Gaming - Page 987

EA is talking about the future of gaming, bringing up 8K gaming, VR gaming, and how Frostbite is going to power it all. During an interview with The Verge, EA boss Andrew Wilson said that the company is preparing for a future where games will be played across many different devices.

Wilson said: "What we're trying to do is prepare the company for a world where truly there are more devices capable of playing games, and players are refreshing them more often and likely refreshing them asynchronously. You might refresh your mobile device at a different time than I do. You might buy the 8K, I might stick with a 4K. You might go down the Oculus VR route, I might go down the PSVR route. What I've got to do as a creator is try and keep you together with your friends inside experiences that you love, and the only way we can do that is at a core engine level".

He continued, saying that the single engine that is Frostbite "will scale up graphics on a bigger device and scale them down on a smaller device, so that we can build once and publish to many devices". Wilson added: "It's a world where we're no longer having to make a decision like, "Do we build for the Xbox or the PlayStation or both?" There's literally 30 or 40 or 50 different devices, and we have to be able to build for all devices that are meaningful for players".

Remedy: I'm going to be very clear here... don't play with my feelings, okay? News has broken that Remedy teased a video on Twitter about a game announcement, and it looks like it could be a new Max Payne game.

Firstly, Rockstar own the IP rights to Max Payne, but Remedy have said that they're working on "a brand new Remedy game with a new partner", and that partner isn't Microsoft - who worked with Remedy on the mess that was Quantum Break. It won't be a sequel to Max Payne, but a totally new game - which I'm hoping is a reboot of Max Payne (with VR support, please).

Considering Sam Lake was the face of Max Payne, and that it sounds like the elevator music from Max Payne is playing towards the end, I'm leaning towards a Max Payne reboot. Except, I'm trying not to get too excited.

It looks like the upcoming patch to Dishonored 2 will fix the performance-related issues, where a GeForce GTX 1070 is required to barely hit 40-60FPS at 1080p on VERY LOW details. Yeah, I know. The developer has said that the crappy performance is totally on them, which is refreshing to see so early on.

Dishonored 2 Game Director Harvey Smith has said that he is distressed with the performance of the PC version of the game, but PC Gamer is reporting that they've got their hands-on a beta version of the upcoming patch for Dishonored 2, and that the technical issues will be sorted out very soon.

PC Gamer writes: "However, when Dishonored 2 is running smoothly, it is excellent. In the eyes of everyone on our team that's played it, it's one of the best games of the year. Knowing that a patch is imminent, and having now tested a beta version of that patch ourselves with encouraging results, we're uncomfortable with scoring Dishonored 2 as it currently exists in the knowledge that these technical issues are likely to be resolved shortly".

With so many developers delivering broken PC ports and optimizing console titles instead, some EA games like Battlefield 1 run quite smoothly across the board. EA says that it develops its games to favor the highest-possible hardware out there, which just so happens to be enthusiast-grade PCs.

"We build all of our games to the highest possible spec, which is typically a high-powered PC," Electronic Arts' CFO Blake Jorgensen said at the UBS Global Technology Conference.

"As the consoles come in, [which] may not be the highest spec, we may actually dummy down the console product to meet the spec of the console. In a world where the console looks more and more like a PC, that's good for us."

The Microsoft Xbox One has once again for the fourth month in a row, outsold the Sony PlayStation 4. Originally when the two consoles became available for public purchase three years ago, the Xbox One fell behind as the PS4 triumphed in sales.

Though July 2016 saw that triumph turn around and favor Microsoft. The Xbox One was slashed in price, for the up and coming Xbox One S console. With that price drop, the Xbox One was able to overturn sales and outsell the PS4 right through to November 2016.

No doubt the two powerhouse companies are well-known rivals on console sales, with the release of the Xbox One S and PS4 Pro, it's uncertain to say who whether or not Microsoft will remain on top with their console sales?

Nintendo have recently announced three more colour adaptations for the new 3DS XL console.

With the Nintendo platform now available in Europe, pink, white, orange and black systems have been unveiled to sources online. Subject to colour availability will depend on what region gamers are located in.

Customers wishing to purchase the Nintendo 3DS XL can visit the Amazon UK Store, or GAME website.

Sony today announced via Twitter, the latest edition to their controller collection. A green camo style DualShock 4 controller will now be avaliable this coming December.

As most PlayStation 4 gamers would have realized, this is not the first camo colored DualShock 4 to launch. It's just an addition to the already established line. The Tweet from Sony dropped just before the PlayStation 4 Pro console goes on sale, marketing strategy maybe?

Regardless, the controller will be a nice extra to any gamer's collection and will be available at most retail stores and the official PlayStation Store website. A store on Ebay is listing the controller for sale.

Blowfish Studios have announced that they will be launching their action strategy game "Siegecraft Commander" early next year. The game will be compatible for Microsoft Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 4 and PC, with added support for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

It will also contain cross-platform multiplayer between:

Throughout the game, players will build fortresses/ kingdoms, lead their army into battle and eliminate their opponents during the process. The game will offer PvP and story modes for both experiences.

Microsoft has been talking up their Xbox Scorpio console for what feels like 30 years, but it has only been a few months - and now we have Xbox boss Phil Spencer coming out and talking about the price of Microsoft's next Xbox.

During an interview with LevelUp, Spencer said that Xbox Scorpio is a "premium console", and that it would "obviously" cost more than the current-gen Xbox One S. Spencer said: "Scorpio will be a premium console. It will cost more than S, obviously, this is how we are building it up. We have not announced the pricing yet, but want to make sure that the investment we are making in the product of Scorpio goes hand in hand with the requirement of high-end consumer and that means a higher price".

Spencer reiterated that Xbox Scorpio won't replace the current Xbox One or Xbox One S consoles and that it will compliment it in the way that it is an additional, higher-end member of the Xbox family. Spencer continued: "There is not one product that our customers come in and buy. Some people come in and buy the 500 GB Xbox One S. Many people now are now buying our original Xbox One consoles that are a really good price. There is no one product that you look at and say, 'This is the product that defines how you are doing in that market".

Jon Peddie Research has published their Q3 2016 report on the GPU and console markets, noting a decent 20% increase in GPU shipments over the previous quarter.

But... it's the chart that displays console and PC hardware sales over 2016 so far that caught my eye, with the console market selling $90.4 billion worth of hardware compared to the massive PC hardware business which is worth a whopping $200 billion this year.

Now, this is where it gets personal - game developers, listen up. The total console sales of 2016, even with the massive marketing push by Sony and Microsoft and new console releases in the Xbox One S and PS4 Pro, can't get anywhere near the level of PC hardware sales. Stop making games for the consoles first, and then throwing them over to the PC - because we get useless game releases on the PC which have countless performance-related issues.

Titanfall 2 is finally out, and while I've been spending my time in Overwatch still, Respawn CEO Vince Zampella talked with Glixel after the launch of Titanfall 2 and was asked a question about the gameplay in the game, and was met with an interesting reply.

Zampella explained the reasoning behind the gameplay in Titanfall 2 feeling so good, where he said: "It's just that we focus on it. We make decisions based on it. Our animations are interruptible by movement. Some games have animations that you have to wait for them to finish before the next movement that you're doing. So the movement feels sluggish and sloppy. On screen, to somebody who's watching you play, they might think that looks slightly better. But it doesn't feel right. It feels like you're playing in molasses".

Respawn is shifting towards making the gameplay tight, and responsive in the trade off with visual fidelity - but that's fine with me, except for one reason. The current-gen consoles are holding us back, because big developers like Respawn are having to say they'd "sacrifice visual fidelity for gameplay experience", but I'm more of an I-want-it-all guy. Zampella added: "I would sacrifice visual fidelity for gameplay experience. It has to feel good. It has to play right. It has to be fun".

Nintendo UK has just launched their Super Mario Maker for the Nintendo 3DS, equipped with pre-order bonuses.

The UK Store is allowing customers to decide between one of three item in their pre-order purchase:

Along with these items, the store is offering customers other merchandise perks such as t-shirts, posters and toys depending on the location, whether it be online or in-store.

With its upcoming Star Wars third-person action game, Respawn plans to weave an interesting tale full of unique characters, story plots, and experiences--instead of flashy graphics, Respawn will focus on the gameplay.

Respawn has already confirmed that their Star Wars game will have "larger-than-life action" and "groundbreaking mechanics," but now the studio says that their slice of Star Wars magic will also have a character-driven story arc that puts player experiences and fun factor at the forefront.

"I would sacrifice visual fidelity for gameplay experience. It has to feel good. It has to play right. It has to be fun," Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella told Glixel.

One of the major worries about Nintendo's new Switch handheld-and-console hybrid is games--specifically if it's easy for developers to port their games onto. The Wii U, in comparison, failed because it was a nightmare for developers. Considering the Switch has massive third-party support from the greatest devs and publishers in the games industry, one could assume that porting its quite easy and efficient, as NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang seems to hint.

During NVIDIA's most recent financial earnings call, company CEO Jen-Hsun Huang mentions that the Nintendo Switch shares a link to existing platforms like PC, PS4 and Xbox One. This could possibly hint that the system is equipped with specific optimizations and tools to allow easy porting of existing and upcoming console and PC games.

"The quality of games has grown significantly. And one of the factors of production value of games that has been possible is because the PC and the two game consoles, Xbox and PlayStation, and in the future - in the near-future, the Nintendo Switch, all of these architectures are common in the sense that they all use modern GPUs, they all use programmable shading and they all have basically similar features."

Yesterday's monster patch for Battlefield 1 (BF1) addressed all of the top complaints about the game and then some, with the exception of no Hardcore mode. Today that's addressed too, as the mode is live, as well as a new survivalist mode called Fog of War.

Hardcore, if you're not familiar with it from previous Battlefield games, disables niceties like spotting, HUD, nametags, killcam, and health regen, while doubling bullet damage and enabling friendly fire. Regarding BF1 specifically, elite classes are disabled. Suffice it to say, it's a very different game.

Fog of War, meanwhile, is similar to hardcore in that it disables minimap spotting, nametags, the HUD, elite classes, ,and health regen. However, it keeps 3D spotting, killcam, and friendly fire, and disables all vehicles and weapons, except for melee and handguns, while keeping fog always on. Also, it's Team Deathmatch on the Argonne Forest map only.

The NPCs in Watch Dogs 2 are flamboyant, dynamic, and free...well, maybe a little too free: there's been sightings of explicitly naked male and female NPCs throughout the city that bare all.

In our Watch Dogs 2 first impressions article, I commented on how impressive the game's NPCs are, and how the AI makes you feel like you're in a living, breathing world. The characters are actually so realistic that they'll do hilariously human things like run around naked after a drunken night out, or even exercise in the nude. Sometimes, ladies will even walk around with crotchless panties on...and Ubisoft didn't censor their naughty bits out.

Ubisoft has since apologized for this oversight, and vows that explicit genitalia will be patched out despite the game being rated as M for Mature.

Ever wanted to play Skyrim with mods while on-the-go? Nintendo's new Switch console-and-handheld hybrid may make this dream a reality.

Despite Bethesda's warnings, Skyrim: Special Edition will reportedly launch as a Nintendo Switch launch game, with mod support coming to the platform at a later date.

Unnamed sources at Nintendo have told Laura Kate Dale at Lets Play Video Games that Skyrim: Special Edition is not only coming to the Nintendo Switch, but it'll be a day-one game. Sadly, mod support likely won't be available at the game's launch, and Switch's mods will be similar to the Skyrim's PS4 gimped mod support: limited to just 1GB and no new textures or models.

Nintendo's new Switch handheld-and-console hybrid will have extensive third-party support from major publishers, but EA remains uncertain about the system, and only plans to bring "one or two" games over to the platform.

Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima has promised that the Switch will launch with a "full software library," and the company has revealed a huge list of third-party partners that includes the greatest names in the games industry. It's clear that the Switch will be very different than the Wii U's failed third-party support, and devs and publishers are keen on backing the device. EA, on the other hand, remains a bit skeptical on the Switch's success, and says they plan to bring as few as two games over to the new platform--but rest assured, they'll be a big AAA games.

"In terms of Nintendo, in their announcement they announced that we'll be supporting with a game or two on that new platform. We haven't yet announced what game, but you should assume that it's one of our bigger games we've been involved with," EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said at a UBS tech show.

The Polaris-grade GPU in Sony's new 4K-ready PlayStation 4 Pro is giving owners a tangible advantage while playing online multiplayer games such as Battlefield 1.

Eurogamer reports that DICE's PS4 Pro enhancements for Battlefield 1 are pretty significant, actually boosting in-game frame rates by up to 47% percent over existing PS4 consoles. That means Battlefield 1 running on a PS4 Pro can have a frame rate boost of anywhere from 10-15 FPS, and this performance jump actually translates into online multiplayer.

"Battlefield 1 running on PlayStation 4 Pro offers a tangible performance advantage over standard PS4 owners, potentially offering a gameplay advantage to owners of Sony's upgraded console hardware. In our tests, there's anything up to a 47 per cent frame-rate advantage in scenarios where the Frostbite engine is under the greatest stress," Eurogamer's Richard Leadbetter writes.

Arkane Studios is still picking itself up after being blown into a million pieces at the launch of Dishonored 2 on the PC, which has horrible optimization and massive performance issues. The developer is distressed over the PC performance issues, but it looks like you'll still need a beefy PC to play Dishonored 2, no matter what.

You might remember that you need a GeForce GTX 1070 to run Dishonored 2 on Very Low at 1080p, barely hitting 40-60FPS. Dishonored 2 Game Director Harvey Smith tweeted at the time: "That rig on very low and 1080 should run around 60fps", when asked about a GTX 1070 level PC.

But in a recent tweet, Smith said: "game will always need a beefy pc for ultra, but there are a number of fixes we're making". So there you have it. You'll always need a monster PC to handle the game, proving that it's an unoptimized mess - because if it wasn't, then the graphics need to justify the huge GPU requirement to handle Very Low at 1080p.