Gaming - Page 1145

It doesn't look like Ubisoft has learned anything from the recent release of Assassin's Creed: Unity and all of its issues, as rumors are now arriving about the next game in the series, Assassin's Creed: Victory.

The story came from Kotaku reporting that the new game would be set in 19th century London during the Victorian era, according to "a person familiar with the game" reported Kotaku, a game that would arrive in fall 2015 for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Ubisoft Quebec is the studio working on the game, unlike Ubisoft Montreal which worked on the currently still a work-in-progress Assassin's Creed: Unity.

There was also seven minutes of "target gameplay footage" which was shown, which was being rendered in real-time by the Assassin's Creed engine, and not pre-rendered. Personally, I think Ubisoft needs to be very, very cautious with this release. I think we should see a demo of the game released, so that the faith can be restored into the series, as I think over half the audience of the series would be very unsure of trusting Ubisoft again with another Assassin's Creed game following the recent train wreck that was the AC:U launch.

It appears the Microsoft Xbox One carried its recent momentum into Black Friday, outselling the Sony PlayStation 4 in the United States, according to a report from InfoScout. Sixty-six percent of consumers purchased a console for their children, with 92 percent of Nintendo Wii U buyers reporting a purchase for their kids - while 66 percent of Xbox One and 50 percent of PS4 buyers making a purchase for someone else.

Microsoft sold several appealing game console bundles, including its Assassin's Creed Unity Xbox One bundle - and a recent price drop - also seemed to help Microsoft.

Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo prepared for what they hoped would be a busy 2014 holiday shopping season, and it seems to be off to a great start.

We've been told not to read early reviews of The Crew, as Ubisoft couldn't provide game reviewers with the right situation to play in. But now the Lead Game Designer of The Crew, Serkan Hasan, has said that the upcoming game should have no problems at launch.

Hasan talked with The Metropolist, where he said that the Xbox One, PS4 and PC versions of The Crew will be working at 1080p at 30FPS at launch. He also said that he had faith in the game's online functionality, explaining that he has confidence in The Crew, as it has "reaped the benefits of a long term beta program, designed specifically to push our infrastructure as far as possible in real-world situations, with thousands of players from all over the world playing the game at the same time".

This news is coming after Ubisoft stated that copies of The Crew were not sent out to the press in advance, like they normally are. The reason behind this is that the press couldn't review a driving game that is primarily an online, social title, without ripping apart these functions in their review. The Crew requires "thousands and thousands and thousands of players - something that can't be simulated with a handful of devs playing alongside the press".

Rocksteady Studios is back in the driving seat of the Batman series, with Batman: Arkham Knight being revealed during their recent AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit (with some spoilers for Batman: Arkham City, so if you haven't played that, turn your eyes off).

The studio revealed that Arkham Knight will continue right after the Joker's death, with the studio adding that the Joker's death is the point we jump off, asking "what happens when Joker is removed from Gotham" and then looking at the fallout from this event. Batman's suit also mirrors the Batmobile in many ways, with Rocksteady adding that the new suit "impacts gameplay as well, as it enhances some of Batman's abilities, particularly in the way the Batman and the car work together".

When it comes to the Batmobile, this is the biggest addition to the Arkham Knight, with Rocksteady teasing that there will be some missions that require the Batmobile in order to complete them. Rocksteady said: "When we added the Batmobile to the game, we wanted to make sure it's a fun, meaningful addition to every part of the game. Batman wouldn't use it if he didn't need it. So there will be points in the main story where you will need to use the Batmobile to progress, and if you're anything like me, there will be points where you can't use the Batmobile and wish it was there!".

Rumored to be due to either Black Friday sales, a DDoS attack succession or a combination of the two - Blizzard's Battle.net servers are reportedly experiencing major lag issues in several different forms.

You may have noticed that by trying to log in to the Battle.net client will you experience a wait of up to 25 minutes. Once you have finally managed to connect to their service, you'll likely see that not only are you unable to connect to view or chat to your friends, but you're unable to launch any games within.

Talking to some of my most loyal Blizzard friends, they have reported the ability to play games such as World of Warcraft as close as twenty minutes prior to the publishing of this article - however some reports claim up to 5 seconds of in-game delay (ping) among other technical glitches.

Telltale Games' upcoming Game of Thrones game is nearly here, with the first episode arriving on December 2 for PC, Mac, and the PS4. The next day, on December 3, it will arrive for the Xbox One and Xbox 360, while on December 4 it will arrive on iOS. PlayStation 3 owners will have to wait until December 9.

The game itself takes place toward the end of season three in the HBO show, and before the start of season five. Gamers will be propelled into House Forrester, a noble house from the Wolfswood in the north of Westeros. Players will be able to play through five different perspectives in the game, from servants to House members.

Some of the talent from the show are coming back to reprise their roles for Telltale's game, including Tyrion Lannister performed by Peter Dinklage, Cersei Lannister performed by Lena Headey, Margaery Tyrell performed by Natalie Dormer, and Ramsay Snow performed by Iwan Rheon.

Star Citizen is edging close to $64 million in crowdfunding, with the CryEngine-powered title sitting at just under $63.5 million at the time of writing. Roberts Space Industries has now announced that there will be a pet system introduced once the game hits $64 million.

RSI explains it as: "Pets - We have repair bots, we have fish... but we haven't implemented a traditional pet system in Star Citizen yet. At $64 million, that changes. From Jones the Cat in Alien to the Battlestar Galactica's Daggit, pets have a place onboard starships... and we want to give you that option in Star Citizen. Expect traditional terrestrial options, plus anything exotic we can dream up in the Star Citizen universe! (Those Torshu Grey crabs that keep escaping are just the start.) This stretch goal is in honor of Paddington, Strike Dog of the UEES Paul Steed. In one of our first videos Paddington helped us get to $4 million back in the initial campaign, and sadly passed away recently".

The Sony PlayStation 4 has enjoyed a significant sales lead over the Microsoft Xbox One throughout 2014, but after a price cut, Microsoft is reportedly closing the gap. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, now is the perfect opportunity for Microsoft to make the next-generation console market even more competitive.

The Xbox One has some major exclusive titles: Forza Motorsport 5, Forza Horizon, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Sunset Overdrive. Game titles such as Titanfall are available for the PC, but not on the PS4 - and only boost the Xbox One's catalog even further.

It will be telling to see how each company does after the holidays, with consumers expected to open up their wallets to spend on gaming hardware and software this year, analysts predict.

After 12 months on Steam's Early Access, DayZ is getting some much needed updates, with its developer finally coming clean on what's going on with the open-world game next year.

Bohemia Interactive have said that two very important things will happen for DayZ next year, with the first being it will reach beta in Q4 2015 - a year from now - and that the final version will launch in the first half of 2016. DayZ will continue to be $30 during the Steam Fall Sale, which starts today, but it will increase to $35, and then $44 when the launch of the beta kicks off. The final version of DayZ will be $50.

The developer is splitting the updates into quarterly released, where in Q1 2015, we will see DayZ updated with a new zombie AI, basic vehicles, diseases and more. Q2 will see advanced vehicles, advanced animals, a new UI, player stamina, and more. Q3 will have traps, barricading, aerial transport, and a console prototype. Then in Q4, we'll see the beta unleashed, as well as animal companions, base building and Steam community integration.

The launch of Assassin's Creed: Unity didn't go too well at all, with the game still experiencing teething problems. Ubisoft has now come out and apologized to everyone, announcing it will be providing its upcoming "Dead Kings" expansion pack for free, to all AC:U players, as a way of saying sorry for shipping a clearly, very broken game.

Ubisoft Montreal boss, Yannis Mallat, took to a blog writing: "Unfortunately, at launch, the overall quality of the game was diminished by bugs and unexpected technical issues. I want to sincerely apologise on behalf of Ubisoft and the entire Assassin's Creed team. These problems took away from your enjoyment of the game, and kept many of you from experiencing the game at its fullest potential".

For those who purchased the season pass or Gold edition of Assassin's Creed: Unity will get the DLC for 'free' anyway, so these people will be offered a free game. You can choose from Far Cry 4, The Crew, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Rayman Legends, and Just Dance 2015.

Last week we reported on Thimbleweed Park, the "true spiritual successor" to the super-awesome Maniac Mansion, which hit Kickstarter with a funding goal of $375,000. Well, one week later, it has been met, and isn't stopping.

At the time of writing, they had $407,384 raised, with 22 days to go. If funding keeps up at this pace, they'll have a couple of million dollars to play with. Stretch Goals are now within reach, with $525,000 unlocking an iOS and Android version of the game. If the team reaches $625,000 they will provide "Talkies" with the team explaining "considered witchcraft and a fantasy of crazy people back in 1987, we'll be adding full voice acting to the English version of Thimbleweed Park. Hmmm... that's good thespian".

It'll be interesting to see backers flying past that $625,000 stretch goal soon, and even more interesting if we see new stretch goals introduced, or additional funding on their website ala Star Citizen.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has launched with its fair share of problems, which doesn't seem to be any different to all the other games launching in the last month, with developer 343 Industries pledging to make it right.

After two weeks of multiplayer matchmaking problems, 343 Industries boss Bonnie Ross took to a letter to fans, writing: "On November 11 we released Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The goal being to create a tribute to Halo fans around the world, and to celebrate the Master Chief's debut on Xbox One. With the initial release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, however, we have not delivered the experience you deserve. I personally apologize for this on behalf of us all at 343 Industries. Our team is committed to working around the clock until these issues are resolved".

"While our team works on continual improvements and towards solutions, my commitment to you is that we will take care of all owners of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Our primary and continued focus is first on fixing the issues at hand. Once we've done that, we will detail how we will make this right with our fans," she continued. She closed her letter with: "Please accept my heartfelt apologies for the delay and for the negative aspects of your experience to date. We're doing everything in our power to resolve it as quickly as possible".

Public service announcement: Ubisoft doesn't want you trusting day one reviews of The Crew, with the company taking to its official blog to warn gamers that they should wait a while before reading, or trusting reviews.

Ubisoft said: "While we fully anticipate that you might see some reviews immediately at launch - largely built around the preview sessions we facilitated during the past months or the limited content of the closed and open betas - they won't be based on optimal conditions or reflect the finished game". The company continued, adding: "We sincerely hope everyone will take the time to customize their ride as they progress through all five regions, explore every corner of the map solo and with friends, dive into our competitive and cooperative mechanics, race to the end of the main campaign, choose a Faction and compete with your crew in Factions Wars, and so much more".

The company added that The Crew is a social game, which requires servers full of gamers to enjoy the game at its best. Ubisoft added: "The Crew was built from the beginning to be a living playground full of driving fans, so it's only possible to assess our game in its entirety with other real players in the world. And by other, we mean thousands and thousands and thousands of players - something that can't be simulated with a handful of devs playing alongside the press".

The Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 game consoles are selling extremely well - but that doesn't necessarily mean everyone is happy. Carl Ledbetter, who was project manager behind the Xbox One's physical design, recently responded against criticism of the Xbox One's bulkiness.

While the Xbox One is heavier and bigger than the Xbox 360 - at a time when consumers seemingly want to see more hardware packed into streamlined designs - Ledbetter understands not everyone will be happy when a console is released. He explained the growing pains - and what is done to overcome certain hardware design barriers that many people seem to take for granted.

"Everybody gets frustrated, because what we want is for everything to be wafer thin, not get hot and just be a snap to put together," Ledbetter said. "But the reality is that there are very real issues around cooling when you're pushing some number of watts in the processor, therefore the thing has to have some size to it. There's always an interesting dynamic between engineering and design, and constraints around performance.

Fidelity Investments is getting creative in its efforts to woo millennials into greater interest of the financial stock market, launching StockCity. The software uses a 3D mapping tool and feels similar to SimCity, providing virtual structures that analyze 90-day trade volume and market caps of selected stocks. StockCity also is available for the Oculus Rift, blending virtual reality with data visualization, providing a unique method to view your personal stock portfolio.

"Fidelity's target one with a bullet is the boomers," said Bill Doyle, Forrester Research VP, in a statement. "But if they don't pay attention to the next generation - which has a decidedly different feel, with a strong bias to digital touch points - they run the risk of being iced out by some upstart. They expect their best experience to come from software, as opposed to coming from a human being."

When the PS4 exclusive 'Driveclub' launched, it was met with a slew of issues, and post-launch updates and fixes. But for those who want to know why there wasn't any additional in-house testing before it launched, the Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) President and CEO, Shawn Layden, has some nice words to say.

Layden explained the issues, saying that games like Driveclub, and their online communities, cannot be tested thoroughly before launching the game itself. He continued: "In the development cycle, we try to do all things. In the development cycle, we try to test against every possibility. We have a [Quality Assurance] team, we have a QA plan. You do a beta test, you scope against that. But now, in a connected world, you can't effectively test in your house or in your beta group what it means to have 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 users hit your service. And the guys [at the studio] are struggling with that. It's throwing up things they had not anticipated".

Evolution Studios, the developer behind the open-world driving game has continued its path toward a fully-baked game, even offering free DLC and extending Season Passes.

It has been a fantastic year for console gaming, with the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 both racking up great sales since launching in late 2013. The PS4 has outsold the Xbox One all year, but it appears Microsoft is beginning to close ground, due to a recent price cut.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer applauded both Microsoft and rival company Sony: "This 1st year has been incredible. Great launch for 2 consoles, exciting competition & great games. Thanks for all the support and feedback," Spencer said on Twitter. He also offered the PS4 additional praise: "Those Sony peeps had a great first year."

There have been 13.5 million PS4 units sold, while Microsoft has racked up 10 million Xbox One units sold since launch.

It appears Microsoft Xbox Live was not compromised after all, despite the "DerpTrolling" group saying they had stolen more than 1,000 Windows Live usernames and passwords.

"We immediately investigated reports regarding some Microsoft Accounts including Windows Live and Hotmail and can confirm that no Microsoft site or service was compromised," Microsoft told GameSpot. "Microsoft takes account security and privacy seriously. Should we identify any specific account at risk for any reason, we will take action to protect the account."

To stay better defended, Microsoft also recommended users create strong passwords, change their passwords frequently, and don't use the same passwords for multiple websites and services.

The cloud is growing in popularity, and is having a major impact on the current state of the gaming market. A combination of cloud gaming capable devices, hardware makers jumping into market, and increasing network performance will push the market to new levels in 2015, according to the Strategy Analytics tech research group.

For example, NVIDIA Grid Game Streaming Service and PlayStation Now will end the year with almost 30 million devices, and that number is expected to increase 500 percent up to 150 million consumers by the end of 2015.

"2014 is proving to be a watershed moment with major players putting their credibility and brand names on the line to make cloud gaming work," said Michael Goodman, Strategy Analytics' Director of Digital Media Strategies. "While broadband speeds and consumer acceptance of subscription models have come a long away, access to content remains an issue for all services. The major video game publishers have so far successfully managed an incremental transition from physical to digital media, but cloud gaming offers publishers a new revenue stream."

Rockstar Games was able to resolve problems that some Grand Theft Auto V players on the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 game consoles reported at the start of the weekend. Despite posting a workaround, it appeared most gamers simply waited until Rockstar Games was able to fix the problem for them.

The Xbox One GTA V Title Update 1.03 was released on Saturday afternoon, and was focused just on improving server stability.

The Xbox One and PS4 have proven to be popular among gamers, but certain game studios appear to be having trouble releasing video games that don't need immediate improvements. GTA V was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 17, and released for the PS4 and Xbox One on November 18 - a PC version will be released on January 27.