The saga of Destiny, Bungie’s much-hyped shared world shooter which disappointed heavily at launch for a number of reasons, has been one rife with complications, departures, cut content and mishaps. It’s funny when you think about it because Bungie is no stranger to development troubles. Remember Halo 2 with its infamous “smoke and mirrors” E3 debut trailer or the revelation that plenty of content was cut for the sake of Halo 3?
Which game had more trouble though? According to former founder member and Bungie composer Marty O’Donnell in a recent AMA on Reddit, “Turned out to be Destiny.”
Short and fairly to the point but O’Donnell hasn’t exactly full-on bashed the game’s troubled development since his termination at the hands of Bungie and Activision.
Luckily, O’Donnell won a lawsuit against the companies for ownership of shares and is now working on a PlayStation VR game called Golem (along with its musical prequel Echoes of the First Dreamer which you can back on Kickstarter). Source: Rheena.com
While we patiently wait for some new content to be placed in The Division, and believe its coming soon there are a couple of new ways we can stock up on rather high end gear thanks to a new loot farm that has popped up in the game. As is the case when talking about these loot farms, its a safe bet it isn’t going to be around all that long.
As a general rule, once the developers get to know what areas of the game allow the players to get items they weren’t supposed to get so easily, they shut them down … for good. Since The Division has been on store shelves, two such Loot Farms had already been pointed out and this new one that just popped up is actually the third. So should you have the ability to take advantage, you should do so quickly before Ubisoft realizes what’s going on and figures out a way to shutter it.
YouTube user MarcoStyle is the one that put a new video together which walks The Division players through the steps in order to take advantage of this Loot Farm. In order to have any shot at getting the cream of the crop gear that can be farmed in this location, players need to play Russian Consulate daily mission. They also need to be level 30 and they need to find three other level 30 agents who are willing to play the mission with them. That is the very start of how to go about hitting this Loot Farm in The Division. To see the step by step instructions check out the video below.
It’s the end of March, which means the Oculus Rift launch is here- and if you were one of those people who were waiting on the reviews and impressions before deciding to put down the hefty $599 asking fee, it’s time to make preparations for a lighter wallet- the headset seems to have launched to universally positive reviews.
In general, mostly everybody is impressed by the technology at display here, and even the content seems to be compelling enough to make Oculus an easy recommendation to tech enthusiasts. The complaints, such as they are, seem to be related to VR being an all new medium, without the benefit of decades of refinement and iteration- something that a pioneer must by necessity deal with.
“This isn’t just a piece of hardware,” Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry says. “It’s a platform. Once you strap on the display and immerse yourself into Oculus Home – the front-end of the system – this becomes obvious. Buying games, accessing your library, downloading content, hooking up with friends, watching media, launching titles and switching between them – it’s all done within a beautifully realised VR world. There’s a console-style sense of solidity and polish to the whole enterprise. And as long as you stick to Oculus’ minimum PC spec, just about everything just works.”
“The important thing is Oculus has set the bar incredibly high for what virtual reality should look and feel like, and because they took the time to build out a strong ecosystem of experiences, we can safely say virtual reality is here to stay for the long haul,” Business Insider’s review enthuses.
“After decades of incremental improvements to the way PC games and apps are displayed on monitors, the Rift feels like an entirely new way of thinking about how we look at the computerized world,” Ars Technica’s review says. “It’s unique enough that a lot of the things we take for granted in computing and gaming are struggling to catch up with the new rules necessitated by its entirely new viewpoint. That means this first step still feels a little rough and uncertain in many ways that lessen its sheer impact.”
“$600 is a lot to pay for a piece of gaming hardware,” Gamespot’s review acknowledges. “But Rift is different from a console or a new graphics card. Rift allows you to experience games in ways that we’ve only dreamed of up until now, and while it requires you to make a few compromises in the name of immersion, it’s worth it. Yes, you will look silly to anyone who watches you use it, and you will potentially feel uneasy after an intense VR session, but these issues can’t take away from the fact that Rift delivers on its promise to enable more immersive and personal gaming experiences than we’ve ever seen before.”
“Testing the bounds of what feels real and how we interact with worlds we control completely is a new frontier for gaming, and the Oculus Rift delivers on that promise,” Polygon say. “There are issues, and the software will continue to get better and offer more features, but this is a functional platform with a wide selection of available games and experiences. It changed how we think of games. It made us feel. It put us inside things that we used to only be able to see. Going back to a standard screen is hard.
“Retail virtual reality is here. It was worth the wait,” they conclude.
It sounds like the VR revolution is now fully under way, and Oculus has set an incredibly high bar for the other competitors to clear. Those competitors – the HTC Vive and the PlayStation VR – launch next month, and in October this year, respectively. Source: Rheena.com
In 2015, the classic N64 dinosaur action games Turok and Turok 2 were remastered and brought over to PC via a Steam release by Night Dive Studios, the folks who seem to have made an art form of remastering classic shooters for modern platforms (they are currently working on a System Shock remaster). And now, today, Night Dive Studios confirmed plans to bring Turok and Turok 2 Remastered to Xbox One.
As of right now, the Xbox One version is all that they can confirm- a fan pointedly asked them about a potential Xbox version, but Night Dive had nothing to say. “We’re evaluating other platforms but can’t confirm at this time,” their response reads. Which is a bit of a shame, but baby steps, I guess.
Turok and Turok 2 were originally released exclusively on the Nintendo 64- while many will tell you that the games did not age all that well, the remasters, at least, seem to have polished them enough that they hold up well. You can check out the trailer for the remasters below for yourself.
When Star Fox Zero finally launches next month, it will also be coming alongside Shigeru Miyamoto’s Star Fox Guard. Star Fox Guard is the final form of Project Guard, a low key project Miyamoto showed off at E3 a couple of years ago, which he meant as a proof of concept for the Wii U’s Gamepad. It is now an additional minigame mode in Star Fox Zero.
If you are curious about exactly how it works, then you are in luck- Nintendo finally opened up Star Fox Zero’s North American website today, and in the process, also shared a trailer, as well as new information, for Star Fox Guard. You can check out the new trailer for yourself below.
It seems to be something that could be quite compelling- I would definitely like to see it developed further in a future game. Star Fox Zero is set to launch exclusively on the Wii U on April 22.
Killer Instinct Season 3 finally launches tomorrow, and it is probably the biggest update that the game has received since its launch in 2013- Season 3 marks a complete graphical overhaul of the title, and it also marks the first time that the game will be made available to PC players via a Windows 10 version.
Ahead of the launch, Microsoft shared a brand new video for the game, showcasing the performance test for the PC version, letting players gauge just how the game may run on their configurations. Plus, of course, you know- new gameplay footage, too.
Killer Instinct Season 3 launches tomorrow on the Xbox One, and on PCs running Windows 10. It is the third annual refresh and expansion of the reboot of the classic Rare fighting game franchise- and for the first time in the series’ history, it introduces guest characters into the fray, with the Halo series’ Arbiter joining the game’s roster.
Where there is smoke, there is fire. And where the PlayStation 4K, colloquially being referred to as the PlayStation 4.5, is concerned, there sure seems to be a lot of smoke. More and more reports are emerging that Sony is indeed planning a mid cycle refresh of the PlayStation 4 hardware- this is going to go beyond just the regular mid cycle ‘Slim’ release that most consoles usually get. Instead, this is going to be a spec bump that will evolve and iterate on the current PlayStation 4 hardware- not unlike the New Nintendo 3DS to the original Nintendo 3DS.
A new report from the Wall Street Journal is corroborating the multiple reports that have broken out regarding the PlayStation 4K, pointing out that a hardware refresh is indeed in the works. The new hardware is expected to launch by October worldwide, ahead of the PlayStation VR launch, and will output games at Ultra High Definition resolutions.
The Wall Street Journal has an extraordinary track record with its leaks and reports, so their word can be practically treated as a confirmation at this point. If the PlayStation 4K is real – and all evidence is increasingly indicating that it is – then Sony may take the stage at E3 this year and announce it then. Upgraded consoles are a fundamentally good idea, especially if they are done right– and anyway, with the launch of the Nintendo NX and PlayStation VR due later this year, a PlayStation 4K will just heat things up and make them even more interesting. Source: Rheena.com
One of the big games coming to PlayStation VR is Star Wars Battlefront. DICE’s reboot of the hit Star Wars action game series will be getting a VR version exclusively for Sony’s headset. Star Wars Battlefront VR is meant to serve as proof that Sony will try to serve traditional AAA experiences on their VR platform, too- it is also, according to Sony, going to be a killer app that finally sells people on the medium.
Vice president of marketing John Koller recently discussed Battlefront‘s PlayStation VR version in an interview with Fortune, and pointed out that the game had a legitimate chance of being a true system seller.
“We are working with EA, DICE, Lucasfilm, and Disney to try and make that experience something so special and so intrinsic to what’s in many people’s DNA, which is, ‘How can I be in that world of Star Wars?’ Koller said. “Battlefront is going to be one of those games that will really show gamers what it means to be in the world of VR. It’s very special. And just by the nature of it being designed as a VR experience, it’s going to be very different than the PlayStation 4 game.”
He also explained how he sees exclusives working in the VR market, versus how they do in the console or handheld markets.
“The role of exclusive VR games is a little different than what we see in the general console space,” Koller said. “For example, I don’t believe that there needs to be one particular killer app. There can be a range of killer apps. VR is so personal. It really depends on what experience that person wants and what they think is really great. That’s different than our (console) platform launches, where you generally can say, ‘That’s the game’ (that will help drive hardware sales).”
All of which is good- but when can fans expect Battlefront VR? While Koller is naturally cagey when it comes to committing to a date, he did suggest that it could be one of the 50 games that are launching for the PlayStation VR this Fall.
“Star Wars is a great example of something that we will really own during that launch period,” Koller said. “But over time there will be games that launch, where we’ve been helping with the development process, that will be most special on PlayStation VR, whether it’s exclusive or not. It’s going to be best played on PlayStation VR.”
The PlayStation VR is set to launch worldwide this October; Star Wars Battlefront VR is expected to launch for it exclusively shortly afterwards. Source: Rheena.com
Infinity Ward hasn’t done much to reveal its next Call of Duty title aside from confirming some kind of presentation at Sony’s E3 presser but clues have been emerging. Rumours indicated that it could be Call of Duty: Ghosts 2 but industry insider Shinobi602 had other thoughts on the same.
Speaking on NeoGAF, the man revealed that the next Call of Duty would be set in the far future. When asked if it was similar to Battlefield 2142, the reply was, “Very far future. Space combat. Full on sci-fi.”
The report was confirmed independently by Eurogamer when it revealed that the space combat would take place between “warring sci-fi groups.”
That doesn’t exactly get us too excited but hey, it’s not Ghosts. So there is that.
What are your thoughts on Call of Duty 2016 being set in the far future and having space combat? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more. Source: Rheena.com
E3 2016 is still more than two months away but Microsoft is already making preparations. Xbox boss Phil Spencer was teasing as much onTwitter when he talked about how a review of the current show had gone well.
“Great E3 review today. Teams did a great job highlighting what they have coming. Inspiring team #TEAMXBOX.”
Despite not announcing its official line-up for E3 2016, we know that Gears of War 4, Halo Wars 2 and Crackdown 3 will be appearing, especially since they’re all due this year.
Then there’s ReCore, Sea of Thieves and Scalebound which lack concrete release dates but are expected to release by late 2016 (or early 2017 in the case of Scalebound). More information about the next major Forza title has also been confirmed for E3 so that should be worth the wait.
What do you hope to see at Microsoft’s E3 presser? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information in the coming months. Source: Rheena.com
Insomniac Games’ Ratchet & Clank has gone gold for the PlayStation 4. The developer announced the same on Twitter with an image of the PS4’s disc. Development has hence finished and the game is currently out for manufacturing and distribution.
The game is less of a remaster and more of a re-imagining of the original, more in tone with the upcoming film. Insomniac has insisted that it’s a brand new game and it will include new bosses, a better control scheme, weapons which are both new and from the Ratchet & Clank Future franchise, new planes and much more. It will be in 1080p resolution but at 30 FPS, retailing for $40 and having some 10 to 12 hours of gameplay.
While the game is out on April 12th for PlayStation 4, the movie will be releasing on April 29th. Will you be checking out either? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. Source: Rheena.com
343 Industries has added a whole bunch of community-made maps to Halo 5: Guardians‘ multiplayer. The Big Team Battle and Grifball modes are the modes for this month and there’s quite a lot to enjoy. While Big Team Battle receives six new maps, Grifball receives a whopping nine new maps, some astonishing enough in their own right and others which pay homage to past Halo creations (including Red vs. Blue creator RoosterTeeth which created the game type in the first place). You can check out the new BTB maps below or hit up the Halo Waypoint update to learn more about the Grifball maps.
343 Industries has even more in store for Halo 5: Guardians with a new Warzone map, REQs and more arriving in April courtesy of Ghosts of Meridian. The team is also working on Warzone Firefight which will offer 8 player support and REQs in the classic Firefight mode. Expect that to arrive this Summer.
Uncharted 4 has been delayed so many times at this point that it has sort of become a running joke. It’s also been a part of a larger trend of Sony’s first party games never quite managing to hit their deadlines on the PlayStation 4. Speaking to Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities who is well known for his opinions, I decided to bring up the multiple delays Uncharted 4 has suffered- maybe the last delay the game received had something to do with Ratchet and Clank, another PS4 exclusive set to release in April?
“Well, Ratchet and Clank is going to be completely unrelated to Uncharted, except if Sony feels that the timing of both those games’ releases could drive sales differently,” Pachter said. “I mean, I don’t- they have different audiences, so I don’t think it would make much of a difference. I’d sort of understand if both games were launching the same day- but launching a week apart, they can still manage the promotion, and, you know, i think that parents with children under the age of 12 are the ones who would be buying Ratchet and Clank, while the parents themselves, or teenaged gamers, would be the ones getting Uncharted. So I think it’s a different audience, and I don’t think it matters as much if they launch on the same day, so I’d say no, the delay has nothing to do with the launch of Ratchet.”
Could the delays, then, indicate the game having development problems of some sort?
“Of course, there are development issues,“ Pachter said. “I wouldn’t say there are problems, you know, it could be as simple as the Naughty Dog guy deciding they want to add to the game, or they ran into something that wasn’t the way they wanted it to look, and they had to fix it. And that’s not necessarily a problem. I think that one of the things that’s kind of refreshing about Naughty Dog is that their game quality is extremely high, and we as consumers tend to forget that, and act like they just get everything perfect on the first try. I’d say that it’s more remarkable that their games so far have come out on time. So, when there’s a crack in their armor, a chink, and they don’t get the game out exactly the day that it’s expected, people start looking for excuses. But it’s entirely possible that this game is just so ambitious that they didn’t give themselves enough time to try and meet their goals. So now, it’s taking them an extra few months to make the game perfect.”
That said, though, Pachter said that he believes fans will enjoy the final product greatly- Naughty Dog have never disappointed yet.
“I think you will end up being quite delighted with the final product, and I don’t think the delays make any difference to anybody in the world, except for maybe some very hardcore gamers. I’m sure Uncharted 4 will be great- Naughty Dog just do great work.”
So there you have it- Pachter does not feel that the Uncharted 4 delays will amount to, well, anything much in the long run. I am inclined to agree with him.
Uncharted 4 is set to launch exclusively on PlayStation 4 this May. Source: Rheena.com
Grand Theft Auto V launched in 2013 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, followed by a 2014 release on PS4 and Xbox One, and a 2015 one on PC. It went on to become the highest selling game of all time– so it should not come as a shock to anyone that Rockstar are already working on a sequel. Apparently, Grand Theft Auto VI is now in development.
That said, it seems to be very early in development- so much so that, as of right now, even a location has not been decided for the game yet. At some point, Rockstar did consider developing a Grand Theft Auto Tokyo, but the idea was given up on, with Japan’s clogged road system being the major deterrent.
Of course, if all of this information is true, then Grand Theft Auto VI is years away from release- the earliest we would see it is probably 2018 or 2019. In the meanwhile, it is likely Rockstar has something else in the works- perhaps a Red Dead 3 that we might finally see announced this year? Source: Rheena.com
Mass Effect Andromeda, the eagerly anticipated fourth entry in Bioware’s science fiction space opera series, is still practically an unknown- we know it is due to launch next year, we know it’t set in the Andromeda, and a long time after the ending of Mass Effect 3, but to this day, we haven’t seen a single frame of gameplay footage.
And yet, we’re all hyped- a large part of this has to do with the incredible goodwill that surrounds the Mass Effect series, which causes people to give in to their excitement regarding the game. It also helps that, without actually saying much, Bioware still keep saying things that hype people up.
Take this latest tweet by BioWare Montreal and Austin’s head of design and art Alistair McNally. McNally said, “Played Mass Effect Andromeda yesterday and then today our new IP. Both of which are looking stunning.”
They are looking stunning- we wouldn’t expect anything less from a Bioware title. Now we just have to actually see it in action- maybe at E3 this year? Source: Rheena.com
The Division has been out long enough that most players have, by now, reached the endgame. And there is a lot to do in the endgame, sure, but after almost a month of playing it, the most dedicated players have probably seen all that there is to see. This probably explains why so many of them are trying to find evidence of more end game content coming.
YouTuber King Gothalion spent quite a lot of time in the north-western edges of the map near the Dante’s Run safe-house, and he managed to glitch himself into a new, pretty much completed area- an area that contains a massive battleship in the background. This area could in fact represent the location of an all new Raid for The Division– maybe even the site for a multi group one.
We already know Ubisoft are working on getting some additional end game content out the door as soon as possible, so we might even see this new raid, or this new area, at any rate, relatively soon. I’m pretty sure it will be the most exciting bit of end game content for The Division yet.
Bethesda is a publisher like no other- it has two massively successful franchises (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the most successful games of all time, and the just released Fallout 4 seems to be on track to outsell it), but where other publishers would follow up on these successes with fast tracked sequels on an accelerated release schedule, Bethesda take their time, with the release of two installments in their series sometimes separated by as much as over five years. This makes sense, too- until now, Bethesda have preferred to focus on only one game at a time, and each of their games takes a fair bit of time to develop.
So people probably didn’t expect Bethesda to announce anything truly spectacular at E3 this year- Fallout 4 only released last year, after all, and we know Bethesda don’t like to announce their games until they are very close to release. But it seems as though the company may actually be preparing some kind of an announcement in June after all- GeekSnack posted a lengthy post about a secret in the just released Fallout 4 DLC, Automatron– the secret in question is a lunch box. Now, lunch boxes are hardly rare in the game, and most of them have stickers on them. However, this one stands out, because the sticker on it is placed on the sides, and not the back or front, unlike with others- meaning it is there, in plain view, for you to see even if you don’t examine it. And the sticker spells out just one word- June.
June is, of course, when E3 is held, and it is possible that the lunch box is teasing something for then, especially since there is no Vault Dweller with the name of June in Fallout 4 (there is a character named June Warwick, but she isn’t a Vault Dweller, meaning the box can’t possibly be hers).
So, what then, could this tease be about, presuming it is a sly wink at E3? There are two candidates we can consider- more Fallout 4 DLC (the second wave of DLC is slated to launch by the end of this year), or, maybe, The Elder Scrolls 6.
It has been five years since Skyrim launched in 2011, so the time is ripe for a new Elder Scrolls game (there have never been more than five years separating the release of two Elder Scrolls games before). We also know that Bethesda’s internal structure has seen a few changes, and they now are handling multiple projects at once– this means that the possibility of an Elder Scrolls 6 announcement is not at remote as you may think- and that game could even be launching as early as by 2016 end, or maybe in early 2017.
Of course, we won’t know for sure until E3, which is just a little over two months away. Hopefully, Bethesda have something good planned for us. Source: Rheena.com
NX’s official announcement nears (most rumors peg it for a late April announcement, some time after the release of Star Fox Zero), we’re receiving more and more leaks. One of them was especially massive- posting on Reddit, an art designer for what is purportedly a western AAA game for the NX decided to leak a lot of details about the Nintendo NX. He declined to reveal what game, or even what kind of game, he is allegedly working on, and on the whole, he decided to shy away from giving any hard specs that may end up exposing him. However, he still had a lot to say about the NX.
We’ve decided to collate all of that information for you, and to present it for you in one easy, digestible article. Is this information true? We do not know yet. What we do know is that if it is, then Nintendo surely has a winner on their hands. Just remember, though, this information could easily be false- we know there are a lot of fakers out there. Keep a healthy amount of salt on hand, as we dive into just what the NX allegedly is.
THE NINTENDO NX
Information about the Nintendo NX is coming via the development kit that these guys have- they’re currently working on an original western AAA exclusive for the NX, but their first priority is to prepare and have some versions of multiplatform titles ready for the NX by its launch. The NX development kit in question has been described as being a boring black box, with a boxy controller, and a number of ports. The NX seems to run a proprietary OS, which does not seem to be an Android fork, as was often rumored, accepts Blu Ray sized Nintendo Optical Discs, instead of cartridges, and is, the best the developer can estimate, on track for an early 2017 release.
The Nintendo NX is something that will probably delight core gamers worldwide- it is, in the developer’s words, a response to everyone who has ever wished for a traditional Nintendo console to go up against the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One- with not much gimmicks, but of course, some of Nintendo’s quirks.
THE SPECS
This is probably the part that most people reading this feature are interested in, so let’s cut right to the chase, and explain exactly what the NX allegedly is:
The Nintendo NX uses an ARM architecture
It is a little bit more powerful than the PlayStation 4; any game that runs on the PS4 will run on the NX with ease
That said, porting is a little harder than a simple copy/paste job, because the NX is on ARM rather than x86. Thankfully, most modern engines are flexible and intercompatible between x86 and ARM, so it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to get games running
The Nintendo NX apparently uses 8GB of GDDR5 RAM- that said, the developer did say that a substantial amount of this could end up being reserved for the OS, like on the PS4, Xbox One, or even the Wii U
The developer kit comes with a 1TB HDD on board; the developer pointed out that this could just be for the developer version, however, and that the final consumer version may not necessarily ship with that much storage space
THE CONTROLLER
Undoubtedly the second most important bit about the NX, and the one that has been the focus of most of the speculation and false leaks, is the controller. This is understandable- Nintendo have always been known to experiment with their controllers, and often, alienate people with said experiments. People are a fair bit cautious of the NX right now, because for all they know, the controller ends up having another crazy gimmick that just gets in the way.
From what the leaker has described, however, this does not seem to be the case:
The leaker pointed out that the recent leaks were very obviously false; that said, he did credit them for getting some stuff right: for instance, the entire controller surface is a screen, and the shoulder buttons are scroll wheels, that can also be clicked
With that out of the way, the leaked controllers’ most controversial elements- the oval shape, the touch only controls- are all false. The NX controller seems to be rectangular in shape, and has a physical Dpad, physical shoulder buttons and triggers, physical face buttons, and two full blown analog sticks, as opposed to nubs or sliders
The controller has no physical Start or Select buttons (these show up as touch buttons contextually on the controller); it has a physical Home button
The controller surface is the screen, and the screen circles around the buttons, but not the analog sticks (their bases are opaque)- it’s an exciting piece of tech, which allows for persistent second screen functionality. As opposed to Remote Play streaming, comparisons were drawn to the Dreamcast VMU, or second screen play apps on smartphones
That said, while Remote Play is no longer the selling point, it is definitely possible
Some really exciting applications come in the form of dragging icons under the physical buttons on the controller, and remapping their functions in that way
The controller has a camera of its own, but possibly no speakers; it does have a headphone jack
The controller has a gyroscope and accelerometer, bringing it on par with the motion functionality of the PlayStation Vita or DualShock 4, or Nintendo’s own 3DS or Wii U Gamepad
The touch screen is capacitive, not the resistive kind that was used on DS, 3DS, or Wii U
The controller is an independent unit, with specs on par with a mid tier smartphone. It has microSD functionality.
The screen on the controller is 1080p
The controller’s battery life is unknown, since it is hardwired to the console in the devkit
The controller seems to be it- according to the developer, there is no NX handheld, it seems to be a gangland myth. The NX controller does not seem to be getting many independent games of its own, though it can get second screen apps/small minigames
SO, WHAT IS IT?
Admittedly, all of this sounds too good to be true- if these rumors are true, then the Nintendo NX is:
A traditional console
More powerful than the PS4
With a mostly normal controller without much in the way of gimmicks, but some unique functionality (ala the DualShock 4 on the PS4)
With easy intercompatibility with Xbox One and PS4 for porting purposes
8GB of GDDR5 RAM and 1TB of storage space
Using discs, not cartridges
Set for a 2017 release (although the developer here did acknowledge that it could release as early as December 2016)
This is, in other words, exactly the kind of thing that we have all been hoping for- the kind of system that we have wanted Nintendo to make for a very long time. If this is true, then theoretically, Nintendo should have no trouble getting third parties on board (and we already know that third parties seem to be extremely bullish on the NX)- in which case, they would have a very competitive console, and a legitimate chance to actually dominate the console gaming scene entirely. Because honestly, a powerful Nintendo console that can play all third party games, as well as Nintendo’s own first party games, and doesn’t have much in the way of exclusionary gimmicks? That’s basically what fans have been asking for for a very long time now.
Now it remains to be seen if this rumor is indeed true. While it doesn’t say anything too unbelievable, recent occurrences have shown us that leaks and rumors, no matter how true they might seem, could be false. However, this could be true as well. We have no way to tell so it’s best to take this information with a grain of salt.
Whatever the NX is, we’re not too far from finding out officially, because Nintendo is expected to reveal it sometime this year. Until then, we’ll just hope what was described here is basically it.
Now that Uncharted 4 is getting ever closer to release, we’re learning quite a bit more about what the game is going to hold when it does get here. We’ve been talking about how good looking the game seems to be for quite a while now and gamers are hardly the only ones making those comments. Naughty Dog, the developer for this title has actually been getting plaudits for its visual appeal of its game for quite a while now, especially with The Last of Us, one of the better looking games to get released on any console in the last few years.
Pretty graphics are apparently not the only thing that The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End have in common. There are going to be some AI and stealth aspects that are remarkably similar in Uncharted 4 to what we saw in The Last of Us. Naughty Dog Technical Art Director Waylon Brinck recently talked about those similarities. “The enemies are smarter. We’ve taken a lot of the stealth elements from The Last of Us and brought them in so the player has more choices in combat. You can actually avoid an enemy, lose their line of sight and just sneak past them, and not even have to encounter them,” he said.
The development team said the game’s AI has also been built in order to force players to change up how they play as the game goes on. All of these factoids seem to indicate the game really is going to be as good as advertised. We won’t have to wait all that much longer as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is due to launch on May 10, 2016. Source: Rheena.com
We do know that a new Battlefield game is currently under development, and that it could come as early as by this year’s end. However, given that there has been no official announcement yet, almost everything about the game is, in fact, currently unknown.
Thanks to this job posting on DICE’s website, however, we may have learned something concrete of what DICE have planned for the game. It’s not anything big, yes, but it is something- it reveals at least some of what DICE have in mind for Battlefield 5.
The job listing, which specifically asks for someone who is AAA titles for consoles in the action or FPS genre, asks for someone to design In game economics, such as experience, rewards and in game currency; to design systems for progression from tutorialization to re-engagement of players; and to define pillars for the engagement design that is in line with the overall design direction of the game. All of this suggests that DICE may, in fact, be looking at changing how in game experience and currency works in Battlefield 5.
Currency and experience progression in shooters have been largely the same ever since Modern Warfare popularized the current paradigm back in 2007, so a change is long overdue- will Battlefield 5 be the game to bring about that change? Who knows? For now, we are still waiting on an official announcement for the game. Source: Rheena.com
