Gaming - Page 919

Somehow, some way, Capcom has endorsed a reprinted cartridge of its most popular franchise that can send your Super Nintendo up in flames. And yes, it gets worse: these special edition cartridges are being sold for $100.

Nostalgia peddler iam8bit is selling a special edition Street Fighter II SNES cartridge for $100 to celebrate the franchise's 30th anniversary, and like everyone else, I was pretty excited about this--after all what's old is new again and retro gaming is a lucrative market to re-tap. Although the listing clearly shows the cartridge in a Super Nintendo, it warns that the "ultra premium throwback relic" actually poses a potential fire risk, and Capcom literally has no guarantee the cartridge is safe to use. No, really--iam8bit and Capcom are selling a product for $100 that can burn up your beloved childhood console.

"WARNING: Use of this reproduction game cartridge (the "Product") on the SNES gaming hardware may cause the SNES console to overheat or catch fire. The SNES hardware is deemed a vintage collectible, so please exercise extreme caution when using the Product and make sure there is fire extinguishment equipment nearby. Use of the Product is at the sole risk of the user," reads the warning section at the very bottom of the page. It goes on to say that if the reprinted cartridge causes damage, bodily or otherwise, they're simply not responsible because the magical words say so.

In 2015, we had the pleasure to experience Fatshark's 4 player co-op action-shooter, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide. Today saw the announcement of a sequel for the Left 4 Dead-Warhammer love child, Warhammer: Vermintide 2.

Not much information is available, except that a full reveal is stated for October 17. There's one thing you can expect from Vermintide's sequel, Ratmen, lots and lots of Ratmen.

Other than some beautiful screenshots, the official Warhammer: Vermintide 2 steam page states-

Yu Suzuki, the creator of the beloved Shenmue franchise, affirms that the massively anticipated third chapter will be instantly recognizable to old longtime fans.

Playing Shenmue III will be like slipping on a familiar glove that fits like a charm--at least that's the drift of Yu Suzuki's affirmations. In a recent interview with Metro, Mr. Suzuki said the upcoming RPG, which has been delayed to 2018, will be quite similar to the original games.

"The style of game will be very similar to the original, but we will of course be adding some new features as well. The style of control from the original game is one thing that will be updated, but that is natural given modern controllers and the advance of that type of technology," Mr. Suzuki said in the interview.

Destiny 2's first expansion will release in December, three months after the game's launch on consoles, and will focus on Osiris, sources have told Kotaku's Jason Schreier.

Sources familiar with Destiny 2's plans tell Mr. Schreier that the first expansion, due out in December, will focus on Osiris, an ex-Guardian warlock who started a cult on Mercury. A new patrol zone will be added on Mercury, sources say, along with a new social space in Destiny 1's mystical Lighthouse area. The expansion will be part of Destiny 2's $30 Expansion Pass, which grants access to two different expansions and additional content. It's unclear if Destiny 2's expansions will lock non-purchasers out of original content by rotating to expansion-only content, as Activision and Bungie did in the first game.

The news comes months after Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg promised Destiny 2 would feature a steady stream of updates and new content in an attempt to engage its expected millions-strong playerbase. The publisher has conscripted many additional developers such as Vicarious Visions to work on post-release content and expansions to ensure a "robust pipeline of content" for Destiny 2 can be consumed by players.

Rare mimics Microsoft's focus on accessibility and widespread gaming with Sea of Thieves, ensuring that gamers of all walks of life and hardware persuasions can jump into the game.

Sea of Thieves will be quite accessible on lower-end PC hardware, Rare has recently revealed. In fact, the game will even support sub-HD resolutions with a 540p option for PC gamers rocking older hardware, as well as an 15FPS lock for outdated builds. While the developers are Rare have yet to reveal a full minimum and recommended spec list, the team says they want to go as low as possible to reach the widest player pool, but of course one mandate isn't optional--you'll need Windows 10 to play the game on PC.

"We've actually added a 540p mode, so you can go below HD," Sea of Thieves executive producer Joe Neat told PC Gamer. "We've also added a 15 fps framerate lock because when we were talking to the community some people were like: I'm actually happy playing 15 frames per second. We were like: that's actually really cool, we should support that. And to them go to them and say, oh, we've added that mode for you-it's below our Rare certified min spec, but if you're enjoying the game, why should we as developers knock you for that?"

Overwatch fans today were treated to a new patch update, and boy is it packed full of goodies including new game modes, new map, hero changes and previously reported changes to season 6 of competitive play.

Two new game modes have been added to the Overwatch Arcade, Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. Deathmatch sees eight players go head-to-head until one player scores 20 points. Simple, right? Not exactly, a death will deduct a point while landing the final hit and earning a kill on an opponent will earn you a point.

Team Deathmatch is essentially the same concept, with two teams of four players face off until one team scores 30 points. There is a slight twist however, if a player selects Mercy and a resurrection occurs before the respawn, a point will be deducted from the other team's score. Making Mercy a valuable inclusion to your team.

As majority of Blizzard's game catalog all use Blizzard's Global Play region splitting, it comes as no surprise that Bungie's upcoming Destiny 2 will also utilize Global Play as it's exclusively available via Battle.net.

For those unfamiliar with this, you will still have the ability to select your desired region to play in, however you will only be able to play with other players who are in the same region. This also affects who appears in your Friend List and Clan Roster, as players cannot join games or activities from players in other regions.

"When players launch Destiny 2 from the Blizzard desktop application, they will have the option to select their region of play. If the player takes no action to change their region, it will match the default region of the player's Blizzard account." As quoted from Blizzard's help article.

Last week saw the release of Codemasters' F1 2017 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, however there's no plans to add VR support to their 2017 edition on any platform. "We've certainly given a lot of consideration to VR," creative director Lee Mather tells GamesIndustry.biz. "As you know, Codemasters did VR for Dirt Rally and we're certainly interested in doing it for Formula One".

Mather preferred to focus on a slightly different direction, focusing on high-end consoles that are starting to populate the market. Stating that "improvements for the premium consoles will benefit the standard versions for earlier models. Obviously we've done a lot of work [this year] on the render tech for those two consoles, but that sort of filters down for the whole range," Mather explains. "This year, we've upped the resolution on Xbox One - last year, it wasn't quite 1080p and now it's full 1080p, 60 frames per second. PS4, PS4 Pro and Xbox One S will have HDR support as well".

Lee also confirmed that F1 2017 will support both the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. As for the Nintendo Switch- "Obviously we've been watching how the Switch is performing and it's selling really well," says Mather. "It probably wouldn't be suitable to have exactly the same game we have running on Xbox One and PS4, but there's certainly the possibility we'll look at doing something on Switch. We'll see what happens in future. It's certainly getting the market share to make it a valid place to be."

The whole battle royale game format isn't that new, but with the massive unstoppable success of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise that GTA Online's latest update adds a new battle royale game mode.

The new "Smuggler's Run" update for GTA Online includes a new mode called "Motor War" which is a battle royale take on the game. It has the same gameplay mechanics from battle royale games, with players split into four teams that parachute out of an plane... hey, this is sounding very familiar.

From there, there's a giant box that shrinks slowly, with players needing to find weapons, explosives and vehicles to get out of the way of the box and kill other players. GTA Online + PUBG? The fight for Steam dominance and gamers' hearts has only just begun.

We all know a future where self-driving cars deliver you pizza isn't far away, but now Domino's and Ford have an announcement that provides that future sooner, rather than later.

In a joint press release, the two companies said that they are working together on delivering fresh-from-the-oven pizzas using Ford's own self-driving Fusion test vehicles. Ann Arbor, Michigan is the first testing ground for self-driving pizza deliveries, letting customers track their hot pizza from the store to their front door using GPS and a modified version of Domino's Tracker.

Hungry customers will get a text once the self-driving car is out the front, with a unique code just for their order that will open up Domino's Heatwave Compartment, and inside of that compartment, will be their hot pizza.

4A Games, the developers behind the acclaimed Metro series of games, promises that its upcoming open-world Metro Exodus title will be a work of art on Microsoft's new high-end $499 Xbox One X console.

While PC gaming utterly dominates consoles in terms of quality and performance, it's still quite impressive to see Microsoft reinvent the console segment with its new 4K-ready Xbox One X system; in fact, the console has actually carved out a new console tier I'd like to call the "enthusiast console" or "high-end console" platform. Metro games are known for practically melting the most demanding GPUs on the market with demanding in-game performance, but 4A Games hints the Xbox One X will hold its own and provide "amazing" visuals in the new Metro Exodus game.

"The power of the Xbox One X will allow to ensure the game looks amazing," 4A Games Executive Producer Jonathan Bloch told OXM in a recent interview. Mr. Bloch confirms that Metro Exodus' stunning E3 2017 announcement trailer was indeed in-engine footage captured on an Xbox One X system. "The trailer was recorded in-engine from a gameplay sequence players will find later on in the game. We removed things like HUD/Quick Time Events prompts, and we choreographed the playthrough and music to fit the needs of the trailer, but the game looks like what you see."

Microsoft is throwing open the doors for cross-play initiatives and says it's willing to work with Sony, Nintendo and even Valve to unite multiplayer gaming...but the company's appeals may largely fall on deaf ears.

Since the Xbox brand is no longer console-based but now a service that bridges both Windows 10-powered PCs and Xbox One consoles, Microsoft is in a strategic position to gain the most from cross-play multiplayer. This paradigm shift has many layers of tactical advantage, and is the main reason why the company is so strongly embracing cross-play--I have no doubt key executives, who are gamers, want to see platforms united for the good of consumers, but the good of the company comes first. I've highlighted many reasons why Sony is avoiding cross-play, and none of them have to do with being a villain or stifling player fun. Sony is simply putting the PlayStation 4 as the nexus of its entertainment ecosystem, and exclusivity has paid off big time so far.

In a recent interview with VG247, Xbox division VP Mike Ybarra affirmed this cross-play push is about unifying gamers so they can enjoy experiences with their friends, even if they own different systems. "It's more about gamer choice, more about making an IP on our platform last longer. I don't care about where they play, I just want people to have fun playing games because that's just better for the industry," Mr. Ybarra said.

Retailer Target has officially confirmed the "Bethesda: Game of Thrones" listing was an error, and that the game isn't real.

A bit ago we reported on a suspect listing on Target's website that had "Bethesda", the developer of landmark RPGs like Skyrim and Fallout 4, alongside Game of Thrones, the mega-popular fantasy series that just concluded its seventh season. Of course everyone thought this meant Bethesda Game Studios was adapting Game of Thrones into an epic sprawling open-world RPG...but alas gamers, and countless games media outlets, were wrong.

"This is not a real product - we're sorry for any confusion," an official Target spokesperson told Forbes in a statement. The erroneous listing has been scrubbed from the retailer's website.

Bethesda's Creation Club on-demand paid DLC service just went live in Fallout 4 on PC, giving players an idea of how much real-world money they'll have to shell out to purchase extra in-game content.

I've been quite vocal for my support of Bethesda's Creation Club infrastructure; on paper it's a great plan to add a recurring revenue stream to Bethesda Game Studios' massively iconic franchises to ensure long-term earnings. After all, in today's industry landscape, full game sales aren't enough and studios are focusing on integrating microtransactions, DLC, and other such lucrative strategies into their games. Creation Club is essentially Bethesda's take on microtransactions, but solidified into a platform nestled into its Bethesda.net framework and leveraging the modding scene that its games are known for.

That being said, Creation Club is likely off to a rocky start. The service, which lives alongside free mods as an optional storefront that peddles one-time purchases of extra content for credits that are bought with real-money, only has a small offering of content available for Fallout 4. The service will offer content to both Fallout 4 and Skyrim across PS4, Xbox One and PC. The pricing scheme is also a reason for concern.

With news that the much anticipated Rainbow Six: Siege expansion, Operation Blood Orchid was delayed until September 6, Ubisoft also recently released some information regarding map pool changes to Ranked and Casual playlist changes in their recent Dev Blog- Data Cleanup: Map Changes.

Ubisoft have decided to reduce the total maps available in Ranked mode. Ranked mode map pool will mimic that of the competitive Pro League map pool, this will allow players to hone their skills in the most competitive environment available.

Below is the maps available for Ranked mode.

Microsoft has been hyping the hell out of the upcoming 4K-capable Xbox One X console, but the company has just ninja'd its Xbox One - killing it, and continuing to push Xbox One S and the upcoming Xbox One X.

Can you believe that Microsoft released the original Xbox One back in 2013, but then the new and improved Xbox One S last year which was 40% smaller than the original Xbox One. At the time, Microsoft explained: "With a fresh new design and "robot white" color, the Xbox One S is 40 percent smaller than the original Xbox One, creating the most compact Xbox yet. It also includes a built-in power supply, and in response to fan requests worldwide, can be placed horizontally or vertically with an optional stand".

The upcoming Xbox One X console is the best yet, packing 12GB of GDDR5 memory, a GPU capable of 6 TFLOPs of performance, and 320GB/sec of memory bandwidth. This means it's about as fast as a lower/mid-range PC, with Project Scorpio detailed as: "Project Scorpio will be the first console with 6 teraflops of power, which will empower the world's greatest game creators to fully embrace true 4K gaming without sacrificing quality, generate premier VR experiences, without sacrificing performance, and putting greater graphic fidelity in the hands of the world's best game creators".

Half-Life 3 will never see the light of day, but I'm only saying that because if I put it into writing hopefully it will see the light of day, but plenty of gamers are now angry at Valve over Dota 2, blaming the game for killing Half-Life 3.

PCGamesN noticed Dota 2 reviews on Steam blaming the game for killing Half-Life 3, with some of these negative comments standing out: "Dota killed Half-Life 3. Nuff said". Then there's "HL3 died for this" and "This game is derivative trash, bring back real story driven FPS games, which are the reason you are here". How about "Newell ♥♥♥♥ you (please dont delete my steam account)" or "Valve is a blood sucking company that doesn't care about it's User's [sic] and refuses to make Half-Life 3". There is one gamer who wants L4D3, though: "I really don't care about Half Life 3, but you know, making Left 4 Dead 3 would be pretty nice".

PUBG might be the biggest PC game right now, but I have this sneaking suspicion that we're close to a new Half-Life announcement with all of this news of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 being teased in Unreal Engine 4, and other Half-Life related news. I don't want to be positive as I'm a realist... and I think that's because I'm protecting the amazing memories that I have of Half-Life 3 and don't want them destroyed.

Taking place this Friday and Saturday (1-2 September), PAX Australia organizers today announced a surprise pop-up event that will give the public a preview of their main event, PAX Australia 2017 that will take place October 27-29 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

PAX Australia's pop-up event takes place in Federation Square and is open and free to the public. Featuring a massive screen, this pop-up event that will allow gamers to play some of the latest games, win multiple prizes including PAX Australia 3-Day badges, admire or dress in cosplay and enjoy a Friday night concert featuring local Melbourne bands. Tabletop fans will not be disappointed, as they can battle in giant Jenga, Connect Four and other board games.

"Before the PAX mothership descends upon Melbourne this October, we're very excited to offer a snack-sized PAX at Fed Square on 1-2 September," said Luke Lancaster, PAX Aus Content Manager at ReedPOP. "Come hang out, play games, win prizes, enjoy the concerts and surround yourself with the amazing PAX community".

One of the biggest reveals of Gamescom 2017 was Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition, a beast that will push gaming PCs to their limits when it arrives in early 2018, mostly because NVIDIA partnered with Square Enix on the PC side of things.

Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition will feature massive PC enhancements over the console version of the game, including 4K textures, as well as a bunch of NVIDIA technology like HFTS, VXAO, Turf, Flow, and HairWorks. But during an interview with PC Gamer, Game Director Hajime Tabata said that even the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti won't be enough to run Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition at 4K 60FPS.

Tabata said: "Supporting 60fps will be possible, but considering the spec you'd need to get that level-with native 4K, HDR, and a good 60fps-the machine we've got here couldn't do that at the moment. That's a GTX 1080 Ti, and even with that 60 frames is not possible".

Retailer Target has a curious listing for "Bethesda: Game of Thrones" that has the gaming world buzzing.

Bethesda Games Studios, who is known for its staggering open-world RPGs in the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls franchise, may be making a Game of Thrones video game. After the abysmal first Game of Thrones console game, the series skipped a mainline RPG release and has stuck to quicker and smaller properties like the Telltale series of games. This new listing may indicate that BGS is currently developing a Game of Thrones game that may be revealed soon. Bethesda may also publish the game--if it is a video game.

The listing is in Target's BMMV category, which includes video games, board games, game-related figures like amiibos and more, so there's no guarantee the listing is for a video game--it could just as easily be for a board game. Also remember this listing could simply be an error (which is increasingly likely.)