Gaming - Page 1121

Even though Nintendo is fully looking towards the future with its upcoming NX console, that doesn't mean it is going to just abandon 3DS and Wii U owners. Instead, new game titles and software updates will be made available for both systems, even while the company works on new technology.

"However, the 3DS and Wii U have install bases. Immediately cutting off software for previous hardware upon the release of a new machine is inefficient. We will continue making 3DS and Wii U software while preparing for the NX," said Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, while speaking to investors. "We are prioritizing satisfying customers who purchased the Wii U."

Details about the NX won't be released by Nintendo until 2016, even though gamers were hoping to learn more during E3. It's reportedly going to be a "new concept" from the Japanese gaming company, and shouldn't be considered an outright replacement for the Wii U.

If you were looking forward to playing a map involving the Death Star in Star Wars: Battlefront, you may not be happy to hear what a DICE community manager recently said.

Electronic Arts previously said there would be no space maps or space-themed battles in the game, but it looks like the Death Star won't be included at all: "We will not offer a Death Star-based map," the manager said in a post on Reddit. "But stay tuned for details around the maps we will offer."

You'll be able to see some eye candy as Star Destroyers fly overhead, but it won't be possible to actually try to shoot them down.

Call of Duty DLC previously launched first on the Microsoft Xbox platforms, but that has changed now that Sony PlayStation is the new "home" for CoD. PlayStation gamers can look forward to receiving Black Ops 3 DLC first, and the multiplayer beta will also hit the PlayStation before the PC and Xbox.

"Well, I think the first thing was we've had a great relationship with Activision around Destiny... and I'm a huge fan of that," said Adam Boyes, VP of publisher and developer relations for the Sony PlayStation, in a statement published by GameSpot.

Boyes said things started to come together after the PlayStation team tested Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. "We fell in love instantly. As soon as I started playing it, I said, 'This feels incredible! You can wallride!' It's just so smooth; it's almost like poetic. And so obviously, we just continued talking with our partners at Activision and worked something out. And now we've got I think a great benefit to all gamers."

Almost half of UK studios were focused on mobile game development in the UK in 2014, but is facing increased pressure from PC game developers. The mobile lead dropped from 49 percent to 48 percent year-over-year when comparing 2014 to 2013, while PCs increased from 34 percent up to 37 percent, according to the TIGA UK video game trade association.

Of course, PC game development includes retail and online PC games, social network games and MMOs - and the shift more towards PC could continue through this year.

"PC, in contrast, gained steam in 2014, with 37 percent of studios adopting it as their primary platform choice up from 34 percent in 2013," said Dr. Richard Wilson, CEO OF TIGA.

We've been hearing about Nintendo's next generation 'NX console' for a while now, but the company hasn't laid out any details on NX at all. It has been a secret, known only as NX.

The Japanese gaming giant is being secretive about it as it doesn't want its competitors in Sony and Microsoft to steal any of its ideas. In a recent shareholders meeting, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata said: "We can't talk about the NX. If we do, competitors may take our ideas and customers won't be surprised. This would not be beneficial for the company or its shareholders. The NX is new hardware, and will start from 0. However, the 3DS and Wii U have install bases. Immediately cutting off software for previous hardware upon the release of a new machine is inefficient. We will continue making 3DS and Wii software while preparing for the NX. We are prioritizing satisfying customers who purchased the Wii U".

We know to not expect anything from Nintendo on NX until 2016, but it looks like whatever the company is working on, we could hopefully be in for one of the most unique consoles released.

Most gamers might not know, but Rocksteady Studios didn't work on the PC port of Batman: Arkham Knight, where instead the studio had Iron Galaxy Studios port the game over to PC. You might remember that Warner Bros. pulled the PC game from being sold last week.

Rocksteady is now in control of the game, with the studio posting on their official website saying: "Rocksteady is leading our team of developers and partners as we work on the PC performance issues that players have been encountering. The work is significant and while we are making good progress on improving performance, it will take some time to ensure that we get the right fixes in place". The first patch, which should've already hit owners of Batman: Arkham Knight, has some interim fixes:

But you know what? Rocksteady would've seen the game before they, or Warner Bros. would've greenlit its release on PC. Obviously Rocksteady was too busy at work on the console version of Batman: Arkham Knight that the PC version wasn't just receiving as much love, it was thrown to the side without a second thought. It was released completely unready, and thus untested, and Rocksteady should be ashamed of themselves ending the Batman trilogy of games on this note.

There was some pressure on Electronic Arts to make sure Star Wars: Battlefront is released before Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens movie. However, single-player was never really on the drawing board for the newest Star Wars video game, as multiplayer will create a more enjoyable gaming experience.

"To be honest, single-player was never in the plan. It was never the concept," said Patrick Bach, DICE GM, in an interview with GameSpot. "The concept for us was always that we wanted players to re-live the battles. We wanted them to play the battles from the original movies. And DICE, coming from its Battlefield background, knows how to make awesome battles in that context."

Bach also admitted while the studio has created intriguing single-player campaigns, they haven't been as strong as its multiplayer efforts.

The outer reaches of space are no boundaries for Chris Roberts' far reaching space shooter/economy/adventure/everything game, with Star Citizen to allow players to become a transporter in the game.

The developer has just unveiled a very in-depth transportation career, something that will be propelled with the use of the first transport ship: the Genesis Starliner. The Genesis Starliner can transport up to 40 people, where you can customize the ship and its modular interior to your liking. You could splash out and throw in some expensive state rooms, where you can charge more for people to stay there.

Roberts Space Industries, the developer behind the game, explains: "Whether it's the centerpiece of a private spaceline or part of a larger system of passenger transports, the Genesis can be used for a variety of support roles. Potential owners and operators can rest easy: the Starliner is a ship designed to pay for itself!"

With the release of Crystal Dynamics' second game in the rebooted Tomb Raider series due out in November for the Xbox One and Xbox 360, it looks like Microsoft might have a huge one-year timed exclusive for Rise of the Tomb Raider.

The news is coming from YouTuber 'The Know' who has said that Rise of the Tomb Raider won't hit the PlayStation 4 until November of next year, but Square Enix will drop the price of the PS4 version of Rise of the Tomb Raider to $40 to entice games. As for the PC version, there's no concrete release date, but we could be waiting as long as PS4 gamers for the PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider.

And if you haven't seen it, we've included some Rise of the Tomb Raider gameplay, dubbed 'Siberian Wilderness', showing Lara Croft in the super-cold environments, playing through the game and showing the improved crafting system.

It's no secret that Deus Ex games don't shy away from sometimes touchy subjects, and while Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has its own curious plot points, don't expect Eidos Montreal to directly touch on religion.

"One thing that we never touch on from the front is religion," said Jean-Francois Dugas, game director at Eidos Montreal, in the latest issue of GamesMaster. "The subject we're tackling, it goes into religion from the aspect of do we choose to play God or not? But we try to keep it as agnostic as we can because the field is too sensitive. We also don't want to be offensive in any way, or tackle something we don't really understand ourselves. Instead we distill transhumanism, and what it does for human beings regardless of your beliefs."

Eidos Montreal showed off the game during E3 2015, and featured a game preview and a second portion demonstrating its actual gameplay. The studio wants to focus on allowing players to mix in a bit of stealth and head-to-head action, providing gamers the chance to play through the game how they feel most comfortable.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently sent an email to all of the company's employees, as everyone anxiously awaits the Windows 10 launch, and wants to help "empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."

Not surprisingly, gaming earned its own spot in the email:

"We will pursue our gaming ambition as part of this broader vision for Windows and increase its appeal to consumers," Nadella said in his email to employees. "We will bring Xbox Live and our first-party gaming efforts across PC, console, mobile and new categories like HoloLens into one integrated play."

Electronic Arts was happy with the reception that Star Wars Battlefront received during E3, and is continuing to push forward with the latest Star Wars game.

EA COO Peter Moore noted that the company would delay the game if it wasn't right, and another company official noted the "10,000 ways to f***" up game development - and how it's promoted to the public.

"No, but I think we've reached a point where we're worrying less about what we are doing and what we have done. Before you a show a game to the world, there's ongoing speculation about it," said Patrick Bach, GM at DICE, in a statement to GameSpot. "There are 10,000 ways to f*** this up, and people are super detailed on how we will screw up. And I read these posts and I think, hey, I think fans are going to be super happy with what we're doing."

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick wants to release quality game titles to its customers, and that doesn't mean risking game quality - and possible burnout - just to launch a title.

Take-Two has been criticized in the past for heavy reliance on Grand Theft Auto, but Zelnick noted that while the company has evolved, there has been added diversification of its product lineup. In addition, Zelnick is aware of a common concern among game studios and publishers: burning out a franchise with sometimes unnecessary yearly releases:

"I think the biggest distinction between us and some of our competitors is we don't annualize our non-sports titles, and that's for a couple of reasons," Zelnick recently told Games Industry. "One is we want to have the highest quality in the business and that takes time, and two, we like to rest our IP in between releases because we believe that's what keeps it fresh and permanent. We don't want to burn off our franchises. It's an unusual strategy - I think we stand alone with that strategy, but it's really paying off."

Bethesda Softworks is almost done with Fallout 4 development, and everything is looking good for a fall launch.

"We're pretty close to being done, which you have to be if you're going to ship in five months," said Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing at Bethesda, in a statement to GamesRadar.

Hines also noted the overall anticipation for the game, which is why there has been such a short window of game promotion: "If we didn't feel that was enough time to generate the excitement that we expected and the interest that we wanted, then we would have announced it earlier. So part of it is because we felt like it was a big enough title that we could get away with it."

After an extremely busy E3 gaming show earlier this month, there are a lot of things gamers across all platforms can be happy for. It turns out, PC game sales are expected to top video game consoles by the end of 2016 - with console games reaching an estimated $28 billion, while PC games will hit $29 billion, according to the PwC industry researcher.

If true, this is a major shift in the gaming market, which was dominated by PCs, transitioned to consoles, and looks to be switching once again. Most popular game titles released today feature a PC version and are available on new-generation consoles - but with resolution and fps restrictions, the PC Master Race fans can enjoy wider customization of their gaming experience.

It's not just a battle between PC and console games anymore, with a growing number of mobile and Web-based games.

Wargaming has found itself in hot water with gamers, where it partnered with Humble Bundle last month on a deal for its popular World of Warships game, which is still in beta.

At the time, the MMO developer was offering anyone who purchased the bundle access to the upcoming closed beta, a premium ship dubbed 'Murmansk' and 1,000 premium credits. Anyone who purchased the bundle would see their items carried over from the beta to the full game, but after Wargaming applied the latest patch to World of Warships, gamers have noticed that the ship, and premium credits, are gone.

Even when re-entering the code they were provided when they purchased the bundle, gamers were hit with the same brick wall: no premium ship or premium credits. Wargaming then posted a statement that the Humble Bundle deal that included the premium ship and 1,000 credits was only for the closed beta period, leaving gamers feeling like they had been bait and switched by Wargaming.

A lot of Batman: Arkham Knight PC gamers haven't had a pleasurable gaming experience during launch week, as there are a number of performance problems, bugs, and game glitches. Warner Bros. rightfully decided to temporarily suspend future sales of the PC version as the studio works to resolve issues.

Why was it the right call? Put simply, the studio had a bit of advice to PC gamers suffering issues: turn down the settings.

"We continue to work closely with AMD to resolve these issues as soon as possible; make sure you have the most current drivers and check back here for updates on when the next driver version is available," Warner Bros. said in a statement.

In the aftermath of Warner Bros pulling the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight because of it being a complete mess of a PC port, Electronic Arts' COO, Peter Moore, has come out talking about Star Wars: Battlefront.

Moore said that Electronic Arts wouldn't have a problem delaying a game if it wasn't ready, just like it did with Battlefield: Hardline. Moore said: "You can't ship it if it doesn't work or the quality isn't right. You just bite the bullet. Trust me, shipping Hardline in March was not the easiest thing to do from a business perspective, but it was the right thing to do from a player perspective".

Does that mean EA could postpone Star Wars: Battlefront? No. Moore said that the game is already "rock solid" even in huge 40-player matches, so a delay "ain't going to happen" according to Moore.

It looks like next month is going to be quite the Comic-Con, with our first glimpse at the PC version of Star Wars: Battlefront. Up until now, all of the gameplay we've seen is from the console versions of the game.

EA took to its official Twitter account for Star Wars, where they said: "Join us at the @thenerdmachine during #SDCC and try #StarWarsBattlefront on PC!". We also found out that DICE had unprecedented access to original Star Wars props and locations, allowing the studio to create the impressive visuals we've seen in Battlefront.

Mathew Everett, Community Manager for DICE, recently talked about the collaboration between DICE and Lucasfilm, where he said: "The Sullust they use within the comic is based on the Sullust we're introducing into the Star Wars universe in Star Wars Battlefront. This has been a part of the collaboration we have had with Lucas over the last few years".

Firaxis and 2K Games have shown off a new video featuring game play from XCOM 2. The following video features 10 minutes of gameplay and added commentary from XCOM 2 producer Jake Solomon. You'll learn some of the differences between XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2:

The second game takes place 20 years after the original XCOM, with humans living under control of the successful conquerors. The XCOM serves as resistance fighters using guerrilla warfare tactics against the superior alien army. Gamers can launch attacks using new melee weapons and flying drones, while relying on a customized stealth system.

XCOM 2 will feature customized levels so every gaming experience will be unique to individual players. XCOM 2 will be a PC exclusive and is scheduled for launch this November.