Ahead of its launch next week, Telltale Games has confirmed that the third season of its acclaimed Walking Dead series, A New Frontier, won’t come to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In a blog post (via Polygon), Telltale specified that this pertains to disc and digital versions of the game.
A New Frontier responds to the choices you made in Season Two, so you might be wondering what that might mean now that last-gen systems are no longer supported.
As explained in a support article, players who wish to import their Season Two save to a different platform (Xbox 360 to Xbox One, for example), need to download a patch for Season Two on the original platform. This could be an issue if you’ve gotten rid of that console. Once the patch is applied, the option to upload your save will become available; you will also need a free Telltale account.
Players who want to import their save files or have questions about how it works should read this support article; it has detailed instructions for what you need to do.
While Nintendo is waiting until January to share specifics about the Nintendo Switch‘s specs, a new report gives us an idea for what to reportedly expect in terms of horsepower.
VentureBeat has heard from two sources that the Switch will use Nvidia’s Maxwell graphics processing technology, not the chip-maker’s newer Pascal architecture. It was confirmed during the Switch announcement event in October that the console would use a variant of Nvidia’s Tegra chip.
“The custom Maxwell Tegra (which uses a 20nm process as opposed to the more efficient 16nm process of the Pascal) in the machine is still powerful enough to play Nintendo-style games that rely on quality art over horsepower, but don’t expect Switch software to match the graphical fidelity of the highest-end PS4 games,” VentureBeat reported.
Sources told the site that Nintendo is in “such a rush” to launch the Switch that it could not wait for the Pascal version of the Tegra processor to be ready for use. Nintendo and Nvidia declined to comment when approached by VentureBeat.
Market researcher Jon Peddie of Jon Peddie Research told the site that it likely won’t matter if the Switch is underpowered compared to the competition.
“I don’t see Nintendo’s strategy as a risk,” he said. “Too many pundits and fanboys and investors make a serious mistake when they try to compare and contrast Nintendo with Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo has a niche in the affordable, accessible product, and performance is never a leading criteria for them. It is gameplay and immersion. They are never a technology pioneer. Trying to compare Nintendo to Sony is like comparing a Volkswagen to a Corvette. It’s a facetious and fallacious analogy and a discredit to fans who love Nintendo.”
Nintendo has said it will discuss the Switch’s specs, as well as its price point and launch lineup, during its January 2017 event. This week we learned exactly when the briefing will be held.
Keep checking back with GameSpot in the days and weeks ahead for more on the Switch.
Nintendo’s next smartphone game, Super Mario Run, launches today–and it’s predicted to be a huge hit right out of the gate.
It does not appear that the auto-runner, in which you control Mario with one hand as he runs through colorful environments filled with obstacles and enemies, has launched as of 7 AM ET. We’ll update this post later today when it officially goes live.
Research firm SuperData said in a note this week that it expects Super Mario Run to reach around 30 million downloads and bring in $60 million in its first month. The company noted that this is well below Pokemon Go, but that game was launched on iOS and Android simultaneously. The Android version of Super Mario Run is coming later, though a specific release date has not been announced.
“After a long period of having no clearly defined mobile strategy, Nintendo is entering the mobile games market at an opportune time,” SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen said in a statement. “Right as the market is cluttered by an abundant offering, the Japanese giant enters with a highly visible franchise. Beyond the success for Nintendo, other publishers will be watching to see if a $10 premium model will work on mobile from here on out.”
He added: “The nostalgia factor plays a key role here, as an entire generation of gamers suddenly, and finally, finds itself able to play one of their childhood franchises on their phone, two weeks before the holidays.”
Noted analyst Serkan Toto previously predicted that Super Mario Run would reach 1 billion downloads “easily,” making it one of the most popular smartphone games in history. One billion downloads is not an unprecedented feat in the mobile gaming world, as Temple Run and Angry Birds have reached that mark, but the major, important distinction is that this figure is for multiple games in those franchises.
Are you planning to pick up Super Mario Run on iOS today? Let us know in the comments below!
Microsoft has released a new system update for Xbox One, dramatically improving download speeds for games and apps.
According to the update notes, you’ll get up to 80 percent faster speeds for Xbox One downloads if your home broadband speed is greater than 100 Mbps. If your connection speed is less 100 Mbps, you’ll apparently “experience more consistent performance that is up to 40 percent faster than before.”
Microsoft notes that “additional optimizations have also made background downloads more resilient to intermittent connectivity issues,” and that the update also includes stability and performance improvements.
Pokemon Go continues to launch in new countries. Developer Niantic announced this week that the popular smartphone game is now available in a number of South Asian countries, including India.
In addition to India, Pokemon Go is now available in Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The game is available on iOS and Android in those regions.
In a blog post, Niantic had a special message for fans in India.
“We appreciate your patience during the last few months while we worked on bringing Pokemon Go to your country,” the developer said. “The Niantic team had to resolve a few administrative challenges before launching in order to ensure we could provide the best experience possible.”
Additionally, Niantic confirmed that it partnered with telecom company Reliance Jio Infocomm to bring Pokemon Go to India. “With this partnership, nearly 3,000 Jio stores and partner locations will become PokeStops and Gyms that Trainers can visit to collect items and to battle over,” Niantic said.
Additionally, as part of a special offer, some Jio customers can download and play Pokemon Go without getting hit with data charges. You can read more about the promotion here.
The PC version of Dishonored 2 is currently discounted big time at Dell. You can get the recently released stealth-action game for only $20 right now–and shipping is free.
As explained by Slickdeals, this deal is for a physical copy of the game that comes with a Steam key, if that matters to you. Go to Dell’s website here to learn more and place an order.
Dell has also discounted Dishonored 2 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4; you can get it for $40 right now. There is no word on when these offers may end, so if you’re interested, you may want to act quickly.
Dishonored 2 launched in November. The game has encountered issues on PC, some of which were addressed in a recent patch–read more about that here.
This past Sunday’s Season 7 mid-season finale episode of The Walking Dead picked up 10.58 million viewers, according to Deadline. That’s a big number, but it’s also the lowest of any Walking Dead winter finale since 2012. Additionally, it’s down 24 percent from the Season 6 mid-season finale last year–that was the show’s second biggest winter finale in the history of the AMC show.
The episode, “Hearts Still Beating,” competed directly against Sunday Night Football on NBC. The New York Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys 10-7 in a good game; the broadcast tallied 25.6 million viewers to become the network’s best-performing edition of Sunday Night Football this year.
Uncharted 4 is set to grow in a big way, as Naughty Dog will release the game’s huge “Survival” update today, December 14. As announced previously, the 3 GB-plus update adds the new co-op, horde-like Survival mode, as well as two new maps, five more weapons, and new items for regular multiplayer.
Naughty Dog has not said exactly when today the update will go live. We’ll report back when it pops up, at which time we’ll also post the full patch notes here for you to see.
While you wait, you can watch a replay of yesterday’s Uncharted 4 Survival livestream through the Twitch embed above. During the hourlong stream, Naughty Dog developers spoke at length about Survival and the new multiplayer content, showed off tons of gameplay footage, and answered questions.
Survival challenges players to progress through 50 waves of enemies. This is broken up into 10 stages, each with five waves. Each stage should take you around 15-20 minutes to clear, according to Naughty Dog.
Survival isn’t just about killing enemies. There are five different types of objectives, including, “Survival (kill everyone), Siege (kill enemies from a certain location), Treasure Race (collect treasure spread across the map), Marked Man (kill a particular target), and Boss Waves (kill pirate ghosts).
The Boss Waves begin with an intro cinematic setting up the particular villain. Pulled from the game’s campaign, these bosses include pirates like Henry Avery; the pirates can use Uncharted 4’s mystical abilities and each has a specific tactic that it uses.
Survival supports up to three players online–unfortunately, there is no split-screen. Read GameSpot’s previous coverage to learn more.
As for the new multiplayer content, two new maps (Prison and Trainwreck) are coming, while the King of the Hill mode is being added. There are 10 more levels to progress through, while there are also new weapons, “biker” and “warrior” skins, and price drops for some chests.
Survival isn’t the last free update for Uncharted 4’s multiplayer mode–check out the image below to get an idea for what’s coming in the future.
In addition to more multiplayer content, Naughty Dog has announced a standalone DLC Uncharted game called The Lost Legacy starring Chloe and Nadine–learn more about it here.
“Is he a villain? Sure, that is an easy description,” Goggins told Yahoo Movies (via VideoGamer.com). “An antagonist, for sure. But [like other characters] I have been so lucky to have the opportunity to play over the course of my career, there are real reasons behind his antagonism, and it’s not what you’d expect. He is very complicated, and his motivations are pure.”
The name of the character Goggins will play has not been revealed, while no details about his backstory or motivations were provided.
Also in the interview, Goggins spoke highly of director Roar Uthaug (The Wave) and Vikander, who won as Oscar for The Danish Girl. He also explained that he joined the movie in part because the script is “so good.”
“This director is an extraordinarily talented filmmaker, and Alicia Vikander I’ve met a few times, we have some friends in common, but I just think she’s one of the greatest contributions to any generation of actors, man,” he said.T”hat for me was just a wonderful opportunity. But more importantly, the story is so good. It’s so good! I think I can say this: For me, it’s like Raiders of the Lost Ark meets a genre version of the Joseph Conrad novel Victory: An Island Tale. I just jumped at the chance.”
A new update for professional football game Madden NFL 17 has arrived–but don’t expect any new features and tuning changes. The focus of this newest “mini title update” is on bug fixes and preparations for the “Freeze” winter event in the game’s Ultimate Team mode.
One of the bug fixes is for a problem where the quarterback would become frozen in some situations. Another issue addressed is when a receiver would switch back to a previous assignment when he shouldn’t have.
Addressed a gameplay issue where a receiver who was hot routed would switch back to his previous assignment if he was motioned and not fully set.
Addressed a gameplay issue where the QB would freeze after hot routing a running back and motioning him out before he became fully set.
Various upgrades to improve the Madden Ultimate Team Holiday experience.
Enhanced preparations to help deal with the upcoming Freeze.
In other news, Madden creative director Rex Dickson said on Twitter that the development team will hold a livestream this Friday, December 16, to discuss future updates for Madden NFL 17. Check back later for more.
