Blizzard is ditching the Battle.net name
Battle.net has been synonymous with Blizzard for most of the game studio’s history, and for good reason: from Diablo onward, the online service helped usher in the concept of free, fully-integrated multiplayer matchmaking. Times have changed, however, and Blizzard is putting the Battle.net name to rest. The underlying technology will remain, but you’ll see it referred to simply as Blizzard technology. The Battle.net label is outdated in an era where native multiplayer support is “more of a normal expectation” than a novelty, the developer says. Moreover, the branding is sometimes confusing and redundant. Why does Blizzard have to treat its own service as a separate beast?
The transition should take place over the “next several months.”
It’s a sad day for longstanding Blizzard fans, but you could also say that it’s overdue. The Battle.net name is a holdover from the days when GameSpy, TEN and other third-party services were virtually necessary to join online games for those players not intimately familiar with IP addresses. They lost their main reason for being when many games started treating multiplayer as a central feature, and broadband internet access made it almost trivially easy to find and join matches.
Via: Kotaku
Source: Blizzard
Microsoft’s ‘Project Scorpio’ games will run in native 4K
You’d be forgiven for doubting that Microsoft’s Project Scorpio could really deliver on the promise of 4K gaming. Most PlayStation 4 Pro games won’t run in true 4K, and the current wave of 4K-capable PC video cards cost more than whole consoles. However, Microsoft vows that there won’t be any trickery involved with its own titles. In an interview with USA Today, the company’s Shannon Loftis says that all first-party games arriving “in the Scorpio time frame” will run in native 4K — you’ll have at least a few games to show what your new TV can do.
Loftis doesn’t say which games those are, although that isn’t surprising when Scorpio is roughly a year away. All the same, the 4K commitment could be crucial to giving the new Xbox hardware a strong start. Even if many third-party games resort to upscaling instead of real 4K, you’ll have some incentive to buy the new system. It won’t necessarily make you forget about the PS4 Pro (game selection, as always, is a crucial factor), but it might just tempt you to upgrade from an original Xbox One instead of holding out a little while longer.
Via: GamesRadar
Source: USA Today
‘League of Legends’ fuels college rivalries with live broadcasts
You no longer have to head to a basketball or football game to see your favorite college sports rivalry play out. Yahoo eSports and Riot Games’ uLoL are partnering on a series of five League of Legends live broadcasts that will pit players from major North American schools against each other once a week, starting November 4th at 6PM Eastern. You vote for your favorite rivalries among 12, ranging from Cal/Stanford to Harvard/Yale — the top 5 go on to in-person competitions that Yahoo will stream online. There will even be viewing parties at each school if you’d rather watch with fellow students. While there’s no certainty that these college MOBA match-ups will be as intense as the conventional kind, it’s safe to say that there’s a lot of pride on the line.
Source: League of Legends
YouTube star charged over ‘FIFA’ game betting
The consequences of promoting dodgy bets on video games can extend well beyond account suspensions and tarnished reputations. YouTube star Craig Douglas (aka NepentheZ) and FUTgalaxy owner Dylan Rigby have both been charged with violating the UK’s Gambling Act through their respective businesses. The two allegedly used their online presences to push lotteries and “unlawful gambling” in FIFA 16 matches through bets with in-game coins. Douglas is also accused of encouraging underage gambling by refusing to warn viewers that bets were only for people 18 and over.
The two men have already appeared in court, although the trial won’t resume until October 14th. Whatever happens in the case, it could set an important precedent for game-based gambling. Social media celebs in the UK may be more hesitant to promote betting on video games, or at least put more disclaimers on their existing efforts. Non-UK residents aren’t under quite so much pressure, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the charges prompt game betting advocates elsewhere to clean up their acts.
@FUTGlVEAWAYZ Let us worry about that kind of stuff, yeah. Jesus, lmao. Go annoy someone else, somewhere else.
— NepentheZ (@NepentheZ) June 29, 2015
Via: Kotaku
Source: BBC, PCGamesN
‘Final Fantasy XV’ slim PS4 bundle hits the US on November 29th
Did you look on wistfully as Sony Japan unveiled a special edition slim PS4 to mark the launch of Final Fantasy XV? You don’t have to anymore. Sony has confirmed that the console will reach GameStop stores in North America on November 29th for $449 US, or $549 Canadian. Besides the conspicuous moon decal on the system, you’re getting a 1TB hard drive, a branded DualShock 4 controller, Square Enix’s role-playing game (plus downloadable extras) and the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV movie on Blu-ray. It’s a tempting deal if you can’t get enough Final Fantasy into your life, although we have to ask: do you get this, or would it be wiser to spring for the more powerful PS4 Pro plus a separate copy of the game?
Source: PlayStation Blog
‘The Sims 4’ heads to the city with its latest expansion
As much as The Sims 4 has done to expand its cultural boundaries over time, it has always been set in the suburbs — you know, that bastion of conformity and homogeneity. What about the city, where experiences tend to be more diverse? Enter City Living, a new paid add-on for the game that (surprise!) takes place in an urban landscape. You can live in or visit four distinct neighborhoods in San Myshuno, and broaden your horizons by attending street festivals or crooning at the local karaoke bar. At first glance, it’s a more varied experience — both culturally and in terms of gameplay.
And while we wouldn’t exactly call a Sims game gritty, it’s clear that City Living at least acknowledges the realities of downtown life. Your goal is to work your way up from a tiny starter apartment to a penthouse, and you have to deal with apartment nuisances like noisy neighbors and landlords (hopefully this doesn’t mean waiting months to get something fixed). There are three new careers, including politics, and activities now include urbanite favorites like basketball or mural painting.
As with many Sims expansions, City Living won’t come cheap: you can pre-order the Mac/Windows title for $40 ahead of its November 1st release date. However, this is a larger change than we’ve seen in some Sims booster packs. Simply put, it’s acknowledging a very common human experience that was conspicuously absent until now.
Source: The Sims
The PS4’s HDR-friendly update arrives September 13th
Sony has been talking about the PlayStation 4’s big version 4 update for weeks on end, and now it’s (almost) here. The company has confirmed that the new software will reach existing consoles on September 13th, and it’ll have even more than first promised. You know about headliners like high dynamic range video support, home screen folders and a revamped Quick Menu. However, there are a few perks, some of which are hardware-dependent. If you snag a PS4 Pro, you’ll get 1080p Remote Play and Share Play streaming, 1080p Twitch live broadcasts and 1080p YouTube broadcasts at 60 frames per second. It’s also easier to transfer data to a new PS4 thanks to support for shuffling data over a local wired network — you won’t have to re-download content from the internet just to pick up where you left off.
Some of the previously unmentioned tweaks will run on any system. That new Quick Menu has an upgraded music section that helps you control Spotify music without launching Spotify’s app. You’ll likewise see improvements to the What’s New and content information screens, both of which should have simpler interfaces and better at-a-glance views of what’s going on. In short: between new PS4 hardware and the version 4 update, Sony is determined to keep the PS4 fresh amidst competition that isn’t standing still.
Source: PlayStation Blog
The PlayStation VR includes a demo disc loaded with games
PlayStation VR is expensive enough by itself, so you probably don’t relish the idea of spending more just to get a taste of what the PS4 headset is like. Thankfully, you won’t have to. Sony has revealed that PSVR’s accompanying demo disc will include samples of eight games. A handful are definitely lighter releases that serve more as showcases (PlayStation VR Worlds most notably), but there are also tasters of games you might well buy later. You can play demos for Battlezone, Driveclub VR, the ubiquitous VR sampler EVE: Valkyrie and RIGS: Mechanized Combat League, among others.
This lineup surfaced on Sony’s European PlayStation Blog, so don’t be surprised if the lineup changes depending on your region. Should it remain largely intact from country to country, though, it’s good news for many future PSVR owners. Yes, the demos are ultimately there to get you to buy games, but the breadth is important. You won’t run out of things to try minutes after opening the box, and you’ll get a genuinely diverse range of experiences that will give you a feel for what’s possible in VR. That’s particularly important when many players will know very little about VR, let alone have first-hand experience.
Via: The Verge
Source: PlayStation Blog
Nintendo issues DMCA takedown for hundreds of fan games
Whenever we see a high quality fan-game using a major gaming company’s IP, we always think the same thing: it’s only a matter of time. For hundreds of Nintendo fan projects, that time has come. Today, the Japanese gaming giant issued DMCA takedown requests for over 500 fan-games — including AM2R: a lovingly crafted Metroid II remake that recently launched after 8 years of development.
Most of the effected games were hosted on Game Jolt: a community where indie developers upload and share their projects for free. The library is filled with homages to other games — like Old Man’s Sky, Duck Nukum and, of course, hundreds of Mario, Zelda and Pokémon fan-games. Nintendo’s takedown notice named over 500 titles that violated its copyright, and all of them have been taken down.
Despite not being part of Game Jolt’s library, AM2R was issued a DCMA takedown, too. “There will be no more AM2R updates,” developer Milton Guasti wrote on his blog, “and no more releases under any platform.” This is the second and final blow for Guasti, who had been quietly updating the game despite a takedown request issued earlier this year. Nintendo’s within its right to put a lid on these fan projects, of course — but it’s always a bummer to see passionate fan works snuffed out with all the fanfare of a legal notice.
Via: Polygon
Source: Game Jolt
‘Fallout 4’ immortalizes a player’s late brother
Games have paid tribute to late celebrities and fans in the past, but rarely like this. When Reddit user NoohjXLVII (aka Andy) posted about the tragic losses of his father and his brother, as well as using Fallout 4 as a coping mechanism, Bethesda responded by including his brother as a character in Fallout’s Nuka World add-on. Run into Evan at the southernmost part of Nuka World’s map and you’ll meet the recreation of a man who Andy says was just as generous in real-life as he is in-game — the virtual Evan will gladly give you whatever he can. He’s not a perfect physical match, but he captures the “essence” of the person.
This won’t make up for Evan’s passing, although you can contribute to a GoFundMe campaign to help ease his family’s burden. Even so, the character (and the care package sent to Andy) are tremendous gestures. They’ll help preserve the memory of a man who, by all accounts, was taken from the world too soon.
[Thanks, Kristy]
Via: Kotaku, Eurogamer
Source: Reddit, GoFundMe
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