Category: Gamespot

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may not have gotten into programming had it not been for video games, the 31-year-old billionaire said this week during a town hall Q&A meeting. As part of his presentation, Zuckerberg advised parents to let their children play video games.

“Letting them play around with stuff is one of the best things you can do,” Zuckerberg said, as reported by USA Today.

Zuckerberg grew up in upstate New York, which typically gets hammered by lake effect snow. He shared that, because his sisters wouldn’t have snowball fights with him, he decided to build a snowball fighting video game. “It was a terrible game,” he said, but pointed out that working on such projects is what inspired him to get into computer programming.

“I do think this dynamic around kids growing up, building games and playing games, is an important one because I think this is how a lot of kids get into programming,” he explained. “I definitely would not have gotten into programming if I had not played games as a kid.”

“Most of the engineers I know, who are some of the best engineers in the world, are self-taught,” he added. “We need to work on this to get more exposure out to people.”

Also during the Q&A, Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook’s overall goal for its Oculus Rift headset is to eventually update the design over time to look more like “normal glasses.” The Oculus Rift consumer model launches in the first quarter of 2016, meaning it should arrive before April 2016.

Facebook paid $2 billion to buy Oculus VR, developer of the Rift headset, in March 2014.

In addition, Zuckerberg talked about the potential for augmented reality technology like Microsoft’s HoloLens. Though Microsoft may have a working prototype at the moment, Zuckerberg said he doesn’t foresee technology of this nature truly taking off for years.

“It’s going to take five, seven, 10, maybe 12 years to build that out, to have something that really works and is cheap enough for everyone around the world to use,” he said.

What do you make of Zuckerberg’s comments? Let us know in the comments below.

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Destiny developer Bungie has revealed a new solution to help combat networking issues in the popular shooter. Say hello to “Connection Recovery.” As explained in the latest Bungie Weekly Update, this new back-end feature should help players “stay rooted in the action” and not get booted back to orbit as often.

Matchmaking engineer Damian Frank discussed the new feature. First, he explained why Bungie decided to develop the new system.

“If you’ve played for long enough, you’ve probably been kicked back to orbit at some point,” he started off. “This happens when basic network problems occur on the Internet. If you can’t talk to our servers because some network router somewhere got too busy, you may be kicked to orbit. We’ve been working hard on improving this aspect of the player experience.”

Frank went on to explain how Connection Recovery should help fix the most common kinds of networking issues for Destiny. However, he also explained that it’s not a perfect system.

“Connection Recovery will leap into action and attempt to reconnect you,” he said. “It won’t always work, because the underlying networking problem may be too severe, but it gives you a fighting chance at rejoining the server you were playing on. If it’s successful, you’ll keep your progress and your Fireteam.”

When a Connection Recovery is in progress, players will see their screen fade to black before being prompted with a message that informs them Bungie is attempting to reconnect them. This message will include the type of error players encountered. If the Connection Recovery is successful, players will be respawned “after a short time.” If not, players will be kicked back to orbit.

The Connection Recovery system will launch with House of Wolves next week on May 19. However, the feature will only be available through the new Trials of Osiris multiplayer event, at least at first.

“We know that disconnections are going to be especially frustrating in Trials, so it seems like a good place to start,” Frank said. “Once we have a better feel for how it’s going to perform in the real world, we plan to add it to almost all activities–if all goes well.”

What do you think about the new Connection Recovery system? Let us know in the comments below.

For more on House of Wolves, check out GameSpot’s roundup of everything you need to know.

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Social gaming giant King is bringing its wildly popular match-three puzzle game Candy Crush Saga to Windows 10, the next operating system from Microsoft, it was announced this week.

In fact, Candy Crush Saga will come pre-installed for everyone who upgrades to Windows 10 or downloads a new copy of the OS “for periods of time,” Microsoft explained in a post on the Xbox Wire.

Candy Crush Saga for Windows 10 also includes cross-platform play with the iOS and Android versions.

What’s more, Microsoft teased that other games from King will be coming to Windows 10. However, none were named outright.

This news comes as King shares have tumbled following an earnings report that warned investors about “softer” revenue for the current financial quarter.

Windows 10 launches this summer, rolling out first on PC before coming to Xbox One later. It will be available as a free upgrade for existing Windows users. The OS also comes with a new Xbox app and will even support game streaming with Xbox One.

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As suspected, Microsoft has now confirmed that it will reveal new IP during its briefing at E3 next month. Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed the news on Twitter, bluntly stating, “We will have new IP at E3.”

He didn’t share any further specifics. Last month, Spencer sounded unsure about Microsoft’s new IP plans for E3, as he said that Microsoft “should have new exclusive IP at E3.”

Overall, Microsoft boasts that its E3 showing this year–which will focus more on first-party games–will highlight the “greatest games lineup in Xbox history.” It’s a bold claim, for sure, but it’s not the first time Microsoft has talked about having a huge games lineup.

Back in November, Spencer said the Xbox One’s holiday lineup was so stuffed that Microsoft may need to delay some projects. That’s exactly what’s happened, as Microsoft recently pushed Quantum Break to 2016. The company still has marquee games like Halo 5: Guardians, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6, and possibly a Gears of War remaster scheduled to launch this holiday for Xbox One.

Also on Twitter, Spencer shared that Microsoft will talk about more than just games during its E3 briefing. “There are some platform features we’ll want to talk about,” he said. He didn’t go into specifics.

Finally, Spencer addressed the fact that Microsoft will be the first of the Big Three (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo) to hold its briefing this year. He’s not worried about going first.

“We set our tone and show,” he said. “Others can react if they want to, but I’m comfortable being the first platform briefing.”

As announced yesterday, Microsoft’s E3 2015 briefing is scheduled for 9:30 AM PDT on Monday, June 15. GameSpot will bring you all the news as it’s announced.

E3 2015 Press Conference Schedule

Sunday, June 14

• Bethesda – 6:30 PM PDT

Monday, June 15

• Microsoft – 9:30 AM PDT
• Electronic Arts – 1 PM PDT
• Ubisoft – 3 PM PDT
• Sony – 6 PM PDT (expected)

Tuesday, June 16

• Square Enix – 9 AM PDT
• Nintendo – 9 AM PDT
• PC Gaming Show – 5 PM PDT

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Following Divinity: Original Sin‘s celebrated launch last year for PC–it was GameSpot’s overall PC Game of the Year–developer Larian Studios on Friday announced that the turn-based role-playing game is coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 by way of an Enhanced Edition.

The Enhanced Edition is described as a “full makeover” of the original game–which has sold nearly 1 million copies–featuring a “truckload” of changes, creative director Swen Vincke tells GameSpot.

Among the changes are a new interface designed specifically for controllers, as well as co-op play in the form of online and split-screen locally. Meanwhile, full voice acting has been added–featuring actors Alix Wilton Regan and Alec Newman–and more endings have been introduced.

“We went a little too overboard with it; we called it an Enhanced Edition, but I really think that we made it much more than enhanced,” Vincke said.

In terms of visuals, Vincke tells GameSpot that the Xbox One and PS4 editions are aiming to run at full 1080p.

Divinity’s new console edition also adds “hours” of new content by way of new quests, giving players new locations to explore and challenges to take on. New endings have also been added, Vincke says.

In addition, the Enhanced Edition will come with changes to the crafting system, variations to enemy encounters that should make the game more difficult overall, and storyline tweaks to make the game feel fresh for people who already played it.

“We were a little bit unhappy with some of the compromises we made on the narrative side of things, so we’re just going to take the opportunity to change everything,” Vincke says. “The ending wasn’t that rewarding, so we added a lot to it. On the endings side, we really added a lot.”

The Enhanced Edition’s online co-op mode, which Vincke says you really have to play to understand, supports online play. However, there won’t be matchmaking support, at least not right away. “We haven’t cracked that particular piece of the code yet,” Vincke said.

In addition, Larian has announced that the Enhanced Edition is also coming to PC, Mac, and SteamOS as a free upgrade for existing players. Vincke points out that gamers will need a 64-bit rig (compared to 32-bit for the original) with DirectX 11 to run the Enhanced Edition. Full system requirements will be announced later.

The Enhanced Edition is due out later this year for all platforms, but Larian has not announced a firm release date.

Finally, Vincke told GameSpot that the massive success of Original Sin–which was originally funded on Kickstarter–was a “huge turning point” for Larian overall. Looking to the future, he confirmed that Larian has multiple projects in the works, the first of which might be announced this year.

“It allowed us to do a lot of things we couldn’t have done before. And we’re doing those now,” he explained. “We’re experimenting a lot. We have two RPGs in production, which we’re not just ready to announce yet, but hopefully we’ll talk about at least one later this year.”

Vincke also said he sees the turn-based RPG genre making a comeback, with plenty of room for further growth. “It’s a genre that has a lot of potential where you can still do a lot of things that haven’t been done before,” he said.

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Third-person action game Smite, the Xbox One‘s first MOBA, is now available for the console by way of a closed beta test. Anyone who previously took part in the Smite alpha or was chosen for the closed beta will get to play. You can sign up for the Smite Xbox One closed beta here.

Smite is a free-to-play game, but players can spend money on items like currency Gems, new characters, and cosmetic skins by way of its in-game marketplace. You can also buy the $30 Founder’s Pack, which comes with instant access to the Xbox One closed beta.

The Founder’s Pack also includes every God character currently in the game and all additional Gods to come, as well as 400 Gems and two exclusive skins. This bundle will be removed from sale when the full version of Smite launches on Xbox One later this year.

If you do get into the Smite Xbox One beta, all your progress and achievements will carry forward to the full version.

Smite developer Hi-Rez Studios has also announced an account merge option for PC players who want to carry their progress over to the Xbox One edition. You can get the full details on this process here.

Originally released in March 2014 for PC to a positive critical reception, Smite has attracted more than 7 million players to date. The game is focused around the Gods of mythology, and Hi-Rez claims it offers “more game modes than any other leading game in its genre.”

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EA Sports’ upcoming professional football game Madden NFL 16, which features Odell Beckham Jr. on the cover, will be playable first on Xbox One by way of EA Access. Subscribers typically get to play upcoming EA games five days before their public launch, but EA has not announced specifics around Madden yet.

The news comes by way of Microsoft marketing executive Aaron Greenberg, who wrote on Twitter: “Hot new @EAMaddenNFL 16 announced, play it early with @EAAccess, only on #XboxOne”

Madden NFL 16 launches this August. It’s also coming to PlayStation 4, as well as last-generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. EA Access, however, is available only on Xbox One.

The subscription service costs $5/month or $30/year. In addition to getting to play upcoming EA games ahead of everyone else, subscribers get access to free games in The Vault (there are currently eleven) and a 10 percent discount on all EA digital content.

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