Saturday, October 19, 2013

Weekend PC download deals: Arkham series for $47

It's hard to believe that we're already approaching some of the bigger fall releases, so you've only got about a week or so until Batman: Arkham Origins, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, and Battlefield 4 all arrive to consume whatever free time you may have.

GameFly Digital is offering deep discounts on the Company of Heroes franchise, including Company of Heroes 2. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, there are several open world bundles, including a really cool Saints Row bundle, for anyone that's looking for a GTA alternative, and a neat Square open world bundle that includes Sleeping Dogs. If anyone wants some physical goodies to go with their games, GameStop has offered up the collector's edition of Splinter Cell: Blacklist at a discounted rate. And everyone's offering up various Batman deals, though the clear winner here looks to be Green Man Gaming, who's offering up the entire Arkham series (including Origins!) for only $47.

Bonus material for Grand Theft Auto V fans

You spent years waiting for developers to hurry up and release a big game. You buy it, take it home, and play through it in a couple of days. It’s awesome.

But now what?

Read+Watch+Listen is about other material you might want to check out if you’re just not ready to move on. We’ll suggest media that share something in common with a particular game and tell you why it might be of interest. In this installment, we’re going to build on your experience with the latest entry in developer Rockstar’s open-world crime franchise, out now on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Crytek Were More Than Ready For What Xbox One Had To Offer, Ryse’s SmartGlass Support A Huge Step Up

Say what you will about Ryse: Son of Rome, but despite beginning development on the Xbox 360, Crytek producer Michael Read said the team were more than ready for what the Xbox One had to offer when transitioning to the next-gen console.

We asked Read how difficult it was to get CryEngine 3 working on the Xbox One and whether any compromises were made along the way, he responded that, “Given the amount of work we put into our previous titles in pushing PC hardware to its max, we were more than ready for what the Xbox One had to offer. There are always a number of challenges and compromises from many different areas when working with new technology and ways of doing things, but nothing that our team hasn’t been able to handle. One thing people tend to forget is that there are a lot more moving parts with this from us developing an engine, alongside a game, mixed in with new hardware, and new development tools to support that.

Son of Rome's story trailer is a marketing pitch

Whoops, someone forgot to explain to Crytek that a "story trailer" for a game should probably focus on game's story. But when your story is pretty much the story of another popular video game series, it's understandable why you'd want to pivot.

Instead, this new narrated video for Ryse: Son of Rome showcases the many bullet points that make the upcoming Xbox One launch game. unique. Specifically, there's a lot of focus on the CryEngine-powered visuals, motion and performance capture, and the authenticity of the weapons and tactics used in the game.

Infinity Ward on CoD: Ghosts - "Everybody thinks we're going to kill the dog"

Despite Infinity Ward releasing no information that would suggest one way or the other, the consensus is that Riley the dog will die during the Call of Duty: Ghosts campaign, according to executive producer Mark Rubin.

"Everybody thinks we're going to kill the dog," Rubin told the Associated Press. "Maybe that's the expected thing we would do, so maybe it's not what we'll do? We'll see. People around here didn't know, and they had that same sentiment: 'We better not kill the dog.' The emotional investment for the dog here has been just as strong as what's happening out in the public."

In June, Infinity Ward community manager Tina Palacios said "it's a constant debate" at the studio about whether Riley will die or not. "But we do have an answer," she said at the time.

Kids code games: 80M user messaging app Kik jams in NYC

Developers love it when kids code games. That’s why Kik Messenger invited NYC Generation Tech to its mobile game jam this weekend.

GenTech teaches low-income high school students HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as well as the basics of entrepreneurship. About 25 GenTech participants will join Kik and its game development partner TreSensa at the NY Media Center on Sunday to take part in the game jam.

“It’s a great chance for them to learn about game coding and also see and experience a game jam,” TreSensa CEO Rob Grossberg told VentureBeat. “We’ll likely involve them even more deeply in later events.”

This summer, Kik rolled out a feature to its app called Kik Cards, which serves up rich media (like HTML5 web games) right within the chat window. TreSensa and Zynga are Kik’s first two gaming partners.

Zoo Tycoon for Xbox One is timed Wal-Mart exclusive

Are you planning on picking up a physical copy of Zoo Tycoon for Xbox One from your local video game dispensary? Not so fast. Microsoft has confirmed that the next-gen version of the zoo simulator will be exclusive to fellow zoo simulator Wal-Mart for its first few months.

IGN reports that between its launch on November 22, and January 31, 2014, Wal-Mart will be the sole third-party retailer with disc copies the game. Alternately, you could pick it up at a Microsoft store, or download it from the Xbox Games Store. Once February rolls around, it would presumably be on shelves at other shops.

An Xbox 360 version of the game is due too, and it's not exclusive to any retailer. However, it does strip out some features from the Xbox One version, so if you have a choice you'd probably want to go next-gen anyway.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

XCOM: Enemy Within adds 'save scum' option for players that exploit quicksave

Save. Shoot. Die. Reload save. Take cover. Save.

While many players love the brutal nature of Iron Man mode in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, many other players chose to exploit the game's quicksave options. By saving in between every action, players could always revert to an earlier save if a tactical decision ever goes awry. And in XCOM's case, that is probably very often.

However, in Enemy Within, the dice rolls have already been set when you save the game. So, if you miss a 50% shot to hit an enemy, you'll always miss that shot, no matter how often you reload the game. That feature is going to change in Enemy Within with the "save scum" option.

"It's called Save Scum," lead game designer Anand Gupta told PCGamesN (via RPS) "It resets the random number seed whenever the game is loaded. For people who really want to keep shooting until that 80% shot hits."

Spike TV’s Geoff Keighley to interview Sony Online’s boss John Smedley at GamesBeat 2013

We’re pleased to announce that Spike TV GTTV host Geoff Keighley will interview John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment at our GamesBeat 2013 conference on Oct. 29-Oct. 30 in Redwood City, Calif.

Keighley will talk to Smedley about the democratization of gaming and the evolution of the online game. SOE is working on Everquest Next, the next installment of the popular massively multiplayer online game series. Smedley will paint the landscape of online games, from the rise of eSports, livecasting, and player-initiated marketing to the growing importance of global communities, player-driven economies, and next-generation gaming.

With Everquest Next, Sony Online Entertainment is putting players in the driver’s seat to game development, as it will allow them for the first time to generate their own content and have it appear both in their own game worlds as well as the large online game world.

Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus includes Quest for Booty

Insomniac Games announced today that all physical copies of the $30 Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus will include a download code for Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty.

Quest for Booty was released in 2008 and was the first downloadable game in the Future saga.

Insomniac Games also announced today that Into the Nexus has gone gold, meaning it is now heading to manufacturing for mass production. The game will be released exclusively for PlayStation 3 on November 12.

Meanwhile, Sony also announced today that Into the Nexus' release in Europe has been delayed a week. The game will now hit PS3 in that region on November 20 (November 21 in Spain; November 22 in the United Kingdom and Ireland).

Into the Nexus will be "shorter" than other entries in the action game series, and this was intentional, Insomniac Games community lead James Stevenson said earlier this month.

Zelda's Eiji Aonuma on annualization, and why the series needs 'a bit more time'

Annualization. Activision is able to push out a new Call of Duty game every year. Ubisoft can make a new Assassin's Creed game every year. And lately, Nintendo has been able to get new Mario games out on an annual basis. But what about Zelda? We spoke to series director Eiji Aonuma about his take on annualization.

The Zelda series is actually no stranger to the one year turnaround. Majora's Mask was intended to come out just one year after Ocarina of Time. "This was an idea that came from Mr. Miyamoto," Aonuma explained. "The challenge he gave to me: to try and make a sequel to Ocarina of Time in just one year."

At the time, Nintendo thought that it would be possible to make a new game every year. "Ocarina of Time was the first 3D Zelda game. When you make a 3D game, you have all these 3D models. But in a 2D game, you're drawing all these 2D images. Even if you wanted to make another game right away, if the background is different, you actually end up having to re-draw everything. But in a 3D game, you can put those 3D models in different backgrounds and animate them," Aonuma told Shacknews. "So Mr. Miyamoto thought 'well, actually shouldn't this make it easier for us to make a sequel?'"

Lineage II expansion Valiance revealed

NCSoft today announced Valiance, the latest expansion for free-to-play massively multiplayer online game Lineage II. The expansion is planned for release later this year.

    "Players have been treated to a sense of peace since Shilen, the Goddess of Destruction, sent Lindvior to destroy Aden some time ago. While the citizens and heroes of Aden welcomed the respite, come the release of Valiance, they will find it a brief one, as old threats resurface and battles long thought won begin anew. Players deep into the game will find themselves faced with new challenges and experiences that will push their skills and dedication to the limit."

The Valiance expansion for Lineage II features the return of the Hellbound zone with updated areas and new hunting parties. A "major overhaul" of the game's skill system is also featured, as well as 25 new skills.

Need for Speed: Rivals PC Requirements Revealed

Black Box’s Need for Speed: Rivals finally has some confirmed PC requirements, both minimum and recommended. Whichever requirements you adhere to, you’ll need at least 4 GB of RAM along with 30 GB of free hard disk space.

The minimum requirements include Windows XP/Windows Vista (SP2)/Windows 7; an Intel 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo or AMD 2.6 GHz Athlon X2 CPU; 4 GB of RAM; 30 GB HDD space; an AMD Radeon 3870 512 MB or better, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB or better, Intel HD 4000 Integrated 512 MB or better; DirectX 10.1 compatibility; a keyboard and mouse (obviously); and a 512 Kbps or faster internet connection.

The recommended requirements include Windows XP/Windows Vista (SP2)/Windows 7 although Windows 8 64-bit comes recommended; an Intel Quad Core CPU or AMD Duo Core CPU; 8 GB of RAM; 30 GB of HDD space; AMD Radeon 7870 3 GB or better, Nvidia GeForce GT660 3 GB or better; DirectX 11 compatibility; 512 Kbps or faster internet connection; and a keyboard and mouse.
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PS4 demo kiosks rolling out today

Chances are many of you have yet to play PS4. That changes today.

Sony is rolling out the "Experience PlayStation" program today, which will place PS4 demo kiosks around the country. You'll be able to walk into select Sony Stores today to try PS4, with "thousands" more coming to other retail stores, like GameStop, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.

Some of the games you'll be able to try on the PS4 kiosks include Knack, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, FIFA 14, and Contrast.

To find the nearest store with a PS4 kiosk, go here. And remember, more stores will be added later. You can also check out Xbox One early through Microsoft's One Tour.
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