Gaming - Page 1036

Although Square Enix's event is only six hours away, the official release date for Final Fantasy 15 has been leaked ahead of schedule.

We've been waiting nearly a decade for this game, and now it has a concrete release date: Final Fantasy 15 is scheduled to launch on September 30 across PS4 and Xbox One. The date was accidentally leaked by a prematurely published GameSpot video, which you can see here.

The game's official demo will also be coming today, and it'll allow gamers to control a younger version of Noctis as he navigates a dream state. Remember that super sad cutscene with Noctis and his father? That's probably what we'll play, and it'll give a huge amount of inference on the character. Don't worry, though--you'll still get to fight.

Titanfall 2 doesn't exactly have big shoes to fill after the first failed to catch on quite like Respawn Entertainment wanted, but the multiplayer only FPS was still a cult hit that ran surprisingly smooth and had a vast, hidden backstory that was largely untouched in the original. There's plenty of opportunity to expand upon the premise, they just have to do it. And it looks like the second installment will be around 30% larger than the original.

The first game had a smaller development staff working on it, around 70 people, Respawn told Develop. But now they're hiring slowly and deliberately to ensure their staff is capable of creating a game that's much larger than before, with the same premise, of course. They have around 90 people working on Titanfall 2, and apparently have more ideas and projects in the works. "We had about 70 developers on the original Titanfall and we currently have about 90 working on the sequel. We expect our new team to grow to a similar size. " That team is likely for their unannounced third-person adventure game that's being directed by Stig Asmussen, of God of War 3 game.

They have big ambitions for the new game, with a large single-player campaign, better character development and a more human and realistic, expanded backstory. Titanfall was magnificent for being based on the Source engine, and hopefully whatever graphics tech they choose is enough to adequately communicate the narrative that's no doubt hiding inside.

Right now you can find the entire Metal Gear Solid series of games discounted fairly nicely in the PlayStation store. Discounts range from 33% on the newest Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to 75% off of Ground Zeroes.

The deep discounts that you can find are only available through Monday, April 4th, and cover all games that are available on the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. Sony and Konami still haven't gotten around to porting all of the franchises games over to be playable via the PlayStation 4, so PS3 or Vita is required for the older ones. But the discounts are still rather fantastic. Check it out, you only have a limited, albeit lengthy, time to get in if you've never played these classic games.

American McGee's Shanghai-based Spicy Horse studio has had to cut their staff by a significant amount, leaving only a core team in place to tend to their projects. That also means that they're switching some of their recently released free-to-play mobile games to a paid model, to help generate revenue.

The news had already spread though American McGee himself took to NeoGaf to explain what's going on with his company. He told his fellow gamers that the rumors of the layoffs were true though they plan on working through the setback and should even have new projects that they'll be announcing very soon.

He continued and expounded on the fact that the current F2P model they're on just isn't quite working, necessitating a change. "The remaining team will continue to support our existing and recently launched mobile F2P titles. As has been mentioned in this thread, the F2P space has become quite brutal in recent years, and after 5 years and 7 titles, I feel it's time we pivot to something new." Overall the setback is a minor one overall. It certainly won't be stopping the creativity inherent in Mr. Mcgee from shining through like it tends to in most circumstances.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D, one of the best arcade-like space shooters of all time, has finally been made available on Steam.

The game was originally released in 1998 on both the PC and the Nintendo 64 to a very excited crowd who seemed to enjoy the good (for the time) graphics coupled with being able to take their beloved starfighters out in a series of dog-fights around a galaxy far far away. The storyline was every bit as Star Wars as you'd expect and the controls were especially responsive on the original version. It spawned several other console games that made it to future Nintendo platforms, but ultimately stopped there.

It became available on GOG just last year, though not without a few problems. It couldn't run certain resolutions without issues and controllers didn't have native compatibility, you had to either use a joystick (which is the proper way to play a flight/space sim anyway) or not play it at all. The Steam version is fairing a bit better with those issues seemingly fixed . You can find it for $9.99 on Steam, and it's just as marvelous as you might have remembered.

In the current slate of games, graphics are good - but nowhere near photo realistic. The best graphics around are found in the latest games like The Division and Rise of the Tomb Raider, but they're multi-platform games built for consoles - with PCs as an afterthought.

What if we had games use the true power of PC, requiring more than one GPU to power photo-realistic gaming? Well, a former DICE 3D artist has teased some of the best environments we've ever seen - powered by Unreal Engine 4. The video is above, and shows environments running in real-time, on UE4, and it looks absolutely insane.

Here are some screenshots that will blow your mind.

A new survey from EA may have given away some particulars about the story for Mass Effect: Andromeda, and it might have something to do with colonialism if the contents of the survey actually hold true. Let us all read these with caution, however.

The survey is one that's being made available online to users for what they're noting could be a possible future and direction for the series. This could either be a way to gauge interest for the present game they're working on, or to help decide the direction of a new series of games based on the same protagonist. Colonization of a distant galaxy is exciting in its own right, however.

We don't know very much about what the game is about, aside from that it'll be taking place not in our home galaxy, so seeing additional details, no matter how fleeting, is rather nice. This survey seems to point towards the human race fighting to establish a new home in a new galaxy against an intelligent alien race, though no specifics (obviously) were given. Survey's like these aren't uncommon to actually see if either their ideas are among the most picked or to establish a direction that they intend to take based on the feedback they receive. So it could be true, or it could be a way to establish where they're going next. This type of survey can also be a way to establish the best way to market to various parts of the world as well.

Killer Instinct, alongside Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, showcase that developers don't care about PC gamers. Killer Instinct's frame rate is locked to monitor refresh rates, so if you have a high refresh rate gaming monitor cranking at 120/144/165Hz - then your game is going to be too fast.

There's a workaround for this however, as you can untie Killer Instinct's refresh rate lock from your monitor. You'll have to set a custom resolution in your display settings, to whatever resolution (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160 and so on) and 60Hz. The ultra-awesome gaming monitors at 120/144/165Hz are usually 2560x1440 native resolutions, so you'll have to lock your high refresh rate to 60Hz - and only for Killer Instinct.

This means you'll have to change resolutions (and refresh rates) for Killer Instinct, but then when you want to play something else like CS:GO, The Division or whatever else - you'll have to go back in and change your resolution and refresh rate from the custom settings to the normal resolution and refresh rate - until the developer updates the game and it'll work without a problem... hopefully.

The Coalition have been quick to update the kind-of-limped release of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, with the third patch now available and adding support for UltraWide resolutions (2560x1080 and 3440x1440), an FPS counter, and much more. Here's what to expect from the new patch:

Steam's no-refunds policy has raised the ire of gamers for years now, but never before have they pissed off a Government. Yesterday, that all changed.

In an Australian court yesterday, Valve's Steam Refund Policy was found to have resulted in "misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations to Australian consumers" in action brought by the Government's competition watchdog, the ACCC.

In an Australian-first, the court decreed that digital goods were just as subject to the same laws that govern the sale of physical goods, and the same consumer laws apply. Speaking on the court victory, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said "The Federal Court's decision reinforces that foreign based businesses selling goods and/or services to Australian consumers can be subject to Australian Consumer Law obligations, including the consumer guarantees".

The resume of a motion capture actress may have inadvertently revealed Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor 2.

According to Nerdleaks, Shadow of Mordor 2 was previously listed on the resume page for Lauren Mary Kim, a seasoned stunt and motion capture actress who's worked on games such as BioShock: Infinite and Elder Scrolls Online. At the time of writing, any mention of the sequel has been scrubbed from the page, possibly indicating that Warner Bros. stepped in to yank the mention.

Due to Shadow of Mordor's cliffhanger ending, it's not exactly a surprise that the game is getting a sequel. The original was praised for its breakthrough Nemesis system and Assassin's Creed-like mechanics, receiving generally favorable reviews. So it's only natural that Warner Bros. and Monolith turn the game into a franchise.

Not every publisher is necessarily on good terms with GOG.com due to the DRM-free nature of the service, but more seem to be warming up to their way of business. 2K Games has decided to start offering their older library of games on GOG.com and are having a sale from now until April 5th to celebrate that decision.

2K Games was (and continues to be) a powerhouse of a publisher that happens to have quite a few different and great franchise under their control. They've decided to start offering their retro-classics in a DRM format for everyone to enjoy, opening up the different ways to play these classics without having to build a retro PC. The sale going on has several different bundles (listed below) from 66-75% off.

Although Ubisoft hasn't officially announce Watch Dogs 2 yet, pre-orders for the sequel are now live on GameStop's UK site.

GameStop UK's Watch Dogs 2 pre-orders don't give us any actual information on the game--the release date is TBC, and stock logos are used for box art--but their existence actually tells us a lot. Pre-orders typically follow a major game reveal, as publishers and devs are keen on raking in as much cash as soon as possible to finance further development. When pre-orders open before the reveals, however, that usually means the announcements will follow soon after. Keep in mind Watch Dogs 2 is only listed on the GameStop UK site.

We can then postulate that Ubisoft will unveil Watch Dogs 2 at this year's E3 expo in June, and open up global pre-orders after the official reveal. Ubisoft has already confirmed that Watch Dogs 2 will launch by 2017, and it'll have significant advantages on PC. AMD recently confirmed that Watch Dogs 2 will tap DirectX 12 and be fully optimized for AMD video cards.

It's only just been a day since three games joined the Xbox One compatibility list, but now one more game is being added, bringing the list up to 141. Major Nelson announced on Twitter that Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 is now playable on the Xbox One.

This means that if you happen to have a copy of the physical disc laying around, you'll be able to pop it in and fire it up once again, or go to the Xbox 360 portion of the Xbox Store and download it if you own a digital copy. This is now the fourth re-release of playable games in two weeks for the Xbox One backwards compatibility program and the second Valve game to join the list.

Microsoft is adamant about bringing as many games as is possible by keeping lines of communication open between them and publishers and developers. Just yesterday Soul Calibur II, Halo Wars and The King of Fighters '98 made it on the list while last week we saw the original Assassin's Creed and Dark Souls also become fully backwards compatible. Performance is looking of these games within the emulated virtual machine seems to be improving from the hiccups that affected earlier games.

UPDATE: Before you download the Survival Mode beta, be sure to back up your save files and disable all PC mods. Bethesda issued an official warning on its community forums, but the actual Survival Mode announcement on Bethesda.net doesn't at all mention mods or backing up saves.

Now that Fallout 4's new Survival Mode is now up on Steam for beta testing, Bethesda reveals the treacherous rigors of the new difficulty.

Fallout 4's new Survival Mode is absolutely grueling. While the new difficulty is far beyond "hard", it'll add a whole new dimension to the game, making players actually think about their decisions and strategies rather than blasting through everything. Bethesda has injected challenge back into the game, and in a way, the Commonwealth has been reborn. Hell, Bethsoft even equates the difficulty to Dark Souls. Check below for a few of the changes you can expect in the new Survival Mode.

The Tomb Raider franchise has turned 20 years old today, and Square Enix, with Crystal Dynamics, are going to be celebrating that milestone with a few special events and activities for the rest of 2016. And they've also partnered with GameChanger Charity to allow you to get the Tomb Raider 2013 reboot just for donating, at least, $1.

The crew behind Tomb Raider plan on kicking off their celebration of the achievement by hosting a few events at PAX East 2016 in Boston this year. Throughout the year, we'll also see more events, giveaways and likely more content for Rise of the Tomb Raider that pays homage to Lara Croft's heritage. She's certainly been quite the icon in gaming, and though games surrounding her haven't always been successful, the Tomb Raider franchise has survived and even thrived despite the hardships encountered.

"Since its introduction, Tomb Raider has held a significant place in video game history, and further cements that with this milestone," said Ron Rosenberg, Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. "We look forward to celebrating with fans, and honoring the iconic Lara Croft with special events, retrospectives, giveaways and other surprises throughout this year of Tomb Raider."

Fallout 4 players have found a curious Easter egg in Fallout 4's Automatron DLC that could point to an E3 2016 announcement.

While scouring The Mechanist's lair, Geeksnack came across a very special Vault-Tec lunchbox. The lunchbox in question has the word (or name) "JUNE" written upon it in colorful letters. As we all know, E3 2016 is held in June, so this could be Bethesda's cute way of hinting that a major Fallout-related announcement will be made at the event. After all, the studio is holding their very own pre-E3 event on June 12.

So what could this mean? I'm thinking if it's a genuine hint, Bethesda will just unveil a concrete release date for Fallout 4 console mods. The studio confirmed that Fallout 4 mods on PS4 and Xbox One may release as early as May, but we still have no actual info on how console mods will work. I expect Bethsoft to unveil the mod infrastructure as well as a release date at their E3 show.

Black Desert Online is already a very large game with more in-game activities than most MMORPG's, but it's about to get a whole lot larger with the Mediah Expansion, which is due out tomorrow.

Daum Games is increasing the size of the world by 30% with the new Mediah region to make for a more diverse dominion with extra room to grow kingdoms and, of course, to show off the rather sophisticated visuals, which just so happen to run quite well on a variety of hardware despite the good looking nature of the home-grown graphics engine. In that new are they've added over 1000 new quests, new guild missions, a Crimson Battlefield that allows for 40v40 skirmishes, new weapons armor and equipment and even new craftable alchemy stones.

So that things aren't too terribly easy in the new region of Mediah, a new boss known as the Kzarka, which is an enormous beast-like character, is hiding and capable of taking on over a hundred high-level players at a time. A world boss, so to speak.

This year's Call of Duty game will reportedly delve deep into the distant future, with ultra-futuristic tech and interstellar combat. In other words, the new Call of Duty could very well take on a Halo-esque approach.

The reports from from NeoGAF posts from industry insider Shinobi602, who claims that the new Call of Duty will be so advanced that Black Ops 3 will "feel like the Stone Age" in comparison. That's a pretty tall order, considering Black Ops 3 had some pretty advanced cybernetic tech. Last year Shinobi was right on the mark about certain Black Ops 3 details, so these claims could be accurate.

Activision has already confirmed that a "new innovative Call of Duty game" is coming this year, but we're not sure if it'll be another sequel or not. Rumors hint that Call of Duty: Ghosts 2 will be released this November, and we can probably expect an official reveal at E3 2016.

Overwatch isn't without its share of criticism, and Blizzard Entertainment has said they're going to remove an in-game victory pose following numerous complaints from fans.

The complaints stem from a pose that has one of the female characters, Tracer, who's described as being an elite and very efficient killer, looking over her shoulder following a victory. Concerns were brought up that the pose is far too provocative for the character given the backstory and the personality that Blizzard is attempting to portray. In particular, a forum member known as Fipps as brought up their concern about this pose merely reducing Tracer into a sex symbol. "It's not fun, its not silly, it has nothing to do with being a fast elite killer. It just reduces Tracer to another bland female sex symbol." Fipps does note that another character, Widowmaker, is partly defined by her sexuality and they aren't looking to change any of her particular poses, which are slightly provocative.

Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan, the game director for Overwatch, replied to the thread and has made the decision to remove the pose from her répertoire of different poses which include other more benign examples. Kaplan states that "The last thing we want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable, under-appreciated or misrepresented." The decision, he later followed up, was one that was largely already made to remove it. They already weren't happy with it's inclusion and had an alternate pose ready that was more representative of the character they're trying to portray.