Gaming News - Page 1529

Imagine being in the boardroom when Sony decided to start planning the mid-cycle refresh console that started out as the PS4 Neo, and turned into the PS4 Pro. At the time, Sony reportedly decided in favor of making the PS4 Pro as they were scared that gamers who wanted the "very best graphical experience will start to migrate, because that's obviously where it's to be had".

During an interview with The Guardian directly after the recent PlayStation Meeting where Sony unveiled the PlayStation 4 Pro, Sony Interactive Entertainment's President and CEO Andrew House said: "I saw some data that really influenced me. It suggested that there's a dip mid-console lifecycle where the players who want the very best graphical experience will start to migrate to PC, because that's obviously where it's to be had".

House continued: "We wanted to keep those people within our eco-system by giving them the very best and very highest [performance quality]. So the net result of those thoughts was PlayStation 4 Pro - and, by and large, a graphical approach to game improvement".

Microsoft continues to entertain its customers with their Backwards Compatibility Program for Xbox One. Another three classic Xbox 360 games have been announced to join the already established program.

The latest games to become backwards compatible include PopCap's famous puzzle teaser Bejeweled 3, Ron Gilbert 's comedy adventure game Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue and Vanguard Entertainment's Gatling Gears.

For gamers who had already purchased the Xbox 360 classics, they will be automatically available to download from the Xbox One's My Games and Apps tab. Alternatively, for those who hadn't previously purchased the titles, Xbox One owners can buy the games by visiting the Xbox website, or directly from the Xbox One store.

It looks like Nintendo could reveal details on their next-gen NX system early next month, something that was kind of hidden in a new article from The Wall Street Journal that covered Nintendo's jump into mobile gaming with Super Mario Run on iOS revealed during Apple's recent iPhone event.

In the report, WSJ's Takashi Mochizuki said: "The challenge now for Nintendo is leveraging all the attention into sales of the next-generation NX console, which it has said will go on sale by March. The company hasn't given any details on the NX, but people familiar with the matter say it is likely to be designed for use both as a living-room console hooked up to a television and as a portable device to carry around town. Analysts said they expect Nintendo to release NX details by early October".

That last sentence is the golden nugget, with analysts expecting Nintendo to reveal details on NX early next month - which isn't long away now. With increased competition from Microsoft in the form of the Xbox One S and the upcoming 4K-capable Project Scorpio console in 2017, and Sony's newly refreshed PS4 Slim and powerful 4K-ready PS4 Pro consoles, can Nintendo stand away from the competitors with NX?

Sony may have had the headlines this week with the introduction of the PlayStation 4 Pro, but there's still the console war between the current Xbox One S and the PS4 - which Microsoft finally started to get some traction this week in the US.

The new 2TB model of the Xbox One S was released on August 2 for $400, and sales of the new console are included under the Xbox One banner. This means that the Xbox One/Xbox One S have outsold the PS4 for two months in a row, but things will change with the introduction of the PS4 Pro in the coming months, and especially over the holidays.

Xbox Marketing CVP Mike Nichols told Engadget: "Thanks to our fans and their excitement for new Xbox One games and the recently launched Xbox One S, which is the only console available this holiday with built-in UHD 4K Blu-ray, 4K video streaming and HDR for video and gaming, Xbox One was the best-selling console in the U.S. in August, according to NPD Group".

Pro streamer summit1g revealed Tuesday -- just prior to the launch of Halo 5: Forge on PC -- that developer 343 Industries is planning on bringing an FOV slider and unlocking the framerate in the game. Speaking with the studio at PAX recently, he says the game will improve over time, and the addition of these key options is part of the plan.

"They want to add an FOV slider into the game. As PC players, they want to give you a bigger FOV; it's not just going to be locked like it is on Xbox. Another thing they want to work on is not having the 60 FPS cap. Those are two priority things they want to do as soon as Halo 5 comes out. So don't complain too much at the beginning, because they are aware of changes they want to make for PC."

This approach is in line with other Windows Store releases like Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, which launched with framerate caps and similar issues but were steadily brought up to par.

We've gathered all the confirmed PS4 games that will be upgraded with Sony's new $399 4K-ready PlayStation 4 Pro console, offering higher-end visuals thanks to its new hardware, including 4K resolution upscaling, smoother frame rates, impressive lighting and environmental effects, anti-aliasing, super-sampling for upscaled resolutions on 1080p screens, and a swath of other options.

Sony has confirmed a number of PS4 games that will see enhancements on PS4 Pro at the console's November 10 launch, including future titles like Battlefield 1, Watch Dogs 2, Resident Evil 7, Final Fantasy 15, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Skyrim: Special Edition, Persona 5, The Last Guardian, EA's new Star Wars games (including Visceral's new Star Wars Game, DICE's Battlefront 2, and Respawn's new third-person action adventure Star Wars game)--with many more titles getting support soon. Check below for a comprehensive list of PS4 Pro upgraded games, and we'll be updating this list as more games are announced.

"You may have noticed that several of these titles including Paragon, Infamous: Last Light, and Shadow of Mordor are already released. That's another aspect of the PS4 Pro experience. A number of games you already own may have been patched to play better on the console. We're referring to this upgrading of your library as Forward Compatibility. Patches for over a half dozen of our first-party titles are in the works, as well as quite a few from our third-party partners," Sony's Mark Cerny said during the event.

Sony has decided that its 40 million strong community of PS4 gamers won't get access to Skyrim: Special Edition or Fallout 4 mods.

In an extremely frustrating and disappointing move, Sony has officially decreed that PlayStation 4 won't have mod support for Fallout 4 or the new remastered Skyrim: Special Edition. Bethesda issued the following statement in a blog post:

"After months of discussion with Sony, we regret to say that while we have long been ready to offer mod support on PlayStation 4, Sony has informed us they will not approve user mods the way they should work: where users can do anything they want for either Fallout 4 or Skyrim Special Edition.

Nintendo's stock rose by 30% following the reveal of Super Mario Run at Apple's iPhone 7 conference, showing that the company's push to mobile is paying off.

Yesterday's Apple event was a big moment for Nintendo's legacy. The Japanese console-maker revealed Super Mario Run, its first real smartphone game based on the iconic plumber's platforming adventures that will debut first on Apple's iPad and iPhone devices in December. For the first time ever, an official Mario game is coming to non-Nintendo hardware, underlining a bit shift in content strategy at Nintendo.

Shareholders obviously see the potential in Nintendo's new mainstream-accessible smartphone endeavor: Mario's new game caused the company's stock to skyrocket by 30% in a single day, topping out at 29,195 yen ($283 USD) shortly after Apple's conference.

UPDATE: A Sony rep told Polygon that it "will not charge consumers for patches." Sony hasn't exactly clarified what this means exactly, and whether or not other developers will be able to charge for these updates or not. All Sony has made clear is that it won't be charging consumers for Forward Compatibility updates required to play older PS4 games at higher resolutions on PS4 Pro.

Devs may charge money to update old PS4 games in 4K and 1080p 60FPS on Sony's new PlayStation 4 Pro console.

Sony has just pretty much confirmed my predictions: developers have the freedom to monetize performance upgrades for old PS4 games and sell these patches as extra downloadable content on the PS4 Pro. It's true that all PS4 games will be playable on Sony's new PS4 Pro console, but not all them will actually play better. In order to enjoy enhancements like improved frame rates, 4K upscaling and HDR support, older PS4 games need to be updated with Forward Compatibility patches to leverage the PS4 Pro's new Polaris GPU. Sony says that some developers and publishers could charge money for these Forward Compatibility updates.

Sony has started detailing the various console bundles for its PS4 Slim console, with the PS4 Slim bundles including the newer, fresher console as well as the controller and usual accessories.

There will be various bundles available starting on September 15, where you can pick up the new PS4 Slim and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End for $300. A limited time Canada exclusive PS4 Slim bundle will see NHL 17 bundled, for the same $300 cost, while Europeans will have various options to choose from.

Sony will also have a Watch Dogs 2 bundle on November 15, which will include the 1TB PS4 Slim, the original Watch Dogs, and Watch Dogs 2.