Halo 5’s Stats API Will Be Available to Everyone

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Its been a big day for Halo 5 announcements today, 343I started the day off by telling us what multiplayer modes will be included in Halo 5 at launch. Then kep the news train rolling with a the announcement that they will open the games application program interface (API) to the general public. This Means that anyone with application programming experience can now integrate the games stats in to their application. The API will give access to

  • Service Record (Life-to-date stats for each player)
  • Match History (Access to each match played)
  • Carnage Report (Complete statistical breakdown for each player in a match)

343 previously had stated that giving players access to their game data was “top priority” and their most recent statement said “Giving the community the ability to compile stats will allow developers to craft their own statistical story and experiences”

The API is currently in private beta. 343 is reportedly working with several  private organizations including gaming leagues such as the ESL and MLG, as well as community sites like Halo Charts and Halo Tracker. “We know you’ll surprise and delight us with inventive and unexpected uses, and we can’t wait to see what you develop and share with the Halo community later this year and beyond,” 343 said.

 

 

0

Editorial: What’s in a game, how DLC stops me from buying what I love

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

After playing the Star Wars Battlefront beta I was 100% sold on purchasing the game. I planned to order the game through origin and pre-load to play day 1. Then came the announcement of a 50$ season pass DLC. I immediately found myself stuck in a major conundrum.  I am HUGE Star Wars fan girl, my love for the franchise extends far beyond the movies in to games, books, and even comics. So Battlefront should have been a guaranteed sale for me. However I found myself hesitating, the game itself is 60$, a fully priced AAA game from one of the largest dogs in AAA publishing.  EA has no shortage of money, and yet in what would seem to be a clear money grabbing move they have priced the first DLC pack for their new game at 50$ (it is a season pass and so contains 4 DLC map packs). My mind was changed faster than Han Solos blaster draw. There simply is no room in my already crowded budget to have to purchase a game like Battlefront twice.  Perhaps even more important than the money I can’t understand why a company would still think it’s a good idea to sell this much DLC for this price. It alienates your core multiplayer audience if they can’t afford it, and causes strife in the games community. Yet it seems EA simply keeps making the same set of mistake. Diving your player base and charging an already stretched player an additional sunk cost isn’t the way to win over your core audience.Read More

0

EA Announces That There Will Be No Voice Chat In Star Wars Battlefront

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

EA is keeping the Star Wars hype alive by trickling out a steady stream of news about the final release of Star Wars Battlefront. The latest bit of news is to say the least controversial, EA today through a series of tweets confirmed there will be no “ingame” chat in Battle Front. The tweets are below, but the gist of it is that 3rd part voice clients are going to be needed to talk to anyone in Star Wars Battlefront.

EA

Read More

0

Celebrate Back To The Future Day With Rocket League And The Iconic DeLorian on October 21st

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

As every Back to the Future fan knows, this year on October 21st, 2015 Marty McFly arrives in the future from 1985. To celebrate this momentous occasion developer Psyonix is releasing a special DeLorian themed car pack for Rocket League. I’m willing to bet that most of you have already guessed whats in the pack, but if you havent ill let you take a look at the image below to confirm what most of us already know. (its a DeLorian)

[youtube id=”MWTGyIwgvZw”]

A statement from developer Psyonix on the PlayStation blog said  “Truth be told, we used to fantasize and joke about having the DeLorean Time Machine in our game months before it even came out. We were all such huge Back to the Future fans here at Psyonix, that it was one of the few ‘Holy Grails’ we had hoped for besides having a hit game. The fact that we’re getting both of those ‘best-case scenarios’ in the same year is an amazing accomplishment for us, they’re things we’ll never forget!”

The post goes on to say “Hopefully you’ll never forget your time with the DeLorean Time Machine either, as we’ve worked meticulously to recreate its look, feel, and folding jet-wheels just as they appeared in the original motion picture trilogy. Best of all, it’s a heck of a lot of fun to play with—and comes complete with its signature ‘Burnt Rubber’ Rocket Trail to boot!”

I love to see this kind of DLC its purely cosmetic, and it really plays to a fan base and if you like Back to the Future, you can buy this car, and if you don’t, then your game play experience is not lessened. The DeLorian DLC pack will be released for both PC and PlayStation for the LOW LOW cost of $2. I personally cant wait to drive around and leave a few flame trails!

. z6_s_mK0VfP3.878x0.Z-Z96KYq

0

Star Wars Battlefront Season Pass Priced at $50

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Just when we thought we had all the Star Wars news we could handle EA has released the price for their season pass. The price will be 50$ The four map packs that have been announced so far. The Collection of maps is quite expensive but if you calculate the total cost of each DLC to be 15$ you actually get a bit of a discount. EA is sweetening the pot with another added incentive. Players who buy the DLC season pass to Star Wars Battlefront will get two week early access to the maps before the release and an exclusive emote. The emote will say “shoot first” in a reference to the iconic original Cut of Star Wars Episode 4 where Han Solo shot Greedo first.

Star_Wars_Battlefront_2015_box

50$ seems like a lot but its become fairly standard for most season passes that contain this number of map packs. EA is also giving a nod to its player base by giving out the maps early to loyal customers who pre-purchase the season pass. The season pass will also be available to anyone who buys the Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition which clocks in at whopping 140$. Both are currently available on the Origin store for pre-order.

 

0

343 Reveals new UNSC Vehicle Designs

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

343 has not exactly been playing Halo 5: Guardians close to the belt, but one thing we have yet to see are some of the new designs for equipment and vehicles that will be available for purchase in the games new requisition system. The new vehicles are recognizable with just enough difference to make them interesting.

Capture

 

  • Scorpion: The new iteration – the M820 – of the storied Scorpion is half the mass of the old M808 yet has nearly identical firepower and armor protection. As expected, ONI spares no expense with its “security” Scorpions, outfitting them with experimental ammunition using the latest energetic propellants. Advanced Scorpion with heavy armor and upgraded cannon.
  • Mongoose: Lovingly dubbed the “mothergoose” by frontline infantry men and women due to its increased size over the M274, this particular variant shown is Liang Dortmund’s heavy-duty modification of the standard M290 ATV. The result is a nimble but rugged Mongoose with extra armor.
  • Gungoose: The new “Gungoose” is the result of an M290 Mongoose quad bike fitted with twin grenade launchers. A passenger can be accommodated on the rear-facing seat, providing ample offense on this snake-killer’s nose and tail.
  • Rocket Warthog: Rocket Warthogs are often the first and last line of defense against Covenant aircraft for UNSC ground forces. This particular variant showcases an improved Rocket Warthog with upgraded armor.
  • Gauss Warthog: Tested in classified ops during the Requiem campaign, the UNSC has fitted a brand new evolution of the heavy gauss cannon on the M12B Warthog. For this particular ONI-spec variant, gauss cannon impacts produce lingering area of effect damage. The precise mechanism remains highly classified. Calling one of these bad boys in gives your team an advanced Gauss Warthog with heavy armor and upgraded gauss cannon.
  • Banshee Ultra: Only skilled Sangheili aces are entrusted with these rare and valuable aircraft, with means that each one is carefully husbanded for decisive strikes. Superior T-54 Banshee with heavy armor and significantly upgraded armament.

Most fans would agree that these new designs are cool, still recognizable but neat new twists on classic Halo vehicles.  Also hinted at here is a card like system as we recently saw in Titan Fall and the new Star Wars Battlefront.

0

Deus Ex: Manking Divided will not have multiple choice endings

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

The last Deus Ex was praised for its ending content being a plethora of choices. You decision on that final level literally effected humanity as awhole. Its hard to top that kind of choice and it seems the next Deus Ex wont even try.  The report comes from an interview with Mary DeMarle, the executive narrative director on Mankind Divided and lead writer on Human Revolution, that she gave to GamesRadar.

“On Human Revolution, we were having it all come down to that moment where there’s a button press at the end of the game, and it triggers one of the different endings. But on [Mankind Divided], we actually are looking at, ‘Okay, we’re going to give you different actions and different choices, and you go different paths, and how does that go?”

she went on to say “So when you’re embracing all those multifaceted, branching choices, et cetera, it gets hard enough. And then to pull in that fulfillment of what the character wants, it does get very challenging,” she said. “And I can’t really give you a formula for doing it, it all comes down to constant iteration, constant play, and constant feel for the character and the player experience.”

She went on to assure the audience that this didnt mean the you will “straitjacketed” by choices in the early game, and assure audiences that the final misson will still influence the ending of the game.

 

 

0

WARNING Critical NetGear router Exploit discovered.

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

NETGEAR routers have again become the victims of a DNS monitoring exploit. Potentially affecting 11,000 Devices. Site thehackernews.com first posted about A Vigilante Hacker, who protected users by installing malware on their Wi-Fi routers, forcing them to use a secure password.
A few days later a security researcher (name not given) claims to have discovered a series vulnerability in the routers of the same model.  The exploit has been published as of today check out this link to see details on this vulnerability in Netgear routers. 
The real meat of this exploit is that it allows hackers to change Domain Name System (DNS) settings of victims’ routers to the malicious IP address.
One security researcher Joe Giron, gave the details of his experience to BBC, “The admin settings on his personal router have been modified on 28 September.”
Specifically, Domain Name System (DNS) settings on his router were changed to a suspicious IP address. The result of which was the hacked router was sending web browsing data to a malicious Internet address. Giron said “Normally I set mine to Google’s [IP address], and it was not that, it was something else, For two or three days all my DNS traffic was being sent over to them.”
Giron contacted Netgear about the serious issue, to which they replied that the vulnerability discovered their products is ‘serious,’ but “affects fewer than 5,000 devices.“
Perhaps more troubling is that Giron then SHUT OFF his router as NETGEAR did not have an available patch for the exploit. Jonathan Wu senior product director at NETGEAR said  “”Is it serious? Yes, it definitely is.” and suggested users not use their devices untill a firmware patch planned for October 14th can be pushed to effected devices.  NETGEAR has not released a list of effected devices, however they say it is less than 5,000 units.

 

0

Half Life Three confirmed? (probably not but there is at least a hint in the new DOTA update)

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Late last night news broke on Reddit.com’s DOTA2 subeddit that the Steam Data base twitter had found a file named hl3.txt in DOTA 2 Reborn update. The file contained three relevant bits when it was unpacked

These three files (links go to github) contain a large number of Interesting things including references to zip-lines, NPC behaviors (squad based information sharing), and Random level generation, the specifics are in the github but the files of interest are

  • “Attribute.prop_zipline.max_ride_speed”
  • “NPCs that are in the same squad (i.e. have matching squad names) will share information about enemies, and will take turns attacking and covering each other.”
  • “A permanent squad member cannot leave the player\’s squad unless killed or explicitly removed by entity I/O. Only use this if you\’re sure you want to override the default AI.”
  • “If you want your citizens to squad with the player but not obey commands the player gives to move the squad, put a concept here and this citizen will speak the concept instead of obeying the order.”

so does this mean we get HL3? or is Valve up to its old tricks again? Who can know but I for one will not be betting on it.

 

 

0

Xbox Boss wants 360 games to play on PC

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

In a press conference in Brazil Phil Spencer head guru of Xbox, said

“[Xbox games on Xbox One is] something I want to do, but it is a matter of priority. I would love to have the ability to play Xbox 360 on PC at some point too, so we have different things we have to think about when we plan these things. But it would be great to have support for original Xbox games. So yes, I want it, but we have many other things we want to do as well.”

His words suggest that the ability to play Xbox 360 games not just on the Xbox One but also on the PC. This would seem to be leaning towards the recent Microsoft philosophy of one a unified application structure. There has been plenty of talk recently of playing Xbox One games on Windows 10 PCs and of a Unified architecture but this is the first time we have heard anything of the often neglected Xbox 360 getting this type cross platform play.

 

0

Broken Deals: Target offering $350 PS4 With $50 Gift Card and Uncharted Collection or Last of Us

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

(Editors note: Broken deals is a new segment where the writers and editors of Brokenjoysticks try to bring you our audience the best deals on gaming stuff)

This morning brings a great deal from our friends at Target: The newest PS4 price drop plus a 50$ gift card and a free game. This comes at a time when the system has just announced a 50$ price drop to its MSRP and so essentially you get the system for 100$ of the previous MSRP and a free game.

this is an unprecedented move by Target, who usually offer bundles with games, to offer a gift card as well. The deal does not include the newer bundles such as the BlackOps 3 bundle and the Star Wars Battlefront bundle. Head on over to Target to take a look

2949231-ps4--

0

Sunrise will Dub Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Release Gundam Build Fighters in US

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Sunrise has announced several things today at their NYCC panel today in NewYork. Major announcements included a full dub of the newest Gundam series. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, as well as a release on physical media for several series: Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Build Fighters Try, and Mobile Suit Gundam – The Movie Trilogy.  Neither of these series have had physical releases in the west. 

 

The series had its premier in Japan on October the 4th and was simulcast on simulcast on Daisuki, Gundam.info and Hulu for international audiences. Crunchyroll and Funimation will begin streaming them as of October the 11th as well. All of the sites will carry the currently airing Iron-Blooded Orphans, and add the back content of the movies and Build Fighters. Additionally , Sunrise announced that it plans to release Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Build Fighters Try, and Mobile Suit Gundam – The Movie Trilogy on home video.  The release is slated for 2016. Gundam: Reconguista in G is also slated for spring 2016. They will be published by Rightstuff in the US.

0

Xbox Live is Free!!!! (for this weekend only)(and only on the 360)

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Microsoft has always been pretty firm in their mission with Xbox Live, Create the best content, curate it well, and charge a small fee for that. This however creates a barrier to entry that (At least on the Xbox 360) it seems Microsoft is working to remove. This weekend only, Xbox 360 owners will be able to access Xbox Live services. These services will not come with the other benefits that Xbox Live currently offers (free games with gold, and deals with gold) but it will get you online and playing. The free weekend extends through October the 8th.

This is the first time that Microsoft has ever done such an event, and I hope that it signals a willingness to allow the non gold subscribers to test out the online services prior to forking over the $60 necessary to usually access it.

0

Bungie Weekly Update Promises Shot Gun Nerf

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

The latest Bungie weekly update (full text here) has a few major news items.

First the game is officailly being patched to 2.0.1, which Bungie promises will bring with it more legendaries and easier ways to acquire them.  This begins with the quest to unlock the elusive Sleeper Simulant. which started this week and had many players scrambling. This was not the first time a weapon has been incredibly hard to get in destiny (who remembers Gjallarhorn?) but it is the first time an event has been based around one.  According to Design Lead Tyson Green ” he response to Sleeper Simulant was humbling because we did not predict the community reaction. When we try new things, players often teach us a lesson about how to do it better, and this one has us thinking hard about how Quests communicate their availability” in summary, this was a good try, but there could be improvements in the future

Second, a large missive was posted on shotguns in the crucible. I wont tease, heres the real meat “With the deployment of Update 2.0.1, we will wholesale remove the Shot Package perk from all Shotguns. Any shotgun with Shot Package (depending on the exact weapon) will now have Close and/or Personal, Crowd Control, or Knee Pads. This change has not negatively impacted our PVE playtests.” For those of you who dont play destiny, that means that Shot guns are no longer effective at long range (as they should be).  I personally think this change is long overdue, and will be glad to see it go in to effect in the crucible.

check out the full dev blog for the rest of the changes coming in the new patch!

0

Bobs Burgers has been renewed for another season by Fox

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Fox announced yesterday that they have renewed  Bob’s Burgers through seasons seven and eight. The much loved show is one of Foxes more racy cartoons, and along with Family Guy and the Simpsons has a history of tackling difficult social issues and framing them in humor.

David Madden, Fox’s president of entertainment, said in a press release

“Six seasons in, the Belchers have become one of America’s most beloved TV families, and we are so happy to keep them in the fold for another two seasons,” . “We look forward to seeing what Bob and the family will cook up in seasons seven and eight.”

The Emmy-winning animated program was created by Loren Bouchard and Jim Dauterive in 2011, and stars H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, and Eugene Mirman, as well as, John Roberts  and Kristen Schaal .

The series will celebrate it’s 100th episode this season and will bring on a barrage of special guests including Jenny Slate, Zach Galifianakis, Wanda Sykes and Steve Buscemi.

 

 

0

Get the latest articles and news from BrokenJoysticks and a selection of excellent articles from other sources.

Simply fill out the form below and you’ll be on your way to getting our upcoming newsletter.