Category: Gamespot

Mafia 3 screenshots taken from a pre-alpha version of the game have appeared online, showing off a few locales from the upcoming PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC sequel.

The images were used by Seth Rosen, the game’s systems designer, as part of his GDC presentation about bringing life to games with NPC behaviours. To fit in with this theme, the shots offer an early look at the streets of New Orleans, where the game is set, and some eye-catching inside environments too.

There are some really nice little touches that can be seen in each image that give life to the environment. For example, shop windows and neon signs make the streets feel moody, while groups of citizens make it look inhabited. Inside a jazz bar a live band can be seen on stage, while patrons either watch or sit off to the side enjoying drinks.

As previously announced, the game’s protagonist is Lincoln Clay, a mixed-race man who grew up an orphan and later fought in the Vietnam War. He returns to New Orleans to establish a criminal organisation and oppose the Italian Mafia.

Mafia 3 developer Hangar 13, which is a new studio established by 2K Games, has said the game will tackle issues of racism and prejudice against black people that was present in the deep south during 1968. It will not, however, sensationalise racism.

Mafia 3 will be released sometime in 2016, but publisher 2K Games has not yet provided a specific release date. For lots more on Mafia III, check out GameSpot’s preview from Gamescom.

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Appearing on the latest Game Informer Show , Gears of War 4 boss Rod Fergusson answered lots of questions about the upcoming Xbox One shooter. Two noteworthy responses related to the upcoming beta and split-screen play.

On the subject of Gears of War 4’s upcoming beta, Fergusson stressed that, similar to the Halo 5: Guardians beta, it is very much a “technical” beta, not anywhere near ready for launch.

“What you’re going to play is basically an alpha build of our multiplayer,” he said. “That means there’s going to be issues, but it’s an actual beta. It’s not a fake demo; it’s not a highly polished thing in the sense that it’s set up as a marketing demo. It’s actually, ‘Hey, we have brand new technology on our servers and we have brand new features on our client and we want that to be tested at scale and we want your help.’”

Some betas can be more like marketing vessels, Fergusson said, adding that this won’t be the case with Gears of War 4’s beta. “Honest to god, it’s a technical beta,” he said.

Fergusson went on to say that developer The Coalition hopes to gather feedback from fans about Gears of War 4’s multiplayer so it can make changes to the final product.

Also during the hour-long podcast, Fergusson confirmed that Gears of War 4 will offer split-screen co-op. “Any way you can play Gears of War you can play split-screen,” he explained.

For split-screen, however, frame rate drops down to 30fps due in part to the complexity of what’s going on. As previously confirmed, Gears of War 4’s campaign runs at 1080p/30fps, while multiplayer is shooting for 60fps, though a resolution hasn’t been confirmed.

While some games are dropping split-screen, including Microsoft’s own Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War 4 was always going to have it. “We can never get rid of that,” Fergusson explained.

The Game Informer Show podcast is stuffed full of other interesting details about the development and vision for Gears of War 4. Go watch it here.

In other news, Gears of War 4’s story, which follows Marcus Fenix’s son and two other new characters, takes place over the span of 24 hours. Additionally, it’s also been confirmed that Gears of War 4’s co-op is limited to two players locally and online, not four as was the case with Gears of War 3.

A PC version of Gears of War 4 is also a possibility.

The Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta begins on Xbox One starting April 18. To get in on that date, you need to play Gears of War Ultimate Edition on Xbox One or PC by April 11. Previously, you needed to have played by March 1, but Microsoft announced an extension back in March.

The first wave of tokens for the beta will begin to be dispersed on April 18, though Microsoft didn’t say who will get codes first or how long it may take for all codes to go out. After the “early access” period ends on April 24, all Xbox Live Gold members can play through May 1.

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From a technical perspective, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End pushes the boundaries of the PlayStation 4, designers at Naughty Dog have said. But the studio’s next game could go even further.

A Thief’s End designer Ricky Cambier said in a new interview that he can already see a path towards technical improvement for the studio’s next game.

“There are definitely areas that I can see that we will be able to do better things already, after this,” he told DualShockers, referencing A Thief’s End. “You know, we have some really smart programmers at Naughty Dog, and I’m always pretty surprised of what they can do.”

Cambier went on to tease that Naughty Dog has “some ideas” for how to “get more out of” the PS4 in the future, though you shouldn’t expect a massive leap in fidelity.

“I have a hard time seeing that it will take the same evolutionary jump as you know… the difference between the first Uncharted versus The Last of Us is enormous,” he said. “But there is no doubt that the next thing we do, we’re gonna get even more out of that PlayStation.”

A Thief’s End launches on May 10, after which Naughty Dog will continue to work on the project for its multiplayer and single-player DLC.

The game is expected to be the last Uncharted title Naughty Dog makes. As for what it might move on to next, creative director Neil Druckmann recently told GamesRadar that Naughty Dog will revisit its prototypes, including a Last of Us sequel and other, brand-new projects.

For lots more on A Thief’s End, you can check out GameSpot’s recently published hands-on preview, “How The Last of Us Made Uncharted 4 a Better Game.”

You can also check out GameSpot’s interview with Druckmann, writer Josh Scherr, and lead designer Ricky Cambier. In the interview, the developers talk about saying goodbye to Nathan Drake and the Uncharted series, A Thief’s End’s stealth elements, and a lot more.

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Sony has announced update 3.50 for the PlayStation 4 will be available from April 6. A video for the update, which is codenamed Musashi, has also been released to highlight some of the key feature additions.

Among these are the ability to appear offline, notifications for when friends come online, the ability to scheduled events, and remote play for PC and Mac. The full list of updates can be found below.

• Appear Offline: On your Profile tab, Quick Menu and login screen, we’ve added a new option called ‘Online Status.’ From here, you can choose to ‘Appear Offline.’ This could be useful if, for example, you want to fully concentrate on your game or watch a movie without interruption. You will remain ‘offline’ until you chose to change your setting. Don’t forget to turn it back on to fully experience your PS4.
• Friend Online Notification: Now you can choose to get notified when your friends come online. To receive notifications, access your Friends profile, press Options, and select ‘Notify When Online.’ For quick management of your entire Friends list choose to ‘Select All’ or ‘Deselect All’ of your friends via Settings > Notifications.
• User Scheduled Events: On the Events tab, we’re adding the ability to schedule gameplay sessions with your friends. Just select ‘Create Event,’ and you’ll be able to make an invitation for an upcoming gameplay session. Choose the day, time, game, and send it to individual friends or a Group. When your event starts, users who registered will automatically be added to a Party so you can start playing right away. You can also share an event to a Community. Once shared, the event will be posted to the Community wall and members can register from there. User Scheduled Events can also be created in the PS App.
• Play Together: This feature allows all members of a Party to see what each person is playing so that you can easily join a friend’s game, or start a new game together.
• Remote Play (PC and Mac): With this update, we’re expanding PS4’s Remote Play capabilities to work with PC and Mac giving you more freedom and flexibility to play your PS4. Remote Play is compatible with the following system software: Windows 8.1, Windows 10 or later, OS X 10.10, OS X 10.11. The following resolutions and framerate options are available, depending on your internet bandwidth: Resolution options: 360p, 540p, 720p, Default resolution–540p, Frame rate: Standard (30fps), High (60fps), Default frame rate–Standard (30fps).
• Broadcast: You now have the option to broadcast to Dailymotion.
• Social Improvements: Share your friends’ best moments to your feed for everyone to see…spread the glory. You can also tag players when you Share videos and screenshots to Facebook and Twitter, make sure your friends don’t miss out on any of your great gaming moments.
• PSN Status: To quickly check the status of the PlayStation Network Services, you can view this via Settings > Network.
• Teen Account Creation: Teens (aged 13 – 17 years) can now create their own account and start playing in offline mode until parents approve the account and complete the parental control set up at their leisure.
• PlayStation Plus Hub: Plus members can now enjoy easy access and management of their online storage. You can also see from your PS Plus Games which of your friends also play your monthly Plus games.

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Production continues on Star Wars Episode 8, with director Rian Johnson and crew back in London following recent location work in Croatia. Johnson has posted an onset image on Tumblr that reveals the wise old alien Maz Kanata will be making her return. Check it out below:

Maz was one of The Force Awakens‘ few CG aliens, and was voiced by 12 Years a Slave Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o. Obviously nothing more is known about her role in Episode 8, which won’t hit cinemas until December 2017.

This week, Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the new Star Wars movies, took part in a Facebook Q&A about the saga. During the chat, she spoke about how her approach to the new film differed from its predecessor. “They are two very different things,” she said. “Episode 7 was like the beginning of the whole thing, and it was terrifying and incredibly rewarding, and I felt like I pushed myself beyond boundaries I thought I had.

“Now, I feel more together and I feel more present. I look at things and think, ‘How are people going to react to that’ because of the way that people have responded to Rey. I understand what people loved in Episode 7 and so I feel like I’m carrying that responsibility with me, which is nice because I feel like I’m more part of it.”

Star Wars Episode 8 arrives in cinemas on December 15, 2017. It also stars Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis.

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The next console update to multiplayer shooter Smite will introduce the option to switch to 60 frames per second, developer Hi-Rez Studios has announced. According to a Twitter post by game designer Scott Lussier, the update is being submitted to Microsoft and Sony on March 5.

“I’m pumped for you all to get your hands on the 60FPS for console smite,” he said. “You will need to lower your sensitivity though because it’s fast.

“You will be able to opt into 60 FPS in the next console patch (we submit tomorrow),” he said in a separate tweet.

Smite’s gameplay draws heavy inspiration from popular MOBA such as Riot’s League of Legends and Valve’s DotA 2. It allows players to select a god or other mythological figure, but gameplay is from a third-person perspective, instead of the isometric view of the aforementioned.

The last Smite update was released on March 16 and introduced a new character called Raijin, who debuted on PC in February. Raijin, the Master of Thunder, is a mage who is surrounded by drums that build up charges as he lands abilities and basic attacks. When all four are charged up, his next ability does bonus damage.

Also in update 3.3 are new skins. This includes Chaacolate Chaac (a chocolate easter bunny version of Chaac who wields a giant Peep weapon) and Reaper Tech Thanatos (a sort of Gundam-looking skin). Further skins are available as part of the new season ticket.

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