UPDATED - RUMOUR: Nintendo's NX Android Based?!?

Well E3 is officially on the way, that's 15 days of rumours and leaks ahead of us and here's another but this one is jumping far ahead... next year.

UPDATE: Nintendo has responded to the rumours that the potental Wii U/3DS successor, NX doesnt no use Android

 "There is no truth to the report saying that we are planning to adopt Android for NX."

So that's that then, This timely response is surprising as Nintendo often ignores rumours. However given that the NX was announced early to assure fans that Nintendo wasn't abandoning console gaming for mobile, I suspect that today's clarification is in the same vein.

Couldn't think of an appropriate image

According to an "insider" Nintendo has a outrageous plan for combating it's third party problem, make the NX Android based. The idea being developers could easily port games to/from other android platforms.

This isn't the first time Nintendo has been linked to Android. After the Wii U's first appearance at E3 plenty of rumours appeared stating the Gamepad was an Android powered.

Of course this is all rumours for now, typically Nintendo is fairly watertight when it comes to leaks like this. We only really hear real information closer to E3 (such as Project Cafe's touchscreen controller and the revolutions motion wand) as other parties become involved for the convention. Seeing as we won't be hearing about the NX till E3 2016 it'll be a while before hear if this is true.

Abe's Take
I don't see Nintendo taking this route. It wouldn't make it any easier for the 3rd parties to release their AAA games on the NX, and would only be of use to Android developers. This move could permanently separate Nintendo from the "big three" and join the ranks of Amazon, Nvidia and the other "novelty systems". It also seems to go against the whole DeNA partnership, with an Android based system they'd be able to simply move any NX game across to the open Android Market. Ultimately Nintendo could secure more third party support by matching the specs/architecture of the X1/PS4, supporting more middleware and through better marketing .

Halo: ODST Drops In!

The Halo: Master Chief Collection just got it's title voided. As new DLC adds the first Halo spin off to the bumper collection.

Yep, The divisive Halo title joins Halo 1 - 4 on remastered in 1080p/60FPS on Xbox one today. Free if you bought the collection before December 9th and an awfully low £3.99 for everyone else. Why the low price? well ODST's instant classic Firefight mode is absent for the remaster.

Halo: ODST for those unaware is an spin off on Earth during the events of Halo 2. Instead of the traditional Spartan, players take on the role of a team of Orbital Drop Shock Troops. Players are greeted by a night time open world where they must discover the fate of their squad via flashbacks of the previous day. People either enjoyed the unique challenge of playing as a comparatively squishy human or hated feeling so depowered.

For those wishing to join in the fight from scratch the Halo: Master Chief Collection is currently £24.85 on Amazon, Seeing as the games earlier matchmaking problems (rather understandable due to over 100 maps) are now largely a thing of the past, it's a good price for a hell of a package.

Abe's Take
I enjoyed ODST spin on the Halo universe, The Firefly reunion cast alone is worth the price. ODST Buck not only has Nathan Fillion's voice but also his face. I wonder if 343i have left in Bungie's Destiny tease

RUMOUR: Silent Hills to live!?

We're back! I took a week off due to a birth but now I'm back (I'll be sure to give the rest of the team a kicking!). We return to a conflicting news story. Konami has issued an apology over it's "mobile first" comments (without actually retracting that new focus) but now an anonymous insider has a different story. WARNING: Prepare for potential screams of PS4 owners.

UPDATE: Xbox boss Phil Spencer has shot down the rumour.

"Sorry, this isn't true. Not sure where the rumor started but I don't want to mislead anyone."

So abandon all hope Silent Hill fans. Unless of cause if this is a Microsoft not xbox purchase like Minecraft, which would mean multiplatform release.

---Original Story Follows---

Speaking to Rooster Teeth the source says that Microsoft wants to save the Kojima X Del Toro horror game from cancellation and is prepared to spend "billions" to bring it EXCLUSIVELY to Xbox One in time for this years E3.

The source goes on to say that Konami wants out of the console business as fast as possible (Its likely that Konami still has money tied up in development) and its prepared to sell of its IP that can not be easily used in it's mobile games. The tipster goes on to say that the games is currently 80% finished and as an "act of good faith" Konami pulled PT (Silent Hills teaser demo) from the PSN store (even for those who wish to redownload it).

Abe's Take
This is all very interesting because there is a important questions if this is true. Will Kojima be involved? IF Microsoft buys just the game (billions seems a bit much for one game) would the rift between Kojima and Konami be too much? Obviously if Microsoft buys the IP as well then obviously Konami would be out of the equation. Obviously PS4 Silent Hill fans will be upset if this rumour is true.
In regards to this rumour MS buying the IP is the best outcome as its most likely to get the Del Toro/Kojima dream team together.

Could We Be Getting A Red Dead Redemption Sequel?

Back in 2010 a little slightly meh Red Dead Revolver got an exceptional sequel (but narratively divorced) Red Dead Redemption. Which took the classic GTA formula and gave it an western paint job... Which turned out to be possibly one of the top games on 360/PS3.

This nicely illustrate the horrors of cougars... the animal, not the women.

Now the studio behind RDR (Redemption not Revolver) Rockstar San Diego is hiring 36 new members across the multiple disciplines and tasks. The Graphics Programmer description makes it seem that this will be one very pretty game.

"develop new and enhance existing graphics technologies (rendering, lighting, shadows, shaders, culling, scene management and others) to help achieve state-of-the-art visuals. Work with others to expand our next-generation graphics pipeline including advanced lighting and rendering techniques, and special effects. This is an exciting opportunity to develop cutting-edge graphics and visual effect systems, working together with the art department to create optimal, attractive solutions for our games."

The original had an entertaining open world multiplayer (which now appears to be a prototype for GTA: online). The Network Programmer description paints an interesting picture for multiplayer.

Integrate dynamic multiplayer into all areas of gameplay. Extend and maintain core and mid-level solutions for efficient networking of complex open-world game environments. Work with the game project team to integrate networking technology into game projects, identify extensions to that technology, and create those improvements. Implement cross-platform abstractions for third-party online services, including Xbox Live and Sony NP. Work with external vendors to develop solutions using and/or extending their online service SDKs.

Of course it's possible this isn't Red Dead but a new game or a sequel to another Rockstar IP like Bully, Manhunt or L.A. Noire. However both Redemption and it's zombie themed DLC Undead Nightmare was massive successes and Rockstar did recently refer to Red Dead Redemption as a "permanent franchise" so a new entry in the series seems most likely.

Abe's Take

Red Dead Redemption was absolutely brilliant and been dying for a sequel, hopefully a sequel to it's DLC too and westerns genre in general (A western spin of Saint Rows has been demanded by GKUK members). If they bring the enhancements from GTA: Online to Red Dead's multiplayer I think i'd settle into that game world for at least a year. Online drunken bar brawls anyone?

BE THE BATMAN!

Well as many of us brave the world of the Witcher another dark world is coming... swapping the fields of blood and monsters for the dark streets of... well blood and monsters but the people kind (though there is also some less people monster too). 

we're about a month away from the launch of Batman: Arkham Knight the finale part of the trilogy (ignoring the less awesome Arkham Origins) Rocksteady has been crafting since Arkham Asylum (the game not the equally awesome but unrelated book) and so we're starting to get videos that dont show the game but grab attention, such as this one.




In related news Amazon Pre-orders now include both the Harley Quinn story pack AND a new "Prototype Batmobile" skin, It can be grabbed HERE

Abe's Take
Yep that was odd but kinda sets up what the "ideal" of Batman. Now it would be funny if this trailer caused the decent people on trains and buses to pummel people being a pain (yes I'm talking to you burby-hat-boy sitting at the back playing your music on your phone WITHOUT earphones).

Witcher 3 Devs On "Graphics Downgrade"

Well in this run up to E3 everything has gotten a bit quiet with not a lot of news. But now it seems we have something to talk about. Every game gets an CGI trailer, then a developer lead gameplay trailer and then 3rd party demo footage from expos, then finally the game releases and it doesn't look exactly like the first two trailers and the internet explodes with rage.




                      




It seems every game gets the graphics downgrade claims and publishers tend to ignore them or claim the scene looked better due to a "perfect storm" of lighting and effects during a particular scene in the demos. Ubisoft claimed this was the case before players discovered Watch_Dogs E3 graphics effects in the game's files.

The rather brilliant Witcher 3 is currently facing similar claims from the PC players (console players generally expect their games not to look like the trailers), who are claiming the console versions "dragged" the PC version down. CD Projekts Red's co-founder Marcin Iwinski has decided to head to those concerns.

"Developing only for the PC: yes, probably we could get more [in terms of graphics] as there would be nothing else - they would be so focused, like if we would develop only on Xbox One or PlayStation 4. But then we cannot afford such a game."

Iwinski (by the way my new favourite surname, goes on to defend why they was a console version of a series where the original game and the first run at it's sequel was PC exclusive (Witcher 2 later got an enhanced version across PC, 360 & PS3).

"If the consoles are not involved there is no Witcher 3 as it is, We can lay it out that simply. We just cannot afford it, because consoles allow us to go higher in terms of the possible or achievable sales; have a higher budget for the game, and invest it all into developing this huge, gigantic world."

Iwinski goes on to say the early gameplay footage of the game from the various expos and E3 are all from "vertical slices"  a subsection of the game running in the full games specifications without the games open world or a lot of it's underpinnings. As the rest of the game is added it places more stress on the engine so graphical quality drops. Iwinski says his team didn't intent to "deceive" anyone with the early footage and says they can never really promise what a game will look like at launch because they simply don't know what problems will arise in development.

"Maybe we shouldn't have shown that [trailer], I don't know, but we didn't know that it wasn't going to work, so it's not a lie or a bad will - that's why we didn't comment actively. We don't agree there is a downgrade but it's our opinion, and gamers' feeling can be different. If they made their purchasing decision based on the 2013 materials, I'm deeply sorry for that, and we are discussing how we can make it up to them because that's not fair."

Abe's Take
Obviously there are times that this isn't true such as Alien: Colonial Marines where the vertical slice was far superior to the retail game but the game was largely a corridor shooter but I believe this is one of those times.
Between the retail copies of the game came with a thank you note, 16 free DLC's regardless of platform, pre-owned/new, or version (standard, collectors, digital), and CD Projekt Red's store; GOG.com's treatment of customers and fans I am prepared to accept Iwinski's words at face value, after all Witcher 3 is amazing

MORE SPLATOON DEMO!

The hype is certainly starting to swell as we approach Splatoon's launch. Apparently they want to give us another shot at the game before launch. 

Last week Nintendo treated the world to 3 one hour sessions to test their new servers. For those 3 separate hours Nintendo fans around the world splattered, sprayed and inked each other and had a lot of fun, we really did with Splatoon demo impressing us with it's quirky style and different mechanics to your normal online game.

Quick refresh of the game here in the oh-so-90's US trailer.



So Nintendo wants to give the server another roughing up on May 23rd at 11PM! GMT (3pm PST), which obviously is a slightly late for UK gamers but that the curse of global gaming. In related news Amazon now has stock of the special bundle of Splatoon and exclusive Squid Amiibo for pre-order.

Abe's Take
The first "test fire" sold me on the game but I'm happy to jump back on just to play it again before launch, I'm hoping the people who missed on the first test can jump onboard this time (a certain knight missed it because his HOURGLASS was left unturned).