If you were ever curious about the realistic modern combat simulator Arma 3, now's the perfect time to give it a shot.
Arma 3 is currently free to download and play via Steam, and it will remain that way until 1PM Pacific Time. If you try it and like it, the game is also being offered at a 50 percent discount, down from $60 to $30.
Arma 3 publisher is discounting some of its other games as part of the weekend sale, including DayZ, Take On Mars, and a $100 Bohemia Interactive Bundle that includes that includes a ton of Arma games and DLC.
It looks like some copies of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt may have leaked prior to the game's official release date, but you probably won't be seeing anyone playing them on Twitch.
"The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is not allowed for broadcasting until May 19, 2015," Twitch's verified support account said on Twitter. "Broadcasting before this date is subject to DMCA guidelines."
The warning comes after a user on Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt RED's official forums posted pictures of the game already on store shelves in United Arab Emirates. On the forums as well, moderates ask that users not post links to leaked footage from the game.
Welcome back to GameSpot Q&A, a weekly section where we ask our staff and readers an interesting discussion question about video games. Look at this as a forum where you and others can discuss and compare your opinions of this beloved hobby of ours. So don't hesitate to let us know what your answer is to this week's question in the comments below!
This week's question is as follows:
What's your favorite beginning of a game?
Half-Life--Danny O'Dwyer
The opening sequence of Half-Life is an absolute masterclass in game design and though you're forced to spend five minutes walking around a tiny rectangular area, it's one of the most engrossing five minutes in video game history. It's not a cut-scene, you're actually moving through the world - understanding it's shapes, rules and mechanisms before you ever get to step into it. It's a safe zone to get used to the games controls while also showing off the vast scale of the facility you spend the next ten hours trying to escape. It sets the slow pace of the early game and expresses the culture of Black Mesa - from bumbling scientists getting locked out of their offices, to updates on the company decathlon and it's health and safety policies. Half-Life's intro manages to dispense an absolute wealth of information on the player - and all they had to do was watch. We've never seen it done as well since.
Final Fantasy VIII--Zorine Te
I'd say Final Fantasy VIII, because it had magic and teenagers fighting to the backdrop of some epic music with a chorus chanting lyrics in Latin. LATIN! The emotional themes touched upon in the opening resonated well with me at the time, being an emo teenager myself.
Shadow of the Colossuss--Kevin VanOrd
Shadow of the Colossus. It has a sad beauty to it that perfectly suits the story's overall arc, and the music that accompanies the start of Wander's journey is absolutely rapturous. In the intro, there's a profile shot of Wander riding Agro in the midst of rainfall, and soon after, they emerge into the light to see a bridge stretching in front of them. The result is melancholy, then uplift, a classic emotional response to excellent cinematography.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater--Daniel Hindes
The Virtuous Mission in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It plays out in true Bond fashion, as a self-contained mission which sets up the plot for the rest of the game. It's quite long, too--over an hour--so it's not entirely clear that this is actually an opening sequence. But once you complete it, and the Bond-inspired title montage and song begin, the tone of the rest of the game is made crystal clear.
Final Fantasy X--Alexa Ray Corriea
The sequence I still randomly think about to this is that first cutscene from Final Fantasy X. It's not even 10 minutes long, and conveys so much by doing so little. The camera pans over Yuna and her Guardians, all sorrowfully hunched over a tiny campfire, while Tidus narrates the most despondent, bleak outlook on his situation. "Listen to my story," immediately made me think that someone wasn't making it out of this game alive, and that made me nervous. This cold open was so tense, so anxiety-inducing that it had me on edge for the first few hours of the game. Sin destroying Zanarkand was shocking (and beautifully orchestrated) in itself, but that wasn't the worst that could happen. When was the REALLY bad stuff going to happen? When was Tidus or someone going to die? That look on Yuna's face as she looks up at him says it all: this is a war that they probably won't win, at least not without some serious sacrifice. And running over all of it is "To Zanarkand," the saddest goddamn piano track Nobuo Uematsu has ever made.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare--Eddie Makuch
2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare remains one of my favorite games of all time; and I adored it right from the opening scene. [Spoilers, of course] After touring a war-torn city, your character is taken into a city square and shot in the head execution style. It was brutal, but it was effective. It set the tone for what was to come--one of the best games I've ever played.
Half-Life 2--Rob Crossley
Half-Life 2. It's just so incredibly bold, even to this day, to open with a close-up of a character's face. It was a technical marvel (lip-syncing you could lip-read; lifelike eye behaviour; brilliant texture detail) but also so beautifully written and acted. You really can sense, through his odd stammers and inexact phrases, that the G-Man is merely pretending to be human. The audio and visual effects are exceptional; you're looking through the eyes of a man lurching back to life from stasis, memories flashing into view, along with these wonderfully strange sounds of electrical charges.
The Last of Us--Chris Watters
Well, since my esteemed colleague Rob Crossley already called Half-Life 2, I'll tell you why I love The Last of Us. Many games are about living in a broken world, but the catastrophe that broke the world is often left in the distant past. TLoU shows you not only the moment that the world breaks, but the moment that Joel, the protagonist, breaks. This trauma feeds everything that comes after and draws you into the world as you find yourself wondering, "When did this town crumble? How did this person break?"
Metal Warriors--Peter Brown
My favorite opening sequence is from a Super Nintendo game called Metal Warriors, from LucasArts and Konami. The intro to this side-scrolling action game features impressive sprite work that captures the essence of sci-fi anime from the 80's and 90's. Mind, the narrative element is paper thin, but I can't help to gawk at the heavily-saturated colors and nuanced animations within. It's a brief but satisfying treat for anyone who likes anime and mecha.
Silent Hill 2--Matt Espineli
Silent Hill 2. That opening close-up shot of James Sunderland's face looking into a bathroom mirror is so eerie and introspective. When you hear James desperately question the impossibility of his deceased wife being still alive in Silent Hill, it instantly pulls you into his plight. The scene's tone is well complimented by Akira Yamaoka's relaxing yet ominous soundtrack that furthers the alluring sense of melancholy that fills in these first moments. What is setup here is so utterly attracting that it's bound to hold you in a trance...until you realize that you absolutely have no idea how to solve the clock puzzle at the Wood Side Apartment complex.
Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games has published a huge update about the state of the space game's upcoming FPS module, now called Star Marine.
Star Marine is the next major update for the game. Much like the dogfighting module Arena Commander was designed to both give backers a taste for what space combat is like and help Cloud Imperium Games test different things for the game's full release, Star Marine will do the same for the first-person portion of the game.
"Where Star Marine differs from Arena Commander is that we're not launching it in its most basic game [sic]," Wing Commander creator and Star Citizen developer Chris Roberts said. "Instead, we're trying for something more. It includes animation fidelity and attention to detail that you wouldn't normally expect in an 'alpha' gameplay module. There's even an entire sci-fi sports game with zero-G movement fully simulated and animated in there! (And don't worry, there's traditional FPS action too… with some new ideas that aim to set Star Citizen apart from the crowd.)"
You can read more about Star Marine's characters, animation, audio, art, and environment in great detail on the game's official site. The update also delves into the finer point of SATA Ball, a zero-G sport mode, and matchmaking, which Cloud Imperium Games said is built from the ground up to better handle higher player loads.
Cloud Imperium Games also had a general update about the game's stability.
"Development for Star Citizen has scaled extremely quickly and there are difficulties with a project of this scale, which averages 1500 check-ins per week, to keeping builds stable for our players, testers as well as internally for our developers," the developer said. "Major changes were made to the development flow of features internally and the process in which they make it out to release builds. Whilst this might sound a bit boring, to maintain the tempo of development Star Citizen demands it's important this stability is built into the development process which is what is being done internally."
The crowdfunding campaign for Star Citizen continues to soar. The "game's total funding now stands at just under $82 million.
"The team in Annecy is delighted to be collaborating with Massive, Red Storm and Reflections on Tom Clancy's The Division," Ubisoft Annecy Studio Manager Rebecka Coutaz said. "We are bringing our previous experience in multiplayer online games and this project is allowing us to build our technical knowledge in other areas and become experts on this incredible brand. The collaboration with the other studios is going very smoothly, and we're working together to ensure we meet and exceed the high expectations players have for this new title."
The Division is being helmed by Massive Entertainment. We already knew it was getting help from developer Red Storm, which previously worked on games like Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and Reflections, which most recently worked on racing game The Crew.
The company didn't say what Ubisoft Annecy specific role will entail, but collaborating with the studio makes sense given The Division's emphasis on online multiplayer.
The Division launches this year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, though a specific release date has not been announced.
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.
Amazon prices are accurate as of publishing, but can fluctuate occasionally throughout the day.
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.
The new Assassin's Creed game set to be revealed next week is entitled Assassin's Creed: Syndicate and stars an assassin named Jacob Frye, according to promotional material leaked to Polygon.
The information obtained by Polygon reinforces this, as it states Syndicate will "transport millions of gamers to an astonishing recreation of London during the Industrial Revolution where they will find themselves immersed in a game world they'll have to see to believe."
Officially, Ubisoft has revealed next to nothing about the game, though it did provide the image above. A teaser website provides some hints that track with a game set during the Industrial Revolution, but specific story details and even the title remain unofficial.
Syndicate's official reveal is set to take place at 9 AM PST on May 12. Stay tuned to GameSpot for the latest.
Developer Tripwire has revealed the first details regarding the next map coming to Killing Floor 2, along with some screenshots of what it looks like before being covered in blood.
In the first "State of the Killing Floor 2 Union Address," as Tripwire is calling it, the developer explains on its forums some steps it's taking to resolve bugs and crashes, including some new systems it's putting in place to better track what's causing these problems.
More excitingly, it also showed off Manor, a new work-in-progress map coming to the game. Set on the Swiss cliffside, Manor is described as a "modern fortress" filled with secrets. You can check out some images in the gallery above.
Tripwire says Killing Floor 2's first content update is "closing in," though exactly what it will contain has not yet been detailed. We do, however, know the developer is working on other new maps, weapons, perks, characters, bosses, and gameplay balancing.
Following a recent beta, Killing Floor 2 is now available in Early Access for $30. It plays reasonably well--Tripwire considers it a "polished beta"--but offers only a limited amount of content (there are only three maps currently). For some thoughts on where it is now, check out GameSpot's Early Access review.
Celebrated mobile game Monument Valley, which was featured on the latest season of House of Cards, is currently available at the lowest price we can ever recall. You can buy the indie game on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon right now for $1. The Windows Phone version, however, still costs $4.
There's no word on how long the game will be available at that low price, so if you're interested, you may want to act quickly.
GameSpot recently spoke with the game's creators about how Monument Valley found itself on House of Cards. Check out our full interview here to get all the details.
Koji Igarashi's long-running involvement with the Castlevania series started with 1997's Symphony of the Night, widely regarded as not only the franchise's best game, but also one of the best games of all time. If you've ever wanted to hear his thoughts while he plays through the game and sips red wine, you're in luck.
As part of Double Fine's Devs Play series where various game developers share their thoughts while playing games they either love and/or worked on, Igarashi--also known as IGA--sat down for some time with SotN. He's joined by Double Fine senior gameplay programmer Anna Kipnis, who describes SotN as her favorite game of all-time. The two take turns playing while Igarashi offers various thoughts over the course of two-plus hours.
Igarashi went on to contribute to more than a dozen other Castlevania games. He's currently working for Japanese company ArtPlay, which he says is trying to "create new experiences for mobile and consumer devices."
Sega today announced vague plans to pull certain mobile games that no longer meet its standards, though it isn't saying which games will be affected.
"At Sega we are committed to making fun, high-quality mobile games and it is with our fans' best playing experience in mind that we announce the removal of a number of games from our back catalog," Sega said in a post on its blog. "It is important for us to ensure that all of our fans, regardless of platform or operating system, have a great playing experience and after evaluating our complete list of titles, we have determined that a number of them no longer meet our standards."
Crazy Taxi: City Rush, one of Sega's mobile games (though not necessarily one set to be removed)
Due to this, the offending games will be pulled in the "next few weeks" from the iOS App Store, Google Play Store, Amazon App Store, and Samsung App Store.
As for what those games will be, Sega isn't saying just yet. Whatever they might be, the company hasn't ruled out the possibility of re-releasing them in the future, perhaps with these standards-breaking issues resolved. "While we have nothing to announce at this time, given the right situation, these titles may return in an updated form," the company said.
Should you already own any of the games that get pulled, you won't be affected. You'll be able to continue playing, and they'll remain in your download history so they can be re-downloaded if you decide to delete them. It doesn't sound as if they'll be updated to support future OS updates, however, as Sega notes you'll be able to re-download and play "until the game becomes incompatible with the latest phone operating systems or hardware."
Sega has a fairly extensive collection of mobile games that consists of a mix of original games (Crazy Taxi: City Rush, Kingdom Conquest II) and ports of multiplatform games (everything from classic Sonic games to Phantasy Star to Sonic All-Stars Racing).
When Oculus VR announced this week that its Oculus Rift headset would launch in early 2016, the company didn't say what it would cost. That's still the case, but now Oculus VR vice president Nate Mitchell has spoken out to describe Oculus Rift as "high-end," noting that it will be priced at more than $200.
The GearVR headset, which Oculus made alongside Samsung, starts at $200 (though it also requires a smartphone). Mitchell confirmed during an interview at Techcrunch Disrupt this week in New York City that Oculus Rift for PC will cost more than this, but laughed at the possibility of it being priced at $1000.
Not only will the Oculus Rift headset will be "more expensive," but the total investment required will be on the high end due to the technology requiring a capable PC gaming rig, Mitchell explained.
"It is going to be a little bit more expensive; mostly around the fact that for that higher-fidelity, higher immersion VR experience you're going to want a gaming rig that you can plug into," he said.
Also in the interview, Mitchell predicted that Oculus Rift component costs will come down over time, which will in turn allow the company to offer the device at a lower cost to consumers.
"VR is so new. Just like the dawn of any new platform or technology," he said. "Right now because there is custom hardware involved, costs are relatively high and scale is relatively low. But I think as we see more and more companies entering this space, what you're going to see is cost go down as scale raises and quality go up across the board."
Overall, Mitchell stressed that Oculus Rift needs to be "affordable" in the long run if it is ever to reach millions--or possibly billions--of people.
"One really important thing for us has always been to make it affordable," he said. "We want to reach a state where we have hundreds of millions if not billions of people in VR. And so nailing that affordability is really at the heart of the product that we're trying to build. We do see VR ultimately as a mass-market product and we want to get there."
The latest version of the Oculus Rift headset for developers costs $350.
How much would you pay for an Oculus Rift headset? Let us know in the comments below.
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