Monthly Archives: June 2019

Everybody, let out a collective, “Yessss!”, as Gears 5 developers have confirmed that the upcoming Xbox One/PC shooter will not have any season pass or Gear Packs to try and separate you from your hard-earned money.

The decision is very consumer-friendly, as users are growing increasingly frustrated by not having complete games, despite paying full price for them. The game will instead focus on offering up earnable unlockables, with various grinds and milestones. This is a big shift from Gears of War 4, which had a hefty $50 season pass and charged upwards of $5 for Gear Packs.

The Coalition issued a statement on the matter, which read in part: “We’ve committed to delivering more earnable content than ever before through an extensive new system called Tour of Duty.”

Tour of Duty will have various seasons, ala Fortnite, and will spell out what is required of players to earn each extra piece of content.

Gears 5 follows up on the story from Gears

PS4 racer Gran Turismo Sport is finally getting a wet weather course, allowing players to experience slick track conditions and we can’t wait to see how our controllers handle the action!

The new course is coming, but the game’s developer was coy about when a specific launch date would be coming. GT Sport debuted on PS4 in October 2017 but has been relatively bare in regards to the different weather features that previous titles have seen.

The wet weather course is being teased in a YouTube video, which features professional eSports racer Coque Lopez taking his turn around the track. You can see that video below:

Gran Turismo Sport is seen as a bit of an outlier for the popular racing franchise, as it doesn’t feature a huge library of cars that you can add to your garage as well as fewer tracks. With that said, the game

Google’s foray into the video game industry is coming in November, as the search giant announced its Stadia service will open to pre-order customers at that time.

Stadia will be a streaming-focused platform, seeing you using a compatible device to play without a console or PC. Instead, the processing is done at one of Google’s server farms, allowing for play of up to 4K 60 FPS. The service will be priced at $9.99 per month for 4K quality and will require a high-speed connection speed of at least 35 meg to get that quality.

Google announced a Stadia Founder’s Edition, which will be available for $129. The package will include a controller, a Chromecast Ultra, as well as three months of service for you, and three months to share with a friend. If you want to play this year, you’ll have to drop the coin for the Founder’s service, as wider play will be available sometime in 2020.

Players will have the option to buy games through Google, and those purchases don’t require

Microsoft’s Elite Series 2 Controller was unveiled at the company’s E3 press conference, and users have begun getting their hands on the delicious (and pricey) piece of tech. Impressions of the controller have been overwhelmingly positive for the controller, as it brings in some great new features.

Tech journalists have been getting some hands-on time with the Series 2, and claim that the device is lighter than the original. Microsoft is claiming 40 hours of battery life on a single charge, and the group has worked in a USB-C port for charging the controller. This, along with Bluetooth compatibility has users gushing.

The Series 2 has four paddles on the back, just like our SHIFT controller, which is a nice touch. The controller does compare favorably to the C40 TR though, as you get 4 paddles with the Elite 2, but only 2 on the Astro C40 TR. One downside to the Series 2 is that you cannot remap your paddles on the fly as you can on the Evil SHIFT. 

Load your bullets, and sharpen your chainsaw, as your lancer is going to be getting a lot of work when Gears of War 5 launches on September 10th.

Gear 5’s release date was revealed by Microsoft at their E3 press briefing, showing protagonist Kait Diaz’s role in the game as she, JD Fenix, Delmont Walker, and Marcus Fenix all worth together to reign holy hell on locust scum. The game was originally revealed last year and is slated to be launched this fall.

The single player campaign is included, as is online co-op and local split-screen play, and there’ll also be a robust online mode. It’s likely that eSports will be taken into consideration with Gears 5, as players using the cover-based mechanics will be learning the ins-and-outs quickly. We’re geeked to see how the competitive side of things play out with Gears of War 5, and you can bet we’re already planning out the maps on our custom controllers to take advantage of the action.

Gears

To the surprise of almost nobody, Microsoft is working on a new Halo game for its next-generation Xbox console, and they showed off a trailer for the game during the company’s E3 press conference.

The new game is known as Halo Infinite and was teased in a trailer that takes place in space. In the movie, a marine comes upon Master Chief floating in space, rescuing him and activating his suit. Chief then decides to get ready and carry on fighting, blasting back into space to take on his enemies.

The new Halo will be a first-person shooter, just like every other major release in the game’s history, but will feature 4K visuals. The game’s unveiling comes alongside news that the Master Chief Collection is coming to PC later this year. The game will be compatible with the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, and

Microsoft unveiled the Xbox Elite Controller 2 at this year’s E3 press briefing, showcasing some compelling new features for gamers.

The controller comes in the wake of the successful Xbox Elite, which brought functionality ordinarily only seen from custom controller makers (like us). The device will retail for $179.99 when it launches on November 24th, and will be available in 24 countries at launch.

While looking a lot like the original Elite, the new Elite Controller will bring in some features missing on the first. The Series 2 will pack in a USB-C hub for charging, as it has a rechargeable battery, rather than using AA batteries. The controller will also pack in Bluetooth technology, making the controller compatible with more devices. The original Elite only worked wirelessly with Xbox devices, unless you had a dongle.

The Series 2 will also now allow you to switch between three different profiles on the go, letting you maintain a competitive edge on other players.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (or in a conference hall in Los Angeles), EA unveiled gameplay footage of their new Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order game.

The gameplay was shown at the EA Play 2019 event and featured former Jedi padawan Cal Kestis allied with guerrilla fighter Saw Gererra, as the two plot to take down imperial forces on the Wookie-inhabited planet of Kashyyyk.

The player is tasked with breaking into a refinery, where he encounters stormtroopers. Using his force abilities alongside his trusty lightsaber, Cal creates all sorts of havoc. Working alongside Cal is his droid BD-1, who can help break into different locked areas and provide schematics for the budding Jedi.

The gameplay seems to be a mixture of other Star Wars games like Force Unleashed alongside environmental traversing titles like Uncharted. One interesting sequence showed Cal pulling a stormtrooper to him, where he was then impaled through the

Ahead of Microsoft’s E3 Briefing today, the company revealed that their Game Pass Service for PC will launch at a price of $4.99 per month.

The service will launch in a beta format, with more than 100 games being promised at launch from more than 75 developers. The service will be open to PC users of Windows 10, with the game downloadable on player computers and playable. It’s currently not known whether or not the service will integrate with xCloud, the company’s streaming service.

A partial list of game highlights being offered includes Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Halo Wars, Gears 5, Crackdown 3, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and Shenmue I & II.

Microsoft is poised to have a huge E3 showing, as rival Sony has decided to skip the conference this year. The Redmond based company is reportedly set to unveil new game hardware as well as the above-mentioned xCloud service.

Additionally, it’s likely that

Microsoft is expected to showcase their next-generation Xbox console during their E3 briefing this Sunday.

The company is widely expected to reveal new hardware this Sunday, with a design, specs, and price point all likely to be shared. Players are anticipating the next generation of console hardware, as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 both launched back in 2014, and customers want the top of the line hardware.

Microsoft has begun diversifying to offer their brand as a service, as their upcoming xCloud project will allow for game streaming. They’re expected to have multiple consoles for the next generation: one that’s powerful and capable of providing 4K gaming, and one that’s not as powerful but will leverage the xCloud to play games. Needless to say, the latter will require a good internet to have a stable experience.

Sony has dominated the current generation, with the PS4 selling more than 97 million units. This comes in comparison