When discussing gaming and tech, it feels as though the last couple of years are coming to a head this season. With so much happening in such a short few months, it seemed like a good idea to take inventory on what’s left of 2013’s mammoth releases, and put it all in a handy list… for handiness like. You might want to sit down – this year is going out with a bang.
1. The Next Generation
It feels like decades since we were treated to a new wave of home consoles. Sure, we saw the Wii U release last year although the response was so tepid that if it were boiling spuds… well, they just wouldn’t boil. In 2013 the big boys are out in force with Sony’s Playstation 4 launching in Europe on the 29th of November and Microsoft’s Xbox One sneaking onto shelves a week before – proving the age old adage ‘you wait three years for a next gen console and then two companies come around to your house and start willy waving at once.’
Microsoft initially shocked gamers back in February when they held the Xbox One reveal event in LA and infamously forgot to bring any bloody games to show off. The focus of the event lied on the “entertainment” capabilities of the new GAMES CONSOLE. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 as its commonly known) came around then in June and we finally saw some lovely XB-One games. We also learned that we couldn’t rent, trade in, or share those games with other people – and that our shiny next gen console had to connect to the Internet every time you wanted to play a game. Progressive…
Such restrictions have since been abolished by Microsoft, and it’s all thanks to Sony. Within hours of the Xbox presentation at E3, Jack Tretton (CEO and spokesperson for Sony’s games division) calmly walked out on Sony’s stage and rattled off the PS4’s policies as regards games and authentication. Summary: there are none. This literally led to rapturous applause from a room full of games journalists and subsequently made Microsoft look like a banana left out in the rain.
The Playstation 4 will undoubtedly be the console of 2013. It’s more powerful for a start, and has proudly stood its ground from day one. The prices of these machines are obviously a huge factor as well. Microsoft’s effort will cost you €499.99. It includes the console, a controller, a free copy of Fifa 14 or Forza 5, a headset and the new Kinect sensor: that famous all seeing, all knowing camera that can be beam your naked body scans to the Oval Office. The Playstation 4 on the other hand will be €399.99, and will come as the console, a controller, and a headset. There’s less in Sony’s box this year, but what’s included is infinitely more elegant in its approach to gaming.
2. Watch Dogs
On to the actual games then. First up is Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs, or Watch_dogs as it prefers to be known. Initially revealed all the way back in Summer 2012 as a peek of the imminent next generation, the game pits you as Aiden Pearce, hacker extraordinaire, who somehow has the ability to disrupt the entire city of Chicago with his mobile phone. For the most part the gameplay fits beneath the heading of ‘Open world action-adventure shooty game’, but with the aforementioned hacking mechanics the experience opens up into something truly spectacular.
For instance, Aiden can raise and lower street bollards whilst on the run from the police, he can instantly hack the phones of anyone on the street and gain access to their bank accounts aswell as their general profile (“You’re a diabetic sex offender? Cool, thanks for the money!”), he can also traverse the environment in a similar way to Ezio of Assassin’s Creed. There is a wealth of extra-curricular opportunities in Watch Dogs, and that’s before you hack into another player’s game online and start messing with their heads. Plenty to see and do this Christmas.
3. Indie Games Go Big
If you’re a PC gamer, then Indie games have been present in your life for quite some time. For us console folk however, it’s only been in the last year or two where we’ve seen them come into their own. The arrival of the PS4 will be accompanied by a huge Indie presence, with developers being able to publish their own games on Sony’s store at the push of a button – much the same way as Apple run the App Store. The decision on Sony’s part to open up the market in this way is a stroke of genius, with all the weird and wonderful experiences of indie providing the perfect alternative to those fatigued by AAA games.
Take Octodad: Dadliest Catch for instance. In Octodad, you are an Octopus trying to disguise himself as a human. You must hold a job, get married and generally try to convince those around you that you are in fact human, and most definitely not an octopus. I cannot stress enough how amazing this looks when directly compared to something like Call of Duty: Ghosts. I would much prefer to be flailing my speckled orange tentacles around trying to get them into a wedding suit this winter instead of “disrupting the enemy’s comms” for the eighth year running.
4. Apple’s iOS 7 lineup
Last year Apple introduced a smaller charging cable for their devices, and then decided that that was a good reason to refresh their line-up wholesale. This year will be no different. We’ve already seen the iPhone 5S, featuring upgrades so minuscule and skin deep that it’s indistinguishable from last year’s model. iOS 7 is a much needed facelift for iPhones and iPads, but it looks cheap. Menus are strewn with translucent drop down screens and sickly colours that look as though they’ve been lifted from an iPhone knock-off, and reflect none of the dazzling class seen in Apple hardware.
Much more exciting is the imminent reveal of the new iPad and iPad Mini. Apple’s tablet line has gone from strength to strength every year since it’s conception, and last year’s iPad Mini was an astonishing bit of kit for anyone put off by the iPad 4’s size and price. Essentially an iPad 2 shrunk down to much sleeker dimensions, it will be interesting to see what elements of more recent iOS devices trickle down to the iPad Mini 2. My bets are on a retina display, and the 64 bit processor found in the iPhone 5S along with a much needed camera upgrade.
5. 4G connectivity
Internet connection on mobile phones has always been a bit hit and miss, with 3G signal coming and going around Dublin more frequently than you’d like. Vodafone and Meteor are making a big deal out of their upcoming rollout of 4G in the capital, and for good reason too. The speed and reliability of 4G surpasses most home Internet connections – with download speeds hitting 22mb and uploads reaching between 6 and 8mb.
Those of you who invested in 4G enabled phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 this year will feel the benefits this winter. HD movies, music and app downloads will be blazingly fast no matter how big they weigh in at. Hopefully the likes of Vodafone and Meteor will increase their data caps accordingly, as with that kind of speed it will be all too easy to run up a bill that make even the most hardcore technophile long for the days of the Nokia 3210.
All in all, winter 2013 is going to be an exciting time for tech. So if those grey Irish skies are getting you down, just warm your hands up on those toasty 4G waves and settle in for an evening of mincing around as a disguised octopus. And don’t forget to simultaneously tweet about said experience on your shiny new iPhone, of course.
