Breaking News: Xbox One to be sold without Kinect

Today is the day that we were all expecting to happen at some point. The Xbox One will be available to buy without the much maligned Kinect 2.0, this Autumn. This allows the price for the Xbox One to drop to a much more reasonable £349 and puts them in line with rival Sony.

This must coma as surprise to some, as Microsoft have stated in the past that the Kinect could not be taken up of the system as it was integral to the system and it's operation. Mind you, these days the Executives at Microsoft must be permanently dizzy from the amount of U-turning the company has done in recent months.

As well as this excellent news for the future of the Xbox One, MS unveiled the Games with Gold is coming to Xbox One in June. Starting with Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Halo: Spartan Assault. There will be the usual two Xbox 360 titles available, which are Dark Souls and Charlie Murder, and bonus game, Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition.

So, finally the Xbox One gets down to a price that is tempting and also comes without all of the frightening surveillance technology. Titanfall anyone?

**Update** Retailers are now listing the new Xbox One pack with a release of the 9th June. Click to look at the listing on Game.co.uk

Disney Infinity - This Weeks Toy Boxes - 5th September

Back again with another update on everyones new favorite family game, Disney Infinity. Although most of you have already ploughed through the playsets included with the starter kit. Some may of even done the Cars and Lone Ranger sets too. This means that you are left with own imagination in the Toy Box. What if inspiration fails you? Never fear, Disney is here!

Disney Infinity - A week later...

With Disney Infinity across shop shelves for just over a week now. Surely you couldn't of missed it. The Supermarkets are stacked with Figures and Playset packs. The price war is in effect as well, with most supermarkets selling the starter kit for 360 and PS3 at £52.

In case, you are sat on the fence, wondering on whether to invest and need more proof that Disney Infinity is the game that you and your family need. Have no fear, help is here. Thanks to YouTuber Dried Moss, who has done an indepth playthrough of his first hour in Disney's Interactive Toy Box. If the amazing introduction tutorial doesn't win you around to this game, nothing will. It is pure essence of Disney.



Hope you enjoyed the video and we look forward to providing the latest in Disney Infinity news as the game expands.

Infinity Week - Day 5 - It's Launch Day!!

Disney Infinity is available today, the game, the figures, the playsets and power disc packs are all in shops now. What better way to celebrate a huge day for Disney, than with what Disney does best. A Parade! That is what happened this week in London to celebrate the UK release of Disney Infinity, but with a twist on the traditional parade. It was the worlds first ever digital Disney Parade. Take a look below...



The cast of Disney Infinity, including Buzz Lightyear, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible, take part in the first Digital Disney Parade to celebrate the UK launch of the game - http://www.disneyinfinity.com

The parade's full line up included Buzz Lightyear and Jessie (Toy Story), Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean), Mr. & Mrs. Incredible (The Incredibles), Mike Wazowski and Sulley (Monsters University) and The Lone Ranger and Tonto (The Lone Ranger), all appearing together in London for the first time.

For more information on Disney Infinity join the Official Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/disneyinfinity or visit the official site http://www.disneyinfinity.com

So with the parade done, why haven't you already got to the your local videogame retailer to get your copy for you and your family.

Infinity Week - Day 4 - The Reviews

Whilst here in Europe,we have to wait until tomorrow to get our hands on a copy of Disney Infinity. Those lucky Americans have been able to play it for the last couple of days. So lets take a look at how it has been received.

Infinity Week - Day 3 - Meet the characters

Today on Infinity Week, its time to look at the figures themselves. These figures are highly detailed models that once placed onto the Infinity Portal transport the character into the game world. At launch there are 17 figures available. 3 of these are included in the starter kit, the rest are available as either single figures or in multi-packs. In the first wave of figures the focus is on The Incredibles, Monsters University, Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lone Ranger.

Infinity Week - Day 2 - How to use the Toy Box

So yesterday, we looked at Disney Infinity as a whole. Today though we are going delve deeper into the awesome "Toy Box". Imagine a gameworld where Minecraft meets LittleBigPlanet. Where you can shape and create your world to look and feel like your favorite film and then make games adventures for you and your friends to play in. Welcome to the Toy Box!



The beautiful thing about the Toy Box mode is that at the surface it is simple enough to let your kids create great looking worlds with ease. Yet, peel away the surface and the various editors allow for some complex designing and customising. Lets take a look at how easy it is to use Power Discs to change the way your environment looks.



Nice and simple with great looking results. So now you have created a nice themed world what do you want to do with it? How about expanding on the idea of a race track? How would you go about making a really cool karting track? Lets see...



Finally, Lets see what happens when you combine the advance editor elements to make a working Football stadium with working scoreboards and confetti cannons.



Once again, the tagline "infinite possibilities, endless fun" springs to mind. The Toy Box is the one of the most exciting elements of the game and one that is sure to keep Little Gamers (and their parents) coming back again and again.

Infinity Week - Day 1 - What is Disney Infinity

With the UK release of Disney Infinity only a few days away. Two Little Gamers is going to dedicate this week to this incredible new game. Let's start with the simple question... What is Disney Infinity?

Disney Infinity is a complicated thing. Collectable figures, virtual playsets and power discs, all combining into a videogame based sandbox via a portal device connected to your games console. Simply place a figure on the Infinity Portal and Presto! They are in the game for you to play with. So far its all very Skylanders, right? Wrong! Disney Infinity then takes the genre to a new level by adding Playsets and Power Disc's.

The Playset blocks fit in the back section of the portal and allow the user access to a themed world full of fun and mission. Plus it unlocks special themed items to use in the creation mode called "Toy Box". Place a  Power Disc underneath your figure and you unlock a special power for them to use. Place a hexagonal Power Disc under your playset piece to unlock objects, vehicles, or even new themes for your Toy Box.

The Toy Box mode is where the real action takes place. Players can create and design their own themed worlds full of activities they can design and share with the friends and play with them. Whether it be creating a football game or a race track, even a flying race. The possibilities are endless (which is also the tagline for the game) and with the addition of more Characters (the second Wave is coming as soon as October) and new Playsets and Powers, Kids and adults can look forward to playing in Infinity for a long time to come.

For more a detailed explanation of Disney Infinity and how it all works, check out this video from PlayStation Pure's YouTube channel.

Disney Infinity - New Figures & Playsets revealed at D23 Expo

Disney revealed at the weekend the next batch of figures and playsets for Disney Infinity. There are some fan favourites and some new characters that people will not be familiar with. Here is the line up.

Disney Infinity - Check out the latest Trailers!

With the release of Disney Infinty only a week away, Disney Interactive are on the hype train and more and detail about the game is coming to light. First of all, there is a now a trailer explaining the Power Disc element of the game. How they work and what they offer players in game.

The cost of Disney Infinity?

Usually the Daily Mail likes to warn its readership about the risks of playing video games. Their targets are typically games like Call of Duty, Battlefield and of course, Grand Theft Auto. This time though the Daily Mail seem to have an issue with a game for children. Disney Infinity, a video game that mixes virtual action with collectable figures.

Xbox One - Microsoft come to their senses

Well I am gobsmacked! Against all the odds Microsoft have listened to the gamers reaction to the Xbox One and its restrictive practices and backed down completely!

Don Mattick, Head of Xbox, published this statement via the Xbox Wire blog earlier tonight. It reads as follows:

"Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience.

For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future. 

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One. 

You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

• An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

• Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console -- there will be no regional restrictions. 

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray. 

We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds.

Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year."

This is huge and clearly puts Xbox One back in the fight. With this staggering announcement, is it only a matter of time before they announce a Xbox One that comes without the Kinect 2.0 bundled for £80 cheaper and removing the necessity to have a Kinect connected for the Xbox One to work?

I think its safe to say that the console war is definitely back on!

E3 - Xbox One - It's all about the games

Microsoft promised that their E3 Press Conference would be all about the games. They certainly meant it! Last nights conference started by jumping straight into one of the most highly anticipated games of 2014...

Xbox One - The Big Reveal

Never since starting this site have sat at a screen for so long, agonizing over what to type. Microsoft's big reveal left the community in a state of divide. Some lapped it up and loved it, some were not so crazy about the whole thing. So rather than write a post caught up in the frenzied aftermath of it all, I thought it was best to take a few days to make sense of the whole thing.

E3 - it's the most spectacular time of the year! - Part 1

Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. Once a year gamings best and brightest gather at the Los Angeles convention centre and reveal to the world what we can expect to be playing with for the rest of the year. This year rather than flying out to LA myself and report live from the show itself. I decided it was easier to stay here in the UK and celebrate The Queens Diamond Jubilee. I mean who wants the hassle of flying all the way over the LA.

So lets go over the news and announcements straight out of E3 2012.

Microsoft


Microsoft got the ball rolling this year and it was a run of the mill affair. With no new console or hardware to announce, the main focus of the press conference was on media integration and which exclusives can we expect on the Microsoft powerhouse. Lets cover the things that caught my attention.

• Smart Glass - This new system allows the gamer to use any SmartPhone or tablet as a second screen in games (Hi Nintendo!). The demo showed how you can use Smart Glass in Madden 13 to pick plays and monitor the movement of your players. You can also use your tablet or phone to control your Xbox dashboard experience as well.

• Internet Explorer for Xbox - Just what the Xbox needed. I mean there are times when I down on the couch and realise that I can't find my phone, iPad, laptop or Vita to access the web. So at least now I can spend hours shouting at the TV. "Xbox... Internet... Google... No, Gooogle.. G O O G L E!

• Xbox Music - Zune failed and they need something to compete against Sony Music Unlimited

• New TV and Film channels are being added to increase the home viewing experience (in North America)

Thankfully the rest of the presentation focused on what we all love, the games.

Halo 4

Master Chief is back and this time He has dug up a evil more ancient than convenent, The ForeRunners. Audiences were treated to a 5 minute gameplay demo which introduced to the new world and creatures and some of the new toys that Chief gets to play . I love the way that 343 Studios has taken the Chief predicament at the end of Halo 3 and reunited with the UNSC. This should be a belter of a game and Microsoft know it.



Gears of War: Judgement

Bit of a surprise this one. A new Gears game set before the original and featuring Baird as the main character? Alot of the series fans are not too happy about this. Although, this could be very interesting for the franchise. Epic have handed this game over to BulletStorm developers, People can Fly. Looking at the humour they injected into BulletStorm, then a Baird based Gears game could be quite special.



Resident Evil 6

Capcom demoed Resident Evil 6 and I think it is now clear that the days of survival horror are long gone for this series. There was more action in their 5 minute walkthrough than in the first game. Zombies (yes proper ones!) everywhere. Explosions and fire everywhere. Helicopters falling out of the sky, exploding freeways full of cars. The trailer introduces new characters and plots at an alarming pace. I think this game is going to be a full on, adrenaline fuelled, action-fest.



Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Ubisoft demonstrated the new Splinter Cell title. After his spell as Jason Bourne in the last game. Sam Fisher is back and in charge of the new Fourth Echelon. Which means back to sneaking around military camps and cracking the necks of a few terrorists. The stackable execution mode from Conviction is back and expanded, now allowing for moving executions. Ubisoft can do no wrong in my eyes the last few years and 2012 looks like to be another great year for them.



Tomb Raider

Square-Enix showed some gameplay from the new Tomb Raider reboot. It looks incredible! Nathan Drake had better watch his back, because Lara wants her Crown back as Queen of the action games. Some very intense action sequences and some genuine moments of terror and survival horror going on as well. The E3 trailer expands on what is going on a little and it is all a bit Lost. I think this could very well be my game of the year.

Also they announced that all Downloadable Content will be available exclusively on Xbox 360 first.



Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2

Right, look here Activision! I fell out with you and promised never to buy another Call of Duty game ever again. How dare you then go and make Black Ops 2 not only look amazing, but also the best Call of Duty game to date.

The demo takes place in Los Angeles,2025, just after terrorists have launched an attack on the US using their own unmanned drones and weapons. It follows our hero as he attempts to escort the President to safety through the chaos. The look and feel of the game appear to be different from previous COD titles. Things appear to be more open and far less corridor driven. Treyarch look like they are about to emerge from the shadow left by Infinity Ward.



So, at the end of the first day. Microsoft had a pretty quiet press conference. All of the new announcements regarding media and tablet integration are nice, but not as nice as a new Xbox announcement. The games though look great and remember, its all about the games!