Gaming - Page 609

Grand Theft Auto IV was pulled from Steam because of the now-defunct Games for Windows Live, but it's coming back to PC at some point.

Rockstar recently removed GTA IV from Steam, prompting lots of speculation on a remaster. That's not the case. Rockstar simply yanked the game because it was tooled to run on Microsoft's old Games for Windows Live platform. Now that Microsoft has abandoned G4WL, Rockstar can't actually make new game keys to sell on Steam. The devs have every intention to keep selling the beloved Liberty City-based sequel...but for that to happen they have to change things around.

"Grand Theft Auto IV was originally created for the Games For Windows Live platform. With Microsoft no longer supporting Games For Windows Live, it is no longer possible to generate the additional keys needed to continue selling the current version of the game. We are looking at other options for distributing GTA IV for PC and will share more information as soon as we can," Rockstar told The Verge.

Microsoft has a bunch of new Xbox IPs in development at its newly-fortified Xbox Game Studios platform, and most of them should be franchises rather than one-and-done experiences.

Microsoft has clear ambitions for its new wholly-owned IPs: To turn them into engagement-driven titles that can stretch across entire generations and easily translate to other platforms. In a recent interview with MCV UK, Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty lightly discusses this new plan. Essentially Microsoft wants to invest in IPs that will carry across years similar to Halo and Minecraft, while tying into transmedia content to boot. This strongly hints new IPs from Obsidian and The Coalition could be heavy-hitters.

"We need to continue building characters, stories, and worlds that can transcend generations, devices, and platforms," Booty said.

There's a juicy rumor going around concerning the future of Star Wars, and Disney might merge films and games together in big cinematic universe-style approach.

According to reports from Making Star Wars.net, Disney plans to inextricably tie Star Wars films and movies together in an ambitious transmedia network centered around a new era. The plan is called Project Luminous, and its new timeline will be 400 years before the Skywalker saga and set in the High Republic timeline which predates the Old Republic saga, sources tell the outlet.

The theme of this new saga is largely based on grandiose exploration, and will be a series of films rather than a trilogy. The next Star Wars game will apparently be a direct tie-in to this new focus--which hints at a later release--that kicks off an expansive ecosystem of games, comics, movies, shows, and more. The idea is to mold this new Star Wars era into a sphere of products and content that can release over years and years.

Gaming's biggest speedrunning marathon celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and pulled in over $3 million for cancer research.

Every year the world's best speed runners come together to break games right before our eyes. Awesome Games Done Quick is an annual spectacle of prowess, skill, and determination, a kind of Olympics for video game speed runs that raises millions for charity in the process. This year was no different, and AGDQ generated over $3.13 million in 24 hours for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

To date, Awesome Games Done Quick has raised over $25 million for multiple charities including the Prevent Cancer Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, AbleGamers, and Organization for Autism Research.

Games industry analyst Daniel Ahmad warns that most of the current Assassin's Creed rumors and leaks are wrong. Case in point: The game isn't even called Ragnarok.

Photo: Caiomm

Earlier today someone posted up another "leaked" image from the new unannounced viking-themed Assassin's Creed game. The community ripped the insanely blurry photo apart (a predictable reaction) and some industry figures in-the-know stepped in for brief clarifications.

The batcycle is likely returning in Warner Bros. Montreal's mysterious Batman game--or was at least planned at some point.

According to concept artist Furio Tedeschi's LinkedIn page, WB Montreal's new unannounced Batman game may feature the batcycle for the first time since Lego Batman 2 in 2011. Tedeschi had a brief two-month stint at WB Montreal in 2014, hinting the project has been in development for quite awhile. This timing puts Tedeschi's work alongside the now-cancelled Suicide Squad game that WB Montreal was originally developing before moving on to the current Batman project, but the artist's CV explicitly states work was on an "unreleased Batman game."

The page says Tedeschi created concept art for the batcycle as well as 3D modeling for in-game use. It's unknown whether or not Tedeschi's work will actually show up in the game--lots of content is scrapped over the years as games continually get cut and shifted--and it's possible the game Tedeschi was helping shape no longer exists. WB Montreal eventually rebooted its planned Damian Wayne sequel into something more grand, but we could still see old concepts including the batcycle show up.

Konami, take note: This is what your next-gen Metal Gear Solid should look like.

Concept artist Furio Tedeschi's Metal Gear Solid-inspired work gives us a riveting look at what's possible with Konami's next mainline tactical espionage game (if there even is a next game).

The art itself is from last year, but is nonetheless a visually striking fusion of man and high-tech machine optimized for next-gen warfare. Most of the art reminds me more of Call of Duty mixed with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance--especially the last one with the wicked dual-katana wielding femme fatale. It's worth noting that this art isn't official and doesn't represent a new project that's in development, but instead is Tedeschi's musings on the landmark franchise.

ShankMods has done it again. First he made a Wii out of an Altoids tin, then a portable handled Wii with GameCube buttons. Now the modder has fabricated custom GameCube JoyCons that slide right onto the Switch's rails.

The Switch has so much untapped potential for interchangable retro JoyCons. Cut a controller in half, slap some rails on it and voila, the Switch is a time machine for old-school games. The biggest variant everyone wants to see is actual GameCube JoyCons. If Nintendo won't do it, modders will.

By adding attachable GameCube controllers to the Switch's sides, renowned tinkerer ShankMods has pieced together a fantastic Frankenstein gaming creation that merges past with present. The result is a fully-functioning GameCube-JoyCon hybrid that plays like an old-school controller with new-school tech like HD Rumble, gyroscopic tracking, and Amiibo support.

UPDATE: Sony confirms it'll be skipping E3 2020.

"We will build upon our global events strategy in 2020 by participating in hundreds of consumer events across the globe. Our focus is on making sure fans feel part of the PlayStation family and have access to play their favorite content. We have a fantastic line up of titles coming to PlayStation 4, and with the upcoming launch of PlayStation 5, we are truly looking forward to a year of celebration with our fans."

Sony plans to skip E3 2020 for the second year in a row, sources tell Video Game Chronicle.

UPDATE: Games analyst Daniel Ahmad asserts most leaked Assassin's Creed info is erroneous and based on Kotaku's reports. Take the following with a whole salt-shaker.

A new 4Chan leak may reveal some tidbits about Ubisoft's new Viking-themed Assassin's Creed, including a possible September 2020 launch date and other gameplay features.

Photo: Peter Jackson

Both Microsoft and Sony assert that they won't lock current-gen console owners out of first-party games when the PS5 and Xbox Series X launch in 2020.

Next-gen isn't a full step forward, nor will it instantly cancel out existing consoles. Instead next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are extensions of current-gen ecosystems, and will eventually claim ownership over services, software, and accessories. Synergy is a big theme of next-gen and the model is predicated on bringing the past forward. But the transitional period between current- and next-gen could last multiple years as developers gain more confidence in the new hardware, and as sales mature as gamers buy into the new generational leap. This hand-off phase between gens is very sensitive, and it's absolutely critical for Microsoft and Sony to do things just right. The best way to handle the transition is keeping next-gen exclusives at a minimum, at least when it comes to first-party titles.

Today Microsoft revealed that all of its first-party games will come to all Xbox consoles for the next two years. There won't be any games exclusive to the Xbox Series X for a long while.

There's a ridiculous rumor floating around the Xbox Series X will have a "Windows Mode" that lets you natively run a PC version of Windows 10, complete with access to programs like Steam and the Epic Store. This won't ever happen.

First off, all Xbox consoles technically run Windows 10. It's just a pared-down version built on the OneCore OS platform complete with an Edge browser built right in. There's limitations, of course, and for good reason, because Microsoft still wants you to subscribe to its productivity services outside of the console space. Consoles are for gaming and multimedia, not productivity. The Xbox Series X will carry these limitations forward and focus on gaming, streaming, and media-oriented subscriptions--that's the whole reason Xbox even exists.

Secondly, I don't think this really needs to be said, but there's no possible way Microsoft would allow access to competing storefronts on its own first-party hardware. That's an absolutely terrible recipe for lost profits and revenues. Yes, Xbox is much more open than it used to be in the old Unified Windows Platform days where Microsoft tried to lock its PC games behind a special new format. And yes, Microsoft has unified PC gaming and console gaming together using Xbox as a bridge. But they're still two separate platforms. Microsoft doesn't care about selling consoles to PC gamers any more, and instead it wants to sell access to PC gamers: Access to services like Game Pass and games sold on Steam and the Windows Store.

If you happened to miss it, Steam just ended their annual Steam Winter sale, but don't get sad because there is another major sale around the corner.

The benefits of being a PC gamer is the rolling sales and Valve is here to represent that fact. Valve has sent out a message to their partners regarding the Steam Lunar New Year sale. According to the message the sale is planned to start on January 23rd and will end on January 27th.

Unfortunately the message didn't come with any information regarding what specific games/genre would be on sale when it begins. All we can hope for is major discounts across all titles and genres and a chance to snag some great deals on some great titles. When the sales start I will follow up with a summary on the best deals you can buy.

After the massive success of Resident Evil 2 Remake, Capcom has decided to keep the success ball rolling with Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Remake. Will the game be exactly the same as it's 1999 counterpart?

For a short answer, no, it will not. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis will be arriving with a majority of the same features that the original game possesses, but some select features will be dropped. What will be arriving with the game is a full remake of the original story, and a new multiplayer experience called Resident Evil: Resistance.

According to the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine UK, Capcom Producer Peter Fabiano was asked whether the remake would have multiple endings like the 1999 original. In short, Fabiano simply said "no", but he didn't clear up whether or not players will be able to have multiple paths towards the single endings or whether or not it would just be a linear path. Mercenaries mode also didn't quite make the cut, as it was replaced with Resistance.

If you're an old school gamer like me you would've spent countless hours destroying your keyboard (no mice were for gaming back then, nubs) playing Doom and its sequel, Doom 2.

But now, Bethesda is upcoming the original Doom 1 and Doom 2 with a bunch of new features including the ability to crank right up to the where-glorious-gaming-begins 60FPS. The company will be adding in a bunch of community-created content features, where Bethesda will be curating, and approving them before they're made available.

Doom and Doom 2 will see the community-driven updates and 60FPS goodness delivered through the Bethesda launcher. You'll get glorious 60FPS support as well as improved support, and quick save and quick load functions.

Niantic gripped the mobile gaming world with its gigantic release of Pokemon GO, which has been a money printing machine since its launch. But how well did the game do in 2019? Very well.

Pokemon GO been downloaded over 1 billion times so far, with 55 million downloads in 2019 alone and has made over $3 billion since its release -- but it made a record $894 million in player spending 2019 alone. Niantic has an approximate valuation of $4 billion back in December 2018, where they raised $200 million in capital.

Over 1/3 of the player spending for Pokemon GO is coming from the US, with $335 million spent by players in the game. Pokemon GO is super-dominate in the location-based game world, where it makes more than the 6 other location-based games on the market, combined.

Gamespot recently said the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo would release alongside the main game on March 3, 2020. This isn't accurate and Gamespot later dialed back its claims. The truth is no one really knows when it'll drop...but history tells us it'll launch before release.

Square Enix can't be happy about the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo situation. Not only do we know a demo is on the way, but files for the demo were leaked out and extensively datamined to uncover spoilers, character images, file size info, and much, much more. At this point the cat's out of the bag, right? It might be time to launch the demo for PS4 gamers to sample especially with the game's release in just two months.

Since the leak, Square Enix has been silent on the demo. There's been no announcements, confirmations, or reveals, just radio silence. All we know for sure is that it's probably not dropping on March 3. So when should it drop? Pretty soon, given the publisher's past handling of demos.

GameFreak confirms Pokemon Home is coming next month, and it'll be a paid service just like Pokemon Bank.

Pokemon Home is basically Pokemon Bank 2.0, and the cloud service will also cost money like its predecessor. Pokemon Bank was super cheap at just $5 a year so expect Home to reflect that pricing. The service has extensive exporting and importing support across multiple platforms and games: Pokemon Home is compatible with and allows transfers between Pokemon GO, the Pokemon Bank, and soon Pokemon Sword and Shield.

The new $30 Pokemon Sword and Shield expansions add over 200 existing Pokemon to the Galar region, so users will be able to import pocket monsters from the Pokemon Bank and inject them right into the Switch RPG. You won't have to own the new expansions to play your classic Pokemon in Sword and Shield though. As long as the Pokemon are actually included with the update, you can import your existing Pokemon for free.

We've got some bad news for Prince of Persia fans out there: Ubisoft isn't making a new game any time soon.

According to a purported leak, Ubisoft will reveal a new Prince of Persia game during Sony's rumored PlayStation 5 reveal event in February. The leak goes into light details on the game's setting--a somber Babylon--and touches upon villains and even a God of War-esque ability system. Too bad it's totally fake.

Games analyst Daniel Ahmad, who has knowledge of goings-on in the industry, says this is completely fake. Honestly it's not too hard to make that assessment. We avoided covering it because it was beyond shaky to begin with--it reads like one of those "my uncle works at Ubisoft" posts--and only has traces and snippets of info.

GameFreak reveals a solution to the devastatingly disappointing Dexit fiasco, and it's wrapped around DLC.

Today GameFreak announced a $30 Pokemon Sword/Shield expansion pass and its plans to further evolve the new Switch RPG. The expansion pass comes with two DLCs, the Isle of Armor (June 2020) and the Crown Tundra (Fall 2020), both of which add new Pokemon, Gigantamax options for starters, new items, and new areas to explore. But the most ambitious feature is the inclusion of more classic existing Pokemon in the Galar region.

Pokemon Sword and Shield launched with lots of missing Pokemon. Now GameFreak reveals its plan to fix some of those holes in the massive lineup. Pokemon Home, the new multi-platform Pokemon Bank cloud service, will go live in February and allows users to export pocket monsters they've caught from 3DS, Pokemon Go, and even Switch games. Using Pokemon Home, gamers will be able to import Pokemon they've caught right into Sword and Shield when the expansion pass goes live. There's some limitations though and not every Pokemon will be supported.