Gaming - Page 1154

Microsoft seems to be having a big time at Gamescom, with some big titles being talked about for the Xbox One, including Quantum Break from Remedy Entertainment, the studio which made Alan Wake and Max Payne, and Rise of the Tomb Raider, which is an Xbox One exclusive.

The company has announced that they are adding many more options to the Xbox One in a future update, which will turn the Xbox One into a much more feature laden media player. Microsoft will be adding the ability to play media files from a USB drive from the Xbox One, as well as teasing that it will be providing support for the very popular MKV format, as well as DLNA network support. Major Nelson has promised that the Xbox One will receive support for new file types, including MPEG2 TS, animated GIF and of course, MKV. There should be a preview version of the app that will include USB support, but DLNA and MKV abilities will be baked into a later update.

Microsoft will also be making the Xbox One a better device for controlling your TV, with a new update to soon let you boot directly to your TV from standby mode, something that will make things easier for non-gamers who want to watch TV and not play games at that particular time. SmartGlass TV streaming is also coming, something that will allow you to be in another room and watch your shows over your home network with your SmartGlass-powered tablet or smartphone, on either Windows Phone, iOS or Android.

When the first rumbles started about the next Tomb Raider game, we heard it would reach both the previous generation and current generation consoles, as well as the PC. Well, at Gamescom which is cranking along in Cologne, Germany, Microsoft has announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be an exclusive to the Xbox One.

Rise of the Tomb Raider will reach the Xbox One in Holiday 2015 to Microsoft's console, but that exclusivity might not last too long - hopefully. Crystal Dynamic, the studio behind the game, has come out explaining why the game is an exclusive to the Xbox One:

For the first time since E3 2013, Remedy Entertainment has shown off gameplay footage of its upcoming Xbox One exclusive, Quantum Break. If you haven't heard about Quantum Break, it's Remedy's time manipulation game, a game that comes off of its success with Alan Wake.

Sam Lake, Remedy Entertaiment's Creative Director, and the constipated face of Max Payne, walked up on the stage of Microsoft's Gamescom press conference to show off Quantum Break. Quantum Break sees Jack Joyce as the main character, who has some unique abilities. Joyce can control time for a limited period, where he can freeze enemies in ice-like time crystals, and then dive from cover to cover.

Quantum Break's world is in peril, as the end of time is happening, with the stutters in the game representing the world itself. These stutters are the outcome of time itself breaking, with bodies, debris, and fire frozen in its tracks. One of these stutters sees Joyce climbing onto a highway, where he sees a frozen semi truck, with its front hanging off of the egde of the highway. Joyce can walk through these stutters, as if they are Matrix-like museums, with people, objects and everything in between frozen in time.

Some of you might remember a time when first-person shooters were the pinnacle of PC gaming, and John Romero was at the center of that for quite some time. He co-created Doom at id Software, and then went off to make, what he thought was going to be a big hit, Daikatana all the way back in 2000. Well, Romero is back, and he's teasing that he is working on another shooter.

During Monday night's recording of the Super Joystiq Podcast Gamescom Special, alongside special guests Mike Bithell and Brenda Romero, he said: "I'm working on several games at once right now. But [Brenda] had mentioned earlier that I'm working with a concept artist, and so I've got some cool imagery for the main character".

Brenda Romero chimed in, saying: "I'm concerned about how much you're going to say". John Romero replied with: "I haven't made a shooter since 2000. So I'm basically starting to work on another one". After he said that, the crowd of people supposedly went crazy with excitement.

I'm sure that all of us have been to the movies at one time or another and sat there thinking it would be awesome to play video games on that massive screen. Revue Labs has announced that it is working with Cinemark theaters to bring gaming action to the big screen. You might not be able to sit back in your chair and play Battlefield 4 yourself, but you will be able to watch live gaming tournaments.

What Revue Labs wants to do is bring competitive gaming to the big screen and hold tournaments in the theater. Gaming footage would be shown on the screen and the event will be streamed over the web. The very first event will use the game Titanfall.

Revue Labs says that if it all goes well at the first event, similar events will come to other locations around the country. It's unclear exactly where and when the first event would be held.

Following the success of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, we can expect a remastered version of Sleeping Dogs for next-gen consoles and PC in October. Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition includes all of the DLC released so far, as well as improved gameplay, graphics and more.

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition will be running at 1080p on both the Xbox One and PS4, "tuned gameplay", upgrades to the audio and visuals of the original game, 24 DLC packs and more. The included DLC is worth $85, and pre-order customers will receive a limited edition art book, as well as a boxed retail copy of the game.

Square Enix will be releasing Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition on October 10 for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

The next-gen Call of Duty is nearly here, with the PC's required specifications being released for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. You'll need 40GB of HDD space, an Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 or AMD Phenom X3 8750 CPU minimum, 6GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450, or AMD Radeon HD 5870 or better to play Activision's next-gen COD. But, these specs are identical to those of the last entry of the first-person shooter, Call of Duty: Ghosts.

As you can see, every single point is identical between the 'next-gen' Advanced Warfare, and the previous entry in the series, Ghosts. Considering Ghosts didn't look that great, and didn't run all that well on the PC (even with its relatively mild requirements), I don't think we should be excited about the technology side of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on PC.

There's an update coming for Battlefield 4 next month that will offer core gamelpay improvements, with soldier movement in the game getting a tweak as well. DICE says that it is tweaking the soldier movement so that it "closely matches the one in Battlefield 3, but without compromising the visual fidelity".

The developer has also said that the changes will make it easier to get yourself out of "undesirable firefights". The new update will also see a refresh to the HUD of the game, which will, from September onward, "only show what is important". Players will have more options to select what they want to see, or not see during the battles in BF4.

DICE is also doing some work on the vehicles, weapon balance and making reviving another soldier a little easier. The new update will see a players defibrillators paddles make a sound when they're fully charged, and ready to revive a teammate. The developer has also promised improvements to the Rush, Obliteration, Obliteration Competitive, Capture the Flag and Carrier Assault game modes. The new update is expected sometime next month, but between now and then, if you don't own the game, enjoy a week free thanks to Origin's Game Time.

Once Valve gets things into gear, it's going to be non-stop for them. We have Steam OS, Steam Controller, Steam Box, Steam Machines, Half-Life 3, and various other sequels to expect from the company. But, one of those main cogs is Source 2, the company's next generation graphics engine.

Well, according to some user reports, the company has just silently launched it. Reports are coming out that Source 2 has been spotted in DotA after the alpha launch of DotA 2's Workshop Tools last night, with the entire game reportedly being shifted over to Valve's next-gen Source 2 engine. A post within a thread of Reddit reads: "So, The Workshop tools isn't just a modding platform. It's Source 2. And it's running Dota 2".

The post continues: "Everything in this package is a new game. It's all the Dota assets and code ported over to Source 2. That's why Hammer is different. That's why the console is different. Guys. Valve just soft launched the entire Source 2 engine". This isn't a 100% confirmation that Source 2 has launched, but Gabe Newell did tease in a Reddit AMA back in March: "The biggest improvements [in Source 2] will be in increasing productivity of content creation. That focus is driven by the importance we see UGC having going forward. A professional developer at Valve will put up with a lot of pain that won't work if users themselves have to create content".

With all of the hoopla going around right now with Star Citizen, people forget that it all started with Wing Commander for Chris Roberts. Well, EA and Origin are giving away Wing Commander III on Origin right now, one of the big games form the 90s.

Wing Commander III being free is part of Origin's "On The House" deals, where it randomly gives away PC games. Today, that game is Wing Commander III. For those who never played it, it stars Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame, Biff from Back to the Future and even Malcolm McDowell. You can grab Wing Commander III for free on Origin from here.

Capcom has officially announced that it will be re-releasing the original Resident Evil game next year, with Producers Tatsuya Kitabayashi and Yoshiaki Hirabyashi saying that they were trying their best to not mess anything up when rebuilding one of the survival horror games that started it all.

Hirabyashi said: "We have been very careful to preserve the original atmosphere of the game, and are ensuring that no unnecessary changes will be made. The tempo and flow of the original game are an inherent part of its scary atmosphere so we have made the decision not to disrupt this tempo". Most of the changes to Resident Evil will be in the graphics department, and not in gameplay. Kitabayashi chimed in with: "When it comes to graphics, we didn't just want them to look better, we have taken the game apart, polished up all the different elements and carefully reassembled them in such a way that its original atmosphere shines through".

Resident Evil will be launched once again next year for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.

The Ghost Edition of Destiny was announced last month, with a retail price of $150, but quickly sold out. Well, some people are now selling the Xbox One version of Destiny: Ghost Edition for a huge $1025 on eBay. Destiny: Ghost Edition includes a bunch of goodies for the increased price, with a huge list to gander over:

Bungie won't be making any more of these copies, with the company stating: "No promises. We wanted to release limited editions that were actually limited. When you play the game, you'll appreciate the appearance of exotic loot because not everyone will have it. The same goes for the editions of Destiny that have been designed for collectors. If you can find one, collect it."

No Man's Sky has officially been announced for the PC, with Hello Games' procedurally generated exploration title enjoying a timed exclusive on the PlayStation 4, according to the latest issue of Edge magazine.

Hello Games' Managing Director, Sean Murray, said during the interview: "I actually got in a bit of trouble for saying that we wanted the game to feel really console-y. We've always had PC in mind but in my head (console-y) means solid frame rate and immediate controls. I think a PC game can be 'console-y' and it's intended as a compliment, but I get in trouble for saying it."

No Man's Sky arrives on the PS4 sometime next year, and will hopefully hit the PC not too long after.

If you're a fan of the Neverwinter MMO on PC, then you might be surprised to hear that the developer has partnered up with Cryptic Studios to deliver Neverwinter on the Xbox One.

Neverwinter on the Xbox One will launch in the first half of next year in the US and Europe, and will still continue its free-to-play goodness if you have an Xbox Live Gold membership. The game will also be launching in China later this year, under the name of Neverwinter Online. The game itself is based in the world of Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons and Dragons franchise, where players can create a character, and go off to explore the Forgotten Realms.

There's an expansion coming on August 14, known as Tyranny of Dragons, too. Neverwinter will be Cryptic and Perfect World's first free-to-play title to launch on both the PC, and consoles. Perfect World Entertainment CEO, Alan Chen, said in a press statement: "Neverwinter is our premier title to bring to console players. Consoles are a perfect fit for action-oriented MMORPGs like Neverwinter, and we are thrilled to be one of the first publishers to bring premium free-to-play titles to leading next-gen platforms. Being able to bring Neverwinter to the Xbox One is a critical achievement for Perfect World. It is our first step taking our games beyond the PC market."

When Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is released later in the year, there will be three different versions, with three different prices. Starting at $59.99 for the standard version, to $79.99 for the limited version which will include some extra content, all the way up to $119.99 for the Atlas Pro Edition, which will include the game's season pass add-on content.

Normally we receive some ridiculous things in these expensive bundles, but Activision is providing digital incentives this time around. The $79.99, gamers will receive the Atlas Limited Edition, which includes the game itself, a SteelBook metal case, a physical manual for the game, and a bunch of digital goods: the game's soundtrack, two weapons, an upgrade for the military exoskeleton for the single-player mode and more. Also included is the Atlas Gorge multiplayer map, which is a re-made map from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, where it was known as Pipeline.

The massively expensive $119.99 version of the game includes all of the above content, but it also throws in the Advanced Warfare season pass, which includes four downloadable content packs for 2015. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare launches on November 4 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.

We've now just had our first look at the new Unreal Tournament, with a bunch of detail talked about for the upcoming first-person shooter. There's a few videos you can get your hands-on, with the game's Art Director, Chris Perna, giving us a bunch of information.

All-in-all, there's 47 minutes worth of video from Epic Games' streamed reveal of brand new concept art on the next-gen Unreal Tournament. Perna discusses this in the video above, where he says they're going for a "Chris Nolan Batman Begins look" instead of a "Tim Burton Batman look". Perna wants "something more polished" with "more realism, without going over the top" and repeating what Epic "did with Gears of War and UT3" where those games were "dark and grungy".

Senior Designer Jim Brown jumps in, saying: "You start with a map that's just kind of the basic shell, and we just focus on the gameplay. Independent of us doing that, a lot of times, Chris and the art guys will make these little vignettes that are - what would you call them?" Perna continues: "There are many different environments in UT. There's going to be different colors and different environments, but what this does is give you, maybe, a quality bar. 'Hey, all those different things need to have a lighting quality and a mood about them that feels like this.'"

While on a research trip to Nepal, two Ubisoft developers experienced a legitimate ritual sacrifice of a goat. The two developers jetsetted off to Nepal for some research, as Nepal is the inspiration for Kyrat, the fictitious Himalayan setting of Far Cry 4.

Far Cry 4's Game Narrative Director, Mark Thompson and the Associate Producer on the game, Phil Fournier, made the trip with Vice's Krishna Andavolu. Once they arrived in Kathmandu, the group heard a rumor that there was going to be an animal sacrifice, so they found their way into the event. The sacrifice was made possible thanks to a man providing the goat on behalf of his family to Kali, who is the Hindu goddess of change and destruction.

The video, above, is the first of a three-part series that goes into the source material and inspiration behind the fourth outing in the Far Cry world. At Comic-Con, the Creative Director behind Far Cry 4, Alex Hutchinson, told the audience that another Vice documentary titled "The Vice Guide to Liberia" offered another inspiration, this one for the game's villain, Pagan Min.

Thanks to San Diego Comic-Con currently underway, we've just received the first look of the upcoming Ridley Scott-produced digital series, Halo: Nightfall. Microsoft, 343 Industries and Scott Free Productions have been working together, unleashing this trailer to the world just hours ago.

Halo: Nightfall is a live-action digital series with its story taking place between the events of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. At the center of it, is Agent Locke, who is a character that is new to the Halo universe. Locke leads a team of soldiers from the Office of Naval Intelligence as they are investigating terrorist activity on a distant planet known as Sedra.

The trailer doesn't inspire much, but we might just be seeing a bare tease of Nightfall, but let's hope things get better from here.

Respawn has just announced its new Titanfall DLC known as Frontier's Edge, but the company also took the time to tease that it is introducing something it is calling "The Black Market".

The Black Market is Titanfall's way of offering in-game currency, which will have two different sets of items that you can purchase: Burn Cards, and Titan Insignias. There are multiple sets of Burn Cards that are based around a theme, but the cards themselves you'll receive are random. There's a Weapons Pack, which should include some cards about weapons, for example.

The cards will be purchased using the new in-game currency known as "Credits". You can earn these credits by doing various things in Titanfall, with six ways of acquiring Credits: by winning a match, completing a match, for your first victory of the day, completing daily challenges, selling burn cards you don't want to use, and once you reach level 50, a portion of your experience will be converted into credits. You can only access The Black Market once you've reached level 11 in Titanfall.

EA has delayed a second game today, with the first being Battlefield: Hardline pushed back into sometime next year, but Dragon Age: Inquisition is also getting a little more time in the oven. Bioware's upcoming fantasy RPG has a new release date of November 18, 2014 - an extra month of waiting.

Executive Producer on the game, Mark Darrah, explains: "I'm writing to let you know that Dragon Age: Inquisition has a new release date of November 18, 2014 in North America (November 21st in EU). We appreciate the enormous support we've received from all of you to get to this point, and while this extra few weeks may not seem like a lot, I know the game you'll play will be all the better for it".

Darrah continued: "Since we began working on Dragon Age: Inquisition almost four years ago, our goal was to create the best Dragon Age experience ever. It was that goal that motivated many of our decisions: moving to Frostbite, bringing race choice and customisation back, improving tactical camera, building a team of characters whose relationships evolve based on your actions, and most importantly, crafting an epic, nation-spanning story that both draws upon past games and takes you to many new places in the realm of Thedas".