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Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta – New Gameplay and Screens, Spartan Abilities and Control Scheme Explained

New gameplay clips, screenshots, and details are rolling in following the official Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta reveal earlier tonight.

Get a good look at some straight-up, un-commentated gameplay on three of the beta’s multiplayer maps, a batch of brand new screens, and details on all of the new Spartan abilities and default Xbox One control scheme below.

Gameplay – 60FPS

Breakout on Crossfire

[youtube id=”6bB_XR-T8dg”]

Slayer on Truth

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Slayer on Empire

[youtube id=”PcrSVs36HMs”]

Screens

Spartan Abilities

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Default Control Scheme

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Thanks, Ready Up Live and GamersPrey

 

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Watch The Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta Gameplay Reveal

343 Industries offers a first look at the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta during the studio’s premier “HaloFest” live stream.

Above, you’ll be able to watch the very first in-depth video presentation of the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta ahead of its official release this December 29 and check out the handful of new armor abilities every Spartan will get access to, including the new Smart Scope mechanic.

Update: To see all the new abilities and mechanics in practice, check out this full-length multiplayer match of Slayer on Truth, a remake of the classic Halo 2 map, Midship:

[youtube id=”57bFH5AGbdI”]

Owners of Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be able to participate in the beta for three weeks, until January 18, in 4v4 battles in three different game modes on seven small, arena-based maps and offer their feedback directly to 343 devs. A beta version of Halo 5: Guardian’s spectator mode will also be available to mess around with.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is launching now in North America.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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MP Talk – The State of Destiny Two Months After Launch and Advanced Warfare First Impressions

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of MP Talk, the official MP1st podcast.

This week, James, Tom, Denny, and I take a retrospective look at Bungie’s Destiny two months after launch and discuss a few of our future hopes for Destiny 2.

We also offer up our first impressions of Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare [42:33].

Have a listen and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below. We’d love to chat with you about some of the topics covered in the podcast!

You can also chat with us on Twitter at:

James – @MP1stLara

Tom – Sgt_Mofo

Denny – @DennyKovacs

David – @Mister_Veselka

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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New Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Patch Rolling Out On All Platforms [Updated]

Reports are coming in that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare players on PC are now able to download a 40.5MB patch for the game.

UPDATE 1: You’ll find official patch notes, courtesy of Sledgehammer Games, below. As of this writing, the update is only available on PC, though we expect it to hit consoles shortly. According to a the notes, the changes will be “reflected on all console platforms shortly”. We’ll get some updates out your way when that happens.

UPDATE 2: Reports are coming in that the update is now showing up for PlayStation 4 users. As stated in the prior update, the patch notes are identical.

Advanced Warfare Game Update – November 10

  • Adjustment to the in-game chat names notifications placement.
  • Fixed Prestige reset issues, including emblems and challenges.
  • Fixed marksman and camo challenges to not reset when you Prestige.
  • Fix for weapon reloads counting as speed reloads in certain circumstances.
  • Fixed issues with Ping Bar not updating correctly.
  • Fix for stats accumulating towards leaderboards after Prestiging.
  • Adjustment to challenges to unlock camos for weapons.
  • Fix for round-based game modes, affecting Win/Loss ratios.
  • Implemented ability to unlock eSports Rule options in Private Match.
  • Added description to reload informing that you can double-tap to speed reload.
  • Fixed DoubleXP splash, so it doesn’t show up in Private Match, practice round, or survival mode.
  • Showing 4X or 2X based on whether a loot DoubleXP item exists
  • Add DoubleXP icon to medal splashes when DoubleXP is active.

Reddit user lockyourdoor24 was kind enough to write out the new weapon camo requirements, which you can see below:

  • Multicam – 10 long shots
  • Multicam black – 20 long shots
  • Urban – 40 long shots
  • Stranden – 60 long shots
  • Woodland – 80 long shots
  • Kryptek Raid – 10 head shots
  • Digital Classic – 20 head shots
  • Kriptek Highlander – 40 head shots
  • Kryptek Yeti – 60 head shots
  • Digital Urban – 80 head shots
  • Concrete – 40 strafe medals
  • Urban Jet – 10 bloodthirsty medals
  • Kryptek Neptune – 40 kills shortly after dodging
  • Carbon Fiber – 150 kills with no perks equipped
  • Gold – 200 kills with no attachments equipped

Others have reported that a new AMD driver update is also available to download, which “enables peak driver performance optimization for AMD Radeon™ graphics users in Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare and Assassin’s Creed® Unity,” according to AMD’s release notes. You’ll find the downloads here.

Again, keep your sights on MP1st for updates, including availability on other platforms!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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The Halo Channel Interactive Digital Network Is Now Available On Xbox One

343 Industries’ newly launched hub for all things Halo is now available to download on Xbox One.

The Halo Channel is an interactive digital network that will tie all Halo experiences on Xbox One together, starting with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which is only a few hours away from launch in North America as of this writing.

You’ll be able to watch original digital series, like the upcoming Halo: Nightfall, keep track of live streams and competitive Halo matches, keep up on the latest news, learn more about Halo lore, launch The Master Chief Collection right from the dashboard, and more. More content will be added over time, as it’s just the beginning for Halo on Xbox One.

You’ll find it now on the Xbox One Store for free.

Be sure to tune in tonight for the HaloFest live stream at 8PM PST / 11PM EST on Twitch.tv/Xbox, where fans will get a first look at the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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First Halo 5: Guardians Footage Drops Tonight, But Here Are Some Official Screens Ahead of Time

Tonight, Halo fans will get their first look at what 343 Industries has been cooking up for Halo 5: Guardians, or at least for its early multiplayer beta that is on course to launch this December, roughly one year before the game’s official release.

Unfortunately for the studio members preparing tonight’s presentation, it appears that a handful of official Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta images snuck out a little earlier than intended. The screens show off new multiplayer character models as well as a view of a new, close-quarters multiplayer arena stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity.

The images join a batch of off-screen gameplay clips that also leaked just yesterday, along with some confirmed details from the studio head on Halo 5: Guardians, which you can see and read right here.

Check out the new screens below, courtesy of NeoGAF and All Games Beta.

1415641792-halo-5-guardians-multiplayer-beta-trench-breakout-move-out1415641797-halo-5-guardians-multiplayer-beta-trench-breakout-line-of-fire1415641800-halo-5-guardians-multiplayer-beta-trench-breakout-slam

 

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Grand Theft Auto 5 Launches Again Next Week, Watch The New Trailer

We’re partying like it’s 2013, back when when the only thing keeping our sanity in check as we impatiently waited for Sony and Microsoft’s to launch their next-gen machines was Rockstar North’s Grand Theft Auto 5.

Now, just like the good old days, here we find ourselves caught in the lead up of the a second launch of one of last-gen’s most memorable video game titles. GTA V is about to find its way to a whole new generation of hard drives and disc drives so gamers can relive those special moments with Franklin, Michael, and Trevor, as well as friends and strangers in GTA Online, in full HD.

GTA V launches on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next week, November 18, and in typical Rockstar fashion, the studio has put together another nifty launch trailer so you can get excited about it all over again. Check it out above.

In addition to a ton of new content, the next-gen GTA V will arrive with full 1080p capabilities on both consoles and will allow gamers to experience the game in its entirety in the first-person. If you missed it, you gotta see the FPS GTA action right here.

GTA V launches on PC early next year on January 27.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Leaked Halo 5 Footage Suggests Aim Down Sights and Sprint Are In, Studio Head Confirms Descope, No Flinch, and More

New details on Halo 5: Guardians are in.

Originally spotted by NeoGAF user VinFTW, four different gameplay clips of what appears to be the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta have surfaced and are causing quite a stir in the Halo community.

The clips show off gameplay on two different maps, one of which appears to be the classic Halo 2 map, Midship. Six weapons — the Battle Rifle, the Assault Rifle, the Pistol, the Sniper Rifle, the Energy Sword, and a Grenade Launcher — are also shown, along with the ability to sprint, which was a notably controversial mechanic that was introduced as a standard player ability in Halo 4.

What has gamers talking, however, is the new scoping animation on the Battle Rifle, which looks awfully similar to the way ‘aiming down sights’ works in other popular shooters like Call of Duty or Battlefield. According to the footage, the rifle now appears to sport an optic attachment that players can quickly zoom through.

What’s not clear, however, is if all weapons will be able to ‘ADS’ in a similar fashion, or if the Battle Rifle’s newly revamped scoping animation is exclusive to only that weapon and others like it.

You can have a look at the leaked clips for yourself by following the links below:

Those following Josh Holmes, Studio Head on Halo 5: Guardians, on Twitter were also treated to some confirmed information earlier today, notably that there is “No penalty to hip fire in H5, no movement penalty when scoping/zooming, [and] no flinch,” he said. Furthermore, “Descope is back!”

That was all Holmes was willing to confirm before Halo 5: Guardian’s official unveiling tomorrow during the HaloFest live stream, taking place tomorrow at 8PM PST / 11PM EST on Xbox’s official Twitch channel.

According to previous details, the beta will take place between December 29 and January 18 and will focus on 4v4 gameplay on 7 small, arena-based maps with 11 sandbox weapons and 7 armor sets.

What do you think of the leaked and confirmed details from today? Do mechanics like aim down sight and sprint belong in the new Halo game?

Keep yours sights on MP1st for more details on Halo 5: Guardians as we follow the latest news.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Explore The Halo Universe With Halo Starscope, HaloFest Now Live

Here on the weekend before the launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Xbox One, Microsoft and 343 Industries are giving all Halo fans a chance to explore the series’ rich universe via a new world-viewing app called Halo Starscope.

The app, viewable on both your standard web browser and on mobile devices, lets you explore locations like the original Halo ring known as Installation 4, the home world of the Covenant, mysterious Forerunner planets and structures, and much more.

You can dive into each location to learn more about its history, watch video highlights, check out some before-and-after comparison shots between the original and Anniversary versions of Halo: CE and Halo 2, and more.

Check out Halo Starscope here.

As a bit of a reminder, HaloFest has officially kicked off with the first few matches of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection Launch Invitational, hosted by ESL. You can tune in right now on Halo’s official Twitch channel.

Matches continue through to tomorrow, November 9, but you’ll definitely want to stick around for the last day of festivities on November 10 where 343 Industries will air the first glimpse of the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta and the first episode of Halo: Nightfall, starting at 8PM PST / 11PM EST on Xbox.com and Twitch.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Xbox One’s November Update Is Rolling Out Now, Here’s What’s In It

Xbox One’s November Update is here and beginning to roll out to all owners of Microsoft’s console.

Personalization nuts will appreciate some of the improvements in this one, including custom backgrounds and more profile options. Twitter users will finally be able to more easily share their videos by syncing their account with their Xbox One. There are also a few updates to TV and SmartGlass to be found, along with a few other user-requested features.

Check out the specifics below, along with an overview from Xbox’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb above.

Xbox One November Update

Show Who You Are

“We’re including some of the top fan requested features this month. Among them is the ability to customize the background on your Xbox One, show off your top achievements and share game clips in new ways.”

  • Custom Backgrounds – For the first time, each account on your Xbox One can have a customized background. You can choose a custom color as a theme or achievement art as your background image and those will show on any Xbox One that you Sign In on with your account. Additionally, you can use the Media Player app to pick any JPG or PNG image off of a USB attached drive or a home media server that supports DLNA.  While viewing a picture/photo in full screen mode, press the Menu button and choose “Set as background” – your custom image is stored locally on that Xbox One console.
  • Gamer Profile – You can now share your location and bio as part of your profile. You can set these options on your Xbox One console and use Xbox One SmartGlass to browse to other people’s profiles and check out their showcase items. Additionally, you can now select a set of showcase items that are displayed when other gamers look at your profile on an Xbox One console. You can use Xbox One SmartGlass or Xbox One console to add or remove up to six game clips or achievements that will be displayed in a carousel format.
  • Tweet about your Favorite Game Clips – You can now share your favorite Xbox One game clips with your followers on Twitter. Use the Share button on any game clip you have created and select Twitter to compose the Tweet.

A New Way to Watch TV

“For the first time, you can discover new shows and see what people are saying about them in real-time with new Live TV and Twitter integration.”

  • Live TV Trending – Xbox One owners in the U.S., Canada and the UK, will see a new “Trending” tab in OneGuide that displays the top 20 most watched TV shows, with the list filtered down to the shows that are currently available to you based on your OneGuide settings. The Live TV on Xbox trending list is updated by the minute, so you can easily discover shows that are popular with other viewers.
  • Twitter TV Trending – Additionally, if you are in the U.S., you’ll see what Live TV is trending based on the highest number of tweets. The Trending tab in OneGuide is updated to display Live TV on Twitter first and Live TV on Xbox trending second. You can tune to a specific show from either trending list by pressing the A button.
  • Tweets in MiniGuide – Also, initially available in the U.S., you will see the actual tweets for the Live TV shows in real time and quickly find the Twitter #hashtag to join the conversation.
  • Recents and Favorites in MiniGuide – MiniGuide has been updated to include your favorite TV channels in a combined Recents and Favorites area and MiniGuide can now be activated via voice by saying “Xbox Select – MiniGuide” while watching TV.

Store improvements and SmartGlass updates

“We’re introducing cool new features for SmartGlass and Store as well:”

  • Xbox One Store improvements – The Store pages on Xbox One have been improved to enable you to more quickly browse and find content. The navigation buttons are moved to the far left so you can find them easier. You can also more quickly find game add-ons, perform store specific searches and recommendations are more prominently displayed. Finally, store categories have been standardized so you can easily see the top items in each query at a glance.
  • Friends’ Game Activity on SmartGlass – You can now see a list of your friends that have played a given game within the Xbox One SmartGlass experience.
  • Games with Gold & Deals with Gold on SmartGlass – For gamers with an Xbox Live Gold subscription, you can browse “Free Games with Gold” and discounted content with Gold and initiate download of the content to your Xbox One console from your mobile device.
  • SmartGlass Store Improvements – We added a new section for Apps to make it easier to find and download apps for your Xbox One, as well as adding a Coming Soon filter for Games and Add-ons to make it easier to see upcoming Xbox One releases sorted by anticipated release date.

Other Fan Requested Features:

  • Snap IE – From the Address Bar in Internet Explorer, you can now easily snap from a full screen experience and move Internet Explorer into snap mode.
  • IE Featured sites – Now, Internet Explorer will show a number when something is newly-added to featured sites. Newly-added sites will also display a badge (denoted by an asterisk (*) in the upper right corner) until you launch them or seven days have passed since the site was added to the Featured list.
  • Restart now – If you want to restart your Xbox One console without getting out of your chair, you can now do it by going to Settings – Power & startup, and choosing “Restart now.”
  • Console update information – Under Settings – System – Console info,  you can now see the latest status (e.g. “update successful”) for Xbox One console updates, including date last updated and last automatic update check.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Destiny – Bungie Teases Places You’ll Visit In The Dark Below DLC

Included in some of the upcoming patches that will be making their way to Destiny in the coming weeks — which were detailed earlier today by Bungie’s community manager — will be a number of bigger files that will also be adding content from the game’s upcoming The Dark Below DLC, including some “mood and polish to untapped environments.”

“These are the things that turn an empty space into an experience – the sort that finds you fighting for your life,” wrote Bungie’s David “DeeJ” Dague in a recent Weekly Update. “Our team has been weaving a new web to ensnare you.”

More thank likely, Dague is referring to a few of the empty DLC environments that have been discovered in the base game through various glitches, like the Saraphim Vault on Earth or the Hypogeum on Mars.

To give fans a small taste of what’s to come, Bungie’s Head of World Art put together a small gallery of some of the new locations that you’ll be exploring in the upcoming DLC, including a some commentary on each environment’s background. Check it out:

seraphim

“Deep beneath the abandoned architecture of the Cosmodrome lies the Serpahim’s Vault.  Eons-old crypts of inscrutable power and knowledge lie in wait for the seasoned explorer. Rob Adams was the Lead Artist on Cosmodrome and put a lot of personal passion and energy into the visual realization of Rasputin’s chamber.”

jovian

“Sharp observers will already wonder what the other space communications building in the Cosmodrome keeps hidden away.  In The Dark Below, ‘The Jovian Complex’ is opened at last and some truly frenetic combat takes place herein – not before taking in  some of the gorgeous Hive-infested spaces that the Cosmodrome environment Art Team put together.”

hypogeum

“Buried under the shifting sands of Mars the Hypogeum and its ancient secrets await discovery.  Built by the Vex in another age altogether, this chamber of ancient power houses an extremely powerful and watchful guardian. Built by Jason Sussman (art owner of Mars) as a perfect complement to the Black Garden, this space is designed to deliver tight, directional combat.”

chamber

In the deepest, darkest, inner sanctum of the Moon’s Hive interior, we gain access to the Chamber of Night, in which the bleached bones of a long forgotten and vast lunar dweller rest. It’s rumored that dark rituals and mass gatherings of Hive witches happen here. A major goal of this space was to nail the surreal qualities of this awesome concept by Ryan DeMita.

Along with new locations to explore, The Dark Below launches on December 9 with a new Light level cap of 32, new missions, a new Strike, a new Raid, and new gear. It’s included in Destiny’s Expansion Pass but will also be available as a stand-alone purchase for $19.99.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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New Destiny Updates Will “Land In The Weeks To Come,” Says Bungie, Here’s What’s New

Looking at what’s in store for Destiny and its fans, Bungie community manager David “DeeJ” Dague has outlined some of the incoming updates you’ll be downloading to your hard drive in the weeks to come, including a few ‘tricks up their sleeve’.

“We’re inbound with several bundles of joy in our hold,” Dague wrote. “They’ll land in the weeks to come. Some of them will give everyone new things to do and earn. Some of them will prepare the world you’ve conquered for some new arrivals, and push the boundaries. Your level of engagement will be up to you. Each of us finds our own level in Destiny.”

Here are the specifics, courtesy of Bungie’s latest Weekly Update.

Previously mentioned updates:

  • Channels for talking to matchmade teammates, if you so wish
  • Exotic weapons that are stronger and more interesting to upgrade
  • New gear to let you slip into something a little more Legendary
  • That which waits in The Dark Below

New updates:

  • New shaders for your gear
  • Ways to preview items before you spend your Glimmer
  • Greater chances of “showers” in public spaces
  • Adjustments to some arenas that needed better traffic flow
  • New economies to equip you with upgrade materials
  • Fixes, patches, and other invisible technical evolutions
  • Some other tricks up our sleeve
  • Maybe even a more generous Cryptarch
    • (he’ll still be sort of a bastard)

If those points sound a tad ambiguous, Dague says more details are on the way, including Dev Notes and Patch Notes.

Keep your sights on MP1st for more Destiny updates to come!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Blizzard Announces ‘Pick-Up-And-Play’ FPS, Overwatch, Watch The Cinematic and Gameplay Trailers

Blizzard is kicking off BlizzCon 2014 today in style with the announcement of a brand new IP, a pick-up-and-play first-person shooter boasting a unique set of heroes in an all-new game universe.

Overwatch, as it’s called, “takes place in a technologically advanced, highly stylized future earth,” according to a descriptor in the game’s official press release.

“In a time of global crisis, an international task force of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities known as Overwatch had come together to restore peace to a war-torn world,” the story continues. “After many years, the group’s influence waned, and it was eventually disbanded. Overwatch might be gone now . . . but the world still needs heroes.”

Blizzard hopes to keep things simple by ensuring that Overwatch is a “pure fun” shooter that’s “easy-to-learn” but “hard-to-master”. Gameplay takes the form of six versus six battles across “a range of futuristic global locations, from the hologram-lit streets of London to a bazaar in the shadows of a high-tech Egyptian pyramid.” Locations are built to highlight unique character abilities and movements.

Speaking of characters, every hero in Overwatch brings their own flavor to the game’s team-based tactics with distinct weapons and superabilities. Here are just a few heroes outlined in the press release.

  • Tracer, a former British test pilot who shrugs at danger, can execute impossible acrobatic assaults thanks to her ability to teleport, drop energy bombs, and even reverse time.
  • Reinhardt, a hulking German soldier in battle armor, can charge great distances and pin his enemies to a wall or slam the ground with his rocket hammer to knock them off their feet.
  • Hanzo, a bow-wielding Japanese mercenary, has the ability to scale walls with his bare hands, fire off a tracking device that illuminates nearby enemies for his team, and unleash a huge spirit dragon that does grievous damage to all enemies in its path.
  • Symmetra, an Indian architech, manipulates light and energy to shield her allies and damage her enemies—and she can turn the tide of any battle by building a device that instantly transports her teammates to the front lines.

Blizzard says that new heroes and maps will be added to the game throughout development. Beta testing begins in 2015, but Overwatch is playable now at BlizzCon on one of the 600 PCs stationed at the festival. As for the beta, you can sign yourself up right here.

Check out Overwatch’s debut cinematic and gameplay trailers below:

[youtube id=”GGb8ss2EUfE”]

[youtube id=”EwtLVHxUFRI”]

Thoughts? Let’s hear ’em in the comments below!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Advanced Warfare’s First Double XP Weekend Is Now Live, “Full Weight of Activision” On Lag Issues, Says Sledgehammer

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s first official Double XP Weekend is now underway, according to an announcement from Sledgehammer games on Twitter and Facebook.

The event is live across all platforms for the duration of the weekend in celebration of Advanced Warfare’s ‘Day Zero’ launch last Monday, November 3.

In related news, Sledgehammer Games Co-Founder Glen Schofield has addressed a number of complaints from the Call of Duty community that their Advanced Warfare experience has, so far, been full of “laggy” games and connection issues.

According to Schofield, “The full weight of Activision is on the issues.”

“We hear you loud and clear and we want everybody to know we are on top of it,” he added.

For now, the studio has outlined a number of improvements developers have planned for an incoming update, but the list is mostly compiled of polish items. If there are any further announcements on server updates, you’ll be sure to hear it right away on MP1st.

Update

Studio head Michael Condrey issued a similar but more lengthy statement on Advanced Warfare’s connection services in a recent developer blog. Here’s what he said:

Advanced Warfare employs game servers hosted at data centers globally on all platforms and listen servers as part of our proprietary matchmaking system. Our goal is to ensure the best possible connection and greatest gameplay experience regardless of location and time of day.

We hope you have a great Advanced Warfare launch weekend!   We’ve activated DoubleXP as a thank you for the continued support from fans across the globe.

More news to come over the days, weeks and months ahead. Until then, know that we are listening, excited, and happy to be part of this with you.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Frostbite Devs Get Parts of Battlefield 4 Running On iOS

Frostbite developers are making new breakthroughs in trying to get the same game engine used to run games like DICE’s Battlefield 4, PopCap HD’s Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, and Visceral Games’ upcoming Battlefield Hardline to run on iOS devices.

It sounds crazy, but with the introduction of Apple’s low-level graphics API called Metal, Frostbite developers have now managed to get parts of a graphically-demanding game like Battlefield 4 running on iOS.

Frostbite’s Product Owner of Mobile Kristoffer Benjaminsson detailed the company’s latest success in a recent blog post on their official website.

“It has been quite a challenge. To handle dynamic features such as destruction or moving light sources, most things in the Frostbite engine happen in realtime. This puts extra demand on performance to be able to deliver large, highly detailed worlds with superb visual quality,” he wrote.

“We were making great progress feature-wise, but hardware and software limitations forced us to either scale down the number of objects and their complexity to retain visual fidelity, or accept lower visual fidelity to cope with a larger number of objects.”

“This all changed when Apple introduced Metal, their new low-level graphics API, which allowed us to make full use of the hardware. Together with the latest range of hardware, Metal has created possibilities previously out of reach and for the first time we can include both high visual fidelity and a large number of objects.”

While it doesn’t mean Battlefield 4 is coming to iOS any time soon, if ever, it does perhaps open up possibilities for ports of future titles to make an appearance on Apple’s new hand-held devices.

“There is still much to do,” Benjaminsson concluded, “but we’re very happy with the results so far. It’s a great feeling porting a system, get it running, and discover that there’s actually performance left. Even though we have much room for performance improvements on our end, we’re pleasantly surprised of the performance we’re getting from the hardware.”

bf4_ios_1-1024x718bf4_ios_2-1024x718Would you fancy playing a Battlefield title on your iOS device?

 

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Activision Explains Why Advanced Warfare Doesn’t Work With PS4’s Share Play Feature

PlayStation users were surprised to learn recently that the PS4’s new Share Play feature is not compatible with Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

The feature debuted on Sony’s platform on October 28 along with the console’s ‘Masamune’ Firmware Update 2.00, allowing two PS4 owners with PS Plus subscriptions to share any game title with one another through the power of the internet. The only caveat, which wasn’t clearly expressed at the time, is that developers can choose to opt out of the feature entirely, which happens to be the case with Activision and its latest Call of Duty title.

After concern and questioning from fans, Activision now has an answer as to why.

“Delivering a great gaming experience for fans is our top priority. We’re focused on launching Advanced Warfare and ensuring that people have a great time playing it, which our fans seem to be,” an Activision representative told Kotaku.

“Share Play is a new feature that was introduced as part of the recent PS4 firmware 2.00 update. Our engineers didn’t have access to it before it launched, so we haven’t had a chance to evaluate it to see how it will impact the experience across all modes of play. Of course we wouldn’t include a feature in our game without having the chance to test it. Once we’ve fully analyzed its performance, we’ll determine how to support it going forward.”

Sounds like we’ll have to stay tuned for more news on the compatibility between PS4’s Share Play and Advanced Warfare.

What are your thoughts? Does the statement sound fair to you?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Battlefest Season 2 Begins With Double XP and Weekly Battlepacks, More Announcements Incoming [Updated]

Season 2 of Battlefest, a special Battlefield 4 event that celebrates fans — both new and old — of the long-running shooter series, begins anew this week.

Battlefield developer DICE has announced today that the studio is kicking things off with five days Double XP and weekly Gold Battlepacks for anyone who logs in on a Saturday. Double XP runs now through to Monday, November 10 on all platforms while the first and last free Gold Battlepack arrives this Saturday, November 8, and Saturday, December 6, respectively.

In addition to a “special announcement” taking place later today at 6PM PST, new Dog Tags will also be available through upcoming community events themed around Visceral Games’ upcoming Battlefield game, Hardline. More details are to follow, says DICE.

Source: Battlelog

Update

DICE and EA have added another perk to the list of benefits Season 2 of Battlefest is offering Battlefield fans. Starting now, anyone with an EA Origin account and a PC capable of running Battlefield 4 can try the game for free for a full 168 hours. This time, the offer is unlimited, meaning you’re not stuck to using up those 186 hours within the week or so.

You can get started with Origin Game Time by following this link.

David Veselka

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New Halo: The Master Chief Collection Launch Trailer Is All Sorts Of Epic, A Note On The MP1st Review

If you have any appreciation for one of the greatest first-person shooter franchises of all time, you probably can’t get much more excited than you already are for the upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection, launching only a few days away on November 11.

You know what’s coming — All four Halo games starring Master Chief remastered on Xbox One, including Halo 2 Anniversary, the Halo: Nightfall digital series, and access to the Halo 5: Guardians beta. But, that hasn’t stopped developer 343 Industries from putting together an exciting new launch trailer to let fans know, ‘don’t worry. It will be here soon.’

Check it out above. UPDATE: There’s also a new TV spot to go along with it.

[youtube id=”HSfBDxjAIIw”]

As for a quick note on our Halo: The Master Chief Collection review, we’re busy playing it, but only have very limited access to the collections’ full offering of multiplayer. Therefore, while you can expect a review-in-progress update shortly before or at launch, expect the full review a few days following launch after we’ve had ample time to test multiplayer gameplay and game modes with full servers.

Meanwhile, be sure to follow MP1st on Twitter and Facebook for any updates on when we might be live streaming Halo: The Master Chief Collection content before launch!

David Veselka

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New Killzone: Shadow Fall DLC Arrives Tomorrow For Series’ 10th Birthday

Killzone developer Guerrilla Games is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their beloved first-person shooter IP that debuted on the PlayStation 2 all the way back in November 2 of 2004 with brand new content and events for their latest entry in the long running franchise.

Tomorrow, November 4, Killzone: Shadow Fall on the PlayStation 4 is getting a nifty new expansion that focuses heavily on new customization items, as well a new set of free downloadable competitive and cooperative multiplayer maps for good measure. While anyone can download the new maps free of charge, the 10th Anniversary Expansion Pack is available at no extra cost to Season Pass holders.

Here are a few specifics on each pack:

10th Anniversary Expansion Pack

  • Two new multiplayer character skins: Customize the look of your multiplayer characters with the ‘Honor Guard’ and ‘Special Forces’ uniform options.
  • Two new OWL skins: Matching ‘Honor Guard’ and ‘Special Forces’ skins for your combat automata will complement your new look.
  • Two new voice packs: Change your battle chatter with the hilarious ‘Angry Veteran’ voice pack, or hear what the Killzone Shadow Fall dev team sounds like with the ‘Dev Team’ voice pack.
  • Two new Player Card Icon Packs: Give your Player Card some character with the ‘Identity’ Icon Pack, or show off your favorite weapon with the ‘Weapons Of Shadow Fall’ Icon Pack.
  • New crosshair customisation: A new system lets you customize the reticules for all weapons, and the pack comes with seven brand new crosshair sets.

New Maps

  • New ‘The Academy’ multiplayer map: Arguably Killzone 2‘s most popular multiplayer map, Radec Academy (named after Autarch Visari’s right-hand man and fan-favorite antagonist, Colonel Radec) is coming to Killzone Shadow Fall. We briefly revisited a collapsed version of this map in the From The Ashes DLC for Killzone 3, but this time around the ravages of war have really left a mark on the Academy.
  • Two new cooperative maps: In addition to the competitive multiplayer version, The Academy will also be released as a free cooperative map for Killzone Shadow Fall Intercept, along with a second cooperative map known as The Weapons Facility.

Gameplay footage and more details are on the way, says Guerrilla. UPDATE: Above, you’ll find the new gameplay trailer for two new maps, The Academy and The Weapons Facility.

In addition to the new content, there are a handful events to look forward to this week as well, including live streams, tournaments, giveaways, and more. You’ll find specific over on the official PlayStation Blog.

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David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Incoming Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Improvements Outlined By Sledgehammer Games

Hot on the heels of the game’s launch and updates for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare are already on the way.

Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey dropped by the Advanced Warfare Sub-Reddit earlier today to get some discussion going on improvements fans would like to see in the game.

While the studio is open to suggestions, here are a few of the things Condrey outlined that are currently being worked on:

  • MP chat icon size and placement.
  • Kill confirmed score limit
  • Camo challenge tuning
  • Prestige emblem reset
  • Speed reload timing
  • 2XP messaging
  • Score mismatch when player leaves public lobby. (Doesn’t affect Combat Record)
  • COD Vision team color improvements

As of this writing, some of the top suggestions in the thread include an update on dedicated servers, as well as further PC improvements like removing the 91 FPS cap and mouse acceleration on PC.

What’s at the top of your list when it comest to Advanced Warfare improvements you’d like to see?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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