Gaming - Page 491

IO Interactive is taking its new James Bond game very seriously and plans to break the long-time cycle of movie adaptation games.

Hitman developer IO Interactive has high ambitions for its new 007 game. It's the biggest project IO has ever worked on, it's built on a new-and-improved Glacier engine, and it's pretty risky; rather than follow a more tried-and-true method of commercial-based success, IO is going off the beaten path and trying something new. The result should deliver an exciting all-original journey into James Bond's past. IO doesn't want to necessarily reinvent the spy himself, but reinvent James Bond games altogether.

In a recent interview with IGN, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak made the studio's motivations quite clear: They want to create a "Bond for the gaming industry."

The original Mass Effect game is getting some big quality of life changes to create more gameplay cohesion across the entire trilogy.

The new Mass Effect Legendary Edition is more than a simple remaster. Sure it has upgraded 4K visuals with HDR and smooth 60FPS, but in-game mechanics are also changing. BioWare is making some much-needed quality of life alterations to the original Mass Effect to ensure gamers can jump from ME1 to ME2 and ME3 more seamlessly.

The biggest changes include being able to sprint outside of combat, having full control of each squadmate during combat just like ME2 and ME3, significant adjustments to ADS, targeting, and aiming--sniper rifle sway has been removed, for instance--and a new Junk inventory designation that allows for mass conversion of items into omni-gel or bulk sales to merchants.

Grand Theft Auto V has rotated back into Game Pass for one big reason: GTA Online monetization.

Take-Two has expected GTA Online to moderate for a while now, but the mode is still making millions every year. GTA Online's new Cayo Perico Heist drove record engagement--the mode had more players in 2020 than ever before--and Take-Two and Rockstar are eager to push things even farther.

That's the main motivation for GTA V appearing on Game Pass. It's an easy way to sample both GTA V and GTA Online, and once the period is over and GTA V rotates out, gamers are more likely to buy. This tactic has worked very well in the past. Take-Two reported GTA V sales and monetization spikes after the first time it was included on Game Pass, and the free Epic Game Store release also helped boost its balance sheets.

Diablo II's first alpha test will kick off on April 8, 2021, Blizzard today confirmed.

As we previously reported, Diablo II Resurrected's first alpha test will be singleplayer-only, and Blizzard says only a "limited number of players" will get in. The test is also exclusive to PC users who signed up on the mainsite. Future tests will also include console players on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. Blizzard says there will be "at least one another chance to participate in a test," and the next phase will focus on multiplayer.

The alpha is somewhat barebones and won't feature the entire game. Only Acts I & II are included, and it only features three out of the seven character classes: Sorceress, Barbarian, and Amazon will be playable. The good news is that players can capture and record whatever they want. The test also lets PC players use a controller for the first time, which is nifty.

E3 2021 will officially kick off from June 12-15, complete with big reveals, highlights, and showcases from the industry's biggest games-makers.

Today the ESA confirmed E3 2021 will happen in an all-digital format. The virtual event will be 100% free: "E3 will be completely free for all attendees and there will not be a paywall," the ESA says. E3 2021 is to deliver "exclusive content" set in an "innovative, interactive online experience". Developers and publishers will hold live press conferences as well as pre-recorded showcases, and there will be high-profile hosts as well.

Sony won't be at the E3 2021, but Nintendo and Xbox will be. Expect Sony and EA to host their own events. Activision-Blizzard is also missing from the list. Publishers who have confirmed attendance at E3 include:

The new Battlefield seems to be getting closer and closer with rumors flying thick and fast, with industry insider Tom Henderson teasing out some super-exciting news on the next-gen Battlefield.

In a new tweet, Henderson teased: "In BATTLEFIELD, explosions are not the only thing that can damage and topple buildings. Mother nature can do a whole lot more". In the tweet, Henderson tells us to prepare for a next-gen Battlefield where it's not just explosions that cause massive damage -- but there will be natural disasters.

He followed the tweet up with another tweet of natural disasters in the real-world including tsunamis, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Henderson had another tweet after that, explaining that he is not joking around for April Fools and that this was serious -- EA DICE is taking destruction to the next level with the new Battlefield.

For years, corners of the gaming sphere have whispered about a lost Castlevania game on the SEGA Dreamcast. Now the mythological Castlevania Resurrection has been unearthed.

A prototype CD for Konami's cancelled Castlevania Resurrection has reportedly been found. The game was previously only shown to press at E3, but now for the first time the game has been made public.

The Dreamcast Castlevania isn't a classic sidescroller, but instead a 3D game aimed at flexing the Dreamcast's polygonal power. The game on the CD is quite unfinished, and contains five playable prototype stages along with a boss fight.

Ubisoft China's Chengdu Studio discusses what it was like to make its first-ever expansion for Immortals Fenyx Rising.

Immortals Fenyx Rising's new Myths of the Eastern Realm DLC is a major breakthrough for Ubisoft China. The expansion is apparently the first major content-based AAA game released in China, and is studio's debut project. Ubisoft Chengdu carefully crafted the story for a worldwide audience, which focuses on authentic Chinese folklore and mythology, complete with ancient gods and goddesses. The standalone expansion serves around 6-8 hours of new content.

"The DLC represents a lot of firsts, such as this is the first truly complete Chinese content-based AAA game and also our first time to lead a AAA game," Junior Producer Tu Yang said in a brief Life at Ubisoft video.

Supercell is making three new Clash of Clans game, and one of them is a mix between Diablo and Gauntlet.

Billon-dollar mobile titan Supercell recently announced three new Clash games are in development: Clash Quest, a turn-based strategy game, Clash Mini, a smaller more user-friendly board game, and Clash Heroes, a new ARPG in the vein of classics like Diablo.

Clash Heroes supports up to 3 players for online co-op and keeps that old-school Gauntlet spirit with a top-down view and tons of enemies.

Microsoft could outline new plans for its Xbox games division next month, sources tell ZDNet.

Microsoft's online-only Build conference is set for May 25-27, and Xbox could show up in some form. Sources say that Microsoft will hold a "What's Next for Gaming" presentation in the coming weeks, presumably before, during, or after the main Build show.

The event may not have many substantial announcements, however. The small-scale event is expected to have investor-friendly presentations that highlight Microsoft's games business, complete with reinforcement on console and cloud gaming, as well as in-development projects. We may get a few snippets about Project xCloud updates, too.

eBay scalpers are once again taking advantage of Nintendo product scarcity with exorbitantly expensive listings.

Days ago, Nintendo officially discontinued sale of 3D Mario All-Stars on Nintendo Switch. It didn't take long for scalpers to close in and start opening up wildly fluctuating auctions for the game. Some eBay listings are moderately priced at $65-80, whereas others skyrocket into the thousands of dollars. There's even a listing that asks $25,000 for a copy.

Nintendo has been criticized for product scarcity in the past, and often, the supply of its games and hardware has been out of the company's control. With Mario 3D All-Stars, however, the company has in fact created artificial scarcity by de-listing the game from its own digital storefront--digital games don't have any supply issues. Sources close to Nintendo say the business decision was made to drive up FOMO sales (fear of missing out).

GameStop, the famously-volatile "meme stock" that rose to $347.51 in January, is about to issue up to 3.5 million shares to help raise money for its business.

Today GameStop announced that it will sell 3.5 million common stock in an at-the-market sale price. The current market rate for GME is $191.45, and the company warns of extreme volatility in the stock. Investors are to take caution as the shares could lead to "significant material loss."

In a recent SEC filing where the company outlines its prospectus, GameStop says it will use the funds broadly across its business, from debt repayments (the company owes $244 million in long- and short-term debt) to its new ambitious e-commerce plan.

YouTuber Michael Pick has created a massive Nintendo Switch that King Kong would absolutely love.

Modder and electrical whiz Michael Pick just made the world's largest Nintendo Switch, a behemoth that measures 70 inches x 30 inches, weighs 65lbs, and is 650% bigger than a normal handheld-console.

The monster-sized console comes with a full-sized 4K UHDTV display and two oversized JoyCon controllers that actually work, not unlike the DualSense included with the huge $70,000 PlayStation 5.

Apex Legends season 9 will introduce a new legend, and a bunch of content that pleases Titanfall fans.

Respawn has ambitions plans to inject more Titanfall into its billion-dollar battle royale Apex Legends. The two games share the same universe, after all. In a recent dev panel, Apex Game Director Chad Grenier says Apex's new season (season 9) will have lots of throwbacks to the Titanfall games.

"Titanfall and Apex Legends are definitely in the same universe. We're not trying to separate them too much. We bring a lot of things from Titanfall into the game almost every season. Next season, season 9, you're actually going to see a ton of Titanfall coming back into the game one way or another,"Grenier said.

Cross-progression and private matches are still coming to Apex Legends, but Respawn doesn't have an official timeline.

Cross-play, one of the most important parts of any monetized live game, is now live in Apex Legends. The other missing link, cross-progression across consoles, PC, and Switch, is still being worked on, and it could take a while before it's ready. Respawn says that adding in cross-progression is more difficult than they anticipated.

"I'm really passionate about having cross-play into the game, which is why we added it. One another thing I'm passionate about is cross-progression, which we don't support yet, but we are working on it," Apex Legends Game Director Chad Grenier said in a recent BrownGirlGamerCode dev panel.

Creating new playable legend characters in Apex Legends is a long, long process that takes over one year, Respawn's Chad Grenier confirms.

Making games is tough, but live games are a whole different world of difficulty. The dev cycle for service games never stops, and the game requires consistent updates, tweaks, and content drops. This process means studios like Respawn are in perpetual motion at all times and production cycles overlap.

In a recent developer panel on Twitch, Apex Legends Game Director Chad Grenier gives transparency on how long the process can take. In this case, making a new playable legend to keep the roster fresh and create an engaging meta.

Chinese regulators just published a new controller patent from Tencent, and the design looks very familiar.

Tencent files a patent for the missing half of its games hardware R&D--a controller. A new patent shows what could be Tencent's idea for a gamepad. The peripheral is very derivative, and looks a combination of the Switch Pro, DualShock, and Xbox One controllers. Sadly, we couldn't find the actual patent on the Chinese patent office website, but the code is CN306433411S.

There's a touchpad right from a DualShock, a battery indicator similar to the Switch Pro, and the Xbox-style joystick design. There's even paddle buttons on the back. Specs aren't available, and it's worth mentioning this isn't a final product and may never actually be released. Like Sony, Tencent has filed a multitude of games patents that haven't become consumer products.

Gaming generated nearly $43 billion in North America in 2020, and companies like Nintendo were major contributors.

According to a new report from Research and Markets, consumers spent $42.83 billion on games in North America. Most of these billions were made from mobile games, the firm says, and the U.S. has more than 200 million mobile players.

To give the earnings some context, I dug around in company financials to see which of the industry's major players contributed the most to these earnings. Sadly, not every company reports geographic split for games earnings (Tencent does not report geo-split for gaming, for example, or else they'd be at the top; Sony doesn't either).

A copy of Super Mario Bros. on NES has been auctioned off for $660,000, making it the most expensive video game ever made.

Heritage Auctions has once again sold a Mario game for an exorbitant six-figure sum. The game happens to be the rarest, best-graded Mario Bros. copy in existence. The game was originally bought in 1986 as a Christmas present and sat in a desk for 35 years and remained in pristine condition.

This particular copy is the best-preserved copy of Super Mario Bros. that's ever been graded, complete with an A+ 9.6 WATA rating (the previous record-holder had an A+ 9.4 rating and sold for $114,000). That score means it's nearly perfect.

Insomniac Games is using machine learning to enhance in-game visuals on the PlayStation 5, and the studio could be working alongside Sony's AI division on experimental new technology.

Insomniac Games recently turned heads by confirming the PlayStation 5 can support machine learning. The team is using it in creative ways, starting with a new PS5 update for Spider-Man Miles Morales that significantly changes muscular appearance in the game. The new technique creates more realistic "muscle deformation," a term used in animation to describe how models are transformed and manipulated in 3D rigs.

According to Lead Character Technical Director Josh DiCarlo, the technique is using machine learning inference, which means Insomniac is feeding the algorithm data in real-time that's running on the PlayStation 5. DiCarlo says this technique doesn't come at a graphical hit.