Home > News

343 Industries Ramps Up Production on Halo For Xbox One, Opens 11 New Positions

343 Indsutries is prepping for their big Halo announcement at this year’s E3 convention by ramping up production and opening up numerous job positions within their studio.

Within the last 9 days alone, 11 openings have popped up on Microsoft’s Careers page for Halo, including a Sound Designer, four Software Development Engineers plus a Senior one and one in Test, a Graphics Engineer, a Multiplayer Level Designer, a Senior Concept Artist, and an Environment Artist.

Unfortunately, the descriptions don’t lead us to any clues, nor do they reveal any new information. But it’s clear that 343 is getting the Halo ball rolling so that the studio has something amazing to show fans at this year’s E3.

Recent rumors suggest 343’s next game will indeed be a Halo 2 Anniversary remake on the Xbox One, but we’re more than certain we’ll be hearing something about “Halo 5” this summer.

Thanks, DualShockers.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Call of Duty: Ghosts Lego Maker Recreates The Ripper SMG

YouTube personality ZaziNambies, the same Call of Duty: Ghosts enthusiast that brought you this impressive Lego recreation of the Maverick A2 Sniper Rifle, has worked his magic yet again to skillfully recreate the new Ripper SMG.

The Ripper, a futuristic SMG-Assault Rifle hybrid weapon offered to all Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass holders on Xbox Live, was recently introduced as a part of the upcoming Devastation DLC, launching this March 3.

Built with roughly 650 pieces, this Lego Ripper measures 19.5 inches long, is “very stable”, has “got a very good weight to it”, and is built to “nearly the exact dimensions as the in-game model”. What’s probably most impressive about this model is the tricky removable magazine that curves around the bottom of the weapon, as well as the working trigger.

Again, awesome work, ZaziNambies!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Valve Unveils New Steam Controller Design, Will Ship At Volume Later This Year

Valve has lifted the curtain on their brand new design of the Steam Controller, meant to work in tandem with the recently introduced SteamOS and Steam Machine.

The new design has been derived through feedback gathered directly from the ongoing beta. It no longer supports a touch screen, dropped the lithium battery, and adopted a more traditional legacy layout, putting the ABXY and directional buttons underneath the dual touch pads.

As you’ll see in the images below, Xbox One users – and even PlayStation 4 users – will most likely find the new face buttons quite familiar.

Old Steam Controller

Steam Controller

New Steam Controller

Steam Controller

Valve’s Eric Hope gave an in-depth presentation during this year’s Steam Dev Days where he explained the reasoning behind each alteration. He also added that though what Valve ships later this year will be a “stable base” for its users, other premium features, like the touch screen, may be added (or added back) down the road.

Skip to 23:17.

[youtube id=”UfN5WK7OzU8″]

The new controller will ship at volume later this year and will also be available to try out at this year’s DGC March 17-21.

What do you think of the new design?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Titanfall’s First Generation 10 Pilot Emerges

A Reddit user who goes by the name DownTuClown is claiming to be the “world’s first Generation 10 pilot” in Respawn Entertainment’s recently launched shooter, Titanfall.

According to his stats, DownTuClown has racked up 3 days, 9 hours, and 5 minutes of playtime upon reaching the final Generation, similar to that of Call of Duty’s final Prestige level.

eOAgZHy

oOI3kI5

JHJBSvy

O5WcrNJ

While the lack of any in-game global leaderboards makes it difficult to tell whether or not the race winner is genuine, it’s worth noting that players are beginning to reach Titanfall’s maximum rank regardless. Even Respawn’s CEO, Vince Zampella, congratulated DownTuClown on the achievement via Twitter.

How close are you to Generation 10?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Call of Duty: Ghosts Xbox One Patch Now Live

Infinity Ward has updated Call of Duty: Ghosts on the Xbox One for the second time this month.

The new patch will set you back roughly 1.5 GB in memory. Infinity Ward has yet to release the patch notes at the time of writing. However, it should be noted that the studio recently released a stability patch for PS4 for around same size.

Activision Support did touch on why PS4 and Xbox One updates are larger. “File size varies by platform, PS4 and Xbox One will typically be larger than its predecessors since their hardware differs from the previous generation platforms.”

“Newer consoles are able to handle more, be it improved graphics, or even support for Ground war, so when patches/games are released for these newer platforms more data is required.”

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

Home > News

Blizzard Offers Up a Heroes of the Storm Tech Alpha Video Preview

Kevin Johnson from Blizzard’s community team offers an in-depth preview of the upcoming Heroes of the Storm Technical Alpha test.

Invites to the beta are currently being sent out via email to select community members who’ve opted in for testing through their Battle.net Beta Profile page.

While Blizzard gets prepped for launch, catch the video above to learn about what sort of features and modes it will have to offer, how profile progression is laid out, and how to navigate the game in general.

Are you participating in the HotS Tech Alpha?

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

PS4 Console, Camera, and Controller Receive Price Increase in Canada

Recent price increases in Canada for Sony’s latest console don’t appear to be temporary.

Sony Computer Entertainment Canada confirmed with the Toronto Sun that the PlayStation 4 would be increasing in price from $399.99 to $449.99 effective today. The declining value of the Canadian dollar wasn’t cited specifically, but Sony did attribute the decision to recent market changes. In addition to the PS4 seeing a price hike, the DualShock 4 and the PS Camera will both increase by $5.

This is an additional blow to fans in Canada considering the short supply of PS4’s in retail channels. If you haven’t found one yet, it looks like you’ll be paying a premium once the shelves are restocked. Certain online retailers, such as Amazon.ca, don’t appear to have updated the pricing on the accessories yet so get them at the lower price while you can.

Via VG247.

MP1st Staff

Home > News

CS:GO Hits New Record Peak Players, Now 75% off in Daily Steam Sale [Updated]

Update

Since yesterday, the all-time peak player count has risen to yet another high, now reaching 145,476 150,986 peak players at one time. Taking a look at the new Steam Charts, the upward slope appears to be continually rising as well.

Screen Shot 2014-03-15 at 7.32.28 PM

Original Story

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has reached a new all-time high in peak players this past Friday.

Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment’s PC and Mac shooter reached an impressive 101,605 peak players last January 4 during a large CS:GO tournament at Dream Hack 2013, setting a new record for the game.

According to Steam Charts, it hit a brand new record this past Friday, March 14, at 2:10pm PST, reaching 124,387 peak players

IkHI8dZ

Thanks, keto23!

The bump undoubtedly has something to do with the currently ongoing EMS One Katowice CS:GO Championship. It might also help that the game is currently 75% off on Steam for the next 35 hours, putting it at only $3.74 USD.

Check out CS:GO’s official Steam page right here to get in on the deal before it closes.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Destiny – Bungie on PvP and PvE Gear, More on Skill-Based Matchmaking

In Destiny, your Guardian’s gear will “tell tales of their finest moments as weapons of light.”

These are the expectedly cryptic  words of Bungie community manager “DeeJ” in the latest Destiny blog update, where he talks about your Guardian and his or her gear.

“When you look upon a Guardian, you’ll be able to judge the book that tells their story by its cover,” said DeeJ in response to a fan question the differences between PvE and PvP gear. “Their gear will be signposts for the missions they’ve completed. You’ll know if they are warriors of the arena, or journeyman from the wild. Their very appearance will tell tales of their finest moments as weapons of light.”

We don’t know what he means either. But in all seriousness, it appears that your gear will perhaps reflect what mode it is you excel in or spend most of your time in.

On the topic of armor appearance and effectiveness, DeeJ says “you’ll need to do more than just wear it” in order to improve it. “Unlike your favorite jeans, your armor won’t just get better with age,” he continued. “You’ll need to invest in it. You’ll need to fight and scrounge your way toward becoming a legend. You’ll need to love it a little. Don’t worry. It’s fun work.”

Luckily, you’ll be able to spend as much time with your Guardian as you please thanks to Bungie Mobile app where you’ll find character info and “so much more”.

Lastly, design lead Lars Bakken reiterated the importance the studio is placing on skill-based matchmaking in PvP modes, confirmed last January in this interview detailing Destiny’s online capabilities.

“We agree that the best matches are the ones that are the closest,” he said. “With that in mind, we match players in Destiny based on their performance. Not every game will be neck and neck (as human players have a tendency to get better over time and can have random spiky games), but we’re going to do our best to match you with other players of a similar skill.”

Destiny’s beta launches this summer with exclusive early access for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 owners.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Titanfall – Alien Threats in DLC ‘Definitely a Possibility’, No New Titans

Titanfall fans might be getting little more alien in their life, according to recent DLC hints from the game’s developer.

Earlier, IGN asked Respawn Entertainment community manager Abbie Heppe about the giant roaming monsters that appear in some of Titanfall’s maps like Boneyard and if more prominent alien threats might ever be a feature in future DLC.

“We are going to have maps added, and we’re trying to give players as much of a varied look at things as we can so that is definitely a possibility,” Heppe answered.

Before Titanfall’s launch, it was presumed that players could interact with these tall monsters and flying beasts during a match, though they ultimately ended up as background spectacle as a way to enrich Titanfall’s lore.

Titanfall is expected to receive three installments of DLC at $10 each in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, though fans have the option to pay for all three up front at a $5 discount through the Titanfall Season Pass. While aliens might play a possible role in future expansion, it sounds like additional Titans Chassis will not, however.

“That’s a real big question,” Heppe said. “In order to [add a Titan] it takes so much balancing to make all the Titan abilities work with each other, and then against pilots.

“It’s a huge undertaking. Originally we just had the Atlas titans and then the team refused to add in the rest of the Titans until we were all sure that that one fitted perfectly with everything else in the game, so… I’m not announcing any new Titans right now!”

What are your hopes for Titanfall’s DLC?

Thanks, VG247.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Battlefield – The Evolution of Gulf of Oman

Gulf of Oman may not have the same lengthy history that the age-old classic Battlefield map Wake Island boasts, but it’s a fun one to look back on and compare its Battlefield 2, Battlefield 3, and Battlefield 4 iterations.

Doing just that, YouTuber ZappITGames-100 has put together a nifty video showcasing the variation between all three versions of Gulf of Oman, a Battlefield multiplayer map based on the real world location of the same name. Check it out in the featured section above.

Thus far, Gulf of Oman has appeared in all three numbered Battlefield sequels. In 2011’s Battlefield 3 and 2013’s Battlefield 4, however, developer DICE offered a reimagined take on the classic map via two multiplayer expansions, Back to Karkand and Second Assault, respectively. Though the biggest disparities can be found between its Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 3 versions, the map was given a bit of a face lift in Battlefield 4 through the introduction of wavy seas and a gigantic overshadowing sand storm that eventually engulfs the entire map.

So, what version of Gulf of Oman was your favorite?

Thanks, Pixel Enemy.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Rumor – Titanfall Insider Points to 30 FPS and Sub-720 Resolution on Xbox 360

Recent rumors point to a 30 FPS and sub-720p Titanfall on the Xbox 360.

“Insider” @DoddSci, who revealed Blupoint games as the developers of the Xbox 360 version of Titanfall weeks before the official announcement, is now allegedly outing performance specs of that version.

“Lack of news about the 360 version of Titanfall isn’t all about pushing the XB1,” he says. “The 360 version is 30fps and sub-720p.”

Earlier this week, Respawn lead engineer Richard Baker compared the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of Titanfall, saying that the Xbox 360 version “seems pretty close [in terms of] feature parity and [Bluepoint is] still working on getting the frame-rate up.”

“I’m not sure about the resolution…” he added.

If the Xbox 360 version is indeed “pretty close” in terms of feature parity, then a 30 FPS and sub-720p Xbox 360 version seems likely, considering Titanfall’s rather large-scale combat, including Pilots, Titans, AI, and large play spaces.

As it stands, we’re still awaiting official news – or whatever we can get – regarding Bluepoint Game’s Titanfall, launching only a week and a half away this March 25. Until we hear word from EA or the studio, take this news with a grain of salt.

Thanks, VideoGamer.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

New GoldenEye: Source SDK Incoming, Check Out The Preview Trailer

The golden age of GoldenEye is coming back, this time on the Source engine.

The studio behind the Source freeware multiplayer remake of Rare’s classic Nintendo 64 FPS is prepping to launch version 4.2 of their SDK 2013 and have outed a new brand fan-made trailer showing you what it’s all about. Of course, if you were a big fan of the original, then you already know what this Half-Life 2 mod all about.

“We want you to look at this mod and remember the first best multiplayer first-person shooter ever made. We are doing our best to bring in the opinions of the community to create a game that everyone is going to enjoy. But, we are not here to recreate the game exactly how it was in GE64. A lot of things have changed since they first designed the original, mainly in technology and gamers experiences. We are here to take the game even further but at the same time provide a lot of those fun elements that hardcore GE64 fans will enjoy. We’ve got experienced team members all across the board, from professional level, to amateurs looking to make it into the business working hard to make this dream a reality.”

Check out the official site here.

Bond has returned.

Thanks, DSOG.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

PvZ: Garden Warfare Devs Drops More DLC Hints, New Peashooter Variant Possibly In The Works

In what seems like daily teases for Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare’s first DLC, out some time this month, PopCap marketing manager, Gary Clay, has once again taken to Twitter to hint at what’s to come.

This time, we get a closer look at what appears to be an upgraded Sticky Explody Ball for the Scientist:

Bith4ZyCEAAyoQE

For those who haven’t been keeping up on what the team over at PopCap HD has been teasing thus far, we’ve already gotten glimpses of a reinforced Tallnut, upgraded Zombot Drone, new gatling Peashooter and a new skin for the Marine Biologist’s Dolphin Blaster.

Additionally, the creative director for Garden Warfare, Justin Wiebe has also revealed that the Garden Warfare team is looking for new concepts for a new Peashooter variant to possibly add to the game.

Although Garden Warfare is a multiplayer only title, all DLC for the game will be made available at no extra costs.

Joel Santana

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

Home > News

Transformers Universe Closed Beta Weekend Sign-Ups Begin, Jagex Introduces Two New Bots

Developer Jagex is kicking off a two-day closed beta for their upcoming MMO tactical action game for the PC, Transformers Universe.

The closed beta starts tomorrow, March 15 and will go through to the day after, March 16. Sign up info can be found right here.

The beta will introduce two new Transformers characters, Front-Line and Conduit.

Front-Line is the “first in, and the last out, of any fight. He’s a slugger with an instinct for mayhem. Armed with a mini-gun, axe and hammer attack, this is a bot that definitely shouldn’t be messed with.” Meanwhile, “Conduit is a Decepticon who is part healer and part killer. He’s fully in touch with his darker side and, whilst able and primed to heal and keep his allies fighting for the cause, there’s no mistaking the lethality of his attacks.”

Check out the introduction trailers below:

Front-Line

[youtube id=”UbcUBS1WFso”]

Conduit

[youtube id=”wSkyFOegbP0″]

Transformers Universe is coming this Summer.

Thanks, VG247.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

PvZ: Garden Warfare Team Unaffected By PopCap Layoffs

With the unfortunate news of PopCap Games being on the receiving end of recent layoffs, Gary Clay, the franchise marketing manager for Pop Cap, has taken to Twitter to answer some concerns regarding whether or not PopCap HD has been affected.

Additionally, Gary Clay may have also been hinting at some type of weapon skin for the Dolphin Cannon in the upcoming DLC, which should hit Xbox Live sometime this month. Check out the image below:

There’s no set date as to when Garden Warfare will receive its first DLC add-on, but a recent in-game billboard has hinted on what’s to come

Joel Santana

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

Home > News

Call of Duty: Ghosts PS4 Receives 1.7 GB Stability Patch

Infinity Ward has released a new title update for Call of Duty: Ghosts on PlayStation 4 to improve stability.

Today’s patch weighs in at a massive 1.7 GB. Here are the official patch notes, or perhaps the one patch note:

  • Fixed a crash that could occur at the start screen, if you started downloading Onslaught before launching the game

On Reddit, Activision Support addressed players asking about the nature of the patch and the lack of more detailed fix logs.

“Unfortunately we don’t have information on why the patches are the sizes that they are. Most of the details are included in the patch notes, I know the notes released today were a bit small, we’re sorry to say we wouldn’t have the full details as to why a patch focused on stability was so large. All patches, and patch notes are released by the studio, Infinity Ward. We apologize you’ve had to download so many files lately, multiplayer on Ghosts is one of the most popular features in the game, the development studio releases updates to help improve its performance.”

“File size varies by platform, PS4 and Xbox One will typically be larger than its predecessors since their hardware differs from the previous generation platforms. Newer consoles are able to handle more, be it improved graphics, or even support for Ground war, so when patches/games are released for these newer platforms more data is required.”

Recent leaks suggest that Call of Duty: Ghosts will get a Drop Zone playlist, which last appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

Home > News

Game Rentals Appear On The PlayStation Store

It seems that Sony may have snuck in a new feature to the PlayStation Store.

For those who may not have noticed, the PlayStation Network received an update today that was originally scheduled for last Tuesday. The reason for the delay was that there was a bug in the system. However, it appears another reason could have been for more time to add extra features to the store, as some rental options have appeared for certain titles.

psn 3

psn2

psn 1

Screens taken from our PlayStation 3.

Update

We came across the following on NeoGAF, and it appears that this is actually a part of the PS Now service.

SVtzhmy

That was taken by GAF user Chesskid1, via his web browser. We have also confirmed this to be true via our PS3.

Screenshot_1

Avatar photo

James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

Home > News

Titanfall – Originally Not Planned for Xbox One, Xbox 360 Version ‘Getting Better Every Day’

While Respawn Entertainment’s recently launched shooter is highly touted as the poster boy for Microsoft’s Xbox One console, Titanfall wasn’t always planned to launch on the platform.

“Originally we weren’t planning on an Xbox One version of the game,” said Respawn lead engineer Richard Baker to Digital Foundry. However, the studio came to realize that optimising the game for a console would ultimately lead to a better PC version, in the end.

“I’m certain that having an Xbox One version has made our PC version much better – it justified the effort in moving to DX11 and even 64-bit,” Baker sad. “I think in the future that’s going to continue. The higher-end [graphics] cards are always going to be able to do more, but a lot of the bottlenecks – especially on PC – are more CPU and with DX11 you can have the GPU do a lot more that the CPU did previously.”

Earlier, Respawn showed interest in continuing with optimising the Xbox One version of the game in hopes to increase resolution and other performance factors after launch.

As for the Xbox 360 version of the game, of which we’ve heard nearly nothing about, Baker mentioned that developer Bluepoint Games is still working on getting its frame rate up, though he couldn’t comment on its final resolution.

“Yeah, we’ve actually been playing it almost every day here. Bluepoint’s developing it and we’ve mostly been hands-off, letting them make their own technical decisions,” he says. “It seems pretty close [in terms of] feature parity and they’re still working on getting the frame-rate up. I’m not sure about the resolution…”

“It’s getting better every day,” he added.

Studio head Vince Zampella explained earlier that it’s “the goal” to get both versions as similar as possible while Bluepoint works on a direct port of the game, prepping it for launch this March 25.

What platform are you (or will you be playing) Titanfall on? Let us know in the comments!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

Home > News

Titanfall – Respawn “Talking About” a Mac Version, Custom Loadout Names Incoming

Respawn Entertainment CEO Vince Zampella is hoping to see the studio’s recently launched shooter make its way to Mac users with the help of Aspyr Media.

Responding to Twitter questions, Zampella said the studio is “talking about it” and that they “would like to see it happen”.

“Would have to be after launch,” he said.

Before launch, Zampella stated that Aspyr “should do it”. Aspyr typically publishes big-name titles if they come to Mac, one of them being the Mac version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Also on Twitter, Zampella noted that custom loadout names are incoming, allowing players to rename their loadouts for better organization. “Yes, we’ll add it,” he said.

As an update to last night’s piece regarding incoming server support for Australian players, Zampella mentioned today that the new data center would be located in Sydney, for those wondering.

So far, Mr. Zampella has been doing a fantastic job responding to Titanfall fans through social media. Let’s hope the studio can keep up this level of communication.

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber