Gaming - Page 2060

It seems rumors of the next-gen Microsoft console is getting the most talk lately, with more news of the Xbox 720/Next console from "sources close to the project" that told IGN.

There were initial reports that the next-gen console from Microsoft would sport the new GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture that is found in the newly-released AMD Radeon HD 7900-Series, but it seems that the console might tap some of the 6000-Series of GPUs.

IGN's sources claim it will use a Radeon HD 6670-like GPU, which offers support for DirectX 11, multi-display output, 3D and 1080p HD output. In "real terms", this would allow the next-gen Xbox's graphics processing power to be nearly six times as powerful as the Xbox 360, and just "20-percent greater performance than Nintendo's forthcoming console, the Wii U."

Battlefield 3's Community Manager, Daniel Matros has said that there is "new stuff" coming for Battlefield 3. What would he mean by "new stuff", well, he has said that new content was being created, but the actual announcement won't be for a few weeks yet.

Matros tweeted:

Been obsessively playing Skyrim since launch like most people? Want to keep on that bleeding-edge, well, Bethesda have been kind enough to release the latest 1.4 beta patch for Skyrim and have made it available through Steam.

Bethesda have warned people of the update, with "apply the update at your own risk." In order to apply the update, you'll need to check your Steam settings then opt-in to the Skyrim beta listed there. Bethesda recommend backing up your save games just in case you lose them, and the resulting after effects of which would be complete rage black-out.

Details on how to apply the update are here. And below I've listed a full list of fixes and goodies, there's a lot:

Excitement, building... first off, I've just sprinkled down some salt on this news, remember, rumor, rumor, rumor. Nothing is fact in this world until we see, hear, feel or experience it for ourselves, until then it's pure faith. In the technology industry, there are so many insiders, "upstream sources" (still need to get me a few of those), and "leaks".

Today, we have some news from SemiAccurate, that talks of the next-generation Xbox chip, "Oban" that has reportedly just taped out. Charlie goes into some serious detail, and for as much flak he gets, he is right a fair bit of the time, and I enjoy his style, so on with the news. It has been reported that the new Xbox Next/720 "Oban" chip is in initial production with sources at a foundary confirming that the Oban wafters starting running in the final days of last year.

Sources at Redmond, when questioned, responded with "Who the f*&$ told you that? I am going to f#*&ing rip someone's head off". You don't say that if it's rumors, that aren't true, so SemiAccurate could be onto something here. More sources as Microsoft said that the initial order for Oban chips was for 10K wafers. Oban is supposedly being built by IBM primarily, which means an x86-based chip is out of the question.

It seems as though Eidos Montreal's kinda-secret-but-kinda-not Thief 4 will sport online capabilities, and be built upon the foundation that is the Unreal Engine 3 graphics engine. This is according to the resume's of some of the developers, which were uncovered on LinkedIn, and were posted on NeoGAF.

One resume belonged to Colas Fievet, an online programmer for Thief 4. His duties between August 2009 and December 2010 included "networking, gameplay, debugging", plus "online and offline tools on Thief 4". The previous Thief games never included online play, so Thief 4 with online play would be a first of its kind for the series.

Other CVs referenced Thief 4 running on Unreal Engine 3, which is a surprise considering Eidos Montreal used the Tomb Raider engine for their popular Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Other information included mentions of "shops, escape gates, public zones", and that the game will include a "hub".

EA really want Origin to work, Battlefield 3 was good enough to swing millions of players into the arms of EA's latest digital distribution service, and now their latest RPG, Mass Effect 3 joins the ranks. BioWare have confirmed Mass Effect 3 will not be made available on Steam, and that on the PC, it will require an Origin install for all versions.

BioWare's community manager, Chris Priestly, said on the company's official forums:

Another game, another PC kick in the nads. Syndicate, from Starbreeze Studios and EA, arrives next month and to tie you over, they've released a four-player co-op demo. The Syndicate preview allows you and up to three of your friends to play one of the game's nine co-op missions (called "Western Europe") in its entirety with an objective to infiltrate a rival syndicate, Cayman Global.

The mission requires you to take out a Colonel, take some technology blueprints and force his people back across the Atlantic. The demo is available for a limited time starting this month and will be made available on the Xbox Live Marketplace (for gold members only) and the PlayStation Network. No word on whether there'll be a PC version.

My take is, this will be a flop on PC. If it were ported well, we'd have a demo, but, as usual, we don't. In other news, Good Old Games has announced it will start selling the original Syndicate from 1993, starting this Thursday. Pricing will be set at $6. GOG are giving away copies of the game as part of a contest that calls for participants to create their own team name and method of operation:

It seems as though Remedy are working on a new AAA title, with a job advertisement on their official website listing:

It would seem as though, from that advertisement, that this new project isn't just Alan Wake DLC, but an entirely new project. One of the best bits of that is they're after an "AI Programmer", which could be interesting to see how it fleshes out over time. The ad goes onto say that Remedy is looking for "[e]xperience on AI algorithms related to, for example, path finding, obstacle avoidance, decision making, group cooperation or planning". It seems as though this new AAA console game might be shared with another co-operative AI player.

Futuremark Game Studio have just confirmed the release date and pricing for the PC and iPad versions of their upcoming orbital tower defense game, Unstoppable Gorg. In case you've forgotten what Futuremark's Unstoppable Gorg is all about, check out the gameplay trailer below.

Futuermark also announced that there is a previously unannounced version coming out, appearing on Apple Mac-based systems. On top of the newly announced Mac version, Unstoppable Gorg will be released on PC, XBLA, and the iPad. Futuremark Game Studio also announced today that Unstoppable Gorg will be released as a Steam Play title, which will let users buy it just once and play it on both the Mac and PC.

RELEASE DATES, PLATFORMS AND PRICES

Diablo 3 hitting the consoles has been a rumor for quite a while now, and unfortunately, that rumor is now fact. Blizzard admitted last year that they were experimenting with a console version of Diablo 3, but according to a tweet from a Blizzard community manager, Diablo 3 on consoles is all but confirmed.

A fan on Twitter asked "can you confirm or deny Diablo 3 coming to consoles?" with community manager "Bashiok" responding with "Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo 3 console project". No more details or specifics were unveiled.

Now that news, I don't mind. As long as the game isn't like all other multi-platform releases where the PC controls suffer because of the slow movement of console controllers, and the slow response time of TVs, etc. But when Blizzard first revealed they were looking at bringing RPGs to consoles, director Jay Wilson actually said the game felt better in some ways with a controller, as opposed to a mouse and keyboard.