Latest Articles (Page 934)

We've talked elsewhere in our Google Stadia coverage about the fact that it's not a console, it's what Google calls a 'cloud native' system that leverages tight integration of gaming components in the datacentre to provide - in theory, at least - a system capable of delivering genuinely different gaming experiences, while providing a generational leap in processing power over today's consoles. That said, we should expect to see ports of multi-platform games and Google itself has already demonstrated one of them - Assassin's Creed Odyssey, delivered to the US public at the tail-end of last year for extensive beta testing. We had the chance to go hands on with the game again, running on the latest version of the streamer, and with access to Google's own controller hardware.

Streaming has proved to be one of the most disruptive technologies to hit the media landscape in the last decade. Instant, fuss-free access to movies, TV shows and music has fundamentally changed the way we watch and listen - and if Google gets its way, streaming will transform the way we play too. Today, the firm reveals itself as a new platform holder, announcing a bespoke cloud gaming system that possesses undoubted strengths - and weaknesses - compared to the current console model. Fully integrated with YouTube, and leveraging the unique strengths of its vast, worldwide infrastructure, the new system - named Stadia - has the potential to change everything.

Will Stadia work? Right now, I can't tell you. Google's game streaming service, revealed at the Game Developers' Conference this week, has the infrastructure might and engineering genius of the world's biggest tech company behind it. Early tests of the service and of last year's Project Stream prototype are encouraging; Google says it will be able to lower the 25-megabits-per-second connection requirement for Project Stream by the time of Stadia's launch later this year. That brings it within reach of the average UK home broadband connection - in theory. But until it's available at scale in the real world, in real households, with real internet usage patterns, we won't really know.

Tell me, fellow kids: have any of you ever practised kinhin walking meditation? There are probably more poetic breakdowns but basically, it's about moving very slowly, half-step to half-step, in time with your breath, while trying not to fall over. It's a pleasant way to clear your head after, oh, I don't know, a couple of hours spent banging out some hasty pre-review impressions of a forthcoming video game. And at the risk of causing your eyes to roll permanently backward into your skull, it reminds me strongly of Dark Souls.

It's pretty safe to say that Battlefield 5 performed below expectations, even though its reviews were mostly positive. With physical sales in launch week down more than half on Battlefield 1, it seemed like fans were tiring of the churn and many of them were deserting the series for the greener pastures of the ever expanding battle royale genre.

UPDATE 21/3/19: A fresh Windows Central leak has detailed the final release date for Microsoft's still under-wraps disc-less Xbox One console, named the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition.

Facebook has unveiled the Oculus Rift S, a replacement for its existing Rift virtual reality PC headset, featuring a number of notable changes to the older model, including a higher-resolution screen.

Sea of Thieves is one today, don't you know, and, to celebrate, Rare has unveiled the multiplayer pirate adventure's next big free content expansion. It's called the Anniversary Update, and is coming on April 30th.

Nintendo has unveiled Cadence of Hyrule, a wholly unexpected Crypt of the NecroDancer crossover, in which Link and Zelda tackle the forces of darkness... to a funky dance beat.

Quantic Dream's trilogy of PlayStation exclusives will soon be PlayStation exclusives no more, with Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls all coming to PC as Epic Store exclusives in the near future.

Mutant Year Zero, the much-loved XCOM-alike from developer The Bearded Ladies, is coming to Nintendo Switch later this year.

UPDATE: Starting with the announcement of Cuphead for Switch, Nintendo used today's indie game showcase to reveal a diverse range of games coming over the next few months, including Rad, a new title from Psychonauts studio Double Fine. The biggest surprise? A mash-up of Crypt of the Necrodancer and The Legend of Zelda, starring Link and Zelda themselves.

This is it. Seven years on from when we first met Clementine, we now know when we'll have to say our final goodbyes.

Another few weeks, another set of top-drawer titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's subscription-based game catalogue.

UPDATE 20/3/19: Devil May Cry 5 voice actor Joey Camen has apologised for the offensive videos he recently removed from his YouTube channel.

Remember 2008? The Dark Knight and Iron Man were in cinemas. Amy Winehouse was in the charts. And on Xbox 360, the Summer of Arcade promotion was highlighting downloadable gems such as Braid, Geometry Wars and Castle Crashers.

Have you bought the Apex Legends battle pass but dislike the loot boxes? Here's a crafty solution for you: quite literally, as players have figured out a way to swap their battle pass loot boxes for generous amounts of crafting metals.

Happy birthday, Sea of Thieves - my most-played game of 2018, and, would you believe it, my most-played game of 2019 so far. Today, Rare's piratical multiplayer sandbox adventure celebrates its first 12 months upon the waves, and - having brought the likes of giant killer sharks, marauding skeleton ships, and even a fiery hell pit of a new region beyond the Devil's Shroud - it's been quite the year.

Fancy playing Contra on your Switch? I know Martin does, as I woke up to a message from him this morning saying it had been announced.

Earlier this month, Rockstar brought a number of changes to the Red Dead Online beta with its March update: some more popular than others. Despite tweaks to the parley system, many players felt griefing was still a significant problem, and that some of the changes actually worsened the situation.

BioWare boss Casey Hudson has admitted Anthem's launch was "rougher than expected" due to various gameplay issues which did not reveal themselves until after the game was on shop shelves.

The developer of System Shock 3 has released the first teaser for the game.

The finishing touches are being applied to Resident Evil 2: Reborn, the long-awaited fan remake of Capcom's survival horror classic.

It's the game that, up until now, could never quite die: but this time The Culling is gone for real, as developer Xaviant has said the game will close its doors in May.

A new player enters the ring! Today at San Francisco's GDC, Google unveils its gaming proposition to the world. Will it be a traditional console, a streaming service or something else? Join us from 5pm GMT to find out.

Rural life sim My Time at Portia will bloom into life for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 16th April.

Surely everyone has wanted to be a hero at some point, right? I mean that's one of the reasons why we play games - so we can save the world, 'get' the girl (or boy), and generally feel good about ourselves. Rarely does anyone want to play the bad guy for long. It feels good to perform good deeds and do right by the world. It's empowering. Even in some of the grimmest first-person shooters, you still tend to be the hero, despite the fact that often happens to involve killing an awful lot of bad guys along the way.

If you've been playing The Division 2 you've probably run into its most annoying bug: skills dismantling.

It was kind of hard to miss, but last night Apex Legends season one was officially announced, with details finally shared on how the battle pass would function and the sort of rewards it would provide.

In the world of fighting games, frame data is used by advanced players who want to level up their skills. It's the numbers - a lot of numbers - that let you know how attacks actually work under the hood, how fast they are and how long it takes to recover from them after a block, among other things.