Dolphin Emulator Progress Report Released

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Dolphin Emulator

The developers behind the popular open source GameCube/Wii emulator Dolphin have released a progress report as they head towards the release of version 5.0. They have instituted what is known as a “feature freeze” – meaning that no new features will be added to the emulator until the next major revision and only bug fixes will be released to the public until version 5.0 is ready to roll.

In an exhaustive blog post written by MaJor and JMC47 technical details surrounding the changes in the latest version of Dolphin. If you want a more technical breakdown of what has changed make sure to check it out.

Here are some of the more major changes:

Added Support For “TR” Model Wiimotes

Basically because of limitations with the Windows implementation of the Windows Bluetooth stack developers were unable to add support for the Wii Motion+ and newer Wii remotes. Players were forced to use the original model of Wiimote that was discontinued back in 2012 until now.  Thanks to one single contributor Dolphin now supports the latest generation of Wii remotes.

Changes To Mario Kart Lensflare

Lensflare in both Mario: Kart Double Dash and Mario Kart Wii resulted in odd bugs like a blinding level of lens flare or the absence of a HUD.

A Whole Bunch of Audio Fixes

 

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Major League Gaming Purchased By Activision Blizzard

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

It looks like Major League Gaming, commonly known as MLG, the e-sports pioneer and tournament organizer has been sold to publisher Activision Blizzard according to esports observer. In a December 21st  meeting MLG’s  Board of Directors approved an asset sale worth $46 million USD essentially gutting the one time e-sports king.

Individual stock holders were notified via written letter sent out on December 22nd. If I’m reading the excerpt of the letter that has been released, $31 million from the sale has been used to pay off large debts that have been accrued by Major League Gaming.

CEO of MLG  CEO Sundance DiGiovanni has also been removed from his role of Chief Executive Officer.

MLG Gaming was founded in 2002 by Mike Sespo and Sundance DiGiovanni and rose to prominence thanks to a deal with USA Network were their Halo 2 Pro Series was broadcast.  Throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s the line-up of eligible “pro games”  has changed with titles ranging from Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Starcraft II and it’s expansions among others. MLG’s next major event is the 2016 Counter Strike: Global Offensive MLG Championship scheduled for this coming April.

Activision announced their own e-sports league for COD – the Call of Duty World League – last Fall. It is unknown how the acquisition of MLG’s assets will factor into the COD League.

 

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Rumor: Distribution Agreement The Reason PSO2 Has Yet To Reach Western Shores

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Phantasy Star Online 2

Could a single contract be responsible for Phantasy Star Online 2 not seeing a western release despite the huge success of Free-to-Play MMORPGs?  According to a source speaking anonymously to SEGA fan site TSSZ Beyond Blue, this is indeed the case. This particular agreement is speculated to be between SEGA of Japan and Gamania Digital Entertainment, it is said that SEGA is barred from publishing PSO2 on any distribution platform and not just Valve’s Steam – which has been their mainstay for PC ports.

For western fans of the long dormant series there may yet be hope – the agreement between the two companies is said to have a finite length, meaning that the clauses dealing with distribution will eventually expire although an exact timeframe is not known. Gamania was involved with the Chinese rollout of Phantasy Star Online 2 in both mainland China, Hong Kong and Tawian.

Official communication with western fans ceased on the official PSO English North Ameriecan Facebook pag went dark over three years ago after the game was playable at PAX Prime 2012. Fans have since had to download the Japanese version and use unofficial translation patches to get the game into a playable state or use VPNs to play the official English version launched in South East Asia launched in 2014

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AMDs Next Generation GPU Architecture Codenamed “Polaris”

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

AMD’s next round of graphics cards, presumably to be released under the Radeon 400 series moniker, will be powered by the company’s next generation architecture codenamed “Polaris”. Currently AMD’s graphics cards, as well as the graphics processors used in the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, are powered by the GCN framework (graphics card next) originally introduced in 2011 with the Trinity APU line and Radeon 7000 series.

This latest leak regarding the Polaris architecture comes from well-known graphics card insider @GFXChipTweeter who tweets a lot of information about graphics card advancement and in particular AMD related technologies. Raja Koduri posted an image the described Polaris as:

AMD Polaris Leak

This isn’t the first major leak in AMD’s recent history or even in the past fifteen years. While the company has been very forthcoming about the ZEN architecture that will eventually replace the AMD FX line of desktop chips a leak of a supposed roadmap that leads into 2020 calls for a new high performance class of the company’s APU processors and a release of new graphics card technologies every two year. Let’s not forget that the major Doom 3 leak from 12 years ago was eventually traced back to the precursor of AMD’s Graphics division, ATI technologies.

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Here Are The PlayStation Plus Games You Can Download This Tuesday

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Welcome to a brand new year, 2016, and with a brand new year comes a whole slate of new free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers.

PS4 owners can start off 2016 with either a remastered classic adventure game from the late 90s Grim Fandango or a modern take on vehicular combat with Hardware: Rivals. PS3 players can explore EA’s last Medal of Honor title, Warfighter, for free or relive the first Dragon Age title from 2009 for free this month. Vita owners will receive the strategy title Legends of War Patton and Nihilumbra.

Alongside the reveal of all of these free games Sony also released a brief trailer if you’d like to get a feel for how these games play before committing your bandwidth. All six games are expected to go live on January 4th – that’s next Tuesday.

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[Source]

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Final Fantasy IX Heading To Phones & Windows

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix announced via their official website today that the classic ninth entry in the Final Fantasy series will be getting a mobile port as well as a version for Windows PC thru valve’s steam service. Final Fantasy IX is the last of the classic PlayStatjon 1 era FF RPGs to receive a port to modern architecture.

Alongside the unveiling of a landing page for the port Square also released a brief trailer celebrating the announcement. What do you think of FFIX coming to mobile phones? It continues a trend of Square porting their popular titles to portable handhelds – one of the last to be announced was Dragon Quest VIII for the 3DS, due out next August.

[youtube id=”K20lI9b6XwE”]

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Splatoon’s Free Content To Dry Up Next Month

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Nintendo’s take on the competitive shooter, Splatoon, has managed to stay fresh for the past seven months thanks to a steady stream of free content – including new maps, outfits and weapons – since it launched this past May. It seems that the developers have finally decided to put an end to delivering new content to players and will instead focus on regular events like Splatfests and balance updates.

Speaking on the subject, the game’s producer Hisahi Nogami said:

“There are already 14 stages and over 70 kinds of weapons. So if they add even more, it would be hard for players to memorize all of them, especially when considering weapon compatibility with stages.”

Are you said to see the end of updates for Splatoon? The game was certainly one of the more pleasant surprises of the year – bringing a color art style, unique gameplay and frantic fast based multiplayer to Nintendo’s latest console. Here’s hoping even without regular content drops Splatoon will stay populated in the months to come.

[Source]

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Let’s Talk About Battlefront’s Overpowered DL-44

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

So I’m currently playing EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront for review on PlayStation 4 and I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in some of the multiplayer forces. No these lobbies aren’t a hive of scum and villainy but rather it seems like almost everyone is using the same weapon – Han Solo’s iconic Blaster the DL-44.
  
So why is everyone using Han’s favourite side-arm? Because it offers the highest damage per shot in the game combined with a fairly high fire rate. As the current end-game Rank 25 reward it makes sense that experienced players might be given a reward but when you’ve include weapon stats in the game giving players who theoretically the most polished skill set giving them the best weapon in the game can put newer players at an extreme disadvantage.

To add insult to injury in terms of the DL-44 being able to absolutely wreck, EA sells an unlock packaged in the the Deluxe Edition or higher that automatically unlocks Han’s Blaster right off the get go. $10 extra for the best weapon in a competitive multiplayer shooter? Why the fuck not?

  
So what can EA do to help balance out this flaw in game design? Here’s hoping the optional first Expansion Pass adds a new set of unlocks that provide extra equivalents up the DL-44 since Battlefront’s weapons are centred around stats and that’s not going to change. Perhaps DICE deeper into Star Wars lore – perhaps the Sand People’s Gaffi Sticks?

This weapon is so prevalent that it’s even caused discussions recently within dedicated Battlefront communities. When you’ve got something this strong, the DL-44 certainly is the blaster you are looking for.

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Splatoon’s New Map, Piranha Pit, Goes Live Today

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Just a reminder to all of those fresh squids still playing Nintendo’s Splatoon that according to Nintendo Europe (via Twitter) that a brand new map called Piranha Pit should be love later this morning.

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The folks over at Game Xplain have already done a pretty comprehensive walk though of the brand new map which you can watch below.

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Pokken Tournament Gets Its Own Controller In North America

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Ninndo and Namco’s collaborative Pokemon themed fighting game, Pokken Tournament will be receiving its own official controller manufactured by long peripheral company Hori. The controller is based upon the arcade cabinet’s button layout and was previously announced for release in Japan.

If you want to get your hands on the official Pokken Tournament Controller you won’t have to look in any tall grass – they are available for pre order on Amazon for $25 USD. Currently they have a ship date of March 18th 2016, which has been confirmed as the Japanese release date for the game, no solid date for a North American release currently exists outside of a vague “Q2 2016” window.

Pokken Tournament was originally released in Japanese arcades in July of this year.

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Rock Band 4 Rings In The New Year With Six New Tracks

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Harmonix has revealed the last batch of downloadable content heading to your living room in 2015. If you’re staying in this New Year’s Eve perhaps you should pull out the drum kit or microphone before counting down because artists like Weezer, Ellie Goulding, Cold Play, Sam Hunt & more will have new tracks available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network.

To be honest the other two acts featured in the last content drop for 2015 are Justin Bieber and One Direction, however I can’t advise playing either of their songs at your New Year’s gathering unless you want all of your guests to leave before the clock strikes midnight.

Here’s the full rundown of new tracks coming tomorrow, Each will be prices at $1.99 USD:

Coldplay            “Adventure of a Lifetime”
Ellie Goulding            “On My Mind”
Justin Bieber            “What Do You Mean?”
One Direction            “Drag Me Down”
Sam Hunt            “Leave The Night On”
Weezer            “Thank God for Girls”

Here is the trailer:

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The Shady Side of The Steam Bundle You Just Bought

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

We’re smack dab in the middle of the vaunted Steam Holiday Sale – it’s just that time of year when snow is in the air, Christmas Carrols ring through the halls and PC gamers rejoice at the low prices Valve has been able to negotiate with publishers. Saving a few bucks is fantastic but be on the lookout for the shady side of some publishers “franchise packs” lest you be the next victim of bundling.

Call them “franchise bundles”, “series bundles”, “2015 Game of the Year Bundles” or whatever you please but in the end these bundles allow fans of a particular series to buy multiple titles in a franchise at a steep discount. It’s a great opportunity if you want to binge through all of the Assassin’s Creed games, catch up on the latest season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead or pick up some well regarded indie titles at a reduced price.Read More

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Final Fantasy XV PS4 Version Slated For June Release By Amazon Japan

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Final Fantasy XV

Amazon Japan has created an entry for Final Fantasy XV that may reveal that the game is scheduled for a June 2016 in that country.

We already know that Square Enix is planning to announce the release date of XV sometime this coming March so perhaps a early summer release in Japan and a Fall 2016 release in North America and Europe isn’t too shocking.

I also noticed while viewing this page that price is listed as 18,000 Yen or $149.99 USD – could this signal a possible collector’s edition? There’s no further information on the page and in all likelihood all of this information could purely be placeholder data.Read More

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Minecraft Wii U Is Already Among The All Time Top 10 Downloads In Japan

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Mojang’s smash hit about your struggle to survive the night all while hissing snake creatures try to blow up your home, Minecraft, has already cracked the top ten all time downloads in the Japanese Wii U E Shop.

According to the all time download purchase rankings available on the Nintendo Japan website Microsoft’s latest acquisition already sits among such system sellers as Super Mario Maker, Super Smash Bros for Wii U, Mario Kart 8 and classics like Super Mario World. Perhaps Minecraft players can fashion themselves a ladder to get their favorite game even higher on the charts.

Here’s the full breakdown of the top ten best selling digital Wii U games of all time in Japan as of today:

  1. Splatoon
  2. Dragon Quest X
  3. Pokemon Rumble U
  4. Super Mario Maker
  5. Art Academy Sketchpad
  6. Mario Kart 8
  7. Super Mario World (SNES)
  8. NES Remix
  9. Minecraft Wii U
  10. Super Smash Bros

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GameStop Accidently Ships Pirated Game Just In Time For Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

It’s frustrating when someone gifts you a game you’ve waited months for only to find out you’re one of the unlucky few who have a defective product. What would your reaction be if it turns out you were gifted a pirated copy of a game by mistake?

The parents of Reddit user Vernm51 bought them a copy of Pokemon Heart Gold for Christmas after Vern was unable to find a copy at a local GameStop Vern’s parents ordered a copy online from GameStop.com. The cartridge looks authentic enough with the expected Heart Gold sticker and Nintendo product serial number but Vern knew something was amiss as soon as it was popped into a 3DS. Pokemon Heart Gold didn’t show up on the 3DS home menu but rather THQ’s Alex Storm Rider.Read More

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