Gaming - Page 801

Hackers massively expand the Switch's storage with USB hard drive support.

One of the more frustrating aspects of the Switch is lack of external storage support when docked. It's been more than a year since launch and Nintendo still hasn't made this an option (you can't even use USB sticks to transfer data) despite the dock being compatible with a host of devices. But you know the drill: if Nintendo won't do it, hackers will.

The hackers and modders at Team Xecuter just released a new SX OS beta update that adds in USB drive support. But you still have to hack your Switch of course, which is risky in all kinds of ways.

Today EA and DICE revealed a new trailer for Battlefield V's new episodic WWII-centered campaign mode.

Black Ops 4 may not have a singleplayer campaign, but War Stories is coming back with Battlefield V to show unique perspectives across WWII's widespread net of chaos. The stories themselves follow the same anthology format as Battlefield 1--every chapter has different characters in a separate location dealing with war in their own way--and takes players to bloody theaters of war from the North African deserts to the frosty Norwegian mountains.

Armed with DICE's explosively refined Frostbite engine, Battlefield V's War Stories campaign should be every bit as havoc-filled as the game's multiplayer modes. We'll see dynamic building demolition and vehicle destruction, massively improve physics, and some new additions like shooting while back-crawling and in prone stance.

Hello Games is apparently pondering the idea of No Man's Sky VR and a prototype could already be in development.

When I first played No Man's Sky in 2016 I thought two things: I want this in VR now, and this game isn't what I thought it'd be. As a game centered on being lost and a deep sense of cosmic loneliness rather than action-packed drama, No Man's Sky really hit a unique vein with gamers. Sure it had its moments of utter frustration and inane, boring exploration, but that's changed over two years thanks to Hello Games' steady updates.

No Man's Sky Next breathed new life into the game and sparked new interest in the community. Tons of new things were added and overhauled (some annoyingly so) and wayfarers came soaring back to explore the cosmos again. But there's one thing that could push these boundaries even further, VR support, and Hello Games wants to know if you want it. The short answer is that yes we definitely want it.

Sony has fixed a frustrating glitch that was causing PlayStation 4 systems to crash.

Panic spread across the PlayStation Network two days ago when word of a nefarious message glitch was soft-bricking consoles. Soft-bricking temporarily knocks out a console's firmware or software and typically requires a number of remedies ranging from a hard reset, a database rebuild, or the dreaded factory reset which deletes all your data. I've had to deal with this four times now on my 2013 Xbox One and actually had to re-flash the hard drive a few times to get it up and running.

Now Sony has delivered official word on the issue (which has since been fixed) by saying that it the error didn't cause any sort of soft-bricking issues. The company's UK support page says the glitch, which was triggered by a foreign character that the PS4 couldn't understand, caused a crash loop.

Nintendo and Blizzard have partnered up to bring Diablo fans that haven't already picked up a Switch, a Dibalo III themed Switch bundle. Introducing the Diablo III: Eternal Collection Nintendo Switch bundle, only available at GameStop stores.

This isn't the firs time we are seeing a Nintendo Switch bundle specifically themed to a certain game, just last month it was revealed that Nintendo would also be giving the same treatment to the coming Pikachu & Eevee Pokemon games. Nintendo also announced that a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Switch bundle was also on the way, each of these bundles are very similar, the only real differences is the silhouettes change to the respective game.

Looking towards the Diablo III: Eternal Collection now, from the above image we can see that players that decide to pick up the bundle will be receiving a Diablo III themed dock and Switch. The bundle will also be "including all Dibalo III content" and also comes with a Diablo III Edition Switch carrying case. It should also be noted, players that pick up this bundle will also be receiving a bunch of in-game bonuses, some of which include a variety of items from The Legend of Zelda series, such as Ganondorf Transmog armor, a companion Cucco pet and a Golden Triforce Portrait Frame.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has just released and as everyone who decided to pick up the game tries to decide whether they want to jump into the classic multiplayer, zombies or blackout. We will be taking a look at the physical sales of the title.

Within the first weekend of the UK boxed sales for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, it appears that physical sales are down 50% when compared to Call of Duty: WWII. Going back to Black Ops III, we can see a massive 59% in physical sale drops, making this the weakest physical sale launch for the Call of Duty franchise since 2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

This is not really surprising at all, since most players are now looking towards digital purchasing options when it comes to games as it is much more convenient. A prime example of this is the fact that 58% of physical sales were on PS4, Xbox One came in with 41% and PC held the remainder. These figures show that most PC gamers stuck to the convenience of buying a digital copies through the Battle.net client or other services, while console gamers decided physical copies of their games could be more worthwhile. If you are interested in the digital sales, check out our breakdown here.

Mega Man 11 released not to long ago now and despite the games popularity the development team may not be as big as you would think. Recent information has revealed that the team only consisted of around 40 people.

A recent interview with Producer of Mega Man, Kazuhiro Tsuchiya says that the original concept of a new Mega Man game was contrived back in the Spring of 2016. He says the idea was sourced from Koji Oda, a veteran producer at Capcom. With ideas now flying around at Capcom, Tsuchiya said he was tasked with the market research to determine whether Mega Man fans wanted a brand new entry into the series. It was concluded that fans wanted a "a new, full-fledged entry in the original Mega Man series."

During the interview, Tsuchiya was asked about the scale of the development team, the producer responded with "Around 40 people. A rather small number compared to recent development teams." This showcases that Capcom didn't really give the development team a large budget, but despite the lacking in budget the team pulled through with a very well received title which has overall satisfied Mega Man fans on all platforms. Mega Man 11 is currently available on the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

It appears a leak has surfaced for Epic Games' battle royale title Fortnite, according to the leak players will soon be receiving a brand new gifting system.

The above video comes from Twitter user Jaren who is showcasing to us a new gifting system found through Fortnite. From the video we can see the uncompleted system, Jaren wasn't able to buy the gift for his friend but when looking towards his friend icons it says "this friend can receive gifts in 8 more days!", which suggests that there will be an official announcement for this gifting system soon.

At the beginning of the year, Epic Games released February patch notes and they said "If you're feeling generous, we have a feature on the horizon just for you." I don't know about you but that sounds an awful lot like a gifting system and now with these video surfaces I'd expect Epic Games to make an announcement any day now. Fortnite is currently available on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. For more information regarding the battle royale experience, visit the official Fortnite website here.

If you have been around the MMO or RPG gaming scene you have most likely played or heard of a classic game called RuneScape. RuneScape is coming back to life and with an ever-growing community, the developer Jagex, is on the cusp of the games official mobile launch. So, I thought I'd give a quick re-introduction to new and returning players.

For those players that have never heard about RuneScape before and have no idea what it is, the game is an MMORPG that was originally released back in 2001 by Andrew Gower. RuneScape quickly picked up quite the amount of players, numerous updates were rolled out and the game eventually hit its peak in 2007. More updates were pushed out after RuneScape 2, and after the 'Evolution of Combat' update the game had a detrimental split in the community between players that enjoyed the classic system and others that enjoyed the updated one. This eventually resulted in a legacy server being rolled out in 2013 based on a fan vote receiving over 50,000 signatures.

Gameplay wise, RuneScape is most likely a MMO that you have never seen before, it is very much unique in its own regard. Despite is very poor graphics, it comes with a sense of freedom as it is completely up to each player to determine how they will play the game and what they will complete. There is no classes and everyone has the exact same 23 skills putting each player on an equal playing field. Skill training is very long but cannot be bought with real-world-money, players set their own progression goals and can choose whether they complete them or move onto another goal. RuneScape is about setting your own goals and completing them however fast or as slow as you would like. You are in control.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launched over the weekend, with Activision already coming out saying Black Ops 4 has broken sales records with the game reaching a "new franchise high" in more ways than one.

This is first Call of Duty game to ever be released on Battle.net on the PC, with previous games in the COD franchise being released on Steam. This is a gigantic difference as Activision owns Blizzard, and thus have their own digital distribution software in Battle.net and its current roster of massive games from Blizzard. We're talking about Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Diablo... just to name a few.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is the first game in the series to include a battle royale mode, something that totally exploded last year with the release of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and continued and got even bigger with Fortnite late last year, and especially this year. Blackout is the battle royale mode in COD: Black Ops 4, and I think that's why PC gamers have been flocking to the game. It is a super-polished PUBG where it runs super-smooth on most gaming PCs, providing a COD-infused battle royale game mode that feels, plays, and acts great.

Cyberpunk 2077 enjoyed a super-huge gameplay reveal a couple of months ago now, and while developer CD Projekt Red has said that the game probably won't arrive exactly how we've seen it, it'll be close.

But now Cyberpunk 2077 level designer Miles Tost has been interviewed with Gaming Bolt, where he was asked if CDPR had any apprehension showing the huge 50-minute gameplay trailer to the game after the controversy behind The Witcher 3 and its downgrades. Tost said that wasn't a big consideration for the team, where he said: "The demo gameplay video was recorded from a work in progress version of the game and we were a bit uncertain if we should release it to the general public as we didn't want to commit to any particular design. A lot can change between now and launch, but you can be certain that we're not going to release a game we're not happy with".

What type of gameplay mechanics will we see in Cyberpunk 2077, well Tost said it was "too early to talk about that". He added: "If it makes sense, and if we could pull it off in a way that feels organic and meets our quality standards, then maybe. But we're certainly not going to be artificially extending the playtime by pushing more content into the game. If it can add to our story-driven experience in a meaningful way, we're not closed off to anything. Personally, I think our strength lies in creating handcrafted experiences".

Peekaboo, I see you...

Yeah, that's probably what a bunch of people are saying in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 when they're using the character emotes to look around corners and shoot your ass dead. How is this happening? Well, publisher Activision and developer Treyarch are working on that.

COD: Black Ops 4 was only released a few days ago now but this new bug allows players to enter a third-person perspective, with an unlocked camera. This means in multiplayer games players using this bug can see opponents with near God mode-like vision, which is a huge tactical advantage in the new Blackout battle royale game mode that debuted in Black Ops 4.

Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 console is in the works, and new job listings may hint at the system's release window.

Sony just put up a marketing manager job listing directly involved with its new console. The listing says the candidate will "own the roadmap for next generation PlayStation campaign," which could indicate a possible 2019 release target for the PS5. These campaigns typically go into early planning phases a year or so out from a product's launch.

"As part of this hands-on position you would work across Partners, Product and Engineering and contribute to development and growth of PlayStation Intelligence Platform. You will own the roadmap for next generation PlayStation campaign," reads the marketing manager listing.

Assassin's Creed: Rebellion will launch next month on mobiles, bringing Ubisoft yet another portal to reap steady microtransaction revenues.

Originally announced in 2017, Ubisoft's free-to-play AC: Rebellion mobile game is finally ready to launch. The game will arrive late next month and pre-registration will grant you $15 in bonuses, including Mario (yes, Mario will be in this Assassin's Creed game), weapons straight from AC: Odyssey, and more.

Obviously the game will be peppered with microtransactions. Rebellion is a merged-genre type of game with RTS management features, RPG-style upgrades and items, and even appears to have side-scrolling elements--all of which should be monetized in key ways. The mobile segment is a massively lucrative foundation for the games industry, and analyst firm Newzoo predicts mobile gaming will rake in 51% of total 2018 game revenues, or $70.3 billion.

Capcom is diversifying its business model in an attempt to mitigate potential risks, but its focus on strong AAA games will only continue.

In its latest annual report, Capcom says that it will now tap its strong vault of franchises to release three major games every fiscal year. This won't be the end, however: Capcom is keen on extending the life of each new game with additive online content such as DLC, hinting these games will have live services of some sort. The plan is that new games continue generating revenue as they fall back into catalog releases (catalog titles are older games that released prior to the current fiscal year).

"Specifically, new titles will work as growth drivers as we (1) release approximately three major titles each year, (2) extend the sales life of these titles to 3-4 years with additional content and pricing strategies and (3) strengthen our presence overseas, which comprises approximately 85% of the total market," Capcom CEO and founder Kenzo Tsujimoto said in the report.

Black Ops 4 has a surprise feature for couch gaming: split-screen mulitplayer in Blackout.

With a smattering of choas-inducing content like zombies and nostalgic Black Ops callbacks, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode is already a huge contender against Fortnite's long-running BR reign, and now it has another weapon in its arsenal. Soon after Blops 4's release gamers noticed that Blackout actually supports two-player split-screen gaming on the same console. Split-screen used to be a must-have staple for FPS games, but now the industry has pushed towards online services with microtransactions and whatnot, the feature has basically died out. But not any more.

The feature is currently only available for PS4 and Xbox One consoles, and rightly so given game consoles are typically the center of any living room. Honestly this is surprising given Activison's main focus is online-based engagement (live services monetized with in-game purchases, DLC, etc), especially since Black Ops 4 is now the best-selling digital launch day game in the company's history.

UPDATE: Rockstar and Dan Houser have delivered a statement to Kotaku on the 100-hour work week, saying that no one at the studio was forced to work this arduous schedule.

The devs at Rockstar Games crunched intensely to ensure Red Dead Redemption 2 met its release date and lived up to the studio's open-world pedigree.

The very first patch to come to the newly released Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has been made live and the patch notes have been released by developers Treyarch. Check out the changes that are coming to all three of the games modes; Blackout, Zombies and the classic Multiplayer.

Treyarch has taken to /r/Blackops4 sub reddit to showcase to the community the changes that are going to be rolled out to the live game. Starting off we have general stability and crashing fixes across each of the game modes, moving onto zombies we have several changes to players' health, points that are being earned, tiger attacks and many more tweaks.

The classic Blacko game mode now allows for players to properly unlock Mastercraft camos. A fix has also been provided for the occasional bug that didn't allow for players to correctly unlock Ajax in Blackout. Another Blackout fix has been provided for when players would go to use their trauma kit and it would not work. Treyarch have also showcased to the community what future updates they are working on, some of the categories that will be patched are weapon camo issues, map spawns, crashes and progression issues. In the entirety of this post I have provided a copy of the patch notes, if instead you wish to view the official release, check out the Treyarch Reddit post here.

Many Nintendo Switch players are waiting around for Panic Button's port of Warframe for their handheld console, some players have been worried about the performance but Warframe developer Digital Extreme has said improvements has been made.

Back in early July it was announced that Panic Button would be bringing the free-to-play title Warframe to the Nintendo Switch. Panic Button has quite a good reputation for porting games over to the Nintendo Switch, previous games that have debuted onto the hand-held console from Panic Button are DOOM and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.

Creative Director for Warframe developer Digital Extremes, Steve Sinclair has taken to Twitter to announce that "Panic Button performance improvements for upcoming Switch Warframe... makes all versions of Warframe faster!" The performance increase includes "~1+ millisecond saved on Xb1/PS4 is a serious improvement! They fixed my crappy critical section sync between visibility jobs!" Warframe for the Nintendo Switch is currently planned for release on November 20. For more information visit the official Warframe listing on the Nintendo website here.

There is no doubt that For Honor had a bit of a shaky release, but since the constant slew of updates from developers Ubisoft, the game has grown considerably in size. Ubisoft are celebrating the achievement of reaching 15 million players and have teased a possible coming update in 2019 titled 'Year Of The Harbinger.'

Many For Honor players are gearing up for the 'Marching Fire' expansion that is planned to hit their games next week. In preperation of the coming update Ubisoft decided to host a live stream for their community, throughout the live stream brand director Luc Duchaine and Community Developer Eric Popea discussed the future of For Honor and which direct the game could take.

Close to the end of the live stream Ubisoft teased 'Year Of The Harbinger' but didn't give any details whatsoever. We don't even know if its a slew of updates under the umbrella title 'Year Of The Harbinger', or if it could be just one massive update. Duchaine did say that support for the game will of course continue and is not slowing down anytime soon, here is what he had to say "We've always been serious [about updating the game] since we launched it, even when people were betting against us, the team did an amazing job putting this game back on track, and we are not done." For more information regarding For Honor, visit the official website here.