Author: Branden Page 17 of 22

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Monday 1-8-18: DragonBall Specs, Fortnite Lag, MH Beta, Belgium, and GDQ.

On January 9, 2018

So much weekend news! Jeeeez. Here’s everything from both today and the 2 days prior.

Dragonball FighterZ PC Specs Revealed
Epic Addresses Recent Fortnite Issues
Monster Hunter World Gets One Final Beta
Belgium Clarifies its Previous Lootbox Statement
Controversy with the GDQ Twitch Chat

Dragonball FighterZ Specs
Bandai Namco have announced the minimum and required specs for Dragonball FighterZ. They are as follows:
Minimum Requirements

Windows 7/8/10 (64bit OS)
AMD FX-4350, 4.2 GHz/Intel Core i5-3470, 3.20 GHz
4 GB RAM
Radeon HD 6870, 1GB/GeForce GTX 650 Ti, 1 GB
DirectX11
DirectX Compatible Soundcard/chipset

Recommended Requirements

Windows 7/8/10 (64bit OS)
AMD Ryzen 5 1400, 3.2GHz/Intel Core i7-3770, 3.40 GHz
8 GB RAM
Radeon HD 7870, 2GB/GeForce GTX 660, 2GB
DirectX11
DirectX Compatible Soundcard/chipset

This is for PC, if you hadn’t guessed.

Epic Explains Fortnite Issues
Recently there has been a technical vulnerability called Meltdown. This bug allowed you to access CPU processes one would otherwise not be allowed to access. When Epic updated their cloud software to protect themselves from the bug, it caused a huge spike in CPU usage. This has resulted in gameplay issues and login issues. Epic apologizes for the problems, and is working towards fixing it as soon as they can.

Yet Another Monster Hunter Beta
That’s right, another one. This one will be from January 18 at 6:00 PM PST until January 21 at 6:00 PM PST. Only PlayStation members will be able to participate. This is only a few days before the game’s console release of January 26. There will be new monsters in this beta session, including the game’s flagship monster, the Nergigante. I’m sold on this game at this point, though some early game time is certainly fine by me.

Capcom has also announced that one of the returning beasts to Monster Hunter World will be the Deviljho, the powerful monster known for eating its own severed tail.

Belgium Clarifies They’re Plans
Last year we heard that Belgium’s gaming commission is looking to ban loot boxes in video games because they are gambling. Recently they have clarified that they have not made an official conclusion, but that they are beginning investigation towards that concept. They are also looking into eSports betting. There will be more to report on this once the gaming commission reaches a conclusion.

GDQ Chat Causes Controversy
At This year’s GDQ, the organizers decided to set the official Twitch stream into Sub Only mode in order to reduce spam and make it easier to moderate. They stated that all sub earnings would be donated to charity. Regardless, people were unhappy they had to pay to chat, so people flooded over to account channels made purely with the intent of hosting GDQ and allowing users to chat as they want. Funny enough, one major host account, GDQ_Poverty, was flooded with hateful comments and remarks, resulting in the channel being banned. Its a big mess, you can read more about it in the news post I wrote here.

So… Much.. News…
Today was a rough day. My day job ran 2 hours longer than normal, and as you can see, lots of weekends news. Forgive me if my writing isn’t its strongest. I finished a new longform article about mobile apps that are video game styled life organizers, you can read about it here. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest news. Otherwise I’m writing to a brick wall. Otherwise, have a great night!

Friday 1-5-18: Mad Catz, Paladins: Battlegrounds, Burnout Paradise HD, and Pokemon GO in China.

By Branden

On January 5, 2018

In daily update, News

Friday is here and I cannot be happier its the weekend. Work killed me this week. Here’s the news.

Mad Catz is making a comeback
Paladins announced a Battle Royale mode
Burnout Paradise HD Remaster in Japan
Pokemon GO in China

Mad Catz Cant Stop won’t Stop
The popular gaming peripheral creator was 27 years old last year when they filed for bankruptcy. This caused an upset stir amongst gamers, who had grown to know the Mad Catz brand as that controller you’re parents would get when they didn’t want to buy officially licensed controllers. Turns out they’re not done yet. A video announcement was made saying that Mad Catz is back again, this time branding themselves as high-end gaming gear to compete with brands like Razor. GG Mad Catz, keep on living the dream.

Paladins: Battlegrounds
That title sounds like a joke, but it isn’t. Paladins have announced that they are working to release a new update to the game, featuring a new game mode called Battlegrounds. As you may expect, this is a battle royale style game mode, pitting 100 players against each other to be the last one standing. The free-to-play aspect of Paladins attracted many fans to the hero shooter, though it looks like being the poor man’s Overwatch wasn’t enough. Personally, I’m fairly disinterested in this bandwagoning. You can watch the announcement trailer here.

Burnout Paradise HD
Early December we heard rumors of an HD remake of the open world racing game coming to consoles worldwide. the rumors were based on retailer listings. Now EA has announced that a Burnout Paradise HD Remaster will be coming to PlayStation 4 in Japan on March 16. While it seems the rumors are true, this brings up the question. What about the rest of the world? Its possibly Sony manages an exclusivity deal, though we really have nothing but speculation to go on right now. Maybe time will tell. I used to play Paradise, great game.

Pokemon GO in China
The mobile game was originally banned in China due to government concerns. Niantic has recently announced that they are partnering with Chinese publisher NetEase to bring the game to the country. They are looking to make the game ready by the second half of 2018. Good for China.

That’s all! Thank goodness. I’d love to say how ready I am to relax this weekend, but I have a hefty backlog of journalism work to catch up on. Tomorrow will be a pretty long day of work as well. Though I derive much more enjoyment from this job than my day job. My favorite part is writing your you, the reader! Check back Monday to hear what cool news has happened this weekend. Otherwise, have a great night!

Thursday 1-4-18: Rocket League Milestones and Several Steam Awards

By Branden

On January 4, 2018

In daily update, News

Thursday has descended upon us like a mighty rain. Here’s the news, it’s not much.

Rocket League hits 40 million players
The 2017 Steam Awards winners are announced

40 Million Rocket Cars
That’s right, the news is essentially in the title. Rocket League has recently announced via their twitter that there are 40 million players. Granted, this likely includes the instances of singular people purchasing the game for multiple systems. Even then, that is an incredible accomplishment. Congratulations, Psyonix.

The 2017 Steam Game Awards
Last year Steam started having community voting based awards for games. These awards aren’t just “best RPG” or anything, but eccentric titles like “Soul of Vitruvius.” Well, the second annual Steam Awards have concluded, and all the winners are more or less what you’d expect. You can read the award list for yourself here.

That’s all there is today. Mild, I know. I’m thinking about removing the Amazon ads, as they aren’t really what I’m wanting. we will see. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest and greatest in video game news. Otherwise, have a great night!

Wednesday 1-3-18: PUBG Plagiarism, Monster Hunter PC, and LawBreakers Blamed PUBG

By Branden

On January 3, 2018

In daily update, News

Wednesday. Have I made a joke about how NES is in the middle of Wednesday? A joke as old as the NES is itself. Here’s the news.

Microsoft takes down the plagiarized advertisement
Monster Hunter: World on PC gets a release window, kinda
LawBreaker’s publisher blames PUBG on its failure

Plagiarized PUBG Ad
A few months ago, Reddit user macsterr created a concept for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on Xbox One (on the left). This ad was a player standing in a field growing out of the top of the console. A while after that, Microsoft posted a very similar ad (on the right) on their Twitter. Macsterr called them out about it, and now they’ve taken the ad down. Xbox frontman Major Nelson apologized for the situation and has said he is contacting macsterr. someone got fired, for sure.

Monster Hunter: World on PC
The Monster Hunter Twitter posted a video of producer Ryozo Tsujimoto thanking everyone for their support and feedback, and telling us that after the console release on January 26, free updates will happen that will contain new monsters. He also tells us that the estimates time for the PC port is “Autumn 2018.” Buckle up PC gamers, you got a while still.

PUBG is why LawBreakers Failed
Oh boy, do I have opinions here. LawBreakers released earlier this year, and it was met with an extremely mild reception. Turns out the world didn’t need another hero shooter, especially one that felt overly edgy and otherwise bland. When investors asked the publisher in a Q3 conference call why something they funded did so poorly, financial executive Shiro Uemura was there to shine some light.

“Our results in North America in the third quarter were below our outlook, mainly due to the sales from LawBreakers being below our expectations. LawBreakers is a unique FPS developed for core users. We had very high expectations for its launch; however, the timing of its launch turned out to be unfortunate, specifically the blockbuster PC online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds came out right about the same time, making the market environment very tough for first-person shooters in general and for LawBreakers.”

… Seriously? PUBG isn’t even the same genre as LawBreakers, not to mention it came out months before that did. Nor does this explain LawBreakers’ poor console sales, which PUBG wasn’t available on at the time. Overwatch is years old, and it has more reasoning to have hindered this game than PUBG would. The problem was that it was a boring and poorly balanced game. Boy got me heated over this bogusness.

Saltiness aside, today was a nice news day. I’m trying out having pictures with each topic, let me know if its a good of bad change. I’m using a phone app called LifeRPG to try and keep myself more organized, so I should be better about consistency. I’m thinking about writing an article about these kinds of apps. I digress. Be sure to check back tomorrow for more of the worthwhile content that is video game news. Otherwise, have a great night!

Tuesday 1-2-18: EarthBound Cookbook, VAC Drama, Devs Acquire Devs, and Happy New Year

By Branden

On January 2, 2018

In daily update, News

Tuesday is here and we are official in 2018! Here’s the first news of the year.

EarthBound Inspired Cook Book
Chaos with Steam’s VAC protection
Sumo Digital Acquires CCP Newcastle

EarthBound CookBook
With the new year upon us, I was struggling to find newsworthy content. One thing I managed to dig up is Mother’s Cookbook. This is a book of recipes is inspired by the Nintendo RPG, EarthBound. Made by game-loving chef Bryan Connor, the book’s name is based on the game’s Japanese name, Mother 2. The book contains recipes for items like Down-Home Burgers and Mach Pizza. The Kickstarter for the book has already tripled its goal, with 8 days remaining. You can see Connor’s gaming food blog, lvl 1 chef, here.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/motherscookbook/mothers-cookbook-an-earthbound-inspired-cookbook

VAC Confusion
Recently there was a number of reports that any Linux based Team Fortress 2 players with “catbot” in the name would be automatically banned. The forums in which this was reported had a number of other users confirming this to be true. This caused a mild uproar at the lazy efforts of VAC to inhibit the popularized cheat software, catbot. Later on, an official Valve employee would confirm that this was incorrect. He stated that they are NOT automatically banning the name and that he suspects that this was an effort from the cheating community to build discord and distrust for the anti-cheat system. This is why it’s important to get the facts straight before jumping on the news wagon.

Sumo Digital Acquires CCP Newcastle
The developers of a large number of major titles (Hitman, dead island 2, LittleBigPlanet 3) has acquired studio CCP Newcastle. When financial support was lost towards their last project, the VR space fighting game Eve: Valkyrie, CCP announced that they would be closing and consolidating. Now known as Sumo Digital Newcastle, the focus of the studio remains undeclared. Though I can assume that Eve: Valkyrie will lose support.

Thank you, everyone, for having patience in this holiday time. I look forward to regaining some regularity. One 2018 goal is to have 1 longform article posted to the site here once a month (with 3 longforms for my client site, gamerzunite.com the rest of the month) So stay tuned for that. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest and greatest in gaming news. Otherwise, have a great night!

Thursday 12-28-17: Star Citizen and Gran Turismo 6

By Branden

On December 28, 2017

In daily update, News

Thursday is here and I’m still garbage at staying consistent! Here’s the news:

Star Citizen Alpha Patch 3.0.0
Gran Turismo 6 Online Service is Closing

Star Citizen Update
A long-awaited update for the spacefaring game has finally been released. Known as Alpha Patch 3.0.0, is the largest one the game has seen in several years. The most notable changes include 3 new moons, atmospheric flight, enhanced cockpit interaction for pilots, 20 new missions, and AI for non-player characters such as shopkeepers. You can read the full update details at their site here.

Gran Turismo 6 Offline
In a recent announcement, we learn that Gran Turismo 6 will be losing its online functionality. The game’s online mode will be shut down on March 28, 2018. On January 31 you will no longer be able to purchase any digital content for it. This also means the mobile companion app, Track Path Editor, will no longer function as well.

The holiday week is proving to be a hectic one. Yet not that much interesting news is springing up. Regardless, check back tomorrow for more news! Until then, have a great night!

Tuesday 12-26-17: Ubisoft AI, Super Mario ROMs, Switch’s Golf Game Gone, and ARMS’ Final Update

By Branden

On December 26, 2017

In daily update, News

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you had a good gift-giving season and will have fun on New Years. Heres some news from the last few days.

Ubisoft starts up an AI research facility
Super Mario Land 2 DX releases
The Golf game hidden in the Switch is removed
ARMS updates for the last time

La Forge, Ubisoft’s AI Facility
Ubisoft is looking to merge together the gap between gaming AI research, and scientific AI research with their new facility, La Forge. The gimmick here is that Ubisoft staff and academics will work together to help make advancements in AI. some of which will be used on their games, some of which that will be released academically. This is supposed to be mutually beneficial, though it’s too soon to know how well it works.

Super Mario Land 2 DX
Super Mario Land 2 was considered much better than the more popular predecessor, but it was still flawed. Fans have banded together to create a ROM hack of the game that has some notable changes. The biggest one being that it has been converted into full color. They also fixed the input lag and even added Luigi as a playable character. I always love seeing passion projects completed. You can see the ROM for yourself here.
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3784/

NES Gone
A while back, gamers discovered that by performing certain actions, a motion control version of the classic NES Golf could be played within the Nintendo Switch’s software. Many believed this to be a homage to the late Nintendo CEO, Satoru Iwata. In a recent firmware update, that easter egg has now been removed. The removal as equally unknown as its inclusion.
I actually have a copy of NES Golf, its one of my favorite NES games. After Iwata’s passing, I wrote his name and dates on the back as a tribute. Rest in Peace Iwata, you are missed.

ARMS update
The popular Switch fighting game, ARMS, had updated to version 5.0. This new version includes a new character, the Scientific CEO madwoman, Dr. Coyle (she’s my favorite for sure). Unfortunately alongside this update is the announcement that from here on out, ARMS would only receive balance patches and no more additional content. This is a shame for ARMS players, what few there are.

Thanks for reading again! no news yesterday because its Christmas, the same can be assumed for next Monday on New Years, depends on how free I am.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more of the latest and greatest in gaming news. Until then, have a great night!

Thursday 12-21-17: iOS Loot Boxes, Stardew Valley Update, and Psychonauts 2 Delays

By Branden

On December 21, 2017

In daily update, News

Thursday.
That’s it. I tried to think of a funny quip, came up with nothing. Here’s the news!

Apple Changes iOS Guidelines for Lootboxes
Stardew Valley Dev Lists Upcoming Changes
Psychonauts 2 is Delayed

Apple Guidelines
In a recent change to the iOS guidelines, app developers are required to display the odds of loot boxes if they are purchasable with microtransactions. Odds are this is to comply with Chinese regulations, something Valve and many other developers have had to conform to in order to have their games in China. The downside to this is that it only pertains to direct purchase loot boxes, so any randomized crate like items purchased via premium currency are not required to follow this rule.

Stardew Valley Updates
Developer ConcernedApe recently tweeted out some details about what to expect with the upcoming update to Stardew Valley. They are as follows:

some things I've added for the new content update:
*new "town event" in winter
*new type of collection that you can start in your first winter
*Signs (can display any item on them)
*More outdoor decorations (some change w/ season)
*More NPC "events"
*A way to re-spec professions

— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) December 20, 2017

The game has been received warmly on the Switch, but regardless what you’re playing on, expect these changes soon.

Psychonauts 2 Delay
Double Fine Productions announced in a backer update post that the scope of the game has exceeded what previously expected and that the game will not be ready by 2018. They don’t have a solid release timeframe, but we know it isn’t next year. In the same update, they detail some of the protagonist’s family. You can see all of this here.

Thanks for reading, everyone! It makes me happy that I can write about the things I’m passionate about, and I’m glad that you all can share in that with me. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the last post of the week. Odds are there won’t be a post Monday since its Christmas. I might, if I have time. Otherwise, Have a great night!

Wednesday 12-20-17: ARMS Update, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, PUBG, and Steam Blocked in China

By Branden

On December 20, 2017

In daily update, News

Wednesday! It’s been a rough week. Here’s the news:

ARMS getting another update soon
Life is Strange: Before the Storm finished
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds official release
Steam Community is blocked in China

ARMS Update 5.0
A new trailer was posted recently announcing that ARMS will be receiving yet another update. The trailer focused on teasing some metal woman with green hair. The big news about it: It’s coming out this year. We have only 10 more days until its no longer 2017, and at some point between then and now, this update will release.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm
The 3rd episode of the second Life is Strange game has been released, and with it comes the conclusion of the game’s series. It also comes with a special edition that contains a bonus episode. A trailer was released announcing all this, which can be seen here.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds version 1.0
The official release of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds version 1.0 has been released. The update will include a new game map, a new replay feature, and some bug fixes and other improvements. Congrats to one of the biggest games of the year.

Steam Community Blocked in China
According to Greatfire.org, a website dedicated to the censorship of the internet in China, the steam community URLs are being blocked entirely. Chinese users cannot participate in any community interaction. They can still purchase and play Steam games, at least.

I’m sorry for my lack of consistency as of late. I’ve had to focus on work more lately, and my personal site has been put on the sidelines due to that. This will possibly continue until the new year. The holidays are a busy time. Thanks for your patience, have a great night!

Video Games are the Greatest Art Form

By Branden

On December 15, 2017

In articles, Feature

The idea of video games as art has been a minor topic of discussion for over a decade. As the capabilities of video games expanded, so have the ideas of what constitutes a video game. For years, video games have been used not as an entertainment medium, but as a creative one. Where does that line stand? At what point can you call a video game “art?”

You can read the full article at the other site I write for, gamerzunite.com, just click here.

Sorry for the bait and switch, but paid writing jobs are a priority, all I can do is link you to them. Personally, I think this is one of my favorite articles Ive written yet. It’s something I very strongly believe in.

Thursday 12-14-17: Pokemon Crystal, The Walking Dead, and Private Division

By Branden

On December 14, 2017

In daily update, News

Thursday is here, and so is some more news!

Pokemon Crystal on 3DS eShop
Overkill’s The Walking Dead Trailer
Take-Two announces Private Division

Pokemon Crystal
Hype was made last year when Nintendo released a digital version of Pokemon Red and Blue for the 3DS eShop. This features the ability to trade and battle wirelessly, as well as interact with the Pokemon Bank to store your Pokemon. Recently Nintendo announced a release date for Pokemon Crystal for the 3DS eShop. This is more or less what I described above, but with Pokemon Crystal. It will release on the 3DS eShop for $9.99 on January 26. There’s also a trailer for it you can watch here.

Overkill’s The Walking Dead
A new trailer was released teasing the upcoming The Walking Dead game being developed by Overkill. The video follows a young black adult by the name of Aiden. It goes from his stressful life of metropolitan business to zombie-ridden streets. The trailer does an amazing job of portraying that “I’m sick of my life and would rather be a zombie killing badass” we all have felt at one point in our lives. You can watch it here.

Private Division
Take-Two, the publisher of games like Grand Theft Auto V, has announced a new publishing label called Private Division. This label will have a special focus on indie developers. It will begin with Kerbal Space Program, which Take-Two acquired back in May. They have a trailer announcing the label, you can see it here.

An interesting collection of news, though I don’t have many thoughts about it this time. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest news stuff and things. Otherwise, have a great night!

Wednesday 12-13-17: Frank Ocean, Predator, and Fez iOS

By Branden

On December 14, 2017

In daily update, News

Its Wednesday and boy are my arms tired. Here’s the news:

Frank Ocean is a GTA: Online DJ
Predator is in Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Fez in on iOS

Grand Theft Ocean
Grand Theft Auto: Online has a new update called “Doomsday Heist” that features a number of weirdly high tech items. But this news post isn’t about that, it’s about the new radio station that will also be coming with this update. Blonded Los Santos 97.8 FM is a new radio station heavily inspired by Frank Oceans most recent album, Blonde. And it better be! The DJ of this new station is Frank Ocean himself! Be sure to check out the station full of new tunes when you can

Ghost Recon: Predator
A new event is coming for Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Starting on December 14 and going until early January, players can participate in the hunt for the most dangerous game, Predator. The classic movie antagonist has become your newest target. This event will also include new content for you to enjoy, such as a wrist blade, a Predator helmet, and a new PVP class inspired by everyone’s favorite muscle man. Be sure to check it out tomorrow. Until then, you can watch the announcement trailer for the event here.

Fez on iOS
Remember that neat puzzle platformer from 2013? At long last, it has been ported to iOS. This isn’t the most surprising news, as the port was teased earlier this year. The game was made by Phil Fish, which some may remember as the guy who got into a heated argument with a journalist that prompted him to cancel the Fez sequel and retire from development. Either way, you can now get Fez on iOS for $4.99.

That’s all the news for today, be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest and greatest in gaming news. Otherwise, have a great night!