Gaming - Page 1059

In an attempt to woo developers, Amazon has released a brand new cloud-connected games engine to go up against established suites like Unity and Unreal. And the best part is that it's totally free.

Amazon's new engine is called Lumberyard, it's completely free with full source code, and it's a fully-realized suite of tools that can power high-end AAA games. Lumberyard is partly based on the CryEngine so it's able to create games for a smattering of platforms including PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Amazon even promises that VR support is in the pipeline, along with mobile integration.

Unlike most game engines, Lumberyard has a secret weapon that gives it a distinct advantage: full cloud integration with Amazon Web Services. Devs can tap the power "the vast compute and storage of AWS Cloud" for an extra computational boost and to optimize server-side processes in a variety of games.

In a move that surprises no one, Ubisoft has just announced The Division will get an open beta test.

According to the blog reveal post, The Division's open beta test will only be three days long and kick off next week on Friday, February 19 thru on PS4 and PC. Xbox One gamers will get priority once again, with a 24-hour headstart over other platforms. The open beta will include an extra singleplayer mission, and players will be able to pre-load the open beta starting Feb. 16 to ensure easy access.

The devs say that most of the cheating exploits have been nixed on PC, so the open beta's Dark Zone battles should be relatively painless. Well, they'll still be painful as there's tons of random baddies gunning you down, but at least this time you'll have a chance. All feedback garnered from the open beta will be closely monitored, and Ubisoft says that all of the cheating issues will be fixed for the final release.

The latest update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 has arrived, though only for the PlayStation 4 today. The change-log focuses heavily on the multiplayer side of things, improving the quality of life and making a few small adjustments to weapons.

The big patch does a bit of a re-balancing act for the various specialists so that none of the different classes are necessarily too over-powered. The official notes seem to have increased the likelihood of actually hitting someone. And of course the obligatory weapon stat changes help you to be a better player at long and mid-ranges with a few weapons.

Zombies is also getting a few helpful bug fixes. If you did it just right, an anti-gravity trap wouldn't ever turn off. How convenient, though now it does.The full patch notes are below for you to peruse.

H1Z1 gamers aren't going to be happy with the latest development from the game, especially after developer Daybreak Games promised it as a free-to-play title.

H1Z1 is splitting into two separate games, with neither of them being free-to-play. Instead, we'll see H1Z1: Just Survive which will be an open-world zombie survival game while H1Z1: King of the Kill will be "a fight-to-the-death shooter spectacle", according to Daybreak Games.

The developer announced the news in the last 24 hours, saying that the decision to split H1Z1 into two games had been lead by the community. Daybreak explains: "The more we developed this game with you, our community, the more we realized that in order to fully support both aspects of H1Z1, and their respective players, we needed to make them their own stand-alone games supported by their own dedicated development teams. Many players in the community have been discussing splitting the game and we've heard you loud and clear. We want to make sure we give both titles the support they need and deserve to truly flourish".

Just as video killed the radio (star), YouTube and Twitch have killed GameTrailers: after 13 years of entertainment, reviews, and original content, the beloved site is going off the air for good.

"After 13 years, GameTrailers is closing down today. Thank you for your continued support over the years. It has been an adventure," reads an official Tweet from GT's Twitter account. GT's founder Brandon Jones echoed the bad news with his own Tweet announcement, saying: "Today is the last day of GameTrailers. I wish it wasn't so. I love all of our fans like family. Thank you for letting me do this job."

Firewatch seems to have caught the eye of many a gamer, garnering positive reviews from critics and gamers alike. And there happens to be a feature in the PC version that isn't available anywhere else, and it lets you memorialize the beautiful graphics forever.

A disposable camera that's found in the forest can be used to take photos in-game, but the surprise is that once you finish the game you'll actually be given a link to a store where you can buy prints of those photos that you took. TechnoBuffalo gave it a try and the prints are of very good quality and reflect the quality and care put into the games engine.

The photos themselves cost $15 and the service is available around the world with free shipping included. Oh, and all of the shots that were taken before you got the disposable camera are also developed for you. The whole idea is incredibly new and fascinating. Graphics are getting to the point where it's either very realistic, in certain lights, or representative of fantastic art. The scenery from Firewatch is no exception, and is stunning, to say the least. What a novel service!

The flow of free, pirated PC games may be significantly reduced as a leading games-cracking group 3DM is taking a break from piracy--possibly for good.

"We just had an internal meeting. Starting at the Chinese New Year, 3DM will not crack any single-player games," Bird Sister, the team's leader, said in a blog post. "Cracks by overseas warez groups will still get posted on the [3DM] forum, and we will actively deal with these."

Despite the popular consensus that 3DM's break is the result of Denuvo's Anti-Tamper DRM, the group says the time off will let them gauge the impact that piracy is having on the modern games industry. "We'll take a look at the situation in a year's time to see if genuine sales have grown," the leader stated.

When The Matrix came out in 1999, it was totally fresh - with a unique take on Hollywood, and it birthed the start of Bullet Time, and so much more - it became one my favorite movies of all time. So when a stale franchise like Assassin's Creed gets made into a movie, and its star, Michael Fassbender, comes out comparing it to the Keanu Reeves hit (let's forget about the sequels) - it has my attention, and not in a good way.

Well, Assassin's Creed has wrapped principal photography, and while speaking with Empire, Fassbender compared Assassin's Creed to The Matrix. Yeah, he went there, and said: "I've always thought about The Matrix when we've approached this. This idea of DNA memory elevates it from a basic fantasy genre [piece], because you have something an audience can actually believe in. Then the journey becomes so much more elevated, because you're on board in a different way".

I don't know how you compare the 15th century to The Matrix, which is a world within a world - in a computer program, controlled by AI, with people learning Kung Fu and Jujitsu from a computer that can probably still run Assassin's Creed at more than 24FPS. Ugh.

It was only a few hours ago that we reported that the PC version of The Division was being held back, because it would be "unfair" to consoles if the PC version of the game stood head and shoulders above its console counterparts.

Well, now Ubisoft has come out of the darkness, releasing a statement to PCGamesN: "It has come to our attention that a comment from one of our team members has been perceived by some members of the community to imply the PC version of The Division was 'held back' and this is simply not true. From the beginning, the PC version of The Division was developed from the ground up and we're confident players will enjoy the game and the features this version has to offer. And the feedback from PC players who participated in the recent closed beta supports this".

Now of course a company like Ubisoft isn't going to come out and admit that they are holding back the PC version of one of their biggest games of the year - but it would be nice to see them admit that the consoles are underpowered, which are holding back a huge leap in graphics, game size, AI, and so much more - including The Division being watered down from its E3 2013/2014 footage. There's simply no denying that, Ubisoft.

The semi-closed beta test for Hitman is going to begin at the end of the week and Square Enix has released a short trailer and an FAQ site to prepare us as we step into the role of Agent 47 once again.

Those on the PlayStation 4 of course get to enjoy the beta on starting on the 12th of February at 8:00am PST going through the 15th at 8:00am PST. Those on the PC will have to wait until the 19th at 2:00am PST and then you can play to your hearts content until the 22nd at 2:00am PST.

During the beta you'll only have access to the prologue mission, aptly named "The Prologue". This is a secret ICA training facility that Agent 47 first trained in. It's also the first time that you meet Diana, the familial handler that you eventually save in an earlier game set further along the timeline. You're give two completely free-form missions to play through to try out the mechanics of the game. How do you get in the beta? Read on below.

DICE is improving the netcode in Battlefield 4 on consoles, and it's doing so by changing a simple setting that should improve the experience significantly.

With the latest update on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, the tickrate of 32 player servers has been increased from 30hz up to 45hz. They're reporting that this should improve all network related delays by around 11ms per single action. Meaning that your shots should register just about perfectly now.

They were able to test different tickrates through the holiday update and decided upon the higher rate after the data they collected showed a positive increase in player enjoyment for most playersThe changes don't effect 64 player servers. DICE will have a small testing period in which they invite feedback about the changes, to ensure it's the best possible option for everyone.

The opening cinematic for Dark Souls III is quite stunning, and you can view it right below. The cinematic style is on par with some very good movies even.

The three-minute intro very succinctly introduces us to the storyline that we'll be following in the very dark and despondent land of Lothric. It's actually quite well constructed and the narrative seems to fulfill the expectations we have for the series. In the trailer you'll see Yhorm the Giant, Farron's Undead Legions, Aldrich Saint of the Deep and even the reclusive Lord of the Profaned Capitol.

Merely watching the trailer brings back memories of the challenges from the first two. Dark Souls III will arrive on April 12th on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC through Steam.

It seems that the excitement was a bit preemptive. Microsoft has removed the ability to download and play Red Dead Redemption from the Xbox store, saying that they were made available by some sort of error.

Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb did take to Reddit to explain that RDR is currently in a testing phase, though that along with a few other games, they were accidentally made public. "Due to an error, some of the games currently in test were accidentally made available. We have since removed access to those games, and apologize for any confusion this may have caused. We will have more information on upcoming releases soon."

The good news is that we'll eventually be seeing it be available, though it's not quite clear when. The original story is still posted below for your convenience.

As an avid Fallout 4 PC player, my appetite for mods is quite voracious; I'm always eager to try on the newest arsenal of weapons and armor, and revel in new content. So naturally when I saw ex-Vault Dwellers can now dress up as Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher 3, I instantly smashed the download link.

The Witcher 3 crossover Fallout 4 mod adds two different outfits from Geralt's sleek witcher wardrobe: the infamous battle dress seen in the game's promos, and his casual garb. Ren, the mod's creator, actually uses CD Projekt RED's own authentic models and textures from The Witcher 3.

Sadly, Geralt's infamous monster-slaying twin-blades aren't included in the mod, but we do get to use his crossbow. Before you get too excited, the crossbow doesn't shoot bolts, and instead acts like a pipe pistol when fired.

The lead writer for Titanfall 2, Jesse Stern, revealed quite a few telling and potentially positive details about the upcoming game in an interview he recently had with Forbes.

One of the positives, Stern explained, is the inclusion of a single-player campaign, an often criticized element that was missing in the first game. Furthermore, Stern wants it to be a more realistic story, something that builds upon the already good mythos that was little used in the first. He says it'll be "grounded, dirty, human and real."

Stern explained what's influencing their narrative direction. "What inspires us is the junction of technological advancement with the inevitability of conflict and war and what the next war might look like. In Titanfall 2 there will be a lot of [scenes] where science meets magic, but keeping it grounded and dirty and human and real."

Back in 2013, we wrote a story about The Division developer Massive Entertainment saying that their Snowdrop Engine-powered game would stand out on the PC, and "won't be a port". Yeah, well, how times have changed.

Now we have a story with an unnamed developer saying that the cross-platform development on the game did have an effect on the PC version of The Division. The developer said that the Snowdrop Engine has "a lot of potential", to which he was asked if they were ever restricted with how far they could push the game because of the differing platforms between consoles and the PC.

The unnamed Ubisoft developer said: "It is definitely a [factor]. But one good thing about The Division is that we've always considered PC as a separate platform. I've worked on projects before where the PC version's a port from a console, so it carries those limitations over, but we've always been in the mind that we'll have a dedicated PC build, so it hasn't really held it back too much".

The Political Machine 2016, from Stardock, gives you the chance to play as nearly a dozen different candidates, including such favorites as Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and of course quite a few others. If that doesn't quite float your boat, then you can also choose to create your own custom candidate, with all your own custom avatar and background information.

"The game deals with topics like the Keystone XL Pipeline, human trafficking, and other issues that are current and relevant to this year's election," said producer Patrick Shaw. "We've added a poll tracking feature so that you can see how your own political races are matching up to what's going on in the United States right now."

You'll also get the opportunity to be interviewed on various talk shows to raise their ratings in the polls. Torrid affairs, natural disasters, email scandals, and other random events will keep you guessing, and you better be ready to deal with all those unexpected problems. So do you think you're ready to try to become the President of the US? What a fantastic time to release a game that lets you explore the depths of the political system.

Now that Rise of the Tomb Raider has reached the PC, the latest patch for the game has dropped and includes some fixes for critical issues like startup problems, and more.

The patch improves support for SLI users with NVIDIA GeForce video cards, with the SLI glitches with water/snow effects fixed. There's improved HBAO+ quality, and a "variety of fixes and improvements to UI including map, basecamps, and Remnant Resistance mode". The full list, we have below:

Startup issues (Steam Only):

There is considerable hype surround Fable Legends, thanks to its use of DirectX 12 - being up to 40% faster under DX12 - but now we're hearing that the team at Lionhead Studios will feature some trickery to get the visual fidelity of the game improved.

Lionhead is making good use of foliage physics to "increase the richness of ground surface cover", which is something Lionhead Studios' Senior Programmer, Sam Swain, will be discussing at GDC 2016 next month. During a session called "Creating Lush Dynamic Procedural Foliage for Fable Legends", the description for the session teased "To continue to push the boundaries of visual fidelity for Fable Legends, we have worked to increase the richness of ground surface cover and accelerate artist authoring workflow".

The description continues: "The talk will describe the various procedural tools and techniques, in-editor and at run-time, that have been employed to provide a fully dynamic mesh instancing system, non-destructive surface editing capabilities, and the power that such tools bring. There will be many examples of what has been achieved and learned from adopting these approaches and how they have behaved alongside the more traditional approaches also used".

Steam just started another sale to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and it's going on until February 12th at 10AM PST. And there're over 8,931 games on sale right now.

It's doubtful you won't find at least something to enjoy in their extremely large selection of discount games. ARK: Survival Evolved, Fallout 4 and even XCOM: Enemy Unknown can be found, great games at any price. But there are savings of up to 75% depending on the game. But first you must choose your own adventure, starting with whether you wish to swim across a body of water, or drive. Each category you choose (at the bottom of each page) gives you a list of different games appropriate to your choice.

This comes just weeks after the end of Steam's highly successful Winter Sale, which helped bring in record amounts of revenue for developers and Valve alike. This time you get to follow along and make your own story as you get games curated for you.