Gaming - Page 1976

As we get closer to CD Projekt Red's massive The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we're finding out more juicy details on the game. The developer is introducing a new "Dark" mode to the game, which will have permanent death.

Not only that, but it will provide the toughest enemies in the game, but once you die anywhere in the campaign, that's it - you're taken right back to the beginning of the game. CD Projekt Red quest designer Philipp Weber told VG247: "Usually normal is easy, and easy is-well, you can be on your phone while playing. If you die five minutes before the ending, it's over. There are actually people who have already done it".

Weber compared The Witcher 3 to Dark Souls and Skyrim, saying that the Normal difficulty is quite similar. But when talking about the new Dark difficulty, he said that it is off the charts. So if you want to play with some serious wagers in The Witcher 3, you might want to choose Dark.

The open beta for Battlefield Hardline continues, with Visceral Games' General Manager, Steve Papoutsis, taking to Twitter to announce that 5 million players have taken place in the beta.

Papoutsis said: "Wow, we've passed 5 MILLION players in the #BFHardline beta! So proud of your team. Glad you're having fun and keep that feedback coming". Destiny set the bar last year, with 5 million players taking place in the open beta for Destiny, but Destiny wasn't released on PC. This goes to show that the PC community is huge, and a strong force for even a game like Battlefield Hardline which hasn't been getting the best feedback.

Battlefield Hardline will be released on March 17 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC. The beta itself closes today, unfortunately.

We can expect DirectX 12 games to look radically different in just a few years time, with PC gamers being able to expect that future titles will look as good as the CG in the latest movies. The news is coming from an interview with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell with Inner Circle Podcast, teasing the future of PC gaming and DirectX 12.

Wardell said that if game developers get down and dirty with DirectX 12, games with thousands of on-screen characters, or any large number of objects on screen are usually bound by the CPU when it comes to lighting. Ubisoft has even admitted this for its mess that was Assassin's Creed: Unity. The first generation of DX12 games will see a 10-20% boost, as they are written for DirectX 11 and running DirectX 12. But when there are new graphics engines that are built from the ground up for DX12, the real benefits are going to be very, very clear according to Wardell.

The Stardock CEO claimed that future games would look like The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King by the end of the current console generation. He cites the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as resource heavy consoles, as they feature 8-core processors with 8GB of RAM and 64-bit operating systems and games that can access any and all of those resources easily. As time goes by, developers will squeeze much more out of the consoles.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End will be an exclusive to the PlayStation 4, with developer Naughty Dog aiming for 1080p and 60FPS. But throughout the development of Uncharted 4, Naughty Dog has realized that it most likely won't be able to reach a solid 60FPS throughout the entire game.

Neil Druckmann is the Game Director in charge of Uncharted 4, where he said that reaching 60FPS is not an easy task and that Naughty Dog is continuing to opimize the game (water it down) but he hasn't said whether 60FPS is the aim for the company. When asked how hard it was to reach 60FPS in Uncharted 4 during an interview with Game Informer, Druckmann said that it's "Really f**king hard".

He continued: "That's true for any game. It was really hard on The Last of Us Remastered, and that's a game we had finished and we knew exactly what the end result needs to look like. And here [with Uncharted 4] we're trying to push the boundaries of what this game can look like; and do realistic, real-time cutscenes; and trying to do 60fps is really hard". When he was asked directly if Naughty Dog was aiming for 60FPS, he said that Uncharted 4 is still a work-in-progress, and that nothing is solid right now.

Techland has announced that it will be releasing modding tools for Dying Light, as there seems to have been a situation within the Dying Light community over mods, which seemed to have been erased from the game in a patch.

The developer then released a statement, saying: "Modders were a massive part of our gaming community since Call of Juarez 2 and Dead Island - and we wish to continue that with Dying Light. This invitation is only the first stage of our cooperation with the gaming community. After the modding tools are released, we plan to actively support the coolest mods created by players". Techland has not provided an ETA for the modding tools, so don't hold your breath for the short term.

Setting up your ideal gaming room is a mighty task because of all the details needed to make it perfect. The ESRB reports that 67 percent of households play video games; however, the average gamer plays about 8 hours a day. Therefore, it's only natural that some people need more than just the living room floor to sit on when gaming. If you are looking to turn your living room into your gaming room, follow these tips to set up the ideal console gaming room.

Regardless of your choice in console, you need to consider a few technical items when building up your perfect gaming chamber. Naturally, you want to play on an HD television with a 16:9 display ratio. While any television with those specs will do nicely, those with some extra cash to burn might consider upgrading to something like the Philips 42PF9630A, which is a 42-inch HD television capable of projecting ambient light around itself based on what colors are being displayed on the screen. This will create an even more immersive experience.

However, the display on your TV won't matter if the lights in your room are too bright. Good dimmable LED lights, like those made by Earth LED, allow you to capture a movie theater mood in your gaming room. Also, prevent sunlight from shining through your windows with solar shades to help reduce screen glare and add a greater sense of privacy. Creating the right lighting is critical to really appreciate many games because who really wants to play a survival horror game in a brightly lit room?

Given the recent lifetime bans issued to American and Canadian CS:GO players due to their match-fixing and betting ring scandals, multiple professional players and community members have spoken up - stating that a lifetime without CS:GO tournaments is too harsh, requesting that the ban be shortened to one year at most.

One of the most notable people having their voice heard is that of Filip "NEO" Kubski. Widely regarded as one of the best Counter-Strike players of all time, NEO has won the 'player of the decade' award twice throughout his CS 1.6 history and has seen his fair share of global tournament attendances and wins throughout his CS 1.6 and CS:GO careers.

In a post to his public Facebook page, NEO states:

French CS:GO player Joey "fxy0" Schlosser has had a harsh few weeks. After being reported by former team member Robin "GMX" Stahmer for match-fixing, fxy0 came clean in a video confession, admitting he purposefully played badly during the match that was under investigation.

Given this news, two major things have happened. Firstly, Epsilon have officially released both fxy0 and another player, Kévin "Uzzziii" Vernel from their sponsorship, alongside Valve issuing both of these players with 1-year tournament bans across any Valve-supported event.

As seen on a post to his Facebook recently, fxy0 stated:

We recently reported a story on ex-Epsilon CS:GO squad member Robin "GMX" Stahmer reporting his old team for match-fixing, then later adding that their world-class player Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom was not involved.

In a breaking news report by HLTV, Epsilon CS:GO squad member Joey "fxy0" Schlosser has admitted to match-fixing in his heartfelt video.

The video is uploaded to YouTube as unlisted and is already reaching over 64,000 views, with the outcome of Valve and ESEA's investigation not yet set in stone. We've seen previously that people found guilty of match-fixing have been handed life bans from almost all major tournament providers globally, alongside Valve themselves damning the players from any event they support.

Just months after the mess that was Assassin's Creed: Unity, Ubisoft has announced Assassin's Creed: Rogue for March 10. Assassin's Creed: Rogue launched back in November for the Xbox 360 and PS3, but will be launching next month on the PC.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue will have gamers playing as a Templar named Shay Patrick Cormack, who becomes an Assassin Hunter. Rogue takes place in North America during the Seven Years War, which will also see the return of naval-based combat, something we saw from Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. Ubisoft Kiev is the studio behind Assassin's Creed: Rogue, with the studio teaming up with eye-tracking company Tobii Tech.

Tobii Tech will see their technology baked into Assassin's Creed: Rogue, where you can use SteelSeries' Sentry eye-tracking hardware to pan the game's camera left and right through eye movement. Ubisoft teases that this creases "an 'infinite screen' experience". PC gamers are also in for a treat if they choose to allow themselves to purchase another Assassin's Creed title, with Ubisoft offering a free Assassin's Creed game through Uplay if they pre-order Assassin's Creed: Rogue.