Xbox 720 set for E3 2012

Xbox 720 set for E3 2012

According to a Crytek insider Microsoft was showing off the new machine in video form at the recently concluded E3 2011, with Microsoft again planning to release their new console before Sony.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com, the Crytek mole revealed that development on TimeSplitters 4 is based on Microsoft's existing DirectX 11 technology for the PC and uses a version of CryEngine 3 - which was last used for Crysis 2.

Apparently tessellation, multithreaded rendering, and compute shaders are all planned for the console, which would probably be very exciting if we knew what any of that meant.
A new TimeSplitters has been rumoured a number of times before, ever since Crytek bought creators Free Radical Design and renamed them Crtyek UK. According to these new rumours the new game will feature, 'branching paths and exploratory nature, with sandbox-style gameplay elements a big priority.'
Which doesn't sound much like the TimeSplitters we know and love, but as long as it's more like its inspiration GoldenEye 007 and less like Free Radical's awful Haze we're just happy to have more.
We would advise some caution here though, as it's not the first time Crytek has predicted an imminent reveal of next generation consoles, and it's not clear how much of the prediction is based on wishful thinking and how much on insider knowledge.
That said there seems little question that Microsoft (and Sony) are working on new consoles, with rumours prior to E3 suggesting that some developers already had development kits for the Xbox 720 - or whatever it ends up being called.
A reveal of the new system at E3 2012, or at least a hint as to its existence, has been widely predicted for some time. You might even hear something about it first at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in early March.
As for Crtyek they're already trying to expand their business onto smartphones, tablets and other formats, including the Wii U. Their ultimate goal seems to be to make CryEngine 3 as ubiquitous as the rival Unreal Engine 3 from Epic Games.

Read more: Metro

Call of Duty Elite Adds Social Layer to Hit Gaming Series [PICS]

 

Video game company Activision has finally revealed Elite, a new social layer for its wildly popular Call of Duty games. Elite was designed to unite the massive community of Call of Duty players as well as provide tools to help gamers of all levels improve their skills.

Cross-platform services are becoming more popular as video game designers realize their community isn’t console-specific. Web players want to test their mettle against console players and vice versa. Elite goes beyond the game to include social networks like Facebook. Users can link up their Facebook accounts to Elite to pull in Likes and automatically find friends who are also using the service.

Elite also introduces groups and clans, which will play a much larger role in Modern Warfare 3, the next Call of Duty game. Groups are largely open and can be based on anything. Like eating lobster? You can join or create a “Lobster” group. Like playing with machine guns? There’s a group for that. Same with “Yankees” or “Los Angeles.” Groups operate similar to fan pages on Facebook. Users can track and compare themselves to these mini-communities of players. Users can join a total of 64 groups.
Clans are more limited. Users can only belong to one clan and there is a cap on how many players can be in a clan. The Call of Duty folks were tight-lipped about how clans will play into the next iteration but promised they would be key.
We recently sat down with the game’s designers for a demo of Elite. The room, a penthouse hotel room in Manhattan, featured rows of huge black computers with the Elite skull logo. There, they talked about their goals and plans for Elite.
The service is available on web browsers, consoles and mobile apps and will work with all future Call of Duty games, including Black Ops, the most recent game in the series. Elite features four main sections: Career, Connect, Compete and Improve.
The service will launch in full along with Modern Warfare 3 in November, but a beta is already open for use with Black Ops. Elite is largely free, though a premium membership is needed to get full functionality. That membership also includes all downloadable content released in the future, but it still might be a little pricey for the casual user.

 

Source: Mashable