Gaming - Page 878

AI is weird, but seemingly useful technology that can either be a boon or a bane to humanity depending on how it's used. But the best use for it? Helping make video games, of course.

IBM and Unity have teamed up to bring the former's Watson AI tech to the latter's game-powering toolhouse, a post on the Unity 3D Blog reveals. But what exactly can Watson offer game devs, specifically? The potential uses include strong speech recognition for more interactive experiences, visual recognition to do the very same, both of which can help AR and VR mature.

"IBM and Unity are launching the IBM Watson Unity SDK on the Unity Asset Store, enabling developers to easily integrate Watson cloud services into their Unity applications such as visual recognition, speech to text, and language classification. The SDK makes it easy for developers to take advantage of modern AI techniques through a set of cloud-based services," reads the post.

In a bid to maximize sales and exposure, Square Enix has enabled some nifty features for Final Fantasy XV's PC version--including cross-play and cross-saves between Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One consoles.

If you're an Xbox owner who plans on double-dipping with Final Fantasy XV on PC then Square Enix has a nice surprise in store: you won't have to start over from scratch. The publisher confirms that saves between FFXV on Xbox One and the Windows Edition are compatible, but only if you buy the game from the Microsoft Store.

The game's online Comrades multiplayer mode will also support cross-play between the two systems to add in a nice little touch of cross-platform action. "The save data from the Windows 10 version of FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION is compatible with the Xbox One version of FINAL FANTASY XV. In addition, a post-launch update for FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION will enable Windows 10 and Xbox One cross play for FINAL FANTASY XV MULTIPLAYER EXPANSION: COMRADES," Square Enix wrote in a press release.

Following up on the update that I found yesterday that was coming to Super Mario Odyssey, we now have Luigi's Balloon World as a new mini-game as well as a bunch of new outfits.

The update follows an image that was released yesterday giving vague details of what we should of expected today. Alas that suspense has subsided, we now have Luigi's Balloon World as an available mini-game to play after the main story of Super Mario Odyssey is completed.

Bundled in with this update is also a bunch of new outfits for Mario, these include as follows: Musician Hat & Outfit, Sunshine Shades & Outfit, and Knight Helmet & Armor. All of these outfits have been added to the post-game shop.

It is a big week for Nintendo as their as been much speculation to a Nintendo Direct coming sometime soon as well as updates being pushed out for Super Mario Odyssey. More importantly though, the Nintendo Switch will be adding a further 18 games to its EShop library.

Most of the games that are being added would fall under the 'indie' genre but that doesn't mean that they should be discouraged in anyway. This week we will be seeing a great selection of puzzle games coming to the EShop, examples would include, Typoman, Toki Tori 2, Puzzle Puppers and more.

For a full list of the games that are being added to the Nintendo EShop visit the official Nintendo Switch upcoming games website, for those interested the link can be found here.

It has been decided by Hi-Rez Studios executive producer Chris Larson that there will be removal of the highly controversial loot box system that was added to Paladins.

Hi-Rez Studios has decided that their pay-to-win update needs to go, Larson has come forward and spoke about the recent decision "We know this system has angered many of our most loyal fans and become a point of continuous contention in the Paladins community (and even inside of Hi-Rez). Your voice has been heard loud and clear. Our team will be working over the next major release cycle to remove Cards Unbound from the game."

According to IGN, the initial update for Cards Unbound was highly controversial within Hi-Rez Studios as the designers believed that the update was "pay-to-win." The inside source claims that this update was still pushed out to the live game from studio higher ups despite the concerns of other developers.

It may still be early in the year but that doesn't mean publishers aren't already gearing up for E3 2018. EA is one of these publishers, announcing at this year's E3 participants will get the chance to play the next Battlefield title.

It has been confirmed on EA's official website that those that wish come to EA PLAY will also get the chance to dive into the intricacies inside of Anthem. "At EA PLAY 2018, you will have a chance to play our next Battlefield experience, new EA SPORTS games, and get an inside look at the stunning new action game, Anthem. The Sims 4 and our mobile games will be on hand, and of course, we have a few surprises as well."

EA PLAY will also be featuring mobile games, Sims 4 as well as information about EA titles as well as live streams of upcoming titles. EA PLAY is going to be held at the Hollywood Palladium on June 9th-11th on Saturday at 2PM - 8PM.

Square Enix is putting the finishing touches on Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition, but now Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata has come out saying that a demo will be released next week, and some news on how big the game will be.

Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition requires over 155GB of HDD space, with the 4K assets chewing up most of that installation. Tabata explained: "I'd like to start by noting there are two sizes. One version is 100GB, and the other is 155GB. The difference is whether the textures are in full HD or 4K".

Previous rumors had Final Fantasy XV requiring a huge 170GB of HDD space on the PC but the company was quick to squash those rumors, but now we know it needs 155GB which is just as crazy as 170GB, right?!

The horrendous launch of Dynasty Warriors 9 has annoyed quite a few gamers that were excited to jump into the classic hack and slash title. KEOI Tecmo has recognized this and has apologized for the delay on the patch coming to PC gamers.

KOEI Tecmo has taken to Twitter to apologize to PC gamers that are awaiting the patch that will hopefully solve majority of Dynasty Warriors 9s' performance issues.

The image that was released with the Twitter post has detailed that the KOEI Tecmo team is currently working on the patch, as well as trying to get in contact with their Japan team for assistance. The Twitter post is located below, I will be doing a follow up article once this patch is released so stay tuned.

Remember how Ubisoft was going to release a New Game Plus mode for Assassin's Creed Origins, well, it has already been beaten, a day after its launch.

Redditor Najoray posted onto the /r/assassinscreed Reddit page showcasing his completion of the New Game Plus mode and the reward that is given to players after it is beaten. According to the Reddit post, Najoray beat the game in just 6 hours, he skipped cut-scenes but still managed to complete it with on 'hard.'

The Reddit post also shows that players can enjoy the New Game Plus mode multiple times over, increasing the difficulty by one stage each time. Najoray says that once the game is completed a separate save is created so players do not have to worry about their New Game Plus mode saving over their original play-through. More images from Najoray have been provided below.

Twitch and Blizzard have come together in a collaboration to bring in-game rewards to Overwatch players that participate in the Overwatch League live-streams.

Blizzard will be bringing exclusive in-game content to players that engage in the live-stream Twitch chat for Overwatch League. Players can engage by either cheering using animated emotes purchased with real-life money, or staying for the entire live stream which could result in players being rewarded with League tokens.

It should be noted that for players to be rewarded they must have their Battle.net account linked with their Twitch account. The Blizzard and Twitch partnership will continue throughout the first two seasons of Overwatch League so there is plenty of time to get some rewards if you desire to.

IGN has released a video showcasing Ubisofts Far Cry 5 Gun for Hire companion Boomer. The video shows the perks of choosing Boomer as a companion and the development behind the character.

The video shows associate producer Phil Fournier revealing details about Boomer and how the ideas of implementing a dog companion came to light for the development team. "When we landed in Montana, we noticed - everybody seems to have a dog. That relationship people have with dogs is so strong, and I think that's something we wanted to bring to the game."

Fournier continued by explaining the perks of having Boomer by your side in-game, he said Boomer "is very good as a stealth option. You can send him in front and he won't get detected, because enemies don't really know if he's a threat or not. Boomer's AI, we want him to feel useful. We don't want him to be penalizing to the strategy of the player. Boomer's greatest skill to me is just, walking around in a dense forest, you never know what's going to be around the next corner - it might be a bear, an NPC, a VIP. Boomer walks just ahead of you, and he has that sixth sense, and he'll detect any sort of enemies. He'll even growl if there's a really special threat coming. He's your ultimate protector."

Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the latest Warhorse Studios release has already sold 1 million copies in total, 45% of those sales have been on PC.

CEO of Warhorse Studios, Martin Fryvaldsky has told Lupa that the company is very happy with the sales as it wasn't something that they expected to happen. "We're about one million when I count all the platforms and distribution channels. We certainly thought about one million. The number is surprisingly positive, but it's not something we thought we could not achieve." Said Fryvaldsky

Thanks to DSOgaming we have a screenshot of some statistics for Kingdom Come: Deliverance. According to Steamspy's data, 45% of the sales for the title have originated from PC, it should be noted that this number is a rough approximation as Steamspy has been reported to be a few days behind.

A comparison image has surfaced on the /r/kingdomcome reddit showing the real-life locations of some in-game environments. The image is a great way to really appreciate the effort Warhorse has put into their latest release.

Redditor 'xXEdgy13YrOldXx' has put together some great images which compare real-life structures with some in-game locations. From the below image we can see that Warhorse did a fantastic job recreating houses, castles, towns and churches.

It really is awesome when a developer recreates real-life structures into a playable world, in this case though I can't help to wonder how much better some of these structures would look if Warhorse kept the same lightening system that was displayed in the beta. I guess we will never know, maybe a mod of some sort (if it can be implemented) would help splice some things up.

There has been some speculation circling some forums about a Nintendo Direct being held this week, within this speculation there has been some hints towards a Super Smash Bros title being announced for the Nintendo Switch.

From here on out is just speculation as there has been no official confirmation from Nintendo for a Direct. On the Resetera forums/Nintendo Switch subreddit I came across an update for Super Mario Odyssey that will be made live tomorrow, Nintendo suggests something called "Ballon World" will release as well as "a range of new outfits and Snapshot filters."

This announcement from Nintendo has caused speculation in the forums that the company will actually be holding a Nintendo Direct tomorrow, the reasons for the speculation follow as such: Nintendo Direct Mini was held on a Thursday, Nintendo Switch Online in September and Super Smash Bros has been is rumored to be coming to the Nintendo Switch this year.

Epic Games is making some big changes to Fortnite, with the upcoming v3.0.0 update offering improvements to building, and so much more.

The developer wrote on their website: "We're always hammering away at building and working through ways to improve feel. Our new features (in v.3.0.0) allow you to both be in the heat of battle and still craft that clutch set of stairs!"

Fortnite v3.0.0 changes:

Ubisoft has its own R&D division that's experimenting with tech like AI and blockchain in an effort to enhance its games.

Similar to Electronic Arts' SEED division, Ubisoft's Strategic Innovation Lab is devoted to finding new ways to leverage fledgling and next-generation technologies and meld them with its video games. The lab itself is currently looking at AI, which it's already used in Star Trek: Bridge Crew, as well as blockchain, which it hopes can one day use to bring a new sense of engagement via truly unique in-game rewards and collectibles.

With blockchain, gamers will "finally have real digital collectibles that cannot be replicated by anyone and can be 100 percent owned by you," the division's Lidwine Sauer told IGN in a recent interview. "Thanks to the blockchain, we can now have the equivalent of a digital Picasso, with the advantage that it's a lot more difficult to steal something on the blockchain than to steal a Picasso."

The Nintendo Switch is reportedly getting a Super Smash Bros. game (finally!), but it could just be a port.

As a Switch owner I'm eager to play Super Smash Bros. on-the-go with a friend, or random people I meet out and about. The Switch is an amazing machine for native engagement and a great way to break the ice or make new friends--or, in SSB's case, enemies--and I feel there's some games that are just missing. This includes Super Smash Bros. and Mario Party, both of which may actually release this year.

According to well-trusted Nintendo insider Emily Rogers, the Switch is getting a Super Smash Bros. game sometime in 2018. "Unfortunately, I don't have enough information to speculate whether Smash Bros will be branded/marketed as a "deluxe definitive edition port", a "half-sequel" or a "full sequel," Rogers said in a post on gaming forum ResetEra. She goes on to say that only two things are really confirmed to her: a SSB game will be revealed and released in 2018, and the game will feature new content and re-vamped existing Wii U/3DS content.

Overkill confirms that Payday 2's port on Nintendo Switch is based on an old flavor of the game, not the latest PC (or console version) for that matter.

Following a big hoopla on Reddit over reports that Payday 2's Switch version is actually quite old, Starbreeze Studios (the parent company for Payday dev Overkill) admits the game will ship with outdated content...but the studio plans to update the game over time.

"Payday 2 is releasing on Switch with content up to and including the 'Most Wanted' update, which is equivalent to the content released through mid-2017 on PC. PS4 and Xbox One received one additional update after that, the 'Master Plan' update, which released near the end of 2017. "So Switch is one update behind other consoles, which are slightly behind PC,"Starbreeze said in a statement to Polygon.

Chasing the lucrative service game tail, Konami has monetized Metal Gear Survive in lots of different ways--including making gamers pay cash to unlock extra save files.

Like most online live service games Metal Gear Survive has an in-game currency that's used to "increase the productivity of Exploration Teams, increase food production and boost other features in the game." This currency, or SV coins, is Konami's main monetization point for the online-based tactical shooter, and the cost ranges anywhere from $0.99 for 100 coins to $50 for 60,020 coins.

But apparently bandwidth is at a premium (or Konami wants to maximize returns in key areas, which is more likely) as the publisher is charging players extra money to unlock additional save files. Metal Gear Survive has a max of four save files, but the game only let's you save one playthrough by default; if you ever want to start over you'll have to buy an extra save slot a la carte for 1,000 SV or about $10, or 1/4th of the game's MSRP.

In December, Rime developer promised that some of the main problems that the Nintendo Switch port faced were going to be fixed, Rime has now had its Nintendo Switch port updated.

Developer Grey Box has come through with their promise they made back in December 2017, the developer said that they would be fixing the problems that the Nintendo Switch port of Rime faced. A video has been released by Direct-Feed Games showing the original game before the patch and the game after the patch was received.

Clearly from the video you can see that there has been major improvements in the terms of visual fidelity, color, contrasting, shadows and of course frame-rate.