http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:37:43 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/fract-osc-solving-puzzles-with-music/2300-6418536/ Slide giant, glowing blocks around until the music changes and an elevator opens up: business as usual in FRACT OSC. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:37:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/fract-osc-solving-puzzles-with-music/2300-6418536/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/fract-osc-review/1900-6415745/ <p style="">"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" goes the oft-quoted saying. It's a snide little shiv of an expression: reductive and crude, but I imagine it's good for a messy ambush on a music journalist's ego. Our flailing attempts to render sounds with words can certainly leave something to be desired; take a trip through an audiophiles' forum, and you'll reliably find linguistic gesticulations like "extra bass, insight, and depth of music" being used to justify $600 digital cables. But there's an appreciable skill in capturing the essence of one art in the form of another. That's what makes endeavors like Fract OSC, which seeks to illustrate music within the strictures of a video game, worth the effort of an honest appraisal.</p><p style="">The act of transliteration to or from an art can reveal its fundamental qualities. Take the <i>Game of Thrones</i> novel, blessed with an ability to convey characters' internal monologues in a manner we know just wouldn't be suitable in HBO's version. Analyzed in that fashion, video games might be uniquely suited to placing you inside an imaginary space. That's a notion that <i>Tron</i> took quite literally when it digitized Jeff Bridges and cast him inside a video game, and Fract OSC doesn't stray far from its neon-blue footprints. Here you find yourself within an abstraction of a synthesizer instead of a CPU, though when you're dealing with digital instruments, the distinction is probably immaterial. That might be why Fract's world looks so much like <i>Tron</i>'s, full of floating geometries and backlit monoliths; and it might be why that resemblance feels appropriate enough.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418536" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418536/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The first sight you see in Fract is awash in black, though. In first-person view, you fumble your way over to a darkened computer terminal, only to find it locked. The synthesizer is broken, you see, split into a trio of color-coded components (lead, bass, and pads) that need to be reconstructed in order to restore the larger machine's functionality. After a loading screen, the game branches outward into layered networks of geodesic caves and temple-like puzzle rooms. Each component's puzzle comes in two flavors: a generalized brainteaser and a more musically inclined variant. When solved, these puzzles fill their immediate environment with house music and unlock corresponding portions of the larger instrument back at its terminal.</p><p style="">Since Fract doesn't offer much in the way of direction, the onus is on you to wander the game's tunnels and gangways in search of promising landmarks. Thankfully, the sometimes organic, sometimes mechanical scenery holds quite a few of them. Superstructures cantilever out over glowing lava. Giant soundstages unfold themselves at the foot of honeycomb towers, and luminescent glyphs flit up from the ground to light your way through the twisting passages. It's an impressive labyrinth, and you gain a better appreciation for its complexity when you take a ride on the fast-travel monorails that link it all together. But just off the beaten path, you find ugly, half-designed areas, the parts of Fract where the complex, undulating geometries resolve themselves into slipshod connections and dead ends. It's a particularly damning problem because without a map, you're bound to spend a few hours treading through these parts of Fract in a vain search for your next objective.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519647-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519647" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519647-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519647"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2519647-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>While Fract's set pieces look stunning, much of the environment is underdeveloped.</figcaption></figure><p style="">All that time wandering might be less arduous if you could kick back with some engaging songs, but Fract is surprisingly quiet for a game about music. The odd glowing pylon might emit a bass riff now and again, but the bulk of the soundtrack is given over to intermittent rumbles and chirps. Players expecting a robust musical experience might be surprised to find that Fract's soundscape trends closer to Billy Corgan's eight-hour ambient interpretation of <i>Siddhartha</i> than it does toward, say, <i>Siamese Dream</i>. The exception comes when you're putting the finishing touches on one of those secondary puzzles, which usually involve laying down a set of tones in a repeating musical measure. An accompaniment chugs along patiently until you can find a suitable tune to run alongside it. Successfully integrating your portion of the song causes additional instruments to come crashing into the music, and the resulting cavalcade of sound makes for a wonderful punctuation to your solution.</p><p style="">The strength of such puzzles is their ability to change sound into something you interact with. Instead of calculating octaves or scales, you're watching your notes open gates, move dials, or convey a beam of energy across nodes. It's a natural and fitting use of the things video games do best, like a visualization of audio that you can occupy and manipulate. You can almost understand the appeal of dubstep when you get to watch the bass get physically dropped.</p><blockquote data-align="center" data-size="large"><p style="">Successfully integrating your portion of the song causes additional instruments to come crashing into the music.</p></blockquote><p style="">Enjoyable as such puzzles are, they're overshadowed by the many that don't feel remotely relevant to the game's musical leanings. Fract is overstuffed with platforms that need raising, sliders that need switching, and tumblers that need rotating. Without any mooring to the game's theme, they're left to sink or swim on the enjoyment they can provide in isolation. Yet most of them lack sophistication, and they're further hampered by...well, let's call it the roughness of demo tape. Wayfinding is frequently unintuitive, requiring you to find and cross doorways that don't look like doorways, or flip switches that don't look like switches. Confusingly, gaps between platforms can sometimes be walked over (there's no jump here), but once in a while you plummet through a small crack in an upper floor of a puzzle and have to hoof it all the way back up from the bottom.</p><p style="">Still, Fract comes tantalizingly close to transcending that bit of static. When it's got a full head of steam, Mogi Grumbles' soundtrack feels like it's on the verge of busting through to the overworld. If only it could follow you as you moved around the space, growing and warping to your input. But the guts of your grand instrument--all the conduits, gauges, and pistons that you've been painstakingly repairing--are a loading screen apart from the synthesizer's actual controls. They might as well be in another dimension. You spend the lion's share of your time in Fract wandering among giant neon Tesla coils and discotheque circuit boards; that the culmination of that experience is an appearance of a couple of new buttons at some remote computer screen seems an arbitrary and irrelevant reward. There isn't any reason to check in on the synth while it remains incomplete, and any rudimentary compositions you build at the terminal don't follow you to the other side, anyway.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519648-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519648" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519648-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519648"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2519648-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>Puzzles like this maze of rotating platforms don't have much bearing on the musical theme.</figcaption></figure><p style="">Eventually, though, you find yourself back at the synthesizer. You set yourself before its glowing dials and their nebulous descriptors--gravity, orbit, haste--and you note that the hours spent puzzling over rotating platforms and flicking switches haven't imparted much of an ability to suss out their meaning, let alone bend and shape them into something resembling music. Something's getting lost in translation here; some precious meaning is slipping through the crack between "gravity" as a synthesizer effect and "gravity" as the thing that makes you fall off a video game's platforms.</p> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:33:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/fract-osc-review/1900-6415745/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/house-of-horrors-betrayer-brings-black-white-terro/2300-6418535/ Zorine and Ed try to survive a desaturated world full of ghosts, skeletons, and shrieking pylons. Just how many times can they die in one sitting? Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:22:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/house-of-horrors-betrayer-brings-black-white-terro/2300-6418535/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/jurassic-park-sega-genesis-highlights-megabit/2300-6418533/ Join Peter and Chris as they relive a movie classic with Dr. Grant and as a Velociraptor in Jurassic Park. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:05:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/jurassic-park-sega-genesis-highlights-megabit/2300-6418533/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-destiny-skipping-pc-xbox-one-and-360-get-o/2300-6418529/ Bungie explains why Destiny won't come to PC and promises they aren't favouring PlayStation over Xbox, while + Xbox Live gets a slate of original TV shows! Mon, 28 Apr 2014 16:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-destiny-skipping-pc-xbox-one-and-360-get-o/2300-6418529/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hearthstone-follows-the-twitch-plays-pokemon-model-in-hearthmind/1100-6419272/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2519630-hearthmind1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519630" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2519630-hearthmind1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519630"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2519630-hearthmind1.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">After <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/over-60k-people-watching-twitch-play-pokemon-update/1100-6417762/" data-ref-id="1100-6417762">Twitch Plays Pokemon</a> proved that groups of people attempting to collaboratively play an RPG together online could be <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-is-a-fascinating-vision-of-the-future/1100-6417867/" data-ref-id="1100-6417867">fascinating to watch</a>, Hearthmind is now attempting to do the same with Blizzard's free-to-play card game, <a href="/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/" data-ref-id="false">Hearthstone</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Similar to Twitch Plays Pokemon, <a href="http://hearthmind.com/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Hearthmind</a> allows people to watch the game as it's being played and input commands they want to see. Hearthmind allows viewers to "vote" for a command by clicking and dragging their mouses on-screen and then carries out one of these votes every five seconds. You can see other viewers' votes as grey lines and arrows, and every five seconds one goes orange, designating it as the chosen action. By contrast, Twitch Plays Pokemon offered two different methods of input (registered through chat messages) at different times: one where every command was registered, and one where viewers voted.</p><p style="">Another wrinkle here is Hearthstone's multiplayer component: The various Pokemon games tackled by Twitch Plays Pokemon were played as single-player games, but Hearthmind matches are being played against real players over the Internet. If you're persistent enough, you could, in theory, manage to accept a friend request and play the Hearthmind Battle.net account online.</p><p style="">In the meantime, those unlucky enough to happen upon the account through matchmaking are faced with the Hearthmind-controlled account taking a long time to get anything done. Fortunately, a timer in Hearthstone forcing a player's turn to end prevents the Hearthmind account from keeping the opponent from taking a turn indefinitely.</p><p style="">Despite saboteurs that can be seen attempting to end a turn preemptively, the Hearthmind account has--miraculously--managed to win a number of ranked matches so far.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:34:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hearthstone-follows-the-twitch-plays-pokemon-model-in-hearthmind/1100-6419272/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-tv-push-won-t-impact-xbox-one-s-gamer-first-approach/1100-6419271/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2518775-xboxoriginals.png" data-ref-id="1300-2518775" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2518775-xboxoriginals.png" data-ref-id="1300-2518775"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/1179/11799911/2518775-xboxoriginals.png"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Microsoft's ambitious Xbox TV push, which we <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-reveals-programs-for-xbox-original-tv-programming/1100-6419255/" data-ref-id="1100-6419255">learned a lot about today</a>, will not impact the "<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-boss-recalls-wrong-decisions-from-last-summer-promises-gamer-first-approach-going-forward/1100-6418776/" data-ref-id="1100-6418776">gamer-first</a>" approach for the platform that Head of Xbox Phil Spencer laid out earlier this month, according to Xbox Entertainment Studios executives.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It's also probably worth saying that none of the activity we're pursuing is coming at the expense any of the investment that's been made in the platform overall or gaming overall," Xbox Entertainment Studios executive vice president Jordan Levin said during a recent media event attended by <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/28/5660938/gaming-first-tv-xbox" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Polygon</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"There isn't shifting of resources away from gaming to this. I mean, the nice thing about playing in a device like this, again, that's nonlinear, is there's no finite space restrictions," he added. "We're simply a new service that is meant to increase the value proposition for the audience, and if they want to opt in, great, and if they don't, then we'll react and respond. But we're not...there's nothing that's getting displaced in the process of what we're trying to build."</p><blockquote data-align="right"><p dir="ltr" style="">"There isn't shifting of resources away from gaming to this" -- Xbox Entertainment Studios EVP Jordan Levin</p></blockquote><p dir="ltr" style="">For her part, Tellem said gaming is "obviously very important" to the Xbox platform. She explained that Microsoft's TV efforts are, in part, aimed at keeping users engaged with the Xbox platform in between major game launches. She cautioned that "it's going to take some time" to get there, but that's the overall goal, she said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As part of Spencer's "gamer-first" approach for Xbox One, he says it will be critical that Microsoft has an open dialogue with consumers about the system.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"That two-way dialogue between us and the fans will be important as we drive this product forward," Spencer said at the time about the Xbox One. "I think it's going to be a foundational element to the culture of this organization. I want the two-way dialogue; we hear what fans say, they have great ideas, and we should use that as an input to how we build our product."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Xbox platform may have been launched as a device that primarily focused on games, but it has grown to become so much more than that with the Xbox 360 and now the Xbox One. Tellem pointed out that people are spending more time with entertainment applications than they are actually playing games on the Xbox platform.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"One thing we have see in the last year is that the consumption of video content, the time that people consumer video content, has really exceeded gameplay on the platform, which has been surprising," Tellem said. She went on to say that these numbers show that there is a "real opportunity" to not only engage existing Xbox fans, but also to expand to new audiences.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In fact, Xbox owners have been spending more time with entertainment apps like Netflix or ESPN than they do actually playing games <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hbo-xfinity-mlb-apps-hit-xbox-live/1100-6368252/" data-ref-id="1100-6368252">since 2012</a>.</p><p style="">Microsoft's suite of original programming for Xbox includes documentaries (including <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/buried-copies-of-failed-movie-game-e-t-have-been-found/1100-6419235/" data-ref-id="1100-6419235">one about last weekend's E.T. landfill excavation</a>), live event coverage (beginning with Bonnaroo this summer), comedies, a World Cup-themed program, multiple Halo shows, and numerous other live-action and animated shows. The first of these shows will debut this year, though it's not clear which shows will be available for free and which will be paid. Some shows might also include advertising elements, Tellem said, making clear that Microsoft is still trying to find out "what works best" for monetization. </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:40:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-tv-push-won-t-impact-xbox-one-s-gamer-first-approach/1100-6419271/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-bungie-we-re-not-favoring-playstati/2300-6418528/ Halo developer Bungie says that they're with they're not playing console favorites with next game, Destiny. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:54:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-bungie-we-re-not-favoring-playstati/2300-6418528/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-dragon-quest-game-in-development-still-no-word-on-dragon-quest-x/1100-6419270/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2518495-dqx1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2518495" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2518495-dqx1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2518495"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2518495-dqx1.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has confirmed the "next" Dragon Quest game is already in development, although he unfortunately didn't provide any information beyond that.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">According to <a href="http://remoon.blog15.fc2.com/blog-entry-30350.html" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Game Jouhou</a> (as translated by <a href="http://gematsu.com/2014/04/next-dragon-quest-game-production" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Gematsu</a>), Horii revealed that Square Enix is "making the next" Dragon Quest game during during the Niconico Super Conference 3 this weekend. He wasn't specific about whether this would be a proper, numbered release (Dragon Quest XI would be next, if so), nor did he indicate what system or systems it would be coming to. The last two numbered DQ games have been for Nintendo platforms.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">It's noted in the original report that fellow Dragon Quest developers Yosuke Saito and Anzai Takashi seemed to look surprised by Horii's revelation. If his announcement regarding this new game wasn't planned, it could explain the lack of any of the essential details we'd like to know.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The most recent game in the Dragon Quest series, <a href="/dragon-quest-x/" data-ref-id="false">Dragon Quest X</a>, has yet to be released outside of Japan. The subscription-based MMO originally launched in August 2012 on Wii before being ported to Wii U, PC, and Android. An international release has been discussed but never confirmed, and we remain in the dark as to whether the game will ever be seen in other markets.</p><p style="">Now that we know the long-running Dragon Quest series is getting a new entry, what would you like to see from it? Let us know in the comments below.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:09:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-dragon-quest-game-in-development-still-no-word-on-dragon-quest-x/1100-6419270/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/towerfall-sold-better-on-ps4-than-pc-ouya-version-trails-behind/1100-6419269/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417629" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417629/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">Indie hit <a href="/towerfall-ascension/" data-ref-id="false">TowerFall</a> has sold better on PlayStation 4 than on PC or Ouya, the latter of which accounted for about 7,000 sales, reports <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-28-towerfall-sold-best-on-ps4" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="2014-04">Eurogamer</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">TowerFall is a multiplayer-focused archery game originally released on Ouya last June. It is often cited as being among the Android microconsole's best games. Despite that accolade, it has only sold roughly 5,000 additional units since developer Matt Thorson <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ouya-devs-open-up-on-sales-figures-for-new-console/1100-6411889/" data-ref-id="1100-6411889">announced sales figures</a> last July.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In March, the game was released with additional content as TowerFall: Ascension on the PS4 and PC. In total, the three versions have grossed $500,000 in sales, Thorson told Eurogamer, with the PS4 version being the strongest seller of the three.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Despite there being a much smaller install base--the PS4 has sold <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-reports-7-million-playstation-4-consoles-sold-worldwide/1100-6419044/" data-ref-id="1100-6419044">7 million units worldwide</a> as of earlier this month, compared with at least tens of millions of computers capable of running TowerFall--Thorson doesn't seem surprised with the way things have gone. "I think it's just a console game, ya know?" he said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"People have controllers--it's not confusing to get the controllers like it is for PC--and people have it in their living rooms already. I think a lot of people still sit down with their friends when they play their consoles, whereas they don't do that on PC. Even if it's a single-player game."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Thorson also points to Sony's strong promotion of the game as playing a role in its performance on the console. He has previously talked about <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-was-proactive-in-getting-one-of-ouya-s-best-games-on-ps4/1100-6418339/" data-ref-id="1100-6418339">how proactive the company was</a> in trying to bring TowerFall to the platform.</p><p style="">As for Ouya, Thorson said, "Being the best game on Ouya isn't a huge deal, but it is nice. It still sells on there." Considering the $15 price of the game, Thorson's estimate of 7,000 sales on Ouya would suggest it accounted for just over $100,000 of the game's gross sales.</p><p style="">For more on TowerFall, check out <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/towerfall-ascension-review/1900-6415688/" data-ref-id="1900-6415688">GameSpot's positive review of Ascension.</a></p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 12:35:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/towerfall-sold-better-on-ps4-than-pc-ouya-version-trails-behind/1100-6419269/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-studio-naughty-dog-loses-another-lead-developer/1100-6419268/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2436835-12476648085_70f695e223_o.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2436835" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2436835-12476648085_70f695e223_o.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2436835"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/1197/11970954/2436835-12476648085_70f695e223_o.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">It appears Sony's wholly owned studio Naughty Dog, famous for the Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us franchises, has lost yet another lead developer.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Last of Us lead character artist Michael Knowland <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-knowland/13/698/b92" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">updated his LinkedIn page </a>(<a href="https://twitter.com/supererogatory/status/460671706932453376" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">spotted by Superannuation</a>) to say his tenure at Naughty Dog ended, or will end, sometime in April 2014. It's unclear if Knowland has actually left Naughty Dog, and we've reached out to a representative for the company for more information.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">This news comes after recent departures of a handful of high-ranking Naughty Dog employees, including <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/uncharted-4-director-leaves-naughty-dog-for-riot/1100-6418600/" data-ref-id="1100-6418600">Uncharted 4 director Justin Richmond</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ex-uncharted-creative-director-amy-hennig-joins-ea-to-work-on-star-wars/1100-6418754/" data-ref-id="1100-6418754">writer Amy Hennig</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-lead-artist-quits-naughty-dog/1100-6419110/" data-ref-id="1100-6419110">lead artist Nate Wells</a>, and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/uncharted-4-actor-recast-after-following-naughty-dog-writer-to-ea/1100-6419118/" data-ref-id="1100-6419118">actor Todd Stashwick</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Of course, it's not out of the ordinary for developers to leave their job for a new opportunity, but the sheer number of employees who have left Naughty Dog in recent days is certainly something to take note of. For more on the changes at Naughty Dog and other first-party Sony studios, be sure to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-changes-at-sony-s-studios-aren-t-anything-to-worry-about-yet/1100-6419136/" data-ref-id="1100-6419136">read GameSpot's editorial on what the turnover might mean</a>.</p><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 12:20:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-studio-naughty-dog-loses-another-lead-developer/1100-6419268/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-s-newest-trailer-features-seven-plus-minutes-of-gameplay/1100-6419267/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418518" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418518/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">Among a surge of <a href="/destiny/" data-ref-id="false">Destiny</a> news, Activision has released a lengthy new video featuring more than seven minutes of gameplay from Bungie's upcoming first-person shooter.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The gameplay in the video comes from a cooperative Strike mission in The Devils' Lair. We see a trio of players take on a variety of enemies in both indoors and outdoors environments, and get a look at some of the objectives that have to be dealt with along the way.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2517929-destiny.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517929" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2517929-destiny.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517929"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_small/123/1239113/2517929-destiny.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">In addition to the release of the video, Activision announced a GameStop-exclusive preorder bonus for Destiny. Members of the free Power Up Rewards program who preorder the game will get the Upgraded Sparrow, a customized transport vehicle that is faster, more durable, and has a better boost than the regular version of the Sparrow.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Following a recent update to Destiny's website that provided new <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-website-updated-with-new-information-about-classes-enemies/1100-6419155/" data-ref-id="1100-6419155">details on classes and enemies</a>, we learned today that Bungie is hoping to allow PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bungie-wants-your-destiny-characters-to-transfer-from-one-console-generation-to-the-next/1100-6419260/" data-ref-id="1100-6419260">carry their progress over</a> to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, respectively. Those four platforms are currently the only ones in the works, although a PC version has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-bungie-s-destiny-is-not-coming-to-pc-at-least-not-right-away/1100-6419265/" data-ref-id="1100-6419265">not been ruled out </a>altogether.</p><p style="">For more on Destiny, check out <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/discovering-destiny-what-awaits-you-in-bungie-s-upcoming-shooter/1100-6419239/" data-ref-id="1100-6419239">GameSpot's latest preview</a>.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em><strong>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></strong></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:38:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-s-newest-trailer-features-seven-plus-minutes-of-gameplay/1100-6419267/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-returns-to-its-classic-name-style-with-madden-nfl-15-in-august/1100-6419266/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418522" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418522/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The latest release in the Madden NFL series, <a href="/madden-nfl-15/" data-ref-id="false">Madden NFL 15</a>, has been announced and will be released on August 26 in North America and August 29 in Europe on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.</p><p style="">With Madden being an annual series, its announcement comes as no surprise; it's only the specifics that are of note--and, unfortunately, there aren't many to be had. Based on a press release sent out today, developer EA Tiburon's focus appears to be on defense with this year's game.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Madden NFL 15 promises to have "the most immersive defensive gameplay control in franchise history" in addition to an all-new broadcast presentation, including new camera angles and dynamic pre-game and halftime features.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As with recent Madden releases, fans will be given the chance to vote on the game's cover star. A special presentation regarding the cover star vote will happen during the NFL Draft on ESPN and the NFL Network on May 8 at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific. A video released as part of today's announcement features reigning Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers, suggesting he'll likely be one of the options fans can vote for.</p><p style="">Last year's <a href="/madden-nfl-25/" data-ref-id="false">Madden NFL 25</a>, so named to celebrate the series' 25-year anniversary, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-skipping-wii-u-this-year-report/1100-6407857/" data-ref-id="1100-6407857">skipped Wii U</a>. Nintendo's newest platform was not mentioned in today's announcement, and EA confirmed with GameSpot the console version of Madden 15 will only be available on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:02:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-returns-to-its-classic-name-style-with-madden-nfl-15-in-august/1100-6419266/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-bungie-s-destiny-is-not-coming-to-pc-at-least-not-right-away/1100-6419265/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418518" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418518/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Former Halo developer Bungie has explained in a new interview why the studio's current project--the shared-world shooter <a href="/destiny/" data-ref-id="false">Destiny</a>--is not going to be available on PC when the <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bungie-announces-destiny-release-date-delays-beta/1100-6416594/" data-ref-id="1100-6416594">Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 versions arrive on September 9</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Asked by <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-28-bungie-explains-why-theres-still-no-pc-version-of-destiny" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="2014-04">Eurogamer</a> why Bungie is not bringing the game to PC even when the game is developed internally on that platform, design lead Lars Bakken said, "The truth is it's not that simple. "I wish it was that simple. It's pretty complicated. That doesn't mean it can't happen in the future, it just means it won't happen right now."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Bungie has not made a game for PC since 2001's <a href="/oni/" data-ref-id="false">Oni</a>, though past Halo titles <a href="/halo-combat-evolved/" data-ref-id="false">Halo: Combat Evolved</a> and <a href="/halo-2/" data-ref-id="false">Halo 2</a> would be released on PC through partnerships with other studios. Bakken said Bungie wants to do all main development internally, and adding another platform to the mix--in this case PC--would only complicate things further, he said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"When I'm playtesting and I'm trying to play PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PS3, that's a lot of work. Adding another thing on there is just crazy," Bakken said. "It's crazy to think of right now."</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/78/787590/2517088-ci78003168030368170.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517088" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/78/787590/2517088-ci78003168030368170.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517088"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_small/78/787590/2517088-ci78003168030368170.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Bungie COO Pete Parsons took a similar line when approached by Eurogamer about a potential PC version of Destiny. "I think four platforms on day one is a lot, considering we've been a one platform team for a very long time," he said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"What is also true is that, as you might imagine, we're all hardcore PC players. We play everything," he added. "It doesn't matter if it's a phone, PC or console, we play it. And there are 500 people up there. So we care a lot about the PC."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"But this is a huge and ambitious project for us, and just getting it on one console would be a momentous challenge. Getting it on four on the same day is something we've never even tried before. We wanted to get it right, and we didn't want to add in tons more risk."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Another reason why a PC version of Destiny is tricky is that all versions of the game connect to a singular persistent world, and this would require a significant amount of legwork to get right, Parsons said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It is not nearly as simple as you think," he said. "It is one central world no matter what the platform, and so that requires lots of intensive thought. Frankly, it's not a thought we can spend time thinking about right now. Just building up the game and putting it across generations of platforms, and working on platforms we've never worked on before with the PlayStation 3, these are very big challenges. I'm thankful we have the engineering team we do."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">With a PC version of Destiny seemingly ruled out for launch, what about a release sometime later down the road? "I look forward to our future conversations around PC," Parsons teased. "We love the PC. We hear it too. We ask the question of ourselves."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Destiny is published by Activision, which believes the game could <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-destiny-has-potential-to-be-billion-dollar-series/1100-6412402/" data-ref-id="1100-6412402">become the company's next billion-dollar franchise</a>. For more on Destiny, be sure to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/discovering-destiny-what-awaits-you-in-bungie-s-upcoming-shooter/1100-6419239/" data-ref-id="1100-6419239">read our recently published hands-on preview </a>from our recent trip to the company's office in Bellevue, Washington.</p><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:41:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-bungie-s-destiny-is-not-coming-to-pc-at-least-not-right-away/1100-6419265/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/destiny-devil-s-lair-strike-gameplay/2300-6418518/ A Fireteam comes together in Destiny to strike at the heart of the Devil's Lair. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:13:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/destiny-devil-s-lair-strike-gameplay/2300-6418518/
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:37:43 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/fract-osc-solving-puzzles-with-music/2300-6418536/ Slide giant, glowing blocks around until the music changes and an elevator opens up: business as usual in FRACT OSC. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:37:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/fract-osc-solving-puzzles-with-music/2300-6418536/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/fract-osc-review/1900-6415745/ <p style="">"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" goes the oft-quoted saying. It's a snide little shiv of an expression: reductive and crude, but I imagine it's good for a messy ambush on a music journalist's ego. Our flailing attempts to render sounds with words can certainly leave something to be desired; take a trip through an audiophiles' forum, and you'll reliably find linguistic gesticulations like "extra bass, insight, and depth of music" being used to justify $600 digital cables. But there's an appreciable skill in capturing the essence of one art in the form of another. That's what makes endeavors like Fract OSC, which seeks to illustrate music within the strictures of a video game, worth the effort of an honest appraisal.</p><p style="">The act of transliteration to or from an art can reveal its fundamental qualities. Take the <i>Game of Thrones</i> novel, blessed with an ability to convey characters' internal monologues in a manner we know just wouldn't be suitable in HBO's version. Analyzed in that fashion, video games might be uniquely suited to placing you inside an imaginary space. That's a notion that <i>Tron</i> took quite literally when it digitized Jeff Bridges and cast him inside a video game, and Fract OSC doesn't stray far from its neon-blue footprints. Here you find yourself within an abstraction of a synthesizer instead of a CPU, though when you're dealing with digital instruments, the distinction is probably immaterial. That might be why Fract's world looks so much like <i>Tron</i>'s, full of floating geometries and backlit monoliths; and it might be why that resemblance feels appropriate enough.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418536" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418536/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The first sight you see in Fract is awash in black, though. In first-person view, you fumble your way over to a darkened computer terminal, only to find it locked. The synthesizer is broken, you see, split into a trio of color-coded components (lead, bass, and pads) that need to be reconstructed in order to restore the larger machine's functionality. After a loading screen, the game branches outward into layered networks of geodesic caves and temple-like puzzle rooms. Each component's puzzle comes in two flavors: a generalized brainteaser and a more musically inclined variant. When solved, these puzzles fill their immediate environment with house music and unlock corresponding portions of the larger instrument back at its terminal.</p><p style="">Since Fract doesn't offer much in the way of direction, the onus is on you to wander the game's tunnels and gangways in search of promising landmarks. Thankfully, the sometimes organic, sometimes mechanical scenery holds quite a few of them. Superstructures cantilever out over glowing lava. Giant soundstages unfold themselves at the foot of honeycomb towers, and luminescent glyphs flit up from the ground to light your way through the twisting passages. It's an impressive labyrinth, and you gain a better appreciation for its complexity when you take a ride on the fast-travel monorails that link it all together. But just off the beaten path, you find ugly, half-designed areas, the parts of Fract where the complex, undulating geometries resolve themselves into slipshod connections and dead ends. It's a particularly damning problem because without a map, you're bound to spend a few hours treading through these parts of Fract in a vain search for your next objective.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519647-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519647" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519647-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519647"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2519647-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>While Fract's set pieces look stunning, much of the environment is underdeveloped.</figcaption></figure><p style="">All that time wandering might be less arduous if you could kick back with some engaging songs, but Fract is surprisingly quiet for a game about music. The odd glowing pylon might emit a bass riff now and again, but the bulk of the soundtrack is given over to intermittent rumbles and chirps. Players expecting a robust musical experience might be surprised to find that Fract's soundscape trends closer to Billy Corgan's eight-hour ambient interpretation of <i>Siddhartha</i> than it does toward, say, <i>Siamese Dream</i>. The exception comes when you're putting the finishing touches on one of those secondary puzzles, which usually involve laying down a set of tones in a repeating musical measure. An accompaniment chugs along patiently until you can find a suitable tune to run alongside it. Successfully integrating your portion of the song causes additional instruments to come crashing into the music, and the resulting cavalcade of sound makes for a wonderful punctuation to your solution.</p><p style="">The strength of such puzzles is their ability to change sound into something you interact with. Instead of calculating octaves or scales, you're watching your notes open gates, move dials, or convey a beam of energy across nodes. It's a natural and fitting use of the things video games do best, like a visualization of audio that you can occupy and manipulate. You can almost understand the appeal of dubstep when you get to watch the bass get physically dropped.</p><blockquote data-align="center" data-size="large"><p style="">Successfully integrating your portion of the song causes additional instruments to come crashing into the music.</p></blockquote><p style="">Enjoyable as such puzzles are, they're overshadowed by the many that don't feel remotely relevant to the game's musical leanings. Fract is overstuffed with platforms that need raising, sliders that need switching, and tumblers that need rotating. Without any mooring to the game's theme, they're left to sink or swim on the enjoyment they can provide in isolation. Yet most of them lack sophistication, and they're further hampered by...well, let's call it the roughness of demo tape. Wayfinding is frequently unintuitive, requiring you to find and cross doorways that don't look like doorways, or flip switches that don't look like switches. Confusingly, gaps between platforms can sometimes be walked over (there's no jump here), but once in a while you plummet through a small crack in an upper floor of a puzzle and have to hoof it all the way back up from the bottom.</p><p style="">Still, Fract comes tantalizingly close to transcending that bit of static. When it's got a full head of steam, Mogi Grumbles' soundtrack feels like it's on the verge of busting through to the overworld. If only it could follow you as you moved around the space, growing and warping to your input. But the guts of your grand instrument--all the conduits, gauges, and pistons that you've been painstakingly repairing--are a loading screen apart from the synthesizer's actual controls. They might as well be in another dimension. You spend the lion's share of your time in Fract wandering among giant neon Tesla coils and discotheque circuit boards; that the culmination of that experience is an appearance of a couple of new buttons at some remote computer screen seems an arbitrary and irrelevant reward. There isn't any reason to check in on the synth while it remains incomplete, and any rudimentary compositions you build at the terminal don't follow you to the other side, anyway.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519648-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519648" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2519648-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519648"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2519648-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>Puzzles like this maze of rotating platforms don't have much bearing on the musical theme.</figcaption></figure><p style="">Eventually, though, you find yourself back at the synthesizer. You set yourself before its glowing dials and their nebulous descriptors--gravity, orbit, haste--and you note that the hours spent puzzling over rotating platforms and flicking switches haven't imparted much of an ability to suss out their meaning, let alone bend and shape them into something resembling music. Something's getting lost in translation here; some precious meaning is slipping through the crack between "gravity" as a synthesizer effect and "gravity" as the thing that makes you fall off a video game's platforms.</p> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:33:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/fract-osc-review/1900-6415745/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/house-of-horrors-betrayer-brings-black-white-terro/2300-6418535/ Zorine and Ed try to survive a desaturated world full of ghosts, skeletons, and shrieking pylons. Just how many times can they die in one sitting? Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:22:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/house-of-horrors-betrayer-brings-black-white-terro/2300-6418535/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/jurassic-park-sega-genesis-highlights-megabit/2300-6418533/ Join Peter and Chris as they relive a movie classic with Dr. Grant and as a Velociraptor in Jurassic Park. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:05:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/jurassic-park-sega-genesis-highlights-megabit/2300-6418533/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-destiny-skipping-pc-xbox-one-and-360-get-o/2300-6418529/ Bungie explains why Destiny won't come to PC and promises they aren't favouring PlayStation over Xbox, while + Xbox Live gets a slate of original TV shows! Mon, 28 Apr 2014 16:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-destiny-skipping-pc-xbox-one-and-360-get-o/2300-6418529/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hearthstone-follows-the-twitch-plays-pokemon-model-in-hearthmind/1100-6419272/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2519630-hearthmind1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519630" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2519630-hearthmind1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2519630"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2519630-hearthmind1.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">After <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/over-60k-people-watching-twitch-play-pokemon-update/1100-6417762/" data-ref-id="1100-6417762">Twitch Plays Pokemon</a> proved that groups of people attempting to collaboratively play an RPG together online could be <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-is-a-fascinating-vision-of-the-future/1100-6417867/" data-ref-id="1100-6417867">fascinating to watch</a>, Hearthmind is now attempting to do the same with Blizzard's free-to-play card game, <a href="/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/" data-ref-id="false">Hearthstone</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Similar to Twitch Plays Pokemon, <a href="http://hearthmind.com/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Hearthmind</a> allows people to watch the game as it's being played and input commands they want to see. Hearthmind allows viewers to "vote" for a command by clicking and dragging their mouses on-screen and then carries out one of these votes every five seconds. You can see other viewers' votes as grey lines and arrows, and every five seconds one goes orange, designating it as the chosen action. By contrast, Twitch Plays Pokemon offered two different methods of input (registered through chat messages) at different times: one where every command was registered, and one where viewers voted.</p><p style="">Another wrinkle here is Hearthstone's multiplayer component: The various Pokemon games tackled by Twitch Plays Pokemon were played as single-player games, but Hearthmind matches are being played against real players over the Internet. If you're persistent enough, you could, in theory, manage to accept a friend request and play the Hearthmind Battle.net account online.</p><p style="">In the meantime, those unlucky enough to happen upon the account through matchmaking are faced with the Hearthmind-controlled account taking a long time to get anything done. Fortunately, a timer in Hearthstone forcing a player's turn to end prevents the Hearthmind account from keeping the opponent from taking a turn indefinitely.</p><p style="">Despite saboteurs that can be seen attempting to end a turn preemptively, the Hearthmind account has--miraculously--managed to win a number of ranked matches so far.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:34:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hearthstone-follows-the-twitch-plays-pokemon-model-in-hearthmind/1100-6419272/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-tv-push-won-t-impact-xbox-one-s-gamer-first-approach/1100-6419271/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2518775-xboxoriginals.png" data-ref-id="1300-2518775" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2518775-xboxoriginals.png" data-ref-id="1300-2518775"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/1179/11799911/2518775-xboxoriginals.png"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Microsoft's ambitious Xbox TV push, which we <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-reveals-programs-for-xbox-original-tv-programming/1100-6419255/" data-ref-id="1100-6419255">learned a lot about today</a>, will not impact the "<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-boss-recalls-wrong-decisions-from-last-summer-promises-gamer-first-approach-going-forward/1100-6418776/" data-ref-id="1100-6418776">gamer-first</a>" approach for the platform that Head of Xbox Phil Spencer laid out earlier this month, according to Xbox Entertainment Studios executives.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It's also probably worth saying that none of the activity we're pursuing is coming at the expense any of the investment that's been made in the platform overall or gaming overall," Xbox Entertainment Studios executive vice president Jordan Levin said during a recent media event attended by <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/28/5660938/gaming-first-tv-xbox" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Polygon</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"There isn't shifting of resources away from gaming to this. I mean, the nice thing about playing in a device like this, again, that's nonlinear, is there's no finite space restrictions," he added. "We're simply a new service that is meant to increase the value proposition for the audience, and if they want to opt in, great, and if they don't, then we'll react and respond. But we're not...there's nothing that's getting displaced in the process of what we're trying to build."</p><blockquote data-align="right"><p dir="ltr" style="">"There isn't shifting of resources away from gaming to this" -- Xbox Entertainment Studios EVP Jordan Levin</p></blockquote><p dir="ltr" style="">For her part, Tellem said gaming is "obviously very important" to the Xbox platform. She explained that Microsoft's TV efforts are, in part, aimed at keeping users engaged with the Xbox platform in between major game launches. She cautioned that "it's going to take some time" to get there, but that's the overall goal, she said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As part of Spencer's "gamer-first" approach for Xbox One, he says it will be critical that Microsoft has an open dialogue with consumers about the system.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"That two-way dialogue between us and the fans will be important as we drive this product forward," Spencer said at the time about the Xbox One. "I think it's going to be a foundational element to the culture of this organization. I want the two-way dialogue; we hear what fans say, they have great ideas, and we should use that as an input to how we build our product."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Xbox platform may have been launched as a device that primarily focused on games, but it has grown to become so much more than that with the Xbox 360 and now the Xbox One. Tellem pointed out that people are spending more time with entertainment applications than they are actually playing games on the Xbox platform.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"One thing we have see in the last year is that the consumption of video content, the time that people consumer video content, has really exceeded gameplay on the platform, which has been surprising," Tellem said. She went on to say that these numbers show that there is a "real opportunity" to not only engage existing Xbox fans, but also to expand to new audiences.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In fact, Xbox owners have been spending more time with entertainment apps like Netflix or ESPN than they do actually playing games <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hbo-xfinity-mlb-apps-hit-xbox-live/1100-6368252/" data-ref-id="1100-6368252">since 2012</a>.</p><p style="">Microsoft's suite of original programming for Xbox includes documentaries (including <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/buried-copies-of-failed-movie-game-e-t-have-been-found/1100-6419235/" data-ref-id="1100-6419235">one about last weekend's E.T. landfill excavation</a>), live event coverage (beginning with Bonnaroo this summer), comedies, a World Cup-themed program, multiple Halo shows, and numerous other live-action and animated shows. The first of these shows will debut this year, though it's not clear which shows will be available for free and which will be paid. Some shows might also include advertising elements, Tellem said, making clear that Microsoft is still trying to find out "what works best" for monetization. </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:40:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-tv-push-won-t-impact-xbox-one-s-gamer-first-approach/1100-6419271/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-bungie-we-re-not-favoring-playstati/2300-6418528/ Halo developer Bungie says that they're with they're not playing console favorites with next game, Destiny. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:54:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-bungie-we-re-not-favoring-playstati/2300-6418528/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-dragon-quest-game-in-development-still-no-word-on-dragon-quest-x/1100-6419270/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2518495-dqx1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2518495" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2518495-dqx1.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2518495"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2518495-dqx1.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has confirmed the "next" Dragon Quest game is already in development, although he unfortunately didn't provide any information beyond that.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">According to <a href="http://remoon.blog15.fc2.com/blog-entry-30350.html" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Game Jouhou</a> (as translated by <a href="http://gematsu.com/2014/04/next-dragon-quest-game-production" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Gematsu</a>), Horii revealed that Square Enix is "making the next" Dragon Quest game during during the Niconico Super Conference 3 this weekend. He wasn't specific about whether this would be a proper, numbered release (Dragon Quest XI would be next, if so), nor did he indicate what system or systems it would be coming to. The last two numbered DQ games have been for Nintendo platforms.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">It's noted in the original report that fellow Dragon Quest developers Yosuke Saito and Anzai Takashi seemed to look surprised by Horii's revelation. If his announcement regarding this new game wasn't planned, it could explain the lack of any of the essential details we'd like to know.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The most recent game in the Dragon Quest series, <a href="/dragon-quest-x/" data-ref-id="false">Dragon Quest X</a>, has yet to be released outside of Japan. The subscription-based MMO originally launched in August 2012 on Wii before being ported to Wii U, PC, and Android. An international release has been discussed but never confirmed, and we remain in the dark as to whether the game will ever be seen in other markets.</p><p style="">Now that we know the long-running Dragon Quest series is getting a new entry, what would you like to see from it? Let us know in the comments below.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:09:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-dragon-quest-game-in-development-still-no-word-on-dragon-quest-x/1100-6419270/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/towerfall-sold-better-on-ps4-than-pc-ouya-version-trails-behind/1100-6419269/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417629" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417629/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">Indie hit <a href="/towerfall-ascension/" data-ref-id="false">TowerFall</a> has sold better on PlayStation 4 than on PC or Ouya, the latter of which accounted for about 7,000 sales, reports <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-28-towerfall-sold-best-on-ps4" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="2014-04">Eurogamer</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">TowerFall is a multiplayer-focused archery game originally released on Ouya last June. It is often cited as being among the Android microconsole's best games. Despite that accolade, it has only sold roughly 5,000 additional units since developer Matt Thorson <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ouya-devs-open-up-on-sales-figures-for-new-console/1100-6411889/" data-ref-id="1100-6411889">announced sales figures</a> last July.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In March, the game was released with additional content as TowerFall: Ascension on the PS4 and PC. In total, the three versions have grossed $500,000 in sales, Thorson told Eurogamer, with the PS4 version being the strongest seller of the three.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Despite there being a much smaller install base--the PS4 has sold <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-reports-7-million-playstation-4-consoles-sold-worldwide/1100-6419044/" data-ref-id="1100-6419044">7 million units worldwide</a> as of earlier this month, compared with at least tens of millions of computers capable of running TowerFall--Thorson doesn't seem surprised with the way things have gone. "I think it's just a console game, ya know?" he said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"People have controllers--it's not confusing to get the controllers like it is for PC--and people have it in their living rooms already. I think a lot of people still sit down with their friends when they play their consoles, whereas they don't do that on PC. Even if it's a single-player game."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Thorson also points to Sony's strong promotion of the game as playing a role in its performance on the console. He has previously talked about <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-was-proactive-in-getting-one-of-ouya-s-best-games-on-ps4/1100-6418339/" data-ref-id="1100-6418339">how proactive the company was</a> in trying to bring TowerFall to the platform.</p><p style="">As for Ouya, Thorson said, "Being the best game on Ouya isn't a huge deal, but it is nice. It still sells on there." Considering the $15 price of the game, Thorson's estimate of 7,000 sales on Ouya would suggest it accounted for just over $100,000 of the game's gross sales.</p><p style="">For more on TowerFall, check out <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/towerfall-ascension-review/1900-6415688/" data-ref-id="1900-6415688">GameSpot's positive review of Ascension.</a></p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 12:35:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/towerfall-sold-better-on-ps4-than-pc-ouya-version-trails-behind/1100-6419269/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-studio-naughty-dog-loses-another-lead-developer/1100-6419268/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2436835-12476648085_70f695e223_o.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2436835" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2436835-12476648085_70f695e223_o.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2436835"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/1197/11970954/2436835-12476648085_70f695e223_o.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">It appears Sony's wholly owned studio Naughty Dog, famous for the Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us franchises, has lost yet another lead developer.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Last of Us lead character artist Michael Knowland <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-knowland/13/698/b92" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">updated his LinkedIn page </a>(<a href="https://twitter.com/supererogatory/status/460671706932453376" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">spotted by Superannuation</a>) to say his tenure at Naughty Dog ended, or will end, sometime in April 2014. It's unclear if Knowland has actually left Naughty Dog, and we've reached out to a representative for the company for more information.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">This news comes after recent departures of a handful of high-ranking Naughty Dog employees, including <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/uncharted-4-director-leaves-naughty-dog-for-riot/1100-6418600/" data-ref-id="1100-6418600">Uncharted 4 director Justin Richmond</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ex-uncharted-creative-director-amy-hennig-joins-ea-to-work-on-star-wars/1100-6418754/" data-ref-id="1100-6418754">writer Amy Hennig</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-lead-artist-quits-naughty-dog/1100-6419110/" data-ref-id="1100-6419110">lead artist Nate Wells</a>, and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/uncharted-4-actor-recast-after-following-naughty-dog-writer-to-ea/1100-6419118/" data-ref-id="1100-6419118">actor Todd Stashwick</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Of course, it's not out of the ordinary for developers to leave their job for a new opportunity, but the sheer number of employees who have left Naughty Dog in recent days is certainly something to take note of. For more on the changes at Naughty Dog and other first-party Sony studios, be sure to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-changes-at-sony-s-studios-aren-t-anything-to-worry-about-yet/1100-6419136/" data-ref-id="1100-6419136">read GameSpot's editorial on what the turnover might mean</a>.</p><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 12:20:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-studio-naughty-dog-loses-another-lead-developer/1100-6419268/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-s-newest-trailer-features-seven-plus-minutes-of-gameplay/1100-6419267/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418518" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418518/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">Among a surge of <a href="/destiny/" data-ref-id="false">Destiny</a> news, Activision has released a lengthy new video featuring more than seven minutes of gameplay from Bungie's upcoming first-person shooter.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The gameplay in the video comes from a cooperative Strike mission in The Devils' Lair. We see a trio of players take on a variety of enemies in both indoors and outdoors environments, and get a look at some of the objectives that have to be dealt with along the way.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2517929-destiny.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517929" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2517929-destiny.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517929"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_small/123/1239113/2517929-destiny.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">In addition to the release of the video, Activision announced a GameStop-exclusive preorder bonus for Destiny. Members of the free Power Up Rewards program who preorder the game will get the Upgraded Sparrow, a customized transport vehicle that is faster, more durable, and has a better boost than the regular version of the Sparrow.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Following a recent update to Destiny's website that provided new <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-website-updated-with-new-information-about-classes-enemies/1100-6419155/" data-ref-id="1100-6419155">details on classes and enemies</a>, we learned today that Bungie is hoping to allow PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bungie-wants-your-destiny-characters-to-transfer-from-one-console-generation-to-the-next/1100-6419260/" data-ref-id="1100-6419260">carry their progress over</a> to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, respectively. Those four platforms are currently the only ones in the works, although a PC version has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-bungie-s-destiny-is-not-coming-to-pc-at-least-not-right-away/1100-6419265/" data-ref-id="1100-6419265">not been ruled out </a>altogether.</p><p style="">For more on Destiny, check out <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/discovering-destiny-what-awaits-you-in-bungie-s-upcoming-shooter/1100-6419239/" data-ref-id="1100-6419239">GameSpot's latest preview</a>.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em><strong>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></strong></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:38:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-s-newest-trailer-features-seven-plus-minutes-of-gameplay/1100-6419267/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-returns-to-its-classic-name-style-with-madden-nfl-15-in-august/1100-6419266/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418522" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418522/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The latest release in the Madden NFL series, <a href="/madden-nfl-15/" data-ref-id="false">Madden NFL 15</a>, has been announced and will be released on August 26 in North America and August 29 in Europe on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.</p><p style="">With Madden being an annual series, its announcement comes as no surprise; it's only the specifics that are of note--and, unfortunately, there aren't many to be had. Based on a press release sent out today, developer EA Tiburon's focus appears to be on defense with this year's game.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Madden NFL 15 promises to have "the most immersive defensive gameplay control in franchise history" in addition to an all-new broadcast presentation, including new camera angles and dynamic pre-game and halftime features.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As with recent Madden releases, fans will be given the chance to vote on the game's cover star. A special presentation regarding the cover star vote will happen during the NFL Draft on ESPN and the NFL Network on May 8 at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific. A video released as part of today's announcement features reigning Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers, suggesting he'll likely be one of the options fans can vote for.</p><p style="">Last year's <a href="/madden-nfl-25/" data-ref-id="false">Madden NFL 25</a>, so named to celebrate the series' 25-year anniversary, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-skipping-wii-u-this-year-report/1100-6407857/" data-ref-id="1100-6407857">skipped Wii U</a>. Nintendo's newest platform was not mentioned in today's announcement, and EA confirmed with GameSpot the console version of Madden 15 will only be available on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSmokingManX" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @TheSmokingManX</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><em><strong>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</strong></em></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:02:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-returns-to-its-classic-name-style-with-madden-nfl-15-in-august/1100-6419266/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-bungie-s-destiny-is-not-coming-to-pc-at-least-not-right-away/1100-6419265/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418518" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418518/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Former Halo developer Bungie has explained in a new interview why the studio's current project--the shared-world shooter <a href="/destiny/" data-ref-id="false">Destiny</a>--is not going to be available on PC when the <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bungie-announces-destiny-release-date-delays-beta/1100-6416594/" data-ref-id="1100-6416594">Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 versions arrive on September 9</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Asked by <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-28-bungie-explains-why-theres-still-no-pc-version-of-destiny" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="2014-04">Eurogamer</a> why Bungie is not bringing the game to PC even when the game is developed internally on that platform, design lead Lars Bakken said, "The truth is it's not that simple. "I wish it was that simple. It's pretty complicated. That doesn't mean it can't happen in the future, it just means it won't happen right now."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Bungie has not made a game for PC since 2001's <a href="/oni/" data-ref-id="false">Oni</a>, though past Halo titles <a href="/halo-combat-evolved/" data-ref-id="false">Halo: Combat Evolved</a> and <a href="/halo-2/" data-ref-id="false">Halo 2</a> would be released on PC through partnerships with other studios. Bakken said Bungie wants to do all main development internally, and adding another platform to the mix--in this case PC--would only complicate things further, he said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"When I'm playtesting and I'm trying to play PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PS3, that's a lot of work. Adding another thing on there is just crazy," Bakken said. "It's crazy to think of right now."</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/78/787590/2517088-ci78003168030368170.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517088" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/78/787590/2517088-ci78003168030368170.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2517088"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_small/78/787590/2517088-ci78003168030368170.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Bungie COO Pete Parsons took a similar line when approached by Eurogamer about a potential PC version of Destiny. "I think four platforms on day one is a lot, considering we've been a one platform team for a very long time," he said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"What is also true is that, as you might imagine, we're all hardcore PC players. We play everything," he added. "It doesn't matter if it's a phone, PC or console, we play it. And there are 500 people up there. So we care a lot about the PC."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"But this is a huge and ambitious project for us, and just getting it on one console would be a momentous challenge. Getting it on four on the same day is something we've never even tried before. We wanted to get it right, and we didn't want to add in tons more risk."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Another reason why a PC version of Destiny is tricky is that all versions of the game connect to a singular persistent world, and this would require a significant amount of legwork to get right, Parsons said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It is not nearly as simple as you think," he said. "It is one central world no matter what the platform, and so that requires lots of intensive thought. Frankly, it's not a thought we can spend time thinking about right now. Just building up the game and putting it across generations of platforms, and working on platforms we've never worked on before with the PlayStation 3, these are very big challenges. I'm thankful we have the engineering team we do."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">With a PC version of Destiny seemingly ruled out for launch, what about a release sometime later down the road? "I look forward to our future conversations around PC," Parsons teased. "We love the PC. We hear it too. We ask the question of ourselves."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Destiny is published by Activision, which believes the game could <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-destiny-has-potential-to-be-billion-dollar-series/1100-6412402/" data-ref-id="1100-6412402">become the company's next billion-dollar franchise</a>. For more on Destiny, be sure to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/discovering-destiny-what-awaits-you-in-bungie-s-upcoming-shooter/1100-6419239/" data-ref-id="1100-6419239">read our recently published hands-on preview </a>from our recent trip to the company's office in Bellevue, Washington.</p><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:41:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-bungie-s-destiny-is-not-coming-to-pc-at-least-not-right-away/1100-6419265/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/destiny-devil-s-lair-strike-gameplay/2300-6418518/ A Fireteam comes together in Destiny to strike at the heart of the Devil's Lair. Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:13:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/destiny-devil-s-lair-strike-gameplay/2300-6418518/
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