“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,” quote from the Statue of Liberty. Microsoft took this one to a whole new level. Let’s have some fun and break it down: “Give me your tired… they’ve been working too hard.” Let’s make them lazy by not making them lift the controller. “Give me your poor”, so they can drool over this new technology that they can’t afford. “Your huddled masses”, that will definitely kill each other on release day; “Yearning to breathe free”, so they can have the latest and greatest. Before you get your panties in a bunch about getting excited over the Xbox One, let me shed some light on Xbox One.

First of all, Microsoft, in case you weren’t aware, there’s already an Xbox One. It was the first one. For the love of God, please count. OH NO WAIT, you DO know how! Remember when you were planning on naming the new Xbox the ’720′? Good! So after the console drops, whip out your calculators, and add 360 and 720. What do you get? Redundancy. It could be worse – it could have been the Durango. Way to go Microsoft Marketing team, now please, PLEASE, stop!

So, why are you naming this Xbox One? Oh, you wanted to forget about the first two.  Just promise us that you won’t name the next Xbox, the One also because you wanted to forget about the first three. Look, if I can’t forget about my ex-boyfriends, you can’t forget about the previous Xbox consoles. Life just doesn’t work that way.

Moving on to our favorite part, the fact that we don’t really know what it is. When everyone else’s technology gets sleek and chic, Microsoft decides to be a rebel and go full retro and hipster on us, by giving it the design of a shiny black VCR, or a shoe box. Or a cable box. I looked at it further and then thought, “Oh, they’re actually trying to make it look like an improved original Xbox!” Despising the whole thing anyway, I felt I gave them too much credit.

As I understand it, this will probably cost me my unborn children, in addition to their childrens’ children, and etc. That’s fine and dandy, and I don’t mind selling my soul for it, but not making it backwards compatible? No, I’m really not happy. After I dropped hundreds of dollars on games, controllers, headsets, wireless adapters, hard drives, and whatever else, to not make it backwards compatible is a straight Hadouken to the babymaker. Let me get this straight: I spend $400-500 on the console, plus $60 for another controller, and about $200 to start me off with XBone games. And when my 360 breaks, I then have to spend $200 to buy a new one? Are they OUT OF THEIR BLOODY MINDS?! Microsoft, get over yourself. You might be the 1%, but your consumers are not.

Which brings me to my next point, I’m certainly not going to spend almost $1k on this thing to be taken over by my parents and brothers so it can be left on ALL DAMN DAY due to watching TV and playing videogames, just so it can burn out. Clever devils, aren’t they? You buy the system, it gets burnt out, and then you ship it off and don’t see it again for a month, or your warranty gets voided and you have to buy a new one. We’re all onto your game.

Speaking of games, I really wish Microsoft showed off something we should get excited about. FIFA, Forza Motorsport 5 – those games are still a thing? And before they announced their final game, they brought on Steven Spielberg to talk about a new Halo TV series in the making. I did get excited about that, but that has nothing to do with the Xbox One! They did it so all of us Halo fans can bust one out and get ratings up. However, as quickly as it ascended, it has to quickly descend… by announcing yet another Call of Duty, because we simply can’t get enough of this franchise. However, they added custom characterization where you can alter your face and looks, which comes in handy with a FPS, am I right? I do have to admit that the game looked cool, since they didn’t give us much of anything else to say about it. I know I initially got really excited about having the K9 companion, but then the grey cloud of dread loomed over my head. The dog is going to die, or at least will die in one of the future games. You’re going to have to give it a funeral, and it’s going to be the saddest goddamn thing since the death of your dog Sparky, 5 years ago. As sad and messed up as this is going to sound, PETA is going to be all over this like they were with Pokémon. I can see it now – I’m going to sit back and cry that my puppy died, and then shake my head that PETA is flipping out, and the Westboro Baptist Church is going to protest with “THANK GOD FOR DEAD DOGS” signs. Yes, I can absolutely see this unfolding.

Let’s talk tech now by starting with the positives first. Can we have a slow clap for finally getting Blu-ray? On a serious note, I like the Skype capability, especially as someone who does use it often. I do like the switching ability as well, even though I’m usually only playing videogames or watching TV – not both. What I don’t like? Face recognition. If you happen to get mauled by a chimpanzee (God forbid), you’re pretty screwed, aren’t you? And the fact that the dashboard will show what you were last doing?! That can make for a really awkward situation. I don’t want anyone to remember my history – ever. Now, of course the Kinect is required for the Xbox One, which sucks in itself. I swear, we’re one step away from being like those fat people from Wall-E. I find it easier to go to whatever commands I desire by controller, but I understand it takes effort, and effort is not exactly supported anymore. Welcome to the new age!

So, I think I covered the essentials. Unless Microsoft presents us with something revolutionary, I have nothing to say that’s really all that positive. I don’t want a relationship with my Xbox, I don’t want it to be a family system. And I certainly don’t want it to be a “water cooler” (what the hell was that even about?! Consoles are NOT used for that purpose). Bottom line, buyers and Xbox enthusiasts just got royally XBoned.

It’s finally here, after months of wait and speculation, Microsoft has announced it next Xbox system and it’s name is… (What for Drum Roll) Xbox One. Yes Xbox One, the One signifying what Microsoft is aggressively going after in making this an all in one system for the living room. The show started off with a video saying how the brought games to life and how they brought games to us, so right off the back I thought Microsoft was going the Sony route by saying how important gaming was to the system. But then the video keeps going, and begins to discuss the relationship between you in the TV this platform will bring. And THAT is really what this conference was all about.

Microsoft didn’t waste any time and showed off what everyone came to see, the system. Yes the actual physical system was on display for the world to see, something Sony failed to do with the Playstation 4. I personally like the design, it’s sleek and shinny, simple yet elegant, and the redesigned controller looks better, if not really similar, than the previous. Then Microsoft dived in and showed off what they were bringing to the table. Of course the Kinect is still here and looks to be more powerful and responsive, as using a simple voice command, “Xbox on,” the system pops on. The home screen looks a lot like Windows 8, I don’t think anyone is really surprised with, and was sporting a new feature called “Trending.” With this you can see what you friends are liking and what people around Xbox Live are liking. With a simple command, “Xbox watch TV,” you arte now watching TV on your Xbox and with the new “Instant switching” mode you can switch on the fly between TV, gaming, music, and other apps on the Xbox and “Snap” mode allows users to use multiple aps at once like a fully supported Skype in HD and with video chat. Another cool feature was using Minority Report like motions to surf channels and browse around the Xbox. Now while this all looked cool, I can’t help but wonder how effective it will work once the consumer gets in in their living room.

Not done with pushing TV, Microsoft shows off watching ESPN and getting instant updates to you fantasy league on screen. Using voice control allows the user to surf through the TV guide, change channels, and let’s you know what TV shows are trending. You can be sitting on the couch and say, “What’s on HBO?” or “Watch the Price is Right.” And this all looks cool, but I worry about the recognition of the voice control. If I don’t say the name of the show the same way my family does, will it work for all of us? What if I have an accent, will that factor in?

We got a little info on the specs of the system. It will have: 8 Core CPU, 8 GB system memory, 500 GB HDD, Blu-ray drive, 802.11n wireless with Wi-Fi direct, HDMI in/out, and USB 3.0. The Kinect comes with all Xboxs and is required for use. With its redesigned controller, Kinect, and smart glass technology, Microsoft is boasting that there will be no lag between input and system. That still remains to be seen but if true, all the power to Microsoft. The new Xbox Live will be run by over 300 thousand servers and everything stored in the cloud to access you data anywhere.  New Achievements will by more dynamic and show off more of what you have done and there will be a sharing option with the ability to record and upload videos (though not much was spoken on that).

At this point we are about 35 minutes in and nothing has been mentioned about actual gaming on the system. EA came out and announced a partnership with Mircosoft. They announced 4 games coming to the Xbox One; Fifa 14, Madden 25, NBA Live, and UFC. All games are not exclusive but EA states that the Xbox version will have exclusive content. Also announced exclusive to Xbox One is EA Sorts Ignite. It’s a game engine that is supposed to make the sport games more realistic, which is what they try to do with every iteration of any EA sports game. So far it’s only confirmed for Xbox One but it sounds like this is how they will make their sports game from now on across platforms. EA ended their segment with “… how all EA Sports games will look and play on Xbox One.” (Sigh) This miffed me, the first footage of any game for the new system and it isn’t game play footage, but the usual trailer footage EA makes for their Sports game. This isn’t how the game will look or feel once it hits the system and that’s what I really wanted to see. It’s a personal gripe yes but still.

More talk about how Microsoft is making gaming more immersive, personal and connected. All right, this is what I was waiting for, some talk about the games… Sadly no. They announced Forza Morta Sport 5, a racing game that will be available at launch, great, except again we are treated to another CGI trailer. Now this trailer is a little harder to tell if it’s actual game footage, made with in game graphics, or a CGI trailer but I believe it is the latter. If the game actually looks this good I will be astonished and happy that they could pull that off. Next was the announcement by Remedy Studios, developers of Alan Wake, with Quantum Break that is a brand new IP. I live action trailer with some not so great acting leads into gameplay footage of a boat crashing and some stills in a gun battle. Nothing really shown about the game at all which looks like a theme here.

Back to television, Microsoft announced they are working on several studios and their first show is going to be a live action Halo show, produced by Steven Spielberg. This sounds like a cool idea considering how popular their Halo franchise is and how long they’ve been trying to make a live action movie. Not much is known about the project yet. They also announced a partnership with the NFL, really going after the sports fans with this one. Microsoft is definitely going after a completely different market and they are firing on all cylinders.  Lastly, what’s Xbox without Call of Duty. The new title, Call of Duty: Ghost was announced and we were given a pick and the development of the title and the improvements of the graphics compared to MW3. New to Call of Duty is a dog as your part of your squad and “new” features like vaulting and leaning to shot around corners. This might by new to the franchise but not FPS. And we are given the first trailer for the game which actually shows off some of the game. And it looks good, CoD fans can be excited again. And with that the event ends.

So how did Microsoft do? Well I have to start by saying that I was personally underwhelmed. I didn’t see much of anything about actual games and I am a gamer first and foremost. While some people are stating that this wasn’t targeted at us gamers, I ask who is not a gamer watching this at 10 in the morning pacific time? That being said, I can put that side of my aside and say I am very interested in what Xbox One is trying to accomplish. The interactive entertainment HUB is pretty awesome and responsive from what they have shown. They clearly want to grab a larger audience than just the core gamer. Even though they have to go against products already out there that do the same thing, they are bringing some interesting ideas to the table. I just don’t know how far they can go if they alienate the hardcore gamer audience. While they could probably bring in more customers than they would lose, I don’t expect the starting price point to be cheap so why would non gamers want to shell out the money when they already have smart TVs? Microsoft did announce 15 exclusive titles coming to the Xbox One in the first year with 8 of those being new IPs. That is an impressive number for a launch and I expect them to really go after the core gamers at E3 in a few weeks.  All in all I was disappointed and I thought Sony did a better job revealing the PS4, but again, I’m a gamer and that’s who Sony was speaking to. E3 is going to be big this year so expect a lot more details to come rolling in soon.

Some announcements made after the show; some companies were able to announce games coming to Xbox One such as Assassin’s Creed 4 and Watch Dogs. The Xbox does not have to be always connected, however it seems that they are pushing for being as connected as you possibly can. In an interview from Kotaku with Phil Harrison, he stated that you have to connect to the Internet at least once a day. Another interesting piece of information, again from Kotaku, is that the Xbox One will not block used games. However you will need to pay a fee to play a used or borrowed game that, at least in the case of a new game, would be the same price as purchasing the game itself. Microsoft says they are still working on a way to trade and sell game codes online so I will wait for a little more information on that before condemning them for basically saying if your friend wants to barrow your game he might as well buy a copy himself.

Well there you have it folks, A lot of info to take in one day but we finally know what Microsoft is planning. Who do you think had the better reveal, Xbox or Playstation? Which are you most looking forward to? Either way, this years E3 is going to be huge.

With the huge success of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, there was no doubt that there would be another iteration in the series. Many wondered where you go from Arkham City; Arkham County? Arkham Tri-state area? We got an tease from the Joker himself when during the 2011 Spike VIdeo Game awards pulled out a file labeled Arkham World and called it a spoiler. Imagine our surprise when it was announced the the next game would be a prequel. Batman: Arkham Origins, developed by  Warner Bros. Games Montreal instead of the previous developer Rocksteady Studios, is set to take place several years before the first game Arkham Asylum with a younger, less experienced Batman taking on eight deadly assassin’s hired by Black Mask. It’s Christmas Eve and with the bounty on Batman’s head, everyone will be gunning for him. The trailer features Batman, Deathstroke, Black Mask, and Deadshot, not to mention three very unlucky criminals.

Batman: Arkham Origins is set to put a higher emphasis on detective work than previous games. Also offering a plethora of side missions including a “Crime in Progress” where Batman can stop street crimes or aid the police to improve his reputation and a “Most WAnted” mode where you go after other villains in Batman’s rogue gallery. Batman: Arkham Origins is set to release October 25, 2013 and if you preorder you get to play as the assassin Deathstroke. Check back with us for more updates on your favorite caped crusader.

Bethesda recently teased that they would be announcing a new game with a cryptic repeating video of bob wire and a record player. Much of the internet believed it to be a teaser for the next Fallout game. Today an official announcement has been made with a new IP in The Evil Within. This will be the first game by orginal creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami’s new studio Tango Gameworks.  Mikami released a statement, “We’re incredibly proud to announce The Evil Within. My team and I are committed to creating an exciting new franchise, providing fans the perfect blend of horror and action.” This new survival horror will be released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, and next gen consoles in 2014. In the mean time, check out this scary live-action teaser trailer.

*Volunteer Positions* While evaluating the state of the Gaming Journalism scene, I noticed that we at Real Otaku Gamer has a unique approach when covering geek/otaku culture. As the site gets restructured and we go into our 3rd year, we are looking to create opportunities that will help the site become more robust and varied with coverage. Real Otaku Gamer has a global vision, we accept writers from all over the world.

These new job positions are going to help Real Otaku Gamer become more organized and develop a bigger community so we can grow as a brand. These positions are volunteer only as we are a small site. As we grow so will the sponsors and hopefully revenue.

IF HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POSITIONS, Email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com

These New Positions are as follows:

1. Community Manager: You will be taking care of the daily running of the site. You will work along side the Editor in Chief and other Admins on the site with promoting the site and helping build a brand. You must have good communication skills.

2.Marketing and PR: You will be responsible for all Public Relations with companies and the community. You must have good communication skills and be able to relate to people of a number of levels. You will also run contests and giveaways.

3.Managing Editor: You will work closely with all staff to make sure the posts we produce, are up to our standards.

4.Social Media Manager: You will be in charge of growing our social networking presence. You will be working close to the senior staff.

5. Assistant to Editor in Chief: You will assist the E.I.C. in the daily running of the site.

6.Advertising and Promotion: contact us for more details.

7.Art Director: contact us for more details.

8.Podcast Producer/Editor: contact us for more details.

9.Video Producer/Editor :contact us for more details.

Now, the next few positions are for the Real Otaku Gamer Specialists. These positions are dedicated for people who want to cover a specific genre/category. This is where your inner Otaku can really shine.

1. PC

2. Mobile/Tablet

3. Tech

4. Anime

5. Manga

6. Comics

7. Nintendo

8. Sony

9. Microsoft

10. Movies/Television

11. Asian Cinema

12.Indie Games

13.Toys/models and Merchandise

14.Convention Coverage

15.Cosplay and Cosplay Culture

To apply for these positions, you must first submit a writing sample and once the sample is approved, submit an small essay telling us why we should pick you for the job you are interested in. An essay is not necessary for all positions. Deadline to have the samples submitted is May 20th, 2013. We must have all essays in my May 17th. Send the Essays and Samples to feedback@realotakugamer.com.

If you have any questions about any of the positions and their responsibilities, just email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com or go to the Twitter and Facebook pages. Thanks you for your time.

Andre Tipton

Founder/Editor in Chief

Warner Bros. Interactive have finally announced, what we all wanted to hear, Batman will be returning to a prequel to both Arkham Asylum & City, with Batman: Arkham Origins. The game will focus on a younger, a less sharp Batman and his initial encounters against various supervillains within the Batman & DC lore. Game Informer also says, “Developer WB Montreal is using Rocksteady’s custom modified Unreal engine to create the game.” Although Rocksteady isn’t helming the developing, Warner Bros. has enlisted Eric Holmes, as creative director on the game, and who has also worked on Prototype and Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

Additionally, Warner Bros. has announced a handheld Arkham game, a spin off, titled Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Apparently, the game is styled after Metroid games, and takes place after Origins, on the consoles story. Blackgate is being developed by Armature Studios, who is behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy. Both games will hit shelves October 25th, Arkham Origins on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC, and Blackgate on Vita and 3DS.

At PAX East this year I had the opportunity to check out Secret Ponchos, a spaghetti Western themed, top-down shooter from Switchblade Monkeys. The lush looking art, awesome music and simple premise drew me in, but the addicting gameplay was what ultimately won my heart.

Plot

“In Lonetree – a lawless, cutthroat town full of outlaws and bounty hunters – everyone is gunning for your head. Create your outlaw and engage in multiplayer duels to determine who lives, who dies and who becomes a legend.”

Characters

Click on the links to learn more about each character, their weapons and their stats.

• The Killer <- Who I played
• Gordo
• Kid Red <- Who I mistook for a girl and to this moment still refer to as a she. Sorrynotsorry.
• The Deserter
• Phantom Poncho
• Unnamed lady!

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is what really makes this game unique. You truly feel like you’re playing a Western – tension, itchy trigger finger and all. The music creates the perfect vibe, the colors make you feel all deserty… it’s hard to describe, but they truly nailed that feeling of when you were a little kid playing cowboys and Indians – ducking behind couches and peering around for enemies, reloading your imaginary six shooter – it’s all there.

Gameplay

Players can choose from six different characters with their own special moves and weapons. Each character has a primary and secondary weapon, and each weapon has a primary and special attack. You use the left stick to move around and the right stick to aim, with a cool shadowy line showing you where the bullet will strike. It takes a little getting used to at first, because you also have to make sure your weapon is drawn and aimed before you can attack, meaning you have to be a quick thinker to avoid death until you gain muscle memory.

The unique weapons and attacks of the characters really add a level of complexity to the simple gameplay, causing you to sacrifice certain advantages for others. For example, I played The Killer, and while my gun was pretty strong, I had to reload constantly. I tried to compensate by throwing my knife, only to find that I had to wait for the knife to “come back” before I could throw it again. Apparently, I should have been using it to stab instead of using my special attack. I tried to re-compensate by dodging all over the place, only to find that I was depleting my stamina bar. It became readily apparent that this seemingly simple game had much more nuance than I originally thought. There is also a lovely line-of-sight mechanic that let my opponents disappear completely if they hid somewhere. I think this contributed to that feeling of being little and playing cowboys and Indians… I really didn’t know where my enemies would turn up and the tension was excellent!

The multiplayer modes are fast-paced and just the right amount of challenging. There are four modes: one v. one, two v. two, four v. four and eight player free-for-all. Creative Director Yousuf Mapara said the team hopes to add more game modes if time permits.

I spoke with Eduardo Echeverria, the interface developer, who told me that the game will allow you to customize your character as you gain a reputation, essentially allowing you to create your own outlaw. He also revealed that they are developing a female character, when I mentioned the lack of ladies. Check her out looking slightly androgynous as a matador:

When I asked about the motivation behind the game, Echeverria looked me in the eye and said: SoulCaliber. You see, the developers used to play a lot of SoulCaliber, and they really loved how the game was easy to get into but had a depth of strategy for more experienced players. They wanted to create a game like that. What they ended up with has been compared to League of Legends, Street Fighter 2 and Team Fortress. In other words, this game is lined up to be ridiculous fun.

Secret Ponchos is slated for PS3 and 360 release only at this time.

Hideo Kojima and his team have finally revealed the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. It was previously teased at last year Spike Video Game Awards as just the Phantom Pain developed by Moby Dick Studios but the truth is now revealed. Please watch, share and enjoy and comment down below on your thoughts of the game.

At San Diego Comic Con, Deadpool himself announced his new video game. Little was scene but it looked pretty crazy. A new trailer is out and this one looks even more bizarre… in the best way possible. This is exactly who Deadpool is and if this game can play well, it’ll be awesome. Check out the new trailer courtesy of GameTrailers.

Nolan North makes a great Deadpool, he captures his crazy perfectly. Deadpool: The Video Game is set to be released this summer. I cannot wait for it and it’s Man-Bazookas.

Today I had the chance to play some of Gears of War Judgment’s new multiplayer mode, “Overrun”. This is the new version of Gears of War’s previous “Horde Mode”. Here is a basic overview of the mode and it’s systems, and my first impressions.

The game mode is essentially a class and objective based multiplayer match, with two teams of players facing off; COG soldiers versus locust units. These two teams each have several classes, but differ in the initial range and availability of classes.
The COG team has four classes; Soldier, Scout, Medic and Engineer. The COG soldiers each have a unique ability triggered by pressing LB which provides the team with health, ammo, defensive turrets or a beacon to show enemy locations. The defenses set up already (barbed wire and laser fences) can be moved through by any COG units, but will stop any Locust units from moving forward. They are able to destroy them but the engineer is able to repaired these defenses.

The four COG class characters.

The locust team differs in it’s organization. Initially you have access to four types of locust. As you gather points in game (given for kills, assists and damage dealt) you can ‘purchase’ one of the four extra, more powerful locust with your scored points, allowing access to that class of locust until the unit is killed. Units include Tickers, Locust infantry and even the Corpser!

The map I played on, Skyline, is a series of rooftops. The map is split into three for the three intervals of gameplay. The first two intervals see the COG trying to protect the covers on Locust emergence holes, and the Locust’s goal is to destroy these caps. If the Locust destroy the cap the next interval begins, and the locust spawn becomes the newly opened emergence hole. If the COG can hold the emergence hole the ‘hammer of dawn’ is brought online, the COG win and the second round begins with the teams swapping from COG to Locust and vice versa.When the locust destroy the caps on two emergence holes interval three begins, and the COG must hold their generator, the final objective for the Locust.

The game mode is quite fun. The gameplay feels like a proper Gears of War game even with the new developer, People Can Fly. The graphics are a step up from Gears of War 3 and will likely look even better in the full game. The controls for the less human-like locusts has been revamped from Gears 3, making it easier and more fluid to play. Once more maps are added to the roster the variety will be much higher, and I hope to see some more variations in the objectives, but they are still quite well put together. The teams of human players and extra bots should there be an insufficient number of players works well allowing much faster game entry and less network issues. Once this game is released next week players should enjoy the new take on the fan favorite Horde Mode, marking a great new entry into the Gears of War multiplayer modes. Overall Overrun is quite a success for People Can Fly and it’ll be interesting to see how players can work as a team and strive for victory in Gears of War Judgment!