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The Last of Us 2 Is in a Playable State Confirmed by Voice Actor

  by   Alex Co  
March 22, 2018 6:02 pm in News

While Naughty Dog already confirmed that we’ll be seeing The Last of Us 2 at E3 later this June, it seems the game is already in a playable state even if we haven’t seen much of it yet.

This tidbit was confirmed by actor Troy Baker who’s doing the voice-over work and motion capture stuff for Joel in The Last of Us 2. In a video interview at the MCM Comic Con in Birmingham, Troy Baker (along with Nolan North) talked about their performances in various properties, and of course, the conversation goes down The Last of Us 2 path. According to Baker, he’s played the game during a Naughty Dog playtest and deemed it “fantastic.”

Obviously, someone working on a product telling us it’s fantastic isn’t groundbreaking news, but at least we now have confirmation that the game is playable, which means we’ll probably see gameplay real soon — at least I hope. You can watch Baker talk about it in the video below (around the 11:30 mark).

Let’s hope this means that we’ll see The Last of Us 2 out soon, and not in 2020 or even later.

Tags: Naughty Dog The Last of Us The Last of Us Part II troy baker
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Alex Co

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Fortnite Beats PUBG in Monthly Revenue With $126 Million in Sales for February

  by   Alex Co  
5:02 pm in News

Are we seeing a changing of the guard when it comes to which game is the most popular one out there right now when it comes to Fortnite vs PUBG?? Not only are celebs playing Fortnite, but just last month, Fortnite raked in even more money than PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds!

Just in microtransactions and in-app purchases alone, Fortnite brought in a staggering $126 million to Epic’s bank account in February 2018 alone! This is the first time Fortnite managed to out-perform PUBG when it comes to monthly revenue. According to research firm SuperData, PUBG earned $103 million in February, which is still a very impressive figure, but the game seems to be on a downward trend compared to Fortnite’s unstoppable success.

Of course, given Fortnite is a free-to-play game, and PUBG is a $30 product has something to do with it. Or maybe  the fact that Fortnite is out on the PS4 (as well as PC and Xbox One), while PUBG can only be played on capable PCs and on the Xbox One had something to do with it too.

SuperData also attributes Fortnite’s success to its cartoony graphics and easier learning curve as some of the advantages it has against PUBG. Does this signal the start of the end for PUBG? Probably not, but it might need to concede to Fortnite’s might at this point as the most popular battle royale game. Heck, PUBG’s latest event mode is eerily similar to Fortnite, which I don’t think is a coincidence.

Source: SuperData via The Verge

Tags: Epic Games Fortnite PUBG
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Alex Co

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CyberPunk 2077 Info: Multiplayer Might Be Added Post-Launch, Character Creator Confirmed & More

  by   Alex Co  
4:02 pm in News

With CD Projekt RED resurrecting the Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account early this year, and rumors surfacing that the game will be present at this year’s E3, it seems the studio is slowly opening up about the highly anticipated action game.

During the studio’s fiscal year 2017 financial presentation, CD Projekt RED president Adam Kicinski confirmed a few key Cyberpunk 2077 info though not a lot. Fortunately for us, Nirolak from ResetEra summed everything up in an easy-to-read bulletpoint list from DualShocker’s report.

Highlights:

  • Game will seemingly be at E3, with what they’re showing at E3 being announced just before. Said they didn’t want to confirm yet.
  • The campaign is singleplayer and very expansive, and will be the first thing they show.
  • It sounds like the multiplayer might be added post launch, but they don’t want to talk about it yet. Everything is on the table in regards to it, including Battle Royale modes. This makes sense as they did a lot of the multiplayer staff hiring more recently, so they might need more time to finish that.
  • To be clear about the above, an investor asked if the multiplayer would be a Battle Royale mode, and they said anything and everything was on the table, so you shouldn’t necessarily assume it’s a Battle Royale mode. They’re probably still deciding what all the components are, but judging by their job postings, half the multiplayer design team was just hired (which seems to be led by Krakow, who did the DLC for The Witcher 3).
  • Edit: I listened to the comment about multiplayer on the video, and I think he might have meant that more in the “First and foremost we’re making an epic singleplayer game like The Witcher 3.” sense as opposed to “We’re releasing the game with only a singleplayer mode at launch.”, with the “further extensions” being a reference to offerings beyond what The Witcher 3 had, not literal multiplayer expansion packs or updates. It’s possible they intend to launch without multiplayer, but I wanted to make the ambiguity here clear so people aren’t surprised if multiplayer is in at launch.
  • The game has a character creator and you can still pick your class, despite rumors. They reiterated later that the game does not have a predefined character.
  • The studio can’t officially comment on next-gen as it’s not announced, but assured investors their game will scale to it.
  • No microtransactions for the singleplayer mode.
  • No current plans for a Switch version.

You can watch the entire presentation in the video below.

From what’s talked about here, it seems Cyberpunk 2077 will be a robust, single-player game, with an added multiplayer element. Mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this game on next-gen hardware as well given Kicinski’s “scale” statement.

What are you hoping to see in Cyberpunk 2077? Do you think it’ll have multiplayer out of the gate or added post-launch?

Tags: cd projekt red Cyberpunk 2077
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Alex Co

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Destiny 2 YouTubers and Streamers Reveal Why They’ve Abandoned the Game

  by   James Fleming  
3:02 pm in News

Big Destiny 2 YouTubers and streamers have responded to a question asking why they no longer cover the game. Surprisingly, many of the big names responded, with the general consensus being that there’s nothing left to talk about, and that Destiny 2 is no longer fun to play.

Here’s the original question by @Fe0rdin, and the responses that were given:

Sir Dimetrious:

Not fun to play, not fun to watch. Watered down boring version of destiny 1. Feels like I’m playing a demo with how limited the subclass trees are

TripleWreck:

It’s not fun to play nor fun to watch.

Gothalion:

Because Bungie ignores 3 years of feedback and do what they feel is best. One hand doesn’t talk to the other. I miss home, but I’m not going back until it’s home.

MTashed:

Lack of audience, lack of fun, lack of growth potential, lack of meaningful content to explore, lack of replay-ability, lack of rewards for my time, The list goes on.

Luminosity:

The game just isn’t fun.

Broman:

I’m not engaged with the game the way i was with the prequel. I have no drive and desire to play and nothing to chase. I want things to be amazing again but I have to wait for them to be fixed by Bungie

In other Destiny 2 news, several top Destiny YouTubers have lessened their support of the game, Bungie is hiring a new community manager, and the developer explains the faction rewards throttle and incoming adjustments. It also seems like the next DLC will be Destiny 2 The Fallen Warmind, if these leaks are to believed.

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Tags: Activision Bungie Destiny Destiny 2

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Get a 20% PSN Discount Code for One Transaction by Doing This Super Simple Task

  by   Alex Co  
2:02 pm in News

Who doesn’t love a deal, right? Well, if you’re looking to buy something on the PlayStation Store, then you might want to hold off on that first since you can nab a 20 percent PSN discount code just by doing a “quest.”

Over on the live.playstation.com site, Sony is celebrating the release of Sony San Diego’s MBL The Show 18 by putting up quests for people to do, which in turn will net them various rewards. There are in-game packs to be won, but the best quest out of the lot is the one that will give you 20 percent off at the PlayStation Store! And yes, you don’t need to use the code for MLB The Show 18 if you don’t want to! Details about the quest can be read below.

MLB The Show 18 – 20% off PlayStation Store Quest
This quest is open to 18+ w/ PSN account. Quest ends 3/31/2018 or until supplies last. Code valid in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Paraguay, Honduras, Bolivia, Uruguay and Nicaragua. Expires 3/31/2018. Receive 20% off one transaction made at PlayStation™Store on PS4 or the online store (store.playstation.com). Does not apply to transactions made at PlayStation™Store on PS Vita, or in-game. Some exclusions apply, including but not limited to PlayStation memberships, pre-orders, and rental video content. Code must be redeemed at checkout and discounted transaction completed before 11:59 PM PT on March 31st 2018. Voucher code is not redeemable for cash or credit and may not be used for any other purpose, and will not be replaced if lost, stolen, or damaged.

Reward
20% off one transaction made at PlayStation™ Store. Code valid through March 31st, 2018. Some Exclusions Apply.

The quest itself is super simple: just watch the MLB The Show 18 Aaron Judge Studio Tour trailer! Complete it until you see the 0% reach 100 and voila! You’ll have earned a code that’s good for 20 percent off any PSN transaction!

Use the code, thank us later.

Tags: Deals MLB The Show 18 PlayStation PSN
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Alex Co

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Fortnite Battle Royale Took Two Months to Make and Almost Wasn’t Free

  by   James Fleming  
1:02 pm in News

Epic Games Head of Publishing Ed Zobrist revealed some interesting Fortnite Battle Royale development facts during a recent GDC panel.

As captured by PC Gamer, Zobrist confirmed that the Battle Royale portion of the game didn’t start being developed until the launch of Save the World. This means it took around two months to create.

“We started working on this just about the time Save the World was coming out … So let’s do some math: Save the World, the PvE game, launched July 21. [Battle Royale] comes out September 26.”

What’s even more interesting, is that Battle Royale was almost a mode stuck inside of Save the World, and therefore a paid-for game type. The decision to go free-to-play was apparently made just two weeks prior to launch.

That’s some seriously speedy game development, and risky last-minute decision-making. Impressive stuff, I suppose!

In other Fortnite news, it has become the most watched and most streamed game on Twitch, the Flippin’ Sexy emote is driving players wild, and a future update will bridge the Battle Royale and Save the World controls.

Essential Reading:

Tags: Fortnite Fortnite Battle Royale

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New PUBG Event Mode Is Suspiciously Similar to Fortnite LTMs

  by   James Fleming  
11:32 am in News

PUBG Event Mode has been simultaneously announced and set live on the game’s PC Test Server. The Event Mode works suspiciously similarly to Fortnite‘s limited time modes, adding in mutators and special rules for a limited period.

The first PUBG Event Mode variant allows for 8-man squads.

Here’s the full announcement from PUBG Corp.:

We are very excited to announce a new system coming to PUBG – the Event Mode. You can think of the Event Mode as a periodically changing preset Custom Game where we will be trying new things and experimenting with different game parameters.

Using the Event Mode, players will be able have Battle Royale experiences otherwise not available in the public matches. But it’s designed to be much more than just a preset Custom Game, as Event Mode will feature new content, much of it available in the game only for a limited time.

The first iteration of the Event Mode will be a very simple one, as the system was only recently put together and we need to test the basics first.

This week you will be able to play with up to 8 players in a team and the rifle drop rate will be doubled. We know it’s not a huge change from the public matches but as mentioned above, this is just to get things rolling. The future of the Event Mode holds exciting things!

In other PUBG news, a flare gun has been added to the game, and it’s stupidly powerful. Looking specifically at the Xbox One version, here’s what the developer has planned for the game’s immediate future. PUBG Mobile is also now available on both Android and iOS.

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Tags: Epic Games PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds PUBG PUBG Corp.

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Fortnite New Shotgun: New Heavy Shotgun Is Now Live

  by   James Fleming  
10:02 am in News

It’s almost time for another Fortnite new shotgun controversy, as the heavy shotgun is making its way into Battle Royale with today’s 3.3.1 update.

The heavy shotgun is specifically a “ranged weapon” and so is most effective at medium ranges. I can see this causing a lot of frustrating deaths for those on the receiving end!

If you’re wondering how powerful the Fortnite heavy shotgun is compared to the weapons in the same class, take a look at the stats below (via FortniteINTEL):

Fortnite New Shotgun

Despite the new heavy shotgun not officially launching until update 3.3.1 is live, the weapon has been spotted in-game.

Here’s some Fortnite heavy shotgun gameplay from Caleb Roper:

Will you be trying to hunt down the Fortnite heavy shotgun? Or are you worried that it will be unbalanced and ruin Battle Royale? Let us know.

In other Fortnite news, it has become the most watched and most streamed game on Twitch, the Flippin’ Sexy emote is driving players wild, and a future update will bridge the Battle Royale and Save the World controls.

Essential Reading:

Tags: Epic Games Fortnite Fortnite Battle Royale

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Monster Hunter World Update 2.00 Now Live, Brings Deviljho and Balance Updates

  by   Alex Co  
4:57 am in News

As expected. Capcom has pushed out the first major update to Monster Hunter World! This Monster Hunter World update 2.00 brings Deviljho to the list of monsters, and a ton of balance updates to weapons.

Check out the full patch notes below, along with a trailer for Deviljho just to whet your
appetites!

WEAPON BALANCE UPDATES

Great Sword

  • Charged Slash II — Damage increased.
  • Charged Slash III — Damage increased.
  • Strong Charged Slash II — Damage increased.
  • Strong Charged Slash III — Damage increased.

Long Sword

  • Foresight Slash — Time window to successfully trigger increased.
  • Foresight Slash — Hitbox to successfully trigger increased.
  • Foresight Slash — Damage hitbox increased.
  • Foresight Slash — Increased the angle that the player can control the direction of the attack.
  • Spirit Helm Breaker — (Bug Fix) After use, you should now properly be immune to knockbacks until you land on the ground.

Sword & Shield

  • Roundslash — Damage increased.
  • Wedge beetles can now be used when using the slinger with your weapon drawn.

Dual Blades

  • Demon Gauge — Can now be increased by Demon Mode roundslashes and Demon Flurry Rush.
  • Demon Mode — Fixed a bug where you could not cancel Demon Mode when transitioning from a Demon Dodge.

Hammer

  • Charge Tier 2 — Charged Upswing stun values increased.
  • Charge Tier 2 — Charged Brutal Upswing stun values increased.
  • Charge Tier 3 — Charged Big Bang stun values increased.

Hunting Horn

  • The Encore effect for the Self-Improvement melody now also increases your attack power (the effect is now “Attack Up + Deflected Attack Prevention”).

Lance

  • Counter-thrust — Temporary knockback negation during a successful counter-thrust.

Gunlance

  • Shelling — Damage parameters increased when sharpness is yellow or worse.
  • Sharpness loss alleviated for all Wyrmstake Cannon and Wyvern’s Fire attacks.
  • Wyrmstake Cannon — Damage increased.
  • Wyvern’s Fire — Damage increased.

Switch Axe

  • Zero Sum Discharge — Level 4 Earplugs effect during use.
  • It is now possible to chain the beginning of Sword: Jumping Element Discharge into Zero Sum Discharge.
  • Zero Sum Discharge Finisher — Damaged increased.
  • Mounted Discharge Finisher — No longer causes sharpness loss.
  • Zero Sum Discharge — (Bug Fix) After use, you should now properly be immune to knockbacks until you land on the ground.

Charge Blade

  • Impact Phials — Attack power bonuses from effects other than that of the Artillery skill (for the explosions) were decreased.
  • Axe: Super Amped Element Discharge — Stun values decreased for Impact Phials.
  • Phial stun values increased for all attacks other than Axe: Super Amped Element Discharge.
  • Elemental values increased for Power Element Phials.
  • Axe: Super Amped Element Discharge — Power Element Phial explosions spaced closer together to make them easier to hit.

Insect Glaive

  • Improved the effect of the attack power increase for red/white and red/white/orange extract hybrid effects.
  • Extract effect times increased overall.
  • Extract effect times no longer decrease while mounting a monster.

Bow

  • Dashing Shot — Fixed a bug where the Spread/Power Shots skill effect was applied twice.
  • Dragon Piercer — Fixed a bug where you could shoot past the attack’s angle limitations. Now shoots straight ahead of the player, regardless of the camera angle, when shot with the camera angle past the attack’s angle limitations.

Light Bowgun and Heavy Bowgun

  • No adjustments were made.

———-

GAME SYSTEM ADDITIONAL AND CHANGES

  • Optimized data processing to reduce loading times.
  • Added the feature “Kick from Online Session” to the player list.
  • Added “Return to Gathering Hub” (single player) and “Disband & Return to Gathering Hub” (multiplayer) to the options for “Select Return Destination” after a quest.
  • Added the “Text Size” setting for changing subtitle text size, under Start Menu > Options Game Settings.
  • In the “Online Session” menu, the name for the menu command “Squad Session Search” was changed to “Create/Search for a Squad Session” (the functionality is unchanged).
  • Attacks from allies no longer interrupt you during the carving animation. Additionally, players are now immune to all hit reactions, including bombs, during carving animations after quest completion.
  • Slightly reduced the amount that the Scoutfly Level (which is tied to monster research levels) gauge decreases after each quest.
  • Added the game version number to the game’s title screen (for this update—PS4: 2.00; Xbox One: 2.0.0.0).

If you notice anything that’s not in the patch notes, let us know in the comments.

Source: Capcom Unity

More Monster Hunter World Reading at MP1st:

Tags: Capcom Monster Hunter Monster Hunter: World
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A Way Out Gets New “Official” Trailer

  by   Alex Co  
March 21, 2018 7:15 pm in News

EA has released a new A Way Out game trailer for Hazelight Studios’ upcoming action-adventure game! If you’ve never heard of this ambitious and unique co-op game, then this trailer should give you an idea of what you’ll be doing.

From Hazelight Studios, creators of Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons comes an exclusively co-op adventure unlike anything you’ve played before. Join Vincent and Leo, two inmates who must work together to escape in an action-packed story. Your path to freedom will require you to solve puzzles, complete minigames, talk, shoot, fight, sneak, drive, and run as you navigate the dangers inside the prison walls and beyond.

You can check out the A Way Out Trophies and Achievements list right here.

A Way Out will be out this coming Friday for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Tags: A Way Out EA hazelight studios
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Rare Issues Statement on Sea of Thieves Lack of Content Concerns, Confirms New Cosmetic Stuff Post-Launch

  by   Alex Co  
6:15 pm in News

While Rare’s swashbuckling action game Sea of Thieves might have just gotten released yesterday, some players might already be wondering if there’ll be enough cosmetic items and overall content to make them play for hundreds of hours.

Over on the Sea of Thieves subreddit, players are already lamenting on the apparent lack of content the game has out of the gate, and how the content feels limited just after a few hours of game time.

Speaking to IGN, Sea of Thieves Executive Producer Joe Neate issued a statement on the matter, and confirmed that new cosmetic items will be released post-launch.

“Sea of Thieves is designed from the ground up to be a game that grows and evolves, and we will release new cosmetic options ongoing as part of that, alongside new mechanics and ways to play. Our focus for launch is on delivering a great initial experience, and as we move beyond launch we will be assessing and reacting to player feedback across all areas of the game. We have worked with our community throughout the development of Sea of Thieves, and that will continue in exactly the same manner beyond launch.”

Are you concerned about the lack of content in Sea of Thieves? Is it a baseless concern given the game isn’t even out for more than a week?

In other Sea of Thieves news, go check out the Kraken in action right now! Remember, you can test the game out with the Xbox Game Pass Trial to see if it’s worth your money or not.

Tags: Rare sea of thieves
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Alex Co

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Studio Behind Just Cause Franchise Is Developing an Open-World Game That’ll Feature Young Adults

  by   Alex Co  
5:15 pm in News

Remember the Just Cause franchise? The open-world action-adventure game published by Square Enix and developed by Avalanche Studios? If you’re assuming the Avalanche Studio new game list to be all about Just Cause 4, then you might be surprised at what you’re about to read.

Over on the studio’s official site, Avalanche has made a call out to “adults” ages 18-25 to be “the faces” of the studio’s in-game characters. Totaling 12 in all, the people selected will be visible in the currently untitled game “for years to come.”

At Avalanche Studios, we’re hard at work developing our next, as of yet unannounced, self-published title. We can’t say much about the game itself (or we’d have to kill you), but it will be created in true Avalanche Studios fashion and offer players tons of our trademark emergent, open-world action. In the game you will play as a young adult, whom we will bring to life using cutting-edge face scanning technology.

We are now looking for 12 adults, ages 18-25, to become the faces of our in-game characters. Not only will the 12 chosen ones have their likeness be visible in the game for years to come – played and enjoyed by gamers worldwide – but they will also get a chance to visit the studio. During the day, they’ll meet he development team, scan their faces, have lunch and fika (the latter is a cornerstone of the Swedish diet) and most importantly – get a bit of insight into how the magic of game development happens.

If you want a chance to take part and become the face of our next game, please read below for full details and conditions:

AVALANCHE STUDIOS IS LOOKING FOR:

  • Young adults of all backgrounds and ethnicities*
  • 18-25 years old
  • Preferably living in/around the Stockholm area as the studio is located there. Travel will not be provided or covered.

IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE:

Send an email to nextface@avalanchestudios.se. In the email clearly state the following:

  • Full name
  • Age
  • Address
  • Mobile phone number
  • Why you would like to become a face in the next Avalanche Studios game
  • Please also attach one forward facing photo and one side facing photo

The last day to apply is March 30, 2018. The studio will contact the 12 that are selected before April 7 and schedule the studio visit. The participants will be required to sign an NDA before visiting. The visit will include lunch, the aforementioned fika, some swag and a studio tour but no monetary compensation will be given.

Note that participants should be free of facial hair or any facial piercings for the scanning tech to work properly. And in case you didn’t read the entire thing above, Avalanche will not be paying for travel and boarding expenses if you ever decide to try this out.

Got what it takes to be the “face” of a future video game franchise? Go try your luck. While no other details have been shared by Avalanche, this listing has made me a whole lot curious what the studio’s doing behind closed doors.

Tags: avalanche studios
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Report: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered Won’t Include Multiplayer

  by   Alex Co  
4:10 pm in News

Remember that online listing seemingly confirming the existence of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered? Well, as it turns out, there’s more to it than a mistaken listing or placeholder product!

According to multiple sources (from CharlieIntel and Eurogamer), Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is an actual game, but don’t get excited just yet, as these same sources state that it will be just the campaign, and won’t include MW2 Remastered multiplayer (which is kind of the point, right?). The leaked listings put the price of MW2 Remastered at just $25, which seems low for a full-fledged remastered game. Well, this might be the reason why.

Furthermore, materials sent over to CharlieIntel indicate that Raven Software is NOT developing Modern Warfare 2 Remastered (the studio developed the Modern Warfare Remastered released in 2016), and seems to not be involved in any way with the rumored remastered. Rumors indicate that Beenox, the studio that assisted Raven Software in developing the campaign of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered, might be the studio tasked in bringing the MW2 Remastered game to current-gen consoles.

Well, there you have it. It seems Modern Warfare 2 Remastered really is coming, but it won’t include the multiplayer portion. Bear in mind that these are rumors for now, and Activision has not announced anything or denied anything regarding a remastered version of Modern Warfare 2 Remastered.

Given how popular MW2’s multiplayer is/was, I wouldn’t be shocked if Activision releases it as a standalone product at some point as well. I mean, it’d be foolish not to, right?

Are you still excited to play MW2 again even without multiplayer? Or is it pointless to remaster it at all without the multiplayer?

Tags: Activision Call of Duty Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 call of duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered Infinity Ward Raven Software Report
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Overwatch Update 2.36 Patch Notes: Brigitte Added, Sombra Tweaked & More

  by   James Fleming  
2:32 pm in News

Blizzard has shared the Overwatch Update 2.36 patch notes, the highlight of which is new hero Brigitte. This support character is now available to use on all platforms. Sombra also got hit with a little tweak.

Here’s the Overwatch Update 2.36 patch notes, via Blizzard:

Overwatch Update 2.36 Patch Notes:

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

New Hero: Brigitte (Support):

An engineer with peerless armor-constructing abilities, Brigitte Lindholm is a valiant squire who fights on the front line to protect her allies.

Brigitte’s armor engineering capabilities make her a stalwart support hero, capable of holding her ground in combat while also providing healing and armor for her teammates. Her primary weapon is her heavy-hitting Rocket Flail that she swings in a wide arc in front of her to smash multiple enemies at once. Whip Shot enables Brigitte to fling her flail forward, striking enemies at a distance and knocking them backward. With each blow, Brigitte’s passive ability, Inspire, heals nearby allies over time.

Brigitte’s Barrier Shield deploys a frontal energy barrier that can absorb a limited amount of damage and protect any allies directly behind her. Once her Barrier Shield is deployed, she can use Shield Bash to lunge forward and stun the first enemy in her path. Drawing on her engineering prowess, Brigitte can create Repair Packs to instantly heal wounded allies or provide armor to teammates at maximum health. When Brigitte is at her strongest, she can activate her ultimate ability, Rally—a galvanizing call to arms that generates a substantial amount of armor for nearby allies and increases Brigitte’s movement speed so she can lead them into battle.

GENERAL UPDATES

General

Changed the name of Junkrat’s Scarecrow spray to Hayseed

Updated Mercy’s Toast victory pose

HERO UPDATES

Sombra

Hack

Now goes on a 2-second cooldown when interrupted by damage

Now more consistently interrupted when targets break line of sight

Developer Comments: We’re also removing the 0.1 second window of time during a hack where it couldn’t be canceled via line of sight or with other abilities including Tracer’s Recall and Zarya’s Particle Barrier, which was originally put in place so the hack wouldn’t be interrupted by small objects such as light posts. We’ve implemented a separate fix for that issue, so she should still be unaffected by those small objects.

USER INTERFACE UPDATES

General

The Team Information Screen now displays the ultimate charge of your teammates

BUG FIXES

Heroes

Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from traveling forward if he had been hit by an enemy Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut

Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented players from aiming Doomfist’s Rocket Punch when facing an enemy

Fixed an issue that allowed players to jump over Doomfist’s Rocket Punch when on an incline

Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Seismic Slam to cancel if he could not get close to his target

Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut cooldown countdown from displaying if he was in a movement hindering ability (e.g. Zarya’s Graviton Surge or Junkrat’s Steel Trap)

Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch cooldown to delay counting down if he was in a movement hindering ability (e.g. Zarya’s Graviton Surge or Junkrat’s Steel Trap)
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from hitting enemies that were close to him

Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat’s RIP-Tire kills from being credited in the Kill Feed if the targets had a long death animation (e.g. D.Va’s Mech)

Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Regeneration to occur instantly if she took damage while at full health

Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s wings to separate from her body if her Zhuque skin was equipped during her Toast victory pose

Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Biotic Orb from receiving kill credit if it expired at the same time it killed an enemy

Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Fade visual effects to indicate the direction she was traveling in when she used the ability

Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Charge from pinning enemies

Fixed a bug that prevented the chunks from the pumpkin in Reinhardt’s Pumpkin Smash emote from appearing after he obliterated it with his Rocket Hammer

Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to appear at the top of an opponent’s screen if he used it against an enemy Mercy when she used Valkyrie

Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from receiving

nvironmental kill credit if she kills an enemy using Hack

Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Sombra to be visible to enemies without displaying a “Detected” notification during Stealth

Fixed a bug that sometimes failed to teleport players using Symmetra’s Teleporter if they used an ability that increased their movement speed when passing through it (e.g. Doomfist’s Rocket Punch)

Maps

Fixed a bug that caused some objects to block projectiles on Blizzard World (e.g. souvenir carts)

UI

Fixed a bug that prevented the “Restore Defaults” button from resetting all settings in the Social Options tab

Fixed a bug that caused players to delete characters in the “Save Highlight” text box if they pressed down the delete input while their settings were below 60 FPS

Fixed a bug that caused the user interface to indicate two control points on a single control point map when playing a custom game

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Brendan Greene Discusses “PUBG Region Lock China” Complaints, Says It “Just Doesn’t Work”

  by   James Fleming  
1:02 pm in News

Players sick of cheaters have been spamming “PUBG region lock China” comments across social media and the game’s blog posts. With the majority of cheats coming out of China, it’s understandable that hate would be directed toward Chinese players, even those that are innocent.

Brendan Greene recently spoke with USgamer about the possibility of region locking areas, but ultimately stated that “it doesn’t work.”

“I mean everyone that [suggests] region locking [is forgetting about] VPN. It just it doesn’t work … We just implemented ping-based matchmaking which really has improved the gameplay experience for a lot of players. It’s working out quite well and we’re still doing research. We have the data team looking into it and trying to improve it. And that’s the goal with the game, to keep improving it over this year and the next year and the next ten years.”

PUBG Corp. is looking at other ways to keep cheaters out of the game. Here’s hoping they can come up with a solution quickly.

In other PUBG news, a flare gun has been added to the game, and it’s stupidly powerful. Looking specifically at the Xbox One version, here’s what the developer has planned for the game’s immediate future. PUBG Mobile is also now available on both Android and iOS.

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Battlefront 2 Patch Notes Update 2.0: New Progression System, Cosmetic Rewards & More

  by   James Fleming  
11:32 am in News

The game-changing Battlefront 2 patch notes update 2.0 are now live. This is the big patch that promises to overhaul the progression systems, and introduce more tolerable microtransactions.

The Battlefront 2 2.0 update will be rolling out across all systems now.

Catch up on the Battlefront 2 patch notes below.

Battlefront 2 Patch Notes Update 2.0

Heroes and Villains Balancing:

Iden Versio

Iden was in need of a power increase so we decided to focus a lot on her for this Update while we watch the results of the previous Update’s impact on other Heroes.

GENERAL

Increased Base health from 550 to 650

Fixed an issue where the Secondary Fire module didn’t appear on Iden’s TL-50

DROID SHIELD

We made a small improvement to the Droid Shield as we felt it’s wasn’t active long enough. This tweak should make it very viable.

Increased active time from 10 to 12 seconds

PULSE CANNON

Iden’s Pulse Cannon has been slightly re-worked for this Update. We improved it a bit for now but we would like to re-work this ability further in the future. It now fires faster so to compensate we reduced its base damage. The zoomed-in, long range damage should feel rewarding and we wanted to push the weapon’s use in that direction. As a result we’ve reduced the explosive damage but increased the weapon’s accuracy to make it more of a skill weapon. Additionally, we’ve gone back to an earlier design idea where we wanted Iden to more freely swap between the TL-50 and the Pulse Cannon – this will make Iden feel a bit more versatile.

Reduced the recharge time from 5 to 1 second

Added a zoomed-in damage increase multiplier of 80% (the explosive damage is not multiplied by this change)

Decreased the time to full power from 1.25 to 0.6 seconds

Decreased the non-zoom dispersion from 2 to 0.2 degrees (zoom dispersion is 0)

Reduced the recoil of the weapon

Reduced the start damage from 100 to 40

Reduced the end damage from 150 to 100

Reduced the start damage distance from 125 to 30 meters

Reduced the end damage distance from 150 to 50 meters

Reduced the explosive damage from 80 to 20

HOT SWAP – Star Card

This Star card has been changed to give health to Iden when her DROID STUN hits enemies, and even more when it hits Heroes. With the Pulse Cannon rework, the old version became obsolete. We know that players want more Hero Star Cards that regain health and we will investigate adding more, but this felt like it was a good fit for Iden’s Droid. We’ll monitor the balance of this Star Card until the next Update.

Boba Fett

JETPACK

We’ve heard the comparison to an F-15 and also heard that the maneuverability of Boba Fett’s jetpack is very well liked. With this tweak the speed is slightly reduced, but he should still feel fast and powerful when played.

Reduced the forward thrust speed of Boba’s Jetpack slightly

HEALTH

While reducing Boba Fett’s jetpack forward speed, we also wanted to revisit his health as it’s the lowest currently and doesn’t feel correct for a hero – even a flying one.

Increased Base Health from 500 to 550

Leia Organa

Leia’s hair has been updated to match her outfit

We’re happy with Leia’s current gameplay but will look at her SQUAD SHIELD for Heroes vs. Villains in the future. She is a very approachable character for new players. That said we’d like to push her more into a control-the-battle style of gameplay. We decided to bump up her health regeneration to keep her base health on the same level as other blaster-wielding Heroes as well as give her more of a chance to keep in the fight.

Increased maximum health regeneration for Leia from 150 to 200

Decreased health regeneration delay from 5 to 4.5 seconds

Han Solo

Han is hard to master and him having at low health without much defensive abilities made him quite vulnerable.

Increased base health from 600 to 650

Fixed an issue where Han Solo’s DETONITE CHARGE didn’t explode mid-air

Darth Vader

Fixed an issue where Darth Vader’s PUNISHING GRIP Star Card wasn’t correctly applied.

Fixed an issue where Darth Vader’s SABER THROW ability could go through a wall on Takodana

Emperor Palpatine

Fixed an issue where Palpatine’s LIGHTNING ABSORBTION Star Card didn’t grant the correct amount of health after being used

Chewbacca

STUN GRENADES can no longer be activated while other abilities are activating

Rey

While using INSIGHT, a circle shouldn’t appear under Rey for other players when activated

Yoda

The area of effect should now display properly when the UNLEASH ability is triggered

Fixed an issue where Yoda didn’t break out of immobilizing abilities when using PRESENCE

Finn

Fixed an issue where the UI marker for Finn’s DEADEYE ability would persist after the ability had ended

Fixed an issue where weathering effects weren’t working on Finn

Lando Calrissian

Fixed an issue where players were unable to spawn as Lando Calrissian if Han Solo was being played

Classes, Special Units, & Vehicles:

Assault

Fixed an issue where weapon cooling was not working correctly for weapon mods

Officer

GENERAL

Fixed an issue where Increased Cooling provided higher cooling reduction than intended

Tweaked description of Homing Shot to clarify that it can fire multiple rockets, rather than just one

Fixed an issue where weapon cooling was not working correctly for weapon mods

Default Pistol

Reduced end damage from 20 to 17

SE-44C

Reduced amount of shots that can be fired before overheating from 25 to 17

Reduced how many shots can be fired before overheating when Increased Cooling mod is equipped from 49 to 25

Reduced end damage distance from 40 to 30 meters

OFFICER’S PRESENCE

Flattened the points given to an Officer with OFFICER’S PRESENCE, regardless if the aura affects 1 or 19 allies.

Point payoff with OFFICER’S PRESENCE was stacking, meaning an Officer standing in a choke point can farm thousands of Battlepoints without effort. To fix this, we’ve removed this stacking rule.

TURRET

The Turret now spots enemies when it acquires them and primes to fire. The spotted enemy is only visible to the officer who owns the turret.

Specialist

THERMAL BINOCULARS

Enabled spotting logic, IMPROVED THERMAL BINOCULARS increase the time an enemy is spotted

Added 25 point scoring event per enemy spotted

GENERAL

Fixed an issue where weapon cooling was not working correctly for weapon mods

Heavy

Fixed an issue where it was possible to use the SENTRY ability in first person

Fixed an issue where the sound could get stuck on the SENTRY ability

Fixed an issue where weapon cooling was not working correctly for weapon mods

Aerials

Fixed an issue where the IMPROVED ROCKET LAUNCHER Star Card didn’t reduce recharge as intended

Fixed an animation issue that caused Aerials to incorrectly roll when dashing

We’ve updated the description of each of the Aerial units to more clearly differentiate them from each other. Jump Trooper –> Imperial Jump Trooper & First Order Jump Trooper. Rocket Jumper –> Rebel Rocket Jumper & Resistance Rocket Jumper

Enforcers

Fixed an issue where the Death Trooper wouldn’t see a white outline on enemies that have been affected by their SONIC IMPLODER’s blinding effect

Fixed issue where the explosion radius of the SONIC IMPLODER wasn’t improved by the EXPLOSIVE EXPERT Star Card

AT-ST

Fixed an issue where the AT-ST’s GRENADE LAUNCHER would fail to trigger after having been activated

Game Mode Changes:

Galactic Assault

Takodana

Re-worked the defender spawns in Phase 2, moving them closer to the objectives

The price of the AT-ST on Takodana has been increased from 1500 to 2500

Kashyyyk

Re-worked the defender spawns in Phase 3, moving them closer to the objectives

The LAAT respawn time has been increased to 30 seconds
Fixed an issue where the MTT health would not display correctly and it would sometimes enter an incorrect state

Deathstar II

Made Phases 2 and 3 easier to defend and Phase 1 slightly easier for the attackers by adjusting spawn positions

Tatooine

Phase 2 spawns for defenders have been adjusted for positioning and spread in an effort to increase safety directly after you’ve spawned

Attacker spawns in Phase 2 have been moved closer to the objectives to make it easier to attack

Defender spawns in Phase 3 have been moved closer to the objective to make it easier to defend

Introduced various visual quality improvements such as: reduced LOD pop-in, sharper textures, improved lighting and materials, minor destructible content, and additional environmental detailing

Adjusted frequency with which the alternative light settings appear

Kamino

Increased price of LAAT on from 400 to 1000

LAAT respawn has been increased by 30 seconds

Jakku

Fixed an issue where players spawning into the AT-ST were occasionally spawned out of bounds

Endor

Updated and re-introduced the daylight setting

Adjusted frequency with which the alternative light settings appear

Blast

Improved spawn zones for Blast on Starkiller Base

Starfighter Assault

Starfighter splash damage against troopers reduced by 50% to prevent excessive targeting of troopers.

Fixed an issue where the MVP screen would continuously shake

Jetpack Cargo

Various improvements to UI clarity, issues for players joining mid-round, and respawn issues with the cargo

Arcade

Fixed an issue where AI could sometimes become static and not recognize the player

Fixed an issue where Milestones in the end-of-round were missing after completing a Mission

Fixed an issue where the battle settings were overlapping with the loading screen in Arcade

Solved an issue where Captain Phasma’s visual environment was applied to both players when playing splitscreen

Fixed an issue where it was possible to avoid the AI on Death Star II

Misc. fixes to areas where Boba Fett was able to fly out of reach of the AI

Fixed an issue where the AI would clip into a building on Tatooine

Fixed an issue where lighting would break on the guest screen when playing Duel on Crait

Fixed an issue where tickets were incorrectly counted if players fell off the map when playing Versus on Kashyyyk

For even more details, including more minor changes and fixes, click here.

 

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Tags: EA DICE Electronic Arts Star Wars Star Wars: Battlefront Star Wars: Battlefront II

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PUBG Xbox Update 11 Patch Notes: Performance Boosts, Inventory Changes & More

  by   James Fleming  
10:02 am in News

The PUBG Xbox Update 11 patch notes are now available to read and dissect. As you read, make sure your Xbox One is powered up, as the update is beginning to roll out.

PUBG Xbox Update 11 Patch Notes:

Performance / Optimization / Stability

  • Implemented texture changes to improve graphical performance
  • Optimized vehicle profiles to improve framerate
  • Additional fixes to reduce crashes

UI/UX (Inventory)

  • The layout of the inventory has been improved, adding focal points to identify selected areas, a clearer button guide and tooltips
  • Improved selection of weapon slots and attachments – players can change the focus and selection by using the D-Pad
  • Quick scrolling has been added by using LT/RT buttons

Gameplay

  • A counter has been added to show the number of players remaining on the airplane

Cosmetic Items

  • Reminder to the community that the Varsity Jacket (also known as the PUBG5 jacket) announced last week will be rewarded to players after March 22nd 12:01AM. Look for it in your in-game inventory from March 22nd, inside the customization tab of the menu.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed issue that caused players to hear footsteps when no other players were in the vicinity
  • Fixed an issue that prevented the blue zone from being displayed correctly

In other PUBG news, a flare gun has been added to the game, and it’s stupidly powerful. Looking specifically at the Xbox One version, here’s what the developer has planned for the game’s immediate future.

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Dragon Ball FighterZ Bardock Announcement Trailer Brings the Gameplay

  by   Alex Co  
March 20, 2018 7:30 pm in News

With the Broly announcement trailer for Dragon Ball FighterZ making its way out, it was just a matter of time Bandai Namco releases the one for Bardock. That time, my friends, is today! Bandai Namco has released the Dragon Ball FighterZ Bardock gameplay/announcement trailer, and as one can expect, there’s a lot of Saiyan ass-kicking!

Check out the trailer below to see what kind of fighter Goku’s pops was.

Goku’s family extends with Bardock. Expect a great dramatic scene between the Saiyan warrior and lord Frieza 😉 Coming on March 28th in as a DLC for Dragon Ball FighterZ

As the video description states, Bardock will be available as paid DLC this March 28 on all platforms.

Don’t forget to check out the latest Dragon Ball FighterZ title update which includes a lot of in-game fixes.

Tags: Arc System Works Bandai Namco Entertainment Dragon Ball Dragon Ball FighterZ
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Check Out “GRIP” a New Combat Car Racing Game

  by   Alex Co  
6:30 pm in News

Have you ever wished we had car combat games coming out of the woodwork like it was way back in the early 2000’s? While the genre has obviously seen better days, a new car combat game has been announced, it looks poised to deliver on the fun from what’s shown so far!

In a press release, Wired Productions and developer Caged Element have announced “GRIP” — a “fast, futuristic combat racer” that’s set to hit the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC this year! Watch the gameplay trailer below.

Being developed using Unreal Engine 4, GRIP will support online and offline play, along with split-screen racing, and even tournaments. As one can expect from a newly announced game these days, car customization will play a big role in the gameplay; there’s also going to be stunts, tricks, weapons and destructible environments as well.

Evolved from the age of street racing, the world of GRIP is brutal and cut-throat to the core. To win the race is never enough, greatness comes from the journey and the trail of merciless destruction you unleash upon your rivals along the way. 

Scale walls, ceilings and anything else you can get your tyres on to… as you master tantalising tracks, tricks and perform mind-blowing stunts to race your way across the cosmos. Customise your vehicle, utilise devastating weapons and exploit a destructible environment to ensure not only victory, but the complete annihilation of your opponents.

GRIP will make its US debut later this week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, and will be available for hands-on time with consumers at PAX East and EGX Rezzed later this year.

Tags: Grip Johnny Cage Wired Productions
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New Atari Console the “Atari VCS” Announced, Here’s Our First Look

  by   Alex Co  
5:30 pm in News

If you’re an old fart (I mean, really old), then you might remember that Atari was once the king of the video game hardware space. Before Nintendo ruled the roost, and before PlayStation became a household name, Atari was the one name synonymous with video games.

While the company original teased the existence of a new Atari console with the “Ataribox” last year, things have been quiet after the initial announcement. Well, it seems there’s a good reason for that since Atari has renamed the new console! It’s now called the “Atari VCS” and based on the image below, it looks to be included with a joystick controller that has the same design as the old Atari game consoles; there’s also the control pad that looks similar to an Xbox One game controller, or an Ouya one (remember those?!) if you want to be a bit more cheeky.

new atari console

Here’s what Connected Devices COO Michael Artz had to say:

With the Atari VCS name, we know how important it is to get everything completely right and that’s why we briefly paused an imminent launch late last year. It was a difficult decision with the countdown underway, but we weren’t willing to go forward with even one thing out of alignment.

More details regarding the Atari VCS will be revealed later this week at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, with pre-order dates set to be announced sometime in April.

Do you have room for one more console in your life? What do you think of the design so far?

Source: Game Informer

Tags: Atari atari vcs
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