Ok so it’s quite a few years away and everything is still up in the air for what the next XBox console is going to have, and what it’s not.

Microsoft want to push the next console further, yet with the current XBox One their plans don’t quite line up with what they want the next console to do; they really have to advance the technology of their XBox gaming platform further than they have before.

There are rumours that the next XBox console will take advantage of Illumiroom, a proof-of-concept projector system from Microsoft Research that augments the area around your TV to reflect what’s being show on your console – a visual version of surround sound, effectively.

Illumiroom was going to initially be launched with the XBox One but was deemed too expensive. Though it’s likely with what they have said about the technology needing to catch up for what they have planned is the actual reason it was not built for the XBox One console.

Microsoft want to avoid the past mistakes of pushing unnecessary technology onto people who don’t want it, which also resulted in a higher price tag; this was also put gamers off from buying the XBox One console.

With the next console they will be taking advantage of the Microsoft’s VR technology and enhancing the gamers experience; they still have a long way to go, so let’s hope they make the advancement before their competitor does. Or they could very well end up in the same position Sega was in with their Sega Saturn and push out incomplete tech to try to corner the market; subsequently failing in the process of course.

Mighty No.9 is a side scrolling action game, that’s bringing back the retro feel and style of 8- and 16-bit era classics; though with a modern take that’s fast paced with awesome backgrounds and level designs, with lots of challenges just waiting to present themselves.

In the game a mysterious computer virus has spread across a mechanised world, wreaking havoc everywhere, resulting in mechanised creatures going beserk; though our hero Beck has not been affected by this.

Beck is the 9th in a line of powerful robots who can reconfigure into new shapes, allowing for all kinds of new skills and abilities; he adapts and configures using weapons and abilities stolen from enemies in the game.

Play as Beck as moves through the different stages of the game, running, jumping, blasting and transforming. Come face to face with each of the other mighty robots of his line, and defeat them.

Release Date: 12th February 2016

Gaming is an extremely unique medium – not only in terms of its player base, the type of things it produces, but also in the way that gaming fans and companies talk about sales. We devour every single piece of information for every title, every console to fuel our own ideas about what “should” do well and what we think should sell poorly. It is a most unusual thing; since we should probably all be celebrating the entire medium – but people become, rightly, invested in things that they put their money into.

If I spend $400 on an Xbox One, for example, I might like to see it sell well – then I know more people will be online to play with me and more companies will look to bring their games to the machine. If I buy a game that I like it’s cost me $60 – if it does poorly my chances of seeing a sequel are lowered dramatically. Seeing all this information fall through does fuel the fanboy wars, but there are many other reasons we find that data so interesting.

One thing that gamers love to do is argue with each other. About their favourite games, their favourite consoles and what is “best.” Usually that descends into what sells more – and even then people manage to find a lot of wiggle room to try and back up their console of choice. The NPD is an American only sales tracking system that, once a month, releases data about the top selling games and consoles of the month. In this generation, especially, people have a vested interest in the Playstation vs Xbox debate.
Worldwide there’s no contest – the Playstation has massively outsold the Xbox and it will probably stay that way for this generation. In America it’s slightly closer, and people often put raised stock in the US market since that’s where they live and most American’s don’t take notice of other regions, let alone know much about them.

When Dragon Age Inquisition came out people flocked to it like flies to shit. They talked of how it was one of the finest RPGs we’d ever seen, with some of the most amazing graphics and stories ever told. Yet here are, a few months later, and the cracks started to appear. People started to poke holes in it and to finally see some of the flaws the game had been carrying since the start.

However there was an unheralded part of Dragon Age Inquisition that many overlooked and ignored around the time of review. It has a multiplayer component. The multiplayer takes place parallel to the story and pits teams of four players against the undead armies of the world. You progress through beautiful areas and collect loot, unlock characters and tackle enormous bosses along the way. It’s a great addition and something that has kept people coming back to Dragon Age even 6 months after they realised the single player game was dogshit.