Brutal Gamer News Wrap 5/30/13

Xbox One and PS4 news and rumor continues to dominate the news as gamers chomp at the bit for fresh info leading into E3.

So wait- is the Xbox One going to support Indie games or not?

It’s funny how secretive Microsoft is being heading into the 2013 E3 show. They more than opened up about the ins and outs of their new Xbox One console at the special presentation they hosted and yet haven’t touched at all really on the gaming aspect of the game console.

Now obviously, that’s going to change. Xbox honcho Don Mattrick said as much and alluded to plenty of games that the company is hanging onto for a big debut at the show, but seemingly everything is currently hush-hush… including the company’s stance on independently published games. Originally, it seemed as though there would be one Xbox One Marketplace online where smaller games would get lost and every game (no matter how tiny) would require a publisher.

Now? Well, that might have changed. Mattrick himself has said that Microsoft would in no way be ditching the Indie Game label. Is this a 180 in the face of developer aggravation or something that was simply poorly worded at a poorly put together press conference?

Either way, we’ll find out soon enough, and you can read the bits that we do know about it here.

Will the PS4 restrict used games?

So we all know that Sony said that gamers shouldn’t fear because the PS4 will play used games. Right?

Well… It turns out that there’s a lot more to what the tech giant has said and not said in the weeks since the PS4 was announced. That being that they’ve said that blocking used gameplay on the PlayStation 4 would be up to the individual publisher.

Sony also added to that, saying that they are “mindful of what developers want”. Now what does that sound like to you?

But, you say, Sony said they appreciate the rallying cries of PlayStation gamers on Twitter saying no to DRM… didn’t they? Yes, dear reader, they did. But that’s not actually saying anything as goes the dreaded digital rights management that’s got everyone so upset with the Xbox One. Actually, it’s more of a sidestep if anything.

Unfortunately, in the end we have no idea what Sony’s actual stance on used games is- and we won’t find out till (you guessed it) E3. In the meantime, click here to see the current scuttle.

Xbox One bustes Blockbuster records for preorders

Despite the fact that Microsoft’s console was met with no small bit of internet anger, the console itself has been a pre-launch success at Blockbuster. The international chain has kicked off preorders of Microsoft’s next box and had their biggest preorder record-breaker ever.

The Xbox One has beaten out every other console, including its predecessor (the Xbox 360), that’s seen launch during Blockbuster’s 24 year history. That’s a pretty big deal when you think about the flack that the console’s gotten and I have to wonder if a good chunk of the preorders are based solely on the good name that the 360 boasts in the West.

Whether Microsoft can keep it up is anyone’s guess (though if they have a big E3 showing…), but for now it’s looking good for the One.

All PS4 games to have Remote Play functionality

Now this is a day that I personally have been waiting for- Sony finally realized that Remote Play is a good idea and they’re going to make sure PS4 developers and publishers do too.

I’ve always liked the idea of Remote Play, playing full on PlayStation games on a handheld through the internet, but I seemed to be in the minority as nobody used the feature that debuted on the PSP. Now with the PS Vita, I thought for sure that it’d be utilized a lot more- but nope, wrong again.

As of now though, Sony’s made the announcement that all PS4 games (with the exception of those that use the PS Eye) will be Remote Play compatible. Killzone Shadowfall at work? Yep. Infamous Second Son in the backyard? You bet’cha. As long as you’ve got an internet connection and a Vita, you’ve got a scaled down version of your PS4. So. Great.

Click here and just dream of the possibilities

The best of the rest
While that was some of the biggest news of the last few days, there was way more going on in the world of gaming and comics this past week. Here’s a few of the other big stories that appeared on BG: