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Activision Opens Call of Duty Championship 2015 To Public, Announces Themed Micro-DLC

  by   David Veselka  
February 10, 2015 1:37 pm in News

This year, for the first time, the Call of Duty Championship will open its doors to the public, allowing the world’s most avid Call of Duty fans to step inside arena and attend the $1 million tournament in person, live in Los Angeles March 27-29.

Starting at 10:00AM PST on February 17, MajorLeagueGaming.com will sell a limited number of ticket packages to anyone 18 years of age and up.

For starters, the Gold Package is a three-day package priced at $50 which includes general admission seating, Call of Duty Championship 2015 merch, the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Ascendance DLC , and the Call of Duty Championship 2015 premium personalization pack for your in-game operator (more on that below). Meanwhile the three-day Platinum package, priced at $100, will include all of the same content in the Gold Package but will also offer VIP seating at the event and an exclusive Call of Duty Championship 2015 hoodie.

Fans unable to attend the tournament can watch the events unfold over Xbox Live and even show off their COD Champ pride with the new Call of Duty 2015 Championship premium personalization pack for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, now live on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

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The pack ($3.99 USD) contains three new reticles, gold weapon camo, a new player card, a Call of Duty Championship-themed exoskeleton and helmet, and more. You can see it in action in Advanced Warfare’s latest trailer:

[youtube id=”nxnfqhr7jm8″]

In addition, players can now also expand their loadout options with extra Create-a-Class and Armory Slots for $1.99 USD each, also found on the in-game store.

Thinking of attending this year’s Championship?

Source: Activision

Tags: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare COD Championship 2015 Featured PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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Watch Half an Hour of New Call of Duty Online Beta Gameplay

  by   David Veselka  
3:28 am in News

Here’s an interesting one for any avid Call of Duty fan that may have heard of but never seen the Chinese free-to-play Call of Duty Online from Activision, Tencent, and Raven Software in action.

The shooter, which is a micro-transaction-based melting pot of Call of Duty titles ranging from the original Modern Warfare to Black Ops 2, is currently in Open Beta in China only. So, while it might not be of much concern to you, we’re pretty sure you’re at least a little curious to know what it looks like and how it plays.

Luckily, Giant Bomb managed to get the beta up and running on one of their own PCs and were able to record the first half an hour of progress made through training and through a few of the game’s various modes, including multiplayer (we think — it could just be bots) and Robot Zombies. As expected, nothing is in English, so consider it an exotic, unguided tour of a mystical Call of Duty game in a far off land.

Have a look at the gameplay below and see what you can recognize. If you’re a long-time fan of the series, we’re sure you’ll get a kick out of it.

[youtube id=”B96X-Ghji4s”]

What’d you think? We’d love to hear your impressions in the comments below.

Thanks, Giant Bomb!

Tags: Call of Duty: Online COD Online PC

David Veselka

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Evolve’s Day-One Patch Will Improve Load Times, Tweak Game Balance, Include Free DLC, And More

  by   David Veselka  
February 9, 2015 8:50 pm in News

Before hopping online to join the hunt in dangerous environments on unfamiliar and hostile planets, Evolve developer Turtle Rock Studios is asking gamers to clear about three gigabytes of space on their hard drives to make way for a significant day-one game update.

The patch will introduce a number of balancing tweaks that were detailed earlier on the studio’s official website, including changes to abilities:

  • Make the Wraith easier to track. Even good Hunters have a hard time keeping tabs on Wraith because she can move so far while cloaked.
  • Make the Decoy less spammy. It doesn’t take any skill to keep punching that ability button and let the AI Decoy go to work. We want to increase the “cost” of using it so that people use it more sparingly/strategically.
  • Bring Supernova down a notch. It is okay if it’s her primary damage dealer, but it felt a little on the buff side for a while internally and we saw it prove true during the Beta.
  • Make Abduction a little easier to land. It’s a really fun ability to use and it was underutilized during the beta.
  • Make Warp Blast a threat. This should be a straight forward damage dealer that also has some nice mobility utility.

…and updates to the Wraith monster:

  • Wraith can no longer warp while cloaked. If she does, the cloak wears off and the Decoy vanishes (just like when you melee attack). This means that when she cloaks, she normally won’t get far and it opens the door for skilled players to do smart things like break line of sight before warping away.
  • Decoy takes 30% longer to cool down. This immediately makes it 30% less spammy and hopefully results in players saving it for the more opportune moments.
  • Supernova damage reduced by 10%. Not a huge change, but it will make a measurable difference.
  • Abduction radius increased by .5 meters (now 3.5). This will make it a little more forgiving.
  • Warp Blast radius increased by .5 meters (now 8.5). Increasing the radius here has proven a great way to increase the damage output in the past as players are able to hit their targets more often.

Other updates in the day-one patch include improvements to performance, load times, matchmaking, and network configurations, along with the stamping out of a couple bugs. Players can also look forward to free Elite skins for both Monsters and Hunters that can be unlocked in game.

Lastly, the update will also include connectivity to the Evolve Hunters Quest Match-3 puzzle combat game on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices.

The wait is almost over as Evolve launches this Tuesday, February 10 on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

Source: Evolve

Tags: Evolve PC PS4 Xbox One

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MP Talk With LevelCapGaming – Battlefield Hardline Beta: The Verdict

  by   David Veselka  
8:15 pm in News

With the Battlefield Hardline Beta coming to a close, it’s time we took a seat at the round table to agree, and perhaps disagree, on a final verdict; Is Visceral Games’ Battlefield Hardline a day-one buy or a bin bargain? And who better to have this conversation with than the main Battlefield man himself, YouTube personality and video game commentator LevelCapGaming, who joins us in today’s Hardline-themed MP Talk.

We invited Mr. LevelCap on to recap the week-long beta and lay down our thoughts on the small offering of the cops vs. criminals shooter Visceral Games has presented to Battlefield fans before Hardline’s official launch on March 17.

Have a listen, but don’t forget to drop by the comment section to tell us what you thought about the Battlefield Hardline Beta. If you could choose only one or two pieces of feedback to give Visceral Games before launch, what would it be?

Thanks, for listening. See you on the Battlefield!

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Tags: Battlefield Hardline Beta BFH Featured PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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Halo 5: Guardians Behind-The-Scenes Documentary “The Sprint” Now Available on YouTube

  by   David Veselka  
5:21 pm in News

All six episodes of the the Halo 5: Guardians behind-the-scenes documentary, “The Sprint”, originally exclusive to the Halo Channel, are now available to all Halo fans everywhere.

The series, which takes an intensely detailed look at the lead up to the Halo 5: Guardians Arena Multiplayer Beta that took place last December-February, is now available to watch in full on Halo’s official YouTube channel.

You’ll hear from various members of the 343 Industries development team and learn how various departments in the studio work together to put something like the Halo 5: Guardians beta, which you can catch our final thoughts on right here, together.

For your viewing pleasure, we’ve embedded all six episodes below. You can also read up on all of the effects that player feedback will have on the final version of Halo 5: Guardians, launching later this year, right here.

The Sprint

Episode 1

[youtube id=”krQ3QHRDmKk”]

Episode 2

[youtube id=”YK10KBbRYRg”]

Episode 3

[youtube id=”kYOuSUbxokg”]

Episode 4

[youtube id=”6kbL1qAs_yM”]

Episode 5

[youtube id=”RuT8-Ci05bQ”]

Episode 6

[youtube id=”5otTVZ9fZuc”]

Tags: Featured Halo 5: Guardians The Sprint Xbox One

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Next Halo: MCC Content Update Scraps Public Testing, First Look At H2A Relic Remake

  by   David Veselka  
4:46 pm in News

Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s next contend update, due later this month if all goes according to plan, will scrap original plans to be beta tested publically, developer 343 Industries announced today.

“After further evaluation, the team has determined that that final testing for the content update will be completed internally, and we will not be conducting a beta test for the next CU,” community manager Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky explained in the studio’s latest blog entry.

“Also, it was determined that the additional time and work devoted to the beta would’ve actually postponed the public availability of the content update. Lastly, there were some added challenges surrounding the CU beta – including an extra series of required updates and rollbacks – that made us take a step back and reexamine the CU beta. Ultimately, this plan will allow us to deliver the smoothest possible experience, and ensure that the next content update becomes available as soon as possible.”

While 343 continues to work out a solid ETA, playlist updates are indeed on the way, the first being Team Snipers and an updated cross-game Rumble Pit in place of SWAT and Halo 2: Anniversary Rumble, respectively. The previously mentioned objective-only playlist will be included in a separate playlist update later on.

In related news, The Master Chief Collection’s Relic remake, a bonus Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer map promised to users affected by the game’s launch issues, also got its first tease today in the form concept art.

“Our friends over at Certain Affinity have begun development of the Relic remake, and over the course of the next few months, we’ll take you behind the scenes on the development process,” wrote Dudynsky.

You’ll find desktop wallpaper versions of the following pieces of concept art over on HaloWaypoint.

HaloHaloKeep your Smart-Link sights locked on MP1st for more Halo updates!

Tags: Featured Halo: The Master Chief Collection Xbox One

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Battlefield Hardline Beta Attracts 7 Million Users, Visceral Already ‘Prioritizing Changes’ Based on Feedback [Updated]

  by   David Veselka  
3:18 pm in News

Update

Looks like an additional one million users have hopped on the Battlefield Hardline Beta, now ended, since the original story, according to Battlefield’s official Twitter.

Original Story

Today marks the final day of the week-long Battlefield Hardline Beta on all platforms. But despite the relatively short amount of time out in the wild, developer Visceral Games sure isn’t short on player feedback.

“There’s been a ton of action through the weekend on the Battlefield Hardline beta and we’re thrilled that now more than six million of you have gotten your hands on the game,” studio VP and GM Steve Papoutsis wrote in an EA Blog update.

Only five weeks away from launch, Papoutsis assures fans that developers are acting on the wealthy pool of feedback they’ve received thus far. “In fact, we’ve already been prioritizing changes for things fans are talking about,” he said.

Some of that feedback even made it into a PC update earlier today which tweaked a few of the game’s weapons, gadgets, and loadouts. You can read more about it here and even provide some of your own feedback on the changes here.

Are you one of the six million to have participated in the beta?

Stay tuned to hear our final thoughts on what we played in our upcoming podcast episode of MP Talk with special guest LevelCapGaming!

Tags: Battlefield Hardline Beta Featured PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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COD: Advanced Warfare – Double XP Gun Game, One Shot Moshpit, And New Gear Drops Incoming This Weekend

  by   David Veselka  
3:01 pm in News

Quick-scopers and sharp-shooting gunslingers, be prepared. Sledgehammer Games is bringing back Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s One Shot game modes and is introducing Gun Game for the first time this weekend, along with some brand new player gear to earn and some double XP to top it off.

Details are to follow, says Sledgehammer. But for those who need the refresher, the One Shot Moshpit playlist is all about your skill with a sniper rifle and the various loadouts based on Advanced Warfare’s MORS rifle. Gun Game, teased earlier this week, is a classic, fan-favorite mode that tests your handling abilities with an assortment of different weapons. While it’s only a rumor for now, potential settings and a weapon list for the mode were spotted earlier yesterday.

Stay tuned for specifics on some of the new gear you’ll be able to start unlocking this weekend while taking some of the new modes for a spin.

Tags: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Featured PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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Activision Announces Call of Duty Championship 2015 North American Qualifiers

  by   David Veselka  
2:44 pm in News

The top North American eSports teams to qualify for the next step towards the Call of Duty Championship 2015 have been decided over a series of matches in Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare last weekend.

32 teams will move on to the North American Regional Finals, taking place this March 6-8 from the MLG.tv Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The events will determine the top 14 North American teams that will move on to compete in the $1 million tournament in Los Angeles on March 27-29.

Meanwhile, APAC (Asia-Pacific) and Brazilian LATAM (Latin America) Regional Finals begin this weekend. Both tournaments will be aired on MLG.tv.

Congratulations to these 32 North American teams moving on to the North American Regional Finals!

United States

  • 3sUP Nation
  • Automatic Reload
  • DA.BelowZero
  • Denial eSports
  • DominanT1
  • EcHo
  • Effortless GG
  • EnVyUs
  • FaZe Black
  • FaZe Red
  • Guru$
  • iSo
  • OpTic Gaming
  • OpTic Nation
  • Team Orbit
  • Prophecy
  • Puron eSports
  • Raze
  • Revenge Gaming
  • Rise Nation
  • Strictly Business
  • Stunner Gaming
  • Team Kaliber
  • XGN

Canada

  • Boreal eSports
  • coL OQ
  • Team Ability to Adapt
  • Team Legacy
  • Team PsyQo
  • Xertz & Friends

Mexico

  • Aztek Gaming
  • Team MFAM
Tags: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare COD Championship 2015 Featured PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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New Battlefield Hardline Beta Patch Tweaks Weapons, Gadgets, and Loadouts on PC

  by   David Veselka  
11:01 am in News

The Battlefield Hardline Beta is getting a bit of an update today, which some of you may have already noticed after today’s earlier maintenance period.

The update, which we’ve been informed is likely only coming to PC today, the last day of the Battlefield Hardline Beta, re-balances a few of the game’s weapons, gadgets, and loadouts. Visceral notes that “These changes will not be reflected on Battlelog during the Open Beta, which means that weapon stats for example will appear unchanged until the launch of the game.”

Here’s what’s changed:

Weapons Tuning

  • 870P Magnum effective range reduced
  • M16 m416 damage lowered and increased recoil
  • RO933 reduced recoil and reduced damage
  • Uzi increased hip fire accuracy
  • P90 increased spread
  • Swapped M/45 and G36c to cops
  • Swapped UMP and M416 to criminals
  • Reduced effective range .338 magnum rounds
  • Reduced 9mm damage Reduced 556x45mm damage (Assult rifles and smgs)
  • Reduced Spas 12 damage
  • Fixed bug with magnum round recoil where people were losing kills

Gadget Tuning

  • Reduced the cooldown time of the med and ammo packs
  • Increased the resupply time for Breaching Charges

So, get in a few more game before the day’s over to try out some of the new tweaks! We’ll keep you posted with any additional updates.

Tags: Battlefield Hardline Featured PC

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Erron Black May Be a New Playable Character In Mortal Kombat X

  by   Joel Santana  
February 8, 2015 5:18 pm in News

Update

Upon further inspection, it seems that the boot doesn’t actually belong to Erron Black. What was shown of him in the story trailer features a completely different boot. What looked to be apart of a cape in Boon’s boot tweet is, in fact, a part of the background from the Cross Roads level, as seen here.

Original Story

Ever since the fourth issue of the comic book tie-in for Mortal Kombat X was released, fans and readers alike have been asking one question: “will Kotal Kahn’s mysterious cowboy-esque ally, Erron Black, be playable in the actual game?”

At first, the answer appeared to be simply no, as a synopsis of one of the future issues for the series alluded to the fact that he won’t be playable. However, the recently released issue six hints otherwise.

In it, he’s wearing slightly different clothing that looks awfully familiar. The very first full body angle of Erron Black seems eerily similar to one of the boots that Ed Boon teased a few months ago. He’s and is even wearing a full cape instead of his usual shoulder poncho.

Judging by some of the small glimpses of him during the comics, it appears that he will be some sort of zoner/gunslinger character if Erron Black does indeed become a playable character.

Recently, NetherRealm Studios released a new video further detailing the online portion of Mortal Kombat X and hinting that Jax, Liu Kang, Mileena, Sonya and a mysterious bow user will be playable characters in addition.

Mortal Kombat X will be released on April 14 for the PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One platforms.

Tags: Erron Black Mortal Kombat X PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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COD: Advanced Warfare Gun Game Weapon List Spotted In Game Code

  by   David Veselka  
2:07 am in News

Information scavengers have allegedly dug deep enough into Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s game code to figure out a few new details about the shooter’s newest, soon-to-arrive game mode, Gun Game.

DidUknowiPwn of the Denkirson Forums was able to extract what appears to be the progression of weapons that may be used in Advanced Warfare’s upcoming take on Gun Game, which was recently teased by Sledgehammer Games’ Michael Condrey himself, whenever it officially launches. The code discovered was in the game previously, so things could change upon release, but here’s what was listed.

  1. PDW
  2. MP443 Grach
  3. Tac-19
  4. Bulldog
  5. SAC3
  6. ASM1
  7. HBRA3
  8. MK14
  9. MORS
  10. Mahem
  11. Bal-27
  12. EM1
  13. EPM3
  14. Ameli
  15. Pytek
  16. RW1
  17. XMG
  18. IMR
  19. Atlas 20mm
  20. Crossbow

Additional code confirms the game type will be free-for-all, won’t utilize weapon attachments, and won’t utilize randomized weapon lists, save for a few optional settings that can be toggled in Private Matches. Boost Slam kills, knife kills, and suicides will set players back one level in the progression and earning multiple kills with a weapon won’t double your progression.

Are you a fan of Gun Game? What’s your take on the weapon list, which, again, should be taken with a grain of salt for now?

Tags: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Gun Game PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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Battlefield Hardline Beta Analysis Confirms Console Image Resolutions, Little Improvement Over Battlefield 4

  by   David Veselka  
February 6, 2015 6:29 pm in News

A recent analysis of the Battlefield Hardline Beta on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 has determined that the game is in fact running at a 720p and 900p native resolution, respectively.

While it’s not expected that either version will see an increase in resolution by launch, performance enhancements are certainly a possibility. Already, Digital Foundry‘s tests have noted a significant boost in performance since last year’s E3 beta, which happened to dip below 40 frames per second at times.

With the exception of Hardline’s Dust Bowl map played on 64-player Conquest, frame rates remain a solid 60fps throughout.

“It’s only when returning to Battlefield’s classic 64-player Conquest Large mode that familiar problems begin to crop up,” writes Digital Foundry. “Jumping into a full scale battle across the game’s new Dust Bowl map – closest in scale to Battlefield 4’s larger stages – demonstrates plenty of performance hitches and dips on both consoles, more noticeable on Xbox One but still an issue on PlayStation 4. The prolific use of alpha transparency effects appears to contribute to the issues, but on top of that, it seems that the increased player count causes its own impact to frame-rate too – perhaps because of the increased CPU load.”

Only very minor frame rate hiccups were noticed on a Core i5 3570K/GTX 780 test rig running at the game’s highest settings, though EA’s i7 4770K/GTX 980 set-up seemed to fair better.

Overall, tests show that image quality remains virtually unchanged from Battlefield 4, though what’s more alarming is Hardline’s choice of anti-aliasing solution, which leaves noticeable “blur and chunky pixel pop”. The absence of a vector ‘ribbon’ solution also leaves power lines appearing jagged.

“The vector ribbon technique involves drawing these elements in 2D, completely solving the issue and producing no visible aliasing whatsoever – as you can see in Grand Theft Auto 5 and indeed EA’s own Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit,” says Digital Foundry. “Hardline’s image quality is further compromised by sub-par anisotropic filtering, which leaves detailed textures looking a bit muddy at a distance – the same issue seen in Battlefield 4.”

Earlier, EA was noted for stating that Battlefield Hardline will aim to use similar frame rate and resolution settings found in Battlefield 4.

What’s your take? Are you disappointed Hardline doesn’t offer very many visual improvements over DICE’s Battlefield 4, or are you having too much fun to care?

Tags: Battlefield Hardline BFH PC PS4 Xbox One

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Final Day Of Battlefield Hardline Beta Extended To Monday

  by   David Veselka  
4:42 pm in News

Visceral Games is extending the Battlefield Hardline Beta on all platforms, the studio announced today.

According to the news, players will get to duke it out in the cops and criminals-themed shooter for one extra day, until this Monday, February 9.

Luckily, the wait for Hardline’s official release isn’t too far off, launching on March 17.

Already, gamers are having a seemingly good time, including discovering easter eggs like these crazy weapon reload animations.

What are your two cents on the beta so far? How are you liking Visceral’s take on the Battlefield franchise?

Tags: Battlefield Hardline Beta BFH Featured PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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Sledgehammer May Bring Gun Game To Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

  by   David Veselka  
3:10 pm in News

How’s your Gun Game? Better sharpen aim because it sounds like Sledgehammer Games may be bringing the popular and classic first-person shooter mode to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in the near future.

Studio head Michael Condrey tweeted the hint earlier today, posting a loading image of the map Biohazard, Gun Game being the mode of choice.

If you missed out on it in Call of Duty: Ghosts or never played it in other shooters, Gun Game is typically a free-for-all mode where players work through a progression of weapons by scoring kills as fast as possible. The first person to get a kill with the final weapon in the sequence wins. It’s usually a pretty good way to get to know certain weapons you might not normally use in your loadouts.

Happy to hear of its possible return in Advanced Warfare?

Tags: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

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Latest Mortal Kombat X Trailer Details Faction Wars, Confirms Return of Brutalities And Hints At Returning Characters

  by   Joel Santana  
12:32 pm in Videos

With a very exciting and informative January now behind us, NetherRealm Studios is starting off the month of February in a rather big way.

The studio’s latest video talks about none other than Mortal Kombat X’s ever-evolving Faction System, which was briefly discussed when they revealed Kung Lao. You can watch it above.

Within, NetherRealm cleverly added hints of what’s to come for Mortal Kombat X, such as the return of brutalities, as seen here, and a plaster of unannounced characters all throughout the video.

From the looks of it, we finally have a face for that mysterious bow user that Ed Boon hinted at a few weeks ago, as well as what appears to be Jax wearing his MKX comic attire right below him. Further down the video, we also get to see what looks like to be Liu Kang on the top right of the ladder. We also get a glimpse of a white stiletto boot that looks oddly similar to Mileena’s, who has been rumored to be playable in Mortal Kombat X.

Speaking of Mileena, her ‘sister’ Kitana has a few new tricks up her sleeves. Unfortunately, this may also confirm that Jade will not be a playable character in Mortal Kombat X, as one of Kitana’s variations will heavily borrow moves from Jade.

Finally, we get a very short glimpse of Quan Chi’s second fatality.

Mortal Kombat X is set to be released on April 14, for the PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One platforms. For those who are interested in spending extra money on ‘limited editions’, feel free to check out the recently revealed editions for the game.

We leave you with this neat cut of new Mortal Kombat X gameplay from set to the classic theme song, courtesy of YouTuber Maximilian Dood.

[youtube id=”l64MdlY9lKw”]

Tags: Mortal Kombat X PC PS3 PS4 Trailer Xbox 360 Xbox One

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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Microsoft Begins Rolling Out Xbox One February Update With Controller, Game Hub, and Party Improvements

  by   David Veselka  
February 5, 2015 9:44 pm in News

Microsoft is now rolling out the latest System Update for the Xbox One, also the first one of the year, which includes a healthy dose of new improvements for the Xbox One Wireless Controller, Game Hubs, Party Chat, Customization, and TV.

Xbox Wire posted the specifics, which you can read below. Xbox Live’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb also walks through some of the new features in the video above.

Xbox One February System Update

Controller improvements

“We’re excited to improve stability and speed on the Xbox One controller in the following ways:”

  • Quick Connect – Previously, controller connections to Xbox One took approximately four-to-five seconds when powering on a controller. Now, it will only take about two seconds.
  • Stability improvements – The update also provides a number of fixes that address some of the controller disconnect issues reported by Xbox One owners.

“To download the update, connect a controller to your Xbox One with a USB cable. Keep any headsets connected to the controller. Connect to Xbox Live. Press the Menu. Go to Settings > Devices & accessories and select the controller. If you have multiple controllers attached, you can select Buzz – which will cause the selected controller to vibrate. Then select Update to download the new firmware to the controller attached via the USB cable, and the screen will show the Updating controller … progress screen. When you see the Controller updated screen, press ‘B’ to go back to the Devices & accessories main page. Reselect the controller. The Firmware version should now be: 1.2.2236.0”

Game hubs

“These are the go-to centers for interesting content, tips and tricks for your favorite titles. Every Xbox One game will have a game hub where you can see which friends are playing the game, compete with your friends in game leaderboards, dive into the coolest game clips and game broadcasts, and follow the game’s top broadcasters and clip creators.”

“To get to the game hub for your favorite game, find a game in your pins, recently played list, or My games and apps, then press the Menu button and select View game hub. You can also search for any game in the Xbox Store and click on the Game Hub tile from the game’s store page.”

“On the game’s activity feed, game developers can share interesting content with anyone who follows the game. You’ll be the first to get news on upcoming updates and DLC, featured game clips and trailers, behind the scenes content and more. All the news about your favorite games is delivered right to your console. Additionally, you can now choose to Follow a game from a game hub, which will incorporate the game’s activity feed content into your activity feed.”

Party chat updates

“We made several changes to party chat in recent weeks, including:”

  • Chat connection status – New icons have been added to let you know the current status of a chat connection in your party. A Clock icon means the connection is being made. A Squawker Ring icon indicates the connection was successful, and actively shows who is speaking. An X icon means that networking limitations (such as a Strict NAT) are preventing the chat connection from completing for specific participants.
  • Improved connectivity between multiple participants with Strict or Moderate NATs – We also made some connectivity improvements to party chat in partial mesh situations when multiple participants are behind moderate or strict NATs with their home gateways/routers.
  • Game and party invitations – To help you more quickly know who is inviting you to what, we made improvements to game and party invitations. Now, you can see which of your friends is inviting you and what party or game the invite is for, without having to wait for the text to scroll on the notification.
  • Performance improvements – We also decreased the time it takes to set up person-to-person (P2P) connectivity for party chat and streamlined the retry logic for setting up party chat sessions.

Custom backgrounds and tile transparency

“We’ve added tile transparency to the Home tiles to make your background images more visible. As a reminder, to set a custom background, go to Settings > My Xbox > My background. Note: some items can’t be made transparent due to usage rights/restrictions for certain images.”

TV updates

“A number of updates to the live TV experience are available today and new features have been added to additional countries including:”

  • TV trending in OneGuide – As you scan the OneGuide TV listings, you can see which shows are trending with a “Trending on Xbox” or “Trending on Twitter” note and icon within the details for each show. Currently, Xbox TV trending is available to all Xbox One owners in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and Twitter trending is available in the United States.
  • Live TV trending (new countries) – France, Germany, Brazil and Mexico now have the ability to see live TV trending data in Xbox OneGuide.
  • Improved control of TVs, set-top boxes and audio/video receivers – Xbox One works even better with more devices. Updates to the IR blasting database for new models have been added and address issues reported by our fan community.
  • “Trick play” with Xbox One Digital TV Tuner – Xbox One Digital TV Tuner owners in supported countries (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) are now able to see video frames when fast-forwarding or rewinding paused TV on Xbox One consoles.
  • Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android – Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android devices for Xbox One Digital TV Tuner owners has been added in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
  • OneGuide for the Netherlands – Support for OneGuide is being added for Xbox Live members in the Netherlands.
Tags: February Update Microsoft System Update Xbox One

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Major Weapon Tuning Updates Planned For Destiny Update 1.1.1, Due Out Later This Month

  by   David Veselka  
3:19 pm in News

In Destiny‘s Patch 1.1.1 , due out later this month according to Community Manger David “DeeJ” Dague, the studio is planning a few major weapon tuning updates that will aim to help balance out the overall weapon sandbox in PvE and PvP combat.

All based on community feedback and user research date (with the help of “your mom”), Destiny’s next update will rework weapons like the under-used Pulse Rifles to become more effective while, at the same time, toning down some of the game’s more popular guns.

While weapon “nerfs” will undoubtedly upset a portion of Destiny’s user base, Sandbox Designer Jon Weisnewski says the changes are necessary.

“We pay close attention to kill times in all game modes against all combatant types. If we brought up all the other weapons to account for lethality spikes that occur in specific situations, then our TTK (time to kill) would get faster with every patch,” he explained in a recent blog update. “It is important to us to keep TTK values such that your arsenal feels lethal, but also both allows for some drama while you fight, and creates opportunities for counter-play when you’re being attacked.”

Why are these changes necessary? Well, take a look at Bungie’s latest user research findings via this handy info-graphic depicting weapon usage in PvE and PvP.

infographic_1-1

As you can see, Auto Rifles dominate both PvE and PvP settings while Pulse Rifles go nearly completely unused. Weisnewski went on to explain how this plans to be rectified in Destiny Update 1.1.1.

“Many of these changes are subtle. It may take a little while to feel the nuanced differences, or you may feel the changes immediately” he said. “It all depends on how you play. This is an opportunity to change up your combat strategy in new ways, and/or double down in the areas that still feel good to you.”

Here are the specifics on Bungie’s goals for each weapon class and how the game’s next update will help reach those goals:

Auto Rifles

Goals:

  • Auto Rifle is optimal at close to medium range
  • Damage, Stability, and Range are tuned such that players desire Stability for reliable close quarters damage, or Range for better accuracy at a distance

Changes:

  • Reduce base damage of Auto Rifles by 2.5% (averaged across Rate of Fire stats, higher RoF took less of a reduction than low RoF)
  • Reduce effective range values so that damage falloff and accuracy are a stronger factor in combat decisions
  • Range reduction is less severe in the higher stat values, so now your range stat is more critical to long distance engagements

Pulse Rifles

Goals:

  • Pulse Rifle is optimal at medium range, but can still effectively harass enemies at close or long range distances
  • Rate of Fire sets a pace for players to both track moving targets, and then deliver precision damage in bursts

Changes:

  • Increase base damage of Pulse Rifles by 9.7%. DPS is now more in line with other primaries

Hand Cannons

Goals:

  • Hand Cannon is optimal at medium range
  • Hand Cannon is optimal when shots are paced, becomes less effective when fired quickly
  • Rewards agility when under fire, precision targeting, and snap shots

Changes:

  • Reduce effective range
  • Damage falloff starts closer to the shooter, and follow up shots are less accurate at long ranges
  • Slight reduction to initial accuracy
    • This is unnoticeable at close to medium range, but underscores the range intentions when used from far away

Fusion Rifles

Goals:

  • Fusion Rifles are optimal at mid-range, where targets are easier to track but they’re not close enough to attack while you charge up
  • Requires combat foresight and the ability to predict a target’s movement to use successfully

Changes:

  • Blast pattern on a Fusion Rifle burst cone is a little wider
    • Close to medium range volleys are largely unaffected, but at a distance the projectiles are less likely to land hits on a single target
    • This reduces the reliability of landing a one hit kill at far range, and makes the weapon better at spreading damage into a group
  • Initial starting ammo is reduced across all ammo stats. This is change primarily affects The Crucible
    • Starting a Crucible match, you’ll have less Fusion Rifle ammo in reserve
    • In PvE activities we persistently track your ammo. We only use initial ammo values if you are logging in for the first time, or starting a Crucible match

Shotguns

Goals:

  • Shotgun is the most optimal at very close range
  • Complements melee attacks and other close quarters class builds
  • Offensively closing on an enemy with a Shotgun is a risk/reward timing game

Changes:

  • Increase damage by 2x (100%) against all non-Guardian combatants (aliens)
  • Reduce high end range values – damage falloff starts sooner, so Crucible players with long range shotguns need to be a little closer for successful one hit kills
  • (Like the Fusion Rifle) Initial starting ammo is reduced across all ammo stats in the Crucible:
    • Starting a Crucible match, you’ll have less Shotgun ammo in reserve
    • In PvE activities we persistently track your ammo
    • We only use initial ammo values if you are logging in for the first time, or starting a Crucible match

As for Scout Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and Heavy Weapons, Weisnewski says they will go largely untouched in Destiny’s next patch.

For better or worse, we’re pretty excited to see Destiny’s PvP gameplay get some love with these new updates. What’s your take on the upcoming tweaks? Tell us in the comments below!

Tags: Destiny Featured PS3 PS4 Update 1.1.1. Xbox 360 Xbox One

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Call of Duty Now An $11 Billion Franchise, Destiny Reaches 16 Million Registered Users

  by   David Veselka  
2:45 pm in News

Enjoying a successful 2014, video game publisher Activision shared some of its franchises more notable accomplishments during the company’s recent earnings call earlier today.

Call of Duty continues to grow which, as reported by Activision, is now an $11 billion franchise, exceeding that amount in retail sales since 2003. Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare also went on to earn the number one spot as best-selling console release of 2014, making it the number one franchise in North America for the sixth year in a row.

Meanwhile, Bungie’s new IP, Destiny, remains the most successful launch of a new video game franchise in history, becoming the number three top-selling console release in North America and Europe combined in 2014. In addition, Activision shared that the title has earned more than 16 million registered users to date whose most active users play the game an average of three hours per day.

During the call, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg also confirmed a new Call of Duty release for late 2015 in development at Treyarch and revealed plans for a “major” content release for Destiny this Fall with more to follow.

Tags: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Featured PC PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Activision Confirms “Major” Destiny Content Release For 2015 Followed By A “Very Robust Pipeline Plan”

  by   David Veselka  
2:30 pm in News

Enjoying a successful launch with Bungie’s new IP, Destiny, video game publisher Activision shared a positive outlook for the new franchise going into 2015, confirming that new content following the title’s previously-confirmed second DLC is indeed on the way.

Speaking during the company’s Q4 2014 earnings call, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg reaffirmed the launch of Destiny’s House of Wolves DLC for the second quarter of 2015, which is said to introduce new gear, story missions, and co-op missions.

In addition, Hirshberg made note of a “major content release for Fall” of 2015 and confirmed a “very robust pipeline plan after that” during a brief Q&A session at the end of the call.

No specifics were shared, but the new details fall in line with some of the latest rumors surrounding future Destiny content, including a significant late 2015 DLC release allegedly called “Comet” followed by an additional two mid-sized content packs throughout the course of 2016.

Over in Bungie’s latest Weekly Update, Destiny community man David “DeeJ” Dague echoed Hirshberg’s comments, mentioning that “There is a special team here that’s dedicated to creating some new ways for you to play Destiny.”

“They’re also making the game you know a better reflection of what we’ve learned about you since you’ve started playing,” he added. “While they do their thing, we’ll walk the fine line between making you a part of the process and providing them with a safe place to explore possibilities and do their best work.”

“And on a long enough timeline, we’ll also talk about what we’re planning for this Fall.”

Tags: Destiny DLC Featured PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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