Microsoft Celebrates Xbox 10th Anniversary with Interactive Timeline
As the Xbox turned ten today, Microsoft is celebrating the anniversary with the launch of an interactive timeline showing the platform history. The platform first debuted on March 14, 2002.
The timeline is available on Xbox.com and takes you on your own personal journey from your first Xbox experience through the hardware, software and entertainment launches over the last 10 years.
It commemorates the original console launch through to the controller-free revolution with Kinect, and the host of live TV, music, movie and social media partners on Xbox Live who are helping us change the way people enjoy entertainment in their living rooms.
As seen from the screenshot above, some interesting figures showing that total console sales surpassed 108,000,000. You can access the interactive timeline by visiting this link
The footage you are going to see was created by Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream. It’s not a pre-rendered cutscene but made entirely in real time. CEO and founder David Cage showcased the studio’s new tech at GDC on the PlayStation 3.
Quantic Dream
Kara Demo was created by the the studio’s new engine and according toEurogamer:
Kara‘s not just the product of new tech and a better understanding of the PlayStation 3’s architecture – she’s also the result of a new approach to motion capture at Quantic Dreams, and an investment in the more sophisticated techniques that have become the norm in Hollywood’s CG industry as the studio moves across to using full-performance capture.
David Cage had this to say about Kara and what they are trying to accomplish,
What we call full-performance capture is shooting the body, the voice and face at the same time. Most studios right now in the game industry use what we call split performance, which means you shoot the face and voice on one side and then you use the body, and not in one take
It works okay – there have been some great games made using this process, and Heavy Rain was done this way. But we felt that if we wanted more emotion, and more performance from the actor we needed to have everything from the same take, and we needed to shoot everything at the same time.
So we invested a lot in our motion capture studio. Heavy Rain was shot with 28 cameras, and we’ve upgraded the studio to 65 cameras. Now we can shoot several actors – their body and their face – at the same time. It’s not a small change, but at the same time this is how Avatar and Tintin were shot, and it’s how the CG industry works because they know how much you gain from shooting face, voice and body at the same time.
Kara voice performed by Valorie Curry. Watch the clip, and tell us what you think:
Ubisoft has released the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed 3. The game is said to be the largest project in the company’s history. It has been in the works for over three years with twice the production capacity of any previous title from Ubisoft Montreal and other six studios. Watch the trailer below:
The game is hitting Xbox 360, PS3 on October 31, 2012. More detail regarding the new game can be read here
Here is the official notes from the publisher:
Assassin’s Creed III is powered by Ubisoft-AnvilNext, a revolutionary new game engine that delivers breakthroughs in visual quality, character models and artificial intelligence. Assassin’s Creed III will feature a ground-breaking level of stunning graphics that bring Colonial America to life.
Players become an Assassin in the war for liberty against ruthless tyranny in the most stylized and fluid combat experiences in the franchise to date. Assassin’s Creed III spans the Revolutionary War, taking gamers from the vibrant, untamed frontier to bustling colonial towns and the intense, chaotic battlefields where George Washington’s Continental Army clashed with the imposing British Army.
“Assassin’s Creed III features the franchise’s most expansive setting so far, along with an exciting new hero and exponentially more gameplay,” said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer at Ubisoft. “Whether you’re a longtime fan of Assassin’s Creed or if you’re new to the franchise, you’re going to be blown away by the scale and marvel of Assassin’s Creed III.”
Additional Assassin’s Creed III details can be found in exclusive cover features in the next issues of Official Xbox Magazine (20th March), Official Playstation Magazine (20th March) and Nintendo Gamer (23rd March).
The teaser you are about to see was spotted by the guys at PlayStationGang, and it’s actually grainy and the sound is somewhat distorted. The quality of the voice acting and the God of War IV logo displayed at the end is a little suspicious so we’d take this with a grain of salt.
However, the teaser opens with a voice can then be heard trying to awaken someone. Watch it below:
“Brother, the phoenix has-been drinking your blood, full of your anger, your strength, and during her rebirth she also has let you in life. Now I ask you: what are you going to do? Would you leave me here in hell? wake up, wake up!” says the voice.
The voice suggests the speaker is Deimos, the ill-fated brother of Kratos. Deimos was taken by Ares as a child after hearing a prophecy about the destruction of Olympus at the hands of a ‘Marked Warrior’, believing him to be the child of prophecy the gods confined him to the Domain of Death.
Evidence of God of War 4 being in development is rumored a lot as it appeared in number of CVs, composers profiles, and listed by some retailers.
