Almost two years after launch, DICE continues to update Battlefield 4 with new content and tweaks. Yesterday, the developer announced that the game’s upcoming Spring patch will add new weapons and an old mode from Battlefield 3, Gun Master.
The patch will add five new weapons, and while DICE didn’t share their exact names and look, it gave us a general idea for what to expect:
New fan favorite Assault Rifle – Picked based on its unique burst gameplay and massive fan desirability
New Carbine – A unique bullpup carbine with built-in vertical grip
New PDW – A unique PDW with built-in silencer
New Sidearm – Unique long range “sniper” sidearm using magnum rounds
New LMG – Magazine fed LMG, which with the new weapons balance, plays in between a belt-fed LMG and an AR – your “run and gun” LMG
Gun Master, which gained its popularity in the Battlefield 3: Close Quarters DLC, is like Team Deathmatch, but you only get new weapons every time you get two consecutive kills, and the first player to get a kill with the final weapon wins.
The patch will also “significantly improve client stability on all platforms,” fix a number of issues that cause crashes, and rebalance all weapons, which you can read about in greater detail here.
DICE said that it will release the full patch notes closer to release.
Looking ahead, DICE is already working on a summer patch, which will introduce a new “audio obstruction system.” You can get an idea for how this new feature will work in the video below.
Yooka-Laylee, a spiritual successor to legendary Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie, is now the most funded Kickstarter game in the United Kingdom.
The record was previously held by Frontier Development’s Elite: Dangerous, which raised £1,578,316 when the Kickstarter campaign closed. At the time of writing, Yooka-Laylee has raised £1,611,343 (almost $2.5 million), and it still has 31 days to go until the fundraising campaign ends.
Today, Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic announced that it has sold out of the limited edition “64-bit” package, which will give players the game on an Nintendo-64-style cartridge, box, and manual.
Yooka-Laylee is a “buddy-duo” game in the vein of Banjo-Kazooie, but instead of a bear and a bird, it stars a chameleon and a bat. The game is being worked on by a number of Rare veterans who developed Banjo-Kazooie, and is due to launch in 2016 for PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.
You can secure a copy of Yooka-Laylee by pledging at least $15. Backing at that level gets you a copy of the PC version, while you’ll need to pay around $22 to get a console copy.
Operation Supply Drop, an organization that provides games to U.S. troops serving abroad, has kicked off its 8-Bit Salute mega game marathon this weekend.
“Since we started, Operation Supply Drop has used gaming as a catalyst to provide support for over 7,000 individual US and NATO troops through four major programs,” the organization said. “Going into our 5th year, we are determined to set a new high score with $1,337,000 for this event, and with your help, we can absolutely do it!”
You can participate by either streaming your own gaming marathon or donating here.
If you raise or donate the following amounts, you’ll also get rewards:
$50 – 3-Month XSplit License
$200 – Official 2015 8-Bit Salute tee shirt
$1000 – 1-month HeroCrate
$2,500 – 3-months HeroCrate
$5,000 – Custom OSD GAEMS Vanguard Case
At the time of writing, Operation Supply Drop has raised $146,928.
Sony thought that PlayStation 4-exclusive Bloodborne will sell well, but the game has apparently surpassed its expectations, the company has said.
“It did surprise us,” Sony UK managing director Fergal Gara told MCV. “We had expectations to do well. We looked at the Souls series as a frame of reference, and we thought we could do better than that. We did—and then some. Relative to some of our sister territories, we were being quite ambitious, but even that proved to be conservative.”
Gara said that this was in part thanks to good timing, as the game was released at a relatively slow time, and that while Sony was a bit behind in meeting demand, it was able to catch up take advantage of the opportunity.
Gara didn’t share any new sales numbers, but last month Sony said Bloodborne sold through more than one million copies worldwide. Xbox executive Phil Spencer, the top gaming boss inside of Microsoft, has has even congratulated Sony on hitting that sales number with a new IP.
While Bloodborne is a new IP, it was made by Dark Souls developer From Software, and was marketed as being a very similar game.
Welcome back to GameSpot Q&A, a weekly section where we ask our staff and readers an interesting discussion question about video games. Look at this as a forum where you and others can discuss and compare your opinions of this beloved hobby of ours. So don’t hesitate to let us know what your answer is to this week’s question in the comments below!
This week’s question is as follows:
What hugely popular game series have you never played?
With The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt releasing next week, there are likely to be a whole bunch of gamers who are going to be playing this popular series for the first time. Whether it be because of lack of time or even adamant avoidance, are their any popular game series that you have never played before? Below is what our editors had to say.
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy | Rob Crossley
I can understand why people love Final Fantasy, but for me, it just doesn’t lure me in. I’ve never been a fan of the turn-based fighting mechanics, and I’d love to be wrong, but I look at some of the trailers and art and have little confidence that there’s an interesting story to explore.
Nintendogs | Daniel Hindes
Nintendogs has sold 24 million copies and I’ve never played a single one. I’m more of a cat person. That doesn’t mean I’m not open to teh concept of a pet simulator though. So I must ask: Where is Nintencats, Nintendo? Or would it be called Cattendo?
MOBAs | Justin Haywald
Despite their undeniable popularity and incredibly fervent fanbase, I’ve never played a MOBA. It’s not that they don’t look fun; I might struggle to understand what’s going on when I’m listening to shoutcasters commentate a heated Dota 2 match, but it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement! But the high barrier to entry and the stories I always hear of and incredibly toxic player base have ensured that I kept my distance.
Diablo III
Diablo | Eddie Makuch
I adored Blizzard’s genre-defining PC MMO World of Warcraft, so much so that with every new expansion I’m tempted to surrender my life back to it, but I’ve never played the developer’s other major game–Diablo. Despite rave reviews from friends–and even family–I’ve never even given it a try. My defense had always been that I’m not a very big PC gamer. But with Diablo 3 now on consoles, I really have no excuse. Ahh!
Sports Games | Alexa Ray Corriea
Any major sports series I have not played and probably never will. I’ve never been into sports, playing or watching, so I have no idea how I would even begin to play the games. I’m way more interested in smacking trolls around with Firaga or whatever, but sportsball is just not for me.
Mega Man 10
Mega Man | Danny O’Dwyer
i’ve never played Mega Man. Mostly because I didn’t grow up playing Nintendo. Growing up in Ireland some of my friends certainly had them, but my household was a Commodore Amiga household. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I bought my first Nintendo console. Not many people can say they fell in love with Nintendo via the Gamecube, but I loved that little machine. I probably would have picked up the Mega Man Anniversary Collection but sadly it was a North American exclusive.
Legend of Zelda Series | Zorine Te
The Legend of Zelda series. I did not own any Nintendo consoles as a child. For years, I thought the boy in green was named Zelda. I’ve tried to finish one of the games in recent years but never ended up venturing past the starter towns and could not find the drive to continue.
Total War: Rome II
Total War Series | Chris Watters
While I’ve experienced no shortage of virtual war, I have yet to engage in Total War. Perhaps I am intimidated by its totality? The idea of commanding legions is a bit daunting, but a game series doesn’t get to be that popular by being totally obtuse. Indeed, the stories I’ve heard from friends of rousing, exciting conquests have piqued my interest now and then, but alas, I still haven’t taken up the commander’s call.
Fighting Games (and Sports Games) | Kevin VanOrd
Oh, a number of them! I don’t really play fighting games, and though I have dabbled in Marvel vs. Capcom, Mortal Kombat, and others, I’ve never played a Street Fighter game. Shocking, I know! You can also throw most sports franchises onto this list; I haven’t played a Madden game since 1997, and have never touched an NHL or NBA game.
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft | Peter Brown
World of Warcraft. I played a lot of Warcraft,Warcraft II, and Warcraft III, but World of Warcraft never appealed to me. I’ve watched so many friends fall in love with the game, only to crash months later. Yet, despite realizing that they might not be enjoying the game for the right reasons, the same friends dove back in. It’s an addictive game, and despite what ’90s video game critics will tell you, that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Mass Effect Series | Matt Espineli
I’ve played a fair share of RPGs in the past, but for some reason I’ve never gotten around to playing BioWare’s Mass Effect series. I don’t what it is that keeps me from that series because I really do appreciate its focus on its characters and lore. But I guess what’s difficult for me is just the heavy weight of its decision-making and how that constantly effects what occurs throughout the series. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so whenever it comes to making choices in games, I always want the most ideal situation to occur. With a long series like Mass Effect, I find myself freaking out about my decisions at every turn. It’s truly a terrible habit of mine that I hope to overcome someday so I can finally play these games.
Xbox One Outsells PS4 in April: A surprise, perhaps, as NPD data for April released on Thursday showed that Microsoft’s Xbox One console outsold Sony’s, in the United States at least. The PlayStation 4 remains the cumulative sales leader for the US, however, but Microsoft appears to be narrowing the gap.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Revealed: Ubisoft formally announced this year’s game this week, slating the 1868 London game to arrive for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on October 23. Read this roundup post for everything you need to know about the game.
The Witcher 3 Gets a Perfect Score: Becoming GameSpot’s ninth ever perfect 10 out of 10 is CD Projekt Red’s open-world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Read Kevin VanOrd’s review here and check out this post to see all the games that we’ve given perfect scores to in our history.
THE OTHER STUFF:
The folks behind excellent YouTube series Did You Know Gaming have published their latest video, this one talking trivia about Nintendo’s uber-popular Wii console. Check it out.
Streaming giant Twitch continues to spread to new platforms. It’s now available on streaming box Roku, the company announced this week. The service is already available on more platforms you can say in one breath, including Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Chromecast, and Amazon Fire TV.
Blizzard Entertainment has announced the first-ever global Heroes of the Storm tournament, which offers up a total of $1.2 million in prizes. Get all the details about the new event, which kicks off in the coming months and culminates with the final round at BlizzCon in November, right here.
A new update for PlayStation 4 racing game Driveclub coming later this month will raise the game’s level cap to 55. The update, 1.15, also adds new cars and lots more. But there’s still no word on when the free PlayStation Plus version will arrive. Get all the patch notes here.
What? How? Are you kidding me? Yep.
IGN has the scoop on a canceled Rock Band spinoff called Rock Band Sessions. Get all the details in this story here.
Finally, Angry Birds is coming to virtual reality. I’m skeptical about a lot of VR games, but this one sounds particularly interesting. Get the full story over at Road to VR.
What a lovely day. The team behind upcoming post-apocalyptic indie game Bedlam this week released a new poster inspired by the Mad Max franchise, which has returned to theaters with Fury Road. Check out the poster below, and read more about Bedlam at the game’s website here.
Is Microsoft preparing to announce a 1TB Xbox One? It appears that way, as a retailer listing suggests the console will be released in June, just days after E3. Hmmm. Of course, Microsoft already already offered a 1 TB console through last year’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare bundle, but this would be something new.
Here’s something to make you feel old. This week marks the ten year anniversary of the Xbox 360 announcement event in May 2005. Elijah Wood was there! The Killers were there! It was quite the spectacle. Re-live it through this video.
The New Yorker has a terrific interview with Sean Murray of Hello Games about the developer’s ambitious PlayStation 4 project No Man’s Sky. Grab a cup of coffee and put your feet up, this is a good read.
The World of Warcraft Leeroy Jenkins video is now a decade old. That’s right, it was ten years ago that Ben Schulz charged into battle and launched one of the best gaming memes. Re-live the video through this Eurogamer story and video.
Here’s something to hold you over until The Witcher 3 launches next week. GameStop has launched a new promotional page for the game that lets you hunt down monsters in Google Maps. Pretty cool! Check it out here.
The English translation of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata’s earnings presentation was published this week. In it, he talks about Nintendo’s plans for smartphone games, the new NX console, the company’s new theme park deal with Universal, and lots more. Read the full Q&A here.
Someone has cosplayed as the kid holding the baguette from BioShock Infinite. That’s amazing. Check out the photos below and here:
Resident Evil publisher Capcom has outlined a new takeover defense plan. But it’s not as ominous as it sounds, though. Check out the full document here.
Remember that selfie at the Oscars two years ago? Here’s what it would look like with Naughty Dog characters. Amazing!
The Rockstar Editor is being put to good use. Someone has now re-created Breaking Bad‘s famous parking lot scene (don’t click if you haven’t watched!) in the game. It’s really good.
UPDATE 10:05 PM PDT — Sony’s online services should now be back online.
UPDATE 7:45 PM PDT — The official AskPlayStation support twitter’s last message reads: “We appreciate your patience as we continue working to resolve the PSN issues.”
We appreciate your patience as we continue working to resolve the PSN issues. For current status: http://t.co/0H0knweLYq
And as many people in the comments below have reported, attempting to login online prompts Sony to send an “update your password” email.
The original story appears below.
Are you having trouble logging into your Sony PlayStation Network account? You’re not the only. The service is currently down across both the web and consoles.
According to the , the outtage is far-ranging and affects everything from account management on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 to access to severices such as Vue, Video, and Now.
The message on the site currently reads, “You may be experiencing issues related to launching games, applications, and/or social features such as trophies, messaging, or friends list. We appreciate your patience while we address this.”
We’re currently looking into causes for the problem and when a fix will be incoming. We’ll update this story with more details when they’re available.
It’s a good sale all around. You can check out all the deals (which run from now until May 18) below, or check out the PlayStation Store hubs for PS4, PS3, and Vita games.
PS4:
Title
Platform
Sale Price
Original Price
Don’t Starve: Console Edition
PS4
$4.95
$14.99
Don’t Starve: Console Edition + Reign of Giants Expansion
“While our free offer to upgrade to Windows 10 will not apply to non-genuine Windows devices, as we’ve always done, we will continue to offer Windows 10 to customers running devices in a non-genuine state.” Myerson said in a blog post published today.
“Non-genuine Windows has a high risk of malware, fraud, public exposure of your personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunctions,” he added. “Non-genuine Windows is not supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner.”
Myerson did, however, tease that Microsoft is preparing some kind of incentive to get people with non-genuine Windows copies to switch over to a legitimate copy of Windows 10.
“In partnership with some of our valued OEM partners, we are planning very attractive Windows 10 upgrade offers for their customers running one of their older devices in a non-genuine state,” he said. “Please stay tuned to learn more from our partners on the specifics of their offers.”
As Mary J. Foley of GameSpot sister site Zdnet points out: “Non-genuine Windows copies are not always pirated copies. Sometimes users unknowingly purchase Windows copies that certain resellers or retailers are passing off as legal, which are counterfeit and/or tampered with. Sometimes there are false positives, via which legal copies of Windows show up as illegally licensed.”
Per the terms of Microsoft’s free Windows 10 upgrade offer, all PCs running Windows 7 and 8 will be eligible for a free upgrade to the new OS for the first twelve months following Windows 10’s launch. Microsoft has not yet announced how much Windows 10 will cost after this period.
In just about four days’ time, the Kickstarter campaign for Bloodstained–the new project from longtime Castlevania developer Koji “IGA” Igarashi–has raised more than $2 million. That’s four times its initial goal, and as a result, a number of stretch goals have been met, and more are close to being met.
Thanks to raising enough money to hit various milestones, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will pack a number of features it wouldn’t have otherwise. These include local co-op, Boss Rush mode, cheat codes, voicework from David Hayter, and more. Assuming the crowdfunding campaign continues to rake in money–it has until June 12 to add to its current $2,026,550 total–we’ll soon see two more tantalizing features.
At $2.25 million, Bloodstained will get a retro level. This area of the castle will feature retro-style graphics that the developers say approximate to those of a 16-bit game (or slightly newer).
Following that, at $2.5 million, is something called Classic mode. Here, portions of the game will be reworked into a linear experience that “reward[s] timing and survival instead of backtracking and exploration.”
“IGA and company are still too early in the planning process to promise anything, but right now he’s envisioning six punishing stages,” a Kickstarter update reads. “In grand classic platformer fashion, you’ll be weaker and the enemies will be stronger, and forget about saving yourself by grinding–no RPG elements here.
“If you’ve always preferred your castles punishingly difficult, straightforward, and scrolling from left to right, this is the stretch goal for you.”
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