Eugene Schmidt | BarrelRolled

See UPS’s Toy-Con-Trainer made with Nintendo Labo

May 5, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Nintendo Labo has finally launched last week and its course for global domination has begun.

Labo is Nintendo’s cardboard approach to have players create their own cardboard creations using the Switch to code them if necessary. It’s like Nintendo’s form of the Raspberry Pi. Guess who jumped on ship? UPS.

They’ve decided to show off their own creation- the Toy-Con-Trainer on its Twitter account.

It shows off a custom carry case designed to move each of Labo’s individual toys- just like a logistics company would. The Toy-Con-Trainer was designed by UPS themselves, so it’s not officially a Nintendo product. Fans have already requested the blueprints for the build so they can build it themselves. Third-party support for the Labo? Probably.

Labo comes in two kits- the Robotic Kit which allows you t interact with sister robots using the Switch. The other is the Variety Pack which features a bunch of awesome things like a fishing rod. Users can create their own peripheral using the Toy-Con Garage if they don’t want to follow a guide. There will also be a competition for players who want to create their own toys.

Nintendo also revealed prices for replacement parts which allows you to buy single parts instead of the whole set.

PC Building Simulator sells over 100,000 copies; Updates on the way

May 1, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

PC Building Simulator is probably the hottest simulator game in town.

It sold over 100K copies according to a press release from the developer. The game is constantly being updated and is a viral hit among PC or simulator game enthusiasts.

It’s a game by Claudiu Kiss and The Irregular Corporation where you need to fix, upgrade, and build PCs for guests. Players run their own computer repair shop and need to service customers who come in with issues with their PC. It gets pretty difficult in the later levels of the game as the problems get more and more advanced. The game has players doing everything from fixing them to building new ones from scratch.

The game scored licensing deals with many major companies like GeForce and EVGA. Their brands are represented in the game with true-to-life models of their parts. It’s been in early access since March 27th, 2018 and has sold over 100,000 copies so far. The success is amazing and there are more updates on the way.

PC Building Simulator is on Steam for just $19.99. The game’s well worth its price if you’re a computer enthusiast. A lot more updates are on the way and planned for the game, according to the company behind it. It’s surprising no other company has thought of this idea yet given that it’s such a widely popular hobby.

Tencent and Wizards working on Magic: The Gathering Arena

April 26, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Wizard of the Coast, the developer of the original Magic: The Gathering Online back in 2002, they went ahead and set forth for the next game in the series.

They’ve built games with Stainless Games over the years, such as Magic: The Gathering – Duels of Planeswalkers and Magic Duels: Origins. They did okay, but game reception was poor. Now they’ve decided to set up an in-house development studio called Magic Digital Studio for their next game.

Magic: The Gathering Online won’t be retired. But it will be designed to focus on an engaging and dynamic experience that’s true to playing the actual card game. It allows players and viewer to both watchers exciting and less confusing matchups. It also focuses on new sets with no backward compability for older card sets from previous games.

The game is said to integrate both:

“integrate modern online services that will create a dynamic overall experience and also someday integrate with other aspects of your Magic life.”

They’ve partnered up with Tencent to help bring Magic to more gamers “throughout the world.” Chris Cocks, the West Coast President states that he wants to bring the game to western players as it is in Asia, where the dominant playerbase resides.

Steven Ma, Senior VP of Tencent’s Interactive Entertainment Group states that it’s a “legendary game and has had a huge influence on culture and industry” and that they’re “thrilled to bring this amazing experience to players in Asia and look forward to helping expand its global community.

They also have plans to bring the game to PC, mobile, and console platforms.

Wizards of the Coast announced that their latest card expansion set Dominaria will be on Arena during a large update schedule. It’ll be available today with the economy updates as well. There will also be in-game events and many more. You can check out the forums for more details.

Every single card from the new expansion will be playable in digital format and include news skins and visual improvements. There will also be an experimental event going on in New Zealand where pre-release cards will include in-game codes that they can redeem for virtual items as well.

Three new (free) content updates announced for Sea of Thieves

April 23, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Sea of Thieves is no longer a sailing sim anymore!

Sea of Thieves is finally getting a much-needed content update!

After being criticized for being a sailing simulator with nothing to do, Rare has decided to release a roadmap of what to expect in the next coming months. It’ll get a few updates, three of which are already announced to let people know that it hasn’t abandoned the project.

The first update will roll out in May which will be called The Hungering Deep and brings a new epic boss for players to take down. It’ll require multiple parties to discover and defeat the threat together. The spiles will be a plenty!

The next update is called Cursed Sails and will roll out in Summer 2018. This update brings a new type of ship to the game and also another epic boss. The expanded ships will allow you to change how it looks and functions as you scale the sea. It’s not just a single ship, it’s a whole ship type.

The last update is called Forsaken Shores and is probably the biggest one. it’ll add a whole new area to sail and new enemies to fight as well. There will be new rewards that are themed to that part of the world and a new gameplay mechanic. This is the big one.

There will also be three more updates coming later on, but none of the hems have details yet. Weekly events will be introduced to the game to teach players the new mechanics and events between updates. This will also help them explore existing locations via quest or fetch missions. Getting a chest from a boring local or getting an item from an NPC in the middle of nowhere both help facilitate players to new places they wouldn’t otherwise go before the updates were added to the game. It’s a way to get players playing.

All updates will be free as well, so Rare will be backed up in developement for thigns like pets and ship captains.

Sit tight for updates on the way, captain!

Photo: https://seaofthieves.gamepedia.com/Sailing

Sega Ages first lineup of games announced for the Switch

April 22, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Sega has up and gone ahead announced their first lineup of games for their Sega Ages collection for the Switch.

We wrote about this previously and in short, the Sega Ages is a program where Sega brings their classic games over to a multitude of platforms. They did this for the 3DS as well and it was done successfully. Now, their first batch of games for the Switch has been announced.

We’re looking at Alex Kidd, Phantasy Star, Thunder Force IV, Sonic, and Gain Ground. These games included some goodies already and personally I know I’ll be getting Phantasy Star and Sonic (duh). Out of the list, those two were fond memories even though I was totally a Nintendo kid growing up.

This release of Sega Ages will bring over some titles to the West that weren’t available previously. It’ll roll out in Summer 2018 and will be handled by M2, which did the same games for the 3DS. Sega Ages is perfect for fans who liked Sega stuff and weren’t able to play them or just want to relive the classic games without buying an actual Sega console. In terms of Sonic the Hedgehog, some special elements from the 3DS would be added, such as the Spin Dash attack and the Mega Play version. In Thunder Force IV, players will get the Styx Mode and online leaderboards. In Phantasy Star, you’ll get additional options such as difficulty and walk speed.

Sega Ages originally came to fruition back on the Sega Saturn in 1996 in Japan. Then it came to the West with some awesome titles like Space Harrier, OutRun, and After Burner II. It’s nice to see this coming to the Switch. Now it’s a constant thing for Nintendo fans. It’s difficult to avoid getting some Sega on your Nintendo.

Players will be able to get ahold of this sometime in the Summer. Sit tight for updates.

Photo: Wikidpedia.

ArenaNet confirms it used invasive spyware in the Guild Wars 2 engine

April 21, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

ArenaNet has been found to spy on players in Guild Wars 2.

During March 6th to the 27th, there was a line of code in the software that affected all players who played Guild Wars 2. Based on a post on reddit, it was found that ArenaNet used spyware in order to ban cheaters and hackers from the game. IT was later confirmed that they used it to find “programs that allows players to cheat and gain unfair gameplay advantages.”

Sure, this is okay. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. Blizzard Entertainment uses a similar process called the Warden Client which looks for specific identifiers for cheating programs and then uses that to ban the player.

However, ArenaNet would look for all CPU processes and relay that info back to their servers. This is pretty much everything that players have available on their PC running at that current time. This is a shotgun approach and is unnecessarily invasive to privacy. Warden had some problems met by players as well. Cheating and hacking protection is one thing, but another problem is how much data is taken and sent back to their servers to analyze and ban players.

In the current build, ArenaNet has removed the code and doesn’t use the same process as before. How they use their software to detect hackers now is unspecified. Updates will ensue when a confirmed answer is available.

Sega classics are coming to the Nintendo Switch by Summer 2018 under Sega Ages

April 20, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Classic games from SEGA Genesis and Master System will be available for the Nintendo Switch during the Summer of 2018, according to an announcement at Sega Fest 2018.

Fans of the classic Sega games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star, Thunderforce 4, and more, will all be available on the Switch under the Sega Ages brand. There will be a total of 15 games available including the 3 above.

A company called M2 is behind the move and will be developing the games for emulation for the games. They’re specialists in game emulation for older titles and they’ve been doing this with Sega games for a while now- they ported games onto the Virtual Console on the DS, so they know what they’re doing. The Sega Ages label has been used by Sega since 1996 when they re-released games on their SEGA Saturn console.

As for now, we have no info about the other remaining games. We’ll post an update when we hear word about them.

Photo: Flickr.

Siegfried confirmed for Soulcalibur VI lineup

April 18, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Siegfried is the newest confirmed character.

Siegfried has been confirmed by Bandai Namco to be on the roster for Soulcaliber VI!

The rebellious blonde knight with the giant sword will be available among the cast of characters for the next Soulcalibur entry- the newest title for Project Soul’s popular fighter series.

He’s a badass knight who carries a huge German two-handed sword. He’s been a long-time protagonist background character in other games playing the double version of the character Nightmare. Nightmare was the primary bad guy for the first two Soulcalibur games and then split off into his own avatar. Nightmare carries his sword in the left hand whereas Siegfried carries it in his right.

Bandai Namco released some more info about his background story for the upcoming game. He awakens free from the sell of the Soul Edge and is swamped with memories of killing his father and all the things he’s done as Nightmare. Now he’s back to redeem himself from the corruption he’s caused under the influence of Soul Edge. Soul Edge can only be countered by Soul Calibur- a magical sword used to counter the dark magic. Siegfried fell in battle to as Nightmare to Kilik, so he’s left with a lot of regrets.

For hardcore fans, his entry has already been speculated on the roster since he’s already been in every single core title of the Soulcalibur games since the very beginning (the Soul Edge games). Although his confirmation is kinda late, he’ll be in the game nonetheless.

Alongside Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher, Siegfried is the latest addition to the lineup. The game will be out in sometime in 2018 and available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC for the firs time which should be interesting to see how the controls work out on a keyboard/mouse combo instead of a controller. Check back for updates. I’ll keep you updated when more details roll out about the game in the future.

You can check out the trailer here.

Far Cry 5 shatters sales records in first week

April 14, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Far Cry 5 is the best-selling Far Cry game in the first week.

Far Cry 5 has shattered previous records and is now the “in” game.

Just a week after its launch on March 27th, it sold just about $310 million dollars worth of copies, with half coming from digital purchases. Far Cry 4 only sold about half of that amount during opening week. The Division sold about $330 million, which makes it best-selling Ubisoft game of all time in its first week.

Far Cry 5 has been very positively received and has made it was to the top of the ladder just based on controversy. The story has been criticized as incomplete and unsatisfying, but the core gameplay makes up for it with some of the most awesome gameplay maneuvers to date. The game has been criticized that it only made its way to the top because of the topic it covers- a heavily-armed religious cult in the USA. Press along has garnered this game a ton of exposure and this led to its huge publicity.

All publicity is good. No matter how bad.

Dan Hay, the Executive Producer, states:

“I’m proud that the culmination of years of passionate work from the team is paying off, and that Far Cry 5’s experience resonates with so many people.”

Far Cry 5 isn’t all bells and whistles even though the storytelling is pretty bad. The game has a Season Pass for upcoming paid DLC. But as for free content, there isn’t much going on there. So far, the game doesn’t have much in terms of weapon diversity and has gameplay balance issues.

Either way, we’ll have to be on the lookout for what’s next. They got the momentum, now they just need to keep it up and not let their fans down.

Photo: Ubisoft.

Nintendo releases requirements for third-party USB cables

April 12, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Switch units have been bricked in the recent firmware upgrade.

Nintendo decided that it won’t be using proprietary charging ports on the Nintendo Switch. This is old news, but favorable, since many gamers prefer to use cheaper, third-party chargers instead of the “OEM” parts for USB-C cables.

Sadly, the reason behind this in previous systems isn’t just to make a profit- it’s to also ensure quality.

When you make a system that allows any manufacturer to make an accessory for it, you unleash the slew of crappy parts that could very well damage the system itself such as slow charging times or fried hardware. Nintendo is starting become aware of this and is probably second-guessing their decision. They warn (it’s in Japanese, so translate it)that the USB-C cables should only be used with 56K Ohm resistors to be safely used and prevent any damage with the Switch.

If charging from a USB source with the USB-A type outputs, Nintendo suggests only to use the official cable (HAC-010) that are included with the Pro Controller or Joy-Con Charging Crip. However, you can only get this Japan. If you’re in the US, you won’t be able to buy it by itself and must get it bundled.

A Nintendo support mod stated that:

“any USB cable that supports a USB Type C port should work just as well”

So this means any third-party cable should work, right? Using USB cables that don’t fit the bill could seriously damage the Switch’s internals or charge it super slowly. It could even fry it in slow motion or charge it so slow that it won’t carry the full amps required.

Where did all this news come from? It appears that a bunch of Switch consoles turned into Switch Bricks after the 5.x firmware update with consoles using the third-party docks from Nyko.

If you don’t want to take any risks, go with OEM parts. If you want to save some cash, do your research first before buying.

Photo: https://nyko.com/products/portable-docking-kit-for-nintendo-switchNyko

Steam Machine removed from Steam – Is Valve killing their PC console?

April 8, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Valve, the developer of the omnipresent Steam DRM platform, has gone ahead and removed the sales section for Steam Machines.

It was two years ago when it first launched. Now, less than 500,000 units later, Steam has removed its console competitor.

It was supposed to be a unit that competes against pricey consoles. They’re basically pre-built PC gaming consoles run by SteamOS, which is a customized version of Linux OS. It gave gamers an alternative console experience for computer games instead of buying an expensive gaming computer.

However, if you look at Steam’s sales pages now, all you’ll see are the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and HTC Vive. Only the hardware accessories pages can be reached at this point- and only if you’re in the USA or UK. Anyone else will get nothing but a 404. You can still buy a Steam Machine, but it’s not a part of the DRM anymore. Well, not connected like how it used to be.

Valve’s idea was met with praise from many gamers when it was announced back in 2013. However, it quickly went to shreds when it was delayed again and again. Even after launch, SteamOS had many issues and also has rumors that it sold customer data. Even with constant updates to it, it still wasn’t enough to get gamers to buy it.

Now, Valve is giving up on the Steam Machine and looking to promote the Steam Link instead. The Link allows players to connect their PC to a TV using Wi-Fi. Although this is nothing new, it’s a way for Steam to get their proprietary product out there and get a piece of the action. This will be their new product going forward.

PlayStation 4’s TV and Video section gets a makeover in latest update

April 6, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

PS4's TV and Video gets a makeover and update for an easier and centralized experience.

PlayStation has recently gotten a new makeover in the TV and Video section according to a post on their official blog.

As you probably know, the PS4 allows you to watch shows and TV through the menus using the system’s OS. The TV and Video portion have been in need of some major updates for a while now, as it was dragging behind the Xbox One.

The major update is the condensing of the video content all within a central location. All you need to do is launch the TV and Video app and you can manage everything in one screen without having to jump through different apps just to watch some videos. However, some players are used to this so the developers still let you do it the old-fashioned way if you’re used to it.

The new Featured section contains highlights from across all the video platforms. The Spotlight section does the same thing but only groups videos around a central theme- similar to what Xbox One is currently doing. For example, if the theme is action, the Spotlight may group a whole bunch of action shows and movies in one place. And the PS Vue section shows you live broadcasts that are popular in your current location in real-time. These are trending channels that you may be interested in.

You also get direct app access to the stuff you use most and a full list of available video platforms along with your PS Store video library.

The update also allows for a personalized experience on YouTube. You can tie your Google Account to your PlayStation and see suggestions on your menu based on your video tastes. Plans to do the same for other video platforms in the works.

If you use your PlayStation as a media center, you’ll be glad to know that Netflix, Hulu, and other on-demand media also have some minor adjustments to make the experience easier and smoother overall. The update should already be live for all PS4 owners.

You can get the full scoop on the PS blog.

Image via PS Blog.

Build your dream Jurassic Park in Jurassic World Evolution (news and release date)

April 5, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Jurassic World Evolution will be coming out for consoles and PC on June 12, 2018.

Jurassic World Evolution has just gotten its release date.

It’s a game being developed by Frontier Development, which you may have already heard of. They’re taking the name and making into an awesome theme park simulator akin to Rollercoaster Tycoon or Sim Theme Park. The game has been announced to release on June 12th, 2018 as shown in a teaser trailer which you can see at the end of this article.

Just by watching the trailer, you can see that the game will have lots of different buildings, dinosaurs, and attractions to get the most profit from each patron. As a theme park owner, it’s your job to balance customer happiness with tons and tons of cash! If you’ve pretty much played any theme park sim before, you’ll know how it goes.

You’ll have to build rides, structures, food stalls, attractions, facilities, manage resources, hire staff, and even control the dinosaurs when they break out of some faulty fences or a natural disaster hits and your park has dinosaurs running amok!

The graphics take on a realistic and detailed format, unlike your traditional theme park builder. This makes it a lot more fitting tot he genre. It takes facilities and tech from the 2015 film Jurassic World as you can see from the train rides and ball rides in the trailer preview.

Jurassic World Evolution was announced during Gamescom 2017 and revealed that players can breed new dinosaurs by bio-engineering them. You can see raptors, triceratops, and t-rex dinosaurs all in the preview trailer. The game also has narration by Dr. Ian Malcolm himself, which is awesome and should please a lot of fans. He’ll be your alert system, tutorial system, and tip generator as you build and expand your theme park. The game also takes on a consequence system where your decision will make sure there are consequences that result. Basically, what you do matters. It feels like a real park.

The game will be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One- possibly because it’s same time when Fallen Kingdom comes out on July 22nd, 2018. It’s likely done to match up with the release of their next major movie.

Aftercharge will have cross-platform play on Xbox One, Switch, and PC

April 4, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Aftercharge will be available for console release soon and supports cross-platform play.

Chainawesome Games announced that their new game Aftercharge will be released on Xbox One, PC, and Switch with full support for cross-platform play between all three platforms.

If you haven’t heard of Aftercharge, it’s basically a 3v3 arena shooter. The game features attackers and defenders on maps with power nodes which are basically capture points. One team has to defend them while the other needs to destroy them. Defenders are incinvible and are equipped with weapons that recharge from the node points. This makes it so that if you’re a defender, you need to stay close to the objective points. The attackers use stealth technology that enables them to sneak around the defenders and destroy the nodes.

The game is currently in early access on Steam and is planned to get a full release soon. The cross-platform play will be awesome and ensure a larger playerbase over a diverse number of individuals who’ve mastered the game using their console of choice. Nintendo’s Switch doesn’t have many titles that offer this feature, so it’s nice to see Aftercharge added to the limited list of cross-platform Siwtch games.

Image via Chainawesomegames.

Nintendo Switch’s best indie games of 2018 revealed

March 30, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Nintendo just released their top 10 list of the best-selling indie games on the Switch.

This list is the best of the best. If you like indie games, you gotta check out these titles if you haven’t already. The games were revealed at a Nindies convention at GDC. It’s based on sales up to March 5th, 2018.

Here’s the list:

Steamworld Dig 2
Stardew Valley
Kamiko
Celeste
Fast RMX
Golf Story
Enter the Gungeon
Overcooked: Special Edition
NBA Playground
Shovel Knight – Treasure Trove

This list is the best so far.

Nintendo also decided to give independent developers a showcase of their own at Indies Direct.

Some games that were impressive were Mark of the Ninja Remastered, Fantasy Strike, Just Shapes and Beats, Garage, Pool Panic, Bomb Chicken!, and Lummies Remastered. Stay tuned for more details.

Make Sail coming to Steam Early Access March 30th

March 27, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Make Sail allows players to explore a procedurally-generated world and build a custom boat.

Make Sail is a game coming into Steam Early Access on March 30th.

It’s a game developed by Popcannibal and focuses on boat exploration on the high seas. It’s a procedurally-generated world so it’s always unique and different every time you sail. The game has an in-depth boat crafting system so you can create a boat to suit your imagination and play style.

You can build everything from a simple castaway raft to a full-out pirate ship. Players will use ship parts they find to upgrade and rebuild their ships. They essentially get rewarded for exploring in the form of better parts and more gear.

Make Sail features boats that are “wild horses of your own design” and “rooted in real physics” according to dev Ziba Scott.

The boats can also break apart and sink as well. It’s probably the most realistic boat simulator in recent years and seems like a lot of fun because of the simplicity of it. It combines exploration, upgrading your boat, and sailing the seas all into one game with a nice crafting system that lets you build your own designs which offers a lot of creative freedom to the player.

You’ll be exploring a variety of islands and creatures as well. These are procedurally placed and completely handcrafted by the dev team. The sea is always unique and the game is always offering something new. You’ll come across new lands, animals, and boat pieces while under the forces of gravity, lift, draft, wind, shape, and weight. The game has a real physics system with water and wind effects that play out to what you’d expect in real life.

BuildSail1Steam.jpg.gif — Via makesailgame.com

Want to make a boat U-turn? Go for it? Got some tailwind? Embrace it. Choppy waters? Fare it. It’s all governed by a universal physics system that works in real-time. It combines a fantasy sea with real physics that can power your ship’s sailing method of choice- whether it be square sails, lateen sails, propellers, jets, and even energy-fields.

Make Sail has a new teaser trailer out that shows off the impressive visuals and supermodular building system. You can witness a player getting off their ship and exploring a newfound island on foot.

The game was funded back in November of 2016 on Fig successfully and will be released on Steam later this month. You can check out more details on their page as well. If you like sailing and exploration, set your sails to Make Sail!

Featured image via official site.

Garage, a top-down zombie slasher, coming to Nintendo Switch as an exclusive

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Garage is a top-down action shooter developed by Zombie Dynamics.

The game is inspired by old-school VHS tapes and B movies. You’re a ex-drug-dealer dubbed “Butch” who’s on a mission to kill tons upon tons of zombies all over the city. Zombies aren’t the only thing trying to kill you through- the military ain’t on your side either.

It’s a pretty unique take on the genre. There are zombie games. And there are top-down Gauntlet-style games. Garage combines both into one game. It’s like Contra with zombies or something in a top-down perspective.

The game takes place in a pretty big underground parking lot that brings Butch to a hidden world infested with gory, violent zombies. The combat system has you mainly using your melee weapon with limited bullets for your guns. There are tons of mutants to fight and each one requires a special way of taking them down. You can’t just hack and slash everything without taking some damage.

Garage is a mix of survival, resource management, hack and slash, shooting, and even some minigames like racing. Every single level has tons of hidden gems that’ll greatly help you out if you explore it. And there are some pretty difficult boss fights as well.

It’ll be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch and releases on May 10, 2018. It’s nice to see the support for more “mature” titles on the Switch unlike its predecessor consoles- just like rumor had it. Good work.

Check out more info here.

Image via Nintendo.

HTC Vive Pro will be the world’s most powerful VR headset

March 24, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

HTC Vive Pro set to release next month and priced at $799.99.

HTC announced the pricing and details about the new HTC Vive Pro, which is set to roll out on April 5th, 2018.

It was originally announced at CES 2018.

It’ll cost $799 and because of this, it brings down the price of the original HTC Vive- which is now down to just $499.99. The company releases some details about the new and standard models of the Vive on their blog. If you buy it before June 3rd, you’ll get a free trial subscription to Viveport which allows you to play up to 5 games per month from a huge library of more than 400 games available.

The Vive Pro has some notable new features. It comes with dual-OLED displays with a resolution of 2880 x 1600 pixels, which is a huge 78% increase over the standard Vive HMD. It also features integrated headphones with an amplifier that allows users to get totally immersed in the experience via nose-cancellation abilities. All this is built-in and won’t cost you by forcing you to buy additional upgrades.

Current owners can easily upgrade and still use their current stations and controllers since it supports both SteamVR Tracking 1.0 and 2.0 for easy integration.

This makes it literally the most powerful VR headset you can buy- it’s more advanced than the current Oculus Rift and may be the new standard after its release.

Daniel O’Brien, the GM for HTC Vive, explains:

“Our goal has always been to offer the most premium VR platform available and to drive adoption for VR, by lowering the price of the current Vive, we are making VR more accessible while expanding the potential market for developers. Whether you’re a VR enthusiast or new to the platform, there’s never been a better time to join the most complete VR platform available.”

Image via HTC blog.

War Child Armistice Campaign reaches $250K

March 18, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

War Child gets double the support from the previous year.

War Child has raised over 250K in the second year of their War Child Armistice campaign after a press release.

If you’ve never heard of War Child, they’re a UK-based group that provides assistance to children in areas that are torn by war. The War Child Armistice campaign is the combined effort of the charity and game devs all around the world. They’ve been around since 1983 and has expanded to the USA, Canada, and The Netherlands. Lots of newer developers have heard of the good they’re doing and have dedicated some sort cash to directly help their campaign.

Some newer campaigns, dubbed RE-PLAY and HELP, will be assisted by some of the big AAA game companies. This should get their mission and goals out there worldwide with that much exposure.

In the previous year, the campaign raised $122,000 with the efforts of games like This War of Mne by 11 Bit Studios and other developers. It works usually in the form of exclusive DLC content that benefits the charity directly. Alongside direct donations and campaign efforts, the campaign is only increasing in impact.

This year, they’ve raised $260,094.82, which is double the amount from the previous year. This money will directly benefit children in war zones. They aim to solve short-term and long-term issues in areas of conflict. Some solutions include temporarily schools to provide education, reuniting families, and providng supplies.

They also aim to rebuild schools, provie vactional training, and training teachers as well.

You can check out their site for more information.

Brave Neptunia to be developed by Artisan Studios

March 16, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Compile Heart, the developer for the Neptunia series announced that they’re giving the task of developing a new game called Brave Neptunia to a company called Artisan Studios.

This company is based in Quebec and is working on the next 2D animated RPG. If you’re not familiar with the series, the first Neptunia is a game with beautiful art. The game has no info on their Artisan’s site. However, there is a teaser trailer floating around. It looks like some kind of 2D game with either turn-based fighting or some kind of procedural combat system. It doesn’t really look fully real-time, but it’s hard to tell from the video.

Artisan Studios is a new company that was created in 2017. They’ve made an appearance at the Tokyo Game Show and the Game Director for Brave Neptunia says that he was once employed at Kobojo, which in turn developed Zodiac: Oracnon Odyssey, which is a JRPG for mobile.

Brave Neptunia has been rumored to be planned for release on Xbox One, Steam, Switch, and PS4. There’s more info coming out in the April issue of Dengeki PS.

For fans of the game, sit tight. There’s going to be a lot more to reveal soon. Brave Neptunia should take the original Neptunia’s artwork and kick it up a notch.

Image via Artisan.

Bluepoint Games is working on another remake

March 15, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Bluepoint is working on another remake- but the title is unknown at this point.

Bluepoint Games is working another remake for its next entry.

The popular developer announced it in an interview with Digital Foundry during a video spotlight on their recent AAA hit, Shadow of the Colossus. The game was recently released on PS4 as a remake of the original 2005 game. Even though it’s just a remake, fans went crazy over it and it received pretty positive reception.

That seems to be Bluepoint Games’ track record. They like remaking stuff and porting stuff to other platforms. They’ve also worked on games like the Uncharted: THe Nathan Drake Collection, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Gravity Rush Remastered. But unlike many other first-party companies who port or remake their games, Bluepoint does it right. They’re probably one of the best companies that specialize in the fine art of making a game and giving enough for fans to enjoy.

Fans have been wondering if they’ll ever make a new game from scratch- and it’s not likely. At least for the next title. Bluepoint seems to be comfortable doing what they do best. The PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus was amazing by using recreated HD graphics and a newer control scheme that just works better than the 2005 version. It captures the same gameplay even with new graphics and controls. In other words, Bluepoints does it right.

The next game will be a remake, but the title is still unconfirmed. Given their track record, we should not be disappointed.

You can check out the interview video here:

Firmware version 5.0 rolls out to Nintendo Switch – get features and updates

March 13, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

The Nintendo Switch has updated to Firmware version 5.0.

The update has added numerous new improvements to the console and some new features. Friend Suggestions is a notable one, which is an engine that automatically suggests Facebook and Twitter friends by taking data from your social networks linked to your Nintendo Account.

it also adds a whopping two-dozen ARMS and Kirby user icons for you to show off your fandom. And there’s also the ability to filter the news content from specific channels- or even your unread news as well.

With the 5.0 update, all online purchases made by your phone, PC, or tablet will also start downloading a lot quicker than before. This is an awesome new improvement because it’s annoying to download a digital game and have to wait for it. Why not just go buy it in the store instead if you’re going to wait? And you get a notification of pre-purchased games when you’re ready to be played. This is the kind of update that shows Nintendo has been looking at user metrics to improve their firmware. Way better than guessing when a game is ready by checking the status of it. Now you can launch it right away from the dash.

Controllers have also been updated as well. The Controller menu shows the grip colors if you’re using a Pro Controller.

Lastly, the Parental Controls also got removed. The default way to input the PIN uses the control stick rather than the on-screen keypad. Capture videos in the album are also restricted based on the Restricted Software settings and Software Rating Organization. Games can also be added a safe whitelist in order to override these settings.

Image via Wikipedia.

Microsoft announces new games for Xbox One enhanced

March 9, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Microsoft announced another new batch of Xbox 360 titles that will be enhanced on the One X.

Major Nelson blogged that the four new games are Forza Horizon, Fable Anniversary, The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings, and Crackdown. All of these games will be available on the One X with the new emulator to run them in 4K resolution from their original resolution at 1280 x 720p.

The new update also provides much better antialiasing and crisper textures as well. The games will look nothing like the original and if you’ve already played before, you may want to give them another try because the One X is experience is the real deal. Games like Crackdown can be played in their original graphics but will be enchanted by default. This will let you do a side-by-side comparison (almost) to see the difference in resolution.

This feature is exclusive to the One X and can’t be used on the Xbox 360 or Xbox One.

With the updated graphics, this could also cause some FPS issues. When you log into the menu, you can change whether to optimize the game for graphics or performance. This could mean that improved gameplay graphics will indeed lower the performance of the machine. It’s probably not powerful enough to run the game in 4K and has the original FPS, so you’ll have to choose one or the other. Unless this means the system is powerful enough, but you get to choose what and how you want to render the original games. perhaps it ties in with the whole option of playing the game in its former glory.

Microsoft announces new games for Xbox One enhanced 4 — (Via majornelson.com.)

There have been many other titles that have the same updates as well- Fallout 3, Gear of War 3, Halo 3, Mirror’s Edge, Skate 3, Assassin’s Creed, and The Elder’s Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The compatibility to play older games with newer graphics is pretty awesome. Bill Stillwell, the Lead Project Manager for Xbox states in his post:

“We’re thrilled with the continued excitement for Xbox One Backward Compatibility—the community has played more than 840 million hours of Xbox 360 games on Xbox One. Compatibility is important to Xbox, to developers and their games, and our community. Preserving the art form of video games is part of our DNA, which is why Xbox One is the only console designed to play the best games of the past, present and future”

More than 460 Xbox 360 games and 13 original Xbox games are already backward-compatible.

Image via Major Nelson’s blog.

Carrion is a new “reverse horror game”

March 8, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Carrion is a violent reverse horror game.

Carrion is a new “reverse horror game” that has you playing the role of the violent monster instead of the traditional format.

It’s a very gruesome, gory, and violent horror game that has you playing as this huge blog that wants nothing but human destruction. The game is made with old-school pixel art and is full of violence. The gameplay videos released so far has scenes where the player controlling the blob using its long tendrils to slowly crawl through an old lab and literally rip the scientists apart.

There’s also a skill system where you can upgrade your blobby activities like dashing, throwing, and of course, grabbing. Using these abilities is needed to get around barriers like fences, vents, and other things that may try to slow your alien blob down.

The game is played in a 2D sidescrolling format using a traditional point-and-click interface. The game features 16-bit graphics (or it appears so) and is detailed with grungy colors.

There’s also a splitting ability that divides you into two blobs and is needed unlock high-security doors that require two levers to be pressed.

So far, the game has no set release date. Carrion is a new twist on the old-school horror we’re accustomed to. You can check it out here.

Inside Xbox premiers this weekend at 12PM PT – Episode 1 is about Sea of Thieves

March 7, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Inside Xbox is the new show to get all the newest updates.

Microsoft has announced that they’ll be premiering an exclusive new show called “Inside Xbox.”

It airs for the first time this Saturday, March 10 at 112PM PT. The first episode will be an exclusive behind the scenes look at Sea of Thieves. Rare will be there to talk about core concept designs that took place during the development of the game and how feedback from the beta helped revamped the game. They’ll also talk about what’s coming ahead in terms of post-launch content.

Inside Xbox is a monthly show that’ll probably air around the same time every month. Team Xbox will also talk about random announcements like new games, news, and even new additions to Game Pass- Xbox’s $10/month subscription service to many first-party games.

You can watch it on Twitch, Mixer, YouTube, and Facebook. Hosts include Larry Hryb, Jeff Rubenstein, Alex Hebert, Lydia Ellery, Graeme Boyd, and more.

Imag via Xbox Wire.

Nintendo removes user reviews for its games on its official pages

March 1, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Nintendo removes user reviews on its official pages for its games.

Nintendo recently added a new option for players to leave reviews on Nintendo Switch games directly on their home site.

however, they quickly removed it shortly after. The feature to leave user reviews was only available for about 5 days after its launch. Customer reviews for the console still exist, but the games reviews are gone.

Only a small blurb of info is still available in the remnants of what was once user-generated content on their site:

“Customer reviews have been taken offline as we evaluate this feature and its functionality. We currently have no estimated date on when an update will be provided. We appreciate the positive response and thank the reviewers who provided such thoughtful commentary on the games.”

Nintendo said it’s just a “trial” in a statement to Polygon and that it may be revamped and returned, but there’s no guarantee as of now. This has many players annoyed and itching for a new review system where they can simply type out their thoughts rather than use preselected tags and categories for the game.

Square Enix’s Chrono Trigger for PC gets a “mostly negative” reception

February 28, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Chrono Trigger for Steam is negatively reviewed.

Square Enix has decided to release Chrono Trigger on Steam.

This is the first time the game has ever had a PC version (other than emulators). The game promises exclusive features such as updated graphics and soundtrack as well as the bonus dungeons from the mobile handheld versions. It’ll be called the definitive version of the series- though they may want to rethink that.

If you’ve never played Chrono Trigger games before, it’s probably one of the most popular JRPG series. It was created by devs from Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and even Dragonball all coming together to tell the tale of a boy who fights against an evil threat named Lavos. The game is very flashy and combines the traditional ATB system with some unique abilities in an awesome JRPG adventure.

The game so far isn’t doing too well. It’s rated “most negative” on Steam with over 150 reviews at the time fo this writing. Reviewers state that it’s pretty much just a bad port of the mobile version with terrible filters and awesome UI and controls. Lots of the issues can’t be fixed and the game is pretty much trashed left and right nonstop from hardcore fans of Chrono Trigger.

I’d suggest you read them over before buying it. Seriously.

If you buy it before April 2, 2018, you’ll get a slew of goodies including HD wallpapers from the game, a digital version of the composer’s liner notes, and even a special musical medley. This version of the game will be an updated version of the mobile version of the game. Although this isn’t too exciting, it should be a pretty solid improvement with all the promises they’re making.

Being on a computer for the first time is indeed kinda weird. It’ll be compatible with controllers for those not used to playing such a game on a keyboard and mouse, though you can still play it with a keyboard/mouse combo if you’re daring enough. It’s available right now for just $14.99 for Steam.

Image via Steam.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil are coming to Xbox One

February 27, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seed of Evil are coming to the Xbox One on March 2, 2018!

If you’ve never played either of these games, you’re missing out. They were a pair of dinosaur shooters on the N64 back in the day and were known for their violence, difficulty, and dinosaur-blasting action.

The game originally got its start from a comic book back in the 1970s about a Native American warrior who’s on a mission in a world of dinosaurs and aliens. The comic book originally had his name as Turok, which is the name that became the title of the game. The name actually then evolved into a title of a hero who protects the border between two worlds- the Lost Land and Earth.

Nightdive Studios is the team behind the Xbox One version of Turok. It’s a remake rather than a whole new game (although I’m sure players would be just fine with a console remake of the best dino hunter games of all time!).

They tweeted that the game is confirmed and on-track for release.

You play as Turok and you need to get all the fragments of a Chronoscepter artifact which has the power to combine both worlds by destroying the barrier between them. This would be bad as then aliens and dinosaurs could walk the Earth.

Turok is on a mission to stop the Chronoscepter from falling into The Campaigner’s grasp. This is the first game.

The second game has Turok trying to stop an alien invasion known as the Primagen by taking down pyramid-like energy totems throughout a whole bunch of different worlds. This is the one on the N64 I remember the most. It was difficult, fun, and crazy all at the same time. The violence was top-notch for games back in the day. I think it even had a warning label on it.

Nightdive Studios has been working on a remake of System Shock for a while, but then went on hiatus.

As of now, they’re committed to pushing out the release of both Turok games for the Xbox One set to release early March 2018. If you’re a fan of the series, or have never played Turok, get these games. It should be an awesome nostalgic adventure.

Image via Nightdive Studios.

Overwatch League Season 1 – Part 2 now underway with more freebies

February 23, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Unlock skins and Tokens just by watching the stream.

Overwatch League has taken off and really has become quite a success.

Now, viewers of the League can get free League Tokens. All you need to do is watch the streams on Twitch and you can get some cool new skins as well by Cheering during matches. This offers fans of the game some new ways to cash in on their favorite hero shooter (and gives Blizzard a huge marketing opportunity as well- not to mention tons of exposure).

The giant announced that hundreds of in-game skins for the 12 teams before the season began. This was part 1.

Now part 2 starts today and even more goodies and freebies will be given out to viewers. League Tokens are probably the highlight of the second session.

All you need to do is just link your Battle.net account to your Twitch account. You get 1 Token upon viewing the conclusion of a map in a match. If you watch the whole match, you can early 12-15 Tokens a night based on 3 matches and how they rule out. And some fans will even get awarded 100 bonus Tokens just for watching on the final maps for each match. This is Token galore.

You can get some sweet skins by using these Tokens to unlock them. 100 Tokens = 1 free skin.

As for the Cheering, you can also get a few new skins as well. When people cheer for a team, there’s a counter that increases until the skin is unlocked. When it becomes available, everyone can attain it. Exclusive emotes are also unlockable by Cheering as well.

You can refer to their FAQ page for more info.

For additional info and schedules, check here.

Image via Twitch.

Battlefront 2’s 1.2 patch is live – see what’s new

February 21, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Star Wars Battlefront 2’s new update rolls out with plenty o’ fixes all around.

DICE has released the 1.2 update for its infamous Battlefront 2 title, which includes a few significant changes to the game.

For starters, the game’s roster has been changed. Emperor Palpatine and Chewbacca have both gotten nerfed while Skywalker and Versio have been buffed. Trooper classes and some Hero classes’ dodge roll has also been redone with minor nerfing to stop the huge invincibility period.

Some profile milestones have also been optimized as they’re now claimed automatically when you complete them.

The limited-time Jetpack Cargo game mode is also released.

Some patches have been made as well to fix old bugs, but new bugs were introduced as well. The 1.2 patch update has an issue with weapon attachments that buff cooling capabilities don’t work correctly. The Explosive Shot attachment also has unlimited heatsink- meaning that it doesn’t raise the heat level in the weapon correctly as well. This makes it very OP. Can anyone smell a hotfix soon?

There are also some new maps players can utilize in Arcade matchups such as Hoth, Jakku, Endor, etc. There’s also been a bump in credits for duplicate items in loot boxes as well. The 1.2 patch seems to be in favor of the players and is a huge crowd-pleaser.

There was also confirmation of a new series of skins for select characters (Skywalker, Solo, and Leia) based on their Hoth outfits from The Empire Strikes Back. These outfits will be permanent according to the patch notes.

Image via official site.