Gaming - Page 1967
All the latest gaming news, with everything related to PlayStation releases (PS4 & PS5), Xbox, PC Games, Nintendo Switch & plenty more - Page 1967.
John Carmack: previous-gen consoles are 'far from tapped out'
During an interview with Wired, John Carmack talked with the struggles of requiring hardware upgrades to continue gaming. Carmack looked back on the days of making Doom a 386-only game, something that paid off, as he said the experience with a 286-based machine at the time would've been sub par.
Carmack also talked about the last generation of consoles, the Xbox 360 and PS3, with their hardware not yet fully utilized. But now, programmers and developers are having to move onto next-gen hardware. Carmack said: "Even to this day, I struggle a little bit with that; there's so much you can still do on the previous console generation."
He continued: "The 360 and PS3 are far from tapped out in terms of what a developer could do with them, but the whole world's gonna move over towards next-gen and high-end PCs and all these other things. Part of me still frets a little bit about that, where just as you fully understand a previous generation, you have to put it away to kind of surf forward on the tidal wave of technology that's always moving. That's something that we've struggled with in every generation. And now I at least know enough to recognize that some of my internal feelings or fondness for technology that I understand or have done various things with usually has to be put aside. Because data has shown over the decades that that's usually not as important as you think it is."
Continue reading: John Carmack: previous-gen consoles are 'far from tapped out' (full post)
Thief reboot will look better on the PC, winks at next-gen consoles
The upcoming Thief Reboot from Eidos Montreal will be a little special on the PC, even with the next-gen consoles having a air guitar competition over in the corner.
Eidos Montreal's Art Technical Director, Jean-Normand Bucci, said: "The new consoles are very strong, very powerful. They allow for much more than what a console gamer is used to. The gap between PC and next gen has massively reduced for sure. The new consoles and high-end PC offer better frame rate, higher resolution, and many new features along with DX11 support", when talking with DSOGaming.
When Bucci talked about the PC version of Thief, he said: "The PC version will support all the graphical features of the next-gen consoles with numerous improvements, including even better anti-aliasing, higher resolution shadows, and support for multi-monitor. Thief on PC will also be amongst the first batch of games that support AMD's new Mantle API for high performance graphics."
Continue reading: Thief reboot will look better on the PC, winks at next-gen consoles (full post)
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition headed to next-gen consoles
During VGX, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition was confirmed for both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. We heard rumors of this, but it has now been confirmed. The new version of the game will be "re-built specifically" for Microsoft and Sony's next-gen consoles.
The Definitive Edition of the game will feature all of the DLC from Tomb Raider, a digital art book, six outfits for Lara, and a digital comic. What I don't get, is why it needs to be "re-built specifically" for the next-gen consoles, if it was released on PC - which is a platform that completely outstrips every console on the market.
Unless, the developer is going to crank the graphics up even more - but I don't see that happening. Hopefully I'm surprised, though. What do you think? What do you expect from the Definitive Edition of Tomb Raider on the Xbox One and PS4? Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition hits the next-gen consoles on 1/28 in the US, and 30/1 in Europe.
Continue reading: Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition headed to next-gen consoles (full post)
Play.com owner says Wii U will outsell the Xbox One, PS4 over XMAS
We just reported that Deus Ex: Universe would not be getting released on the Nintendo Wii U, but that won't matter if the owner of Play.com is right with his prediction: that the Wii U will outsell the Xbox One and PS4 this Christmas.
Play.com owner, Rakuten, has said that the Wii U, backed up with the iPad, will sell more units than the next-gen consoles from Microsoft and Sony, even after both of the next-gen consoles have sold over 1 million units each. Rakuten told MCV that it saw a 75% increase in Wii U sales in October, and expects that upwards trend to continue as we move closer to Christmas.
The retailer is citing a Twitter analysis, which reveals that the Wii U and iPad are "the most talked about presents for children this Christmas". Play.com added: "The marketplace's social media analysis surprisingly showed that the brand new PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles are trailing in second and third place respectively behind the Wii U and iPad. This is despite the fact that both new consoles sold out on Rakuten's Play.com during Black Friday, which have since been restocked. It appears that those on the hunt for the latest consoles are gamers rather than consumers buying for their loved ones."
Continue reading: Play.com owner says Wii U will outsell the Xbox One, PS4 over XMAS (full post)
RumorTT: DICE won't be developing the next Battlefield game
This is quite the rumor, but according to Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter, DICE won't be developing the next Battlefield title. This is interesting, especially because it's EA.
Pachter said in a note to the press: "We spoke with management on Thursday afternoon, and although they have not yet announced a version of Battlefield for FY15, they confirmed that our understanding is spot on and that if a version of Battlefield were to be released in FY15, it would be developed by a studio other than DICE."
This would make sense, if EA wanted to pump out annual Battlefield games, like Activision does with Call of Duty. It would make more sense, because EA has killed off the Medal of Honor franchise, and doesn't have two military shooters to go back-to-back every alternate year. But, would it water down the Battlefield franchise, or would it help it flourish?
Continue reading: RumorTT: DICE won't be developing the next Battlefield game (full post)
EA halts BF4 DLC roll out, wants to get the game working first
I've had issues with Battlefield 4, don't get me wrong, but when it works, it's an amazing game. Well, there are issues plaguing most platforms - next-gen consoles included - and EA wants to get it all fixed before it continues working on its DLC for BF4.
EA has put its foot down, with future expansions not being worked on until the problems with Battlefield 4 are a thing of the past. It's good to see EA kicking ass this early into the game, but these problems wouldn't be here if they didn't rush the game to release. EA said in its statement:
Continue reading: EA halts BF4 DLC roll out, wants to get the game working first (full post)
Valve officially joins the Linux Foundation to further push gaming
It's no secret that Valve has been very Linux friendly as of late, and today the company publicly declared its commitment to the open source operating system by officially joining the Linux Foundation. This adds Valve to a prestigious list of heavy hitters such as HP, Intel, IBM, Oracle, and Samsung who are also part of the foundation.
"Joining the Linux Foundation is one of many ways Valve is investing in the advancement of Linux gaming," Mike Sartain, a key member of the Linux team at Valve said. "Through these efforts we hope to contribute tools for developers building new experiences on Linux, compel hardware manufacturers to prioritize support for Linux, and ultimately deliver an elegant and open platform for Linux users."
With SteamOS just around the corner, and more game developers supporting Linux and Steam every day, 2014 is going to be a big year for Linux gaming. I have a friend who has been predicting this for several years now, and today I had to concede all of my arguments to him on why this would never happen. At the rate things are progressing, I am willing to bet that in 5 years Linux and SteamOS will be as big of, if not a larger gaming platform than Windows is now.
Continue reading: Valve officially joins the Linux Foundation to further push gaming (full post)
Microsoft's Xbox One Black Friday battle in the console war
The so-called "Console Wars" formed earlier this year when Microsoft and Sony began a dance to see who could one up the others new features on its next-gen console, and it appears that Microsoft may have won a major battle. A newly released report from InfoScout is suggesting that Microsoft took home the majority of console sales during Black Friday.
The retail analytic firm gathered data from about 83,000 shopping receipts, and the figures state that the $499 Xbox One topped sales at both Walmart and Target. In fact Microsoft garnered both the top and second spots with the Xbox One capping 31-percent of the Black Friday market share. The Xbox 360 managed to hold onto 30-percent which means Microsoft held 61-percent of console sales on Friday.
The report lost Sony as holding a mere 30-percent of sales with the PS3 and PS4 capping 15-percent each. Nintendo managed to grab a measly 7-percent with the Wii U accounting for 6-percent while the Wii walked away with barely 1-percent. What does this mean for the PS4? Since it has been released for a several weeks now, I think that many of its big sales numbers are over, and Microsoft led sales due to the close proximity of its Xbox One launch, combined with massive discounts on Xbox 360 units.
Continue reading: Microsoft's Xbox One Black Friday battle in the console war (full post)
BF4 DLC unavailable on Xbox One, Microsoft is investigating
It looks like there's problems on the Xbox One version of Battlefield 4, where the Second Assault DLC is not available for Xbox One owners who have coughed up the dough for Battlefield Premium.
Battlefield 4: Second Assault includes four maps from Battlefield 3, and the biggest issue here is that the DLC is an Xbox One exclusive for two weeks to those who have Premium access. But, the problem is, that the pack is listing as "null data" when logging on to the in-game Premium store. An EA spokesperson has said that Microsoft is looking into the matter.
EA_Rick, said: "I know some of you have said already that it is being looked into, I wanted to just confirm that for you so you guys have a blue [staff] post to refer to. Right now all I can say is that we are aware of this issue and are currently investigating this with Microsoft. Once we have some more details I'll be sure to let you know."
Continue reading: BF4 DLC unavailable on Xbox One, Microsoft is investigating (full post)
This Steam Machine prototype has me excited, what do you think?
Next year, there are two companies that have me the most excited: Valve and Oculus VR. The latter, for its awesome virtual reality device, Rift, and the former, for its multiple product releases, and software releases.
One of these, is the Steam Machine. The latest Steam Machine prototype has been teased by Engadget, which has had the first look at iBuyPower's prototype for a Steam Machine. It looks awesome, and looks nothing like a PC - which is exactly what Valve, and PC makers, need right now. There's a gorgeous light bar through the center of it, which looks like it changes color, an awesome touch.
There's a gigantic Steam logo on top, which is nice to see on a console. Better yet, it'll be just $499 and include a decent GPU in the AMD Radeon R9 270 - which is an $180 GPU on its own. One top of this, there'll be a multi-core AMD processor inside, and a Steam Controller. We're talking about specs that beat the next-gen consoles, with a price that matches them. This is what I know: I want one, and I want one now.
Continue reading: This Steam Machine prototype has me excited, what do you think? (full post)