New Xbox and PS4 - meet Call of Duty: Ghosts

Editor's note: John Gaudiosi is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Gamerhub.tv video syndication network. he is lined video games for many shops over the past twenty years and focuses on the convergence of Hollywood and games.

(CNN) -- whereas the recreation world is targeted on the new Xbox One from Microsoft, Activision is deploying its most well liked franchise, "Call of Duty," for its initial assault on ensuing generation of consoles.

Developer eternity Ward has designed new game-engine technology to require advantage of Sony's PlayStation four and therefore the new Microsoft console, each due by year's finish. Its "Call of Duty: Ghosts" can return to computer, Xbox three60 and PlayStation 3 gamers this November 5, with next-gen unleash dates returning later.

In a recent interview in la, Activision commercial enterprise CEO Eric Hirshberg showed off what next-generation recreation can mean among the new "Call of Duty" game. instead of continued the "Modern Warfare" plot line, the event studio set to begin from scratch with a replacement story and new characters.

"Ghosts" sets players in associate alternate-future America that is been game by a government in disarray. The Ghosts square measure remnants of the varied branches of the division. They've adopted the simplest fighting techniques from these branches as they battle across associate array of terrains and environments.

Also unaccustomed the franchise is associate interactive dog, that the developers created with the most recent performance-capture technology. The dog guarantees to be a loyal and vital companion throughout the game's campaign.

This being a "Call of Duty" game, there'll even be new multiplayer gameplay to stimulate players to log in and battle friends from round the world on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. "Call of Duty: Ghosts" adds dynamic maps, together with natural events like floods and earthquakes and player-activated obstacles like doors and explosive traps.

We Sat down with Hirshberg to speak regarding what opportunities next-gen consoles can open up for gamers. Here's associate altered version of our interview:

CNN: what's going to outline what next-generation recreation is that this fall?

Hirshberg: It's attention-grabbing. If you scrutinize what is happened in culture, not simply in recreation however overall in culture over the last seven years that this current information has diagrammatical, the approach that we have a tendency to communicate, the approach that we have a tendency to consume amusement, the approach that we have a tendency to connect socially through digital spheres has fully reworked throughout that precise fundamental measure.

The current-gen games like "Call of Duty" had one thing to try and do therewith. They were the tip of the weapon system. enjoying multiplayer in "Call of Duty" is perhaps during all|one amongst|one in every of} the primary mass things that folks did along in a digital surroundings. currently we have a tendency to do virtually everything along during a digital surroundings. All of these ways that to attach with the devices in your pockets and having the ability to inquire into everything, categorise everything and rank everything, hasn't very created its approach into recreation nonetheless.

We were earlier than the curve slightly bit with "Call of Duty: Elite," that we have a tendency to came out with to do to form a additional social expertise. one amongst the items you are going to visualize with next information is that with "Elite," we have a tendency to were operating round the current-gen limitations so as to create a significant affiliation to the sport itself. we have a tendency to had to search out our approach through associate obstacle course technologically to create that happen.

Next information is being designed therewith in mind. there is very a baked-in property to the next-gen hardware, the approach it's being planned, that i feel can produce more opportunities for social property close video games.

CNN: what's going to that mean to the community of "Call of Duty" gamers out there?

Hirshberg: We're seeing forty million folks a month enjoying "Call of Duty." Six million folks vie nowadays. this can be one hundred seventy five days when the launch of the last game. something that that several folks do and care regarding, typically there is a whole scheme of content to service their interest therein hobby.

They don't simply watch a contact sport. they need a fantasy sports league. they need their favorite highlight shows. they need blogs that they browse. they need statistics that they read on-line. they are connecting therewith factor on multiple devices, multiple times every day, seven days every week, not simply once there is a contact sport on.

With recreation, it's just about either you are enjoying the sport or you are not enjoying the sport, and that i assume that with next information you are going to visualize that scheme unfold to totally different devices, totally different times every day, with plenty additional certificatory amusement content for our franchises.

CNN: after you investigate past transitions to new consoles, the main target has been on improved visual fidelity.

Hirshberg: you are going to visualize that, too. however to be honest, last time it wasn't simply graphical fidelity. it had been the introduction of connected machines. it had been the introduction of multiplayer through Playstation Network and Xbox Live. Games like "Call of Duty" took that and ran with it, and there is an explicit quantity of humility we have a tendency to all ought to have.

No one can see the longer term specifically accurately, however the creation of these connected networks with the last generation of hardware created associate explosion of recent games with multiplayer and that is become the first approach folks square measure disbursement their hours recreation. Next information is usually a mix of hardware style and ... what developers and inventive minds do therewith hardware. i am simply watching the most variations associated theorizing that that is wherever you are going to visualize an explosion of recent ability.

CNN: What role does one feel "Call of Duty" can play in engaging gamers to upgrade to next gen?

Hirshberg: the sport must be nice, however after you have a whole

Xbox Will Face New Array of Rivals


The new console, the Xbox One, will enter a market very different from the one its predecessor, the Xbox 360, entered nearly eight years ago, when there was no iPad, smartphones had keyboards and mobile gaming devices were primitive at best. 

Next Xbox
Today, video games can be played almost anywhere, on any device, with the biggest possible audience of online friends and without the aid of a costly gaming console. 

The last year or two has been bumpy for Microsoft’s consumer efforts. The Windows 8 operating system software and the Surface tablet-computing devices got a tepid reception from the public when they went on sale last fall. 

Next Xbox
The company’s mobile phone efforts have been largely ignored. And even Bing, Microsoft’s Internet search engine, has failed to close a wide gap with Google, the market leader. 

Microsoft, though, could see better results with the Xbox. With it, it hopes it can reassert the living room as the place where people can still get the best gaming experience, complete with eye-popping graphics and innovative methods for controlling games. It is also a place where Microsoft’s technology can be at the center of a home entertainment system and the funnel through which people gain access to online video. 

Microsoft has sold more than 76 million of the device’s current incarnation, the Xbox 360 worldwide, compared with almost 100 million Wii consoles from Nintendo and more than 70 million PlayStation 3s from Sony. 

The company also controls what may be the most valuable asset in console gaming, Xbox Live, a subscription-based online service with 48 million members who use it to play games against one another and watch movies. 

“You can do a lot of things on the phone and a lot of things on tablets,” said John Taylor, an analyst at Arcadia Investment. But, he said, “you can’t do the same kinds of things on those devices” that you can on a television screen. 

Microsoft plans to develop its own original, live-action television series, which will be accessible through the Xbox. The series will be made in partnership with the director Steven Spielberg and will be based on the popular Halo video game franchise. 

The company is also working with the National Football League to develop an app for Xbox that lets players interact with their fantasy football teams while watching a live game. 

In an interview, Don A. Mattrick, the president of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment business, said that he recognized the growing appeal of mobile devices for gaming and that Microsoft would aggressively tie smartphones and tablets into the experience of using its console. He became most animated when talking about the possibilities of the new Xbox for providers of video programming.
“We’re going to the take the form from a one-way experience pushed through a straw to where you can communicate back and make it interactive,” Mr. Mattrick said. 

Even if it is a wild success, the new Xbox is likely to have a bigger impact on consumer perception than it will on Microsoft’s overall sales. The Xbox remains a small slice of the company’s business, which is still dominated by sales of Windows, Office and other software. The company’s games division represented only 4 percent of its operating profit. 

At an event in a carnival tent on its corporate campus, Microsoft did not say how much the new system would cost or how publishing partners would charge for games, which typically start at around $60 for high-end game consoles. 

A major feature of the new Xbox, which is expected to hit store shelves in time for the holiday season, will be a new generation of Kinect, the camera-based motion-control sensor introduced several years ago as an Xbox 360 accessory. The new Kinect will come with every Xbox One. 

Traditional retail sales of games have come under pressure in recent years as mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad have invaded their turf with free and low-cost games. While many gamers dismiss those offerings as inferior to console games, the games have nevertheless tapped into a huge audience of players who may never have played on an Xbox or Sony’s PlayStation. 

 The company on Tuesday introduced the new version of its Xbox video game console. The Xbox has been one of Microsoft’s few undeniable consumer hits of the last decade, a product that was not just a credible entry into the games business but also a sign of the innovation possible at a company that is rarely seen as an inventive thinker. 

“I think of Xbox as the accidental success out of Microsoft,” said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, who added that the connection Microsoft has formed with the players of its current Xbox is “much deeper than any relationship Microsoft has ever achieved before.”

Americans killed in 747 crash mourned


Brokaw, 33, of Monroe, Mich., was among seven Americans killed Monday when their National Air Cargo plane crashed near an Air Force base in Afghanistan. Six of the victims were from Michigan and a seventh was from Kentucky, said Shirley Kaufman, National Air Cargo vice president.

Connerton said Brokaw was a key reason he was able to make it through flight school in Jacksonville, Fla., where they met.

Connerton also described a harrowing flight two years ago from Toledo, Ohio, to an international flight expo in Lakeland, Fla. Connerton said ice had built up on the plane to the point that he could no longer get it to climb.

"If it wasn't for Jamie's navigation and know-how ... we wouldn't have made it," Connerton said.

Killed along with Brokaw in the Afghanistan crash were Gary Stockdale, 51, of Romulus, Mich.; pilots Brad Hasler, 34, of Trenton, Mich., and Jeremy Lipka, 37, of Brooklyn, Mich.; first officer Rinku Summan, 32, of Canton, Mich.; loadmaster Michael Sheets, 36, of Ypsilanti, Mich.; and maintenance crewman Timothy Garrett, 51, of Louisville, Ky.

Americans killed in 747 crash
Gary Stockdale


Family members in Michigan mourn the loss of crew members killed in cargo plane crash near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. WDIV's Chauncy Glover reports.
Jamie Brokaw was an experienced navigator who was no stranger to dangerous flying situations and had the skills to stay cool in the face of danger, according to close friend Chris Connerton.

"He was a very good person and very smart person," Connerton told The Associated Press by telephone from Rochester, Minn.

Building model planes and working on real ones comprised Stockdale's passion, filling the family's basement with models in his youth, jumping into aviation as a career at age 16 — and later working at two Detroit-area airports.

Stockdale also knew the dangers of flying, his older brother said Tuesday.

"He always said it was dangerous," said Glenn Stockdale, 55. "He would always say, 'You either will die in a car crash or a ball of flame in a plane.'"


Gary Stockdale, 51, of Romulus, Mich., was killed in a cargo plane crash on Monday.
Lipka had flown in Iraq as well as Afghanistan and had close calls before, said his stepfather, Dave Buttman.

"There was risk there all the time. He knew the risks. He volunteered to take the trips," Buttman told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. "Basically, you're taking your chances flying in there and he was just happy to be one of the pilots to do it."

The Dubai-bound Boeing 747-400 — operated by National Air Cargo — crashed just after takeoff Monday from Bagram Air Base around 11:20 a.m. local time, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement Tuesday.

The accident site is within the perimeter of Bagram Air Base.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for downing the plane, but NATO said the claims were false and there was no sign of insurgent activity in the area at the time of the crash.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Transportation and Commercial Aviation is leading the investigation. The NTSB is investigating the crash alongside the ministry. The team will be composed of three NTSB investigators, as well as representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, the NTSB said.

Kaufman said the plane — owned by National Airlines, an Orlando, Fla.-based subsidiary of National Air Cargo — was carrying vehicles and other cargo.

Elena Garrett, of Jeffersonville, Ind., just across the Ohio River from Louisville, said ex-husband Timothy Garrett would have turned 52 on Saturday. They have two daughters together, ages 11 and 12.

"We're all devastated," Elena Garrett said about his death. "We were still best friends. He's the best father I've ever seen (and) ready to help anybody. He would give the shirt off his back for anybody."

Bill Hasler said his family learned Monday morning that his brother, Brad, was one of the crash victims.

"Brad was a wonderful father to two young children, a beloved husband to a wife who is expecting another child, a loving son, and the most loyal and supportive brother I could have ever asked for," Bill Hasler said in a statement. "His influence in the lives of all of us who loved him is immeasurable, and our grief is indescribable."

National Airlines was based until recently at Michigan's Willow Run Airport, west of Detroit. It carries cargo both commercially and for the military, Kaufman said. She said the company employs about 225 people.

Summan had worked 2½ years for National Air Cargo, said his wife, Rajnit Summan.

Rajnit Summan said she last spoke to her husband Sunday.

"I told him to be safe," she said.

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