Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference is happening today, and in a few hours we'll know a lot more about Project Scorpio, the upcoming, more powerful Xbox console. There's a very high probability that Microsoft will announce the system's price, and that means that preorders will also likely go live today.
Whenever a new console is announced, it's always a frantic race to reserve units. Retailers will often only have a limited number of release-date systems that they open up to preorders, so if you want to get your hands on one as soon as possible, it's worth keeping an eye on where you can preorder a Scorpio.
Some stores have already put Scorpio pages live; we have collected the ones we know about so far.
These are subject to change, so we'll update this article with any new preorder pages.
We already know quite a bit about Scorpio, including its technical specifications and what the development kit looks like. In addition, its price apparently leaked today. Check out all of our stories about Scorpio below to read more about the console.
We'll be liveblogging, livestreaming, and reporting on all the news coming out of the Microsoft press conference, so keep an eye on GameSpot starting at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 10 PM BST today. And come back all of this week for more news, impressions, and videos from E3 2017.
A new video released by LCA Studios hints at three new rides coming to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan. The entire video is in Japanese, but the visual plans are a Nintendo lover's dream.
The first ride detailed is Drift Racer, an on-rails cart ride that appears to have a sort of pivoting bar at the front of the cart to simulate the same drifting feeling in the Mario Kart series. This arm will turn the body of the cart independently from the front axle, making the illusion come to life.
The second, simply called "Simulator Ride," looks to be similar to Disney's Soarin'. Riders will be seated in what look to be giant robots stacked on top of one another. It's unclear what franchise this ride will be themed off of, but it seems that it will raise and lower riders through some sort of visual adventure.
The third and final ride, Boom Coaster, is based off the Donkey Kong universe. It appears to have two different tracks, one upper track where riders will sit and encounter different obstacles like rocks and clouds, and a lower track that will operate the ride itself, lifting, lowering, and tilting riders through the obstacles.
A concept video for the forthcoming theme park was released earlier this week. Super Nintendo World will open in Osaka, Japan in 2020; Universal Studios Orlando and Hollywood will also see Super Nintendo Land additions.
There are still several hours to go until Microsoft's big press conference at E3, but we now know Xbox Scorpio's price, according to a tweet from Geoff Keighley, a long time gaming commentator at E3.
After hinting that he was "pretty confident" he knew the price and specs of Scorpio, Keighley tweeted just a short time ago that he has confirmed the price at $499.
I can now say with confidence Project Scorpio is $499. Unless something changes today, that is what will be announced.
Keighley had previously tweeted about some of the specs of Scorpio, indicating the system could come with 6 teraflops of processing power, 12 gigabytes of RAM, and Bluray capabilities.
Pretty confident Xbox Scorpio will be announced for $499 today. 6tflops, 12 gig ram, UHD BluRay. https://t.co/39Xa6ozx7q
Microsoft's press conference starts at 2 PM PT. We'll be streaming it live right here at GameSpot, and will bring you all the breaking news as soon as it's announced.
The previously announced PS4 and Xbox One price cuts are now in effect. For at least the next week, the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S models start at $250.
For PS4, Sony is offering the gold-color PS4 Slim and a matching controller for $50 off the standard price of a PS4 Slim. The PS4 price cut has been described as temporary, but there is no word on how long the Xbox One offer will last.
Read GameSpot's previous coverage of the price cuts to learn more:
The price cuts go into effect just as E3 2017 is getting started. Microsoft's briefing is slated for today, June 11, at 2 PM PT, while Sony's is scheduled for June 12 at 6 PM PT. On the hardware side, we are expecting Microsoft to divulge new details on Project Scorpio, while there are rumors of a more powerful PlayStation console as well.
Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest on everything related to E3 2017.
The details of Sony's E3 2017 press conference has been announced, and you can watch the event right here through the video embed above. This year's briefing is scheduled to take place on Monday night, as usual. You can consult our full list for the entire E3 press conference schedule, but here are the exact times for when Sony's conference begins:
Sony PlayStation E3 2017 Press Conference Start Time
June 12 at 6 PM PT
June 12 at 9 PM ET
June 13 at 2 AM GMT
June 13 at 11 AM AEST
Sony has not yet provided much insight into what to expect from the company's showing at E3 this year. New PlayStation 4 games are obvious, and we may also see Sony spend some time talking about PlayStation VR and what's next for the virtual reality platform after a relatively quiet few months. In terms of specific games, Insomniac's Spider-Man, Days Gone, and the new God of War all seem like possibilities.
For more on what to potentially expect, check out our E3 2017 rumor roundup. You can follow along with along with all of our coverage at GameSpot's E3 hub.
Life is Strange developer Dontnod is finally showing off their latest title Vampyr, a seedy action-RPG. You'll play as Dr. Jonathan Reid, a man who's two sides of the same coin: a doctor and vampire. You're a famous surgeon, known for your dedication to saving lives during the Spanish Flu epidemic, that has returned home from the Great War and cursed with vampirism.
On top of struggling to find your humanity, you'll have to be careful about who you choose to condemn, and who you choose to save, in order to develop your powers. You'll need to get stronger to fend off vampire hunters, skal, and other monsters along the dark and gritty streets of 1918 London. As you dive into the lives of the people around you, you'll find that everyone is connected--be prepared to face the consequences and change the fate of London for better or for worse.
EA kicked off its not-quite-at-E3 festivities on Saturday with EA Play. Now, Square Enix seems to be joining the party of "companies that don't need your big E3 press conference to show off amazing trailers." The latest gameplay trailer for Kingdom Hearts III is now live, and you can check it out above.
While the initial trailer, mostly in Japanese, was released yesterday, Sony has now released a version with English subtitles. And combat is, of course, a universal language that we can all appreciate. In addition to showing off some of the game's villains, levels we haven't seen before, and new bits of gameplay, the trailer also revealed when we'd get the next bit of information.
At the very end of the trailer, text pops up on screen saying: "Join us next month at D23 Expo 2017 as we personally present a NEW WORLD and NEW TRAILER! July 15, 2017." D23 is a Disney-focused event held in Anaheim, California that also tends to include news for Disney's expanding library of content, including Marvel and Star Wars.
But the most interesting part of this trailer is that it's not part of Sony or Microsoft's press conferences. Instead, Square Enix chose to run the spot during a Kingdom Hearts concert that took place on Saturday night. Since the next new bit of information isn't coming until D23, that means we likely won't see any more of the game at E3.
Square Enix has several other big franchises in the works, the publisher/developer decided not to host its own press conference at E3 this year. While this doesn't rule out the possibility of getting info about Square's other franchises during the show, it sets an interesting precedent for the reveal of AAA game trailers going forward. Regardless, this still adds to the year's most exciting week in gaming news.
Here, we're gathering together a list of all the games at E3 confirmed to get Scorpio support; we will continue to update this story as more titles are revealed. For more, you can also check out our list of all the games confirmed for E3 2017.
E3 is nearly upon us. To help you prepare, we've compiled lists of all the games that you can expect to see at this year's show. This list consists of every PC title confirmed to date for the event.
E3 2017 runs June 13-15, with briefings from Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft planned for the days before the show kicks off. While we'll undoubtedly see PC games show up at many of these, the PC Gaming Show returns again this year with a broadcast on Monday, June 12, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST.
Ahead of E3, Ubisoft confirmed a number of games it has coming by the end of March 2018: Far Cry 5, a new Assassin's Creed, and The Crew 2; all of those seem likely for the show alongside South Park: The Fracture But Whole. Ubisoft also released a teaser video for its E3 lineup where it revealed it will unveil a new IP at the show, among other things. Unlike recent years, the show will not be hosted by actress Aisha Tyler.
E3 is effectively underway. The video game industry's major event takes place in Los Angeles from June 13-15, but things start in the days prior with a variety of press conferences from console manufacturers and publishers. To help you prepare, we've rounded up the times and dates for all of the big press conferences in the week ahead.
For the first time ever, E3 is open to the public this year, but the show otherwise seems to be largely the same as in the recent past. One notable difference is that things are beginning earlier than usual--EA has already held its EA Play press conference, and Microsoft's will be taking place a day earlier than usual (and it'll be longer than in the past). You can see the full schedule below, and hit the links to find out more details on what to expect and where you can watch.
Asked if Payback developer Ghost Games would support Scorpio and PS4 Pro, Nilsson said, "Yes, we are." He added: "Both of those platforms will be supported."
Microsoft's Scorpio console is expected to be formally announced tomorrow, June 11, during the company's E3 briefing. It is more powerful than Sony's PS4 Pro, which launched last year. We'll have many more details on Scorpio tomorrow, so keep checking back for the latest.
As for a possible Switch version of Payback, don't get your hopes up. Although Nilsson is personally a big fan of the hybrid console, it sounds like Payback won't be headed to it.
While some version of Payback might be possible on Switch, which is underpowered compared to its other console platforms, Xbox One and PS4, Payback for Switch isn't in the works now.
"Would that be a platform that Need for Speed: Payback could run on? I don't see why [not], but it's not something we're looking to at this very moment," he explained.
Payback launches on November 10 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more from our conversation with Nisson. And for more on EA's E3 2017 announcements, here are roundups of all the big news and trailers.
Unlike the 2015 reboot, this year's Star Wars: Battlefront II has a single-player campaign. It puts players into the role of Iden Versio, a female soldier fighting for the Imperial side after the events of Return of the Jedi. After EA's E3 event today, I watched a demo of an early portion of the campaign game and then got to play myself. While the production values in the sequence I tried are outstanding (even in its pre-alpha state), the gameplay did not do a whole lot for me.
The mission I played, "Dauntless," picks up with Iden speaking with her father, an admiral in the Imperial army, about a mission, alongside the Emperor. He is dead, but he's still giving commands by way of a hologram projected onto someone else's body. When she asks who she's attacking and why, she gets yelled at and is told that information is not for her to know. This sequence may allude to Iden's inquisitive nature and it feels like she may not always want to listen to authority, though how this plays out remains to be seen. It could also be that the developer is trying to make you feel less strange about playing as a solider in the Imperial army.
After this story setup, you jump into a TIE fighter and gun down Rebel pilots attacking a ship you're escorting. One big note about Battlefront II's flying sequence is that you can now control your ship with both the right stick and the left stick. The left stick causes a ship to roll in any direction, while the right stick moves left, right, up, and down. This can be disorienting at first, and I crashed twice at the start before getting the hang of it. This feature is also present in multiplayer, and we can only imagine the moves that skilled pilots will be able to pull off.
Eventually in the demo, you enter a massive Rebel ship and do more of the same: lay waste to every soldier standing in your way. You can chuck grenades to clear out enemies en masse or use Iden's droid to electro-kill soldiers. The droid is also capable of breaking through doors to help Iden advance.
Also new for Battlefront II is an updated active-reload feature. After your weapon overheats, a sequence pops up that tasks you to tap the reload button in one of two zones. The yellow zone is larger and easier, reloading your weapon as it should. But if you manage to hit reload in a smaller green zone, you'll get back into the action faster and also earn the bonus of faster shooting.
After blasting through hallways of Rebel soldiers with ease (the AI in this portion of the game does not seem all that smart), you get to a hangar with three ion cannons that you must destroy. Upon entering this room, you are overwhelmingly outnumbered. In the developer playthrough, Iden used stealth to take down enemies who never detected her presence, sneaking up on them and performing takedowns when button prompts popped up. I, however, decided to go guns-blazing, and that strategy worked as well. Writer Mitch Dyer told us that Battlefront II won't force players down one path, and that you can re-kit before missions to suit your style.
After successfully destroying the ion cannons, something terrible happens and Iden is sucked into space. The screen cuts to black and there is no telling what comes next.
Overall, the Battlefront II campaign left something to be desired. The production values in the cutscenes specifically are astounding, but there wasn't anything in the setup or execution of the gameplay sequences that felt all that novel or exciting. Of course, it was only a 15-demo of a pre-alpha version of a game that doesn't come out until November. And it's just one part of the equation, as Battlefront II's multiplayer looks pretty incredible based on what we've seen so far.
E3 is officially underway, as Electronic Arts today hosted its EA Play press conference. Much of the news concerned previously announced games, such as Star Wars: Battlefront II, Need for Speed: Payback, and FIFA 18. It also had some surprises in store--even if they were leaked shortly beforehand--like BioWare's new IP, which is called Anthem, and an exciting-looking co-op action game named A Way Out.
Electronic Arts today provided our first good look at Need for Speed: Payback, which was recently announced for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. During its EA Play press conference, the company showcased a gameplay demo that showed the type of action players can expect. In short, you're in for a treat if you're a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise or driving with a real purpose, rather than standard racing.
The demo consisted of a section we saw in the announcement trailer, where the player has to chase down a tractor trailer. A player in a Mustang pursues the truck, which is accompanied by "house enforcers"--a group of vehicles that need to be taken out in order to access the truck itself.
These enforcers are dealt with by slamming into them, which reduces what amounts to a health bar and causes them to flip into the air for a spectacular--if somewhat drawn-out--slow-motion sequence showing their fiery crash. This is reminiscent of the Burnout series, which makes sense given Ghost Games is comprised of many members of ex-Burnout developer Criterion.
With the enforcers dealt with, you're able to slam into the truck itself, triggering one of a number of cutscenes during this entire sequence. When it's complete, there's destruction littered all over the road and you're able to get close enough to the truck for your passenger (picked up at the gas station) to jump on the semi's trailer and get inside. Moments later, a Koenigsegg comes flying out of the back and control shifts to that character as she makes her escape from an arriving police force, which includes a helicopter.
EA had previously said that you would control three different characters, though it wasn't apparent that this would happen so seamlessly during the course of a single mission. The trailer also drives home what EA meant when it described this as an action-driving game, as the heist-style sequence feels like something straight out of a Fast and Furious movie.
A number of high-profile games are offering their DLC maps and modes for free, including Halo 5 and Titanfall 2, and the Battlefront sequel joins them for some of the same reasons. Fegraeus told us that giving away DLC maps ensures that everyone can play together. In 2015's Battlefront, EA added numerous maps as paid DLC, and as time rolled out, the community became more and more splintered, leading to player figures falling.
"I think the main thing here is to keep the community together," Fegraeus said about Battlefront II's free DLC model. "In terms of the brand, to me, when it comes to Star Wars, that's a family feeling. If you're a fan, you're a part of the family. And splitting that up and saying, 'If you have this content you can play here, but if you have this content you can play here.' And if you don't share, you will be split up. What we wanted to do was have a journey that starts at the launch of the game. So when the game launches, this journey starts with different seasons [of DLC]."
Battlefront II's first season of themed DLC launches in December, themed around this year's new Star Wars film, The Last Jedi.
The overarching goal for Battlefront II's free DLC campaign is to allow players to stay together, whether or not they've spent any (extra) money on the game.
"No one will ever be locked away by some purchase that they made," Fegraeus said.
Although Battlefront II won't have a DLC pass, EA will still make more money from the game beyond game sales alone. The game will offer microtransactions for people who want to speed up their progress, Fegraeus confirmed.
"When you want to progress and get stuff, you can either play the game and when you play you earn the in-game currency, and with that you can spend towards whatever you want," he told us. "If you want to accelerate that, if you can't play for a week, you can purchase that. The important thing is everything can be earned [through gameplay]. If you're someone who spends time on the game, we love you, do your thing, do what you want to do. If you don't have the time, you can spend money and we love you as well. It's your choice."
Fegraeus also assured fans that Battlefront II won't allow players to pay to win.
"No, it's not about buying the winning item," he said. "That's not how it works. No one can say, 'I'm going to spend my zillion dollars and then I'm going to dominate.' That's not how it works."
Battlefront II launches in November for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A lot of new multiplayer footage was released today during EA's E3 briefing--watch it here.
The couple met through streaming and playing Battlefield. You can watch the proposal in action above.
EA showed off upcoming Battlefield 1 content during their press conference, including two French-themed maps and details on the In the Name of the Tsar expansion coming in September.
After some time away, the NBA Live series is set to make its return in 2017 with NBA Live 18. EA revealed the new basketball game today during its EA Play press conference. While the company is looking to nail the fundamentals of basketball, it's also putting an emphasis on personalization and customization.
With NBA Live 18, EA says it hopes to bring something new to the genre--an absolute necessity, given the dominant position that the NBA 2K series currently occupies. A key feature is the somewhat RPG-esque mode called The One, where you play as your own custom character that you're free to customize how you like. As you improve, you're able to allot points to mold the character into the type of player you want, whether that's a sharpshooter or a low-post bruiser.
In addition to standard games between NBA teams, Live 18 brings back a street ball mode. You'll be able to team up with friends to participate in 5-on-5 street matches on real-life courts like those found at Venice Beach and Rucker Park.
A demo of the game will arrive at some point in August. It'll allow you to check out The One mode in single-player and co-op, and any progress you make will carry over to the full game.
Playing off the popularity of Nintendo's NES Classic micro console, AtGames' has two new retro micro consoles to satisfy your nostalgic heart. Both the Atari Flashback 8 Gold and Sega Genesis Flashback are set to launch in September of this year.
The Atari Flashback 8 Gold comes with a massive 120 built-in games, two wireless controllers inspired by the Artari 2600, and two ports for wired joysticks and paddles. It'll also support 720p HDMI output, scan line filtering, and rewind, fast-forward, and save functions for every game.
The Sega Genesis Flashback sports the same 720p HMDI output, scan line filtering, and game functions as the Atari Flashback 8 Gold micro console. This tiny beauty comes pre-loaded with 85 games, two wireless controllers, and cartridge support. To ice the cake, it will be able to support just about every Sega Genesis and Mega Drive game.
In addition, several other iterations of AtGames Atari and Sega Genesis micro consoles will be hitting stores at the same time. Keep an eye out for the Atari Flashback Classic Game Console with 105 games and wired controllers and the Atari Flashback Portable Game Player with 70 games for on-the-go play. The Sega Genesis Classic Game Console sports 81 games and wired controllers, and the Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player has 85 of your 16-bit favorites in handheld form.
Official prices and release dates have yet to be announced, but if it's anything like the NES Classic craze last year, they'll be tough to get your grubby gamer paws on. Better start praying to the 16-bit gods now.
As promised, EA's EA Play press conference was capped off with a live demonstration of Star Wars Battlefront II's multiplayer mode. The action took place on the Assault on Theed map, which is set on Naboo--one of the new settings for the game, now that it's opened up to all eras of Star Wars.
This video feature a three-stage mode, the first part of which involves droids escorting a tank up to a palace. If they're able to get it there, they're able to move inside and ultimately attempt to gain control of the throne room from the clone army.
Over the course of the video, you'll get to see a number of new vehicles and weapons, as well as one of the big new heroes, Darth Maul. Also on display is the new points system, which allows you to spawn in as heroes or other non-standard units--this replaces the power-up-based system from the first game.
We've known since February that FIFA 18 is coming to Nintendo Switch, but we haven't had a good look at all that it entails until today. In terms of a feature list, it's mostly the same as on other consoles.
There are several key differences between Switch FIFA 18 and Xbox One, PS4, and PC FIFA 18. The biggest is that it won't be running on EA's Frostbite engine, and it also won't include The Journey 2 campaign. Outside of that, FIFA 18 on Switch will have every other feature the standard game includes: Ultimate Team, kick-off mode, local seasons, career, online seasons, tournament, women's international cup, and skill games.
Graphics wise, EA says that the game will run in 1080p on Switch when docked, and in 720p when in handheld mode. Players are supposedly more realistic than ever before because of the game's rendering, but we'll let you do the judging based on the screenshot below. You can get an even closer look in this Japanese commercial.
FIFA 18 on Switch is being designed specifically for the system. You'll be able to play in docked, handheld, and tabletop modes with both Joys-Cons, a single Joy-Con, or Pro controller.
FIFA 18's Switch port will launch alongside the worldwide release of the game on all systems on Sept. 29, 2017. For everything FIFA 18, make sure to follow all of our E3 coverage here.
BioWare's new IP was revealed today during EA's E3 2017 press conference, and the game is called Anthem. The first trailer revealed that it's a sci-fi title involving some kind of Game of Thrones-esque wall that keeps people safe from an evil that lies beyond. "Out there, you either live with the choices you make, or die trying to change them," a mysterious narrator says.
The first gameplay reveal for Anthem will come during Microsoft's Xbox E3 press conference on Sunday, June 11. Anthem's platforms have not been announced, but it is presumably in the works for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Xbox One seems like a particularly safe assumption, given the game's showing at Microsoft's briefing. You can check out today's teaser above.
Prior to its E3 reveal today, Anthem had only been described as an action IP "built around a live service" that features a "disruptive new social design." An effort to bulk up that part of the game was cited for a delay that pushed the game back to the current fiscal year, which runs through March 2018. The game is in development at BioWare Edmonton, the studio best known for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
The non-Switch version of FIFA 18 was among the sports games showcased today during EA's pre-E3 EA Play event. One of the focuses was on a returning fan-favorite mode from last year, The Journey, and we learned about the game's release date and more.
FIFA 17 (along with NBA 2K16) is credited for the recent wave of story modes in sports games. The Journey proved to be a success, as FIFA 18 will also feature a narrative-driven single-player campaign. Moreover, it continues the journey of the fictional player from the last year's game, Alex Hunter, a Premier League footballer who looks to emerge from the shadow of his legendary, albeit equally fictional grandfather, Jim Hunter.
The video montage shown at EA Play paints a picture of the growing reputation of Alex, showing a mix of fans and cynics among his peers. There are also hints that Alex is seriously considering leaving the Premier League for Major League Soccer and the LA Galaxy.
Other notable FIFA 2018 reveals include the level of Cristiano Ronaldo's involvement, who's doing more than simply serving as the cover athlete. His specific form and play style looks to be authentically captured thanks to the time he's spent motion-capturing his movements specifically for FIFA 18. This year's game also marks the second year that the series will run on the Frostbite engine.
FIFA 18 launches on September 26 in the US for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, while those in other countries will see it released on September 29. An early-access period begins three days early.
Star Wars Battlefront II, a new Bioware IP, a new game from the Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons dev -- EA had a lot of exciting new videos and reveals. Here's a rundown of every major trailer from the one hour show.
And for even more E3 coverage, check out our roundup of all the the news from the EA presentation. If you want to relive the conference in full, we have an EA Press Conference liveblog, and you can watch a video of the complete presentation here.
BioWare's Project Dylan has been revealed as Anthem in a mysterious teaser.
Star Wars Battlefront II
Official Gameplay Trailer -- Fight in legendary battles across all three eras in Star Wars Battlefront II.
A Way Out
Reveal Trailer -- Take a look at the official trailer for Battlefield 1 - In the Name of the Tsar.
Need for Speed: Payback
Official Reveal Trailer -- How do you get behind the wheel of a car that's being transported through the desert? Watch the EA Play gameplay trailer and find out how the crew gets things done.
Battlefield 1
In the Name of the Tsar Expansion Announcement -- In The Name Of The Tsar brings new weapons, vehicles, and so much more to the Russian front.
In the Name of the Tsar Official Trailer -- Take a look at the official trailer for Battlefield 1 - In the Name of the Tsar.
FIFA 18
Gameplay Trailer -- FIFA 18's gameplay debut features the elite Real Madrid forward Christiano Ronaldo.
The Journey Trailer -- After a breakthrough first season in the Premier League, the whole world is talking about Alex Hunter. Now he's back for a second season, and rumour has it, he's on the move.
NBA Live 18
Stage Demo -- Get your first look at LeBron James in NBA Live 18's E3 stage demo.
The One: Reveal Trailer -- An all-new and dynamic career journey. Create your individual player identity and become a legend in The League and The Streets.
Madden 18
Official Longshot Trailer -- Take a look at the official E3 trailer for Madden NFL 18.
Today during EA's E3 briefing, CEO Andrew Wilson appeared on stage to announce that the company is providing free access to the EA Access and Origin Access Vaults for a week. That means you can play select games in their entirety without paying a penny.
For those on Xbox One, you'll need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to participate in this free event. EA Access and Origin Access let subscribers play a growing library of free games, including Madden 17, FIFA 17, Skate 3, Battlefield 3, and Titanfall, among others.
Over the past few seasons, FIFA--like the football world itself--has become increasingly obsessed with Sky Sports: with snazzy transitions, over-dramatised transfer deadline day coverage, incessant live updates, and below-average punditry. FIFA looks dazzling, but some would say EA has neglected the on-pitch action in favor of replicating the view from the gantry. The last two years have seen PES eclipse EA's colossus once the ball's at your feet. PES's offensive and defensive play might not look as impressive as FIFA's, but it is closer to the dreams you tried (and failed) to act out as a kid in the park. It's smoother, quicker, and far less frustrating.
For its part, EA seems conscious of FIFA 17's problems. At a recent preview event, FIFA 18's senior gameplay producer, Sam Rivera, explained how FIFA 18 would be "more responsive," how fluidity was one of the main gameplay pillars the team wanted to improve on this year, and how they didn't want you to feel like you were constantly wrestling with your controller.
"The visuals affect a lot, the gameplay affects a lot, but the other thing that [the audience] really want is that they can perform what they have in mind easily without having to be fighting with the controllers or remembering complicated mechanics," Rivera told me. "I just want to shoot, shoot now, I don't want to shoot in two seconds, I want to shoot now, I don't want you to take a step and then shoot, I want to shoot now. That control is what we know they want and this is exactly our focus in this FIFA: To make sure that it's responsive, that it's fluid, and that the user is in control of the situation."
Unfortunately, in my two hours with the game, FIFA 18 didn't seem to align with these promises. Passing was still as limp as it has been for the past two years (after all, driven passes were only a welcome addition to FIFA 16 because standard passes have felt anaemic since the same year), and dribbling remains as clunky as before. More fluid movement helps FIFA appear smoother than ever--players move more realistically and the transitions between animations are less jarring--but painful input lag and the world's heaviest touches mean it still takes far too long for your intentions to be translated to the pitch. Once again, then, the enhancements help how FIFA looks, but not how it plays.
Crossing has been improved, at least: previously, crosses would loop high into the air and take far too long to reach the danger area, by which time both the attacker and defender would have positioned themselves directly underneath the ball so who got their head to it first would be determined simply by the players' respective heights. Now, standard crosses whip with a finesse and pace that is both closer to real life action and far more satisfying to strike. The improvements mean old-style low, driven balls in are cut, with high crosses (similar to FIFA 17's loopy attempts) and ground crosses the only remaining modifiers. My two hour demo suggested crossing--along with long shots--might have swung back to being a touch overpowered, but with over three months to go until launch, these balancing issues will hopefully be ironed out.
I want to shoot now, I don't want you to take a step and then shoot, I want to shoot now.
FIFA 18's senior gameplay producer, Sam Rivera
Other than that, however, I'm struggling to recall a meaningful way in which FIFA 18 evolved on its predecessor. Lighting and the appearance of crowds have been improved, but these have no effect on the game you're playing and only further reinforce the accusation that EA has become increasingly obsessed with style over substance. That EA is striving for a realistic appearance is no secret; indeed, Rivera himself told me that the team's primary ambition was to make a FIFA match indistinguishable from what you'd see on TV.
"It's a very fine line … [but] the main goal is that if one day you put a reel of a football match on the TV here and then you put FIFA here, that it looks the same," he said. "However, it cannot play the same because one is 90 minutes, one is 12 minutes; one is meant to be fun and the other one is meant to be competitive and professional.
"So there's a fine balance in there, and yes we want the game to be fun as well, so in that process we have to take certain decisions. For example, if our defensive AI--some people complain about it and I understand why--but if we made AI that was perfect, then you would never be able to score goals. They are always tracking you down, they are always in front, they are so responsive, so reactive, so the game would so close and [there would be] no goals, no fun. So we need to find a way to simulate the mistakes that people make in real life to put them in the game as well. Maybe they need to be a little more exaggerated to make sure in six minutes you see them, but yeah ... it's a balance and our goal is to have an authenticity while keeping a fun game."
Trouble is, for too long now, EA has prioritized authenticity over immediate input response and satisfying moment-to-moment gameplay--two key areas its competitor shines. While PES is willing to sacrifice immaculate presentation in service of this, FIFA is not. I'd hoped FIFA 18 would see EA reign in its preoccupation with video-realism and focus on making the game feel smoother. Indeed, Rivera seemed acutely aware of FIFA's flaws and EA is making all the right noises when it comes to improving fluidity. But, so far, that has been translated only in appearance, and not in gameplay. It seems making the game beautiful isn't enough to capture the magic of The Beautiful Game.
Today during EA's E3 2017 briefing, developer DICE announced more details about Star Wars: Battlefront II's "live service" model. As earlier news indicated, there will not be a season pass, but instead, DICE will offer seasons of themed content, which the studio won't charge for.
The first of the batches of content will be themed around the upcoming movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It will include the characters Finn and Captain Phasma, and it launches in December. The planet Crait, seen in the movie's teaser trailer, will be included in the content release.
Battlefront II's free DLC will include maps, characters, vehicles, modes, weapons, star cards, "and more." Additionally, Battlefront II will host "live events and challenges," each with their own rewards.
"With Star Wars Battlefront II, we've really taken feedback from our players to heart, and you see that in the base game, which has so much more content than the first game--a new authentic single-player campaign, epic multiplayer, starfighter battles, and solo or co-op PvE on console – a huge game across all eras of the Star Wars films," Battlefront II executive producer Matt Webster said in a statement. "But just as important is how we support the game after launch. Our live service is built around the philosophy of keeping our fans playing together with seasons that will add meaningful content and in-game events on a regular basis."
Also during the briefing, DICE released an impressive new multiplayer trailer that showed an epic battle on Theed, the capital city of Naboo. We also saw a frustratingly brief clip of Battlefront II's new single-player campaign, which follows a soldier fighting for the Empire.
As far as Star Wars announcements, EA only discussed Battlefront II during its E3 2017 briefing today. There were no updates on the new Star Wars games in development at Dead Space studio Visceral or Titanfall developer Respawn.
We'll report back with more details on Star Wars: Battlefront II, its new single-player mode, and hands-on impressions in the days ahead.
E3 2017 doesn't "officially" start until Tuesday, but the festivities begin today with EA's press briefing at 12 PM PT. You can watch the stream live here on GameSpot, but if for whatever reason, you can't watch the show, you can also follow along with us in our liveblog below.
During EA's E3 2017 press conference, we saw the debut of a new game from Hazelight, the studio from the creators of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Teased back at The Game Awards in 2014, A Way Out is a co-op-only action/adventure game focusing on the exploits of two escaped cons who have to work in tandem to evade the police and other criminals.
The developers of A Way Out have kept the focus on the parallel gameplay mechanics from Brothers, but they've upped the ante for this one--including a grittier, more realistic story as well as 3D environments and characters. Set in what looks like the '70s, A Way Out focuses on the story of two convicts who are on the run after a prison escape. After a getaway chase, the story transitions to follow these two characters as they come to grips with their past, all while trying to stay one step ahead of the law.
Unlike Brothers, A Way Out is only playable in co-op with another player. Either through local splitscreen or online co-op, players will always need another person to experience the game with. One player might have to drive a getaway vehicle while another stays in the back to shoot at oncoming vehicles. It's a pretty clever take on the style of gameplay that was present in Brothers, controlling two unique characters with different perspectives, but considerably expanded .
Here are some other things we learned about A Way Out during the livestream:
One player can be controlled while the other is seeing a cutscene
There are different ways to approach a scenario--either character can potentially be the one to deal with a situation.
Hazelight is the studio of film director Josef Fares, who directed Brothers.
"They are a small and very talented group with a vision and passion for a game that is truly unique in the video game industry," EA executive Patrick Soderlund said in a statement. "A Way Out is going to surprise people with its innovative co-op gameplay and the way it tells an emotional story solely through these two characters."
Fares himself added: "The idea for A Way Out came when me and a friend tried to find a story driven co-op game that wasn't a drop-in/drop-out experience. We simply could not find a game like that. We're also bringing an innovative look into how to tell the story of both these characters. Players will be immersed in the game with the way we change the display from a full screen experience seamlessly to different cinematic split-screen formats. By focusing on the two characters in different ways, it opens up a huge variety of gameplay, as we really wanted to avoid repetitions so they will get to know the characters through very different situations."
Slated to arrive in early 2018 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC, A Way Out looks to be an exciting and original debut from Hazelight.
We'll report back with more details on A Way Out in the days ahead.
While on stage at EA's E3 2017 press conference, the developers behind Battlefield 1 unveiled their plans for new content that begins this month. Leading up to the launch of the In The Name of The Tsar expansion this September, EA and DICE aren't leaving the World War I shooter in the wings, and they're actively preparing the game for regular updates for Battlefield Premium members.
A total of eight new maps will release over the next few months, including six tied to the Tsar expansion. Two French-themed nighttime maps will debut beginning this month; Nivelle Nights launches in June and will be followed by Prise de Tahure in July.
The Russian-themed expansion In The Name of the Tsar will follow in September; you can watch a trailer for it above. While there is no single-player component, new maps, weapons, vehicles, and more will be added. Moreover, the Tsar expansion will also mark the debut of female soldiers for players, which is a first for the series' multiplayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment