The open beta for Creative Assembly's upcoming free-to-play strategy game Total War Battles: Kingdom is now available on PC. You can download the game right now through Steam
Total War Battles: Kingdom, which was announced in December 2014, is described as a "persistent world strategy game." It's set during the turn of the 10th century, as mankind emerges from the Dark Ages.
Overall, the game aims to offer "rich, bite-sized Total War experiences." Watch the trailer above to see more of the PC game and how it works.
Previously, Total War Battles: Kingdom was available on PC through a limited closed beta. A Mac version of the game, along with a tablet edition, will launch later this year, though exact release dates have not been announced.
Creative Assembly's goal for Total War Battles: Kingdom is to allow you to play Total War wherever you are. "With one persistent world, players will be able to continue their campaign across multiple devices, at home, work, or out and about," the developer said.
For a closer look at Total War Battles: Kingdom, check out the image gallery below.
Ahead of Grand Theft Auto V's release for PC next week, the Humble Store has rolled out its latest weekend deal, offering 10+ Rockstar titles for as much as 80 percent off now through Sunday.
Everything on sale through the Rockstar Weekend Sale is available below. 10 percent of all purchases go to charity--this has so far amounted to more than $2.1 million, and it's only Saturday.
Earlier this week, CD Projekt Red announced two major expansions for upcoming open-world role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but the developer didn't say how much they would cost. Now we know.
Official descriptions posted on Steam, GOG.com, and the PlayStation Store reveal that the Witcher 3 Expansion Pass--which includes the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine add-ons--will cost $25.
There is no Witcher 3 Expansion Pass product page yet on Xbox.com, but you can bet it will also cost $25 on Microsoft's console.
The Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions will presumably also be sold separately, though prices for individual expansions were not announced.
Hearts of Stone will be released in October 2015, while Blood and Wine is due to launch in early 2016. Together, the expansions will add around 30 hours of gamplay to an already massive game. You can read more about the two expansions through GameSpot's previous coverage.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has been announced, and sees Adam Jensen, a man brimming with mechanical augmentations, return as the playable character. Two years have passed since the previous game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, so in that time it's safe to assume some brand new augmentation technology has been developed. Eidos Montreal has teased a few new augmentations in its cinematic trailer - watch out for the stun darts and the titan armour - but we have our own ideas about what we'd like to see.
The interesting thing about Mankind Divided is that it's still set far before the first game's nanoaugmentation technology comes around, so we're still limited to bulky, obvious mechanical augmentations. This means we tried to keep our ideas within the realm of technological possibility, but also think about how they would create fun new ways to approach the stealth, combat, hacking, and social elements of Deus Ex.
Super Jump - Daniel Hindes
This is a basic, but joyful addition: I'd like to be able to jump really high, with some springy augmented legs. Human Revolution ensured Jensen could fall from heights safely with the Icarus Landing System, but how about allowing him to scale heights quickly and safely, too? If the game's current-gen exclusivity means we might see more open levels, this augmentation would make for a great exploration tool as well as open up new tactical avenues in combat.
Spy Drone
My favourite augmentation in the original Deus Ex was the Spy Drone. It didn't make much fictional sense: a flying robot the size of a fist just popped out of JC Denton's head. But it was extremely useful flying it around and scouting out areas with its picture-in-picture mode. I would love to see a similar augmentation in Mankind Divided. Maybe Jensen detaches part of his arm, which sprouts wheels and allows him to buzz around and scout out enemies behind cover?
Blink
Mankind Divided's cinematic trailer showed Jensen warping into a group of enemies and knocking them down, akin to the Biotic Charge power from Mass Effect 3. I'm not sure exactly how it works - maybe you can only warp to enemies - but I'd like to see a similar teleportation power for moving around the world, similar to Dishonored's Blink ability which allowed you to cross short distances almost instantaneously.
Deployable Turret
Jensen spends a lot of time cowering behind cover in Human Revolution, so I'd like to see some augmentations that give him more options when under fire. One idea is a deployable sentry turret. Perhaps this detaches from Jensen's back and assembles itself where you indicate on the ground, and automatically targets nearby enemies. This would give them something else to shoot at, allowing you to reposition or flank them safely.
Power Kick
There is little else I find more satisfying in a first-person game than kicking things and watching them go flying. For me, Dying Light was all about kicking zombies off ledges, and Crysis 3 made kicking cars a viable combat strategy. Jensen's augmented legs could easily be upgraded to deliver a powerful roundhouse that could send enemies flying into crates, or crates flying into enemies.
Aug Disruptor
If Jensen will be going toe to toe with more augmented enemies in Mankind Divided, an augmentation that messes with an enemy's own augmentations would be very useful. It could have a number of functions, such as sending enemies beserk for a brief period of time (as seen at the end of Human Revolution), causing them to attack their allies. Or, perhaps you could remotely shut down someone's augmentations for a brief period, causing them to freeze in place and wonder why they suddenly can't move - lining them up for a quick takedown.
Distractor
I felt like Human Revolution could have done with a wider range of stealth abilities beyond Jensen's cloaking device, so I'd like to see an augmentation that distracts enemies temporarily. Perhaps you could target an area on the ground, and generated a directed, localised noise disturbance in that area. Or, you could target a specific enemy and disrupt their augmentations, causing them to see static for a short period in a similar manner to how the Syndicate reboot allowed you to hack enemies.
Ghosting - Kevin VanOrd
In Human Revolution, Jensen could punch through walls with identifiable weak points, but otherwise, concrete and drywall were insurmountable obstacles. In Mankind Divided, I would love to see Jensen able to briefly enter a quantum form that allows him to shift through walls or even drop through the floor. These surfaces would be highlighted when you pressed a particular button, and as long as you have enough energy, you could slip into a parallel hallway, or down into a room below. Of course, this could put Jensen in even more danger if you aren't careful, but it would open up a new means of navigation that opens up new tactical possibilities. Sure, this sounds more like magic than technology, but I'm willing to overlook the complete lack of sense. You know. For science.
Blending - Aaron Sampson
Hey, sometimes I would hit the punch button at the height of a dialogue tree and knock an important character out. Or sometimes I just decided to punch out everyone in an entire bar and then laugh when a main character threatened me. For some reason, I couldn't then escort him to the bathroom where all the patrons and security were taking a dog pile power nap, but I digress. Jensen generally seemed bad at blending in over the course of Human Revolution. Convincing people, through another dialogue implant and some outfit changes, that you really are part of the thug life gang, police, or upper crust of society would be really amazing.
Iron From Ice, the first episode in Telltale's Game of Thrones series, is now available to download for free on Android by way of Amazon. The episode normally sells for $5--and that's the price it's currently offered for on Google Play and iTunes.
In addition, Amazon is offering a 25 percent discount if you decide to buy the Game of Thrones season pass, which includes access to all six episodes in the series.
This is a limited time promotion. There is no indication as to when the offer might expire, however. So if you're interested, you may want to act quickly.
Iron From Ice was released in December 2014 to a generally positive critical reception. In addition to Android, the game is available on iOS, PC, and consoles.
In her 8/10 review of Iron From Ice, GameSpot critic Alexa Ray Corriea wrote: "Telltale has again successfully paired itself with a franchise that knows how to wring emotion from its audience."
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.
[UPDATE] GameStop's Mortal Kombat-themed No. 20 Toyota Camry, driven by 18-year-old Erik Jones, won the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 last night at the Texas Motor Speedway. Get the full story at Fox Sports 1.
The original story is below.
Tomorrow in Texas at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 NASCAR event, one car will zip around the track decked out with Mortal Kombat X's name and logo. The car, as you might expect, is the No. 20 Toyota Camry, driven by 18-year-old Erik Jones and sponsored by video game retailer GameStop.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 will take place at the Texas Motor Speedway tomorrow, Friday, April 10, starting at 8:30 PM EDT. You can watch the race on FoxSports One or listen to it on the radio.
For more on the special Mortal Kombat-themed car, check out the video above and some images in the gallery below.
GameStop has been a NASCAR sponsor for nearly a decade by way of a partnership with well-known racing team Joe Gibbs Racing. Before Jones--who is signed to a ten-race deal--GameStop-sponsored drivers included Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano.
With April in full swing, the launch day of Mortal Kombat X draws ever so near. Certainly what is to be expected is an onslaught of gore and cracked bones. But series fans and even newcomers shouldn't let their guard down. There is a lot of content hitting this new entry in the Mortal Kombat series.
Much like the game before it, Mortal Kombat X will also have an in-depth story. The new one will throw the Mortal Kombat universe 25 years into the future, as well as deal with events taking place directly after the end of the previous game.
Character List
While a variety of familiar faces will return to the game's initial roster, a handful of newcomers will also be featured as well. Even a fair share of DLC characters have been announced. An important thing to note is that a lot of classic characters who have been seen in trailers, such as Smoke and Baraka, might not be unlockable. Rather, they could be scheduled as DLC sometime in the future. Regardless, you can find a full list of the initial roster below:
Cassie Cage (Daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade)
Aside from the game's typical story and vs. modes, Mortal Kombat X will also feature new modes, such as Factions, Living Towers and 5 v 5 battles. Alterations of previous series modes are in as well, like a new version of Test Your Luck mode.
Mortal Kombat X will launch on April 14 for PS4, Xbox One, Windows PC, iOS and Android. Its PS3 and Xbox 360 versions have been delayed to June 2.
For more coverage on Mortal Kombat X, check out the content below:
In a new post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft addressed Xbox One energy consumption concerns. The blog post comes in the wake of a recent National Resources Defense Council report that blasted the Xbox One's Instant on mode, with senior scientist Noah Horowitz calling the mode "poorly designed" and the system wasteful in terms of the amount of energy it uses.
Microsoft doesn't see it that way.
The company writes that the Xbox One's Instant-on mode--which makes the console boot up quickly and allows it to download updates in the background--is a feature that fans have called for since the Xbox 360 era.
"When factoring the monthly system updates, new features in apps, and games and automatic mobile purchase downloads, the Instant-on setting easily saves users countless hours of needlessly waiting," the company wrote.
Microsoft goes on to say that it has already improved the Xbox One's power consumption, claiming that the company has reduced the total power used while in Instant-on by a third.
"At Microsoft, sustainability is core to our business practices," Microsoft said. "We continue to work to reduce the environmental impact of our products and services, and we are committed to carbon neutrality as a company."
The Xbox One also features an Energy-saving mode. The lower-power mode uses less energy and can save users about $10 per month on average--but of course it doesn't have the background downloading or other features included with Instant on.
Microsoft added that, in the "coming months," people who buy a new Xbox One will be given the choice to use this power state when setting up their console for the first time instead of the default Instant-on. If you already own an Xbox One, you can choose the Energy-saving through the Settings menu.
"By providing multiple power states in Xbox One and empowering our fans with choice, we sought to balance energy efficiency and functionality," Microsoft said. "At the same time, we know many Xbox One fans are vigilant about their household's energy consumption; after all, environmental leadership often begins at home."
You won't have consistent access to them, but Mortal Kombat X will from time to time allow you to play as its various DLC characters without actually buying them.
This ability was announced by Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon on Twitter, where he explained that the game's Challenge Towers will allow you to sample characters you don't own. There are three different Towers that rotate out regularly, and one of these--the Premiere Tower--will sometimes feature a DLC character. You won't be locked out of playing the Tower just because you haven't bought the DLC, effectively letting you get to sample that character before choosing to buy him or her.
That's certainly a welcome feature because, even though there is no shortage of characters in the base game, some of the ones coming as DLC--Jason Voorhees, Predator, Tanya, and Tremor have been announced so far--sound especially interesting. If you decide you want all of them (along with some extra skins), you'll be able to pick up the Kombat Pack for $30.
Boon also revealed on Twitter that the way you choose to customize your profile with different icons, frames, and backgrounds will provide you with various buffs. These are things that don't impact actual matches, but things like experience gain.
For instance, the second Premiere Tower is the Mortal Kombat 1 Tower and offers the border, icon, and background pictured above. Each of those pieces offers a different buff, like an extra 100 Koins per fatality (background), 100 XP per match win (icon), and 75 FXP per match win.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III Officially Confirmed for This Year: It's finally official. Activision announced this week that, as it was rumored, Treyarch is in fact working on the next Black Ops game. It launches this fall, and more details are coming on Sunday, April 26.
Watch Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's First Trailer: Square Enix this week announced a brand-new Deus Ex game and it looks pretty excellent, at least according to its first (CG) trailer. Watch it above. Mankind Divided, which doesn't yet have any kind of a release date, is in development for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
How to Buy an Xbox One for $225: GameStop has rolled out a really good deal if you're looking for a new Xbox One. Now through April 25, shoppers who trade in a PlayStation 3 (120 GB or greater) or an Xbox 360 (250 GB or greater) will receive $125 worth of in-store credit when applied toward the purchase of a new Xbox One. That means you can get a new Xbox One for just $225. Nice!
THE OTHER STUFF:
Develop has an excellent feature on the effect development on the canceled action game Prey 2 had on its developer, Human Head Studios, and what's next for the company. Read the excellent story here.
Have you ever wanted to own a life-size Dark Souls II statue? It's OK, you can admit it. Now you can have one in your home, provided you win this special GameStop contest. Check out this post for a full set of instructions on how to enter--and hopefully win!
In response to a 12-year-old girl's op-ed about the relatively small number of female characters in video games today, Temple Run developer Imangi Studios has announced that it will release a free female runner for Temple Run 2. Read the full story here.
Retailer Best Buy is opening hundreds stores at midnight next week to sell copies of highly anticipated fighting game Mortal Kombat X as soon as possible. More than 360 stores will open (or stay open, depending on the time zones) to sell the game. Here's a nice chart, courtesy of Best Buy, that explains exactly when the game will go on sale depending on where you live.
12:01 a.m. April 14 in the Eastern time zone
11:01 p.m. April 13 in the Central time zone
10:01 p.m. April 13 in the Mountain time zone
9:01 p.m. April 13 in the Pacific time zone
Smosh Games has posted its latest "Honest" trailer, this one for BioShock. Not much else to say here--check out the video below and let us know what you think.
The latest Final Fantasy mobile game, Record Keeper, has now been downloaded 1 million times, Square Enix announced this week. The game, developed by DeNA and Square Enix, was released on March 26. To celebrate the milestone, all players will be given one Mythril as a daily bonus. This special offer will starts this Saturday, April 11, and runs through April 16.
Nazi zombies will make a comeback in upcoming shooter Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. That's according to this new Vine teaser video from Bethesda. Watch it below. The game arrives in May for console and PC.
Sad news for Smash Bros. designer Masahiro Sakurai. In the latest issue of Famitsu, Sakurai reveals that he's still suffering from an arm injury that he's had for years now. Read more about it here. Get better soon!
Bloodborne is a difficult game, you know this. But you aren't the only one struggling. Now you can watch Sony Korea executive Shiro Kawauchi play and die...over and over and over again.
DLC alert! Bohemia Interactive has released the Marksmen DLC for military game Arma 3, introducing seven new weapons, two scopes, remote laser-designators, ghillie suits, firing drills, and the new Marksmen showcase scenario. Accompanying the paid DLC is a free update for the overall game, which adds new weapon resting and deployment features, along with sound enhancements and new multiplayer mode. Get all the news about the Marksmen DLC at the Arma website.
Square Enix this week announced an all-new Deus Ex game called Mankind Divided. You can read lots more about it and see the first images courtesy of Game Informer's excellent cover story, available now through the magazine's May issue. You can buy the issue right here.
I can't be the only total Halo nerd out there, can I? I doubt it. If you're also a big fan of the series and the lore, you'll probably enjoy this latest Cannon Fodder blog post from 343 Industries. "What are the origins of the stone structures seen on Installation 05"? Read this post to find out the answer to that question and many, many others.
Activision has released a Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Gold Edition. It retails for $60 and comes with the main game, the Havoc DLC, and the Atlas Gorge map. You can also buy all that content for the same exact price if purchased separately--$40 for the game (on Amazon), $15 for the Havoc expansion, and $5 for the Atlas Gorge map.
It may be nearly five years old, but that doesn't mean it's not worth watching. Check out this hilariously unfortunate Halo: Reach betrayal. It boggles the mind!
DICE is building an all-new Battlefield 4 map and the developer needs your help to make it happen. The studio has rolled out yet another survey asking fans what they want to see from the map. You can fill out the survey here.
Here is the first footage of Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune's next game--Mighty No. 9--running on Xbox One. What do you think? Let us know!
New Metal Gear Solid action figures are coming by way of Square Enix. The new toys are due for release later this year, starting at ¥9,800 (about $82 USD). Check out all the images of the new Metal Gear Solid toys over at ToyArk.
A new Digi-Capital study released this week predicts that the augmented/virtual reality market will reach $150 billion by 2020. The report, called "Augmented/Virtual Reality Report 2015," gives the upper hand to augmented reality, saying the revenue split will be $120 billion for AR and $30 billion for VR.
eSports giant Major League Gaming (MLG) is doing pretty well. The company announced this week that its MLG.TV network has seen viewership increase by a massive 253 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, total revenue is up 482 percent. You can see more impressive stats at MLG's website.
Check out this fan-made live-action Uncharted 4 video that shows what A Thief's End might look like from a first-person perspective. Very interesting!
Xenoblade Chronicles eD launches today on Nintendo 3DS XL (the first game that requires Nintendo's new handheld to run), and we were able to send a few questions over to the game's developers in Japan. Check out the Q&A below that covers Xenoblade's original launch on Wii, what it took to bring the game to a portable device, and a few details about the upcoming Wii U-exclusive Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Answers were provided by Testuya Takahashi (the head of developer Monolith Soft), representatives from Monster Games (the company that worked on the 3DS port), and representatives from Nintendo SPD (an internal Nintendo developer that is lending support to Monolith).
GameSpot: The original Xenoblade Chronicles took a long time to come out in the West. Did Monolith originally intend to release the game worldwide, or was this going to be a Japan-only game?
Takahashi: This is just my personal point of view, but I think it's pretty difficult to think about markets or potential acceptance levels in a nation outside your own, with different people, different cultures and different histories -- someplace you've never even lived in. Even if you try to consider it, it's a matter of fact that you won't be able to understand all of the factors completely, and if you provide a game based on that kind of armchair thinking, you'll always wind up off the mark.
However, we are also all human beings, all living creatures, and we must all have some common points of contact or things we can all empathize with. Thus, from the time we worked on the Japanese version, we planned out the game's specs with the idea that it would be sold overseas, picking up those common points one at a time so we could reply to the demand.
What is it that you think made Xenoblade Chronicles such a critical and commercial success here in the US?
Takahashi: I think it all comes down to "empathy." As I wrote above, it may not be impossible for Japanese people to understand what people in the West feel and like, but it does take a fair amount of time. Empathy, however, is something we can all recognize. Those of us in Japan can be moved by, and can empathize with, things like Hollywood films, dramas and novels written by Western authors. I personally love the TV dramas I watched as a kid, like Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and Starsky & Hutch; I looked forward to seeing them broadcast every week.
Even if we remastered it for Wii U, my concern was that people like that would still avoid playing it.
The things that we're moved by, the points that we can empathize with, are the same. So we decided it'd be fine if we just made something we could honestly be moved by and find fun; there was no need to fiddle around too much thinking about what we would need to achieve success outside Japan. That was a philosophy we took pains not to stray from as we proceeded with development.
Nintendo SPD: Xenoblade Chronicles features a ton of depth and volume, something that earned it a lot of high praise from the people who played the Wii release. I think a lot of people began to take an interest in this game after hearing all of that praise, too. However, it's not unheard of for this game to take around 100 hours just to complete it normally, so even if people take an interest, I think some of them would give up the idea of playing it, thinking to themselves: "No way do I have the free time to sit in front of a TV and play this game for 100 hours."
Even if we remastered it for Wii U, my concern was that people like that would still avoid playing it. Remaking it for a portable system, however, will let them play it whenever they like, at home or outside, and we thought that would lead to more people trying it out. We considered making it for the original Nintendo 3DS at first, but if we wanted to achieve nearly the same quality as you saw on the original Wii version, the New Nintendo 3DS XL became all but required.
Would it have been possible to run this on the regular 3DS? If no, what did the New 3DS open up?
Monster Games: We initially tried to get the game to run on the regular Nintendo 3DS system. After months of work, we realized that the game was too big and would perform too slowly. At this point we learned about New Nintendo 3DS XL hardware and were excited to learn about the faster CPU and extra RAM. This immediately made the project seem possible, so we continued working on the conversion.
The team had to rebuild all the graphical assets while making sure it still looked as good as the original game.
Even with the system's extra capabilities, it was still a challenging project and we spent many months working on optimizations. Given how hard it was to convert the game for New Nintendo 3DS XL hardware, we can easily imagine that the port to the regular Nintendo 3DS hardware would have ended up far from the quality game play that the original Wii version had even if we had given it our all.
Were there any particular technological or UI hurdles to bringing the game to 3DS?
Monster Games: The biggest technical hurdle when porting between Wii and New Nintendo 3DS XL is that the two systems have very different capabilities. All these differences kept the project from being a simple port. Every part of the game had to be reworked to account for the capabilities of New Nintendo 3DS XL hardware. For example, New Nintendo 3DS XL has a different GPU architecture, so none of the art assets could be directly used. The team had to rebuild all the graphical assets while making sure it still looked as good as the original game. Each world was carefully optimized by the art staff and we needed to invent new techniques to render the large scenes where the player can see far into the distance. It wasn't until late in the project that we finally were able to make sure the frame rate was good everywhere.
Regarding the UI design, our big challenge was to maintain the look and feel of the original game, while taking advantage of the dual screens. There are hundreds of screens in the game and the design had to work for many languages. The design team spent over a month mocking up various UI designs until we got one that seemed to work well. Once we converted the screens to run on New Nintendo 3DS XL, we brushed up the artwork to fit the small screens and fine-tuned the placement of the elements. Given the number of screens and languages, this process took a long time and we were working on improving and fine-tuning details all the way to the end of the project.
Without revealing any spoilers, what can fans of Xenoblade Chronicles look forward to when the franchise comes to Wii U? Will it feel familiar for returning fans, or will it be a departure from what was put together in Chronicles?
Takahashi: I think Xenoblade Chronicles X will have a different play feel from the first Xenoblade Chronicles game. Xenoblade Chronicles is a pretty linear game, but Xenoblade Chronicles X is non-linear, and I think a lot of the gameplay will depend on that.
Xenoblade Chronicles' core thrust is centered around its story, but Xenoblade Chronicles X is shaping up to be a game with more focus placed on action elements that take advantage of the open world instead of the story aspects. However, both games will retain a common feel based on the core elements that serve as the foundation for the series. It may feel different to play, but it'll provide a new way of having fun within the same Xenoblade series.
Last Wednesday, NME Esports earned first place in the League of Legends North America Challenger Playoffs, officially obtaining their spot in the LCS and replacing Coast.
I sat down with Otter moments after their victory to discuss his path to pro, what fans can expect from the team, and more.
GameSpot: How would you describe your journey getting into the LCS? You've been trying this for a long time now.
Otter: Alright, well—it was probably the most excruciating thing just because…it's one of those things where everything has to be "right." Like, every situation has to just work out correctly for you to win the game or win the series. It's really, really hard. For someone that's like me—I'm a person that wasn't really happy. If there's one thing wrong with the team, it kills me inside until it gets fixed and a lot of teams are completely complacent with how they're doing. Sure, they want to get better but they don't actually strive to get better. They just kind of play. They just keep playing, so it's just like—with that alone, it was hard for me to find a team that I actually was able to stick with and play with. So it's pretty hard.
Were there moments where you said to yourself, "I didn't make it into the LCS yet. How much longer do I want to commit to this?"
Yeah, this was a hundred percent my last time. If I didn't make it this time with this team, I would not have continued. I would've been done because I've already had two decently close opportunities that fell through or maybe I wasn't good enough. And it's heart breaking every time it happens.
There are a lot of people who are counting out the challenger teams and saying, "anybody who comes out of that scene right now is just going to be another Coast." How do you expect NME is going to do? Is there a chance you might end up being Coast 2.0?
I mean, there's always a chance that any team will be Coast 2.0. But I feel like we're a team that adapts really well. We adapt really well to the meta and to what our opponents are playing so I think when we're in the LCS and when we start scrimming other LCS teams more regularly, I think we'll fit right in.
What are your expectations for this coming split? Do you see your team contending for a spot at Worlds?
Nah, I don't see us contending for a World's spot, but I am hoping for at least playoffs.
How do you think you'll stack up against the other AD carries? AD carry—and maybe mid—might be the role that creates the most conversation in North America. There are a lot of big names there. How do you think you'll do?
I think I'll just be a middle of the pack AD. Yeah, just middle of the pack.
Why is that?
I can do everything that they do, but there's a few things that I can't do. I need to think about this more specifically, I guess. For me, I guess I'm an open book that can play anything. So any time there'll be a meta shift and there'll be different picks coming in for ADCs, I'm able to adjust to it really well. I feel like a lot of ADCs aren't really like that. You'll see that a couple of them can only play a handful of ADCs, or even just one champion in that role. I'm not going to say who, but in that sense, I'm already better than some of the players.
It's so much less interesting if you don't say who.
Yeah, I'm not going to though.
Could you say a team?
(laughs) No. No, no, no. That would just give it away and I don't want to do that.
What is it like being on NME from a team perspective? People can see what it's like in the game and on the Rift—but what's it like hanging out behind the scenes with these guys? Are you all colleagues? Does it feel like a family? What's the atmosphere like?
It feels like we're all really good friends. Everyone gets along really well. You would think that we wouldn't because some people have completely different personalities but we get along really well. We're definitely more than colleagues. It may sound a little weird, but yeah.
Out of all the guys on the team, who do you think is going to be become the fan favorite?
Probably Trashy. We'll see if he's more open. If he presents himself like how he actually is in real life, then I think he would be the fan favorite.
Why is that?
He's really goofy. A really goofy troll. And he also sometimes doesn't know his limits of his conversations because he'll take things a little too far and I think people will like that. I think it's pretty funny sometimes—other times it's just like come on, man.
I was talking to Nien earlier and he has sort of a cult following and you seem to also have this cult following as well. Is there anything you'd like to say to the Otter fans out there?
Thanks for sticking around, everyone. I love you all. You're the big reason why I was able to keep going. I don't think I would've kept going if there weren't people that were saying, "You can do it." Thank you guys.
I know you haven't seen the teams yet, but give me your predictions for your first week in the LCS—your first two games. What'll be your score?
There's also a new Humble Weekly Bundle featuring digital versions of tabletop games like Ticket to Ride and Catan. However, if you spend $32 more, you'll get a physical Humble Tabletop Box that consists of playing cards, dice, and more.
Amazon prices are accurate as of publishing, but can fluctuate occasionally throughout the day.
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"DeNA Group is continually evaluating its game development operations to ensure that it's structured in the best possible way to deliver high-quality mobile games to consumers worldwide," DeNA said in a statement to GamesBeat. "As a part of this process, we have decided to reshape the structure of our North American studio operations along with a reduction in workforce. We appreciate their contributions to DeNA and are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them."
The layoffs will, according to sources speaking with GamesBeat, result in the the publisher's Vancouver office being shut down and employees being let go from DeNA West's headquarters in San Francisco.
These moves come at what might appear to be an unusual time, both because of the Nintendo partnership--announced less than a month ago--and the apparent success of Final Fantasy Record Keeper, a new mobile game that DeNA said yesterday had already racked up over 1 million downloads.
DeNA insists that the moves are unrelated to both, saying, "The West will continue to be one of our core markets for our mobile gaming business, and this decision has no relation to our alliance with Nintendo or the popularity of Final Fantasy Record Keeper."
As part of its partnership with Nintendo, DeNA acquired a 1.24 percent stake in Nintendo, with Nintendo buying 10 percent of DeNA. The deal will see DeNA help to develop mobile games using Nintendo's IP, the first of which is expected out this year.
By Justin Haywald on Apr 11, 2015 03:00 am Click the image above to check out the full gallery.
We have a annual competition here at the CBS Interactive building around Easter that involves creating a diorama using Peeps, those sickly sweet, sugar-coated marshmallows that are only available this time year. For GameSpot's entry in the company-wide contest, we went with a GTA V-inspired theme: Grand Theft Peep.
Judging for the contest won't wrap until the end of the day, but we're pretty sure we have the winning entry. A few highlights that you'll find in the gallery below:
A flying* police helicopter
A Peep soliciting another Peep for "services"
A rampaging orange Peep (and the star of our diorama) in an epic standoff against the cops
Miniature bunny Peeps on all of the money
A slightly charred Peep hidden behind the burning wreckage of a car
*Note: Helicopter is not actually flying.
We'll update you with whether we won the competition, or whether we destroyed the competition so completely that there are no longer any other departments left at CBSi except GameSpot.
This wasn't the work of one-person, though. GameSpot staff who lent their talents to the project included: Mary Kish (the project's creative lead), Rob Handlery (Lighting and Demolitions), Neha Tiwari (Costume Design), Synthia Weires (Key Grip), and me (Lead Peep Taster).
If we seem a bit pre-occupied with GTA at the moment, it's probably because of the imminent release of the long-, long-delayed PC version of GTA 5. The game came out on Xbox 360 and PS3 back in September 2013, and it's set to finally drop on PC next Tuesday. You can catch up on what's being added to the game in this recent feature, though we hope this diorama will encourage Rockstar to include an unlockable Peep mode somewhere down the line.
Along with more music and improved visuals, the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V brings with it the Rockstar Editor, a powerful set of tools for creating videos. We recently got to check it out for ourselves--check out our discussion about it in the video above--and now we have some images detailing how it all works.
Rockstar's website has been updated with details on the editor, along with the images in the gallery below. With it, you can do basic things like record a clip of recent gameplay (called an Action Replay), or begin manually recording a clip.
Alternatively, you can create footage using Director mode, which lets you create a scene from scratch. You can import "hundreds" of elements from the game, including characters and animals, and customize where the clip takes place, what time it is, what the weather is like, and so on.
With all of your clips in hand, you can trim and connect to them using the Project Timeline feature. You can also edit other aspects of the video, both visually--by adding text or filters--and sound-wise--by adding music or tweaking the sound levels for different things (like music and sound effects).
You're also free to control camera angles, depth of field effects, and more. When you're finished, you'll be able to easily push your clip to your Rockstar Social Club account or--more importantly--YouTube.
Blizzard this week introduced the long-awaited ability to extend your World of Warcraft subscription with the use of in-game gold. And in the first few days of availability, the price of the WoW Token has fluctuated dramatically.
When they launched on Tuesday, Tokens went on sale for $20. With one in hand, players were able to list them on the in-game auction house, where the price is dictated by a system tracking supply-and-demand, rather than the usual process of bidding or buying at a price chosen by the seller.
That price started at 30,000 gold and quickly increased, passing 31,000 gold on North American servers, according to a website tracking Token sales. From there, the price plummeted, going as low as 20,370 gold on Wednesday--a drop of roughly 35 percent. Since then, the price went back up to almost 27,000 gold, before steadily dropping to where it sits as of this writing, 24,195 gold.
WoW Token prices on North American servers, via wowtoken.info
Variations are to be expected, but it'll be interesting to see where the price goes from here and whether Tokens will be affordable for the average player.
Besides allowing players to subscribe to WoW without directly spending any money, Tokens also combat third-party gold sellers. Websites that sell gold for real-world money are one of the primary reasons accounts are so frequently hacked and in-game spam is so commonplace.
Blizzard explained last month that it's hoping that allowing players to buy Tokens with real-world money and then sell them for gold will "help make World of Warcraft a safer and more enjoyable game for all of our players."
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