Gaming News - Page 1

Here we are again, folks, at another article detailing why Microsoft isn't buying another billion-dollar company. In this coverage we'll be detailing why Microsoft isn't buying SEGA, and why the Xbox Series X isn't going to be rebranded with SEGA's name in Japan.

Rumor has it Microsoft is buying SEGA. Another rumor says Microsoft will release the Xbox Series X as the "SEGA Series X" in Japan. Neither of these things are true. To really understand why the rumors aren't true we have to take a look at how both Microsoft and SEGA operate their businesses, and then briefly go over why the Xbox brand is so much more than just hardware.

First, let's start off with the obvious one: Microsoft isn't going to buy SEGA simply because it'd cost too much. There's no reason for Microsoft to buy, and more importantly, there's absolutely no reason for SEGA to sell. This is the same argument we made with the preposterous "Microsoft is buying CD Projekt RED" rumors, and the more recent "Sony is buying Metal Gear Solid" rumors.

The PS5 reveal event set for June 4 will be postponed to a later date due to civil unrest, Sony today confirmed.

Like most of the games industry, Sony has spoken out in support for the Black Lives Matter movement amid civil unrest in the United States. Now the company is delaying one of the most important events of the year so it doesn't take the spotlight away from America's societal issues.

"We have decided to postpone the PlayStation 5 event scheduled for June 4," Sony said in a statement.

Half-Life: Alyx was one of the hands down best gaming experiences of my life, and while I played it in VR (and I think you should, too) it doesn't mean you can't check it out without a VR headset -- and this handy mod. Check it out:

This new mod is called the "Pancake FPS Starter Kit" which can be downloaded right here, and is showcased in the video above. YouTuber 'Goutrial' posted the video, explaining: "This is a mod for Half-Life: Alyx called "Pancake FPS Starter Kit" that makes it so you can play without VR".

He continues: "It also adds the ability to add custom weapon scripts. In this video, I am using the base mod so there are only the weapons from Half-Life 2. The weapons you see in this video are from Half-Life 2: MMod".

You can download the Pancake FPS Starter Kit right here, with the instructions on how to install and run it available at the same link -- or right here.

You would think that any game that the legendary Hideo Kojima wanted to make, you'd just let him make -- but that's nto the case at all.

In a recent interview with Japanese site Livedoor (and then translated by VGC), Kojima talks about his new game, where he said: "It's still in the early planning stages so I can't say much, but on the down-low, I'm actively working on it". He added that he had a recent project cancelled, too.

Kojima added: "Recently a major project of mine got cancelled so I'm pretty pissed, but that's the games industry for you".

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa reiterates the Switch is still in the middle of its life cycle, hinting the console will last at least four more years before a new iteration arrives.

In a recent Nintendo Q&A session from its FY2020 financials, Nintendo President Shuntaro confirms the Switch is halfway through its lifespan. The Switch turned four years old and managed to move over 55 million units to date, so the Switch hardware family should continue on for another four more years.

"Nintendo Switch has just entered the middle of its life cycle, and there are two system versions in the family - Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite - so we have not changed our view that it is possible to aim for growth that is unlike the life cycle of any other hardware to date," Mr. Furukawa said, strongly hinting more Switch hardware iterations are on the way.

EA Motive just made its debut on Twitter, hinting that it's big new Star Wars game could be revealed soon.

EA Motive has been working on a new Star Wars project for years now. The Montreal-based studio first started out by assisting DICE with Battlefront II. Then it moved on to help Visceral Games on its cancelled Project Ragtag game, then it did the same with EA Vancouver's cancelled Project Orca. Since then, EA Motive has moved onto its own Star Wars game, one that's described as 'very unique.'

We'll likely see this game very soon. A bit ago, the PS Store accidentally leaked Project Maverick, which looks to be a Rogue Squadron type sim with ship-to-ship combat (which happens to be EA Motive's specialty). We recently predicted EA would show the mysterious project during its big EA Play event on June 11.

At the time of writing this, the SpaceX launch spacecraft recently launched will reach the International Space Station.

Above, you can find a link to the Crew Demo-2 livestream on the official SpaceX YouTube Channel. The video showcases a direct link to inside the Dragon spacecraft where we can see both astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who will be landing docking with the International Space Station in about an hour from now.

Throughout the livestream, it was mentioned by the commentators that the astronauts were traveling at 17,500 miles per hour. As the Dragon capsule closes in on the ISS, the astronauts will perform a test on the directional controls and will then approach extremely slowly, slowing down to a tenth of a meter per second. The provided image showcases the waypoints the capsule will go through when it enters its docking process. It's estimated that the docking complete call will be at 7:30 AM PT.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X might have similar specs and both use 7nm SoCs from AMD, but their next-gen business models are very different. We thought it prudent to discuss how Microsoft and Sony are approaching the new generation of console gaming.

Microsoft and Sony handle gaming very differently. To really understand the big differences between the PlayStation 5's and Xbox Series X's game plans, we have to take a quick look at each of the two company's business segments.

Sony cares a lot more about gaming than Microsoft does. Sony made $17 billion from PlayStation in FY2019 versus Microsoft's $10 billion from Xbox. The Japanese titan is locked to the PlayStation hardware and services ecosystem, and as a result, it's more laser-targeted on system-selling exclusives that've helped the PS4 move 110.4 million units worldwide.

Sony's cross-gen plans have leaked out, confirming newer PS4 games will also need to be compatible with the PS5 as well.

Unlike the Xbox Series X, the PS5 will have exclusives at launch. Sony is clearly delineating the PS4 and PS5 hardware generations right out of the gate. This means we'll see two versions of third-party games releasing in 2020 and beyond: a PS4 SKU, and a separate PS5 SKU with enhanced performance like faster loading times, ray tracing, enhanced frame rates and resolution.

Sony has established a mandate to ensure the cross-gen dual game release strategy rolls out as smooth as possible. PS4 games submitted to Sony for certification on or after July 13 must also run on the next-gen PS5. The info comes from internal development slides provided to Eurogamer, and confirms its forward-compatibility plans.

Making games for and porting games onto Sony's next-gen PS5 might end up being easier than any other console ever released.

Although the PS5 is a huge leap in power over the PS4, complete with next-gen exclusives that aren't held back by the PS4, Sony isn't over-complicating things for developers. Game devs are pretty happy with the PS5's new streamlined x86 architectural design and toolsets. We still don't know what kind of new features the PS5 OS and software stack offers devs, but that hasn't stop games-makers from praising the system behind the scenes.

The positive reactions started back in 2019 under Sony's PR megaphone. SIE president Jim Ryan said devs are getting code up on the PS5 with tremendous speed and ease. Then Sony's Shuhei Yoshida echoed the same thing a month later.