Category: Gamespot

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held a Reddit AMA today, and, as you could have probably guessed, someone asked him about the company’s recently announced HoloLens technology. Gates’ verdict? He’s excited, but says it might be a few years before we see the true potential of the technology.

“The HoLolens is pretty amazing,” Gates said. “Microsoft has put a lot into the chips and the software. It is the start of virtual reality. Making the device so you don’t get dizzy or nauseous is really hard–the speed of the alignment has to be super super fast. It will take a few years of software applications being built to realize the full promise of this.”

For its part, Microsoft doesn’t think HoloLens is like anything else out there. It doesn’t compete directly with the likes of virtual reality headsets such as Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus because HoloLens is “something different,” Microsoft says.

Someone else asked Gates what he thinks the next 30 years holds in terms of advancements to technology overall. Gates said he foresees lots of progress, including mechanical robots being used to pick fruit, among other things.

“There will be more progress in the next 30 years than ever,” Gates said. “Even in the next 10 problems like vision and speech understanding and translation will be very good. Mechanical robot tasks like picking fruit or moving a hospital patient will be solved. Once computers/robots get to a level of capability where seeing and moving is easy for them then they will be used very extensively.”

Gates also reveals that he’s working on some form of “Personal Agent” initiative with Microsoft. He explains:

“One project I am working on with Microsoft is the Personal Agent which will remember everything and help you go back and find things and help you pick what things to pay attention to,” he said. “The idea that you have to find applications and pick them and they each are trying to tell you what is new is just not the efficient model–the agent will help solve this. It will work across all your devices.”

The full AMA is a fascinating read. Though Gates doesn’t answer questions about Xbox or gaming directly, he does talk about his various humanitarian efforts, his dogs, and machine super-intelligence, among many other topics. You can read the full post here.

Looking for more content around HoloLens? Check out our most recent stories below.

• Microsoft’s HoloLens Is “Something Different” Than Oculus Or Morpheus
• Microsoft CEO Talks “Mind-Blowing” Gaming Potential For HoloLens
• Molyneux: HoloLens Is More Exciting Than VR, But What’s The Killer App?
• Xbox Boss Ponders HoloLens’ Potential On Console And PC

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There is a special circle of hell reserved for people who open Hearthstone games with an Undertaker, a coin, and a one-mana deathrattle minion.

Such a dastardly combination gives the maddening mortician a 2 attack, 3 health buff by the end of turn one (not to mention its skull-and-bones-wearing associate to deal with too). As you probably know, this is because Undertaker starts at 1 attack, 2 health and gains 1/1 for every deathrattle card dropped on the board.

If you can’t remove it straight away–and it’s pretty hard at this sage–there’s a fair chance that your opponent will drop another deathrattle card, pushing Taker to 3/4 by the end of turn two. The game is already, by this stage, creeping away from you.

Such devastating synergy, coupled with how frequently it occurs, led many players to expect that–surely–the card would be nerfed.

Well, when GameSpot spoke to the game’s designer Ben Brode about the issue in December, he seemed open-minded about the possibility but was generally against it.

“Ah, well, we did add some cards to Goblins vs Gnomes that are specifically good against Deathrattle decks,” he said at the time.

“But The Undertaker is one of those cards that feels really powerful when he’s hurting you, but if you draw him late in the game he’s pretty terrible. We were paying attention to how people were using him, and looked at how we were playing against him, but we didn’t feel he’s nerf-worthy. He is very powerful, but it wasn’t past the line for us. I think it’s worth noting that Kolento [professional player Alexander Malsh] recently won a pretty large tournament and didn’t use Undertaker in any of his decks.”

However, following a few more weeks of soul searching, Blizzard has implemented a nerf to the card that seems very fair. The starting stats and mana cost is the same, but henceforth the Undertaker won’t buff health from deathrattles, only attack. This still makes it a useful card, but with 2 health its dominance will likely not stretch too far into the game. Two-mana removal is not hard to concoct.

The nerf will come into effect in the next update, Blizzard said. As a nice bonus for those who pin their early-game strategies on Undertakers and deathrattles, the golden version of Undertaker can be disenchanted for its full cost for a limited time once this balance change goes live.

Writing on the Hearthstone forums, Blizzard community manager Christina Sims added: “We will continue to make balance changes to Hearthstone when we feel they are necessary in order to increase the variety of cards seen at all levels of play, with the goal of making Hearthstone a more fun and interactive game for everyone.”

Ready for Action!

Okay, so if you’ve read this far it’s pretty likely that you love Hearthstone, so here’s something awesome for you.

If Undertaker dwells at the badass end of the one-mana spectrum, then the Goldshire Footman surely exists on the opposite end. A wave of joy sweeps through players every time they see the 1/2 taunt drop onto the board, as it’s quite possibly the best indicator that you’re up against an inexperienced player.

Goldshire, of course, feels a little neglected by this, which is why one awesome player has decided to chronicle his thoughts and feelings with an unofficial Twitter feed.

An example of the fine work is below. Follow him here!

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Apple has now shipped more than 1 billion iOS devices, the technology giant has announced as part of its record-breaking earnings report for the holiday 2014 sales quarter.

Speaking with analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company achieved the milestone–which covers total iPhone and iPad shipments–on November 22. The billionth iOS device shipped was a space-gray 64 GB iPhone 6 Plus, which Apple is keeping at its headquarters.

“One billion devices is an almost unfathomable milestone and we are all incredibly proud to be a part of it,” Cook said during an earnings call, as reported by GameSpot sister site CNET.

Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones during the three-month holiday period, a new record for the company, which overall posted $18 billion in profit for the quarter, another all-time high. Cook also revealed that, on average, Apple sold more than 34,000 iPhones “every hour, 24 hours a day, every day of the quarter.”

The latest versions of the iPhone, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, launched in September 2014. Cook said that the smaller iPhone 6 was the most popular model during the quarter.

Asked by an analyst if he thinks Apple can sustain the iPhone’s incredible growth in future quarters, Cook said he is “very bullish” on the device’s outlook. The executive went on to say that the iPhone 6 brought on more new Apple customers than any prior iPhone launch, and even led to the most instances of Android users jumping over to iPhone compared to the last three launches.

By comparison, Sony’s PlayStation 2 is the best-selling home video game console of all time with more than 150 million units shipped to date.

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After taking 2014 off, the core Need for Speed series is making a comeback this year with a brand new title from Ghost Games in Sweden. While Electronic Arts has yet to officially announce this game, we now know a little more about it, at least regarding how far along in development it is.

During a recent earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed that the game will launch this year, and teased that it is “already looking spectacular.” Unfortunately, he didn’t say anything more about the game.

2014 was the first year without a new, core Need for Speed title release in over a decade. In May 2014, EA confirmed that it would not launch new entry in the franchise until 2015 so that the project could have an “extended development window.”

Ghost Games GM Marcus Nilsson said in May 2014: “We are already deep in development on our next game and want to make this promise to you: we will listen to you. We’re going to give you the game you’ve been asking for. It will be the game you deserve, but to do that will take us some time,” he said.

Nilsson further boasted about the game at the time, describing it as “highly innovative” and an “experience built on a foundation we know you’ll greatly look forward to.”

In addition to the new title from Ghost Games, EA plans to release Need for Speed: No Limits, a free-to-play racing game for mobiles, later this year.

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During this week’s Electronic Arts earnings call, CFO Blake Jorgensen talked more about the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront game, which is in development at Battlefield series studio DICE.

Jorgensen confirmed that the shooter is due to launch before Christmas 2015. More specifically, the game aims to be “aligned with” Star Wars Episode VII — The Force Awakens, which arrives on December 18, he said.

DICE’s new Star Wars: Battlefront is not directly based on the upcoming movie from J.J. Abrams, though it will share some general universe themes, characters, and items. In previous teaser trailers and images, DICE has revealed that the game will take players to locations such as Hoth and Endor, and feature vehicles such as AT-ATs and speeder bikes, among other things.

About the game in general, Jorgensen said DICE will share more about the project in the coming months. He went on to say that Battlefront’s launch this year will be a “very large activity” for EA overall, on level with the company’s blockbuster Battlefield series.

“We’re extremely excited about that,” Jorgensen said about Battlefront. “We think there’s huge potential for that title. More to come in the next couple of months on that as more about the movie comes out as well as more about our title comes out. You should consider that a very large activity for us [this year] and a very large focus–similar to how we’ve thought about Battlefields in the past.”

Battlefront is not the only new Star Wars game EA is currently working on. The developer’s Visceral Games studio is also producing an entry in the series, rumored to be an open-world game. EA has even hired longtime Naughty Dog creative director Amy Hennig to work on the title.

EA and Star Wars franchise owner Disney signed a ten-year, multi-title deal in 2013 that makes the Mass Effect publisher the exclusive creator of new Star Wars games.

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Nintendo managed to sell 3 million Wii U consoles worldwide during the final nine months of 2014, marking only a slight increase from the 2.4 million sold in the same period of 2013.

The new figures bring the Wii U’s total lifetime sales to 9.2 million, an indication that, despite key releases such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros for Wii U, Nintendo is still struggling to push forward with its troubled system.

By comparison, the original Wii had surpassed 44 million sales worldwide after its third Christmas on the market. Sony’s PlayStation 4 passed 18.5 million by its second Christmas, and although Microsoft hasn’t recently revealed detailed sales numbers, it had shipped 10 million Xbox Ones worldwide before December.

However, the tie-ratios for key Wii U games are strong. Mario Kart 8 has sold 4.8 million units, meaning more than half of Wii U owners have purchased the game. Meanwhile, Super Smash Bros for Wii U managed to sell 3.4 million units.

Nintendo 3DS sales fell significantly during the nine-month period, due in part to gamers in Europe and North America awaiting the release of the New Nintendo 3DS model. In total, some 7 million 3DS units shipped worldwide during the three quarters, down from the 11.6 million sold during the same period last year.

Of that number, sales of the New Nintendo 3DS in Japan–which launched in October–accounted for 1.8 million (0.6m for the smaller model, 1.2 for the XL). Despite slower sales, the handheld nevertheless passed a key lifetime sales milestone of 50 million units.

Key 3DS software performed handsomely, with Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire selling 9.35 million units, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS hitting 6.19 million.

The combined performance of the 3DS and Wii U, along with its software, is expected to pull Nintendo out of an annual loss for the first time since 2010. Total sales for the year are revised down slightly, by 7 percent, to $4.7 billion, while profit expected to reach $505 million, compared to the $200 million loss last year.

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Hifumi Kono, creator of cult-classic horror game series Clock Tower, has partnered with film director Takashi Shimizu to launch a Kickstarter for horror game Project Scissors: NightCry. Shimizu is best known for directing horror film The Grudge, an adaptation of his Ju-on series.

Project Scissors: NightCry has a crowd-funding goal of $300,000 and is being developed by Japanese studio Nude Maker. The studio includes staff who have worked on the Silent Hill, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and Halo series. Project Scissors: NightCry was originally planned for launch on Vita, iOS, and Android, and the Kickstarter brings the game to PC. The addition of other platforms is also a possibility.

Project Scissors: NightCry was first announced last year. A live-action teaser directed by Shimizu was revealed earlier this month with the new NightCry name. For more on how the game is the spiritual successor to Clock Tower, check out GameSpot’s interview with Kono and Shimizu. Check out the gallery below for screenshots of the game.

Disclosure: I am a horror game aficionado and have backed this project.

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