Category: Gamespot

United States president Barack Obama on Monday spoke out about the importance of an open Internet, calling on the Federal Communications Commission to keep net neutrality intact. He has urged the government agency to not allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block or throttle access to the Internet, which he says is “essential to the American economy.”

“There should be no gatekeepers between you and your favorite online sites and services,” a statement posted to the White House press site reads.

“And as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers new rules for how to safeguard competition and user choice, we cannot take that principle of net neutrality for granted,” it added. “Ensuring a free and open Internet is the only way we can preserve the Internet’s power to connect our world.”

Net neutrality has been a hotly debated topic, and it could have ties to gaming as more and more games become online-centric. All Internet traffic should be treated equally, net neutrality supporters say. Meanwhile, advocates for a different set of rules suggest that a “toll road” system should be implemented for companies with high traffic requirements.

As GameSpot sister site CNET notes, this has led to concerns that ISPs could intentionally diminish bandwidth speeds for some while offering better connections for others.

Under the terms of a new plan, Obama has asked the FCC to reclassify the Internet as a utility, because for most Americans “the Internet has become an essential part of everyday communication.”

“We cannot allow Internet service providers to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas,” he added.

Obama’s plan would have some “clear, monitored” exceptions for specialized services such as Internet access at hospitals, the president said.

The FCC is an independent agency, with the power to make decisions on its own. It’s unclear when the group will announce its new set of rules, though CNET reports that it might not be until 2015.

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Assassin’s Creed Unity pushes the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to their technical limits, according to creative director Alex Amancio. Speaking during the latest episode of Major Nelson Radio, Amancio boasted about the game: “We really harnessed every ounce of power from both these consoles as much as we could.”

One way Unity pushes things beyond what was possible in previous entries in the series comes down the number of simultaneous on-screen non-player characters it can support. Amancio said past Assassin’s Creed games had 200 on-screen NPCs, but Unity pushes this up to 5,000 or more.

One scene in particular boosts this even further to an incredible 10,000 on-screen NPCs, Amancio said. And these characters aren’t windowdressing. “These are real AI NPCs,” Amancio said, adding that you’ll be able to interact with each and every one.

Unity also features advancements to lighting and shading, which together will allow for a “completely new layer of realism,” Amancio said. In-game textures and materials also benefited from the beefed up horsepower of the Xbox One and PS4, which will now react to light sources as they would in real life.

Another step forward is the fact that Unity features no loading within the game’s virtual depiction of Paris. This means you’ll be able to seamlessly walk into buildings, travel to the Parisian underground system, and launch into missions.

On top of this, Amancio says that one in every four buildings in Unity’s version of Paris features a fully fleshed out interior with characters to meet and objectives to take on. These buildings have so much detail that tables are even set with forks and knives, Amancio explained.

What’s more, Unity’s version of Paris will feature most of landmarks you’d expect to see, including their interiors, Amancio said. Overall, Amancio explained that “the list goes on and on” regarding the technical prowess of Unity for new consoles.

“We could not have made this game [for] previous-generation consoles,” he concluded.

The game will run at 30fps, but the final resolution has not yet been confirmed. In October, Unity senior producer Vincent Pontbriand said the game would run in 900p across Xbox One and PS4 as a means to avoid “debates.” Ubisoft has since released a statement that clarified that the final specs for the game have not been confirmed.

Unity launches November 11 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Another game, Assassin’s Creed Rogue, will also be released on that day, but it’s coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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If you were holding out for a Diablo massively multiplayer online game, we have some bad news for you. It’s not happening, according to Diablo lead content designer Kevin Martens. Speaking with Kotaku at Blizzcon 2014, Martens admitted that Blizzard Entertainment was at one time enthusiastic about a Diablo MMO, though the developer has since fallen out of love with that idea.

“There’s no discussion about a Diablo MMO anymore,” Martens said. “It was a really interesting idea back when we were into it, but I think Diablo has a really strong fantasy on its own. Having a thousand people playing it with you on a server doesn’t dramatically increase it. We’ve learned to love the smaller, more focused party experience of four people. And some people are like, ‘Why don’t you do five?’ I mean, we could, but kinda built the game around four people in mind. So the temptation of expanding the social circle has fallen by the wayside as we learned more about what we enjoy about Diablo.”

“Even if we stay in the realm of action-RPGs with randomization, there’s no shortage of things you can do with that. The future is bright” — Kevin Martens

If not an MMO, then what does the future of Diablo hold? According to Martens, games like Destiny, and others, show that there are still many opportunities for developers to explore with regards to how they can innovate on well-established gameplay formulas.

“I think people tend to take different components of the classic Diablo formula and combine them in new ways, as do we,” he said. “Like, what Destiny’s trying to do with loot and replayability and a futuristic setting in a shooter environment. That’s a really interesting way to do it. Going bigger is certainly one way to go, but there’s also games like [indie roguelike platformer] Rogue Legacy, which emphasizes the randomness.”

“Even if we stay in the realm of action-RPGs with randomization, there’s no shortage of things you can do with that. The future is bright,” he added. “And I think not every game has to be like Diablo. After Diablo II there was a period where a bunch of games were a lot like it, but then people decided to try different things. And Diablo III came out of that environment in that it’s both very similar and very different.”

GameSpot also caught up with Martens recently. He explained to us why Diablo III does not allow cross-platform play and gave an explanation as to why Seasons aren’t supported on consoles.

For more everything related to Blizzcon 2014, check out GameSpot’s roundup of all the big news.

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While Rocksteady Studios has not locked down a final resolution or frame rate for 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight–the “ultimate Batman simulator“–the developer now says it’s aiming for graphical parity across all platforms. The reveal came as part of a recent livestream when Rocksteady Studios was asked specifically about the resolution and frame rate for PlayStation 4 version of the game.

“We don’t know yet,” a Rocksteady developer said. “We’re about six months away from going gold. So we don’t know what the resolution and the frame rate’s going to be yet. That’s something that happens during the optimization phase of the game. We’re aiming for parity across all platforms. Whatever it is, it’s going to be awesome.”

Arkham Knight is the third game in the series from Rocksteady, following the original Arkham Asylum (2009) and Arkham City (2011). Last year’s Arkham Origins was developed by Warner Bros. Montreal.

The game was originally targeted to launch this fall, but publisher Warner Bros. delayed it to 2015. The game is now scheduled to launch in June 2015 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Batman superfans and collectors might also be interested in a $200 Arkham Knight special edition that comes with a model Batmobile.

Arkham Knight is one of the many 2015 titles Sony is showing off during its PlayStation Experience event in December. For more on Akham Knight, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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It’s not just the graphics that are being updated for Halo 2‘s upcoming re-release through Xbox One game, Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The 2004 game’s soundtrack has been adapted and re-recorded, and 343 Industries chose award-winning Star Wars sound studio Skywalker Sound to help with the job.

343 Industries partnered with Skywalker Sound to update Halo 2’s score, which was originally created by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori, Microsoft explains on the Xbox Wire. The San Francisco Opera Chorus also contributed to the soundtrack, as you can see in the image above.

In addition, the Halo 2 Anniversary soundtrack features new music from progressive metal band Periphery’s Misha Mansoor and guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. You can see some images from the recording process in the gallery below.

The Halo 2 Anniversary soundtrack will be released tomorrow alongside The Master Chief Collection. You’ll be able to buy it digitally, or on vinyl or CD. You can preorder the iTunes version today for $15.

For more on The Master Chief Collection, check out GameSpot’s review-in-progress.

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Destiny developer Bungie has outlined a raft of tweaks and changes coming to the first-person shooter through future updates. Writing as part of the latest Bungie Weekly Update, the developer explained that the updates will introduce, among other things, a way to preview items before you spend Glimmer, arena adjustments, and other various bug and technical fixes.

“We’re inbound with several bundles of joy in our hold,” Bungie said about the upcoming updates. “They’ll land in the weeks to come. Some of them will give everyone new things to do and earn. Some of them will prepare the world you’ve conquered for some new arrivals, and push the boundaries. Your level of engagement will be up to you. Each of us finds our own level in Destiny.”

In addition to the new changes for everyone, Bungie will release Destiny’s first expansion–The Dark Below–on December 9 across all platforms. It introduces all manner of new content, including new locations, weapons, and other gear. The full update list, courtesy of Bungie, is below.

• Channels for talking to matchmade teammates, if you so wish
• Exotic weapons that are stronger and more interesting to upgrade
• New gear to let you slip into something a little more Legendary
• That which waits in The Dark Below
• New shaders for your gear
• Ways to preview items before you spend your Glimmer
• Greater chances of “showers” in public spaces
• Adjustments to some arenas that needed better traffic flow
• New economies to equip you with upgrade materials
• Fixes, patches, and other invisible technical evolutions
• Some other tricks up our sleeve
• Maybe even a more generous Cryptarch (he’ll still be sort of a bastard)

“Those are the broad strokes,” Bungie cautioned. “More detail is on the way. There will be Dev Notes and Patch Notes and love notes on our forum to explain what we mean, why we’re doing this, how it will all go down, and why we think it’s awesome. For now, we just wanted to let you know we’ve been thinking about you, and working on some game changers we hope you’ll enjoy.”

Destiny launched on September 9 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. The game has more than 9.5 million “registered users,” publisher Activision announced last week. For more on Destiny, check out GameSpot’s review and what other critics are saying.

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