The removal of Kinect from the basic Xbox One package means that the console will now be sold in the US at $399, rather than the original $499, and in the UK at £349.

Presser:

I have a brand new PS4, by the way. And although I haven’t had time to play nothing much, I’m really excited about the console, and have been enjoying its social features immensely, particularly the ability to stream whatever game you’re playing, and the ability to watch gamers around the world play their games. PS4 is one amazing machine.

I’m sure those with Xbox Ones are having a blast themselves, and save gamers on both ends who were unfortunate enough to be part of the minority with faulty consoles, this generation is looking to be the most exciting indeed.

Yesterday Microsoft announced that it sold 1 million Xbox Ones around the world in 24hrs. The week before Sony destroyed all records by making known that it had sold 1 million PS4s in 24hrs — in the U.S. alone. So to the analysts screaming doom and gloom for the games industry can go ahead and eat some crow.

Yes! Welcome one and all to the new generation of gaming! Welcome to the next level of our pastime! I am thrilled to be one of the people through which you’ll be informed!

Happy gaming!!!

PSN ID: Maestro-GTunit.

Ninja Theory’s design chief Tameem Antoniades was speaking to Edge about the changing landscape of the industry, arguing that developers who only make blockbuster titles should be more open to the change that’s now sweeping the industry: mobile gaming.

The AAA games console model is a little bit broken. To us, success is being able to survive. But every now and then you look around at a conference and realise that there’s no-one left. That’s because of the barriers to entry at the $60 model. The platform holders control the platform and the distribution, the publishers control the marketing and the funding.

Adding:

So you heard the XBox One announcement? TV, TV, TV. That couldn’t be further from the truth, it’s completely the wrong direction. It does seem like, despite the best intentions of Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, they’ve still got too much momentum to steer.

Microsoft’s console will face its test tomorrow in the U.S. and certain parts of Europe, as it launches post DRM-gate.

“We started three years ago thinking this is the architecture Microsoft is designing and we were talking to it about what we wanted the next gen to be about, like materials – orange peel paint, some of the rubbing on the tyre, the many interactions that make the car look real. So the Xbox One was designed to be able to do this, but you also have to work on your engine to make sure it’s doing it as well and we’ve had the time to really do that and really optimise our engine.

“But the truth is that I get asked are we using 100 per cent of the box? Of course we are. Everyone is. Even people who are upscaling are still using 100 per cent of the box. What happens over the course of years is that we get better at tricking the box into doing what we want. It’s optimisation.

“We had more time so we’re very well optimised and we will continue to optimise this game. If you think about Forza 2, it was a well optimised game, but Forza 4 looked a lot better than Forza 2. That just comes with time.”

I’m not sure if the console already being 100 percent max out, even before next-gen begins, is a good sign for the Xbox One. But like Turn Ten said, tweaking and optimization will yield better results in the future.

Thanks, NowGamer.

That’s according to Microsoft’s Major Nelson, who, speaking on Reddit, said it’s not something that will be available at launch, and it’s not something that’s even in the works yet, but it’s a feature they’d “one day” like to offer.

What do you guys think? It’d be awesome, I say! But that’s not something I’d hedge my bets on.

Valiant Hearts is set in the first World War era, and is inspired by real letters from that time. The 2D platformer comes from Rayman Legends’ studio, Ubisoft Montpelier, and will be a 2D platformer. While it retains a dark tone, goofy and comical moments are present to break away from it.

This is the story of 5 crossed destinies and a broken love in a world torn apart. All of them will try to survive the horror of the trenches following their faithful canine companion. From the green forests of the French countryside, to dank trenches and snowy fields, go back through history in this emotional adventure as friendship, love, sacrifice and tragedy befall each one as they help each other to retain their humanity against the horrors of war.

It is coming in downloadable form in 2014, for Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. It reminds me of Rocketbirds… that’s a good thing. Check out the first trailer below:

A new video showing Microsoft’s upcoming console’s user interface, the Xbox One Dashboard, has been leaked online. It’s up for grabs as long as it stays there, which won’t be long I predict. Quench it below!

Spoilers: looks pretty much like Windows 8.

Update: And the video is down.

“I’m not dismissing raw performance. I’m stating–as I have stated from the beginning–that the performance delta between the two platforms is not as great as the raw numbers lead the average consumer to believe,” wrote Penello in a NeoGAF post. “There are things about our system architecture not fully understood, and there are things about theirs as well, that bring the two systems into balance.”

He went on: “People DO understand that Microsoft has some of the smartest graphics programmers IN THE WORLD. We CREATED DirectX, the standard API’s that everyone programs against. So while people laude Sony for their [hardware] skills, do you really think we don’t know how to build a system optimized for maximizing graphics for programmers? Seriously? There is no way we’re giving up a 30%+ advantage to Sony. And ANYONE who has seen both systems running could say there are great looking games on both systems. If there was really huge performance difference – it would be obvious.”

It’s common knowledge these days that PS4 is way more powerful than Xbox One, and Digital Foundry had a nice breakdown of this. And it’s not limited to such outlets, even developers have said that Sony’s machine is superior with its GDDR5 RAM and unified memory, and powerful GPU. It’s there for everyone to see.

What do you make of this?

Respawn Entertainment took to Twitter to warn people of scam websites offering “Titanfall beta sessions”. Games Thirst, being the awesome guys we are (naysayers will be publicly executed), made a post about it to inform you.

To help keep our fans safe from scammers, please note that all sites advertising Beta access are 100% scams. #BePCSafe #Titanfall

— Titanfall (@Titanfallgame) September 3, 2013

The Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC game, Respawn Entertainment’s debut title, is coming in Spring 2014 by the hand of EA.

A new bundle has surfaced on
amazon.co.uk  and shopto.net, offering Forza Motorsport 5 for free with Xbox One Day One Editions.

Is this only for pre-orders? Is it only as long as supplies last, and then switches to FIFA 14? Is it an alternative to FIFA 14? At this point, I can’t even understand what’s going on with the Xbox One.

Speaking at the Citi Global Technology Conference, Mehdi revealed production is on track for a November launch and the console’s CPU has been improved from 1.6 GHz to 1.75 GHz. GeekWire reports that Mehdi said the upcoming release of Xbox One will be the biggest Microsoft has undertaken by a “wide margin” in terms of units shipped at launch.

“The [Xbox One] is going to shine,” he said.

The CPU boost comes just one month after Microsoft managed to up Xbox One’s clock speed from 800 MHz to 853.

Mehdi also said that a release date will be soon announced.

Our take:

Well, it’s good news that Microsoft can, at this late stage, squeeze some more juice from Xbox One to bring it ever closer to PS4 in terms of power. But I’m curious as to the repercussions of making such changes so late in the game, especially when the console’s said to be in full production.

In May, when the Xbox One was revealed worldwide, Microsoft said you’ll be able to use the console’s USB 3.0 port for external storage, used for game installations and downloads. But, nope, this won’t be available at launch.

“The future plan is for definitely to support external storage much like we do on the Xbox 360″, said Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb during a podcast that took place at PAX.

“My understanding is that feature will not be there at launch because the team is working on some other things, but it definitely is on the list. I don’t know when it will come in though.”

On the other hand, Sony Worldwide Studios captain Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the Playstation 4 won’t support external HDD’s

@_Tracid_ no

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) August 31, 2013

The Playstation 4 comes with a 500GB HDD, like the Xbox One, key difference being it can be replaced.

When Sony revealed that the Playstation 4 would only support 4 controllers at once, Microsoft revealed their Xbox One would support up to 8. Found on the peripheral’s product page, the reveal also says each controller will have a range of 30ft — though who would have an 8-man team play at 30 feet from their TV is beyond me.

As noted on the Playstation 4 article, the fact that the Xbox One supports this feature doesn’t mean the developers will embrace it. Sony cut down the number from 7 to 4 because of just a handful of games using it.