http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Thu, 08 May 2014 22:38:43 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/mario-kart-8-new-items-preview/2300-6418726/ Mark Walton finally thwarts the infamous blue shell while investigating Mario Kart 8's new items. Thu, 08 May 2014 17:18:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/mario-kart-8-new-items-preview/2300-6418726/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-vr-aspires-to-create-an-mmo-world-with-1-billion-people-in-it/1100-6419518/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6405910" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6405910/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">We already know Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-creator-if-you-can-perfectly-simulate-reality-why-do-you-need-to-actually-go-see-people-in-real-life/1100-6419008/" data-ref-id="1100-6419008">huge aspirations</a>--and after being acquired for $2 billion, who can blame it?--among them, the goal of creating an MMO world that brings together 1 billion people.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">This is according to Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe, who talked about the platform the company wants to create with the Oculus Rift at this week's <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/05/facebook-acqusition-helped-oculus/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">TechCrunch Disrupt</a>. "This is going to be the largest MMO ever made," he said. "This is going to be an MMO where we want to put a billion people in VR."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">1 billion people is a massive figure, roughly 14 percent of the world's estimated population of 7 billion people. As pointed out by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/07/oculus-rift-ceo-billion-people-virtual-reality" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">The Guardian</a>, this would require selling more Rifts than the total number of gaming consoles sold worldwide since 1982. Facebook currently sees 1.23 billion active users monthly.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Iribe said this platform, or MMO, as he calls it, won't just be a game; while he says Oculus is "very committed to gaming," he also said the company has its eyes on a broader audience than a dedicated gaming device can reach.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Do we want to be Game Boy, or do we want to be iPhone or Android? I think Game Boy is an awesome platform, but I think you'll see that handheld gaming device largely disrupted by the mobile market," he continued. "For VR, where we want to go, connecting a billion people, do you want to be building a platform that has a billion users on it, or 10 or 20 or 50 million?"</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As Iribe sees it, if Oculus is able to tap into a much larger market--that billion people it aspires to be in the hands of--that will only help game developers, who will in turn have far more people to sell their games to.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">He also reaffirmed the company's roots remain in game development, saying, "We're game developers. Most of the people in the company that are in key positions or doing a lot of the R&D or the engineering are all game developers." <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/doom-co-creator-john-carmack-officially-leaves-id-software/1100-6416346/" data-ref-id="1100-6416346">John Carmack</a>, Oculus' chief technology officer, and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-vr-hires-another-valve-virtual-reality-veteran/1100-6418627/" data-ref-id="1100-6418627">Michael Abrash</a>, chief scientist, were specifically mentioned as people who come from the gaming space.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As noted above, Oculus VR was recently <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/facebook-buys-oculus-rift-company-in-a-massive-deal-worth-an-estimated-2-billion/1100-6418540/" data-ref-id="1100-6418540">acquired for $2 billion by Facebook</a>. Subsequently, ZeniMax claimed Oculus is <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/report-elder-scrolls-parent-company-seeking-compensation-for-oculus-rift-headset-oculus-calls-claims-ridiculous/1100-6419351/" data-ref-id="1100-6419351">making use of intellectual property</a> that it owns from the time Carmack still worked for id Software (which ZeniMax owns). Carmack claims none of the code he wrote while working at id is being used by Oculus, while Oculus itself has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-responds-to-claims-that-it-stole-vr-tech-from-fallout-parent-company/1100-6419420/" data-ref-id="1100-6419420">pledged to fight</a> ZeniMax's "false" claims.</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> Thu, 08 May 2014 17:13:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-vr-aspires-to-create-an-mmo-world-with-1-billion-people-in-it/1100-6419518/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/bound-by-flame-jump-kicking-a-skull-beast-gameplay/2300-6418724/ Vulcan throws fireballs and drop kicks some bone creatures. Thu, 08 May 2014 16:47:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/bound-by-flame-jump-kicking-a-skull-beast-gameplay/2300-6418724/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rez-space-channel-5-creator-mizuguchi-returns-to-game-development/1100-6419519/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526149-rez+hd.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526149" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526149-rez+hd.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526149"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2526149-rez+hd.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">After stepping away from game development and leaving the company he founded, <a href="/rez-hd/" data-ref-id="false">Rez</a> and <a href="/lumines/" data-ref-id="false">Lumines</a> creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi now says he plans to return to the game development industry.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Mizuguchi, who has been lecturing at Keio University in Tokyo, told <a href="http://www.edge-online.com/news/tetsuya-mizuguchi-on-his-return-to-game-development/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"><em>Edge</em></a> he's not content with that one role. "I need both. I need to share my experiences and ideas with the younger generation. This is one mission," he explained. "But I also need to keep creating. So I'm doing both now. I'm preparing my own creation."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Currently, Mizuguchi is "helping with some social games in Japan" that he can't yet talk about. In addition to those projects, he's preparing to make a game of his own, "maybe this year or next year."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game won't be produced by a typical studio. "I will make a new kind of creative environment. I'm not that bothered about starting a new company," he said. "Instead, I'll connect with people and put together a group who are essential to the project, and then for the next project I'll start again. Everyone will be freelance. It will be similar to how you make a film or how you make music, with a group of independent people with specific knowhow working together."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">He talked about having interest in mobile and free-to-play games, but stopped short of committing to either. He also shied away from providing any hard details about what his new game would be like, instead referencing a talk he gave at the recent BitSummit conference where he discussed synaesthesia.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"This is a big thing for me," he said. "I started that kind of concept in games with Rez, and this is a long journey, across Rez and Lumines and <a href="/child-of-eden/" data-ref-id="false">Child of Eden</a>, and maybe <a href="/space-channel-5/" data-ref-id="false">Space Channel 5</a> too. That part of my DNA will never die, so this is kind of a life's work for me. So I'm thinking about what is next, and what's the future experience."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Mizuguchi cofounded Q Entertainment (most recently responsible for Child of Eden and Vita launch title <a href="/lumines-electronic-symphony/" data-ref-id="false">Lumines: Electronic Symphony</a>, among other games) in 2003 and would work there for the next decade. In 2012, it was <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-20-mizuguchi-moves-away-from-game-production" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="2012-09">reported</a> that he had moved away from game production, assuming a role as "more of a spokesperson," according to the studio's Nobuhiko Shimizu. A year later, he left the company, a fact which was only <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/454305/mizuguchi-leaves-q-entertainment-along-with-ceo-insider-claims/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">made public</a> back in March.</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> Thu, 08 May 2014 16:41:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rez-space-channel-5-creator-mizuguchi-returns-to-game-development/1100-6419519/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-call-of-duty-wants-to-be-game-of-thrones-n/2300-6418720/ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare wants to be 'Game of Thrones' popular, a new Unreal Tournament is coming, and Elder Scrolls Online and Dying Light are delayed! Thu, 08 May 2014 16:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-call-of-duty-wants-to-be-game-of-thrones-n/2300-6418720/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/bound-by-flame-review/1900-6415751/ <p style="">When you first start playing Bound by Flame, you're asked to enter a name for your character--a name that is then summarily ignored by the game's supporting cast, which always refers to your hero by his or her known name: Vulcan. Given Bound by Flame's shallow similarities to <a href="/the-witcher/" data-ref-id="false">The Witcher</a>, it's hard not to wonder what the latter game might have been like if you were asked to name the protagonist, only for everyone to call you Geralt anyway. This identity crisis may seem a minor detail, but it is a head-scratcher of an issue in a role-playing game full of head-scratchers, each one more stymieing than the last. Bound by Flame is the kind of game you might hear people describe as having "a lot of heart," and the game it tries to be is certainly one worth celebrating. Yet by the time this frustrating adventure comes to a close, it's clear that there's a wide gulf between the game you just played and the vision that inspired it.</p><p style="">I can't accuse developer Spiders of not trying. Bound by Flame is an action-heavy role-playing game about choice, and it liberally borrows from the BioWare book of conversation tropes, presenting you with narrative decisions now and again that affect allegiances and spawn conflicts, most of which can be solved only through swordplay. Vulcan is an apt name for the game's central character. He (or she, if you choose a female avatar) is a member of a mercenary group called the Freeborn Blades, but in the midst of fighting to stave off an invasion of undead creatures called deadwalkers, he finds himself sharing his brain with a growling demon. Vulcan's mind becomes rather overcrowded as a result, but at least the demon grants him the ability to conjure fire, bringing sense to his mythology-inspired moniker.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526048-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526048" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526048-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526048"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2526048-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>Companions are so good at playing dead that it's a wonder they were included in the game at all. </figcaption></figure><p style="">Bound by Flame's most intriguing choices are those that see Vulcan deciding whether to bend to the demon's whim or assert his individuality, and the more you side with the demon's advice, the more you take on stereotypical demonic traits. The <a href="/fable/" data-ref-id="false">Fable</a> series allows for a similar metamorphosis, but the changes are even more ferocious in Bound by Flame's grim fantasy world. As I faced the final battle, a scrawl of reddish runes had been etched into my blackened chest, from which flames poured out; I had not one, but three sets of curled horns growing from my head; and my voice had taken on a diabolical rumble as the two competing identities became further intertwined.</p><p style="">The consequences of your decisions aren't just cosmetic: growing horns means you can't wear helmets and thus reap their defensive benefits, but you do gain enhanced magic power regeneration by way of compensation. There are other trade-offs, as well, but mutating into a fiery fiend was such a delectable experience that I never regretted taking that path in spite of my usual goody-two-shoes proclivities. To be sure, there are choices to make in Bound by Flame's story that have nothing to do with the demon within, but narrative choices are most effective when you're invested in the potential consequences, and the game's poor dialogue and characterizations aren't apt to make you care about anyone's fate but your own.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526050-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526050" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526050-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526050"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2526050-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Sybil--you're down for the count too?</figcaption></figure><p style="">Take, for instance, the scholar called Sybil, who might need to cope with great loss depending on a decision you make early in the game. The inexpressive writing and voice acting keep Sybil's story from tugging at your emotions, and when you take her to collect three books later on, her ability to relate information immediately, without having to actually read those books, is dumb. Characters are introduced one after another, and many of them are available as battle companions, though you can only invite one to your adventure at any given time. The roster includes a sharp-tongued mage, a prim-and-proper zombie type, and a suicidal knight. They have tales to tell if you ask them, but hearing their stories is like hearing someone recite CliffsNotes: your companions become lecturers, and you wonder if you need to grab a notepad in case there's a test later.</p><p style="">Over time, the narrative problems compound so greatly that you can no longer take any occurrence seriously. Transitions from gameplay to cutscenes are jarring, with characters repositioned instantly, and often performing wholly different actions in one moment than they were in the last. Other times, your companion simply disappears once a battle is finished, and the story takes over, an occurrence that proves highly distracting when the lack of witnesses to a particular event is a plot point. (I had a witness--she was with me the whole time!) The tone seesaws wildly, with your conversation partners cracking jokes at the oddest moments, and Vulcan suddenly acting like a jerk or dropping an f-bomb for no apparent reason. When the final hours asked me to make a sacrifice, I made the decision arbitrarily because none of it mattered to me. I simply had no interest in the barely there companions that fell in battle in mere seconds as if they were made of papier-mache.</p><blockquote data-align="left"><p style="">Bound by Flame's most intriguing choices are those that see Vulcan deciding whether to bend to the demon's whim or assert his individuality.</p></blockquote><p style="">Your companions' ultimate uselessness in combat is only one of Bound by Flame's curse-inducing flaws, almost all of them centered on the game's battle system. Yet the combat is initially pleasing, allowing you to switch between a ranger stance, which opens up speedy dagger attacks, and a warrior stance, which has you swinging overbearing two-handed melee weapons such as axes and swords. You can also sneak up on foes if you're so inclined, though the demon's pyromancy skill set, which allows you to toss fireballs and infuse your weapon with glowing flames, is an even greater boon than the stealthy option. Vulcan's muscular swings and acrobatic windups give the swordplay a nice sense of heft, and each school of battle--warrior, ranger, and pyromancer--comes with its own skill tree, a system that inspires you to make thoughtful customization choices that fit your preferred combat style.</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526054-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526054" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526054-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526054"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_medium/416/4161502/2526054-0004.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Bound by Flame then proceeds to ruin its promising combat with a series of mind-boggling choices that suck out all the fun and turn battles into an aggravation. Small areas are populated with archers, ultra-hardened duelists, and frost spirits with all manner of icy spells they like to bombard you with. Throw into the mix an ineffective companion, an unreliable target lock that abides by no comprehensible rules, and a camera that can't always frame the close-quarters action, and you rarely have the proper tools to form a strategy. To make matters worse, every successful attack serves as an interruption, at best disrupting you mid-swing, and at worse knocking you on your derriere.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526053-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526053" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526053-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526053"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2526053-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>No, this battle does not occur underwater. Bound by Flame's just kind of buggy. </figcaption></figure><p style="">A sample battle: You and your magician companion Edwen enter a small combat arena to face numerous deadwalkers. You immediately rush to the opposite end of the arena, because you enter battle at a narrow choke point guaranteed to serve as your coffin should you choose to remain there. Meanwhile, Edwen succumbs to her attackers within 60 seconds, unable to hold her own even while you whale on the golems, specters, and spirits surrounding her. You manage to get in a few successful swipes before you get caught up in a series of attacks that trap you in a string of recovery animations. Once you regain control, you run down a connecting corridor hoping to lure an ice spirit away from the crowd, but in doing so, pull her too far away from the confined territory she is leashed to. The spirit returns to her home and regains full health, and your fallen companion comes to her senses, which is at least some comfort, since leaving the scene of battle (or finishing the battle) is the only way to revive her.</p><p style="">Combat then becomes a matter of exploiting defects, not one of finding a proper rhythm. Is a boss fight getting you down? Strafe around your foe, leading him in circles until you have regained enough health or mana, and then unleash another round of attacks. That's not very fun, but it's effective. Eventually, you learn a few helpful techniques, and the combat at least becomes bearable: you learn to lay the explosive traps whenever possible, you learn the best timing for blocking and parrying, you learn when to kick an enemy and interrupt his attack, and you learn how far away you can lead enemies before their invisible leashes pull them back. (And that leash radius is frustratingly small in most cases.) But even after you grow accustomed to the game's pitfalls, battles remain a drag, not because they are challenging, but because they are cheap. The combat areas were not created with enemy behavior in mind, and the enemy behavior wasn't created with player combat timings in mind. There is no shame in playing Bound by Flame on the lowest difficulty--and there is no fun in playing on the higher ones.</p><blockquote data-size="large" data-align="center"><p style="">Bound by Flame ruins its promising combat with a series of mind-boggling choices that suck out all the fun and turn battles into an aggravation.</p></blockquote><p style="">In between battles you might head back to camp to grab one of only a few side quests, all of which send you back into the same bland corridors in which the main quests occur. You may also check out the game's crafting system, which is its most robust element. All of the loot you grab on your travels is useful, either directly ("Hey look, I found a new pair of greaves!") or indirectly ("I can use this tainted blood to make potions!"). Raw elements can be combined to make other elements, which in turn can be combined to make useful items like traps or to bolster your equipment so that (for instance) you take less cold damage or increase your chances of a critical hit. Refreshingly, you can stop to craft at any time--even in the middle of the excruciating final boss battle.</p><p style="">By RPG standards, Bound by Flame isn't a very long or expansive game. If you don't consider the battles you must repeat, the adventure is around a dozen hours long, and there is no world to explore, unless you consider a few medium-size levels made up of twisting hallways to be a world. Bound by Flame shoves too many ideas into its cramped boundaries, thus giving none of them the room they deserved to blossom, and thereby allowing the flames to burn the joy away.</p> Thu, 08 May 2014 15:36:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/bound-by-flame-review/1900-6415751/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dlc-map-swampland-screenshots-and-details-released/1100-6419517/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526101-titanfall+swamp.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526101" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526101-titanfall+swamp.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526101"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2526101-titanfall+swamp.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">The third and final map in the upcoming Expedition DLC pack for <a href="/titanfall/" data-ref-id="false">Titanfall</a>, Swampland, has been unveiled, complete with our first look at some screenshots of it in action.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The name of the map gives you the gist of it: Swampland is set in a swamp, albeit one with some man-made structures around. It's the trees, however, that are the stars, as detailed in a <a href="http://www.titanfall.com/news/titanfall-expedition-swampland" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">blog post</a> written by Respawn Entertainment designer Chris Dionne.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Initial layouts of the new Swampland added a bunch of IMC buildings, temples and massive infrastructure," he explained. "While that structure created clearly defined paths and gave Pilots safe havens and places to wall-run, the level lost its personality."</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526102-titanfall+swamp2.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526102" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526102-titanfall+swamp2.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526102"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_small/123/1239113/2526102-titanfall+swamp2.jpg"></a><figcaption>Click for the full-size version.</figcaption></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Dionne eventually realized the trees were what made the map fun. "I shifted the dense forest section to the center of the map, and kept three main structures as anchor points around the perimeter," he said. "This encouraged Pilots and Titans to pass through the woods as they moved from building to building. The final design push then focused on small changes to enhance those interactions - adjusting sight lines, making interiors more interesting to fight over, encouraging flow, and so on."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Swampland originated from an idea in the summer of 2011 of setting a level in a swamp. Work on it began but was set aside "for almost two years." Once the game was complete, Dionne decided to bring it back. The video below provides a brief glimpse at the design process that went into its creation.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Swampland is one of three maps in the <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-s-first-dlc-is-called-expedition-2v2-last-titan-standing-mode-on-the-way/1100-6418954/" data-ref-id="1100-6418954">Expedition DLC</a> releasing later this month. (It's unclear if this release date is true for all platforms; GameSpot has contacted EA for confirmation.) The other two maps, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-s-first-dlc-map-shown-off-in-new-images/1100-6419190/" data-ref-id="1100-6419190">War Games</a> and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-images-and-details-for-upcoming-dlc-map-runoff/1100-6419395/" data-ref-id="1100-6419395">Runoff</a>, have already been detailed by Respawn. The DLC will be priced at $10, but gamers planning on picking up all three planned DLC packs can <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-season-pass-is-25-contains-3-packs/1100-6418133/" data-ref-id="1100-6418133">opt for a $25 season pass</a>. <span>In addition to the DLC, Respawn also plans on releasing a new 2v2 Last Titan Standing mode as part of a free update at some point.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="">Total sales figures for Titanfall, which was released on the Xbox One and PC in March and Xbox 360 in April, have yet to be released. What publisher Electronic Arts has revealed is that the game sold 925,000 copies at retail in the United States during March. It also announced a new deal this week that will see it publish <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/more-titanfall-experiences-on-the-way-courtesy-of-ea/1100-6419467/" data-ref-id="1100-6419467">new "Titanfall experiences"</a> in the future</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y498idUMwow" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FY498idUMwow%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26feature%3Doembed&wmode=opaque&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DY498idUMwow&image=http%3A%2F%2Fi1.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FY498idUMwow%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=6efca6e5ad9640f180f14146a0bc1392&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p dir="ltr" style=""> </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> Thu, 08 May 2014 15:24:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dlc-map-swampland-screenshots-and-details-released/1100-6419517/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-nintendo-to-launch-new-console-in-e/2300-6418711/ President Satoru Iwata says Microsoft's plan of releasing their current hardware in China wouldn't work for them, Nintendo needs to do something new. Thu, 08 May 2014 15:01:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-nintendo-to-launch-new-console-in-e/2300-6418711/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/titanfall-expedition-making-of-swampland/2300-6418718/ A quick look at the creation of Swampland, an upcoming map that will be included in the Titanfall: Expedition DLC. Thu, 08 May 2014 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/titanfall-expedition-making-of-swampland/2300-6418718/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-new-unreal-tournament-in-developmen/2300-6418715/ Epic unleashed a surprise announcement of a new Unreal game starting development today, and they want everyone to contribute. Thu, 08 May 2014 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-new-unreal-tournament-in-developmen/2300-6418715/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-dev-turns-to-fans-for-help-testing-new-improvements/1100-6419516/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526086-bf4+cte.png" data-ref-id="1300-2526086" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526086-bf4+cte.png" data-ref-id="1300-2526086"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2526086-bf4+cte.png"></a></figure><p style="">Battlefield series developer DICE plans to launch a new "Community Test Environment" that will enable it to test new improvements and changes with the help of PC players, it announced today.</p><p dir="ltr" style=""><a href="/battlefield-4/" data-ref-id="false">Battlefield 4</a> has had a rough stretch dating back to its launch--countless <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/class-action-lawsuit-commenced-over-buggy-battlefield-4-ea-calls-it-meritless-update/1100-6416790/" data-ref-id="1100-6416790">technical problems</a>, some of them extremely serious, have plagued the game on all platforms. Improvements have been made since the shooter first debuted, but even six months later, it's still far from perfect. The new Community Test Environment looks to be seeking the large number of testers that only the player base can provide.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In a post on the <a href="http://blogs.battlefield.com/2014/05/community-test-environment/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Battlefield blog</a>, DICE explains that the CTE will be used to "test new ideas and solutions to current issues before we roll them out to all Battlefield players." First on the list? The dreaded netcode.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Among the first things we will work on is the 'Netcode,' which is what the player experiences with the game world including player-to-player interactions like damage registration," the blog states. "This involves tweaking to the 'tickrate' servers and networking in general."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">While DICE's goal is to use the CTE to improve Battlefield 4 on all platforms, only PC players will be able to participate. More specifically, only <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/refunds-available-for-battlefield-4-premium-after-server-woes/1100-6416663/" data-ref-id="1100-6416663">Battlefield 4 Premium</a> members--Premium being the game's season pass which entitles owners to DLC and other perks--will be able to enroll in the program. Instructions for doing so are available in the blog post, but only a limited number of players will be allowed in initially. DICE says it "plans to expand to a larger player base in the future after we test this new program."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Battlefield 4 was released last October on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and arrived on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at their respective launches in November. Updates have been delivered in the following months seeking to deal with lag, crashes, sound issues, matchmaking problems, a one-hit kill bug, and a variety of other issues. These updates have also introduced new features, such as the ability to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-players-can-now-rent-servers-unless-they-re-playing-on-xbox-one/1100-6419310/" data-ref-id="1100-6419310">rent servers on consoles</a> or join a match and immediately <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-shipped-with-dirt-all-over-it-says-oddworld-creator/1100-6418527/" data-ref-id="1100-6418527">enter a squad with a group of friends</a>.</p><p style="">As a result of its many serious issues--crashes and lag, in particular, have made the game unplayable at times, as I can personally attest--criticism has been leveled at DICE and publisher Electronic Arts by more than just fans. <a href="/oddworld-abes-oddysee/" data-ref-id="false">Oddworld</a> creator Lorne Lanning has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-shipped-with-dirt-all-over-it-says-oddworld-creator/1100-6418527/" data-ref-id="1100-6418527">expressed his disdain</a> for the way the game's release was handled, saying it "shipped with dirt all over it."</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><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Thu, 08 May 2014 14:40:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-dev-turns-to-fans-for-help-testing-new-improvements/1100-6419516/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-ps4-restricted-by-disc-space-not-hardware/1100-6419515/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418723" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418723/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style="">The PlayStation 4 version of <a href="/the-last-of-us/" data-ref-id="false">The Last of Us</a> is by and large the same exact game as what was released on the PlayStation 3 last June, only with improved visuals. With the PS4's hardware being so much powerful than that of its predecessor, the challenge for Naughty Dog becomes more a matter of what it actually has space for on the disc, rather than what the system is capable of.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Our cinematics are now running at 1080p and 60fps, and that involved rendering them all from scratch," explained creative director Neil Druckmann in an interview with <em>Edge</em> (via <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/462779/the-last-of-us-ps4-uses-cutscene-quality-character-models/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">CVG</a>). "It's interesting that now [instead of a technical bottleneck], the bottleneck is 'Can we fit all this on the disc?'"</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Blu-ray discs, which are now used by both Microsoft and Sony's consoles, offer capacities much higher than those of DVDs, but they still don't offer an endless supply of space. Last year, <a href="/killzone-shadow-fall/" data-ref-id="false">Killzone: Shadow Fall</a> maker Guerrilla Games indicated its FPS <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/killzone-shadow-fall-final-file-size-is-39-7gb/1100-6415765/" data-ref-id="1100-6415765">could have taken up 290GB</a> had the developer not altered the way it was handling data.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">While there will have to be some limit on how big it ends up being on the disc, The Last of Us Remastered for PS4 will look nicer than its PS3 counterpart. Whereas the PS3 version often used higher-resolution assets in cutscenes than it did while you were actually in control of the action, the PS4 version can make use of better-looking assets during gameplay.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"We don't build it with high assets in mind to then port it, but it did give us a leg up," Druckmann said. "If we hadn't done that, we might not have made the call to bring it over to PS4."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Enemy character models that could look blurry at close range on PS3 will be improved in Remastered, as will be the lighting models, according to Druckmann.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Shortly after it was announced, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-ps4-turns-the-graphics-up-to-11-naughty-dog-says/1100-6418904/" data-ref-id="1100-6418904">talked up the quality of visuals</a> gamers could expect in Remastered. "The graphic fidelity has been turned up to eleven," he said. "We've got 1080p, we're pushing the draw distances further, we're creating higher resolution character models, better lighting, better shadows."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The gameplay itself won't be changed for Remastered, but the DLC released for the PS3 version <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-for-ps4-runs-in-1080p-has-dlc-and-director-s-commentary-retailers-list-it-for-60/1100-6418878/" data-ref-id="1100-6418878">will be included</a> from the start. Retailer listings have suggested the game will cost $60 and be released on June 20, although those details have yet to be officially announced.</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> Thu, 08 May 2014 13:57:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-ps4-restricted-by-disc-space-not-hardware/1100-6419515/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/sir-you-are-being-hunted-gameplay-random-encounter/2300-6418716/ Robots twirl their curly mustaches and sip on tea while shooting at Danny O'Dwyer with shotguns. Life is good in Sir, You Are Being Hunted. Thu, 08 May 2014 13:56:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/sir-you-are-being-hunted-gameplay-random-encounter/2300-6418716/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/reality-check-what-makes-hardcore-fans-so-hardcore/2300-6418707/ Reality Check takes a trip to Fanfest to study the psychology of hardcore video game fans. Just what is going on inside their loyal brains? Thu, 08 May 2014 12:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/reality-check-what-makes-hardcore-fans-so-hardcore/2300-6418707/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/best-selling-playstation-network-games-of-april-revealed/1100-6419514/ <p style=""> </p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2507402-trialsfusion_077.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2507402" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2507402-trialsfusion_077.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2507402"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/1197/11970954/2507402-trialsfusion_077.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Sony today <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/05/08/playstation-store-top-sellers-april-2014/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">published lists </a>of the best-selling PlayStation Network games of April, with Ubisoft's motorcycle racer <a href="/trials-fusion/" data-ref-id="false">Trials Fusion</a> leading the way on PlayStation 4 and Mojang's sandbox game <a href="/minecraft/" data-ref-id="false">Minecraft</a> taking the top spot for PlayStation 3.</p><p dir="ltr" style=""><a href="/retro-city-rampage/" data-ref-id="false">Retro City Rampage </a>was the top-selling game on PlayStation Vita through PSN in April, while <a href="/everyday-shooter/" data-ref-id="false">Everyday Shooter </a>was the best-selling PSP game. As for DLC, <a href="/call-of-duty-ghosts/" data-ref-id="false">Call of Duty: Ghosts</a>' Onslaught expansion was the top-seller across PS4 and PS3.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The full lists of best-selling PSN are below. Sony does not provide specific sales figures for individual games.</p><p style=""> </p><h3>PS4 Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/trials-fusion/" data-ref-id="false">Trials Fusion</a></li><li><a href="/octodad-dadliest-catch/" data-ref-id="false">Octodad: Dadliest Catch</a></li><li><a href="/child-of-light/" data-ref-id="false">Child of Light</a></li><li><a href="/infamous-second-son/" data-ref-id="false">Infamous Second Son Limited Edition</a></li><li><a href="/videos/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-video-review/2300-6414801/" data-ref-id="2300-6414801">Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn</a></li><li><a href="/trials-fusion/" data-ref-id="false">Trials Fusion Digital Deluxe Edition</a></li><li><a href="/daylight/" data-ref-id="false">Daylight</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/strike-suit-zero-director-s-cut-review/1900-6415728/" data-ref-id="1900-6415728">Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut</a></li><li><a href="/metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes/" data-ref-id="false">Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes</a></li><li><a href="/outlast/" data-ref-id="false">Outlast</a></li><li><a href="/fez/" data-ref-id="false">Fez</a></li><li><a href="/battlefield-4/" data-ref-id="false">Battlefield 4</a></li><li><a href="/injustice-gods-among-us/" data-ref-id="false">Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition</a></li><li><a href="/call-of-duty-ghosts/" data-ref-id="false">Call of Duty: Ghosts</a></li><li><a href="/videos/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-video-review/2300-6414801/" data-ref-id="2300-6414801">Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Collector's Edition</a></li><li><a href="/dynasty-warriors-8/" data-ref-id="false">Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/nba-2k14-review/1900-6415551/" data-ref-id="1900-6415551">NBA 2K14</a></li><li><a href="/fifa-14/" data-ref-id="false">EA Sports FIFA 14</a></li><li><a href="/steamworld-dig/" data-ref-id="false">SteamWorld Dig</a></li><li><a href="/the-amazing-spider-man-2/" data-ref-id="false">The Amazing Spider-Man 2</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS3 Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/minecraft/" data-ref-id="false">Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition</a></li><li><a href="/tokyo-jungle/" data-ref-id="false">Tokyo Jungle</a></li><li><a href="/back-to-the-future-the-game/" data-ref-id="false">Back to the Future: The Game</a></li><li><a href="/jurassic-park-the-game/" data-ref-id="false">Jurassic Park: The Game</a></li><li><a href="/braid/" data-ref-id="false">Braid</a></li><li><a href="/plants-vs-zombies/" data-ref-id="false">Plants vs. Zombies</a></li><li><a href="/tales-of-monkey-island/" data-ref-id="false">Tales of Monkey Island</a></li><li><a href="/gotham-city-impostors/" data-ref-id="false">Gotham City Impostors</a></li><li><a href="/sam-and-max-the-devils-playhouse-2010/" data-ref-id="false">"Sam & Max" The Devil's Playhouse</a></li><li><a href="/urban-trial-freestyle/" data-ref-id="false">Urban Trial Freestyle</a></li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-out-of-the-shadows/" data-ref-id="false">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows</a></li><li><a href="/super-stardust-hd/" data-ref-id="false">Super Stardust HD</a></li><li><a href="/retro-city-rampage/" data-ref-id="false">Retro City Rampage</a></li><li><a href="/mlb-14-the-show/" data-ref-id="false">MLB 14 The Show</a></li><li><a href="/tales-of-symphonia-chronicles/" data-ref-id="false">Tales of Symphonia Chronicles</a></li><li><a href="/echochrome-ii/" data-ref-id="false">echochrome ii</a></li><li><a href="/when-vikings-attack/" data-ref-id="false">When Vikings Attack!</a></li><li><a href="/everyday-shooter/" data-ref-id="false">Everyday Shooter</a></li><li><a href="/grand-theft-auto-v/" data-ref-id="false">Grand Theft Auto V</a></li><li><a href="/metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes/" data-ref-id="false">Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS Vita Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/retro-city-rampage/" data-ref-id="false">Retro City Rampage</a></li><li><a href="/muramasa-rebirth/" data-ref-id="false">Muramasa Rebirth</a></li><li><a href="/urban-trial-freestyle/" data-ref-id="false">Urban Trial Freestyle</a></li><li><a href="/when-vikings-attack/" data-ref-id="false">When Vikings Attack!</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/dead-nation-review/1900-6284687/" data-ref-id="1900-6284687">Dead Nation </a></li><li><a href="/metal-gear-solid-hd-collection/" data-ref-id="false">Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection </a></li><li><a href="/reviews/final-fantasy-x-x-2-hd-remaster-review/1900-6415711/" data-ref-id="1900-6415711">Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster</a></li><li><a href="/dragon-ball-z-battle-of-z/" data-ref-id="false">Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z</a></li><li><a href="/conception-ii-children-of-the-seven-stars/" data-ref-id="false">Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars</a></li><li><a href="/mlb-14-the-show/" data-ref-id="false">MLB 14 The Show</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><h3>PSP Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/everyday-shooter/" data-ref-id="false">Everyday Shooter</a></li><li><a href="/star-wars-battlefront-ii/" data-ref-id="false">Star Wars: Battlefront II</a></li><li><a href="/tactics-ogre-1995/" data-ref-id="false">Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together</a></li><li><a href="/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-stories/" data-ref-id="false">Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories</a></li><li><a href="/dissidia-012-duodecim-final-fantasy/" data-ref-id="false">DISSIDIA 012[duodecim] Final Fantasy</a></li><li><a href="/the-sims-2/" data-ref-id="false">The Sims 2</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/final-fantasy-tactics-war-of-the-lions/1900-6181058/" data-ref-id="1900-6181058">Final Fantasy Tactics: War Of The Lions</a></li><li><a href="/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-portable/" data-ref-id="false">Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable</a></li><li><a href="/nba-2k13/" data-ref-id="false">NBA 2K13 </a></li><li><a href="/mega-man-maverick-hunter-x/" data-ref-id="false">Mega Man Maverick Hunter X</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS4 Add-ons:</h3><ol><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts--Onslaught</li><li>Battlefield 4 Premium PS4</li><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass</li><li>Battlefield 4 Naval Strike</li><li>Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Time Saver: Resources Pack 2</li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS3 Add-ons:</h3><ol><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts--Onslaught</li><li>Call of Duty: Black Ops II Apocalypse</li><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass</li><li>Borderlands 2--Headhunter 5: Son of Crawmerax</li><li>Call of Duty: Black Ops II Vengeance</li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>Classics:</h3><ol><li><a href="/gex-enter-the-gecko/" data-ref-id="false">Gex: Enter the Gecko </a>(PS1)</li><li><a href="/red-faction-ii/" data-ref-id="false">Red Faction 2 </a>(PS2)</li><li><a href="/red-faction/" data-ref-id="false">Red Faction</a> (PS2)</li><li><a href="/chrono-trigger/" data-ref-id="false">Chrono Trigger</a> (PS1)</li><li><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-4/" data-ref-id="false">Persona 4 </a>(PS2)</li></ol><h3>PS Mobile:</h3><ol><li><a href="/sola-gallery/" data-ref-id="false">Sola Gallery</a></li><li><a href="/don-t-die-dateless-dummy/" data-ref-id="false">Don't Die Dateless, Dummy!</a></li><li><a href="/trolly-bird-2014/" data-ref-id="false">Trolly Bird</a></li><li>Sola Weather</li><li>Sola Radio</li></ol><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> Thu, 08 May 2014 11:59:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/best-selling-playstation-network-games-of-april-revealed/1100-6419514/
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Thu, 08 May 2014 22:38:43 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/mario-kart-8-new-items-preview/2300-6418726/ Mark Walton finally thwarts the infamous blue shell while investigating Mario Kart 8's new items. Thu, 08 May 2014 17:18:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/mario-kart-8-new-items-preview/2300-6418726/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-vr-aspires-to-create-an-mmo-world-with-1-billion-people-in-it/1100-6419518/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6405910" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6405910/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">We already know Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-creator-if-you-can-perfectly-simulate-reality-why-do-you-need-to-actually-go-see-people-in-real-life/1100-6419008/" data-ref-id="1100-6419008">huge aspirations</a>--and after being acquired for $2 billion, who can blame it?--among them, the goal of creating an MMO world that brings together 1 billion people.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">This is according to Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe, who talked about the platform the company wants to create with the Oculus Rift at this week's <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/05/facebook-acqusition-helped-oculus/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">TechCrunch Disrupt</a>. "This is going to be the largest MMO ever made," he said. "This is going to be an MMO where we want to put a billion people in VR."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">1 billion people is a massive figure, roughly 14 percent of the world's estimated population of 7 billion people. As pointed out by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/07/oculus-rift-ceo-billion-people-virtual-reality" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">The Guardian</a>, this would require selling more Rifts than the total number of gaming consoles sold worldwide since 1982. Facebook currently sees 1.23 billion active users monthly.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Iribe said this platform, or MMO, as he calls it, won't just be a game; while he says Oculus is "very committed to gaming," he also said the company has its eyes on a broader audience than a dedicated gaming device can reach.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Do we want to be Game Boy, or do we want to be iPhone or Android? I think Game Boy is an awesome platform, but I think you'll see that handheld gaming device largely disrupted by the mobile market," he continued. "For VR, where we want to go, connecting a billion people, do you want to be building a platform that has a billion users on it, or 10 or 20 or 50 million?"</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As Iribe sees it, if Oculus is able to tap into a much larger market--that billion people it aspires to be in the hands of--that will only help game developers, who will in turn have far more people to sell their games to.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">He also reaffirmed the company's roots remain in game development, saying, "We're game developers. Most of the people in the company that are in key positions or doing a lot of the R&D or the engineering are all game developers." <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/doom-co-creator-john-carmack-officially-leaves-id-software/1100-6416346/" data-ref-id="1100-6416346">John Carmack</a>, Oculus' chief technology officer, and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-vr-hires-another-valve-virtual-reality-veteran/1100-6418627/" data-ref-id="1100-6418627">Michael Abrash</a>, chief scientist, were specifically mentioned as people who come from the gaming space.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">As noted above, Oculus VR was recently <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/facebook-buys-oculus-rift-company-in-a-massive-deal-worth-an-estimated-2-billion/1100-6418540/" data-ref-id="1100-6418540">acquired for $2 billion by Facebook</a>. Subsequently, ZeniMax claimed Oculus is <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/report-elder-scrolls-parent-company-seeking-compensation-for-oculus-rift-headset-oculus-calls-claims-ridiculous/1100-6419351/" data-ref-id="1100-6419351">making use of intellectual property</a> that it owns from the time Carmack still worked for id Software (which ZeniMax owns). Carmack claims none of the code he wrote while working at id is being used by Oculus, while Oculus itself has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-responds-to-claims-that-it-stole-vr-tech-from-fallout-parent-company/1100-6419420/" data-ref-id="1100-6419420">pledged to fight</a> ZeniMax's "false" claims.</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> Thu, 08 May 2014 17:13:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-vr-aspires-to-create-an-mmo-world-with-1-billion-people-in-it/1100-6419518/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/bound-by-flame-jump-kicking-a-skull-beast-gameplay/2300-6418724/ Vulcan throws fireballs and drop kicks some bone creatures. Thu, 08 May 2014 16:47:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/bound-by-flame-jump-kicking-a-skull-beast-gameplay/2300-6418724/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rez-space-channel-5-creator-mizuguchi-returns-to-game-development/1100-6419519/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526149-rez+hd.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526149" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526149-rez+hd.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526149"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2526149-rez+hd.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">After stepping away from game development and leaving the company he founded, <a href="/rez-hd/" data-ref-id="false">Rez</a> and <a href="/lumines/" data-ref-id="false">Lumines</a> creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi now says he plans to return to the game development industry.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Mizuguchi, who has been lecturing at Keio University in Tokyo, told <a href="http://www.edge-online.com/news/tetsuya-mizuguchi-on-his-return-to-game-development/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"><em>Edge</em></a> he's not content with that one role. "I need both. I need to share my experiences and ideas with the younger generation. This is one mission," he explained. "But I also need to keep creating. So I'm doing both now. I'm preparing my own creation."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Currently, Mizuguchi is "helping with some social games in Japan" that he can't yet talk about. In addition to those projects, he's preparing to make a game of his own, "maybe this year or next year."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game won't be produced by a typical studio. "I will make a new kind of creative environment. I'm not that bothered about starting a new company," he said. "Instead, I'll connect with people and put together a group who are essential to the project, and then for the next project I'll start again. Everyone will be freelance. It will be similar to how you make a film or how you make music, with a group of independent people with specific knowhow working together."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">He talked about having interest in mobile and free-to-play games, but stopped short of committing to either. He also shied away from providing any hard details about what his new game would be like, instead referencing a talk he gave at the recent BitSummit conference where he discussed synaesthesia.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"This is a big thing for me," he said. "I started that kind of concept in games with Rez, and this is a long journey, across Rez and Lumines and <a href="/child-of-eden/" data-ref-id="false">Child of Eden</a>, and maybe <a href="/space-channel-5/" data-ref-id="false">Space Channel 5</a> too. That part of my DNA will never die, so this is kind of a life's work for me. So I'm thinking about what is next, and what's the future experience."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Mizuguchi cofounded Q Entertainment (most recently responsible for Child of Eden and Vita launch title <a href="/lumines-electronic-symphony/" data-ref-id="false">Lumines: Electronic Symphony</a>, among other games) in 2003 and would work there for the next decade. In 2012, it was <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-20-mizuguchi-moves-away-from-game-production" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="2012-09">reported</a> that he had moved away from game production, assuming a role as "more of a spokesperson," according to the studio's Nobuhiko Shimizu. A year later, he left the company, a fact which was only <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/454305/mizuguchi-leaves-q-entertainment-along-with-ceo-insider-claims/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">made public</a> back in March.</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> Thu, 08 May 2014 16:41:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rez-space-channel-5-creator-mizuguchi-returns-to-game-development/1100-6419519/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-call-of-duty-wants-to-be-game-of-thrones-n/2300-6418720/ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare wants to be 'Game of Thrones' popular, a new Unreal Tournament is coming, and Elder Scrolls Online and Dying Light are delayed! Thu, 08 May 2014 16:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-call-of-duty-wants-to-be-game-of-thrones-n/2300-6418720/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/bound-by-flame-review/1900-6415751/ <p style="">When you first start playing Bound by Flame, you're asked to enter a name for your character--a name that is then summarily ignored by the game's supporting cast, which always refers to your hero by his or her known name: Vulcan. Given Bound by Flame's shallow similarities to <a href="/the-witcher/" data-ref-id="false">The Witcher</a>, it's hard not to wonder what the latter game might have been like if you were asked to name the protagonist, only for everyone to call you Geralt anyway. This identity crisis may seem a minor detail, but it is a head-scratcher of an issue in a role-playing game full of head-scratchers, each one more stymieing than the last. Bound by Flame is the kind of game you might hear people describe as having "a lot of heart," and the game it tries to be is certainly one worth celebrating. Yet by the time this frustrating adventure comes to a close, it's clear that there's a wide gulf between the game you just played and the vision that inspired it.</p><p style="">I can't accuse developer Spiders of not trying. Bound by Flame is an action-heavy role-playing game about choice, and it liberally borrows from the BioWare book of conversation tropes, presenting you with narrative decisions now and again that affect allegiances and spawn conflicts, most of which can be solved only through swordplay. Vulcan is an apt name for the game's central character. He (or she, if you choose a female avatar) is a member of a mercenary group called the Freeborn Blades, but in the midst of fighting to stave off an invasion of undead creatures called deadwalkers, he finds himself sharing his brain with a growling demon. Vulcan's mind becomes rather overcrowded as a result, but at least the demon grants him the ability to conjure fire, bringing sense to his mythology-inspired moniker.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526048-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526048" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526048-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526048"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2526048-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>Companions are so good at playing dead that it's a wonder they were included in the game at all. </figcaption></figure><p style="">Bound by Flame's most intriguing choices are those that see Vulcan deciding whether to bend to the demon's whim or assert his individuality, and the more you side with the demon's advice, the more you take on stereotypical demonic traits. The <a href="/fable/" data-ref-id="false">Fable</a> series allows for a similar metamorphosis, but the changes are even more ferocious in Bound by Flame's grim fantasy world. As I faced the final battle, a scrawl of reddish runes had been etched into my blackened chest, from which flames poured out; I had not one, but three sets of curled horns growing from my head; and my voice had taken on a diabolical rumble as the two competing identities became further intertwined.</p><p style="">The consequences of your decisions aren't just cosmetic: growing horns means you can't wear helmets and thus reap their defensive benefits, but you do gain enhanced magic power regeneration by way of compensation. There are other trade-offs, as well, but mutating into a fiery fiend was such a delectable experience that I never regretted taking that path in spite of my usual goody-two-shoes proclivities. To be sure, there are choices to make in Bound by Flame's story that have nothing to do with the demon within, but narrative choices are most effective when you're invested in the potential consequences, and the game's poor dialogue and characterizations aren't apt to make you care about anyone's fate but your own.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526050-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526050" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526050-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526050"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2526050-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Sybil--you're down for the count too?</figcaption></figure><p style="">Take, for instance, the scholar called Sybil, who might need to cope with great loss depending on a decision you make early in the game. The inexpressive writing and voice acting keep Sybil's story from tugging at your emotions, and when you take her to collect three books later on, her ability to relate information immediately, without having to actually read those books, is dumb. Characters are introduced one after another, and many of them are available as battle companions, though you can only invite one to your adventure at any given time. The roster includes a sharp-tongued mage, a prim-and-proper zombie type, and a suicidal knight. They have tales to tell if you ask them, but hearing their stories is like hearing someone recite CliffsNotes: your companions become lecturers, and you wonder if you need to grab a notepad in case there's a test later.</p><p style="">Over time, the narrative problems compound so greatly that you can no longer take any occurrence seriously. Transitions from gameplay to cutscenes are jarring, with characters repositioned instantly, and often performing wholly different actions in one moment than they were in the last. Other times, your companion simply disappears once a battle is finished, and the story takes over, an occurrence that proves highly distracting when the lack of witnesses to a particular event is a plot point. (I had a witness--she was with me the whole time!) The tone seesaws wildly, with your conversation partners cracking jokes at the oddest moments, and Vulcan suddenly acting like a jerk or dropping an f-bomb for no apparent reason. When the final hours asked me to make a sacrifice, I made the decision arbitrarily because none of it mattered to me. I simply had no interest in the barely there companions that fell in battle in mere seconds as if they were made of papier-mache.</p><blockquote data-align="left"><p style="">Bound by Flame's most intriguing choices are those that see Vulcan deciding whether to bend to the demon's whim or assert his individuality.</p></blockquote><p style="">Your companions' ultimate uselessness in combat is only one of Bound by Flame's curse-inducing flaws, almost all of them centered on the game's battle system. Yet the combat is initially pleasing, allowing you to switch between a ranger stance, which opens up speedy dagger attacks, and a warrior stance, which has you swinging overbearing two-handed melee weapons such as axes and swords. You can also sneak up on foes if you're so inclined, though the demon's pyromancy skill set, which allows you to toss fireballs and infuse your weapon with glowing flames, is an even greater boon than the stealthy option. Vulcan's muscular swings and acrobatic windups give the swordplay a nice sense of heft, and each school of battle--warrior, ranger, and pyromancer--comes with its own skill tree, a system that inspires you to make thoughtful customization choices that fit your preferred combat style.</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526054-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526054" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526054-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526054"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_medium/416/4161502/2526054-0004.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Bound by Flame then proceeds to ruin its promising combat with a series of mind-boggling choices that suck out all the fun and turn battles into an aggravation. Small areas are populated with archers, ultra-hardened duelists, and frost spirits with all manner of icy spells they like to bombard you with. Throw into the mix an ineffective companion, an unreliable target lock that abides by no comprehensible rules, and a camera that can't always frame the close-quarters action, and you rarely have the proper tools to form a strategy. To make matters worse, every successful attack serves as an interruption, at best disrupting you mid-swing, and at worse knocking you on your derriere.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526053-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526053" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2526053-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526053"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/416/4161502/2526053-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>No, this battle does not occur underwater. Bound by Flame's just kind of buggy. </figcaption></figure><p style="">A sample battle: You and your magician companion Edwen enter a small combat arena to face numerous deadwalkers. You immediately rush to the opposite end of the arena, because you enter battle at a narrow choke point guaranteed to serve as your coffin should you choose to remain there. Meanwhile, Edwen succumbs to her attackers within 60 seconds, unable to hold her own even while you whale on the golems, specters, and spirits surrounding her. You manage to get in a few successful swipes before you get caught up in a series of attacks that trap you in a string of recovery animations. Once you regain control, you run down a connecting corridor hoping to lure an ice spirit away from the crowd, but in doing so, pull her too far away from the confined territory she is leashed to. The spirit returns to her home and regains full health, and your fallen companion comes to her senses, which is at least some comfort, since leaving the scene of battle (or finishing the battle) is the only way to revive her.</p><p style="">Combat then becomes a matter of exploiting defects, not one of finding a proper rhythm. Is a boss fight getting you down? Strafe around your foe, leading him in circles until you have regained enough health or mana, and then unleash another round of attacks. That's not very fun, but it's effective. Eventually, you learn a few helpful techniques, and the combat at least becomes bearable: you learn to lay the explosive traps whenever possible, you learn the best timing for blocking and parrying, you learn when to kick an enemy and interrupt his attack, and you learn how far away you can lead enemies before their invisible leashes pull them back. (And that leash radius is frustratingly small in most cases.) But even after you grow accustomed to the game's pitfalls, battles remain a drag, not because they are challenging, but because they are cheap. The combat areas were not created with enemy behavior in mind, and the enemy behavior wasn't created with player combat timings in mind. There is no shame in playing Bound by Flame on the lowest difficulty--and there is no fun in playing on the higher ones.</p><blockquote data-size="large" data-align="center"><p style="">Bound by Flame ruins its promising combat with a series of mind-boggling choices that suck out all the fun and turn battles into an aggravation.</p></blockquote><p style="">In between battles you might head back to camp to grab one of only a few side quests, all of which send you back into the same bland corridors in which the main quests occur. You may also check out the game's crafting system, which is its most robust element. All of the loot you grab on your travels is useful, either directly ("Hey look, I found a new pair of greaves!") or indirectly ("I can use this tainted blood to make potions!"). Raw elements can be combined to make other elements, which in turn can be combined to make useful items like traps or to bolster your equipment so that (for instance) you take less cold damage or increase your chances of a critical hit. Refreshingly, you can stop to craft at any time--even in the middle of the excruciating final boss battle.</p><p style="">By RPG standards, Bound by Flame isn't a very long or expansive game. If you don't consider the battles you must repeat, the adventure is around a dozen hours long, and there is no world to explore, unless you consider a few medium-size levels made up of twisting hallways to be a world. Bound by Flame shoves too many ideas into its cramped boundaries, thus giving none of them the room they deserved to blossom, and thereby allowing the flames to burn the joy away.</p> Thu, 08 May 2014 15:36:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/bound-by-flame-review/1900-6415751/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dlc-map-swampland-screenshots-and-details-released/1100-6419517/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526101-titanfall+swamp.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526101" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526101-titanfall+swamp.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526101"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2526101-titanfall+swamp.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">The third and final map in the upcoming Expedition DLC pack for <a href="/titanfall/" data-ref-id="false">Titanfall</a>, Swampland, has been unveiled, complete with our first look at some screenshots of it in action.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The name of the map gives you the gist of it: Swampland is set in a swamp, albeit one with some man-made structures around. It's the trees, however, that are the stars, as detailed in a <a href="http://www.titanfall.com/news/titanfall-expedition-swampland" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">blog post</a> written by Respawn Entertainment designer Chris Dionne.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Initial layouts of the new Swampland added a bunch of IMC buildings, temples and massive infrastructure," he explained. "While that structure created clearly defined paths and gave Pilots safe havens and places to wall-run, the level lost its personality."</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526102-titanfall+swamp2.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526102" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526102-titanfall+swamp2.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2526102"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_small/123/1239113/2526102-titanfall+swamp2.jpg"></a><figcaption>Click for the full-size version.</figcaption></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Dionne eventually realized the trees were what made the map fun. "I shifted the dense forest section to the center of the map, and kept three main structures as anchor points around the perimeter," he said. "This encouraged Pilots and Titans to pass through the woods as they moved from building to building. The final design push then focused on small changes to enhance those interactions - adjusting sight lines, making interiors more interesting to fight over, encouraging flow, and so on."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Swampland originated from an idea in the summer of 2011 of setting a level in a swamp. Work on it began but was set aside "for almost two years." Once the game was complete, Dionne decided to bring it back. The video below provides a brief glimpse at the design process that went into its creation.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Swampland is one of three maps in the <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-s-first-dlc-is-called-expedition-2v2-last-titan-standing-mode-on-the-way/1100-6418954/" data-ref-id="1100-6418954">Expedition DLC</a> releasing later this month. (It's unclear if this release date is true for all platforms; GameSpot has contacted EA for confirmation.) The other two maps, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-s-first-dlc-map-shown-off-in-new-images/1100-6419190/" data-ref-id="1100-6419190">War Games</a> and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-images-and-details-for-upcoming-dlc-map-runoff/1100-6419395/" data-ref-id="1100-6419395">Runoff</a>, have already been detailed by Respawn. The DLC will be priced at $10, but gamers planning on picking up all three planned DLC packs can <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-season-pass-is-25-contains-3-packs/1100-6418133/" data-ref-id="1100-6418133">opt for a $25 season pass</a>. <span>In addition to the DLC, Respawn also plans on releasing a new 2v2 Last Titan Standing mode as part of a free update at some point.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="">Total sales figures for Titanfall, which was released on the Xbox One and PC in March and Xbox 360 in April, have yet to be released. What publisher Electronic Arts has revealed is that the game sold 925,000 copies at retail in the United States during March. It also announced a new deal this week that will see it publish <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/more-titanfall-experiences-on-the-way-courtesy-of-ea/1100-6419467/" data-ref-id="1100-6419467">new "Titanfall experiences"</a> in the future</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y498idUMwow" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FY498idUMwow%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26feature%3Doembed&wmode=opaque&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DY498idUMwow&image=http%3A%2F%2Fi1.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FY498idUMwow%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=6efca6e5ad9640f180f14146a0bc1392&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p dir="ltr" style=""> </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> Thu, 08 May 2014 15:24:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dlc-map-swampland-screenshots-and-details-released/1100-6419517/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-nintendo-to-launch-new-console-in-e/2300-6418711/ President Satoru Iwata says Microsoft's plan of releasing their current hardware in China wouldn't work for them, Nintendo needs to do something new. Thu, 08 May 2014 15:01:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-nintendo-to-launch-new-console-in-e/2300-6418711/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/titanfall-expedition-making-of-swampland/2300-6418718/ A quick look at the creation of Swampland, an upcoming map that will be included in the Titanfall: Expedition DLC. Thu, 08 May 2014 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/titanfall-expedition-making-of-swampland/2300-6418718/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-new-unreal-tournament-in-developmen/2300-6418715/ Epic unleashed a surprise announcement of a new Unreal game starting development today, and they want everyone to contribute. Thu, 08 May 2014 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-update-new-unreal-tournament-in-developmen/2300-6418715/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-dev-turns-to-fans-for-help-testing-new-improvements/1100-6419516/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526086-bf4+cte.png" data-ref-id="1300-2526086" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/123/1239113/2526086-bf4+cte.png" data-ref-id="1300-2526086"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/123/1239113/2526086-bf4+cte.png"></a></figure><p style="">Battlefield series developer DICE plans to launch a new "Community Test Environment" that will enable it to test new improvements and changes with the help of PC players, it announced today.</p><p dir="ltr" style=""><a href="/battlefield-4/" data-ref-id="false">Battlefield 4</a> has had a rough stretch dating back to its launch--countless <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/class-action-lawsuit-commenced-over-buggy-battlefield-4-ea-calls-it-meritless-update/1100-6416790/" data-ref-id="1100-6416790">technical problems</a>, some of them extremely serious, have plagued the game on all platforms. Improvements have been made since the shooter first debuted, but even six months later, it's still far from perfect. The new Community Test Environment looks to be seeking the large number of testers that only the player base can provide.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In a post on the <a href="http://blogs.battlefield.com/2014/05/community-test-environment/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Battlefield blog</a>, DICE explains that the CTE will be used to "test new ideas and solutions to current issues before we roll them out to all Battlefield players." First on the list? The dreaded netcode.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Among the first things we will work on is the 'Netcode,' which is what the player experiences with the game world including player-to-player interactions like damage registration," the blog states. "This involves tweaking to the 'tickrate' servers and networking in general."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">While DICE's goal is to use the CTE to improve Battlefield 4 on all platforms, only PC players will be able to participate. More specifically, only <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/refunds-available-for-battlefield-4-premium-after-server-woes/1100-6416663/" data-ref-id="1100-6416663">Battlefield 4 Premium</a> members--Premium being the game's season pass which entitles owners to DLC and other perks--will be able to enroll in the program. Instructions for doing so are available in the blog post, but only a limited number of players will be allowed in initially. DICE says it "plans to expand to a larger player base in the future after we test this new program."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Battlefield 4 was released last October on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and arrived on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at their respective launches in November. Updates have been delivered in the following months seeking to deal with lag, crashes, sound issues, matchmaking problems, a one-hit kill bug, and a variety of other issues. These updates have also introduced new features, such as the ability to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-players-can-now-rent-servers-unless-they-re-playing-on-xbox-one/1100-6419310/" data-ref-id="1100-6419310">rent servers on consoles</a> or join a match and immediately <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-shipped-with-dirt-all-over-it-says-oddworld-creator/1100-6418527/" data-ref-id="1100-6418527">enter a squad with a group of friends</a>.</p><p style="">As a result of its many serious issues--crashes and lag, in particular, have made the game unplayable at times, as I can personally attest--criticism has been leveled at DICE and publisher Electronic Arts by more than just fans. <a href="/oddworld-abes-oddysee/" data-ref-id="false">Oddworld</a> creator Lorne Lanning has <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-shipped-with-dirt-all-over-it-says-oddworld-creator/1100-6418527/" data-ref-id="1100-6418527">expressed his disdain</a> for the way the game's release was handled, saying it "shipped with dirt all over it."</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><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com</em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Thu, 08 May 2014 14:40:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-dev-turns-to-fans-for-help-testing-new-improvements/1100-6419516/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-ps4-restricted-by-disc-space-not-hardware/1100-6419515/ <div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6418723" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6418723/" width="100%" height="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style="">The PlayStation 4 version of <a href="/the-last-of-us/" data-ref-id="false">The Last of Us</a> is by and large the same exact game as what was released on the PlayStation 3 last June, only with improved visuals. With the PS4's hardware being so much powerful than that of its predecessor, the challenge for Naughty Dog becomes more a matter of what it actually has space for on the disc, rather than what the system is capable of.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"Our cinematics are now running at 1080p and 60fps, and that involved rendering them all from scratch," explained creative director Neil Druckmann in an interview with <em>Edge</em> (via <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/462779/the-last-of-us-ps4-uses-cutscene-quality-character-models/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">CVG</a>). "It's interesting that now [instead of a technical bottleneck], the bottleneck is 'Can we fit all this on the disc?'"</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Blu-ray discs, which are now used by both Microsoft and Sony's consoles, offer capacities much higher than those of DVDs, but they still don't offer an endless supply of space. Last year, <a href="/killzone-shadow-fall/" data-ref-id="false">Killzone: Shadow Fall</a> maker Guerrilla Games indicated its FPS <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/killzone-shadow-fall-final-file-size-is-39-7gb/1100-6415765/" data-ref-id="1100-6415765">could have taken up 290GB</a> had the developer not altered the way it was handling data.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">While there will have to be some limit on how big it ends up being on the disc, The Last of Us Remastered for PS4 will look nicer than its PS3 counterpart. Whereas the PS3 version often used higher-resolution assets in cutscenes than it did while you were actually in control of the action, the PS4 version can make use of better-looking assets during gameplay.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"We don't build it with high assets in mind to then port it, but it did give us a leg up," Druckmann said. "If we hadn't done that, we might not have made the call to bring it over to PS4."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Enemy character models that could look blurry at close range on PS3 will be improved in Remastered, as will be the lighting models, according to Druckmann.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Shortly after it was announced, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-ps4-turns-the-graphics-up-to-11-naughty-dog-says/1100-6418904/" data-ref-id="1100-6418904">talked up the quality of visuals</a> gamers could expect in Remastered. "The graphic fidelity has been turned up to eleven," he said. "We've got 1080p, we're pushing the draw distances further, we're creating higher resolution character models, better lighting, better shadows."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The gameplay itself won't be changed for Remastered, but the DLC released for the PS3 version <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-for-ps4-runs-in-1080p-has-dlc-and-director-s-commentary-retailers-list-it-for-60/1100-6418878/" data-ref-id="1100-6418878">will be included</a> from the start. Retailer listings have suggested the game will cost $60 and be released on June 20, although those details have yet to be officially announced.</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> Thu, 08 May 2014 13:57:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-ps4-restricted-by-disc-space-not-hardware/1100-6419515/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/sir-you-are-being-hunted-gameplay-random-encounter/2300-6418716/ Robots twirl their curly mustaches and sip on tea while shooting at Danny O'Dwyer with shotguns. Life is good in Sir, You Are Being Hunted. Thu, 08 May 2014 13:56:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/sir-you-are-being-hunted-gameplay-random-encounter/2300-6418716/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/reality-check-what-makes-hardcore-fans-so-hardcore/2300-6418707/ Reality Check takes a trip to Fanfest to study the psychology of hardcore video game fans. Just what is going on inside their loyal brains? Thu, 08 May 2014 12:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/reality-check-what-makes-hardcore-fans-so-hardcore/2300-6418707/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/best-selling-playstation-network-games-of-april-revealed/1100-6419514/ <p style=""> </p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2507402-trialsfusion_077.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2507402" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1197/11970954/2507402-trialsfusion_077.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2507402"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/1197/11970954/2507402-trialsfusion_077.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Sony today <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/05/08/playstation-store-top-sellers-april-2014/" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">published lists </a>of the best-selling PlayStation Network games of April, with Ubisoft's motorcycle racer <a href="/trials-fusion/" data-ref-id="false">Trials Fusion</a> leading the way on PlayStation 4 and Mojang's sandbox game <a href="/minecraft/" data-ref-id="false">Minecraft</a> taking the top spot for PlayStation 3.</p><p dir="ltr" style=""><a href="/retro-city-rampage/" data-ref-id="false">Retro City Rampage </a>was the top-selling game on PlayStation Vita through PSN in April, while <a href="/everyday-shooter/" data-ref-id="false">Everyday Shooter </a>was the best-selling PSP game. As for DLC, <a href="/call-of-duty-ghosts/" data-ref-id="false">Call of Duty: Ghosts</a>' Onslaught expansion was the top-seller across PS4 and PS3.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The full lists of best-selling PSN are below. Sony does not provide specific sales figures for individual games.</p><p style=""> </p><h3>PS4 Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/trials-fusion/" data-ref-id="false">Trials Fusion</a></li><li><a href="/octodad-dadliest-catch/" data-ref-id="false">Octodad: Dadliest Catch</a></li><li><a href="/child-of-light/" data-ref-id="false">Child of Light</a></li><li><a href="/infamous-second-son/" data-ref-id="false">Infamous Second Son Limited Edition</a></li><li><a href="/videos/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-video-review/2300-6414801/" data-ref-id="2300-6414801">Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn</a></li><li><a href="/trials-fusion/" data-ref-id="false">Trials Fusion Digital Deluxe Edition</a></li><li><a href="/daylight/" data-ref-id="false">Daylight</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/strike-suit-zero-director-s-cut-review/1900-6415728/" data-ref-id="1900-6415728">Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut</a></li><li><a href="/metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes/" data-ref-id="false">Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes</a></li><li><a href="/outlast/" data-ref-id="false">Outlast</a></li><li><a href="/fez/" data-ref-id="false">Fez</a></li><li><a href="/battlefield-4/" data-ref-id="false">Battlefield 4</a></li><li><a href="/injustice-gods-among-us/" data-ref-id="false">Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition</a></li><li><a href="/call-of-duty-ghosts/" data-ref-id="false">Call of Duty: Ghosts</a></li><li><a href="/videos/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-video-review/2300-6414801/" data-ref-id="2300-6414801">Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Collector's Edition</a></li><li><a href="/dynasty-warriors-8/" data-ref-id="false">Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/nba-2k14-review/1900-6415551/" data-ref-id="1900-6415551">NBA 2K14</a></li><li><a href="/fifa-14/" data-ref-id="false">EA Sports FIFA 14</a></li><li><a href="/steamworld-dig/" data-ref-id="false">SteamWorld Dig</a></li><li><a href="/the-amazing-spider-man-2/" data-ref-id="false">The Amazing Spider-Man 2</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS3 Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/minecraft/" data-ref-id="false">Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition</a></li><li><a href="/tokyo-jungle/" data-ref-id="false">Tokyo Jungle</a></li><li><a href="/back-to-the-future-the-game/" data-ref-id="false">Back to the Future: The Game</a></li><li><a href="/jurassic-park-the-game/" data-ref-id="false">Jurassic Park: The Game</a></li><li><a href="/braid/" data-ref-id="false">Braid</a></li><li><a href="/plants-vs-zombies/" data-ref-id="false">Plants vs. Zombies</a></li><li><a href="/tales-of-monkey-island/" data-ref-id="false">Tales of Monkey Island</a></li><li><a href="/gotham-city-impostors/" data-ref-id="false">Gotham City Impostors</a></li><li><a href="/sam-and-max-the-devils-playhouse-2010/" data-ref-id="false">"Sam & Max" The Devil's Playhouse</a></li><li><a href="/urban-trial-freestyle/" data-ref-id="false">Urban Trial Freestyle</a></li><li><a href="/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-out-of-the-shadows/" data-ref-id="false">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows</a></li><li><a href="/super-stardust-hd/" data-ref-id="false">Super Stardust HD</a></li><li><a href="/retro-city-rampage/" data-ref-id="false">Retro City Rampage</a></li><li><a href="/mlb-14-the-show/" data-ref-id="false">MLB 14 The Show</a></li><li><a href="/tales-of-symphonia-chronicles/" data-ref-id="false">Tales of Symphonia Chronicles</a></li><li><a href="/echochrome-ii/" data-ref-id="false">echochrome ii</a></li><li><a href="/when-vikings-attack/" data-ref-id="false">When Vikings Attack!</a></li><li><a href="/everyday-shooter/" data-ref-id="false">Everyday Shooter</a></li><li><a href="/grand-theft-auto-v/" data-ref-id="false">Grand Theft Auto V</a></li><li><a href="/metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes/" data-ref-id="false">Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS Vita Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/retro-city-rampage/" data-ref-id="false">Retro City Rampage</a></li><li><a href="/muramasa-rebirth/" data-ref-id="false">Muramasa Rebirth</a></li><li><a href="/urban-trial-freestyle/" data-ref-id="false">Urban Trial Freestyle</a></li><li><a href="/when-vikings-attack/" data-ref-id="false">When Vikings Attack!</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/dead-nation-review/1900-6284687/" data-ref-id="1900-6284687">Dead Nation </a></li><li><a href="/metal-gear-solid-hd-collection/" data-ref-id="false">Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection </a></li><li><a href="/reviews/final-fantasy-x-x-2-hd-remaster-review/1900-6415711/" data-ref-id="1900-6415711">Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster</a></li><li><a href="/dragon-ball-z-battle-of-z/" data-ref-id="false">Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z</a></li><li><a href="/conception-ii-children-of-the-seven-stars/" data-ref-id="false">Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars</a></li><li><a href="/mlb-14-the-show/" data-ref-id="false">MLB 14 The Show</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><h3>PSP Games:</h3><ol><li><a href="/everyday-shooter/" data-ref-id="false">Everyday Shooter</a></li><li><a href="/star-wars-battlefront-ii/" data-ref-id="false">Star Wars: Battlefront II</a></li><li><a href="/tactics-ogre-1995/" data-ref-id="false">Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together</a></li><li><a href="/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-stories/" data-ref-id="false">Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories</a></li><li><a href="/dissidia-012-duodecim-final-fantasy/" data-ref-id="false">DISSIDIA 012[duodecim] Final Fantasy</a></li><li><a href="/the-sims-2/" data-ref-id="false">The Sims 2</a></li><li><a href="/reviews/final-fantasy-tactics-war-of-the-lions/1900-6181058/" data-ref-id="1900-6181058">Final Fantasy Tactics: War Of The Lions</a></li><li><a href="/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-portable/" data-ref-id="false">Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable</a></li><li><a href="/nba-2k13/" data-ref-id="false">NBA 2K13 </a></li><li><a href="/mega-man-maverick-hunter-x/" data-ref-id="false">Mega Man Maverick Hunter X</a></li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS4 Add-ons:</h3><ol><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts--Onslaught</li><li>Battlefield 4 Premium PS4</li><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass</li><li>Battlefield 4 Naval Strike</li><li>Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Time Saver: Resources Pack 2</li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>PS3 Add-ons:</h3><ol><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts--Onslaught</li><li>Call of Duty: Black Ops II Apocalypse</li><li>Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass</li><li>Borderlands 2--Headhunter 5: Son of Crawmerax</li><li>Call of Duty: Black Ops II Vengeance</li></ol><p style=""> </p><h3>Classics:</h3><ol><li><a href="/gex-enter-the-gecko/" data-ref-id="false">Gex: Enter the Gecko </a>(PS1)</li><li><a href="/red-faction-ii/" data-ref-id="false">Red Faction 2 </a>(PS2)</li><li><a href="/red-faction/" data-ref-id="false">Red Faction</a> (PS2)</li><li><a href="/chrono-trigger/" data-ref-id="false">Chrono Trigger</a> (PS1)</li><li><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-4/" data-ref-id="false">Persona 4 </a>(PS2)</li></ol><h3>PS Mobile:</h3><ol><li><a href="/sola-gallery/" data-ref-id="false">Sola Gallery</a></li><li><a href="/don-t-die-dateless-dummy/" data-ref-id="false">Don't Die Dateless, Dummy!</a></li><li><a href="/trolly-bird-2014/" data-ref-id="false">Trolly Bird</a></li><li>Sola Weather</li><li>Sola Radio</li></ol><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> Thu, 08 May 2014 11:59:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/best-selling-playstation-network-games-of-april-revealed/1100-6419514/
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Gamespot's Site Mashup
Dengan url
http://priapunyegaye.blogspot.com/2014/05/gamespots-site-mashup_9.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Gamespot's Site Mashup
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar