Call of Duty: Ghosts and The Revealing Power of Buzzwords

Now featuring a dog and superior fish AI.

ven though Call of Duty: Ghosts is going to come out on practically every available system, both current and next-gen, everyone knows that any real discussion over AI or graphical innovation is mainly going to involve Microsoft, Sony, and the PC. What is so interesting about this particular discussion, however, is that it provides yet another example of just how insecure Microsoft is about the upcoming jump from the current generation to the next generation in terms of PR and sales. Take this recent article from Eurogamer and Infinity Ward’s Executive Producer Mark Rubin talking about the differences between Call of Duty: Ghosts on this generation’s consoles and the next:

Xbox One “Changes Everything:” Yes, It Has Changed Every Thing

It feels as if we’re just going in circles…

ost everyone has heard of the old saying; “Change is the only constant,” and Microsoft seems to have embodied this notion with their upcoming console, the Xbox One. Every single policy and “innovation” Microsoft presented with the Xbox One has been changed, and now the Kinect, the supposed “holy grail of gaming” according to the company, isn’t even need anymore, though they’re still trying to shove the device down everyone’s throats, like a force suppository or something.

With all of these changes and flip-flopping of principles and policies (kind of like real politics), Microsoft are doing what they can to embrace and flow with this “new direction.” Now, because of this, we have people such as Phil Spencer via Microsoft stating things like “the Xbox One ‘changes everything.'”:

Gaming, Boys, and Education

t the very least this woman blows Anita Sarkeesian out of the water. Unlike Sarkeesian, this woman – Ali Carr-Chellman – actually uses some numbers and statistics and facts, so she has earned the right to be listened to. This is only made even more ironic considering that TEDEd have also hosted Anita Sarkeesian herself in the past. As usual, the comments on that particular video are closed, as is the usual modus operandi with anything propagated by Feminists and their like-minded ilk.

Update: The Xbox One Makes Another 180, Essentially Going in Circles

It’s difficult to keep up with someone when they’re running in circles.

n my previous post, I lamented that Microsoft and the Xbox One were still shoving the Kinect down everyone’s esophagus. Now it seems as though this will no longer be the case:

“We already knew that you could turn off the Kinect, but now Microsoft says it doesn’t have to be plugged in at all. Speaking to IGN, Microsoft’s Marc Whitten shared the news that the Xbox One will indeed work without Kinect.

‘That said, like online, the console will still function if Kinect isn’t plugged in, although you won’t be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly uses the sensor,’ he said.

Asked just how ‘off’ the Kinect can be, Whitten answered totally off.”

The Navy and Kinect: “Stopping Sexual Assault”

The Kinect will make sure you’re not a sexual abuser.

he Kinect never ceases to be a great source of unintentionally hilarious entertainment, and that’s not even considering actually playing the thing, necessarily.

Though in this case it has less to do with the Kinect itself, and more to do with a management and higher brass that seems hopelessly out of touch. Kotaku sheds some light on the idea of the U.S. Navy using Kinect software as a proxy for sexual harassment/assault training and deterrence:

“Sailors are going to learn how to read another person’s verbal cues and body language with a Kinect training game meant to curb a sexual [harassment]/assault issue that has become increasingly embarrassing to the armed services.

Like all great things in the military, this game has a very literal and no-fun title: ‘Avatar Based Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Training.'”

Xbox One: Marc Whitten Apologizes – “A Need for Better Communication”

Marc Whitten telling us what’s what I suppose.

s if it was not already obvious enough, Xbox Corporate VP Marc Whitten proclaims the need for better communication for the Xbox One and its features:

“‘We need to do more work to talk about what we’re doing because I think that we did something different than maybe how people are perceiving it.’ For one thing, he said, Family Sharing isn’t necessarily gone for good. ‘If [Family Sharing] is something that people are really excited about and want, we’re going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back.’ It would require additional engineering to enable Family Sharing after always-online was dropped, so the feature was removed from the Xbox One launch window.”