Gaming - Page 680

It was just yesterday that we reported on the V-shaped PlayStation 5 developer kit that was teased through a patent, and now game developer Matthew Stott has confirmed it.

Stott said in a tweet linking to the V-shaped PS5 that "it's a dev kit we have some in the office", referencing the new PlayStation 5. Stott says he has some in the office, meaning if he has a few that bigger developers would have the same if not many more.

Just how many PS5 developer kits are in the wild right now? I wonder if Sony will force him to take his tweet down, but the internet being the internet means it's here forever. It looks like the V-shaped PS5 is indeed real, let's hope that style continues through to the final design, because I think it looks rad.

Unlike every other publisher and big developer out there, CD Projekt RED won't try to force online multiplayer in Cyberpunk 2077. It'll only be included if it fits, and only if it doesn't negatively effect singleplayer.

Most games these days are built around live services, online multiplayer, and engagement. But Cyberpunk 2077 is built from the ground up as a wholly singleplayer experience, and CDPR isn't about to jeopardize that by jamming in a MP component if it doesn't mesh well. Cyberpunk 2077's multiplayer has been in the works for years now, but there's a chance it could get scrapped.

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, CDPR dev Marthe Jonkers said multiplayer will only be included if it's absolutely perfect. "If you add multiplayer functions it has to be right. Immersion is super important for us and we have to make sure everything fits together. The single-player experience, it all fits together. We're not just going to slap some feature in and that'll be it."

Gamescom 2019 - The return of TMNT knock-offs Battletoads caused lots of excitement at E3 2019, especially after the huge years-long silence at Microsoft. But maybe this one should've died off.

Battletoads is coming back this year, but it's not the same hard-as-nails beat-em-up platformer mashup from your NES childhood. It's something different, something that looks like a cheap imitation, a nostalgic cash grab the world might be better off without. It's a 3-player beat-em-up that stars Rash, Pimple and Zitz, sporting a kind of drawn animation that reminds me of Stick It To the Man. Overall the visuals are just too busy and the enemies blend way too easily with the backgrounds.

The new Gamescom 2019 trailer shows brings up some significant worries. The hit detection looks atrocious, and the enemies are just...it's like they've already quit before the game started. The punches and attacks are delayed and combat itself just looks very, very off. It looks like you fight the game itself more than you fight enemies.

Microsoft shuts down rumors of its biggest AAA games coming to competing platforms like the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 4.

It really shouldn't have to be said. I mean...there's no way mainline Halo or Gears of War games will come to the PS4 or Nintendo Switch. It should be obvious. Yes, the traditional console wars are breaking down as Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft embrace cross-play, but they're not all about to start trading games libraries. There's a reason console exclusives exist, and a reason the Xbox platform is now consoles and PC. But then again, there's also a reason Microsoft's selling games like Ori on the Nintendo Switch.

A Microsoft rep clarifies things to GamesIndustry.biz: "We have no plans to further expand our exclusive first party games to other consoles. We continue to believe deeply in cross play and progression of games with the right flexibility for developers to insure a fair and fun experience."

Unlike Microsoft, Sony doesn't have a forward-thinking plan that blends consoles and Windows 10 PCs together. Now Sony wants to expand onto other platforms like PC, and it could bring its biggest blockbusters to desktop storefronts like the Epic Games Store.

Okay, there's a lot to unpack here. First let's start with the stepping stones. PS4 games are already technically on PC, but not natively. You can only play them through Sony's PlayStation Now streaming service. This could change as Sony shifts towards a more open ecosystem, and the seeds have already been planted. First there was PS4 game streaming to PC, then cross-play between consoles (and likely soon PC) , and now Sony's even making TV shows and possibly films based around its PlayStation IPs. These steps show Sony is experimenting with new ways to engage and sell its games, and PC is a logical pathway to more revenues.

This leads us to the next step: expanding games outside of the PlayStation Store. It's all about exposure and revenue. Sony probably won't bring all its heavy-hitters to PC because that'd undercut PS5 sales, but at the same time, the PS5's selling points speak for themselves. The system is a true next-gen console that'll hit 8K, 120FPS perf in some games, sports ray-tracing, a high-end Zen 2 CPU and Navi GPU, and a super-fast PCIe 4.0 SSD for insane loading times.

Like all major first-party games from Microsoft, Halo: Infinite aka Halo 6 will be monetized with microtransactions. Now that lootboxes are reviled and the REQ Pack system isn't returning, there's really one option: cosmetics.

We've known for a while that Halo: Infinite would have microtransactions. Microsoft's own business model, which puts services and monetization first above all else, pretty much gave it away. Halo has always been a live game built around engagement, repeated play, and unlockables, all prime territory for mTX. Now through job listings, 343 Industries themselves have inadvertently confirmed microtransactions will be in Halo 6.

343 Industries is hiring a Live Design Lead to guide Halo 6's live component. According to the job listing, the Lead will:

Hello Games confirms No Man's Sky will be re-released in retail stores as a $59.99 game of the year-style bundle.

Before its massive new Beyond update dropped, No Man's Sky was pretty cheap. You could get a copy for around $20 off of Amazon, or $30 digitally. Now the space sim is getting re-released in a "remastered" format on PS4, complete with all seven expansions right on the disc. It's a way to re-monetize the massive work Hello Games put into those free updates, and it might be something we should support (No Man's Sky is basically a live game without microtransactions. That's huge.)

"We're super excited to tell you that a physical version of No Man's Sky: Beyond will be available to buy on North America on September 10, and in Europe on 11th September," Sean Murray said in a recent PlayStation Blog post. "It seems only fitting that we should bundle up all of these three years of updates, re-master the game and re-issue it on a shiny new disc."

Gamescom 2019 - SEGA's most popular and profitable franchise will continue its westward expansion with a new three-game remaster collection on Sony's mega-popular PS4.

SEGA makes good on its promise for more re-releases by bringing Yakuzas 3, 4 and 5 overseas to the PlayStation 4. All three games--Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5--have been upgraded from 720p 30FPS to 1080p 60FPS for enhanced performance on modern hardware, complete with cut content and mini-games not found in the previous North American and European PS3 releases.

It's a timed-released compilation where every game has a staggered launch, meaning you won't be able to play all three games right away when you buy the collection. The $59.99 collection includes all three games, but they're only accessible during different times. Yakuza 3 is available now, but Yakuza 4 is playable on October 29, and Yakuza 5 can't be played until February 2020.

Modern Warfare will support mouse and keyboard play on PS4 and Xbox One for enhanced competitive edges.

Consoles have always technically supported mouse and keyboard controls, but it's up to the developers to use them in-game. Early examples include Final Fantasy XIV on PS4. But Modern Warfare will leverage this to a different degree on consoles, this time allowing tighter aiming and control thanks to enhanced KB&M precision. Modern Warfare dev Joe Cecot confirmed the news while talking about cross-play and balancing console controller play against high DPI mouse users on PC.

Cecot says console gamers can choose whether they want to play against other controller users or keyboard-and-mouse users on PC. Controller players can also choose to play against KB&M on consoles, too. Keyboard and mouse controls will be fully supported in all of Modern Warfare's multiplayer and singleplayer modes, including the small 2v2 Gunfight to the huge 100-player Ground War gametype. The aim is to avoid the tremendous competitive advantage that high sensitivity mice offer for aiming in FPS games.

The Oddworld community is patiently waiting for the next release in the series, Oddworld: Soulstorm. A recent announcement has revealed where fans will be able to access their game once its released.

In a recent post to the official Oddworld Twitter account, the series creator, Lorne Lanning addressed the entire Oddworld community, saying "Oddworld: Soulstorm will be coming to PC via the Epic Games Store." Lanning addressed why they decided to go to the Epic Games Store rather than Steam, saying that the decision was purely a financial one.

Here is the direct quote "Soulstorm is our most ambitious game ever and we are committed to creating a great game that meets the highest level of quality. But to create the version of Soulstorm we want, and you deserve, we needed additional financial assistance." The console release of the title will be released simultaneously with the PC version sometime during 2020.

It wasn't too long ago that GameStop laid off more than 50 field leaders in their effort to reboot their entire franchise, now the company is at it again with the elimination hammer.

GameStop has made some significant job cuts this time round, firing employee's from a range of different divisions throughout the company. GameStop wrote a statement saying "As part of the previously announced GameStop Reboot initiative to transform our business for the future and improve our financial performance, we can confirm a workforce reduction was implemented impacting more than 120 corporate staff positions, representing approximately 14% of our total associate base at our company headquarters as well as at some other offices."

Not only did staff members for the corporate side of the company get fired but also several members of the Game Informer journalist branch. Some of the names you have probably heard of before: managing editor Matt Bertz, senior editor Imran Khan, senior associate editor Kyle Hilliard, senior associate editor Jeff Marchiafava, associate editor Suriel Vazquez, associate editor Elise Favis, and associate editor Javy Gwaltney have been fired.

Gamescom 2019 - Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord developers, TaleWorlds Entertainment have announced that their sequel title to the Mount & Blade franchise will be arriving on Steam in March of next year.

During their Gamescom 2019 presentation, TaleWorlds Entertainment announced that Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord would be arriving on Steam Early Access sometime during March of 2020. This is great news considering the extremely long development time the title endured, so hopefully the game arrives polished and ready for play. With that being said, do note that the title is coming to Steam Early Access which technically means it won't be completed when its playable.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord will be building upon the already fantastic battle system that was present in the previous game, Mount & Blade: Warband. Players will be able to establish secret criminal empires in cities, charge into the thick of battle on horse back, mount siege weaponry and conduct long-lasting sieges and much more. Players will also be introduced to the new bartering system that will give players flexibility when presented with a multitude of different choices. Currently there is no price attached to the title, but if you want more information check out the official Steam Store listing for it here.

Gamescom 2019 - Bandai Namco has shined a new light on their One Punch Man game 'A Hero Nobody Knows' and how combat will involved within the games story.

If you already know One Punch Man, you would understand that building a game purely around the premise of a character being able to one-shot any foe they encounter would be difficult. How do you overcome this problem without taking the key part of One Punch Man's greatness away? Introduce a mechanic that forces players to stall out fights until the hero arrives.

Bandai Namco will be rewarding players who achieve perfect blocks and combos with shaved off Saitama arrival time. Players will fight a range of different characters and they will also be able to enjoy the likes of 3v3 fights if they so choose to. Other characters that have been revealed are: Terrible Tornado, Silverfang, and Atomic Samurai. One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows currently doesn't have a solid release date stuck to it yet, but we do know its headed to the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Secretlab continues to expand its reach in the gmaing world, offering some of the best gaming chairs your butt will ever have the joy of sitting on, including the players of this year's The International 2019 tournament.

Secretlab's official Dota 2 gaming chairs will rock the Radiant and Fire faction logos from the game, and will be available in both the OMEGA and TITAN families of gaming chairs. The International 2019 has a huge $33 million prize pool for Dota 2 players up f or grabs, the largest prize pool in esports history.

Ian Alexander Ang, CEO and co-founder of Secretlab explains: "To provide our award-winning gaming chairs for The International 2019, and to support the rigours and standards of the world's most skilled Dota 2 professional players is the highest testament of the quality of our gaming seats and the team's continued efforts in creating a top-quality product made for the top professionals".

Australia has been known to ban games in a blink of an eye, and have been critical of the Grand Theft Auto franchise since the original games in the 90s from Rockstar and now its latest mystery game 'Bonaire' has been banned.

Bonaire? Yes, Bonaire. A new mystery game that was refused classification Down Under, with Kotaku spotting and reporting that they couldn't find any other listings for Bonaire or "other relevant applications from Rockstar or Take Two on ratings agency boards in South Korea, Europe's PEGI system, or Taiwan's Game Software Rating Information".

For the game to be banned before it's even announced is a strange, but the Classification Board in Australia is strict as heck. The board recently banned a slew of games including Kingdom Come: Deliverance, DayZ, We Happy Few, and Hotline Miami... so what about Bonaire, we don't even know what it is, I guess.

EA has been burning the rubber of its Need for Speed Heat hype, while during Gamescom the company revealed the first gameplay trailer for Need for Speed Heat. Check it out:

Ghost Games is developing Need for Speed Heat which takes place in the Palm City, a fictional city that looks like Miami, which will see you get behind the wheel of, and tweaks cars to race both during the day and at night. It's a much more elaborate Need for Speed than we've ever had before, with different racing styles on offer in both day and night.

Better yet, Need for Speed Heat lets you switch between day and night when you want... so there is no day night cycle where you have to wait all day to get to the night races. Once the sun sets, illegal street racing takes place where you earn valuable Rep, but you cause Heat which will send rogue cops after you.

EA has just detailed the roadmap for content coming to Star Wars: Battlefront II, with a bunch of content dropping into the game before Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker releases this year as another money printing machine.

There will be significant changes coming to Battlefront II with one of the most exciting things being 4-player co-op mode that will come in September. In the 4-player online co-op you will "team up with three other players for a large-scale player vs. enemy adventure. You can choose to play as either the Galactic Republic or the Separatist Alliance".

EA details the exciting new co-op mode as a "PvE experience designed for squads of up to four players as they look to progress through objectives. You can choose to play as either the Galactic Republic or the Separatist Alliance and partake in massive battles on all five of our Clone Wars era planets: Kashyyyk, Kamino, Naboo, Geonosis, and Felucia".

It was announced last week that Nightdive Studios was working on System Shock 2 Enhanced Edition, with the developer giving the iconic game a fresh dab of paint. In a recent interview, the developer said the team is focused on multiplayer and modding which is very exciting to hear.

Nightdive Studios CEO Stephen Kick explains: "Our priority with the Enhanced Edition is to be able to deliver an updated co-op multiplayer component. As of right now starting a co-op campaign is needlessly complicated and we're going to address that by implementing features that will enable a more modern and streamlined experience".

He continued: "Our other priority is to ensure that all existing mods and fan missions are compatible with the Enhanced Edition, but much of that will rely on the cooperation of the mod community. We have some other surprises that we'll be revealing in the future".

Sony hasn't fully unveiled its next-gen PlayStation 5 console just yet, but according to the latest news the company could use an interesting - and I think super kick ass V-shaped ventilation system. I'd want a futuristic PS5 with a V-shaped cooler if the PlayStation 5 is going to cost $1050 like rumors suggest.

The new patent was applied for in May, and was registered by Sony on August 13 as an electrical device. The patent shows a V-shaped ventilation system on something that looks like a console. We can see an optical disk drive at the bottom, with what looks to be 5 separate USB (3.0) ports and a power button above them.

If this patent turns out to the be the PS5, the V-shaped ventilation system would be a nod towards the PlayStation 5... 5 = V in roman numerals. The V-shaped ventilation system (V for ventilation) and the massively beefy hardware inside of the PS5 over previous-gen consoles will need to be cooled in a much better way.

Gamescom 2019 - Want to play Gears of War 5 on PC? You can skate by with an older rig.

Microsoft definitely wants its games to be played by as many people as possible, and that means flexibility. The Coalition has scaled Gears of War 5 across a myriad of PC hardware configurations, including older setups. Minimum specs sit at an Intel i3 Skylake/AMD FX-6000 series or equivalent, a GeForce GTX 760 or Radeon R9 280 with at least 2GB VRAM, and 8GB RAM. Expect 720p resolution or thereabouts at lowish settings. The game also clocks in at 80GB of hard drive space.

The recommended specs are likewise flexible. For performance around the 1080p 60FPS mark with marginal settings, Gears 5 needs an Intel Core i5 Skylake (assuming i5-6400 to i5-6600K are included), a GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 570 with 4GB of VRAM, and 8GB of RAM. Again we don't know the perf The Coalition is targeting with this spec, but expect this to be 1080p optimized.