FIFA 14 will line up for the North American continental anthem on September 24 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The European launch is September 27.

Pre-orders of FIFA 14 through GameStop, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Amazon or Origin get Ultimate Team gold packs. Each pack contains 12 items – players, contracts, stadiums, managers – to support players as they create fantasy teams of real-world athletes.

FIFA 14 is one of four EA Sports games confirmed for Xbox One, Microsoft's next-gen console revealed this week. FIFA 14 will use EA's new Ignite engine on Xbox One and PS4, but not PC or current-gen consoles.

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Contrast, the shadow-shifting puzzle platformer from Compulsion Games, will not be released in May as previously planned. After being Greenlit on Steam, the game has since been picked up by Focus Home Interactive for a wider release. Contrast will now be released on XBLA, PSN and PC in Q4 2013.

We think Constrast could be pretty cool. Here's a new trailer to help you endure the longer wait.

Payday 2, the Overkill-developed crook sim, is set to launch in August. The news comes at the end of the trailer above, which teases a new web series set to start in two weeks.

We have yet to see any actual Payday 2 gameplay beyond a brief teaser issued in March, but feel free to case our gallery of in-game shots below. Payday 2 – which adds classes and a contracts database on top of its predecessor's core robbery mechanics – is planning its heist on Steam, PS3 and Xbox 360. Pre-orders are open on Steam right now and all who sign up early will get an in-game loot pack.

Payday 2

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Microsoft has announced Kinect for Windows will receive the updated Kinect sensor shown at the Xbox reveal event for the Xbox One. The rub: it won't arrive until some time in 2014.

We already knew Kinect for Windows would be updated with the new sensor and a new software development kit (SDK). The improved Kinect sports a 1080p RGB camera, capable of 30 FPS in full color, and can even see in the dark through infrared. The new Kinect also has a greater field of depth which Microsoft promises will cut down on the required distance from the device. It can also read your heartbeat but we try not to think about that too much because it's scary.

This week's live Super Joystiq Podcast is all about the Xbox One. This is our second show on the topic, but a lot more info has trickled out in the last two days. We'll also get to hear the straight dope from our own Ludwig Kietzmann and Alexander Sliwinski, who both attended Microsoft's Xbox Reveal event in Washington.

And since we're on the subject of Xbox, we'll be giving away a very limited edition Xbox 360 controller – there's only one of them – featuring the Joystiq logo and long-lasting, built-in lithium-ion battery. Tune it to see how you can win.

The show goes live at 3:45 ET!

You know Nintendo Direct – now meet Square Enix Presents. That's the name of the company's live-at-E3 video series, which it'll be broadcasting via YouTube.

Square Enix Presents promises coverage on the company's E3 line-up, which is expected to include the new Final Fantasy for PS4. It'll also feature dev interviews, game demos, and presentations on upcoming content. And, apparently, lots of chocobo music.

The shows will run across all three main days of the conference, which are June 11-13.

Square Enix America CEO Mike Fischer left the company this month and is now vice president of digital music and video for Amazon in Japan, Polygon reports. This follows news in April that Square Enix America eliminated "a number of positions" and Fischer was expected to leave in May. Those same reports said the head of marketing should be gone after E3, along with other employees in public relations.

In March, Square Enix President Yoichi Wada stepped down and the company announced widespread restructuring that it expected to cost $106 million. Square Enix posted a net loss of $134 million for fiscal year 2013, citing "weak" sales of major console games, including Sleeping Dogs, Hitman: Absolution and Tomb Raider, the last of which sold 3.4 million in its first month.

A new trailer for Destiny brings Bungie's new world into the live-action realm – with plenty of CG and story time with Breaking Bad's infamous villain. In the video, we learn about the law of the land in the upcoming, online-focused shooter, thanks to a passage from Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book.

Earlier this morning, Bungie sent Joystiq a copy of the classic story, featuring a highlighted passage detailing "The Law of the Jungle" and a note promising to see us at E3 2013. The video promises a "worldwide gameplay reveal" during Sony's E3 2013 press conference on June 10, 2013.

The passage from the book – as spoken in the trailer – reads: "Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky, And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack." A fitting passage, considering Destiny's focus as an "always-on, persistent world adventure."

According to Variety, the ad – starring Giancarlo Esposito – was directed by Jon Favreau and produced by the ad shop 72 and Sunny, with visual effects from Digital Domain. Esposito and Favreau had previously worked together on the pilot of NBC's Revolution, which stars the standout boss figure from Breaking Bad. The ad will also be broadcast during Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on May 25.

Destiny is launching on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2014.

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Need for Speed Rivals – the franchise's first turn into the new world of next-gen consoles – is also coming to the PC. In crafting the PC version, Ghost Games executive producer Marcus Nilsson promises "Need for Speed Rivals will look easily as good on PC as next-generation consoles."

The original press release for Need for Speed Rivals made no mention of a PC version; however, the PR has since been amended revealing the PC version will arrive on November 19 alongside the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game. Xbox One and PS4 versions will launch "later this year."

Other than differences in graphical fidelity and online player count, Rivals features differences in its new marquee feature "AllDrive" across current- and next-gen systems. AllDrive is the ability for the game to "seamlessly" adapt to player interaction as they cross paths in the open-world space. On next-gen consoles, players will have unspecified exclusive ways to interact with the game using other devices.

Nilsson would not detail if the PC version's feature-set would be based on the current- or next-gen platform versions.

Expanding on how AllDrive would work, Nilsson offered an example of how the game would react to friends in the same world engaged in separate chases that come across each other. With the new feature, Need for Speed Rivals would recognize player proximity and any current missions and automatically shift objectives and scoring to that of a traditional co-op encounter. Players can enter and exit each other's worlds to race and interact "on-the-fly." The core features of AllDrive will be available on all platforms.

For more on Need for Speed Rivals, read our reveal post with additional comments from the game's executive producer.

[Ed. Note: This post was updated to reflect changes to the announcement press release.]

Recently renamed developer Ghost Games and the fellow racing fanatics at Criterion Games have banded together for Need for Speed Rivals: a new game that represents the franchise's first drift into the next-gen console world (which is not to be confused with the 2005 handheld spinoff).

Powered by Frostbite 3, Rivals aims to utilize the power of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to give players "the freedom to seamlessly go from single player to co-op to multiplayer" when it releases "later this year." [Update: This story has been updated for accuracy, removing mention of a release window for the next-gen versions from an outdated release draft.]

Need for Speed Rivals transports players to the fictitious Redview County, an open-world environment where players can take on the role as either street racer or police officer. Like Most Wanted before it, racers aim to become the most infamous person behind the wheel, while cops attempt to work together to drive the area's high-risk inhabitants off the road. Players can personalize the experience with custom license plates, paint, liveries decals and rims, and performance upgrades.

Current-generation consoles will also join the rivalry – powered by its own version of Frostbite 3 – on November 19. A PC version is also in the works.

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Techland is keeping its zombie vendetta going in Dying Light, a new first-person action game coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2014, care of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

The ruined-world game hinges on a realistic day/night cycle, as well as the agility and Parkour skills of the protagonist turned traceur. Day is pitched as a preparation phase, in which you scavenge a warmly lit urban wasteland for supplies and craft weapons to fend off undead walkers. The night requires a stealthier approach, if not a swift homeward retreat from deadlier monsters.

Combat in Dying Light appears to be largely based on upgradeable melee weaponry (eg. an electrified machete), with bone-breaking blows triggering an x-ray visual effect. Zombies can also be pushed into spiked walls with a jump-kick to the chest.

The frequency of fighting drops once night arrives and faster, more powerful creatures emerge. These can be detected via an on-screen pulse – one of the abilities you have by virtue of being an infected human yourself. When the monsters of the night do give chase, the camera can quickly flip 180 degrees to show their proximity, even while you dash and vault in the opposite direction. Movement certainly appears to be more fluid than in Techland's Dead Island, with which Dying Light shares a theme of smashing zombies in the tropical sun.

The openness of the environment, overall game structure and the true nature of nightfall, the publisher says, are details left for another day.

Grand Theft Auto 5 will try to beat a couple extra bucks out of you with its "special edition" and "collector's edition," which were announced for pre-order this morning by Rockstar Games.

The $79.99 special edition includes the game, artbook, blueprint map, in-game special ability boost for the playable characters, stunt plane trials, bonus outfits and additional weapons. The $149.99 collector's edition includes everything already listed in the special edition, with the addition of security deposit bag and logo key, cap, classic characters for GTA online and "unique vehicles and garage property."

All pre-orders of the game will receive the Atomic Blimp in-game vehicle. Yes, a blimp. Grand Theft Auto 5 will deliver its goodyear goodies on September 17.

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It's not that there are too many indie games; it's that there aren't enough hours in a day to play all of them. The Joystiq Indie Pitch curates the best indies to play now and watch out for in the future.

What's your game called and what's it about?

Our game is called Jamsouls. We took inspiration from the famous tale of Pandora's Box to create crazy battles between naughty evil creatures in a vivid and colourful arena!

How have sales and visibility been on XBLIG? Is $1 a good price point for Jamsouls?

XBLIG has poor visibility compared to other games featured on the Xbox Marketplace. We feel that the platform is dying slowly, and that Microsoft is not really interested in this indie scene anymore, which is a shame.

We chose the price of $1 because we wanted the game to have maximum exposure. The price of 80 points is very reasonable for anyone wanting to try the game out.

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The NFL will receive $400 million from Microsoft over the next five years, according to an Associated Press source. The partnership was announced during Microsoft's Xbox One unveiling yesterday and will see NFL content coming to Microsoft's next-generation console.

As for the NFL side, fans will see Microsoft branding on-field during live games starting this upcoming season. Coaches and other team officials will be provided Microsoft Surface tablets, with the possibility of further technological innovations coming from Microsoft throughout the longevity of the deal.

The Xbox One will have interactive features integrated during broadcasts, including SmartGlass, group Skype calling and fantasy stats available during live NFL games. Recently, Amazon announced a limited edition version of Madden NFL 25 bundled with a free DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket subscription.

Downtrodden horror author Alan Wake stars in the latest Humble Weekly Sale, which offers up downloadable Windows versions of Remedy's third-person shooter Alan Wake and its follow-up American Nightmare for a buyer-chosen price (minimum $1).

Bundle buyers will receive DRM-free downloads of Alan Wake: Collector's Edition and Alan Wake's American Nightmare, along with Steam keys for both games. The package features a bevy of bonus material, including digital comic books, a playthrough video, and standalone episodes of the Remedy-produced "Night Springs" fictional television series – new episodes of which Joystiq debuted last year.

Xbox Live hosts its own Alan Wake series sale this week. Through May 29, the Xbox 360 Games on Demand version of Alan Wake is priced at 400 Microsoft points ($5), while the Xbox Live Arcade follow-up American Nightmare is a dollar cheaper at 320 points. Alan Wake DLC and avatar items are also on sale through next week.

In the announcement video above, Remedy's Sam Lake (who you might recognize as Max Payne's face model) reveals that the Alan Wake series has sold over three million units to date, and addresses fan reaction to the company's decision to develop the upcoming Xbox One-exclusive title Quantum Break, rather than an Alan Wake sequel.

"We definitely want to keep on working on Alan Wake," Lake assures. "I definitely want to create something new for Alan Wake, when the time is right."

Cheesy-awesome retro news today, as Ubisoft has announced the release of a Blood Dragon asset pack for the Far Cry 3 map editor. The "Mark IV Style" pack for the editor allows players to create levels with the same neon-drenched visuals as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (pictured).

The pack is available now for free on Xbox 360 and PS3. We haven't spotted it on either Steam or Uplay, but we're checking with Ubisoft regarding a PC release.

Owners of the original Kinect on Xbox 360 had the ability to unplug the device, but that won't be the case with the ever-vigilant and always-listening Xbox One version, Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios Phil Spencer told Joystiq.

"Kinect has to be connected to Xbox One," Spencer said. "That, from a creator standpoint, I love, because I like to have a common platform that I can target."

Spencer did take the opportunity to note that just because Kinect is always connected now, it doesn't mean Xbox One games are going to integrate physical activity at every opportunity.

"What I'm seeing in the creation process is more subtle uses of Kinect. I think when Kinect first came out on 360 everybody felt if you weren't doing jumping jacks in the middle of the room it wasn't a Kinect game," he said, going on to describe various everyday uses, such as watching television, for the product.

If you have concerns about Microsoft installing an always-on microphone and camera in your living room, better invest in a veil for the camera and some way of muffling Kinect's "ears." Owners of the next-gen console will need to accept Kinect is watching thee and there's little privacy.

Microsoft isn't prepared to share how used games on Xbox One will be handled – which had adverse effects on retailer GameStop's stock price yesterday – but the company is definitely going to be in the market.

"We understand the secondary market is incredibly important today in the current generation. It will be incredibly important in the next generation," Phil Spencer, Microsoft Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios, said in an interview with us. "I love the fact that my identity, my saves and my content can go with me to any console I move to. The ability to have me and my content save in the cloud who I am, and I can move around, that obviously requires some capability to know what content you own, associated with you and how you move."

He also danced around the always-online issue, something that already caused one public firing at Microsoft.

"We also understand that sometime people's internet goes down and I shouldn't stop watching a movie or stop playing a single-player game when that happens. We'll support a tolerance where we can," he noted, but we were seeking specifics on how long the console could be offline. "You asked about the boundaries, how long will that work? I'll just tell you we don't know yet. We'll tell you when we have the answer and we can tell everybody. But we understand that secondary market is important to the ecosystem, no doubt."

Asked about the game trading that Microsoft previously mentioned, Spencer said, "Yeah, these are some of the specifics... honestly, I'm not really dodging, I just don't want to tell you something we haven't fully baked yet.

"We basically set this reveal up so we could show the hardware, announce the name, talk about worldwide launch this year, show EA and Activision on our stage during our announce – which I think was a pretty compelling point to have both – with their biggest franchises in FIFA and Call of Duty," he concluded the topic. "Then we're gonna use E3 to game, game, game."