As we learned already, the XBox One isn’t going to be backwards compatible with XBox 360 games. Personally, I don’t see this as an issue. When I got my XBox 360, I didn’t worry about playing my original XBox games on it. And any of us who were born before the PS2 rose to prominence remember the days when we got our SNES and the only ones who questioned if the NES games would still play on it were our parents. We didn’t care back then.

In an interview with The Verge, Microsoft Xbox Live vice president Marc Whitten said, “The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn’t really work from that perspective.” As a result, the content of the XBox Live Arcade on the XBox 360 won’t be able to carry over to the XBox One. Since the XBox One’s hardware configuration won’t support XBox 360 discs, it makes sense that the downloadable content would not be supported as well.

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Since we already told you the important facts about the XBox One yesterday, I thought I would take time to let it sink in and then give my reaction to what was announced. Any of you follow me on Twitter saw my initial reactions yesterday, but I wanted to be fair and take a step back before voicing my actual thoughts instead of just hoping for retweets. This isn’t about being a fanboy or ranting, but just my honest reactions to the announcements.

First off, the name has to be addressed. I like the fact that Microsoft didn’t go with calling the console just “XBox” again and at least the “One” differentiates it. I call my current console the “360″ in conversation and I don’t doubt that I’ll end up calling the XBox One just the “XBox,” but it was at least better than Apple’s iPad, iPad 2 and then “new iPad.” And let’s be honest, the name isn’t what sells a system as the Wii proved since every gamer ripped that name to shreds.

Also, thank you to Microsoft for showing the system. They needed to do something to separate themselves from Sony and the PlayStation 4 and rather than continue the pissing contest that is going to reach E3, they just showed what it looked like. Much like the name, the overall look of the system isn’t going to make or break the sale of a console (again take a look at the Wii). I was happy to see most of the design on the controller remained and was happy to see the D-Pad had been changed as it is especially reviled by fighting gamers.

Hooray for Blu-Ray. Although that means my HD-DVD is now officially in the same category as Betamax and Laserdisc.

I appreciate Skype being on the XBox One and integrated with the “Snap” feature, but I feel like I’ll never use it. The last thing I want when watching TV or a movie is to have someone talking to me. Maybe if I was a sports guy and wanted to talk trash during a game with my friend across the country during a basketball game, I’d be down. But if I am watching The Walking Dead, don’t you dare try calling me during the show.

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As we previewed early yesterday morning, the team behind Batman: Arkham Origins at Warner Bros. Games Montreal revealed an almost five minute long CGI trailer for the game yesterday afternoon. With it came the reveal of pre-order information, two new major characters and some interesting news on the voice actors.

From the initial teaser, it was already confirmed that Deathstroke would find his way into the game. It was announced today that those who preorder Batman: Arkham Origins would be able to play as Deathstroke. It will be in similar fashion to the Joker or Catwoman challenge maps of Arkham games past as well as contain two additional costumes for Deathstroke.

Additionally, the trailer reveals two characters. Black Mask makes his return to the series after a brief cameo in Arkham City. It should be noted that it is revealed in Arkham City that Black Mask was the only man to ever escape. In addition, Deadshot will be making a return to the series as well.

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Way back in late 2010, Doritos brought out their second free game Doritos Crash Course to the XBLA. The title used XBox avatars as characters in a Wipe-Out / MXC style obstacle course. Luckily, the Doritos name was only present in the title and it never became a hit you over the head advertising ploy. There weren’t any Doritos speed boosts or Cool Ranch extra lives. And it ended up being pretty fun, despite only having three sets of courses that all looked pretty similar.

Doritos Crash Course 2 brings back the fun gameplay of the original with four distinctly different environments, a new unlockable progress system and support for Avatar FameStar. While the environments do a great job of adding visual variety, it’s the system of unlocking new content that gives Doritos Crash Course 2 an original feel. Instead of just progressing in order through levels, players unlock medals and stars that they use to purchase new levels. Getting certain placement against AI opponents earns a player more medals while taking various paths through a level allows access to different stars.

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This past weekend at Dallas Comic Con, the voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, confirmed he would be returning to the Batman: Arkham series in the upcoming prequel, Batman: Arkham Origins. After a rumor surfaced in April that Conroy was done with the series, there was a lot of hesitance from series’ fans that someone else may be voicing the Dark Knight (because they have heard what happens when Christian Bale does it).

Early in the video below, Kevin discusses his involvement in the project and how he has been working on it for more than nine months. There is tons of hype right now around Batman: Arkham Origins as teaser trailer featuring Deathstroke going toe to toe with Batman from last week revealed a longer version would be premiering later today. So far, we’ve seen a healthy number of Batman villains represented in the two previous Arkham titles but there is a lot of excitement as to who will make their Arkham debut this time.

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Wii U owners were pleased to find that the arcade classic Pac-Man found its way to the Wii U shop just about two weeks ago. Not bad to get some excitement about a game getting close to its 33rd birthday. But yesterday, something no one expected happened. A second Pac-Man piece of news in a month popped up with an all new Pac-Man title. Pac-Man would be returning in an all new game. Namco Bandai will be releasing Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures this fall to the XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.

The hungry little sphere that could is coming back to 3D (with a sidescroller for the 3DS, go figure) with some new powers not yet seen before… well that’s not entirely true. From the look of the trailer below, there will be a transformative power set to the game where upon eating various ghosts, Pac-Man acquires certain abilities. Sounds a little bit like Kirby, wouldn’t you say? Well even though we only see one of these in action, there is certainly a Kirby-esque feel to the way the game looks to play.

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It’s been about four years since we last saw William “B.J.” Blazkowicz take the fight to the filthy Nazi forces in Wolfenstein. Finally yesterday though, it was announced that B.J. would be making his return in the next installment of Wolfenstein entitled Wolfenstein: The New Order.

From what we’ve been able to find out so far, Wolfenstein: The New Order takes place years after the events of the last Wolfenstein. Although B.J. accomplished his mission, something happened as he was hidden away and he has a new regime to deal with. While some Wolfenstein games have at least started more reality based, Wolfenstein: The New Order is taking the Go Big or Go Home approach right at the start. Gigantic robots with lots of weaponry look to block B.J.’s way.

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Ever wonder what the attraction to Lobo as a character was? Aside from being an amalgam of various comic tropes and stereotypes, something about him ended up resonating to the point that thirty years since his inception, the anti-hero (who is pretty much just such a badass villain that people still like him) finds his way to the roster of Injustice: Gods Among Us as the first of four DLC characters.

For those who purchased the Season Pass, Lobo was announced on launch day for the game as the first member of the DLC roster. From the video below, he looks like a combination of fighting styles of some of the other brute characters like Solomon Grundy or Doomsday with the gunplay of Deathstroke. The trailer also gives a brief history of Lobo and the concept behind him, and how Lobo started out almost as a parody before taking on a life of his own.

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Plants vs. Zombies came out way back in 2009 for the PC and Mac from PopCap games. It would go on to be ported to iOS, XBLA, Nintendo DS, the PSN, DSiWare, Android, Windows Phone, the PlayStation Vita and then finally to the Blackberry in January of this year (also proving that BlackBerry really has no idea what they are doing). Originally titled Lawn of the Dead, Plants vs. Zombies is one of the most widely popular tower defense style games ever with a MetaCritic score of 88 to boot. So what is taking so long to get a sequel? That’s what YouTube stars like Francis and XBox community manager Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb want to know too.

With the teaser trailer below, we finally get official confirmation that Plants vs. Zombies 2 isn’t only real but that it is coming out in July of this year. Hopefully it won’t come out during Comic Con or there are going to be a lot of very confused people trying to figure out the best use of their time. Though no actual footage is shown, it is an awesome teaser that showcases how all of us feel about the wait on this title. The one the Flickcast staff seems to relate to the most is Francis.

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Back in January we reported on the breaking news that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes was coming. Yes, we know it was kind of a no brainer but it was great to see it was actually happening! Now we are proud to bring the first official trailer to the Flickcast faithful.

In the trailer below, check out the first official look at LEGO Spider-Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, Deadpool and Black Widow who will be amongst the “more than 100 memorable characters to choose from, each with their own unique powers and abilities, players are in for a brick-smashing adventure”. Those actual gameplay isn’t shown, one can assume it will probably be similar in style to that of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. The trailer also gives a pretty good indicator who one of the game’s big bads is going to be.

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One thing we’ve seen with freebie titles on XBLA is that things can go either way. Sometimes you get Yaris (and the less said about that title the better). But sometimes, you get something that is worth spending even more time with than some of your full retail games. Happy Wars is one such game that follows the free to play model and something I’ve put in a fair share of time with since its release without ever needing to spend money in its Free-To-Play model.

Happy Wars is a MOBA title featuring two teams of up to 15 players each. Players start off at opposing castles and taking the role of either a knight, mage or cleric, work their way across the battle field, taking control points until they reach their opponent’s castle. Unlike most MOBAs, there are no NPC characters chugging alongside the battle. All combat is player to player with a variety of skills that unlock as the battle progresses. Players are also able to switch between their knight, mage and cleric build mid-battle in between respawns to allow changes in strategy, something not seen in most MOBA cases.

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If you’re close to my age, one of your favorite video game memories is most likely being in the arcade playing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game in all its side scrolling, beat-em-up glory. With the upcoming downloadable title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, we may get to relive our past glory while a whole new generation gets to experience it for the first time (without pumping the arcade machine full of $27 in quarters.

In the latest trailer, we get to take a look at Michelangelo in action. The first thing you’ll notice is that the combat doesn’t resemble that of a simple brawler as the moves done by Mikey more closely mimic that of the Batman: Arkham franchise. Combat looks to have a dynamic feel, and though there are bound to be some canned animations (like Mikey’s head spin) it appears as though there will be a plethora of different moves happening during a fight as opposed to a few basic swinging animations from the classic arcade series.

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After the long wait since first seeing glimpses at San Diego Comic-Con last Summer, Injustice: Gods Among Us arrived last week. After all the hype behind it with its roster of heroes and villains facing off against each other in a Mortal Kombat style fighting engine, “What could go wrong?” we pondered. Famous last words right? Well, luckily the team behind Injustice: Gods Among Us at NetherRealm Studios pulled through and gave the best DC fighting experience to date that could possibly rival that of the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

The Long

On the surface, there is a huge appeal to seeing who could win in a fight between Batman and Superman. Comic fans won’t deny that but to create a successful fighter, NetherRealm couldn’t play by traditional comic book rules. While Superman and Batman may be on a level playing field in a comic setting where brain matters as much as brawn, no one is ever going to believe that the Green Arrow can beat up Superman or Doomsday… like ever (sorry Arrow fans). So while the appeal of the game is the premise, it is the nuts and bolts under the hood of Injustice: Gods Among Us that make it a solid fighter.

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After the recent sad news with layoffs happening at High Moon Studios following the completion of the Deadpool game which is set for June 25th release for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, there was a PR blip that went out late yesterday getting into detail with the Deadpool preorder incentives. Obviously, the team behind the Deadpool PR is still working hard at keeping Deadpool at bay when he gets his hands on their press releases.

Below, you’ll be able to check out the list of presale incentives from GameSpot and Amazon for those who are picking up this Marvel merc at the budget price of $49.99. Make sure to check out all the new screens below as well!

intimidated invited Activision Publishing, Inc. and High Moon Studios to make a video game starring Marvel’s most Marvel-ous character, me. And you being a gamer of unquestionable good taste wish to pre-order that game. Well I say bravo – you deserve some awesome rewards for putting your trust in Deadpool.

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Earlier this week, we touched upon the Mob of the Dead portion of the Uprising DLC pack coming to XBox 360 on April 16th for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. In it, mobster movie icons Chazz Palminteri, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Madsen, and Ray Liotta take on the roles of four Alcatraz inmates getting ready to bust out only to find out an undead, demonic horde has broken in to the tightest security prison in the world.

In the trailer below, you’ll get some back-story on the fictional mobsters modeled after these stars and find out just where they fall into the prison hierarchy before everything starts going south. As with other new versions of the infamous Zombie mode, you’ll also see new zombies to deal with and traps to hatch. There is also a brief look at the new purgatory game mode as well.

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