Gaming - Page 1046

He-Man is likely one of the most iconic action heroes of our time. Not just historically, but even currently. The most powerful man in the universe has survived extinction since 1976, appealing to the imagination of multiple generations by being both generic and providing a true sense of wonder. That's why He-Man, and of course She-Ra, should have their own modern open-world RPG.

Prince Adam of Eternia, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, is a symbol of strength, integrity and of purposeful action. Underneath that gorgeous blonde bowl-cut is a complex and admirable individual that we can all relate to. Though we ourselves may not have the powah like he does. The character himself, He-Man the Master of the Universe, is a very well constructed character, with a rich back-story and surprisingly elaborate relationships with the other characters. He would be perfect for a protagonist in his own open-world fantasy RPG.

He-Man has been revived twice already, evolving and becoming an even more iconic character for both children and adults alike. Us in the older generations that remember the original cartoon might still find enjoyment in the silly yet stimulating narratives. Stopping Skeletor and hearing his hilarious one-liners were always a highlight of my childhood. Remember how silly yet elaborate flamboyant Cringer was/is?

When Remedy Games trademarked "Alan Wake: The Return", the gaming world flipped out--it looked like we'd finally get the Alan Wake sequel we've been waiting on for ages. Sadly, Remedy has stepped in to squash the hype.

Alan Wake: The Return isn't a sequel, it's just a spoof serial TV show that'll be featured within Quantum Break's live-action segments. Basically, Remedy is having fun overlapping the two franchises in a metaphysical way--think of the recurring Invitation to Love TV serial in Twin Peaks, or the Lords and Ladies show in Max Payne. In Quantum Break's universe, Alan Wake is just a television show instead of a real-life person.

So why the trademark? According to Remedy's Sam Lake, the team had to cover all the bases. "A big part of the trademarking process all in all is the legalities of it and just making sure everything is covered. So, there's no real news about anything future Alan Wake-related."

It's no secret that there's a general, and seemingly persistent, level of saltiness in the air when it comes to gaming. Positivity exists, but it's not as prevalent as it should, or could be. Akamai has your back, and they're working towards finding a solution to your problems, making gaming the fun past time that it should be.

We all get frustrated with gaming at one point of another, with issues or problems that are out of our own hands that can eventually contribute to that feeling of disappointment that leads to abandoning a once enjoyable game. The player experience is a very important aspect of gaming, and it extends through the entire process, from signing up to play, downloading the game to the core mechanics inside. Perhaps one of the most

Akamai is no stranger to the gaming community. They happen to have close ties with around 23 of the top 25 gaming companies around the world. They're the force behind the delivery of a lot of the content that you consume, so for their business to be successful, they need to know and understand precisely what's frustrating us and driving us away from games. In fact, it's been found that something as simple as removing a "play" button on the games launcher can lead to a 10% different in people who continue through to actually play. Those small changes can inevitably lead to huge jumps in the quality of life, things that gamers may unconsciously be prejudiced against.

Star Fox Zero didn't quite get the fan reaction that Nintendo was looking for when it was revealed at E3 in 2015. It was missing an important ingredient that just didn't make it as attractive a game as it probably, by rights, should be. It's Star Fox, at its core is an enjoyable arcade shooter with an over the top story and lovable characters.

The Star Fox they showed wasn't any of that. In fact, according to the developer, Platinum, the game on screen at E3 was the result of a few experiments with the Wii U controller and a screen. It ended up being themed on the famous fox, but it wasn't really what we know deep down to be Star Fox. It sucked.

Nintendo and Platinum have listened to the criticism, and have realized the mistakes that they made when handling one of their most precious IP's . People wanted something where strategy was an important part of the premise, where the look and feel was classic, yet updated. And they've gone and done that. Just in time too, for the April 22nd release date. Miyamoto assures us that Star Fox Zero will be precisely what fans are looking for.

Up until now, No Man's Sky has been quite a mystery. When the game was revealed it built up tons of hype, but as time went by, myself and tons of other gamers started getting nervous. We had so many questions, and hardly any of them were getting answered. Luckily, Hello Games has blown the lid off of No Man's Sky and peeled back the game's many layers to reveal the juicy tidbits within.

Hello Games recently let various press outlets try out No Man's Sky, and while we weren't selected for the demo tests, we can still glean a ton of info from the coverage. As a die-hard fan of the game, I'm quite curious to find out what exactly we can do in the game, and I decided to put together this list.

By no means is this a definitive or comprehensive charting of the game's full content--it's meant to be a guide more than anything, so you can get an idea of the scope of No Man's Sky.

Star Citizen's latest update has just hit the public servers, bringing it up to version alpha 2.2. This update adds new playable ships, fixes a lot of bugs and glitches that have been found during the PTU sessions and adds a new reputation system that also brings a bounty reward system to the game.

The reputation system is one of the biggest changes they've added. It adds a sort of "monitored" area of space, where your actions, good or bad, can result in consequences. So if you're one of those griefers that wants to blow up an innocent pilots ship while they're trying to fix a comm array, you become a wanted man/woman.

They are five levels of criminals and each one carries with it an increasing length of time-out before being able to respawn When a person does enough terrible, grief-ridden things in the server, then all the players there can get a special reward for vaping the wanted criminal. And that person gets ejected from the server as a punishment. There's been some community issues, people being terrible to other players inside.

Let's face it, the Doom reboot has some audaciously bad box art. It's so bad that everyone thought it was just a placeholder image rather than the finished product. Bethesda and id have heard the call from fans, and soon we'll be able to vote for the kind of demon-slaying chaos that belongs on a Doom box.

Bethesda revealed two new box art images on the Doom Twitter account, saying that polls for voting will open up soon. Both pieces of artwork were designed in-house by id Software, and it shows: they're so deliciously devilish and match the brutality of the franchise.

The first box art image is my favorite--it's a throwback to the original artwork that made Doom an infamous game that our mother's cringed back in the 90's. The second one is rather simple but effective. It's something I'd expect to see on the halls of a dark, blasphemous fane where black-cloaked Satanists enact terrible rituals.

The planet of Faykreed from the upcoming Star Ocean doesn't seem to have the brightest of futures. The denizens are of the underdeveloped planet are under attack by something dark and menacing that seems to be unstoppable.

The heroes of Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness will have to make some tough decisions to save the world, and it's all being set up rather dramatically, and epically in this new trailer. It also reveals that a young girl by the name of Relia seems to hold to key to the story.

The trailer seems to be completely in-game, showing off the progress they've made with the graphics. This is also the first time that we get to hear the English voice actors as they take on the roles of their characters.

The momentum for Splatoon seems to have settled just a bit. Out of the gate it was an extremely popular game, and for good reason. It was a somewhat less violent (well, different in it's display of violence) third person shooter that let you shoot huge gobs of paint at your friends. Nintendo is definitely not neglecting this exclusive, either. They've announced plans for more free updates coming this year.

The first update will improve all of the less-popular abilities, such as "Cold Blooded" and others. There'll also be some changes to the ranked matchmaking and they're planning on putting in some new stuff for their Splatfest events. This update will be out on Tuesday, March 8th.

In two more future free updates Nintendo wants to add a few new weapons that also include some cool variations on some of the more popular ink-shooting weapons. We should be seeing those updates starting in April. It's really nice to see them stick to adding free content. Splatoon might have had a slow start, but once people actually play it, it grows on you pretty fast.

But only to the New 3DS. Older 3DS owners are left in the dust and won't have access to the SNES titles coming to the Virtual Console. For those that do have the newest model, they'll be able to enjoy a fairly good-sized catalog of games that originally were released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

During the Nintendo Direct yesterday, they were proud to announce that they'll be rolling out a number of new titles to the Virtual Console. Super Mario World, F-Zero and Pilot Wings will be available starting yesterday (March 3rd) while Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Kart and Earthbound will make an appearance on March 24th and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country 2 will all be available on April 14th.

Even though the games are also currently available on the Wii U's Virtual Console, there isn't a cross-buy mechanism in place. You'll have to buy each version separately.

Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney is calling for gamers and the industry to fight against Microsoft's oppressive new push into PC gaming, calling it a "closed platform" that monopolizes PC gaming as a whole.

Sweeney recently wrote a scathing op-ed on The Guardian, calling Microsoft out for its Universal Windows Platform (UWP) ecosystem

"With its new Universal Windows Platform (UWP) initiative, Microsoft has built a closed platform-within-a-platform into Windows 10, as the first apparent step towards locking down the consumer PC ecosystem and monopolising app distribution and commerce. Microsoft has launched new PC Windows features exclusively in UWP and is effectively telling developers you can use these Windows features only if you submit to the control of our locked-down UWP ecosystem. They're curtailing users' freedom to install full-featured PC software, and subverting the rights of developers and publishers to maintain a direct relationship with their customers."

Just how much does EA make from "extra content" - or DLC, per year? A very cool $1.3 billion, which was revealed by the company during the recent Morgan Stanley investor conference.

EA's Chief Financial Officer, Blake Jorgensen, said: "The extra content business is a billion-three [$1.3 billion] a year. Half of that is roughly our Ultimate Team business". One of the big money spinners for EA is Ultimate Team, which was the biggest contributor to the earnings of EA's extra content category.

Ultimate Team combines the FIFA, Madden and NFL franchises and lets gamers buy, trade and sell player cards for both real, and in-game money. Ultimate Team's mega success is due to human nature, says Jorgensen, where he also added that players will "typically pay money to beat their friends".

Quantum Break is nearly here, and while it looks like it won't support multi-GPU setups out of the box (thanks Windows Store, you suck) - developer Remedy Entertainment has no immediate plans for DLC.

During a chat with RedBull Games, Remedy's Communication Director Thomas Puha was asked if there would be DLC for Quantum Break, where he said the developer has no plans, but it has ideas on how to expand the Quantum Break universe in the future. He said: "There are always plenty of ideas discussed in the initial stages of creating a game - way more than humanly possible to fit into one game".

Puha continued: "That said, we are very happy with what we are shipping, but there have definitely been challenges along the way. We don't have any DLC plans, but that's not to say we don't have plenty of ideas for the future of Quantum Break. Microsoft owns the Quantum Break IP, so its future is up to them. The most important thing for Remedy is that we make the game as awesome as possible, hopefully players like it and we'll see what the future brings".

The Division isn't even out yet, but Ubisoft is already talking about its v1.1 patch - heck, the pre-loading is only just starting. The v1.1 patch for The Division will include a complete overhaul to the appearance menu, visual improvements, and much more. Here's what you can expect:

Tom Clancy's The Division v1.1

Appearance Menu has received a complete overhaul:

The Dwarfs of Warhammer are a much more dynamic species than you'd think. Capable in the arts of diplomacy as much as they are in fighting and engineering. The campaign is no less complex and full of wonder. And the newest developer walkthrough shows off the intricacies of their campaign.

What's interesting is how the tech tree differs quite vastly in the directions you can go. There are two core disciplines, the Way of the Guilds which lets you improve the more domestic-based issues (and help improve your aptitude for diplomacy), such as reducing the nasty vampiric corruption, and then the Way of the Clans branch, which is the war-making section.

One of the best parts of being a Dwarf? Being able to record and settle grudges with enemy and friendly factions. No one gets away with messing you, and it's one of the major parts of playing as a Dwarf. Check out the video, they delve deep into the overall campaign mechanics.

Rumors are floating around the Internet that Nintendo is going to become invested in the future of Beyond Good and Evil. And it might be a launch title for their upcoming NX console.

There's been a persistent buzz about an HD remake of the original coming, something that expands upon the already upgraded PlayStation 3 version that showed up on the PSN. But now Destructoid has received a rumor that points towards a full-fledged sequel being made, courtesy of Nintendo.

That is a game with the working title of Beyond Good and Evil: The Prejudices of Philosophers is apparently in development and the project is being funded by Nintendo. The source is close to the information and has been reliable thus far, so there's no reason to completely doubt the claim.

Nintendo is holding yet another Direct presentation today that's supposed to be all about the future of the Wii U and the 3DS, their beloved consoles. And if you'd like to take a peek at what they'll announce during the event, you can watch it below. It'll kick off today at 2PM PT/5PM ET.

It's no secret that development on the Wii U has slowed down since Nintendo starting talking about their next generation console. The NX has taken up the spotlight, and even some of this years most anticipated games have been delayed. The next Legend of Zelda might even end up being a launch game due to its release window.

With the huge news that No Man's Sky is launching on June 21 on PS4 and PC, Hello Games has opened up pre-orders across a ton of storefronts.

No Man's Sky will be priced as a fully-fledged AAA game at $59.99, and is now up for pre-order at Steam, GOG.com, and the PlayStation Store. A retail PS4 version will also be available in stores for $59.99, along with a physical limited edition bundle that includes a bunch of goodies (check below for a full list).

If you pre-order No Man's Sky on PC you'll get access to the Horizon Omega Pack, which boosts your spaceship. "Kickstart your adventure in No Man's Sky's vast, mysterious universe with the Horizon Omega ship, equipped with an upgraded hyperdrive and increased firepower to help you travel faster and survive longer on your interstellar journey."

DiRT Rally is one of the best racing games that's ever been created. Not because of the intense realism and well well rendered tracks, but because it's so incredibly fun to play. And the latest trailer shows off some of the slick driving skills from the best drivers in the community.

Codemasters has a thriving community around their DiRT series of games, and Rally is no exception. They asked for people to submit recordings of some of their favorite experiences in the game, and then they put them all together in a professional fan-made showcase of how actual people play and have fun in the game, not just a pre-recorded trailer. And some of these videos show some pretty crazy stunts. Just imagine this but in VR.

The leaks turned out to be right on the money: the hugely anticipated space sim No Man's Sky will release on June 21, 2016 on the PlayStation 4 and PC.

Hello Games' Sean Murray revealed the news on the PlayStation Blog, confirming that No Man's Sky will get its own retail PS4 release. So it looks like No Man's Sky will be $59.99 after all.

"We're excited for you all to play too, and we have some news a lot of you have been guessing at already," Murray wrote. "No Man's Sky will have a full blown Blu-ray retail version! Sony has a history of working closely with indies, and this feels like some sort of culmination of that story. It means more people will have a chance to join us in exploring the universe than ever before. I can't really imagine what it will feel like to walk into a shop and see our game on a shelf."