Gaming - Page 1883

The Sony PlayStation 4 dominated the console market in 2014, outselling the Microsoft Xbox One throughout the entire year. The PS4 racked up 18.5 million PS4 sales worldwide, dominating every month except for November and December, The NPD Group said.

"PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in the US and globally in 2014," a Sony spokesperson told GamesBeat. "And [it is] the fastest selling console in PlayStation history with 18.5 million sold through after just 14 months in the market. We are humbled by this success and want to thank gamers worldwide for helping us achieve holiday sales of more than 4.1 million across 123 countries and regions."

However, Sony has faced increased pressure from the Xbox One to close 2014, as Microsoft has offered competitive price cuts - and gamer bundles - as gamers have a lot to cheer for. Sony will face increased pressure from Microsoft in 2015, so it cannot bask in its 2014 success for too long.

There's another Battlefield: Hardline beta coming, which will reach the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC sometime soon. There's no solid ETA on it just yet, but it should be in the immediate future.

EA hasn't mentioned the date yet, but it does tease what we can expect. We will continue to see the main Conquest mode features, but the new beta will include a new game mode: Hotwire. Hotwire is explained by DICE as "an all-new mode coming to Battlefield focused on combining all-out warfare with all-out speed".

There will be no progression cap during the beta, so you can go rank crazy if you want. Any and all progress will not be carried over to the full game, which is still on track for release on March 17.

Twitch has finally unleashed something broadcasters can jump for joy over, with a new music section launched which features over 500 royalty-free tracks that broadcasters can use in either live, or archived videos.

These songs, according to Twitch "will not be flagged by the audio recognition system implemented in 2014 to protect audio copyright holders and Twitch broadcasters alike". Twitch's Chief Strategy Officer Colin Carrier said: "Our community has been vocal about the importance of music for their broadcasts and their love of music in general. By working with both established and upcoming record labels, we are now able to offer music for them to use that is cleared for live broadcasts and archiving."

Not only that, but the new Music section has been added to Twitch's main game directory. This provides artists with a way of "creating, performing and presenting original songs" after Twitch approves it of course, where they continue "certain established labels and artists" may also host "radio-style listening shows and broadcast large scale events, such as music festivals".

Microsoft owned the holiday season with the Xbox One and its $349 price tag, but then the price went up to its normal $399 as Microsoft removed the discount. Well, it's been 12 days, so Microsoft is discounting the Xbox One by $50 once again, but this time for a much shorter amount of time.

As of tomorrow (Friday, January 16) the company is dropping the price of the Kinect-less Xbox One by $50, but Microsoft isn't sure when this sale will end. When asked why Microsoft is cutting the price again after 12 days of it returning to normal, Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Xbox, Michael Nichols told Polygon: "Over the last year we made a bunch of moves to engage fans better. Included in that was a real lead up to the holidays".

Not only will the price cut take place, but Microsoft plans on throwing out new games, improvements to Xbox Live, and much more. Nichols added "It was really about positioning ourselves to have a breakout holiday. We were as aggressive as we could be to see how people would react. The results were staggering, it was a terrific response to the changes we made".

The video game industry had a lot to cheer for, as developers are excited to make games for the Microsoft Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 4 and PC, but slumping game sales caused major headaches.

Hardware sales are racking up strong sales numbers, but not enough gamers are purchasing new titles, according to The NPD Group. Hardware sales increased 20 percent, up to $5.07 billion throughout 2014 - but Microsoft and Sony are engaged in a price war, with console prices continually dropping.

Disc video game sales in December dropped 2 percent year-over-year, down to $1.28 billion, as the industry strives for stability. A 2 percent year-over-year drop is smaller than previous months, and could indicate that gamers were willing to break out the wallet for new titles.

Microsoft has announced a new skin pack featuring characters from "The Simpsons," which will be available on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One in late February. It will cost $1.99.

Gamers will get to try out Home, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and 19 other characters from the longstanding popular TV show. Support for Minecraft on other platforms is expected to follow the Xbox 360/Xbox One launch.

"We have an active community of more than 14 million die-hard Minecraft fans on Xbox Live enjoying the wide range of downloadable content on Xbox, and they have been clamoring for us to bring Simpsons characters to the game," said Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, in a blog post. "We are thrilled to partner with Twentieth Century Fox and Gracie Films to bring The Simpsons to life on Minecraft Xbox 360 and Xbox One editions. I can't wait to see what the community creates."

Game developers have noticed the rise of eSports, as 12 percent of game developers say they are creating a game they believe fits the description as an eSport, according to the GDC State of the Industry report. Game studios describe a potential eSport as one that is a "competitive, skill-based multiplayer game.

Furthermore, 79 percent of survey respondents believe eSports will be a long-term, sustainable market, especially with Twitch and other broadcasting competitions making viewership even easier.

"Creating a game as an eSport causes it to become a hobby and an interest outside the act of playing it," a game developer said in the GDC "State of the Industry Survey." "This increased engagement is one way of allowing a game to become part of a player's life in ways that [don't] require them to always be investing their time into playing it."

We demand better graphics and more immersive gameplay, but that comes at a cost. As video games progress the amount of storage they require is exploding. Some current games can chew up to 40GB each, and this can grow even more with DLC. Nyko has the bases covered with a new innovative enclosure that snaps onto the top of the PS4. The internal PS4 drive is limited by capacity, and users can upgrade it, but it requires a 2.5" drive. These are limited in capacity, and higher in cost, compared to their larger 3.5" brethren.

The Data Bank supports 3.5" drives, which can be between $40-$50 cheaper than 2.5" models. 3.5" drives currently top out at 6TB for consumer models, and heftier capacities are on the horizon. The Nyko Data Bank will retail between $30 and $40 when it is released. The Nyko Data Bank snaps to the top of the PS4 and is connected via a pass-through power cable on the rear of the unit. The design mimics the PS4's aesthetics, but it does add a large component to the top of the console.

6TB might seem a bit over the top for most PS4 users, but after a few years data begins to pile up. If the lifespan of the PS4 is as long as the PS3, there will be a need for additional capacity at some point. Those with large media libraries will also find the Data Bank useful. With todays game consoles geared to be the hub of the home entertainment center it is surprising they still stick with capacity-limited 2.5" drives, but this is likely driven by size constraints more than any other consideration.

Rolling out to Xbox One preview members today, Microsoft has finished work on a brand new update for their champion console. With regular users to receive this in February, there have been some new features listed and improvements made.

One of the main improvements is the apparent upgrade to the TV functionality, alongside adding new game hubs - a new section for each game, displaying your friends that this title, DVR clips and broadcasts and a VIP view that will highlight popular Twitch.TV streamers. Thanks to the new game hubs, you can also launch the game with a party, track achievements or broadcast game play in snap mode.

As for the TV component, Microsoft have added a OneGuide rollout for the Netherlands, added support for new AV receivers and set-top boxes and have also added Live TV trending for France, Germany, Brazil and Mexico. This Live TV streaming service will also be supported on Windows Phones and Android for Xbox One Digital TV tuner customers in France, the UK, Germany Italy and Spain.

First we covered the Xbook Duo, which placed a non-backwards compatible Xbox One and an Xbox 360 into a single package - now we've got the Playbox. Developed by the same modder, he's thrown a PS4 and an Xbox One into the same shell - confusing and worrying elitists worldwide.

In the lead up to these two creations, Eddie Zarick has thrown a PS4 and Xbox One into their own separate shells, but as the famous saying goes "¿Por qué no ambos" (why not both?). The Playbox hosts the PS4 component on the left side of the system and with the Xbox One on the right.

Both consoles are powered by a single cord, however they don't function at the same time due to overheating constraints. You can flick an easy-to-reach switch on the back to help change from one console to another at your will.