Gaming - Page 751

Final Fantasy VII: Remake is exactly what Square Enix needs to rise from its earnings slump.

Square Enix isn't doing too well right now. Its nine month earnings are down 65% year-over-year and profit has dropped by a similar amount. The famed RPG publisher needs a big win, and luckily it has an ace up its sleeve: Final Fantasy VII: Remake. Square Enix dropped a surprise trailer yesterday that showed off slick action-based combat and breathed new life into some of our favorite gaming icons. But more importantly, it stoked the fires of hype that've been flickering for the past four years.

This is important. After Kingdom Hearts III the publisher needs more huge projects for gamers to look forward to that aren't too far down the pipeline. Fans waited a long, long time for Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV. Fans have been waiting for the Remake, too, but it may not be that far away. Square Enix's recent restructuring may have accelerated development of big games like the FFVII: Remake. The Japanese games-maker recently consolidated its original 11 dev teams and combined them into a more streamlined mix of 4 teams.

Capcom have presented a teaser trailer to their upcoming expansion to Monster Hunter World. Introducing 'Iceborne' which is planned for release later this year in September.

Above we have the tease trailer which has launched as apart of PlayStation's State of Play livestream. The trailer teases Monster Hunter players at the new expansion area they will be journeying through this Autumn. It should be noted that if you are playing Monster Hunter right now and desire to jump into the upcoming expansion, there will be a requirement of Hunter Rank 16 before you can open up the Hoarfrost Reach storyline quests.

Before Capcom release the expansion, the developers will be blessing the base Monster Hunter World game with a new content update. According to Capcom, "The last new content update for the base game will celebrate the aggressive flagship monster Nergigante who will finally appear in the formidable Arch-Tempered form for a limited time from May 11." Capcom will be bringing Iceborne to console players on September 6th for $40, the PC version of the expansion is set to release sometime in Winter. Capcom are also hosting a follow up live stream, revealing what is to be believed as more details for Iceborne. Head on over to Twitch to check it out.

Conan Exiles developer Funcom has announced that in celebration of the one-year anniversary for Conan Exiles the game will be going free to play on Steam over the weekend.

The announcement has been posted on the Conan Exiles website, and the developers take their time to thank all of the players and fans for creating what has been described as a amazing community. Funcom begin to discuss their journey over the year of adding new content to the game, and how proud the developer is of how far they have come and what they have in store for the future.

In celebration of the one-year anniversary Funcom has released a massive update for the title, the update includes a brand new dungeon, a new mini-dungeon, new pets, full revamps of NPC settlements and cities, new bosses and new loot rewards. There is much more added within this update and more details can be found here on the official blog post detailing each aspect. The Conan Exiles free weekend begins 7PM CET (11AM PST).

Sony has revealed at their State of Play a remake for the 1998 PlayStation classic title MediEvil. The remake will feature a bunch of 4K visuals and many upgrades across the board.

The trailer has dropped onto the PlayStation YouTube Channel and showcases overhauled cut scenes, remastered visuals, redone camera, brand-new narrator, new dialogue and what has been described as a "whole casket full of secrets". If you didn't play the original MediEvil on the PlayStation 1, the game takes players on a journey with Sir Dan and "an ever-expanding repertoire of weapons and shields to aid him in his quest".

Players will be able to use "gigantic hammers, crossbows, throwing knives and axes are at your disposal, but you'll need to use them wisely, lest you lose your head." The MediEvil Remake will be launching on PlayStation 4 this Halloween, October 25th, 2019. For more information visit the official PlayStation blog here.

Square Enix and Sony have taken center stage during State of Play, dropping a brand new teaser trailer for the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Final Fantasy VII was first announced back in E3 of 2015, since then the game has gone through a bit of a development fiasco with Square Enix pulling development from third-party development studio CyberConnect2. Square Enix chose to let CyberConnect2 go and take development in-house of Square Enix, since then the game has dropped off the radar until now.

To start off, the game looks absolutely incredible. It can already be seen that Square Enix has done an absolutely fantastic job at the graphical remodeling, level of detail, shading, lighting and basically everything else that can be spotted. Kotaku's Jason Schreier describes Final Fantasy VII as a "new game", and I couldn't agree with that description more. Square Enix say at the end of the trailer that there will be more information released in June, so I'd expect a full trailer or an announcement of some kind throughout E3 2019.

Nintendo has released their E3 2019 schedule and according to the announcement the Big N will be holding a Nintendo Direct to show off some titles as well make some major fun available in its booth.

Nintendo has taken to their official website to detail their plans for E3 2019. According to the post, Nintendo will be holding their E3 Direct at 9 a.m. PT on June 11. The presentation will be live streamed for Nintendo fans around the globe, and will focus primarily on software and more so what games Nintendo Switch owners can expect throughout 2019.

Nintendo will also be conducting their classic Nintendo Treehouse: Live at the Nintendo Booth. This live stream will give players a chance to jump into a technical analysis of some select Nintendo games with some Nintendo staff. Nintendo will also be hosting a Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Splatoon 2 tournament on Saturday, June 8th at The Theater, Ace Hotel, Los Angeles. If you are interested in anymore information for Nintendo's E3 presence, check out the official press release from the company here.

Crytek has updated its roadmap detailing what we can expect from the upcoming releases of CRYENGINE 5.6 and 5.7, with the upcoming CRYENGINE 5.6 providing some new features and support but the future v5.7 and v5.8 of CRYENGINE are sounding delicious.

The big take away from here is the memory footprint reduction and CPU optimization, so we can hopefully expect improved support for high-core-count CPUs like the new AMD Ryzen and Intel Core CPUs. Remember the new Zen 2 processors are around the corner and expected to debut with 8C/16T chips that should see support in CRYENGINE 5.6 when it drops.

Crytek's improvements into CRYENGINE 5.7 is where things get interesting, as we'll see a bunch of new features and improvements to the engine including improved VR support, DX12 and Vulkan API support, as well as support for ray tracing. But then CRYENGINE 5.8 knocks it up a few notches offering support for multi-GPU setups in DX12, and so much more. The graphics and rendering part of Crytek's R&D (CRYENGINE 5.8 and above) is a gigantic list that makes the improvements coming to CRYENGINE 5.6 and 5.76 pale in comparison.

Sony is slowly talking about the next-gen PlayStation 5 more and more, with a Sony spokesperson talking with the Official PlayStation Magazine with a tease on the next-gen storage inside of the PS5.

The spokesperson said: "An ultra-high-speed SSD is the key to our next generation. Our vision is to make loading screens a thing of the past, enabling creators to build new and unique gameplay experiences". The ultra-high-speed SSD is something PlayStation architect Mark Cerny touched on during the PS5 reveal with Wired, where he demonstrated the PS4 version of Spider-Man loading in less than 0.8 seconds on a PS5 dev kit compared to 15 seconds on the PS4.

At the time, Cerny said: "The raw read speed is important, but so are the details of the I/O [input-output] mechanisms and the software stack that we put on top of them. I got a PlayStation 4 Pro and then I put in a SSD that cost as much as the PlayStation 4 Pro-it might be one-third faster".

Tencent has had to make some pretty radical changes to PUBG Mobile to keep the Chinese overlords happy, with a total makeover applied to its game including a name change to something that sounds ridiculous: Game for Peace.

Game for Peace is a new anti-terrorism-themed game approved by the Chinese government, with developer Tencent explaining Game for Peace as a tactical shooting game made in-house that "pays tribute to the blue sky warriors that guard our country's airspace", referencing the Chinese air force. The new game is virtually identical to PUBG Mobile, it just looks worse - it has similar gameplay, graphics, design, and background. It's virtually identical, but with some hilarious changes.

First, you can't kill people in Game for Peace (the word 'Peace' would be pretty useless if there was killing, right?) which is outright stupid in what is essentially a Chinese government approved version of PUBG. Game for Peace lets you shoot people but they don't bleed, some blue/green electricity-style blob comes out of them until they hit the ground. But don't worry they don't die, they get up and wave goodbye to you.

CD PROJEKT RED has opened the doors to its merchandise store (in Europe at first, the US is coming soon) which you can take a look at here, with a bunch of awesome merch for their games including Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher, and more.

Even though Cyberpunk 2077 is still a while away from release, CDPR has some merch for the game but there is definitely more for The Witcher, but that is a franchise of games versus a single game that isn't even out yet. I would expect more Cyberpunk 2077 merch as time goes on, and hopefully as the game is better detailed at E3 2019 next month.

There's even an awesome 12-inch hand-painted polystone figure depicts Geralt of Rivia as a Ronin monster hunter. It looks seriously freaking cool and costs around $250.

With a new bill, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley wants to outlaw lootboxes in games that target minors. But regulatory boards like the Entertainment Software Association argue in defense of the monetization tactic.

Lootboxes, live services, and monetization have changed games considerably over the last decade. Instead of one-off experiences that you play, beat, and move on from, publishers create ongoing experiences built to artificially extend playtime and offer paid shortcuts to reduce time spent--or in some cases, reduce the stress incurred from repeated play. These tactics have fueled the $137 billion games industry for years and years, but their digital reign is being challenged.

Many governments like Belgium and now even Germany are taking action against lootboxes. There's a reason for this: they can lead to problematic gambling, as found in a recent North American study. But the Entertainment Software Association, which includes members from gaming's biggest publishers like EA and Activision-Blizzard, reiterates that lootboxes aren't gambling.

RAGE 2 is like a psychedelic post-apocalyptic nightmare that goes over the top at every turn.

RAGE 2 is coming out next week, and to mark the occasion Bethesda dropped a new launch trailer that celebrates the weirdly-hypnotic insanity the game offers. The footage shows a electrically-charged sampling of everything from bizarre NPCs to hilariously overpowered abilities that turn enemies into glorified fish in barrels. There's uncomfortable nudity, giant hulking boss monstrosities warped by radiation, interesting sci-tech apocalyptic-punk cities, and crazy death races to boot.

Read Also: RAGE 2 looks like a Ubisoft game, and it needs multiplayer

Like The Division 2, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint will be skipping Steam when it releases this October.

Ubisoft was one of the first major publishers to sign a deal to bring its games onto the Epic Games Store, and promised more of its key AAA titles would arrive on Epic's digital market rather than Steam. The motivation is quite clear: Ubisoft is chasing the sizable 88% of revenue it gets to keep from every Epic Store sale.

Now with its latest Ghost Recon sequel, Breakpoint, Ubisoft is making good on its promise that other "select titles" would arrive on the Epic Store. While browsing the game's pre-order page I noticed that only two options were listed for PC, the Epic Store, and the Ubisoft Store. Steam was predictably not included in platform selection.

Ubisoft is keen on morphing its key franchises into RPG-esque experiences for maximum longevity, and the latest Ghost Recon will be its next experiment.

Today Ubisoft announced Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, a sequel to Wildlands starring Nomad Team and Cole D. Walker as the main antagonist. Set in the backdrop of Auroa Island, a huge testing ground for Skell Technologies latest biome experiments, advanced weaponry, and a 1980s high-tech John Berkey wonderland, the game has evolved past its original tactical co-op limits. Breakpoint will have key survival elements found in other games, requiring players to manage stamina by eating food and drinking water to traverse steep cliffs or snowbanks.

Breakpoint also introduces a new injury system that's separate from damage infliction. When injured, players will move more slowly or react worse in specific situations--which is probably even worse when your stamina is down, too--and healing requires specific materials. Just another big live service hook to extend the playtime and make things more dynamic.

Zotac is hosting the trade show's very first charity tournament at Computex 2019, complete with big-name streamers.

Today tech giant Zotac announced the grand finals of its big esports League of Legends Fight For Charity tournament will be held during its Zotac Cup event at Computex. Popular League of Legends pros like Voyboy, Kaypea, Coolife, Zong Guan, and Hao Kai will be battling it out for $100,000 in charity funds on May 28 through June 1. Donations raised by viewers and all the proceeds will go to groups like the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Gaming-Aid, Mercy Malaysia, Oaktree Foundation, and Esports Foundation US.

The biggest names in PC gaming are sponsoring and helping out with the event, including NVIDIA, Huya, Intel, Logitech, ViewSonic, Cougar, and Battelfy.

Starbreeze is in trouble. Its financial woes continue to worsen following the huge sales miss of Overkill's The Walking Dead and subsequent cancellation on gaming's biggest console platforms. Starbreeze has filed for reconstruction, a form of bankruptcy protection, and is now seeking financial aid to keep itself afloat.

To stay alive, Starbreeze has cut away everything that didn't make it money and will now focus exclusively on games. The publisher currently has one sure-fire bet with the Payday IP, and it plans to hold onto the series for dear life as it's rocked by big quarterly losses. The gaming focus has narrowed all the way down to to Starbreeze's only money-maker, Payday, and the company will bank hard on the IP for its future--a future that seems quite bleak indeed.

"We are in a challenging situation. I stand united with the entire Starbreeze team in the efforts to get the business in order. We have a very strong asset in Payday, which is the foundation upon which we will build Starbreeze future," said acting Starbreeze CEO Michael Nermark in a recent Q1'2019 financial report.

Nintendo has announced that three more NES titles will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online library of NES games. These new NES games will be Donkey Kong Jr., VS. Excitebike and Clu Clu Land.

This addition of these three new games has pushed the libraries total number of games to 40. Donkey Kong Jr., VS. Excitebike and Clu Clu Land will be joining the selection of other online enhanced NES titles such as Super Mario Bros. 3, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda. While it is cool that Nintendo are adding classic golden aged gaming titles such as the ones listed above to the Switch Online library, many fans are begging the company to skip over them and steam roll straight into SNES titles.

The Nintendo Switch Online community has been quite divided on subscription, some users have said that "It's a bit of a disappointment that it's only nes games at present, and the majority of gamers that were not even born around these original releases are going to struggle to get into them." I can certainly agree with this point, many Nintendo Switch users will be late twenties and below, which is a little out of the age range for the release of the NES.

Leading up to the release of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum in cinemas we have a new officially-licensed John Wick game that is titled John Wick Hex. Combine strategy with John Wick skill in serving death and you get John Wick Hex.

John Wick Hex has been created by Mike Bithell, who developed the critically acclaimed titles Thomas Was Alone and Volume. John Wick Hex has also been officially announced by both Lionsgate and Good Shepherd. Meaning, a license of the John Wick IP was approved for Bithell, which I think is pretty awesome considering Bithell is an indie dev with a creatively unique spin on game development. Within the description of the above video, John Wick Hex has been described as "John Wick Hex is fight-choreographed chess brought to life as a video game, capturing the series' signature gun fu style while expanding its story universe."

The description continues, Players must choose every action and attack they make, while considering their immediate cost and consequences. Every move in John Wick Hex feels like a scene from the movies, and every fight contributes to your progress on the job and requires precise strategic thinking." John Wick Hex is a turn-based strategy game, so XCOM or Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden players will be loving life with this announcement. For players who haven't played either of those games, take a leap into a new genre and see what you think. Expand those gaming horizons!

If you thought Minecraft looked good with ray tracing-style effects through path tracing, have a look at what the new ReShade mod for Crysis does when it adds in some beautiful ray-traced Global Illumination.

Digital Foundry did a break down in the video above, with the new ReShade mod adding ray-traced Global Illumination in Crysis. Pascal Gilcher is the developer behind the ReShade mode where he explained about his new Crysis mod: "I'm working hard on a ray traced Global Illumination method for ReShade. This means you can have GI as drop-in in every game you want, with a few clicks. Work on such a feature started over a year ago, I posted some screenshots on the ReShade forums but eventually discarded it, due to other projects having more priority".

The new ReShade mod for Crysis can be supported on the ReShade Patreon for $20 tier, for die hard Crysis fans who want an injection of graphics into the still-great looking game.

Gamers planning to double-dip with The Master Chief Collection on PC won't have to start from scratch.

After years and years of waiting, PC gamers will soon be able to play the early six-game Halo saga. 343 Industries is taking the PC port very seriously and plan to optimize it for the platform, including high resolution and frame rate support, multiple aspect ratios, and tight control schemes on mouse and keyboard to name a few. To ensure a smooth transition the team will also add progression parity between both Xbox One and PC flavors of the game.

Everything you do in The Master Chief Collection will carry back and forth between the PC and Xbox One versions. This includes campaign game saves, multiplayer rankings, unlocks like skulls, and other content tied to your Xbox LIVE account. All data is saved to the cloud and can be retrieved on both Xbox and PC.