Gaming News - Page 266

Square Enix lays out peculiar-sounding NFT plans that include using non-fungible tokens to tell stories in its upcoming games.

In a recent shareholders meeting spotted by Suzuki Online and Siliconera, Square Enix talked about its new strategy with NFTs. The company is going ahead with its blockchain entertainment segment but plans are still early.

According to slides that we ran through an online PDF machine translator, Square Enix has ambitious to create NFTs that tell some sort of story. The company has plans on "launching a new brand/IP of creative NFT that emphasizes world view and story." There's no further details on exactly what this means.

Final Fantasy XVI will leverage the full power of the PlayStation 5's ultra-fast PCIe 4.0 SSD to eradicate in-game loading sequences.

Having been built specifically for the PS5 on day one, Final Fantasy XVI aims to harness the console's new high-end upgrades--especially its 5.5GB/sec SSD. In a recent interview with the PlayStation Blog, game producer Naoki Yoshida said he is most impressed by the PlayStation 5's storage technology and how it essentially destroys all loading sequences within Final Fantasy XVI.

"With the boost in processing power, we can obviously make the graphics even richer than we could before, but it's the super-fast loading times that really impress me," Yoshi-P told the PlayStation Blog.

Final Fantasy XVI will not have a singular open-world area to explore and discover, will instead be carved up into more meaningful and condensed game zones.

Square Enix is releasing a new round of press info on Final Fantasy XVI, and this time we get more information on the in-game world of Valisthea. According to game producer Noaki Yoshida, the in-game fantasy world will not be a gigantic persistent open environment similar to Final Fantasy 15 or Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Instead, Final Fantasy XVI will incorporate more isolated and independent zones and areas throughout the world. This could make each area feel more meaningful and engaging.

"To bring a story that feels like it spans an entire globe and beyond, we decided to avoid an open world design that limits us to a single open world space and instead focus on an independent area-based game design that can give players a better feel of a truly 'global' scale," Yoshida told IGN.

Sony plans to reveal its new line of PlayStation 5 gaming accessories and hardware during a special stream on June 28.

Sony will soon release a new brand of enthusiast gaming peripherals specifically for the PlayStation 5, complete with interoperability on PC. Reports indicate that the new line will be called INZONE, and will feature gaming headsets, high-end monitors, and a new PlayStation 5 DualSense controller aimed at pro gamers.

The INZONE line is expected to be revealed during a new showcase on June 28 at 5PM EST. Sony has released a new YouTube countdown video with the teaser "Find your new ZONE," an obvious reference to the leaked INZONE products.

Creative Assembly has finally revealed the mysterious shooter game it's been working on for the past 5 years.

SEGA just announced a new shooter called HYENAS. It's the new IP that Creative Assembly has been working on for many years, and is described as a new 15-player (4x teams of 3) "ballsy entry" into PVP FPS with unique "escape-to-win" mechanics. HYENAS captures the irreverent style of Watch Dogs 2, mixes it with Fortnite-style crossovers, adds a spice of FPS carnage, and throws in some Payday space heisting for good measure.

Creative Assembly says HYENAS is "an audacious new project from a multi-award-winning studio, aiming to do to shooters what they did to horror with Alien: Isolation."

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will have a new online gametype inspired by Escape From Tarkov, new reports from leaker Ralph's Valve indicate.

According to latest reports from trusted a trusted leaker, Modern Warfare 2's new Tarkov-like gametype will release as a free-to-play experience sometime in 2023. The mode is reportedly codenamed Project Nexus, and quite ambitious in scope. Nexus has been in development for four years or so and will combine campaign elements with PVPVE action, complete with distinct RPG elements.

Modern Warfare 2's launch in 2022 will see the release of three included modes: Singleplayer campaign, multiplayer, and co-op. Warzone 2 will be a separate, standalone release that resets all progress and starts fresh. The new inclusion of Nexus, also described as a DMZ mode, will mean Activision could have five monetized free-to-play online Call of Duty experiences on the market in 2023: COD Mobile, Warzone, Warzone 2, Warzone mobile, and Project Nexus.

I still remember opening up the Nintendo 64 + Mario 64 + GoldenEye 64 on Christmas Day with my brother "MaDDOG" and we didn't stop playing for years... some of my fondest gaming memories of the 90s on consoles were had on the N64. But now, now we have RT64 -- an N64 emulator plugin that supports ray tracing + DLSS + 60FPS, and more.

RT64 was made by modder and software developer "Dario" who tweeted that the path-traced renderer behind "sm64rt" is "evolving" into an N64 emulator plugin. The magic of RT64 includes ray traced lighting, object motion blur, widescreen support, NVIDIA DLSS support, and 60+ FPS support. Awesome stuff to see, Dario.

Dario tweeted: "I'd like to reveal that RT64, the path tracer behind sm64rt, is evolving into an N64 emulator plugin. Here's a small reel of footage I've captured from games that are already showing results. Ray traced lighting, object motion blur, widescreen, DLSS and 60+ FPS".

Tony Hawk has confirmed that a second remaster collection was in planning stages, but was cancelled when Vicarious Visions was absorbed by Blizzard.

Vicarious Visions and Activision had originally planned to release a Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 & 4 remaster collection following the 1 & 2 re-releases in 2020. Everything was interrupted when Blizzard formally absorbed Vicarious Visions in 2021, the studio that developed the original Tony Hawk remasters. Vicarious Visions moved on to Diablo II Resurrected in 2021, and is now focusing on Diablo IV, which is slated to release in 2023.

"I wish I could say we had something in the works, but Vicarious Visions kind of got disbanded and Activision is going through all their stuff so I don't know what's next," Tony Hawk said on Twitch.

It's possible to get refunds for all Diablo Immortal purchases, but the penalties are so high that you'll want quit playing soon afterwards.

Diablo Immortal players are having success getting full refunds for items and content purchased in the free-to-play game. Blizzard has honored multiple refund requests (here and here) for in-game purchases. But if you're going to ask for a refund you should be really sure you want to stop playing.

Blizzard will indeed refund Eternal Orb purchases for a steep cost. After the refund, players' Eternal Orb balances are put in the negative and you're essentially indebted to Diablo Immortal. Once in the red, the game will significant restrict what you can do. Being in Eternal Orb debt means you can't equip any items, play with others in any sort of multiplayer gametype--you can't team up--and you also cannot break down or recycle items at the blacksmith.

EA and DICE are doubling-down on Battlefield 2042 in an effort to bring back the glory days of the franchise.

Despite Battlefield 2042's failures, new DICE general manager Rebecka Coutaz brings hope and optimism to the franchise. In multiple new interviews, Coutaz says that DICE will earn players' trust once again and aims to usher in the triumphant return of Battlefield as a powerhouse name in the FPS business. EA hasn't given up on Battlefield, either; The publisher is investing heavily into new foundational shifts in management, which see Respawn's Vince Zampella taking a greater hands-on approach to the franchise, alongside key talent like Halo co-create Marcus Lehto, who leads a Seattle-based EA studio.

"DICE deserves to be the powerhouse that it should be in FPS. Together with the team here at DICE and the Battlefield franchise, with Byron and Vince and Marcus and Alex, that's what we're going to do," Coutaz told VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi.