Monat: August 2019

  • Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Willkommen bei Next Week on Xbox. Wie immer stellen wir Dir alle neuen Spiele vor, die schon bald für Xbox One erhältlich sind! In der kommenden Woche erscheinen zahlreiche Spiele für Deine Lieblingskonsole – hier siehst Du, welche neuen Games Dich diese Woche erwarten. Klick Dich einfach durch die Spiel-Details, um mehr zu möglichen Vorbestellungen zu erfahren (Änderungen vorbehalten).

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Ancestors Legacy Spiele

    August 13, 2019

    Xbox One X Enhanced – Inspiriert von der mittelalterlichen Geschichte Europas erweckst Du vier verschiedene Nationen und ihre meist durch Krieg ausgelösten Konflikte zum Leben. In Ancestors Legacy baust Du Deine eigene Siedlung auf, erlebst hautnahe Schlachten und plünderst feindliche Dörfer auf Deinem Weg zur Macht.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Stellaris: Utopia Spiele

    August 13, 2019

    Mit Utopia erlebst Du die erste große Erweiterung des Strategie-Titels Stellaris und tauchst beim Aufbau Deines eigenen interstellaren Imperiums in ein packendes Science-Fiction-Universum ein. Nutze die Werkzeuge der neuen Erweiterung und mache Dein Volk glücklich. Denn nur eine zufriedene Spezies kann gegen die Gefahren bestehen, die Du bei der Erkundung unendlicher Galaxien antreffen wirst. Behaupte Dich in den Kämpfen um die Vorherrschaft im Universum und schaffe ein intergalaktisches Utopia.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Exception Spiele

    August 13, 2019

    Als das Computersystem einer älteren Dame von einem Virus übernommen wird, erhältst Du die Kontrolle über ein einfaches Softwareprogramm, das in eine Kampfmaschine transformiert wurde. Erobere das System und verwandle Deinen Charakter in ein Instrument der Vergeltung. Mit Exception erlebst Du einen neuartigen Plattformer, in dem Du zweidimensionale Kämpfe in einer dreidimensionalen, von einem totalitären Virus beherrschten Welt austrägst.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: PC Building Simulator Spiele

    August 13, 2019

    Xbox Play Anywhere – Im PC Building Simulator baust Du ein Computer-Reparaturunternehmen auf und entwickelst es sukzessive weiter. Mit realitätsnah lizenzierten Komponenten und einer umfassenden Hard- und Softwaresimulation planst Du den ultimativen PC und erweckst ihn zum Leben.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Vasara Collection Spiele

    August 14, 2019

    In Vasara Collection kommen die renommierten japanischen Arcade-Shoot’em-Ups Vasara und Vasara 2 in einem einzigen Paket auf die Xbox One. In diesen Arcade-Klassikern, die in einer alternativen Zeitlinie im feudalen Japan stattfinden, erlebst Du einen abgedrehten Mix aus Science Fiction und Geschichte. Nutze futuristische Waffen und zerstöre auf fliegenden Motorrädern Deine Feinde in rasanten Schlachten.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Slay the Spire Spiele

    August 14, 2019

    Xbox Game Pass – In Slay the Spire baust Du Dein einzigartiges Kartendeck, begegnest bizarren Kreaturen, entdeckst Relikte von unermesslicher Macht und kämpfst Dich in packenden Duellen an die Spitze des Turms!

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Gravity Duck Spiele

    August 14, 2019

    Gänse legen bekanntlich goldene Eier. Nur leider bist Du keine Gans sondern eine gewöhnliche Ente, die super reich werden will. Auf der Suche nach den wertvollen Eiern durchquerst Du in Gravity Duck flatternd und hüpfend über 140 knifflige Level, in denen die Regeln der Schwerkraft nicht zu gelten scheinen.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Edna and Harvey: Harvey's new Eyes Spiele

    August 14, 2019

    Als ihre beste Freundin Edna unter mysteriösen Umständen verschwindet muss Lilli über sich selbst hinauswachsen und eine schwierige Reise auf sich nehmen, um nicht nur ihre Freundin zurückzubekommen, sondern auch noch ihre tiefsten Ängste zu überwinden. Edna and Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes ist ein klassisches Point and Click-Adventure, das Dich auf eine Reise in das fantasievolle Unterbewusstsein eines Mädchens schickt.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Tactics V: Obsidian Brigade Spiele

    August 15, 2019

    Tactics V: Obsidian Brigade ist ein rundenbasiertes Videospiel im Retro-Stil als Hommage an taktische RPGs aus den 1990er-Jahren. In dieser riesigen Welt im 2D-Look erlebst Du einzigartige Fantasy und jede Menge mysteriöse Magie, die Du erforschst und für Deine Zwecke nutzt.

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 13. bis 16. August: Aritana and the Twin Masks Spiele

    August 16, 2019

    In diesem Abenteuer beweist Du Deinen Wert und enthüllst alle Geheimnisse des mysteriösen Tempels von YpY. Du begleitest Aritana, die sich mit verzaubertem Pfeil und Bogen auf eine Reise begibt. In Aritana and the Twin Mask erkundest Du eine fantastische Welt auf Grundlage der brasilianischen Mythologie und begibst Dich auf die gefährliche Suche nach dem heilenden Baum des Lebens während Dich Geister der Vergangenheit verfolgen.

    Website: LINK

  • Gears 5 Has Gone Gold – Celebrate with our Full Achievement List

    Gears 5 Has Gone Gold – Celebrate with our Full Achievement List

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    Today, The Coalition and Xbox are proud to announce that Gears 5 has gone gold – a major moment ahead of its launch next month. This is significant for us as game creators, as it means the game disc has been released to manufacturing so that everyone can enjoy and play on September 6 through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Gears 5 Ultimate Edition.

    “From all of us at The Coalition, we couldn’t be more excited to share Gears 5 with the world. I want thank the team here who has worked so hard for our fans, and we all hope you are all as excited as we are to play Gears 5,” said Rod Fergusson, Studio Head at The Coalition. “This is furthest we have ever taken the franchise, living our studio mantra of ‘if you want to go far go together’.”

    With five ways to play Gears 5, this is easily the biggest entry in the Gears of War franchise. Whether players choose to experience the Campaign, compete in Versus, outlast the Swarm in Horde or outrun them in Escape or build the perfect map – there is truly something for everyone.

    “I’m very proud of what the team at The Coalition has achieved,” said Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios. “Not only is it the biggest Gears ever, it’s also the most technically refined, with 4K HDR gameplay at 60 frames per second on Xbox One X, cross-play across all modes on Xbox and Windows 10 and Steam, and updated accessibility features such as Adaptive Controller support. Together with day-and-date availability on Xbox Game Pass, we look forward to welcoming more players into the Gears universe than ever.”

    Matt, along with leaders from Xbox Game Studios, joined Rod and the team to celebrate together.

    Our next stop is Germany, where Gears 5 will be taking over gamescom with the reveal of the all-new Horde mode on Inside Xbox on Monday, August 19 at 5:00 p.m. CEST (8:00 a.m. PDT) followed shortly thereafter by a world premiere of the story trailer for Gears 5 campaign on gamescom: Opening Night Live at 8 p.m. CEST (11 a.m. PDT).

    Adding to the excitement for the fans, we’re also unveiling the full achievement list for Gears 5. You’ll be able to add to your Gamerscore across 71 achievements spanning Campaign, Escape, Versus, Horde, Map Builder and more. Whether defeating 50 waves in Horde or completing an Escape Hive without firing a single shot, dedicated players will have challenges of all types to tackle and overcome in Gears 5 while racking up another 1,000 points. Lancers up to those looking to complete Seriously 5.0.

    You can find the full achievement list for Gears 5 below, categorized by their corresponding in-game mode. You might even find some hints and secrets regarding the final experience. All spoiler free, of course – we promise!

    Thank you again for your support and for following along on this journey with us! Be sure to visit www.gears5.com and follow @GearsofWar on Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with the latest on Gears 5 ahead of launch on September 10.

    Campaign Achievements

    Name Description Gamerscore
    My Body Is Ready Complete Boot Camp 5
    It Takes Three To Make A Thing Go Right Complete an Act of Campaign in 3 player co-op 10
    Jack of One Trade Complete an Act of the Campaign as playable Jack (any difficulty) 5
    I Was Born In A Crossfire Hurricane Use Jack’s Flash ability to stun 3 enemies at once in Campaign 10
    Back Atcha Get a kill with ricochet bullets using Jack’s Barrier Ability 10
    Back On Your Feet, Soldier Use Jack’s Stim upgraded ability to revive a DBNO friendly in Campaign 10
    Shock and Awe Use Jack’s Shock Trap ability to shock 6 enemies at once in Campaign 10
    Seraninja Use Jack’s Cloak ability to cloak and execute 3 enemies before de-cloaking in Campaign 10
    An Enemy Among Us Get a kill with a Hijacked Pouncer, Warden, Stump and Elite Hunter in Campaign 15
    Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie Use Jack’s Fetch ability to acquire each Heavy Weapon in Campaign 10
    Jack of All Trades Acquire all of Jack’s Ultimate upgrades in Campaign 25
    JACKed Up! Fully upgrade Jack’s Abilities and Passives in Campaign 25
    Relic Hunter Equip 3 Relic Weapons at one time in Campaign 10
    Relics of the Past Kill an enemy with every Relic Weapon in Campaign 20
    Not There To Buy A Timeshare Unlock during Act 1 of the Campaign 10
    And… He’s All Yours Unlock during Act 1 of the Campaign 10
    Now I Gotta Get Up Again Unlock during Act 1 of the Campaign 10
    A Mouthful of Boom Unlock during Act 1 of the Campaign 10
    It’s Time We Fight Them Together Unlock during Act 2 of the Campaign 10
    Jameson Shipping Depot Unlock during Act 2 of the Campaign 10
    That Old COG Technology Unlock during Act 2 of the Campaign 10
    Let’s Get You Some Answers Unlock during Act 2 of the Campaign 10
    We Need The Old Plan Unlock during Act 2 of the Campaign 10
    Safe and Sound Unlock during Act 3 of the Campaign 10
    Cutting It Close Unlock during Act 3 of the Campaign 10
    Throw A Switch, See What Happens Unlock during Act 3 of the Campaign 10
    Let’s Keep Pissin It Off! Unlock during Act 3 of the Campaign 10
    Then We Watch Each Other’s Backs Unlock during Act 4 of the Campaign 10
    You Know I Ain’t Going Out Like That Unlock during Act 4 of the Campaign 10
    Discovered the True Threat To Sera Complete all Acts of the Campaign (Any Difficulty) 20
    All Aboard The Crazy Train! Complete all Acts of the Campaign on Insane 25
    It’s Not Hoarding If Your Stuff Is Cool Collect all Campaign Collectibles 15
    Pennies from Heaven Scavenge supplies from all fallen Condors in Act 2 and 3 10

     

    Escape and Map Builder Achievements

    Name Description Gamerscore
    Pass The Soap Pass through a refuge shower with 3 Hivebusters in the same shower cubicle 5
    Master Of My Domain Complete an Escape Hive on each difficulty 25
    Who You Gonna Call? Hivebusters! Complete 5 Escape Hives as each one of Mac, Lahni and Keegan 10
    The Three Musketeers Inflict 9000 damage in Escape while 3 Ultimate Abilities are active 15
    On The Razor’s Edge Get 100 kills while inside Hivebuster Venom 10
    Brought A Knife To A Gun Fight Complete an Escape Hive without firing a shot on Master Difficulty 25
    Who’s Your Escape Main? Reach Character Level 15 with a launch Escape Character 10
    Master Escape Artist Reach Character Level 15 with Mac, Lahni and Keegan 20
    I Made It All By Myself Create and publish an Escape Hive 10
    Homegrown Hive Complete a Featured community build Escape Hive 10

     

    Horde Achievements

    Name Description Gamerscore
    Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Beat 50 Consecutive Waves of Horde (any difficulty) 25
    Who’s Your Horde Main? Reach Character Level 15 with a launch Horde Character 10
    Compulsive Horder Reach Character Level 15 with Kait, JD, Del, Marcus, Fahz and Jack 20
    And I’ll Form The Head! Kill a Boss in Horde while all 5 players have active Ultimate Abilities 10
    Reduce, Reuse, Recycle As Jack, convert one of each weapon to Power using the Forge in Horde 20
    Withdrawal Symptoms As a team, collect Power from all 4 Power Taps within one wave of Horde 20
    Perky’s Revenge Get a kill with 3 Perks active in Horde 10

     

    Versus Achievements

    Name Description Gamerscore
    Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship Play a match of Arcade 5
    One Sec, I’ll Be Right Back Switch characters in an Arcade match and kill an opponent who previously killed you 10
    Where’s My Product Endorsement Deal? Win 5 matches of Arcade 10
    My Place In The Machine Complete placement matches for a Ranked Playlist 5
    Grind Season Win a Ranked Match in each week of a Ranked Season 25

     

    Progression and Other Achievements

    Name Description Gamerscore
    Sire, Interrupted Kill a Sire while it’s kidnapping a teammate (any mode) 5
    A Good Plan, Violently Executed Execute 100 Rejects (any mode) 15
    You’ve Got A Friend In Me Make a new Ally in Gears Allies 5
    Did We Just Become Best Friends? Reach Level 5 with an ally in Gears Allies 10
    BFFs Complete a Versus match with a team of four Level 5 Gears Allies 15
    Once More From The Top Re-Up! 20
    One, Two, Three Sorties Complete all 3 Objectives for Tour of Duty in a day 5
    Corporal Punishment Reach the rank of Corporal in a Tour of Duty 10
    Sergeant at Arms Reach the rank of Sergeant in a Tour of Duty 15
    LOOTenant Reach the rank of Lieutenant in a Tour of Duty 20
    I’m The Captain Now Reach the rank of Captain in a Tour of Duty 25
    Generally Awesome Reach the rank of General in a Tour of Duty 50
    Seriously 5.0 – Chapter 1 Complete Insane Campaign, Master Horde & Escape Launch Maps & Characters, Get 20 Re-Ups and reach General in a Tour of Duty 100

     

    Gears 5 is available fully localized (spoken language) in English, Mexican Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Korean and Traditional Chinese. In addition, it is localized (menus, subtitles) in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Polish, Russian and Turkish.

    Gears 5 will release on September 10 for Xbox One, Windows 10 PC and Xbox Game Pass. Early access starts on September 6 for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members and Gears 5 Ultimate Edition purchasers. Pre-order details can be found on the Microsoft Store.

    See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

    Related:
    Next Week on Xbox: New Games for August 13 to August 16
    The Story Behind Duo’s Family Friendly Party Game: Must Dash Amigos
    A Whole New Saga of Survival in Ark: Genesis on Xbox One

    Website: LINK

  • Next Week on Xbox: New Games for August 13 to August 16

    Next Week on Xbox: New Games for August 13 to August 16

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One, read on below and click on each of the game profiles for pre-order details (dates are subject to change).

    See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

    Related:
    Gears 5 Has Gone Gold – Celebrate with our Full Achievement List
    The Story Behind Duo’s Family Friendly Party Game: Must Dash Amigos
    A Whole New Saga of Survival in Ark: Genesis on Xbox One

    Website: LINK

  • Use PlayStation Buzz! controllers with a Raspberry Pi

    Use PlayStation Buzz! controllers with a Raspberry Pi

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Buzz! was a favourite amongst my university housemates and me. With popular culture questions asked by an animated Jason Donovan, answered using real-life quiz controllers with a big red button, what’s not to like?

    But, as with most of the tech available in the early 2000s, my Buzz! controllers now sit in a box somewhere, dusty and forgotten.

    That’s why it is so goshdarn delightful to see PiMyLifeUp breathe new life into these awesome-looking games controllers.

    Bringing Buzz! back

    The tutorial uses the hidapi library to communicate with the controllers, allowing them to control functions through the Raspberry Pi, and the Raspberry Pi to control the LED within the big red button.

    By the end of this tutorial, you will have learned how to read information about all your USB devices, learned how to read data that the devices are sending back and also how to write a library that will act as a simple wrapper to dealing with the device.

    Aside from the Buzz! controllers, available on eBay or similar for a few pounds, you only need a Raspberry Pi and its essential peripherals to get started, as the controllers connect directly via USB — thanks, Buzz!

    PiMyLifeUp’s tutorial is wonderfully detailed, explaining the hows and whys of the lines of code needed to turn your old Buzz! controllers into a quiz game written in Python that uses the coloured buttons to answer multiple-choice questions.

    Guitar Hero, dance mats, Donkey Kong Bongos — what other gaming peripherals would you like to bring back to life?

    Website: LINK

  • The Story Behind Duo’s Family Friendly Party Game: Must Dash Amigos

    The Story Behind Duo’s Family Friendly Party Game: Must Dash Amigos

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    “We should make a game together” – that’s what myself and Ant would say to each other on an almost weekly basis when we met in 2011, but we never did. In 2015 we finally bit the bullet, entering a game jam with no real coding skills between us, armed with a silly idea and a lot of passion. This is how Must Dash Amigos – a loco-multiplayer battle racer packed with puns and piñatas – was born! This article is a small insight into our game development journey.

    Ant: Hey! I’m Ant, co-founder of miniBeast Games and the Artist for Must Dash Amigos.

    Ben: And as you could have probably guessed from the intro I’m Ben, the other half of miniBeast Games, and programmer for the title.

    Must Dash AmigosMust Dash Amigos

    Ant: We met each other in 2011 whilst working in the RuneScape Quality Assurance team at Jagex. As Ben said, we would spend a lot of time talking about ideas and pitching games to each other, but we would never actually take the initiative to start building anything.

    Ben: I think that was mostly down to the fact that neither of us could code, and we were quite intimidated by the thought of it. I left Jagex in 2014 to work briefly on Forza Horizon 2 at Microsoft, but returned in March 2015. It was in October that year that Jagex decided to hold their first game jam for staff, which would run for two days – Thursday and Friday – but you could use the weekend as well if you wanted to. This was when me and Ant decided to actually give this whole “let’s make a game” idea a go, and we entered as a two-man team.

    Ant: Being 80s kids we both grew up with console gaming and the era of local multiplayer. I would spend countless hours battling against my brother and cousins all in the same room hurling abuse at each other. We wanted to keep that local multiplayer flame alight because that’s the type of game we were craving ourselves on current gen consoles. We wanted it to be as simple and intuitive as possible with no complex control systems, a true pick up and play experience.

    Must Dash AmigosMust Dash Amigos

    Ben: For sure. Our main pillars for the game were definitely; keep the controls simple, get people playing and having fun as quickly as possible, and ensure it felt vibrant and colourful.

    Ant: The feel of the game was going to have a lot to do with the art style, so I was naturally excited to get started on that. I wanted to reflect the fun vibrant party feel we envisioned for the gameplay and was almost immediately drawn towards a Mexican fiesta. Explosions of colour from popping piñatas, interesting & vibrant surroundings, and the upbeat feel-good music of a Mariachi band just felt perfect for the title.

    Ben: We threw ourselves fully into the game jam for four days straight, I think we even slept in the office a couple of times! By Monday we had a prototype, and were really surprised at how well it went down with people. It was generally described as a feel-good party game with a lot of charm, exactly what we had aimed to achieve. We were extremely inspired by this and we knew we wanted to finish the game to the vision we originally had. We asked Jagex if we could do just that and they kindly agreed to release the IP to us.

    Must Dash AmigosMust Dash Amigos

    Ant: Fast forward four years and many, many hours of development and we have released the game we created on Xbox One! I really can’t explain just how excited I am to be saying that!

    Ben: I know, it’s incredible! I never imagined I would be able to do something like this, so I’m extremely proud. It’s amazing to me that something I’ve created can bring some laughter and joy to other people’s lives, I feel honoured to be able to do that. With regards to learning how to code, I wish I had broken through that intimidation barrier a lot sooner. My advice to anyone in a similar position; don’t be afraid to not “get it” straight away. Follow tutorials, copy and paste other people’s code, modify bits of it and see the effect of your tinkering. Things not working and things breaking are all part of the journey, you will learn from your mistakes!

    Ant: And for those of you that give Must Dash Amigos a try, my insider top tip; don’t go spamming the “X” button to use items as soon as you get them! We threw in a booby trap called the “Bogey Bomb” to discourage exactly that. If you don’t discard it before the fuse runs down or you accidentally use it, it explodes causing you to slow down and lose momentum!

    Must Dash Amigos is available now for Xbox One on the Microsoft Store

    See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

    Related:
    A Whole New Saga of Survival in Ark: Genesis on Xbox One
    Xbox Live Gold Free Play Days: Vigor
    Children of Morta: Designing a Game with a Family at its Core

    Website: LINK

  • FIFA 20 Gameplay and Volta Football: Your Questions Answered

    FIFA 20 Gameplay and Volta Football: Your Questions Answered

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    Hello, PlayStation fans! A few weeks ago, we gave you the opportunity to ask your burning questions about EA Sports FIFA 20 and its shiny new game mode: Volta Football. We sat down with Jeff Antwi, Producer for FIFA 20 on Volta, and Shaun Pejic, Gameplay Producer, to ask them some of your questions and more. Read on to find out the details!

    FIFA 20FIFA 20

    Volta Football

    Q: What the thought process was behind Volta Football? Why bring back street football?
    JA: We’re always looking for community feedback. And one of the most requested features or modes was the ability to play street football — and when would we be bringing it back to FIFA.

    It’s something we have been working on for quite some time. And we are really excited to be able to unveil Volta Football this year.

    Q: What makes Volta Football unique and interesting?
    JA: In general, the newness of it, and the depth of the mode. The fact that it’s built on the foundation of a great gameplay engine. It’s a mode that is accessible to casual players… and at the same time, it has all the depth that FIFA veteran players will expect.

    So, we are really excited about the totality and the massive size of the mode. It’s not a little thing. It’s a big part of the game.

    Q: Did FIFA Street influence the development of Volta Football? (via Tom Clancy’s da Silva)
    JA: I should clarify [this] is not FIFA Street, it’s street football. That’s a key difference. It’s based on authenticity and being culturally relevant, making sure that we are presenting an experience that is fun and authentic.

    We were influenced by actual street football legends, we traveled the world, we went to Rio, Amsterdam, London, and all over. We were so inspired by the legends we spoke to, we tried to incorporate them into the experience as well.

    We were also inspired by real footballers that grew up playing street football… One of the people we spoke to was Ed van Gills, who in Amsterdam is considered the godfather of street football. He provided us with a lot of insight on what street football is all about and the things we should be looking to do in terms of how to design Volta Football. So, thanks to that influence we were able to develop the mode and a number of features around it.

    Q: Is there a big difference between the skills you need for Volta Football as opposed to a regular FIFA match?
    JA: In Volta it’s a smaller pitch, you have different elements to deal with, including the wall height, different number of players, and so forth. In terms of navigating the space it’s going to feel different, not to mention the ball is actually different… [and] behaves in a slightly different way because it’s more of a futsal ball which is heavier.

    FIFA 20FIFA 20

    Q: Is the gameplay in Volta Football closer to futsal than to Stadium football?
    JA: Yes, I would say that’s pretty accurate. And what’s really cool is that we actually have futsal as a separate experience within Volta, such as 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, keepers, no keepers and then we have futsal with the rules that come with it. So, it’s penalty kicks, free kicks, and that experience is probably closer to 11v11 gameplay in FIFA.

    But in general, futsal is kind of the base of all of it in terms of how the players are moving around, quick passing, the pace of it being really back and forth and fun. And then when you add walls there is constant fun and action.

    Q: Will Volta Football include a Career Mode and Online Mode? (via @Soulrocketzero)
    JA: With Volta, [we] developed a Volta Tour Mode which is a PvE experience. It’s an offline experience where you are playing against user-generated squads, and the world is populated by everybody who’s playing the game. So, you are competing against everyone else in the community.

    And then we have a PvP experience which is similar to Seasons. You’re playing, you’re getting promoted, you’re facing allocation, you’re playing through up to 10 divisions.

    And that’s what we have in the online experience [for Volta] at kick-off. But we also have some other modes we will get to later…

    Q: Will all the teams be available in Volta? (via Armando Toledo Sepúlveda)
    JA: All of the licensed teams and licensed players that we have access to [for FIFA 20] are available in our kick-off experience, so it’s nice because you can be playing 3v3, 4v4, 5v5 in all the environments that are available to you and you will also be able to bring your favorite team and player into an environment where you wouldn’t normally see them.

    Q: For Volta, will you be able to play mixed teams, such as men vs women, using your personalized characters?
    JA: Yeah, that’s one of the massive innovations for us. One of the things we are really excited about is being able to have male and female players on the teams, playing in the same pitch at the same time. For example, if you create a character in your likeness and your friend creates a character in their likeness, you can play on the same team at the same time [or] compete against each other. That’s one of the biggest innovations for us, Volta as a mode being diverse and fully inclusive as well.

    GAMETITLEGAMETITLE

    FIFA 20

    Q: At a broader level, what are the biggest gameplay improvements planned for FIFA 20?
    SP: The biggest foundation for the gameplay improvements is that we listened to all the community feedback. We brought in a lot of people, professional FIFA players as well as game changers and casual players. So, listening to all of this feedback has produced a set of features for FIFA 20 that addresses a lot of the feedback that we’ve been getting.

    Q: Was there a specific piece of fan feedback that really resonated with you guys for FIFA 20?
    SP: Yes, there are quite a few actually. AI defending… we wanted to bring back manual defending a little bit. The feedback was that the AI players did too much work for you in FIFA 19, they were helping you out too much. So, we worked a lot on the AI to kind of slow the game down if you want to play that way and give you more time. It incorporates more manual defending so it’s up to the defender user to use their skill to try and counter that aspect of the game.

    JA: And on the flip side of that, the work that was done in straight dribbling to create more dynamic one-on-one situations. Volta also benefited from that work because it’s a shared engine.

    Q: Are you planning any additions to in-game tactics?
    SP: We’re adding extra player instructions in FIFA 20, so you’ll have more options for your team. [For example], your defensive midfielder has the option to drop into the center-back position. And then, the center-backs go wide — so now he can be that pivot guy and try to play diagonal balls. That’s just one I can tell you about, but we have more new tactics this year.

    I can also speak to a few other gameplay features we haven’t touched upon yet, like how free kicks and penalty kicks are completely new compared to FIFA 19. So, the new approach this year is actually based off of Lionel Messi. We watched videos of him having this accuracy with the ball where he can spin it any way he wants.

    Now, you can press shoot and there is a different aiming mechanic. With the right stick, you can adjust the spin you would like to add — top spin, side spin, or you can even try to get the knuckleball effect for free kicks.

    [We also now] have the ability to add the timing shot mechanic to free kicks and penalty kicks too. So, I think that’s a really cool new feature that gives more depth to the gameplay.

    Q: Will FIFA 20 appeal to newcomers and veterans alike?
    JA: Absolutely! As an example… skill moves haven’t necessarily been the easiest thing. So, we wanted to simplify that.

    We created the simplified Skill move mechanic, which is by holding [L2 and R2] in the controller you gain access to a whole suit of skill moves and it’s just based on the direction that the player is moving. And if you don’t want to do that, we have all of the right stick skill moves that we’ve had traditionally in FIFA.

    And we added a R3 mechanic in which by pressing that button you lift your ball into the air and that’s what we call simplified flick-ups, there are all kinds of skillful things that you can do with that mechanic as well.

    FIFA 20 is out worldwide on September 27, 2019.

    Website: LINK

  • August 8th : New Preview Alpha Ring 1908 Update (1908.190807-1720)

    August 8th : New Preview Alpha Ring 1908 Update (1908.190807-1720)

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Starting at 6:00p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest 1908 Xbox One system update (Build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6065.190807-1720).

     

    DETAILS:

    • OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6065.190807-1720
    • Available: 6:00 PM 8/8/19
    • Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM 8/9/19

     

    Build Notes:

    A new version of controller firmware has been released for certain controller models.  Users may be prompted to update the controller automatically when it is connected to the console. You can also go to Settings>Kinect & devices>Devices & Accessories with the controller connected, then select the ellipsis button to see if a firmware update is available.

     

    Fixes:

     

    My Games & Apps

    • Fixed an issue where “Pre-Ordered” tag for applicable games would not be displayed in collection.

     

    Known Issues:

     

    Notifications/Alerts

    • Some users have reported that when the content does not load when they attempt to open a new Message or Notification/Alert that appears on the dashboard or in the Guide.
      • Note: If you encounter this issue, be sure to indicate whether it was a Message or a Notification/Alert that was not loading content in your feedback description.

    Audio

    • Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
      • Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.

    Profile Color

    • Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

    See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

    Related:
    August 8th : New Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring 1910 Update (1910.190806-1945)
    August 8th : New Preview Beta, Delta & Omega Ring 1908 Update (1908.190806-1945)
    August 7th : New Preview Alpha Ring 1908 Update (1908.190806-1945)

    Website: LINK

  • A Whole New Saga of Survival in Ark: Genesis on Xbox One

    A Whole New Saga of Survival in Ark: Genesis on Xbox One

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    One of the most frequent questions I am asked is, “What’s next for Ark?” Approaching five years in development, Ark has grown far more than we had ever imagined, and it is clear the appeal of big, crazy new worlds filled with dinosaurs and fantastical creatures to tame and ride with your friends never really dies.

    Thanks to Ark’s passionate community and a love for new content that fits its mold, what were once straightforward plans have become so much more. Through in-game events, free DLC maps, and continued game updates, we’re also polishing, addressing player feedback and fixing issues to make it a better game for everyone.

    Ark: GenesisArk: Genesis

    Ark: Extinction was supposed to be the end of premium content for a while, but we underestimated the community’s Jurassic appetite. Shortly after Extinction’s launch, it became clear that the original three-part Season Pass was cutting into the stories and adventures we wanted to do.

    Ark: Genesis is a whole new chapter in the saga that fits in nicely with the other expansions and builds on all the lore we have already established (make sure to brush up on your lore recap threads). Genesis introduces more story and lore-based gameplay moments than ever before, such as all-new multiplayer mission-based game mechanics and Ark’s first interactive story-based character, your ever-helpful and perky AI companion named HLN-A.

    Ark: GenesisArk: Genesis

    Available today for Genesis Season Pass owners, HLN-A is a little buddy bot that actually follows you throughout the current world of Ark, speaking and reacting to your actions, maybe even revealing some enticing Genesis-related info leading up to the launch of part one later this year! HLN-A will eventually have a full voiceover and will help guide and motivate you to accomplish goals and missions in Genesis Part 1 and Part 2.

    With every Ark expansion, we aimed to push the boundaries of what we had done before from both a technical and design perspective, and you can be excited that Genesis will be no different. Part 1 and Part 2 will both include entirely new maps to explore with biomes players have really been looking forward to seeing, all made in-house by the Studio Wildcard development team.

    Ark: GenesisArk: Genesis

    Of course, it wouldn’t be an Ark expansion without more creatures! We’ll be adding in shapeshifters, fire-shooting lava lizards, and island-sized turtles just to name a few! New items and structures across all gameplay tiers will also help to mix things up from what we’ve seen in the past, including some quality-of-life items players will love.

    We’re forever grateful for our community which help us grow, shape, and push the Ark franchise to new heights! So, what’s next? Today I’m excited to finally be able to say it’s more of all the awesome stuff that drew you in and convinced you to ride a T-rex naked in the rain on this crazy journey with us. More maps to explore, memories to create, structures to build, creatures to master, and mysteries to unravel.

    Oh, and not Ark 2. Yet.

    See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

    Related:
    Xbox Live Gold Free Play Days: Vigor
    Children of Morta: Designing a Game with a Family at its Core
    Build Extraordinary Empires Today in Age of Wonders: Planetfall on Xbox One

    Website: LINK

  • An Australian-style pedestrian traffic signal

    An Australian-style pedestrian traffic signal

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    An Australian-style pedestrian traffic signal

    Arduino Team — August 8th, 2019

    If you have ever thought what is missing in your life is a pedestrian traffic light, be sure to check out Ronald Diaz’s recent build.

    The project uses a pair of lights that Diaz had in storage for the past decade, to which he’s finally added an Arduino controller that takes care of the walk/stop sequence.

    The device is initiated by a pushbutton, which then cycles between a red light that implores pedestrians to wait, to a green signal that tells people to go, to a flashing red light and back to solid red. A piezo speaker was also included, which plays sounds based around actual Australian tones depending on the light state.

    Code can be found over on GitHub, and you can see it demonstrated in the video below.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf-1cvpUQFY?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]

    You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    Website: LINK

  • FIFA 20-Gameplay und VOLTA FOOTBALL: Antworten auf eure Fragen

    FIFA 20-Gameplay und VOLTA FOOTBALL: Antworten auf eure Fragen

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Laura Townsend

    Hallo, PlayStation-Fans! Vor einigen Wochen gaben wir euch die Gelegenheit, eure dringlichsten Fragen zu EA SPORTS FIFA 20 und dem funkelnagelneuen Modus VOLTA FOOTBALL zu stellen. Wir haben uns mit Jeff Antwi, dem VOLTA-Producer bei FIFA 20, und Gameplay Producer Shaun Pejic unterhalten, um ihnen eure Fragen zu stellen und mehr von ihnen zu erfahren. Lest weiter, um alle Infos zu erhalten!

    VOLTA FOOTBALL

    F: Welche Überlegungen stecken hinter VOLTA FOOTBALL? Warum feiert der Straßenfußball sein Comeback?
    JA: Wir schauen uns natürlich immer das Feedback der Community an. Und einer der häufigsten Wünsche für künftige Features oder Modi war die Möglichkeit, Straßenfußball zu spielen. Wir wurden immer wieder gefragt, wann wir das wieder in FIFA einbauen würden.

    Wir hatten bereits seit einiger Zeit an der Erfüllung dieses Wunsches gearbeitet. Und es freut uns enorm, euch dieses Jahr VOLTA FOOTBALL vorstellen zu können.

    F: Was macht VOLTA FOOTBALL so einzigartig und interessant?
    JA: Die Tatsache, dass VOLTA FOOTBALL komplett neu und außerordentlich umfangreich ist. Und auch, dass VOLTA FOOTBALL auf einer fantastischen Gameplay-Engine basiert. Der Modus eignet sich perfekt für alle Casual-Gamer, hat aber zugleich auch die Spieltiefe, die sich FIFA-Routiniers erhoffen.

    Wir sind einfach begeistert, wie umfangreich und wie groß dieser Modus ist. Klein ist dieser Modus ganz bestimmt nicht. Er ist ein wichtiger Teil des Spiels.

    GameTitle on PS4

    F: Hat FIFA Street die Entwicklung von VOLTA FOOTBALL beeinflusst? (Frage von Tom Clancys da Silva)
    JA: Zunächst sollte ich klarstellen, dass es sich bei VOLTA FOOTBALL nicht um FIFA Street handelt, sondern um Straßenfußball. Das ist ein entscheidender Unterschied. VOLTA FOOTBALL basiert auf Authentizität und kultureller Relevanz. Wir wollten sicherstellen, dass das Spielerlebnis unterhaltsam und authentisch ist.

    Beeinflusst wurden wir dabei von realen Legenden des Straßenfußballs. Wir sind für die Entwicklung quer durch die Welt gereist, beispielsweise nach Rio, nach Amsterdam oder nach London. Da uns die Gespräche mit den Legenden dermaßen inspirierten, haben wir versucht, sie auch ins Spiel zu integrieren.

    Und natürlich haben uns auch einige reale Fußballer inspiriert, die mit Straßenfußball aufgewachsen sind. Zum Beispiel haben wir uns mit Ed van Gils unterhalten, der in Amsterdam als der Erfinder des Straßenfußballs gilt. Er hat uns viel darüber erzählt, worum es beim Straßenfußball geht, und uns erklärt, worauf wir beim Design von VOLTA FOOTBALL achten sollten. Dank dieser Einflüsse konnten wir dann den Modus und zahlreiche damit in Verbindung stehende Features erschaffen.

    GameTitle on PS4

    F: Unterscheiden sich die Skills, die man für VOLTA FOOTBALL braucht, stark von den Skills, die man für eine normale FIFA-Partie braucht?
    JA: In VOLTA FOOTBALL hat man zunächst einmal ein kleineres Spielfeld. Hinzu kommen auch noch andere Elemente, die es zu beachten gilt, wie die Höhe der Bande, die Zahl der Spieler und so weiter. Man muss sich also erst einmal auf dem kleineren Spielfeld zurechtfinden und auch der Ball ist natürlich nicht derselbe. Er ist mehr wie ein Futsal-Ball, ist damit etwas schwerer und verhält sich leicht anders.

    F: Ähnelt das Gameplay in VOLTA FOOTBALL eher dem Futsal als dem Stadion-Fußball?
    JA: Ja, ich glaube, das trifft es ziemlich gut. Wobei wir Futsal übrigens auch als eigenes Spielerlebnis innerhalb von VOLTA FOOTBALL haben. Es gibt 3-gegen-3, 4-gegen-4, 5-gegen-5, mit Torhütern und ohne Torhüter, und es gibt Futsal inklusive aller Regeln. Man spielt also mit Elfmetern und Freistößen, sodass das Spielerlebnis dem aus FIFA bekannten 11-gegen-11-Gameplay ähnlicher ist.

    Futsal ist aber grundsätzlich schon die Basis der Spielerbewegungen, der schnellen Pässe, des Spieltempos, der ständig wechselnden Spielsituationen und des Unterhaltungselements. Wenn man dann noch die Banden dazu nimmt, ist klar, dass es Action und Spielspaß ohne Pause gibt.

    GameTitle on PS4

    F: Wird es in VOLTA FOOTBALL einen Karrieremodus und einen Onlinemodus geben? (Frage von @Soulrocketzero)
    JA: Wir haben für VOLTA FOOTBALL einen VOLTA-TOUR-Modus entwickelt, also ein PvE-Spielerlebnis. Es handelt sich dabei um ein Offline-Spielerlebnis, in dem ihr gegen von Spielern erstellte Teams antretet. Die Spielwelt besteht hier aus sämtlichen Gamern, die das Spiel spielen. Die Gegner sind also alle anderen Mitglieder der Community.

    Außerdem gibt es noch ein PvP-Spielerlebnis, das den Saisons ähnelt. Hier könnt ihr spielen und aufsteigen, ihr werdet zugeteilt, und ihr bahnt euch euren Weg durch bis zu zehn Ligen.

    Diese Online-Elemente sind in VOLTA FOOTBALL von Anfang an vertreten. Später werden wir dann noch weitere Modi vorstellen.

    F: Sind alle Teams in VOLTA FOOTBALL vertreten? (Frage von Armando Toledo Sepúlveda)
    JA: Im Anstoßmodus von VOLTA FOOTBALL sind alle Lizenzteams und Lizenzspieler von FIFA 20 vertreten. Ihr könnt also mit euren Lieblingsspielern und Lieblingsteams in allen verfügbaren Spielumgebungen 3-gegen-3, 4-gegen-4 oder 5-gegen-5 spielen. Und ihr könnt die Spieler in Situationen erleben, in denen man sie noch nie gesehen hat.

    GameTitle on PS4

    F: Kann man in VOLTA FOOTBALL mit gemischten Teams, also mit Männern und Frauen, antreten? Und kann man dabei seinen eigenen erstellten Charakter einsetzen?
    JA: Ja, das ist eine der großen Innovationen, die wir für euch im Angebot haben. Es freut uns außerordentlich, dass man männliche und weibliche Spieler in einer Mannschaft haben kann und dass sie zur gleichen Zeit auf dem Spielfeld stehen können. Wenn ihr in VOLTA FOOTBALL beispielsweise euer (männliches) Abbild erstellt, und wenn eure Freundin dann auch ihr Abbild erstellt, dann könnt ihr im selben Team spielen oder auch gegeneinander antreten. Dass VOLTA FOOTBALL derart großen Wert auf Vielfalt und Inklusion legt, ist für uns eine der wichtigsten Innovationen überhaupt.

    FIFA 20

    F: Was sind die wichtigsten Gameplay-Verbesserungen in FIFA 20?
    SP: Wir haben bei allen Gameplay-Verbesserungen das gesamte Feedback unserer Community berücksichtigt. Wir haben uns mit vielen Leuten unterhalten, von FIFA-Profis über Game Changer bis hin zu Casual-Gamern. Aus diesem ganzen Feedback haben sich diverse Features ergeben, mit denen wir in FIFA 20 die Rückmeldungen der Spieler einbeziehen.

    F: Gab es irgendeinen bestimmten Fan-Kommentar, der euch bei der Arbeit an FIFA 20 besonders beeinflusst hat?
    SP: Ja, da gab es sogar mehrere. Beispielsweise im Hinblick auf das KI-Abwehrverhalten. Wir wollten das manuelle Verteidigen wieder stärker betonen. Die Community hat uns immer wieder gesagt, dass die KI-Spieler in FIFA 19 zu viel Arbeit selbst übernehmen, dass sie zu viel Unterstützung bieten. Also haben wir viel Arbeit in die KI investiert, um das Spieltempo sozusagen etwas zu bremsen, damit ihr mehr Zeit habt, wenn ihr das möchtet. Das manuelle Verteidigen ist nun wichtiger, das heißt, der Verteidiger muss versuchen, diese Änderung mit seinen eigenen Skills auszugleichen.

    JA: Aber wir haben natürlich auch an der Gegenseite gearbeitet und den Dribbling-Bereich überarbeitet, damit ihr mehr dynamische 1-gegen-1-Situationen kreieren könnt. Davon hat auch VOLTA FOOTBALL profitiert, da die Engine ja gemeinsam genutzt wird.

    F: Sind Ergänzungen bei den Ingame-Taktiken geplant?
    SP: In FIFA 20 wird es zusätzliche Spieleranweisungen geben, damit ihr noch mehr Optionen für eure Mannschaft habt. Euer defensiver Mittelfeldspieler hat nun beispielsweise die Möglichkeit, sich auf die Innenverteidiger-Position fallen zu lassen. Die Innenverteidiger orientieren sich dann mehr nach außen. So wird der Mittelfeldspieler zum Passverteiler und kann Diagonalpässe spielen. Das ist aber natürlich nur ein Beispiel von vielen. Wir haben dieses Jahr noch mehr neue Taktiken im Angebot.

    Ich kann in diesem Zusammenhang auch einige weitere Gameplay-Features nennen, über die wir noch nicht gesprochen haben. Die Freistöße und die Elfmeter wurden im Vergleich zu FIFA 19 zum Beispiel komplett überarbeitet. Wir haben uns in diesem Jahr dafür übrigens an Lionel Messi orientiert. Wir haben uns seine Videos angeschaut, um seinen präzisen Umgang mit dem Ball und seine Skills in Sachen Effet nachzubilden.

    Sobald ihr bei Freistößen die Schusstaste drückt, erwartet euch eine neue Zielmechanik. Mit dem rechten Stick könnt ihr den Effet anpassen – also zur Seite und nach oben/unten – und damit sogar Flatterbälle erzielen.

    Darüber hinaus gibt es nun auch die Möglichkeit, bei Elfmetern und Freistößen das Abschlusstiming einzusetzen. Das ist meiner Meinung nach ein richtig cooles neues Feature, das dem Gameplay zusätzliche Spieltiefe verleiht.

    F: Richtet sich FIFA 20 gleichermaßen an Neulinge und Routiniers?
    JA: Absolut! Ich möchte ein Beispiel nennen: Die Spezialbewegungen waren bislang ja nicht gerade leicht. Also haben wir die vereinfacht.

    Wir haben eine vereinfachte Spezialbewegungs-Mechanik entwickelt, die man durch Halten von L2 und R2 einsetzen kann. Man hat dann Zugriff auf diverse Spezialbewegungen, die von der Bewegungsrichtung des Spielers abhängen. Wer das nicht nutzen möchte, der kann über den rechten Stick natürlich weiterhin alle aus FIFA bekannten Spezialbewegungen nutzen.

    Außerdem gibt es eine neue R3-Mechanik. Wenn ihr die Taste drückt, lupft ihr den Ball und haltet ihn hoch. Auch mit dieser Mechanik könnt ihr äußerst elegante Dinge machen.

    FIFA 20 erscheint weltweit am 27. September.

    Website: LINK

  • August 8th : New Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring 1910 Update (1910.190806-1945)

    August 8th : New Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring 1910 Update (1910.190806-1945)

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Starting at 2:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring will begin receiving the latest 1910 Xbox One system update (Build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_19H2HOLD_1910\18363.7082.190806-1945).

     

     

    DETAILS:

    • OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_19H2HOLD_1910\18363.7082.190806-1945
    • Available: 2:00 PM 8/8/19
    • Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM 8/9/19

     

     

    Fixes:

     

      

    System

    • Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.

    Known Issues:

     

    Audio

    • Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
      • Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.

     

    Gamertag

    • Customers attempting to change their GT using the new Gamertag features on the console will not yet see those changes reflected on the console.

      

    Profile Color

    • Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

    See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

    Related:
    August 8th : New Preview Beta, Delta & Omega Ring 1908 Update (1908.190806-1945)
    August 7th : New Preview Alpha Ring 1908 Update (1908.190806-1945)
    August 6th : New Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring 1910 Update (1910.190804-1945)

    Website: LINK

  • August 8th : New Preview Beta, Delta & Omega Ring 1908 Update (1908.190806-1945)

    August 8th : New Preview Beta, Delta & Omega Ring 1908 Update (1908.190806-1945)

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Starting at 2:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Beta, Delta & Omega Ring will begin receiving the latest 1908 Xbox One system update (Build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6064.190806-1945).

    Details:

    • OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6064.190806-1945
    • Available: 2:00 PM 8/8/19
    • Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM 8/9/19

    Build Notes:

    • A new version of controller firmware has been released for certain controller models.  Users may be prompted to update the controller automatically when it is connected to the console. You can also go to Settings>Kinect & devices>Devices & Accessories with the controller connected, then select the ellipsis button to see if a firmware update is available.

    Fixes:

    System

    • Fixed an issue where the console would sometimes power off when launching a game.
    • Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.

    Known Issues:

    Audio

    • Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
      • Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.

    Profile Color

    • Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

    See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

    Related:
    August 8th : New Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring 1910 Update (1910.190806-1945)
    August 7th : New Preview Alpha Ring 1908 Update (1908.190806-1945)
    August 6th : New Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring 1910 Update (1910.190804-1945)

    Website: LINK

  • Spike Chunsoft Publisher Weekend, Up to 90% Off!

    Spike Chunsoft Publisher Weekend, Up to 90% Off!

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Save up to 90% on Spike Chunsoft titles as part of this week’s Weekend Deal*!

    *Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time
    Website: LINK

  • Daily Deal – OMSI 2: Steam Edition, 30% Off

    Daily Deal – OMSI 2: Steam Edition, 30% Off

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Today’s Deal: Save 30% on OMSI 2: Steam Edition and its DLC!*

    Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

    *Offer ends Saturday at 10AM Pacific Time
    Website: LINK

  • Daily Deal – SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, 20% Off

    Daily Deal – SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, 20% Off

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Today’s Deal: Save 20% on SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech!*

    Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

    *Offer ends August 18 at 10AM Pacific Time
    Website: LINK

  • Twitch Studio: “Going Live” Is Getting A Whole Lot Easier

    Twitch Studio: “Going Live” Is Getting A Whole Lot Easier

    Reading Time: < 1 minute
    Hubert Thieblot
    This story is also available in: Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, Nederlands, Polski, Português, Svenska, Türkçe, Русский, 한국어, 中文, 日本語

    Streamers are at the core of every community on Twitch. When new streamers want to go live for the first time and start sharing their passions with the world, they should be able to do so with our full support. From setting up your stream to building your community, we saw an opportunity to simplify things for streamers who are just getting started.

    Today we’ve opened up beta testing for Twitch Studio: an all-in-one streaming app for new streamers that cuts down on the guesswork to setup a quality stream and makes it easier to engage with your community.

    Guided setup to help find your optimal settings, including connecting your mic and webcam
    Customizable templates to get your stream looking just how you want it
    Built-in activity feed, alerts, and chat to help you engage with your community while you stream

    To make sure it’s just right, we’re releasing a beta with limited features to a group of streamers to give it a spin, report any bugs, and share their feedback. Want to help? Sign up HERE. We can’t accept everyone right away, but we’re opening up more spots over time, so keep an eye out for an email!

    Website: LINK

  • No Man’s Sky Beyond Introduces the Nexus, New Launch Trailer

    No Man’s Sky Beyond Introduces the Nexus, New Launch Trailer

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Hello! On August 14, No Man’s Sky Beyond will launch as a free update for PS4 and PS VR. We are focused on development, but we know people are hungry for details.

    Nearly eight years ago, with a love of sci-fi, we started writing the very first lines of code on what would become No Man’s Sky. It was always an innovative and ambitious game, but over the three years since release it has become broad and deep in a way few games are.

    When we sat down to write those first lines of code I could never have imagined the kind of trailer we just recorded. A multiplayer game, with base building, trading, space combat, giant mechs, economies, freighters, first person, third person, and so much more, all set in a beautiful procedural universe.

    When we made No Man’s Sky, we always wanted it to feel like you had stepped into the cover of a science fiction novel. Beyond is another step closer to that goal.

    Even better, if you own a headset, you can experience all of this in virtual reality.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RpKmuRX0CM&w=1032&h=581]

    No Man’s Sky Beyond aims to bring a huge range of features together into a cohesive whole, with expanded online, virtual reality and hundreds of changes big and small. We want Beyond to be the best time for new players to pick up a copy, for lapsed players to rejoin, and for the players with a thousand hours save to see the game with fresh eyes.

    No Man’s Sky has always been a science-fiction fantasy come true. That feeling of isolation and loneliness as you explore an alien world for the first time continues to be a unique experience.

    However, one of the coolest things you will notice from the trailer is what we call the Nexus, a shared social space that brings people together and lets them play with friends or join with random strangers like never before.

    Suddenly your ship that you spent 50 hours earning can now be seen by others in the Nexus. Your rare spacesuit and unique helmet can be shown off to other players. Friends and strangers can visit that massive base you’ve been working on.

    Progression in No Man’s Sky is so much more meaningful when you can share it with other explorers and so much more engaging when any creations or missions become shareable. Once you meet fellow travellers who knows what space-faring adventures you will go on together.

    This is an incredibly important update for us, but it’s also just another step in a longer journey, and we’ll continue to support No Man’s Sky in this way for the foreseeable future.

    On behalf of myself, and the team at Hello Games I just want to say — Thank you. We are so excited to have made Beyond, and to continue to improve and develop No Man’s Sky, because of you, the community who play, explore and share this universe with us. It means so much to us.

    We hope you enjoy this and what follows — and we look forward to meeting you out there! Our journey continues.

    Website: LINK

  • Oninaki Out August 22, New Concept Art Gallery

    Oninaki Out August 22, New Concept Art Gallery

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    , the third game by the team at Square Enix’s Tokyo RPG Factory, releases on PS4 August 22. Following up JRPG tributes I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear, Oninaki features a bold, anime-influenced art style with expressive characters and gorgeous lands to explore.

    We reached out to Square Enix to get a closer look at the concept art behind some of Oninaki’s vibrant locales, objects, and enemies. The captions below are written by producer Ryutaro Sasaki, and you can click through on each image for a higher resolution version.

    Great Plain
    Drawn by Background Designer Oga Takeshi
    “This image board is for a place that we called the “Great Plain” during the early stages of development, and it was very useful for solidifying the visual image of the world of the dead, Beyond the Veil. We have created a setting that is not just a dark and cold land of the dead, but also has a mysterious and fantastical atmosphere, with interesting features such as the pale lights that appear to shine up from the ground and the uniquely shaped trees that are reminiscent of Eastern designs and traditional Japanese aesthetics.”
    Drawn by Background Designer Oga Takeshi
    “In order to create the unique setting for this title, we deliberately utilized a variety of Eastern design influences. This image board is for the capital city of Szaka, which has a particularly strong central Asian flavor. Special care was taken when depicting the cityscape, centered on the sovereign’s palace that symbolizes the precept of reincarnation itself, as well as the uniquely expressive sky, possessed of a character that is at once the glow of dawn and the haze of sunset.”
    Ehir Palace
    Drawn by Background Designer Oga Takeshi
    “This image board depicts the throne in Ehir Palace, residence of the sovereign who rules over the capital Szaka, and by extension the Inner Kingdom where the story of Oninaki is set. Steeped in an aura of dread majesty, this throne has been the seat for generations of sovereigns who embodied of the precept of reincarnation. The current incumbent is Lady Lobelia.”
    World Pillars
    Drawn by Background Designer Oga Takeshi
    “This is a design for one of the objects known as the World Pillars that can occasionally be seen in the world of Oninaki. Nobody knows who built these artefacts or for what purpose, and their true age is unknown, yet they project a solemn sense of gravitas and the passing of the ages.”
    Objects of the Inner Kingdom
    Drawn by Background Designer Oga Takeshi
    “The objects shown in these designs offer a window into the lives of the regular people who live in the Inner Kingdom. Many Asian influences have been incorporated into the designs for the cityscape and the pillars, such as objects resembling Shinto shrines and Buddhist jizo statues. However, when combined on the streets of Szaka, it results in a unique visual atmosphere that appears neither wholly Eastern nor Western.”
    Research Room
    Drawn by Background Designer Oga Takeshi
    “This is a design drawing for a certain research facility that exists somewhere in the world. As for who works here and what kind of research they are doing in this dark, windowless room… you will just have to find that out yourself!”
    Fallen Souls
    Fallen Soul 1
    Drawn by Monster Designer Morinaga Koji
    “The design for this Fallen Soul is based on one of the monsters that appears in all Tokyo RPG Factory games. In the world of Oninaki, when people who have become estranged from the wheel of reincarnation eventually perish, they will transform into the Fallen, and the particle like pattern on its body is based on this concept. I think that the gently flickering flame on its head is quite charming.”
    Fallen Soul 2
    Drawn by Monster Designer Morinaga Koji
    “This is a design for a Fallen Soul with a fungoid aspect. You can see how it attacks by billowing spores from its head, an attack that will cause no end of grief for Kagachi in the game.”
    Fallen Soul 3
    Drawn by Monster Designer Morinaga Koji
    “This Fallen Soul is an airborne type. The distinctive design features translucent wings and a single strong leg, and reminds you that the fallen in the world of Oninaki were all originally human. It gives a sense of the fleeting beauty in all living things.”

    Website: LINK

  • Meet the Heroes of Trine 4, Out October 8 on PS4

    Meet the Heroes of Trine 4, Out October 8 on PS4

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    I am super excited to announce that not only is Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince coming to PlayStation 4 on October 8, but Trine: Ultimate Collection will also be available on the same day so you can enjoy the entire Trine series in one convenient bundle!

    The fantasy land of Trine is teeming with obstacles from menacing monsters to impassable terrain. In order to conquer these challenges, you will control the three heroes Amadeus the Wizard, Zoya the Thief, and Pontius the Knight, each with their own unique abilities, weapons, and tools. Freely switch between the characters on-the-fly to adapt to each situation or combine their skills in up to four-player co-op in the biggest Trine experience to date.

    Whether it’s your first venture into the Trine series or you’re returning for the newest installment, there’s a lot to discover about our heroes and the new abilities available to them in Trine 4.

    Amadeus
    A talented wizard capable of levitating objects around the world and materializing platforms, boxes, and durable steel balls which he can use to overcome obstacles.

    As you improve, so does Amadeus, learning skills such as a horizontal throw or a dangerous box stomp to take out enemies or act as a tool to solve puzzles. The determined magician is a perfect fit for you if you thrive on thinking through challenges and want the versatility to protect your team with conjured objects, disable enemies with levitation, or to send objects and enemies alike flying.

    Zoya
    A highly skilled thief who lets actions speak louder than words.

    The quietest of the bunch, her accuracy with a bow combined with the mobility of a grappling hook makes her an invaluable asset for traversing the world of Trine. Throughout the adventure Zoya’s toolset will only grow more robust, introducing fire and ice arrows that can freeze enemies and objects or set them ablaze for bonus damage, a combat roll to evade damage as well as a Fairy Rope that can make everything from objects to enemies float. Zoya’s grappling hook enables her to create tightropes that allies can walk across and act as a tether to hold objects in place, while her arrows are able to hit hard-to-reach objects and enemies.

    Zoya’s designed for players who want a little of everything — distinct skills that provide support, tools that allow players to bypass hazards, and ranged attacks to damage enemies in combat.

    Pontius
    A loyal janitor turned knight whose sword and shield make him a formidable force in combat and handy in overcoming obstacles.

    Whether he’s running atop oversized pumpkins or bouncing off huge sea creatures, he goes where his unwavering sense of duty summons him. He can use his sword to unleash a flurry of attacks that can carve a path through enemies while his shield can block incoming damage, reflect projectiles, and create a platform for his partners to hop across. Pontius has a bit more utility in puzzle solving this time around — he can create a copy of his shield using the new Dream Shield ability. This magical blockade will deflect enemies, projectiles and objects alike.

    Pontius might be for you if you prefer to force your way through a locked door or charge head first into a volley of arrows to close the distance rather than taking a strategic approach to engagements.

    Each hero has their own strengths and weaknesses, and you’ll need to utilize every tool and weapon in your arsenal to overcome the encroaching dangers present in the world of Trine. Whether you choose to brave the journey alone or in up to 4-player co-op, you will be able to switch between the trio on-the-fly as the situation demands.

    Amadeus, Zoya, and Pontius won’t be able to complete the quest alone, so you’ll need to combine their abilities to progress — Using Zoya’s rope with Amadeus’ magical box to create a hanging platform, reflecting Zoya’s ice arrows off multiple copies of Pontius’ Dream Shield to hit an enemy in a hard to reach place, or suspending an enemy in air with the Fairy Rope only to cause them to come crashing down from an impact from a zooming steel ball — the possibilities are limitless.

    You can find out more about the new, nightmarish story for Trine 4 in our announcement blog post. We hope you’re all excited to play Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, or the entire Trine series in Trine: Ultimate Collection when they both release on October 8!

    Website: LINK

  • Gewinnt 2 Saisontickets für die UEFA Champions League mit dem riesigen PlayStation F.C.-Gewinnspiel

    Gewinnt 2 Saisontickets für die UEFA Champions League mit dem riesigen PlayStation F.C.-Gewinnspiel

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Calum Watkins

    Liebe Fußballfans, wie würde es euch gefallen, jedem einzelnen Heimspiel eurer Lieblingsmannschaft in der UEFA Champions League beizuwohnen? Mit dieser riesigen PlayStation F.C.-Verlosung geben wir euch die Möglichkeit, genau das für ein Team in eurem Land zu tun.

    Ihr könnt gemeinsam mit einem Freund eure Mannschaft bei jedem einzelnen Heimspiel der UEFA-Champions-League-Saison 2019/20 anfeuern. Aber das ist noch nicht alles: Wenn sich eure Mannschaft einen Platz im Finale sichert, fliegen wir euch nach Istanbul, wo ihr dem größten Spiel des Jahres im Vereinsfußball beiwohnen könnt. Wo lässt sich eine Mannschaft besser anfeuern als mitten im Stadion?

    So könnt ihr teilnehmen*

    Die Teilnahme könnte einfacher nicht sein. Klickt hier, wählt die Mannschaft aus eurem Land aus, für die ihr ein Saisonticket gewinnen möchtet, gebt eure Kontaktdaten ein und beantwortet die Gewinnspielfrage!

    Lasst euch diese einmalige Chance, das größte Turnier des Vereinsfußballs zu erleben, nicht entgehen.

    Das erhält der Gewinner

    • 2x Tickets für jedes Heimspiel des gewählten Teams aus eurem Land für die UEFA Champions League (Anreise und Unterkunft nicht inbegriffen)

    Erreicht euer Team das Finale der UEFA Champions League, gewinnt ihr außerdem:

    • 2x Tickets für das Finale der UEFA Champions League
    • Hin- und Rückflug nach Istanbul
    • Hotelunterkunft

    * Es gelten die Nutzungsbedingungen. Teilnehmer müssen mindestens 18 Jahre alt sein. Nur ausgewählte Länder (Österreich, Belgien, Deutschland, Italien, Frankreich, Niederlande, Portugal, Russland, Spanien und Großbritannien).

    Website: LINK

  • Chatty Robots & Ninja Action in the Top VIVEPORT INFINITY Titles for August

    Chatty Robots & Ninja Action in the Top VIVEPORT INFINITY Titles for August

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Website: LINK

  • Become a virtual shinobi in the fast paced action experience Ninja Legends

    Become a virtual shinobi in the fast paced action experience Ninja Legends

    Reading Time: 8 minutes

    Ninjas are awesome. Silently moving through the shadows, they struck with precision and skill to take out their targets. From over-the-top action films, to Saturday morning cartoon heroes in the form of mutant turtles, we’ve always had a fascination with these stealthy assassins. The creative team behind recent Viveport Infinity release Ninja Legends spoke to us about what inspired them to create a frantic and addictive action experience that puts you in the Tabi of these historic warriors. 

    Interview by Nathan Allen Ortega, Viveport Staff

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9bW3yULJCg?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Tell us a bit about yourself and the team at Coinflip Studios

    Co-Founder David Geisert: Coinflip studios is a small team comprised of 7 game industry veterans. We’ve been working together for many years across multiple companies. In 2018, we decided to get together and form a games company focused on new technologies. As we explored different markets and what was up and coming, VR was a huge interest of ours. As the market heated up, we realized that now was the time to start building for the up and coming space! Personally, I’ve been a huge VR fan since I was able to get my hands on the early Gear VR headsets. Since then I’ve upgraded to Vive and have been extremely passionate about all aspects of VR. Within the team, I have been a jack of all trades who fills in many roles with a focus on programming. Over time I’ve become a Unity development expert with a focus on the VR tool stack.

    What were some of your biggest inspirations (gameplay, art style etc) when creating Ninja Legends?

    We were heavily inspired by various films to maintain a high speed of 1 vs Many combat. Ninja Assassin, Ip Man, Kill Bill, and many others served as inspiration for the base feeling for the game.

    The cyberpunk classic Snow Crash is also an inspiration for the theme – in that book, the main character is a master swordsman in Virtual Reality.

    Each individual weapon and special ability in our game has a host of inspirations that we drew from. For example, the rope dart is heavily influenced by Mortal Kombat. We liked pairing it with the fist and yelling ‘Get over here!’ while playing.

    Talk a bit about your previous experience in mobile game development and how it influences what you’re making now in VR

    Some of the elements of Ninja Legends are influenced by our time as mobile developers. With mobile games, we learned how important it was to get players into the action with the most fun aspect of the game ASAP. We brought this thinking to VR, allowing players to jump into the action within one button click of loading the game.  The interest curve of the levels is an ascending wave, with new enemies and difficult waves mixed in with small breaks on easier waves. We also included the daily challenge mode, to allow for something new to play every day, and for something that you’ll miss if you don’t come back. In future games, we’re especially excited to bring over mechanics that allow for deeper player investment and engagement.

    How long did Ninja Legends take to develop, and how many people were on your team throughout?

    We started working on Ninja Legends in November 2018, making it approximately nine months from first concept to launch.  We have a team of seven that has worked on the game, although not all seven have been working on it the entire time. We had a few large pivots of what the game should be, from a rhythm based game, to the intense combat game we have now.

    Ninja Legends is your first title as a studio, and your first foray into VR. What were some of the biggest challenges in crafting this frantic shinobi action experience as compared to previous titles for other platforms?

    The input mechanics of other platforms make them much easier to deal with players trying to find bugs.  In VR there are so many degrees of freedom, which make it hard to keep the game working properly. You always have to worry about someone trying to stick their head through a wall or putting their hand somewhere it isn’t supposed to be.  We designed around theses extra hurdles instead of trying to solve them, which greatly reduced the development time. The action game is also something we hadn’t done before. It was a lot of fun and a great workout each day as we played.

    Ninja Legends gives players tons of fun and powerful weapons, including mystical shinobi powers. Tell us a bit about the process of designing these powers, the challenge of balancing, and if there were any left on the cutting room floor (pun intended lol). 

    We pulled a lot of inspiration from games, movies, and anime we liked.  There are a bunch of movies that have a single hero character taking on a horde of unnamed killers.  We took the best parts of those scenes and tried to replicate that feeling. Then we stuck in the weapons we liked from the best movies and games that did that.  I really like the rope dart, which was inspired by the character Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. I use the gauntlet, chain-dart combination and then uppercut the enemy when he gets pulled in, and of course I say “Get over here.”  There were a few that didn’t make the cut, either from being too complicated, or not being fun to use. One of the first powers was to slow time. It worked great, but we started adding it to the other powers and just slowing time started to feel boring.  One that we tried, but it was too different is a Godzilla beam, where you’d yell to have a beam come out of your mouth. The mouth beam was too close to the eyes and was bad for performance, and the trigger being sound was too different and didn’t fit with the rest of the game.  We also had a stun attack that would cause anyone you hit to be stunned for a few seconds. This one didn’t work because it was boring, and didn’t trigger like the other specials. The shockwave special was cut because it didn’t involve any element of skill. It was just a more powerful version of the hand blast.  We also tried to keep out weapons that would just duplicate the same play styles as other weapons. Sai are commonly linked to ninjas, but we thought they were too close to the claws. We also avoided any tricky physics chains or ropes as they tended to break. I’m happy with the specials and weapons we ended up with.

    What are your thoughts regarding the future of VR gaming, especially in the arena of action titles. Are there any improvements you want to see to the technology in order to help you make more engaging experiences?

    Two things I think action titles really need are more freedom of movement in real life and better haptic feedback.  The freedom of movement will allow for the clunky and motion sickness causing systems to be done away with. The better haptic feedback will eventually allow for more complex interactions with enemies.  I would love to be able to throw enemies around and have it really feel like I was throwing something.

    Who is your favorite ninja (real or fictional)?

    I really like Killua Zoldyck from the anime series Hunter X Hunter.  He’s a small kid from an assassin family who wants to make friends.  He just has a hard time making friends when he is this amazing killing machine.

    Ninja Legends launched on Steam not long ago, and now has arrived on Viveport. What has been the reception so far? Have there been any bits of feedback you received that surprised you?

    The reception has been great! It has been refreshing to start getting a stream of feedback from players. This helps us improve our game much faster. For example, one thing we heard was how difficult it was to deal with enemies surrounding you, especially in a 180 degree setup as many people have at home. We took that feedback and added arrows to the side of the screen in Novice and Ninja difficulties to indicate if there was an enemy off screen attacking you.  From the reviews after that update it seems to have made a great improvement in the experience. There have also been some hardcore VR fans that want a much larger scoped game, and we can sympathize with that. There are many more aspects to being a ninja besides pure melee combat. This is something we’re looking to build on through future updates.

    Are there any exciting updates to Ninja Legends planned that you can share with our readers?

    We are already working on the first update, and it will be a whole new play mode.  We haven’t fully finalized the concept. It is either going to be a stealth mode with locomotion, a tower defense archery mode, or a sandbox mode where players can load in their own levels, enemies, and weapons.  We’d love to get feedback and thoughts from any VR players out there on what we should work on to improve the game!

    What’s next for Team CoinFlip?

    We want to stay in VR, and look forward to the Ninja Legends launch to signal how to invest our time next.  One area we are very interested in is multiplayer in VR. Co-op gameplay is a natural fit for Ninja Legends, but we’d love to explore some competitive gameplay in VR.  Coming from mobile, and with the number of players in VR right now, we are thinking that an async multiplayer game would be the right move. This would be something along the lines of Clash of Clans with a construction and base management core, then an attack and action multiplayer component.  I think this could get over the problems of needing a constant large player base to get multiplayer competitive games off the ground. This is also something I’d love to player, as it should allow for rich interactions and gameplay with all the user generated levels.

    Smart thinking! You’ve got me more excited than ever for what you and the team having coming. Thanks for chatting with us!

    Ninja Legends is now available on Viveport and as part of your Viveport Infinity membership. Not a member? Start your free trial today and start honing your ninja skills!

    Website: LINK