Gaming News - Page 1777

The game developer behind Call of Duty have some interesting photos to share with the world, where they show off a small PC with their Infinity Ward logo on the side. To most people this might not seem like much, but are we seeing the first proper builds of Valve's Steam Box?

Infinity Ward is a huge developer, and securing them on-board with an exclusive of any kind is sure to sell millions of Steam Box's at launch. One interesting thing is that they've put an iPhone next to it for a size reference, so we can see the purported Steam Box wouldn't even be that big, what is of more interest is the device underneath it.

This looks like an external hard drive, but I'm dreaming of an upgradeable GPU. Valve could really turn the entire console and gaming industries on their heads by offering us a console with an upgradeable GPU. Anything under 150W could be cooled quite efficiently, and would give consumers a great upgrade path, too. What are your thoughts on these leaked shots?

Mac has finally gotten access to the online multiplayer game League of Legends. The game was originally released for Windows back in 2009 and has grown in popularity ever since. If you already play League of Legends, you can download the open beta for Mac, or you can sign up for an account on their website.

Going native on Mac has been a big goal for us, and we're really excited to offer the same experience across both platforms. And just in case you're still skeptical, we managed to wrangle an endorsement from this business-savvy professional. We're confident you all know that this man games as he pleases!

The Mac client does everything that the PC client does, meaning you'll get all future features, bug fixes and new content on the same schedule as PC players, but on your native OS. The Cross-Platform team will also continue working diligently to smash any Mac bugs that surface during the open beta.

The creators behind the Ouya console will begin shipping the consoles to Kickstarter backers on March 28. That's right, just one more month until you will be able to get your hands onto your very own Ouya console. The consoles are currently being produced with full launch still set for June.

OUYAs will begin shipping to Kickstarter backers on March 28. That's right. Parts are in the factory and assembly lines are buzzing. We'll gradually ramp up production as we make sure things are working. (Our full launch is still set for June, which is when OUYA will be available in stores!)

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of you will receive your OUYA, and you'll get to start playing right away. You will also get to watch OUYA evolve over the coming weeks and months. We'll continue to add new features, refine our user experience, and bring on more games. As always, we appreciate your feedback (and apply it), so keep it coming.

Sony keeps releasing tidbits of information here and there about its upcoming next-gen console, the PlayStation 4. In images released today Sony is giving us an up-close look at the portable and social aspects of the PS4.

The high-resolution screenshots show off some of the upcoming console's graphical user interface, but more importantly some of them give us a first look into how the new console will integrate with social media as well as mobile devices such as tablets and phones.

Other screens showcase the home page, game streaming and user profiles. I have posted all of the images below in the news image gallery in hopes that they will keep your appetite wet until we actually see an actual image of the mysterious PlayStation 4.

EA have announced that they will be building micro-transactions into all of their future games on PC and consoles, with the decision forming amidst the controversy over the micro-transactions in Dead Space 3, which was the first game in the EA-published series to be impacted by micro-transactions. Chief Financial Officer, Blake Jorgensen, when speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, said:

The next and much bigger piece [of the business] is microtransactions within games. We're building into all of our games the ability to pay for things along the way, either to get to a higher level to buy a new character, to buy a truck, a gun, whatever it might be. Consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of the business. Without a doubt, you're going to see more digital business and particularly more digital components of the gameplay allowed because the ease of it will be much better and the storage capability better.

It looks like micro-transactions are here to stay, and I'd even be willing to get we'll move toward a future of cheaper or even free-to-play games that are financed from micro-transactions.

We've heard so much about the PlayStation 4 in the last week or so, but what about the cost of games? Surely these next-gen games cost more to develop? Yes, yes they do, and that cost will see games rise by 5-10% at launch, thanks to the higher development costs on the PS4.

The news comes from EA's latest investor call, where the company's Chief Financial Officer, Blake Jorgensen, stated that there will be a 5-10% increase in development costs for PS4 titles. This means we should expect to see PS4 titles priced at $69.99 at launch, where over time, they'll eventually fall down to $59.99. In order to back this up, EA's Chief Technology Officer, Rajat Taneja, has said that PS4 games will be capable of 8-10 times the graphic capabilities of current-gen games, where we'll see games in 1080p at 60fps.

One last surprise, Taneja also said that he's seen Battlefield 4 and that "it's stunning."

I'm pretty excited about the PlayStation 4, mainly because it's going to give the PC a much needed injection of next-gen games instead of sub-par ports. Ubisoft were asked what they wanted the PlayStation 4 to be like, with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot telling Kotaku last week:

Because we've been in the industry for a while, what happens generally - before creating the specs and creating the machine - the manufacturers come to us and say, 'What do you want on the next one?'

Ubisoft's reply was something we all wanted to hear, with some of us expecting it:

EA has sat down with VentureBeat to talk about a future of gaming with EA under a single identity across multiple platforms, even if that platform is Xbox 360, iOS, or Mac. This move will see EA follow gamers across all platforms, where they can track their activity and even move into new business models that would better target consumers. EA's chief technology officer, Rajat Taneja, said:

Our strategic vision at EA is to create a single backend system so that we can truly embrace the secular trends in our industry that are creating massive growth for games. And we will be able to embrace all of the new business models that come with that.

All of this is the work of 1500 engineers, and more than 18 months of pure time. It's all part of a major investment that EA chief executive John Riccitiello has made, in order to help the company bridge from being just a game publisher, to a multi-platform digital games company.

I only became aware of Watch Dogs last week when a friend pointed it out to me, I was blown away - it looks truly incredible. The game was then shown off during the PlayStation 4 unveiling late last week and now we're hearing some discussion from developer Ubisoft Montreal on the game. Senior producer on the game Dominic Guay, has said that the PS4 version of Watch Dogs pushes all aspects of the game further, he told Digital Spy:

I guess the image I would give [compared to PS3] is that it's like a magnifying lens. I'll give you small examples; it's like the fidelity of the wind, how it will have everything reacting as it blows through the city, the AI reaction when something happens, every AI has to make a decision on how they'll react to it. We can spend more time in the brain of each AI with a more powerful machine, saying, 'OK, how will I react to what just happened there? Where will I run to? Will I call the cops?', or stuff like that. Fundamentally the core, innovative part of Watch Dogs is the same on every platform. But on PS4 we're able to push every lever a lot further.

The PS4 version of Watch Dogs will use the PlayStation 4's new touch pad to control the protagonists phone in-game, something that has been described as a "direct translation", and a "really cool" feature. As for the development of Watch Dogs on the PS4, Guay said that it's "definitely easier to get in" to as a platform, elaborating:

If there's a single game I'm excited for in the next couple of years, it has to be Battlefield 4. Battlefield 3 really pushed the boundaries within the first-person shooter in terms of graphics, but the next one should amp that up considerably.

EA labels president Frank Gibeau has said:

We've been investing and innovating on new technology for months. Console partners who have seen our early work agree, EA's next-gen software is nothing short of astonishing. At a GameStop company meeting earlier this week, we gave 500 store managers a sneak peak at Battlefield 4. The game received a huge ovation and thousands of fans reacted to a single enthusiastic Tweet by GameStop's CEO.