After all the speculation about Durango, Xbox 720, Infinity or the many other names we heard associated with the console – the next Xbox is here, and is called the Xbox One.

Now before you get too confused, the Xbox One’s name isn’t about it being the “first”, it’s about it being the “one and only” console you need, and how it is supposed to be the one device you need to take your multimedia experience to the next level.

Honestly, the Xbox One is really more of a super-powered multimedia device than a console, in that media seems to be just as (if not more) important for the X-One!

So what else do we know? First, here’s the brief bit we know about the specs: it has an 8-core CPU, 8GB RAM, a Blu-ray drive, a 500GB HD, built-in Wi-Fi, and HDMI In/Out ports.

The real beef is in the multi-tasking and multimedia aspects, though. The system is designed to work with live TV, easily pulling up all your channels from right within the Xbox. In fact, you can browse channels like MTV just by saying “turn to MTV”. Voice control and gestures are a huge part of the Xbox One experience – in fact the console not only includes the 2nd-gen Xbox Kinect, it is required for the console to work.

The new Kinect has an 1080p camera and is considerably more accurate on how it reads people than ever before. Speaking of Kinect, it also recognizes you when you ask it to turn on, and it automatically loads up your profile quickly, without the need for you to manually log on.

Now moving on to multi-tasking, ever wanted to watch a TV show or movie while browsing the net, all on just your TV? Easy enough with the Snap Mode feature (similar to Windows 8′s modern UI snap feature). Here you can put up Internet Explorer and TV all at once.

There are also a hell of a lot of gestures like pinching, zoom and more. Want to control moving around on the interface with your tablet or smartphone? Done.

Of course the Xbox controller is also there (and presumably the only option for gaming, besides perhaps Kinect for some games) with a slight redesign.

There are plenty of other great features, but that gives you a pretty good overview.

Now here’s a big question: are the rumors about always-on connectivity and the inability to get/sell used games true?

Always On and Used Games

The Microsoft Xbox One WILL require an internet connection. That said, it will be possible to access the system ‘offline’ for single player games, movies and other online activity. The system does push internet connectivity and cloud features wherever possible, and even pushes game saves to the cloud.

In other words, it isn’t always-on, but it is pretty close.

As for used games? Microsoft requires all discs to be installed onto the drive. Afterwards, you can archive away the disk, as the game is tied to an Xbox Live account. Want to link a game to more than one Xbox Live account? You will have to pay a fee. Who knows how this will work for multi-gamer households.

Microsoft also says that selling a game is possible, though again it might require some kind of fee from the sounds of it.

Wondering if your old Xbox Live content and 360 games will work? In a word, they won’t. No backwards compatibility of any kind here.

What about the games?

Not much in the way of game information was released at the event, with much more Xbox One stuff expected at E3. Here’s the list of games announced however:

• Forza 5
• Battlefield 4
• Destiny
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Thief
• Quantum Break
• NBA Live 14
• FIFA 14
• Madden NFL 25
• EA Sports UFC

Microsoft promises will we see 15 new exclusive and 8 new Ips at E3, so there is plenty more to come.

Summing it all up…

Bottom-line, the Xbox One has a lot of great features going for it. Unfortunately, it also has some potential negatives – such as its online requirements and used games fees.

What do you think of the Xbox One: impressed, excited, disappointed or indifferent? No matter how you feel right now, remember that E3 is coming soon enough and we will learn quite a bit more at that time, both about the Xbox One and the Sony Playstation 4.

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The E3 event, which has been scheduled to be held from June 11 to June 13, is strictly press and industry-centric. People who attend the event are required to have some professional connection to the industry. But the guys behind OUYA seem to believe that it is wise (and it indeed is) to include the players themselves while doing their marketing.

They will be showing off their Android-based console in a parking lot outside the LA Convention Center. And they will be providing equipment and free food among other stuff to developers for making sure that their booth attracts a lot of people with plenty of games.

Developer’s Best Friend (that’s apparently a job title) Kellee Santiago says, “OUYA will be present for all three days of the event, and we’ll provide everything you’ll need to put on a killer game demo. OUYA console…check, controllers…check, TV…check. We’ll also make sure that you’re fed and have plenty to drink while you’re onsite because hydration and nutrition are key.”

As we reported earlier, the device’s launch has been delayed by the company due to higher demand, and also to make sure that the console arrives without any hardware issues.

So, who all are headed to E3 for taking a peek at OUYA?

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The Nvidia’s Android powered handheld console, Shield, which we originally revealed in February of this year, has finally begun taking preorders today for its upcoming June release.  The original pre-order date was the 20^th of May, but apparently has been bumped up.  The device has a reasonable $349 price, and pre-orders can be made directly to Nvidia or from participating retailers such as Gamestop, Newegg and Canada Computer.

Shield will come with full Google Play access as well as a myriad of different add ons such as TwitchTV, Hulu Plus, TegraZone, Expendable: Rearmed and Sonic 4 Episode II THD.  Nvidia stated that growing buzz for the device was the reason for the bumped up pre-sale date.  More likely they wanted to space themselves a bit from Microsoft’s reveal of it’s new next gen Xbox on Tuesday the 21^st.  Either way, this device deserves a bit of it’s own time in the spotlight.

If you haven’t yet, check it out and get yours ordered today!

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At the Google I/O conference, the search giant unveiled their Google Play Games, a new gaming service, which will be competing against Apple’s Game Center.

With the new cross-platform service, you will be able to enjoy cloud-synced game progression, in-game achievements, leaderboards, and matchmaking. Some of the developers who have jumped in include Gameloft, Glu, Ironhide Games, and Miniclip. The service is integrated with Google+, so this could be a reason for you to finally start adding people to your circles.

And speaking of the social network, it appears like the old games that you have already been playing on Google+ will be removed on June 30. According to Google, “If you would like to continue playing a particular game, contact the game’s developer to find out if there’s a new destination site for the game“.

If you have made payments to play a game, you will be able to use your unused credits when the game will be migrated to another site, while some games will offer a grace period before shutdown.

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If you were lucky enough to pledge your support for the Ouya early on, you might already have received the unique Android-based console. For those of us that didn’t, we are left waiting until the retail launch in June. A little bad news, it looks like we will be waiting longer than the 4th of June, as the console has now been delayed to June 25th.

So what caused the folks behind Ouya to delay the retail launch? The biggest reason, according to the company, is that there has been significant demand for the console and it will allow them to have more units ready to take up some shelf space at their partnering retailers.

That’s the official reason at least. Internally, it is also about addressing a pretty big concern that many early adopters have had with the console, its controller. While the control highly resembles the 360-controller and looks very high quality, it has had some reported problems with buttons getting stuck under the faceplate and other response-delay issues.

If pushing back the commercial launch a few weeks means that they can deliver a better experience from day one, all the better I say. The Ouya is a very different approach to console gaming and one that has quite a few challenges ahead, getting off to a timely retail start is important but not at the sacrifice of quality.

What do you think of the Ouya, are you excited or not?

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Scientists at Nottingham University are currently working on a new method of treating children suffering from lazy eye. The new treatment uses video games and special glasses, which is already proving to be very effective.

The problem with the current treatment is that children are required to wear an eye patch over their good eye for extended periods of time. The results are usually poor, as patients are reluctant to put the patch on. In comparison the new video game based treatment is not only fun but appears to work even after just a few short sessions.

Developers working on the project have created ‘shutter glasses’. The lens covering the good eye shows static content while the other eye sees the action in the foreground. When combined, users experience the game just as they would playing normally.

Nottingham University are now teaming up with Sony Europe to adapt some current Playstation 3 games for use in the ground breaking treatment.

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Popcap, makers of my favorite plant-based zombie game, have announced that they will finally revive the ‘Plants vs. Zombies’ franchise in July. The long awaited sequel to the popular strategy game named ‘Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time’ is likely to be available on all popular mobile platforms as well as on PC, Mac and select consoles.

Details of the new game haven’t been announced, however a quick read of the Popcap blog seems to suggest that PVZ2 will be a ‘Freemium’ game with possible pay to unlock features and social network integration.

Popcap have also been strangely quiet as to why it has taken so long to launch the sequel, the acquisition by EA and staff layoffs are likely to blame, however they have posted the following video poking fun at themselves for the delay:

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As we get older, our cognitive skills go down. There will be problems related to memory, attention, perception and problem solving will never be as easy as when we used to be younger. But scientists from the University of Iowa appear to have found a way to stop and even reverse these effects of aging. They are claiming that cognitive skills of test subjects aged 50 and over have been improved by playing a specific video game.

Prof. Fredric Wolinsky and his team assigned a group of volunteers to do 10 hours of computer-based crossword puzzles (as a control). While three other groups were told to play a video game known as Road Tour. One group played in a lab for 10 hours, another one for 14 hours, and the last group for 10 hours at home. The Road Tour game briefly shows a vehicle and then asks the player to find it from a rotating circle of vehicles. There will be distractions and higher levels of course will be more challenging.

After a year of tests, it has been found that an average of three years’ worth of cognitive improvement has been achieved by those who played the game for 10 hours, and that increases to four years for the 14 hour group. Meanwhile, the control group showed improvement in “concentration, nimbleness with shifting from one mental task to another, and the speed at which new information is processed”.

Of course, it is a known fact that the best way to keep the brain in good working condition is to give it work. And the more variety of work it gets the better. Experts have suggested many ways, such as reading, meditation, exercise, working with numbers and more, to keep the brain in good form. And now you can add one more to that list.

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The next Xbox will be here soon, likely bringing with it improved graphics, as well as social and multimedia enhancements. There is still a lot we don’t know about Microsoft’s next console, such as whether it will feature always-on DRM or even what it will be called. The later of this questions might now have been revealed. Microsoft has started registering “XboxFusion.com” and other domains related to the Fusion name.

Of course that doesn’t mean the next system will be called the Xbox Fusion. It is equally possible that Fusion could be a new engine, mechanic or service for the next Xbox. We really don’t know.

IF the next Xbox really will be known as the Xbox Fusion, what do you think? Like the name or not, tell us in the comments below.

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The next generation XBox will be revealed later this month on May 21st, and as you would expect rumors have been heating up over what the next gaming powerhouse could have to offer.

One rumor  which as fans of the current Xbox split, is that the new console could require a constant and active Internet connection to allow games to be played. The idea is provide always-on DRM, as well as provide a way to have constant background updates for the console.

The good news is that this rumor might not be true after all. Instead the newest rumor says that publishers will be able to program whether games need the active connection or not. In addition, further details say that publishers will be able to add new achievements to games without the need of a download. But the most exciting piece of news is that the new Xbox is meant to have a DVR-style recording function, allowing gamers to record game play videos and upload them to social networks somewhat like the social functions expected in the PS4.

Of course these are just rumors, and we will have to wait until later this month for the full details.

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