Gaming - Page 1143

Nintendo will release Yoshi's Wooly World for the Wii U in early 2015, with the Good-Feel Company game developer firm providing assistance. Yoshi's Wooly World presents a unique gaming environment, featuring characters made of yarn, wool and other materials. The game was originally shown off during E3 2014 earlier this year, but Nintendo only confirmed it would be released sometime in 2015.

"We said we wanted to make a Yoshi game, but we asked them to use the yarn and fabric as materials for creating new gameplay mechanics to create a new kind of Yoshi game filled with those kinds of elements," said Takashi Tezuka, Nintendo video game designer, during a Nintendo Direct presentation.

It has been an extremely busy time for console manufacturers and game studios, and Nintendo has enjoyed recent success with the Wii U. The launch of Yoshi's Wooly World in early 2015 could help generate additional sales for the gaming unit.

Marking a turn of events, Microsoft has claimed that their Xbox One model has bested Sony's PlayStation 4 in monthly sales across the United States and the United Kingdom throughout the month of November, 2014.

Alongside this being a record month for Xbox, they've finally edged ahead of their main competition in two of their major countries. Mike Nichols, corporate vice president of Xbox marketing couldn't be happier with the reports, claiming the response to their holiday lineup of games as "incredible, with Xbox One fans buying more games in November in the U.S. than any other gen eight platform and enjoying over 357 million hours of gameplay globally".

Nichols added "In fact, more fans logged into Xbox Live across Xbox One and Xbox 360, and enjoyed more entertainment, than any other month in the history of Xbox".

The launch of Driveclub on the PlayStation 4 has been nothing but a mess, and even though Evolution Studios has been doing an amazing job patching up the game since its launch, Sony's UK Managing Director Fergal Gara, isn't happy.

Gara spoke with IGN, saying that he and the Driveclub team are "embarrassed" by the performance of the game so far. He continued: "It's a disappointment. When you lay your soul out as being '4ThePlayers', then what you certainly don't want is games that are not fully ready. It certainly wasn't any ill-intention on behalf of the team. It's ambitious as a game; they're as embarrassed as we are and all you can do in those situations is say sorry. We apologize to any players affected and are doing our damndest to make things right. So that's what we've been doing and the game is pretty near-complete now. We don't want to introduce the PS Plus Edition until we're confident the servers can take the load".

Evolution Studios have been patching up the game, with the latest update to Driveclub introducing some super impressive dynamic weather effects to the already very pretty driving title.

Valve has just given one of Counter-Strike's most famous maps a new look and feel, with Train being updated with new higher-end graphics and a bit of a tweak to the gameplay, too.

The company reworked the map from the ground up in order to "improve both the visual appearance and competitive gameplay balance of this iconic location" the company wrote on its Counter-Strike blog. Valve continued: "Our primary goals were to improve the gameplay balance of the map while simultaneously upgrading the overall visual experience. This meant making more intuitive layout changes, then re-interpreting large and small-scale environment elements to improve judgement of space and distance".

Valve have a before-and-after shot available on their Counter-Strike blog, which gives you a great look at just how much work they've done to Train. We've taken a screenshot of that above, to give you a quick look at what to expect. The company goes into great detail on the big, and subtle changes it has done to Train, so check out the full blog article here.

The creator of DayZ has officially announced his new studio, as he leaves his first job behind him at Bohemia Interactive. Dean Hall has promised to continue helping the team finish DayZ, which is preparing for a 2016 launch.

Hall spoke with Polygon, which asked if he was officially no longer with Bohemia Interactive, to which Hall replied "While my role as project lead officially winds up, my involvement continues as the creator. Bohemia are not only people I've worked with, but they're close friends. We have an ongoing relationship and I'm committed to providing whatever support and assistance that is appropriate and required for the title to continue to succeed. I'm excited by the continued progress of DayZ into a much more streamlined and traditional production development cycle".

There's not much known about Hall's new studio, but he did say "Not much to really say at the moment, the focus of the studio is to make games that we want to play. As a consumer I get quite frustrated when movies/games are announced very far in advance. I know why it's done but I don't like it and hopefully I can make games without having to resort to that. So for the moment I'm keeping quiet about what we are doing until I have something worthwhile to say".

The reclusive China regime, and its hordes of censors, have kept consoles out of the country for the last 14 years by instituting an all-encompassing ban. This draconian ban was lifted just a few short months ago, and Microsoft capitalized on the opportunity by quickly shipping units into the country. Now, four months later, Sony is following Microsoft's lead. The Sony PlayStation 4 will debut in China on January 11th.

Entering the China market isn't easy. The games must make a run through the censor gauntlet, which routinely denies 'licenses' for many of today's top games. It's safe to say that Grand Theft Auto isn't going to make the cut. Microsoft's console is selling in China with only 10 games that passed muster with the censors, but Microsoft predominantly submitted sports games that faced little chance of being flagged by 'cultural censors'. Sony is being a bit more aggressive by applying for licences for 30 games, and several have already made it through. The Sony PS4 will go on sale for roughly 2,899 yuan ($468 USD), in comparison to the more pricey Xbox One at 3,699 yuan ($568 USD).

Entering the China market holds untold profits from a massive audience that doesn't have access to older platforms. Users in the US and other countries tend to hold off on upgrades, simply because they tend to have older units with an extensive amount of games and accessories. This makes upgrade cycles drag out over long periods of time. China has no existing console market, so every customer will pony up their hard earned yuans for the new consoles, accessories and games. China also has the largest pool of customers on the planet, so the earning potential is through the roof.

The Sony PlayStation 4 game console has continually outsold the rival Microsoft Xbox One since both were launched in late 2013 - and while the race is tightening - Sony believes year two will be a bigger success. Sony has learned it takes a bit of time for each new console platform to mature, which could open the floodgates even further.

"I really believe it's year two when you tend to see those titles come through that start to define the whole generation," said Fergai Gara, Sony UK executive. "The best is yet to come on PS4. We've seen a brilliant start with the mega-franchises, like the FIFAs, Call of Duties, and the Assassin's Creeds, but we've also seen some strong new IPs launch - the likes of Destiny and Watch Dogs. But I think that the ones that are truly to define the generation are probably still to come, to be honest."

Consumers are spending money on gaming hardware and video games, so both Sony and Microsoft should be able to enjoy success in 2015.

Microsoft really made a name for itself with the Flight Simulator games, but after last year's free-to-play Microsoft Flight, all has ended for the game.... until now. Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition is coming, thanks to Dovetail Games.

You've probably never heard of Dovetail Games, but they're the developer who released Train Simulator, and are now working on the re-release of FSX. The company secured the rights to develop games using Microsoft's flight simulator technology, with the deal including the rights to re-release FSX on Steam. You might think this is ages away, but Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition is coming soon, very soon: December 18, to be precise - or, a week from now.

Dovetail explains the game: "Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition delivers an authentically accurate aerial experience for simulation enthusiasts and those with a passion for all things flight. Pilots can climb into the cockpits of over twenty aircraft, from commercial and fighter jets to single-engine private planes and helicopters. More than 80 missions will test players in a variety of ways, including search and rescue challenges, test pilot scenarios, races and more. The game features updated multiplayer functionality, Windows 8.1 support and over 24,000 airports, delivering a beautiful, connected world and vast horizon begging to be explored".

According to an image posted on Instagram by Stephen Lunsford, who starred in MTV's 'Teen Wolf', he is working with Crystal Dynamics. Crystal Dynamics being the developer of the recent Tomb Raider reboot, and the upcoming Xbox One timed exclusive Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Lunsford explained that he "will be creating a [Tomb Raider] mini-series to be released with Rise of The Tomb Raider" that will be both a prequel to the upcoming Xbox One timed exclusive, and an "eventual" live-action feature. We don't know what capacity Lunsford plays in the live-action mini-series, but this is exciting news for Tomb Raider fans.

We know that The Witcher 3 has been delayed, and while that might disappoint most gamers it could be good for the game. A couple of days ago CD Projekt Red announced it had delayed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt until May 19, 2015.

Adam Kiciński, a member of the Board of CD Projekt Red talked with Eurogamer, talked about not wanting to release The Witcher 3 early. He said that gamers "took our decision very well. [The] market is afraid of badly polished games on next-gen platforms". He added: "We want to disarm the opinion that [The Witcher 3] doesn't exist. It will be closed by the end of the year in line with the schedule". Kiciński said that the Board agreed that the company set the February 2015 release date too early, he said: "We announced the release date very early and we're paying for it now".

Kiciński continued: "There's a lot of small errors though, because the game is huge. It's the only reason behind the delay. We didn't assume it will be this big. Only after putting all the pieces together it turned out it's bigger than the two first put together. Let me remind you: it's open and not linear. We are just learning how to play it and we have to catch the little pieces. We know what to do, we just have to do it. We don't want to release the game with bugs that undermine the gameplay".

Microsoft today released Minecraft Pocket Edition for the Windows Phone, available for $6.99. The Windows Phone version also includes Creative mode, Survival mode, and Wi-Fi-based multiplayer mode. Interested gamers must be running Windows Phone 8.1 on their smartphones.

The price tag is the same for Windows Phone, Google Android, and Apple iOS. The extremely popular game is available on a large variety of different platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Raspberry Pi.

Microsoft bought Mojang and Minecraft earlier this year for $2.5 billion, and has promised to continue its development in a manner that won't alienate avid Minecraft gamers.

Evolution Studios has been working around the clock to make it right with its PlayStation 4 exclusive Drive Club, with the latest patch for the game not only fixing up some of the issues with the game, but it is offering up some damn impressive dynamic weather effects.

Driveclub is now sitting at version 1.08, with the latest update coming in at 1.4GB, adding rain and snow to both the offline and online modes for the game. There are also two new tracks: Norway's Atlanterhavsvegen and Canada's Sinclair Pass as well as the improvements that the developer promised not too long ago. The patch provides:

But don't worry, Evolution Studios is promising another patch before the end of the year, something that will add:

We know that both Target and Kmart Australia have banned Grand Theft Auto V from their shelves, with a petition that has been fired back by peeved gamers that want to see the Bible banned from sale, too. Well, now Take-Two Interactive's Chairman and CEO, Karl Slatoff has stepped up to talk about it all.

Slatoff talked at the BMO Capital Markets 2014 Technology & Digital Media Conference, where he said that people who find individual pieces of content offensive should simply not purchase that product. He said: "It's one thing for someone to not want to buy a piece of content, which is completely understandable. And that's really the solution. If you don't like it and it's offensive to you, then you don't buy it".

He also talked about the petition, and that the results were an infringement on free speech, where he added: "For a person or a group of people to try to make that decision for millions of people... We have 34 million people who bought Grand Theft Auto, and if these folks had their way, none of those people would be able to buy Grand Theft Auto. And that really just flies in the face of everything that free society is based on. It's the freedom of expression, and to try to squelch that is a dangerous and slippery slope to go down".

Microsoft has a nice exclusive for the Xbox One next year, with Rise of the Tomb Raider hitting its console sometime in 2015. The company's Head of Global Product Marketing, Aaron Greenberg, announced the news on Twitter. Greenberg said: "Yes we are publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider".

The company announced its exclusivity of the sequel to Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider at E3 2014 earlier this year, and then at Gamescom 2014, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President Phil Harrison announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be a timed exclusive for the Xbox One. This means the PlayStation 4 and PC could see Rise of the Tomb Raider sometime after it hits the Xbox One, but that timed exclusive for Microsoft could be months.

The reboot of Tomb Raider from Crystal Dynamics has been a big hit for the company, with Tomb Raider selling millions upon millions of copies across the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It was then released for the PS4 and Xbox One as Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, and then we've just had the launch of Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, too.

Alien: Isolation is one of the scariest, most atmospheric games ever made... so why not make it even harder? That must be the exact train of thought that Creative Assembly, the developer of the game, is on, as they've just announced two new difficulty modes for the game. Novice, and Nightmare.

Novice will slide in before Easy, Normal and Hard modes, but it's the Nightmare mode that has people excited. Creative Assembly promises that the new Nightmare mode provides the "ultimate alien". Nightmare cranks up the scares by making your motion tracker not-so-perfect, as its signal can be kinda on the fritz half the time. Other tweaks inside of the Nightmare mode for Alien: Isolation include faster-burning fuel for your flamethrower that is also harder to find.

The Novice mode for the game provides a slower, less adaptive and not-so-clicked-on Xenomorph, which can be good for gamers who don't want to be replacing their pants every 15 minutes. The combat in Alien: Isolation is also dialled down a notch on Novice, making it easier to play through the game in general.

Razer has just announced their launch of a Stream Viewer through their VoIP messenger program named 'Comms'. The press release issued explains this new advancements purpose is to "seamlessly integrates popular streaming providers such as Twitch, the world's leading video platform and community for gamers, to enhance the social experience of gaming".

Razer further explains that the three main issues of stream viewing today include; discovery of new streams, being alerted when streamers go live and social interaction on streams due to the amount of spamming in the popular channels. They plan to rectify these issues through various different methods, with their new software integration allowing stream recommendations to users based on interest, alongside friends being able to suggest streams to their peers.

The main features offered by the Stream Viewer integration with Razer Comms include:

Even after the release of Final Stand, the fifth piece of DLC for Battlefield 4, DICE has said that they're not finished with the game. The developer has said that it wants to see gamers continue to tell them what they'd like to see in the form of future DLC for the first-person shooter.

DICE said in its latest Battlelog update: "With Battlefield 4 Final Stand released, we hope and believe that you will enjoy it together with the rest of the game for a long time. However, there is one thing we want to assure you: there is more content coming for Battlefield 4". We don't know what that will arrive as exactly, but DICE did add: "rest assured that we'll get back to you on the future of Battlefield 4 when the time is right".

Polygon reports that we could expect more reimagined maps, which are maps from the older Battlefield 4 games, remade in the well-powered Frostbite 3 engine. EA and DICE will have to do something with BF4, as there's no flagship Battlefield game coming out until 2016, with Battlefield 5 promised for two years from now. Battlefield: Hardline is coming next year, being developed by Visceral Games, but it's not a "true" Battlefield 4 successor. Bring on 2016.

Previously known as HL2: Wars, this Real Time Strategy (RTS) mod is currently in BETA and functions as a free multiplayer Source Engine modification for Alien Swarm set in the Half-Life 2 universe.

Self-described on its Steam store page as "the war between mankind and their brutal Combine overlords to a traditional real-time strategy (RTS) setting" it has many Half-Life fans foaming at the mouth.

With only 36 current reviews on record and 930 followers on Twitter, it's quite early days for Lambada Wars - however there's barely a negative thought to be seen surrounding all of its online media. Taking a quick browse through the user reviews you can see responses such as "Reminds me of starcraft II more than Company of heros, which I like. I know RTS's are not for everyone, but try it." and "EPIC! It's like HL2 Mixed with Command and conquer! Also there is sandbox mode. The gameplay is fun and exiting, and there are different gamemodes including Multiplayer. 10/10!".

Markus Boesen has built himself a dream PC gaming setup, the kind that you see on fan websites photo-shopped up as someones dream. Set to provide himself with the best gaming experience possible, Boesen has taken these ideas and brought them to reality.

Utilizing three 3D monitors running at a combined 5760 x 1080 resolution, he's also installed touchscreen inputs, voice recognition, head-tracking and carefully arranged Saitek joysticks to ensure this gaming pad is more of a cockpit than a regular desktop setup.

Elite: Dangerous is the current game of choice, giving a full life-like experience to the gamer - thanks to all of the extras that have been added. The only thing missing here is a seat that pivots and turns with the game play action, but I daresay that it might start to make you sick.

Surrounded by a Steam-like frenzy, Australian game and accessory retailer EB Games has launched their 'Mad Monday' sales to a mixed reception.

Offering up some crazy discounts like last-gen consoles including the PS3 for $198 AUD with 8 pre-owned games, all the way to a massive $70 AUD discount on one model of Audio-Technica headphones throughout their one day sale, set to help you kick off your working week.

Overall these discounts were quite hefty and seemingly widespread through many different products, however there are quite a few consumers who aren't exactly pleased with the 'crazy deals' that EB Games have on offer. Taking a look through their #MadMonday trend on Twitter, some of these 'deals' aren't really deals at all.