Category: Gamespot

Electronic Arts has revealed the latest project in its longstanding Need For Speed series, in development for smartphones and tablets.

Need for Speed No Limits, due to launch some time in 2015, is being developed by the Melbourne, Australia based studio Firemonkeys. Key features have yet to be announced, though a representative for the studio said No Limits has been built from scratch “to deliver the insanely-fast driving and incredible graphics that fans have come to expect from Need for Speed–all in the palm of your hand.”

Firemonkeys was the outcome of a merger, which took place in 2012, between two EA development studios in Australia. The group was responsible for Real Racing 3, a popular and highly polished racing game that stirred controversy due to its free-to-play mechanics.

It is not clear yet whether No Limits will be a free-to-play title.

“The team at Firemonkeys has also been bringing Need for Speed to mobile gamers for years, and it’s an honor and a privilege to once again get behind the wheel of this incredible franchise and redefine street racing on mobile,” read a post on the EA blog.

“We’re constantly amazed by the power and performance we’re able to get out of the latest phones and tablets and think you will be too.”

A trailer for the new racer can be found above, with new artwork published below.

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Megaretailer Walmart has announced a special, pre-Black Friday sale, which kicks off tomorrow, and features good deals on PlayStation 4 hardware and a variety of games.

Beginning tomorrow, November 21, Walmart will give you a $50 in-store gift card with a purchase of a standard PlayStation 4. With so many new games out now, you shouldn’t have trouble spending it.

Walmart is also marking down a variety of games and Skylanders packs during the promo. See the image below or Walmart’s website for more. These deals are good November 21-27, leading up to Black Friday.

For more Walmart deals, check out our roundup of the retailer’s huge variety of Black Friday gaming discounts.

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Microsoft has reached one million Xbox One sales in the UK following a string of high-profile game releases and targeted marketing campaigns.

The next-gen system, which now typically retails for £100 less than its launch price, has managed to outsell the PlayStation 4 for three weeks straight, according to MCV. Sales were bolstered by a spate of key releases, from Halo: The Master Chief Collection to Sunset Overdrive to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Sony’s PlayStation 4 reached one million UK sales at the end of the summer.

“We’re seeing fantastic momentum with Xbox One having sold almost 10 million units to retailers worldwide,” said Xbox UK marketing director Harvey Eagle.

“This momentum is reflected in the UK, particularly over the last three weeks, which is extremely encouraging as we approach the Christmas shopping period. People buy consoles to play the best games, and Xbox One is home to the best games. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is one of the highest rated next-gen console games released, Sunset Overdrive is the highest rated new franchise on any next-gen console, and Forza Horizon 2 is the highest rated driving game on any next gen console.”

Eagle added: “We have an excellent line up of games to look forward to in 2015, including Quantum Break, Fable Legends, and of course Halo 5: Guardians. With some great deals to be had on the high street, now really is the best time to be an Xbox One owner.”

The sales milestone was revealed two days ahead of the Xbox One’s year-one anniversary. To celebrate, Microsoft is giving away free content to those who have bought the system in its first twelve months.

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Ubisoft has published a set of instructions regarding how Far Cry 4 players affected by the PlayStation 3 data corruption bug can overcome the issue. Unfortunately, it’s not very pleasant.

The publisher writes on Far Cry 4’s Live Updates page that you’ll need to delete the game from your hard drive, go the PlayStation Store, and re-download an updated version of the open-world title.

The PS3 data corruption bug has only been reported for digital copies of the game. Ubisoft adds that future digital versions of Far Cry 4 on PS3 “should also not be affected by this issue.”

You can see the full instruction list for how to delete Far Cry 4 and reinstall the correct version at Ubisoft’s website.

Ubisoft also announced that it’s fixed a bug for the PC version of Far Cry 4 that caused the game to crash and go directly to a black screen when external USB devices were attached. Fans discovered they could fix the problem by disabling USB devices and select drivers, but Ubisoft has a more official fix in the pipeline.

The developer will release patch 1.4.0 for Far Cry 4 that should fix this issue entirely. This patch, which also addresses other issues, will be released tomorrow, November 21, “or in the following days.” The full patch notes will be published ahead of the update’s release.

For more on Far Cry 4, check out GameSpot’s review.

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Jagex Games Studio, the UK developer behind Runescape and Transformers Universe, today announced its next game, and it is something entirely different. Called Block N Load, it’s an online multiplayer game that combines first-person shooter elements with block-building.

“Brains are as important as bullets,” Jagex writes about the game. That’s because not only will you need to fend off enemies by shooting them, but you’ll also need to strategically construct defensive positions to keep your enemies at bay.

Jagex also says that Block N Load features destructible multiplayer environments that can change dramatically during the course of battle, a la modern Battlefield games. You’ll be able to choose from six unique heroes, including weapons-obsessed robot Cogwheel; a deadly ninja named O.P. Juan Shinobi; or Doctor Eliza Doolally, who “shuns ethics in favor of applied chemistry.”

On top of their abilities, each character can use a variety of weapons, including mines, force fields, bounce pads, glue tiles, turrets, and “giant bombs.”

Block N Load’s unique set up aims to create an experience that “demolishes preconceptions of first-person shooters.” The game is in development for PC and will launch through Steam in 2015.

A beta for the game will begin in December, and you can register now at the Block N Load website.

“We’ve been building Block N Load for a while now, and we’re immensely excited by how the game is shaping up. Block N Load represents a true departure from the type of games that Jagex is known for; it’s not browser-based, it’s not free-to-play, and it’s not an MMO,” Block N Load VP David Solari said in a statement.

For more on Block N Load, check out the image gallery below.

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Warner Bros. and Monolith have announced the Power of Defiance add-on for its Lord of the Rings action game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The expansion is free, and launches across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The DLC was not announced for the Xbox 360 and PS3 editions.

The Power of Defiance DLC adds a new character skin, Lithariel, described as the Warrior Commander of the Tribesmen of Nurn. As Lithariel, players will face off against Sauron’s forces through a new Test of Defiance challenge mode.

The DLC also packs in a new Epic Rune called Defiant to the End. This grants players an extra Last Chance to return to combat.

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming to Shadow of Mordor today through the Power of Defiance DLC.

• Play as Lithariel: daughter of Lady Marwen, Queen of Nurn
• Test of Defiance Challenge Mode: Players face the ultimate test to their warrior prowess as they defeat Sauron’s Warchiefs without cheating death or relying on the power of the Wraith.
• Epic Rune – Defiant to the End: Players gain an additional Last Chance to return to the fray in combat.

The Power of Defiance arrives as players await Shadow of Mordor’s first premium expansion, Lord of the Hunt, which is included with the game’s $25 DLC pass and should arrive by the end of 2014. You can see Lord of the Hunt in action later today during a GameSpot livestream with Monolith developers.

Shadow of Mordor was released in October for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, meanwhile, arrived on Tuesday. For more, check out GameSpot’s review of Shadow of Mordor.

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The Xbox One has added another media app to its lineup. The long-awaited HBO Go app is now available on Microsoft’s latest console, at least for some users. I was able to find the app on my console here in the United States, though it may not be available for everyone just yet.

At the moment, you need to have a subscription to a cable or satellite TV service in order to use HBO Go, but in October, HBO CEO Richard Plepler made the surprising announcement that HBO will launch as a stand-alone service in the United States next year.

Hollywood news site Variety was first today to report that the HBO Go Xbox One app was finally available. The site also notes that it supports voice and gesture commands via Kinect.

HBO Go apps are already available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This marks the first time, however, that the service is available on a current-generation console. The HBO Go app is also coming to PlayStation 4, but it’s not clear when that will be.

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The Xbox-produced documentary, Atari: Game Over, is now available to watch for free across Xbox and PC. It offers an in-depth look at the failed movie tie-in game E.T., and the situation surrounding Atari’s demise in the early 1980s, culminating with the successful New Mexico landfill excavation earlier this year.

Directed by X-Men and The Avengers writer Zak Penn, Game Over is a fascinating film that features interviews with Atari executives such as founder Nolan Bushnell, as well as E.T. creator Howard Scott Warshaw, among many others.

I wasn’t alive during the Atari 2600 heyday, the focus of the film, but Penn does a great job telling Atari’s story without it ever coming across as a boring history lesson. It’s also a very human story, as it follows Warshaw’s rise and fall from prominence, in the context of the failings of E.T.

The film bounces back and forth between telling Atari’s history and putting an end to the mystery of whether or not Atari did in fact bury thousands of games in a New Mexico landfill in September 1983. The film ends with the dump’s excavation in April this year, which we already know was fruitful.

Game Over also includes some fascinating facts about E.T. and the culture of Atari at the time. Here’s some of what I found most interesting.

• Warhsaw smoked pot on his first day of work at Atari.
• Atari had a party atmosphere in those days; the saying was: “We take fun intravenously.”
• Bushnell would throw keg parties for employees, with lots of women, if they met quotas.
• Atari 2600 games were normally made in 5-6 months, but Warshaw built E.T. in five weeks to ensure it was out by Christmas of 1983.
• A developer station was installed at Warshaw’s home so he could work on the game around the clock.
• E.T. film director Steven Spielberg met with Warshaw and approved his pitch for the game. Spielberg even played the final version of the game before its release, and approved it. He called Warshaw a “genius.”
• After bouncing around jobs, Warshaw is now a psychotherapist and says he’s enjoying life.
• Copies of E.T. actually only represented 10 percent of the total number of games buried in the New Mexico landfill.

Game Over is an excellent film and worthy of your time–and it’s only about an hour long. It’s so much more than a simple story about games buried in a landfill. You can watch Game Over today for free on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC through video.xbox.com.

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Activision announced today that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the “biggest entertainment launch” of 2014, exceeding all other video games, as well as movies, music, and books this year.

Hard sales numbers were not provided, but Activision said first-week sales and “engagement” are up compared to 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, while Season Pass sales are also ahead year-over-year.

The publisher also confirmed that Advanced Warfare is the “highest-selling digital launch” in console history, according to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network and Activision’s internal estimates.

In terms of engagement, Activision explained that Advanced Warfare gamers played more than 370 million online matches during the game’s first week. Players also leveled up more than 200 times in the game’s online multiplayer mode, Activision said, citing internal estimates.

Activision also announced today that the Call of Duty series, which launched in 2003, has now generated a whopping $10 billion in worldwide life-to-date sales. This exceeds the total box office receipts for movie franchises such as the Hunger Games, Transformers, Iron Man, and Avengers, combined, Activision said.

Advanced Warfare’s “biggest entertainment launch” of 2014 claim is based on first-week retail and digital sell-through, compared to reported movie, music, and book gross sales.

For more on Advanced Warfare, check out GameSpot’s review.

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