Gaming - Page 728

Kojima has a big idea for streaming, and we could see an ambitious interactive game-style film of show from the illustrious creator's imagination.

Hideo Kojima loves movies. In fact, he might like movies more than he likes games, despite making some of the best ones in the industry. Kojima's games like Metal Gear Solid are littered with references to classic films, from 80s action movies like Escape from New York to Akira Kurosawa's works, and the mastermind is constantly raving about new movies on his social media. His games are undoubtedly cinematic in scope--his latest, Death Stranding, is like a bizarre sci-fi horror film with a star-studded cast. I've long thought Kojima always wanted to be a film director, but chose games because these experiences can be more intimate, profound and engaging.

But what if Kojima didn't have to pick? Armed with the versatility of streaming, he may not have to. A recent interview with Nikkei caught my attention. In it, Hideo Kojima talked about how streaming will unify everything. Kojima said it was his dream to see a platform combine gaming and movie-watching into one singular experience, and the boundaries that separate these experiences will fade away. In short, gaming and film will merge together.

Mortal Kombat 11 is out in the wild, and early copy holders say it's an immensely grindy, frustrating experience that requires frequently online syncing.

Reports say Mortal Kombat 11 is more of the same live service-style grind found in Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat X, complete with microtransaction time savers and an intensely complex, layered system of unlocks. The grinding is facilitated through Mortal Kombat 11's tower system, which is designed to do one thing: keep gamers playing for as long as possible. Mortal Kombat 11's Towers of Time mechanic, which sees players tackling repeatable fights and challenges to unlock randomized rewards, is much more expansive this time around. From where I sit, MK11 is a dizzying array of RPG-style augments, unlockables, and other content put in to pad out the drops so gamers play more to get the stuff they actually want. RNG is the tool used to frustrate players and keep them actively in the online-driven mode so they eventually spend cash on microtransactions.

We recently predicted MK11 would have cosmetic microtransactions, but the game's premium currency, Time Crystals, may have many uses. Gamers may be able to buy unlockables like brutalities, intros/outros, augments, and other cosmetic gear that can be unlocked in the tower mode. In pure live game form, gamers will likely be able to spend extra cash to unlock things directly--or pay for the chance to unlock them.

Console gaming has proven to be immensely lucrative for big players like Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Activision, cementing the platform well into the industry's future.

Cloud game streaming may be on the horizon, but consoles aren't going anywhere. Consoles act as a conduit for money-making services, subscriptions, game sales, and engagement strategies, all of which can be carefully cordoned off and fragmented to serve the whims of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. A recent report from Newzoo underlines these points with the most powerful metric of all: money.

According to Newzoo's 2018 market report on the top 25 biggest public earners in gaming, consoles made quite a bit of cash in the year. Out of the huge $107.3 billion earned by the top 25 games titans in 2018, consoles accounted for 38% of revenues of the top 25 earners, or about $40.7 billion. Predictably enough, platform-holders like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft made the most from console gaming (and rightly so given they all have their own consoles with strong digital ecosystems).

With action games and shooters typically reigning sales and earnings, RPGs are due for a comeback...and ex-BioWare boss wants to make it happen in a unique way.

Aaryn Flynn left BioWare in 2017 following a debilitating and crushing studio culture. Now Flynn is working on a new ambitious-sounding RPG at Improbable, the studio behind the SpatialOS engine tech. Like BioWare's current focus, Flynn plans to use live gaming as a means to explore how RPGs can evolve and deliver deeper, more meaningful experiences.

In a recent interview with PC Games Insider, Flynn affirmed his team's live RPG isn't about huge MMO numbers, but about helping rebirth the genre in a new way using online gaming as a delivery mechanism.

It's no surprise Rockstar Games is making a new Grand Theft Auto. The franchise is a billion-dollar juggernaut and GTA V is the best-selling entertainment property in history. And sadly, it's not very surprising GTA 6 should be monetized with its very own Grand Theft Auto Online mode.

Current and past industry trends give us both short- and long-term visibility into the future of gaming. Coupled with successful business models like the billion-dollar microtransaction market and key investor incentive strategies, these trends arm gamers, analysts, and experts with foresight to predict how the industry will unfold. Monetization is a big part of this foresight, and we can use these tools to anticipate how big franchises like Grand Theft Auto will take shape.

According to a Rockstar Games artist's resume, Grand Theft Auto 6 is happening, but in pure Rockstar fashion, we don't know what, where, or when. We've heard buzz on it since 2015, and recent reports say it'll be a timed PlayStation 5 exclusive. We don't know much about GTA 6, but based on Take-Two's trajectory, Rockstar's push towards live services, and internal company incentives, it should have a monetized online mode similar to GTA Online and Red Dead Online.

PUBG Corp, the company made specifically to manage the wildly popular battle royale sensation PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, reports strong earnings for 2018 across Asia and the PC segment.

Although Fortnite is the latest billion-dollar hit, PUBG is still doing quite well and isn't about to knocked out any time soon (it's so addicting that countries are limiting playtime). The South Korean PUBG Corp earned $920 million in total revenues in 2018 across global PUBG sales and microtransactions, Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad reports.

Unsurprisingly, Asia was the dominant force in the market with 53% of total revenues, or $487.6 million. PUBG's earnings mostly come from PC, which makes sense given the popularity of South Korean and Asian game cafes, as well as enthusiast BR gamers worldwide. PC made up 85% of total revenues, or $790 million, with console lagging way behind at $60 million or a measly 6.2%.

Take-Two Interactive gets lucrative monetary incentives to push microtransactions, subscriptions, and DLC into its biggest games.

A recent Take-Two SEC filing revealed some interesting info on why the company includes live services into marquee titles. Sure there's the obvious reason; live services in games like NBA 2K make hundreds of millions over time via microtransactions, which makes investors happy and raises the value of the company's stock. Take-Two earned roughly $300 million last quarter from recurrent consumer spending, or 24% of its total $1.249 billion net revenues. When handled right, live services are a boon for any publisher. But there's a ceiling, as EA and Activision-Blizzard are now learning.

But Take-Two's company is set up to directly award its biggest shareholder, ZelnickMedia (aka Zelnick Media Capital), for making a certain amount from microtransactions. ZelnickMedia is of course run by Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. So the more money huge games like Grand Theft Auto Online and NBA 2K make from full sales and monetization, the more restricted shares Take-Two can issue ZelnickMedia.

Gamers make PCs out of all kinds of things like toasters, tires, and even old liquor bottles...but what about food? Can you make, say, a pasta PC? Why yes, yes you can.

YouTuber Micah Laplante made a working pasta computer using lasagna as a makeshift chassis. The internals were from a stripped ASUS laptop, and with enough hot glue and layered carbs, the weird hybrid of food and fun was born. The pasta PC not only turned on and worked, but Laplante was able to play Rocket League for a bit.

This illustrious build began with a joke...which naturally turned into a challenge. "My wife said something one day joking about making a PC out of Pasta... Never joke with me on such things because I may just do it... and done it I have. Behold... The LASAGNA PC V.1," Laplante said. "Clickbait you say?! NAY! This is the real deal. The first ever crazy PC build on this Channel, and the first ever Pasta PC in the world. You're welcome."

Rumor has it that Halo 6, aka Halo: Infinite, would feature a battle royale mode to cash in on the billion-dollar Apex Legends and Fortnite craze, but 343i squashes the speculation.

343 Industries still has no plans to include a battle royale mode in Halo 6, studio dev Frank O'Connor said in a response on ResetERA. "We are NOT doing this as of now--and [have] no plans to--but Battle Royale could be made for any of the Halo games in MCC or Halo 5 with some content and scripting additions, because it is a mode," O'Connor said in the thread.

"The launch modes for MP are not 100% defined and are subject to change till quite late in the process - but Battle Rifle will still be there. So you can have BR. But are we interested in big social modes with loads of organic shenanigans? Yes. Specifically A blimp full of survivors heading to an Island after a (metaphorical) lecture from Beat Takeshi? No."

SEGA continues adding value to its upcoming Genesis Mini console, packing in 10 great new titles like Earthworm Jim and Sonic 2.

SEGA's new $80 Genesis Mini console will include 40 built-in retro classics, bringing some serious value over Nintendo's SNES and NES Classic Editions. The library is filling out quite nicely and SEGA has revealed half of the Genesis Mini's offering. New additions include Streets of Rage, Sonic 2, Earthworm Jim, Shinobi III and Contra: Hard Corps.

Nostalgia is the main selling point of course, but the Genesis Mini includes power cords and two controllers with the $80 price tag. SEGA promises the micro-console will deliver high-quality emulation and performance, ousting AtGames and selecting the well-respected M2 to handle the system.

Info on the cancelled Left 4 Dead 3 is quite a rare commodity. Valve is incredibly secretive about its projects, but thanks to clever internet sleuths like Valve News Network, we have an idea of what it could've been like.

If these leaked screenshots are anything to go by, Valve may have had ambitious plans for Left 4 Dead 3 that could've taken us around the world to fight the zombie infestation. The screenshots have a tenuous connection with Left 4 Dead 3, tying in with a complex map of file names, assets, and Source 2 test runs, and don't actually show any zombies or characters.

All we get is a potential look at an in-game environment. Part of the game would've mirrored infamous Counter Strike map remake Dust II in style and asset management, complete with an exotic Moroccan appearance. This matches early concept art for Left 4 Dead 3 that showed two playable Middle Eastern characters.

The newest addition to the dungeon crawler library of games is Eko Software and Bigben Interactive's upcoming title Warhammer: Chaosbane. Dive into the blood soaked action in the currently available beta now.

A new beta launch trailer has been released onto the Warhammer: Chaosbane YouTube Channel, it gives us a quick look at what players will be enjoying while craving their way through hordes of enemies in Chaosbane. The beta will include access to four characters for players to try out, we have; a Dwarf slayer, Wood-Elf scout, High-Elf mage, and an Imperial soldier.

The beta will include will have support for up to four-player co-op and will grant access to the first three missions of the game. It should be noted that the beta access is only given after the player has pre-ordered the game. Within the entirety of this post I have included video links to both the Dwarf Slayer and Wood Elf, each of these videos will give a more in-depth description of both the characters. Warhammer: Chaosbane's 2nd beta access will be available from April 18th until April 24th. For more information, visit the official Warhammer: Chaosbane website here. The full release of Warhammer: Chaosbane is June 4th, 2019.

Some screenshots have revealed that Kid Goku (GT) will be making his way to Dragon Ball FighterZ sometime this May.

Above we can see screenshots from the Japanese magainze V-Jump, the screenshots reveal that Bandai will be debuting the sixth iteration of Goku to Dragon Ball FighterZ sometime this May. We first heard about Kid Goku (GT) being added to Dragon Ball FighterZ back at the end of March, that announcement showcased some of Kid Goku's moves, more on that here.

While Dragon Ball GT wasn't that well received by fans when compared to the other series', Kid Goku getting an addition in Dragon Ball FighterZ might be a bit more of a positive reaction. Kid Goku (GT) is apart of the FighterZ Pass 2 or can be purchased independently. Dragon Ball FighterZ is currently available for purchase on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Team 17 and Ghost Town Games have seen quite the success for Overcooked 2, and now they are both rewarding that success by pushing out a brand new DLC called 'Campfire Cook Out'.

The new DLC is apart of the season pass that is currently available for $20. The first of DLC's planned for the season pass is titled 'Campfire Cook Out' and takes the kitchen to the outdoors by adding 15 more levels of mayhem. This DLC also adds; back packs, campfires, more chefs, new recipes and a new map.

From the above trailer we can see that the new levels will not be easy, with many new mechanics added to the game players will need to spend some time to work out appropriate strategies for each of the levels. In the entirety of this post I have provided the full description for each of the new pieces of content included within this first DLC. Campfire Cook Off is currently available, pick it up now for your PC, Xbox One, PS4 or Nintendo Switch version of Overcooked 2.

NetherRealm Studios has decided to reveal the launch trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 early, taking old school players of the previously releases games back to the times of the original Mortal Kombat.

Right off the bat, we can hear the original Mortal Kombat theme starting up, and as I can imagine players that were there for the release of the original Mortal Kombat begin to get goosebumps. Instead of the typical rap song that we heard in the cinematic trailer for Mortal Kombat 11, we have the classic song "Test Your Might".

While the trailer doesn't really reveal anything new for the game, it certainly does continue that hype train pushing on until the release of the title on April 23rd. Yesterday, we got a gameplay reveal trailer for the Nintendo Switch version of the game, as expected there is some considerable downscales graphically, check that trailer out here. Mortal Kombat 11 is planned for launch on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch on April 23rd.

The latest update for The Division 2 dubbed Update 2.1 fixes a bunch of issues, but the big daddy update in Title Update 3 was due April 25, and now has been delayed and releasing "sometime in May". If you want to see The Division 2 benchmarked with 20 graphics cards, check that out here.

Ubisoft explains in a blog post: "The final release date of Title Update 3 will be based on results from further testing and balancing of the game. Operation Dark Hours will be your biggest challenge to date, and we want to make sure that we've properly tested the large amount of balance changes that are coming to both PvE and PvP and listen to your feedback about the changes before introducing the raid".

I respect the team for delaying the update by a couple of weeks as The Division 2 has been one of the smoothest launches of a big persistent world AAA game in a very long time. Ubisoft and Massive obviously want this trend to continue, deciding to delay Title Update 3. However, if you're playing The Division 2 on the PC you can test some of these changes out on the PTS, or Public Test Server.

Ubisoft has pushed out another update for The Division 2, with the new Update 2.1 fixing some of the issues with NPCs and other enemies getting stuck in a T-pose, something that happened because of the previous patch from a few days ago. If you want to see The Division 2 benchmarked with 20 graphics cards, check that out here.

The new update for The Division 2 also fixes a bunch of bugs that have plagued the game for some players since launch, with the Revive Hub now being more consistent in how it works, but the team at Massive Entertainment added that it's still an on-going issue for some even with the new update. On top of that the Crafting Bench bug has been fixed, with some players unable to upgrade it now not having that problem.

The full set of patch notes for The Division 2's new Update 2.1:

Naughty Dog has teased that it is still deep in development of The Last of Us Part II, with game director Neil Druckmann teasing on Twitter: "Just shot this scene... so..." with it showing in the photo 'The End' and 'Cut To Black'.

This means Naughty Dog has filmed the last scene of the game, and while the script itself in the tweet doesn't spoil anything we now know that one chapter of the game is finished. We should expect Naughty Dog to prepare The Last of Us Part II to be a PlayStation 5 launch title, and then a PS4/PS4 Pro version of the game with graphics good enough for the current-gen of PlayStation consoles.

This could also all be a ruse, as games and movies aren't always shot in order. Druckmann might be showing this off to drum up some hype for the game as the tweet dropped right in the middle of PlayStation architect Mark Cerny detailing Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 console. Naughty Dog is a PlayStation-exclusive developer and The Last of Us is an important member of the PlayStation family of games.

Old-school PS2 shooter XIII is getting remastered, and looks to be a perfect foundation for a wacky-but-serious Archer video game adaptation.

When I saw 2003's stylish shooter XIII for the first time today, something clicked in my head: this looks a lot like Archer. Sure XIII came first, but the connection was there and I can't erase it now. XIII has cel-shaded graphics that really bring to mind Sterling Archer's ridiculous exploits at spy agency ISIS, and it has a distinct comic-pulp layout and taps underlying beats that perfectly exemplify FX's inspirations for the show. Archer is a mix of James Bond's death-defying stunts with none of the suave charm, but the show's overall themes--crazy stunts, gunning down baddies, a serious-yet-humorous bent--can be found in XIII.

So why isn't there an Archer FPS that matches XIII's mechanics with tons of humor and nods thrown in the mix? It seems like the perfect cocktail for a AA product that Archer fans would eat up like Pam eats up crab legs.

Today could be a milestone in Nintendo's big expansion strategy as the Switch gets provisional approval to release in Guangdong, China.

Nintendo has partnered up with Tencent's overseas might to bring its popular handheld-console Switch hybrid for sale in parts of China. The system is getting a test release in China's Guangdong region accompanied with select games like New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, and there's a possibility the system won't be approved. Widespread provisional availability across mainline China has yet to be confirmed. Strict regulations have deterred or delayed games-makers like Nintendo from entering the Chinese market, and the approval process is slow-going, experts say.

China reigns above all other regions in gaming revenue, and Chinese juggernaut Tencent is the biggest earner in the industry. The Chinese market earned $37.5 billion in 2018, according to analyst firm Newzoo, or about 28% of all global earnings.