Kategorie: E-Sports

What Will Happen to the PC market , when Cloud gaming Gets Big?

Gaming is an expensive hobby. With a console costing you at least $300 and a triple-A game is priced at a whopping $59.99 without the DLC, you will have to pay a lot of money to get into gaming unless you want to use old hardware. Cloud gaming is a good news to many gamers around the world and it will most likely become mainstream very soon, but what will happen to the PC gaming market?

Cloud Gaming on PS 5 and Xbox Two

According to the latest rumors, the next-gen Xbox or Xbox Two is going to be a cloud gaming console. Microsoft and AMD, are rumored to be working on a proper cloud gaming system called Scarlett Cloud. This will be good news to gamers on a low budget since this means the Xbox Two could cost as low as $50 but Microsoft has to do a lot of work so the common gamer is able to stream games without much lag. The PS 5 is likely going to feature cloud gaming as well through PS Now but it likely wouldn’t be a streaming system as it will feature powerful specs. If Sony doesn’t have proper cloud gaming on their next console, the Xbox Two will have a big advantage or disadvantage depending on how you look at it.

What will happen to the PC market?

The PC gaming market will probably take a massive blow. Most of the damage will be to GPU making companies AMD and Nvidia. Right now, many gamers might buy a Nvidia RTX 2080 TI so they can play the latest game at 4K 60 FPS Ultra, but no one will do that if cloud gaming becomes mainstream. If cloud gaming is possible for everyone, they can simply play the latest games on a $50 console at 4K 60 FPS if they have a good wifi. Cloud gaming isn’t going mainstream at least not in 2018 or 2019. By 2020, wifi speeds would likely have increased enough that most people that can buy a $300 Xbox, have wifi that is fast enough to stream games at 1080p 60 FPS.

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Sony has finally stopped fighting the future: A beta for cross-platform play, including support for Fortnite, launches today.

“The first step will be an open beta beginning today for Fortnite that will allow for cross platform gameplay, progression and commerce across PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Mac operating systems,” PlayStation president and global CEO John Kodera wrote on the PlayStation Blog. “We see the beta as an opportunity to conduct thorough testing that ensures cross-platform play is best on PlayStation, while being mindful about the user experience from both a technical and social perspective.”

This is a major reversal of its longstanding policy of keeping PlayStation fans segregated from the rest of the industry, after arguing that cross-platform play might even be unsafe. Others in the industry had argued that the policy was due to monetary concerns. Many publishers, including Bethesda, had been pressuring Sony to make this change, and developers such as Psyonix have already spoken openly about how easy the change would be to implement from their end.

There is very little other information given about how the beta will work or how to sign up to participate in it. The blog post also states that only “selected” third-party content will be playable across different platforms. The post does make it clear, however, that this was a change in the industry that Sony couldn’t continue to ignore.

“Today, the communities around some games have evolved to the point where cross-platform experiences add significant value to players,” Kodera explained. “In recognition of this, we have completed a thorough analysis of the business mechanics required to ensure that the PlayStation experience for our users remains intact today, and in the future, as we look to open up the platform.”

Shawn Layden, the chief executive of SIE Worldwide Studios, discussed the beta and cross-console play on this week’s PlayStation Blogcast. He said that allowing cross-console play was “not about flipping a switch … it’s very multi-dimensional. … It took longer than I would have wanted, but it took as long as it had to.”

Layden said that following the beta, he expects the PS4 will see other games supporting cross console play. “I think certainly once we can prove this is holding together, sturdy and well, I would anticipate seeing other games in the service,” he said.

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Thanks to the some what release of the Xbox One X, the console market was able to catch up to the PC gaming community in terms of game performance. Of course, the Xbox One X isn’t very powerful, but thanks to fantastic optimization, the Xbox One X can run games at 4K 30 FPS. The Sony PlayStation 5, is going to be much more powerful than the Xbox One X, and after optimization, it might be able to do 4k 60 FPS.

Sony PS 5 Expected Specs

According to the latest gaming rumors, the Sony PlayStation 5 is going to feature an AMD Ryzen CPU and an AMD Navi GPU. Thanks to a recent leak, we know that someone at Sony is working with Ryzen Technology.

“A principal programmer at Sony associated with the firm’s Advanced Technology Group is working with AMD’s Ryzen technology, improving the Zen core’s micro-architecture support within the LLVM compiler stack – a key component of a tool used in the PlayStation 4 development environment. Of course, there is no PS4 product using the Ryzen processor, leading to speculation that this is related to a prospective next-gen PlayStation 5 console currently in development.”

The PS5’s GPU, Navi, is going to be a 7nm GPU. As of now, no other console or PC features a 7nm GPU, and that is excellent news for fans of PlayStation consoles. With these specs, the PS5 is likely going to be able to run games at 4k, 30 FPS ultra. It is rumored that the PS5 will feature the same performance as a $500 gaming PC.

PlayStation 5 Price and Release Date

According to the latest rumors, the Sony PlayStation 5 is going to be released sometime around 2020. It is rumored that the PS5 will feature the same specs as a $500 gaming PC when it is released. 2020 will be a good release date for the PS5 as it will be seven years after the PS4 came out. Just like the PS4, the PS5 will likely be priced around $400 as Sony wouldn’t want to make the same mistake as Microsoft and release a $500 console.

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To the dismay of many PlayStation users Sony has never let their Network users change their PSN name.

And even more annoying was the fact that the latest PS4 6.0 firmware update didn’t add the feature, despite the usual barrage of rumours suggesting it might finally arrive.

However, it’s worth remembering that it wasn’t that long ago when Sony released a survey suggesting they may consider letting PSN users change their embarrassing IDs.

The survey stated Sony is “exploring the possibility of adding a feature to PSN that lets users change their ID”, according to the website PushSquare.

PlayStation asked receivers of the survey to keep the information to themselves, but an anonymous tipster revealed the information to the PlayStation news site.

However, at the end of the survey, it stressed that it “can’t be sure whether this feature will be added or not, but we can be sure your opinions on the matter will be heard”.

For the time being, here’s everything we know about PSN name changes and everything Sony has said about the long requested feature.

Price:

In the aforementioned survey, it revealed how the system would work – in principal.

Sony suggested you would be able to change your PSN ID for free – but only once every six months.

For those who regret the change and want their own name back, they will have to contact customer support.

It is not mentioned in the survey if there will be a fee for if you want to change your name more regularly.

This is how companies such as Microsoft deals with it – charging Xbox Live users for additional changes.

When will it happen?

At the PlayStation Experience (PSX) event in December 2017, PlayStation boss Shawn Layden dropped a major hint as regards to PSN names.

When asked about whether PSN name changes would happen in the future, the Sony boss replied: “I hope we’ll see events occur that you won’t have to ask me that question next PSX.”

This gives a glimmer of hope to PSN users that the service might be made available by the end of 2018.

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Whenever Rockstar updates GTA Online heads swivel and the inevitable question returns – when is GTA 6 coming out?

Unfortunately Rockstar has barely hinted about a new Grand Theft Auto game, and the majority of leaks have been rumours at best, guess work, or just straight up lies at worst. A cottage industry creating GTA 6 YouTube videos has sprung up, but these are no more legit than your friend whose uncle works at Rockstar and has played the alpha. Dude, no one has played the game.

There is hope that it exists in some form though. Back in March 2016 we reported that GTA 6 was in production. This was before Rockstar said it was concentrating so heavily on GTA Online though, so schedules will have no doubt changed. But GTA 5 has shipped 85 million copies. Of course GTA 6 is going to be in production in some form.

More recently, a big leak came from The Know citing an inside source, that suggests GTA 6 returns to Vice City, features a female lead and could be out as late as 2022.

GTA 6 release date – when is GTA 6 out?
Rockstar recently took the very rare step of dismissing a rumour that GTA 6 would be released in 2019. Some modders had hacked GTA Online to show a pop-up that advertised the next Grand Theft Auto game would be coming out in 2019. That’s bollocks, obviously, and the rumour was soon shot down.

Look, we’ll be brutally honest with you. GTA 6 doesn’t have an official release date yet, and even when it does, Rockstar has a history of delays. GTA 5 was held back, and the PC version was also delayed a couple of times. The next big game from Rockstar is Red Dead Redemption 2, and that’s already been delayed. So when GTA 6 does eventually get its first release date, don’t put money on it.

The most recent rumours from The Know suggest a long wait for GTA 6. If it’s still 3-4 years away, expect GTA 6 to be released around 2022.

GTA 6 map – where is the next GTA game set?
Everyone has their own idea of where the next GTA 6 map should be. And it’s not just fans of the series – this real estate company recreated their own map of Portland complete with pins pointing out knocking shops and tattoo parlours for a few clicks. Aside from London, GTA games aren’t set in real-world locations although each of their maps are based on largely populated cities. Liberty City was based on New York, while Los Santos incorporates LA and the surrounding county. Expect a map for GTA 6 to have bigger size goals then, and to suck up familiar parts of the United States.

Rumours from The Know are pointing to Vice City as the locations for GTA 6, as well as suggesting there will be travel outside of the US to South America to continue missions there. If so, it would mark a big change to move outside of the United States, but could provide a complete alternative environment to a sprawling cosmopolitan city.

GTA 6 news
Who’s always got the GTA news for you? We have. We’ve got an extensive library of all things GTA 5, GTA Online and GTA 6 speculation. Bookmark this page because if anything important breaks, we’ll be on it like a tramp on chips.

GTA 6 characters – can we expect Franklin, Trevor or Michael to return?
We’re pretty certain the stories of GTA 5’s protagonists are over, as they never did make it into the promised GTA 5 single-player story DLC. But when GTA 6 does surface you should expect a few familiar faces, names, companies and locations to crop up. There’s history here; Lazlow Jones has been knocking around GTA games since GTA 3, Ken Rosenburg has represented Tommy from Vice City and CJ from San Andreas, and CJ, Sweet and Ryder all make a fleeting appearance in GTA 5.

GTA 6 could be the first in the series to focus heavily on a female lead, according to those rumours from The Know. We would expect multiple protagonists again, as we saw with GTA 5, and a major female character should liven up the Grand Theft Auto formula.

GTA 6 cars – what cars will be in GTA 6?
The list of vehicles in GTA 5 and GTA Online is extensive, to say the least. If it exists in real-life then you can bet your ass Rockstar will recreate something similar for a GTA game. That goes for cars from proper manufacturers, military vehicles and fiction – like this Batmobile inspired Vigilante.

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Sony made the big, unexpected announcement this week that it will finally allow cross-play between PlayStation 4 and competing consoles like Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The first supported game is Fortnite, while others may follow later. Now, Microsoft and other companies have responded to Sony’s announcement, and it seems that nothing has been decided regarding other titles that may support cross-play down the track.

Starting with Microsoft, the company responded to PlayStation’s tweet about cross-play with the raising hands emoji. As of 1 AM ET on September 26. Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who has been one of Microsoft’s most outspoken proponents of cross-play, has not tweeted at all about the cross-play news. Neither has Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg. That doesn’t mean much, though, as tweets are just tweets and not everyone has time or interest to tweet.

A Microsoft spokesperson responded to Sony’s cross-play news with a statement to IGN in which it says it is “supportive of new scenarios that enable more people to play and have fun together while gaming.” The statement added that Microsoft hopes Sony will allow cross-play for Minecraft, but added that it has “nothing further to share at this time.”

Minecraft, which Microsoft owns, currently supports cross-play between consoles like Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. On Switch, players have to create a Microsoft Account to play. If such a requirement was in place for PS4, that might be one of the reasons why Sony isn’t willing to connect PS4 with Xbox One for Minecraft.

IGN also spoke to Activision Blizzard about cross-play. The company remarked that it has already had a “great experience” with cross-play for Hearthstone, adding that the company recognises how cross-play is a “compelling” feature for many. However, Activision Blizzard said it still has “a lot of work to do” internally and with its partners like Xbox and PlayStation to decide if cross-play will be added to its other titles. “So we’ll be watching the upcoming [PS4 cross-play test for Fortnite] and will assess what the potential impact of this feature would be for our players and our games,” the Activision Blizzard representative said.

Bethesda, the developer and publisher of Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, confirmed that Fallout 76 will not feature cross-play for “a number of reasons” that were not disclosed.

Another developer, Rocket League studio Psyonix, chimed in as well. VP of Publishing Jeremy Dunham said Psyonix is “really happy” that Sony is allowing cross-play for Fortnite, adding that it is a “great step forward” for the gaming industry. He went on to say that Psyonix is aware that Rocket League fans want cross-play between PS4 and Xbox One, but there is no word on when this could happen.

We’re really happy for the @PlayStation and @FortniteGame communities. It’s a great step forward! We know that our own @RocketLeague community wants to know what this means for them, but we don’t have any updates ATM. In the meantime, we recommend reaching out to Sony for comment https://t.co/5wH3VIMktn

— Jeremy Dunham (@DunhamSmash) 26 septembre 2018

Rocket League supports cross-play on console between Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, but not PlayStation 4; and it looks like it’s going to stay that way for a while longer. Psyonix was among the first studios to express interest in cross-play support on console.

Dunham added that cross-play support for Rocket League comes with a number of challenges, including political ones. He also said he wants to ensure that if Rocket League ever supports cross-play between competing consoles that players won’t have their accounts locked to one platform as other games have done.

We are looking into it. Not as easy to implement that some might think. Several political challenges as well. Wouldn’t want it to work the same way as Fortnite either; locking an account on one platform for a multi-platform setup is no bueno

— Jeremy Dunham (@DunhamSmash) 22 septembre 2018

One of the issues people had with Sony over its cross-play stance was that, in Fortnite, players were locked out of their accounts if they played the game on another platform. Thankfully, Epic Games is addressing this with an upcoming update. Epic is working on an account-merging feature that allows players to combine their purchases that should launch in November. On the more immediate horizon, in the next few days Epic will enable players to unlink their console from a Fortnite account and re-link to another account. This is all good news for people who frustratingly had to create multiple accounts to play on different systems.

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has also spoken enthusiastically about cross-play, though whether or not Battlefield V or other upcoming EA games support cross-play remains to be seen.

“We’re looking at key franchises in terms of how we should deliver cross-platform play … in a similar way that Fortnite has, especially … some of our titles have a broad and diverse player base,” Wilson said in July. “Households typically have one console, so the ability to bring PC to console and console to mobile into that play experience can bring families together, can bring friends together. And we think it’s an important part of our future development profile, both in terms of mobile games that we have today moving up per se to console and PC, and console and PC games being playable in mobile. And I expect more from us on that front in the future.”

Sony’s announcement of cross-play support comes a few months after the company said in July that it was confident it would be able to find a solution that makes gamers happy and preserves Sony’s business interests. The specifics about the deal Sony hammered out with relevant parties to make cross-play a reality have not been disclosed and likely won’t be.

In March 2016, Microsoft made the unexpected announcement that it had invited other networks, such as PlayStation Network and Nintendo’s service, to connect to Xbox Live. It was a major announcement, considering cross-play between competing consoles was basically unheard of until that point.

What do you make of Sony’s big cross-play announcement? Let us know in the comments below!

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Break out the floss dance, Fortnite fans. Owners of the PlayStation can start playing the hit game with friends on different devices.

Following months of complaints from video game players, Sony said it is launching an open beta available Wednesday allowing owners of the PlayStation who play Fortnite to join other players on different platforms including Xbox, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices.

“For 24 years, we have strived to deliver the best gaming experience to our fans by providing a uniquely PlayStation perspective,” John Kodera, president and global CEO at PlayStation, said in a statement. “Today, the communities around some games have evolved to the point where cross-platform experiences add significant value to players.”

The beta would not only allow players to join matches with others on different devices, but any rewards or progress earned while playing Fortnite on PlayStation will transfer to other platforms.

Sony drew ire from fans of the red-hot video game after Nintendo released a version of Fortnite on its Switch console. Players learned their accounts were locked into Sony’s console, meaning any perks players earned from hours of playing the game were not available on another platform.

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PlayStation Now subscribers will have the option of downloading PlayStation 4 and remastered PlayStation 2 games in the service’s library, Sony announced today. The capability will be rolled out over the next couple of days.

“Almost all PS4 games in the service” are downloadable, according to the announcement, without specifying which ones or types are not. Downloaded games will also support all user-purchased DLC and microtransactions as well as PS4 Pro enhancements, and online multiplayer does not require a PlayStation Plus subscription — as is the case with games streamed over PlayStation Now.

A PS4 system with downloaded games from PS Now will still need to connect to the Internet “every few days” to verify the user’s subscription, PlayStation added.

Users who have already streamed a game and now wish to download it may transfer their save files from the cloud to their consoles, provided they also have a PlayStation Plus membership.

PlayStation Now launched in January 2015. Its library comprises more than 500 titles for PS2, PS4 and PlayStation 3, though the PS3 games are not covered by the downloading feature. New subscribers can sign up for $99.99 per year under a promotion until Sept. 25. PS Plus subscribers can get three months for $29.99 under the same deal.

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DEBATE is a new feature that attempts to answer humanity’s most burning questions through the prism of The Loop’s oft-combative (and always distracted) Slack channel. Inspired by Sony’s unveiling of the new PlayStation Classic, this week we begin with a topic that continues to drive a wedge between ’90s kids to this day…

N64 or PS1?

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Since being launched in November 2006, the PlayStation Network has undergone several changes that have done a lot to improve the stability of the online service. If recent suggestions are to be believed, the service will again be going through an infrastructure update specifically designed for the PlayStation 5.

According to a very vague tweet posted by Windows Central writer Jez Corden, Sony is apparently planning some sort of big update for the PlayStation Network. As Corden’s tweet does not really relay any specifics, but does mention “cloud”, it is possible that the update is in some way related to cloud-based gaming services. Again, though, there is very little to go on.

Heard a few rumors Sony might be working on a big infrastructure/platform update for PSN in time for PS5. They’re not resting on their laurels when it comes to cloud it seems.

— Jez (@JezCorden) September 13, 2018

As previously stated, the PlayStation Network has seen a flurry of changes over the last twelve years, moving from a service that was initially free–but included terrible shortcomings–to one that now requires a premium and suffers from far fewer issues than it did in the past. It is only to be expected that Sony will be continually looking to improve the service as the space of gaming changes with new and continuing technological developments.

With Microsoft already having made its increased focus on cloud-based gaming services known to the public earlier this year, one can only assume that Sony may also be working on a similarly focused project. Sony already offers a cloud-based gaming service in the form of PlayStation Now, and perhaps new infrastructure updates to PlayStation Network may see the service in some way become a feature of the overall online service.

However, with very little information about any such updates planned for the PlayStation Network or even PlayStation 5 itself being known, any statements made pertaining to such are just rumors. With the PS4 being over five years old, it is possible, however, that we may hear updates on these two areas that are more than just unconfirmed statements regarding PlayStation sometime in the near future.

Source: Jez Corden–Twitter (via ResetEra)

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Video games based on movies sometimes tend to get a bad rap, and with the genre seemingly in decline over the past few years, there hasn’t been a better time to remind people of the virtues of movie games. While the days of every box office smash being rapidly accompanied by a hastily developed video game are long over, the drop in quantity has been more than compensated for with a marked uptick in quality.

Game releases based on films are few and far between these days, especially for the PS4, but what we’ve seen in the past year has restored our faith in the genre for the foreseeable future. Let’s take a look at some of the best PS4 games based on movies.

The Lego Movie Video Game

Lego video games have been a highly enjoyable mainstay for gamers since time immemorial, with timeless classics like the first Lego Batman release reminding us all how a simple concept designed for children can prove to be engaging and challenging for even the most hardened adult gamers.

The Lego Movie Video Game is the first Lego release based on the back of a blockbuster film, the 2015 smash-hit Lego Movie. The game showed that quality didn’t have to suffer, and refused to follow the tired trope of just forcing players to play their way through the plot of the film.

Complex environments, new characters and player freedom all contributed to this being one of the best movie game releases in recent memory.

Jurassic World Evolutions

There have probably been more Jurassic Park game incarnations than is possible to list, all of them pretty iconic. There was the classic 2 player arcade game which defined the childhoods of millions of 90s kids, as well as online gaming versions of the franchise which are widely played today.

Alongside dozens of other fun slot games that capitalize on beloved movie throwbacks, such as one based on the 1995 film Jumanji, there is a hugely popular online slotmachines version of Jurassic Park which gamers continue to enjoy.

Seeing which slot themes the biggest online casinos are offering is a good way to get an insight into which movie franchises still have major star power in the gaming world, and Jurassic Park continues to provide.

The reboot of the movie franchise has seen a reboot of the game series too, with pretty impressive results. Jurassic World Evolutions departs from previous gameplay styles which involved just shooting a lot of dinosaurs, this time giving the player complete freedom to build their own Jurassic Park in the tradition of hugely popular games like Sim City and Rollercoaster Tycoon.

Players are responsible for guest safety and happiness, profitability and of course managing the prehistoric creatures which roam the island. It’s a surprisingly intelligent and at times humorous gaming experience, and one that is seriously underrated.

Star Wars Battlefront

Star Wars games have never struggled to sell, given the size and enthusiasm of the iconic franchise’s fan base. Whatever the quality of Battlefront, it was always going to shift a lot of units. Luckily, this release blew away pretty much everyone’s expectations.

The high-octane shooter game also came with reams of addictive downloadable content and one of the best online multiplayer experiences since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with the result being rave reviews and the game sweeping pretty much every award you can think of. Match point to Disney.

The last couple of years has indeed shown that the movie game genre is far from dead, and hopefully, 2019 will see plenty of equally awesome releases.

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