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Archived News:
Valve now offers a new
SteamVR Performance Test on Steam to see if your system is up for the rigors
of the upcoming virtual reality invasion. Word on the free utility is: "Check
whether your system is VR Ready, and if not, whether its capabilities are bound
by Graphics Card, CPU, or both." Also, there are apparently strings with
references to both Half Life 3 and Half Life 2: Source 2, as noted
on
DSOGaming (who quite rightly point out this does not mean such games are in
development). Here's word on the tool: The SteamVR Performance Test
measures your system's rendering power using a 2-minute sequence from Valves
Aperture Robot Repair VR demo. After collecting the data it determines whether
your system is capable of running VR content at 90fps and whether VR content can
tune the visual fidelity up to the recommended level. For machines that are not
VR Ready the tool can help determine whether capabilities are bound by Graphics
Card, CPU, or both.
The
website for Tom Clancy's The Division thanks the 6.4 million agents
who participated in the open beta for the upcoming third-person shooter.
UbiBlog claims
this is a record, though they don't say what game previously held that mark.
Here's word: The Division development team announced on the official site
today that over 6.4 million players participated in The Division Beta, setting
the record for an all-new brand on current generation consoles. Those 6.4
million players spent an average of five hours taking on missions and exploring
the Dark Zone – the latter proved to be an especially popular activity with
players spending an average of two hours searching for and extracting some of
the beta’s best loot.
While they were successful, the numbers show that there were probably more than
a few tense stand-offs at various extraction points in the city. Over 63 million
contaminated items were extracted out of the Dark Zone, but almost 50 percent of
the player population tried to steal loot from fellow agents by going
rogue.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment unveils a preorder program for Dark Souls III,
including pre-purchases
on Steam
for the Windows edition of FromSoftware's action/RPG sequel. Here's what they've
got: Purchase a pre-order of DARK SOULS III to receive a digital version
of the DARK SOULS III Official Soundtrack. STEAM players who already own DARK
SOULS™ and DARK SOULS™ II in their STEAM Library will receive a $5.00 discount
towards their pre-order of DARK SOULS III.
A digital Deluxe Edition of DARK SOULS III is also available for pre-order
through all three platforms. Pre-order the DARK SOULS III Deluxe Edition for
$84.99 to receive the pre-order bonuses listed above along with an additional
DARK SOULS III exclusive theme for the PlayStation 4 system and access to DARK
SOULS III Season Pass content that will expand the DARK SOULS III gameplay when
it becomes available at a later date.
Wargaming's WG Labs announces that early access to Master of Orion will
begin on February 26th, offering a first chance to check it out before all the
Xs have been crossed in this 4X space strategy game. The
Master of
Orion website now features
this trailer on the
topic along with the following details: Early Access gives you the first
hands-on of Master of Orion gameplay. Start playing February 26 by purchasing
the Collector's Edition on Steam or GoG! Visit the Steam and GoG pages to follow
our progress and start connecting with the community and development team.
The first round of Early Access on February 26 includes the core gameplay
experience and these key features:
- Six playable races
- Three victory conditions: Conquest, Diplomatic,
and Excellence
- Tactical battles
- Multiplayer
- Ship designer
- English and Russian localization and voice overs,
with additional language support arriving later in Early Access
- Playable on 64-bit Windows
Continue here to read the full story.
Konami announces an April 21st release date for a standalone UEFA EURO 2016
tournament game for consoles, saying owners of PES 2016 for Windows and
consoles will receive the dedicated UEFA EURO 2016 content as a free DLC pack on
March 24th. Here's the pitch: KONAMI secured the official UEFA EURO 2016
license last year, and all such content will be provided as additional content
absolutely free to those owning the full PES 2016 game. This year’s competition
takes place in France and will see 24 teams gather for initial group matches
before progressing to knock-out stages. Qualified teams from all over Europe
will compete for the coveted Henri Delaunay Cup, with the first game played on
June 10, and the final taking place in France’s stunning Stade de France a month
later on July 10. During this time, 50 matches will be played, showcasing
Europe’s greatest soccer talent.
KONAMI’s official UEFA EURO 2016 title will be added to PES 2016’s main menu
screen and instantly visible on loading the game. The disc-based release (Europe
only) will contain both the full PES 2016 game and UEFA EURO 2016 content. The
UEFA EURO 2016 mode will feature full iconography and presentation elements from
this year’s tournament, and also includes the Stade de France stadium, which
hosts the final in July. From the 24 qualified teams that feature real players
with hundreds of authentic player faces, 15 fully licensed teams will be
included with the latest strips for England, Wales, Germany, Spain, Portugal,
Italy, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Iceland, Turkey, Albania,
Northern Ireland and host France, all perfectly recreated. All squads will also
be in line with those of the qualifying nations with the various playing styles
perfectly replicated via the game’s innovative Player ID and Team ID systems,
which mimic the exact playing styles of both individual players and the team as
a whole.
Continue here to read the full story.
Talisman: The Horus Heresy is now available
on Steam for Windows and
OS X, offering the latest in the growing catalogue of games based on the
Warhammer 40,000 universe. Here's
a gameplay trailer and
here's a description of what they describe as a digital board game: Talisman:
The Horus Heresy is a digital board game based on the Talisman rule system and
set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, during the cataclysmic events of the Horus
Heresy.
Up to four players will be able to take control of one or more of the galaxy’s
greatest heroes or most notorious villains. Taking the side of either traitor or
loyalist, these Warlords will form a vast Legion of Space Marines, battalions of
tanks and battlefleets of Spacecraft.
The new combative team play will appeal to fans of Talisman and the Horus Heresy
alike. It’s a unique adaptation of Talisman that has been tailored specifically
for digital platforms. In Talisman: The Horus Heresy the player’s experience of
Talisman is scaled up exponentially, exploring not a kingdom but a whole galaxy
in the 31st Millennium. No longer will you be fighting for the Crown of Command,
but for the very future of humanity…
“We’re absolutely ecstatic to release this version of Talisman to our fans. The
Horus Heresy era, set 10,000 years before the main events of Warhammer 40,000,
is an iconic and amazing time in the universe’s timeline. Our game allows
players to take their favorite heroes (or villains) and vie for a chance to rule
the galaxy.” – Nomad Games MD Donald Whiteford
Continue here to read the full story.
Battle.net outlines
planned changes to the recently launched co-op feature in StarCraft II,
as Blizzard discusses changes to enemy AI and balance changes intended to
improve the experience. They explain the AI will now employ a much wider variety
of tactics, which should enhance replayability. The balance changes will be
aimed at improving some of the commanders that were underperforming. This will
involve improvements to Raynor's "rapid recruitment," buffs for Kerrigan's
survivability, and a few adjustments for Vorazun. They also unveil new decals
for co-op achievements, but at this point don't offer an ETA for the changes.
-
Starship Mechanic -- Steam Greenlight. "Fight fires, reroute power to
your shields and fix hull breaches - all while receiving orders from your
captain to take out that pesky enemy frigate. In Starship Mechanic, you will
single-handedly man the all-important engineering bay of a mercenary ship!"
Here's a teaser
trailer.
Focus Home Interactive announces Farming Simulator 17, a new installment
in their agriculture series coming to Windows and consoles by the end of this
year. Information on this should be added soon to the
official Farming Simulator website,
and in the meantime there's a bit on what to expect in the announcement:
Giants Software and Focus Home Interactive are pleased to announce today
the continuation of their partnership for the release of Farming Simulator 17,
arriving simultaneously on PC and consoles at the end of 2016. The game will be
introduced for the first time during the What's Next of Focus Home Interactive
press event organised in Paris, where journalists across the world can discover
all upcoming titles released by Focus. There, they can also meet the developers
of Farming Simulator 17 and discover some of the brand new features added to
Giants Software's upcoming game.
"It's been a pleasure working with Focus throughout all these years. This
partnership is the water on the seed that made Farming Simulator grow into the
global phenomenon it is today. Each time we release a new version together we
reach more people, and we look forward to expanding this reach even further in
the coming years."
Thomas Frey - Vice-President of Giants Software
"Farming Simulator is a one of a kind story in the video game industry. Years
ago, we imagined a unique destiny for this game and Giants Software, their
creators. It is with great satisfaction that we succeed in reaching all of our
objectives. There are still a lot of beautiful pages to write for Farming
Simulator, and it starts right now with the simultaneous release of the game on
PC and consoles at the end of the year."
Cédric Lagarrigue - President of Focus Home Interactive
Street Fighter V kicked Football Manager 2016 out of the number
two spot on the
GFK Chart-Track PC top 30 chart for the week ending February 20th, while
The Sims 4 retain their customary spot atop this U.K. sales chart. The new
brawler sequel enters the same spot on the
all platforms top 40, as Call of Duty: Black Ops III sticks at number
one. Their summary of the
week's activity follows: Activision’s ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III’
(-25%) takes an 11th week at No1 since launch, with 7 of the first 6 weeks of
this year (‘Lego Marvel Avengers’ was No1 in week 4).
No other Call of Duty title has claimed this many No1’s on the All Formats
Chart, previous record being ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ back in 2009 with
9 No1’s (although all 9 were consecutive). The all-time record remains ‘Who
Wants to be a Millionaire’ with 18 weeks All Format No1’s back in 2000 & 2001
(published back then by Eidos). Debuting at No2 is a first Gen 8 outing for a
game series that has been around since the late 80’s: Capcom’s ‘Street Fighter
V’ launches on PS4 and PC. The previous version of this series ‘Street Fighter
IV’ debuted back in 2009 on 360/PS3/PC and remains the benchmark in terms of
week 1 sell-through.
EA remain at No3 with ‘FIFA 16’ (+65%) and sales for this title (and many
others) are up markedly over half term week. The only other new entry this week
also makes the Top 10 and that is Nintendo’s 3DS ‘Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon’
at No9.
So now that the details have dropped on the HTC Vive, it's time to start
thinking about whether it seems more desirable than the Rift. I sort of feel
that it is, with the external cameras and included VR controllers covering the
additional expense. I know for many the cost of either unit is a non-starter, so
value is a relative concept, and reviews will be an essential part of this, but
that's my take on this for now.
R.I.P.:
Amiga engineer and Atari Lynx co-creator, Dave Needle, passes away.
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