Gaming - Page 1055

Today was a big day for Fallout 4 fans. Bethesda not only unveiled the first three DLC packs for Fallout 4, but promised that many more packs would be released in 2016. The studio also announced that the game's Season Pass would jump to $50 to account for the extra DLC, a move that pissed off players. The announcement was met with a lot of miscommunication, however, so we thought we'd jump in and explain everything about the changes.

First of all, the Fallout 4 season pass is still $30 across PS4, Xbox One and PC, and won't be hiked up to the new $50 price point until March 1. Gamers have a few weeks grace period to pick up the pass at the existing lower price. This is a pretty good move on Bethsoft's part--an instant transition to $50 would backfire pretty badly.

Secondly, if you buy the season pass at $30 you'll be locked into the future content without paying anything extra. Bethesda guarantees that "anyone who buys the Season Pass for $29.99 before March 1st will get all $60 worth of content". Sure you can go piecemeal, but the $30 season pass is already cheaper than buying the first DLC packs separately, which lump up to $40.

Monopoly has approximately a bajillion versions to date, but the upcoming Ultimate Banking Edition will be the first and only to scrap cash entirely and replace it all with a battery-powered ATM and credit cards. No doubt this will make the game more efficient, but it also takes out the fun of stealing money from other players when they aren't looking. And isn't that half the fun of Monopoly, really? Well, at least you can still rip people off at every opportunity as the banker.

Even Chance cards and property cards will be swiped, which has opened the door for new cards that affect the cost of rent and the like which previously would have been difficult and annoying to keep track of, especially for children. For some reason, Community Chest cards have been given the axe.

Ultimate Banking Edition will release this autumn and will go for $25.

Bethesda has finally spilled the beans on Fallout 4's DLC, revealing the first three content packs--Automatron, Wasteland Workshop, and Far Harbor--for all platforms. The studio also revealed that many more content packs are coming, but the Season Pass has been hiked up to $50. Despite the price, you can actually get all of the DLC packs for free, provided you help Bethesda out with some beta testing.

Both PC and console gamers have been given the opportunity to test early builds of all forthcoming Fallout 4 DLC. For their invaluable bug-squashing feedback, Bethesda promises beta testers will not only get early access to the "full version (complete with achievements)", but will be able to keep the content and retain all of the progress they've made for free. If you're interested, you'll want to zoom on over to this link and put in your request as soon as possible.

The studio says it'll begin selecting applicants in the coming weeks, so it's not on a first-come first-serve basis. The sign-up sheet asks you hardware technical specifications like video cards, CPUs, and RAM, so it's clear Bethsoft wants to test the content across a wide variety of rigs. It's great to see Bethesda opening this up, especially since console gamers don't have mods yet and are starved for new content.

Bethesda today announced three new Fallout 4 DLC packs, and says that many more are on the way. In fact, the publisher plans to release "more than $60 worth of content in 2016", which is phenomenal news for console gamers. However, there's a bit of bad news: the season pass' price tag has increased.

Before we dive into the three new add-ons--Automotron, Wasteland Workshop, and Far Harbor--let's talk a little bit about Bethesda's content roadmap. The studio will release a slew of new add-on DLC packs throughout this year, but to adjust for this revised plan, the Season Pass has jumped up to $50.

PC gamers will actually get to beta test these DLC packs out before release, and keep them for no extra cost. You'll have to sign up here, though. Now let's move onto the DLC!

The Khronos Group has announced that Vulkan is finally released and ready to be used on any platform you desire. The full specification of Vulkan, 1.0, is available for everyone and is as robust and mature as DirectX 12, even.

Vulkan, of course, is the open-source answer to DirectX 12, a low-level API that's also been borne from the ashes of Mantle and shaped into something that can be used by anyone and is completely platform agnostic. At its core, Vulkan provides the same low-level access to the driver with far less overhead than graphics API's of the past.

"The release of the Vulkan™ 1.0 specification is a huge step forward for developers. The Vulkan API, which was derived from Mantle, will bring the benefits of low-overhead high-performance Graphics API to the benefit of cross-platform and cross-vendor targeted applications," said Raja Koduri, senior vice president and chief architect, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD. "The promotion of open and scalable technologies continues to be the focus at AMD, as a pioneer in the low-overhead API space. As a member of the Khronos Group, AMD is proud to collaborate with hardware and software industry leaders to develop the Vulkan API to ignite the next evolution in PC game development."

Rebellion just posted a new trailer for their remake of the 1998 version of Battlezone, the tactical, sci-fi tank strategy game based loosely on the original. And it's an exciting look into the care they're taking in remastering this classic, iconic game.

If you ever played the original then you're probably very excited about the return of this legendary game. They're taking that original and remastering it with new graphics, effects and a better UI on top of it all. They're also building in multiplayer again so that you can have massive futuristic tank battles with your friends.

The whole base-building mechanic is all there and it looks to be just as fun to play with as it was so many years ago. Despite the graphics being remastered and not built from the ground up it still looks great. Is there a chance that Vulkan or DX12 will underlay the foundation? Now that would be fantastic! Battlezone 98 Redux is coming this Spring.

Big changes are coming to Shallow Space, a space RTS with big potential. Originally it was suppose to be a full-on, completely customizable RTS allowing for massive battles in a rich galaxy. But they're expanding the original vision and adding a much more engaging way to play. Making it an open-world adventure with even more direct control of your ships.

While playing their alpha version, it was noticed that the customization was a fantastic idea, but with the combat mechanics, it was almost impossible to actually fully utilize those upgraded parts of your ships. There was something missing. The solution to the problem is letting you take direct control of your ships in the fleet and fly them around yourself, engaging the enemy in some very fun scenarios. To that end they're adding in support for controllers to play with your ships.

That's not all, though. The maps were far too linear, following a strict story-line that just isn't up the standards that we seem to have set for modern games. The developers are working towards making it more open-world, letting you fly around the Shallow Space (the are of the galaxy you'll be in in the game of the same name) to build up resources, level-up your ships and showing off your fighting prowess. The different map areas will be instance based, meaning enemies, allies and resources will spawn around you.

Sniper Elite 4 just might be in development, or so someone's resume on LinkedIn just so happened to leak. When Rebellion was approached concerning the listing, they were more than happy to provide a statement that, more or less, confirmed that it's likely.

The profile is of an individual who works at a digital arts company called ADIA Entertainment, and has supposedly worked on Sniper Elite 4 as well as a great deal of other games and even as an architect for the Unreal Engine. Rebellion's Jason Kingsley, the co-founder, talked to Videogamer to dismiss the claims, despite being flattered by being searched for an mentioned alongside such high-profile games. The employee actually doesn't work for Rebellion, though they didn't outright dismiss that they worked on Sniper Elite 4.

In fact, he went on to say that "Last year we celebrated the Sniper Elite series' 10th birthday and 10 millionth sale, so our IP is still hugely important to both Rebellion and independent UK games development. We're actually gearing up to announce a new Rebellion game soon, so expect to hear more from us before GDC!" This ambiguous statement is almost a sure way of saying that it's coming, and likely well into development.

AMD today announced that they'll be bundling in the new Hitman from Square Enix and IO Interactive with an R9 390 series GPU or an FX processor.

The free game code is only offered if you happen to get an R9 390, 390X or a 6-8-core FX CPU of any variety and will run from February 16th to April 20th 2016. So if you're in the market for a new GPU and are looking at buying Hitman, this bundle might be worth a look.

AMD is putting together this bundle because of their relationship with Square Enix with the development of Hitman. DX12 features should be available shortly after release and will take good advantage of the async shaders in AMD's GCN architecture. Despite the 390 and 390X being Hawaii based parts, Hitman with DX12 should still be a smooth experience.

A new trailer has been released for the upcoming The Walking Dead: Michonne mini-series that lets you take control of one of the deeper and more troubled characters from the series, Michonne. This new series is a deep-dive into her psyche, giving additional background information to compliment the TV series.

The first episode, titled In Too Deep, Michonne joins Pete and his crew on the sailing ship The Companion as they cruise the coast looking for survivors and additional supplies. They come upon a desperate signal for help that draws them to a scene of a horrific massacre where Michonne and the crew are lead further to the floating survivors' colony of Monroe. And of course you have to go investigate, because where there's danger, theirs also lurking opportunity.

Like all Telltale games, it's an interactive story that allows you to complete actions as quick-time events. Though it's not nearly as frustrating and incredibly engaging. The first episode is coming on February 23rd for the PC and on Mac. You'll also find it on the PSN for the PS4 and the PS3, the Xbox Store for the Xbox One and the Xbox 360.

Elite: Dangerous has a surprisingly fun "mini-game" with it's competitive CQC game mode. Compete in a fast-paced fight to the death against other skilled fighter pilots in some startlingly tight spaces. Frontier Developments is now offering just that module as a separate standalone purchase for those wanting a different kind of competitive experience.

For $7.49, you can take to the arena in Elite: Dangerous and compete against your peers in what they're calling the ultimate futuristic gladiatorial contest. Purchasing from the Frontier Store will get you a discount on the upgrade to the actual full game, minus the full purchase price of ED: Arena. It doesn't look like Steam offers such a deal at the moment.

CQC mode in Elite: Dangerous has the potential to be a new type of eSport, leveraging a different skill set than the usual FPS games require by having you also think about how to maneuver a ship with true, realistic Newtonian physics. You can either have automatic compensation of inertia to drive you in the direction your nose is pointed, or turn off all the assist and pull off maneuvers that aren't possible in gravity.

Chris Schlerf, one of the writers at BioWare that was working on bringing Mass Effect Andromeda to life has decided to move on to Bungie to help impart a deep narrative in, presumably, the sequel to Destiny.

But this isn't necssarily surprising give that the story to ME: Andromeda is likely very much finished giving this prolific writer the opportunity to work on something else. And he's gone on to be the lead writer at Bungie, currently working on Destiny, or so his profile says. This could mean an actual story is on the way in the form of DLC or that Destiny 2 could contain a much more expansive fiction and backstory.

Thankfully on his way out Schlerf mentioned how proud he is of the story and how great he thinks Andromeada will be. In a Tweet late last night he mentioned how it's "really gonna blow people away," further explaining how proud he is of his involvement.

We're receiving more details about Doom, with the alpha leaking online. Internally, Doom is known as Zion to id Software and features a 'similar architecture' to Doom 3.

Modding tools were found in the Doom alpha, with the tools known as idStudio, but we don't know if these will be made available to gamers. Thanks to Doomworld's member 'Marrub', we have the following details on Doom to share:

DOOM Engine:

Quantum Break being released on the PC thanks to Windows 10 has opened the flood gates for more Windows 10 exclusives, with rumors of Forza Motorsport 6, Forza Horizon 3 and even Gears of War 4 poised to be released onto the DX12-powered OS.

Microsoft has already shown Forza Motorsport 5 running on the PC with DX12, and if we rewind time to August 2015, Microsoft said Quantum Break wouldn't be coming to the PC for the foreseeable future. But now, well, yeah - you know the situation with Quantum Break. Now we're seeing Quantum Break released on the Xbox One and PC, simultaneously.

Forza Horizon 3 will be reaching the PC through the Windows Store, according to WPDang's sources - while Forza Motorsport 6 will receive its own special edition on the PC. Gears of War 4 on the other hand, is in development for the PC right now.

Roberts Space Industries has updated the world on Star Citizen's purchase options, telling gamers that they can opt into the single-player content exclusively. This means you can pay $45 for the Squadron 42 campaign, or the core Star Citizen experience.

The core Star Citizen experience is a unique beast, as it's an MMO-like component - completely separate to Squadron 42, the single-player portion. But what if you've spent $45 on the MMO-based side of the game, and want to get in on the single-player campaign in the form of Squadron 42? That's fine, you can spend another $15 and receive the other side of Star Citizen.

For a total of $60, you're getting a damn lot of game, but RSI reiterates that these are two separate packages, that can be enjoyed on their own, or together for $60. RSI said: "The package split does not change the fact that Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are part of the same game universe, or the fact that the games are functionally connected. You will access Squadron 42 through the same game client. And your performance in Squadron 42 will still have an impact on your career in the persistent universe, whether you buy both segments together or if you choose to add one further down the line".

A new bit of footage for Quantum Break has dropped, showing seven minutes of carved up in-game action. The video footage isn't consecutive, so you won't get the first seven minutes of the game or anything like that. It's more of a highlight reel than anything, showing off specific points like impressive motion capture, cinematic fidelity, and time powers.

The footage reveals that Remedy's hotly anticipated shooter will have destructible environments, making firefights much more challenging. Luckily, players are able to manipulate the flow of time, so things tend to balance out. The game's protagonist--Jack Joyce--has a number of different unique abilities up his sleeves, including a freeze frame mode that stops time like the Twilight Zone's magic stopwatch, and Time Dodge, which zaps you out of harms way with a quick teleport.

There's also Time Vision, which highlights baddies like eagle mode in Assassin's Creed. This can be super useful when enemies are hiding behind cover, or when firefights get too hectic in frozen time--yes, you can have shootouts between time itself.Farther along in the game, however, Monarch baddies will use time powers with the aid of special suits to even things out.

We've seen developers remake classic scenes from Zelda: Ocarina of Time and even Mario has gotten an Unreal Engine 4 makeover, but what about bigger projects? What about, say, the entirety of BioWare's hugely lauded Star Wars RPG, Knights of the Old Republic? That's right, Kotor is getting recreated in UE4.

The Kotor restoration project is called Knights of the Old Republic: Apeiron, and the devs describe it as a "remake and remastering of the original game with added content, new world's, missions, HUD, inventory, items, and companions".

Kotor: Apeiron will be completely free--it has to be considering the copyright laws--and it's being built by a dedicated group of fans in conjunction with the devs at Poem Studios. So far, progress on the remake has been slow-going, but the team has ported over two locations including the Endar Spire and Tattooine. Although the screenshots are pre-alpha snaps, they look quite good, and I can't wait to see the finished product.

The Australian Xbox Store seems to have let loose a little bonus for those looking to order Dark Souls 3 on the Xbox One. It looks like you'll get a free digital code for the original Dark Souls that'll work with the backwards compatibility feature of the Xbone.

This deal seems to be a limited time offer and only available in Australia at the moment, though it's likely we'll see the deal, if it's real, extend to other regions as well. Once ordered, you'll receive a digital code within 7-10 days. This particular bundle, or any other versions or special editions for that matter, have been officially announced by Bandai Namco just yet. They have also yet to announce any season pass details either.

It's fantastic that such a great game is potentially gaining backwards compatibility, and it's a bit surprising given we haven't quite heard anything about it through the grapevine. More games in the library just add more potential value for those that still have the physical Xbox 360 discs or have that digital download available yet not able to find a home on your shiny new Xbox One. Of course, Dark Souls is available on the PC in a slightly visually upgraded version that runs well on a good deal of hardware.

Concept art is magical. It's a portal to a world that we don't always get to see represented in the final cut. The art is meant to be a guide, a forerunner with rough edges that conveys an idea or scene. But I for one like to venture into the vivid fantasy-scapes and revel in their imaginative beauty. A lot of the time, the concept art is more powerful and resonant than the finished product, especially when it comes to video game art.

Today I'll take you on a journey to some of my favorite pieces of video game concept art. We'll venture across time and space to discover the blueprints to some of the most iconic games of our era, from BioWare RPG's to timeless Final Fantasy masterpieces and the mysterious Forerunner constructs of the Halo universe.

We won't go too far, though--it's all to easy to get lost in the maze of wonder. Each section will have a brief introduction followed by a myriad of artwork, so be sure to keep scrolling if you want to see it all. Let's start the visual feast with the space-age techno wonders of Mass Effect, shall we?

Even with no official release date in sight for Mass Effect: Andromeda, a new job listing confirms BioWare is already setting up development on a fresh new IP with an emphasis on online play.

BioWare Austin's new job listing calls for a server engineer to lead the team that creates the backend system to power an "exciting, new unannounced IP". The listing directly references that the candidate should have experience developing games with "extensive online components" and cloud-based computing, hinting the new IP could be a MMO.

"BioWare is seeking a qualified Senior Lead Server Engineer for a new, unannounced BioWare IP. This role will direct a team of software engineers to create the backend systems that will drive online play for this exciting new game. The successful candidate will have expert knowledge of and experience in the design, implementation, and continuing support of large scale real-time client/server applications using primarily C++. Extensive experience with and knowledge of multi-tier client/server architectures as well as scalable distributed systems are required. Experience developing PC or console games with significant online elements is a strong plus. Experience with current cloud-based computing solutions and technology is beneficial."