The Bonfire: Forsaken Lands is Now Available on Steam and is 20% off!*
Build, discover, craft and survive.Build your settlement in a snowy encampment, survive monster attacks and manage resources to uncover the secrets of the ancients.
*Offer ends March 16 at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
My Lovely Daughter is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*
My Lovely Daughter is an alchemist simulator that explores the depth of a father’s grief and how far he will go to resurrect his daughter.
*Offer ends March 15 at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
Hi everyone, this is Steve Merka with Sony San Diego Studios and MLB The Show 18 — let’s talk Road to The Show! This year we have made some pretty big changes in the way you experience the mode, and we think you are going to like them.
The first change is the removal of micro transactions from progression. We wanted to remove the need to make purchases to progress your player and just focus on the gameplay and more pure experience. So this year, you will no longer be able to purchase Training Points. Instead, you will experience a new way to progress your created player, but I will get into that later. The removal of micro transactions from Road to The Show also means that you will no longer be able to heal injuries through stubs. You will just heal naturally.
Another big change we made was how your player is created. This year, your created player will have an Archetype. We designed Archetypes as a means to create more believable players and they reflect the various types of players currently found in baseball. Each will have their own suggested primary positions, and there are specific ones for infield, outfield, and pitchers.
Every Archetype has a pair strengths and a weakness. Some Archetypes may have big power potential at the sacrifice of speed, while others will be insanely fast, but lack the ability to go deep. For example; a Power Corner Archetype’s strengths are their Arm and Power, and their weakness is Speed.
Lastly, Archetypes will have limitations to how powerful they can be in certain attributes. These are called Attribute Caps and you will need to be raised these during the course of your career if you want to get the most out of your player.
There are two types of Attribute Caps, Current and Max. Current caps are temporary attribute limits that can be raised through selecting the appropriate Focus Training choice, during one of your training sessions. Training choices that feature a teammate are the only way to raise your cap. Be sure not to neglect these opportunities, because once you reach a Current cap, you will not be able to take advantage of any gains until the cap is raised.
Eventually, you will reach an Attribute Cap, which cannot be raised. This is your Max Attribute Cap. Max Caps are the best that your player can be at a particular attribute, through training. But don’t worry, you can use equipment cards to further enhance attributes, even past their Max Caps. Speaking of equipment cards, we have added even more equipment and rituals, to provide so much more variety for your created player. We know how much fun it is to find that right piece of equipment, which balances both looks and bonuses.
We have brought back our narrative experience to help tell the story of what it is like for a mid-to-late round draft pick in the baseball world, with a newer minimal UI. In addition to keeping the strong storytelling presence, this year, we are taking some major steps in one of our favorite modes.
In addition to Archetypes, we changed the way you progress your characters, as you pave your path. We thought about how our previous progression system worked and we asked ourselves, “Does this feel good?”, “Is this how you would progress in the real world of baseball?” and “How do we create a more seamless experience?” After discussions, between ourselves and with professional players, we came to an answer for how player progression should work. Progression is now a two part experience.
The first way that you progress and get better is on the field. As we all know, you learn by doing, and your abilities will award you gains to your player’s attributes. We felt like this was a very organic and passive way to progress. You just play the game. Every on the field action you make will feed into your player’s attributes. For example, if you hit a monster bomb off of Chris Sale, with runners in scoring position, then your player would earn gains in their Power vs Left and Batting Clutch attributes. You will be able to track these gains, both during the game, as they happen, and at the end of the game, on the Base Gains screen. The hope is that both you and your player improve together, as you play.
The second way that you will be able to improve your player is through Focus Training Choices. Previously, you had the power to take all accumulated training points and place them wherever you wanted. This year, we removed the hassle of getting into a groove, of playing some of your best games, and then having to spend that growing sum of points to play catch up on lapsed training. Now, you will be presented with a quick choice experience, during the course of your season, where you are presented with a short list of options. These options represent areas you want to specifically focus and train your player, in order to improve. You will choose one from up to four facility themes. Each facility will have their own specific training exercises. You will choose the training exercise that suits your needs and then improve the specified attributes. It is just that simple. This will allow you to choose how your player progresses, while allowing you to get back to playing the game.
When we interviewed players over the past two years to help build Road to the Show, every player we spoke to, mentioned that a big part of their growth came from learning from other players. We wanted to try and reflect that this year in some way. So, as mentioned previously, All Player Archetypes have temporary caps. You will have the opportunity, during a Focus Training session, to choose a teammate to learn from and have them help you push your player’s potential. Managing your Caps is important, because if you neglect them too long, and an attributes caps out, then you will not be able to gain progress in that attribute and will have to wait for another opportunity to train with a teammate.
Finally, I want to write about the customization improvements available in Road to The Show. As a team, we have made it one of our biggest priorities to improve the look and appearance of your created player, while offering you more ways to express yourself. We know that this is the starting point, of your Road to The Show experience, and it should offer everything you need to make you or your ideal version of a ball player. This year, we have taken some steps to help make this process a best in class experience.
Our Art Team has been busy all year to improve the quality of our skin tones and how they look in various lighting conditions. This year, in MLB The Show 18, your player’s skin tone will have an even more natural appearance, and look more realistic. In addition to skin, all of our hair has been re-worked, in order to look and react more like hair. This is for both facial and head. Now fade hairstyles transition better from shaved areas to the grown out parts, while mustache, goatee, and beard fidelity reflects a more realistic look.
A major addition to the player customization experience is the brand new Batting Stance Creator. Batting Stance Creator will allow you the opportunity to tweak and adjust that perfect batting stance to reflect your personal style. We even exposed the values, so you can share these with other people. All of these adjustments to provide a deeper level of customization and uniqueness to created players. So fine tune as much as you need!
These new changes to Road to The Show are just the next steps in our journey to provide the best single player sports gaming experience possible. We look forward to seeing which archetypes you select, what meaningful career choices you make, the stances you create, and of course, how successful they become in The Show!
This is just an overview of what Road to The Show is about, so be sure to tune into our livestream on Twitch, where we will go into even more detail about this awesome mode. You can also stay up to date on all things MLB The Show 18 by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or learn more about Road to the Show on our Twitch stream at 2PM PT today.
Website: LINK
The numbers are in for February 2018! Capcom’s excellent (and record-breaking) Monster Hunter: World leads the charge in February’s PS4 chart, followed by NBA Live 18: The One Edition and Bluepoint’s gargantuan rework of Shadow of the Colossus.
Superhot and Job Simulator sit pretty at the top of the PlayStation VR list, Fortnite and Brawlhalla dominate the free-to-play rankings, and the new Secret of Mana remake debuts at #1 for PS Vita.
Note that these rankings are based on number of downloads, not revenue generated. If you missed on out any of these titles, head over to PlayStation Store to pick ’em up. Hit the comments to let us know what you think this month’s charts will look like!
| PS4 Games | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Monster Hunter: World |
| 2 | NBA Live 18: The One Edition |
| 3 | Shadow of the Colossus |
| 4 | EA Sports FIFA 18 |
| 5 | Madden NFL 18 |
| 6 | EA Sports UFC 3 |
| 7 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege |
| 8 | Dragon Ball FighterZ |
| 9 | Kingdom Come: Deliverance |
| 10 | Gang Beasts |
| PS VR Games | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Superhot VR |
| 2 | Job Simulator |
| 3 | PlayStation VR Worlds |
| 4 | I Expect You To Die |
| 5 | Driveclub VR |
| 6 | Doom VFR |
| 7 | Moss |
| 8 | Batman: Arkham VR |
| 9 | Sprint Vector |
| 10 | Arizona Sunshine |
| Free-to-Play Games | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fortnite Battle Royale |
| 2 | Brawlhalla |
| 3 | Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 Lite |
| 4 | Warframe |
| 5 | Paladins |
| 6 | America’s Army: Proving Grounds |
| 7 | 3on3 FreeStyle |
| 8 | Crossout |
| 9 | Trove |
| 10 | Blacklight: Retribution |
| PS Vita Games | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Secret of Mana |
| 2 | God of War: Collection PS Vita |
| 3 | Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth |
| 4 | Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z |
| 5 | God Eater: Resurrection |
| 6 | Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition |
| 7 | God Eater 2: Rage Burst |
| 8 | Tearaway |
| 9 | Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory – Launch Bundle |
| 10 | Jak and Daxter Collection |
| PS4 Themes | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Monster Hunter: World – Theme |
| 2 | Legacy Dashboard Theme |
| 3 | Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Original Theme |
| 4 | Friday the 13th: The Game Theme |
| 5 | BioShock: The Collection Theme |
| 6 | Alien – World at Hands HiQ Dynamic Theme |
| 7 | Assassin’s Creed Origins – Dynamic Theme |
| 8 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Operation White Noise Theme |
| 9 | Amazing Aquarium 3D HiQ Dynamic Theme |
| 10 | Sakura Night Sky Dynamic Theme |
| PS Classics | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas |
| 2 | Bully |
| 3 | Metal Slug Anthology |
| 4 | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City |
| 5 | The Warriors |
| 6 | Resident Evil Code: Veronica X |
| 7 | The King of Fighters 2000 |
| 8 | Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy |
| 9 | Crash Bandicoot |
| 10 | Twisted Metal: Black |
Website: LINK
Welcome back! On today’s show we speak to Far Cry 5 Associate Executive Producer Darryl Long on his favorite new additions to the long-running open world. Make sure to stay to the end of the program for a special musical performance by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, recorded at PlayStation Experience last year! Enjoy the show!
Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here
Sid Shuman – Director of Social Media, SIEA
Ryan Clements – Sr. Social Media Specialist, SIEA
Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.
[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
Website: LINK
It seems like just yesterday that we launched the Insider Programme for Sea of Thieves. We felt that getting our game into player’s hands early, learning from their feedback and growing a community around this game was critical for a new, shared-world experience like Sea of Thieves. We started with our first 1,000 players in December 2016, and we have been steadily growing the player base and feature set throughout the last year.
Since we began we have seen our community grow and players adventure in our magical world. We have seen battles held, friends made, instruments played and quite a bit of overindulgence on our surprisingly strong grog. Most excitingly, we have seen many, many amazing stories from our players, and recently we allowed them to share these with the world during our Closed Beta. It was incredible to be able watch players live in Sea of Thieves for the first time, to see their adventures unfold first-hand and to hear the stories they had to share.
As we head towards launch on March 20, we have one Final Beta test to run. This gives us an opportunity to grow our scale testing to our largest number yet, it allows us to test a broader range of features than ever before and it also gives anyone that is interested a chance to play and experience Sea of Thieves first-hand.
With that in mind, we are announcing the Sea of Thieves Final Beta, available now and running through to 2 a.m. PST (10 a.m. GMT) on Sunday, March 11.
Who can take part in the Final Beta?
This is open to absolutely anyone to play, and can be downloaded now from the Store on Xbox One and Windows 10. To install, you will just need to search for and install the Sea of Thieves Final Beta. The Sea of Thieves Final Beta requires an Xbox LIVE account on both PC and Xbox One, with an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription required on Xbox One.
What will I be playing?
In the Final Beta, alongside the Gold Hoarders, we will be testing Merchant Alliance voyages for the first time, giving players an entirely new way to play. As well, we are now introducing an emergent, intense opportunity into the world, with the chance of a Skeleton Fort now being occupied. Watch out for that tell-tale Skull Cloud above a fort which indicates the chance of great rewards, but also great risk. Will other players have seen it? Or might they even be there already? Will you work together or against each other? We can’t wait to watch and find out.
In addition, we’re excited to announce that Sea of Thieves’ Xbox One X enhancements will be available during the Final Beta! We’re thrilled that players will be able to experience Sea of Thieves in 4K on the most powerful console ever made.
Can I share my stories?
Absolutely! Whether co-streaming on Mixer, sharing on Twitch, uploading to YouTube or sharing via Game DVR, we are thoroughly looking forward to seeing what our players get up to.
What can I expect?
This is our biggest test yet, and we are excited to see how many players turn up, but we also want to ensure a good experience for everyone that is in and playing. What this means is that as we hit peak times, we might have to temporarily put a hold on other players joining whilst we manage player load. If this happens, we will be sharing the latest news and status via the status page on Seaofthieves.com, and we will be sharing regular updates on Twitter from the official @SeaOfThieves handle.
Thanks to everyone that has helped us get to where we are so far. Everyone who has played in the Technical Alpha, Closed Beta or scale tests – anyone who has submitted ideas and feedback, filled out surveys, shared their stories or made friends in our world – we wouldn’t be where we are without you, and we cannot wait to see where this adventure takes us next.
Here’s to the next leg of the journey.
Sea of Thieves is now available for pre-order in the Xbox Store and Windows Store, and you can play the game at launch on March 20 as part of Xbox Game Pass. For the latest on Sea of Thieves, stay tuned to Xbox Wire and SeaOfThieves.com.
See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire
Related:
Path of Exile Introduces the Bestiary League
How the Xbox Insider Team Shares Your Feedback
New Operators and New Co-op Event Available Now for Rainbow Six Siege
Website: LINK
Dank des Insider Programms bekommen wir mittlerweile seit knapp 15 Monaten stetiges Feedback zur Spiele-Welt von Sea of Thieves. Wir dachten, dass es für ein Shared-World-Erlebnis wie Sea of Thieves entscheidend sein würde, das Spiel frühzeitig in die Hände von Spielern zu geben, von ihrem Feedback zu lernen und eine Community um das Spiel herum aufzubauen. Im Dezember 2016 begannen wir mit den ersten 1.000 Spielern und im vergangenen Jahr sind Spielerbasis und Funktionsumfang stetig gewachsen.
Seit Beginn des Insider Programms haben Spieler Abenteuer in unserer magischen Welt erlebt, haben Schlachten geschlagen, Freunde gewonnen, Instrumente gespielt und manchmal ein bisschen viel von unserem überraschend starken Grog getrunken. Am spannendsten aber waren die vielen erstaunlichen Geschichten unserer Spieler. So haben wir es ihnen vor kurzem ermöglicht, diese während der Closed Beta mit der ganzen Welt zu teilen. Es war ein unglaubliches Erlebnis, die Spieler zum ersten Mal live in Sea of Thieves zu zusehen, ihre Abenteuer aus erster Hand zu erleben und ihre Geschichten zu hören.
Um Dir die Wartezeit bis zum Release am 20. März zu verkürzen, haben wir noch eine finale Beta für Dich. So bekommen wir die Gelegenheit, den Umfang des Skalierungstests auf das bislang höchste Level zu heben und eine größere Bandbreite von Funktionen zu testen als zuvor.
Die finale Beta für Sea of Thieves ist ab sofort verfügbar und wird bis Sonntag, den 11. März um 11:00 Uhr stattfinden.
An der Final Beta, die ab sofort zum Download im Store für Xbox One und Windows 10 zur Verfügung steht, kann jeder teilnehmen. Dazu musst Du lediglich Sea of Thieves Closed Beta auswählen und installieren. Die finale Beta Sea of Thieves erfordert einen Xbox LIVE Account auf Windows 10 PC und Xbox One sowie einen Xbox LIVE Gold Abo, um auf Xbox One online spielen zu können.
In der Final Beta testen wir neben den Goldhoarder zum ersten Mal auch die Reisen der Merchants, was für die Spieler eine ganz neue Erfahrung bedeutet. Außerdem bereichern wir die Welt um die neue Möglichkeit, eine Skelett-Festung zu besetzen. Achte also auf die charakteristische Totenkopfwolke über einem Fort – sie verweist auf eine große Belohnung, aber auch auf ein gewisse Gefahr. Dazu beschäftigen Dich Fragen, wie: Wurde sie auch von anderen Spielern entdeckt? Sind sie vielleicht schon dort? Arbeitet Ihr zusammen oder gegeneinander? Wir können es kaum erwarten, das herauszufinden.
Auf jeden Fall! Ob Co-Streaming auf Mixer, Streamen auf Twitch, Hochladen auf YouTube oder Teilen über Game DVR – wir freuen uns darauf, was unsere Spieler alles anstellen.
Die Final Beta von Sea of Thieves ist unser bislang größter Test und wir sind ganz gespannt, wie viele Spieler mitmachen werden, wollen aber auch ein möglichst schönes Erlebnis für alle Mitspieler gewährleisten. Das bedeutet, dass wir zu Spitzenzeiten eventuell andere neu hinzukommende Spieler vorrübergehend blockieren müssen, während wir an der Serverauslastung arbeiten. In diesem Fall werden wir die neuesten Infos zum Status über das Statusbanner auf Seaofthieves.com bekannt geben und regelmäßige Updates auf Twitter über den offiziellen Kanal @SeaOfThieves veröffentlichen.
Vielen Dank an alle, die mitgeholfen haben, überhaupt so weit zu kommen. Alle, die an der Technischen Alpha, Closed Beta oder den Skalierungstests mitgewirkt haben, alle, die Ideen und Feedback beigetragen, Fragebögen ausgefüllt, ihre Geschichten geteilt oder Freunde in unserer Welt gewonnen haben – wir wären ohne Euch nie so weit gekommen und können es nicht erwarten zu erleben, wo uns dieses Abenteuer noch hinführt.
Du kannst Sea of Thieves im Xbox Store vorbestellen und auch als Teil des Xbox Game Pass ab der Veröffentlichung am 20. März spielen. Die neuesten Infos zu Sea of Thieves findest Du bei Xbox Wire DACH und auf SeaOfThieves.com.
Website: LINK
Fortnite, the game which upset users after going offline yesterday, is coming to mobile.
Epic Games announced Fortnite: Battle Royale, as well as the multiplayer sandbox survival game, will be free-to-play.
Starting Monday March 12, people with iOS will be able to sign up to receive an invitation to an early mobile version of the game.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
As usual, Android users come second and will get their chance to sign up in a few months time.
In a blog post, the game’s development team wrote:
On phones and tablets, Fortnite is the same 100-player game you know from PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Mac.
Same gameplay, same map, same content, same weekly updates.
In partnership with Sony, Fortnite Battle Royale will support Cross Play and Cross Progression between PlayStation 4, PC, Mac, iOS and eventually Android.
This means players across devices can squad up with friends and play together.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJYb49SJvu8?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281][youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJYb49SJvu8?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
The game has been incredibly popular since its release last year, with a seemingly eternal battle raging online about the merits of Fortnite versus another battle royale style game PUBG.
However, the game has received criticism for making kids too addicted, getting complaints from parents saying their children have even neglected family life as a result of the game.
One mum is calling on the video game to be banned because she believes she’s ‘lost’ her 10-year-old son to it.
Leo appeared alongside his mum, Suzanne, on ITV‘s This Morning as she told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby he now finds ‘normal life boring by comparison’, and said his moods had changed since he started playing the game.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
There’s been a huge move to mobile devices in recent times, with Nintendo announcing last month Mario Kart would be coming to our smartphones.
According to a report by SuperData Research in 2016, mobile games generated $41 billion in revenue, retail games generated $26 billion, and free-to-play online games came in at $19 billion.
The number of smart phone users increases with each year, while mobile revenue has overtaken games console revenue since 2015.
As Epic Games said, it’s all about playing ‚when you want, where you want‘.
Inside Xbox wird am 10. März um 21:00 Uhr zum ersten Mal live auf unseren Kanälen ausgestrahlt und bildet eine brandneue Plattform für sämtliche Neuigkeiten rund um Xbox.
Inside Xbox ist eine Premium-Live-Sendung für News und topaktuelle Ankündigungen, die Dir einen Blick hinter die Kulissen von Xbox gewährt. Erhalte einen Einblick in die Mysterien des Spieldesigns und erfahre alles rund um Neuerscheinungen und Features, die im jeweiligen Monat eine Rolle spielen. Vor allem aber ist das neue Format eine Gelegenheit, um mit Dir zu feiern und Dir als Teil der Community Gehör zu verschaffen.
Inside Xbox steht Dir über Mixer.com/Xbox, YouTube.com/Xbox,
Twitch.TV/Xbox und Facebook.com/XboxDACH zur Verfügung.
Für uns ist Inside Xbox der nächste Schritt: Ausgehend von Programmen wie feedback.xbox.com bis zum Xbox Insider Program und der großartigen Arbeit, die das Team mit Gaming For Everyone geleistet hat, glauben wir fest an Aspekte wie Transparenz, den authentischen Dialog und die Einbindung von Feedback unserer Fans.
Vom knappen Chicken Dinner in PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS über die epische Schatzsuche in Sea of Thieves bis hin zum offenen Dialog oder frechen Sprüchen mit allen Beteiligten der Live-Sendung: Bei Inside Xbox haben wir ein offenes Ohr für Dich. Schreibe uns einfach unter #insidexbox auf Twitter, Facebook oder Instagram. Vielleicht schaffst Du es mit Deinen Kommentaren an unseren Community Desk in die Live-Sendung.
Natürlich öffnen wir unsere Schatzkiste mit Preisen und Giveaways für alle, die bei Inside Xbox einschalten und mitdiskutieren. Unter den Giveaways sind ein paar großartige MixPot-Geschenke – stelle also sicher, dass Dein Mixer-Account richtig mit Deinem Microsoft-Account verknüpft ist.
Gastgeber der Show sind die Xbox-Koryphäen Larry Hryb, Graeme Boyd, Jeff Rubenstein, Alex Hebert, Lydia Ellery und viele weitere Gäste.
In der ersten Ausgabe sprechen die Gastgeber der Show zusammen mit Entwickler Rare über die unglaubliche Energie, die rund um Sea of Thieves zu spüren ist. Themen sind unter anderem das Designprinzip des Spiels und das tolle Feedback, das aus der Closed Beta hervorgeht. Natürlich blicken wir auch auf das, was Dich beim Launch von Sea of Thieves erwartet.
Weitere Programmpunkte sind Neuigkeiten zum Xbox Game Pass, Konsolen-Features und Goldschmieden – ja, richtig gehört! Mit Nico Bihary, dem Executive Producer der Microsoft Studios, sprechen wir über PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS und Far Cry 5. Sei gespannt, es warten noch weitere Überraschungen auf Dich.
Mit Inside Xbox starten wir ein monatliches Community-Event für Dich und uns. Sei live dabei, wenn Inside Xbox am 10. März um 21:00 Uhr die Premiere feiert.
Website: LINK
Hatsune Miku VR / 初音ミク VR is Now Available on Steam and is 20% off!*
World famous virtual singer Hatsune Miku invites you to her VR music game! Aim for the perfect score as she sings and dances to some of her most iconic songs.
*Offer ends March 15 at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
This week’s surprise Nintendo Direct presentation is about to start. The broadcast is set to air today, March 8, and will lay out what Nintendo has in store for both Switch and 3DS owners in 2018.
The broadcast begins at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET. It’ll run for approximately 30 minutes and focus on Switch and 3DS games launching this year, including Mario Tennis Aces, the first Switch entry in the long-running sports series.
Today’s presentation marks the second Nintendo Direct of the year; the previous Direct aired in January and revealed a number of new Switch titles, including Dark Souls Remastered for Switch and a re-release of The World Ends with You. You can find more announcements from that presentation in our roundup of all the new Switch games shown during the January 2018 Nintendo Direct, and keep an eye on the liveblog below for all of today’s news!
Website: LINK
Starting at 6 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Update Alpha ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1804.180305-1900). Read on to learn more about a new feature, fixes and known issues in the latest system update.
Wi-Fi Lag Issues
Blu-Ray Player
Game Install Progress
My Games and Apps – Some Games missing from your collection
Display
Settings – Accessory App
HDR Issues
See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire
Related:
How the Xbox Insider Team Shares Your Feedback
New Preview Alpha 1804 System Update – 3/5/18
Xbox Insiders Receive Thanks from the Robocraft Infinity Team
Website: LINK
Update: Ubisoft has officially confirmed a sequel to The Division, aptly titled The Division 2. In a livestream, the company revealed the game and confirmed it’s being developed by the same primary studios as the first entry, including Massive Entertainment, Red Storm, and Ubisoft Reflections. You’ll be able to transfer some progress from the original game to Division 2, though how that will work is not yet clear. No more details have been discussed; the company says a full reveal is coming at E3 2018. We’ll report back as more details are shared. The original story follows.
Two years to the day after the first game was released, Ubisoft appears prepared to announce The Division 2. Details on the game are scant at this point, but we do know it’s apparently in development at the same studio as the first game, Massive Entertainment.
News of the game first leaked through stock website 4-Traders, which published a blog post from creative director Julian Gerighty. While seemingly dubious on its own, an image showing The Division 2’s logo has been discovered on Ubisoft’s own website.
It’s not a huge surprise that Ubisoft would decide to continue with The Division. Although the original was criticized by many at launch, Ubisoft and Massive have diligently worked to address complaints in the two ensuing years. The 1.8 update released this past December, in particular, was lauded as a highlight for its sweeping improvements–all of which came for free. The game has also received a pair of paid DLC expansions.
Alongside news of a sequel, Ubisoft has also announced that support is not ending for the first game. New global events are on the way as part of future title updates, as is an Xbox One X patch to provide 4K support–that’s coming in April. In June, the game will also receive something called Crests, which are achievements that will unlock rewards in The Division 2.
There’s no word on platforms or other details yet, but it seems like a safe assumption that The Division 2 will release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. We’ll report back as more information is shared.
Website: LINK
The Grinding Gear Games team is proud to introduce our latest challenge league, Bestiary, to Path of Exile. Challenge leagues occur every three months and offer players a fresh start to compete in a level playing field. Each new league introduces an exciting twist on existing Path of Exile gameplay to test yourself in exchange for enticing rewards.
Our team is committed to a development cycle where we release new content and a fresh challenge league every 13 weeks. Since 2013 we’ve created 20 leagues, all of which have added their own flair to Path of Exile‘s gameplay. With the Bestiary League, we wanted to really flex our creative muscle and look well beyond the scope of what we’ve accomplished in the past. We’ve achieved this by making Bestiary one of the most deeply immersive leagues so far and by completely changing the interaction players have with league mechanics.
The Bestiary League is currently live and introduced more content than any Path of Exile league to date. In Bestiary, you will encounter Einhar Frey, a doomsayer and survivalist who offers knowledge and equipment to enable you to hunt, capture and sacrifice beasts. There are over 300 beasts roaming the land. You can capture as many or as a few as you’d like but the keenest hunters will collect them all.
Einhar believes the key to survival is through meticulous note-taking and has bestowed on you a Bestiary to keep track of every beast that you capture. He has also helped you build a Menagerie where you can keep your beasts captive as proud trophies or until you’re ready to sacrifice them at the Blood Altar.
When you slay combinations of beasts, you can harness their power to craft potent properties onto your items. Sacrificing different combinations of beasts can grant a diverse range of properties for you to wield and further hone your hunting skills. The most adept hunters will track and capture legendary beasts that allow them to craft a gateway to the spirit world where you will face the deadly Spirit Beasts for their high-level rewards.
While you make the most of Einhar’s knowledge and thirst for resources, you can also fulfill a collection of challenges and earn exclusive cosmetic rewards. If you have a penchant for collecting, slaying and powerful loot, then download Path of Exile free today and join us!
The Bestiary League also launched alongside Content Update 3.2.0 that includes three new gems, many new unique items, new end-game content and more! We’ve also revamped all nineteen Ascendancy Classes to enable players to stretch the limits of powerful and diverse gameplay. See you there, Exiles.
See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire
Related:
Join Us for the Sea of Thieves Final Beta March 9-11
How the Xbox Insider Team Shares Your Feedback
New Operators and New Co-op Event Available Now for Rainbow Six Siege
Website: LINK
Add Amnesia Collection to your account permanently and play for FREE starting now for a limited time! The Amnesia Collection includes both Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Once you click „Install Game“ both games will remain in your account after the free period, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to play these two dark survival horror games.
Website: LINK
Save 50% on Project CARS 2 as part of this week’s Weekend Deal*!
The ultimate driver journey! Project CARS 2 delivers the soul of motor racing in the world’s most beautiful, authentic, and technically-advanced racing game.
*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
The Xbox Insider Team is always focused on improving your experience. We do this in a bunch of different ways across all of Xbox. In this article, I will explain how your suggestions are shared internally and give you some tips on providing suggestions that are effective and timely.
Xbox Feedback
Right now, the Xbox Feedback site at http://feedback.xbox.com is set up for you to share you suggestion and have others vote on it (How do you post a good idea? Check here). Let’s say you’ve posted your idea; what happens to your suggestion once it achieves a high vote count?
Suggestions are grouped by feature type, a little differently than you see here. Each group of suggestions is then ranked by vote count, and compiled into a document for review. The vote rankings are helpful for our feature teams to prioritize these suggestions; your votes give your requests weight. But what is really valuable for us are your comments. Understanding why a feature is suggested, or how we should implement it is core to making sure you get the features you want, the way you want them.
We share your feedback internally all year round, but in the coming months, we’ll be asking for suggestions and feature request for specific features so that you will get the most out of your power as part of the Xbox community! We always welcome suggestions based on new features, but if you focus on features already available to the public (i.e., not in preview), then you’re more likely to provide suggestions at a time when the feature team is ready to see that feedback. We also appreciate suggestions that involve your core goal. For example, when the Game DVR was only able to record 5 minutes on the console, it’s more helpful to ask for more time to record and provide an explanation of why, rather than asking for a specific number, like recording for 10 minutes or 60 minutes. When you provide your insight behind your request, it helps our feature teams understand why you want a feature, and work towards that goal.
When you make a suggestion on Xbox Feedback, what we really want to see is your vision for the future and direction of Xbox. But what do you do if you want to help out with the console and games you want?
Xbox Insider Hub
Providing feedback on our existing features and games is what the Xbox Insider Hub is all about! Report A Problem, system and game flight feedback, and your direct feedback on existing products and services are all welcome here.
Xbox Insider Hub is also available for Windows 10. When you’re playing your favorite XPA titles on Windows 10, be sure to have Insider Hub installed and ready to go.
Windows Feedback Hub
Our next method for feedback is on your Windows 10 computer! Simply hit Win+F, and you’ll open the Windows Feedback Hub. Inside you’ll find both suggestions and issues that you can vote or comment on. Our own David did an excellent job of covering the Windows Feedback Hub in this article, so be sure to check it out.
Support
We always appreciate your passion for bringing us ideas and feedback for Xbox, but sometimes you just want to get some help with your Xbox console. Any time you need support for your individual experience, Our community is always ready to help!
Xbox Feedback is your destination for ideas, suggestions, and feature requests, but I hope this article gives you a little more insight into the ways you can contribute and get help from Team Xbox.
-Nathan
See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire
Related:
Join Us for the Sea of Thieves Final Beta March 9-11
New Preview Alpha 1804 System Update – 3/8/18
Path of Exile Introduces the Bestiary League
Website: LINK
Horizon Zero Dawn recently reached two major milestones: the game turned one, and it crossed the 7.6 million mark in sales numbers. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we released a free avatar bundle and Photo Mode theme for PlayStation 4. In addition, we’re running several promo discounts on Horizon Zero Dawn and related items, which you can read about here!
These milestones also offer an opportunity to look back on the way fans have been playing Horizon Zero Dawn. While it’s very much a single player game, it does use online connectivity to log certain metrics for bug tracking and analytical purposes. In aggregate, these metrics paint a fascinating picture of the way Aloy’s story is experienced by players – from their favorite weapons to the choices they make in life-or-death situations. We’ve compiled the most interesting facts and figures into the infographic below (click on the image for the full version):
We hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the numbers that shape Aloy’s quest. Be sure to follow the PlayStation.Blog and Guerrilla’s official Facebook and Twitter accounts for all the latest updates on Horizon Zero Dawn.
Website: LINK
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Keiichi Okabe. I am the CEO of Monaca, Inc. and currently work as a composer of background music (“BGM”) of video games and various anime. I was in charge of the music direction and composition for Nier:Automata.
Generally, when I compose the BGM for a video game, the sound work is completed two to three months before the game goes on sale and I’m doing interviews and appearing at events around the time of launch. Then, within about a month, things pretty much come to a close.
However, with Nier:Automata, soon after we had completed the in-game portion work began on the original soundtrack (“OST”). Then, right after that, there was an event, called “The Memories of Puppets,” which was a combination of a concert and voice-over performance. After that, the vinyl version of the original soundtrack went on sale, the Arranged & Unreleased Tracks album released, and the theatrical stage show “YorHa” began… It was a constant stream of events and releases, so before I knew it a year had passed.
With previous titles I’ve worked on, the feeling was generally one of ‘when it goes on sale, my role is done,’ but with Nier:Automata, not only it is not done, it seems set to keep on going.
That being said, I’d like to go ahead and answer a few questions:
The original Nier game’s music was extremely well received, could you talk about how you wanted to continue that legacy to ensure that fans would not be disappointed with Nier:Automata?
The previous “Nier” was fantasy-like, and the story was fleeting and sad, so I composed the music to be mysterious, delicate, and ephemeral. Compared to that, Nier:Automata is much more sci-fi, so I tried to make the background music more dynamic. That being said, as a way to maintain the “Nier-ness,” I utilized “voice(s)” for each track, in order to create a melody that expressed that same sad and ephemeral feel. I really think the resulting fusion of dynamic music and mournful melody made for “Nier-esque music.”
What is the method by which you channel your ideas into the final products of your compositions?
First, I’ll think about the visuals and the situation, and then put my heart and soul into creating sounds that will make a given scene even richer. But the order in which I compose varies from song to song [laughs]. For battle music, where tempo is really important, I often start with the rhythm and go from there. With some songs, I follow a more typical track-making process, where specific instruments – for example a repeated string phrase – come first and I build on top of that. For songs that express emotions, I imagine someone singing, and I come up with a melody that I feel would be heart-rending and moving if sung. I compose the rest of the track around it to make that melody shine.
Do you have any funny stories about Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito during the making of Nier:Automata?
Many of Director Yoko Taro’s requests come in the form of him just asking me to “make a song for this scene.” He does use my compositions as expected, but he also uses them in unexpected and often surprising ways. The song “Alien Manifestation” was requested to be written as song for one of the last stages. But when I started playing the very beginning of the game, as soon as you can control the character yourself, there it was. I was like, “Whaaaat? That song, here!?” I just laughed.
Producer Yosuke Saito never really said much to me about music while we were in production, just that he wanted me to include a rearranged version of a certain song from the previous “Nier” or other requests of that sort. If Yoko-san and I were okay with it, it was good with him.
Yoko-san is very particular as a creator, and isn’t easily influenced. I always think to myself that producers who employ him are so brave [laughs]. I found Saito-san’s handling of the reigns of the “rampaging Yoko Taro” to be really impressive. Maybe he’s just larger than life? Or he has lots of love and admiration for Yoko-san? I don’t know, but while the success of Nier:Automata is of course thanks to Yoko-san’s abilities, if Saito-san hadn’t been involved, I don’t think it would’ve come together. He’s someone that I truly respect. It’s not just flattery, I mean it! He’s larger than life [laughs].
What do you want fans to feel when they listen to your music?
I’m part of a generation that admired the music from North America and Europe while growing up. So when I first started composing, I was largely influenced by western music and would also try to mimic it. But the more I did that, the more I felt that my own style was very Japanese. I began to wonder what sort of music I could really make, and through trial and error, the music for the Nier series was born. I listened to wonderful music from the all over the world, internalized and absorbed it in my own way, and put my emotions into it in my own way, with my Japanese background. To be honest, I have no idea how the fans in the west feel when they listen to my music, but if they like it or find it moving, that makes me really happy.
After Nier:Automata released, how was the fan reaction? Was it stressful before the game came out? Are you relieved? Did you accomplish everything you wanted with the game’s soundtrack?
There was a quite lot of pressure, so it was a struggle to create. I would compose a bit, re-do it, and as that cycle repeated over and over, I started to run out of time. It was pretty chaotic towards the end [laughs]. So, I’m really glad that people liked it so much more than I had expected. To be honest, I was really surprised at being nominated for – and winning – several awards. I think that Nier:Automata is a really appealing game, and I believe that the gameplay experience really put the music in a more favorable light. There may be parts that didn’t quite reach perfection, but I think that it was because of who we are, here and now, that we were able to express a sort of “charm” that’s unique.
Lastly, to everyone who played Nier:Automata and everyone who listened to the soundtrack: thank you so much. I’ve been to a number of events in Japan where I’ve been able to see the fans’ reactions firsthand and communicate with them, but I’ve also seen the responses from the west online, and it makes me really happy. I dream of the day we can have an event in the west and I can see all of you in person. I’ll do my best to make that a reality, so please keep rooting for me!
Website: LINK
Hi everyone! I’m Jaakko from 10tons, and I’m happy to be back on PS Blog to talk about what to expect from our latest game, twin-stick shooter Tesla vs Lovecraft.
Some of you may know we’re no strangers to top-down twin-stick shooters. We’ve made quite a few, with various flavors. We loaded Neon Chrome with RPG and roguelite elements, while its spinoff title Jydge is all about bite sized missions and customization. In Time Recoil we focused on time slowdown mechanics and story. With Tesla vs Lovecraft we’re going back to our roots with Crimsonland-style all-action arena gameplay with tons of monsters.
In Tesla vs Lovecraft, however, the arenas are fully architectured with obstacles, gaps, walls, and buildings. Structured levels are the base for the first core feature of Tesla vs Lovecraft, the Quantum Teleport. The hero of the game, genius inventor Nikola Tesla, is not limited to just running while gunning. With the Quantum Teleport backpack he, or rather you, the player, can teleport a short distance in a blink of an eye. Better yet, it makes no difference if there’s a brick wall or a horde of monsters in the way; you can blink through anything. There’s a cooldown involved however, so you can teleport only three times in rapid succession. After that you’ll need to survive precious seconds for the teleport charges to come back up. The Quantum Teleport feature turned out great, and we’re really happy with how teleporting gives the player more opportunities to do risky stuff. Risky is fun!
The highlight of the game, however, is the Tesla-Mech battle robot. This juicy bit of monster slaying goodness is assembled from six pieces, one of which is always somewhere in the level waiting to be picked up. After collecting six pieces you can activate the Tesla-Mech for an immense boost in firepower. While all the weapons, powerups, and perks of the game are plenty powerful, nothing comes close to the Tesla-Mech. You’ll be instantly able to turn the tables on even the most massive swarm of monsters and to just shred everything in a very gratifying way. Like all good things, the Tesla-Mech only lasts for a while before exploding, scattering its pieces around the level to be collected and assembled once again.
Tesla vs Lovecraft will be available for PS4 at PlayStation Store on March 13, 2018 for $14.99 USD. If you’re looking for a new shooter, check this one out!
Website: LINK
Hi there! My name is Neill Glancy and I’m the Creative Director of New IP at Aspyr Media. We are excited to introduce to you our upcoming PSVR game, Torn.
Torn is a dark sci-fi mystery in the style of Black Mirror, or a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. It’s a narrative game, so we don’t want to spoil too much of the story for you yet. What we will say is that Torn takes place in the mansion of a physicist who disappeared 64 years ago. The mansion brims with strange, Willy Wonka-like machines haphazardly installed into its walls and floors. The question is what are they for? And, more importantly, what happened to the people who built them?
Soon after entering the mansion, you will discover a strange tool that allows you to manipulate gravity. This gravity tool can lift titanic objects and reveal hidden circuits and mechanisms built into the fabric of the mansion. By detecting and fixing hidden circuit puzzles you will begin to bring the mansion back online and awaken its mysterious devices. And when the mansion comes alive, that’s when things really get interesting…
When we began working on Torn a year and a half ago, we loved all of the early VR experiences but longed for something with a gripping, longform story, a suspenseful Black Mirror-esqe “page turner,” if you will. We wanted to submerge players in a world of unparalleled beauty, history and physics interactivity. We wanted to create a non-linear world where players could explore at their own pace and feel like they were creating the story themselves.
We brought in some extra talent to help us bring Torn to life, including writer Susan O’connor, who worked on Tomb Raider and Bioshock. The riveting music you hear is composed by Garry Schyman, who composed the scores for Bioshock and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
It’s our hope you enjoy Torn as much as we have making it for you. Torn was made with a small dedicated team of just five people with the goal of pushing forward VR narratives and experiences from one-off games to immersive, interactive movies. We hope you savor every loving detail, and enjoy the true touristic freedom and mind-bending story that Torn delivers.
Website: LINK
Online video game Fortnite has gone down today, and fans are seriously not happy about it.
Developers have been working on updates for the game on the servers, affecting its millions of users.
People online have been absolutely furious at the fact the game is down, with one user on Twitter even saying that he might even go into uni today.
The game has been incredibly popular since its release last year, with a seemingly eternal battle raging online about the merits of Fortnite versus another battle royale style game PUBG.
However, the game has received criticism for making kids too addicted, getting complaints from parents saying their children have even neglected family life as a result of the game.
One mum is calling on the video game to be banned because she believes she’s ‘lost’ her 10-year-old son to it.
Fortnite servers are down, guess I’m going to uni today
— Andy™ (@andy_brooke123) March 8, 2018
Leo appeared alongside his mum, Suzanne, on ITV‘s This Morning.
Suzanne told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby he now finds ‘normal life boring by comparison’, and said his moods had changed since he started playing the game.
Suzanne continued:
Before [Fortnite] he’d go up for an hour to play on his Xbox then he’d come back down and join in with the family.
But then Fortnite came along, it is for [age] 12s and Leo’s nearly 11, I’m not super strict.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Suzanne said she’d noticed changes in his moods just after Christmas, shortly after he’d received the game, saying:
It took a couple of weeks. I’m strict with time, two hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I never had to enforce that with Fifa, but with this, I’d go up at 7.45pm and he’d be yelling he’s not ready.
Leo added:
This game sucks you in and you don’t want to die, it’s just so exciting.
Suzanne said she’d had to take ‚desperate measure‘ as she became increasingly concerned for Leo’s wellbeing.
She continued:
I had to tell him you’re not acting the way you normally act. The game is so full of energy and adrenaline that when you pull them off, they’re screaming at the television; they’re hiding, they’re calling each other, they’re living in it with their friends.
Viewers didn’t beat around the bush when they were commenting on the interview on social media.
Many of them believed, as a parent, Suzanne should be tougher and stop Leo playing the game altogether,
One person wrote:
You haven’t lost your son! YOU as a PARENT have not taken control of the situation and have not reinforced the rules to your son!
Might I add I can imagine worse things your son could be addicted to…. like heroin, cocaine and PUBG.
Another added:
Imagine thinking a game like Fortnite is endangering your child..if you think it’s really a problem maybe don’t let a kid play a game that has a certain age rating or you know… be a parent and take control of the situation.
Leo, who’s since had the game confiscated, said he felt his life had ‚improved‘ since it was taken away.
