The Console

Now let’s talk about the look of the console, a lot of people when it was announced said it looked like an old VHS. While that’s not quite the case, it is essentially a large black brick so it’s not going to win many votes on the looks alone. The console is also big it’s a full 6.3 cm in length bigger than the Xbox slim, this is noticeable difference when the console has to be laid on its side. However the fact that it must lay on its side shouldn’t be as much of an issue as people made it to be, because a lot of people had their 360’s laid on their side and up to this new generation all Sony consoles had to be laid on their side. Along with the increased size of the new console, there is also the increased fan grate which takes up half the top of the console (see below). This being said, even with this large fan grate the Xbox One runs practically silently, to the point where I have actually left the house forgetting that the console is on.

The Xbox One also has the addition of an extra HDMI slot over the old 360’s, as well as an optical drive both of which would make it easier to connect to a PC or Mac should you wish to record footage from your console for the likes of YouTube or should you wish to stream to twitch. There is another option should you wish to record content on the Xbox One which is to use the game DVR that is actually built into the console. This built in DVR allows you to record the last five minutes of gameplay or the next five minutes, so if you weren’t recording and something amazing happened then you are able to go back and capture it. The other advantage of this is using the built in uploader you are able to edit your video immediately after you capture it (even give it a voiceover) and then upload it straight to the cloud to share with either just your friends or all other Xbox live members. Thus making it much easier to capture, edit and then get your content out for people to see than using a PC or Mac where you would require separate editing software and capture card or programme.

There are however issues with the built in DVR least of which is the amount of time you are able to capture video for as most people, would either be recording single player for a let’s play or multiplayer where they’ll want to record whole games. The other issue with the DVR is you have to snap it to the side of the screen if you wish to start recording from the point you’re currently at, meaning that you have to stop whatever gameplay you are currently doing in order to set up for the shot you wish to record. This is made especially difficult if you are not using the Kinect because it means you have to physically come out of the game to snap the DVR to your game screen making it almost useless for multiplayer, unless you’re using the Kinect. However that being said most people using the DVR are probably going to use it to record random amazing things that occur, such as glitches etc. so coming out of the game to record that won’t be an issue.

The Kinect

Next let’s have a look at the new Kinect, which is actually part of the main reason people do not want to buy this console. First off let me say I never owned one of the original Kinect’s but I had played with one at friend’s places and it was not an easy thing to use, with it always having trouble understanding you or tracking you. Therefore I was obviously slightly apprehensive about the Kinect being included in the box for the Xbox One, but I was also excited to get hands on with it and see how it compared to the original Kinect and see if it was any better.

Now while the new Kinect is not perfect it is on a whole new level compared to the original, managing to track you much better and understand you a good 90% of the time with the occasional need for repeating yourself because of background noise or distance from the Kinect. However it does still have some bits that are rough around the edge. Such as unless you know the exact commands you can often find yourself yelling at it thinking it’s broken, but once you’re use to the commands this really isn’t much of an issue and just takes a little time to grasp. The Kinect also seems to occasionally still stumble over non-American accents, but nowhere near as bad as the original and it’s never really been a problem for me more than a couple times. Overall I’d definitely say that Kinect V2.0 is a long way from its predecessor and its almost perfect just with a few rough edges to polish out, so hopefully should Microsoft every release another Kinect it should be able to understand and track people perfectly.

The main issue people had with the Kinect though is that it meant the Xbox One was a full £80 more than the PS4 at launch and people could not justify this price difference given that a lot of people, me included, don’t have the space to move and jump around while playing games. Therefore the Kinect ended up just being a voice controller for your console, which people believed just wouldn’t work because of how bad the original was. However while the price difference caused by the Kinect was a sticking point for some people I would just like to point out that anyone potentially wanting to buy the PS4’s camera would be adding an additional £60 on top of the console itself, bringing the price down to only £20 which for new console’s is a pretty negligible amount.

The final issue a lot of people had when the Kinect was announced was that originally it was going to need to always be plugged in or your console would stop working. This brought about a bunch of scare rumours that Microsoft would be collecting data about you while the console was off or even be watching you while you sleep through your Kinect. To start with I’m fairly sure Microsoft has bigger things to be getting on with than watching Xbox One owners while they sleep. Nevertheless to alleviate these fears and rumours Microsoft announced that it would no longer need to be always plugged in. However there are still people who believe that if you leave it plugged in Microsoft will be watching you and having now got my hands on a Kinect I can see why some people may still think this, because the Kinect has the ability to not only see using a normal camera mode but also night and thermal camera modes.

There is a reason behind this function though and that is so if you want the Kinect is able to sign you into your account whenever you walk into its field of vision, no matter what the light level is. If you still believe that Microsoft are plotting to watch you through your Kinect, there is a very simple way to fix that either turn it to face a wall and use it purely for the voice commands or unplug it entirely. The Major issue for me with the new Kinect is it’s integration into Xbox One games like Ryse: Son of Rome where if you don’t use the Kinect voice commands when prompted and instead use the button prompt, it almost punishes you by making the time for the button prompt to work about 3 times as long as using the Kinect.

The Controller

Now while the controller is relatively unchanged in design the changes they have made actually make quite a large difference. Starting with the removal of the large battery pack on the back in place of a flush built in battery container, allowing the back of the controller to be smooth and fit better in your hands. A new ergonomic stick design allows for more precise movement within games and with the ridge tops your thumbs are much more planted on the sticks compared to the old smooth sticks. The new trigger and bumper layout means that when playing games you don’t have to take your fingers off the triggers in order to use the bumpers, especially handy when playing FPS games. Also the addition of rumble into the triggers is a really nice feature allowing you to really feel the action through the controller. My favourite thing about the Xbox One controller though is the fact that every button, bumper and trigger has real feedback. What I mean by this is that whenever you press something on the controller it feels like you are pushing against something rather than just feeling like there is an empty space behind it all.

This differs massively from the PS4 controller in that the triggers still feel practically weightless when you press them as though the controller space behind them is empty. Also while the PS4 controller now sits more comfortably in my hand compared to the old one’s it now feels a bit large with the addition of the touchpad. I also found with the addition of the touchpad that when trying to use it I had to take a hand off the sticks which was rather counter-intuitive. So overall I found the new Xbox One controller fits better in my palms, it was more instinctive to use due to the fact that it hasn’t changed much from the 360 and the increased feedback in all the buttons really immerses you in the games.

The Games

Right now there isn’t a lot out for either console there is a lot of games in the offing, many within the next few months. While obviously a lot of titles are coming to both new platforms, in order to get the most sales they can, the Xbox One will end up having the last laugh because overall it’s getting more games than the PS4 because of the amount of exclusives that are coming to the Xbox One. Titles like Project Spark and Sunset Overdrive which for me like more innovative and interesting than the exclusives being launched on the PS4.

Overall

So should you buy the second placer or go with the fan favourite? Honestly for me if you haven’t bought one of the new consoles, or if you’ve dismissed the second son and are just waiting for prices to come down to buy the PS4, I would seriously reconsider the Xbox One as a contender for your affections. While they are almost impossible to separate on the graphics and in spite of the fact that it does have its issues with the Kinect, which for the most part just require a bit of patience or are very simply fixed. The Xbox One has a much more user friendly controller with the way it fits in your palms and the feedback it gives you from your games. Not only this but the fact that it’s got more exclusives being launched for it means that you’re going to be able to put even more hours into saving other worlds, surviving zombie apocalypses and becoming the best in the world. So give the runner up a second chance and delve deeper into the new and exciting generation of gaming. See you all on the other side GAME ON!!

2013 saw some great changes to The Sanitarium.FM, especially in the way I did the Sunday Night Showcase (new co-host, which was great and she is sorely missed) and new ideas ready for a bigger better show in 2014

During 2013, three other amazing bands joined us on air and added some awesome new music to the station playlist (and the Listener Chart)

Now, we are looking to crown our 2012 Sunday Night Showcase band!

All you need to do is vote for your fave band on the forum poll, and this January, Sunday Night Showcase shows will ONLY be 2013’s bands until the award show on the 26th January!

Vote on the forum and tell your friends too!  Your fave band needs your help!

Bands in the running:-

New Infection

A Call For Submission

The Dead Good

To vote you need to make a forum account

The poll is open until 25th Jan and you can change your vote at any time, also feel free to say hi in this thread and give your favourite band a shout out that you voted for them, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it!

Well, christmas 2013 has come and gone, meaning we all had pressies and do dads under the tree (real or digital)

Here’s a roundup from each of the station team of what they got/treated themselves to this Christmas

Lonesamurai –

Well, no tree for me, so as I spent Christmas in the studios this year, I treated myself to a few things on the STEAM sale, plus I jumped back on World of Warcraft (the Mist of Pandaria upgrade was on special offer and I finally caved and resubbed)

Ok, first off, World of Warcraft – Mist of Pandara. (https://eu.battle.net/shop/en/product/world-of-warcraft-mists-of-pandaria)
Yeah, its been out a year now, but patch 5.4 just came out recently and it peaked my hatred of Garrosh Hellscream, so I had to jump at the chance to slap him around abit. The BIGGEST thing I am loving about this expansion is the Pet Battles! Sure, they are a blatant Pokemon rip off, but damn I am loving playing them and they really break up questing in areas aswell
Yeah the questing hasn’t changed much outside of the new areas, but it has a renewed feel to it, especially when you find rare pets to battle aswell
Ok, I concede the community is still incredibly harsh, but ignoring trade chat and sticking to my guild helps
Fun Factor – 7/10, worth upgrading if you like WoW, and the unlimited starter edition is great for people to try the game out

Next up, SimCity Cities of Tomorrow Expansion Pack. (http://www.simcity.com/en_GB/buy/ep1)
I sat and tried this for a few days and honestly, it’s disappointing
The new buildings and changes make very little difference to your cities and the biggest gripe the community has with the game is the size of city plots. Instead of increasing this though, the devs have decided to go upwards instead of outwards and now future city buildings have multiple layers that you can build up
The game still doesn’t feel polished and there are still bugs that have been mentioned loads of times
Fun Factor – 4/10, if you have SimCity and enjoy it, get the expansion, but ONLY if you see it on special offer, it’s not worth full price at all

Crimsonshade –

It’s not very often that I get anything truly techie or videogame-y for Christmas, but this year has to be one of the rare exceptions, since ever since Pokémon X (http://www.pokemonxy.com/en-us/root/) came out worldwide I’ve been mentioning it several times in front of various family members and placed it high on my Amazon Wish List – so I knew, inevitably, it would become my main present this year. Yet I must admit, even up to the moment I tapped that glorious “X” icon, I felt a small sense of trepidation about whether the game would even live up to the lofty expectations I’d given it. Despite all my desires to get the game and enjoy the new 3D aspect and customisability and social options, having covered the game from its initial announcement all the way up to release, I’d also learnt of many features I WASN’T keen on. NPCs rating you on your “stylishness”? Poké-amie?

While I haven’t yet played the game long enough to properly judge either of these features, nor the Horde Battles and other touches I’m also iffy about, after two hours of play I must say I’m already in the mindset that even if they DO turn out to be crap, this is still going to be one of my favourite Pokémon games. One of the reasons for this has to be the battles, which are simply BREATHTAKING. The viewpoints, animations and even the way the Pokémon now faint and are recalled into the Poké Ball on defeat all feel directly lifted from the 3D Console games like Colosseum, Stadium and Battle Revolution. And while the 3D Slider doesn’t actually add much to the scene, throughout every battle now there’s a real sense of depth and of opponents standing a distance away and then getting up close for physical hits. It’s beautiful, in the way I never expected from a handheld Pokémon.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised me is just how extensive customisation of your character is. Oh yes, we already know about how the game now offers three male and three female pre-designed character models to choose from as your initial appearance in the game; and how you can later buy clothing to customise it further. But did you know you can actually give your in-game character two different NAMES? As well as setting your actual character name at the start of the game, pretty early into the actual story you’ll meet up with a group of “friends”, who will give each other nicknames. They’ll then offer to give you one too; and whatever you decide will be the name those NPCs, and a few others across the game, will call you by instead of your Player name. In a homage to early Pokémon games, as well as being able to type this name yourself, the NPCs will suggest three alternatives that you can choose from if you prefer. In a nice touch, these nicknames are generated based on your chosen Player name – for example, I chose to call my character Jay and was offered Big J, Li’l J and J-Meister as options. (In case you wondered, I wrote my own)

I still have a lot more play ahead of me before I can come to a final, fair opinion as to just how good Pokémon X is. But for now, safe to say, Santa was good to me this Christmas.

Predictedcyborg –

For me, the typical family Christmas. By that I mean waking up at my Dad’s spending most of the day there, then going over to my mother’s for Christmas dinner. Mmm, that turkey! Got only one thing I could review.

I like to go to at least one weekend event a year if I can, so what I wanted was a portable speaker that I could plug into my iPod Nano. Thus I received the Kitsound Invader Portable Speaker (http://www.kitsound.co.uk/product/KSINVADER) for Christmas and it is this I shall talk about.
The speaker cost about £15 (I was allowed to choose one myself based on what I needed) and feels fairly solid as well as being small enough to comfortably fit in one hand. The actual speaker part twists out of the base and back in, the base contains the three buttons: on/off, Vol Up and Vol Down. The box lists the three main features of the speaker, one being ‘fluorescent colour’ and it certainly has that. Mine is bright orange which’ll make it easier for me to find it in a dark tent should I choose to go camping again for my next gaming festival event. The battery has ‘up to 6 hours’ of playlife and recharges in 2 hours after being plugged into a USB port through a provided cable which also comes with a jack plug connected to link up more than one of the small speakers in a line for more power.

I haven’t been able to test the 6 hour playtime life of the battery, but for what it is the small speaker is fairly impressive. The audio is clearer than I was expecting to get from something this size and because you can twist down the speaker part into the case it makes the kit nicely portable, which is exactly what I needed from it as well as protecting what is the most delicate part of the thing. The buttons are a little bit stiff, but that’s only a minor complaint in the scheme of the thing. Not sure if I can recommend getting it if you want something amazing, but as a fairly cheap portable speaker that you can stand some chance of locating in a darkish room it’s right up there. I’ll be taking it with me to my next event and hopefully it’ll prove to be durable as well as portable.

7/10 for the small speaker.

Poultergeist0 –

Christmas is always one of my favourite times of year, unlike some people from the station *cough* Lone *cough* (Bah Humbug ~Lone)

So after the season of joy is over and we are all left penniless this January we should all look back over our holiday takings. There are a few bits i’d like to share with all of you, so you can all evaluate how much better your presents were this year.

Let’s kick of with the beginnings of a legend. I’ve decided to start building my own PC (yes I’m still 100% console at heart but I need more editing power in my life) and what’s a PC without a case with MILLIONS OF FANS!!!!! So I got the Cooler Master Cosmos II (http://www.coolermaster.com/microsite/cosmos_ii/design.html).

This master of cooling comes with 10 fans that will quite literally Blow you away (why does my brain come up with this awful excuse comedy) it also has enough space to fit 13 HDD, 4 Graphics cards, motherboard, you neighbours cat and a partridge in a pear tree. Standing a mighty 70.4cm this Titan gives me all the cooling, compartments and buttons that i need.
theirs a load more spec stuff you can check out here http://www.coolermaster.co.uk/product.php?product_id=6781
(but to be honest I don’t understand any of it i just sat spinning the fans for 4 hours Christmas day)

The next two pressies are much more my speed Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Windwaker HD that’s right the biggest Nintendo fan in here is up his WiiU collection to 6 games now… (Shut up it’s a good console)

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (http://www.monsterhunter.com/?lang=en)
Now i’ve always had a hit and miss relationship with the Monster Hunter series, I really wanted to get Monster Hunter G for the PSP and badgered my mum for ages till she got it me for my 13th birthday, but I didn’t understand what to do the game, the game was very text heavy tutorial wise and i never got what to actually do. But now that I’m older and (Contrary to popular Belief) wiser monster hunter 3 is a great experience; planning hunts with friends, scavenging loot and monster parts for armour and specialising yourself in certain weapons to benefit your play style. The game just seems to make sense this time around and although my characters are total green horns I’m having fun researching each monster and planning how to take them down.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate gets a: Well-Cooked Meat/10

Windwaker HD (http://www.zelda.com/windwaker/)
Mwahahaha you don’t think i’m gonna leave this to a micro review do you? oh no my friends you’ll have to check back at the end of the month to see how well i Wake said Wind but if it still feels like the original but with super clean Graphics the it’s gonna be worth getting.

One thing i can talk about is the Collectors item, included with the Windwaker collectors edition comes a 4” tall Ganondorf figure, the figure itself is made from molded colour plastic so should stand the test of time allot better than a painted model, in the UK version the figure comes with a plastic bell jar which to be honest looks nice and will keep the figure safe but it does feel a bit cheap and thin. the US variant however gets no such case but on the flip side the smaller plastic base in my opinion looks better.

The Collectable Wind Waker Ganondorf Figure gets a: Triforce of Power/10

Finally a small aside must go to a book I received from my mother this Christmas, a big blue book about a madman in a box. Well eleven different madmen that have saved the galaxy for the past 1200 years.

Doctor Who: The Vault (http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Doctor-Who-Vault-Marcus-Hearn/?isbn=9780062280633) includes the trials and tribulations of the Doctor and the lovely BBC crew that brought him to our Televisions, Detailing the history behind the original concept to the rebirth in 2005 and beyond.

Doctor Who: The Vault gets a: allons-y/11

Hope you all found yourselves with Glad Tidings this year and keep the spirit all year long.
In the words of Tiny Tim “God Bless Us Everyone”
(is that enough?.. that fills the quota for Christmasy stereotypical bullshit right?.. Cool)
Happy 2014 everyone.

Nintendo seems to be having a run of bad luck.

After announcing that it has cut sales predictions for the Wii U and 3DS worldwide, Nintendo stock prices took a hard tumble.

Wii U sales predictions were dropped from 9 million to just 2.8 million, while the 3DS was moved from 18 million to 13.5 million for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2014.

Their stock price as it stands at the time of writing is $14.89. That’s a drop of 17.04%, compared to the beginning of the week when China lifted its ban on console sales. Nintendo’s share price stood at $19 after that announcement.

After the launch of the Wii back in 2006, Nintendo Stock prices peaked at $76 in 2007 and have been falling slowly ever since.
This latest cut in sales figures means a net loss for Nintendo, and Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata apologised to investors for this. He also stated he wouldn’t be resigning but he won’t be making any management changes in the near future.

Where will this leave Nintendo, and what will the future hold for them?

Today we had a few updates from Blizzard, so in their own words…

Blizzard

It’s the New Year, and 2014 is going to be a big one for World of Warcraft. This November marks the game’s 10-year anniversary and the 20–year anniversary of the entire Warcraft series. We’re looking forward to celebrating these milestones with everyone, but in the meantime, we’ve got a few Warlords of Draenor–related updates to share.

 

Preparing for Battle

 

At BlizzCon, we laid out our plans to send you into battle against some of the biggest and baddest enemies in Warcraft history. While the Iron Horde gears up for war on Draenor, back here on earth we’re making preparations for the expansion’s upcoming closed beta test. If you’d like to be considered, now’s a great time to make sure you’re opted in to Warcraft betas and that the hardware specs in your Beta Profile are up to date. (Full instructions can be found here.)

 

 

Report from the Front Lines

 

From the outset, players will find themselves hurled into a chaotic conflict with the Iron Horde at a new Dark Portal on Draenor. The situation for Azeroth is grim, and the war effort needs heroes—from new recruits to retired champions to warriors still tending wounds earned at the Siege of Orgrimmar. To get everyone straight to the action, when you buy the expansion, it will come with a boost to level 90 for one character on your WoW account. We’re getting ready to test the functionality for that on the PTR, and we wanted to provide a quick update on how it will work with the upcoming expansion presales.

 

Warlords of Draenor will be available for pre-purchase digitally Soon™, and we’re once again planning to have standard digital and Digital Deluxe versions (along with a physical Collector’s Edition—more on that at a later date). This time, if you pre-purchase the Digital Deluxe edition you’ll get your exclusive World of Warcraft pet and mount right away, allowing you to bring a little bit of Draenor past into Azeroth present.

 

In addition, when you pre-purchase either digital version, we’re going to grant you your level-90 boost at the time of pre-purchase. That’s a little different from the plan we laid out at BlizzCon, but based on the feedback, it’s obvious that many of you would like the chance to get acquainted with a new class before heading into the expansion. This will also give more players the opportunity to experience the current end-game content and the events leading up to Garrosh’s exodus to Draenor. Maybe you’ll get your Legendary cloak from Wrathion and level 90–100 Heirloom weapon in the process.

 

​

 

Bolster the Ranks

 

We’ve also heard feedback from players that they’d be interested in boosting multiple characters to 90, including alts they play with friends on other factions and realms. We’ve been evaluating ways to make that possible without having players go through roundabout methods (such as purchasing multiple boxes and performing multiple character transfers), and in the near future we’ll be testing out a feature that gives you the option to purchase a character upgrade directly. We’ll have more information to share later—including details on our character-upgrade plans for Asian regions where players don’t buy expansion boxes—but you’ll start seeing pieces of the process soon on the PTR, so keep an eye out.

 

We’re looking forward to the closed beta test, and we’re excited we’re able to give players their character boost immediately upon pre-purchasing—hopefully that will help tide you over while you’re waiting for the epic battle for Draenor to begin. Stay tuned for more information on presales and our beta plans, and we hope you’ll join in and help us test this stuff out when it hits the PTR.