Gaming - Page 664

Destiny 2 players on PC can't jump in right away, unlike their console counterparts.

Even if you pre-loaded Destiny 2 on Steam and grabbed the big new Shadowkeep expansion, you still can't dive right into the game. There's one extra step you have to wait a few hours to complete: unpacking. Steam has to unpack and sort out all the data you downloaded, and it's a time-consuming process.

Once 1PM EST rolled around, I excitedly clicked PLAY on Destiny 2's Steam button, only to be met by a 3 hour "Preparing to Launch Destiny 2" timer. Did I miss a download? No...the massive 1TB of Destiny data was locked in and pre-downloaded on my hard drive. Was there another update? No, not exactly. Checking Steam's download page, I saw the data was getting unpacked. Steam wasn't actually downloading anything from Bungie.

Sony lowers PlayStation Now's monthly price down to $10 to make more attractive against competing services like Xbox Game Pass.

PlayStation Now has changed a lot over the years, and now it's changing even more. Sony is taking key plays from Microsoft's Game Pass playbook: not only has PS Now dropped to $9.99 a month, the service will rotate new games in and out every month. Starting in October we'll see big hits like God of War and GTA V arrive on PlayStation Now, letting gamers sample titles for a month (it's worth noting the PS Now PC subscription has different games than the PS4).

Sony's service combines the best of both worlds. It's a combination of Project xCloud's and Stadia's cloud-streaming and Game Pass, letting users play games remotely from Sony's servers or download them directly for dedicated console play. The selection goes all the way back to the 2000s era and includes more than 800 games from PS2 to PS4.

It isn't just Arnold Schwarzenegger that's playable in the new Mortal Kombat 11 character pass--the terrifying metallic T-800 endoskeleton is too.

The Terminator is coming to Mortal Kombat 11, complete with Arnold's face and body from the new Terminator: Dark Fate movie. But there's also a nice surprise: the T-800's skin can burn off, letting you play as the fearsome iconic metallic skeleton straight from the movies. The endoskeleton's moveset is also slightly different and less athletic than Arnold's, delivering more powerful swipes and mechanical smashes. There's also a ton of different skins lifted right from the movies.

The fatality is the best part of the entire reveal. The victim gets transported to the dark sci-fi future hellscape of a post-Skynet world and is completely obliterated by other T-800s. Now all we need is an entire game set in this 80s-tastic skull-filled world. Maybe the new Terminator shooter will deliver?

Earlier this month Blizzard dropped the news that Overwatch would soon be heading over to the Nintendo Switch. While that has certainly got many Nintendo Switch fans happy, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate community has put their speculation caps on for potential future fighters.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the biggest game on the Nintendo Switch, so it would make sense for one of Blizzard heroes to make an appearance in the representative fighter, especially now that Overwatch is coming over to the handheld console. I'm not the only one who thinks this either, as Principal Game Producer Wes Yanagi said to GameStop that "As a player and big fan of [Smash], I think that would be awesome. It would be an honor if Nintendo chose to bring one of our characters into Smash Bros."

During Nintendo's September Direct they announced that after the initial Fighters Pass that they would be planning on releasing more DLC fighters to make Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the most ultimate Smash game ever. Could some heroes from Overwatch be included in this future Fighters Pass? At the moment there is no leaks or rumors suggesting as such, but I think it would be an incredible idea if Nintendo and Blizzard managed to pull it off.

A new deal has been announced between legendary console creator Atari and Antstream to bring "thousands" of retro titles to the Atari VCS when it launches.

The new deal will be bring optimized and expanded versions of Antstream's Arcade game subscription service exclusively to the VCS when it debuts. Users that pick up Atari's new console will have access to Atari's own personal library of 300+ titles as well as "thousands" of more titles from other vintage platforms.

Not only does the Antstream service bring users a plethora of more games, but it also includes a global leaderboard ranking system, social challenges and support for the classic joystick and modern controllers. The service will be provided to players as a subscription that users can opt into, it will cost either $10 a month or $96 a year to access the massive library of games. For more information head on over to the official website here.

NetherRealm Studios has taken to their official Twitter page to tease fans of the Terminator T-800 gameplay that is to be released extremely soon.

Back in late August the full official roster for Mortal Kombat 11's Kombat Pack was revealed and players were introduced to a massive cast of awesome characters to look forward to. One of those characters was Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator T-800, and while the design of the character is most definitely based off the famous movies, the voice acting unfortunately won't be done by Arnie.

Above we have the teaser video released onto the official Mortal Kombat Twitter page, it showcases the Terminators targeting system locking onto various Mortal Kombat characters such as Erron Black and Baraka. It says closer to the end of the video the release date for Terminator will be on October 8th, which coincides with what was originally announced back in August.

A new trailer has been released onto the PlayStation Europe YouTube Channel revealing a brand new indie title called Arise: A Simple Story.

Above we have the announcement trailer and from the video we can see that the title is published by Dying Light 2 developer Techland and is developed by Spanish studio Piccolo. The games premise seems to reflect that of what human life is like, an emotional struggle with many ups and downs that eventually results in us dying. Arise: A Simple Story begins right after our hero has died, and players will follow him as he travels through various memories from his long life which are represented by the different seasons.

The video's description says that "Arise is an emotional journey through the bittersweet lives of two people where memories come alive and time bends to your will". Players will relive his life's story which is a "story of joy and sorrow. A simple story." It should also be noted that the games soundtrack sounds absolutely incredible, this is because it's composed by David Garcia who composed the also incredible soundtracks for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and RiME.

Sony is ramping up production of the PlayStation 5, so it makes sense that we're hearing about features ahead of time -- one of which will be an AI-powered in-game assistant called PlayStation Assist.

David Ahmad noticed the new patent, which sees Sony filing for an AI-powered voice assistant that lets you "input a query and then the game will dynamically respond". This means you could ask the game where the closest health pack is, and then it'll mark it on your map. Interesting, to say the least.

While most gamers won't use this feature on the PlayStation 5, I can see it being handy for the more casual players. Another thing is that if this is a feature built into the PS5, what other AI-powered features are we going to see?

Apex Legends is about to have its meta completely flipped upside down with the latest hero Crypto, with EA flying out a bunch of content creators to LA recently to play around with the new character, new map in World's Edge, and Season 3 as a whole.

IGN actually had someone competent with Apex Legends playing in the video above, with 6 hours of hands-on experience with Crypto and Season 3 of Apex Legends. Crypto's new abilities are broken down and explained in IGN's piece, with the aerial drone set to change the game and make Crypto a valuable player to any 3-man squad.

Crypto's drone can be flung out and flown by pressing Q as his tactical ability, which will then be controlled by you and your character in the game stays stationary. So you better be hiding when you are playing Crypto and use your drone, which will hover in the air when it's not being used and will passively spot enemies for you and your teammates.

Another article I thought I'd never have to write, but here I am -- PUBG Corp. has made some changes to PUBG with the v4.3 update last week, something that included Halloween skins, and more.

The new update introduced the new Survival Mystery system, changes to the shotgun -- but it's the Halloween skins that has made the biggest mess. A load of skins included a lion skin, which when dropping into the game its tail resembles a penis... yeah, you can see that in the shot above.

It seems PUBG Corp. prematurely unleashed the Battlegrounds 4.3 update, as the Leo Jumpsuit let you rock out with your tail out as a lion. PUBG Support tweeted out: "Please be aware that the "Leo Jumpsuit" is temporarily unavailable for purchase as we work to resolve an issue related to this skin. Any players who have already purchased the skin will have their BP refunded".

Microsoft's new Flight Simulator is one of my most anticipated games of 2020, and now the hype meter for it just went up a few notches. First, check out this video -- and second, below I'll write about how amazing this game sounds.

Gorgeous, isn't it? But it's not just pretty -- it is smart underneath, too. Microsoft is using Bing Maps data to populate the world of Flight Simulator with real-life locations, including living elements like trees, traffic, wildlife, running water, and even real-time and real-world weather. If it's raining in Los Angeles and you want to take off from LAX, you can have the real-time weather from LA and fly through it.

Microsoft is using the cloud to do most of this magic with the company calling it "adaptive streaming" which sees parts of Flight Simulator rendered, and streamed to your PC from the cloud. This means that the better your internet connection, the better and more detailed the game will be.

Shawn Layden is stepping down as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony today announced.

After five years of leading Sony's PlayStation division and guiding its first-party games, Shawn Layden is moving on. From Sony's official announcement it sounds like Layden is leaving the company altogether, but the exec has yet to give a statement. "It is with great emotion that we announce that Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden will be departing SIE," Sony said on Twitter. "His visionary leadership will be greatly missed. We wish him success in future endeavors and are deeply grateful for his years of service."

Layden's departure comes at an interesting time. Sony is rumored to reveal its next-gen PlayStation 5 console at an event in February, possibly with a fleet of games in tow.

Nintendo's Brain Age series is coming to Switch, but it's only been announced in Japan so far.

Brain Age is making a return on the Nintendo Switch, complete with math puzzles, cognitive training exercises, and critical thinking drills. The game has multiple modes for mini-games including local two-player action at home or on the go. The JoyCon sensors can pick up your hand signals for rock, paper, scissors, and you can detach a JoyCon and hand it to a friend for Tabletop Mode multiplayer.

The new Brain Age is also compatible with a stylus, becoming the second Switch game to incorporate native stylus-powered touchscreen controls, further cementing the 3DS' retirement. You can turn the Switch vertically too for logic puzzles, math problems, and even a rudimentary piano game. You can even send messages from your Switch to players on mobile, too.

Norman Reedus' funky fetus friend will use DualShock 4 controller speakers to make spooky contact as you play.

As if Death Stranding couldn't get any weirder, the game will transmit baby sounds through your DualShock 4. Hideo Kojima confirmed BB (aka Bridge Baby, aka Norman Reedus' funky fetus) will routinely communicate with you as you play, providing valuable live feedback and fueling gameplay in a rather disconcerting way.

A huge portion of the game revolves around maintaining your tank baby and keeping it stress-free. That means paying close attention to what kinds of sounds it's making and checking up on your BB's health. Not only does BB help you spot terrifying Beached Things, it acts as a kind of battery to power vital life support tech as you explore the world.

Bungie confirms it's working on another non-Destiny franchise, which should be out by 2025.

We've known for a while Bungie is working on a new IP. Following its split from Activision in 2018, the company outlined an ambitious plan to self-publish its own games and forge a new path, one that included Destiny and fresh games. To help facilitate this plan, Bungie received a big $100 million investment from Chinese titan NetEase for its "bold new vision." Bungie recently said it's "got some people in the backyard planting some seeds," hinting at the new IP. The devs even filed a trademark for something called "Matter" in the European Union Intellectual Property Office in 2018.

Now Bungie CEO Pete Parsons outright says new franchises are coming by 2025. In a recent interview with IGN, Parsons outlined a tentative roadmap for Bungie's future that includes tons of Destiny content and some new surprises. "By 2025 we have a pretty specific path to make sure we transform Destiny and that we have other franchises within the marketplace," Parsons said.

To get that hype train up to full speed for the upcoming Minecon event, Mojang and Microsoft have released a brand new opening cinematic trailer for Minecraft Dungeons.

Looking at the website for Minecraft Dungeons, this standalone title from Minecraft developer Mojang is inspired by "classic dungeon crawlers", but built within the Minecraft universe. The game will feature multiplayer with up to four players, power ups, personalization options, weapon enhancements, special attacks, treasure stuffed levels and of course Dungeon Creepers.

The opening cinematic shows a mysterious orb called the 'Orb of Dominance', it seems that it is a source of evil power and that players will be fighting through each of the levels to eventually battle its owner. Minecraft Dungeons will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the Xbox Games Pass in Spring of 2020. If you are interested in signing up for updates on the title, click this link here.

Rockstar have commented on their future plans for Red Dead Redemption 2, and it seems the developer and concentrating their full efforts into the online scene rather than a single-player DLC.

According to a recent interview with Lead Online Production Associate, Katie Pica with VF 24/7, Rockstar are "100%" focussed on online at the moment as there is "just so much to do". The main goal of the online world is to bring everything that players love from the single player experience over to the online world of Red Dead. While this doesn't completely rule out the possibility of Red Dead Redemption 2 receiving a single-player DLC in the future, it does confirm that Rockstar have thrown all their eggs into the 'online' basket for now.

Online producer Tarek Hamad also commeted on single-player DLC's and the online world, saying "We've said it before, but we all love single-player games, and Red Dead Redemption 2's absolutely massive story and equally massive epilogue are hopefully evidence of that. The team's ambitions for Red Dead Redemption 2 were sky high in every way, and when we are building worlds of that scale, the single-player experience almost always leads the way. Our ambitions for our online games are just as high, and with Red Dead Online we are continuing to build and expand to match the world we created for Red Dead Redemption 2's story."

Ever since the release of Banjo-Kazooie as a DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate many fans have speculated what the next mystery fighters could be. We now have a comprehensive list based on location.

Before jumping into what specific regions want specific characters, it should be noted that these lists which have been compiled through Twitter responses do not reflect the views of the entire Smash community. These images are just a mere insight into what the most requested characters are from the three separate regions: Japan, USA and Europe.

Redditor Zelcf formed up the charts and what we see from them is a great spread of different characters, and some characters even appearing in all three regions. Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series owned by Disney falls into all three regions, while Sony's Crash Bandicoot is a want from USA and Europe, which is the same for Minecraft's Steve. Doomslayer from the Doom series is also a pick in USA and Europe, while Dante from Devil May Cry is chosen by Japan and Europe.

Cuphead sure is successful for a two year-old.

Studio MDHR's indie darling Cuphead is now two years old, and in that time the game has managed to sell over 5 million copies on Xbox, Switch, and PC. Last we checked the game was at 4 million copies, meaning Cuphead managed to move 1 million units in two months' time, a feat accomplished thanks to the Nintendo Switch port.

To celebrate the milestone, the devs have planned five days of festivities including giveaways, a 20% discount on the game, and more goodies.

Naughty Dog assures their upcoming post-apocalyptic sequel will play great even on older PS4 consoles.

Now that consoles are family ecosystems rather than generations, it's imperative every game runs great on each respective system--especially first-party games like The Last of Us Part II. This cross-system optimization becomes more challenging as games become more ambitious, GPU- and CPU-intensive, and bigger in size. Games today typically have performance trade-offs with older hardware like the base PS4 and Xbox One systems thanks to the marked hardware disparity. Although The Last of Us Part II is the biggest game Naughty Dog has ever made, and will obviously look best on a PS4 Pro, the team still plans to make it run smoothly on the 2013 launch PS4s.

"Our target platform is the PS4, the base. You want to have that balance, but there's still a lot of optimization now to get done. What you saw here isn't quite our final frame rate and final screen resolution, stuff like that," NaughtyDog lead game designer Emilia Schatz told USgamer.