Gaming - Page 1802

The Solus Project is a different sort of survival game than you might be used to. Inside is actually a very fascinating and complete storyline with objectives to complete, all set in an open world, which is almost the antithesis of most games of the genre. They give you a massive alien island to explore, and try to stay alive on, but that wasn't quite enough for them.They're planning on releasing an expansion that includes even more land to explore called The Highpoint Expansion.

This is actually the third expansion available, and it's completely free. They're adding in a more vertical element to the game, with caverns that have all manner of strange things to explore. You'll get to go deep into, and down, the cavern system as well as up. The gentlebeings at Grip Digital have included some new acid lakes, flying orbs and other strange flying and monstrous things that you'll have to avoid, lest you die investigating them.

Aside from the new visuals and creatures, the new expansions adds around three hours of story-based content with many new things to do, or try to complete anyway. They've even added a giant windmill apparently, too. They've put a lot of effort into this new expansion and have been able to fix nearly all of the previously known bugs and issues to ensure playability.

Sony has set a strict requirement that all PlayStation Neo games run at a minimum resolution of native 1080p.

Sony's new PlayStation Neo (PS4.5/PS4K) will ensure native rendering resolution of 1920 x 1080 is the new standard for its games library--no more 900p upscaled to 1080p tricks. This new native standard is to allow smooth 1080p to 4K resolution upscaling, which is made possible by the console's new hardware. The PS4 Neo is powered by an APU built with what appears to be a Polaris 10 Ellesmere GPU derivative clocked at 911MHz, combined with a 2.1GHz 8-core Jaguar CPU, and rounded off by 8GB GDDR5 RAM at 218 GB/s.

Giant Bomb dropped the new details, citing leaked internal documents as their source. "It seems like [Sony] won't allow a display buffer lower than 1080 in Neo Mode, so these cases of games under 1080 getting scaled up, seems like that will only be a Base Mode thing," the publication said in its latest podcast.

Fallout 4's first-ever Creation Kit mod is now available for download, featuring two new quests, enemies, weapons, and a bunch of other custom content.

The mod is called Ransacked Relays and Shuddersome Subways, and is made by the infamous modder trainwiz, and shows off the versatility of the Fallout 4 Creation Kit with a few quick quests and fully-customized interiors.

All in all the mod is pretty quick, but it's a nice taste of what to expect when Creation Kit mods hit later this month. If you download the mod check our quick walkthrough below to help you get up and running.

Though the PlayStation 4 is nearly half through it's life, Sony isn't quite done with supporting the PS3 just yet and have issued another update to the aging console for those the no doubt sizable amount of people who still own and play it. Update 4.80 is available either through as a manually installed .pup file or via auto-update.

The update is more of a stability update than anything else, with not mention of any included features or specific fixes that it might address. The last update, firmware 4.76 which was released in January of 2016, was also more of a general stability update with the only other mentioned feature being the discontinuation of support for Facebook integration.

There are still a surprising amount of PS3's in the wild that are actually being used. They are still a viable platform for consuming media and even for playing games. The back catalog of great games is rather large and the ability to play more PSOne classics or PS2-era games via backward compatibility is much appreciated, though that's coming to the PS4 slowly but surely. It is, however, nice to see Sony take the time to address any latent issues in the older console because it likely still sells for them now that they're profitable to manufacture for them. The PlayStation 2 lived on well after the PS3 was released in the guise of a smaller device, which sold well in Japan and in the west. It's a natural move, there are plenty of great games to still play on the PS3 even. Sony reported the last hardware shipment numbers for the fourth quarter of 2011, which totaled 1.9 million units.

It's official--the Xbox 360 is done. Microsoft will no longer manufacture new Xbox 360 consoles, so existing inventory is all we have left.

Microsoft today announced that it will be discontinuing the Xbox 360 console, choosing the tenth anniversary to reveal the upsetting news. Microsoft really does have a weird way of celebrating a whole decade of gaming, don't they?

"Xbox 360 means a lot to everyone in Microsoft. And while we've had an amazing run, the realities of manufacturing a product over a decade old are starting to creep up on us. Which is why we have made the decision to stop manufacturing new Xbox 360 consoles. We will continue to sell existing inventory of Xbox 360 consoles, with availability varying by country."

The console generation cycle is changing. The days of a new console every 5-7 years are long gone. Now we have iterative mid-cycle upgrades built on existing hardware, with consoles evolving more rapidly and dramatically than they ever have before. According to Oddworld developer Lorne Lanning, this new cycle is a necessity if Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo want to stay competitive.

Sony's new upgraded PlayStation 4.5 console is proof that the console market is changing. To stay relevant and keep up the constantly shifting world of tech, Sony and Microsoft have to adapt. Sony's doing this with the PS4.5, and Microsoft is also experimenting with new Xbox hardware. As such, Oddworld developer Lorne Lanning says that Sony's plan makes sense and that consoles will need to change to stay competitive against other gaming platforms like mobile phones.

"I asked Shu[hei Yoshida] a question...I asked him 'so what's the PS5 look like?' And he said 'you mean IF.' And I was like whoa...He said 'Yeah, it's an if.' He didn't give me a clear answer, but he's hinting at '[Sony] needs to be more agile, and none of us knows what the future holds. So how do we adapt to that fast?' I think that's the right way to think about it. And the idea that you're going to release a piece of technology that lasts for seven years into the future...I think that's less and less viable. Even though generations of platforms seem to last longer, the problem is that, eventually, is that mobiles are going to get more powerful than consoles..."

Sony is apparently adamant about upgrading their current console, infusing it with more raw power to tap into so to have better looking games at potentially higher resolutions. But isn't that the same thing as simply creating a new console? One would think, but Sony isn't sure that there ever will be a true PlayStation 5 at all.

Back in February of 2015 it seems that a Lorne Lanning, a veteran in the gaming industry, was able to talk to the president of PlayStation, Shuhei Yoshida, at a private dinner following DICE 2015. The question was raised, rightfully, what a PlayStation 5 might just look like. Yoshida countered with an "if", meaning that such an idea was transitory at best. That answer could also have been technically specific, meaning that they were already working on the PS4.5, or Neo, at the time and that in the short-term there were no certainties regarding a specific generational increase.

Just as Microsoft's approach has changed to be more agile and flexible, so too has Sony realized that with PC hardware evolving at the rate it does, they also do to keep up and ensure playability and interest is maintained. Resolution is unfortunately a topic of great interest to gamers and a source of greater consternation, as of late. It does have an effect on how we experience playing, though perhaps not as great as some would have you believe. But if the two big console makers can't compete in terms of resolution, or in performance at those resolutions, then it could potentially lower their market share. More power also means access to other ways to experience gaming, such as AR, and VR as well as being able to have better looking games at more modest resolutions that play faster.

Microsoft is a very unique position to sweep in and topple Sony's mighty PlayStation empire--but it'll take lots of careful planning.

Remember back at E3 2013 when Don Mattrick revealed the always-online Xbox One with its non-shareable games? That event nearly demolished the Xbox brand altogether, and it's taken three years for the company to put the pieces back together. Sony won this current generation simply by doing the complete opposite of Microsoft and listening to its consumer base. Now the roles have been reversed--Sony's new PlayStation 4.5 is the company's pre-E3 2013 Xbox One, and Microsoft has found itself in a very advantageous position to steal this generation.

Microsoft has a singular advantage over Sony: the new Windows 10 Dev Mode. This new tool allows devs to make a single game that's playable on both PC and Xbox, alleviating the need for multiple ports. Sony's PlayStation 4.5, on the other hand, is a nightmare for devs because they now have to make two PS4 ports of every game, meaning multi-plat will need four ports (PS4, PS4.5, Xbox One, and PC). Every PS4 game released after October needs to have two versions--a PS4 and a PS4.5 flavor that supports 4K upscaling. As a result of this news, the new PS4.5 is pissing off lots of devs, and BioWare's co-founder even went so far as to say its a "gigantic pain in the ass".

As Sony's new PlayStation 4.5 sports hardware upgrades to upscale 1080p games to 4K, gamers are pretty excited about the new console. Finally, we'll be able to hit native 1080p 60FPS in every game, along with light 4K gaming. Developers, on the other hand, aren't too happy about all the extra work they'll have to do.

In today's age of gaming, developers typically have to port games across three systems: PS4, Xbox One, and PC. With Sony's PlayStation 4.5 on the way, that number has been bumped by one. Reports say that all PS4 games made after October must have two versions: a PS4 version, and a new PS4.5 flavor. The new PS4.5 version also has to match the FPS of the base port. Even though the PS4.5 will likely be built on the same basic x86 architecture as the PS4, developers will still have to make tons of adjustments to add in 4K upscaling, on top of getting used to the new hardware.

"A trusted source tells me most developers are not happy with PS4.5, and having to develop around it. Extra cost, planning, other nonsense," says ex-IGN editor and KindaFunnyGames co-founder Colin Moriarty. Since Colin has tons of contacts in the industry, this is probably true. BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk mirrors the sentiment, saying that the PS4.5 will be a "gigantic pain in the ass" for developers.

Since Sony is working on a new PlayStation 4.5 model that features upgraded CPU, GPU and RAM, Microsoft has to counter with their own Xbox refresh in order to stay relevant. Now the word is that Microsoft has been testing various new Xbox prototypes, all of which are outfitted with boosted hardware that overshadow the beleaguered Xbox One.

According to reports published by The Verge, the new mid-cycle Xbox prototypes mirror the kind of hardware you'd find a gaming PC. "Sources familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans have revealed to The Verge that the company has been testing a variety of prototype Xbox devices. Some of the prototypes have been tested with upgraded components you'd use to improve the performance of a PC gaming rig."

Recent FCC filings confirmed the new Xbox by revealing the console's wireless chip, and Brazilian communications board Anatel even showed the new chip. Furthermore, we've had reports that the new mid-cycle Xbox will be called Xbox NeXt.