Gaming - Page 700

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered was originally to be just another re-release on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch, but Square Enix decided to make some big visual overhauls at the last minute.

Right before the Final Fantasy VIII port went gold, the team made the monumental decision to go back and remaster the character models and graphics. It wouldn't do to just re-launch the PS1 classic without touching things up, especially after the game's 20th birthday in February. So Yoshinori Kitase enlisted the help of original Final Fantasy VIII developers to make something special; it's not the remake treatment they gave to Final Fantasy VII, but an enhanced version like the FFX Remaster collection.

In a recent interview with Famitsu (as translated by Siliconera), Yoshinori Kitase revealed why the game's taken so long to release. It was originally set to release in February to celebrate FFVIII's birthday, but the massive overhaul set the project back a ways.

While Fallout 76 utterly failed as a service game at launch, Bethesda will use those hard-learned lessons to help shape the game's future.

Bethesda isn't ready to give up on Fallout 76 yet. The game was made as a passion project, and an online-based Fallout is something that the studio always wanted to do. In fact, every new Fallout game gets internally prototyped as a multiplayer game. But of course microtransactions and grindy engagement mechanics wormed their way into the game (as they always do) to transform it into a messy, frustrating, tedious affair. It's not over though. Things are going to change and Bethesda's in for the long haul.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Bethesda's Pete Hines talks Fallout 76 and how it'll evolve over time. "I appreciate there might be folks who are tempted to throw up their hands and [call it quits], but that's just not how we're wired. We believed in it. The fact that it didn't go the way we expected and it had issues that maybe we should have foreseen and should have planned for doesn't mean we didn't believe in what the game was and could become."

Sony's new PlayStation 5 is quite beastly, outfitted with a new custom AMD chip that pushes 8K resolution. Now Sony uses some interesting language that hints at a steep price tag for the system.

The new PS5 will usher in a new generation for PlayStation. It promises a huge leap from today's systems, complete with a new highly customized SoC with AMD Navi GPU and Zen 2 CPU technology and an ultra-fast SSD possibly built with the new PCIe 4.0 standard. It'll also support 4K TVs at 120Hz. This kind of leap in power should be accompanied by a similar leap in price.

In a recent company meeting attended by The Wall Street Journal's Takashi Mochizuki, Sony CEO Kenchiro Yoshida described the PS5 as a niche product. It's not meant for everyone, but instead for enthusiast or hardcore gamers who want the best.

Black Ops 4 is monetized to the hilt with battle passes, microtransactions, and now even lootboxes. Some Treyarch devs strongly disapprove of this intense predatorial business practice.

As is usually the case, Treyarch went through months of never-ending hell to make Call of Duty: Blacks Op 4. The game took nearly an entire year of crunch to get shipped. Since the campaign was scrapped, the game transformed into a live game with heavy emphasis on online play and engagement. It was only natural for microtransactions to follow. But instead of focusing solely on cosmetics, the more accepted mTX avenue, Black Ops 4 went all-in with season passes, a premium currency, and even lootboxes. Recent reports indicate Activision is to blame (a big shocker).

In a recent interview with Kotaku, multiple anonymous Treyarch employees and contractors said the team was frustrated over microtransactions. Workers said they didn't have much control over the revenue schemes Activision enlisted (publishers usually have this sort of clout since they pay for the game's production) and sat helplessly while the Call of Duty community fumed at audacious prices.

The original Master Chief Collection was a total mess at launch. 343 Industries simply bit off more than it could chew by cramming four Halo games in one, leading to terrible matchmaking and insanely long downloads. Now the same could happen on PC...just in a different way.

The more 343i talks about The Master Chief Collection on PC, the less excited I get about the project. The initial thrill of re-living old Halo games on a high-end, responsive platform wears thin as the reality of game dev, Microsoft, 343i's history, and other factors hit home. I have some serious doubts it can be pulled off without delays and lots of complications.

The scope of the collection seems to get more and more ambitious over time, and I remember what happened with the original Xbox One version. The devs who notoriously botched the first Halo collection are making huge promises with the PC version, including full optimizations across the board in games that were never really designed for PCs to begin with, expansive GPU hardware support, uncapped frame rates, etc. The implication is that the original five Halo games will look, play, and overall be better on PC.

If you were hoping to play Halo Reach's campaign beta on PC...we've got some bad news. You probably didn't get in.

A bit ago we got some details wrong about the Halo Reach PC campaign beta test. 343 Industries said they'd have a "small public flight" were players could try a Reach mission. We thought this meant the mission itself would be small, not the pool of people let in, and reported that every Halo Insider could get access. We also thought there were two tests being held: a closed-off multiplayer one, and a public and open campaign test.

We were wrong: the multiplayer beta isn't happening yet, and the campaign beta is closed off to nearly everyone who applied. The first Halo: The Master Chief Collection's "flight" test on PC let in less than 1,000 people.

You knew it was coming... surely... well, it's here anyway -- Tetris Royale is exactly what you think it is, a 100-person battle royale match in Tetris. You

The Tetris Company has teamed with N3TWORK for Tetris Royale which is coming to both iOS and Android, and is the debut title that the companies have signed a multi-year agreement on, with Tetris Royale the first out of the gate. As for the game, Tetris Royale will see you doing your thing rotating and stacking Tetrominos and clearing lines like a boss.

But... in Tetris Royale you're competing against 99 other players throughout your matches every season. Like other battle royale games there will be daily challenges that will see you getting customization options for the game, boosters, and power ups. THere's also a single-player mode if you don't want to battle it out with 99 others at once, with a Marathon solo mode.

Google's new game streaming service Stadia isn't just a subscription. It's a brand new platform like the PlayStation Store or Steam that'll sell full-priced games.

Stadia could change gaming forever. It's an accessible service that beams games wirelessly to your phone, laptop, desktop, or TV, alleviating the need for console or PC hardware. But substantial trade offs and a somewhat confusing business model could hold Stadia back for years to come. Now Google's Phil Harrison says users will have to pay full price for new games on Stadia (which really isn't a surprise).

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Stadia evangelist Phil Harrison said subscribers shouldn't expect discounts. Stadia will sell games a la carte on a digital storefront, and they should be the exact same price as other platforms like Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Publishers will ultimately set the price and Google could make exclusive deals...but on the whole expect to pay $59.99 a piece.

Like most game studios, Blizzard's humble beginnings were built on the backs of crunch. The company simply wouldn't be what it is without the long hours and tireless dedication.

Blizzard Entertainment wasn't always a titan of the industry. In 1991, Blizzard was a scrappy underdog who hit it big with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, then rolled out hits like Diablo, Starcraft, and the massively lucrative World of Warcraft, which changed gaming forever. All of these projects were made possible by developers who worked excessive schedules. According to Mike Morhaime, co-founder and ex-Blizzard president, the studio simply wouldn't be the same without crunch.

"Blizzard has definitely evolved around crunch. In our early days we crunched crazy hours to get the games done. I think if you're a small studio, you're living or dying by the success of the next project, it takes a lot of superhuman effort. Or at least it did for us," Morhaime told Eurogamer at a recent Gamelab event.

At a recent Valve Index launch meeting, Gabe Newell gave a glimmer of hope for Half-Life 3...but he didn't sound super confident.

Valve could make Half-Life 3 someday, according to GabeN, but that day probably won't happen any time soon. At a meet-up for its new proprietary Index VR headset, Gabe made a joke that simultaneously excites and disappoints Half-Life hopefuls. The Valve co-founder talked about games iteration, and how one project is a stepping-stone for the next. In this way, it's implied the Index VR hardware could fuel innovation for Half-Life 3.

"So Half Life lead us to Half-Life 2. Source led to Source 2. Experiments we did with Team Fortress 2 enabled us to build DOTA. Artifact is the reason we're able to do Underlords," Newell said. "And so maybe someday the number 2 will lead us to that shiny integer glowing on a mountain some place. We'll just have to see."

Time to show off your sexy cyborg cosplay skills--CD Projekt RED is hosting an official Cyberpunk 2077 cosplay contest with a $40,000 prize pool.

Cosplay is a kind of microcosm of gaming. It's a celebration of characters, themes, and experiences that go way past the digital medium, bringing creations to the real-world. It's an amazing world with a thriving community of talented, ardent players. It's also one of the best ways to market a game and keep people engaged, and CD Projekt RED's new cosplay contest both celebrates the community and bringing awareness to its biggest game yet.

The Cyberpunk 2077 cosplay event is open to everyone around the world, and fans can enter in one of two ways: digitally, by sending in their photos and creations via the contest website, or by showing up at five events across the globe like gamescom, PAX West, and Paris Games Week.

If you believe that games are best enjoyed sitting next to who you are playing with in real-life then I encourage you to dive into Josef Fares' A Way Out. Once you have done that, mentally prepare for his next game.

Josef Fares is the director of the development studio Hazelight Studios, and in a recent interview Fares teased what the new project is going to look like. According to the interview with VG247, Fares says that there won't be A Way Out 2 but instead there will be another story-driven multiplayer experience that will test players patience with its vast array of mechanics.

Fares says "What I can say is it's not A Way Out 2, But if you look at Brothers, A Way Out, and the next game, you will see it's the same studio that makes the game. But it will be something completely, totally different and it will be way more focused on trying to make the mechanics a part of the game. [...] I believe there's a lot of potential in telling great stories for more than one person. If you look at the movies today, when we look at them we look at them together, we experience stories together. I believe that multiplayer story games are underestimated - there's a lot of potential there that I'd like to explore."

PC players now have the opportunity to jump into Quantic Dream's demo of their upcoming title, Beyond: Two Souls. Can your psyche take this kind of action?

The above trailer has been released onto the Quantic Dream YouTube Channel and gives us a quick introduction into what players can expect to see in Beyond: Two Souls. Beyond: Two Souls features some quite popular and good actors such as Ellen Page and William DaFoe. Gameplay wise, Beyond: Two Souls will follow the story of Jodie Holmes who has been born with a connection to a mysterious entity and has powerful inhuman abilities.

Players will be immersed within the psychological struggle of Holmes and how she interacts with the world and people around her. She will deal with extraordinary challenges, imminent dangers, heavy loss of friends/family and most importantly her own path of self-discovery. Beyond: Two Souls will be released on July 22nd, for those who wish to download the demo a link can be found here.

The release of CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077 is set for April next year, so until then gamers can enjoy some high capacity required games on their consoles/PC. But when Cyberpunk releases, some space might have to be made.

According to a listing on the European PlayStation Store, Cyberpunk 2077's install requirement will weigh in on the more hefty side of things. The European PlayStation Store has listed the title and the required minimum space to download it sits at 80GB. Before players jump up in their seats, keep in mind that this number could merely be a placeholder and not the final official size.

The reason for thinking this could be a placeholder is due to CD Projekt RED not being finished with development. Meaning the game could either increase in size or could possibly shrink. A good frame of reference is CD Projekt RED's 2015 title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. That game comes in with a 50GB minimum space requirement and that world is massive in both size and diversity. Cyberpunk 2077 will be much bigger than The Witcher 3 so I'd expect we could probably see the minimum space requirement exceed that of 80GB and perhaps even push towards the 100GB mark.

Yesterday I reported on some news surrounding PlatinumGames' ASTRAL CHAIN title reportedly being developed as apart of a trilogy of games. That news has now been confirmed to be incorrect.

First off, the original news about ASTRAL CHAIN being the first game in a trilogy of titles came from IGN Netherlands. IGN Netherlands reported that PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura said that if ASTRAL CHAIN was a commercial success that two more titles would follow. It turns out that this was a complete misinterpretation, and nothing has been suggested as such.

Takahisa Taura has recently cleared up the confusion through Twitter and IGN Japan where he denied the claim of a possible trilogy and reaffirmed what he actually meant. Here is his updated statement: "The article mistakenly reported that "Astral Chain is developed as the first part of a trilogy". What I actually said, and nothing more, is how in my mind I think about many things when developing Astral Chain, to the point that it could get expanded with 2 other games or more."

Season 2 for Apex Legends is not that far away from release, and today we should be getting some official trailers to get fans excited for the future. Luckily for us, those trailers have leaked early.

The first trailer which can be found here shows a cinematic introduction into the new season which has been titled 'Battle Charge'. We see an unknown character (Crypto) hack into a tower to cause a massive electro magnet explosion. The explosion seems to have triggered the inhabitants of the island to begin invading, while also causing some larger level destruction to areas players would be familiar with.

The second trailer which can be found here shows a gameplay approach to the new season. We see new weapons, an invading leviathan, a quick demonstration of the new legend Wats, captured flyers, new skins and animations for characters. Season 2 is gearing up to be quite the update for Apex Legends and being a players of the game myself I can that I truly am impressed and excited for the coming update.

Nintendo continues to hint more classic games from other platforms are coming to Switch Online.

Switch Online works because of two reasons: it's super cheap at $20 a year, and it offers free NES games (it helps cloud saves are held ransom, too). That last part is why most people subscribe. Now Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa says games from platforms like SNES and N64 could come to the service's retro lineup. But there might be a catch: users might have to pay extra for platforms beyond NES, which is something we actually predicted a while back.

At Nintendo's recent annual shareholders meeting, Mr. Furukawa said new platforms would be an extension of Switch Online, which could imply a paid add-on component. He also hints a Virtual Console a la carte storefront could come to the Switch.

First it was reborn on PC and consoles. Now Final Fantasy XIV will be reborn on the small screen.

Today Sony Pictures Television announced Final Fantasy XIV, one of the best MMORPGs ever made, will be adapted into a television series. The show will have live-action characters while delivering a new original story set in the fantastical world of Eorzea, and touches upon the game's major themes of corruption, mysticism and sorcery, and a realm full of exotic cultures fending off harsh imperial rule.

"Inspired directly by the world and characters of the title's fourteenth installment, the project will embrace the bold and genre-bending sensibilities of the revered and long-running FINAL FANTASY series as it explores the struggle between magic and technology in a quest to bring peace to a land in conflict," reads a press release.

If Cyberpunk 2077 weren't a first-person game, it'd lose a lot of its magnitude and immersive impact. It just wouldn't work.

Cyberpunk 2077 aims to be the most dynamic, immersive, and choice-driven game CD Projekt RED has ever made. It's all about making decisions that ripple through a gritty sci-fi metropolis, defining who you are, what you do, and where you go. This huge dynamic scope is a big reason why Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person shooter instead of a third-person game like The Witcher; CDPR doesn't just want you to play as V., but become the mercenary cyborg. Seeing through V.'s eyes is a big part of that.

According to senior level designer Miles Tost, Cyberpunk 2077 just wouldn't work as a third-person game. "This is exactly why we have the whole first-person thing in there, right? For us as a studio of storytellers, it's almost like a natural evolution of how we make an immersive narrative or how we get you to be immersed within the story," Tost said in a recent Q&A session on Tumblr.

We are on the precipice of Season 2 for Apex Legends and to build that hype we have new teasers to salivate over. Is it possible that a mother dragon exists?

Above we are looking at a post from the official Apex Legends Twitter account. The post features a gif video of a player flying down to what can be assumed is the map below, but he is accompanied by dragons (flyers) and what seems to be much larger mother dragon in the background.

In my first post about players finding the dragons, I speculated that Respawn could be creating a dragon looting area that would be guarded by a mother dragon. I also speculated that dragons will eventually fight players back, which would force players to choose between compromising their position on the map, or loosing potentially valuable loot.