Gaming - Page 330

Sony's new $200 DualSense Edge controller caters to the high-performance enthusiast crowd, but the upgrades come at a cost other than money.

The DualSense Edge is Sony's answer to the Xbox Elite controllers, featuring swappable joysticks, back paddles, and significantly optimized precision and sensitivity profiles. Sony promises that the Edge will give you, well, an edge in all kinds of games, especially shooters where fast-twitch reflexes are needed.

There's just two potential problems with the DualSense Edge. The first is battery life. Sony has officially confirmed the DualSense Edge has a "moderately shorter" battery life than the $70 stock DualSense controller. We don't know the battery size of the Edge, but the regular DualSense uses a 1,560 mAh battery, which can be swapped out in favor of a battery with a higher capacity (I did this with my DualShock 4 and it worked very well).

Blizzard outlines more details on what to expect from the Diablo franchise's first ever paid battle pass.

Diablo IV will have a paid battle pass complemented by a rotating seasonal structure of content. Blizzard has confirmed that Diablo IV will not go live with a season--instead, season 1 will release weeks after the game launches in June 2023. So that early access pre-order bonuses will not give players an extra lead over others.

"The battle pass will last for the entire duration of a season. That season is 3 months, so you'll have plenty of time to work your way through the battle pass. Active players will have no problem with that. You're not going to run out of time," game director Joe Shely said.

Blizzard has officially confirmed that classic old-school Diablo items will be returning in Diablo IV.

Diablo is a franchise with deep-rooted traditions, and one of these decades'-long rituals is finding new ways to reinvent classic items. Blizzard says that Diablo IV will see the triumphant return of some of the most iconic items that appeared in Diablo I and Diablo II.

"There are a ton of classic Diablo items that are returning. Shako is coming back, Windforce is coming back, Grandfather...Magefist are coming back. You will see some returning favorites," Diablo IV associate game director Joseph Piepiora said during a developer live stream.

Diablo IV's new Codex of Power mechanic will bring massive replayability and customization to the game.

Diablo IV has a new game-changing feature called the Codex of Power, which will allow gamers to specifically target buffs and passive bonuses to augment their builds. Blizzard has found a way to effectively turn in-game environments into something that is better than a legendary item; the dungeons themselves are like the prefixes and suffixes from Diablo II. Imagine being able to find some of the best buffs and stats from one item and affix them to other items.

Here's how it works: Every dungeon in Diablo IV has specific loot called an "aspect". This aspect is kind of like a gem from D3 that augments skills and abilities. The aspects are equivalent to the special buffs and powers on legendary items.

Sony could release a new PlayStation 5 model in 2023, but it may not be a PS5 Pro with improved performance and power.

In a recent interview with Japanese gaming site Famitsu, Sony Interactive Entertainment Vice President Hideaki Nishino may have teased a new PS5 model that could be announced and/or released in 2023.

Famitsu mentioned that the PS5 was entering its third year, and that the PS4 Pro released in the PS4's third year--would a new revamped PS5 come in 2023 to continue this mid-cycle trend? Nishino responded by Sony's current plans and thoughts about next year:

Beloved creative director Chris Metzen is returning to Blizzard to help lead the studio during a big transitional period.

Blizzard is changing. On a cultural level, the studio has struggled with sexual harassment allegations, leading to multiple lawsuits and shocking testimony of worker treatment and abuse. Blizzard has also struggled with production: Before Diablo 2 Resurrected's launch in 2021, Blizzard had not released a new product for many years. Now Blizzard management is trying to solve both issues and has recruited studio vets to help make it happen.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, former Blizzard creative Chris Metzen is returning to the studio to help kickstart these new initiatives. Management hopes that Metzen's return will embolden morale and lead to better culture while offering inspiration to workers who are developing new games and content. Metzen could help get Blizzard back on track with culture and production.

Square Enix is bundling all six classic Final Fantasy games from the NES and SNES eras in one collectible package.

It's official: The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection is coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in a physical and collectible format. The all-in-one bundle includes Final Fantasy I - VI but the asking price is a bit steep at $75, which is the same price as the full collection on Steam. The physical editions are exclusive to the Square Enix Store so you'll want to pre-order ASAP to get a copy.

The games are due to ship in May 2023, which is really close to the planned June release date for Final Fantasy 16.

Microsoft could introduce a lower-cost Xbox Game Pass subscription tier that requires users to watch advertisements before they play.

An Xbox user survey may hint at a new cheaper Xbox Game Pass subscription plan in exchange for ads, not unlike the cheaper ad-supported plans that Netflix, Disney, and Paramount+ currently offer. The survey, which is in Spanish and was uploaded to ResetEra, gives an interesting look at what Microsoft could be planning.

According to the questionnaire, Microsoft could offer a tremendously low-cost Game Pass tier for just 3 Euros a month with lots of restrictions. Right now Xbox Game Pass is the most value-oriented video games subscription on the market, and Microsoft could improve subscriber counts by cutting up this value and offering separately-priced pieces.

Microsoft executive Brad Smith makes the case that Xbox needs more first-party content in order to stay competitive, but that isn't exactly true--Microsoft just needs more games.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg Technology, Microsoft President Brad Smith laid out more reasons why the company should be able to buy Activision for $68.7 billion. Smith argues that Xbox needs more first-party IPs so that they can adequately compete against Sony's PlayStation brand,

"We're the small entrant. They have 286 exclusive titles. We have 59. We need some more first-party games in order to be a healthier and stronger competitor, and we need to do it in course in a way that doesn't impede competition along the way," Smith said.

Valve confirms it is concepting new SteamOS hardware for all kinds of spaces, including couch gaming in the living room.

Valve has had a push and pull relationship with hardware. Its Steam Machines initiative, which created low-cost (and low-powered) PC "consoles" from multiple OEMs largely failed to gain traction. The VR and handheld gaming fronts are very different stories. The Steam Deck is incredibly popular, and Valve's Index VR is largely seen as the best way to experience dedicated, PC-powered virtual reality.

The PC game store operator has no plans of stopping its hardware ambitions any time soon. Valve is currently focusing heavily on its Steam Deck platform, including new model revisions, as well as VR...but it still isn't giving up on some sort of console-like system for the living room.

Spider-Man 2, one of the most anticipated new PS5 games, just got a targeted release window.

Sony and Insomniac Games today announced Spider-Man 2 is planned for a Fall 2023 launch exclusively on PS5. The sequel features both Miles Morales and Peter Parker, hinting that gamers will be able to switch between the heroes, and Venom also shows up. Maybe Miles and Peter team up against Venom, or all three join to fight some bigger threat like Carnage?

"What a year it's been for PlayStation Studios; here at Insomniac Games we've been in absolute awe of the work of our peers.

Blizzard and Vicarious Visions are celebrating the holiday season in hell with some nifty Diablo II Resurrected events.

Thanks to Blizzard's efforts, Hell freezes this Christmas with a special D2 event. The limited-time holiday event is called 22 Nights of Terror, and will feature a new modifier or in-game changes every day for the next 20 days. Blizzard officially promises "powerful loot, a dash of terror, and a new surprise"...however the first two days have been predictable enough.

Day 1 saw the Cow Level (aka an non-existent level) being corrupted as a Terror Zone for the entire day. Areas that are corrupted deliver more XP and have a chance of dropping the new Sunder Charms. Day 2's buff is called Sanity Clause, and sees Terror Zones changing every 15 minutes.

Old-school Unreal Tournament shooters will be taken offline in January 2023, Epic Games has announced.

The end of a classic PC gaming era is upon us. Epic Games is removing all Unreal Tournament games from storefronts and plans to turn off online multiplayer servers for games including Unreal Gold, Unreal II: The Awakening, Unreal Tournament (2003), Unreal Tournament (2004), Unreal Tournament III, and the Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition. All versions of these games have already been de-listed from Steam and can no longer be found on the Epic Games Store.

Epic says that it is now shifting towards its more unified and cohesive Epic Online Services framework, which requires deprecating older builds of specific titles. Luckily, Epic says it plans to revive Unreal Tournament 3 to utilize its new services network.

Sony's new $119 a year PlayStation Plus Premium subscription just isn't worth it right now.

Sony recently announced all the new games coming to PlayStation Plus Extra and PlayStation Plus Premium. The offered games continue one big trend about Sony's new 3-tier PS Plus service: The more expensive Premium tier really isn't worth the price, at least right.

PS Plus Premium isn't much more expensive than PS Plus Extra. The Premium tier costs $119 per year, whereas Extra costs $99 a year. The main selling point for PS Plus Premium is access to a growing number of classic games across all PlayStation console generations, including PS1, PS2, PS3, and even PSP and Vita, access to Ubisoft+ titles, as well as being able to stream games to console and PC.

The Witcher 3's new upgrade on PC is a big mess right now and we recommend you hold off on the update until CD Projekt RED addresses the issues.

Today CD Projekt released The Witcher 3's massively anticipated next-gen version on consoles and PC. The game runs smoothly on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but the PC version is having big issues with big FPS drops and other game-breaking glitches including not being able to heal toxicity levels.

Frame rates are the biggest problems on PC right now. Gamers are reporting 45FPS with an RTX 3080 at 1440p with DLSS at RT Ultra with about 50% GPU utilization. Some 3090 owners are also reporting 45FPS perf. It looks like RTX is the issue, and turning raytracing off immediately gives a huge FPS boost in the 100+ FPS range. Other gamers are reporting instant crashes after they load a save that had raytracing turned on.

FromSoftware has one main goal with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, and it's essentially aiming to be a love letter for die-hard mecha fans.

The collective gaming world has been waiting a long time for a new Armored Core game. It's been 10 years since the last title, and a few years since FromSoftware teased a new AC. Now the cat's out of the bag and the Souls developers are discussing their main motivations for Fires of Rubicon.

According to Hideki Miyazaki, Armored Core VI won't be a Souls-like, but it will have "intense boss battles" and it is primarily focused on singleplayer content, hearkening to the older days of the series.

Apart from the general chicanery, hijinks, and ultra-gory mayhem, Dead Island 2 has something new up its sleeve: You're actually a zombie. Well...sort of.

Like Dying Light 2, Dead Island 2 will also let players transform into a zombie to wreak total bloodthirsty havoc on Hell-A (a stylized version of L.A. where all hell breaks loose). The game's latest trailer, which has some surprisingly good-looking environments and effects, showcased some of the creative and ridiculous combat features and dynamics that players will explore as they absolutely annihilate the undead.

One of the more surprising parts is that you're not just killing undead...but you are the undead. Apparently players are actually infected with the HK pathogen and can call upon their powers at will. Gamers can go into a kind of berserk mode and just destroy everything around them.

After a year of waiting, it looks like PS4 and Switch owners are finally getting access to Square Enix's old-school Final Fantasy re-release collection.

The new Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are apparently coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Right now the games are currently only available on Steam and mobile, but the ESRB recently filed ratings for the PS4 and Switch versions of the games. Specifically, Final Fantasy's 1-6 all received separate listings, which indicates we may not get an all-in-one collection on these platforms and Square Enix could sell them individually at $17.99 each.

The new Pixel Remasters look to be the definitive way to experience these old-school RPGs. The games feature the same pixel-style charm as the originals alongside major quality-of-life improvements like an auto-battle system, a new modernized UI, and a background music player that lets players listen to their favorite tracks as they play.

Amid regulatory pressure and scrutiny of potential exclusivity, Microsoft has offered Sony, Nintendo, and Valve a 10-year deal to sell Call of Duty games on their respective platforms. Reports now indicate this deal is much better than we initially thought.

Microsoft's 10-year Call of Duty deal would also allow Sony to include the shooter franchise on its competing PlayStation Plus subscription service, sources have told Bloomberg. The development comes shortly after the FTC announced that it will attempt to sue to block the $68.7 billion merger of Microsoft and Activision, primarily on the grounds of possible competitive harm from Microsoft making key Activision franchises exclusive to its Xbox platform.

Sony has previously argued that adding Activision content to Xbox Game Pass, which Microsoft plans to do, would tip the scales in favor of Microsoft's multi-game subscription service. Our findings indicate that this could indeed happen. Now Microsoft is responding to this specific claim by allowing Sony to bolster its own directly-competing subscription service with the same $31 billion franchise that would theoretically elevate Xbox Game Pass.

Sony is bringing one of its best-selling franchises to the PC for the first time, and with a $10 price drop to boot.

The Last of Us Part I remake is coming to PC in March 2023, Sony has announced. The PC version will be the first time the game has launched on any other platform besides PlayStation, which already makes history for Sony's business model, and it will also be the fourth time the game has been released (TLOU on PS3, TLOU Remastered on PS4, the new remake on PS5, and the PC port).

We know this will be the remake because the title's Steam listing displays screenshots and key art that were used in remake promotional content and captured on PlayStation 5. Naughty Dog confirms Last of Us will be "newly optimized and enhanced for PC" but no specifics were given.