Gaming News - Page 1611

Microsoft wants to make the transition from Xbox One to Project Scorpio as seamless and easy as possible with a trade-in/trade-up program.

With 6TFLOPs of performance and a new semi-custom Polaris + Zen AMD SoC to enable 4K gaming, Microsoft's new "monster" Project Scorpio isn't expected to be cheap. It'll likely be in the $599 range. Luckily Microsoft wants to offer an Xbox One trade-in program to shave off some of the cost and make Project Scorpio more accessible.

"We want to make that transition as smooth as possible," Xbox Services manager Dave McCarthy told the Daily Star. "Some of our retail partners today do trade-in programs and that's definitely going to be partnerships we continue to move going forward. We'll try partnerships with our retail partners to smooth it even more with trade-in programs and things like that."

Bethesda has some bad news for those of you who are expecting secret DLC after Nuka World: the amusement-park themed add-on will definitely be the very last bit of official content for the game.

When asked about more Fallout 4 DLC, high-ranking Bethsoft exec Pete Hines smashed all of our dreams with two words: "last one." When Nuka World drops in August, Fallout 4's add-ons are officially over with. But it's okay, right? Modders will pick up the slack! That is if Bethesda's careless service hasn't destroyed the modding community.

So gamers effectively payed $50 for two medium-sized story add-ons (Far Harbor and the erstwhile Nuka World) and a whole lotta junk contraptions that basically have the same content as the game's free mods. I realize that Far Harbor is actually pretty huge, but I've come to find only the landmass is big; the content is surprisingly slim pickings.

Microsoft has just changed up the rules of its new cross-platform Play Anywhere functionality, iterating that Xbox console exclusives will still be available and not all first-party titles will jump to PC.

According to new alterations made to Xbox exec Yusuf Medhi's famous blog post, the new Play Anywhere service won't include all future Microsoft Studios games. With Play Anywhere gamers unlock a free digital Windows 10 version when they purchase specific digital console games, effectively giving a two-for-one deal. This new revision means upcoming titles like Halo 6 aren't guaranteed to come to PC.

The new revision states that only "new titles published from Microsoft Studios that we showed onstage at E3 this year will support Xbox Play Anywhere," which is a pretty big jump from the original which clearly states "every new Microsoft Studios game" will support Play Anywhere.

So... I'm addicted to Overwatch. Previously, I was addicted to Team Fortress 2, but stopped playing it around 2 years ago, but now in the wave of Blizzard's dominance with Overwatch, Valve has a huge 'Meet Your Match' update on its way.

Team Fortress 2's upcoming Meet Your Match update will add matchmaking, several new modes and maps, and Competitive Mode. Competitive Mode feels like a knee-jerk reaction to Overwatch and its new Competitive Play mode, with TF2's taking away the random critical hits, and features 9 new classes in a 6v6 match.

Competitive Mode will also allow you to verse players in your own rank, earn medals for playing well, and you'll be able to track all of your stats, too. Your rank will be determined by your match-to-match performance, so playing with lower-ranked friends won't tank your score.

Rumors of a sniper-healer hybrid class in Overwatch have been bandied about for some time, and now we have what might be the first concrete evidence of it.

On the official Overwatch Twitter account, Blizzard has "leaked" the prototype design for said class' weapon, which appears to be some kind of hybrid of a traditional(ish) sniper rifle and a healing staff not unlike Mercy's. Biotic field devices like Soldier 76's are shown as well, though exactly how they'd be implemented is unclear. From this, it can be assumed that either you switch between heal and fire modes, or the staff functions sort of like an underbarrel grenade launcher, except it heals. Either way, it's likely the healing functionality has some serious range to accommodate the sniper playstyle.

As for who will use the weapon, currently rumored characters include Sombra, a mysterious cloaked figure, and Pharah's mother, Ana Amari, a decorated sniper (pictured above).

Earlier today, ratings for a Witcher 3: Game of the Year (GOTY) Edition surfaced, indicating an all-inclusive version of the superb RPG was on the way. Now, CD Projekt Red game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has confirmed the news, and that the wheels are turning.

"The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was a gigantic effort for the entire studio, and both the team and me were amazed by the good reception of Geralt's adventures. Since launch, we've released two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, which added a lot of new adventures to the already potent mix."

"With all the free DLC and updates the game received so far, including significant changes to the game's interface and mechanics, many gamers have asked us if we're working on some sort of a Game of the Year Edition. I'm happy to confirm - yes, plans are in motion to release such an edition. We'll release more details, including the release date, in the future. In the meantime, I'd like to thank every fan of the game for their support - you're really amazing!"

Imagine a Call of Duty with third-person action and first-person combat set in ancient Rome--you've just envisioned the cancelled Call of Duty: Roman Wars.

The Call of Duty franchise is notorious for going back and forth in the timestream--from World War 2 all the way to the deep future with cyborgs and the like. But what if it went to, say, ancient Rome? The ancient world is replete with massive wide-scaled battles with thousands of sword-toting centurions, lumbering siege engines, and thundering cavalry--thus it'd be perfect for a game like Call of Duty. Activision, however, didn't think so, and that's why CoD: Roman Wars never saw the light of day.

Roman Wars was being developed by Vicarious Visions--the devs responsible for Skylanders and the new Crash Bandicoot PS4 remaster trilogy--and had a massive scope. Players would take the different roles within the 10th Legion of Roman legionnaires, from high-ranking officers and lowly grunts to archers, praetors, and even Caeser himself, and take part in an over-arching campaign based on Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, chronicling the nine-year Gallic war against Celtic and Germanic barbarians.

Microsoft's huge Ultimate Game Sale is back, and this time Redmond has slashed prices on both console and PC games.

The new Ultimate Game Sale slashes prices on 250 Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Windows 10 games like Quantum Break and Rise of the Tomb Raider are discounted up to 60% off, with Xbox LIVE Gold members getting an additional 10% off on all sale prices.

Notable deals include the newly minted backward compatible Red Dead Redemption for just $7.50, Halo 5, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate and The Witcher 3 for $29.99, Batman: Arkham Knight, The Evil Within, Saint's Row IV, and Wolfenstein: The New Order for just $15; and Metro Redux Bundle for just $7.50. Check below for the full list, or head over to Major Nelson.com for all the links.

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year Edition has been officially rated on German USK ratings site on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Although CD Projekt RED has no plans to release a Witcher 3 Enhanced Edition, it looks as though a Witcher 3 GOTY SKU is in the works. Presumably the Witcher 3 GOTY Edition will include the base game, the two huge Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions, all the free DLC packs, and new patch updates on a single disc. Before now the only way to get the expansions was to buy a $74.99 digital bundle or the $24.99 Expansion Pass, so this route will be much more affordable for gamers.

The Witcher 3 GOTY Edition was rated just a month after the game's one-year anniversary (June 22), but we still have no actual release information. Given Witcher 3 has been on sale on PSN and Steam for $24.99 or thereabouts (and will be 50% off starting today on the Xbox Ultimate Sale) I think it's fair to say almost everyone owns the game already, so CDPR isn't really losing much cash by bundling the game + expansions for $59.99.

It looks like Microsoft is going to be looking after PC gamers in a big way with the announcement that every new game published by Microsoft Studios will be on the PC.

All of these new Microsoft Studios games will support Xbox Play Anywhere, which is used through the Window Store. This means the new Halo game will be released on the PC, which is beyond exciting. Microsoft claimed in its "Windows 10 Anniversary Update Available August 2", the company teases:

"With the Xbox Play Anywhere program, you can buy a game once and play on your Windows 10 PC and Xbox One with shared progress, shared game saves and shared achievements. Every new title published from Microsoft Studios will support Xbox Play Anywhere and will be easily accessible in the Windows Store".