New footage of Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo Sport has emerged. This is from the closed beta test courtesy of YouTube user toxxproduction. Check it out below. Overall the game looks pretty good, even in the closed beta state. The overall performance is stable, there’s a distinct lack of pop-in and the real-time lighting is spot-on.
If that weren’t enough, another video from DJ sparco actually compares Gran Turismo Sport to Asseto Corsa, another fairly good looking racer. The different in textures, lighting and car quality is really distinct and reflects the work that Polyphony Digital has put in for GT Sport.
Gran Turismo Sport is slated to release this year though it doesn’t have a firm date. It will be coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR (though in what form has yet to be revealed). What are your thoughts on the footage below? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more updates.
Destiny 2 might be officially announced, but its gameplay reveal is still a while away. Bungie plans on showing the game off on May 18, and according to a post on Reddit (via NeoGAF), the event will show off lot of gameplay footage, mostly from the PS4 and the brand new PC versions of the game.
Lots of YouTubers have been invited, and it sounds like they will be allowed to record hours and hours of gameplay (you hearing this Atlus, Nintendo? You hearing this?). The keynote itself will apparently begin at 10am, and it sounds like a lot of YouTubers will be in attendance.
So basically, after this event, you should be able to see lots and lots of Destiny 2 footage. Which, for those of you who are still on the fence – and there may be many of you, because in spite of how successful the first game was, I know any who feel burned by it due to how Bungie handled it – you’ll have some actual media to help make your decision.
Destiny 2 launches on PS4, Xbox One, and PC later this year.
Call of Duty: World War 2 is looking to tell a story about World War 2 (obviously…). And this story will be primarily told in game, and not via cut scenes, according to what the game’s Senior Creative Director Bret Robbins said to Glixel.
“Our story is much more character-focused. The big moments fall flat if you don’t care about the guys you’re with. The climax of our story lives or dies on how invested you are in the characters. That’s a huge risk and it’s something that video games sometimes struggle with,” he said.
“Firewatch is one of my favorite games. Gone Home was great. Games are growing up and the audience is sophisticated. More and more, they expect a good story. Not just from blockbusters but from indies [as well], and the whole genre is being pushed forward. Virginia is another good example. I definitely looked to them for inspiration and for techniques. We’re not shy about taking our time with the story. We want something meaningful and a bit deeper. You need that kind of quiet to balance the crazy. You need both or one will go flat without the other. We’ve learned from those other games and tried to infuse that into ours.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Call of Duty can actually manage to tell a meaningful, quiet story this year. Call of Duty: World War 2 launches worldwide on November 3 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Blizzard Entertainment has announced the 32 countries that will be participating in this year’s Overwatch World Cup. They were chosen based on the cumulative skill rating of their players, averaging the top 100 from each country.
China is leading the pack followed by South Korea, United States, Sweden and Finland. Phase 2 will now begin and it will see players and viewers voting on their country’s representatives. These individuals will form the Competition Committee and will subsequently recommend teams from their regions.
You can head here to vote for each user, who gets three votes overall, and voting will be open until May 5th. Committee members from each country will be announced on May 8th following which the grouping stage begins in the Summer.
Check out the full list of participating countries below along with their skill rating. What are your thoughts on the Overwatch World Cup and who are you pulling for this year? Let us know in the comments.
1. China – 4550 2. South Korea – 4522 3. United States – 4470 4. Sweden – 4309 5. Finland – 4295 6. United Kingdom – 4293 7. Canada – 4291 8. France – 4268 9. Denmark – 4259 10. Russia – 4221 11. Germany – 4219 12. Japan – 4184 13. Australia – 4184 14. Chinese Taipei – 4162 15. Netherlands – 4147 16. Hong Kong – 4113 17. Norway – 4101 18. Poland – 4093 19. Brazil – 4071 20. Italy – 4068 21. Spain – 4051 22. Israel – 4007 23. Singapore – 4002 24. Thailand – 3999 25. Argentina – 3992 26. Turkey – 3960 27. Belgium – 3942 28. Vietnam – 3941 29. Portugal – 3930 30. New Zealand – 3922 31. Austria – 3900 32. Romania – 3861
The PlayStation 4 is firing on all cylinders, and its sales over the last quarter have been nothing short of stunning. It makes sense, too, given just how wonderful a quarter the system has had with so many high profile new releases.
But it looks like Sony has no plans of letting the PS4 slow down, either. They have forecast 18 million units sold for the next one year, which is a crazy amount by any estimation. We decided to ask Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities, if Sony can achieve this target, and if the PS4 may be on par to match or even exceed the PS2 at its present trajectory.
“I don’t think it will outsell the PS2, mostly because the competition from Xbox and Switch will soak up too much of the addressable market,” he said. ” Yes, if they price the PS4 correctly, they can sell another 18 million, and I think the forecast suggests that there is a price cut coming.”
Given that the Scorpio is launching later this year, Switch’s phenomenal success, and that Sony will likely be dropping the price of the PS4 Pro and PS4 in response to that, I can’t say I find myself disagreeing with Pachter here.
Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, the upcoming, eagerly anticipated, long awaited fourth instalment in Capcom’s beloved crossover fighting game franchise, is set for release later this year. And Capcom has decided to share a brand new trailer for the game, showcasing some gameplay, as well as some new characters, duking it out in the arena.
Among the many other new characters shown in this trailer are Ultron, Chun-Li, Hulk, Strider Hiryu, Thor, Chris Redfield, and Hawkeye- making for a great smattering from across the Capcom universe, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This should greatly expand the game’s appeal with the mainstream audiences this time around, since Marvel’s brand awareness is at an all time high.
Marvel vs Capcom Infinite is due out on September 19 this year on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Make sure to watch the new trailer below.
The new God of War game looks to be intriguing, and a breath of fresh air for fans of the franchise- and a lot of that has to do with the new, Norse mythology inspired setting. And speaking on Twitter, director Cory Barlog (who is also responsible for delivering God of War 2, the best game in the franchise so far), clarified the setting and story of the game a bit more.
“Our story takes place in a time well before the first Vikings so I don’t see them appearing,” he said, in response to a fan’s question. He also confirmed that the game will continue being gory, like previous ones in the franchise- “I like everything to serve the vision/story/world. I don’t see GOW as gore for the sake of gore. It just takes place in a very violent time.”
God of War is due out exclusively on the PS4, though for now, we don’t have any release date. Hopefully that is announced at E3 this year.
Sony’s PS Plus offerings for the month of May have been announced, and it seems like they’re going to be fairly satisfying all around. PS4 owners will get the indie game Abzu, which is hugely divisive in the community (albeit with those who love it really loving it), as well as Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands. Tales from the Borderlands was their excellent story set in the world of Gearbox’s franchise, and is widely regarded as their best game yet- so it should be a good chance for many to catch up on it.
PS3 owners, on the other hand, get Blood Knights, and Port Royale 3; meanwhile, PS Vita owners get Laser Disco Defenders, and Type:Rider, both of which will also be available for PS4 owners, since they are Cross Buy.
It’s a good lineup, and this month, it looks like PS Plus and Xbox Live are tied in terms of what they offer. Which is, in the end, a win for us as gamers and customers.
Yesterday following the reveal of Call of Duty: WWII, Sledgehammer Games surprised us by announcing that health regen and ammo refilling would not be included. This was done to maintain that authenticity and reinforce that the player isn’t some kind of “superhero”.
You won’t be completely handicapped though. According to Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey in an interview with GamesRadar+, your squadmates in the campaign will different “attributes” that you can rely on. “Part of being this squad and working together was about helping each other out in a very different way than in previous games/
“This is [you] relying on your squad, and so that was a mechanic where you can rely on your squad members to help you, and in that case – when you’re low on ammo – your squad can share ammo. Certain members of your squad have certain attributes that can help you, and if you are in proximity to one of your squad members, and you need their help you can…it’s an active ability.”
So if you’re away from your squad, then you’ll have to fight differently to ensure no ammo is wasted. Sticking close to your squad is important. It’s still an interesting change and provides some freshness to the usual Call of Duty formula.
Call of Duty: WWII arrives on November 3rd for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
While the Xbox Scorpio’s selling point will be its compatibility with, and ability to fully output natively for, 4K TVs, it will still run on 1080p TVs, and Microsoft has indicated that even 1080p TV owners will see a difference in image quality while playing on the Scorpio.
Windows Central has obtained a series of images that show the extent of these improvements that will be apparent even on traditional HDTV panels. Apparently, there will be a lot of enhanced and improved clarity, so even if you are not necessarily planning on getting a 4KTV, you may want to consider a Scorpio for yourself- if you’re an Xbox fan, obviously (or if you just want the best looking versions of multiplatform games).
The images are below. There’s a guide to each image that follows:
IMAGE 1: Left, Xbox One image on 1080p display; Right, Xbox Scorpio image on 1080p display
IMAGE 2: Left, Xbox One image on 1080p display; Center, Xbox Scorpio image on 1080p display; Right: Xbox Scorpio image on 4K display
For Microsoft, this E3 is important - Sony is the strongest it has ever been, and Nintendo is resurgent. This means that what was initially a single front war is now a two front one for them. So of course, they need to have something meaningful planned for E3, right?
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, was asked about Microsoft’s E3 plans during an interview with Xbox On, and he shared some thoughts on what to look forward to.
‘I think the game lineup this year across the board is fantastic,’ he said to Youtube channel Xbox On. And I think Scorpio will be the best console to go play these games on. But when I think about just the games we’ve heard about from first and third parties, it’s going to be such an incredible year… I know we say that every year, but I’ve had some opportunity to look at some of the third party games, which are coming together so well. I’m obviously playing our first party games. And I think the creativity and diversity this year is fantastic. Something like Destiny 2 is coming, I was over at Bungie two weeks ago, and I got to play a little bit, and it got me back into the first game.
‘But I think the games that are coming out, the new Star Wars game, Red Dead, some other stuff that’s not announced yet, the new Mordor game… I just think this year, where last year was a lot of shooter games, which I think is great, and I know Destiny is a shooter too, but there’s lots of other kinds of content too, which I think is great. It’s gonna be a great year and a great E3.’
Now, while I agree with a lot of what he is saying, and it’s great that these wonderful games will be the best on Xbox, this answer does worry me, because it seems to almost be drawing attention away from exclusives and first party games. I hope that simply showing some (admittedly great) third party games, playing best on Scorpio, is not Microsoft’s plan for E3 and for Scorpio- that would put them in a world of trouble.
Want to earn those cool new Heroes of the Storm skins for Overwatch’s D.Va and Genji but don’t have a PC to play the MOBA on? Fear not for Blizzard will be looking to add these skins to regular loot boxes in the future.
Director Jeff Kaplan noted on the official forums that, “We completely understand that there are some players who do not own or have access to a PC to play Heroes of the Storm.
“Because of this, we plan to add both the Oni Genji skin and the Officer D.Va skin to the normal, base Overwatch loot box at some point in the future.” He did note that those who played Heroes of the Storm now would unlock the skins before everyone else.
This option is mostly appealing for console users who simply don’t own a PC. It remains to be seen how far into the future these skins will be available.
Dragon Quest Heroes 2, a spin-off of the classic RPG series that focuses more on hack and slash action, is finally available in North America. Check out the launch trailer below. Developed by Omega Force of Dynasty Warriors fame, Dragon Quest Heroes 2 features a lot of crowd-brawling. However, it also mixes in elements like exploring the world, visiting towns, random battles and character customization to keep it in line with Dragon Quest. There are several characters to choose from with their own abilities and combos along with different weapons to equip them with.
Dragon Quest Heroes 2 also supports online multiplayer for up to four players if you’re interested in brawling with friends. It’s out now on PS4 in North America and PC in North America and Europe right now. It will head to the PS4 in Europe on April 28th.
What are your thoughts on the game? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.
With the reveal of Call of Duty: WWII coming later today, it feels like it’s coming at a rather convenient time, especially given the hatred that Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare received last year. However, speaking to Polygon, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg says it feels like the “right game at the right time” for many reasons.
“I think it can be simultaneously true that it was a really high quality game that Infinity Ward did a really terrific job with and the game was delivered at a very high level, creatively — and that it might have been the wrong game at the wrong moment in terms of getting that rhythm right with the audience and with the culture.”
Hirshberg also noted that going back to a historical setting wasn’t done because of DICE’s Battlefield 1. “I can speak for us and you know I totally acknowledge that these things do seem to happen in waves like this.
“I mean three years ago when we dreamed up this game and decided it was time to go back to our roots, we could not have known at that time that the year we would launch it would be a year in which there would be several World War 2 movies in the theatres and that there would be other competitors going back to historical settings.”
“But when you get that balance right, I think that’s when you get the best games and the best fan response and the best results overall. I think this is one of those years where it feels like the right game at the right time being made by the right team.”
Call of Duty: WWII arrives on November 3rd for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 has some good positive vibes going, especially since it includes a full-length campaign and the return of classes to the franchise. With Star Cards being done away with, what kind of customisation can fans look forward to with classes?
According to associate design director Dennis Brännvall on Twitter, the class system won’t quite have the same kind of freedom as Star Cards. However, “You can definitely customise your trooper class quite drastically to suit your play style.”
It also seems that along with general cooldown, weapons will have a traditional reloading system as well. When answering a fan’s query on whether there would be cooldowns or reloading, Brännvall said, “Both, kind off. We’re doing some improvements and we’ll have more details later.”
Star Wars Battlefront 2 arrives on November 17th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months along with a gameplay reveal likely at E3 2017.
Capcom’s free DLC for Resident Evil 7, Not A Hero, has been delayed. The development team announced that it will no longer be targeting release in Spring since it “was not good enough to meet” to meet current expectations. This is following the strong critical and commercial praise the game has received since launch.
Not A Hero hasn’t received a new release window but the developer is working on even more DLC. So there is something else to look forward to (though we’re unsure if more free DLC is on the cards).
Spoilers: The free Not A Hero DLC focuses on Chris Redfield who was seen at the end of the base game. Redfield will be starring in his own adventure here, perhaps detailing his involvement with Umbrella.
Have you played Resident Evil 7? What are your thoughts on the free DLC being delayed? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for updates on a new release date.
Square Enix has confirmed a Western release date for its first DLC to Nier: Automata. You can look out for it on May 2nd for PS4 and Steam. The DLC, which is called “3C3C1D119440927”, essentially adds three coliseums to the game and lets players fight against waves of enemies. There are new sub-quests and challenges to complete with interesting new rewards.
These include costumes from Nier: Replicant for 2B, (S and A2; records that serve as “special music tracks” for the player’s jukebox; new cosmetics that can change hair colour for A2 and 2B; masks that offer unique effects when equipped; and bullets that change how enemy bullets will appear for players.
Exact pricing for the DLC still isn’t known so expect that to be announced in the coming weeks. What are your thoughts on the newest DLC for Nier: Automata? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.
Overwatch, Blizzard’s hugely popular multiplayer shooter, will probably get three standard additional maps this year, Jeff Kaplan, the director of the game, has revealed. They also have three non standard maps in development for the game, but as of right now, there’s no promise on when those may come out.
“We currently have 3 maps in development, all past the initial playtesting phase that are “standard” maps (QP/Comp). While something could always change, all 3 of those are looking likely for a release this year,” Kaplan said. “We also have 3 non-standard maps in development (these won’t go in QP/Comp). We also have a few other experiments going on. Hopefully this will satisfy some of what you’re looking for. We want to play on these maps as badly as you guys do. We’ll work as fast as we can!”
It’s good that he is transparent- Kaplan’s honesty and openness has gone a long way towards fostering the kind of goodwill that Overwatch enjoys from its community. The game is currently available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
We still don’t know when Kingdom Hearts 3 is coming- in fact, we’ve only received 8 minutes of footage for the game ever since it was announced four years ago. Square Enix as a company is known for taking forever to pump out releases. And they’ve been diverting attention away from the game via a multitude of re-releases and side releases for the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
And now, we’ve another reason to worry about the game’s development status. In their financial briefing, as Square made a list of the games they plan on releasing for the upcoming financial year – that is to say, through to March 31, 2018 – Kingdom Hearts 3 was conspicuously missing (pointed out by Nirolak on NeoGAF). To be clear, even games that haven’t received an official announcement yet, such as Square’s project with Marvel, are listed- but Kingdom Hearts 3 is not.
This all but confirms that the game is, for now, a long time away. We don’t know when we’ll see it, and we don’t know whether or not it will even live up to the years of pent up anticipation people will have had for it by the time it ultimately does manage to release. Kingdom Hearts 3 is planned for PS4 and Xbox One.
As if the long loading times on PlayStation 4 weren’t bad enough, CI Games’ Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 has released without multiplayer. Regarding the delay of multiplayer, CI Games explained that this was in order to “provide the best possible single player experience in our most ambitious game [in the series] to date.” It’s also busy working on post-launch updates and other content in the coming months.
“Therefore, we have chosen to release the multiplayer update (that will be free for our players) after launch (the third quarter of 2017) for precisely the above reasons, that is not to dilute any potential from the single player experience.”
It isn’t that big of a deal but between justifying the long initial loading times (albeit on PS4 only but still) and multiplayer’s delay, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3’s release is definitely not without its quirks. What are your thoughts on the game? Let us know in the comments below.
Red Barrels’ Outlast 2 is nearly upon us and a new launch trailer has indicated exactly what horror fans can expect. That is to say, there’s plenty of cryptic horrors and the assurance that you’ll never sleep soundly again. Check it out below.
Outlast 2 tells a new story, one focused on journalist Blake Langermann as he and his wife Lynn. The duo look into the “impossible murder” of a Jane Doe before finding themselves threatened by a cult. If you played the recent demo, then that only somewhat defines the abject horror of the experience.
Releasing for PS4, PC and Xbox One, Outlast 2 is also bundled with Outlast Trinity. The physical edition will be sold at retail on Xbox One and PS4, and it includes Outlast, Outlast: Whistleblower DLC and Outlast 2. Both will be out on April 25th.
What are your thoughts on Outlast 2? Let us know in the comments below.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 may be one of the most anticipated games of this year, and Sony may have advertising rights for it- but Microsoft isn’t going to let any opportunity to promote the Xbox version of the game pass, either. In this week’s ‘This Week on Xbox’ video, Xbox’s Larry Hryb Major Nelson gave an overview of why Xbox will be the best place to play Battlefront 2.
‘With Project Scorpio coming this Holiday, I can’t wait to experience the Star Wars galaxy like never before,’ he enthused, alluding to the fact that the game is far likelier to be better on the more powerful system. ‘If you are a member of EA Access, you will be able to start playing the game on November 9, before the game releases on November 17. Between EA Access and Project Scorpio, Xbox will be the best place to play your favorite Star Wars heroes.’
He’s probably right, actually- for a graphics intensive multiplayer shooter, Xbox Scorpio, which is powerful hardware and which is backed by Xbox Live (which, let’s face it, is far superior to PSN again at this point) is probably the better place to go to. The question is- will that alone be enough to make PlayStation owners want to make the switch?
It sounds like Destiny 2 may be offering players an all new kind of ship, beyond what the original Destiny already offered. As Redditor ZeroDerge points out a new kind of ship is actually displayed on the “Beta Access” picture for Destiny 2.
This is actually interesting, because the original Destiny also similarly teased a new ship class with its ‘Beta Access’ poster, which did end up turning out to be a real in game ship - the Phaeton Class ship. This means that Bungie may yet again be making us privy to a ship class in the game that we don’t already know about yet.
Whatever it is, hopefully it’s actually useful in game- the lack of any actual utilization of the awesome ships on offer in the original Destiny was one of the big misses of that game. Let’s hope that with Destiny 2, Bungie has made it so that ships matter more. Destiny 2 is due this September for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Is Kingdom Hearts 3 anywhere close to release? Recent comments by Square Enix haven’t been the most encouraging on that front- but there may be more to it than even that. NeoGAF user crash-14 has gone ahead and collated all the footage the game has received since its announcement four years ago, and there isn’t a lot of it. So far, Square Enix has shared just 8 minutes of footage.
That’s not a lot. That’s not a lot of footage at all, and it doesn’t seem to suggest that the game is anywhere close to release. For reference, consider Final Fantasy 15– as the game neared completion, Square Enix was sharing more and more footage of that game, sometimes on a daily basis. The complete lack of new footage for Kingdom Hearts – and indeed, the almost constant diversion of our attention to some other new Kingdom Hearts release (where new is probably a remaster of some existing games or the really short Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage) paints a rather worrying picture for the upcoming game.
Kingdom Hearts 3, will, of course, come- the question is, when? As of right now, any possible answer to that question does not seem to be too encouraging.
Nothing can stop the Ghosts apparently. Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, an open world tactical shooter in the acclaimed franchise, has recorded its fourth week at the top of UK game charts. This is according to Gfk Chart-Track and is limited to only physical retail units sold.
Even more interesting is how Grand Theft Auto 5 was the second best-selling game of the week followed by FIFA 17 at third and Lego Worlds at fourth. Rocket League found itself in fifth place this week. Horizon: Zero Dawn managed to re-enter the top 10, going from 11th to sixth place while Overwatch was in seventh. The remainder o the chart consists of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Mass Effect: Andromeda and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
This week’s UK sales should be interesting with Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 3 and Outlast 2 releasing. Stay tuned for more information on the same and let us know what you think in the comments.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 may be promising a story based campaign, but it will still stay true to the series’s, and Star Wars’s as a whole, strengths. Don’t expect it to be non linear, giving you full agency or anything- Battlefront 2 will be a largely linear experience, mostly following the story of its protagonist, though it will periodically change perspectives.
“Without getting into too much detail that I will get in trouble for… We take all of our cues from how to tell a Star Wars story working with Lucasfilm story group, analyzing the movies, breaking down the beats and flow of Star Wars storytelling,” said DICE’s Mark Thompson in an interview with Eurogamer. “So yeah, it is a continuous story with a beginning, middle and end and you follow Iden’s journey for 30 years from the end of Jedi up to the Force Awakens at Starkiller base. It isn’t a discrete set of missions or separate War Stories like Battlefield 1, you do follow Iden through this journey whilst from time to time, switching sides and playing from the perspective of one of the iconic heroes because again that’s just part of Battlefront‘s DNA. Sometimes you’re a Trooper, sometimes you’re a pilot and sometimes you’re Luke Skywalker with a lightsaber.”
So there you have it, folks - Battlefront 2 will stick to the series’ strengths, and not try to become something it is not. I actually think other games could stand to learn from that.
Post-apocalyptic scenarios may be played out but that’s not stopping Nordic Games’ ELEX, developed by Piranha Bytes, from presenting a future dystopia. Check out the prologue trailer below to learn more about the setting.
As a sci-fi/fantasy RPG mash-up, ELEX is about a planet called Magalan that’s hit by a strange comet. This comet lays waste to cities, generates firestorms and pretty much leaves the world barren.
Three factions rise up in the aftermath – Berserkers, Clerics and Outlaws – but more importantly, the comet brought a new resource called ELEX. It doesn’t take long before a new faction called the Albs harness ELEX’s power to try and wipe out everyone. Thus does the play try to make sense of a crazy world for a somewhat sane future.
ELEX is scheduled to release in Q3 2017 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. What are your thoughts on the story and overall setting? Let us know in the comments below.
