Category: Gamespot

Sony’s PlayStation 4 has had a strong start in 2015 and impressive sales numbers overall. But while the Xbox One picked up during the tail end of 2014, data from research company SuperDataResearch shows that the PS4 is still coming out on top in terms of digital game sales.

Looking at digital sales for the top 10 best-selling games of January (listed below) the PS4 and PS3 accounted for 43% and 20% respectively of total purchases. By comparison, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles totaled just 37% altogether.

It’s worth pointing out, again, that the data doesn’t take into account all digital sales data, only the top 10 games. Data for PC, Nintendo consoles, and mobile was not included in this study.

According to SuperData, the top 10 digital games for January 2015 were:

1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
3. Destiny
4. Dying Light
5. Battlefield 4
6. Resident Evil HD: Remastered
7. Minecraft
8. Call of Duty: Ghosts
9. Madden NFL 15
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops II

That contrasts with physical retail data from the NPD for January 2015 where Dying Light came out as the number one game. Collectively, digital game sales accounted for $133 million in revenue according to SuperData. These figures were pulled from from spending data for 37 million customers and include both full game downloads and DLC. Physical retail games according to the NPD generated $235 million.

Powered by WPeMatico

The Reddit user who recently published a payload of leaked Destiny screens, which had laid bare the upcoming House of Wolves expansion, has disclosed another batch of enlightening images.

Known by the online handle Megamanexe4, the anonymous Japan-based Destiny fan has discovered a reference to the “Reef Social Space” within the game’s files. An image of the “Select Destination” screen appears to suggest that this will be a non-combat zone, likely similar to the Tower hub on Earth, though Bungie has not revealed or confirmed any details.

Bungie has, in the past, noted that images and details that leak online may not be representative of the final product.

For now, the Reef in Destiny remains an asteroid belt that players visit for just a handful of cut-scenes. How, or if, Bungie will expand the Reef is a matter for debate. Two years ago the studio mentioned plans to build a social hub on the level, but since then has not mentioned such plans. It is possible that the Reef Social Space was scrapped before Destiny’s release, and the discovery of this destination is merely a loose end.

Meanwhile, the leaker has also published more information on possible Crucible matches and Queen of the Reef missions, which can be studied below.

Further down, the first payload of House of Wolves details can be found.

House of Wolves will mark the second major expansion to Destiny, following the release of the Dark Below in December, and is expected to launch between April and June. The Reddit leaker has previously suggested that the planned Destiny House of Wolves release date is May 19.

Publisher Activision has also confirmed a second major Destiny release will go live before the end of 2015.

House of Wolves Leak

(Click on the thumbnails to view in full screen – Update: if full screen is not working, right-click or middle-click to view in another window)

New Warlock Amour

New Hunter Amour

New Titan Amour

Strike Mission Descriptions

New weapons

Nightfall Strike (Level 32)

Powered by WPeMatico

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition, a remastered version of the co-op Heists shooter, will ship on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in June.

Developer Overkill Software said that more than a year’s worth of DLC and updates will be included in the game, along with an improved frame rate, better looking textures, and a 1080p resolution. There’s also a new a character (“the dentist”) and a pre-planning feature that lets players plot their heists in advance.

To mark the announcement, publisher 505 Games has released a new trailer for the game, whilst branding the game as the “ultimate heist experience on the next-gen consoles”.

Those who pre-order Payday 2 can receive a 25 percent discount, as well as a digital package of in-game items, such as:

• Red dot weapon sight modification available for use on all rifle weapons
• Exclusive Skull mask
• PlayStation 4 or Xbox One exclusive mask
• Unique mask pattern titled “I LOVE OVERKILL”
• Unique color pattern, only available with this unlock
• Bundle of in-game cash

Since its initial release in August 2013, Payday 2 has sold more than 9 million copies across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Powered by WPeMatico

The PC version of the recently released Resident Evil: Revelations 2 will not include an offline cooperative mode despite that feature being listed on the game’s Steam store page earlier, publisher Capcom has confirmed.

At the time of writing, the description of features in the game still says that players will be able to “overcome the nightmares in either single player mode with an AI partner or offline co-op,” but also says at the bottom of the page that the “PC version does not support offline co-op play in the Campaign or Raid Mode.”

“The decision to prioritise a single local screen was made to ensure a stable user experience across a variety of different PC settings and devices,” Capcom said in a statement. “Raid mode will support online co-op shortly after launch when a free patch is available for players to download which adds this feature, but the main campaign on PC will only be available to play in single local screen.”

Revelations 2, which was released yesterday, is comprised of four episodes, with one being released each week until March 17. In addition to PC, the game is out on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Vita.

For more on the game, check out GameSpot’s review of Resident Evil:Revelations 2.

Powered by WPeMatico

One of the signature gameplay elements in the Assassin’s Creed series is its Leap of Faith moments, where players vault from a high-up location into a haystack. No matter the height, you always survive. For a franchise that often boasts about its authenticity, this always seemed a little odd to me.

Now, researchers at the University of Leicester’s physics department have conducted a study–called “Falling into Straw“–that sought to determine the heights and haystack sizes required to actually survive such a leap.

“While loose straw does undoubtedly provide cushioning from falls, the amount of straw used to cushion a character’s fall is always the same, no matter the height of the jump,” the paper points out (via Eurogamer).

“Common sense dictates that the amount of cushioning, in this case, the height of a pile of straw, should be related to the height of the fall being cushioned. This is due to the increased kinetic energy of the jumper, which needs to be dispersed slowly.”

The paper found that the average 1.5-meter haystack height in the original Assassin’s Creed was too small to realistically allow main character Altair to walk away from without serious bodily injury.

“Even using the most optimistic survivable impact accelerations, incurring severe injuries in the process, the leap off the cathedral in Acre [in the original Assassin’s Creed] requires a greater amount of cushioning than is depicted,” the paper stated.

The article concluded that the maximum height from which a person could actually fall into a haystack safely is around 12.5 meters or 41 feet (around 3.8 stories). The maximum survivable fall height, the paper found, was around 50 meters or 164 feet (around 15 stories), though dropping from this height would cause “serious injury.”

The lesson here? Video games are great, but do not try this at home.

Powered by WPeMatico

A new PC indie game from UK-based developers Alan Hazelden and Benjamin Davis launches Wednesday with a unique pricing model.

The game, the adorable A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build, will set its price according to the weather in London, according to Polygon. This will be determined by the temperature at “teatime,” or around 5 PM UK. Temperature will be measured in Celsius.

The promotional pricing runs during the game’s initial launch window, starting Wednesday and ending March 10. The deal is available only through the developer’s website.

Alternatively, A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build will sell for the flat price of $12 through Steam when it arrives on that platform later today.

At 5 PM in London today it is forecast to be around 10 degrees Celsius, meaning buying the game through the developer’s website will save you a couple dollars. Take a look here for an extended London forecast.

A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build is described as a puzzle game about being a monster and making snowmen. Hazelden and Davis conceived the idea for the game in the days before Christmas 2013. You can see some screenshots in the gallery below.

Powered by WPeMatico

Ubisoft’s downloadable racing game Trials Fusion, originally released in April 2014 across console and PC, has now sold more than 1.7 million copies to date, the publisher announced this week. The game is available across PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Trials Fusion was developed by wholly owned Ubisoft studio RedLynx in collaboration with Ubisoft Shanghai and Ubisoft Kiev.

In other Trials Fusion news, Ubisoft has released a new expansion for the game called Fault One Zero, which is the fifth of six planned add-ons for the game. It adds 10 new tracks, 24 challenges, five trophies, and new objects for the game’s track editor.

Here’s how Ubisoft describes the DLC: “In Fault One Zero players explore the futuristic city of Megalopolis where man and machine are only distinguishable by their medical records. Players will race through holographic cityscapes, testing facilities, assembly lines, retro gaming areas, and a robot dumping ground to navigate their way through Megalopolis.”

Ubisoft also notes that single-player Trials Fusion tracks were recently added to the game’s online multiplayer mode. The game’s online mode supports up to eight simultaneous players and was introduced earlier this month through a free update. Since its launch, players have participated in nearly 2.5 million online races, journeying more than 317,581 miles.

Fault One Zero is available today through the Trials Fusion $20 DLC pass, or it can be purchased by itself for $5. For more on Trials Fusion, check out GameSpot’s review.

Powered by WPeMatico

Mortal Kombat X developer NetherRealm Studios has announced a live stream coming later this week, and based on the language, it’s all but confirmed that we’ll be getting a look at the game’s Brutalities.

NetherRealm’s Twitter account sent out the image below, scheduling the Twitch stream for this Thursday, February 26, at 4 PM Eastern/1 PM Pacific. It includes the phrase, “It’s going to be brutal,” which, combined with a tweet from creative director Ed Boon in response to someone asking about Brutalities, makes them appear to be a lock.

Brutalities are hard-to-pull-off finishing moves that were introduced in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. They’re one of the many types of Fatalities the series has offered, along with the Animalities, Friendships, and Babalities.

Although Brutalities haven’t been in many of the Mortal Kombat games, including 2011’s Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm had already (perhaps inadvertently) confirmed their existence in X: A video it released included a reference to a bonus that players would receive for pulling one off.

Even if you’re not interested in Brutalities–which will presumably not skimp on the violence, given what we’ve seen so far, there may still be reason to tune in. The live stream is likely to also reveal a new character, something Boon teased earlier this month. Maybe that masked gunslinger?

Mortal Kombat X releases on April 10 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Powered by WPeMatico

As supply continues to be a problem for certain Amiibo figures, Nintendo has quietly dropped the suggested retail prices of three of the most common.

Donkey Kong, Peach, and Yoshi–three members of the first wave of Amiibo figures from November–now cost $9.99, down from the standard $12.99 price, according to Nintendo’s website. The company hasn’t made any official announcement regarding the modest price drop, but it comes not long after the latest wave of figures was released, with more still to come–including several in March.

Earlier this month, Nintendo revealed the top 10 selling Amiibo figures for several markets around the globe. All three of the discounted characters made the top 10 in the United States and Canada, but this could at least in part be attributed to their wide availability. Other characters, like Marth and Villager, are only likely to be found being resold on sites like eBay.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently spoke about the subject of rare Amiibo figures, saying extra shipments of hard-to-find figures are something it may deliver. “It is difficult for us to promise to continuously ship all of the Amiibo figures,” he said. “We will, however, consider additional production in cases such as when an Amiibo figure sells out shortly after launch, an Amiibo is indispensable to play a certain game, and when we receive a lot of requests for an Amiibo figure from consumers and retailers.”

More than 5.7 million Amiibo figures have been sold to-date.

Powered by WPeMatico