OK, I can’t understand how in one day SO MUCH HAPPENS IN THE GAMING WORLD! …I better report on it!

First off, details about the PlayStation4/Orbis came out today revealing some specifications and details about accounts and the next PlayStation controller.

Here were a few specs that were announced today…

OK…  8 Gigs of RAM, check, my PC has that, 2.2 gigs of Video memory, impressive, that’s twice as much memory than what’s on my PC’s graphics card. 8 core processor, wasn’t the “Cell processor” an 8 core anyway…?

…But here’s the interesting bit, the GPU is an AMD R10xx, there isn’t a lot said about this GPU, but from what I’ve read it appears that it can share GPU time from the main processor, and if requested, the CPU can get more time from the GPU. Meaning that load balancing between graphics and maths can be met even if More maths, or more graphics are required.

What’s this in layman terms? Well, it simply means that the machine could potentially do a lot more than what it says on paper. AMD created a CPU, called the APU, where cores could switch between a CPU, for maths, or a GPU, for graphics. But what the R10xx is either boost the CPU speed, for times when you need more processing power, but in turn, the CPU can assist the graphics card for when really intense graphics come in and the GPU alone might not be able to handle. This means that the hardware in the PS4/Orbis might have some potential to a great deal of stuff, even when it doesn’t look so great on paper.

Plus there’s news and rumours about what the next PlayStation controller might be like. What’s been speculated at the moment (yes it’s not quite official yet) is that it’ll have an Ouya style track pad in the middle of the controller, and that it will have a built in memory for user accounts, meaning that purchased games are not going to be tied down to a console, rather they’ll be tied to a controller. Meaning you can take your controller to your friend’s house and play your PSN purchases on his/her PS4/Orbis without account complications.

The Gadget Show announced details about the next XBox, and it’s just called “XBox”…  Yeah, what’s what it says in the article. Let’s just hope we don’t confuse this new XBox with the original 2002 XBox… It’s been confirmed that the “New XBox” will run a system that’s based on Windows 8 (really now?) and uses an AMD 8 core processor (Oh really now! funny that, so is PS4!).

According to The Gadget Show, Microsoft’s Illumi Room technology, which was shown off at CES a week a go, will be used in the “New XBox”. Illumi Room is a technology where by using projectors, you can increase the size of the game screen to the whole room, or use more subtle effects such as red flashes when you get shot in a first person shooter.

The “New Xbox” (I’m getting sick of calling it that by the way), isn’t going to be the only piece of gaming hardware from the next generation Microsoft hardware. It’s been rumoured that Microsoft is building a gaming tablet called the “X Surface” in similar vein to the Microsoft Surface, will be another Windows 8 based tablet that works in conjunction with the “New XBox” either for media controls or Wii-U style game play.

…Seriously, I’m not getting a new XBox, Microsoft can suck Xbox Live, seriously…

So, the trifecta of gaming news ends with Nintendo, as they announce new games for the Wii-U on their latest Nintendo Direct that was broadcasted this morning.

Nintendo is celebrating the Famicom’s thirty year anniversary by releasing a Wii-U “Gamepad-i-fied” virtual console game each month for the dirt cheap price of 30 cents.

UPDATE: The 30 cents offer works as a 30 day rental, after 30 days, the game expires, you you have the choice of purchasing it or not. But users who own the Wii version of the virtual console game can purchase the GamePad-i-fied version at a discounted price of 99 cents.

Yes, it does mean that you’ll have to download a new version of a Virtual console game after buying so many for the Wii. But for 30 cents it’s not TOO bad, it’s just a shame that they can’t just upgrade all your Virtual console games to have GamePad support for 30 cents a game. Guess you can’t win all the time huh?

Each month, Nintendo will release a single Wii-U-i-fied virtual console game with GamePad support each month, starting with Balloon Fight for this month of January. Personally I’d rather see more games, but for 30 cents a game, maybe Nintendo is seeing the whole iOS/Android 99 cents games as being a big deal and wants to join the Apps bandwagon.

More details on Bayonetta 2 were announced, such as a peep at Bayonetta’s new clothes and guns. New locations such as a Cyberpunk world and a broken down cathedral. I loved the first game, and if there’s a game that might get me to buy a Wii-U it might very well be this one!

A Shin Megami Tensei – Fire Emblem crossover!? I so didn’t see this coming?! Not a lot of details about this one, though it would be interesting to see how they match these two franchises…

Titled “X”, this is Monolith Soft’s (the creators of XenoGears and XenoBlade) next game for the Wii-U. They haven’t announced if this is, or not a sequel to Xenoblade on the Wii. But looks at the game’s HUD and combat, it’s clearly a sequel, and I’m kind of excited for it!

Eiji Aonuma has announced that he’s working on a high definition version of Zelda Wind Waker for Wii-U. Adding a lot of detail with light and textures, and it looks very pretty! Mind you Wind Waker isn’t the best game in the Zelda franchise, but it isn’t the worst either. It’ll be nice if they add more content in this version such as new dungeons and temples, as Shigeru Miyamoto didn’t have a chance to truly finish working on Wind Waker.

Update: Here’s the full Nintendo Direct video that was broadcast this morning.

So yeah, lots of console news and talk today! So much in one day! It’s like super early E3! Hope you like what you’ve heard today. Write down any comments below and I might reply to them!