Gaming - Page 667

Activision recently hosted the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Beta that has now cemented itself in history as the largest in Call of Duty history.

The company said in a press release that the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Beta had "the most users, the most hours played and highest peak concurrent number of players across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC combined".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward is proud of the efforts, with studio boss Patrick Kelly, saying: "We're focused on delivering the best online experience possible and that includes bringing the community together with crossplay. We appreciate all of the players from around the world, who played and shared feedback. Your support is not only a driving inspiration to the entire team, but also provides us with important data and feedback which helps us improve the experience for launch".

UPDATE: GameStop and Chronicle LLC, the manufacturer, only sold 32 Fallout Nuka-Cola helmets out of the 20,000 were made. All buyers have been contacted.

Fallout helmets sold by GameStop are being recalled due to potential mold risks.

A while back GameStop sold roughly 32 T51-b Nuka-Cola power armor helmets for $150 a pop to capitalize on Fallout 76's presence at E3 2019. Now these helmets are being recalled for safety risks, more specifically due to mold exposure.

Activision clarifies that only one part of Modern Warfare's Spec Ops mode is timed-exclusive to PS4, not the entire thing.

Sony's latest State of Play stream caused ripples in the Call of Duty community thanks to PS4-exclusive content. Some of Modern Warfare's content is only available to PS4 users, including a new Spec Ops gametype. Gamers originally thought the entire Spec Ops mode was exclusive to PS4 until October 2020, but it's only Spec Ops Survival, a new sub-mode, that's timed exclusive on the platform.

Activision affirms the Spec Ops mode and all included missions will be available on PS4, Xbox One and PC at launch, complete with cross-play functionality.

Borderlands 3's big sales figures actually caused Take-Two's stock to drop by nearly 5% as the game failed to beat analyst projections.

Yesterday Take-Two announced some impressive metrics behind Borderlands 3. Gearbox's sequel has shipped 5 million copies worldwide in five days, and sold 50% more copies that Borderlands 2 in the same period. Borderlands 3 is also the fastest-selling 2K title of all time, bumping the franchise to $1 billion in total earnings. It also did well on PC, becoming the fast-selling 2K game on PC in a five-day period, and outperforming expectations. But investors and analysts weren't tremendously impressed by these figures.

Since the announcement, Take-Two's stock has dropped from yesterday's $131.11 high down to $124.91 low during the time of writing, representing a 4.72% dip. The 5 million shipments (sell-in, not sell-through as in actual sales) aligns with predictions made by analysts like Wedbush Securities Michael Pachter and Suntrust's Matthew Thornton, meaning Take-Two failed to beat Wall Street guidance.

The rumors were right: the Last of Us Part II will launch on February 21, 2020 exclusively on PlayStation 4.

During today's State of Play showcase, Sony confirmed The Last of Us Part II will indeed release early next year. The game chronicle's Ellie's harrowing story of hate and revenge as she cuts a bloody swath across a brutal post-apocalyptic landscape, exacting vengeance for her slain lover.

Naughty Dog will bring new enemy factions, a next-gen games engine for potent immersion, lighting, and effects, and a dramatic storyline that punctuates their survival horror magnum opus. Joel returns to help fuel Ellie's murderous rampage--we knew he was coming back, but now he'll be helping her out in the field. It'll be a nice role-reversal of the first game.

The last bit of content in Black Ops 4's season pass is coming up, and it's superhero-based.

Today Activision announced Operation Dark Divide, a new villains vs heroes operation that serves as the last bit of seasonal content for Black Ops 4. With Modern Warfare coming up, it's important the big new Call of Duty doesn't get overshadowed by last year's game, even if it was a huge success. Black Ops 4's roadmap has predictably petered out to make way for Modern Warfare's release next month.

Operation Dark Divide's content offering hints Treyarch is busily working on Black Ops 5, which is rumored as a Cold War-focused title. Dark Divide doesn't bring any new operators, but it rolls out two new multiplayer maps (Lair and Launch), three new weapons, a bunch of new skins to buy and earn, new Blackout characters, new zombies elixirs and a new perk. There's no new Blackout maps, sadly. The zombies mode also gets its last major storyline expansion, Tag Der Toten.

Microsoft has greenlit environmental initiatives to significantly cut down on its carbon footprint, especially when it comes to console hardware manufacturing.

Xbox is one of the many games industry forces who joined the United Nations' new Playing for the Planet Alliance, which pledges to reduce environmental waste and climate change by altering manufacturing processes.

Microsoft is doing its part by making 850,000 Xbox consoles completely carbon neutral, but only in a test program. We could see all mainstream Xbox consoles eliminate carbon waste while operating and during manufacturing in a few years time, and Microsoft aims to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2030. The next-gen Project Scarlett system may even be carbon neutral when it launches in Holiday 2020, complete with lower energy consumption.

For fighting game fanatics, Street Fighter II is up there with some of the greatest and most iconic fighting games ever. But what about the games its difficulty?

First, this isn't the first time players considered the thought that perhaps the Street Fighter II CPU was a little bit too much to deal with. Players suspected that the CPU had moments of invincibility and doesn't play by the same rules as what players do. In the above video, we can see numerous examples of how the Street Fighter II CPU had a clear advantage over players.

The video was released by Desk and it shows that the CPU consistently recovers from stuns 1/5 of the time it takes players to recover. Not to mention that the CPU also doesn't have to charge up for special moves like Guile's Somersault Kick, while also being able to mash buttons faster than players could even imagine. This video is for all those Street Fight II players who thought the CPU was a little too much to deal with, yes, your suspicion was correct.

There has not been a whimper of evidence out of Rockstar for Red Dead Redemption 2 coming over to the PC, but just recently a filling from the company has been spotted on the Australian Classification website.

If you head over to the Australian Classification website, you can see that Rockstar Games has filled a new classification with the board for "Red Dead Redemption 2" under the category "Computer Games". The title was given a 'MA15+', and it should definitely be noted that Red Dead Redemption 2 was already classified for PS4 and Xbox One back in 2018.

Since there is already classification for RDR2 on Xbox One and PS4, it leaves one platform with the most likely chance to receive RDR2, PC. This also ties directly into the fact that Rockstar released their very own PC launcher which would no doubt be the way they would give PC fans RDR2 if it were to eventually make it to PC.

130 years ago today Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai in Kyoto, Japan. From there, the Japanese company would warm the hearts of millions upon millions of gamers, changing the gaming world as we know it.

Nintendo started out in the gaming world with hanafuda playing cards, but then the founder's great-grandson changed the company throughout the mid-1900s into things like love hotels, taxis, and other businesses -- but then Nintendo went into the electronic toy market and the rest is history.

My earliest gaming memory is waking up at 6am one morning to see my Dad and my uncle sitting on the lounge, NES controllers in-hand, playing the original Super Mario Bros. and clocking it overnight.

Epic Games is introducting new AI bots into Fortnite and its online matchmaking, with Epic explaining the AI bots "will behave similarly to normal players and will help provide a better path for players to grow in skill".

Fortnite bots will not be in the competitive matches, but as you get better at the game the AI bots won't be spun into the matchmaking and you'll be playing against real people -- or so you'll think, I guess. Epic is wanting to go for the participation model of Fortnite, where "anyone can win" because you don't need kids screeching and throwing their Xbox controller at the TV when they inevitably lose in a Fortnite match.

Epic is also making some tweaks to the matchmaking process, where Fortnite players will be better matched with players in their skill level. The new v10.40 update will be rolled out into Fortnite in the next few days, including the new AI bots while the tweaked matchmaking system will roll out over the coming weeks so the developer can see how players react.

Death Stranding is a weird game. But this...this just tops it.

Hideo Kojima's new game is kind of mind-boggling. It has an out-of-this-world story arc, online multiplayer that binds people together in a unique way, and it's one of the only games I can remember that lets you weaponize your own human waste. That's right: Sam's pee, blood, and even poo can be used to craft ammo and other weapons in the game.

In a recent Tokyo Game Show 2019 stream, Kojima said a few things I thought he'd never say, including discussing the potency of bloody urine when used as a weapon. Sam's natural bodily functions actually serve a direct purpose to fuel your progress. It turns out eating and drinking has a tangible effect on gameplay other than for health responses; peeing and pooing will actually help fill out your ammo inventory.

The new $199 handheld-only Switch Lite may use the same JoyCon analog sticks as the base model, putting it at risk for the dreaded JoyCon drift.

JoyCon drift is a big problem on the Switch. It makes most games basically unplayable, forcing gamers to buy and snap on a new controller. But unlike the normal $299 model, the new Switch Lite's JoyCons are fastened to the side and can't be replaced. Now there's evidence the newer handheld Switch may suffer the same drifting issues.

A recent Switch Lite teardown from YouTuber SpawnWave reveals some interesting info. The cheaper Lite model apparently uses the same JoyCon analog sticks as its predecessor, indicating the Lite could be hit with the devastating hardware fault. The Lite's sensors look the same as the 2017 model's, but they have different model numbers, which could indicate some new tweaks.

Google aims to disrupt Apple Arcade with its own $4.99 a month all-you-can-play games offering.

Google today announced Play Pass, a $4.99 a month subscription service that bundles more than 350 apps and games. Similar to Apple Arcade, every game on Play Pass is a premium experience and won't have in-game purchases, microtransactions, or ads. Titles include Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Evoland, Terraria, Limbo, This is the Police, Hoplite, and Wayward Souls. Premium apps will also be wrapped in the service.

Play Pass is compatible with mobile phones, laptops, and tablets that run Android 4.4 and Play Store version 16.6.25. Family sharing is also confirmed, and subscribers can share their subscription with up to 5 family members. There was no mention of cross-platform cloud saves, but I don't see why they wouldn't be included.

Borderlands 3's Epic Games Store exclusivity didn't stop it from moving huge sales on PC.

Borderlands 3 is a massive success for 2K Games and Take-Two. The sequel shipped over 5 million units in five days, and sold 50% more copies than Borderlands 2, making it the fastest-selling 2K Games title of all time. It's timed exclusivity on the Epic Games Store turned out to be a huge boon--not only did 2K enjoy a nice signing bonus and get to keep 85% of all game sales revenues, but Borderlands 3 sold more than any other 2K game on PC in that five-day period. Thanks to Borderlands 3's success, the series is now a billion-dollar franchise.

Take-Two notes that 70% of Borderlands 3 sales were digital, which is absolutely huge for total earnings. We don't know what percentage was from EGS sales, or how many copies actually sold on EGS, but we're betting most of the copies were on PS4 thanks to the system's massive 90-million strong install base. There's also no data on microtransaction earnings revenue but we'll probably get that in Take-Two's upcoming quarterly earnings report.

As a Nintendo Switch user I'd definitely appreciate if I had the ability to be able to play Borderlands anywhere I wanted. The idea of having access to the looter whenever and where ever I want is definitely a big enough reason for me to re-buy the games.

This isn't the first time Borderlands being brought to the Switch has been brought up, as Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford once answered a fan reply saying that he "would love" to bring Borderlands to the handheld console. Since then it has been speculated whether or not the console could handle the title, and what kind of graphical downgrades it would have to undertake to see it run stable.

No announcements came for a Switch version, even after the release of Borderlands 3, but then during an interview on The Borderlands Show, Creative Director Paul Sage told Greg Miller, to "never say never". Could this mean that Gearbox Software are considering bringing the looter shooter over to Nintendo's console? Possibly, I could say positively that the company has considered the idea and when it would be possible for them to make it support the Switch, or if to hand it over to a porting company such as Panic Button.

A new post on the PlayStation Blog has detailed the new partnership between the United Nations and PlayStation called Playing for the Planet.

The blog which is authored by the new Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President, Jim Ryan states that SIE has made considerable commitments to reduce the amount of power consumpion their current and future consoles. They have done this by "utilizing efficient technologies such as System-on-a-Chip architecture integrating a high-performance graphics processor, die shrink, power scaling, as well as energy saving modes such as Suspend-to-RAM."

Ryan also says that as a result of these measures they have been able to avoid almost 16 million metric tons of carbon emissions, which would of also risen to 29 million metric tons over the next 10 years. Ryan also mentions the improvements that will be arriving with the PlayStation 5, according to Ryan "the next generation PlayStation console will include the possibility to suspend gameplay with much lower power consumption than PS4 (which we estimate can be achieved at around 0.5 W)."

A recent study done by a team of psychologists released a new article in the American Psychological Association suggesting that if a school shooting occurred by a White person that people are much more likely to blame video games as a result.

The following researchers were apart of the team who conducted the study; Patrick M. Markey, James D. Ivory, Erica B. Slotter, Mary Beth Oliver, and Omar Maglalang. The study found that there is a stereotypical association between racial minorities and violent crime, which causes individuals to look for easily digestible explanations such as video games as the source of the problem.

The study also found that when a violent act of crime such as school shooting is carried out by White perpetrators that individuals are likely to blame video games more than if the perpetrator is Black. It is also stated that video games were talked about 8.35 times more frequently when the perpetrator is White than if he was Black. In other news about video games and their supposed link towards causing real-world violence, Oxford released a study at the start of the year putting the debate to bed, more on that here.

Obsidian is already working on its next RPG for Microsoft, and it should have online live elements with possible monetization.

Now that Obsidian is wholly-owned by Microsoft as part of its new first-party Xbox banner, it's only natural live services fold into their upcoming games. Now we have more info on what the RPG masters are working on. The studio's next game will be RPG focused, it'll have some sort of multiplayer, it's being made in Unreal Engine 4, and it's likely a ways off.

The Fallout New Vegas devs put out a bunch of new job listings recruiting for a mystery RPG set in a new IP, calling for network engineers to "develop network and multiplayer gameplay systems using Unreal Engine" and combat designers to build first-person mechanics.

2019 marks Batman's 80th anniversary, a prime occasion for a big new game reveal. Now WB Montreal dropped some cryptic teasers for their upcoming Batman project.

WB Montreal has been developing a new Batman game for some time now. Evidence suggests the project is centered around the Court of Owls, but a series of new cryptic icons found in a WB Montreal Twitter video suggests the game will chronicle various villains, possibly even Ra's al Ghul.

Now an apparent insider says the new Batman game will be revealed during Sony's State of Play event this Tuesday. Warner Bros. has been exceptionally quiet on its new Batman games, including the rumored cancelled Suicide Squad title and Rocksteady's upcoming reported Justice League live game.