Sony released firmware update 4.45 for the PlayStation 3 earlier today, but those of you who haven’t already done so should probably avoid the update for now.

A growing number of users are reporting on the PlayStation 3 support forums that since installing the update, their system will no longer turn on. To make matters worse, one user claims that not even a file restore was able to bring the system back to working order.

Fortunately for those of you who already have installed the update, the issue doesn’t appear to be universal – if you updated and your console appears to be working as it should, then you likely have nothing to worry about.

According to various user reports, the issue seems to apply to users who use their system’s original HDD and to those who use an external HDD alike. However, many of the users experiencing difficulties do appear to be using larger hard-drives above 500GB, as The Sixth Axis points out in their report.

Sony has yet to acknowledge the problem, so it isn’t known how soon an update can be deployed. Additionally, it isn’t clear whether or not those affected will have to reformat their hard-drives or not, as system functionality seems to vary from user to user.

PlayStation 3 firmware update 4.45 seemed simple enough; according to the changelog, the main addition was the ability to opt-out of notifications upon receiving a Trophy.

Unfortunately, we won’t know anything more until Sony issues a statement. We’ve reached out to Sony Computer Entertainment of America for comment, and will provide an update should we hear anything more.

In the meantime, those of you who haven’t updated are advised to wait.

PlayStation 3 Firmware Update 4.45 Reportedly Bricking Some Systems is a post from: The Inquisitr

Earlier today, PC gamers with NVIDIA hardware in their system got a bit of a scare when IGN ran a report stating that Battlefield 4 on the PC, and all Frostbite 3 games moving forward, would all be optimized “exclusively” for AMD components.

NVIDIA, the report originally stated, would have to wait until the game was released before working on their own driver optimizations. Fortunately for everyone involved, this turned out to not be the case after all.

In a correction sent over to the site, EA said that while developer DICE does have a deal going on with AMD, that doesn’t mean that NVIDIA will be left behind.

“DICE has a partnership with AMD specifically for Battlefield 4 on PC to showcase and optimize the game for AMD hardware,” an EA spokesperson told the site. “This does not exclude DICE from working with other partners to ensure players have a great experience across a wide set of PCs for all their titles.”

As an AMD representative pointed out to the site, it does make sense that this partnership exists – both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are running AMD hardware under the hood.

“It makes sense that game developers would focus on AMD hardware with AMD hardware being the backbone of the next console generation. At this time, though, our relationship with DICE and EA is exclusively focused on Battlefield 4 and its performance optimizations for AMD CPUs, GPUs and APUs,” AMD told the site. “Additionally, the AMD Gaming Evolved program undertakes no efforts to prevent our competition from optimizing for games before their release.”

NVIDIA has had somewhat of a stranglehold on hardware optimization partnerships for the past several years but, as the original report points out, that has started to change as of late; Crysis 3, one of the most technically demanding games on the market, is a prime example.

It’s likely more will partner up with AMD in the future, but at least NVIDIA fans won’t have to worry about being left in the dark.

‘Battlefield 4′ PC Optimized For AMD Components, NVIDIA Not Left Behind is a post from: The Inquisitr

Skulls of the Shogun, the critically praised turn-based strategy title from indie developer 17-Bit, already made its debut on PC and consoles, but unless your PC happened to be running Windows 8 you were left out. Next month, that’s set to change.

The developer today announced Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide Edition, a beefed up version of the original, will be making its way to Steam next month, and you won’t need to be running Windows 8 to play it this time around.

“After the original game launched, we were delighted by all the positive reviews and player feedback, but realized there were a few features we could add to power-up Skulls and make it even better.” said Jake Kazdal, CEO of 17-Bit. “We’re delighted to bring that definitive version of Skulls of the Shogun to Steam, which adds a ton of original content and enhanced multiplayer features. We hope it’s worth the wait.”

The game will retain all of the content from the original game along with, as Kazdal mentioned, some new content as well. Said new content includes a new prologue chapter, a new character, a new unit type, new multiplayer options, a multiplayer progression system, and more.

If you put down some cash early, the developer says you’ll be able to pick up Skulls of the Shogun for the discounted price of $11.99. Additionally, you’ll receive immediate access to a “beta” version of the game, which offers the first singleplayer mission along with all 36 multiplayer missions.

An exact release date isn’t known at this point, so sit tight for more information on that. In the meantime, you can check out a gameplay trailer for the Xbox 360 version of the game below.

‘Skulls Of The Shogun’ Coming To Steam Next Month is a post from: The Inquisitr

Remember that gorgeous demo for Deep Down that Capcom showed off as a way to showcase their next-gen “Panta Rhei” engine during Sony’s PlayStation 4 reveal back in February?

At the time, gamers speculated based on the footage shown that the game was perhaps a sequel, or a spiritual successor of sorts, to Capcom’s open-world, monster-slaying RPG Dragon’s Dogma, which saw a release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 last year.

Over on Capcom’s forums (via Siliconera), one user asked that since Deep Down has been confirmed to be a PlayStation 4-exclusive title, and that Dragon’s Dogma Quest was a PlayStation Vita-exclusive title, if that meant that the Dragon’s Dogma series would be a Sony exclusive from this point on.

In response, Capcom Senior VP Christian Svensson clarified that Deep Down is not actually tied to Dragon’s Dogma directly, so fans shouldn’t read too much into that.

Sadly, it looks like we’ll have to wait awhile to find out anything more on Deep Down, including what similarities – if any – it actually has to Capcom’s new open-world franchise. In another response in another thread, Svensson said that development on the title is still “early on.”

“No news right now. It’s still quite far off. [Capcom developer Yoshinori Ono] tweeted we’d have it at E3 next year.”

As revealed earlier this year, Panta Rhei is an evolution of Capcom’s MT Framework engine which has been used in many of Capcom’s games over the past several years. The engine is said to be developed with the PlayStation 4 in mind but it’s likely that Panta Rhei, once finished, will be Capcom’s new go-to engine, and will thus be multi-platform.

If you missed the Deep Down demo, you can check it out in all of its glory below.

Capcom: ‘Deep Down’ Isn’t Related To ‘Dragon’s Dogma’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite recent reports to the contrary, Call of Duty: Ghosts may not be coming to Nintendo’s Wii U console after all.

During E3 last week, GameSpot was shown a live demo of the game by Call of Duty: Ghosts executive producer Mark Rubin. During the demo, Rubin was asked whether or not a Wii U version was in the cards, to which he replied that the company wasn’t ready to talk about that just yet.

Rubin’s response led some to believe that a Wii U version had been confirmed, but don’t get your hopes up just yet.

GamesIndustry International reached out to Rubin for clarification on the matter, and here’s what the developer had to say:

“Ha! You know that’s funny, because I don’t even know the answer to that. I swear to God, I don’t. I was trying to say in the interview [that] I really don’t know and I’m not supposed to talk about it. I’m not supposed to talk about the fact that I don’t know.”

Before you let your hopes get down too much, that doesn’t necessarily mean that a Wii U version is out of the picture, either – neither the developer nor Activision are willing to talk about any versions beyond what has already been announced.

It’s far from a confirmation one way or another, so at least there’s still hope.

In a follow-up question, the site asked whether or not it would even be possible to bring the game over to Nintendo’s platform, seeing as how it is confirmed to be coming to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Rubin seemed unsure, but admitted that it seemed possible.

“I imagine [it could], yeah. If you look at the hardware specs, I think it would be more in line with 360 and PS3, but I’m not sure. There could be some things [in the hardware] that bump it up a little higher than that,” he answered. “I haven’t played with it enough to know. I have one at home, and I think it’s cool; I can’t stop playing ZombiU.”

‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ May Not Be Coming To The Wii U is a post from: The Inquisitr

Although PlayStation Plus will be required to play most PlayStation 4 games online, some free-to-play games such as PlanetSide 2 and DC Universe Online will not require a subscription, Sony confirmed to Polygon in a statement during E3 last week.

The news comes straight from the mouth of Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios. In the statement, Yoshida told the site that the decision to gate a free-to-play game behind PlayStation Plus is “up to the publisher.”

Additionally, Yoshida also confirmed two other free-to-play titles that won’t require a subscription: Warframe from Digital Extremes, and Blacklight: Retribution from Zombie Studios.

Sony garnered a lot of favor with gamers when they confirmed during their E3 press conference that the PlayStation 4 would not require an internet connection, nor would it impose any restrictions on used or traded games. However, the company was on the receiving end of some heat when it was confirmed that PlayStation Plus would be required for multiplayer on the console.

Speaking to VideoGamer, Sony Computer Entertainment UK boss Fergal Gara said that it was “time” for Sony to start charging for multiplayer but that gamers shouldn’t expect to be locked out of very much beyond that if they choose to not subscribe.

“A PlayStation Plus subscriber for PlayStation 4 comes away with a hell of a lot,” Gara said. “First of all, the subscription applies across all three platforms [PS4, PS3 & PS Vita], so if you have the three platforms then you have an instant game collection on all three. So that’s hugely powerful in its own right.”

“If you choose not to subscribe we are still gating relatively little in many senses, so access to online catch-up TV and online movie services sit outside of the gate, for example,” Gara added. “The social features of PS4 and PS4 games sit out of the subscription service. Things like auto-updates on PS4 sit outside of PlayStation Plus, so we’re trying to be as balanced and as fair as we possibly can.”

What do you think? Are you still disappointed that Sony is locking (most of) its multiplayer behind PlayStation Plus?

PlayStation Plus Won’t Be Required To Play Certain Free-To-Play Games On PS4 is a post from: The Inquisitr

During E3 last week, Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer came out and said that the Xbox One version of Minecraft, revealed during Microsoft’s E3 2013 press conference, would not allow for the transferring of saves from the Xbox 360 version to the new version.

Fortunately for fans who have put in a significant amount of work into their virtual worlds, that may not be the case after all.

Originally, Spencer told OXM UK that Minecraft on the Xbox One would be a “new product,” which meant that transferring saves between the two was out of the question. “We’re actually updating it in pretty significant ways for the new platform. Bigger worlds, which don’t translate between the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One,” Spencer added.

In response to an article published over on Eurogamer – and in response to quite a few unhappy Minecraft fans – Spencer tweeted that Microsoft and developer 4J Studios are actually still “discussing” the matter, so the possibility does at least still exist.

Since the game’s reveal last week, Microsoft and developer 4J Studios haven’t had a whole lot to add about what sort of new features gamers can expect out of Minecraft for the Xbox One. As Spencer said in his original statement, it is known that the worlds – which are fairly limited on the Xbox 360 version when compared to the original PC version – will be bigger this time around.

Enhanced multiplayer support is also said to be something on the table.

Considering the massive popularity of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, it’s not at all surprising that Microsoft and 4J Studios are looking towards a new version for the Xbox One; in under a year, the Xbox 360 version had already managed to sell over 5 million.

[Image source]

‘Minecraft Xbox 360′ Saves May Carry Over To Xbox One Version After All is a post from: The Inquisitr

Killer Instinct fans have been waiting a long, long time to finally see a sequel to the popular fighting game franchise, but hope had seem lost until last year, when Microsoft renewed the trademark for the franchise and hinted that something is in the works.

Today, we know what that is.

During Microsoft’s E3 2013 press conference today, Microsoft confirmed that a new Killer Instinct will be coming to Xbox One. No specific release date was given, only a vague 2013 release date – so expect it somewhere around the Xbox One’s launch window.

Aesthetically, the game appears to be taking some cues from Street Fighter IV – the character models are rendered in 3D, but the combat takes place on a 2D plane. Judging from the trailer the overall look doesn’t feel too different, although several characters appear to have been given a slight, albeit respectful overhaul.

As far as the similarities between combat, that’s tough to say at this point. The speed of the gameplay shown appears to be on par with the original two games, and it does appear to be rather heavily combo-based, as it should be. Apart from that, not a whole lot is known at this point.

Even though we don’t know a whole lot about the game at this point, it’s at least good to know that it’s coming out. The last time we saw a Killer Instinct was in 1996, when Killer Instinct 2 was released on the SNES, and Killer Instinct Gold on the N64.

The Killer Instinct series never managed enough success as the fighting game monster that is Street Fighter, but the series – particularly the first game – is definitely a beloved series for many nostalgic gamers, fighting game fans or no.

While we patiently await more info, here’s the announcement trailer shown during the press conference, courtesy of GameTrailers:

‘Killer Instinct’ Announced For Xbox One is a post from: The Inquisitr

Microsoft sure kicked off its E3 press conference with a bang. During the opening, an all-new trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was shown, with tons of new gameplay footage, information on characters, and even some of the game’s settings.

And, yes, this means that Metal Gear Solid V is coming to the Xbox One. Act surprised!

By the standards set by previous trailers, this one made a lot more sense. We’ve heard that Metal Gear Solid V would be open-world before, but the trailer was all about showcasing that fact; we’re first treated to a desert terrain, and the trailer goes on to highlight the different modes of transportation – including a horse – that Big Boss will be able to use to get around in.

The trailer also demonstrated that the game will feature a day/night cycle, along with a rather impressive weather system. In the case of desert terrain, that means you can expect to run into some fierce dust storms.

Not a whole lot was revealed about the story in the trailer, but it did suggest ties to Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker – the trailer implied that Kaz Miller from that game will play a somewhat important role in Metal Gear Solid V.

Fortunately, it sounds like that won’t be the last trailer we’ll be seeing of Metal Gear Solid V at E3. Series creator Hideo Kojima came out on stage after the trailer, and promised fans that even more will be coming up very shortly.

Once the original trailer makes its way on the internet – as well as whatever else Kojima has to show – you’ll be able to find them embedded in this post.

UPDATE: Well, that was quick. Here’s the E3 2013 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain trailer:

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’ E3 2013 Trailer Shows Off Open-World Gameplay is a post from: The Inquisitr

The big day is finally here: in just about 10 minutes (as of writing), Microsoft’s 2013 E3 press conference will be kicking off, and we’ve got a stream embed for you right here, courtesy of Game Informer, so you can watch with all of us as it happens live.

UPDATE: The press conference has apparently been pushed back by 30 minutes. Expect it to go live at 9:30 PT.

With the Xbox One reveal being focused so much on just about anything but games, Microsoft is expected to show off a number of its first and third-party titles – perhaps some of those 15 internally-developed games for the Xbox One.

In fact, Microsoft said as much themselves; just ahead of the press conference, Microsoft confirmed that at least 20 games will be shown throughout the press conference. We’ll also likely hear a bit more about the hardware, and a little bit more about that whole “cloud computing” deal.

Whatever it is, Microsoft needs to bring their A-game – Sony came out swinging with a slew of titles, including those of the indie variety. The war is far from over yet, however – whatever Microsoft and Sony both have to show today will start a whole new generation of console wars.

If there’s one thing that has me excited, it’s this: during GameTrailers’ pre-E3 show, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer said that famed developer Rare had an announcement for the “hardcore” crowd. Please, please be Killer Instinct 3.

Without further ado, you can check out an embed of the stream below, courtesy ofGame Informer.

Watch live video from gameinformer on www.twitch.tv

Microsoft E3 2013 Press Conference: Watch It Live Here is a post from: The Inquisitr

After spending a brief period in beta, Gazillion Entertainment’s Marvel Heroes, formerly known as Marvel Universe Online, made its debut on PC early last week.

From the get-go, Marvel Heroes appears to have a lot going for it. You’ve got Diablo-style, loot-hoarding ARPG action; you’ve got a healthy cast of heroes from the Marvel universe to play as; it brings elements of MMOs to the genre; and, perhaps most enticingly, it’s free-to-play.

It also doesn’t hurt that famed Diablo developer David Brevik is involved in the game’s development.

Despite all of that, I admittedly went into Marvel Heroes not expecting to be impressed a whole lot. I, like quite a few PC gamers, have already played just about every ARPG released over the past several years, and it was fast getting to the point that I just don’t care about them anymore.

After spending only several hours with Marvel Heroes, however, my loot lust had already been re-ignited – but the flurry of loot wasn’t what was keeping me playing.

Once you start up the game for the first time, you’re given a selection of free heroes to choose from: Thing, Storm, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and, finally, Daredevil. Each character has unique abilities, but early-on there are some similarities; Storm, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye, for example, appear to be your typical ranged characters.

In most ARPGs, the combat is often, at its best, monotonous. In some cases, it’s mind-numbingly monotonous. That didn’t appear to have changed with Marvel Heroes at first glance, but after leveling up a bit and getting past the prologue, the combat started growing on me. Quickly.

It’s not that Marvel Heroes does anything especially different from other ARPGs, it’s that the skills – at least some of them – feel very satisfying. Once you’ve unlocked Storm’s Thundering Bolt at level 6, for example, you won’t be able to help feeling like a bad-ass as you blow up barrels, destroy furniture, and take out three guys with a single spell cast.

Once you’ve unlocked Lightning Storm at level 18, it gets even better from there.

Don’t believe me that the combat feels satisfying? Have a look at this trailer:

Admittedly that thrill wears off after awhile but it makes grinding on enemies feel a little more satisfying, even if it’s just an illusion.

The combat may be impressive, or at least not overly monotonous, but how is the rest of the game – the missions, the story? Well, that’s where we have a mixed bag. The story is sectioned off in chapters, as is usual with ARPGs but Marvel Heroes tackles story progression a bit differently, and this is where the MMO part comes in.

Once you’ve started up a chapter, the first place you’ll be heading is a hub zone. There, you’re not alone regardless of whether you’re in a party or not. The hub world is how you make your way to the missions, but there are also side-activities to partake in as well.

And that’s the mixed part.

Some of the events, such as random encounters with Super-Villains, can be a lot of fun, albeit often chaotic (and a bit laggy, depending on your PC). Others, well, not so much. In the first area, a side-mission appears that tasks you with dealing with a gang of arsonists who want to, well, set things on fire. While it doesn’t sound especially awful, it’s probably the most monotonous activity I’ve experienced so far – you stand there between two spawn points, and kill them one by one as they come out.

Eventually, you’ll find yourself just holding down shift + left-click on a spawn point and waiting for the pain to end. Unfortunately, there appear to be quite a lot of these quests in the four chapters I’ve played so far. Fortunately, you can avoid them in most cases I’ve seen.

The game’s story isn’t particularly impressive, but it isn’t offensive either; you and a band of heroes are first set off on a chase to find a mystic tablet, which seems to be keen on changing hands as often as possible – there are, at least, hints of something more going on behind the scenes. Most of the key story points are done in animated comic form, and the presentation and voice acting are all fairly impressive.

Perhaps later on in the game the story will spice up a bit.

There were concerns early on about how the game’s micro-transactions would be handled, but thus far it doesn’t feel too much like robbery, so it at least has that going for it. There are exceptions: if you want to buy Iron Man, and why wouldn’t you, you’ll have to fork over $20. Buying Black Panther, on the other hand, only costs $10.

The prices for costumes vary wildly as well. If you want your Thor to look like the movie version, you’re going to have to plop down $15 – or $13 if you have “G” currency left over.

One concern I have is that, if you intend to play Marvel Heroes for an extended period of time, you are at the least spend money on extra bank storage slots. Seeing as how I’m only half-way through the game I’m not familiar with the end-game content, but one of the micro-transactions involves that end-game content.

I’ll have to revisit that and more in another look down the line, but so far Marvel Heroes seems to be promising. Even if you don’t plan on sticking around past the main story, there’s enough content to be had free of charge that the game at least warrants a looking at.

A Day With ‘Marvel Heroes’ [Impressions] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Microsoft has been on the receiving end of a substantial amount of heat over its confusing DRM and used games policies. Although Microsoft isn’t yet willing to clarify its stance on DRM and the console’s ability to play used games, company spokesperson Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb assures gamers that Microsoft is listening.

Major Nelson said as much In response to a torrent of complaints from fans over a recent blog post, where Microsoft attempted – and failed – to pin part of the blame on press.

“We’re fully aware of what is going on. I am also working on a few things to address it. I can’t say much more right now. But we ARE listening,” Hryb said in response to one comment.

Hryb’s comment may be of some comfort, but it still doesn’t make anything clear, and Microsoft hasn’t said just yet when it intends to bring clarity to the situation. It could be at their E3 press conference, or it could come later.

If there’s one thing that’s certain in all of this confusion, it’s that Microsoft has a lot to prove as far as the Xbox One is concerned. Between the concerns over DRM and an overly strong focus on television during the Xbox One reveal, the company has a lot of pressure to perform at E3 this year.

Despite all of the controversy, UK retailers are saying that pre-order interest in the Xbox One appears to be strong.

“Despite negative comments about the pre-owned model that has not been officially announced, consumer response has been extremely positive in terms of pre orders,” ShopTo CEO Igor Cipolletta said in a statement to MCV.

Are you still on the fence about the Xbox One?

Major Nelson On Xbox One DRM: ‘We Are Listening’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

As if the recent news that Electronic Arts would be dropping Online Pass requirements for its future titles wasn’t surprising enough on its own, EA today confirmed that it will be discontinuing Online Passes for older titles as well.

In other words, buying a used EA game – or borrowing one – from here on out should no longer lock you out of any of the game’s content, regardless if the game is new or old.

There will, however, be a catch: you’ll still need to download the online pass. Although newer titles will reportedly require no code, older titles do. To make up for that fact, EA today began the process of making all of its Online Passes free on your platform of choice’s digital marketplace.

As of writing, not all of the changes have been made; according to a NeoGAF thread, Online Passes for American McGee’s Alice, Bad Company 2, Bulletstorm, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Mass Effect 2, Medal of Honor (pictured above), SHIFT 2, and Skate 3 have all been made free.

“As we discontinue Online Pass for our new EA titles, we are also in the process of eliminating it from all our existing EA titles as well,” a spokesperson told Eurogamer. “We heard the feedback from players and decided to do away with Online Pass altogether.”

Some titles, the representative went on to explain, won’t require an online activation pass at all.

“Players will see it first with some EA Sports titles, where a prompt to enter an Online Pass code will no longer appear in-game,” the representative said, adding that “with other titles we are simply making Online Passes available free of charge online.”

The move is an interesting one, to say the least. The intention behind the Online Pass to begin with was to rake in profits from the sale of used games. It could be a move in preparation for the next generation of consoles, where the handling of used games remains mostly unclear.

Still, I suppose EA deserves some sort of credit. After all, Online Passes caused quite a number of headaches for legitimate consumers.

EA To Make Online Passes For Old Games Free is a post from: The Inquisitr

Recently, a listing on Korea’s Game Ratings Board was discovered for a mysterious title from Microsoft referred to as Halo: Bootcamp. Rather than going with a “no comment” on the listing, Microsoft has instead opted to confirm the title’s existence.

Unfortunately, just what it is, exactly, is unknown – but we at least know what it isn’t.

In response to all of the speculation, Microsoft issued a statement to CVG confirming that Halo: Bootcamp is indeed a project in the works, and that it’s something the company is “very excited” about.

Additionally, the rep confirmed that the project is not tied to the Reclaimer Saga introduced by 343 Industries’ Halo 4, nor is it associated with Xbox One. Considering that the original listing pegged it as a PC game, it would seem that Microsoft is looking into crafting some sort of online game set in the Halo universe – possibly even an MMO.

Here’s what the rep told the site:

“What’s Bootcamp? It is not related to our Xbox One efforts, or the Reclaimer Saga, but rather a project we’re very enthusiastic about and will have more to say about in the near future.”

There are more questions still. That Halo: Bootcamp showed up first on the Korean Ratings Board could suggest that the project could be an online game geared towards the Asian market, but not necessarily. In the industry, we see international titles outed by foreign ratings boards just about every month.

If there’s anything that’s certain, it’s that news of the game’s existence has fans of the series’ interests piqued. It’s certainly possible that Microsoft may make mention of the title – and possibly even show it – at E3 next month, but Microsoft hasn’t said when it plans to pull back the curtains.

If Halo: Bootcamp makes it to the west – and is indeed for the PC – would you be interested in playing an online game set in Halo‘s universe? Something along the lines of PlanetSide 2, perhaps? Or would you prefer a more traditional Halo game?

Familiar though it may be, the formula still apparently works.

‘Halo Bootcamp’ Outed By Korea’s Game Ratings Board, Confirmed By Microsoft is a post from: The Inquisitr

Hopefully you weren’t counting on the Xbox One to be region free, because Microsoft has reportedly confirmed that their next console will be following in its predecessor’s footsteps, and will also be region-locked.

The news comes by way of a report from Digital Trends, who claims that a Microsoft representative confirmed that the Xbox One will be region-locked. Whether or not the region-lock is on hardware level, or perhaps determined by the publisher – as is the case with the Xbox 360 – isn’t clear at present.

“Similar to the movie and music industry, games must meet country-specific regulatory guidelines before they are cleared for sale,” the Microsoft representative told the site. “We will continue to work with our partners to follow these guidelines with Xbox One.”

Microsoft isn’t likely to win over many fans with their decision, but it’s perhaps a bit too early to get out the pitchforks. The Wii U, for example, will only allow a game to be played on the console if both the game itself and the console’s region match. Microsoft’s statement to Digital Trends wasn’t specific, so it’s possible that region locking will be decided by the publisher/developer.

It wouldn’t be a win for frequent importers, but it at least wouldn’t be a crushing defeat.

IGN reached out to Microsoft for comment, but Microsoft wasn’t willing to clarify at this time.

Sony has yet to say a word about whether or not the PlayStation 4 will be region-locked or not. Should they choose not to region-lock the hardware, it will be interesting to see how much of an impact would make to consumers.

What do you think? Is the Xbox One being region-locked a deal-breaker for you?

Xbox One Will Reportedly Be Region-Locked is a post from: The Inquisitr

Planetary Annihilation, the crowd-funded RTS from Uber Entertainment inspired by RTS classic Total Annihilation, will soon be entering into its alpha phase, the developer recently announced over on its Kickstarter page.

If you’re an early backer who threw down $90 or more, that means you’ll soon get the chance to see for yourselves what the developer has been up to. According to the announcement, the Planetary Annihilation alpha is scheduled for launch on June 7 and will last all the way to the end of August.

“We’re very happy with the speed we’re moving at, and are at the point where we feel we can start to lock down much more concrete dates for alpha, beta and launch,” Uber Entertainment wrote. “We’re looking forward to the next parts of development with more direct interaction with the community.”

It goes without saying, but it should be noted that the Planetary Annihilation build early backers will be getting their hands on is an alpha. As the developers point out, what you see should not be taken as representative of the final product. Expect a few (or more) bugs.

There will, however, be a beta following the end of the Planetary Annihilation alpha, at which point the developers aim to have the game much more fleshed-out. The beta is expected to start at some point in September and will last through the end of November, just ahead of its planned December release date.

If you haven’t kept up with Planetary Annihilation lately – or just want to see what it’s about – you can check out some pre-alpha footage of the game, with plenty of developer commentary, directly below.

‘Planetary Annihilation’ To Enter Alpha Phase Next Week is a post from: The Inquisitr

The teams at Infinity Ward and Treyarch have been using the same engine for the Call of Duty series for quite a long time now, and that isn’t going to change with the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts – but don’t be so quick to take that as a bad thing.

If you’ve followed the industry for awhile, you’ve likely seen a developer call an engine “new” when in fact it’s just an upgraded version of its predecessor.

With Call of Duty: Ghosts, the team at Infinity Ward isn’t throwing out the existing engine and creating a new one. Instead, they’re taking what works and upgrading it for the next generation. Externally, at least, they’re not calling it a “new” engine.

“When we’re [internally] talking about a new engine we’re talking about upgrading significant systems within that engine,” animation lead Zach Volker told Official PlayStation Magazine. “We’re not talking about throwing it all away and saying we’re starting from the ground up. It comes down to the systems we’re augmenting and upgrading, and trying to decide what is the significance of this upgrade.”

“New” engine or no, the screenshots released following Microsoft’s Xbox One press conference look quite nice.

While we have yet to have a good taste of Call of Duty: Ghosts – apart from all of the footage of dogs and the reveal trailer – we can expect to see a whole lot more when E3 kicks off in just about two weeks.

For now, why not re-watch the Call of Duty: Ghosts reveal trailer? And, yes, it has a dog in it.

‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Using Upgraded Engine For Next-Gen is a post from: The Inquisitr

Earlier this week, Electronic Arts and DICE announced that Battlefield 4 is set to make its debut October 29 on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. In addition to that, EA confirmed that Battlefield 4 will also be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well.

Considering that we still don’t have the exact release date for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One just yet, it’s unknown exactly when Battlefield 4 will hit next-gen consoles as well. However, pack shots recently released on the Battlefield website stated that the PlayStation 4 version may be releasing day-and-date with other platforms but the wording has since been changed.

In the press release, EA also confirmed that Battlefield 4 will, to the surprise of no one, have a pre-order incentive. As was the case with Battlefield 3, pre-ordering the next entry in the franchise will secure you access to the game’s first expansion, dubbed “China Rising,” at no extra cost.

Here’s the official description of China Rising, as per the press release:

“In this sprawling expansion, players fight for dominance across the vast and majestic Chinese mainland in four massive multiplayer maps, using all-new vehicles and high-tech military equipment.”

If you plan on picking up Battlefield 4 digitally, EA and DICE will be offering some incentives for you as well. Along with access to the China Rising expansion, those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition over on Origin will gain access to “bonus in-game items” and, perhaps more enticingly, access to the multiplayer beta.

We still haven’t had the chance to have a peek at Battlefield 4‘s multiplayer just yet, but that’s set to change next month. During EA’s E3 press conference, DICE will be showing off debut footage of the game’s multiplayer live on stage. Even more footage will be shown off at this link.

‘Battlefield 4′ Coming In October, Also Launching On PlayStation 4 And Xbox One is a post from: The Inquisitr

Are you confused about how Microsoft will be handling used games with the Xbox One? Well, it looks like you’ll be staying confused for awhile.

In an effort to try and “clarify” all of the confusion surrounding Microsoft’s Xbox One used games policies, Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb posted the following on his blog:

“The ability to trade in and resell games is important to gamers and to Xbox. Xbox One is designed to support the trade in and resale of games. Reports about our policies for trade in and resale are inaccurate and incomplete. We will disclose more information in the near future.”

The confusion began when Wiredran a report stating that a fee would be required to play used – and possibly borrowed – copies of games. Instead of outright denying it Microsoft sent to a note saying that while a used games plan is in place, no details have been shared.

In a post on the Xbox Support Twitter page, however, a representative stated that there would be “no fee” associated with used games.

It’s easy to pin the blame on the media for the confusion, but the media wouldn’t be the only one to blame. Calling what was posted on Major Nelson’s blog “clarification” suggests that either Microsoft jumped the gun by talking about it at all, forgot to tell all of its key employees what the policy actually is, or the company needs a refresher on what “clarity” actually means.

After all, if what the customer service representative said is true then why would Microsoft not come out and say it on a more official platform?

Xbox One: Microsoft Blames Press For Confusion Over Used Games is a post from: The Inquisitr

During the big Xbox One reveal we found out that Destiny, Bungie’s all-new shooter franchise, is also coming to Microsoft’s latest console, and that wasn’t exactly a big surprise. What is somewhat of a surprise, however, is that a PC version of Destiny hasn’t been ruled out.

In an interview with IGN, Bungie senior writer Eric Osborne confirmed that the studio is at least considering the possibility, although nothing is set in stone as of yet.

“We haven’t said yes, and we haven’t said no,” Osborne told the site. “The more platforms we take on, the more work it ultimately becomes, and what we don’t want is to compromise the core experience on any platforms. We have a lot of people who play on PCs. We have a lot of appetite to build that experience. We haven’t announced it yet, but we’re looking forward to talking more about that kind of stuff in the future.”

It’s not the confirmation that the PC crowd may have wanted, of course, but it does give some amount of hope. Considering that Bungie themselves have had little involvement with computer gaming for the past decade – Halo and Halo 2‘s PC ports were outsourced – it would certainly be exciting for many to see the developer make a return home.

Should a PC port of Destiny actually happen, there exists the possibility that you may be able to transfer your characters across platforms. When asked if players will be able to transfer save data from, say, Xbox 360 to Xbox One, Osborne had this to say:

“For us, [platforms] are purely agnostic,” he said. “Any data on our back-end servers and services, like Bungie.net, are ours. We control it, we can do a bunch of fun stuff on that side. So for us, we want to absolutely do the right things for players. But there are some complexities we have to solve that are outside our control. But we’re absolutely pushing to solve some of those things. We don’t have anything to announce, but hopefully in the future we will.”

Destiny has been confirmed for release on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The developer still hasn’t given a release date, but debut gameplay footage will be shown off during Sony’s E3 press conference.

For now, you can check out the game’s recently-released trailer:

‘Destiny’ PC Port Hasn’t Been Ruled Out, Bungie Says is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ever wanted to score achievements on your Xbox while sitting back on the couch and enjoying your favorite TV show? Well, Microsoft apparently thinks you do.

A patent application dug up by the gaming industry specialists over at GI International suggests that Microsoft is mulling over adding achievements to television-watching and/or for special video content over Xbox Live as part of their initiative to make your TV a more “interactive” experience with the help of the Xbox One.

“Television viewing tends to be a passive experience for a viewer, without many opportunities for the viewer to engage or have interactive experiences with the presented content,” the application reads. “To increase interactive viewing and encourage a user to watch one or more particular items of video content, awards and achievements may be tied to those items of video content.”

One appropriate example of how this could work is with NFL broadcasts, whom Microsoft just so happened to have announced a major partnership with during the Xbox One reveal. You could, for example, earn an achievement by simply watching the Super Bowl, or perhaps for watching your team’s entire season.

Details on how Xbox One’s highly-touted live TV and DVR functionality are still scarce nearly a week after Microsoft pulled back the curtains on its next-generation console. So far, Microsoft has only said that it will be partnering with Sky in the UK, and Canal+ in France.

Whether that means that Xbox One’s TV functionality will be exclusive to Sky in the UK and Canal+ in France isn’t certain.

Fortunately for Microsoft, it’s still too early to call the Xbox One a disappointment; most of the big reveal was spent talking about things that most gamers didn’t care about, but E3 is fast approaching and Microsoft may have an ace up their sleeves.

Or maybe we’re just optimists.

Xbox One: Microsoft Files Patent For TV Achievements is a post from: The Inquisitr

Free-to-play hack-’n'-slash RPG Path of Exile from developer Grinding Gear Games has been in open beta for several months now, but the “full” release is still a ways off, according to the developer.

Speaking to Joystiq at GDC 2013, co-founder Chris Wilson said that Path of Exile version 1.0 is still roughly six months out from release.

That doesn’t mean you’ll have to wait that long for more content. Since going into open beta, Grinding Gear Games has been regularly rolling out patches that squash bugs, add in new skills, and occasionally new content. Wilson said that by the time 1.0 comes out, Act 3 should be fully fleshed out.

If you’ve never heard of Path of Exile before, this is perhaps the easiest way to explain it: Path of Exile is the Diablo 2 follow-up that series purists were looking for in Diablo 3.

The somewhat daunting skill systems allow you to heavily customize how your character plays, the atmosphere of the game is dark and moody, and there is no small number of end-game loot to strive for. Path of Exile is about as much of a Diablo 2 clone as one would want it to be, but it does plenty of things to shake things up as well.

Rather than having gold be the players’ currency, the developers opted instead to make an item-based currency system. For instance, you might pick up an item that boosts an armor piece of your choice – or you could use it instead to purchase something from a merchant, or another player.

There’s also the skill system. Players can equip and level up skills by slotting them into armor, allowing you to mix and match the type of skills you want – and how many of them you have – before heading out. The skill tree, however, is a lot more complicated than that.

Each class has access to a giant sphere of passive skills – if you’ve played Final Fantasy X, it’s just like the Sphere Grid. Although it benefits you to stay along the path that is tailored to your class, you can, if you so choose, opt to instead dive into passive skills from another class. Everything is available to you, but you do have a limited number of skill points to spend.

If you’ve been itching for a Diablo-like game to play, Path of Exile is certainly worth a shot from what I’ve played of it. Just be prepared to spend a few minutes reading up on how not to completely screw up your character’s skill tree.

Or don’t. Your choice.

‘Path of Exile’ Version 1.0 Is ‘Six Months’ Away, Developer Says is a post from: The Inquisitr

Deus Ex: Human Revolution turned out to be a huge success for Square Enix and developer Eidos Montreal, so it’s to be expected that a sequel has to be revealed at some point. According to the Deus ExFacebook page, info on that is coming soon, possibly today.

And no, this isn’t an April Fools’ Day joke before you ask. We don’t joke about Deus Ex here. As for Square Enix, well.. hopefully not.

Unfortunately as of writing we don’t know anything about Deus Ex: Human Defiance; whether it’s a sequel, prequel, reboot, or what. It’s unlikely that we’ll hear a great deal this week, but you can be sure that we’ll be hearing more about it in the months ahead.

Seeing as how the series of tubes that make up the internet are known to be leaky, Deus Ex: Human Defiance‘s existence isn’t a surprise. Recently it was discovered that Square Enix filed a trademark for the title.

The company also recently registered a trademark for Deus Ex: The Fall, which could be tied to the Deus Ex film project – but considering that no one involved has said anything as of yet, that’s just speculation.

Things have been rather quiet on the film front as well. Last we heard about the project was February, when it was said that the Deus Ex film would perhaps be less of a full-on Deus Ex movie and more of a cyberpunk movie.

While we wait for more news on that front, let us know in the comments section below if you’re glad that there’s more Deus Ex coming our way.

‘Deus Ex: Human Defiance’ Announcement Coming This Week is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’re like, well, everyone, the big reveal of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain from PAX East last week probably left you at least a little confused. If you’re a fan of Metal Gear Solid, that confusion was probably mixed with excitement as well.

Assuming the confusion didn’t overwhelm the excitement, at least.

The reveal trailer confirmed suspicions that the mysterious The Phantom Pain trailer shown at last year’s Spike VGAs was, in fact, for Metal Gear Solid V, but we were ultimately left with a whole lot more questions than answers.

Just about all we know for sure is that Metal Gear Solid V appears to be a video game and that some incarnation of Snake will be in it. Probably.

The reveal, again, left us with many questions, but one question stood above them all: What relationship does Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain have with Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes? Are they the same game? Are they different? Are they tied together in any way?

Fortunately, series creator Hideo Kojima was willing to shed some light on that in an interview with GameTrailers (see video embed below). Although we still don’t know if they’re part of the same game, Kojima suggested that there was at least some level of separation.

“We can’t comment just yet on how these things will be distributed and sold,” Kojima said, as transcribed by Games Radar. “But what we can say is that Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes will be two parts of a whole, and Ground Zeroes will come first. It will kind of be Phantom Pain on a smaller scale. It will be open-world, but not quite as big as Phantom Pain. It will allow you to jump in, learn how to sneak real-time in that open-world, and later on, after [players] kind of get used to that, then Phantom Pain will come along and they’ll be thrown into this huge, gigantic open word. It’s a two-step process, the game design, and together these things will comprise Metal Gear Solid V.”

In short, wait until E3 for more info. For now, you can check out the rather lengthy interview for yourself below.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

‘Metal Gear Solid V’ And ‘Ground Zeroes’ Are Connected, Kojima Says is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite the fact that we still don’t know a whole lot about the PlayStation 4, video game retailer GameStop is already predicting that the PlayStation 4 will be a huge hit — so much so that Sony’s new console may be hard to find when the holiday shopping season is upon us.

GameStop president Tony Bartel said as much in a recent earnings call, as reported by GamesIndustry International (via vg247). During the call, Bartel said that its customers were already showing a strong interest in the console and that the company expects that demand for the PlayStation 4 could exceed supply.

“We do believe demand will far outpace supply within the launch window, although we have been given no official numbers by Sony,” Bartel said.

The company also cited results from polls, which GameStop claims show that 34 percent of its customers already intend to purchase the PlayStation 4.

Although 2012 wasn’t without its fair share of hits, the year was down overall in sales; retailers and publishers alike reported lower-than-expected sales across the board, and the disappointing year was punctuated by the launch of Nintendo’s Wii U console.

Nintendo has been struggling to convince consumers to pick up the Wii U, according to sales data released after the launch. For GameStop, however, the console did relatively well. One analyst queried the company about the Wii U’s sales, to which Bartel replied:

“The Wii U actually exceeded our expectations at launch. We were actually out of stock early on in the launch period. However, it has been disappointing since the beginning of the year.”

GameStop Expects Strong PlayStation 4 Sales As The Wii U Continues To Disappoint is a post from: The Inquisitr

When 2K Games first announced BioShock Infinite several years ago, it was met with an equal amount of excitement and, for the lack of a better word, confusion.

The name BioShock brings to mind the underwater utopia gone wrong from the first two games (that’s Rapture, if your memory is as rusty as mine), but the debut trailer showed that the game was not, in fact, going to take place in the sea – or even on land.

Instead, the game is set in a city in the sky, and it takes place several decades before the events of the BioShock games we know and love. It was a bold move to tackle a wildly different setting with the BioShock name still attached, but Irrational already proved with the original BioShock that it can crank out fresh material, and that it isn’t afraid to.

The question on everyone’s minds now is a fairly obvious one: can Irrational do it again? Can the team create vast, overwhelmingly atmospheric environments and solid, interesting combat all tied together by a story that doesn’t feel like it’s trying to insult your intelligence? Maybe even one that makes you think, even if only a little?

Now that BioShock Infinite is just one day from release worldwide, the review embargo has been lifted and the internet is being flooded with reviews from a variety of outlets, which means we have the answers to all of those questions.

Below you can find a selection of reviews ordered from highest to lowest but, as you’ll see from the scores, you should probably just skip reading the full reviews and throw all of your money at the game right now.

At last, here are the reviews:

Game Informer – 10/10 (Read full review)

“Infinite is more than a new setting, story, and characters; those elements are seamlessly integrated with complex themes, a mysterious plot, and entertaining combat to create an amazing experience from beginning to end.”

Polygon – 10/10 (Read full review)

“It’s hard to know if Infinite will prove to be another major point of artistic discussion and development of the medium the way that BioShock was. But in every way, BioShock Infinite lives up to the promise of its legacy, and it looks poised to establish a new one.”

IGN – 9.4/10 (Read full review)

“Going in, I had to question whether Infinite could live up to the BioShock name after having discarded its signature world of Rapture, with its Big Daddies and Little Sisters and warring philosophies, and starting from scratch. On the way out, I’m forced to seriously question which is the better game.”

PC Gamer – 91/100 (Read full review)

“In a sense, that beauty [referencing "awkward" scenes from the game, namely the ending] makes it even more of a shame that the writing doesn’t manage to put all this spectacular work to better use. But it also means that these moments end up being emotional anyway. It’s like a surreal arthouse movie where nothing really makes sense, but where each scene is strangely compelling nonetheless.

“It’s a weird note to end on, after a game that’s so magnificent in so many other ways. But it doesn’t change the conclusion: BioShock Infinite is something extraordinary, and no one should miss it.”

That does it for the review roundup. By all accounts, BioShock Infinite just might be one of the best games of this generation, and a fitting send-off as we prepare ourselves for the next generation of consoles.

Once you’ve picked up the game for yourself – don’t worry, the wait is almost over – let us know what you think of it in the comments section below.

‘BioShock Infinite’ Is A Massive Success With Critics is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite the massive mainstream success of Nintendo’s Wii console, the company has been struggling to push units of its newer console, the Wii U, since its launch in November of last year.

Nintendo and analysts alike expected sales of the Wii U would begin picking up in early 2013, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Data from market research firm NPD claimed that the Wii U only managed to move roughly 57,000 units in the United States during the month of January. Unfortunately for Nintendo, sales didn’t improve a great deal in February. NPD says that the Wii U only managed roughly 64,000 for that month.

For the sake of comparison, the Xbox 360, which is expected to be replaced later this year by Microsoft’s latest hardware offering, managed to sell 302,000 in the United States alone.

Although February saw a very slight sales increase for the Wii U, the extra sales didn’t do much to help the company recover from January’s horrendous sales figures. As Gamasutra reported last month, the Wii U’s sales figures were among the worst in decades.

While the Wii U may not be getting off to a good start, it’s far too early to say that the console is doomed. Nintendo has promised that it will aggressively support the console with titles from first and third parties alike, many of which will be releasing this year.

Speaking to Forbes, GameStop President Tony Bartel had this to say:

“Following the holiday launch period, sales have been slower than we expected. Nintendo plans on launching some of their biggest IP over the next few months which we think will increase gamer interest.

“We’re already seeing great developer and publisher support for PS4, so Wii U will need some great titles, especially first-party titles, to compete. There’s also a need to increase consumer awareness of the new features available on the Wii U and its tethered tablet features.”

Do you own a Wii U? Do you plan on purchasing one in the future? Let us know in the comments section below.

Wii U Sales Continue To Disappoint In February is a post from: The Inquisitr

Need a good reason to dive back into Firaxis’ devilishly addictive game Civilization V? Provided you can hold on for several more months, you’ll have just that.

This morning, Firaxis announced that Civilization V will be getting a new expansion dubbed “Brave New World,” which will be heading to both PC and Mac at some undisclosed point this summer. Hopefully it’s around the earlier half.

Civilization V: Brave New World is the second expansion from Firaxis, and, like its predecessor, Brave New World offers a host of new things to add even more depth to the overall campaign experience, including a new victory condition.

According to Firaxis, Civilization V: Brave New World adds in two new scenarios, eight new wonders to construct, and a total of nine new Civilizations.

“Civilization V: Brave New World continues the strong tradition of ambitious expansion packs that fans have come to expect from the Civilization franchise,” said Sarah Anderson, senior vice president of marketing for 2K. “Brave New World is destined to continue the strong Civilization lineage that already includes massive expansions such as Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword and Civilization V: Gods & Kings.”

Like the previous expansion, Brave New World focuses on fleshing out a particular mechanic: in this case, it’s culture. Rather than simply having to build wonders and keep building up your cities to expand your cultural influence, you now have a number of other options–options that even let you take over other Civilizations through cultural influence alone.

Build up your cultural influence enough, and you can end the game with a culture victory by taking over all other Civilizations.

IGN had the chance to check out an early build of Civilization V: Brave New World and chat up the developers. Here’s how the site described the new cultural options:

“You won’t convert a city to your civilization a la Civilization IV, but you can win by exerting majority cultural influence over all the other civilizations. You don’t simply do this building and wonders that generate culture, but by actively working to spread your culture one Great Work at a time.

“When you produce a Great Artist, or the expansions new Great Musicians or Great Writers, you can have them create a specific piece for you. You can then place this piece within buildings like museums or opera houses, generating points to bolster your civilization’s culture, as well as new tourism points that pressure the civilizations around you.”

Look forward to more Brave New World information in the coming months. In the meantime, you can learn more by hitting up the IGN link above.

‘Civilization V: Brave New World’ Expansion Coming To PC, Mac This Summer is a post from: The Inquisitr

To put it lightly, the launch of SimCity from developer Maxis hasn’t gone particularly well; server issues caused some to not be able to play the game at all, and others had their progress — in some cases, a day’s worth — completely wiped out.

Most of the issues with SimCity are on the server end, but users have been noticing a few quirks with the game itself. For example, some of SimCity‘s inhabitants, called Sims, may leave their home to go to work and return to a different home with an entirely different family.

Another quirk involves traffic. As Eurogamer points out in their report, the vehicles in the game are programmed to take the shortest route possible to their destination. The problem is, the AI doesn’t account for traffic — and so it’s fairly common to see large traffic jams, and the problem only gets worse the bigger your city becomes.

The problems don’t stop there; there are even issues with firetrucks. If multiple buildings are on fire, for example, all of the city’s firetrucks may deploy to a single fire rather than spreading out. Obviously, that can lead to problems.

Maxis is of course aware of these problems and is actively working to address them and any other glitches that may pop up along the way. In a blog post, lead designer Stone Librande outlined the problems and how the studio plans on addressing them.

No specific date was given for a fix, but Maxis promises to have it out “soon.”

Below you can find a couple of snippets from the post. If you’d rather read the whole thing, you can head over to this link.

“We are constantly tuning the game and through the telemetry of our players we are shaping and evolving the experience to accommodate many different play styles. When bugs are discovered we will address them as quickly as possible, with updates such as the ones we’ve been rolling out over the past week. Our main focus right now is updating the pathing system that the Agents use to get to their Sinks. Running a successful city means keeping the traffic flowing and we are actively working to make this system better.

“We understand that when cars always take the shortest route between point A and point B there will be unavoidable (and illogical) traffic jams, so we are retuning these values to make the traffic flow more realistically.”

Glitches and server issues aside, have you been enjoying your time with SimCity?

‘SimCity’ Patch To Improve Sim AI, Reduce Traffic Jams is a post from: The Inquisitr

Recently, it was revealed that the PC, stealth-oriented title Thief will be getting a reboot – which some are unofficially calling Thief 4 – and that it will release on PC and next-gen consoles sometime next year at the earliest.

While the announcement was met with a not insignificant amount of praise from fans, some of that excitement died down a bit after Game Informer sat down with game director Nicolas Cantin, who explained that the core of the series’ main character will remain intact, but the goal is to make the character, Garrett, appeal to a wider audience.

At least, that’s how the fans interpreted it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this led some fans to assume the worst – that Thief 4 might lean more towards action, and that we’d have yet another Dante situation on our hands.

If Cantin’s words on the developer’s website (via vg247) is anything to go by, however, there doesn’t appear to be much to worry about for series’ more purist fans after all. Here’s what Cantin had to say:

“It’s not correct to say that we’re trying to make Thief ‘mainstream’, or that we’re trying to make Garrett ‘less gothic’… This isn’t the case.

“I was referring specifically to a previous Garrett design we tried out internally and not Garrett from the previous games. Our early design went a LOT more gothic – with black nails etc – but we thought that this wasn’t true to the legacy of Garrett so we pulled it back a bit.”

Cantin went on explain that he intended to communicate that the team’s goals was to bring Garrett more in line with the original.

“Returning to something more true to the original Garrett is what I meant when I said we made him more ‘mainstream’, this wasn’t a comment about the direction of the game. I can assure you we’re huge fans of the original games and we’ve done our homework to create a game that maintains the essence of the original.”

So you can put down your pitchforks for now, Thief fans. All seems to be well.

‘Thief’ Reboot: Developer Says That Character, Gameplay Won’t Be ‘Mainstream’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Bad news for those of you who were looking forward to picking up The Last of Us on May 7: Sony and Naughty Dog confirmed today that the game has been pushed back from its intended release date, and will now see a worldwide release on June 14.

It’s not the best news, but Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann assured fans in a post on the PlayStation Blog that the decision was a necessary one in order to bring the game up to the studio’s high standards for quality.

“As we entered the final phase of development for The Last of Us, we came to realize just how massive Joel and Ellie’s journey is. But instead of cutting corners or compromising our vision, we came to the tough decision that the game deserved a few extra weeks to ensure every detail of The Last of Us was up to Naughty Dog’s internal high standards,” Druckmann wrote.

“As a team we pride ourselves on setting a very high quality bar for every aspect of our games – gameplay, story, art, design, technology and more. We want to make sure The Last of Us raises that bar even further – for ourselves, and most importantly, for you, our fans.”

The wait is pretty short, fortunately, so that certainly helps in softening the blow.

If this is the first you’ve heard of The Last of Us, the game is a new series from Naughty Dog, the studio behind the hit Uncharted franchise. The game takes place in a city overrun by nature after a fungus kills much of the population, leaving those left behind to fight over essential items.

Players take on the role of Joel, a headstrong gun-for-hire who is hired to escort 14-year-old Ellie out of a quarantine zone. With the AI in control of Ellie, the duo will have to fight their way through infected humans and other survivors as they make a trek across the US.

To see how The Last of Us plays, you can check out the E3 2012 gameplay demo below.

‘The Last of Us’ Sees A Small Delay is a post from: The Inquisitr

Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn’t happy over a recent article published in The New York Times that criticized the range of the company’s Model S sedan.

In the article, The New York Times‘ John Broder said that in his trip along the east coast in the Model S, provided by Tesla, the car’s estimated range rapidly dropped and even shut down before reaching a charging station, which the writer blamed in part on the freezing temperatures.

Taking to Twitter, Musk shot down the claim, calling the article a “fake.”

“NYTimes article about Tesla range in cold is fake,” Musk wrote. “Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn’t actually charge to max & took a long detour.”

The writer stated that after arriving at the first stop on his trip — a new supercharger station set up by Tesla in Delaware — with roughly half energy left, he completely charged the vehicle before setting off to his next destination. On the way there, he noticed that the range was decreasing more rapidly than miles were adding up.

From there, Broder’s account of his trip in the Model S gets worse. Before making it to a charging station in Connecticut after passing through Manhattan, the writer said that the vehicle ran out of power, and needed to be towed to the nearest station some 25 miles away.

Speaking with CNBC program Closing Bell (transcript here), Musk said that the vehicle logs tell a different story.

“Well, when we downloaded our vehicle logs after the test drive, it showed that in fact he had not charged up to the maximum charge in the car,” Musk said.

“So essentially it’s like starting off a drive with a tank that’s not full. And then instead of driving to the next supercharger location, there was an extended detour through Manhattan, and it also showed that at times he was driving very fast. In some cases ten miles or more above the speed limit.”

Those things together, Musk explained, would certainly cause what Broder was seeing — not the cold or the car.

In another statement to CNBC, The New York Times stood by the writer, saying that any claims that the article is fake is “flatly untrue.”

“Any suggestion that the account was ‘fake’ is, of course, flatly untrue,” the statement said. “Our reporter followed the instructions he was given in multiple conversations with Tesla personnel. He described the entire drive in the story; there was no unreported detour. And he was never told to plug the car in overnight in cold weather, despite repeated contact with Tesla.”

Tesla CEO Calls Critical New York Times Article About Model S A ‘Fake’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

With at least one big next-gen announcement expected to happen this month, rumors about Sony and Microsoft’s next hardware offerings have been pouring out from just about every source but the companies themselves – and now there’s even more about Microsoft’s next Xbox, codenamed Durango.

According to a report from Kotaku published earlier today, a source identifying themselves only as “SuperDaE” – the same person who attempted to sell a very early Durango development kit on eBay – claims to have access to two Durango development kits, presumably with more final hardware, and information on the console’s specifications and functionality.

The information, which was supposedly gleamed from documents sent out to various game developers, backs up a previous rumor that the next Xbox will have a much heftier hard drive at launch – 500GB.

Also backing up a previous rumor, the source says that the next Xbox will require a Kinect at all times. Microsoft isn’t just repackaging the same Kinect, however – the new version is supposedly capable of tracking up to six people at once, and boasts significantly improved skeletal tracking.

In other words, the Kinect will finally be able to identify your hands, and even your facial expressions – and very well, if the source is to be believed.

On the software side, the source claims that a number of improvements and new features are available in the next Xbox. All games must now be installed, but rather than having to wait out the installation process you can now dive right in and have it install in the background. Additionally, there will also be support for multitasking – the source claims that more than one game or app can be loaded at once.

Last but not least are the specs, and a lot of the information provided to the site is in line with previous rumors. According to a layout image, posted on the site, the next Xbox will feature an 8-core, 1.6 GHz processor, a D3D11.x GPU running at 800 MHz, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 50GB optical disc drive capable of reading data at 50 MB/s.

Of course, all of this information should be taken as a rumor until Microsoft has something official to say – but with Sony’s event coming up and E3 following not long after, it’s safe to say that we haven’t heard the last rumor about next-gen consoles.

Next Xbox Sports 500GB Hard Drive, Requires Kinect [Report] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Over the weekend, SEGA confirmed that Gearbox Software’s Aliens: Colonial Marines will launch tomorrow with a Season Pass which offers a discount on four planned DLCs, all of which will be released shortly after launch.

As revealed on SEGA’s blog, the Aliens: Colonial Marines Season Pass will set you back $29.99, which comes out to 2400 Microsoft Points. All four pieces of DLC will be available individually, of course, but picking up a Season Pass can save you around 40 percent.

The first DLC, titled “Bug Hunt,” is expected to release at some point in March. The DLC adds in a new co-operative mode that puts players against waves of increasingly difficult enemies on three all-new maps inspired by environments from the films.

Three more helpings of Aliens: Colonial Marines DLC are planned, and SEGA says that all DLC should be released by this August. Unfortunately, the company didn’t provide any details about what’s in store with the rest.

If you plan on picking the game up on PC, you can go ahead and pre-purchase the Season Pass on Steam right now. SEGA says that it will be available on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live by tomorrow.

The wait for Aliens: Colonial Marines has been a long one for fans, but tomorrow’s release date is now just around the corner. Reviews have yet to go live, so it remains to be seen whether or not all the waiting will be worth it.

For now, you can go ahead and get yourself ready for launch by checking out the latest trailer below.

‘Aliens: Colonial Marines’ First DLC, ‘Bug Hunt,’ Coming In March is a post from: The Inquisitr

Assassin’s Creed III wrapped up the story of Desmond, but Ubisoft is far from done with the franchise. In fact, the developer says the next game will be out within a year – and it will be going in a different direction from its predecessor.

In an earnings call late last week, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the next Assassin’s Creed game is already under development, and will be out sometime before April 2014. Interestingly, Guillemot also confirmed that the next game in the franchise will not be starring Connor, and will take place in a new time period.

“We are delighted and proud to announce today that in FY14 14, we will introduce an all-new Assassin’s Creed hero, within an all new team and time period,” Guillemot said. “We expect it to be another major leap forward for the franchise.”

The news comes as no surprise given that Ubisoft has already promised that Assassin’s Creed will continue to live on for years to come. It is somewhat of a surprise, however, that Ubisoft won’t be revisiting the character of Connor from Assassin’s Creed III.

Assassin’s Creed II protagonist Ezio was well-received by fans and critics alike, and the character returned for two more core games: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

Connor, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so popular with gamers – Connor was, by contrast to Ezio, much more reserved, and perhaps quite a bit more naive. In the character’s defense, Ubisoft had less time to spend telling the character’s story.

So what’s in store for Assassin’s Creed moving forward? The developer hasn’t given any hints, unfortunately, but we do know that it may not necessarily be moving forward in history.

Platforms are also an uncertainty at this point. With the talk in the industry pointing at a holiday 2013 release for one or more of the next-generation consoles, it’s possible that Assassin’s Creed IV, or whatever Ubisoft decides to name it, may arrive in time to launch on those platforms.

Next ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Out By April 2014, Starring New Character In New Setting is a post from: The Inquisitr

Crytek previously mentioned that it was interested in aggressively pursuing the ever popular free-to-play business model, and it seems the developer wasn’t kidding around.

Speaking with Venture Beat, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said that the studio plans to transition “entirely” to the free-to-play within the next five years. Yerli also reiterated previous comments, saying that the company wants to “marry” the quality of AAA games with the free-to-play model.

The studio already has at least one AAA-quality free-to-play game in the works: a first-person-shooter called Warface. A closed beta for the game went live last month.

“I think over the next two to three years, free-to-play is going to rival retail with quality games like Warface,” Yerli said.

That doesn’t mean that we won’t see any more retail products after Crysis 3. Yerli explains that several are still in development.

“We have quite a few console titles in our pipeline that are [traditional retail games] while we investigate free-to-play on consoles, but our primary goal is to make triple-A free-to-play games for the world market and transition entirely to that.”

Part of Crytek’s strategy to break into the free-to-play market is “G-Face,” the company’s own digital distribution service for its future free-to-play titles such as Warface. Additionally, Crytek will be opening up the service to any third-party developers who are interested.

“If we could launch our games on a platform that already exists today, and we could get the same results, then we wouldn’t build our own platform,” said Yerli. “But we’re convinced that our platform does some particularly new things that makes our games behave better. That’s why we plan to offer this service to third parties.”

Crytek Plans To Transition ‘Entirely’ To Free-To-Play is a post from: The Inquisitr

Obsidian Entertainment, developer of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, has worked up a pitch for a new Star Wars game set in a time period not often seen – and the developer sounds pretty excited about it.

Speaking to Rock, Paper, Shotgun (via Joystiq), Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said that the studio has been working on a pitch for a new Star Wars game for some time. Rather than treading on familiar timelines, the game would fall between Episode III and Episode IV.

“We pitched a between-Episode III and Episode IV game [to LucasArts]. Because we think that timeframe is super interesting. It’s the fall of the Republic, the extermination of the Jedi, it’s Obi-Wan going off and making sure Luke is OK. You have the Sith, but you have the extermination of all Force users except for very, very few. So it was an interesting time to set a game, and you know, Chris Avellone came up with a really cool story.”

After Obsidian’s original pitch to LucasArts, the Star Wars franchise changed hands with Disney becoming the new owner. Although this complicates things a bit, Urquhart says that Obsidian still intends to push hard for the game to get made.

“It’s something we’re still hoping for, even with the Disney/Lucas stuff going on,” he said. “It changes things a lot, but you know, we’re gonna push on it. I would say it’s within the top three pitches we’ve ever come up with. We really worked on it hard and distilled it down to these eight or ten pages that really sold the story and characters.”

Urquhart went on to say that LucasArts was impressed with the pitch, and wanted to speak with the studio.

“We haven’t [talked with Disney yet]. We’re kind of waiting for the smoke to clear. But that’s one of my next big things to do. To kind of go over there and [get the ball rolling again].”

Obsidian Entertainment Wants To Make Another ‘Star Wars’ Game is a post from: The Inquisitr

Considering that Diablo III was one of the most anticipated titles of this generation, it came as no surprise in November when we heard that the game’s sales had already crossed the 10 million mark – and it’s no surprise again that it has since climbed.

In Activision Blizzard’s recent financial report to investors, the company revealed that sales of Diablo III topped 12 million worldwide by the end of 2012. Naturally, Blizzard doesn’t plan to let any of that success go to waste.

“The launch of the game back in May had a tremendous impact on Blizzard and our community,” Blizzard sovereign Mike Morhaime told investors last night. “Diablo 3 broke PC games sales records, and as of the end of the year has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.”

Morhaime went on to promise that Blizzard intends to continue to support Diablo III and its community “aggressively.” Indeed, Blizzard is continuing to roll out patches for Diablo III – patch 1.07, which adds in brawling (as it’s now called), is expected out soon.

There’s also the matter of an expansion.

In news that isn’t quite so good for Blizzard, the report revealed that World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria’s subscriber count is now 9.6 million according to internal estimates. That’s down roughly 400,000 from last count.

Overall, Activision Blizzard had a strong 2012 – the company’s best yet, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick claims.

“We are very pleased to report that Activision Blizzard delivered the best performance in its history,” Kotick said. “With better-than expected net revenues, record operating margins and record earnings, and over $1.3 billion in operating cash flow, we continue to set the industry success bar.”

‘Diablo III’ Sales Top 12 Million Worldwide is a post from: The Inquisitr

Earlier this week, developer CD Projekt RED formally announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is expected to be available on PC and “high-end” systems starting in 2014 – and it already sounds like the developer’s biggest entry yet in the fantasy RPG franchise.

In previous The Witcher titles, the environment was mostly linear in design. With The Witcher 3, CD Projekt RED will be opening up the world and expanding environments – a lot. In fact, studio head Adam Badowski claims that the world will be larger than any other in modern RPGs.

The Witcher 3 will also be the last chapter of Geralt’s story. In the announcement, Badowski said that the third game will wrap up the trilogy.

“People may ask if this is really going to be the last Witcher game. Yes, it is,” Badowski said in the announcement. “Why? Because we believe that we should end the series on a high note. Technology has progressed to where we can finally tell the story the way we want, with the visuals we want, in the world we imagined.”

Before you get too disappointed, The Witcher 3 may not be the last game after all. A report from Eurogamer Poland (thanks, PC Gamer) quoted CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski as saying that while The Witcher 3 is the end of Geralt’s story, it isn’t the end of the franchise.

Game Informer is currently running a series of features on The Witcher 3, one of which talks about the game’s story. The publication also released a video giving gamers an inside look on development which you can find below.

‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ Brings Geralt’s Story To A Close is a post from: The Inquisitr

Shelby Whitfield, a former broadcaster for the Washington Senators, died Thursday, February 5 at a rehabilitation facility in Jackson, New Jersey. Whitfield was 77.

According to a report from The Washington Post, Whitfield passed away due to complications resulting from diabetes.

Whitfield got his start as a sports broadcaster while in the Army, which he joined in 1955. After joining, he attended a school for broadcasting, and eventually became the sports director for what would eventually be known as the Armed Forces Network. Even after leaving the Army in the late 50s, Whitfield stayed on as a civilian broadcaster.

In the late 60s, Whitfield spent two years as a broadcaster for the Senators between 1969 and 1970. Shortly after, he hosted a local radio show on WWDC-AM called “Sports Roundtable” before going on to become the first sports director of AP Radio in 1974, where he stayed for seven years.

His career didn’t stop there, however. Whitfield became the sports director for ABC Radio in 1981, where he stayed until retirement in 1997. During his years with ABC, he oversaw sports coverage for many sporting events, including the Olympics.

In 1991, Whitfield co-authored a book with famed broadcaster Howard Cosell titled “What’s Wrong With Sports?” The book looked at a wide range of controversial topics, including college athletics and corruption, drugs in sports, and more.

Withfield also authored a book in 1974 called “Kiss It Goodbye,” which follows the Senators in their final years in Washington, a tumultuous period for the team.

Whitfield is survived by his wife, Lora Napierski Whitfield, two siblings, four children, and five grandchildren.

Shelby Whitfield, Former Broadcaster For The Washington Senators, Dead At 77 is a post from: The Inquisitr

On Thursday, the San Francisco Giants announced that May 3rd’s game against the Dodgers at AT&T Park will play host to “Metallica Night.”

As the name suggests, fans who attend the World Series Champs’ Friday, May 3 game against the Dodgers can expect a full night of Metallica-themed entertainment. The band will be throwing the first pitch – exactly who isn’t known – and will also be performing the National Anthem.

The Giants say that fans who pick up a “Special Event Ticket Package” for Metallica Night will receive a special edition baseball cap that shows off the Metallica and Giants logo, both in the team’s black-and-orange colors. Ticket sales for the event have already gone live.

According to the Metallica website, a portion of the ticket proceeds will be donated to the Bill Graham Foundation, a charity that provides grants to art, music, and education programs, while “also supporting social work, environmental protection, and spiritual and compassionate projects in our community.”

Here’s what the band had to say about the event:

“We’re psyched to be teaming up with the World Series champs for the first ever Metallica Night at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Friday, May 3! When the Giants take on their arch-rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers, we’ll be on hand that night to kick off the game with the National Anthem and first pitch, joining the orange and black fanatics with Metallica vibes and shenanigans throughout the evening to cheer on the team for the first home Dodger game of the season.”

[Image source: haak78 / Shutterstock.com]

‘Metallica Night’ To Be Held By San Francisco Giants In May is a post from: The Inquisitr

BioWare has made it no secret that more Mass Effect is on the way in the years ahead, but the company hasn’t provided very many details about what’s in store for the next game in the popular sci-fi franchise.

While that still hasn’t changed, we can at least rule some things out.

Previously, BioWare said that Mass Effect 3 marks the end of Commander Shepard’s trilogy. Now, BioWare Community Manager Chris Priestly has clarified that, in case you didn’t believe them the first time around, and put an end to fan speculation by confirming that the next Mass Effect will not feature Shepard.

“To call the next game Mass Effect 4 or ME4 is doing it a disservice and seems to cause a lot of confusion here, Priestly wrote on the company’s forums (via Game Informer). “We have already said that the Commander Shepard trilogy is over and that the next game will not feature him/her. That is the only detail you have on the game.”

As you may have noticed, Priestly said that fans shouldn’t necessarily expect a Mass Effect 4. Yanick Roy, the director of BioWare Montreal, offered some clarification on what Priestly meant.

“What Chris is saying is that thinking of the next Mass Effect game as Mass Effect 4 would imply a certain linearity, a straight evolution of the gameplay and story of the first three games. But because we are switching to a new engine and need to rebuild a bunch of game systems, we have an opportunity to rethink how we want these systems to be going forward instead of just inheriting them from the previous games.”

Roy also offered some insights on the story, adding, “Story-wise, the arc of the first trilogy has also been concluded, and what we will do is tell a new story set in the Mass Effect universe. That doesn’t mean that events of the first three games and the choices you made won’t get recognized, but they likely won’t be what this new story will focus on.”

What do you want out of the next Mass Effect game? A prequel? A sequel?

The Next ‘Mass Effect’ May Not Be ‘Mass Effect 4′ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Following the announcement that Rockstar Games would be pushing back the release of Grand Theft Auto V until September – much to the disappointment of investors – rumors and speculation surfaced suggesting that the reason might be related to next-gen consoles.

In an update posted earlier today on Rockstar’s website, the company shot down the rumors, calling them nothing more than conspiracy theories. The only reason for the delay, Rockstar explains, is that the developers simply wanted to take the time needed to make the game as good as possible.

“To those of you saying or seeing various conspiracy theories about there being some other ulterior motive for this delay, rest assured that they’re all nonsense – literally the only reason we’ve delayed the release is because we want the game to be as good as it needs to be,” Rockstar wrote.

Much of the speculation stems from how close Grand Theft Auto V‘s launch will be to the expected launch window of Sony or Microsoft’s next-generation consoles. Some, including analysts, figured that the delay was to bridge the gap for a multi-platform release on current and next-gen consoles.

Neither company has announced a new console, much less a release date, so this is only speculation.

Grand Theft Auto V was originally set to release around March. Despite the fact that the original intended release date isn’t that far off, Rockstar still has kept quiet about the game, with only a trickle of information and a batch of screenshots coming out in the last few months.

Fortunately, Rockstar says that gamers can expect many more details to come leading up to the September release.

‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Delay: Rockstar Addresses Rumors is a post from: The Inquisitr

Popular gaming site IGN now has a new owner.

This morning, it was announced that IGN Entertainment and its affiliates have been purchased from News Corp by J2 Global subsidiary Ziff Davis.

Neither party is saying how much the sale cost Ziff Davis, but several reports indicate that it was below the $650 million News Corp paid for, and less than the $100 million News Corp initially was looking for.

Ziff Davis is the former owner of gaming magazine EGM and the website 1UP. After experiencing a period of financial troubles, Ziff shuttered EGM and sold off 1UP to Hearst Corporation in 2009, along with the rights to the shuttered magazine.

Two years later, 1UP and the rights to EGM were sold to News Corp, and both were put under the IGN Network banner. Hearst Corporations’ other properties were included in the deal.

IGN Entertainment was put up for auction six months ago by News Corp for a rumored $100 million. Rumors began circulating recently that Ziff Davis was interested.

“This is a transformative deal for our digital media business,” said Hemi Zucker, CEO of j2 Global. “By combining two of the most storied organizations in tech, gaming and entertainment, we have created a very powerful company capable of producing and delivering content in all forms to an audience that marketers highly value.”

Ian Chambers, VP, International at IGN, had this to say:

“Joining Ziff Davis’s world-class digital media portfolio further strengthens IGN and AskMen’s growing presence in international markets. Alongside our local teams in the UK and Australia, we have developed a global network of expert publishing partners that deliver locally relevant content in 10 languages and over 40 countries. By combining our forces we will reach a greater audience of males 18-34 than ever before.”

IGN Entertainment Acquired By Ziff Davis is a post from: The Inquisitr

Legendary Pictures and Blizzard’s film adaptation of World of Warcraft will be directed by indie director Duncan Jones, according to a new report.

The last time we heard anything about the Warcraft movie was when Sam Raimi backed out of the project to work on Oz, The Great and Powerful. Now, The Hollywood Reporter says that Jones, who directed Source Code, has been selected as Raimi’s replacement.

The Hollywood Reporterwrites:

“Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing for Legendary along with Blizzard and Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Alex Gartner.”

Jones, the son of singer David Bowie, made his film-making debut with 2009′s Moon, an indie film about an astronaut on the end of a three-year stint on the moon. In 2011, Jones landed in the director’s chair for the sci-fi thriller Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

The indie director has two films under his belt, but the World of Warcraft project will be his biggest yet.

Currently, not much is known about the World of Warcraft movie; the production team is keeping details about the script a secret. We do know, at least, that it’s expected to go into production at some point this year, and will release around 2015. Reports suggest that the budget could be upwards of $100 million.

The script is being penned by Charles Leavitt, who worked on Blood Diamond and K-PAX. Blizzard storywriter Chris Metzen is also said to be attached to the movie as a co-producer.

What do you think about the World of Warcraft movie? Are you excited to see what Legendary can come up with?

‘World of Warcraft’ Movie To Be Directed By Duncan Jones is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nintendo has no plans to slash the price of the Wii U anytime soon despite lackluster sales, company president Satoru Iwata has confirmed.

In an investor briefing held yesterday following the release of Nintendo’s earnings report, Iwata said that the company will not be slashing the price of the Wii U for the foreseeable future. The reason, Iwata explained, is that the console is being sold at a loss.

“With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown,” Iwata said. “I would like to make this point absolutely clear.”

In Nintendo’s earnings report, the company said that three million Wii U consoles were sold by the end of last year, which fell below expectations from analysts. Iwata admitted that part of the problem is that Nintendo has yet to communicate the “value” of their product.

“We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated. However, given that it has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software lineup is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software lineup which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U.”

Iwata, speaking to reporters in Tokyo after the briefing, said that Nintendo is working to address that by releasing several first-party games throughout the year.

Were you hoping to see a Wii U price cut, or are you fine with its current price?

Wii U Price Cut Won’t Be Happening Anytime Soon is a post from: The Inquisitr

Last week, Visceral Games delivered sour news to PC gamers: The PC version of Dead Space 3 will be a straight port of the console version. In other words, no higher-resolution textures, no DirectX 11 support, and only the bare minimum of graphics options.

Naturally, the news set internet forums and comment sections ablaze.

Speaking with Shack News, Dead Space 3 executive producer Steve Papoutsis explained why, exactly, the PC version will more or less be the same as the console version – and the reason isn’t likely to calm any nerves.

“It’s confusing to me that this question even comes up,” Papoutsis told the site. “It’s by no means any less important to us; it gets a lot of attention. The PC is a very different platform. As developers, you want to deliver an experience that’s as similar as possible on different platforms.

“At our studio, we’ve always made console games,” he added. “The biggest thing is we want to make sure the quality of the experience is consistent across all platforms so we don’t have one userbase saying it’s better on their system.”

While Visceral isn’t adding in any PC-exclusive bells and whistles to Dead Space 3, that doesn’t mean you’ll be without any perks. Dead Space 2 allowed for better anti-aliasing and the ability to hit 60 frames per second (with capable hardware), and there’s been no indication that you’ll be without any of those in Dead Space 3.

What’s your take on this? Does Dead Space 3 need to have any PC-exclusive enhancements before you will throw down your hard-earned money, or is a straight port enough?

‘Dead Space 3′: Developer Visceral Games Defends PC Port is a post from: The Inquisitr

PlanetSide 2 got off to a pretty good start when it launched in November of last year, and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) is looking to keep that momentum going well into 2013 by introducing content on a regular basis for six straight months.

If that doesn’t sound good enough for you, Sony Online Entertainment will also be allowing you, the player, to use the PlanetSide 2 “Roadmap” to voice your opinion on what new features, fixes, and tweaks should be introduced along the way.

So how does it work? The PlanetSide 2 Roadmap currently lists off all of the new content in the pipeline for January to June, and each of the major changes has its own discussion forum. Additionally, you’re able to up-vote or down-vote any feature you want and discuss it in its own thread.

Although that feedback will be taken into account, SOE CEO John Smedley was quick to point out that it’s not being built as a “mob rules” system.

“I wanted to take the time to explain what this system is and isn’t. It’s basically a new section in our normal forums that will be called Roadmap.” Smedley explained in a post on Reddit.

“In this section we will set up topics that relate to the things in our roadmap. The purpose is to have active discussion of the entire roadmap. There is a reddit style scoring system that allows people to upvote and downvote things. That’s going to give us some rough idea of how people feel about a particular roadmap idea.”

“Does this mean we’re changing it to “the mob rules”? absolutely not. It’s just a simple tool for us to be able to gauge sentiment about a particular topic. Remember it’s still a forum thread (although with cool nested comments) and we’ll still be reading what people are actually saying.”

At some point in the future, Smedley said that the team hopes to implement a similar system for suggestions.

Are you looking forward to what’s in store for PlanetSide 2 over the next six months? What would you want to see?

‘PlanetSide 2′ Roadmap Allows Players To Vote On Upcoming Changes is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s been quite awhile since Blizzard has had anything to say about Blizzard All-Stars, formerly known as Blizzard DOTA, but don’t take that as a bad sign — Blizzard is still working on it.

That’s according to StarCraft 2 production director Chris Sigaty, who said as much in an interview with Eurogamer, in which the developer explained why Blizzard has kept so quiet about the game.

“We’re actively working on it,” he said. “That I can confirm. A lot of the stuff that’s remaining right now that we need to focus on are the systems necessary to pull off a game with a different business model than StarCraft 2.”

That business model, in case you were wondering, is free-to-play; it’s fast becoming the most popular choice for online games on the PC, and both Riot Games (League of Legends) and Valve (Dota 2) are successfully employing the business model with their own MOBA games.

“StarCraft 2 is a box. We intend to do something different with the business model in Blizzard All-Stars, something more closely resembling the other types of games in that genre, the MOBA-style games that are out there today, and being able to sell smaller amounts of things to players, the things they want.”

Originally, Blizzard was going to make Blizzard All-Stars a custom game for StarCraft 2, meaning you’d need a copy of that to play it. However, it seems the developer has since had a change of heart.

“We’ll go into more details about that in the future but I suspect you will not have to have StarCraft 2 to play [Blizzard All-Stars],” he explained. “We’re definitely emphasising it as its own product in the future.”

‘Blizzard All-Stars’ Still In The Works, Blizzard Says is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’re finding that your weapon isn’t quite doing the job when Dead Space 3 releases next month, EA is including a feature that allows gamers to spend real-world cash in exchange for resources, which can then be spent on bigger and better weapons.

The news comes from Eurogamer, who spotted the “feature” when checking out Dead Space 3 at a press event. The site reports that, if you attempt to craft something that you don’t have the resources for, the game will ask if you want to drop real-world cash.

Of course, you don’t have to pay any money to play Dead Space 3 (apart from the game itself); you can still collect resources through other means including simply finding them or employing the use of scavenging robots.

What you can’t do, however, is buy good weapons right off. When asked whether or not you could buy resources to gain an advantage early on, Dead Space 3 associate producer Yara Khoury gave a firm “no!”

“There are a lot of weapon parts that are only available to buy later in the game. Unless you’re playing through it again [on New Game Plus].”

The reception of the feature will likely be a mixed bag, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this and it’s not likely to be the last. The free-to-play model has been growing in popularity in the PC market over the past several years, and console firms have been eager to test the micro-transaction waters in full price games.

Are you bothered that Dead Space 3 will have micro-transactions, or are you glad to see it?

‘Dead Space 3′ To Feature Micro-Transactions is a post from: The Inquisitr