to make smart decisions and “human like intelligence” thanks to the advanced processing power. It’s also about the atmosphere of the stadium as the athlete steps out, which Wilson said EA have been working hard on recreating as ‘living worlds’. This means 3D crowds, dynamic sidelines and 10 times more animation, depth and detail. There will also be a daily stream of new content over Xbox Live.

The trailer that showed off gameplay from all four games did look pretty spectacular, and we’ll get it up here as soon as we have it. Wilson also announced that more will be revealed from EA at E3, including more about the Xbox One exclusive Fifa 14 Ultimate Team.

Whiten was keen to share the 3 ambitious investments Microsoft made with XboxOne. The console itself took some work, but advancing SmartGlass, the new control pad and Kinect was what they were aiming for in order to unify the one experience.

Thankfully he confirmed that the Xbox One will in fact have a Blu-Ray drive as has often been rumored, there’s going to be USB 3 capabilities but the most exciting addition really seems the use of three operating systems to allow for multitasking. Using the XboxOne architecture along with the core Kernel of Windows, you’ll be able to seamlessly switch between games and TV shows as if flicking with a remote.

The brand new Kinect Sensor boasts a 1080p camera with a much wider viewing angle, meaning the camera now scans a much more detailed skeletal structure which can read smaller movements such as wrist turns (it can even apparently spot heart beats during exercise, neat or scary?) It seems that Kinect may have to always be on in order to use the Xbox One however as Whiten was keen to point out that the Kinect binds your devices together (the one ring of Microsoft anyone?)

next up was the control pad, which looks completely overhauled, with impulse triggers that produce force feedback and an improved D-Pad

“The new controller was created with game players, It will have improved ergonomics and a new d-pad. This is your controller,”

Whitten moves on to explain the updates to Xbox Live, including a way to post bragging rights to the cloud. utilising three hundred thousand dedicated servers

“A dedicated game DVR to capture and access your game-winning moments. the Xbox One will use more power than the entire world did in 1999.”

It all sounds pretty good so far, it’ll be good to see more details when they emerge though.

Saying “Xbox On” to turn the console on, which also displays a Forza title as his recently played game.

The dashboard looks pretty much the same as the Xbox 360′s, which is great considering the design had no issues.

We’re taken through the TV functionality and shown how can switching between the game you’re playing, a TV show and music you’re listening to. The process was completed almost instantly, quite impressive if you like all your entertainment in one place.

We’re then introduced to “Snap Mode”, allowing you to display tabs on the side of the movies you are watching or games you playing. Particularly useful when you’re in need of an achievement guide.

Skype is also coming as expected. Using your Kinect camera, where Xbox One will allow you to do group calls with friends.

Xbox One guide to watch TV and look through a lot of American channels, this may be one only for those in the States. We’ll have to wait and see. The technology is pretty basic using voice commands, but it’s innovative for consoles and allows quick and easy access to what you want to watch.

Expect pictures of the system in the next couple hours.

“All in one system” providing TV, gaming and entertainment according to Dan Mattrick.

Stay tuned for more.

Choose your tin can!

The narration of the story is rather flimsy and quite ridiculous, the live action cutscenes and voice acting of the cast is abysmal, a bit like the marketing and distribution for the game – it seems very few retailers have the game for sale! With the absurdity of the story aside I was still hoping for a promising space adventure, maybe even something that would quench my thirst for a HD version of Wing Commander. From the get go you are hit with a bland and somewhat low resolution set of visuals and menus and to make matters worse my 3DTV decided to immediately switch into full 3D. IS:I supports full stereoscopic 3D, which is fine as there are a full set of options to tweak all the HUD and 3D settings but there was one major option missing – the ability to turn 3D off! In the end I had to settle for making my TV convert the 3D back into 2D, which sounds just as crazy as 1945 Nazis escaping Earth and retreating to the Moon! In 3D the layered menus look nice floating at different depths, but it’s all basic 3D effects and doesn’t add to the game’s experience in ways that other 3D games do.

Throughout IS:I you can choose to fly a selection of spacecraft, each ship looking like a piece of junk, you certainly won’t see any of these craft making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs! Each craft is useful for particular roles and missions with the main difference being the shield attributes and weapon load outs, they all handle in the same way paying no attention to size or manoeuvrability. Each craft can be upgraded by collecting and trading salvage from destroyed Nazi ships, you can invest as much time as you like into hunting for salvage because IS:I doesn’t force you into a linear mission path. Opting for an open star chart, you can navigate space as you see fit and engage in any number of dogfights. You can also hunt down side missions, some of which are even more off-the-wall than the main storyline.

The best trick up IS:I’s sleeve is the use of energy, which powers your ship’s shields, engines and weapons. Over time these will replenish (a perk of running on a renewable energy source) you will never run out of fuel, ammo or shields but you will be at the mercy of waiting for them to recharge. You can however divert energy from your other systems to boost either your shields, ammo or engines – essential if your shields are taking a thumping or you need an extra plasma shot to finish off an enemy Zeppelin

A missed opportunity!

Unfortunately for all the strategy this energy system introduces, the combat is far too slow-paced making the game’s many dogfights feel like a grind with death almost always being the result of a cheap shot. What could have been an excellent game to tide us over until Wing Commander is released (I’ll keep telling myself it’s coming) IS:I is best described as mediocre at best. The laughable scripting and awful music direction must be seen to be believed. I can’t even say that I will find a guilty pleasure in playing IS:I, even though my inner space geek desperately wanted to find something to love.

IS:I plays like an XBLA title, it even has a ‘exit game’ option to take you back to the dashboard! At 400-800 MS points this, for want of a better description, space sim would have been far more acceptable in terms of its shortcomings, but as a full retail game it’s lacking in almost every aspect. XBLA is home to some truly awful titles and IS:I would sit perfectly amongst these bland titles, the ones lacking any kind of polish. IS:I has some great ideas hidden amongst the stars and it could have been as great as Wing Commander but instead it burns up in the atmosphere.

Let’s rewind for a moment first and start from the best place, the beginning.

So, Batman Arkham Origins was announced with the news of a new voice actor donning the cowl. Contrary to this, at the Dallas Comic Con, Kevin Conroy divulged that he would be voicing Batman in the next Arkham game.

Almost immediately after this news, Warner Bros confirmed that Roger Craig Smith would be the new voice, which only confused matters more. Since this whole debacle, Conroy took to Twitter and decided to clean things up

“Confusion in Dallas!, I am in new ARKHAM GAME coming soon, NOT ARKHAM ORIGINS coming this fall.”

The tweet has since been deleted, I would imagine this means Conroy has received a rather large slap on the wrist for letting slip that yet another Arkham title is in the works.

At least that clears everything up…kind of.

Here’s hoping that Rocksteady are back at the helm for this next-gen Arkham game, who wouldn’t love to see what they’re capable of with the next generation of tech.

You’ll get some pretty cool weapons, as well as a concentration mode that slows time slightly. There’s pistols, shotguns, grenades and the all-splattering dual shotguns.

For those of you who want a more accurate Wild West experience, True West mode dispenses with the HUD and leaves you to shoot people in the face. And Arcade Mode allows you to shoot even more people, usually in the face.

It’s out on Wednesday pard’ner, on XBLA.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Depicting a human hand reaching for a robot appendage with nothing more that the words “#ThisMeansNothing.” the image is clearly a parody of Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” only with the hand of god switched with that of a robot.

But what does all this mean? It could be to do with a number of things of course, perhaps if the next Xbox is to be called infinity then Microsoft’s marketing campaign could be based around creation hence the image. It could also be a nod to the rumoured Kinect 2 which will allegedly be able to scan players’ fingers.

Whatever it means, it’s definitely a strange one. Check it out below and let us know what you think!

Taking a leaf from the book of Dead Space 3, co-op gives those of you who will have completed the single player campaign a chance to do so again but with brand new content which you can only obtain through teamwork

“Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist offers two player co-op mode with 4 mission types, 14 maps with 2 player split screen. Play as Sam Fisher or Isaac Briggs (a CIA operative) and work as a duo. Help your teammate access parts of the map you couldn’t access on your own, create your own tactics depending on your play style and watch each other’s backs as you complete missions”

It all sounds good to me, after all, there’s no I in team. Check out the trailer below to see Fisher and Briggs in action.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When Arkham Origins first came to light, it was made clear that Warner Bros were out to do the Batman origins story justice, showing a more raw and visceral rookie behind the cowl. In turn this meant a brand new voice behind the bat.

Contrary to this however, Kevin Conroy took to the stage of the Dallas Comic Con to explain that would in fact be back in the fold of Origins, but what about the younger, new talent? Well surprisingly there is also another actor slated for the same role (this is confirmed on multiple gaming sites such as IGN and Game Informer along with Wikipedia) Roger Craig Smith who is more widely known as the voice of Chris Redfield and Ezio Auditore.

Warner Bros contacted IGN to “clear things up” but may have just confused things even more.

“Roger Craig Smith is confirmed as the voice of Batman and Troy Baker is confirmed as the voice of The Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins.”

So what does this mean for our schizophrenic hero? One theory is that each voice actor will tackle their own game, which could easily make sense as Warner Bros have promised the release of Arkham Origins Blackgate (a title for both the PS Vita and 3DS) will coincide with Origins and having separate actors for each title would save time.

Another theory, is the possibility of Origins being built around a narrative of flashbacks between the older Batman (Conroy) to his younger self (Smith) and with a young Joker being written in (voiced by the ever popular Troy Baker) this could be the ignition for the game. Perhaps a guilt ridden Bruce Wayne will sit around a fire, reminiscing about his starting days and mourning his best enemy? Just a thought.

Perhaps the most interesting theory however, is the idea of Conroy working on a completely different Arkham game for next-gen consoles, and listening to the video of Conroy at Comic Con, that fact could have been alluded to and perhaps glanced over by eager fans.

“I can talk about it now, we’ve been working for about 9-10 months on the next Arkham.”

So what do you think? Has this discovery irked you as much as me or do you simply not give two hoots as long as the gameplay is solid?

Judge for yourself.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While there isn’t much new on display yet, the notion of fighting a skilled enemy one on one is very appealing, for as much as I love the previous two games, the fact that nobody really stands a chance against Batman in a fair fight is a bit of a shame as there are only so many times you can fight some brutish monster before it becomes boring.

Also, as Ben mentioned earlier, there is a pre-order bonus that will allow you to play as the one of the game’s lead villains, Deathstroke. Though pausing the video on the 4:44 mark shows small print which says:

Internet connection required to access downloadable content. Not available on all platforms.

Batman: Arkham Asylum had an exclusive piece of DLC for the PS3 that allowed you to play as the Joker. Will this game follow suit?