A Month In Review: The Top Gaming Stories In January

Hello fellow gamers! Welcome to "A Month In Review". I'm going to be going through the top gaming stories this month and give a brief description on what it's about and lay down some of my opinions on it. I am going to be doing the top 11 stories, so let's go. Also the list is in the order of 'Hottest Stories' so it caters more to the users of N4G.

-Specs For Nintendo’s Next-Gen Systems Surface:
http://n4g.com/news/1441089...

Rumors of Nintendo working on their next-gen system have recently surfaced, and along with them comes a report of the supposed specifications for both the next Nintendo handheld and home console. The codename is now “FUSION” and many the R&D want to keep that name for the main console release. The Handheld unit is called the “FUSION DS” while the home unit is called “FUSION TERMINAL.

Considering that it has been 2 years since the Wii U release, if Nintendo were to release a new console in the next 2 years, it would be the worst move. Not only would they upset the loyal fans, this would stop all support to the Wii U. Of course when a new console comes out with the next 2 years they start working on the next console. I believe if all this is true, you should't hear an official word on it until or 2016 or 2017. The Wii U should be intact for at east 5 years minimum and even that is pushing it.

-Xbox One's Driver Update To Bring 10% Performance Boost, Devs Were Speechless With PS4 8GB GDDR5 RAM:
http://n4g.com/news/1428399...

The Xbox One has been said to be able to improve it's performance with a driver update and can see the console with a 10% upgrade. Considering that the Xbox One has been getting a lot of stick because the PS4 has been receiving 1080p at 60fps better than the X1's 720p or 1080p 30fps. This has been the main reason where the PS4 vs. Xbox One battle has made the Xbox One lose a lot of it's say.

Back when the PS4 and Xbox One had code names in early 2012, when the PS4 had 4GB of GDDR5, a developer in the EU region claimed: “Durango tosses the Orbis in every metric.” Of course, then the official PS4 reveal arrived. “When 8 GB of GDDR5 was announced, certain developers were literally speechless.” When I had read this I just smiled. the PS4 has been getting a lot of praise from many developers for a lot of it's RAM and more power. Of course you can even tell with the PS4 getting something the X1 can't, that is the 1080p 60fps.

-Tomb Raider Definitive Edition Runs at 60fps on PS4 and 30fps on Xbox One:
http://n4g.com/news/1442403...

Rocket Chainsaw states that while both versions of the Tomb Raider definitive edition have unlocked frame rates with a minimum of 30fps, the PS4 version runs at 60 fps most of the time while the Xbox One version runs at 30 fps most of the time. This is a massive loss for the X1 as more and more games are preforming much better on the PS4 and it really does widen the gap pf which system is more powerful. There have even been reports of the X1 doing 18fps in the game which is quite low for a next gen console. Of course when the driver update comes to the X1, it might be able to do 60fps or keep a more steady fps of 30.

-Hideo Kojima Tries Out PS4 Exclusive Knack, Writes a “Mini Review” With His Opinion:
http://n4g.com/news/1438559...

Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is one of the most respected developers in Japan, and apparently today he visited Sony Computer Entertainment to try Mark Cerny’s PS4 exclusive Knack. Here is what he said:

"I was invited by mark and played the Japanese language version of Knack quickly. It’s an action game and it proceeds smoothly."

"Operation is simple and easy, but it becomes a very hard game when I change the difficulty. It’s exhilarating when Knack becomes huge. I loved the traps like in Crash."

"I played it for a little less than three hours at Sony Computer Entertainment. It seems that Mark created it very carefully. The next generation feeling is a bit thin, but it has interesting technical challenges to it."

"Also, a father that loves FPS games, if he’s tired of firefights, can he try cooperative play with his children?"

As I have not played Knack before, I can't really have my say but the game looks fun. I would probably agree with Hideo. Considering he is a major figure in the gaming industry, it is nice to see him enjoy Knack.

-Albert Penello Comments On Multiplatform Games Running At Lower Resolution/Frame Rate On Xbox One:
http://n4g.com/news/1443424...

It’s no secret that some of the major AAA multiplatform games have struggled to run in full HD [1080p] or better frame rates [60fps] on the Xbox One. Titles like Call of Duty Ghosts and Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag have better resolution on the PS4. Even Tomb Raider is confirmed to run at 60 fps on the PlayStation 4 whereas the Xbox One is rumored to be running at 30 fps. Here is what he said:

“Look, I had a lot of time to think about this and I believe in what I said. I believe that the differences between the boxes [PS4 and Xbox One] is not all that great and I know what is going behind the scenes and I have access to more information about some of this thing than a lot of people. Sometimes people tend to neglect the points that are in my favor and they like to highlight the points that tell me I am wrong. I still think Ryse is still the best looking game on any platform. Period. End of story,”

Now I have to highly disagree with him that Ryse is the best looking game out there. Tht is just pure PR BS that MS usually say. ALthough The Division is not out yet, that is an amazing game. Also even if Ryse was the best looking game, it wouldn't stay that way for the rest of 2014. It makes it very clear which console is more powerful now. The best comment I have seen is:

"If people are looking for the most powerful console than the choice is clear. If they want the exclusive games that Microsoft produce than they have to get the Xbox One. That does mean accepting that they are buying the less powerful console. It's not the end of the world, developers will get better at making games for the Xbox One, but the PS4 will always have the edge on 3rd party games unless developers go out of their way to limit their games to be on par.Those are the facts, it's not really debatable, the problem comes when people and developers try to pretend otherwise."

-Sony announces PlayStation Now:
http://n4g.com/news/1430790...

The PlayStation 4 won't recognize discs from previous Sony game consoles, but that might not matter for long. Sony has just announced PlayStation Now, a service that will bring streaming PlayStation games to PS4, PS3, PlayStation Vita, and even televisions, tablets, and smartphones. Games like TLOU and Beyond Two Souls will be available. It's the company's public-facing brand for Gaikai, the cloud gaming technology it purchased in June of 2012, which the company previously said would bring PS3 games to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita later this year. Sony says the technology is already working here at CES, with attendees able to try critically acclaimed action title The Last of Us here in Vegas. The full service will let users rent games or pay for a subscription that will let them "explore a range of titles." Sony will launch a closed beta in the United States at the end of the month, and plans to roll out the service more broadly by the end of this summer.

This is one of the top stories in my opinion, PS Now is an amazing service and looks to please. The fact it was fully working at CES means it is quite ready. If will release in US this summer and EU 2015 spring. Also a beta in released just yesterday as reports say.

-Thief will not run at 1080p on the Xbox One?:
http://n4g.com/news/1443973...

As said by EUroGamer: "Thuway, as you know the insider tied to rumor as the virtual helmet of Sony or the boost of 10% on X1 , did not make reference to the resolution of the counterparty for PlayStation 4, but has "confirmed" that the one for Microsoft's console will stop before the fateful Full HD."

This is again sad for the Xbox One as more and more games keep giving it a downgrade. The PS4 is more powerful and the Xbox One cannot handle 60fps at full resolution.

-The Elder Scrolls Online won't require PS Plus, will require Xbox Live Gold:
http://n4g.com/news/1445487...

The Elder Scrolls Online will not require a PlayStation Plus membership to play on PS4, ZeniMax Online Studios Game Director Matt Firor wrote in a PlayStation Blog update. Bethesda confirmed to Joystiq that the subscription-based MMORPG will require an Xbox Live Gold membership to play on Xbox One, however.

XBL again is always charging users unfairly as the years come by.

-Xbox One 10% reserved GPU getting turned into 2% soon:
http://n4g.com/news/1444085...

Microsoft may offer more breathing room for developers making games for the Xbox One, according to industry insider Pete Dodd who has proven to be extremely reliable before.

10% reserved gpu getting turned into 2% soon. And with that, I’m on my last bar leaving Puerto Rico. See ya soon if St. Thomas has sprint. GPU for that certain system had 10% reserved. 8% video. 2% voice. Voice will remain. That video 8% will be up to devs. As it should be.

Currently 10% of the Xbox One GPU is reserved for OS functions and Kinect and it looks like that will be reduced to 2% soon, giving developers more power. Although this may seem good, it is clearly explained by this:

"10% power reserve has been explained by Microsoft to be portion of the GPU reserved for Kinect. Thats about another 104.8 GFlops (@8% savings) that can now be used by games. It isn't a GPU boost it basically taking those resources back from Kinect. Microsoft had expected Developers to use Kinect more so I guess that why they reserved 10% of resources for it. Also, it will make a difference, but now much. It may be able to do an exra frame or two at most. It wont turn 720p into 1080p.

So Xbox Goes from 1.18 TFlop to 1.28 TFlops
PS4 remains at 1.84 TFlops.

Actually when you look at straight numbers, the deficit goes from 56% to 43% so I'm sure developers can appreciate this. The defict is still big, but any bit helps."

-Microsoft Is Going To Have A Hard Time Supporting The 360
http://n4g.com/news/1429612...

Every time there's a new system that comes out, some gamers get nervous that there won't be any good games for the old platform anymore. And why should there be? Console manufacturers like Microsoft and Sony naturally want to migrate people over and spend their resources on the new system. So when a Microsoft executive says that the company plans to support the Xbox 360 for three years, I don't believe it.

I think MS are done with the 360 now anyway, I doubt you'll see any more 1st party support. As soon as Forza 5 was announced for X1 only, I knew the 360 wasn't getting any 1st party support. No more Forza for X360 fans. MS should really keep supporting the 360 but I think they are trying to get 360 owners switch.

-Microsoft: Ditch Your PS3 And Get $100 To Buy Xbox One:
http://n4g.com/news/1446616...

It seems like Microsoft is willing to do a lot of things in order to catch up with Sony in the next gen console war, including a mail offer to “ditch” your PlayStation 3 by bringing it to the closest Microsoft Store and getting $100 in return towards the purchase of an Xbox.

This is actually on a new low for MS. I find it quite funny that they are actually doing this. I have no other words on this subject.

Those are the top 11 gaming stories of 2014 in the month of January. I might do another one each month depending on the amount of news in the month. Do you think there are some other top stories? Thanks for reading!