Category: Gamespot

The partnership Microsoft announced yesterday with Oculus VR may have caught some people by surprise given that the Xbox company already has its own head-mounted display technology in HoloLens. But Xbox boss Phil Spencer says in a new interview that teaming up with Oculus actually gives Microsoft the opportunity to focus on HoloLens, a technology that still needs a lot of work.

“This partnership allows us to focus on a space that’s different from them with our HoloLens, which has a lot of things still to be figured out,” he told the International Business Times. “This partnership seemed like the right [thing] for me. The whole HoloLens team sent me a picture–they actually watched the briefing with the Hololens on, streaming the picture on the wall. It’s like the most surreal thing, but they were all really excited about the show.”

As for how the partnership itself came to be, Spencer said the “real motivation” behind it was Microsoft wanting to support ecosystems doing “real innovative” work on PC. “I think that’s a good spot for us to be,” he said, noting that he has also known Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe for years.

The first edition of the Oculus Rift consumer model launches in the first quarter of 2016, while Microsoft has yet to provide any details on when people will be able to buy a HoloLens headset. The technology will be on display next week at E3, however, so we may find out more about it soon.

Also in the interview, Spencer clarified how streaming Xbox One games to the Oculus Rift headset will work.

“It’s a 2-D display in a 3-D world, so we’re not turning all the Xbox games into virtual reality games,” he said. “But the fact that you get a big screen–the screen kind of feels like that [points to a giant projection screen at the event that’s about 7 feet by 10 feet]–and the fact that everything else is nonexistent, everything else is blacked out, your mind’s eye is on the screen, it’s really a nice, immersive, dark experience. And a lot of the guys back at the office, that’s the way they want to play.”

Announced yesterday during the Oculus VR E3 Conference, all Oculus Rift consumer packages will come with an Xbox One controller. Official pricing for the consumer model has not been announced, but Oculus said previously that the “all-in” cost–the headset and a capable PC–will be around $1,500.

Microsoft competitor Sony is also working on virtual reality technology in the form of Project Morpheus. That PlayStation 4 headset is due to launch in the first half of calendar 2016.

For lots more on news from this week’s Oculus VR event, check out a roundup of the big stories below.

• This Is the Final Oculus Rift Consumer Model
• All the Game Trailers From the Oculus E3 Conference
• Oculus Has Steam-Like Platform Called Home
• Square Enix, PS4 The Order Dev, and More Making Oculus Rift VR Games
• Ratchet & Clank Dev’s Next Game Is a VR Exclusive
• Oculus Rift Includes Xbox One Controller; Xbox One Games Stream to Rift
• Oculus Reveals Its Unusual Rift VR Controller, Oculus Touch
• Watch All the Game Trailers From The Oculus Conference

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It appears Killzone developer Guerrilla Games is preparing to make an announcement next week at E3. The developer has shared the image you see here through its Facebook page. It depicts what appears to be a seaside city with mountains and a gorgeous sunsrise on the horizon.

This doesn’t exactly look like Killzone.

“Horizon” is rumored to be the name of Guerrilla’s new IP, which has been described as “completely different” than Killzone. In May 2014, Eurogamer reported that this game could be an open-world RPG, though nothing official has been announced.

“It’s exciting times. If I even say one word, people will kill me,” producer Poria Torkan said.

In other Guerrilla news, the Dutch developer has now joined Twitter, though it previously had a jobs-only account and a dedicated channel for Killzone. Creating a Twitter account doesn’t mean much on its own, but the timing is interesting given that E3 is next week.

What’s more, Guerrilla managing director Hermen Hulst is heading to the show. Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean an announcement is coming, as Hulst was also in town for E3 2014 and there were no major game reveals from the studio.

Guerrilla Games is owned by Sony, so if the studio were to make an announcement at E3, Sony’s briefing would seem to be a likely venue. Sony’s event caps off the Monday madness, starting at 6 PM PDT on June 15.

Are you excited for a new IP from Guerrilla? Let us know in the comments below.

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Sony has released yet another patch for the PlayStation 4 edition of Ultra Street Fighter IV, which launched last month and struggled mightily. The game’s first patch was released earlier this month and fixed many annoying issues that players had reported. Today’s patch clears up even more bugs, improves online match performance, and addresses additional audio issues.

You can see the full Ultra Street Fighter IV June 11 patch notes below, as published by Sony.

The issues with Ultra Street Fighter IV on PS4 were so severe that the Evo competitive gaming tournament has decided to hold its tournaments on Xbox 360 instead.

Even though this patch clears up many of the issues, event organizers say they won’t go back to PS4.

Sony’s third-party production group developed and published the game, not Capcom itself. Ultra Street Fighter IV was not released on Xbox One.

Ultra Street Fighter IV June 11 Patch Notes

• Reduced input latency
• Addressed matching not working correctly within the Replay Channel
• Fixed bug where character movement SFX are replaced by ambient stage sounds
• Improved online match performance
• Fixed localization issue in Spanish for the control customization UI
• Fixed bug where grey box appeared around OPTIONS in MY LIST
• Fixed resolution “snap” between menu transitions
• Fixed crash bug where leaving the game in Trials for extended period
• Addressed Juri pinwheel graphical corruption
• Added Special Titles (from Prize Codes). Note: There are no more Prize Codes, which is why the input is disabled
• Fixed bug where Title/Icon Scroll speeds were sluggish
• Adjusted volume of announcer compared to other sound levels
• Overall audio balancing to correct volume levels; several corrected audio bugs

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Ahead of Microsoft’s E3 briefing next week, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has spoken out to assure fans that–even though some exciting Xbox games have been delayed–2015 will still be an “exceptional” year for gamers thanks to the combined efforts of Xbox One and PC with Windows 10.

“This has been a great year for gaming at Microsoft, and it’s only going to get better in the coming weeks and months,” Spencer said in a post on the Xbox Wire. “With the greatest games lineup in Xbox history coming to Xbox One this year, and Windows 10 being the best operating system for gaming we’ve ever released, this is going to be an exceptional year for gamers.”

“No matter where or how you play, I truly believe 2015 will be our biggest year yet.”

Some of Microsoft’s big exclusives for 2015 include Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Motorsport 6, Fable Legends, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and possibly a Gears of War remaster. Microsoft previously teased that it will also announce new IP at E3, and of course, more games are likely to be revealed.

As for Windows 10, the new operating system–which has a new Xbox app and game streaming support–launches on July 29. The operating system’s integration into Xbox One, however, is coming later.

Microsoft’s E3 briefing is slated for Monday, June 15, starting at 9:30 AM PDT. We’ve already told you what we want to see from Microsoft at E3, but what about you? Let us know in the comments below.

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Just days after a report revealed a new Destiny expansion called The Taken King, developer Bungie has told fans to expect “surprises” at E3 next week.

As part of Bungie’s latest Weekly Update, the developer shared the image you see here of a crate it’s packing for the show; it is sure to draw some attention from the TSA.

“Okay, so, uhhhhhh, we have one item labeled CAUTION EXPLOSIVE PROJECTILE, but it’s totally harmless,” Bungie said. “And, well, if you X-Ray it, you’ll see something that looks like [redacted], but we promise it’s not that either. Can you just trust us that it’s not dangerous?”

“We know what you’re thinking: “What’s in the box?!” These and other surprises are on the way to E3,” Bungie added. “Can’t wait to show you what we’ll unpack over the course of the show.”

According to leaked marketing material, The Taken King will launch in September, priced at $40. Activision has previously referred to this add-on as the biggest Destiny expansion to date, which might explain why the price point is twice that of the previously released DLC, The Dark Below and House of Wolves.

In addition to The Taken King, E3 next week may bring news about even more Destiny expansions. Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz said in a note to investors today that, “We hope to hear some plans for further expansions later in 2015 and 2016.” Analysts often meet with developers and publishers behind closed doors, so it’s possible this content won’t be shown publicly.

In other recent Bungie news about unannounced stuff, the developer recently trademarked something called “Eververse.”

Destiny publisher Activision is not holding a press conference at E3, so it’s unclear where Bungie’s Destiny announcements will take place. One possibility is during Sony’s briefing, as the company has a close relationship with Bungie.

Bungie has continually tweaked and refined Destiny since its launch in September 2014. Most recently, the developer announced plans to make the game’s baddest boss a little easier to kill.

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Humans have many ways to passively express their love of something. We’ve got the tasteful emblematic tattoo that only the likeminded can appreciate. There’s the loud-and-proud t-shirt that screams your passions as you saunter around the streets.

And of course, the braver among us can go the lifestyle choice route and wear a Konoha forehead protector while out on a weekly shopping trip at the local Walmart – which I definitely. Have. Not. Done. Ever.

Arguably the most important and effective of all is the desktop background. It’s a subtle way of integrating the subject of your affection into daily life, and showing those around you how much you love it without being an obnoxious dude dressed head-to-toe in Akatsuki’s uniform. Again, never done that. No sir.

I don’t know about you, but I spend so much time in front of my computer screen that I’m pretty sure I’ve got a tan from it. So, every now and then–when the windows are tucked away–I get a little prompt to think about something that makes me very happy.

Currently my desktop wallpaper is an incredibly rad Street Fighter V wallpaper. I’m a big fan of M. Bison, so having his maniacal ear-to-ear grin pop-up every once in a while is a real treat. I see it and spend a few minutes thinking about strong jawlines, whether I could actually do a Scissor Kick in real life, and the colour purple. Lots of purple.

Sometimes I’ll even shout “THIS PLACE SHALL BECOME YOUR GRAAAVE” if the passion overcomes me. Though HR have told me that I can’t do that anymore as it “is alarming to those around me.”

We all know how difficult it can be to find a good desktop wallpaper these days. They’re either buried under layers of pop-ups on dodgy websites, or have FREEWALLPAPERZ4ULOL watermarked across it.

With that in mind, Capcom is letting us give these wallpapers to you. Below you’ll find a selection of high-quality, super cool images for Ryu, Chun-Li, Nash, and M. Bison. Download. Resize. Enjoy.

Remember: Open the download links in another tab!

Download Nash Wallpaper

Download Bison Wallpaper

Download Chun-Li Wallpaper

Download Ryu Wallpaper

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Sir Christopher Lee, who portrayed Saruman in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies and regularly released metal-themed Christmas albums, has died. He was 93.

Lee was hospitalized for respiratory problems and heart failure and died Sunday in London, according to The Guardian.

The news was only released today because Lee’s wife of 50 years wanted to speak with family first.

Lee is also known for his roles as Dracula and as a Bond villain in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun. He also played a lead role in 1973’s The Wicker Man.

Star Wars fans may also recall that Lee played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

You can read more about Lee’s life in The Guardian‘s full story.

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, shared his thoughts on Lee’s passing.

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Ahead of E3 next week, Electronic Arts and DICE have released a new image of their upcoming shooter, Star War: Battlefront. Published on Twitter, the image shows a band of rebels on what appears to be Hoth.

“Its location is no longer a secret,” reads the image’s description.

Hoth is one of Battlefront’s four confirmed planets (so far), joining Endor, Tatooine, and Sullust. There will be a total of 12 multiplayer maps available at launch, spread across these planets.

Though we’ve seen a flashy CG trailer, DICE hasn’t released any Battlefront gameplay footage publicly to date–but that’s soon to change. During EA’s E3 briefing next week, the publisher will release gameplay for the first time.

EA’s E3 briefing is scheduled for Monday, June 15, starting at 1 PM PDT. GameSpot will have all the news from the show as it’s announced. See all the dates and times for every E3 event here.

Battlefront is slated to arrive in November for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, with free DLC based The Force Awakens coming in December. For more, check out some images of the game in the gallery below.

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