Intense music game ‘Thumper’ is a PlayStation VR launch title
Chalk up one more game available day and date alongside PlayStation VR. Drool has revealed that Thumper, its PSVR “rhythm hell” music title, will launch in sync with the headset on October 13th at a reasonable $20 price. As the developers put it, this isn’t just a 2D game with virtual reality slapped on top. While regular TV gaming is an option, Thumper is built to create an “overwhelming sense of speed” when you’re wearing PSVR. In short: if you take breaks, it may be less about VR queasiness and more about needing a respite from the game’s relentless pace.
You may have a good reason to splurge on the game, too. Drool is teaming up with iam8bit to offer a $45 Thumper Collector’s Edition that includes a code for the game as well as a vinyl soundtrack with art from key influencer Robert Beatty (who created album art for Neon Indian and Tame Impala). It might be overkill for a game that hasn’t made a name for itself yet, but rhythm games have a way of sticking in your brain… it’s worth considering this version if you know you’ll get an earworm.
Source: PlayStation Blog, Iam8bit
The new ‘Doom’ gets its first update on June 30th
The new Doom is on the cusp of getting its first major update, and it appears to be worth checking out — especially if you have fond memories of the original games. The upgrade arrives on June 30th with the option of a classic dead-center weapon view, regardless of the mode you’re playing. It’s there to evoke nostalgia, of course, but it’ll also be helpful if you want more of a visual aid when aiming.
Other additions? Aside from the usual fixes, there’s a photo mode to capture those brutal battles for posterity, and the SnapMap creator has useful extras like sky backdrops and an auto-rollback feature to mend corrupted maps. This is just the start of Doom’s expansion plans (more maps and game modes are on the way), but hey, it’s free — there’s no harm to checking it out.
Source: Bethesda
‘Overwatch’ Competitive Play mode launches on PCs today
Want to prove to the world that you’re a top-notch Overwatch player? You now have your chance. After a quick public beta test, Blizzard is launching the team shooter’s Competitive Play mode on PCs. As before, this isn’t just about participating in seasonal play. The mode invokes sudden death rounds for tie games, modifies the point system and stiffens penalties for bad behavior (such as ragequitting a match before it’s over). In essence, it’s all about keeping the game and its players as fair as possible.
Unfortunately, console gamers will have to be patient. Competitive Play won’t reach the PS4 or Xbox One until sometime next week (that is, the first full week of July). Blizzard is vowing to close the gap between PC and console updates in the future, but that’s not much solace if you’re determined to earn some bragging rights as quickly as possible.
Update: The PC patch is live now, check here for the full list of changes here, including bug fixes, gameplay tweaks and the removal of “avoid this player.”
Source: Battle.net
‘Quake’ marks its 20th anniversary
Attention gamers of a certain age: you’re about to feel very, very old. June 22nd, 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the original Quake, id Software’s classic first-person shooter. It may not be quite as genre-defining as the Doom games that preceded it, but it was still considered revolutionary. For a start, it was presented entirely in 3D (with semi-realistic lighting, no less) at a time when most shooters had to make do with ‘2.5D’ engines — even the zero-gravity title Descent had some 2D. Quake was also one of the first games of its kind to be built with internet multiplayer in mind, not just local networks. And who can forget the eerie soundtrack from Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor?
As important as the game was when released in 1996, its long-term impact was arguably greater. Thanks in no small part to QuakeWorld (a version optimized for the slow internet connections of the time) and add-ons like Threewave CTF, online action gaming took off. Its extremely flexible code led to extremely popular mods like Team Fortress, which spawned stand-alone games that are still played today. Even the computer hardware industry owes a debt to Quake. After all, it was frequently the main reason why you bought an early 3D graphics accelerator. AMD and NVIDIA wouldn’t be where they are now without people buying video cards to get some extra visual oomph out of GLQuake.
The Quake series doesn’t have an active presence outside of Quake Live right now, but it’s about to enjoy a revival thanks to the upcoming Quake Champions. Even if that falls flat, though, the game’s influence will likely be felt for a long time. You can trace the basic controls and mechanics of many modern first-person shooters back to id’s pioneering work, and it popularized certain parts of the modern gaming lingo (such as frags and spawn camping). Whenever you shotgun someone in Call of Duty, you’re showing Quake some gratitude.
Source: John Romero
Game studio claims it lost $450,000 to key resales
Game key resales are theoretically ideal for players — you can buy that must-have title at a discount from someone who wasn’t going to use it anyway. However, SpeedRunners developer TinyBuild would beg to differ. It’s accusing G2A of facilitating a black market in game keys that amounted to $450,000 in potential lost sales at retail prices. The studio maintains that G2A is refusing proper help (including compensation) after fraudsters bought keys from the TinyBuild store using stolen credit cards and posted them on G2A, making a tidy profit while TinyBuild made nothing. Supposedly, the only way to get help would be to forge a deal with G2A itself and undercut its own retail partners in order to compete with the bootleggers. Simply blacklisting a range of keys wasn’t an option, either.
G2A, to no one’s shock, sees things differently. It believes that TinyBuild made “unjustified demands” of its store. It also argues that it suspended shady key sales before TinyBuild even got in touch, and that the developer isn’t being entirely honest about its revenues — it’s using the peak prices as its model, not the sale prices that frequently appear. G2A is giving TinyBuild 3 days (until June 25th) to deliver a list of “suspicious” keys that it wants to investigate.
The truth might be somewhere in between these two positions. G2A wasn’t the one who bought keys through shady means, and it did take steps to keep things clean without being prompted. However, this does suggest that both sides may need screening that discourages fraud in the first place — it’s rare that someone honest will buy or sell game keys in those kinds of quantities.
Source: Gamasutra (1), (2), G2A
Teen responds to ‘Overwatch’ naysayers with a live skill display
If you’re good enough at a video game for people to claim that you’re cheating, what do you do? Shrug it off? Talk smack in return? If you’re Gegury, a 17-year-old Korean pro gamer, you prove you’re clean to the whole world. When two rivals accused her of using hacks to dominate Overwatch, she didn’t just get her name cleared by Blizzard. She went to game broadcaster Inven and livestreamed an hour-plus play session demonstrating that, yes, she’s just that skilled.
It wasn’t a perfect showcase (all the more proof that Gegury is honest), but it was enough. Those two accusers? They’d vowed to quit the pro gaming scene if it turned out that Gegury was above board, and they were true to their word — they’re both out. This doesn’t mean that everything is sunshine and roses (Gegury faced a lot of stress from being falsely accused). However, it shows that you should always think twice before you say that someone is playing dirty. In the era of Twitch streams, they can easily call your bluff.
Via: Reddit, Eurogamer
Source: YouTube
iOS 10 can livestream your games
You won’t have to use an Android phone if you want to livestream your mobile gaming sessions. Apple has revealed that iOS 10 will include ReplayKit Live, a feature that livestreams apps in addition to previous recording support. As you might expect, you can also include your own audio or video remarks. You’ll have to wait for both iOS 10 and supporting apps, of course (Mobcrush is one of the first to make plans), but it could be a big deal for iOS gamers who’ve wanted to share a hot new title while they’re playing it. ReplayKit Live should be useful in more productive apps, too — it could help teachers demonstrate concepts through educational apps, or open the window to live technical help.
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Mobcrush (Medium)
Everything we saw at Sony’s E3 2016 event
Sony revealed the PS VR’s launch date in North America and served up game after game at E3 2016 with barely any pauses in between. We saw trailers and sample gameplay of the new God of War, Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man, Hideo Kojima’s mysterious creation Death Stranding (featuring a naked Norman Reedus), the remastered version of Crash Bandicoot and about a two-second-view of Persona 5. Sony also previewed its upcoming virtual reality titles, including Resident Evil 7 and Batman. We’ve gathered (almost) everything the company revealed this year right here — just browse the gallery below to watch all the trailers and to get a quick look of what you can expect for the PS4 and the PS VR.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man features an experienced hero
Tired of seeing superhero origin stories retreaded again and again and again? Then the next Spider-man game might be for you. At its E3 press event today, PlayStation announced a new take on the series from Insomniac Games — one that focuses on the exploits of a more experienced adult wall-crawler.
It’s refreshing in more way than one — for the better part of the last two decades, it’s been hard to find a Spider-Man game without some sort of narrative tie to an ongoing film franchise. This game looks different: it seems to feature an older version of the hero with new, distinctive costume that sets it apart from the previous films, or the upcoming Spider-Man Homecoming. Insomniac games says it’s a “brand-new, authentic Spider-Man story” that focuses on an “experienced Peter Parker who is more masterful at fighting crime.”
So, the narrative is fresh, but how about the actual gameplay? It’s hard to tell from the teaser, but Insomniac has a decent track record, including last year’s Sunset Overdrive, which was praised for having a fluid movement system. Either way, we probably won’t know for awhile: the game was announced with no release date on the horizon and incredibly temporary title of “Spider-Man PS4.”
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
Oculus Touch will control over 30 games this year
Were you worried that Oculus’ Touch controller would arrive without any games that used it? If you ask Oculus, there’s no reason to worry. It’s promising that over 30 Oculus Rift games will use the VR peripheral in 2016. Some of them are titles you’ll know, like Rock Band VR and Serious Sam VR, while others are Touch-ready versions of existing VR experiences like Job Simulator and The Climb. Oculus itself will bundle a sculpting title, Oculus Medium.
This is still just a sliver of the overall gaming universe, so it’s not quite the abundance that Oculus makes it out to be. Also, some of the more promising material, like Twisted Pixel’s Wilson’s Heart, doesn’t show until 2017. Treat this like a video game console launch — there will be plenty to play, but only if you’re not picky. The real show begins when the “hundreds” of future Oculus Touch games arrive and you can simply assume that many (if not most) Rift games support the device.
Source: Oculus
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