By Anonymous on May 25, 2019 04:53 am Google Stadia has announced via twitter that we will get more information on price, game announcements, and release info this summer
Valve's latest Steam event, Spring Cleaning, has begun and will continue until May 28 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST. The event allows you to play several select games for free, and also complete specific tasks to earn badges.
In Spring Cleaning, you can unlock three different unique profile badges for your Steam account. The first badge is unlocked after you've completed five tasks, the second badge at 10, and the third at 15. There are a total of 17 tasks, so you have a bit of choice when it comes to which ones you complete.
Three daily tasks will require you log in four different times to fully complete, thus making up 12 of the 17 total tasks. The first, Speed Clean, is perhaps the easiest. All you have to do is play the free games offered during Spring Clean. There are some pretty good ones on the list, such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Black Desert Online. The other two require you to have used Steam for buying and playing games before. Spin Cycle tasks you with playing games from your Steam library that Valve will randomly pick out for you. Clear the Backlog, on the other hand, can only be completed by playing a game that you bought but never actually tried.
The remaining five tasks are not daily challenges and can only be completed once. To complete Nostalgia, you'll need to play a game that you've already invested two hours into but "haven't played in a while." To nab Can't Wait, you have to play a game you've purchased in the last six months, regardless if you've played it or not. Trusted Friend wants you to play a game that a Steam friend recommended to you, and Tag Contributor asks you to play a game you've applied a tag to or created a tag for. Last year's Blast From The Past task is back, once again asking you to play the first game you bought on Steam. If you happened to complete this task last year, then this year you must play the second game you bought on Steam.
Tensions between the United States and China have been escalating in recent months due to the countries' ongoing trade war, and the price of game consoles and accessories could be affected as a result. GameDaily reports that the Office of the United States Trade Representative has proposed implementing a 25% tariff on more goods imported from China, including video game consoles, controllers, and even board games like chess and checkers.
Tariffs are effectively taxes paid by domestic companies. To offset these expenses, companies often raise the prices of products affected by tariffs, passing the cost onto consumers who end up paying more for certain items. While game consoles would be swept up in the last wave of tariffs, they are far from the only products that would be affected; thousands of goods manufactured in China would be subject to the tariff.
This certainly isn't the first instance where the Trump administration's hardline stance against China has had negative repercussions for the video game industry. The US already imposes a 10% tariff that affects some Nvidia and AMD graphic cards manufactured in China. If the new tariff is implemented, it could cause console makers to increase the prices of their systems in order to recoup the added expense.
The news comes just as the video game industry is gearing up for a new generation of consoles. Sony has in recent weeks been revealing details about its next-generation PlayStation, while Microsoft is known to be working on a next-gen Xbox, which rumors suggest could be unveiled at E3 2019. New video game consoles already carry a fairly hefty price tag, and that price could only rise if the new tariff is indeed imposed.
The United States Trade Representative will hold public hearings about the proposed tariff on June 17, shortly after E3 2019 ends. The result of those hearings will determine whether or not the tariff is implemented. If the USTR does go through with the tariff, it could go into effect as soon as June 24, according to GameDaily.
Peel back the layers and there's a clear connective tissue tying Layers of Fear 2 and its predecessor together. Both games are centered around an artist gradually losing their grip on reality. While the original game focused on a struggling painter in an opulent Victorian mansion, Layers of Fear 2 shifts art forms to tell the story of a Hollywood actor during the Golden Age of cinema, as he embarks on a new role in a movie being shot aboard a decadent ocean liner. Developer Bloober Team has created something more varied and ambitious than its past work, taking inspiration from iconic film directors like Georges Méliès, Fritz Lang, and Alfred Hitchcock. And while it is a visually striking horror game, Layers of Fear 2 struggles to establish its own identity and explore its themes of anguish and despair in meaningful ways.
The story itself is like a jigsaw puzzle; some of the pieces come together as the narrative unfolds, but others are scattered across the environment as notes, optional puzzles, sound recordings, and paraphernalia that provide new details on your character's troubled past. You might not be able to put the whole picture together before the game's conclusion, but it's a familiar and clichéd tale that isn't too difficult to discern once events begin to wrap up. Childhood trauma is the key motif, built around the relationship you had with your sister, but Layers of Fear 2 regularly uses routine horror tropes as opposed to something more personal. This decision doesn't coalesce with the story to provide a sense that your character's state of mind and past anguish are shaping what's happening. During the first act you catch spectral forms out of the corner of your eye, and this eventually evolves into frequent appearances from crudely assembled mannequins and a formless monster that stalks you through much of the game. These creatures are unnerving, but they're not really specific to the game or this character, failing to capitalize on the strengths of psychological horror and the inherent importance of a character's fears and trepidations in manifesting intimate threats.
Similarly, much of Layers of Fear 2's art design is wrapped around the classic films that inspired it, which doesn't always come together in a consistent way. Saying it takes place aboard a ship is a tad disingenuous, as the setting is constantly shifting and transporting you to a variety of disparate environments. Overt homages to films such as The Wizard of Oz, A Trip to the Moon, and Nosferatu are littered throughout the game. Some of them are deftly woven into the narrative and the game's own art style, but others lack context and fail to rise above being mere visual spectacles, foregoing any semblance of cohesion with the rest of the game. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, particularly if you have an appreciation for this era of cinema, but it also makes Layers of Fear 2 feel like an inconsequential mishmash of film references without any clear significance to the story it's trying to tell.
Much of Layers of Fear 2's art design is wrapped around the classic films that inspired it, which doesn't always come together in a consistent way
Your interactions with the world are very tangible, which helps ground you in the game's setting even when the threads of reality are stretched thinner and thinner. The majority of your time is spent simply exploring each space, gathering knick-knacks to fill in the story, and solving puzzles to progress. The conundrums it places before you are never particularly challenging or memorable, whether it's using a dial with 10 numbers to multiply up to a specific digit or manipulating a roll of film to create a doorway. Some of them are in keeping with the tone of the game and its cinematic feel, but others are so inane they just feel out of place.
What Layers of Fear 2 does do well is build atmosphere and an ever-escalating sense of dread. The score is ominous, utilizing string instruments to send a chill down your spine. But there are also plenty of opportunities for the sound design to breathe on its own, too. The creaking of wooden floorboards, rats scurrying past your feet, and the plip-plop of dripping water create tension despite their mundanity. It also makes you hesitant to simply turn around, as the environment toys with impossible spaces, distorting the world around you when you're not looking. When you walk into a room and find a locked door with nowhere else to go but back the way you came, the suspense hits, tapping into that fear of the unknown--of what's waiting to greet you once you turn your head.
Unfortunately, these anxiety-inducing feelings diminish as the game progresses and it leans too heavily on tried and tested tactics. The aforementioned mannequins are consistently impressive due to their creepy stop-motion-esque movement, but they're featured so heavily that their effect as something to be scared of is severely diminished. This is a problem with Layers of Fear 2 as a whole; the protracted playtime of around 10 hours struggles to maintain its early momentum through the last couple of chapters. The formless creature that oftentimes stalks you adds some urgency to what is otherwise a methodical affair, but the most terrifying thing about the chase sequences is the threat of having to redo them if you fail. Sometimes the monster's arrival comes so suddenly that you're dead before even realizing what's happened, and these cheap insta-kills mean you're frustratingly subjected to the same death animation over and over again.
There are remnants of an excellent horror game submerged just below the surface of Layers of Fear 2. Horror icon Tony Todd--of Candyman fame--lends his bassy growl to the disembodied and omnipresent voice of the film's eccentric director. Each word he bellows is a sonorous treat, no matter how terrifying his performance is. The art design, too, while disjointed, conjures some breathtaking imagery that you can't help but marvel at. It's just a shame that Layers of Fear 2 frequently pays lip service to the films and games that clearly inspired it while struggling to find a voice of its own. The story is too hazy to latch onto until the latter stages, and then nothing about it is particularly engaging, with its central mystery building towards something we've seen numerous times before. It occasionally hints at interesting themes but fails to go anywhere with them, falling back on telegraphed jump scares rather than delving deeper into the psychological horror it can only tease at. For every piece of good work there's an analogous aspect that lacks focus and direction. Layers of Fear 2 feels lost at sea.
By Anonymous on May 25, 2019 01:44 am To celebrate Alien's 40th anniversary we take a look back at Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic and tell the story behind one of cinema's greatest movies.
Google used its Stadia reveal event to explain the potential of its game streaming platform and sell some of its unique benefits, but some very big questions remained. Now the company has teased that we'll get those answers this summer.
In an official tweet, Google promised more details are coming soon. More specifically, it promised a price reveal, game announcements, and launch information. Those are the three biggest lingering questions surrounding the platform, and it sounds as if Google is preparing a second big event to answer them.
More vague is the timing of these reveals. It says this summer, which could mean an announcement during or near E3 2019. We haven't yet seen Google stake out a time for an E3 press conference, though, so the company may be avoiding the spectacle of the annual event and looking to carve out its own time with less competition.
Google Stadia is a streaming-only platform for games, which means it can run through your browser as easily as your TV with a pass-through box. Google plans to sell a dedicated controller optimized for the device, but otherwise says standard controllers will just work. Our hands-on showed impressive potential, but the pricing model is still a total mystery.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is preparing its own Project xCloud streaming solution to compete with Google Stadia. That appears primed for an E3 debut, and Microsoft recently announced that it has moved into a testing phase with select developers. By comparison to Google, Microsoft is stressing the ease of development on familiar hardware, as well as a vast back-catalog of existing Xbox, 360, and Xbox One games.
By Anonymous on May 25, 2019 01:39 am Did the series finale of Game of Thrones prove that Bran is actually evil? GameSpot Universe examines the popular fan theory.
Steam is aiming to help gamers tackle their huge backlog of games with its new spring cleaning event, which went live today and runs until Tuesday, May 28 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. From games you used to love but haven't played in years to those you grabbed because they were free but never even installed, you can earn trophies by playing them this weekend, which unlocks badges for your Steam profile.
But even if you're not interested in revisiting the neglected games in your Steam library, you can still enjoy some titles for free this weekend. A batch of seven games are available to play for free as part of the spring cleaning event, and with a three-day holiday weekend ahead for many in the US, there's plenty of time to check them all out.
The free-to-play offerings include classic zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2, which lets you team up with up to four other players against the hordes of Infected. Other games worth checking out (or revisiting) this weekend include Endless Space 2, a sci-fi 4X game, and Grim Dawn, a gory, action-packed RPG. Play one of Steam's free game offerings every day this weekend, and you'll earn a Speed Clean badge
And while this game isn't technically part of Steam's spring cleaning event (meaning you won't earn any points for playing it), it's worth mentioning Nidhogg 2 is also free to play until Sunday at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET. The fighting game is also 70% off ($4.49) through Monday.
Plus, be sure to check out all the best Memorial Day gaming deals available at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers this weekend, as a ton of games and consoles are currently on sale for cheap.
Along with Forza and Halo, one of Xbox's most highly regarded exclusive franchises is Gears of War. Developed by The Coalition--formerly Black Tusk Studios--Gears 5 aims to up the scale of the series, while also shedding more light on returning Gears of War 4 character Kait Diaz, who is now the protagonist for the next game. Though the series has always stuck close with its cover-to-cover shooting gameplay, Gears 5 looks to be the most significant departure we've seen yet for the franchise, placing more emphasis on exploration and traversal across planet Sera following the events of Gears of War 4.
We haven't heard too many details about the game following its reveal last year, but that hasn't stopped us from coming up with ideas about what we want to see from the game at E3 2019. So here's a quick rundown of everything we know about Gears 5 so far, and what Microsoft should reveal during its E3 press conference.
What We Know So Far
Gears 5 was officially revealed at E3 2018, and it will release simultaneously on Xbox One and PC. Along with that, two spin-off games were also revealed, the strategy-focused Gears Tactics and Gears Pop!--a Funko Pop tie-in game. With Gears 5 being a direct sequel to Gears of War 4--this time dropping the 'of War' from its title--it shifts the focus to returning character Kait Diaz, who is trying to learn more about her connection to the Locust. Though the once fearsome hive from the original trilogy was long thought to have been destroyed, GOW4 revealed that they evolved into a new foe called The Swarm--the primary antagonist in the new trilogy. The last game was very much a fresh start for the series, bringing several storylines to a close in favor of introducing some new characters--including the son of Marcus Fenix, JD. Alongside JD was Kait, who played a rather significant role in the story.
Much like the previous games, Gears 5 will feature a story campaign that is playable solo and in co-op with another player. From the debut trailer, we got to see some of the locales you'll come to visit, including a jungle and frozen lake. The latter section even allowed Kait and her companion to use a snow-skiff to travel across the ice, which seems to suggest that there will be some sizeable levels to explore. Gears 5 will also feature an expanded competitive multiplayer mode, but those details haven't been revealed just yet. Recently, Xbox head of business Phil Spencer stated that he's seen Gears 5 in action and that it's "looking great."
What's Confirmed For E3 2019?
So far, Microsoft has been keeping most details about the game close to the vest. One thing we do know that is Microsoft will be revealing new competitive gameplay on June 14, the Friday of E3 week. This ties into the debut of its new esports series Eleague, which will show off some new footage of Gears 5's multiplayer. Given that this will debut shortly after E3 2019, it's fair to say that we'll be seeing more of Gears 5 at the show. However, what we'll see from the game exactly is still a mystery.
What We Want From E3 2019?
Gears of War 4 was something of a fresh-start for the series, focusing primarily on the next generation of COG soldiers on the planet Sera. During the campaign, we saw several new monsters, weapons, and even a new faction that teased what was to come for the future of the series. It would be great to see Gears 5 further expand on the story. One thing that would be fantastic to show off is the increased scale of the campaign. In the trailer, we saw Kait piloting a skiff and exploring some jungles; during E3 2019, we'd love to see more of the moment-to-moment action, and how it'll weave in the familiar cover-based shooting.
With the announcement of the Eleague, it seems like Gears 5 will lean heavily into competitive multiplayer. Gears of War 4 featured some substantial multiplayer offerings, which carried over several game-types and objectives from previous games. So it would be fantastic to see Gears 5 continuing on the tradition of brutal combat and team-oriented tactics. Along with traditional team deathmatch and CTF, we'd love to see some gameplay of the Horde mode, which has become a staple since GOW2. Also, we definitely need to see footage of someone get killed with a chainsaw-rifle.
Lastly, the thing we want to see most from E3 2019 is for Microsoft to reveal the release date for Gears 5. There have been some teases about it arriving later in 2019, and with a mostly light Fall 2019 schedule at this time--and likely the newest Xbox console coming next year--now seems like the perfect time for the next entry in Microsoft's shooter series to see its next installment.
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