The Amazing Spiderman Two Comes To Xbox One Early

By Robert (A Virtual Duck), Week of April 28th 2014

The Amazing Spiderman 2 is out on Xbox One...Three days early.

The game, which released on the US Digital Store today, was originally cancelled for the Xbox One. Microsoft said an issue with the publisher (Activision) arose, but apparently good 'ol Phil sorted it out for us and even got us it three days early, even if the retail version seems to have gone MIA. The Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, and PC versions of TAS2 will release on May 2nd. Get in your extra time, Xbox Fans!

Technically, the game is the same as the PS4 version, running at 1080p 30fps with the same graphic settings. No advantage for PS4 in resolution, and no advantage for Xbox One in textures. It's an even playing field, which is what we really want to see this generation. Each fanbase receiving a proper port of their games.

In other news, Driveclub has announced an October 8th release date after a nine month delay. The PS4 exclusive will hopefully (for all you PS players) release then, if it isn't delayed again like Watch Dogs was back in 2013.

Fable Legends Sure Is Pretty

By Robert (A Virtual Duck), Week of April 21st 2014

Fable Legends is due out in 2015.

And they have just released the first pictures of it, as an Unreal Engine 4 tech demo and to show the capabilities of Xbox One using DirectX 11.2 and DirectX 12. This tech demo is to do with 100% dynamic lighting, and how much better it looks reflecting light where developers and artists may have missed a reflection with baked lighting. Take a look for yourselves and make sure to click on and enlarge the images. For reference, these are from the Fable Blog here, run by Lionhead, a 1st Party Microsoft Studio.

All of these pictures are full 1080p as is the game, so enjoy. Fable Legends is scheduled to release in 2015.

The above image is of a forest with a loot chest within it, using the Dynamic Lighting parameters.

The picture above is of an arch without using the Dynamic Lighting parameters. Look at how flat it looks.

The above picture is the same arch, with the Dynamic Lighting parameters enabled. Look at how vibrant and realistic it is.

The picture above is a tech demo of how the lighting works. See how the bottoms of the spheres are darkened, and the sunlight conforms to the shape of the objects above it.

If you enjoyed these images, look here for more of the tech demos a la the final picture. There are no more "world" pictures like the arch.

In my opinion, if Sony had published this, the gaming sites would be going mad about how gorgeous it looks and how Sony had once again succeeded in topping the competition. If Microsoft publishes it? Not a peep. It's ridiculous.

Sunset Overdrive Reveals Hinted at May 8

By Robert (A Virtual Duck), Week of April 7th 2014


Get ready folks, because the extremely highly anticipated Xbox One exclusive developed by Insomniac games may finally be getting a proper gameplay reveal on May 8. These were hinted at by Sunset Overdrive's official Twitter account with these images, pertaining to Edge Magazine and Edge Online.

What's this in this month's print edition of @edgeonline? https://t.co/BcaaepbYoP Or this in the digital version?: https://t.co/GCBfUfHJL0
— Sunset Overdrive (@SunsetOverdrive) April 11, 2014

Here are the images:

 

 

Sunset Overdrive's Logo is pictured in the first image, with May 8 written on the top next to the number #267, obviously pertaining to the issue the reveal will happen in. The second image shows Sunset Overdrive's "OverCharge" cola, again with the May 8 and #267. What could this mean? Will we see game play? All will be revealed... soon...