Gaming - Page 1034

E3 2016 - CD Projekt RED is set to show off a standalone Gwent card game at E3 2016.

Gwent is one of the best things about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The simple-yet-infinitely-complex card game is arguably one of (if not the) most entertaining mini-games of all time, and even gives Final Fantasy VIII's epic Triple Triad a run for its money. Now it looks like CD Projekt RED is taking the epic Witcher past-time to the next level with its own game--but it won't be a physical trading card game, just a video game.

According to Nerd Leaks, the Polish developer has trademarked "Gwent: The Card Game" and an official logo, pretty much ensuring we'll see an E3 reveal. Remember that CD Projekt RED teased a new "experimental game" for 2016, and the Gwent card game is almost assuredly it. I expect to see the Gwent game released on mobiles devices, consoles, and PC, all with online cross-play, but hopefully CDPR won't take the freemium F2P microtransaction approach with the game.

Earlier this week, Blizzard made it known Overwatch's McCree was due for a nerf and D.Va was due for a buff. Turns out the team is looking at the French femme fatale Widowmaker as well.

A forum post asking if the developer is considering toning her down reads, "In both pub matches and competitive play, she is by far the most dominant hero in the game. Multiple factors like too high bodyshot damage, shots that recharge too quickly, SMG that is almost as powerful as S:76's Pulse Rifle, an extremely powerful ultimate that is not clearly announced to the enemy team, etc."

Blizzard game director Jeff Kaplan then responds, "Widowmaker is on our radar. We are discussing her. We have some internal experiments going to see if we can keep her viable while lowering the frustration threshold a little bit. Right now, this is just exploration. If something more comes of it, we'll let you know."

E3 2016 - Sony explains exactly how the new upgraded PlayStation 4K will live alongside the PS4, confirming key features we've been reporting on for some time.

Now that Sony has officially confirmed the new upgraded 4K-ready PlayStation Neo is indeed coming, it's important to understand what the system is and how it'll affect current PS4 owners. The PS4K marks the first step towards the new iterative console cycle, meaning consoles will release every 2-3 years instead of every 5-7 years.

As such, the 4K-ready PS4 Neo will live alongside the existing PS4 instead of replacing it. This effectively means the PS4K will be an optional upgrade over the existing PS4, offering extra features like 4K Blu-ray playback, upscaling 1080p games to 4K, and more hardware to power the PlayStation VR headset. "[The PS4K] is intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4. We will be selling both [consoles] through the life cycle," Sony Interactive Entertainment President Andrew House told Financial Times.

E3 2016 - Sony has officially confirmed the new upgraded PlayStation 4K (PS4 Neo, PS4.5) is in fact real, but it won't be shown at E3 2016.

Sony Interactive Entertainment President Andrew House confirmed the PlayStation 4K's existence in a recent interview with Financial Times, saying the console is targeted at "hardcore gamers", and asserting the "PS4 Neo" will indeed support 4K resolution. The "high-end" PlayStation 4K will be more expensive then the $350 PS4.

House also confirmed the upgraded PS4K won't replace existing PS4s, instead complimenting the systems in a new ecosystem. "It is intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4. We will be selling both [versions] through the life cycle," he said. House went on to announce that the PlayStation 4K will be fully backward compatible with all existing PS4 games, confirming past reports. "All games will support the standard PS4 and we anticipate all or a very large majority of games will also support the high-end PS4," he said.

Just a few days ahead of E3 2016, former Free Radical Design and Crytek developers have announced a PlayStation VR exclusive flying game; How We Soar. The new studio is called Penny Black Studios, and with former Free Radical Design and Crytek developers, we should expect something quite beautiful in How We Soar.

Based on the trailer above, it looks like a truly different genre of game - with similar flight mechanics to Eagle Flight from Ubisoft, which is on the Oculus Rift. The developers tease: "The world that you explore has been created in the mind and memories of 'The Author.' You will travel back and forth between the realms of reality and fantasy with the goal of uncovering the memories hidden within and piecing together the tale of The Author's life".

How We Soar will drop onto the PlayStation VR later this year, just after the PSVR itself launches.

On the heels of Ubisoft's Watch Dogs 2 reveal we spotted footage of seven minutes of gameplay in the funky-fresh hacktivist adventure, giving us a better idea of what an unscripted playthrough feels like.

The interesting thing about this clip is that it was apparently prematurely posted by Eurogamer, but the publication has since made the footage private, most likely because they accidentally broke an NDA. Given the game was just officially announced and revealed yesterday, it's quite soon to show off gameplay previews and the like. With Watch Dogs 2, it looks like Ubisoft has taught an old dog a bunch of new tricks--the sequel is a dramatic improvement over the original game and genuinely looks fun.

In case you need a refresher, we have tons of pictures, info and clips in our everything you need to know about Watch Dogs 2 post. Watch Dogs 2 takes place in San Francisco, with a new African-American hacker named Marcus in the lead. Marcus is quite athletic and uses parkour to move around Silicon Valley, and is able to utilize a wide variety of homebrew weapons and gadgets, from 3D-printed guns to a brutal billiard ball paracord lanyard combo and even remote-controlled drones.

E3 2016 - Renowned games journalist Geoff Keighley (aka Doritos Pope) promises that this year's E3 will be absolutely huge with tons of surprises.

Major E3 conferences are just days away, and the excitement is absolutely electric: we're going to see an entire galaxy of new games and hardware that will push gaming into a new generation. In fact, Geoff Keighley, who will host YouTube Gaming's E3 Live showcase on Monday, June 13 for "12 hours of wall-to-wall gaming," knows the full scope of the reveals and says gamers "aren't ready for what's about to happen."

So what has Keighley seen that's made him so enthusiastic? Probably the new PS4 and Xbox consoles. Sony is expected to show off its new powerful 4K-ready PlayStation Neo console at the event, alongside a retinue of first-party exclusives like The Last Guardian, a new Norse-themed God of War 4, and possibly even The Last of Us 2.

Doom's single player has been praised as a fast-paced, action-packed throwback to the 90s titles that started it all, and for good reason. The multiplayer, on the other hand, has been received with an overall lukewarm response. With no Free-for-all Deathmatch or Capture the Flag mode to speak of, no rentable servers, no server browser, and no SnapMap support, among other criticisms, it's no surprise.

Fortunately, improvements are coming. Pre-launch, developer id only had time for single player and left the rest to Certain Affinity, but now that the game is out and the studio has had its standard post-launch rest, it can put its weight behind the multiplayer. According to an interview with Doom's executive producer and game direction Marty Stratton, there's lots in the works.

"There's certainly no lack of commitment to Doom as a multiplayer game on our side," he said. "We are already working on private matches with custom game settings and expect to include that in a free update this summer."

E3 2016 - Microsoft has officially confirmed that Halo 5: Guardians isn't coming to PC and will stay exclusive to the Xbox One console.

Yesterday we reported on a rumor that Microsoft would drop a bombshell at E3 and bring Halo 5 to Windows 10 PCs. Now Remond has squashed the rumors, saying that Halo 5: Guardians won't ever be available to PC gamers. "Our approach is to deliver epic Halo experiences designed for PC gamers and Windows 10, such as Halo Wars 2 and the recently announced Halo 5: Forge. There are no plans to port Halo 5: Guardians to PC," a Microsoft rep told PC Gamer.

The rumor was substantiated by Microsoft's announcement to bring Halo 5's Forge Mode to PC, allowing gamers to build maps in 4K using the "mouse/keyboard precision of desktop PCs". The rumor gained even more momentum under Microsoft's new Project Helix strategy, which sees the Xbox platform merging with Windows 10 PCs. Under Project Helix, it's believed that all future Xbox One games would also cross-over to PC, and gamers thought that this could perhaps be applied to past games like Halo 5.

UPDATE 2: Thanks to a leaked Xbox store listing we're able to confirm that Destiny's Rise of Iron will raise the Light level cap, The Taken King is required to play the DLC, and the expansion takes up 14GB of free space on Xbox One. Here's the official store description for the DLC, and check below for the leaked store listing:

"Destiny Rise of Iron is the next highly anticipated expansion to the Destiny universe. The wall which stood for centuries along the southern border of Old Russia has collapsed. Fallen mutants now scavenge the tombs of the Golden Age, and the plague they have unearthed in the wastes is more dangerous than even they understand. Join Lord Saladin. Journey into the Plaguelands. Learn the fate of the Iron Lords and stop the growing threat before it is too late."

UPDATE: Activision has taken down the original leaked trailer, but we've found another mirror for the clip. Please excuse the loud dialog at the beginning!

With the swirl of E3 2016 announcements and teases so far, one of the biggest ones is that Halo 5 is reportedly on its way to the PC, according to NeoGAF's industry insider 'Enter the Dragon Punch'.

The rumor teases that 'Enter the Dragon Punch' says "I have it on good authority from multiple sources that Halo 5 will be coming to PC". Most would discredit someone called Enter the Dragon Punch, but this person has been on the mark with several other leaks in the past, including the recent Sunset Overdrive on the PC rumor. It would make sense for Microsoft to release Halo 5 onto the PC, as they own both Xbox and Windows, but will they actually come through and release it well?

We all saw how Quantum Break was released on the PC alongside the Xbox One version, so if Microsoft does end up releasing Halo 5 on the PC, they need to do it in a big way. Far better graphics, tuned controls for the PC, countless graphics options (think DOOM), and more.

FIFA 17 has been announced with the new game powered by the beautiful Frostbite engine, the engine created by EA DICE that has powered Battlefield 4, Star Wars Battlefront, Battlefield Hardline (let's forget about that), Need for Speed, and others.

EA has also detailed some of the different editions of FIFA 17, with a Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition and even a Super Deluxe Edition. FIFA 17 launches on September 29 on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC - but first, here are the details on the three different versions of FIFA 17:

Standard Edition

With E3 2016 literally right around the corner, the rumors of a next-gen Xbox console are being teased once again. According to sources of The Verge, the refreshed Xbox One console will be 40% smaller than the current model, and will reportedly include 4K support of some kind.

Now, I think a refreshed Xbox One makes sense, but I don't think it'll be enough to fight off the purported PlayStation 4.5/4K, which is a faster console. If the refreshed PlayStation arrives and can handle 1080p 60FPS (or 4K 30FPS) gaming alongside PlayStation VR... Microsoft's Xbox One console, and this new, thinner Xbox console, would be finished. But, if the refreshed Xbox is a more capable device, sporting a next-gen Polaris-based design, then Sony could find itself with improved competition from Microsoft. If we consider the upcoming Radeon RX 480 is capable of some serious horsepower with its 150W TDP and $199 price, so maybe we'll see a lower-end Polaris that would power the next-gen Xbox.

Remember that Microsoft has its Windows side of business, and it could potentially partner with Oculus and include Rift support - which will be a huge contender against the PlayStation VR that is launching later this year.

Destiny's new expansion may skip last-gen consoles entirely as Bungie and Activision prepare to thoroughly phase out the PS3 and Xbox 360. If that wasn't enough, you'll have to own The Taken King expansion to play Rise of Iron.

Destiny's new Rise of Iron expansion releases on September 20, 2016, according to leaks from Twitter user @MoreConsole, but what's even more interesting is last-gen versions are missing. This could mean PS3 and Xbox 360 owners are getting edged out of future content for Destiny, and Destiny 2 in 2017 will likely be on current-gen consoles only (and likely PS4K).

What's more is that Rise of Iron will require both Destiny's The Taken King mega-expansion and the base-game in order to play. That's right--The Taken King is basically now Destiny's base game, and you won't be able to play Rise of Iron if you own the regular version. A recent leak from Xbox Singapore also revealed that the Rise of Iron will feature the following:

While the Blood and Wine expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt marks the end of the monstrous and superb game's content, there's still work to be done, as you might expect following a large expansion release.

CD Projekt RED's Community Lead & Website Coordinator Marin Momot confirmed as much on Twitter, stating the "reported major issues" should all be fixed with a new patch that's currently being worked on. There's no ETA for it, but he does say they want it out "as soon as possible."

If you're what they call a "patient gamer", this also means the patch release will likely be the best time to grab the game in its entirety (or now, since it's on sale).

It's been quite some time since Square Enix dropped Kingdom Hearts III info, and fans might have to wait a lot longer for updates.

Square Enix promises that new Kingdom Hearts III announcements are coming "this winter", possibly hinting we won't see any KH3 news or footage at E3 2016.The publisher shared the news at the very end of the new Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 remaster trailer.

Kingdom Hearts Unchained X dev Hironori Okayama affirms that new KH3 updates will come at E3 2016, saying as much in a recent interview with The Koalition. If Okayama said it, then it's likely true, and the winter update could be a release date or new gameplay footage and info.

Ubisoft has officially breathed fresh new vivacious, raw life into the Watch Dogs franchise, culminating in a stylishly comedic open-world game that's completely different from the mournful original.

Today Ubisoft announced Watch Dogs 2, showing off a game that hardly resembles the grim, downgraded port we were given in 2014. The sequel has a distinct youthful spirit of its own, and while AIden Pearce's story left a bad taste in our collective gaming mouths, I for one am starting to get an appetite for Watch Dogs 2. From what we were shown today, Watch Dogs 2 combines a sense of youthful anarchy that sharply contrasts the serious tone of the original, and there's a distinct punkish style that seems to combine Mr. Robot with a modern hipster's style and the devil-may-care, let's-watch-the-world-burn attitude of a punk rocker.

Ubisoft has published three huge videos with pretty much everything you need to know about the game, but we have a nice bullet list of the particulars below for your perusal. Watch Dogs 2 is confirmed to release November 15, 2016 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Eidos Montreal shows off the latest gameplay footage for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, showing off a truly Orwellian future and deep, dynamic and sprawling gameplay.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided as a completely different game from Human Revolution. The world has been entirely segregated; augs are forced to live with one another, and are separated from humankind. Humanity is in a schism, and players will interact with an incredibly vivid and robust in-game world full of possibilities.

The new Pre-E3 footage showcases a ton of different things about Mankind Divided, including gameplay mechanics like the Smart Vision and FPS modes, new weapons like the Stungun, Tesla gun arm, and Nanoblade gun arm (which allows you to throw blades at enemies), aug powers like camo stealth, and just how deep the game's environments are. Players will be able to use almost every bit of their environments to their advantage for maximum tactical efficiency, and nonlethal approaches are much more rewarding this time around.

Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment has split into two different studio teams to work on two different games, but neither of them are Alan Wake.

In a lengthy announcement post, Remedy today revealed what's in store for its future, and Alan Wake nor Max Payne are along for the ride. The studio is working on two unique and new AAA IP's: the first one is a "brand new Remedy game with a new partner," and the second is an "early concept which will turn into a game sometime in the future." These new projects won't be unveiled any time soon, either: Remedy has confirmed it won't show anything at E3 2016 or Gamescom.

The devs were also kind enough to not get Alan Wake fans worked up. "Finally, we feel that it's important to set the expectations right and let you, the fans, know that neither of the two projects currently in development is an Alan Wake game. We're working on something else, but at the same time we're exploring opportunities in other mediums to tell more Alan Wake stories."

UK retailer lists the hotly anticipated Skyrim remaster for a November release, adding more fuel to the rumor fire.

Not so long ago we reported that Bethesda will unveil Skyrim remastered for PS4 and Xbox One will full mod support. Now UK retailer Base.com has listed the "Skyrim Definitive Edition" for a release on November 23, 2016, adding more credence of an E3 reveal.

Bethesda is also expected to reveal even more goodies at their E3 2016 showcase--as if Skyrim remastered wasn't enough--including a Wolfenstein 2 sequel from Machine Games, Prey 2, and The Evil Within 2 from Tango Gameworks. We'll likely also see even more Fallout 4 DLC (yes, there's more!) and possibly DOOM.