Gaming - Page 977

id Software recently dropped Denuvo's anti-tamper technology from DOOM after its initial launch period, and now Crytek has removed Denuvo's technology from its VR title, The Climb.

Crytek hasn't said why it removed the anti-tamper technology, but it's the third game that has had the tech removed - the other two being DOOM and Inside. The launch window for The Climb has come and gone, so maybe Crytek thought it was a good time to remove Denuvo's anti-tamper technology, or maybe get into the headlines in a positive light after reports that the company aren't paying their staff... and haven't for months.

Unity has announced that the beta version of their new Unity Engine has support for the fresh Vulkan API, something that starts with Unity 5.6 beta - allowing Personal Edition users to even jump in and use Vulkan.

Vulkan is allowing rendering performance leaps of up to 60% out of the box, without having to dive into the deep ocean that is the Vulkan API. Unity adds: "Vulkan is a new generation graphics and compute API that provides high-efficiency, cross-platform access to modern GPUs on desktop and mobile platforms. It's designed to take advantage of multiple CPU cores by allowing multiple threads to run in parallel. This means increased speed with reduced driver overhead and CPU workload, leaving the CPU free to do additional computation or rendering".

Unity 5.6 beta also includes improvements to graphics, with Metal Compute, Particle System, and GPU Instancing all receiving some developer love. Unity also has future plans to add in new features into the next beta, something that will include a new Progressive Lightmapper for baked lightmaps that will provide fast iterations and predictable ETA.

Cloud Imperium Games is celebrating the holidays by showing off Star Citizen Alpha 2.6, where it teased a bunch of the game - except for Squadron 42, which was recently delayed from October, to 2017.

The team didn't show anything off from Squadron 42, instead there was plenty of advertising ship sales for the days leading up to Alpha 2.6, with the "all-ships" sale from the recent Anniversary stream returning, with discounts on a bunch of star-exploring ships. The first-person shooter module Star Marine had plenty to tease, but it wasn't much different to what the developer showed off last month.

Chris Roberts said in an email to backers: "After all the effort we expended for CitizenCon, we didn't want to spend additional developer time polishing intermediate solutions if it wasn't going towards the final product. A slick demo isn't that helpful if it pushes back the finished game, so we decided that the priority should be completing full systems over getting the vertical slice into a showable state".

Overwatch fans will want to know that Major League Gaming will broadcast its upcoming MLG Vegas tournament through YouTube, as well as its own EVE player on MLG.tv, with no confirmation of a Twitch stream being made available.

In previous MLG matches, the company has broadcast matches, news, and analysis on the official MLG YouTube page. Yahoo reports: "Earlier this year parent company Activision Blizzard announced that it was expanding its MLG.tv streaming platform through a partnership with Facebook, although there has been no confirmation that MLG Vegas will be streamed to the platform".

The upcoming major Overwatch tournament is on right now, with 8 teams competing for a $100,000 prize pool in Las Vegas.

id Software has removed Denuvo's anti-tamper technology from DOOM, but didn't mention it in DOOM's latest patch notes. The anti-temper tech was stopping gamers can using mods in DOOM, but that's no longer the case with the update 5 patch.

Denuvo said its anti-temper tech was removed from DOOM because it had done its job, protecting the game from piracy during its launch window. Denuvo's Robert Hernandez told Kotaku: "The simple reason why Denuvo Anti Tamper was removed from Doom was because it had accomplished its purpose by keeping the game safe from piracy during the initial sales window. The protection on Doom held up for nearly four months, which is an impressive accomplishment Hernandez for such a high-profile game".

The latest on DOOM is that AMD's next-gen Vega 10-based graphics card was running the game at 4K 60FPS+ on Ultra/Nightmare settings during their recent AMD Tech Summit 2016 in Sonoma, California.

Koei Tecmo today announced Dynasty Warriors 9, a new chapter to the landmark strategy fighting game.

Dynasty Warriors 9 was announced during Koei Tecmo's "Greatest Games Lineup in History" stream, with the game set to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Dynasty Warriors series. A platform or release date was not revealed, and we're not sure if the game will even cross over to the West.

Koei Tecmo promises that Dynasty Warriors 9 will be a "rebirth" for the series with major changes and overhauls, and will be set in an open-ended world this time around. Official details are slim, but we do know that Zhou Cang will be a new character in Dynasty Warriors 9.

If you've already beaten Final Fantasy 15's main game, you'll soon be able to blast through it a second time: the game's anticipated NewGame+ mode will drop on December 22.

Final Fantasy 15's first DLC pack drops next week, and includes two different Holiday Pack packages for free users and season pass owners alike. The free Holiday Pack features a new song, a unique a Level Stopper accessory which will cancel out all EXP gains (which is actually a nice touch if you feel like you're progressing too fast--or if you need a challenge), a new T-shirt, and tickets for the special January event. The Holiday Plus pack is exclusive to FF15 season pass holders and includes everything in the free Holiday Pack in addition to a bunch of accessories and items.

Read Also: Final Fantasy XV first impressions

Nintendo's new Super Mario Run mobile game is expected to rake in an impressive $60 million in its first month, but the company's actual investors aren't happy about the mobile game's business plan. This disapproval triggered a noticable slide in Nintendo's share prices, which dropped by 5% after the game's reveal.

Investors aren't too enthusiastic about Nintendo's current path: they hated the Switch handheld-and-console hybrid, and now they disapprove of Nintendo's business tactics surrounding its first-ever mobile game, Super Mario Run. Sky News reported that Nintendo's market shares dropped by 5% on Super Mario Run's release on Apple iOS devices, representing a staggering $2 billion in potential market value loss.

Nintendo's investors aren't keen on the company's "free to start" model, which allows mobile users to download the game for free in a limited trial capacity, then prompting users to pay $10 to unlock the full game. The biggest concern investors have is that most players may not actually convert over and buy the full game.

In a delightful twist of ironic events, Konami Europe's top brass has defected over to Hideo Kojima's new Kojima Productions dev team to work on Death Stranding.

Shinji Hirano, the ex-president Konami Europe, has crossed over to join forces with Hideo Kojima, Konami's estranged superstar and beloved creator of Metal Gear Solid series. The update was spotted on Hirano's updated LinkedIn profile. What's even more deliciously ironic is that Hirano now serves as acting president of Kojima Productions--a role he's well-suited for given his past experience spearheading Konami's European branch.

According to the Koalition, Hirano has been serving as KojimaPro's president for the last two months, joining the team in November 2016.

Nier Automata is headed for the PS4 in March 2017, and during a recent livestream it has been revealed that the game will run at 1600x900 on the PS4, while it'll run at 1920x1080 on the PS4 Pro - both at the glorious 60FPS (which should be a new minimum).

The action RPG will see an improved experience on the PS4 Pro, with better lighting, effects, higher resolution shadows, and more detail - but, there will be no 4K available, and I'm okay with that. I think 1080p at a locked 60FPS is better than 4K and up to 30FPS - and in a game like this, 60FPS is a big deal.

Nier Automata launches on the PS4 and PS4 Pro in March 2017, with a PC version promised - but there have been no more details released about the PC version just yet.

Nintendo's new Switch console-and-handheld hybrid may have variable GPU and CPU performance across its two different modes, portable on-the-go handheld mode and stationary docked console mode, with the latter providing extra processing power while hooked up to an active power source over USB Type-C.

Note: It's vital to realize that patents aren't 100% confirmations, and there's a chance that this information, specs, and embodiment details may not manifest in the finalized Nintendo Switch hardware.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office just published new Nintendo Switch patents that seem to corroborate past reports on the Switch's variable processing power. According to the patent, the Nintendo Switch's processing clock speeds are variable, and can be controlled by specific games, apps, and programs on the Switch tablet. So in essence, games and programs will control the CPU and GPU scaling, whereas the resolution is hardware-based.

Analysts predict Nintendo's new Super Mario Run mobile game will rake in an insane $60 million in its first month, with 30 million downloads.

Nintendo's first major push into mobile gaming has manifested in Super Mario Run, an ingeniously addicted smartphone game that can be played one-handed. Now that Super Mario Run is available on Apple iOS iPads and iPhones, analysts are eager to see how much cash the game can amass. Although the game is online-only and can suck down 75MB per hour of continuous play, is free-to-start and costs $10 to fully unlock, analysts predict smartphone owners will snap it up.

Research firm SuperDate predicts that Super Mario Run will pull up to $60 million in its first month of exclusive availability on iOS, with 30 million total downloads. Since the game costs $10 to fully unlock, the estimated conversion rate would be somewhere around 6 million sales in the first month. That number is expected to rise as Nintendo brings Super Mario Run over to Android.

Microsoft has just released a new Xbox One firmware update that will address slow download speeds, boosting transfers by up to 80% for gamers with higher internet speeds.

It's no secret that downloading and installing games on the Xbox One isn't too fast. Now Microsoft has rolled out firmware update 10.0.14393.2152 that can significantly pump up download speeds for users with high-end internet connections. The software actually updates the wireless controller's firmware to improve download speeds.

Interestingly enough, the update helps fast internet speeds the most: if you have a 100Mbps connection or higher, you can see a huge boost of up to 80% faster speeds. Gamers with connections less than 100Mbps, aka the majority of the entire Xbox LIVE framework, will only have their speeds boosted by up to 40%.

For Honor will have a closed beta that will kick off in January 2017, with Ubisoft set to throw a pre-launch limited time event that is being called War of the Factions. Just hours ago, we reported that you'll need an internet connection in For Honor, even for the single-player side of the game.

Ubisoft explains: "When the mighty Vikings, Samurai and Knights finally collide on the same battlefield... who will reign supreme? War of the Factions will track all multiplayer activity across all platforms in the closed beta launching January 2017. Rewards will be given to warriors participating in the beta as well as the winning faction".

Better yet, Eurogamer has said that future maps and modes will be free in For Honor, with Game Director Damien Kieken saying: "We don't want to split the community. So everything that's matchmade [including] new modes and new maps, will be given for free to the players. We'll also have other free content. We are a big team supporting the game after launch".

Ubisoft is pushing out the v1.08 update for Watch Dogs 2 later this week, which will pack new features, improvements, and more.

The new patch for Watch Dogs 2 will let gamers replay any mission that is contained in the Main Operation, where you can choose a difficulty level, new enemy weapons, and even a new Hacker Level. The v1.08 update includes adjustments to Hacking Invasions, improvements to leaderboards, shooting mechanics, and online co-op.

There are also performance improvements and increased stability, while we have PC-specific fixes as well.

Sony today announced another third-party "pro" PS4 controller called the Revolutionary Pro. Crafted by Nacon, the Revolutionary Pro aimed at eSports console gamers who want a better controller than the DualShock 4 with its janky hanging triggers.

The Revolutionary Pro retails for £89.99 (roughly $113) and features enhanced joysticks with 46-degree amplitude for advanced accuracy, two main modes including Pro Control and Advanced modes that optimize joystick sensitivity, an 8-way D-pad, customizable controller profiles, vastly improved triggers (the DualShock 4's floating triggers are horrible), a rubber coated surface, and a 3m braided cord that affords extra latency thanks to the PS4 and PS4 Pro's new firmware update that improves latency via wired USB controllers.

Interestingly enough, Nacon's "Pro" DualShock 4 can be customized in terms of weight. Users can easily adjust the weight of the controller with included weights, which are added--or removed--in the base handsets of the controller itself.

If you love Tekken like I do, then you're undoubtedly super excited for Tekken 7. The game looks so fluid and smooth, running at full 1080p 60FPS on the PS4, bringing a new level of pinpoint accuracy and targeted chaos for the series. Although the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2016 is over, Namco Bandai has just released two new bits of gameplay footage showing off Master Raven, Claudio, Bob and Paul Phoenix in action.

Even though I vastly prefer Tekken Tag's two-character tag-team action over traditional 1v1 Tekken, Namco's latest Tekken 7 has me pumped. Most of our favorite characters are back, with the major staples returning with some fancy new moves that synergize with all the crazy attacks we already know and love.

The two new matches show off best of five matches with two new characters: Claudio Serafino and Master Raven. Claudio faces off against Bob and Master Raven goes up against Paul Phoenix's hard-hitting combos, but oddly enough, the damage output seems to have been adjusted significantly for Tekken 7. Paul isn't pulling off his insane life-smashing attacks like he did in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Microsoft will soon start bundling specific drivers with Windows Store games, auto-installing the requisite drivers to improve performance when downloading and installing games on the Windows Store.

This new auto driver delivery system will be part of the new Windows Creator's Update coming in 2017, which is a massive new OS update that will bring a ton of new features for creators, gamers, and tighten up Universal Windows Platform (UWP) cross-platform apps, services and functionality.

The requisite game drivers will be automatically downloaded with all PC game downloads on the Windows Store, with Microsoft affirming that this will improve performance and stability of the games. Once the game is downloaded it will trigger Windows Update to acquire specific drivers. We're unsure whether or not users will be able to turn this feature off, especially since Windows will overwrite existing driver installation with this new feature.

Activision just rolled out a nice surprise with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered's new update--supply drops are here, and they can be purchased with real cash.

Modern Warfare Remastered's winter update adds seven new multiplayer maps, two new holiday weapon camos, two new game modes, and the first of what's likely to be many supply drops. The supply drop is caleld Operation Arctic Worlf can be acquired with Call of Duty Points, which can be bought with cash, or with Depot Credits that are earned in-game.

Operation Arctic Wolf contains cosmetic personalization and customization items only, so don't expect pay to win (at least not yet): weapon camos, reticles, combat uniforms, emblems, calling cards, and playable women soldiers, and even new melee weapons are included in the drop. The melee weapons can be crafted with the game's new Parts, which are earned as you play, or grab them with supply drops.

You know how it is... you steal $4.8 million and instead of flying to a private island and living your life playing Overwatch (what, that's what I'd do) - you blow $1 million in Game of War.

45-year-old Kevin Lee Co used the embezzled money on in-game goods in Game of War, after starting with Caterpillar machine dealer Holt in 2008, Lee Co became the boss of Holt's accounting department within a year. He hid financial transactions right through until March 2015, leaving the company one month later.

In that time, he used his company credit card to buy cars, season tickets, and even plastic surgery - falsifying and manipulating Holt's records to hide his purchasing habits. If the bank queried the charges, Lee Co would simply say that the charges were approved - as he was the person signing on the dotted line, and securing millions in the process.