Gaming - Page 1029

The latest patch that's expected to hit this week for Rocket League is all about refinement of some of the in-game mechanisms. Specifically, it's concentrating on making those hitboxes a bit more realistic and actually shaped like the vehicles they're attached to, instead of being generic in size.

The changes that are coming soon are all designed to help level the playing field and ensure that the game is a bit more fair. No sense in having a massive vehicle with suitably tiny hitboxes that mirror the size of it's smaller, brethren. The changes are minor, though they should have a larger impact on the game, especially the competitive sphere, than the version number implies. Another minor change has been made to the physics of the ball so that it can behave a bit more realistically in the Wasteland area. This is in part thanks to both reworking of physics and collision improvements.

Below are the specific fixes to the hitboxes for the curious:

It was only a matter of time before some astute developer started doing the prudent thing, which is bringing older games to the Android platform. Counter-Strike, though a game that requires quick reflexes and a keen sense of your surroundings, has been made available in a fan-made port to the platform, and it seems to run very well.

The creator, Alibek Omarev, recently posted a video of him playing the port on YouTube. He captured the screen so you can see him launching the application from the launcher of his Android-based tablet. He went so far as to include fully working touch controls into the port, though they may not be your best bet if you're looking to get a high enough K/D ratio. You can customize those to your liking, however, should you decide to install it yourself. You can do that by visiting the Github page for the project.

The actual hardware requirements of the game are low, and the current GPU and CPU are more than capable of running it, so it speaks to the tenacity of the developer, Omarev, in going through the original with a fine-toothed comb in order to ensure it works properly. For al intents and purposes, this is CS 1.6, and it's been ported very well. The next logical step would be in allowing cross-platform play between Android and Windows. Oh, and of course letting Bluetooth keyboards and mice be usable in the game as well. Android just might become the next great competitive platform. Regardless, it's very impressive to look at, and ingenious. Just get in on it and download it before Valve shuts that door closed.

Sony will be conducting some maintenance on their dedicated PSN servers that should last around two hours starting on Monday, April 18th at 9:30PM PST/

During this maintenance period, you won't have access to account management, your PSN profile, PlayStation Video or even the PlayStation Store. All is not lost, however, because some basic, which means gaming, functionality will still be available. "Anyone who already has an account can still sign in to their PlayStation Network profile, play games, and use most applications while this maintenance is carried out," Sony explained on their maintenance site.

Such deliberate and invasive maintenance is necessary when upgrading their servers or applying larger, more sophisticated software patches that can't be done in the usual stages that wouldn't otherwise disrupt availability of services. This period is short, though it could go on longer than the projected 2 hours. It's certainly nice, for a change, to see maintenance scheduled and on purpose.

Surprise surprise: Gears of War 4 will be running at 30FPS during the single-player campaign, and at 60FPS during the multiplayer battles. Both will be running at 1080p, but I'm sure it's going to be a dynamic resolution, scaling up to 1080p when it can.

The reason? The Coalition, the developer behind the Xbox One exclusive, wanted Gears of War 4 to be a "graphical showcase" on the Xbox One, just like the original Gears of War was for the Xbox 360. The single-player campaign is thus locked at 30FPS, while the multiplayer side of the game will be a much smoother 60FPS experience.

During the recent IGN Podcast, The Coalition boss Rod Fergusson explained: "It's a notion of wanting to make, to push, the visuals as hard as possible in the campaign, and there are also other aspects. When you look at your framerate, there are of the number of elements that go into it, part of it is rendered".

Even with the new updates, I have a love-hate relationship with Bungie's MMOFPS Destiny, but one thing I've always admired is the game's visual flair. Destiny has always spun that critical illusion of sci-fi futurism, which is in no small way due to the game's impressive user interface. Now we get to see how the UI looked in the game's early stages, and it's quite amazing.

At GDC 2016, Bungie's UI Design Lead David Candland gave a talk entitled Tenacious Design and The Interface of Destiny. In it Candland revealed how Destiny would have looked if Bungie followed their early prototypes--colorful, unique, eye-catching. Totally unlike the casual-friendly design we see today. Everything was different--character panes, inventory screens, reputation lists, the Director scheme, and vendors all had their stylish look.

Hopefully Bungie will revert to their past styles at some point for Destiny. Maybe with Destiny 2 will get a neat visual overhaul. It's really interesting to see all the intersecting points and possible shapes the game could have taken, especially given how drab--yet clean--the current UI looks. While we're on the subject of what could have been, when will Destiny get those awesome huge frogs as depicted in early concept art?

Technology really is awesome, isn't it? Homebrewers and hackers have done all sorts of amazing things like getting DOOM to run on an ATM. Now that same spirit has brought Counter-Strike 1.6 to Android phones.

That's right, you can now play one of the most coveted and beloved shooters in existence, Counter-Strike 1.6, on your Android phone. It's a straight port over to Android, so you'll be playing the authentic flavor of CS 1.6 on your mobile.

Sure the screen is pretty much filled with touchscreen icons, and we can only imagine how janky it is to play a frenetic shooter on a phone, but you can also pop in an OTG cable for controller support. Given the flexibility of Android, you could probably even get mouse and keyboard action in as well for an extra nerd bonus.

FCC filings posted earlier this week outed the existence of a Xbox One refresh, possibly the rumored Xbox One Slim. Now Anatel (Brazil's version of the FCC) has published pictures of the new console's wireless card, giving even more inference on the upcoming console refresh.

Although the FCC has locked specific details of the new tech behind an NDA, Brazil's Anatel posted the pictures online. The new wireless card's 1683 model number matches those found in the FCC filings and identifies the device as the new Xbox One's 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2T2R dual-band wireless LAN radio. We've included a side-by-side slide so you can compare the new chip with the current Xbox One model.

Since the FCC's embargo lifts on June 25, Microsoft is expected to formally unveil the new Xbox One console at E3 2016 in June. Rumblings in the industry speculate that the new revised console could be an Xbox One Slim--a thin, digital-only set-top box for game streaming. As far as console upgrades go, Microsoft doesn't believe in mid-cycle upgrades: they don't want to take half-steps, but instead full-steps with dramatically improved hardware.

I didn't grow up with very many Dragonball Z games as a kid--I still remember buying a converter chip to play Dragonball GT: Final Bout. In today's age we have Budokai and Xenoverse, and even fans are creating their own dream Dragonball fighters. The latest example is Dragonball: Unreal, a new fan-made game built with the power of Unreal Engine 4.

The footage for Dragonball: Unreal is pretty impressive, and shows off what fans can do with enough dedication. We've seen a ton of classics get revitalized with UE4, including the dazzling Ocarina of Time rendition, Nintendo's immortal icon Mario, and even BioWare's cult classic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

I think just about every Dragonball fan would play this game if it were ever released. Of course, I think the project would get shut down right away by Bandai Namco, but we can dream, can't we? A full-fledged Dragonball GT game would be great, especially one that features the fabled SSJ5 Goku...

Fallout 4's new Wasteland Workshop DLC adds in the ability to make your very own Thunderdome battles, but you'll need to know some basics before you get started.

Since Bethesd didn't exactly optimize things too well, building your own arena in Wasteland Workshop can be a time-consuming affair. We show you some helpful tricks and tips you can use on the PC version of Fallout 4, but if you're on console, these battles are going to take some careful time and planning. That being said, you absolutely can create some rather epic sequences on consoles, and now PS4 and Xbox One players can take part in the epic NPC wars that were previously locked off to PC gamers.

The Wasteland Workshop's arena is pretty much like the Combat Zone, and gives players the chance to set up post-apocalyptic gladiator matches. Players get to full customize their own rings with a ton of devious traps and the like, offering even more hilarity to the mix. We'll show you the materials and objects you should use to fortify your ring, and run you through the process so you're not spending too much time on the basics. Throw in some Deathclaw cages to add some chaotic flavor to the battles, or maybe even make your very own blood ring with dozens upon dozens of cages.

Fallout 4's console commands are tons of fun. In the past, we've shown you how to make your own epic wide-scale Fallout 4 battles like you see on Cosmic Contrian's YouTube channel, and now we've discovered another awesome tidbit: how to shrink or gigantify your character.

Fallout 4's "setscale" console command arms you with your very own shrinking ray. Now you can experience the glee in making anything--or anyone--the size of a toy. Want your very own collection of cute robots? Zap 'em down to scale! Tired of Preston Garvey bothering you every two seconds? Make him into a miniature and you won't even see him. Conversely, you can also blow things up to epic giant-sized proportions, including NPCs, enemies, and even yourself. That's right, you can shrink and even gigantify yourself.

The best part about using the "setscale" command on yourself is that your HUD scales with your size. This means you'll actually see through the eyes of a hulking city-smashing, Godzilla-sized monster, or run around like a shrunken casualty from Honey I Shrunk the Kids. This feature has so much potential--you can zap the entire town of Diamond City and make them ultra tiny, or play the game as a mini-mouse hero. You could even replicate Super Mario Bros. 3 style platforming action by making your own levels, especially with the new Wasteland Workshop traps.

The open beta of DOOM is finally here, with various publications running their tests, including GamingBolt. The site reports that the PS4 version of DOOM runs at a dynamic resolution of 1600x1080 to 1920x1080, while the Xbox One varies from the super-low 1350x1080 to 1920x1080.

The one good thing that the console versions of DOOM have going for it, is that they both run at 60FPS, with the PS4 version managing to "hold a stable 60FPS" most of the time. GamingBolt reports that it "definitely drops" below 60FPS, but "compared to the Xbox One, it's far more stable".

Both versions of DOOM on the consoles suffer from screen tearing, which happens when the id Tech engine runs out of resources required to hit the constant 60FPS mark. GamingBolt reports that "it isn't as bad as RAGE", but it can "definitely be noticed on the console versions".

With DOOM's open multplayer beta in full swing, id Software today announced that the upcoming shooter will have an unlocked frame rate on PC.

"Happy that we announced FPS unlock officially - code team been working hard on eradicating that for #PCMASTERRACE <3," id Software's Tiago Sousa wrote on Twitter, confirming that the studio's new OpenGL/Vulkan-powered id Tech 6 game engine will enable frame rate unlocking on all the games it powers, including DOOM.

id Software originally planned to hit 1080p 60FPS across all platforms, and based on this new announcement, it looks like the team was able to hit their goal. As far as a technical perspective, early DOOM benchmarks saw AMD's Radeon cards smash NVIDIA's GTX lineup in 1080p, 1440p and 4K.

We only recently reported that Nintendo's next-gen console would be faster than the PS4 by a 'noticeable amount', but what APU or GPU would be powering the NX console? An AMD chip, of course.

AMD is powering all of the consoles right now, with APUs inside of the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Wii U. The next-gen Nintendo NX console being powered by an APU or GPU from AMD comes as no surprise, but it'll be interesting if it's powered by their next-gen 14nm Polaris architecture.

During the RTG event in Sonoma late last year, I actually asked AMD that question - whether their new GPU would power any next-gen consoles. AMD said they couldn't elaborate, but it makes sense. 14nm provides a cooler operating system, with an improved punch in performance, and less power draw - another notch on the belt of reduced heat, and noise.

Can you believe it has been 12 years since Doom 3 was released? Yeah. Well, Clear_strelok has created Doom 3: Redux, which overhauls the graphics from Doom 3, and introduces an FOV slider, and restores cut content.

The new Doom 3: Redux is based on sikkpin's Sikkmod, and is joined by Wulfen's and Monoxead's texture packs: "Redux is being built on improved versions of sikkpin's Sikkmod along with Wulfen's and Monoxead's amazing textures packs. These mods have been used in other compilations before, but as they often change the same material and textures files, they conflict with each other and this creates a lot of visual issues that never seem to have been addressed properly".

Doom 3: Redux includes new graphics settings which can be adjusted, including different levels of texture quality, an FOV slider, different types of anti-aliasing methods, modern resolutions, and more. You can download Doom 3: Redux right here.

From Software knows that PC players are experiencing some game-breaking issues that are making the game more difficult to play. It certainly wasn't the best launch a PC game has had this year, but not the worst by a long shot. A new patch is coming this Monday, but it isn't really fixing much at all. Instead, it almost feels like a slap in the face, as if they forgot about the substantial issues that plague the game.

The patch notes are very short for Dark Souls 3 version 1.03.1. They only mention adjusting performance for weapons, fixing issues that prevented the use of some items after clearing the game and "General balance adjustments and bug fixes." Though patching major issues is no small feat, perhaps a list of what they've acknowledged exist and are actively working on, even in general terms, would help to satiate the desire of the community to know what's going on. Communication post-release, after all, is a key ingredient in building a franchise.

Dark Souls 3 has been hotly anticipated since it was announced. The visual upgrades alone make it a fantastic thing to just look at, but the technical issues have prevented from being enjoyed at all. Crashes are a frequent occurrence and the framerate lock at 60FPS has been an annoyance to those who have the hardware to run it faster. Despite the issues that have occurred at launch, it's still one of the fastest selling PC ported games ever.

Ubisoft is giving gamers a chance to test-drive their latest tactical-driven shooter, Rainbow Six Siege, this weekend, on the PC only. It's completely free-to-play until Sunday, April 17th at 1PM PT. And if you happen to really enjoy yourself, they're letting you buy it outright with a 33% discount.

You can find the offer on both Steam and Uplay, which is needed to play it anyway, where you can start the ~32GB download. If you do decide to buy the game, then all of that hard earned progress will carry over, too, so you won't be starting completely fresh. This isn't the only free-to-play game that's making an appearance this weekend, with the Doom open multiplayer beta taking place this weekend as well as Star Citizen also offering a free fly promotion over the weekend.

Rainbow Six Siege is turning into a very competitive shooter that could eventually come to the forefront of competitive gaming. Ubisoft has announced a second competitive season for their Rainbow Six Pro League, which will start on June 2nd, only on PC. They've added a $150,000 prize for the new season, upping the stakes a bit. The first season is still ongoing with the championship tournament, and $50,000, happening on May 7th in Cologne, Germany. They're very determined to have this game be one of the next great eSport games, which it's actually perfectly suited to, given the large emphasis on teamwork and strategy involved. Even if you're not into eSports, it's turning into a very good shooter in it's own right, despite it being multiplayer only.

Red Dead Redemption 2's in-game map has reportedly been leaked onto the net, revealing that the upcoming sequel will actually be a prequel.

Just last month we reported on a rumor that Read Dead Redemption 2: Legends of the Old West would be released in 2017, and that it'd feature a "much bigger open world". Now Red Dead Redemption 2's in-game map has been leaked on NeoGAF, corroborating the claims of the huge open world and revealing some key details about the upcoming game.

Techradar reports that the map is indeed genuine, saying that the image is a "very recent" copy drafted up by Rockstar's art department. Their source even divulged that the game--dubbed Legends of the Old West--will be set before the events of Red Dead Redemption. The lower left-hand section of the map links with the original game's upper right-hand section, with the Great Plains and the Blackwater settlement serving as the juncture point between the two world zones. You can compare the two maps with the slider below.

As should be expected, the new Ghostbusters movie has spurred the development of a new game to coincide with its release. If the movies trailers weren't too scary for ya, then this should be just fine for viewing. The new game from Activision is coming out for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and the PC on July 15th.

This is technically the sixth game from the ghost busting franchise, putting you in the shoes of some fresh parapsychologists during a new adventure that's set after the events that happen in the new movie. Each of the characters you have in your party, a total of four, will have their own personalities, strengths and should, therefore, play differently. It's up to you to devise the best strategy to use them. Team tactics will win the day, at least more efficiently anyway. Activision is including a cooperative mode, too, so you can profess your lack of apprehension for phantasmal beings to each other.

The party is supposed to start on July 15th on the PS4, Xbox One and the PC (via Steam). The trailer shows an isometric 3D game dissimilar to the last one, though it looks challenging enough. The franchise might not need another game just yet, but we're going to get it. Hopefully, the humor is spot on.

One of the great things about Elite: Dangerous is the commitment that the developer, Frontier Developments, has when it comes to continuing to expand the galaxy. Sure, it didn't quite release with everything under the sun, but it's getting it in slow and deliberate expansion packs. The next one, an Engineers expansion, is entering beta starting the first week of May.

Just like the name would imply, this expansion adds in a new career field, the engineer, which are being described as shifty-eyed technical experts that work behind the scenes, in a secretive way to improve and tune ships to their maximum potential. But mostly it's going to add in a new crafting mechanism and a loot system. You'll eventually be able to modify nearly any stat of an item. Beta testers will get a chance to take it for a spin first, of course,

That is available for Horizon's season pass holders, but they will have version 1.6 that's coming to all players, even those that still don't want to slam, or land with menace, into planets. 1.6 is going to have a completely revamped mission system that, while not detailed in full, should please players as it's been modeled from player feedback. 1.6 will enter a closed beta at the same time that 2.1, or Engineers, does.

The Minecraft phenomenon is just as strong today as it was back in 2011--arguably even more so--and continues its trend of titanic sales across the globe, raking in an astronomical 10,000 copies sold with every passing day.

According to a new write-up in the New York Times, the mega-blockbuster block-based indie hit Minecraft sells 10,000 copies a day. No, really. Ten thousand copies a day. Since we know that Minecraft retails for about $27 on PC, a quick bit of math reveals that Microsoft pulls in $270,000 every day just from this single property.

"Today Minecraft costs $27 and sells 10,000 copies a day. (It's still popular across all age groups; according to Microsoft, the average player is between 28 and 29, and women make up nearly 40 percent of all players)," the NYT wrote in the report.