Don’t worry if you couldn’t justify a flight to Cologne for Sony’s Gamescom 2013 press conference — the company is streaming its European media event for everyone. Will Sony provide final PlayStation 4 launch details? Will there be new games and services? Come back at 1PM ET and you can find out through the live feed embedded below.
For some, Grand Theft Auto 4‘s multiplayer mode was a promise unfulfilled — it had the open environment of a massively multiplayer online game, but none of the genre’s persistent content. Rockstar is making amends by unveiling Grand Theft Auto Online, an independent counterpart to GTA5 with a few MMO components. While only 16 players can participate in a given session, they all have permanent stakes in the game world: they can raise cash, buy property and build a reputation that unlocks new gameplay. There are “ambient” events, and gamers can even design custom battles or races to share with others.
The new title should also represent a break from Rockstar’s usual business model, which emphasizes blockbuster releases with few (if any) updates. Although GTAO will be available for free to GTA5 buyers on October 1st and start off with that game’s resources, it should receive a steady stream of new missions and purchases. Ultimately, the two GTA games may have little in common. Rockstar hasn’t said whether or not it will charge players for any extras, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they carry price tags.
Via: Joystiq
Source: Rockstar Games
Remember when Microsoft said that you could soon buy Xbox Live content using real money? Well, check your Xbox 360: following an update to one of our consoles, we’re now seeing content available in local currency. It’s unclear at this stage how many gamers are seeing the change, although Microsoft has already mentioned that the next update will flip the switch. We’ve reached out to the company for confirmation of the rollout. If you get the update as well, don’t worry about your account balance — as Microsoft mentioned before, any existing points will be converted to their cash equivalent.
Update: Microsoft says that real money purchases are still limited to beta program participants, and you’ll have to wait until the fall to see the currency change — false alarm, folks.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Xbox Wire
OUYA has launched its promised fund-matching campaign to spur development of games for its recently launched Android console. Now known as the Free the Games Fund, the effort rewards successful Kickstarter campaigns with a matching $50,000 to $250,000; OUYA will back as many games as its $1 million pool allows. There are a few conditions, of course. Producers have to meet that $50,000 minimum, end their campaigns within the next year and agree to a six-month OUYA exclusive. The console maker will also stagger payments across the development cycle, although the company promises an additional $100,000 to the most successful project. If you’re looking for help in building a game and are willing to take a chance on a young platform, full details of the fund await at the source link.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Free the Games Fund
Let’s say that you decline an Xbox One pre-order, buy the Xbox 360 version of a big game this fall and promptly regret that you haven’t gone next-gen. Are you hosed? Not necessarily: GameStop is launching a promo that will let you upgrade to an Xbox One edition of a game for $10 or less. Provided you’re a PowerUp Rewards member, GameStop will offer at least $50 in credit if you trade in an Xbox 360 copy of Assassin’s Creed 4, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA 14 or Madden 25 and buy its Xbox One equivalent at $60. There are additional catches, of course. You’ll have to buy a given Xbox 360 title within 30 days of its launch, and you’ll have to use the credit before the end of the year. Even so, the promo could minimize buyer’s remorse — and save some Xbox One buyers from waiting until November to play the titles they want.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: GameStop
Looking for a (slightly) less conspicuous take on the 3DS XL? If you live in the US or Canada, you’ll get it when the all-black version of Nintendo’s giant handheld reaches those countries on August 11th. Don’t expect any bonuses with the subtler color, though. The darker-hued 3DS XL costs the same $200 as before, and it’s virtually identical to the Japanese version that launched last fall. It’s shipping at the same time as Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, however, which makes it a decent consolation prize for gamers who can’t get a Luigi edition 3DS LL to call their own.
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Nintendo
Via: Joystiq
Source: Nintendo
Virtual reality only immerses two of your senses: sight and hearing. Not that we’re dying for smell and taste in video games (bleh! Imagine first person shooters), but tactile feedback makes things feel a lot more real. Disney Research’s Aireal does this by blowing puffs of air in your face, and it’s not nearly as crazy as it sounds.
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Xbox is a household name today, but a recently unearthed EDGE interview with Seamus Blackley has revealed that this name almost didn’t make the early cut. Microsoft asked Blackley’s team for a name change due to legal reasons, and it suggested a wave of cringe-worthy acronyms that included MARZ (Microsoft Active Reality Zone) and VERV (Virtual Entertainment & Reality Venture). We all know who won the debate, but it’s entertaining to think of what might have been. Check the full list of rejected names at the source link — and be glad that you’re not lining up to buy the latest Halo game for your Microsoft Entertainment & Gaming Attendant.
[Image credit: Evan-Amos, Wikipedia]
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: EDGE
Good-natured Xbox Live gamers sometimes face a tough choice: they either have to isolate themselves in parties or risk playing against griefers and other ne’er-do-wells. Microsoft could avoid that horrible scenario in the Xbox One era with its recently unveiled Reputation system, which the company just explained in detail to OXM. We already know that the system will punish frequently reported players, but it should also reward contributors. Xbox Live Rewards participants may get a higher Reputation score, for example. The system also pressures troublemakers by ranking parties based on the lowest common denominator — one misfit can spoil the whole bunch. We’ll have to wait until November to verify Microsoft’s promises, but we’re expecting more harassment-free public matches in our future.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Via: Joystiq
Source: Official Xbox Magazine
Left 4 Dead 2 is the latest game in Valve’s catalog to clamber out of the Steam for Linux beta. Unlike last week’s Half-Life 2 news however, the extra something coming along for the ride isn’t VR headset support — it’s a powerful suite of customization tools. The Extended Mutation System (EMS) gives the already robust modding community additional options for crafting one-off episodes and game type variants. For a glimpse of what EMS enables, play a round of “Holdout.” This new multi-map mode introduces buildable items and the concept of resources to the co-op zombie-slaying calamity. What’s more, Valve said it will add the most popular EMS creations to the official servers. Maybe with this, the world can finally witness our vision of the zombie apocalypse. Yeah, it involves marmosets.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Left 4 Dead Blog
Source: Steam
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