You can preorder a number of games through Dell--The Witcher 3, Splatoon, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Batman: Arkham Knight--and receive a $15 Dell gift card.
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GameSpot's gaming deals posts always highlight the best deals we can find regardless of retailer. We also occasionally use retailer affiliate links, which means that purchasing goods through those links helps support all the great content (including the deals posts) you find for free here on the site.
Can't wait to get your hands on Magicka 2? If you're planning on buying the game as soon as it comes out, you can preorder it today to start playing right now.
"Knowing that Magicka 2 players will need to acclimatize themselves to the rampant, sociopathic team-killing of their fellow Wizards, Paradox is providing fans who preorder the game with a preview version of the game, along with previews for three friends," publisher Paradox Interactive said.
All preorders on PC and PlayStation 4 will let four players into the Sneak Peek, which started yesterday and will last through May 10.
The Sneak Peek includes the prologue, in which you'll learn how to use spells, the first mission of the campaign, and "The Festival," a challenge level in which the wizards compete for a high score by killing monsters.
To help you sort through what's most important, we've collected all of our House of Wolves coverage (so far) into one place.
Check out the videos and news stories below for everything you need to know about House of Wolves. We'll continue to update this post with more content leading up to the DLC's release on May 19. House of Wolves is included with the Destiny Expansion Pass ($35) or can be purchased separately for $20.
One of the biggest points of contention has been the lack of a new Raid. While the Horde Mode-like Prison of Elders will take its place, Bungie creative director Christopher Barrett said in a roundtable discussion, "I love raids. I loved playing raids, I love that kind of content. We have teams working on raids, but for House of Wolves, we wanted to focus on something that was more replaybale, something that had more variety. A different type of challenge, so it was exciting for us to create that new kind of activity."
He explained that the team wanted to "add to the kinds of activities that were in the game." He said, "You've got the Raiding experience and also this new kind of experience that we didn't have before. It was interesting for us to try and create that kind of new gameplay challenge. But hopefully it's just as challenging as the Raid content. We also wanted to have both PvE and a PvP endgame experience that could reward you with as interesting loot. That best PVP players in the world would be running around in the gear that they can only get in that mode."
Destiny lead designer Matt Sammons added that they wanted to add content that could appeal to both the "causal player and the really hardcore player."
"The bosses have these mechanics that would be sort of familiar to Raid players, but we have more of them than just the one that you played today," Sammons said. "There's six total. We think that in terms of endgame content it's going to have a lot of legs."
Since Bungie is still working on new Raids, does that mean they might be available in House of Wolves as an add-on later? Sammons clarified, "The endgame for House of Wolves consists of Prison of Elders, Trials of Osiris, and that's all. There are Raids being worked on, still, but we're not talking about them today."
Last week, developer Bungie revealed lots of PvP details about the upcoming House of Wolves expansion for Destiny, and this week we learned more about the PvE. In the video below you can watch a Prison of Elders match in its entirety.
Prison of Elders is a lot like Horde Mode from Gears of War, but with a twist. According to a press release, this "co-op arena activity" involves teams of three that will "take on waves of increasingly difficult enemies to earn high-level legendary and exotic rewards. You can match-make with other players anytime, or form your own Fireteam to take on higher difficulty challenges with even greater rewards."
You'll find modifiers during the matches that have either positive or negative buffs. Returning buffs include Lightswitch and Juggler. Two new modifiers will be Brawler (increase to melee damage) and Catapult (decrease grenade cooldown).
Bosses will introduce new abilities. One example is a shield that can re-calibrate to different elements.
The mode will introduce "critical objectives" like defusing mines or killing a VIP before he gets to a specific location. Sometimes Varicks will gift you a Scorch Cannon after certain critical objectives. Scorch Cannon is like a Fallen rocket launcher and it has 10 rounds.
Depending on your level, there are different rewards for participating in Prison of Elders.
28 -- The only level that allows matchmaking with strangers. You'll go four rounds and earn treasure.
32 -- Five rounds (which adds an additional boss) and you earn an Armor Core
34 -- Same number of roudns as 32, but you earn both a Weapon Core and Etheric Light
35 -- Six rounds (adding one regular boss as well as the Prison of Elders final boss). You earn an Armor Croe, Weapon Core, Etheric Light, and Elemental Fallen Primary Weapons (but those are only possible after the final boss).
At the end of all of it is a Treasure room. At level 32, we found two small chests, one large chest with an Exotic, new Legendeary weapon, new class armor, coins/motes.
CD Projekt Red has released a new developer diary video that dives into the monsters you'll face in its upcoming role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
As with previous games in the series, you'll have an easier time taking down monsters if you learn a little about them first from in-game books and use the right tools for the job. Unlike previous Witcher games, however, it sounds like tracking these creatures will be a more interesting process, as CD Projekt Red created complex creature behavior and ecosystem that allows them to move freely through the game's huge open world.
"Designing these creatures is a collaborative process between the character concept and the animation departments," CD Projekt Red secondary lead character artist Bill Daly said. "We start by trying to visualize the anatomy of the creatures and ask ourselves if this is something that could actually exist. They're fantastical creatures, but we don't want them to defy the laws of physics."
Digital copies of Witcher unlock on May 19 at 1 AM CET, which means gamers in the United States can actually start playing at 4 PM PDT / 7 PM EDT on May 18. Boxed copies arrive May 19.
GameSpot recently visited The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red's offices in Poland. Check out this roundup of our previous coverage from the trip, which includes exclusive interviews with key developers and even more gameplay footage, among other things.
Bungie will share the first details on Destiny's new co-op arena activity Prison of Elders today during a livestream event on Twitch. The show starts at 11 AM PDT / 2 PM EDT, and you can watch the entire event right here through the video embed below.
Hosting the livetsream will be Bungie community manager David "Deej" Dague. Lead designer Matt Sammons and community member Professor Broman will also appear during the event.
Prison of Elders--included with Destiny's House of Wolves expansion--is a three-player co-op event where teams must work together to battle waves of increasingly challenging enemies. Successful teams will earn high-level legendary and exotic items. Players can enter Prison of Elders with their own fireteam or they can use Destiny's matchmaking system to find a team.
To hold you over until 11 AM PDT, Bungie has released a teaser video for Prison of Elders, which you can watch below. House of Wolves arrives for all platforms on May 19.
"We have," Mitchell replied when asked if Oculus VR had spoken with Microsoft and Sony.
"We've talked to everyone. There's a lot of people right now interested in the VR space. And we've said many times that we're interested in bringing the Rift to as many consoles or platforms as possible. Ultimately, we haven't announced any sort of partnerships to date. But it's something we're always exploring."
The interviewer said he would enjoy being able to use an Oculus Rift headset on his PS4, to which Mitchell replied, "Anything is possible." Of course, Sony already has its own PS4 virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus, while Microsoft has its HoloLens AR/VR tech.
Oculus Rift, when it launches publicly in the first quarter of 2016, will require a somewhat beefy PC rig. So the appeal of Oculus Rift working with a game console like a PS4 or Xbox One is that you'd already have the required hardware. Mitchell said Oculus will have more announcements to make in the lead-up to E3, one of which will be the technical specifications your PC will need to support Oculus Rift.
"You're going to want a nice gaming rig," he said. "We're not talking about a high-end, crazy computer, but something that would run modern games well today."
Would you like to see Oculus Rift work with your game console? Let us know in the comments below.
Sony will not host a press conference at Gamescom 2015, the company has confirmed.
In a statement to GameSpot, the PlayStation 4 platform holder said it will instead be hosting an international media briefing at Paris Games week in October, allowing it time to hold off its big news announcements for later in the year.
"We're delighted to announce that we will be hosting an international media briefing at Paris Games Week on 27th October," Sony said.
"With the changes this year of E3 taking place a week later and Gamescom taking place earlier, we feel that both PlayStation and the wider industry would benefit from a major news milestone later in the year, during the most important period for gaming."
Gamescom began in 2009 and Sony has held a major press conference at the event every year since. This is the first time the company has had such a major presence at Paris Games Week.
Microsoft and Nintendo are also expected to be exhibiting at Paris Games Week.
"We are excited about our plans and look forward to sharing some exciting announcements," the statement continued. "We will share more information closer to the time."
Sony's Gamescom 2014 highlights include the first trailer for Bloodborne, the announcements of Until Dawn, The Tomorrow Children, and Tearaway Unfolded. The previous year, Sony took to the stage and finally announced the release date for the PlayStation 4.
Check out the five-minute video below, in which you'll see some of The Witcher 3's varied environments and brutal combat scenarios, among other things.
Digital copies of Witcher unlock on May 19 at 1 AM CET, which means gamers in the United States can actually start playing at 4 PM PDT / 7 PM EDT on May 18. Boxed copies arrive May 19.
GameSpot recently visited The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red's offices in Poland. Check out this roundup of our previous coverage from the trip, which includes exclusive interviews with key developers and even more gameplay footage, among other things.
Destiny developer Bungie has trademarked something called "The Taken King." As spotted by games forum NeoGAF, Bungie applied for the trademark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on April 28.
The Taken King is listed as generic "video game software." It's registered to Bungie, and the attorney on file is Jim Charne. For what it's worth, Charne is also the attorney listed on the USPTO filings for Destiny expansions The Dark Below and House of Wolves.
The USPTO filing also reveals a logo for The Taken King, which you can see in this post. We've followed up with Bungie, asking for more information about The Taken King.
If The Taken King is related to Destiny, it could be the name of the "major content release" coming to the game this fall. As it so happens, Activision will hold its latest earnings call this afternoon, where the company may talk about future plans for Destiny.
It's not much of a surprise that Activision would be planning to support Destiny for a long, long time, given the company's sizable investment in the series. On top of that, Bungie has itself spoken previously of having a 10-year, Lord of the Rings-sized vision for the game.
Electronic Arts is "very happy" with how well Battlefield Hardline has sold, according to chief executive officer Andrew Wilson. Speaking during an earnings call, Wilson didn't share how many copies of the Visceral-developed game EA had sold since its arrival in March, but said the publisher is pleased with its performance so far.
The executive explained that Hardline offered a "complete package" that he said appealed to not only core Battlefield fans, but also newcomers by way of its new modes (the fast-paced Hotwire being one of them) and its TV-style campaign.
"We're very happy with how well the game has sold to date, and more importantly, that we've brought many new fans into the Battlefield universe," Wilson said.
PlayStation's Powers TV show has been renewed for a second season. The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop, explaining that the second season of the superhero program will debut sometime in 2016.
In a statement, Sony marketing vice president John Koller said the reception for the first season, which debuted earlier this year, "has been incredible."
He went on to say that original programming will be a central point of focus for Sony going forward.
"We believe original content will continue to be a key pillar as we broaden the value proposition for PlayStation Plus, and we're excited for what's to come with season two of Powers," he explained.
Powers stars District 9 actor Sharlto Copley, alongside Susan Heyward and Eddie Izzard, among others.
Gaming company Curse on Wednesday announced that its proprietary, Skype-like VoIP service Curse Voice has reached new milestones. Since launching the free software in 2014, Curse Voice has now attracted 1.1 million monthly active users (of 3.5 million total sign-ups), who have formed 16 million "friendships" and sent 92 million messages.
Curse Voice, which is still in beta, works across titles, including some of the biggest around: League of Legends, Minecraft, Smite, and Strife, among others.
Another compelling feature is Curse Voice's social functionality, which allows users to stay connected even when they migrate to new games.
"We believe in the fact that gamers don't always play the same game forever, and you shouldn't lose your friends when you switch a game," Curse marketing VP Donovan Duncan said in a statement. "So Curse Voice can actually import those friends, and let you retain those connections over time."
For lots more on Curse Voice, and to install the client, head to the Curse Voice website.
[Updated 1:37 PM EDT with the correct figures for monthly active users and total installs]
[UPDATE] A representative for CD Projekt Red tells GameSpot that Green Man Gaming's Witcher 3 codes are coming from an "unknown source." As such, none of the revenue from Green Man Gaming's current Witcher 3 promotion will go to GOG.com or CD Projekt Red. If you'd like to buy The Witcher 3 directly from CD Projekt Red, head to the game's GOG.com page here.
The original story is below.
Green Man Gaming has rolled out one of the best offers we've ever seen for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PC. The site is currently offering pre-purchases for $39, a healthy 35 percent discount from the role-playing game's standard $60 price.
Your copy of The Witcher 3 will be delivered by way of a key redeemable through The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red's own DRM-free platform GOG. Keys will be distributed prior to the game's release on May 19, allowing you to pre-load your copy.
Green Man Gaming's deal is the best around for the PC edition of The Witcher 3, but if you'd prefer to buy elsewhere, GOG and Steam are offering the game for $54. Console players, meanwhile, can pre-purchase The Witcher 3 for $54 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
After multiple delays, The Witcher 3 release date is May 19. However, since the game unlocks at 1 AM CET, that means people in the United States can actually start playing on May 18.
Currently, Microsoft's Xbox One allows users to watch live TV, but the system itself does not support recording functionality. Instead, that process is handled by your existing cable box. But that's going to change--and maybe soon--according to Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott.
Sources told Thurrott recently that the Xbox One will receive an update--likely this year--to include TV DVR functionality. Thurrott didn't have anything more to say on the matter, while a Microsoft representative told GameSpot, "We do not comment on rumors or speculation."
"Of course, many Media Center fans actually use the product to record and watch TV shows via Media Center PCs in the living room," he explained. "Microsoft's solution for this need will apparently be the Xbox One."
Microsoft has detailed a new DirectX 12 API feature that can provide an increase in game performance by using integrated GPUs alongside dedicated graphics cards.
The feature, called Multiadapter, provides the option to draw resources from a motherboard's integrated GPU as well as the standalone graphics card at the same time.
"Before Windows 10 and DirectX 12, all the performance potential from the second GPU goes unused," Microsoft's Andrew Yeung explained on the DirectX Developer Blog. "[Now] application developers can use every GPU on the system simultaneously."
"We recognized that most mixed GPU systems in the world were not making the most out of the hardware they had," it continued. "We set out to enable separable and contiguous workloads to be executed in parallel on separate GPUs."
Microsoft explained the advantage Multiadapter provided by using postprocessing as an example: "Virtually every game out there makes use of postprocessing to make your favourite game visually impressive; but that postprocessing work doesn't come free," the company said.
"By offloading some of the postprocessing work to a second GPU, the first GPU is freed up to start on the next frame before it would have otherwise been able to, improving overall framerate."
The announcement comes weeks after speculation suggesting that DirectX 12 could allow PC users to harness the power of multiple GPUs from different companies, such as AMD and Nvidia. While the Multiadapter feature is similar in principal, it appears that it only applies to mixing an integrated GPU with a graphics card. It is not clear whether DirectX 12 will allow users to mix graphics cards.
Oculus VR has announced a release window for the consumer version of its flagship virtual reality hardware, the Oculus Rift. The company revealed today that the Oculus Rift will ship to consumers in the first quarter of 2016, with pre-orders to be taken "later this year."
The consumer model of the Oculus Rift builds upon the hardware of the Crescent Bay prototype that was revealed in September last year. The prototype included integrated audio and 360 motion tracking that the Rift will feature, in addition to support for both seated and standing experiences. More details on the hardware, software, input, and games for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift will be revealed in the next few weeks.
The latest Oculus Rift development kit, called the DK2, is currently available to order for $350. The consumer model will allegedly offer what Oculus VR calls a "significant increase" in resolution over the Crescent Bay model, and the refresh rate will rise from 75Hz to 90Hz "or higher."
Three new bundles featuring the New Nintendo 3DS handheld will be available in Europe from June 26, Nintendo has announced.
The Xenoblade Chronicles bundle includes a black New Nintendo 3DS, a physical copy of the game, Xenoblade faceplate, and a download code for the Mechonis home menu theme.
The Pokemon Alpha Sapphire bundle will have a white New Nintendo 3DS, a digital version of the game, Pikachu faceplate, and a download code for the Pikachu Party home menu theme.
Finally, the Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate bundle includes a black New Nintendo 3DS, a digital copy of the game, Monster Hunter-themed faceplate, and a download code for the Hunter's Seal home menu theme.
Released in Europe on January 6, the New Nintendo 3DS features a new C-Stick, Amiibo support enabled by NFC, an improved 3D display, and head-tracking.
Nintendo previously explained why only the smaller New Nintendo 3DS was released in the United States, saying it wanted to make a clear distinction between the new and older models of the handheld clear.
"We're a different market," said Nintendo of America senior manager Damon Baker. "And now we have clear differentiation between those three systems. Before, there was a very limited difference between the 3DS and 3DS XL: other than size. It was the same resolution, same functionality... now, there's the 2DS, 3DS, and New 3DS XL, all of which have their own functionality and features."
"The different price points give it a clear message for consumers," he added. "The core audience... we weren't going to win with them on that decision. But we had to think about expanding the user base, we had to be able to market it and make it easy to pick up for consumers."
For more on the latest version of handheld, check out our comprehensive New Nintendo 3DS guide.
I've put about a dozen hours into the PC version of Project CARS, the unfortunately named racing simulation developed by Slightly Mad Studios. In that time, I've zipped across the track in nimble little superkarts, barreled past my competition in bulky American muscle cars, and pushed hard down the straightaways in open wheel racers. I've got a lot more racing in front of me before I can deliver a verdict, but my current takeaway? Project CARS offers a challenging driving simulation across a wide variety of interesting racing experiences, but the trimming around that core experience is a little lackluster.
I've spent the majority of my time with Project CARS in the game's career mode, leading my created driver through season after season as he climbs the rankings, signs new contracts, and takes on special invitational races. Like many other racing games, CARS' career mode is split into multiple tiers, with each tier offering different racing styles to learn and conquer. The lowest tiers focus on kart racing, the mid tiers open up touring-class cars and some introductory open-wheel races, and the final tiers focus on high-end Fformula cars, endurance events like Le Mans, and some prototype vehicles.
But one thing that separates Project CARS from its competition is that these higher tiers aren't something you have to work for across dozens of hours: they're available right from the jump. I chose to make Virtual Me start at Tier 8 and work his way through a whole career, but I could just as easily have chosen to start at tier 1, with all the top class opportunities and vehicles available. CARS does offer you rewards for taking the long way in the form of special historic goals, accolades, and endorsements. But that's it: There's nothing like a traditional progression model in Project CARS.
And nothing (as far as I can tell) is locked behind those in-game achievements, either. From the moment you boot up the game, you're able to run a Solo Race using whatever car you want, on whatever track suits you. No experience points. No licensing exams. This feels surprisingly experimental. While so many other racing games have been structured as carefully designed board games, Project CARS feels like an open toy box.
But this innovative, open-ended structure would mean nothing if playing with these toys wasn't interesting or fun. Thankfully, it's both. Driving well is difficult, but improvement never feels impossible, and the process of learning the ins and outs of a track is intrinsically satisfying. Project CARS has its wheels planted in the simulation genre, offering a complex physics model and tracking the wear-and-tear on your virtual car across the course of a race. But thanks to a wide range of options, CARS can also pivot from hardcore simulation to something slightly more accessible and lightweight if that's what you'd like.
Each class of car feels substantially different from each of the others, and this transforms the tracks you're racing on. The little karts can stop on a dime compared to the bulky tourers, but the latter are able to better recover from a poor turn or stray contact with an opponent. Racing a track at breakneck speeds in a top of the line formula car is a dangerous game involving small adjustments and careful control, but do the same race in a 1960s Lotus and you'll need to make sweeping adjustments at much lower speeds or risk catastrophe.
And there's no other way to say it: All this racing looks gorgeous. Great-looking racing games are hardly a rarity, but Project CARS still manages to wow. You can race any of the tracks at any hour of the day and in a range of weather conditions, and these combine in breathtaking ways. Morning fog sneaks across the German woods that surround the course. A light afternoon rain over England leaves every racer a little more cautious. And both weather and the time of day are dynamic, developing over the course of the race. That moment when the rain starts to come in is honestly terrifying. You've fought your way up to third place when a surprise thunderstorm streaks across the Sonoma Raceway, and now all you can see is water and asphalt and the red brake lights of the second place driver in the distance. It is fantastic to finally be made afraid in a game about cars going inhumanly fast.
Unfortunately, I've also hit a number of incredibly frustrating bugs throughout my play time. I've had dominating first place wins taken away from me as, suddenly and without warning, Project CARS becomes convinced that I'm in last, not first place. On the other end of the spectrum, I've had races in which the passive AI seems eager to lose, giving me a massive 10+ second lead on second place. And more than once, it's been unclear if my wins have been correctly recorded by the career mode: I've come in first place across each section of a three-part event only to see the post-race headline read that I came in second. Hopefully I won't run into more of these annoyances as I continue to play, because they can really ruin a good time.
I hope to have a full review ready in the next few days. But for now, know that Project CARS is first-and-foremost a solid racing sim. That said, there is much more for me to dive into before I know if Project CARS will have staying power or be just a nice weekend drive. On top of the decisions you make behind the wheel, Project CARS offers page after page of mechanical adjustments for you to ponder over and tinker with. I'll need more time in the garage to fully wrap my head around all of them. I've also been unable to check out the online racing and community events, both of which are supposed to be core pillars of the Project CARS experience. And time will tell if the open-ended career mode remains captivating, or if (despite my better nature) I'll wind up missing the endorphin rush that comes with unlocking content and filling up XP bars.
Electronic Arts has revealed sales figures surrounding its cops-and-robbers themed first-person shooter, Battlefield Hardline. Speaking at an earnings call earlier today, EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said, "approximately four out of every five copies of Battlefield Hardline sold for consoles were for Xbox One or PlayStation 4," and dubbed the transition to the current generation of consoles as "much faster growth than in previous generations."
EA chief executive officer Andrew Wilson also added that the company expected close to 50 million current-generation consoles to be sold by the end of the year. Sony recently announced that it had shipped 22.3 million PlayStation 4 units for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. By comparison, Microsoft revealed in November last year that the company had shipped a total of 10 million console units, although this figure combines figures for both Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles.
P.T., the playable teaser for Silent Hills, has been taken off the PlayStation servers and now no longer downloadable on the PlayStation 4; even for players who have added the teaser to your library before the game was removed from the PlayStation Store. Players who have P.T. in their PlayStation library and try to download the game will be met with an error message that reads "Cannot download."
We've tested the process on PlayStation 4, and the game is no longer downloadable even if you have downloaded it before. If the game is deleted from the library it is now gone for good.
As part of an earnings call today, Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen announced that Titanfall 2 is not going to be released anytime soon. Responding to an analyst's question, Jorgensen said you shouldn't expect to see Titanfall 2 until EA's fiscal year 2017.
That means Titanfall 2 is due to launch sometime between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.
During a post-earnings financial call on Tuesday, Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen announced that the company is expecting to sell at least 9-10 million copies of Star Wars: Battlefront.
The 9-10 million figure refers to copies expected to be sold during EA's fiscal year 2016 (ending March 31, 2016), and is not a total lifetime sales estimate for the game.
Jorgensen also pointed out that, because Battlefront is of course based on Disney's Star Wars franchise, EA will have to pay a royalty fee to Disney.
Still, Jorgensen said EA is overall "very optimistic and excited" about the potential for Battlefront.
For more on EA's earnings report today, check out the stories below.
Update: During its conference call this afternoon, EA CEO Andrew Wilson revealed the new Plants vs. Zombies game is a follow-up to Garden Warfare that we'll hear more about at E3.
"After Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare became a sensation last year with console players young and old, we'll be returning to the Plants vs. Zombies universe with a bigger and bolder new console experience in FY16," Wilson said.
Original Story: Electronic Arts plans on releasing new Mirror's Edge and Plants vs. Zombies games during the first quarter of 2016, the publisher revealed today.
Ahead of its conference call with investors to discuss its latest earnings report, EA released its accompanying slide presentation. This contains the schedule you see pictured below, outlining planned released windows for all of its announced games.
Alongside its usual slate of sports games (new FIFA, NHL, and NBA Live games are confirmed), Star Wars: Battlefront, and the new Need for Speed coming later this year, it lists Mirror's Edge and a to-be-announced Plants vs. Zombies game as coming during its fourth fiscal quarter, which translates to the period running January 1-March 31, 2016.
We already knew that a new Mirror's Edge game was in the works, but the Plants vs. Zombies game comes as a surprise. The slide doesn't note whether this is a new entry in the main tower defense series or a sequel to the surprisingly good Garden Warfare shooter spinoff, but that may be something we hear about more during today's conference call or next month at E3.
These release dates may change between now and next year. Specific platforms weren't mentioned; we only know that both games will be coming to both consoles and PC. It's also important to note that this schedule doesn't preclude the possibility of other games launching before next April.
The 3D Realms Anthology pack has been released on Steam, and for a limited time, you can get all 32 games it contains for just $30.
A slightly different version of this bundle was first announced late last year to mark the return of 3D Realms, the former Duke Nukem developer that shut its doors in 2009. After an acquisition last year, the studio began operating once again, and this compilation of many of its PC games--including those under its original name, Apogee--has now been released with support for modern operating systems.
A limited number of games included in the bundle are available for sale individually on Steam, like Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II. If you happen to be like me and want to relive the glory days of playing Crystal Caves, Secret Agent, and Terminal Velocity, you'll need to buy the entire bundle.
A full list of games in the 3D Realms Anthology follows below. The $30 price tag is available only for a limited time--come May 12, it will jump up to the standard price of $40.
Electronic Arts on Tuesday reported earnings for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, revealing year-over-year gains for revenue and profit, as well as strong digital sales.
For the quarter, EA posted $896 million in total net revenue, which compares to $914 this quarter last year. EA points out, however, that $896 million was above the company's guidance of $830 million. In terms of profit, that also fell, dropping from $152 million to $125 million for the latest period.
In terms of the full fiscal year, however, things look better. EA posted net revenue of $4.319 billion, compared to $4.021 during the previous fiscal year. What's more, of the total $4.319 billion in net revenue, a record $2.230 billion came from digital channels.
In terms of net income, EA posted $806 million for the year, up significantly from $534 during the previous year. Another bright spot for EA during the year was mobile revenue, which set a new record at $524 million.
In terms of key metrics, EA shared the infographic you see below. It contains all manner of huge numbers, but no actual sales figures for marquee games like Battlefield Hardline or Dragon Age: Inquisition, unfortunately.
"With a clear focus on putting our players first, FY15 was an exceptional year for Electronic Arts," EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement. "We introduced award-winning games, delivered enduring entertainment in our live services, and forged deeper relationships with a growing global audience across consoles, mobile devices and PC. EA continues to sharpen our focus and speed, and in the year ahead we will engage more players on more platforms with new experiences like Star Wars Battlefront, FIFA 16, Minions Paradise, and more."
Looking ahead, EA said it expects to do even better for the next fiscal year ending. The company is planning to record $4.4 billion in total revenue for the period.
During an earnings call this afternoon, EA offered even more insight into its latest financial reporting period. On the subject of the company's subscription service EA Access, EA said it continues to grow, but is not yet a meaningful enough revenue contributor to be broken out into its own category.
Now, according to Courthouse News, a judge has dismissed the case "with prejudice," which basically means permanently. The publication notes that settlement terms were not disclosed. Neither side has weighed in with a statement on the dismissal of the case.
The suit was originally filed in August 2014 by a man named Douglas Ladore in U.S. District Court in California. He claimed that gamers "quickly noticed and complained that Killzone's multiplayer graphics were blurry to the point of distraction." This is despite Sony having claimed the game would offer "1080p multiplayer graphics, a crowning achievement in the video game industry," and having even featured the 1080p figure on the game's box.
In addition to the $5 million in damages, Ladore sought to prevent Sony from continuing to advertise Shadow Fall as running in 1080p. The game's PlayStation Store product page does not mention 1080p as one of the game's selling points, though it's unclear if it ever did.
A Digital Foundry report from March 2014 revealed that Shadow Fall uses a technique called temporal reprojection to achieve its resolution. The lawsuit said this is meant to provide "'subjectively similar' results" to full 1080p, but that it isn't the same.
For its part, Shadow Fall developer Guerrilla Games acknowledged that it used the temporal reprojection method to combine pixels and motion vectors from multiple lower-resolution frames as a means to reconstruct a full 1080p image.
Mortal Kombat X on PC today received an important patch seeking to resolve many of the game's technical issues, making good on a promise from developer NetherRealm Studios. Unfortunately, the patch itself caused a new problem serious enough that the update has been pulled from Steam's servers.
Following the patch's release earlier today, numerous players began reporting that their save games had disappeared. Roughly two hours later, a new update appeared on Mortal Kombat X's Steam Community hub explaining, "We are temporarily removing the patch until we can pinpoint the cause of save data loss. We are actively working on this and will keep everyone posted as we work towards a fix. We sincerely apologize for this disruption."
Making matters worse, the patch was, among other things, supposed to add a "save data safety check to try to eliminate save data loss."
This has proven to be frustrating news for MKX players, who have already been dealing with numerous issues, including crashes, for weeks. There have been problems since launch in mid-April, when many people found themselves unable to download and install the game. This was due to the use of a new Steam installation system meant to allow the game to be played without all of its files being downloaded.
The PC version of MKX was developed externally by High Voltage Software.
Today's patch was accompanied by a note stating, "We've been monitoring the forums and are aware of the issues players are encountering. We appreciate the constructive feedback from you, the community. We want you to know that there is ongoing support behind the scenes and it's important to us that Mortal Kombat X is a fun experience for all of our players. We will be posting announcements more frequently to keep you aware of upcoming fixes."
There's no word on when the patch will be made available again or if there will be any way to recover lost saves. In the meantime, you can check out the patch notes below for what the update should do once it's back online.
Added the free Klassic Sub-Zero costume.
Display drivers should no longer crash during online play.
A crash will no longer occur after a full rotation of players in the lobby during Round Robin matches.
Fixed a crash that some users experienced during the first QTE in the story.
Game no longer crashes when players attempt to join a game through Steam or in a room.
Fixed startup crash on high end systems (those with > 8 cores).
Fixed a crash that would occur during recorded match playback.
Save data safety check to try to eliminate save data loss.
Fix to prevent save game data from being corrupted while closing the game.
Walk away animations now appear at the end of the character selection process.
The levers in Shao Khan's Tomb will now activate.
Shinnok's Flick Trick Fatality no longer experiences a significant framerate drop.
Functionality is no longer lost while watching a match replay.
Pre-game lobbies will populate 10 players into Faction Battle matches.
Kombat Kards will now display correct Icons, Backgrounds, and Borders in a KOTH match.
Fatality inputs no longer change into QTE inputs during in Online Tower Battles.
Game no longer desynchronizes when a player selects a character that their opponent has not unlocked.
D'Vorah's cape no longer moves when she's killed.
Game no longer freezes when opponent in online closes the game.
Title remains responsive while story cinematics are loading.
Fixed leaderboards and Kombat Kards not updating past the top players.
After entering replays with the controller, the player can use the keyboard when watching a replay from an online match.
Loading screens now display before progress bar fills up.
Diagonal arrows are shown instead of keys when Alternate Control is enabled.
Sometimes saving a Custom1 preset displayed as being saved for Custom1-4 in the character select and pause menu controls screens.
The UI arrows will now switch sides on a tagged move when the character switched position with his opponent.
Chat room names will now display properly (instead of SteamIDs).
Fixed input callouts when switching between keyboard and USB controller after entering a KOTH match.
PC MMO EverQuest II may be more than ten years old, but that doesn't mean developer Sony Online Entertainment Daybreak Games is going to stop supporting it anytime soon. Case in point: the developer on Tuesday released a new duck mount for the game.
"Ducks are majestic creatures, they look awesome, and they have all sorts of variety," Daybreak wrote in its forums back in February when the process of bringing duck mounts to EverQuest II began. Check out the funny video below to learn more about what it took to bring ducks to the game.
The flying creatures are now available to buy in EverQuest II, but only for a limited time. You can buy a mallard mount called The Quacken right now for 1950 Station Cash (about $20). They'll be removed from sale on May 19, so if you're interested, you may want to act quickly.
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