Respawn Entertainment is releasing the special edition of TitanFall with a near 20 inch statue of one of the Titans. With lit up ID lights (powered by 3 AAA batteries), Ill bet even Bert will want one of these!
Tag: Xbox One
Where the “$” in Micro$oft actually comes from
Upon finishing up my article on the Dual Shock 4 from Sony, I figured I would do a little justice towards Micro$oft and talk a little bit about their new Xbox One Controller.
The new Xbox One controller has also been redesigned, with tighter triggering mechanisms and enhanced rumble capabilities.
However, true to making sure that Micro$oft generates a profit, the Xbox One controller ships with a pair of AA batteries for general use. That’s right gang, if you want to enjoy the possibility of charging your controller when or not in use, you have to shell out another $24.99 per controller for the “Play and Charge” kit. The kit essentially scores you a 9 foot long charging cable (with LED Indicator), and a set of Lithium Ion battery pack for use. Does anyone else think that this isn’t very customer centric??
I guess the good thing to know is this:
“A portion of your generous payment towards the Micro$oft corporation will be donated to a needy cause”.
Well played Mr. Gates!
Hands On with the new Dual Shock 4
Last week Sony released a lot of their peripherals for the PlayStation 4, including the new Dual Shock 4 Controller.
I gotta admit, I was kinda surprised to get a phone call saying that my preordered controller was in, even though the official release date for the PlayStation 4 isn’t until November 15th.
Never one to turn away new electronics (yup, just like a kid at a candy store), I ventured my way down to my local GameStop to pick up said controller.
After returning home, I popped open the very sparse packaging, only to discover the controller inside, and a user guide (and no USB charging cable included..). Turns out the charging cable is being released with the actual PlayStation 4 (Sony, I forgive you this once..), so for the moment, I was kinda stumped on how to charge the darned thing.
After pondering the issue, I immediately decided to grab one of my phone Micro USB cords, and plugged in the controller to my PlayStation 3. Much to my delight, the system did indeed recognize the controller, although not wirelessly, as I had hoped. Nor did some of the functions from the new controller work, like the touchpad, or the PlayStation HOME button.
Rather than grumbling about the whole situation, I gave the controller a spin online with Battlefield 3. Even though I had to sit like 3 feet away from the TV (those phone cords are real short!), I discovered that the new controller was a total upgrade from the previous Dual Shocks that Sony had put out. The triggers have been redesigned and slimmed down, and feel more responsive; the analog sticks are now concave (so my damn monkey thumbs wont slip off when playing something as intense like Assassin’s Creed); and the touch pad (even though it doesn’t work yet) didn’t seem as obtrusive as I thought it might be. Sony also built in a small speaker, and a port for a wired headset for chatting online. Even the weight of the controller didn’t feel like it was too much or too light..
Bonus points for Sony, just by making the charge port a Micro USB connection (unlike SOME other folks). This also gave me the ability to plug it in and use it as a generic controller on a PC.
Overall though, the Dual Shock 4 just feels like a solid piece of electronic gold. Sony has totally responded to the user feedback, and from what I can say, they have delivered with a excellent piece of hardware.
And yes, my wife says I am crazy. 🙂
Why thank you, Mister Postman!
Well it certainly appears that Christmas came a little early this year for some lucky Xbox One preorder folks via Target.
According to Gameinformer, user “MoonlightSwami” was one of the very select few to receive their Xbox One preorders, due to a shipping error.
Once received, some users even shared their joy by posting on Twitter and YouTube.
Of course, once Micro$oft found out about the early delivery of the “bundles of joy” the systems were immediately BANNED from using the Xbox Live online service.
Now even I have to admit that even though street dates are just that, and folks are trying to protect their intellectual property, its kinda messed up that users are now banned from using Xbox Live.
All should be well, as “MoonlightSwami” and the rest of the users were told via Micro$oft that eventually their systems would be back online and 100% usable.
What really sucks is now they get to just stare at their unusable BRICKS (at least online) for a few more weeks.
Only a few more days to go…
The kick off for the Next Gen consoles starts next Friday (November 15th), with Sony’s release of the PlayStation 4. GameStop, along with a few other retailers, have already released a few upcoming games, as well as the DualShock4 Controller, new Charging station, and the new PlayStation Camera.
Micro$oft then follows up with their release of the Xbox One on November 22nd.
The media, on the other hand, has been playing non-stop Xbone commercials during NFL games, and promoting Xbone giveaways via Doritos and Mountain Dew; While the PS4 has been showing up in Taco Bell commercials.
Too much hype? I guess time will tell as the systems get ready for release.
What will really be interesting? Black Friday