Xbox One

Well, well well, it looks as if Microsoft has completely made a turning point on their new Xbox One. Now, not only can you use the Xbox without a constant internet connection, but we can now play the next gen Xbox console without the kinect entirely.

This change has come about after privacy concerns were made public due to the worry that Microsoft or a malicious third party could sneak in and watch your living room at any time.

Coupled with the always on internet, an always 'kinected' camera could only spell trouble in the eyes of those that take care of their own privacy, but luckily all of the DRM features have been removed, and now the Kinect always-connected rule has been removed.

Currently there still isn't an Xbox One with a Kinect not included and Microsoft still believe strongly in the success of the party peripheral, but perhaps we'll see a cheaper SKU without the Kinect 2.0 bundled in the future.

For those already interested in getting a PS4, if you

Gamescom is very close now and I expect we'll see and learn a lot from the gaming event, but what can we expect to learn about the new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at this year's Gamescom?

Firstly, we're all expecting to learn about the launch date of the PlayStation 4- we're all hoping for a 2013 release and many rumors have lead many of us to believe a November release date is most likely. Hopefully we'll find out just when we'll be able to get our hands on a brand new PlayStation 4 very soon.

We may also be given a look into when the Xbox One will be released. Recent rumors seem to point towards the Xbox One being pushed back a little bit and everyone is uncertain whether we'll see an Xbox One this year or not.

We're also going to be hearing about a deal that will bundle a third party game with the Xbox One launch edition without bumping up the price at all. At Gamescom we'll be able to find exactly what this game is and if it will make up for

A bunch of games announced this year are frustratingly available for next gen consoles and current gen consoles. This includes titles such as Assassins' Creed IV Black Flag, Call of Duty Ghosts, Battlefield 4, and more. For a gamer this can be a chore because you'll never know which version to go for, or which version will be played more by your friends.

Typically, for most of these games you'll have to wait a little longer to play on the next generation consoles because the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will need to hit shelves before next-gen variants of the games are released, but there may be more benefits to play on the new consoles such as better graphics or more support a few months down the line.

To help gamers solve this predicament, GameStop will be offering gamers $50 of in-store credit if they decide to swap a current gen game to a next gen game.

Although this sounds pretty cool, there are some catches. To be eligible

Although Call of Duty Ghosts will be released for multiple platforms with many different hardware specifications, Mark Ruben, executive producer at Infinity Ward, has stated that players of the new Call of Duty Ghosts game will get the best graphical experience possible for their system.

This means players with a gaming PC or a next gen console like the PS4 or Xbox One will be able to enjoy the full HD resolution found within the textures Infinity Ward have created for the game, but older and less capable platforms such as the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 will receive down-scaled versions that offer the best graphical quality possible without being too much of a drain on the resources available.

Mark Ruben directly said "What we've done with this generation change, especially for the art pipeline, that being the biggest difference, is we're making our big art assets at cinema quality, not even PC quality, but above next-gen. It's

After we saw the official Microsoft unboxing for the Xbox One, a lot of gamers got angry at the extra paywalls and prices that will have to be forked out to access most of the features available on the gaming/media box.

If you're frustrated at this, here's a bit of news that may help you to calm down just a little.

Microsoft will be introducing a new family plan on the Xbox One. On the Xbox 360 gamers could save money by buying a Gold 'family pack.' However, users of this service would still have to pay for multiple Xbox Live Gold accounts but just at a discounted price.

On the new Xbox One, a family will be able to make use of the new 'Home Gold' feature that will allow a whole family with multiple gamertags to share the Xbox Live Gold status from one member on that Xbox.

For example, if one user were to buy an Xbox Live Gold subscription, all other gamertags on this Xbox would also gain access to all of the features that require Xbox

It's easy to see the similarities between Destiny and Borderlands, and in fact, because of the drop-in and drop-out co-op play, randomized and meaningful weapons, these are the two games that are similar enough to make the best comparison against. For this reason, there's going to be a lot of talk about what each game does better, and even Bungie has jumped in on the discussion.

Joe Staten, creative lead for Bungies' new game, Destiny, has taken the time to speak with EDGE about the game, stating a few things about why Destiny is still a worthwhile play after playing Borderlands and what makes it stand out.

The first big thing that Joe Staten talks about is of course the huge online multiplayer that takes place. For example, whilst you're busy with your friends cleaning out an area of the immersive world, there could be another squad tackling a different objective, and you'll often see and come across other squads in this manner.

"When we look at a game like that, we

Whilst Microsoft may not be done with the Kinect, it is quite clear that for most the piece of tech is nothing more than a gimmick. It can be fun to wave yourself in front of the TV with a few mates or with the family, and talking to your Xbox can be quite entertaining at first, but it quickly looses any meaning except for a companion for it's Xbox friend.

Microsoft may be looking into something a lot better than the Kinect if their recent patent file is anything to go by. The patent shows information on what seems to be a pair of virtual reality glasses. Players will be able to wear the glasses and 'immerse' themselves in a game.

Recently we've seen things like the impressive Oculus Rift hit the world, and it's certainly left an impact, so perhaps Microsoft want to get there first.

If the Oculus Rift is anything to go by, using a high-tech virtual reality kit will allow players to really feel like they are in the game- the camera will move accurately to your head movements,

Although we're still waiting for Lost Planet 3 from Capcom after their unexpected release reschedule earlier this year, it hasn't stopped the developer and publisher from working on more titles.

This includes their new Deep Down game, a title that previously little was known about. Capcom recently revealed this game with a teaser trailer, and it's certainly looking interesting.

So far the game is said to be an 'online game' so it could be possible that it is developed as a persistent MMO- something that has popped up a lot recently on consoles in games such as Defiance and Destiny.

The trailer shows hardly anything, shows no game play, and only plays some strange voices that all start to blend into one another until they all become one cacophony of noise that then leads to the end of the trailer with an explosion.

It certainly has got us thinking, but trying to work out what could come from this game at the moment is almost impossible to do.

On the trailer,

Although Kinect Sports Rivals was previously announced by Microsoft and RARE to be an Xbox One launch title, it has since been pushed back due to development issues and will now no longer be available at launch for the Xbox One.

The release date has now been pushed back to Spring 2014 for most of the world and Autumn 2014 for Australia.

Although it's a shame the game has been delayed, it will allow RARE to further polish and clean up the title, so we can expect an even more finished version early next year. According to RARE at E3, Kinect Sports Rivals "puts you in the game like never before, tracks your movements and expressions with incredible accuracy, and offers never-ending competition with your friends and competitors," according to Microsoft.

This is a bit of an odd decision by Microsoft though as Kinect Sports Rivals was previously designed to be the flagship launch title for the Xbox One and the Kinect meaning we will now have no Xbox

Although the Launch Edition of the Xbox One comes bundled with the Kinect 2.0, there wasn't an official confirmation whether the Xbox One would be released without the Kinect 2.0 or not within the future.

Microsoft has recently replied to concerns about the topic to state that "We have no plans to introduce an Xbox One without Kinect. We believe in Kinect and the value it brings to both games and entertainment, and believe $499 is a great value for what consumers receive with their Xbox One."

Rumors started to spread that Microsoft were going to release a console without the  Kinect 2.0 as a Microsoft representative stated that the Xbox One does not need the Kinect 2.0 to run. Since then it seems that Microsoft has called this out as a typo and Microsoft has since backtracked to the previous announcement that the Kinect 2.0 is needed to allow the Xbox One to work.

Because of the added costs of the Kinect 2.0, the Xbox One costs