If you have any intention of exporting your Green Day: Rock Band music to your main Rock Band library, you have less than a week left to do so.
Harmonix has offered a heads-up on its forums that, due to licensing arrangements, April 30 is the last day to perform the export. You're all set if you've done the export in the five years since the release of the Green Day-focused Rock Band game in 2010.
Going through with the export allows you to access all of the music from the game in the main Rock Band games, but the process does cost $10 and requires that you redeem a code included in the case.
Should you be unable to export the music by the deadline, or if you become an avid Green Day fan sometime after the 30th, Harmonix notes you'll still be able to add much of this music to your library through various DLC packs.
When Activision announced Guitar Hero Live last week, the publisher revealed a handful of artists whose songs would be featured on the game's soundtrack, but didn't share the songs themselves. Now, Activision has done just that, announcing the first ten songs that will be available on day one in a post on Facebook.
As you can see in the image above, Guitar Hero Live's soundtrack will include Top 40 songs like Ed Sheeran's "Sing" and "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men. Others include "Don't Owe You a Thang" by Gary Clark Jr. (which is a great song, if I do say so myself) and "Cry of Achilles" by Alter Bridge.
Not familiar with these tracks? Check out the Spotify playlist below to listen to them right now.
These ten songs represent just a fraction of Guitar Hero Live's total soundtrack, which will include "hundreds" of songs out of gate across the main game and the online-focused mode Guitar Hero TV.
[UPDATE] The video event has started! Watch it below.
The original story is below.
Today at 11 AM PDT / 2 PM EDT, Nintendo will hold a special "video showcase" event for its upcoming Wii U open-world RPG Xenoblade Chronicles X. You can watch the entire event via the Twitch embed below.
Nintendo hasn't offered anything specific about what to expect, saying only that viewers will get to "hear the latest about the game." Immediately following the video showcase will be a special Nintendo Treehouse live presentation of Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Xenoblade Chronicles X launches for Wii U later this year. For lots more, check out GameSpot's in-depth interview with the game's creator, Monolith Soft.
Skyrim can now be downloaded and played on Steam free of charge until Monday, April 27, at 10 AM PST/1PM EST. If you like what you see and want to keep playing beyond Monday, you'll be able to pick up the game and all of its DLC for cheap--including the Legendary Edition that contains all three DLC packs.
Here's the discounted pricing available until Monday:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- $5
Hearthfire -- $2.49
Dawnguard -- $7.49
Dragonborn -- $7.49
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition -- $13.59
Having access to Skyrim on PC means you can download and install the many mods located on the Steam Workshop. However, as of earlier this week, modders can now charge money for their creations. In order to buy and access any of these premium mods, you'll have to actually own the game--the free-access copy won't do.
Bohemia Interactive's MiniDayZ, the free 2D standalone game based on the zombie series, has added multiplayer support. The developer announced and released the new mode today, explaining that it supports up to twenty "mini survivors." Players can join an existing server or host their own.
Right now, MiniDayZ's multiplayer mode does not feature all single-player elements; one notable omission is crafting. However, Bohemia says crafting, along other other features like potentially even more multiplayer modes, will be released later through future updates.
See below for a breakdown, provided by Bohemia, of all the MiniDayZ features available right now and those coming later.
Just like the main version of DayZ, MiniDayZ challenges players to survive in a ruthless world full of zombies--and now other human characters. One major difference apart from the visuals is that MiniDayZ is played from a top-down perspective.
Much like some of the previous games in the series, NBA 2K16 will reportedly feature another big, non-basketball name on its cover: Spike Lee.
The acclaimed actor and director is contributing to 2K16, as evidenced by a photo of the game's cover leaked to Polygon. Just beneath the 2K16 name is the text "A Spike Lee Joint." According to the site, a source close to development has indicated he'll be contributing to the career mode, which was a point of emphasis in 2K15.
2K15 also featured a celebrity name on its cover, highlighting that Pharrell Williams had curated its soundtrack. That duty was handled by cover star LeBron James the year prior, while NBA 2K13 called out Jay-Z as an executive producer on its cover.
The involvement of Lee--an avid New York Knicks fan, as I think the picture to the right demonstrates--doesn't come as a complete surprise, as the New York Post reported he was at work on an NBA game project in San Francisco back in March. 2K series developer Visual Concepts is based out of the Bay Area.
Lee's directorial work includes the basketball movie He Got Game, starring Denzel Washington and semi-retired NBA player Ray Allen.
The leaked cover art also reveals there will be not just one, but three cover stars for 2K16: Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (the reigning NBA MVP) and the two frontrunners for this year's MVP award, Golden State's Stephen Curry and Houston's James Harden. This is the first time there will be multiple covers for a game in the series since 2011, when legends Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird each had their own box art for NBA 2K12.
2K Sports has yet to make any formal announcements regarding NBA 2K16. Unless it deviates from the established norm for the series, you can expect it to be out in early October.
Destiny's limited time PvP Iron Banner event will return this coming Tuesday, April 28, developer Bungie has announced as part of the latest Bungie Weekly Update.
The event kicks off that day at 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT / 6 PM UK. Bungie explained that it previously expected the Iron Banner to return this week, but changes made to Destiny's Crucible multiplayer mode through the 1.1.2 update led the developer to push the event back a week.
Bungie also notes that, due to a "navigation bug," the only way players will be able to access Iron Banner next week is by selecting it through Destiny's main Director menu, not inside the Crucible mode itself. It will show up there on the left side of the screen as a "Featured" activity.
Finally, Bungie announced the special gear you can earn for completing the event. This includes three new helmets, which you can see below.
Nintendo has been caught off-guard by the success of its Amiibo line. While it hoped there would be demand for its expansion into the toys-to-life space, the company's "expectations have been smashed."
That's according to Nintendo UK consumer marketing boss James Honeywell, who told MCV, "Right from the outset we hoped that Amiibo would be strong, but even our expectations have been smashed. With a unique lineup of iconic characters that are loved by so many people, it really has been unprecedented."
Companies like Activision and Disney have also enjoyed success with their respective toys-to-life offerings, Skylanders and Disney Infinity. There was some question of whether the market would be too crowded for Nintendo to make an impact when it launched Amiibo alongside Super Smash Bros. last year; instead, with 5.7 million sold as of February, its primary problem has been keeping less-common figures in stock.
"We hope to do a better job of satisfying these needs in the future with more stock, and, while there are always going to be some times when we can't on certain characters, I suspect that is also part of the appeal," Honeywell continued.
Indeed, tracking down and collecting rare figures has become a game for some, but for many others, it's proven to be an exercise in frustration.
Honeywell cites collectors' desire to get their hands on every Amiibo available as part of the reason for the supply issues. Nintendo has previously said it won't be able to consistently keep every figure in stock, though it will deliver additional runs of certain figures in select circumstances--something we saw with Marth, for instance.
In addition to sitting on your shelf, Amiibo serve a purpose in various games, including Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8, and Code Name: Steam. For a complete list of every Amiibo announced to date (along with their in-game functionality), check out our comprehensive list.
Retailer Best Buy has rolled out a great new deal for the Xbox One version of Respawn's shooter Titanfall, offering one of the console's best shooters to date for just $8.
The deal is good at Best Buy's website. Shipping is $2, or you can buy online and pick it up in store for free.
This is the best deal we've seen so far on Titanfall for Xbox One. Amazon and GameStop are currently offering the game for around $20. The PC version, meanwhile is on sale at GameStop now for $8.
What makes the deal even sweeter is that all Titanfall DLC is now free. Respawn made the content--three expansion packs in all--free back in March to celebrate the game's first anniversary.
Looking for more gaming deals? Check back later today for GameSpot's comprehensive deals roundup that collects the day's best offers across all platforms.
The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V has been out for a little over a week, and YouTube user taltigolt has kept busy in that time creating epic mods that show the world of Los Santos and Blaine County in ways developer Rockstar Games probably never could have imagined.
His latest works are new animal-themed videos, the first of which shows off a killer kitty. After achieving a five-star wanted rating, the cat goes on a killing spree with molotov cocktails, an AK-47, and more. The cat even hops into an SUV and leads police across a paws-itively insane care chase.
Another video shows a hefty cow riding a motorcycle as it attempts to escape police pursuit. Watch as the speedy bovine essentially morphs into the motorcycle and performs all manner of high-flying jumps and tight turns to evade capture. Even more funny GTA V videos are available on taltigolt's YouTube page.
GTA V for PC doesn't officially support mods, but clearly that has not stopped fans from creating them. We can only imagine what creative fans will come up with next.
GTA V was released for PC on Tuesday, April 14, quickly becoming the most played non-Valve game published on Steam, with more than 300,000 people playing the game simultaneously. Following the game's release last week, some fans reported that their Social Club accounts had been hijacked, but Rockstar maintains that the online service has not been compromised.
GameSpot's GTA V PC review praised the game's improved visuals and frame rate.
"It looked great on PS4 and Xbox One, but GTA V shines on PC thanks to 4K-grade textures, the availability of additional post-processing effects, and an unlocked frame rate," reviewer Peter Brown said. "Previous versions of the game played just fine at 30 frames per second, but you quickly appreciate the added fluidity of playing at 60 FPS (if not more) on PC."
You can see all 40 games on sale this weekend as part of the Steam Roguelike Sale here.
Looking for more gaming deals? Check back later today for GameSpot's comprehensive deals roundup that collects the day's best offers across all platforms.
The official Just Cause Twitter account on Friday posted a teaser video that concludes by saying the gameplay reveal trailer for Just Cause 3 will be released next Tuesday, April 28.
It's tough to make out exactly what's happening in the video, but protagonist Rico is shown flying over a field of sunflowers in his new wingsuit. A helicopter is also shown for a brief moment crashing to the ground and exploding.
During PAX East last month, Just Cause 3 game director Roland Lesterlin explained that Avalanche didn't want to show gameplay until it was sure what fans see will blow them away.
The games industry's growing trend of selling premium DLC has been described as a widespread "scam" by a key developer of Nintendo games.
Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed all entries in the Super Smash Bros series, wrote in his latest Famitsu column that he believed DLC strategies were essentially a means to charge more for the same game.
"These days, the 'DLC scam' has become quite the epidemic, charging customers extra money to complete what was essentially an unfinished product," he wrote, according to a translation by Smash Bros. fan site Source Gaming.
His argument is not specifically critical of post-release content in its entirety, but the alleged practice of holding back assets and features so that developers can, after release, sell the content as DLC.
Sakurai did not mention any specific developer, or game, as an example of such a practice. Later in his column, he discussed the economic pressures that could be the reason for the now standard practice of supporting games with DLC.
"If you were looking to make a profit, DLC would be the way to go. Development is more costly than ever, yet the price of games has remained the same, so more income would help offset that imbalance," he said.
But despite suggesting that the legacy model of shipping standalone games was no longer profitable, Sakurai claimed that the DLC solution was nevertheless an irritable one.
"I completely understand how aggravated players must feel. After all, a game should be 100 percent done at the time of release, and I would be livid if it were split up and sold in pieces."
The developer's comments come as Nintendo prepares to release premium DLC for Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS. Sakurai claims that virtually no DLC was developed prior each game's release.
He wrote: "The DLC we are releasing for Smash is authentic, developed only after we finished working on the main game. Of course, said content will come to you at a premium as compensation for the work put into developing additional content post-production."
CD Projekt Red and publisher Warner Bros. on Friday released the first TV video spot for upcoming role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The short video (it's meant for TV, after all), shows protagonist Geralt hunting down CD Projekt Red's version of the mythological bird/cat hybrid Griffin creature.
In recent news about the game, Microsoft on Wednesday apologized for not disclosing that a gameplay video posted to its Xbox YouTube channel contained footage from the PC version.
GameSpot recently visited CD Projekt Red's offices in Poland to play the game and interview its developers.
Check out part one, part two, and part three of our video series for an in-depth look at The Witcher 3. Meanwhile, a selection of some of our favorite Witcher 3 screenshots are below.
Sony's "Road to Greatness" event, which sees the company pack an 18-wheeler full of PlayStation games for a tour across the United States, will return this year.
The event kicks off this weekend at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, California, and will hit more than two dozen live events across the country (see below), Sony has announced.
More than 30 new and unreleased PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita games will be playable as part of the Road to Greatness tour. From Software's RPG Bloodborne was shown in a promotional video, though a full list of titles was not made available.
Sony will also hold competitions and offer PlayStation merchandise for sale at every stop along the way.
This year's Road to Greatness tour will stop at a total of 27 events through November; the first eight are listed below. More information about Road to Greatness is available on the PlayStation Blog and through the event's dedicated website.
[UPDATE] Dell is no longer offering three months of PlayStation Plus as part of the package, but everything else remains intact. Head to Dell's website here to buy the bundle.
The original story is below.
Computer giant Dell is currently offering a pretty excellent PlayStation 4 deal.
Purchased separately, everything in the bundle would cost you something in the area of $580.
This deal is good through Monday, April 27 at 7 AM EDT, or when stocks runs out. Something to note is that the three months of PlayStation Plus and the $100 Dell gift card are added to your cart at checkout.
Looking for more gaming deals? Check back later today for GameSpot's comprehensive deals roundup that collects the day's best offers across all platforms.
The mod in question was for a fishing animation for the open-world fantasy RPG; Valve even promoted this mod on the new Steam Workshop page (though it's since been replaced).
The mod was developed by Chesko and aqqh, but as detailed in this Destructoid report, it actually contained assets from another modder Fore's New Idles in Skyrim creation without his permission.
Fore wrote in the Steam forums in a since-removed post (but captured by Destructoid) that Chesko and aqqh never asked for his permission to use his assets in their Skyrim fishing mod. He went on to say that "making money with mods is totally against my attitude" and claimed that Steam's new paid-for mod system will lead to the "end of a working and inventive modding community."
"I would like to make it clear that I have been under a non-disclosure agreement for over a month, and was unable (not unwilling) to contact others. I asked Valve specifically about content that requires other content, and was told that if the download was separate and free, it was fair game."
"In the case of this mod, the animations are not required and the mod continues to work. However, I will defer to Fore's decision, which will issue a refund to all subscribers."
On Valve's new Steam Workshop website for paid mods, the developer says people who see someone posting content they've created should issue a DMCA takedown notice right away.
However, modders are allowed to use the work of other modders, provided they get approval first. The Steam Workshop even has a revenue-sharing option to allow creators to allocation portions of item revenue with other collaborators or co-authors.
Other Skyrim paid mods
But Valve again reminds modders: "If your creation builds on another mod or utilizes content from another mod, you should first ask their permission."
You can see all the paid (and free) Skyrim mods here.
In announcing the new Steam Workshop paid-for mod support, Valve said it is a way for gamers to support their favorite modders to allow them to build even more unique creations.
"By paying for mods and supporting the people that made them, you enable those artists and creators to continue working on their mods and inspire new modders to try their hand in creating new, higher quality items and experiences," the company said.
Meanwhile, Bethesda--the first publisher to allow paid-for mods with Skyrim as part of Steam's new program--offered the following statement on Thursday as part of the original announcement.
"Modding has been important to all our games for such a long time," Bethesda said. "We try to create worlds that come alive and you can make your own, but it's in modding where it truly does. Thanks again for all your incredible support over the years. We hope steps like this breathe new life into Skyrim for everyone."
Valve's new modding program launched only with Skyrim, but other supported titles will be announced in the coming weeks.
What do you think about Steam's new paid-for mod program? Let us know in the comments below!
The game, announced on Thursday and the first in the core series in over six years, is a major departure from Overlord and Overlord II. It's played from a top-down, Diablo-style perspective, and features four heroes instead of one. Some fans aren't happy about this new approach.
They made their concerns known in posts on social media, including in the comments of the game's YouTube announcement trailer. This video currently has three times as many dislikes than likes.
"NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOO!" writes one commenter. Another adds: "Who wants this? Why is there co-op? Isn't the whole point of the game the demonic minions?" Someone else wrote: "What a joke, good luck selling that to anyone..."
Now, one of the game's writers--Rhianna Pratchett--has responded to these criticisms with a volley of tweets. She said Codemasters never meant to position Fellowship of Evil as Overlord 3, a game that she went on to say could still happen further down the road.
"Shame folks are getting angry on YouTube about Overlord: Fellowship of Evil," she wrote. "We never claimed it was Overlord 3. It's its own entity & certainly doesn't stop a Overlord 3 happening." She added that she personally hopes Overlord 3 is made one day, but for now, she's happy to be working on the franchise again with a game that can stand on its own.
Pratchett also stressed that, in terms of tone (the Overlord series is known for its dark, yet humorous approach), Fellowship of Evil is "very much an Overlord game." The game will fit within the previously established world and canon of the overarching Overlord series, she went on to say.
Finally, Pratchett reminded Overlord fans that this isn't the first time the franchise is branching out into new territory. Overlord: Dark Legend for Wii was designed for a younger audience, while Nintendo 3DS game Overlord: Minions was presented in a top-down manner, similar to Lost Vikings.
"So we have done a few different things with the Overlord franchise in the past and explored different gameplay avenues," she said.
Fellowship of Evil launches later this year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It will cost $20 on all platforms. For more, check out the first screenshots in the gallery below.
Since February 25, customers have published bug reports and queries on both the Capcom and PlayStation support forums, detailing a bug that is preventing them from playing DLC that had already been purchased via the PlayStation Store.
Specifically, the issue is that pre-ordered versions of Resident Evil Revelations 2 were bundled with special maps for Raid Mode, partly as an incentive to buy the game in advance. For some users, however, these maps remain inaccessible.
Sony sometimes allows players to pre-install games on the PlayStation 4 before their official release date, thereby eliminating download wait times once a game is available to play. But in order to prevent people from playing games early, pre-installed content is "locked" until release day.
It appears that the issue with Resident Evil Revelations 2, however, is that the map packs have no unlock date, leaving them in limbo.
In late March, when the issue dragged into its fifth week, a Sony representative wrote on the support forums that "our store team is aware of the issue. Thanks for the reports."
Games publication Kotaku, which brought the issue to wider attention with a report on the problems, explains how the DLC bug can also break the full game.
"The really, really scary thing here is that because of the map pack being busted, no one can restore their game licenses on their PSN accounts," one reader told the publication. "It causes an error."
It appears that the issue, of erroneous content blocks to pre-purchased content, has also affected other PlayStation 4 games such as Dying Light.
Both Sony and Capcom said they are still working on a fix.
In addition, Resident Evil HD set a new record for the "biggest-selling day one digital title" on the PlayStation Network, the publisher said. Capcom further explained that this record is for first-day sales volume in North America and Europe. It's unclear what game Resident Evil HD unseated from the top.
Resident Evil HD also becomes Capcom's fastest-selling digital title in the company's history for North America and Europe. What's more, Resident Evil HD's sales helped the entire Resident Evil franchise reach more than 65 million units sold as of March 31.
Originally released in 1996, Resident Evil was created by Shinji Mikami, who has since left Capcom and now works for the Bethesda-owned Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks. Capcom released the first remake of the original Resident Evil game back in 2002, for the GameCube. This latest version is in fact an HD version of that remake, featuring new gameplay elements such as more camera control options along with better visuals.
GameSpot critic Kevin VanOrd wrote in his review: "Later Resident Evil games would add more viruses and unnecessary subplots, but the original allows that menacing mansion to do most of the talking. In this series, less is more."
Electronic Arts has revealed further details of an upcoming patch that will soon be deployed across the PC and console versions of Battlefield Hardline.
Developer Visceral, writing on the Battlefield community blog, has listed what it considers are the top five changes that the update will deliver. Among the list is a fix to its Punkbuster anti-cheat system, which some PC players had discovered was causing a spike in CPU usage.
Though the update was first announced in late March, a release date remains unknown. "We're still working hard every day to improve the gameplay experience to make Battlefield Hardline even more fun," said Visceral's multiplayer game designer Thaddeus Sasser.
Sasser's list, of what he considers to be the best five changes coming with the patch, can be found below.
Punkbuster fixes: We're addressing some of the heavy CPU usage seen by players
Nvidia DirectX driver fixes: We're working with our partners at Nvidia to create new drivers to prevent the most common crash issues
Extended Conquest time: We've extended the length of Conquest matches by increasing the number of tickets on both Large and Small
Fixed TDM spawns: We've adjusted spawn points and the spawn system for better TDM spawning
Multiple weapon balance tweaks: We've addressed some common complaints with the weapon balance, there will be more coming soon
Meanwhile, Visceral is also preparing to introduce a "rent-a-server" program to all console versions, which will allow players to customize their multiplayer matches as well as invite friends to play.
Found below is a detailed list of changes that the patch will deliver:
BUG FIXES:
Fixed a server crash in Rescue
Increased the character limit in the MapList to support up to 150 maps in a rotation
You can now set the time limit to 0 and it disables the time limit instead of instantly ending the round in Blood Money
Various fixes for server crashes with rental servers (multiple issues addressed)
Fix for the timer in Conquest freezing when the user set the time limit higher than 800
Fix for MP squad join issue where after the squad leader gets disconnected, a new leader cannot kick members or disband
Fix for the patch awarded in released game for reaching Rank 10 in the Beta
Fix for Derailed Levolution where players were teleported to origin of Point B and killed in some circumstances
Fix for crash if the UI is disabled in the .cfg file
Fix for Bloodmoney exploit in HH where players could access the money pile through the floor/roof
Fix on XB1 for players using invite/join on friend after Quickmatching
Fix for the Uzi's weapon license cost, setting it to the correct value of $50,000
Fix for X360 players being unable to invite friends while playing Rescue
Fix for a rare crash in the Customize screen
All platforms, miscellaneous low frequency crash fixes
GAMEPLAY CHANGES:
Conquest tickets increased (CQL 999, CQS 600)
Greatly decreased nearby bullet impact flinch; your aimpoint will not shift from rounds striking the environment near you
Fixed some issues with FLIR/IRNV
RPG reduced to 1 ammo from back of cars, with smaller explosion radius overall thus requiring more skill to use effectively
TDM friendzones have been adjusted for better spawning
Rescue / Crosshair exploit where players could skip the round start time by hitting START or ESC has been fixed
Couch health reduced and repair rate decreased to a miniscule amount, making the Couch the one-off it was intended
Player should no longer Quickmatch into servers with unsupported numbers of players
K10: Reduce max damage to 33 and min damage to 8
Saiga and PTR: reduce recoil to bring more in line with Cop faction DMRs
HCAR and HK51: reduce recoil to bring more in line with SCAR-H and SA-58
.410 Jury: Increase damage per pellet to become more effective
FMG-9: increase damage per round to 25 and push out falloff start range to make these weapons more effective
Battlerifle min damage increased to 25 across the board
Bungie has released more details on an upcoming Destiny update which will remove Commendations from the game. As detailed on the Bungie site, update 1.2.0 will remove the Commendations feature.
Players who have a surplus of Commendations will be able to "burn them for reputation" which helps players progress to their next promotion, earning an additional reward package. Commendations were first introduced in Destiny's previous downloadable content pack, and were needed to buy armor and weapons.
The patch notes also revealed that next Iron Banner event will take place on April 28 starting at 10AM Pacific Time. The event will introduce helmets for the first time, allowing players to complete the set. Bungie also announced when they would reveal the Trial of Osiris on a livestream, which will take place on April 29 at 11AM Pacific Time.
Destiny's upcoming House of Wolves expansion is set to launch on all platforms on May 19. We've listed a breakdown of the biggest changes the expansion will introduce, which includes a new social space, tons of new ships, weapons, and armour, and raises the level cap to at least 34.
The upcoming Warcraft movie from Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures has had its theatrical release date pushed back three months later than its previous release date of March 11, 2016. The new release date of June 16, 2016 was announced by the Legendary Pictures official Twitter account.
During a special presentation at Blizzcon, Warcraft director Duncan Jones said the movie will feature a lot of special effects he described as "Avatar and Lord of the Rings at the same time." Jones has said that he hopes the film will be released in 2D and 3D.
Iconic Friday the 13th villian Jason Voorhees will join the Mortal Kombat X roster as a playable fighter on May 5, developer NetherRealm Studios announced on Thursday during a special video broadcast.
According to IGN, NetherRealm only confirmed the release date for the masked murderer, but didn't show any gameplay or reveal any of his killer moves.
Today during a special event in San Francisco, Telltale Games and Marvel Games announced a partnership for a new game due out in 2017.
The event is ongoing; we'll have more details on the new game as they become available.
Telltale has also published a blog post about this announcement, though it doesn't offer much in the way of specifics.
"Announced this evening in San Francisco, we're excited to reveal an all-new partnership with the incredible team at Marvel Entertainment. We'll be teaming up on the development of an upcoming Telltale game series project set to premiere in 2017!"
Marvel is just the latest brand that Telltale has taken on. Others include major media franchises like The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, and Minecraft, among others.
In February, Telltale announced that it was moving beyond games with its new game/TV show hybrid project called "Super Show," though it's unclear if the new Marvel game will operate under this model.
Microsoft on Thursday reported earnings for the quarter ended March 31, announcing that the company shipped (i.e. sold to retailers) 1.6 million Xbox consoles, which includes Xbox 360 and Xbox One, during the period. This compares to a combined shipment tally of 2 million consoles during the same period last year.
Total Xbox shipments have now fallen for a second straight quarter, as Microsoft moved 6.6 million combined Xbox consoles during the all-important holiday season this year, compared to 7.4 million during the same quarter the year prior.
Microsoft's Computer and Gaming Hardware division, which houses the Xbox business, saw its revenue fall $72 million, or 4 percent.
The company attributed the downturn primarily to "lower revenue from Xbox Platform," but offset by higher revenue from Microsoft's Surface line.
Xbox Platform revenue itself decreased $306 million or 24 percent; as mentioned above, total console volume fell by 20 percent. Microsoft also noted that the lower price of the Xbox One in the quarter compared to the same period a year prior further led to the decline.
Cost of revenue for Microsoft's Computer and Gaming decision decreased, led by a $265 million (27 percent) decline in Xbox Platform cost of revenue. This was driven by a lower volume of units shipped and a lower cost per console sold, Microsoft said.
It wasn't all bad news for Microsoft this quarter, however. Microsoft reports that Xbox Live and other store revenue increased by $144 million, or 32 percent, compared to last year. This was driven by an increase in Xbox Live users and revenue per user, the company said.
For Microsoft overall, the company posted $21.7 billion in revenue, up from $20.4 billion during the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, profit for the quarter was $4.9 billion, down from $5.6 billion last year.
Microsoft will hold an earnings call later today to discuss these results and answer analyst questions. Check back later for more.
Following the official announcement of DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront shooter last week, some gamers have begun voicing their concerns that it's nothing more than a "re-skin" of the Swedish developer's most famous franchise, Battlefield. Now, one DICE producer has spoken out to challenge that assertion.
Jesper Nielsen, an assistant producer at the DICE support studio Uprise who uses the handle "TheBikingViking" on Reddit, responded to a fan's concerns by promising that, while Battlefield and Battlefield share some shooter similarities, they will play quite differently.
"I simply don't get the Battlefield re-skin comment," he said. "From what we've shown, in what way does it look like Battlefield? Are you seeing tanks, lots of destruction, etc? This will not feel like or play like Battlefield. That's never been our intention."
"To some extent, all shooters are similar," he added. "Heck, to some extent, all games are similar. To my mom, all games are probably more or less the same, right? So it always depends on the person looking at it. I'm pretty sure a hardcore Counter-Strike player would say the differences between Counter-Strike and Battlefield or Halo or Call of Duty are like day and night. It's always about the lens you use, how far you zoom in. To some people, the details matter less--to others they matter more."
Nielsen has kept busy responding to all manner of comments, some negative, about Battlefront. Another topic he addressed was the fact that the game will not have space battles (though it will have air combat). He pointed out that DICE is "still discussing" space battles from time to time, and explained that the developer understands that this game mode would have "some very exciting prospects."
"So of course that would be fun to explore! When and if that will happen is impossible for me to say, but no, we're not saying that space battles are evil and that we will never, ever touch them with a ten-foot pole," Nielsen said.
In addition, Nielsen provided a brief explanation for why the massive AT-AT vehicles won't be drivable in Battlefront. He said there were many factors that made up this decision, though he wasn't personally involved in making the call.
"There's a lot of things going into a decision like this," he explained. "Again, this wasn't my decision and I wasn't involved in it, so I don't want to make statements, but rest assured that these things are often not obvious yes/no decisions, but have a lot of pros and cons and have included lots of experimentation."
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