AMD hints next Xbox will have ray-traced graphics

In one of those cheeky 'off-the-record' comments, AMD has told the Examiner that the next Xbox (aka '720') will have graphics that rival the quality of the CGI found in James Cameron's 'Avatar.'  Well then, this would imply ray-traced graphics although the comment is slightly confusing.  Firstly, AMD hasn't even been confirmed as the GPU developer for Microsoft's next console (although we could place a pretty safe bet that they will be) and such technology doesn't quite exist today - although it's getting close.  

The proof will be in the pudding, however, if true it would imply a much later entry for the Xbox 360's successor that I had originally thought.  This type of capability would put the '720' squarely into the 2013-2014 launch window placing it closer to the expectations of outspoke analysts like Pachter (cringe) - that is, unless AMD and Microsoft have something up their sleeve.  Either way, the future is very exciting for gaming.

Off-topic: A glimpse at obscene airborne luxury

Not exactly gaming-related, but worth a look.  Check out this concept video from Lufthansa that demonstrates one proposal for a luxury/private Airbus A380 (Superjumbo) conversion.  The interior designer should be clubbed soundly with fossilized elephant dung for the colour scheme used, but the concept as a whole is impressive.  As a rough guess, you'd probably be looking at about 600-700 million USD just to sign up for one of these babies.  Add to that an annual cost of 5-6 million USD to run it (as a guess) and it's likely that the only potential market for this plane are the obscene rich of middle-east royalty.  Having said that, them Arab Royals do like their OTT decor so perhaps the colour scheme isn't that far off the mark after all.

What's going on at Xbox HQ?

On June 30th, Major Nelson announced that he was 'gone for a week' as he was going on vacation.  Not to worry, the Major stated that 'Litheon' (whoever that is) would fill in the gaps if anything came up (it hasn't) and the comments below quickly filled up with comments from wellwishers, but mostly, discontent gamers.  

Now something has happened which I've never seen.  Approximately 2-3 days ago, someone locked commenting on the blog altogether making Major Nelson's site effectively static for the first time since its inception.  Further to that, it has now been well over a week with no sign of Major Nelson nor a message stating when he might return, ComicCon 2011 is on the horizon and this announcement by Joystiq clearly states that there IS something to talk about although don't expect to read about it on Microsoft's key evangelist blog.

So why has this new 'feature' not been announced by Nelson or 'Litheon'?  Probably because it's yet another stupid development that has the appeal of a rabid gorilla with a raging foot fungus.  After months of nothing to say, Microsoft has finally found a way to use our Kinect to.....(drum roll).....use our TV as a 3D closet!!  Err....what?  Why?  NO!  I don't want that!  Who the heck wants that?  Let's weigh it up, shall we?  £100 for a convoluted motion control that will do a half-ass'd job of displaying my wardrobe or £15 for a novel invention called 'A Mirror'.

As a guess, I think Larry Hyrb (Major Nelson) came back from his vacation, looked at the comments, looked at the press release that he probably should have blogged about and promptly booked a second flight away to somewhere undisclosed.  Heck, that's what I would have done.  There was a time when being the chief evangelist for Xbox was cool, exciting and perhaps even a bit glamorous.  Nowadays, I see greater appeal in being that guy at the front of the supermarket who attempts to get everyone excited by making sales announcements over the P.A.; you know, things like 'boys pants now half-off', etc.  

On that note, Michael Jackson was cool once-upon-a-time.  By design or tragedy, MJ quit before it got any worse.  Perhaps Larry could simply look for another job.  Don't take the fall, Larry.  It's not your fault.

Mass Effect film to be unveiled at Comic-Con on July 22nd.

Ah yes, Comic-Con!  Where many spidy-webs are slung and scantily-clad women dressed as superheroes tantalise overweight confirmed bachelors.

Interestingly, Comic-Con is also a bit of a sweetheart of mine because, quite frankly, anything worth talking about seems to be unveiled at it.

This time around, the début unveil of 'Mass Effect: The Movie' will occur for a select audience of very lucky people.  There will be a panel discussion as well with Mark Protosevich, the film's screenwriter, on-hand to take questions and talk about the film.  Now, of course, there IS a danger that this movie is going to tank.  After all, with a few exceptions (Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill (debatable)) game-to-movie translations don't go well.  (Then again, if you remove Uwe Boll from the equation, the odds go up significantly.)

The proof will be in the pudding and no doubt Protosevich will bring his best candy to the table.  On the note of superheroes, keep watch for the new 'Captain America' movie, especially if there's a new trailer.  I'll admit, I had ZERO interest in this film until I saw this trailer  and realised the angle being used and by god, Captain America not only makes sense, it looks like the biggest come-from-behind runaway hit of this year!  I could go into detail but go watch the trailer first.

Why PS3 and 360 need to be replaced....NOW!

I recall the first time I loaded up GTA4 on 360 and I was impressed.  The city is so immersive.  Even if you don't like the game you HAVE to admit that it was fun to drive around Liberty City if only to experience the world and learn a bit about 'The Big Apple' and its geography. The sights and sounds of New York as expressed through its GTA persona are certainly one of the pinnacles of this console generation.

...and then I saw this video which demonstrates the PC version of GTA4 running a graphics mod called ICEnhancer and by GOD how ignorant us console junkies must be.  Check out both videos on the page and be sure to crank the rez up to HD and you will see something truly spectacular.  The second video is the most impressive showing a bit of driving around the city.  Fair enough, the frames might be a bit shaky but that aside, the footage is demonstrating damn-near playable gaming that is certainly approaching (if not matching) ray-traced-level graphics detail.  

While some might argue that only top-of-the-line rigs might have a chance at running this, lets agree that we console guys would be happy with something halfway between what we've got now and what is shown in the video.  However, that is not the point; what is needed is a new generation of console to take advantage of what has obviously made the PS3 and 360 look like proverbial dinosaurs.

I still read many comments about how everyone wants the PS3 to last for ever (360 fans seem to be silent these days) and I can understand that people hate change.  My answer to those who cry to stave of the next gen is this:  turn off your PS3 and force yourself to play the Wii exclusively for an entire month.  If the thought of that is unpalatable because the graphic quality is so poor then congratulations! - Now you know how I feel about you.

How much more can Michael Bay suck?

First off - my E3 article is STILL in the works.  Apologies for it being late but I have a proverbial bin of articles to troll through before I sit down and write.

Until then, have a laugh at this article which claims that Michael Bay recycled footage from an earlier 'Transformers' film (wouldn't be #2, would it, Mikey??) to...well...finish the film without actually working on it?  Who knows.  What I CAN tell you is that despite some popular acclaim, Roger Ebert did NOT like the film and the reasons he cites not only confirm what I thought of the second movie (I enjoyed the first film, for the record) but also speaks to my worries about how the third would likely suffer the same fate.

Even more hilarious is this article discussing Bay's blind defence of 3D even though he can't make 3D films worth a damn.  Having said that, if it weren't for 3D then no one would have likely bothered with 'Revenge of the Fallen' although we know that many unfortunate souls who did see it in 3D ended up vomiting on their dates long before an end to the film was in sight.  

Bay's Transformers trilogy is living proof that sci-fi directors, particularly those using heavy CGI, need to step back and watch their films at normal playing speed (as supposed to frame by frame) to ensure their movies are actually watch-able by anyone not hopped to the gills on crack cocaine and Redbull.

The more we see from Michael Bay, the more I ask myself: Can this seriously be the same guy who directed 'The Rock' and 'Armageddon' all those years ago?  My only conclusion is that 3D has distracted Bay from producing anything of actual substance.  His recent filmography as a producer reads like a horror movie remake-trainwreck: "Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning", "Friday the 13th", "The Hitcher", "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (all within 3 years or so).  Bloody heck, we haven't seen a run like that since Uwe Bol licked some brown acid and attempted to translate several Playstation games into feature films earning him the title: 'Germany's answer to Ed Wood.'

If someone reading this knows Michael, please ask him to punch himself in the nuts, sit down alone with some of his 1990's films for a weekend, forget the 3D and think about doing something that people actually want to see.  I would declare that his next film is make-or-break time.  Please Mike, for the love of God, don't make it 'Transformers 4.'