‘Battlefield 1’ breakdown reveals a close attention to history
Video games play fast and loose with realism by definition, but authenticity still matters to some degree After all, it’s hard to enjoy a history-focused game if there are obvious factual errors. So how does Battlefield 1 stack up, then? So far so good, if you ask the World War I history buffs at The Great War. They’ve conducted a shot-by-shot breakdown of the cinematic trailer and revealed that EA DICE is largely faithful to the technology of the conflict — including in ways you wouldn’t expect. That shovel-wielding German soldier you see above makes sense, for example, as the infantry learned that bayonets got stuck in victims. Early tanks behave as they should, and things like gas masks or pickaxes (for Italian soldiers scaling mountains) are true to form.
There are some obvious concessions to gameplay (a medic probably wouldn’t be carrying crutches around), but even some of these make sense. That British soldier carrying a German anti-armor rifle? There are many examples of one side using the other’s weapons in a pinch. In fact, the trailer is more realistic than The Great War suggests. That seemingly implausible metal body armor you see at one point is the “Sappenpanzer Gesichtsmaske,” an uncommon form of protection given to machine gunners and snipers who didn’t expect to move.
This doesn’t make Battlefield 1 a simulator by any means, and it’s not certain that everything you see in the trailer will make it to full-fledged gameplay. However, it’s apparent that the developers went out of their way to include gear you could have seen both in the trenches and beyond. Whatever you think of the title’s premise, it’s not just paying lip service to its setting.
Source: The Great War (YouTube)
Ben Heck’s portable Atari 2600
Ben completes the Portable Atari 2600 while wrestling with the trials of laser cutting and 3D printing. Why won’t everything fit just right? Ah well, nothing a bit of soldering can’t fix! Felix updates us on a side project he’s working on from the element14 community, and Karen gives advice on how to keep your workshop neat and tidy with items you might have lying around. Watch how Ben soldered the innards of the Atari 2600 in episode 226, where you can also find the files necessary to recreate a portable Atari 2600 of your very own.
Blizzard will permaban ‘Overwatch’ cheaters
Overwatch’s massively popular beta might be over, but the game’s cadre of developers at Blizzard are already making plans of how to deal with cheaters ahead of launch: Banning them. Permanently. No three strikes rule. No cool down. Just an outright permaban. And that’s awesome. Writing on the forums, community manager Lylirra says that if a player is using hacks, bots or anything that gives her or him and unfair advantage, the banhammer will strike swiftly. If you spot someone cheating come the game’s May 24th release, send any and all information regarding such to hacks@blizzard.com.
Blizzard is far from the first to make declarations such as this, but the company’s decision is incredibly welcome news. For example, Valve is taking some big steps to prevent cheating on Steam, Capcom is working to ensure that Street Fighter V players stay on the up and up, and Ubisoft is trying to keep Tom Clancy’s The Division a fair place to play as well.
Via: Gamasutra
Source: Battle.net
The sun sets on Xbox’s ‘Project Spark’ game creation tool
Starting today, Project Spark, Microsoft’s quirky game creation game, is no longer for sale. And come August 12th, the servers will be shut down, Thomas Gratz of developer Team Dakota writes. As a consolation, anyone who bought the retail version “starter kit” will get a credit to their Microsoft account. If you redeemed the code inside after October 5th of last year (when the game went free-to-play) and prior to today, you’ll get a credit to use in the Xbox or Windows stores. Gratz says that the credits will be automatically applied for eligible customers.
There is some silver lining though. Gratz notes that no layoffs occurred as team members transitioned to other places within Microsoft after active development of the tool stopped last fall. Maintaining its behind the scenes aspects wasn’t possible with a small group, though, hence the shut-down. Farewell, Project Spark, and thanks for giving Xbox One owners a chance at playing a version of P.T. on their console.
Via: Kotaku
Source: Project Spark
Xbox One backward compatibility supports multi-disc games
Xbox has rolled out backward compatibility support for games that span multiple discs, starting with Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut. This means players can look forward to even more classic Xbox 360 games hitting the Xbox One via backward compatibility (Mass Effect 2 and 3, anyone?).
“We know fans were asking for this feature and our engineers worked hard developing a solution to enable it so we could further expand the titles included in Xbox One Backward Compatibility,” an Xbox spokesperson said. “We’re continuing to listen to our fans on Xbox Feedback and work with our publishing partners to grow out library of Xbox One Backward Compatibility titles and will work to include more multi-disc games.”
The news broke in a Reddit post linking to a story on GamerHeadquarters — Xbox spokesman Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb replied to the thread and corroborated the report of multi-disc functionality.
“I can confirm that the BC team has done work to support multi-disc scenarios,” he wrote. “Be sure to thank the BC engineers.”
That sounds like good advice. Thanks, Xbox backward compatibility engineers!
Source: Reddit, GamerHeadquarters
ISIS releases learning app to teach kids about tanks and rockets
A new Android app from the tech-savvy extremist group ISIS hopes to help out busy ISIS parents by teaching their kids to read and militarizing them at the same time. The app, called Huroof, was released via the Islamic State’s Telegram channel and includes games for learning the letters of the Islamic alphabet with militaristic vocabulary words like “tank” and “rocket.”
In addition to the alphabet flash cards, the app also includes learning songs reportedly loaded with jihadist terms and appealing, cartoonish animations. While the learning app isn’t the first from the Islamic State, Threat Matrix reports, but it is the first to be aimed at children. While the United States Military Cyber Command might be taking the Islamic State’s online threats more seriously these days, apparently no one predicted the group would go after the world’s youngest Android users.
The encrypted messaging app Telegram, for their part, has started cracking down on ISIS-related activity. Back in November of last year, the app claimed it had banned 78 channels in 12 languages allegedly tied to the group.
‘Overwatch’ open beta pulls in over 9 million players
It’s a good time for Blizzard Entertainment right now, as the company celebrates over 9.7 million players having played team-based shooter Overwatch. During the Open Beta across Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, players amassed over 81 million hours of play across 37 million matches. These staggering numbers elevate Overwatch to Blizzard’s biggest open beta yet. On average, each player clocked in around 8 hours of play time.
While the open beta ran for just under a week, it served up the 21 heroes from the full game, with several stages to experience ahead of the May 24th launch. In contrast, developer 2K’s similar Battleborn attracted just over 2 million players during its own beta at the beginning of April.
With Overwatch’s official debut around the corner, it’ll be intriguing to see what the numbers top out at for launch, especially with competition out there in the form of Battleborn and other recent gaming releases.
Cheers to the incredible 9.7 MILLION of you who joined us in the @PlayOverwatch Open Beta! Thank you, heroes💙 pic.twitter.com/RVug4KsFE4
— Blizzard Ent (@Blizzard_Ent) May 12, 2016
Source: Twitter
Sega is ‘investigating’ a ‘Shenmue’ HD remaster
Shenmue fans may have some significant announcements to look forward to from Sega if all goes well. The company, when responding to a recent fan question about possible HD remasters of the Dreamcast’s seminal 1999 role-playing game Shenmue and its 2001 sequel, expressed that it’s “currently investigating” the idea.
Sega community manager Dan Sheridan addressed the question in a video, explaining that the company would “love to release” HD ports of Shenmue and Shenmue 2 “tomorrow,” but that it’s not as simple as porting the games over to current platforms. “With games as immersive as Shenmue 1 and 2 there are further complications from licensed products that were included in the original games.”
With a variety of promotional tie-ins and items that were altered for both North American and European releases, it’s easy to see why this might cause an issue as far as licensing goes. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating, but at the very least it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Of course, with Shenmue 3 on the horizon by way of series creator Yu Suzuki and a Kickstarter having raised a cool $6.3 million, the idea of HD ports isn’t so daft by any means, licensing issues or not. The demand is obviously there. Sega just has to figure out a way to make it happen.
Source: Polygon
‘Call of Duty’ publisher brings esports to Facebook Live
Activision Blizzard is set to conquer a new frontier: Facebook’s live video feature. The world’s largest video game publisher announced improvements it plans to implement to its various esports platforms, most notably a push to broadcast esports to the masses via the massive social networking site.
There’s a wide breadth of competitive games Activision Blizzard plays host to, from Call of Duty to StarCraft to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Facebook’s live video currently seems like the most lucrative option for getting as many viewers as possible.
“We have already seen tremendous growth in audience reach. Especially Facebook’s own focus on live video. We are continuing to work with Twitch and Instagram , and we will be producing a lot of daily content on Facebook live,” explained Mike Sepso, co-founder and SVP of the Activision Blizzard Media Networks division.
The publisher is aiming to focus on the players themselves and the stories that follow them throughout their esports careers. The plan is to introduce a two-day Call of Duty: Black Ops tournament on June 10th, which will kick off a “deeper collaboration” with Facebook. Activision will also be offering interactive data such as how individuals are performing in certain games and events during play.
Sepso is confident that esports will soon blossom as far as the general public is concerned.
“I think it will happen quicker than people think, it’s not just that gaming is pervasive … As we start to tell this story behind players, people will connect with these stories.”
If you’re interested in seeing how the upcoming tournament fares within the bounds of Facebook Live, you’ve only got about a month to wait.
Source: The Guardian
Get your hands on ‘Monster Hunter Generations’ on July 15th
Monster Hunter Generations lands in North America and Europe on July 15th, specifically for the 3DS. Plus, Nintendo is launching two limited edition, Generations-branded 3DS XL handhelds, one for each region. The blue version will go on sale in North America and red is for Europe — both will be available on July 15th alongside the new game.
Generations is the western version of Monster Hunter X, Capcom’s popular creature-tracking and -battling RPG that hit Japan in November 2015. Last we heard, Generations was due to hit North America and Europe in the summer. A Monster Hunter Generations demo will show up on the 3DS eShop before the game launches, though there’s no firm date for that quite yet.
Source: Monster Hunter Generations
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