Everyone who plays the ongoing Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer beta on PlayStation 4 will receive a free theme focused on the franchise’s famous Zombies mode, Activision announced today. No code is required to get the theme. Take a look at the theme through the images below.
Not only is the new video game movie, Hitman: Agent 47, being blasted by critics, but it’s also not posting the strong box office performance that Fox would have wanted.
Box office numbers for Friday are in, and Agent 47 came in fourth, with an estimated $3 million. The Hollywood Reporter notes that this is below projections. The movie is expected to make around $8 million for the entire weekend and come in fourth place overall for the period..
Friday’s winner was Straight Outta Compton, which posted $8 million on its second Friday. The other top performers Friday were Sinister 2 ($4.7 million) and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation ($3.4 million). Agent 47 did beat out one other newcomer however, as the Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart movie American Ultra made just $2.1 million on Friday.
The movie stars Homeland’s Rupert Friend as the murderous bald hero, alongside Star Trek‘s Zachary Quinto. Fast and Furious star Paul Walker was originally going to play the lead role, but Friend took over following Walker’s death in 2013.
Commercials director Aleksander Bach made his feature film directorial debut with Agent 47.
Earlier this week, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said Microsoft might announce the next batch of Xbox 360 games playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility this week. But that’s not going to happen.
“I apologize,” Spencer said Friday evening on Twitter to a fan who asked if the news was still coming this week. “Looks like backwards compatibility news is delayed and will likely come next week. Again, sorry for the delay.”
Nvidia has announced the next version of its GeForce Experience program. Currently, this serves as a way of keeping your GPU drivers up-to-date and optimizing the graphical settings you use when playing games. An upcoming version introduces several new features mimicking those found on PS4 and Xbox One.
Most noteworthy among these is GameStream Co-Op. This essentially allows you to invite someone to (virtually) sit next to you on the Internet. Doing so allows that person to do what PS4’s Share Play allows: Take over the controls, either to try out a game for themselves or to help you get through a tough spot. Alternatively, that person can play alongside you in “supported multi-controller games.” These include Trine 3, Gauntlet, FIFA 15, NBA 2K15, and Mortal Kombat Komplete. Share also allows for that person to watch a “low latency 1:1 stream.”
Your computer will need to be equipped with certain Nvidia GPUs in order to be the one doing the sharing. The GTX 650 and up are supported for the streamer, while the person joining in doesn’t need to have any specific card. You can see the full requirements below.
GameStream is coming as part of an update for GeForce Experience known as Share, which will launch as an early access beta in September. Other new features in Share include a new in-game overlay, improved tools for broadcasting, and an easy way to record gameplay. You can choose to record up to the 20 most recent minutes of footage, or you can manually start and end clips.
GameStream Co-Op Requirements:
Host PC
GPU: GeForce GTX 650 or higher graphics card (Desktop only, notebook support coming soon)
GPU driver: 355.60 or higher
CPU: Intel i3-2100 3.1GHz
Memory: 4 GB or higher
OS: Windows 7, 8, or 10
Router:
Minimum: 802.11 a/g router
Recommended: 8.02.11n 5Ghz router or Ethernet
Recommended Network Bandwidth: 7 Mbps upstream
Games: DirectX 9 or higher games running in fullscreen exclusive mode*
Guest PC
GPU: No minimum requirement
CPU: Intel i3-2100 3.1GHz or higher
Memory: 4 GB or higher
Software: Chrome version 44
OS: Windows 7, 8, or 10
Router:
Minimum: 802.11 a/g router
Recommended: 8.02.11n 5Ghz router or Ethernet
Recommended Network Bandwidth: 7 Mbps downstream
*Games must support fullscreen exclusive mode to work with the BETA version of GameStream Co-Op. Some games appear to run fullscreen, but actually run in borderless windowed mode and are not compatible.
Xbox One Exec: We’re Doing Things That “Can’t Be Done” on PS4: Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda said in a newly published interview that the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility, cross-play, and cross-buy features give it the upper hand when compared to the PlayStation 4 and other systems. Get his full quotes here.
Fallout 4 Could Outsell Skyrim: 2011’s Skyrim was a juggernaut, with more than 20 million copies sold. But Fallout 4 could do even better and outsell it, according to Bethesda’s Pete Hines.
Destiny Taken King News Blowout: We learned a lot more about Destiny this week through the first of three planned livestream events for the shooter. Double vault space, Gjallarhorn changes, and new Light Level details are just some of what Bungie talked about this week. See a roundup of news, images, and videos for all the announcements here.
THE OTHER STUFF:
Eurogamer has an excellent, in-depth feature on the launch of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Read this story to hear a reporter’s first-hand account of being on the ground at CD Projekt Red’s offices in Poland on the day the game launched and what it meant to the team.
Maryland-based jam band O.A.R. wants one of their songs in Rock Band 4, as the group is actively petitioning fans to request songs via the official Rock Band song request page. Which song should it be?
Kotaku’s has a great deep-dive feature that launches into the question: “Why Is Star Citizen Taking So Long?” Read it to hear directly from developers, including creator Chris Roberts.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III has a new “Glitch” power-up that lets you rewind in time a few seconds. As this video demonstrates, it can be super handy–if you’re lucky, that is. How frustrating for the other guy!
GameFly’s new streaming service, which it’s calling the “Netflix of games,” is expanding to new platforms. The company announced that the streaming service is now available on Samsung Smart TVs in the US, Canada, and eight other European countries.
World of Warcraft may be ten years old, but Blizzard isn’t done supporting it yet. The developer this week released a huge update that makes a variety of changes. See the full patch notes here.
Six days in, and Twitch Plays Dark Souls is a total, glorious mess. It was always going to be a trainwreck, but now we have proof. They’ve barely made it anywhere. It’s both amazing and painful to watch. See for yourself.
The new Hitman: Agent 47 movie opened in theaters on Friday, but, despite its overwhelmingly negative critical reception, it looks like it won’t be the last. The film’s end-credits scene not-so-subtly teases a forthcoming sequel. Head here to get all the details.
EA’s mobile game based on The Simpsons, called Tapped Out, has received its latest update. The new update is based on the iconic Monorail episode of the animated show. Get all the details here.
After their debut last year, The Game Awards have been renewed for 2015. This year’s awards show will be held, like last year’s, in December, organizer Geoff Keighley announced this week.
Boston-based independent developer Disruptor Beam is gearing up for the launch of its next game, Star Trek Timelines. This week, they released a nice little video that speaks to the developer’s creative processes and more. And there’s even a surprise appearance by Star Trek’s John de Lancie.
Trion Worlds’ Minecraft-like PC game Trove has reached 1 million monthly active users, the developer announced this week. The milestone comes less than one month after launch. Trove is a free-to-play game available now on Steam.
Here’s a great new TV spot for the upcoming mobster movie, Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp as notorious Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. The movie hits theaters on September 18.
Attending PAX Prime later this month? Like EDM? If you, so may be happy to learn that Steve Aoki will play a free show at the event to promote NetEase’s mobile game, Speedy Ninja. All you need is a PAX pass to get in. More details are available here.
Platinum Games designer Hideki Kamiya would really like to make a game with Capcom, he says in this new interview with Metro. Of course, Kamiya worked at Capcom for a while before leaving to start Platinum, so he probably still has more than a few friends over there.
At D23 this past weekend, Disney unveiled some grand designs for new theme park/attraction areas for its parks, including some based on Avatar. In short, they look stunning. Take a look at some images and get more details here.
A new report from Kotaku sheds more light on Konami’s reported controlling culture. Among other things, the report claims Konami has a division called the “Internal Audit Office” that “checks internal communication, such as email, Konami’s closed circuit cameras, and monitors who leaves and enters the company.” Get the full story here.
Looking for a deal this weekend? Sony has rolled out the latest PlayStation Network flash sale, this one offering a range of PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita games (and some movies) for under $8.
The gaming deals listed below are good through Monday, August 24, at 9 AM PDT / 12 noon EDT. The TV and movie deals end at that time, too, and you can see a full rundown of those offers here. Note that a PlayStation Plus membership is not required to enjoy the savings.
What are you picking up? Let us know in the comments below. You can also read our extended deals roundup for even more of the best gaming offers.
id Software’s upcoming Doom revival, launching in spring 2016, has the potential to go “toe-to-toe” with other “really big shooters.” That’s according to Bethesda marketing executive Pete Hines, who explains in a new interview why he thinks the new Doom will stand out from others in the pack.
“It has some old-school sensibilities but it is doing it in a very modern, fresh next-gen way,” he told MCV. “The multiplayer is not your traditional first-person shooter multiplayer. It is not one shot and the other guy is dead, it is not about who has the fastest trigger finger or reactions.
“All of those things together creates something you’re not going to get from many other first-person shooters…It can go toe-to-toe with those really big shooters.”
While Hines said he doesn’t doubt Doom’s gameplay and mechanics, he did acknowledge that the franchise overall is on that has fallen out of the spotlight in recent years.
“Your average first-person shooter gamer does not list Doom amongst his or her favorite or most beloved first-person shooters, because there hasn’t been one for a decade,” he said. “Doom is fast-paced, very visceral, and sort of incentivizes you to be aggressive. If you are low on health, the best way to stay alive is to find a demon and kill. If you stop taking fire for a little bit, your health doesn’t go back up.”
In an effort to raise Doom’s profile, Bethesda will roll out various marketing campaigns and events. Because even if Doom has great, innovative features, “If nobody knows about it, it’s like a tree falling in a forest while nobody is around,” Hines said.
Nintendo is open to the idea of adapting its iconic gaming franchise to feature films, according to senior executive Shigeru Miyamoto. The Japanese company wasn’t previously too keen on the idea because film and games are “quite different,” but Miyamoto explained that times are changing.
“Because games and movies seem like similar mediums, people’s natural expectation is we want to take our games and turn them into movies,” Miyamoto told Fortune, noting that Nintendo has fielded numerous offers over the years. “I’ve always felt video games, being an interactive medium, and movies, being a passive medium, mean the two are quite different.
“As we look more broadly at what is Nintendo’s role as an entertainment company, we’re starting to think more and more about how movies can fit in with that,” he added. “And we’ll potentially be looking at things like movies in the future.”
The film business isn’t entirely alien to Nintendo, as the company brought Mario the big-screen in 1993 with the poorly received Super Mario Bros. live-action movie. Most recently, Nintendo’s Donkey Kong appeared in last month’s Adam Sandler movie, Pixels. Before that, leaked emails revealed that Sony Pictures was in deep negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to make an animated Mario movie.
Movies wouldn’t be the only new area of business for Nintendo. Earlier this year, Nintendo announced a major deal with Universal Parks to bring its characters to theme parks around the world.
If Nintendo does move into the film business, what franchises would you like to see adapted for the big screen? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Rise of the Tomb Raider‘s demo at Gamescom earlier this month was criticized by some for how it depicted Lara Croft as a cold, killing machine. But guns blazing isn’t the only way to play the adventure game.
Microsoft has published a new gameplay demo that shows the same mission, but using only Croft’s “stealth skills to advance around the base under the cover of darkness.” Some of those skills include sneaking through buildings, distracting enemies by throwing objects and firing her bow, and climbing on structures to avoid being seen.
“We’ve built our combat to offer players as many choices as possible,” creative director Noah Hughes says in the video. “And in this case, it’s possible for Lara to make her way through the area with zero kills.
“Of course, sometimes combat is unavoidable,” Hughes added. “But how you approach combat in Rise of the Tomb Raider is often up to you.”
Developer Crystal Dynamics may even be working on a sequel. Square Enix Americas CEO Phil Rogers told GameSpot that the story arc that began with 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot and continues with Rise of the Tomb Raider will be told across a trilogy.
We learned and saw a lot more of Rise of the Tomb Raider at Gamescom. Check out some of the top stories and previews below.
