Gaming - Page 1049

Another day, another game with problems because of consoles. This time, it's Kingdom Come: Deliverance, from Warhorse Studios - which is expected to hit the PC in the summer.

Well, the developer is talks with publishers, and it looks like the PC version of the game might be held back to accommodate the release of the console version of the game. Warhorse Studios' PR manager, Tobias Stolz-Zwiling talked with Eurogamer, where he said: "The idea was to release the game in the summer and then to follow up with the console versions. Right now we are still indie developers but we are in negotiations with publishers to, well, we need someone to bring the games into the shops, so we need a distributor, and he kind of wants us to synch it with the console versions. We are still in negotiations, we will see".

Tobias continued, adding: "Best case for you will be summer this year for the PC version and then with the follow-up for consoles; or if the publisher wants us to synch it we will release everything let's say by the end of the year, so we will see about that". So it looks like the PC version could be held back - but it's up to the publisher. With publishers standing in front of the developer, they're going to want to make as much money as possible -as that's their job. Now, if this happens, it means Kingdom Come: Deliverance will be delayed - so that the PC version (which will look way better) won't be released before the console version (which won't look as good). Marketing, yeah.

The nine year-old action RPG Titan Quest: Immortal Throne has received a major update from developer Iron Lore Entertainment, bringing it more in line with current games.

First up: they've removed GameSpy -- shut down since 2014 -- and replaced it with a new multiplayer and lobby system. (A follow-up patch has fixed LAN support, too.) Then on the graphics end, support has been added for 1280x720 resolution, as well as a new shadow mapping rendering technique. Lastly, improvements have been made to shaders and rendering. In short: you can play multiplayer again (without having to use GameSpy, no less), and better visuals.

The update is currently in beta. To access it, follow these steps:

There might be quite a few different survival games to choose from on the marketplace, but you shouldn't confuse The Solus Project with just any run-of-the-mill survival game. In this, it's your task to find a habitable place to keep humanity alive. And this is available in a preview status on the Xbox Live store for $13.49.

You get to move into brave new frontiers to save the human race, which is on the brink of extinction. There's a little bit more at stake than just your making it through the hostile landscape and surviving. You have to set up a colony to welcome the rest of humanity.

And to make it even more unique than the average survival, it isn't just the aggressive aliens that pose a threat, but the entire environment. A constant shifting environment built on Unreal Engine 4 where the world around you goes through changes and you have to find ways to overcome all of those novel challenges. It's available now, though it's not complete and it's an early preview, so be mindful of that. You can download a free preview if you just want to check out what it's about and see how a science-fiction FPS melds with survival game.

Deck 13 has finally released more than just concept art for their upcoming science-fiction version of Lords of the Fallen. The Surge now has two rather promising looking in-game screenshots.

The Surge is the second game from Deck 13 and is going to follow a similar open-world survival type perspective. It's set 60-70 years into the future when technology has turned against us. You'll get to utilize an exo-suit, which upgrades can be crafted for it to suit your play-style. It's not necessarily a military shooter, but you can certainly go in that direction.

You'll be able to harvest the technology of your enemies and mold it into parts for your suit, upgrading them to better survive and take on the various challenges in the world. And like Lords of the Fallen, it's likely to be very difficult.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Far Cry Primal is the number one selling game on the UK sales charts for the period ending on February 27th.

Perhaps it was the setting or even the promise of being able to live a somewhat true-to-life amalgamation of the violent and fearful lifestyle of a prehistoric human that led it to be an instant success. It sold like hotcakes overnight. Coming up close behind is Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, something we expected to do fairly well, and it seems to be meeting expectations thus far.

Interestingly, Street Fighter V sunk down to the number 10 spot, which was previously sitting confidently as the second best selling game since it launched.

Gears of War 4 is coming closer to release, and with that comes a beta test on the Xbox One in the Spring of 2016. If you'd like to secure your place in that beta test then all you have to do is play Gears of War Ultimate Edition while signed-in your Xbox Live account by March 1st. So you only really have a few hours left to make sure you can play it.

Unfortunately we don't have many details about what'll actually be playable in the beta, but we'd imagine the first one will be a multiplayer-centric experience to test the networking backend among other things. A few games that have released recently have had issues when faced with large amounts of players all online at the same time. But of course they'll want to show-off how fantastic the graphics are at this point, since it's set to be a graphical showcase of the Xbox One's capabilities.

If you're interested, it's easy, that is if you happen to own the Ultimate Edition, if not, then you can wait patiently and enjoy watching others navigate the intricicies of the beta test this spring.

Games downloaded and played from the Windows Store seem to be a very limited and poorly executed experience when compared to using other launchers and platforms. The list of limitations are deal-breakers for many gamers, but Microsoft is acknowledging those disadvantages and are working towards updating their home-grown gaming experience.

Mike Ybarra, the Xbox technical director has responded to criticism on Twitter surrounding those features that are lacking, promising to fix the v-sync issue in a future update. One of the more pressing concerns was a lack of SLI or CrossFire compatibility with games from the Windows Store. Ybarra also clarified that support for those technologies works and that each game needs to separately support it. That being said, the profiles for Rise of the Tomb Raider which hasn't been available might not have been added to the Universal Windows Platform version, or NVIDIA's and AMD's drivers don't recognize the store at a lower-level.

This positive news follows similar comments by Phil Spencer about wanting to improve the entire PC gaming sphere from feedback and advice given by players. Behind the scenes, it seems, they're working hard at correctly implementing the features we all want to see, and they definitely have plans to improve.

The creative director for Turn 10 Studios, the developer that's behind the impressive and very popular Forza series of racing games says that we'll see something new about the franchise coming up this March. The information comes at a curious time, shortly after Microsoft announced their initiative to bring gamers on their platforms together, breaking through historic exclusivity-based walls.

The message alone tells us nothing, but previous actions by Microsoft seem to indicate a willingness to bring franchises from the Xbox One to the PC. We're already seeing an interest in making those titles available. Quantum Break is coming to the PC with much enthusiasm, as plenty more titles will eventually make their way to the PC, some even having been significant symbols of the console in the past. But it does make sense to expand to the exclusivity to across both their platforms, if for sales alone. Rise of the Tomb Raider sold nearly three times more than the Xbox One version despite the latter actually be profitable as well. So we might end up seeing news regarding either a historic Forza game coming to the PC or a future game having cross-platform compatibility. It's only natural.

And the advent of Windows 10 across all their disparate platforms, Universal Windows Applications and DirectX 12, it seems that the Xbox One is nothing more than a less powerful PC anyway. As each update is released, it runs more and more PC applications as it is, so why not take that capability and make the whole platform exclusive. It could help grow the entire Microsoft brand and instill more confidence in gamers with graphics that are more adaptive, with a wider selection of graphical options for a variety of levels of systems. Phil Spencer himself has been very adamant about breaking down previous barriers that have been in place, bringing together the two contrary world's. They aren't so different, after all.

Nintendo is going to get some huge attention this year at gaming-related events like Game Developers Conference next month, and E3 later on in the year in June. Their next-gen NX console is reportedly quite powerful, and according to the latest rumors, requires "near-zero modification" of Xbox One and PS4 games to get them working on NX.

The new rumors are coming from Dual Pixels, with some huge detailed spilled on Nintendo's next-gen console. Dual Pixels reports: "I don't have many details on the device itself but I do have some background for it and some PR techniques they will use for it. A thing to note about this device is that much of it's production was started in 2014 and many of the stuff I list here was outlined by the late Satoru Iwata before his passing. Hence in the company, the NX is considered the last project of their late president. Employees since his passing utter a phrase at the end of meetings and during idea brainstorms which is "岩田のために!" which roughly translates 'For Iwata!'".

Now, if you want the full skinny on Nintendo's next-gen console, Dual Pixels has quite the purported scoop. Here's what they had to say in detail: "The importance of this is that this "new" Nintendo is highly motivated in delivering a fantastic system and games, something that I quote from an employee 'have not seen this much forward momentum on a project since they launched the original Famicom'".

Doom is set to be one of the biggest releases of the year, but how will it perform on the ultimate gaming platform? Well, the idTech 6-based game runs entirely on OpenGL, which really changes things up. Why? Because AMD and NVIDIA optimize their drivers and goodies inside for DirectX, and with nearly all games being based on DirectX, id Software is changing things up with Doom.

Early benchmarks using the Doom alpha have been performed by GameGPU, where we see AMD dominating NVIDIA. These benchmarks are from an early build of Doom, without any platform-specific optimizations done, so things will only get better from here on out. As for the specs on the PC running the Doom alpha, this is what was used:

From these specifications, the benchmarks were run at 1080p (1920x1080), 1440p (2560x1440) and 4K (3840x2160). In both benchmarks, AMD dominates completely. AMD hits the 60FPS barrier in both minimum and average frames per second, with nearly all of its high-end and enthusiast GPUs. This includes the R9 290, R9 290X, R9 295X2 (dual-GPU), R9 Fury X, and R9 Nano. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 980 Ti fall behind the R9 290 - which is a strange thing to see indeed.

A new development regarding the trademark dispute between Ubisoft and EA regarding the word "Ghost" in relation to video games has just come up. It seems that EA has completely withdrawn their dispute, "without prejudice," meaning they won't be allowed to pursue legal action in the future regarding this issue.

At the beginning of the month, we found out that Ubisoft had filed a trademark for the word Ghost in conjunction with gaming, to help to identify their Ghost Recon series of games from the mind of Tom Clancy, specifically Ghost Recon: Wildlands. EA filed an opposition to Ubisoft's application on the grounds that their internal studio, Ghost Games was the first to use the word in association with video games.

Now it seems they've resolved to withdraw that opposition entirely, letting the trademark, if it passes through further scrutiny, become Ubisoft's. Because of the association with the trademark, it might have an impact on Ghost Games, forcing them to change their name, or it could have little to no impact depending on how strict Ubisoft is regarding their win. We had thought the battle could be long and drawn out, but it seems to have been completed amicably, which is a surprise.

With the Windows Store-based games not supporting multi-GPUs in games, with Rise of the Tomb Raider being the most recent example, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has come out trying to douse the flames.

Andre Miller (@BigMouthGamer on Twitter) asked Xbox boss Phil Spencer on Twitter: "Are you guys taking steps to resolve these issues? A lot of these limitations are on fundamental features...". Miller makes a very good point, with Spencer replying: "We know lists like this include features PC gamers want to see from us, we appreciate the feedback and have plans to improve".

Spencer didn't provide any details, but the Windows Store-based games having issues that PC gamers shouldn't be putting up with is complete crap - IMO. With the release of Quantum Break from Remedy Entertainment right around the corner, after being an Xbox One exclusive and then announced for the PC recently - I expect there to be multi-GPU support on day one. But Quantum Break is launching on the Windows Store only - so if nothing is fixed between now and then, one of the biggest releases of the year will launch without support for multi-GPUs... and that sucks.

Games launching with crappy multi-GPU scaling have become a new thing, with Street Fighter V launching with SLI and Crossfire support being KO'd.

Well, thanks to some users tinkering around with the NVIDIA Inspector Tool, you can find the game profile for "Street Fighter V" and do some changes to the SLI compatability bits (0x000000F5). DSOGaming ran Street Fighter V with the SLI fix on their NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 card (a dual-GPU) resulting in around 98% scaling.

Before they applied the SLI fix, the GTX 690 wasn't powerful enough to run Street Fighter V at 4K, anywhere near 60FPS. After that, the performance scales much higher and you can get closer to 4K 60FPS - especially on faster cards in SLI.

The ESA has just published the full list of E3 2016 exhibitors, giving us a nice prelude to what the show has to offer in June.

All of the biggest publishers, developers, and console-makers will be at this year's E3. The Big Three--Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo--will take the stage in full force, debuting their respective hardware and content. We'll probably see Nintendo tease some new details on its mysterious cross-platform NX console, and Sony will definitely discuss its PlayStation VR hardware. Microsoft, on the other hand, will most likely push its new Windows-centric Xbox-and-PC approach--but hopefully we'll see them address the awful Windows Store.

One of the more interesting about the list is that CD Projekt RED is showing up. The Witcher 3's latest Blood and Wine expansion is set to release before the show, so we'll probably see some new Cyberpunk 2077 action. Oculus will show up to tout its Oculus Rift headset, but HTC is absent. However you slice it, this year's E3 looks super exciting.

After Phoenix Credits were spotted in a recent Division video from Arekkz, gamers were alarmed that the shooter would be laden with microtransactions. Ubisoft affirms that this isn't the case, and The Division won't have any paid currency options to buy in-game items.

Although online games like The Division are prime territory for paid content schemes, Ubisoft Community Manager Natchai Stapper has officially confirmed that the online pre-apocalyptic shooter is microtransaction-free.

"There will be no microtransactions, and definitely no P2W," Stapper said in a recent Tweet regarding the game's mysterious Phoenix Credits. Although Stapper says paid currency is out, he didn't reveal what Phoenix Credits actually are, saying that "we'll communicate on this later, but don't worry." This directly clashes with the game's PSN page which clearly states "optional in-game purchases" are included.

Ubisoft's anticipated MMOFPS The Division is almost here, and gamers are avidly looking for any scraps of info ahead of the game's release. As it turns out, the beta tests were small morsels compared to the hearty meal of the full game, and the final release will hold some pretty key differences.

Redditor aGreatGambino has compiled a massive list that clarifies major differences between The Division's beta tests and the finished game we'll play in March. Gambino sifted through over 12 hours of past dev streams and footage to compile the info, which has been seen by thousands of gamers.

The list is a nice compendium that answers a lot of our questions and gives a better idea of how The Division will be at launch. For example, the game won't start out in Manhattan. There will be a prologue phase that bridges the story gap from the beta. The RPG mechanics will be much more dynamic, too. Players can equip up to two skills with a signature skill, and beef up stats and abilities with talents and perks. Be sure to check below for the full list, and we'll probably see Ubisoft spill more details before The Division's launch on March 8.

Some new evidence has surfaced that points towards the release of Nintendo's NX and even the next Legend of Zelda game sometime by the end of this year. A user on NeoGAF that goes by the username Trevelyan9999 spoke about having heard from someone reliable who's close to the information that we'll be seeing those soon.

The information stems from an internal US marketing budget and scheduling overview that has listed on dates of the projected release for both the NX and the new Zelda game, which will apparently be released on both consoles very close to the same date.

Such information would be dismissed at first glance if it weren't for a few key, yet slight details that they're also able to provide. The report by Trevelyan9999 which showed up at the beginning of the week also mentioned a 20th anniversary Pokemon game, which was indeed revealed. The codename mentioned in their post was Niji, which also happened to be the initial filename for the logo images released by Nintendo, as uncovered by Gematsu. The codename for these anniversary games has never been discussed or mentioned before, giving credence to the information at hand. It's unlikely that anyone that isn't close to Nintendo would have known that.

Gabe Newell has fired the production company and host of the $3 million DOTA 2 Shanghai Major competition, with host James "2G" Harding taking to Twitter announcing he'd been dismissed of his hosting duties, and that it was "Valve's decision".

The reason? There were several major technical issues, and questions raised over the dismissal of Harding for the English-language coverage of its group stages. This forced Valve boss Gabe Newell to step in and address it directly. As for the issues, it included major technical issues both on-set, and in-game. The hosts had mic levels that were either too quiet to hear or were cut completely. Harding was reportedly looking awkwardly at the wrong camera, and speaking to the on-set director to get the camera pointed where he wanted.

Harding "rambled self-deprecatingly about how little he knew or understood about Dota 2's current balance and accepted strategies, or meta, and sometimes insulted teams participating in the major or the players on them", reports Polygon. It gets worse, though. During the live match coverage, it was interrupted for various reasons. Medical reasons caused delays, with others going for hours at a time without explanation. The competition had multiple complete connection failures for the English-language streams, on both Twitch and DOTA 2's official website.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a long way towards being finished, but the CD PROJEKT Red has already decided to bring back the composer who made the great soundtrack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Speaking to Gamepressure, Marcin Przybylowicz revealed that he's already been playing around with ideas for the music for Cyberpunk 2077, because well, that's apparently his in his job description and being the house sound designer, he's just the man to do it. "My superiors already force me to do it, because I spend most of my time with Geralt; however, some first attempts with Cyberpunk were already made."

Aside from being "forced" by his superiors, he's incredibly talented and his unique style and methods will probably make for a great soundscape in the upcoming game. He was not, however, the only composer to work on The Witcher 3 though. Pedro Macedo Camacho composed the main theme, and is also the Star Citizen soundtrack composer as well.

A new cinematic trailer for The Descendant was just released and it shows how horrifying and terribly difficult life could be in the future should we seal our own fate with a man-made extinction-level event.

But never fear, because we're put people in stasis so they can live on and sustain the human race once everything boils over. This narrative-driven point-and-click adventure is rife with a story and a vast mystery that has to be solved. You're one of the Descendants, supposedly chosen to carry the torch for humanity in the future, and when you awake to explore the Ark you've been placed in cryogenic storage in, there's a lot of unanswered questions to seek the truth to.

The first of five total episodes is set to go live on March 24th with the rest being released gradually throughout the year. So you'll be exploring Ark-01, where you wake up, with plenty of puzzles to solve and try to rescue survivors as Donnie. You'll get to experience events in the past as well as "current" day events while you investigate. An incredibly fascinating concept, to be sure.