Category: Gamespot

The PC edition of Batman: Arkham Knight appears to be carrying noticeable bugs and glitches, especially for those using AMD graphics cards, with message boards lighting up as players report numerous problems.

Chief among the PC version’s technical issues are sporadic freezes, frame-rate stutters, and audio glitches. Some players had expected issues after Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment adjusted its system requirements, leaving with it a warning about AMD compatibility problems.

[Update 1: Developer Rocksteady has released a statement: “We’re aware that some users are reporting performance issues with the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. This is something that Rocksteady takes very seriously. We are working closely with our external PC development partner to make sure these issues get resolved as quickly as possible.”]

[Update 2: A mass of disappointed customers have begun to criticise the game on its user Steam page. At the time of going to press, 70 percent of customers have not recommended the title, with some 2,000 customers penning negative reviews.]

[Update 3: Retailer Green Man Gaming has pledged to offer refunds if the next patch for the game does not fix most of the issues. Ahead of its patch, publisher Warner Bros has offered guidelines on which Batman Arkham Knight PC settings people should select to curb some of the problems.]

[Update 4: Ahead of its patch, publisher Warner Bros has offered guidelines on which Batman Arkham Knight PC settings people should select to curb some of the problems.]

[Update 5: Warner Bros. has suspended sales of the PC version of the game until the issues are fixed.]

[Update 6: Graphics card giant Nvidia has said it is offering its QA and technical assistance to help quell the problem.]

[Update 7: GameSpot has produced a graphics comparison video, below, which shows that the PC edition lacks some of the key graphical features of the PS4 version.]

[Update 8: Warner Bros. has requested that UK retailer Game cease selling PC copies of Batman: Arkham Knight. Update ends.]

Gary Lake-Schall, the VP of game technology at Warner Bros Interactive, wrote on Steam that “there are some known issues with the performance of Batman: Arkham Knight for PC owners using AMD graphics cards.”

He added: “We are working closely with AMD to rectify these issues as quickly as possible and will provide updates here as they become available. We thank you for your patience in this matter.”

Following the publication of this message, AMD has released numerous driver updates in a bid to help resolve the glitches. Nvidia has done the same, though it should be noted only those using AMD cards have found problems.

Technical discussions on the games forum NeoGAF offer some unofficial workarounds to various problems, including means to lift the 30-frames-per-second cap.

Batman: Arkham Knight shipped across North America and Europe on June 23.

GameSpot’s Batman: Arkham Knight review was praiseworthy overall, but aired many reservations.

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Graphics card manufacturer Nvidia is working with WB Games to resolve Batman: Arkham Knight’s PC problems.

In a statement provided to VideoGamer, an Nvidia representative said it is offering assistance on quality assurance and engineering to the publisher.

“We are working with WB Games and the development teams to address the performance issues of the of the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight,” the company said.

“We have made our QA and engineering resources available and will provide updates when they are available.”

Prior to release, Nvidia talked up numerous graphical enhancements that would be available to Batman: Arkham Knight players on PC using one its graphics cards.

The company also promoted its GeForce GTX 970 and 980 by offering a free copy of the game with every purchase.

PC players of Batman: Arkham Knight reported noticeable bugs, glitches, and other performance issues, leading publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to pull the game from Steam while its problems were remedied.

Gary Lake-Schaal, VP of Game Technology at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, apologised for performance issues in a statement posted on Steam.

“We want to apologize to those of you who are experiencing performance issues with Batman: Arkham Knight on PC,” he said. “We take these issues very seriously and have therefore decided to suspend future game sales of the PC version while we work to address these issues to satisfy our quality standards.”

“We greatly value our customers and know that while there are a significant amount of players who are enjoying the game on PC, we want to do whatever we can to make the experience better for PC players overall.”

Ahead of its patch, publisher Warner Bros has offered guidelines on which Batman Arkham Knight PC settings people should select to curb some of the problems.

Retailer Green Man Gaming has pledged to offer refunds if the next patch for the game does not fix most of the issues.

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Yu Suzuki, creator of the Shenmue series, has addressed questions regarding the funding of Shenmue 3 and Sony’s involvement in the project.

In a update posted on the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter page, Suzuki ensured fans that crowdsourced “funds are going strictly to Ys Net for development of Shenmue 3.”

“Sony and Shibuya Productions are not seeing a cent of your Kickstarter dollars,” he added.

According to Suzuki, Sony will provide assistance on production, marketing and publishing.

“While it is not business practice to discuss the specific details of such arrangements, I can say that with their assistance on the production and marketing end, and in Sony’s case with some publishing support as well, Ys Net is able to use more of the money we collect through Kickstarter purely for Shenmue 3’s development.”

Continuing, Suzuki laid out his ambitions for expanding the game, provided that stretch goals are reached. At the $5 million mark there will be “an all new gameplay feature,” and at $10 million “a much larger, completely open world will be yours to explore.”

“Even if these Stretch Goals are not reached, Shenmue 3 will already be a sequel true to its name, and one we can all be proud of,” he said. “It is my hope though, that together we can make this Shenmue just as revolutionary as the first two were.”

Shenmue 3, the long-awaited sequel to a Dreamcast classic, was announced during Sony’s E3 2015 press conference, when Suzuki appeared on stage beside PlayStation’s Adam Boyes to launch the Kickstarter.

Development is being handled primarily by Ys Net, a studio founded by Yu Suzuki in 2008. Shibuya Productions, a Monaco-based company that produces and promotes animation, games and movies, is also involved in the project, alongside Sony.

Suzuki has said the game will be a “full-on Shenmue experience,” and initially asked for $2 million in funding to start work on the project.

Within a couple of hours the campaign crossed $1 million mark, and just a few hours later, its funding goal. At the time of writing this it has raised more than $3,600,000, with 22 days to go.

Take a look at some of the artwork for the game in the gallery below.

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Destiny developer Bungie sparked controversy this week as it became known that some in-game items would only be available with the purchase of Destiny: The Taken King’s Collector’s Edition.

Several class items, shaders, and emotes were to be locked behind the $80 purchase, meaning that current players would have to buy the base game and first two expansions again to get those items. Yesterday, I wrote an editorial about how Bungie should fix this by letting loyal players get this content in a different way.

Bungie listened to the criticism and today in its Weekly Update announced that the digital items in the Collector’s Edition would be available as a purchase outside of that version of the game. The Taken King creative director Luke Smith explained that players will be able to buy a $20 upgrade to the $40 expansion to get that digital content. In other words, players who own the base game and its previous expansions can pay $60 to get The Taken King, the class items, the shaders, and the emotes.

Players who have reached level 30 or have played both prior expansions will still rank as VIPs and will receive some exclusive rewards. You can see the VIP shader, emblem, and sparrow below:

The Taken King launches in September, and it will feature a new raid, some strikes, a new story, and multiplayer changes and additions. Check out our previews of the multiplayer and the story.

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The PlayStation 20th Anniversary DualShock 4 controller will be available to purchase standalone in September, PlayStation Europe has confirmed.

The controller, which is styled to look like the PS1 pad, was previously only available as part of the limited edition 20th Anniversary PS4 console bundle.

Sony has confirmed it will be available across Europe in September, but has not yet officially announced a North American release.

Online retailer Amazon, however, is listing the controller for pre-order, suggesting it will also be available in the territory soon.

Sporting the classic PlayStation grey colour, the controller also has the red, yellow, and blue PlayStation logo on the DualShock 4’s home button.

Unlike the controllers in the PS4 bundle, however, the Touchpad will feature its normal dots, instead of the iconic PlayStation button shapes.

Originally, only 12,300 20th Anniversary PS4 consoles were produced. The online auction for the very first one, dubbed the world’s rarest PlayStation 4, ended at ¥15.135 million, or about $129,000.

Sony released the 20th Anniversary PS4 in December 2014 to celebrate the original PlayStation’s launch in Japan in December 1994. Units sold out in a matter of minutes.

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Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has addressed the negative fan response to Metroid Prime: Federation Force, a new Nintendo 3DS game revealed at E3 2015.

The title, which is being developed by Next Level Games, creator of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, with Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe overseeing the project, is a co-operative shooter with a chibi visual style.

Fans of the Metroid Prime series have been clamouring for another exploration-focused entry from Retro Studios, or something in line with the classical 2D side-scrolling roots of the series, for many years.

As a result, the reaction to Federation Force’s gameplay and visual departures has been somewhat negative.

Speaking to Kotaku, Fils-Aime said Nintendo knows what its fans want, but “will also push the envelope in developing something that we know is high-quality and that we know will deliver in the marketplace.”

Fils-Aime drew a comparison to The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, which also received backlash from fans complaining about its cel-shaded visual style.

“Remember when that art style was first shown. The uproar from the Zelda community was intensely negative. If there had been social media then, there probably would have been a petition to make that game go away.”

Later in the interview, the Nintendo exec indicated the platform holder was aware fans wanted a more traditional Metroid game, and suggested the company was picking its moment to deliver it.

“Look, we know that the fans want a straight Samus Aran game,” he said. “We also know that the best way to launch a game like that is to surprise and delight them, to give them a launch date, in an environment like this let them play it versus what other companies do, which is to announce a project that you may not see for five, six years. It’s just not the way we do things.”

He added: “We know the community wants to see a straight-up Metroid game. We know it.”

Metroid Prime: Federation Force will also feature Blast Ball, a 3v3 competitive game where teams compete to shoot a large ball into a goal. Both games are reminiscent of Metroid Prime Hunters, the first-person Nintendo DS game from 2006.

The game is scheduled for release in 2016. Nintendo has not clarified whether there’s a single-player component, or if Federation Force and Blast Ball are multiplayer experiences only.

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