Gaming - Page 1053

Today we saw the BAFTA Game Awards ceremony kick off in London, where games, their creators and those that participated in the process of making them great had the chance to vie for one of eighteen separate award categories to celebrate 2015's gaming successes.

John Carmack also blessed the stage to receive a Fellowship award for being a pioneer of 3D graphics with his historic and continuing work on video games. He was one of a few that helped to create the first person shooter in the form that we enjoy now. If it weren't for his relentless, rebellious behavior, then we might not quite have the level of graphical fidelity we do now. He isn't the only pioneer in the gaming industry though he's contributed and challenged more than we might give credit for.

There was much more that happened at the awards ceremony today, and below we have listed all the winners from the eighteen different categories that are represented. Rocket League has been well represented in this years BAFTA's for video games, taking quite a few wins while even Batman: Arkham Knight takes home an award for Best British Game, despite much better working alternatives on the list.

Capcom, unfortunately, had to release a statement earlier today saying that they're going to be delaying Resident Evil: Umbrella Corps, the spin-off survival horror third-person shooter, until June 21st.

In the statement, they cite that they need, and want, a bit more time so they can properly optimize the game so that they're able to provide the best experience possible. The time optimizing will mean that performance on the PC will be able to meet, or exceed, the 60FPS target that they're shooting for on both platforms. The longer we wait, potentially the better the game will be when they launch it.

Umbrella Corps is a fast-paced third-person shooter that's set in the Resident Evil universe. It's an online competitive game that lets you play against your friends in that zombie infested world much like Metal Gear Online does for the Metal Gear Solid universe. One of the hallmarks of the game will be the intense customization options for your character. Every time you win a match or defeat enemies (zombies included) you get points that can be used to unlock those different customizable options.

Endless Legend just keeps getting more content, even though as a 4X there's almost limitless replayability already. The new Shifters expansion from Amplitude Studios is out right now on Steam for 25% off and adds a new, interesting, faction and makes the winter a nastier bite to them.

If you thought you mastered the game already, then you'll have to think again, and try again as things become a bit more difficult. Shifters lets you take control of a transient Allayi faction that can literally shift with the seasons, moving from a most appreciative ally to the deadliest faction on the planet Auriga, which they're dedicated to defending. They're magical, and wouldn't you want to be magical too?

Those winters that already had a detrimental effect on your production just got a bit worse. Not only do they do that, but now the cold temperatures can freeze the bodies of water so that you or your enemies can better attack you from. No need to waste those precious turns any longer.

God of War 4 has been as much a myth as the mythology that the previous three were based off of. Someone has leaked what appears to be concept art from a former employee of Santa Monica Studio that may point towards the direction that they're intending on taking the series, off into the realm of Norse mythology.

The concept art itself is fairly typical of what we might imagine a Norse God of War might look like, complete with a muscular and angry deity standing by what look like pieces to the different puzzles you might encounter in such a game. The problem is that these may not necessarily be legitimate. They come from the profile of someone who was an employee, but perhaps only a temporary employee there, which means these could very well be from their personal portfolio instead.

The site that leaked them, Nerd Leaks, is no longer with us, having been hacked into oblivion just after these came live and haven't been heard of since. The Twitter account has also been deleted. But then, that could also speak to the legitimacy of the concept art if someone is upset enough to try to take down the site. And the fact that they haven't returned since, is also an indicator that that the information is real, to some extent. That and the owner might just be afraid from the initial hack to not want to try leaking anything else, something they've been doing for some time now without anything happening to them.

Mechwarrior Online is going pro and entering the eSports world with a bang. Piranha Games has announced that you can sign-up your team to compete in a Mechwarrior Online World Championship with a $100,000 prize pool to vie for.

The regional qualifiers are set to begin this May with the regional finals happening on a date that hasn't quite been set yet in the fall. The final competition will be taking place on December 3rd in Vancouver BC at a large event, the first of its kind, called MechCon. So far they've seen 78 different teams register for the competition. And with $100K on the line, there's likely going to be plenty more signing up too.

Aside from the big prize and few dates, no other details have been announced. What map or game mode will be played during these tournaments isn't known, but it'll encompass the same 8v8 combat matches that last 15 minutes and will be restricted to using the first person view only. The tournaments will be played online, on your own machines, but the final match will have similar hardware specs already set up for everyone to use.

Fable Legends might not be dead after all. It seems that the supposedly cancelled project might live on as an indie project from some of the employees once their contracts with Microsoft proper are up.

MCVUK says that there are three different sources within the former Xbox studio that want to spin-off and actually finish the game, which had been in development for almost three years. They've been told that some of the employees have proposed creating an independent studio and taking the IP in order to finish it. It's not a jump to conclude that those passionate from the project want to finish what they started. MCV noted that there's no offer to purchase the game or the studio itself, but that the staff are being asked if they'd like to continue working on it, or accept a redundancy package so that they can simply leave at the end of April.

The online multiplayer free-to-play game was one of the first to utilize DirectX 12 tech, and had a press-only demo that showed a distinct increase in performance as a result of those advancements. It would be nice for the game in it's multiplayer RPG guise to be finished. It had a lot of promise. When I had a chance to play it last year at E3 and the mechanics were sound, with the cooperative play very engaging. It was fun, it would be a waste for it to just be completely discarded.

The newest gameplay video for Total War: Warhammer is all about Chaos and showing off the extraordinary abilities of the Chaos Warriors as they fight against the Empire, lead by the Emperor, Karl Franz.

This is a first look at the Chaos Warriors that'll be available in-game. We get to see a range of the different Chaos units, from core infantry such as Chaos Marauders and Warriors, to higher-tier monstrosities such as the Chaos Giant and the brutal Hellcannon, which is a horrid instrument of evil which transmutes souls into flesh-searing bolts of arcane energy and hurls them into the enemy ranks.

It's all very well done showcase of not only the differentiation that can be found within the various factions and with the different units, but also once again of the massive battles that we can expect to take part in. There are hundreds of units swarming around on-screen, and though the detail isn't quite the highest in this case, it runs at a smooth 1080P at 60FPS. The ability to zoom in and see the Chaos Marauders smoothly envelope the Empire forces is quite fun to see.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End isn't even fully out just yet, but we're hearing ruminations from the director of the series that we could see a return of Drake, or a continuation of the series at the hands of another developer.

Naughty Dog does want to make clear that Nathan Drake wouldn't be returning to take center-stage, which would inevitably be considered the end of the series, as he is the series and part of the reason why the franchise became as great as it did. Without the main character, would it be Uncharted? Or just some other game with a similar yet slightly related story?

A movie is already in development, despite seeing some setbacks, and there also appears to be a distinct opportunity to continue with Uncharted 5, and the director fo A Thief's End, Neil Druckman, does mention that he'd be very happy if another studio wanted to take over, but only if they were able to actually capture the essence of what makes Uncharted what it is. And without Drake, that essence is harder to emulate. And of course, Naughty Dog would want to play a big part in it's creation to ensure it follows the dictates of the universe they created.

Overwatch has been caught in the midst of some controversy regarding a victory pose that's made by one of the characters, Tracer, late last month. In a bid to better represent the character, as well as appease the angry fans, Blizzard has announced the new victory pose animation, which is pretty much the same thing, with only slight differences.

The new animation is mostly similar though the focus as changed from Tracer's backside to instead be put on her athletic skills as she stands on one leg, on her toes in fact. The original version was more a showcase of the derriere and was said to not accurately represent the character, so it was thus changed today.

The controversy around that victory animation started in a thread where a very astute individual laid their case out regarding why such a pose was not acceptable. It was not necessarily that it was a more overt sexuality-based gesture, but instead that it hadn't anything to do with the actual character. The games director, Jeff Kaplan, replied to that thread, stating that he actually agreed and that the team had another animation that would be better suited.

The new DOOM's multiplayer beta was only available for a limited number of people who pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order, which came out two years ago, so it wasn't exactly a "closed" affair, though it wasn't that inclusive either. Thankfully id Software and Bethesda are about to be open to anyone who dares from April 15th through the 17th.

So far the beta hasn't exactly been the most enjoyed or successful of tests. The general consensus is a a bit mixed about it, likening it either to the fast-paced rocket-powered FPS action of Quake 3 or even comparing it favorably to the Halo franchise, but there's also been plenty of complaints. Specifically when it comes to a lack of PC specific features and how smoothly it runs. This is a beta test, meaning that it won't exactly be the best or final representation of the revitalization of DOOM, but we expect it to at least be somewhat of a showcase. There's also concern that this isn't a DOOM game, and strays from the usual formula that's made it so successful.

Opening up the game to more people will let them test that network infrastructure and any new fixes on a much larger scale, which is good, and something all fans of the originals should at least take a look at, to see for yourself whether it does indeed follow the DOOM idioms of yesteryear, or even those from Doom 3. You'll get to play through two levels and two different modes; Heatwave, Infernal and team deathmatch and warpath respectively.

VR is here to stay and definitely a large part of the future of gaming. Not only can you get more into a game than ever before, but VR is also being used in non-standard ways to help re-define what being a spectator of an eSports match might be. Valve teased what might just be a cool new VR interface for spectating DOTA 2 matches, in VR.

Inside you'll be able to see the game itself unfold right in front of you, but if you happen to look around you then you'll get to interact with the stats for each competitors heroes. It also looks like there's a dynamic map that updates with more info than you could ever possibly need. The whole setup looks very well done and ups the ante for how we watch games. This could just be the beginning of a movement to do similar things for other spectator sports, even other more physical sports too.

Being a part of Steam, this might require the use of the HTC Vive to actually work, but the idea is still incredibly interesting concept. This combined with 360-degree footage of the event might let you transport yourself to the event without actually having to fly all the way out. And it might end up being a better experience the just being there anyway.

Overwatch has been in a beta state for some time now though it's been missing a competitive, ranked system of play a they continue to bring everything online and the game running smoothly. A new patch has been released that'll enable competitive league play, well before the final release.

But how does it work? In a pretty logical way actually. There are different tiers and divisions so that skills are adequately divided and matched to those in the same group; normal matchmaking. In order to queue you'll need to be level 25 and above. Groups will be matched with other groups of similar size, if possible. Really it's normal matchmaking but taking in account the fat that you don't always have to fight in strict group size.

Winning competitive matches will get you some different cosmetic rewards but otherwise, the focus will be solely on winning, or needing to practice and get better so you can win next time. They want you to be able to enjoy the underlying game instead of focusing on winning skins, new weapons or any other rewards. All in all it looks like a very logical and well implemented system.

According to the latest issue of Game Informer, Square Enix says that the new Final Fantasy VII Remake will be made up of a trilogy of three game-discs with 30 hours of content each, totally up to 90 hours of gameplay.

The magazine notes that the Square Enix dev team, which consists of the original Final Fantasy VII developers Yoshinori Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura, and Kazushige Nojima, used the three-part Final Fantasy XIII saga as inspiration for the Remake's release structure. As such, each game will be 30+ hours in length, and make up a three-part trilogy.

Kitase, Nomura, and Nojima also say that they feel they have "full liberty" to add or change the content found in the 1997 original, so the Remake could be quite different from the landmark JRPG that changed the history of gaming. Square Enix has already revealed the new action-based combat system for the FFVII Remake, showing a "dramatic change" from the original's Active Time Battle system. We could see major story plots and elements changed or even nixed, but the devs affirm that they still want to make the fans happy--isn't that the whole point of making the FFVII Remake?

Microsoft today announced that Gears of War 4 will release on October 11, 2016 across Xbox One. A PC version hasn't been officially announced, but it's a possibility.

Xbox spokesperson Major Nelson also revealed that an open Gears of War 4 beta test will be held later this month. If you own the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on Xbox One, you'll get early access to the Gears of War 4 beta on April 18. Xbox LIVE Gold members will get into the beta starting April 25.

Coalition Games has confirmed that Gears of War 4 will have split-screen co-op, but the gameplay will drop down to 30FPS in this mode. "Any way you can play Gears of War you can play split-screen," said Coalition's Rob Fergusson. As for the beta test, Fergusson says that beta will quite impressive: "Honest to God, it's a technical beta," he said. Gears of War 4 will run at 1080p 30FPS in singleplayer, but multiplayer will hit up to 60FPS.

In the latest issue of Game Informer magazine, the publication delves into the mythical world of Final Fantasy 15 to unveil a bunch of new content for the game. From the coverage we know that Final Fantasy 15 will have a dynamic dialogue system that allows players to choose answers and paths to specific scenarios, and the game may react to player choices. Noctis may also receive special status effects based on his dialogue choices, which could affect quest outcomes as well.

There will be over 200 quests in the game, and Square Enix wants to boost that number before the September launch. There are four different types of quests: main story quests, mini-game quests (think fishing and Chocobo racing), monster-hunting quests (like the Deadeye hunt in Episode Duscae), and specific regional quests that vary from location to location. Don't forget that FF15 will have a NewGame+ mode, and the main story will be at least 50 hours long.

Interestingly enough, Final Fantasy 15 will have a skill tree for each of the four main characters so that players can customize their party. After every level up, Ignis, Gladio, Prompto, and Noctis will each receive an Ability point. Ability points can be spent on new unlockable skills as well as passive bonuses like boosting your auto-dodge ability. As we've seen in the Platinum Demo, the game treats magic like a usable item--that is you need a specific item to cast spells. Luckily you'll be able to recharge your magic usage at special points.

Ubisoft has officially acknowledged The Division's game-breaking backpack glitch, and announces that a fix is coming.

In a recent forum update, Ubisoft's community manager Natchai Stappers says that a fix for the high-end backpack glitch will roll out alongside of The Division's new 1.11 update on April 12. "We will be deploying a fix in update 1.1 on April 12th that should resolve instances of the infinite loading/backpack issue. Due to this fix requiring a client patch, we cannot deploy it at an earlier date. We thank you for your patience."

If you're unfamiliar with The Division's backpack glitch, that's probably a good thing. The bug has kept thousands of PS4, Xbox One and PC gamers locked out of the game's servers for weeks, just for crafting a high-end backpack. That's right, just crafting an in-game item in The Division can block you from playing, and keep you locked out of the servers.

It's been quite some time since 2K Games has said anything about Mafia 3, but now we have a new batch of screenshots that highlight the Crescent City's seedy underbelly.

The new Mafia 3 screenshots were taken from a pre-alpha build of the game, and were featured as part of a GDC 2016 presentation entitled "Adding Life to Your Level". The screens highlight a distinct visual style that matches the colorful flair of the Big Easy and shows us the kind of atmosphere that the devs at Hangar 13 are shooting for.

Mafia 3 takes place in 1960's Louisiana and follows the story of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam vet who returns home and starts working for the city's underground crime organization. After his friends and family are slaughtered by the Italian mob, Lincoln's life turns upside down, and players spend their time building up an empire to take revenge on the mafia.

The PS4's new Masamune v3.50 firmware update is now live, but Windows 7 owners won't be able to get in on the Remote Play action.

In a recent post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony unveiled a host of details on the PS4's huge new update. Using v3.50, PlayStation gamers will be able to stream PS4 games to their PC in up to 720p 60FPS with Remote Play. This is a pretty momentous occasion that sees Sony directly responding to Microsoft's plans to unify Xbox and Windows 10 PC gaming.

Sadly, Windows 7 users will be left out. The Masamune update only supports Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, as well as OSX 10.10 and OSX 10.11 on Mac, so those of you who opted not to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 won't be able to take part in the game streaming.

We already knew that the Gears of War series is a very violent foray into the human (and alien) condition, and Gears of War 4 will be no exception. To that end, The Coalition is going to have a filter for excess gore and for explicit language, another mainstay of a successful deep look into humankind.

Rod Fergusson, the head developer that's working on Gears of War 4, spoke to Game informer about how the darker theme that we'll see from the story will contribute to a much more explicit experience. That is, it'll be more real in how it presents language and when things perish. Even with game ratings systems that tend to give guidance on what to censor in order to reach certain levels, it was difficult for The Coalition to determine what exactly they wanted to cut out, or if they wanted to simply cut them out or censor them.

"Gore is important for obvious reasons and swearing too." Rod continued, "I think the tricky part for us is, and it's been one of the funny things about the mature language flag, is that there's no standard, so we've had to set the bar," he explained." In essence he didn't want to detract from the character development, of which even explicit language is actually quite important. In the end, they've found a good balance between what's acceptable and what'll detract from the game. It wouldn't do to have a completely cus laden game that contradicts what you're trying to teach your own children, should you happen to have children around that you don't want to hear such things.

The launch trailer for Enter the Gungeon is exactly what you'd think if you were following the game's development; full of violence, awesome music and lots more animated mayhem. It's cute, though. But that's not the usual pronoun assigned to such a thing as this. Check it out for yourself though, and be the judge.

It's a rogue-like dungeon crawling extravaganza with procedurally generated levels. Sure, there's been quite a few of them over the past few years, but that doesn't mean that they're all alike or cookie-cutter. This one takes itself seriously, but then throws that out the window in the most adorable way. It's also challenging and incredibly fun. Not the 'throw your controller or keyboard out the window' type of challenging, but the "I've gotta try that again!" type of challenging. It's an odd mix that pulls you in almost instantly, even if you don't initially like the look of it. It's... weird.

If you dare to challenge yourself thusly, you can find Enter the Gungeon on Steam for $13.99 right now. Other players, or 12 users that have reviewed it thus far, seem to really be enjoying it. That means you might too. I got sucked in and my capsule review is already late because of it.