Gaming - Page 688

Samsung has just unveiled its new Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ smartphones, with the company teaming with Acitivsion to get Call of Duty: Mobile preloaded onto the phones.

Samsung isn't a stranger to preloading the most popular mobile games on the market on its phones, where in 2018 it launched the Galaxy Note 9 with Fortnite Mobile for Android. This time, Call of Duty: Mobile is in beta and will be out in the next few months both on Android, and iOS.

Call of Duty: Mobile is meant to be the next big thing in mobile gaming, and could dethrone PUBG but Fortnite? We'll have to wait and see. The problem Samsung is having is that Call of Duty: Mobile is available in Australia and Canada, but not the US right now.

Lootboxes will soon be regulated not on a game level, but on a platform level thanks to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Gaming's Big Three will soon require lootbox odds disclosures on games sold on their respective storefronts, which could prompt the gambling-style tactics to be abandoned. At the FTC's event scrutinizing monetization and the games industry, the ESA confirmed that console platform holders will require lootbox probability odds to be disclosed to consumers before they buy. This applies to games with lootboxes on the PlayStation Store, Xbox LIVE, and Nintendo eShop.

"I'm pleased to announce this morning that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have indicated to ESA a commitment to new platform policies with respect to the use of paid loot boxes in games that are developed for their platform," ESA's Michael Warnecke told the FTC. "Specifically, this would apply to new games and game updates that add loot box features. And it would require the disclosure of the relative rarity or probabilities of obtaining randomized virtual items in games that are available on their platforms."

Just last week, one of the biggest moves in the game-streaming world happened, Tyler Blevins, or better known to gamers as 'Ninja' left his home platform of Twitch to join Microsoft's Mixer platform.

Ninja left Twitch in what can only be assumed as a paid deal by Microsoft, while the details of the deal have not be disclosed it can be assumed that there would of been an astronomical amount of money involved. Especially when considering how many paid subscribers Ninja had on Twitch's platform and his projected monthly donations.

Now, Ninja has taken to his official Twitter account to reveal that he has already reached 1 million subscribers on Mixer. He says "Today we hit 1,000,000 active subscribers on mixer ^-^ thank you for all the incredible support. I haven't felt this good in a long time." Ultimately, this is exactly what Microsoft would of wanted when striking this deal. Ninja has no doubt pulled over a massive part of his audience to Microsoft's new streaming platform. In the future I would say that Microsoft will be grabbing some other well-known streaming from Twitch's platform.

Gamescom 2019 is expected to go off with a bang, and to add to the craziness SEGA has revealed that they will be showcasing a brand new AAA title.

Gamescom 2019 will be held in Cologne, Germany and according to a new SEGA press release, the company is ready to reveal a brand new triple A title. It is unclear what this title will be, but it has been described as a 'high-budget' game so we can expect that SEGA have been sitting on this for quite some time.

According to the press release, "visitors will be treated to a first-hand look at an all-new AAA game that has yet to be revealed to the public". Tune into Gamescom 2019 event, on August 20 to August 24.

Gearbox Software is 'gearing' up for the release of Borderlands 3, but before launch of the third installment in the series, let's take a look at Borderlands 2 sales.

According to a recent article posted by GamesIndustry.biz, Borderlands 2 has seen a small jump in sales traction as of late. The title recently had its sales revealed by Take-Two Interactive in the last fiscal earnings call, clocking in at 20 million units sold globally. Now, new reports have surfaced revealing that Borderlands 2 has gained a further 2 million sales.

This quick increase in sales has a combination of reasons behind it, the game receiving extreme discounts on Steam as well as the hype for Borderlands 3 has well and truly caused some players to quickly smash out the previous titles so they can enjoy the third one. There is also the fact that Gearbox recently released the Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary DLC back in June. If you didn't know, Borderlands 3 recently went completely GOLD, more on that here.

CD PROJEKT RED is on the fringes of getting its next big game out, with Cyberpunk 2077 being turned into a tabletop card game in the meantime.

Cyberpunk 2077 - Afterlife: The Card Game is coming "sometime in 2020" and is being designed by Eric Lang and published by CMON Games who were behind the Bloodborne card game. In Cyberpunk 2077 - Afterlife, players will assume the role of 'Fixers' which are a type of 'handler' in the universe of Cyberpunk.

You will need to build a faction of cyberpunk agents and task them on missions, which means Afterlife sounds like a management title of sorts. You will have to continue washing through funds to keep your agents in the best condition as they fight in Night City. Interesting flex for Cyberpunk.

Respawn Entertainmetn and EA have announced through the official Apex Legends Twitter account that a new limited-time Solos mode is dropping with the Iron Crown Collection event. Check it out:

As you can see, solo mode is coming to Apex Legends for a very limited time with the Iron Crown Collection event taking place between August 13-27 so you'll have just two weeks to enjoy one-on-one battles.

I'm sure the developer could change things up and offer a Solos mode permanently if it were popular, but we'll have to wait and see how it is received. We should expect some new cosmetics and other changes in the Iron Crown Collection event for Apex Legends, and we're only a few days away from finding out.

GAEMS has just released its new Guardian Pro XP (and for me out of nowhere) and holy hell does it look impressive, it is the latest in gaming cases from the company and costs a hefty $700. But check it out:

It rocks a built-in 24-inch 1440p HDR display that can connect into an Xbox One or PS4 console (as well as the Xbox One S, Xbox One X, and PS4 Pro). GAEMS also includes chambered speakers with passive subwoofers, and rails at the top of the case above the monitor that can be used to mount webcams and/or lighting.

A sizeable space for your PS4 and controller, where it'll also get charged up in a neat spot. A couple of thumbscrews keep the console in its place, nice and neatly with lots of ventilation above it.

Did Capcom just tease the world of Resident Evil 8... or can we expect another awesome Resident Evil remake to be announced soon? Whatever is coming, we know there's a new Resident Evil game in the works.

According to an email that originated from fan-site Biohaze, members of the Resident Evil Ambassadors program in Japan have been receiving invites to alpha test a new Resident Evil game. The email in question is seeking testers to test a game that is in-development, with testing to kick off on either September 8 or 9.

Capcom Division 1 is the team developing Resident Evil, with the email from the team reading: "To all Resident Evil Ambassadors, thank you for your patronage regarding the Resident Evil series. Today, we are letting you know that we are recruiting testers for a game that's in development! We are interested in incorporating the feedback of all Ambassadors into our development, so please read the details below and, if you are interested in participating, click the Entry button".

Update: Codemasters has since updated F1 2019 gamers, saying the patch wasn't fully baked. The developer explains: "Just a quick update on yesterday's correction to our patch notes for 1.07. We inadvertently released a partially completed integration of NVIDIA's DLSS technology in patch 1.07 which was not supposed to be enabled until a later patch. We are currently working towards enabling this in a completed state for an upcoming patch. Thanks to NVIDIA for helping us in tracking down this issue".

The latest update to F1 2019 adds in two important technologies from both Team Green and Team Red, with the v1.07 update including support for NVIDIA's DLSS technology (Deep Learning Super Sampling) as well as AMD's FidelityFX technology.

F1 2019's new update also reduces GPU usage on the front end, as well as HDR now being available on DX12 on the PC. As for DLSS and FidelityFX, the developer explains in the release notes: "NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and AMD FidelityFX Upscaling and FidelityFX Sharpening are now available as Anti-Aliasing options on applicable devices".

It could be a while before Halo Reach's Master Chief Collection testing begins on Xbox One.

Photo: Isaac Hannaford

Halo Reach is coming soon to the Master Chief Collection on both consoles and PC, but early testing still hasn't begun on consoles. The culprit? The new re-vamped cross-game progression system is eating up all of the Xbox One's limited 8GB DDR3 RAM system memory. Remember 343i has to make sure all Halo games run just as smooth on the base 2013 model as the higher-end Xbox One X with its 12GB of GDDR5 shared memory. That means having to work with lower-end hardware.

Nintendo's new Switch revision may feature a Tegra X1 T214 chip based on 16nm FinFET, offering more efficient thermals and battery life.

Nintendo is quietly replacing the original 2017 launch Switch models with a slightly improved new SKU. New photos from Spawn Wave show the revised 2019 Switch might sport a shrunken 16nm Tegra SoC and is designated A1, which indicates slight CPU stepping (revised performance to reduce bugs, in this case it'd be the security flaw that led to hacked Switches).

The A1 moniker aligns with the datamined Mariko firmware which indicates a Tegra X1 T214 chip on 16nm. The original 2017 Switch uses a Tegra X1 T210 chip. No performance bumps should be expected--the T214 is a small bump over the T210--and the new revised Switch should only bring two small tweaks: improved battery life (up to 9 hours versus the 2017 model's 7.5 hours) and a hardware security patch to thwart hacking.

After making millions and millions over the course of multiple years, Psyonix has decided to pull its random monetized crates from Rocket League.

Rocket League will be lootbox-free by year's end, developer Psyonix today confirmed. The move comes after the developers raked in tremendous revenue from Rocket League's in-game purchases, which have gamers buy keys to unlock crates of items. Psyonix was also bought out by billion-dollar Fortnite titan Epic Games and now doesn't have to rely so heavily on monetization. But make no mistake: Rocket League will still be monetized with optional microtransactions. Psyonix is just changing the delivery method.

Rather than using what EA calls "surprise mechanics" where the contents are randomized, Psyonix will let gamers see what they're about to buy. It'll basically be a digital store where you exchange real cash for digital items.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate rumors are definitely not hard to come by, and even some could argue that there is just a cesspool of them, but that doesn't mean that they are all not true.

The problem with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate rumors is that there is that many of them, that its almost impossible to determine which ones have the possibility of being real and the ones that are just completely fake and made up for clicks. Today, we have a rumor for the next DLC character coming to the game, and according to a not-so-reliable 4Chan source, the next character is supposed to be Undertale's Frisk.

This rumor has NO legitimacy whatsoever, as no sources have been provided. For sake of argument though, lets entertain ourselves with the thought that Frisk could make it to Smash. Undertale is one of the most recognized indie titles out there and definitely has a more then dedicated fan base which could lead you to think that Nintendo would consider adding the character to the roster. Is this a big enough reason for Nintendo to use a place up in their fighters pass though? And would the addition of Frisk please majority of the Smash community when other characters could of potentially taken her place?

THQ Nordic has announced that their title Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition will soon be making its way to the Nintendo Switch in both physical and digital form.

The above video is the announcement trailer for the Nintendo Switch version of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, and showcases what players will have in-store for them if they decide to pick up the title. Right off the bat, I noticed extreme framerate drops in the trailer, both in cutscenes as well as live gameplay. Examples of this can be found at times: 0.46 - 0.48 / 1:11 - 1:14 and many more.

I really do hope that Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition doesn't release with these framedrops, and between now and the release date, developers Gunfire Games iron out all of its issues. There is also the possibility that these drops in frames we are seeing are from video compression and something has gone wrong during the upload. Hopefully THQ Nordic, or Gunfire Games gives a statement regarding these drops so we know whether or not its in-game or just in the trailer.

Infinity Ward recently revealed their multiplayer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and while players were excited by what they saw some were wondering if the game would launch with its own battle royale.

When Treyarch launched Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 it came with its own battle royale game mode called Blackout. While the game mode was popular for some time, it quickly died off and players went to other titles such as Fortnite and Apex Legends. Infinity Ward will be taking a different approach with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, instead of going full battle royale they will be concentrating on what made Call of Duty, Call of Duty - the core multiplayer.

Joe Cecot, the multiplayer designer for Infinity Ward, told IGN that Infinity Ward are "big fans of battle royale. We're excited for large player counts and things like that, but right now we're really focused on core multiplayer." He continued and said "We really focused on Modern Warfare, authentic and gritty, realistic weapons and it's a different experience. It's really... just about pulling back to Modern Warfare and keeping that pure." Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will be launching for PS4, Xbox One and PC on October 25, 2019.

A leading producer at Respawn, who are the developers of the massively popular battle royale shooter Apex Legends have teased the next character that will be joining in on the action.

The teaser has been released onto Tina Sanchez's personal Twitter account and it showcases some behind the scene images of what seems to be the motion capture for the new Apex Legends character. Fans have speculated this is possibility the motion capture for the expected 'Crypto' character to be added and when Sanchez was asked if it was, she replied with a blank face emoji.

Since Season 3 for Apex Legends isn't even that far off, I'd expect we could see Crypto arrive then, much like Wattson arrived in Season 2 and Octane arrived in Season 1. Respawn seem to be following a trend of seasonally adding new characters, and according to a datamining leak they could have 10 new characters cooking up in development. While that might seem far-fetched, the datamining leak did predict Octane and Wattson, which provides at least some legitimacy to the information.

The Evolution Championship Series, or EVO for short recently finished up yesterday and a viewership record has been broken for the headlining game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate replaced veteran EVO title Super Smash Bros. Melee and it seems that has worked out for the best as viewership for EVO has never been higher. According to Rod Breslau, EVO founder, "Smash Bros Ultimate has set the record for the highest peak viewership in EVO history for any game at over 279,000"

Above you will find the Super Smash Bros. UItimate grand finals, competing in the match is MKleo and Tweek. MKleo is currently the reigning champion as fellow Smash Bros. players are having a hard time getting ontop of his Joker. Tweek stuck to his main character Pokemon trainer and put up a galiant fight until Leo decided to switch it on and comeback and take out the tournament for a win. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is currently available on the Nintendo Switch.

Most people won't find a precious sealed game in their attic hiding away for 30 years, but Nevada resident Scott Amos did. He found a sealed copy of Kid Icarus that had been sitting in his Mom's attic for 30 years.

Scott found the sealed copy of Kid Icarus in his Mom's attic on Mother's Day of all days, and no one in the Amos family can remember buying the game. The purchase date of the game makes it look like someone in the Amos family purchased it as a Christmas present. Scott explained: "All the family has been trying to come up with a hypothesis. (My mom) thinks she put it there and never got it back out, and then it ended up in the attic".

Making my heart beat faster when reading about this story, Amos left the sealed copy of the game on the kitchen counter as he didn't realize how much it was worth at the time. His two young children and the dog could've picked it up and unsealed it, reducing its worth greatly -- but thankfully that didn't happen.

Two years after its original release, Tekken 7 is getting another season pass with extra content.

When Tekken 7 released in 2017, I noticed a lot of characters were missing. Turns out Bandai Namco cut a few characters out to sell them later on as DLC in $25 season passes or $5-8 purchases. Now we're getting a third season pass that packs in four new characters and some free extra features.

Two of the characters were revealed at EVO 2019: Zafina, probably the best Tekken character ever, is coming in September, and Leroy Smith, a new hip martial arts master will rock the roster in Winter 2019. The most exciting news isn't the characters, though. Bandai Namco is fully updating every single playable fighter with a host of new moves, adding a new dimension to the game itself.