Gaming - Page 955

Nintendo's new handheld-console Switch hybrid is selling like hotcakes in its native land.

Japanese gamers absolutely love mobile and handheld gaming, so it's no surprise Nintendo's new Switch system is enjoying explosive sales momentum in the Land of the Rising Sun. Since the Nintendo Switch combines a trifecta of today's most popular platforms into one device--handheld, console and even mobile gaming with its 10-point capacitive touchscreen--the device has amazing potential to tap the industry's most lucrative sectors.

As we reported months before the Switch's release, the console-handheld hybrid appeals to Japan's juggernaut gaming presence: smartphone gaming.

Cyberpunk 2077 is the biggest game CD Projekt RED has ever tackled. The Polish games juggernaut has several hundred people working on Cyberpunk 2077 right now, and intensive development is underway. But when will we get a release window?

Considering how much effort CDPR is putting into Cyberpunk 2077, it's pretty obvious we won't get a release date--or even a release window--this year. 2017 belongs to a different game: the company's new multi-platform card game, Gwent, which is a strategic release to help bolster revenue and profits in between CD Projekt RED's major triple-A game releases.

"The project is very ambitious," CDPR President Adam Kicinski said about Cyberpunk 2077 during the company's 2016 year financial earnings conference. "You're able to see in our presentation how each game is more successful than the previous one. So the ambitions are very voracious. We would like to devote a lot of attention to Cyberpunk, a lot of efforts over quite some time. But we still need some time for the game to be ready. The Work is ongoing and it's very intense. We know what it's like, we watched the game, but we can't tell you anything. This year will belong to Gwent. This year we will be communicating Gwent."

Destiny 2 is officially coming to PC for the first time, and now we have a fresh batch of story details to fill you in on Bungie's upcoming online FPS sequel.

We know that Destiny 2 will be a complete fresh start for gamers, and none of your old characters, loot or content will transfer over. The storyline will also be a fresh start, and focuses on the fall of the Guardian's Tower and the Last City in the solar system. Activision has released a new fact sheet for Destiny 2 which reveals a slew of new info about the game.

The fact sheet promises that Destiny 2 will have a "dramatic, cinematic, compelling, and immersive story and fresh beginning" for all players, along with "relataable characters,." These sentiments echo Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg's promises of "great new stories and characters."

Bungie just dropped Destiny 2's reveal trailer, confirming a PC release on September 8 and a ton of plot points. Now you can take the hype one step further with a slew of screenshots.

So what do we know about Destiny 2? The game will be set in the solar system, and revolves around the Last City being sacked by Ghaul, a fearsome Cabal overlord who reigns over the Red Legion. The Last City in the solar system has fallen, and the Tower has crumbled. Guardians will spend every last gleam of their Light fighting for their home, and both Activision and Bungie promise a "fresh start" story filled with "great characters and new features."

Pre-orders are now up for all platforms, and grabbing a pre-order will lock you in for the upcoming beta test. An open beta test will be held this summer. Bungie will showcase gameplay on May 18

Bungie just released Destiny 2's official reveal trailer, confirming a PC release alongside PS4 and Xbox One on September 8. Now Activision has wasted no time talking up the sequel, promising some pretty hefty additions to the MMO-like FPS.

According to Activision CEO eric Hirshberg, Destiny 2 will deliver quite a few welcome changes that hopefully take fan feedback into consideration. We'll see improvements in story, characters, and "thoughtful innovations" that aim to get as many gamers into the fray as possible.

"Destiny was the biggest launch of a new console video game franchise ever. Along with our incredibly talented partners at Bungie, we are focusing on making Destiny 2 even better, with state of the art first person action, an awesome new story, great characters, and thoughtful innovations that make the game more accessible to all different kinds of players," Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg said in a recent press release.

Bungie made good on their promise and dropped a reveal trailer for Destiny 2 and we finally get a confirmation of a PC release.

Destiny 2's launch trailer confirmed two things about the recent leaks: a September 8 release date, and the siege on the Guardians' home. But what about a PC release date? In pure cryptic Bungie fashion, the devs decided not to confirm platforms just yet...but the game's official pre-order page shows PC among PS4 and Xbox One platforms.

Of course, no official gameplay footage was shown off, and pre-orders have already opened up for four different versions of the game across all platforms. Destiny 2 will have a standard edition for $59.99, an expansion pass+base game edition for $89.99, a digital deluxe edition for $99, a limited edition for $99, and a collector's edition for a whopping $249.99 (which is the price of a base PS4 slim).

Ubisoft is continuing to tweak and work on Watch Dogs 2, with a new update arriving this month that will add a PvP 2v2 team mode called Showdown, but there's also a new drone, motocross, eKart rates, and more coming into the multiplayer world of the game.

The company has officially unveiled the new Watch Dogs 2 content roadmap for 2017, with April, May, and June seeing free content released - with Ubisoft teasing "support for a 4-player party to explore the city and play activities together". There is a new paid DLC pack called 'No Compromise' which drops on the PS4 in April, while PC and Xbox One gamers will have to wait until May. No Compromise features a new DedSec Operation called Moscow Gambit, 6 new single player race time trials, new clothing sets with police, fireman, and paramedic uniforms - each with their own "unique behaviors", and finally - 2 new non-lethal weapons with the air shotgun and sniper stun rifle.

Watch Dogs 2's free content for April on all platforms includes Showdown, a new PvP team-based online mode. There'll also be some fun for multiplayer with MotoCross, eKart and drone races now throwing your friends into the mix. There'll also be a new 'Armored Truck Feature' for both single player and cooperative modes, a new non-lethal paintball rifle, and 13 new clothing items.

The original Tomb Raider movies starred Angelina Jolie, but the new reboot is being filmed in South Africa right now, starring Oscar winner Alicia Vikander.

Crystal Dynamics' reboot of the Tomb Raider game took place in 2013, with its successor Rise of the Tomb Raider released last year - and now the new Tomb Raider movie, which will reportedly take more from the plot of the two new games. Norweigan director Roar Uthaug has promised that Tomb Raider is more of a human tale, mixed with lots of live action stunts.

During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Tomb Raider was explained as "seven years after the disappearance of her father, 21-year-old Lara has refused to take the reins of his global business empire, instead working as a bike courier in London while taking college classes. Eventually she becomes inspired to investigate her father's disappearance and travels to his last-known location: a tomb on an island somewhere off the coast of Japan".

Zelda: Breath of the Wild is absolutely one of the best games I've ever played, and easily in 2017's top games so far. I'm utterly enchanted with the wide open world of Hyrule, and Nintendo proves that they can indeed make an amazing system-seller, and the game even redefines the open-world genre as a whole. Interestingly enough, the devs put more emphasis on performance rather than visuals. And that says quite a bit since the game is still quite beautiful.

With Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo chose to put their strongest focus on delivering consistent responsiveness and performance in their vast and technical open world. Amazing graphics and visual flair came second to ensuring gamers had a stable environment to play in, and given the complexity of its physics system alone, this is no small feat. Despite putting visuals on the back burner, the game is absolutely beautiful at times. Could you imagine how incredible it'd look if art and graphics were a top priority?

"As the team responsible for the design and art, of course we wanted to deliver beautiful and realistic visuals, but what we fixated on most was designing the visuals so that they matched the features of the game and facilitated comfortable play for the user," Technical director Takuhiro Dohta said in a recent Nintendo video.

Bungie has officially confirmed Destiny 2 with a reveal trailer, and once again in-game content will be locked to PS4 owners for a full year.

Destiny was notorious for its timed exclusivity deals, which gave PS4 owners access to weapons, strikes, and other content that was gated off to Xbox players for a full year. Surprising no one, that trend will continue with Destiny 2, indicating Activision's multi-year deal with Sony is still strong as ever. Remember that Destiny 2 should launch on PC, so this timed exclusivity will now lock out a new platform of gamers from content.

"Get exclusive Destiny 2 content on PS4. Timed exclusive content until at least Fall 2018. More details to come this summer," reads Sony's Destiny 2 reveal trailer.

Bungie and Activision have dropped an official teaser trailer for Destiny 2, confirming a plotline that was gleaned by recently leaked promo posters.

Destiny 2 will revolve around an invasion on The Last City on Earth. I've always said we should go to the Last City and meet the people who we're fighting for, and now I'll get my wish...of course the city itself will be annihilated and destroyed by incoming waves of Cabal monstrosities. The Vanguard defends the city--including Cayde-6 and Zavala--and we get our first glimpse at a dual fire-sword wielding baddie. Lance Reddick will reprise his role as Zavala, and Nathan Fillion will also play Cayde-6 this time around.

The Cabal have been up to something mysterious, and Destiny 2 will show us exactly what those space gladiators have uncovered. Remember that the Cabal sent off a message to their colossal interstellar Empire in The Taken King. This message probably triggered the invasion and sacking of The Last City. Also there's speculation that Lysander has joined up with the Cabal and is leading rogue Guardians to strike the Last City as well.

Back in the day, I was obsessed with full-motion video (FMV) games - so much so that Under a Killing Moon was a must have purchase for me at the time. Games like Night Trap and Ground Zero Texas on my Sega Mega CD were amazing to me, as they blurred the worlds of cheesy Hollywood video, with a video game.

Now, Wales Interactive is teasing their new 'cinematic FMV crime thriller' game Late Shift, coming to the PC, Xbox One and PS4 on April 18. Late Shift gives gamers the opportunity to change the path of the game from the very start, through to the end - with 7 different endings available, depending on your actions throughout the game.

Late Shift will feature:

2K has just released a new, free playable demo of Mafia 3 - something that lets gamers play through the entire first act of the game. Better yet, you can bring over your progress into the full game, if you wish to buy it - with 2K releasing a new pack of DLC, and offering 50% discount.

Mafia 3's first paid DLC is called 'Faster, Baby!' and is available now with new narrative, and Sinclair Parish - the town west of the Bayou where Lincoln teams with Roxy Laveau, in order to take down Sheriff "Slim" Beaumont. There are new driving and combat mechanics that Lincoln has, as well as new weapons and vehicles for his fleet.

There are also two more DLC packs coming for Mafia 3, with 'Stones Unturned' and 'Sign of the Times' coming out in the Summer. 2K is also throwing a huge 50% discount on Mafia 3 right now, something that runs through until April 17, including both the regular version of the game and the Deluxe Edition - which includes the Season Pass to all the DLC.

The more we report on Final Fantasy VII: Remake, the more it continues to shift away from the legendary PS1 classic. The action-based remake will feature tons of new mechanics and features that just weren't possible back in the 90s, including dynamically destructible environments and much more.

We've known for a while now that the Final Fantasy VII: Remake has entirely action-based combat like Devil May Cry or Final Fantasy 15 instead of the original's turn-based combat. Now game director Tetsuya Nomura reveals battles have a splash of tactical strategy mixed with the action, and how combat carnage will affect environments.

"Map and object destruction will also happen, and there are part-based destruction elements like breaking the Guard Scorpion's legs," Nomura confirmed in a recent interview with Famitsu.

Square Enix today confirmed that new users can play Final Fantasy 14 for free for an unlimited length of time.

Final Fantasy 14 is absolutely one of the best MMORPGs I've ever played; it's a shining gem in a sea of free to play mediocrity, and Square Enix's dedication to the game is incredible. In the spirit of attracting new players and giving back to the community, the publisher has removed the two week play restriction on FF14's free trial.

"We are pleased to announce that the 14-day limitation on the Free Trial has been removed and the adventure can continue for as long as you want!" the publisher announced in a Lodestone post. "Additionally, users who participated in the Free Trial but never upgraded to the full game will be able to continue where they left off with their account."

Nintendo's new Switch handheld-console hybrid is pretty much sold out wherever you go, and Gamestop is particularly worried that the Japanese console-maker can't keep up with the demand.

The Nintendo Switch sold 1.5 million units in its first week, almost hitting the company's 2 million monthly sales forecast in seven days time. In order to keep up with the staggering demand, Nintendo has ordered 16 million Switch consoles to be made in 2017, doubling its initial 8 million manufacturing plan. Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima even suggests the company expects the Switch to outsell the Wii's 110 million lifetime sales.

But despite all these efforts, games retailer giant Gamestop is worried that Nintendo simply can't ship enough consoles to stores. "There's a lot of excitement about the Switch, but there's also a lot of caution," GameStop exec Paul Raines told investors. "We're very cautious simply because of limited allocation. We don't really have an aggressive forecast built-in for the Switch. We've learned with Nintendo not to do that."

UPDATE: Warner Bros. has confirmed that "players who purchase Lego City Undercover on Nintendo Switch at retail do not need to download the game to play."

The publisher didn't explain why the game's box says an internet connection is required, nor did they comment on the "13GB storage required for downloads" section on the box.

Original story is as follows.

Nintendo is expecting to sell 110 million Switch consoles over its lifetime, with 20 million of those expected in the first 12 months - and now Nintendo of America President and COO, Reggie Fils-Aime, has appeared on Fox News to talk up the Switch.

Nintendo has already sold 1.5 million units, with myself and Derek being two of those 1.5 million, but Nintendo is breaking records in the US with the Switch - even up against sales champions like the Wii, and DS/3DS. Fils-Aime said: "The reaction to Nintendo Switch has been remarkable. Every day we're setting new records from a US perspective, meaning, you know, today I can look back and see how I compare to the launch of the Wii or the Nintendo DS or the Nintendo 3DS, and I'm setting sales records every day with the Nintendo Switch".

He continued: "The reaction has been fantastic. Consumers want it, I've been with industry peers, they're excited with what we're doing and hoping to drive the industry. I've seen the games, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, right now the fourth highest-rated game in the history of videogames. We've turned the industry on its ear and to do that, to be part of a company that has a reputation for doing it on a regular basis, has been tremendous".

Sony is preparing a new update for the PS4 Pro that will allow the Media Player to playback 4K content, with some other tweaks being thrown into the update for the PS4 Pro.

You can playback content from a USB stick or home server, like a PC or NAS, but 4K content will be allowed through PSVR as well. USB storage will need to be formatted, as the extended PS4 storage can only be used for saved games/apps - and can't be used to store or save videos. Sony adds: "For those of you that own a PlayStation VR system in addition to PS4 Pro, Media Player will also update to support playback of 4K VR video content".

Sony continues: "PS VR's display resolution is 1920 x RGB x 1080, therefore 4K VR videos will be displayed in a higher image quality compared to HD VR videos. Capture stunning 360 degree 4K footage, and then immerse yourself in that footage in VR at home - just as if you're right back in the scene you shot".

While I've pumped in excess of 50 hours into my Switch playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it comes as no surprise to me that Nintendo expects big sales from their new Switch console.

According to Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima, who says he expects total Switch sales to reach 110 million units, with 20 million units expected to ship in the first year. Taiwan-based supply chain makers have a "conservative estimate" of at least 10 million Switch consoles shipping.

DigiTimes reports: "Nintendo released the Switch in March 2017 and the game console enjoyed over one million units of sales in the first week after the release. Nintendo president Kimishima Tatsumi also recently said that he expects Switch's overall sales to reach 110 million units".