Gamer's Outpost Press (archived)

by Megan Farokhmanesh via Polygon

I left my first planet in the early hours of the morning.

It was a simple affair, when all was said and done. I farmed resources; I fixed my ship; I rocketed into the atmosphere and beyond without a single false start or stumble. With my TV’s volume on low, the roar of space travel was closer to the buzz of my AC unit than the fanfare of a first launch. A brief swell in the music, and a message flash on screen — that was my congratulations. No one yelling or smiling or saying anything at all; not a single other human was around to witness my achievement.

This — learning to love your own success, even when it exists in a vacuum — may be the single most common experience a player has inNo Man’s Sky. There are 18 quintillion procedurally generated worlds in Hello Games’ space sandbox, and you’ll explore them all alone. It’s not the game we expected, but something better: a dive into loneliness and solitude in a way few games have ever achieved.

The things they left behind

No Man’s Sky players exist in a connected universe, but this is not a multiplayer game. According to Hello Games, the chances of players crossing paths is “pretty much zero.” We’ve seen this tested. Two players, after happening upon a common planet, fervently tried to meet one another. They streamed their efforts on Twitch, only to find themselves in the same place at seemingly different points in the day — two star-crossed explorers separated by space, time and perhaps bad Wi-Fi.

The lack of overt multiplayer in a game as vast as No Man’s Sky has been a turnoff for some, sparking player complaints and a silly discussion of “how hard” it is to add to a game. This is missing the point.

No Man’s Sky is an exercise in isolation, more so than a regular single-player experience, because it feels as though it’s meant to be shared. It’s impossible to see everything the game has to offer on your own; no matter how many times you beat it, you’ll never truly experience it all. And, unlike your typical single-player game, No Man’s Sky does not exist in a bubble. The game may be unimaginably large, but with enough time and players, it’s still possible to discover footprints left by others: planets, systems, species they’ve named, and places they’ve seen. Another player may have stood where you now stand only minutes ago, but you might as well be scavenging ancient ruins.

These markers serve as both a connection to other players and a reminder that in this game we are truly, deeply alone. There is something poetic in the Twitch streamers’ discovery that they couldn’t find each other, and something profoundly sad — like missing a loved one who left for a long trip just moments before you got home. Critics and players alike tend to heap praise on the games that connect us, but we have so few words for the ones that remind us of what it feels like to be on our own.

Being alone is hard. It’s also an essential part of being a person. Instead of drowning in that crushing sense of loneliness, however, No Man’s Sky encourages us to embrace it. The game has a plot. You have a purpose. But it’s also possible to spend the entirety of your time doing nothing at all. Like the real world, No Man’s Sky doesn’t give a damn about you or what you do. You have to find joy in things for you and only you, because no one else is around to share it.

One of the greatest privileges of adult life is the power to turn everyone else off, but it’s also one of the most fleeting. We only shoulder more responsibility as we get older; more obligations to family, friends and work. I may never “beat” No Man’s Sky, but its true appeal has never been in its ending. It peddles a commodity more rare than any you’ll find on the surface of its planets: the luxury of being alone.

by Matt Weinberger via Business Insider

Microsoft is planning a new, mega-upgraded Xbox console for the 2017 holiday season, code named “Project Scorpio,” with the promise that it will play all of the existing Xbox One games on the market.

But fulfilling that promise may be more complicated than we thought, judging from a new job posting originally spotted by perennial Microsoft tipster WalkingCat on Twitter. And it gives us a big hint into just how different this Project Scorpio will be.

That posting, for a senior software engineer on the Microsoft Xbox Compatibility team, starts with the following description:

“We are the Xbox Compatibility team. Our mission is to bring the 360 game catalog to the Xbox One, and Xbox One catalog to Project Scorpio.”

The reference to the Xbox 360 makes sense here: Select games from the last-generation Xbox 360 video game console are playable on the current Xbox One, thanks to special software called an emulator. The emulator essentially tricks the Xbox One into thinking it’s an Xbox 360, making it possible to play those games.

This job posting hints that it will take some similar trickery to get Project Scorpio to play the current generation of Xbox One games. This indicates that whatever else Project Scorpio offers, it has the potential to be radically different from the existing Xbox One, at least in terms of the hardware it sports under the hood.

Assuming Microsoft holds to its promise that all Xbox One games will be playable on Project Scorpio, you as the player won’t notice much of a difference. But emulation adds a layer of technical complexity that makes it difficult to get old games running on new hardware — that’s why not every Xbox 360 game can run, or run smoothly, on the Xbox One.

Microsoft is pitching Project Scorpio as a “monster” of a game console, bringing a lot more graphical power to the table that promises to far outstrip the Sony PlayStation 4 while simultaneously bringing the Xbox One games library into the future. It’s just looking as if it could be a difficult balancing act for Microsoft.

Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

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by Nathan Birch via Yahoo! News

Microsoft Claims Project Scorpio Will Have Exclusives, But That Console Generations Are Over

by Kevin Parrish via Yahoo! Tech

A recent interview with Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s head of Xbox games marketing, indicates that the Xbox One could be the last generation of gaming consoles as we know them today… at least, for Microsoft.

Let’s back up for a second. Several years ago, there was talk in the gaming industry that another market crash would be imminent if a new console generation wasn’t unleashed in the immediate future. This fear stemmed from Apple’s launch of the original iPhone and the introduction of cheap gaming apps. This move disrupted the expected evolution of gaming to full-blown, downloadable digital content, and was fueled by the introduction of cloud-based games on social networks such as Farmville.

The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles hit the scene in 2013 and brought balance back to the Force. However, with gamers now eating up digital content and streaming their favorite console titles to desktops and laptops, there’s a question as to what the next generation will bring.

Microsoft is tirelessly working to thin the line between console and PC with Windows 10, and is even offering a “buy-it-once-play-on-both” Xbox Play Anywhere scheme for many PC/Xbox games. And part of thinning that line is a re-imagining how how console updates should work.

“For us, we think the future is without console generations; we think that the ability to build a library, a community, to be able to iterate with the hardware — we’re making a pretty big bet on that with Project Scorpio,” Greenberg told Engadget. “We’re basically saying, ‘This isn’t a new generation; everything you have continues forward and it works.’ We think of this as a family of devices.”

He said there’s currently a lot of interest in Project Scorpio, and believes that it will change the way everyone thinks about the future of Xbox gaming. Microsoft also believes Project Scorpio will be a huge success when it arrives during 2017’s holiday season. It’s billed as the “most powerful console ever,” a device that “has no boundaries” for developers to create the ultimate gaming experience.

When Microsoft first introduced Project Scorpio, the company said that it wouldn’t leave the original Xbox One console in the dust. “Every single thing we’ve done for Xbox One will continue to work,” the company said.

The project officially appeared after rumors surfaced that a future Xbox console would be upgradable like a desktop. But as seen with the new Xbox One S and the upcoming Project Scorpio release, Microsoft is seemingly gearing up to unleash consoles the same way OEMs refresh laptop models. The good news is that games and accessories purchased for the Xbox One will work on the Xbox One S and Project Scorpio’s hardware, eliminating the backwards-compatibility bottleneck Microsoft is currently facing with Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One consoles.

It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out. While we know Microsoft plans to update Xbox One with Project Scorpio, we don’t know what the plan is after that. Will a new version appear every three years? Two years? Every year? We’ll just have to wait and see.

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by UPROXX via Yahoo News

Suicide Squad opened last weekend, breaking records for an August release, but at least one guy and his brother (who is a lawyer) are so mad about the movie they intend to sue. Their complaint comes down to noted edgelord Jared Leto being barely in the film despite all the deleted scenes used for the trailers. Using deleted scenes to spice up a trailer is nothing new, although some movies like Fantastic Four have come under fire for the practice. And now — if Redditor “BlackPanther2016” isn’t just an elaborate ruse — this trailer practice may earn a silly lawsuit for “false advertising” in the U.K. court system.

This guy claims his case has already been accepted by the court and goes forward this Thursday. “My brother (who is a lawyer) and I are going to sue WB and DC for false advertising, misleading visual images and gaining a profit from us and millions others due to these acts,” he claims. Then he goes on a rant in which he claims he had to drive 300 miles [Not kilometers? Hmmm…] to London from Scotland to see the movie and that the employees of the theater laughed at him (causing “trauma”) when he asked for a refund. Oh, you sweet baby angel.

Here’s the full long-winded thing, which we hope is a joke but fear may not be:

Movie Trailers are like food menus, they give you a preview of what your gonna get. If you look at a McDonald’s menu and you choose to get your favourite burger, presented/showcased in a nice picture with pickles, chicken, mild cheese(you’re favourite, in-fact…that’s the only reason you’re getting this burger…because you love mild cheese). So you use your hard worked money to pay for this burger, you get the burger, but only to find out that…this isn’t the burger you ordered. Yes it has pickles and chicken…but…it doesn’t have mild cheese…it has regular cheese.

Suicide Squad trailers showcased several SPECIFIC Joker scenes that I had to pay for the whole movie just so that I can go watch those SPECIFIC SCENES that WB/DC had advertised in their trailers and TV spots. These scenes are: When Joker banged his head on his car window, when Joker says, ”let me show you my toys”, when Joker punchs the roof of his car, when Joker drops a bomb with his face all messed up and says, ”BYE BYE!”. Non of these scenes were in the movie. I drove 300 miles to London to go watch these specific scenes they had explicitly advertised in their TV ads…and they didn’t show them to me. Adding to this, they were also 2 specific Katana scenes they advertised that were also the reason I wanted to go watch the movie. These scenes were: Katana’s eyes going black, and a slow motion shot of her and her sword taking souls…in a smokey kind of style. These scenes were advertised several times in the 1st trailer and many TV ads…but they didn’t show it to me in the movie. I wasted alot of money paying and travelling to go watch this movie because of these specific scenes they had advertised to me and all of us saying, ”hey, check out our preview! this will all be in our movie, come watch it on the 5th!!”. All lies. I told the theatre about this unjust act and said I didn’t get what I came here to see…can I have my money back. They laughed at me and kicked me out. So I’m now taking this to court. I want my refund, the trauma of being embarrassed as I was being kicked out and people laughing at me for wanting my refund, and also the 160 pounds of fuel money I used to drive to London from Scotland.

If you advertise something…give me what you have advertised. Period. This is becoming a habbit with movie studios, showing epic scenes in trailers…but their never shown in the movies. It’s unjust.

I just want to say, join me if you feel the same way. Let’s stop this nonsense of false bullsh*tery…and don’t let them bribe you with their ”deluxe premium special directors gold extended edition supreme cut” nonsense. You should get what they advertised as their first theatre showing and what you have paid for based on what they have showed you in their advertisements.

Our court process will begin on 11/08/16 this week.

Instead of going out to complain he should have stuck around for all that free popcorn. Also should have learned the difference between “your” and “you’re”. Oh no, am I going to get sued for causing him trauma by saying that? (Why so serious?)

Let’s take everyone who wants to sue over not enjoying the movie and have them brawl with anyone who earnestly signed the petition to shut down Rotten Tomatoes over bad Suicide Squad reviews. Perhaps we could bet on our favorite side and call them some sort of, I don’t know, kamikaze squad?

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by Danny Cowan via Yahoo

Microsoft is cultivating a behind-the-scenes slate of games for Project Scorpio, its upcoming Xbox One console upgrade, Xbox division head Phil Spencer confirmed this week.

Responding to a Twitter question regarding whether developers are working on Project Scorpio-compatible games, Spencer claimed that development teams are currently tackling Project Scorpio “hardware, platform and games” ahead of the upgrade’s planned 2017 launch.

Microsoft previously announced Project Scorpio at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, noting that the Xbox One successor will feature eight CPU cores and a six teraflop GPU. The hardware represents a significant upgrade compared to existing Xbox One and Xbox One S consoles, and will be capable of pushing more than 320 gigabytes of memory bandwidth per second.

Microsoft emphasized that Project Scorpio will not replace current Xbox One models, but will instead coexist alongside legacy hardware, with support for all previously released Xbox One games, controllers, and accessories. Games designed for Project Scorpio will feature improved performance, along with support for 4K resolutions.

Project Scorpio will also pave the way for “high-fidelity VR” on Xbox One, according to Microsoft. Insider sources hinted that Microsoft is pursuing a partnership with VR headset maker Oculus in order to introduce Oculus Rift support for the Xbox One.

Aaron Greenberg, head of Xbox games marketing, confirmed that Project Scorpio will not host any exclusives, however, suggesting that future Xbox One games must feature compatibility with all console models.

A similar upgrade for Sony’s PlayStation 4, code-named “Neo,” also binds developers to existing PlayStation 4 hardware. While PlayStation 4 games may offer increased frame rates and other technical improvements when powered by PlayStation Neo, leaked documents reveal that Sony prohibits developers from making Neo-specific games or introducing major gameplay features that require the hardware upgrade.

Microsoft targets a holiday 2017 launch for Project Scorpio.

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by Luke Dormehl via Digital Trends

As the worlds we explore using VR get larger, one potentially limiting factor is the question of how to best simulate wide open spaces in virtual reality if the real world locations users are present in don’t provide adequate room. After all, it’s a relaxing thought to consider that we might put on our HTC Vive headset after work and take a stroll down a long stretch of deserted beach — but a bit impractical if we happen to live in a small apartment.

A group of researchers think they may be on to a solution, however, and they showed it off at last week’s SIGGRAPH conference. Developed by researchers at the Tokyo and Unity Technologies Japan, the project calls for a new type of “Visuo-Haptic” VR experience, which reportedly creates the illusion of an infinite virtual corridor in a “play space” measuring just 16 feet by 22 feet.

Called “redirected walking,” the technology basically tricks the subject’s brain into thinking that he or she is walking in a straight line when, in fact, the subject is walking on a slight curve. Extrapolate that slight curve into a full circle and it essentially creates a limitless play space in which someone could walk forever without hitting a wall — or realizing they’re walking in circles.

“This work uses the ‘Visuo-haptic redirected walking’ [concept], which is a novel efficient redirected working technique by utilizing haptic cues for strongly modifying our spatial perception,” Takuji Narumi, one of the researchers on the project, tells Digital Trends. “Since the combination of visual and haptic sensations strongly alters our spatial perception in agreement with visual representation, the system effectively reduces the required space for infinite walking.”

Narumi says that the researchers are already speaking with several companies about the technology, and that he could see it working well in a “theme park or amusement attraction” setting. While the technology currently requires users to touch a wall to guide themselves and enhance the effect, he also hopes that long term this can be done away with.

“We can demonstrate haptic cues enhances the effect of the redirected walking technique,” he says. “[But] for actual usage, using the static wall is a limitation of our method. We would like to investigate the effect of ‘active’ haptic cues provided by some kind of haptic interfaces. By doing so, we may eliminate walls from the proposed method by presenting haptic sensations with haptic interfaces, and extend applicability of our method.”

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by Arthur Gies via Polygon

You should take expectations of a Nintendo console with the power of Sony’s current PlayStation 4 or even Microsoft’s Xbox One and let them go now, in all likelihood.

Earlier today, Eurogamer published a report citing multiple sources that states the new Nintendo console — codenamed NX and due to launch next March according to Nintendo representatives — will be a hybrid solution bridging the gap between mobile game platforms and dedicated home gaming consoles. The bulk of the device is a tablet-like system that bears a passing resemblance to the Wii U Gamepad controller, with a screen flanked on either side by conventional controller inputs. However, these inputs can detach and be used independently by up to two users for multiplayer-oriented games.

According to a companion piece published by Eurogamer’s gaming technology-oriented Digital Foundry blog, the NX development hardware is using a version of GPU manufacturer Nvidia’s Tegra X1 chip, which also powers Nvidia’s Shield set-top box.

This is where things get murkier.

The Nvidia Shield box is a small set top box using a “passively cooled” X1 chipset, which means that stable, generally non-moving bits of hardware direct heat generated from the processor away from it. Digital Foundry’s article stresses that the X1 chipset in the NX development box is actively-cooled, however, which suggests that the hardware in the dev kit is running at a faster configuration than existing products using that hardware.

Active cooling isn’t particularly feasible in a mobile device, however, so it seems likely that the Tegra hardware inside of the NX is more advanced and more powerful than the existing X1. Conversely, perhaps the dock element of the NX provides cooling for the tablet’s Tegra system-on-a-chip, which, along with a move from battery power to a dedicated power supply, could allow for higher performance in “console” mode.

Unfortunately, for fans looking for a new Nintendo console that’s “competitive” with the presentation capabilities of the PS4 or Xbox One, there’s not much to be excited for here. The Tegra X1 debuted in March 2015 with promises of PS3/Xbox 360 equivalent graphics, systems which were ten and nine years old at that time, respectively, and even then, this promise proved somewhat unsubstantiated. As Digital Foundry notes, Doom 3 BFG was natively ported to the Shield platform, and ran at 1080p and 60 frames per second in comparison to the 720p30 presentation on last-generation consoles. However, close comparisons suggested a significantly lower level of model complexity, normal and shadow maps, and texture resolution on the Nvidia hardware by comparison.

Put more simply, Doom 3 BFG ran faster and in higher resolution on Tegra, but it looks a lot worse in every other regard. Call it a wash, I suppose.

As Digital Foundry also points out, Nintendo’s new console doesn’t appear to be running Android, meaning developers on NX will likely be able to secure performance increases and better looking games than Tegra has previously provided. And if the NX is using the next generation of Tegra mobile chipsets, which are due to be announced in August at the annual Hot Chips conference, we could see even more performance improvements. The existing Tegra chip uses a GPU derived from the same family as Nvidia’s 900 series of video cards, whereas the next generation is expected to move to the hardware driving Nvidia’s recent 1080, 1070 and 1060 GPUs. These graphics cards are much more power efficient than their predecessors and more powerful to boot, suggesting the evolution in architecture might also help Nintendo get more out of Tegra.

While Tegra’s specifications are competitive with more modern hardware, its roots as a mobile chipset — designed for small form factor devices powered by batteries, rather than the power supplies in consoles and PCs — makes direct comparisons difficult, and not encouraging. The laws of physics make it hard for devices designed to run on batteries that will fit in a small form factor device — like a tablet, for example — output performance on par with devices that don’t have that constraint. A “faster” processor in a mobile device will have difficulty competing with a “slower” box plugged into your wall. Even if the NX’s dock provides a power boost for the system’s SoC, it’s unlikely to boost it to anything remotely resembling the PS4 or the Xbox One. So it’s time to come to terms with that — and, potentially, to get excited for another new, different thing from Nintendo.

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by Aaron Morales via Entertainment Weekly

Microsoft closed out its Gears of War 4 E3 presentation in June with the return of a familiar — if more wrinkled and bearded — face. The demo ended with a five-second glimpse of an older Marcus Fenix, star of the original Gears trilogy and father of Gears 4 protagonist JD. Now, EW can exclusively reveal your first in-game look at Marcus in the upcoming game.

Gears of War 4 picks up 25 years after the conclusion of the trilogy, which saw Marcus end the human versus Locust war definitively with a huge explosion. Marcus will join son JD and his friends Kait and Del as they attempt to rescue Kait’s mother Reyna from a new breed of enemies known as the Swarm over a tumultuous 24-hour journey.

“Gears of War 4 is both the continuation of a legacy and a new beginning for the franchise, and as the father of our new protagonist, Marcus plays a significant role in the story,” said Chuck Osieja, creative director of developer The Coalition. “Marcus represents a key component of discovering who JD Fenix is as a character, why he’s taking up this fight and what’s propelling his motivation forward.”

EW can also reveal that Marcus, who is once again voiced by John DiMaggio (Adventure Time, Futurama), will be playable in versus multiplayer and the wave-based Horde mode, the return of which was finally confirmed by The Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson onstage at E3.

Gears of War 4 will launch globally Oct. 11 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, which means players will be able to play on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC at no additional cost. It’s the first game in the series that supports cross-platform multiplayer, meaning you can play on Xbox with someone playing on PC in all cooperative modes.

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by Brad Jones via Digital Trends

In early 2016, rumors began to circulate that Sony was prepping an upgraded version of its PlayStation 4 console. The hardware was nowhere to be seen at the company’s software-centric E3 conference in June — but now materials have leaked to the web that seem to confirm the project’s existence.

A 42-page presentation on the souped-up PlayStation 4 is now available online, and it seems that this documentation might be the initial source of the leak. The “comprehensive” briefing lines up with previously reported hardware specs, according to a report from VG247.

It seems that despite being targeted towards owners of 4K monitors, the console, code-named “Neo,” will be able to provide some graphical improvements when used in conjunction with a standard HDTV. Improved visual fidelity and a higher frame-rate are among the advantages mentioned.

The document also gives some hints and tips to developers looking to optimize their games to be played at a 4K resolution, possible thanks to the added muscle of the new system. It’s clear that Sony is eager for developers to create games that make the new console seem like a worthwhile upgrade.

However, the “Neo” will not be the direct successor to the PlayStation 4. It seems that Sony is taking a similar plan of action to the one that Microsoft teased with its E3 reveal of Project Scorpio — the “Neo” will coexist with the standard PlayStation 4, at least for a while.

Unfortunately, the report doesn’t contain any clear-cut information about when Sony is planning to launch the retail version of the hardware, although it does give some indication as to when various prototype builds are expected. That said, it does state that PlayStation 4 games released after October 2016 should support both forms of the hardware, so the “Neo” seems likely to arrive in the early part of 2017, if not before.

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