Gaming - Page 1113

After five years of timed exclusivity on the Xbox, Sony will gain timed exclusivity from the Call of Duty franchise, starting off with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

Sony will secure a 30-day platform timed exclusive for Black Ops 3 and its future DLC, with the multiplayer beta of Black Ops 3 launching on the PS4 first. At E3, Sony Computer Entertainment boss Andrew House said that the PlayStation was "the new home of Call of Duty". Under the deal, all future Call of Duty DLC will hit the PlayStation first, which is a big scoop for Sony.

During E3, Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg told Gamespot: "The partnership with Sony was the right decision at this time. They've been a great partner on Destiny, and they have a ton of momentum with the PS4 and really got behind this thing. They wanted to see that deal on their platform. We're going to make it work".

It looks like the current generation consoles are selling quite well, with the Xbox One and PS4 sales being "close to" 50% ahead of where the PS3 and Xbox 360 sales were at the same time in their lifespan.

The news is coming from NPD Group's recent study into the current generation consoles, 21 months after they launched. A Microsoft spokesperson told IGN: "Xbox One and Xbox Live continued to see strong sales and engagement in July, with Xbox One sales in the U.S. up 44 percent over July 2014 and active global Xbox Live users (Xbox One and Xbox 360) up 22 percent".

Not only that, but game hardware sales also grew by 2% from June to July. NPD Group also said that the best-selling game in July was a surprise: LEGO: Jurassic World.

The Witcher 3 fans, listen up: CD Projekt Red has just unleashed modding support for The Witcher 3, with the developer teasing gamers can: "modify several aspects of the game to their own liking".

CD Projekt Red continues: "Thanks to texture import and export, gamers can now modify the looks and feel of in-game objects, while the possibility of substituting meshes allows to insert new models in the game world in place of existing ones. Finally, access to script files opens up an entirely new array or modification options to many in-game aspects, so modders can fire up their imagination and fiddle with item statistics and much more".

The studio has much more to say, adding: "First of all, the modding tools we are releasing are not an editor," an unnamed person from CD Projekt Red says. "They're meant for people who are somewhat experienced with modding software and are designed to make creating mods easier. They give access to game files and allow for easy extracting, compilation, and decompilation of resources. Beside visual changes, like modifying textures and models, they will allow to change UI assets and script files. The majority of gameplay-related mechanics are written in scripts. Having access to these scripts will allow to create even more ambitious and complex modifications. If you're not a modder and you're wondering about real life applications, in short, all this means that from now on, people will be able to put their own textures on models to make them feel more personal (or cool, or whatever they wish!), or, say, substitute Roach's model with a unicorn (and ride it towards the setting sun). You will be able to use these mods when they get published. Also, we hope the community builds on these resources and, who knows, maybe some people who haven't ever dreamt of modding will start doing so? There might be future devs among you!"

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided sounds better and better, apart from the possible downgrade in graphics that is happening, but on the gameplay side of things, we can't be happier.

Eidos Montreal recently took to Twitter to announce a new 'New Game+' mode for the game, with Executive Game Director Jean-Francois Dugas and Gameplay Director Patrick Fortier saying that New Game+ will let gamers find "even more about all the maps and the secrets" in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

The duo also talked about a few changes that the studio has made from Human Revolution to Mankind Divided, with the experience system being much more balanced and rewarding for players with the combat actions, something that they said would remove the feeling "that there is a 'right way' to play". Mankind Divided's protagonist, Adam Jensen, will have his Smart Vision upgraded, where it can be modified to reveal loot, characters, weapons, his ammunition type, and it can even be modified in the middle of combat. Very cool.

When it comes to gaming, we tend to really enjoy ourselves. A recent report from The NPD Group found 34 million core gamers in the United States spend an average of 22 hours each week playing. Core gamers are critical for the gaming market, as hardware manufacturers and software developers try to learn more about their target audience.

Core gamers are described as those of us playing at least five hours per week, using a PC, Mac, Microsoft Xbox 360, Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 3, or PlayStation 4 - while playing the following genres: action, adventure, fighting, flight, MMORPGs, racing, real-time strategy, shooters, RPGs, or sports games.

"Core gamers are really the lifeblood of the industry, spending tremendous amounts of time on their hobby of choice," said Liam Callahan, Industry Analyst at The NPD Group. "With the new console generation off to a great start, we can expect the amount of time spent gaming to increase as more core gamers adopt them."

Windows 10's cross-platform game streaming functionality is largely seen as an impressive feature of the new OS, but there's a problem: Microsoft has capped the graphics at High Quality. But now gamers have found a way to raise the Xbox One to PC game streaming quality to Very High to fully harness the potential of enthusiast-grade rigs.

The Very High graphics setting for Xbox One to PC game streaming is still being tested by Microsoft, "High" is the current default ceiling for Xbox One to PC game streaming. Essentially Microsoft has just toggled the setting down a notch, and enabling the maximum settings is a pretty simple six-step process. After unlocking the new mode users have reported instances of lag due to the boost in required LAN network bandwidth that hit streams of 18-20mbps, so you'll want to check your router and cables.

We have the full step-by-step rundown below courtesy of NeoGAF.

With two failed projects including THQ's inSANE and the cancelled Silent Hills partnership with Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro has had bad luck with video game adaptations, and now he's pretty much done.

"I have proven to be the albatross of video games," the famed director of Pacific Rim and Pan's Labyrinth said to ShackNews at a Comic-Con panel. "I joined THQ, and THQ goes broke. I join Kojima, and Kojima leaves Konami. I have decided, in order not to destroy anyone else's life, I have decided I will never again get involved in video games. Otherwise, I'll join someone and his house will explode, or something."

It's been revealed that del Toro works extremely closely to the projects he's a part of, including the failed THQ game and Silent Hills. "I was in an apprenticeship. I learned a lot from Kojima-san, of course, and I learned a lot from my experience at THQ. I did. It changed the way I see narrative. We put two years of work in THQ. It was insane. We mapped it out, we did the viable, we did the outlines, we did the screenplay. We did a bunch of stuff. I know some of the tricks, or the stuff that I wanted to learn, I learned. Then I went to the side of Kojima-san, because he's a master, and I can gladly say that we are friends and I love his work and I will continue learning from him as a friend. But I am not... if I join another video game, World War III will start."

EA has made sure everyone knows that Star Wars: Battlefront is a multiplayer game at its core, but why isn't there any sort of singleplayer campaign? In an interview with Gamespot Electronic Arts COO Peter Moore revealed the real reason behind removing a singleplayer campaign from Star Wars: Battlefront--hardly anyone will actually play it.

"Surely yourself, and the rest of the EA executive team, must be kicking yourselves for not including a single-player campaign?" Gamespot writer Rob Crossley asked Moore in the interview. "Triple-A games with single-player traditionally sell better than those with multiplayer."

"Very few people actually play the single-player on these kinds of games," Moore answered, pretty much saying that since a huge portion of their target audience wouldn't play it anyway, it'd just be a waste of resources to add singleplayer. "That's what the data points to."

Codenamed the "Devolver Digital Publisher Weekend," expect to see a plethora of indie games at up to 90 percent off when purchased through Steam. With Hotline Miami being one of the games featured in this bonanza, Devolver Digital CFO Fork Parker is excited for this sale, stating "The corporate jet isn't going to gold plate itself so I encourage all gamers to go out and spend any and all disposable income on Devolver Digital video games."

In addition to Devolver published games themselves, also on offer will be titles from [Devolver's 'bestie'] Gambitious, which includes games such as Magnetic and Train Fever - a transportation simulator.

Available from August 13 - 17, Devolver invites you to "treat yourself, you deserve it."

Starting today Destiny's mysterious interstellar merchant is selling one of the best exotic-class items in the game--the highly covered Gjallarhorn.

From now until Sunday morning Destiny players can pick up the infamously powerful Gjallarhorn for a pittance of 17 Strange Coins from Xur. This week the Agent can be found in the upper rightmost section of the Tower, in the barroom corner between the Shipwright and the Future War Cult vendor.

Up until now the Gjallarhorn rocket launcher has been an item that's had a supremely mystical quality about it. Every Guardian wants one--it's even argued that every Guardian needs one when facing the atrociously difficult Level 35 Prison of Elders boss Qodron. After weeks and weeks of lackluster rolls and common exotics that everyone already has or doesn't need, Bungie decides to just give Destiny players an early Christmas present and finally cave in to the demands.

Some of the best games coming out in the next few months are going to be exclusive to the Xbox One, but with Microsoft behind the Xbox One, some gamers hope that these titles would transition over to the PC. Unfortunately, they won't be - at least for the foreseeable future.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has talked about it, where he said that these games might reach the PC, but we should expect them to be exclusive to the Xbox One. Spencer said: "In the case of things like Scalebound or Crackdown or Quantum Break, you know, just to be completely honest with you, we started those games before we really looked at expanding into Windows in the way that I wanted to bring as part of becoming head of Xbox".

He added: "Going to those teams mid-cycle and saying: 'Hey, by the way, I want to add a platform,' didn't really feel like necessarily the best way to end up with the best result for the game. They had a path that they were on. It's not to say those games could never come to Windows, but right now we're on the path to finish the great games that they've started, and I want that to be the case. These games are on a path, whereas with, like, Halo Wars 2 I had the opportunity from the beginning, when we're sitting down with the studio, to say, 'Here's the target. Here's what we wanna go do".

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has nothing but praise for Nintendo it seems, where he recently talked with Eurogamer at Gamescom 2015 saying that Nintendo has "the best first-party on the planet".

Spencer was asked if console-exclusive games can still be system sellers, where he said that the Wii U has the best exclusive games. But, the Wii U sales haven't been too strong, even with those kick ass first-party games, where Spencer deflected criticism over Wii U sales. He reiterated that publishers still can't beat "the strength of IP that Nintendo has". He added: "On the Wii U, I think people downplay how many units they've sold".

He continued: "I've got a Wii U, I think there's some great games on there. I think Splatoon's a really nice game and I don't think there's a first-party out there that has the strength of IP that Nintendo has. They're always a beacon to me when I look at what it means to build a first-party portfolio of products, they've done a great job".

The Sony PlayStation 4 has sold more than 25 million units across the world since launch, and the Microsoft Xbox One is still looking for ways to close the sales gap. However, Xbox chief Phil Spencer understands what it will take to try and close the gap, even if the Xbox One can't topple the PS4.

"Honestly, I think it's about growing Xbox. Sony's had great success with PlayStation, they've earned that success over multiple decades of building a great product. Kudos to them for their market position. All I can do is focus on Xbox, and I love that," Spencer told Eurogamer.

The PS4 has a healthy sales lead over the Xbox One, but Spencer is looking at the entire Xbox gaming ecosystem instead of Xbox One vs. PS4 sales.

Twitch may be the king of eSports live streams, but YouTube is proving to be a popular outlet to watch previously recorded gaming matches. The No. 1 video website has billions of hours of eSports and video game footage viewed by users every month, despite increasing popularity of livestreaming sites.

League of Legends, Counter-Strike, FIFA, and Call of Duty - four popular eSports titles - make up the top 10 list of all-time game videos viewed on YouTube. Some viewers prefer to watch events live, but there is plenty of previously-aired eSports footage available on YouTube and other video sharing websites.

"Twitch clearly has the lead in video game livestreaming and eSports, but if all game-related YouTubers start using YouTube to do livestreaming, they could be back in the game soon," said Peter Warman, CEO of the Newzoo global market research firm, in a statement to Fortune. "Often gamers can choose between Twitch or YouTube streams when it comes to eSports events."

With the rise of professional eSports, games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive would not have taken off, at least not to the point where they are today. These games have tens of millions of very, very dedicated gamers with tournaments that have tens of millions of dollars being thrown at gamers.

This means it shouldn't come as a surprise to most that some Swedish high schools are now introducing eSports into their curriculum, just like some physical sports are. The eSports subjects will be handled just like physical education subjects, with rooms dedicated to practicing games like DOTA 2 and League of Legends, with guest lectures being given by professional gamers and personalities from within the eSports community.

Magnus Alehed, a principal at one of the high schools offering eSports as a subject said that the idea behind it was to get rid of the negative stigma behind video games and mainstream society. You know, how they think gamers all sit around with a controller in their hands blasting expletives at their TV. Alehed said: "We're looking to dispel the myth that this would be a bad thing and it is about respect for this group of students".

It looks like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will have watered down graphics, with the producer on the game, Oliver Proulx, talking with Eurogamer explaining that the final build of the game should look close to the suped up graphics we saw from E3 2015 earlier this year.

Proulx explained: "In terms of the graphical fidelity we're very mindful of what we wanted to show at E3 that we don't show something that's impossible to achieve later down the road, and it was really discussed with the team". He continued, talking about the smaller changes that the studio will make to Mankind Divided, with improvements and compromises, but the quality we see should be mostly the same.

"We're confident what we showed, what you'll see when the game comes out, is going to be very consistent in terms of graphical quality", he continued. "Obviously the game goes through iteration and the debugging phase, so you can pick up some differences there - some improvements, maybe some other compromises - but it's going to be pretty much what we've got".

Electronic Arts could offer backward compatibility so EA Access members can play Xbox 360 game titles on their Xbox One game console, according to a recent tweet from the official EA Access account:

The EA Access subscription offers access to EA games, DLC discounts, and early access to game titles - and while the game collection is for Xbox One titles - it looks like Xbox 360 games could be thrown into the mix.

The addition of Xbox One backward compatibility has been praised by game studios, according to Microsoft, with Xbox One owners happy to be able to play their Xbox 360 game libraries. Microsoft is offering gamers who purchase Gears of War: Ultimate Edition a few additional games: Gears of War 2, 3, and Judgment.

Larian Studios, the developers behind the acclaimed Divinity series, today announced a new sequel to the PC CRPG hit Divinity: Original Sin will enter development following the success of a new Kickstarter campaign.

"For a long time, we've dreamed of making something even bigger, better, and more engaging than Divinity: Original Sin, and now it might finally be within our reach," Larian Studios said on its Kickstarter page for Divinity: Original Sin II. "However, we can't reach that dream without your help. As Swen says in his latest blog post, 'Divinity: Original Sin wouldn't be the game it was without the input from our Kickstarter backers ... without having that same community on board, it's going to be very hard for us to achieve the goals we have for Divinity: Original Sin 2.'"

Larian has opened up its forums and encourages the community to provide ideas and feedback for stretch goals and pledge rewards to help shape the game's development. Fans have already posted up a few suggestions like 4-player co-op, an original physical map, a collector's edition guidebook and even a card game (anyone up for a round of Gwent?).

By heavily modding and cracking Microsoft's region-locked free-to-play Halo Online, a tech-savvy team of modders is working hard on bringing a free, fully functioning port of Halo 3 multiplayer to the PC for the first time.

In an effort to serve PC gamers with an authentic Halo 3 port, a growing community of modders have created the Eldorito mod, a bit of software that effectively allows gamers to test-play a user-modified version of Halo 3 online multiplayer.

"I feel strange saying I want an almost ten-year-old game on my PC with nothing new, but there is something about Halo 3's simplicity that I enjoy," Sam Fish, one of the modders working directly on the project, said to PC Gamer. "I think that having Eldorito at least getting to Vanilla Halo 3 status would be an insane starting point for modding and going crazy with the game. We have already seen an insane amount of support with the community with people making Forge maps and mods and posting them on our subreddit almost daily. I think that if our community stays this awesome, Eldorito will have an amazing year."

Every month Valve conducts in-depth surveys to determine the most popular hardware and software solutions used by Steam gamers and compares them on a month-by-month basis. Last month's survey report reveals that most gamers are using stock hardware rather than high-performance rigs.

According to July 2015's hardware survey, only 34% of Steam users play at 1920x1080 resolution, with 26% running games at the laptop standard resolution of 1366x768. Out of the gamers that opt in for multi-display gaming, a full ~29% of these users run at 3840 x 1080 resolution.

When it comes to CPU's ~48% of Steam users run dual-core CPU's, with quad-core CPU's close behind at ~45%. The bulk of CPU clock speeds are between 2.3 GHz and 2.6Ghz, but the 3.3-3.69Ghz clock bracket is on the rise accounting for approximately ~16% of users. Intel CPU's predictably dominate with an inclusion rate of 75% versus AMD APU's at just a quarter of users.