Gaming - Page 1123

Konami has released a 40-minute game play video of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, after screenshots and details about the game were published earlier this month. Although gamers are excited, there has been concern regarding how the game will support microtransactions.

Microtransactions have been included to assist gamers "who might not be able to spend as much time with the game," according to Konami. Here are some additional details about microtransactions in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain:

"While it is true that a few microtransactions options do exist, the entire game has been carefully balanced to be fair and enjoyable with or without using these options," Konami said. "There's no pay to win option. Rest assured that every single item, weapon, and mission in the game is available to all players without paying a single cent."

Want to be a beta tester for Rainbow Six Siege? It doesn't matter if you're a PC gamer or Microsoft Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 4 console owner - you can throw your hat into the ring right now. Visit the sign up page.

"Come join IGN and Ubisoft for the Rainbow Six Siege Closed Beta event and put your wits and combat skills to the test. Uniquely skilled Operators, the thrilling Siege gameplay, and destructible, intimate combat arenas await in a playable first-person shooter gaming experience you can't miss," the signup page says.

The signup page recommends users sign up sooner rather than later, as the beta access codes will be distributed using a first-come, first-served basis. You can also opt in for a chance to win a few prizes, including a Samsung 65" 4K UHDTV, an Xbox One console, or Rainbow Six Siege Gold Edition and standard game copies.

Microsoft's announcement that the Xbox One would be backward compatible to support Xbox 360 games was quite a surprise. Of course, Sony has said PlayStation 4 gamers shouldn't expect backward compatibility - and displayed a bit of skepticism regarding Microsoft's claims.

"I didn't think it was possible. There must be lots of engineering effort," said Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Worldwide Studios, in a statement to Eurogamer. "They talked about 100 games, but what kind of games will be included? Is it smaller games or big games? We don't know."

Expect a proper backward compatibility launch for the Xbox One before the end of the year. Xbox gamers have the chance to vote on which titles they would like to play on the Xbox One, with Microsoft looking at each game individually.

The Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition that includes a real Pip-Boy has proven to be a complete hit among gamers. It looks like Bethesda is having a difficult time keeping the Pip-Boy Edition on store shelves, and it remains unknown which stores - and in what locations - will be restocked.

"The Pip-Boy is important part of Fallout, and we love it so much that we made a real one," said Todd Howard, game director at Bethesda Softworks, in a statement published by Forbes. "Yes, you can put your phone in it, and yes, we made an app for it so it works with the game, and yes it's a second screen experience. Usually I find second-screen experiences to be stupid gimmicks, but as far as stupid gimmicks goes, this is the best f---ing one I've ever seen."

Bethesda also said it will ask its sales team and stores to address those folks purchasing multiple copies and reselling them on Ebay. Some Fallout fans are frustrated already, but Bethesda is doing its best to sort out logistical issues in a timely manner.

Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Studios are preparing for the launch of Fable Legends, built on the Unreal Engine 4, which will be a free-to-play game. Gamers won't be initially required to pay to play, but can purchase downloadable content (DLC) if they want additional content to play.

"We launch the game later this year with a certain amount of content but then we're going to continue to release new content every single month, new quests, new stories to play," said David Eckelberry, director of Fable Legends, in a statement to Newsbeat. "Some of that you can purchase, some you can unlock in the game and some you just get for free."

Even though so-called freemium games appear to have some popularity, gamers have shown frustration when they must pay to essentially complete the gaming experience. However, it's a thought that is not lost on Eckelberry and said game developers have to "be responsible" and it "would be wrong" to build half a game and then charge gamers.

Batman: Arkham Knight drops on June 23, with PlayStation 4 owners to get hit by a day-one patch that weighs in at 3.5GB. The patch will introduce in the "Rival Points" feature, as well as the original Batman skin, support for future DLC, and an Improved Performance and Stability Fixes.

We don't know if the Xbox One or PC versions of Batman: Arkham Knight will be slapped with 3.5GB day-one patches, but we should expect something very similar for these two platforms, too. With the game dropping on Tuesday, and with Polygon already giving it a perfect 10 and saying that Batman: Arkham Knight is "the best game of this console generation" the hype is real.

Grand Theft Auto V has been out for a while now, with some modders taking to it quickly, but the release of the ENBSeries beta mod is a cut above the rest. I'll let the images talk for themselves, with the first batch from 'dpeasant'.

The additional detail is absolutely mind blowing, with GTA V effectively coming to life... some more screenshots for your eyeballs to enjoy, and for your PC to cry in pain from.

What an upgrade, don't you agree? Want to download it? Click here.

During E3, it was revealed that Sony is the new "home" for the Call of Duty game franchise, which wasn't a major shock among any of the game companies involved. However, it caused a bit of a commotion among Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game console owners - as PS4 gamers will receive all map packs first.

"We were expecting the announcement, obviously we have a great relationship with Activision, we have more people playing Call of Duty today on our platform than any other," said Aaron Greenberg, Senior Director of the Studios Marketing Group, in a statement to Polygon. "And if you think about it, if you're a shooter fan and want to play Halo and Call of Duty, there's only one box to do it on."

Even with Sony now being the new 'home' for Call of Duty, that doesn't mean Microsoft won't try to cash in on Activision's premier game franchise:

E3 2015 - Warner Bros and Avalanche Studios have released a new trailer for their upcoming Mad Max game, with the new 'Eye of the Storm' trailer available below. Not only that, but a slew of new high resolution screenshots have also been released.

Mad Max will feature an interesting crafting system that can be used to craft new weapons and tools, he will eat rodents, maggots and other small animals in order to get his health increased, too. Max's garage can be used to fully modify the car's engine, chassis, wheels, body work, and the "shell" of the car itself.

Avalanche has also talked about the graphical side of Mad Max, where the studio said: "Since the Avalanche Engine has been used in several games, it has picked up a lot of graphical features along the way. The engine is optimized for open world games so you will find dynamic time of day and dynamic weather, with some big sand storms. Mad Max is set in The Wasteland where a lot of the ground is visible, so we added parallax occlusion mapping to give some depth to the terrain material".

Microsoft had a lot to talk about during E3, but the Kinect peripheral was noticeably absent from discussions. Don't worry, however, as the company is "absolutely continuing to support Kinect," according to Xbox executive Aaron Greenberg, in a statement made to GameSpot.

The company will support Kinect "where it makes sense," as there are a number of Xbox Kinect users - when the Xbox One launched in 2013, all bundles included a Kinect. Even though gamers can purchase the Xbox One without a Kinect, Microsoft simply cannot abandon its Kinect users.

"We really want Kinect to be a choice for customers. For me, I love it; I turn my Xbox One with Kinect; I use it for entertainment; I use it to do screenshots and all that. I like to be able to have my hands on the controller and use voice commands. But, frankly, a lot of people also want a better value and don't want to have to pay for it. So we're not going to force people to do that. We give people the choice."

Microsoft earned praise from gamers after it announced the Xbox One would be backward compatible, so owners are able to play their Xbox 360 games on the next-generation console. Xbox One Preview Program members can currently test 21 Xbox 360 titles on the Xbox One, and can expect "hundreds" of titles to be supported by the end of the year.

The company also created a poll to ask which game titles Xbox One owners wanted to see, and Red Dead Redemption topped the list (with more than 39,000 votes). Of the top 10 games voted on, four Call of Duty video games made the list.

The full list, based on gamer votes: Red Dead Redemption, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Gears of War 3, Call of Duty, Black Ops, Fallout 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Mass Effect 3.

E3 2015 - Square Enix unveiled the latest Hitman game at E3 2015, with the game simply titled 'Hitman'. We should expect it to be released on December 8.

Square Enix started off the new Hitman with a trailer teasing a global banking conspiracy, with Agent 47 right in the middle of it, of course. Better yet, the developer has said that all DLC will be free, with no season pass on offer. Io's Hannes Seifert told VideoGamer: "Everything we ship on December 8 will be completely finished, it will be a very polished experience. It's also going to be a very big game. There are other products that sell a game for $60 and then try to sell you a Season Pass for another $40 on top, so you spend $100 or $120 for all the stuff that happens later on. We said no, we don't want to do that".

He added: "We think it's wrong to approach players like that because players want to be part of that experience but they don't necessarily want to be ripped off. What we're going to sell is all of that but it's for a one-price package".

Fallout 4 was one of the best games unveiled at E3 2015, but during an interview with GameSpot, Bethesda boss Pete Hines had some sad words to say about the graphics in Fallout 4.

Hines said that the complex crafting system and extensive interactive environments required some graphical compromises, where he added: "Everything that we do is a balance. We could make the best looking game possible, but we dial some of that back in order to allow for all of these other things". Hines also added: "If you want to pick flowers and make potions all day, then that's what you're role-playing. If you want to go shoot everybody in the head with a laser-musket, then that's what you're role-playing".

Personally, I think Bethesda is having to compromise in the graphics department in Fallout 4 because of the lackluster hardware found in the Xbox One and PS4. If it were a PC only game, there would be absolutely no need to water down the graphics, or compromise any part of the game, period.

Microsoft's decision to support backward compatibility for Xbox One gamers trying to play their Xbox 360 game consoles has earned praise from GameStop. In addition to supporting gamers, the decision could make for an easier transition from the Xbox 360 to Xbox One, according to a GameStop official.

"Microsoft, at this E3, decided to introduce backward compatibility into their system. That's obviously something people are looking for," said Eric Bright, director of merchandising for GameStop, in a statement to GameSpot. "And GameStop will be ready, whether you're looking to purchase Xbox 360 games or trade yours in, we'll be there."

The new backward compatibility is available for Xbox Preview members, and will expand to more Xbox One gamers before the end of the year.

Microsoft recently announced that backward compatibility will allow Xbox One owners to play Xbox 360 game titles, and it was a unique offering. For Sony PlayStation 4 gamers, don't expect the same feature anytime soon so you can play your old PlayStation 3 games.

"The backward compatibility news was interesting," said Shuhei Yoshida, head of worldwide studios at Sony Computers Entertainment, in a statement to Polygon. "The technology involved must be very challenging. I'm interested in seeing the list of titles."

Instead, paying PS4 gamers can use PlayStation Now to play older game titles - but native backward compatibility shouldn't be expected. However, Sony will continue developing and supporting new features for the PS4, as more gamers look to upgrade their consoles.

E3 2015 - The Coalition Studio announced Gears of War: Ultimate Edition during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2015, something that will be hitting the PC with 4K resolution and DirectX 12 support when Windows 10 launches next month.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will be rocking mouse and keyboard support, as well as the typical controller support that console gamers are used to. On the Xbox One, we can expect Gears of War: Ultimate Edition to rock along at 1080p 60FPS, which is a very nice touch for the Xbox One. The beta is available for Xbox One users, too.

The remastered version of Gears of War features refreshed visuals and reworked cutscenes thanks to animation studio Plastic Wax. According to Polygon's sources, the Gears of War remake is being worked on by Splash Damage, which worked on Brink and Dirty Bomb.

E3 2015 - Much of the attention during E3 has been on PC and console games, but there is a growing presence of mobile game titles. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson recently spoke about how critical mobile gaming is for the company, which has almost 250 different mobile titles available to gamers.

"Mobile is already important. We had more than 700 million downloads of our games last year. We have 160, 170 million monthly active users playing our games every month," Wilson said in a statement to GamesBeat. "There's going to be another 300 or 600 million devices or something launched this year alone. We went from 200 million players to two billion players in large part because of mobile devices. It's already super important to us. I'm proud of what we're doing.

Hardcore games such as Madden NFL being streamlined to Madden NFL Mobile indicate how EA wants to cater to Apple iOS and Google Android smartphone and tablet owners. Looking ahead, Wilson said that GMs are reporting the importance of mobile gaming directly to him - and he's listening to the feedback.

In an interview with GameSpot, a Capcom employee stated that Street Fighter V will not be released on Xbox - even though previous titles have been.

Although fans were speculating an Xbox release, the representative stated: "the reality is that this is a real partnership [with Sony]. We are console exclusive for this franchise for this numbered run." Claiming its new buddy Sony is certainly a helpful one, the source from Capcom continued "We're not talking about how we're handling post-launch content, but I can say the relationship with Sony does open doors for things we haven't been able to do in the past."

Phil Spencer, Xbox Games executive, told GameSpot that these things sometimes happen, adding that "I'd love it if Xbox fans could play all the games, but business just makes some deals happen. It's all part of competition."

E3 2015 - If you've got a little more violence in mind, Devolver Digital has shown off its new title Mother Russia Bleeds through Sony in its E3 Keynote recently. Reminding us a little of the games of yesteryear, Devolver has added it's traditional pixelated blood bath twist to things.

With pre-Alpha footage all that is currently on hand, this PC and PlayStation 4 title is expected for launch in 2016 and features an ultra-violent co-op brawler playstyle centered around an alternate universe U.S.S.R regime. Based on a crew of street brawlers, you can team up with three of your friends to join in on the action.

The fighters are apparently vying for freedom, fighting against "an oppressive criminal authority and crippling drug addictions through any means necessary" as stated in a recent press release.

E3 2015 - After months of teasing, Killzone developer Guerrilla Games has unveiled their open world RPG at E3, known as Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Horizon: Zero Dawn is a PS4 exclusive action RPG, set in a world after humanity has fallen to shreds, with the cities of the world turned into wastelands, filled with foliage, trees and life. In Horizon: Zero Dawn, you'll play as Aloy, a killer hunter, where you'll be able to explore the vast environments that are filled with mysterious mechanized creatures that pose a considerable threat. There are tribal societies to mingle with, ancient artifacts, and advanced technologies that you'll be introduced to in Horizon: Zero Dawn.

A full list of features is available below: