Gamer's Outpost Press (Archived)

by Robin Burks via Screen Rant

One of the most influential people in video games, Amy Hennig, believes that there is a big problem with the pricing of single-player video games. Although many are ringing the death knell for single-player games, Hennig believes they are not dead yet and that a different pricing model could fix the problem.

Hennig began designing games for Nintendo in the late 1980s. Since then, she has gone on to help create some of the most beloved game franchises of all time, such as Legacy of Kain and Jak and Daxter series. Most gaming enthusiasts know her, though, for her groundbreaking work as writer and creative director on the Uncharted games, right up until she left Naughty Dog in 2014. After that, she joined Visceral Games to work on a Star Wars game, although that studio later got shuttered. She then started her own small game development studio to work in virtual reality.

In an interview with Venture Beat, Hennig spoke about her experience in game development, as well as about the future of single-player video games. Hennig reiterated that she does not believe that single-player games will ever truly go away, although some studios seem to want to move away from them. Instead, she questioned the current pricing model, which she feels actually hinders the industry and makes single-players games increasingly more cost-prohibitive.

“It’s not that we’re looking at the death of single-player games, or that players don’t want that. Some publishers are going to fall on one end of that spectrum or another based on their business plan. Fair enough. It’s just that the traditional ways we’ve done that are getting harder and harder to support. That’s why I’ve talked in the past about feeling like we’re in an inflection point in the industry. We’ve talked about this for a long time. How do we keep on making games like this when they’re getting prohibitively expensive? We don’t want to break the single-player experience, but there’s pressure to provide more and more at the same price point games have always been.”

Hennig has often spoken about the importance of storytelling in video games. She believes that players will still want that, especially in an environment so inundated with multiplayer where the story seems secondary. She offered some suggestions on what game developers could focus on in the future when it comes to releasing single-player games:

“I hope that we see more shakeup in the industry. We’ll open up the portfolios — maybe with a subscription model — so we can see that there can be story games that are four hours long at an appropriate price point. We have digital distribution. That should be possible. We shouldn’t be stuck at this brick and mortar price point and trying to make more and more content, breaking the spirit of these games.”

Her ideas aren’t too far-fetched. Digital distribution is already becoming more popular in the industry and some analysts believe that games will be 100 percent digital by the year 2022. This saves developers on manufacturing costs, allowing them to release games in a faster and more cost-efficient way. Many small developers are already doing this. For example, last year’s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, by Ninja Theory, offered a digital download that included a gaming experience of around 6-8 hours for the lower price of $29.99. That’s about half of what a AAA title generally costs.

Hennig is an expert in her field and developers should take note of her words. Gamers still want single-player experiences, particularly those who love titles that are more immersed in creative stories over the typical monotony offered in the loose storylines of multiplayer.

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by Tom Chapman via Screen Rant

Although the upcoming Fallout 76 will be the franchise’s first online multiplayer, Bethesda boss Todd Howard says single-player options could appear in the future. Despite an impressive marketing campaign ahead of Fallout 76‘s November release, many gamers are still left confused about how the game will work.

As fans once again prepare to head out into the Wasteland, they’re promised that Fallout 76 won’t be as lonely as previous titles in the series. Teamwork is key in the MMO, and although NPCs are being almost totally done away with to make for a PvP experience, developers have clearly looked into returning to a classic Fallout formula somewhere down the line.

Fallout 76 may be something different to the “main” series of Fallout games, but that hasn’t stopped Howard reiterating that it will still be part of the same family. Asked by Italian website Multiplayer.it whether Fallout 76 will contain any single-player areas or dedicated player vs environment servers, he confirmed that it won’t be part of the game’s launch:

“Not at the launch. When you come into play you can see the other players but you will not be forced to interact with them; you can play on your own. You can see them but you do not have to fight them. Maybe you can use them to exchange items, to join a team, or you can visit their camp. There are a lot of things you can do with other players that is not a comparison with weapons. However, one of our long-term plans is to have servers where you can live your lonely world. You alone. Or at the limit where you can invite only your friends; or you can apply mods and change the rules at your discretion. All of this is in our projects but there will not be at the launch of the game.”

While Howard doesn’t give a timeframe for the possible introduction of a single-player option, the popularity of Grand Theft Auto Online shows the potential of a game like Fallout 76 running for a long time. If Fallout 76 is as popular as Bethesda hopes, it could become an evolving title that might one day have single-player servers or even move beyond its West Virginia backdrop.

Considering Fallout 76 has made such a big deal about its cooperative mechanics and working together as part of a team, it makes sense that Bethesda continues to push the unique selling point when the game launches. That being said, World of Warcraft has already shown the benefits of PvE within a multiplayer game. It is a handy way for casual gamers to train and level up without the fear of being harassed by bloodthirsty players. On the flip side, PvE can be criticized as a lonely style of gameplay that encourages fans to go it alone rather than get into the spirit of teamwork.

There is a long-term plan as Bethesda promises cosmetic microtransactions will help fund Fallout 76’s DLC options for “years and years.” What the game’s shelf left is remains to be seen, but it sounds like those aloof players who want to become their own scavenging loners will also be catered for at some point. Whether buddying up to take on the apocalypse with friends or echoing the single-player campaigns of the Sole Survivor, Courier, and Lone Wanderer, Bethesda is working on something for everyone with Fallout 76.

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by Kris Holt, via Engadget

by Gabe Gurwin via Digital Trends

It has been nearly five years since the launch of the Xbox One, and the console has changed significantly over that time with the discontinuation of Kinect, full redesign of the Xbox One S, and major enhancements of the Xbox One X. But revisions like these can only get a console so far, and it has us thinking about what comes next. Here is everything we know about the next Xbox console.

Sony’s PlayStation Now subscription service allows PlayStation 4 users to stream games from the cloud instead of buying and downloading them outright, and in Japan, the Nintendo Switch has even flirted with this for Resident Evil 7.

No such service exists on the Xbox One, but during Microsoft’s E3 2018 presentation, Phil Spencer revealed that his team is currently developing cloud gaming technology that will allow you to play console-quality titles from several devices. It goes without saying that the next Xbox will be one of the supported systems, and this service could save players money if they want to try a game for a few hours before purchasing it.

However, it’s very unlikely that the next Xbox will drop support for discs. The Xbox One S and X are the only two consoles on the market that support 4K Blu-ray discs, and with internet speeds still slow in much of the United States, physical games still serve a purpose.

It will likely be backward compatible

The Xbox One introduced backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games a few years ago, and it eventually added backward compatibility with original Xbox games, as well. It appears this will continue with the next generation of Xbox, though what form this will take remains unclear.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Phil Spencer said he is “very proud of [Xbox’s] track record of compatibility” and that he wants to respect players’ previous purchases. Nothing concrete was revealed, but this certainly makes it sound like Xbox One games will be supported on the next Xbox.

Virtual reality won’t become reality

Mike Nichols, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer for Xbox, squashed the rumors about virtual reality support by telling Gameindustry.biz that “We don’t have any plans specific to Xbox” for VR, or even mixed reality.

The “specific to Xbox” phrase could give Microsoft an out, since it’s possible the company could bring over technology from Windows. Still, that seems like a long shot, because Microsoft has struggled there, too.

The hardware will be similar, but quicker

There’s no firm rumors about what will be in next Xbox, but there’s also not many options. Both Microsoft and Sony turned to using x86-based processors, like those found in PCs, with the latest console generation. They also turned to using AMD to build graphics. Both those solutions remains the most sensible, so it’s unlikely we’ll see anything different in the next Xbox.

That said, the follow-up will of course be more powerful than the Xbox One X. The architecture of the current Xbox One and Xbox One X suggest the company has many opportunities for improvement. It could increase the CPU core count, change the CPU architecture, or upgrade to a new GPU architecture, like AMD’s Vega or perhaps even Navi, which isn’t yet in production but is on AMD’s roadmap.

It’s codenamed ‘Scarlett’ and it’s two years away

According to Thurrott’s Brad Sams, the next Xbox consoles are being codenamed “Scarlett,” similar to how the Xbox One X was referred to as “Project Scorpio” before its final name was revealed.

The same report claimed the systems are planned for release in 2020, which would fall in line with Microsoft’s general timeline for hardware launches. The Xbox 360 was followed by the Xbox One eight years later, but that was an unusually long time for a console generation. Given the relatively low sales numbers for the Xbox One since its launch, expediting this process seems likely.

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by Ben Gilbert via Business Insider

by Adi Robertson via The Verge

Microsoft has completely pulled back on plans to support virtual reality headsets on the Xbox. In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer of gaming Mike Nichols said that “we don’t have any plans specific to Xbox consoles in virtual reality or mixed reality.” Nichols goes on to say that the PC is “probably the best platform” for virtual and mixed reality, and that for the Xbox, “our focus is primarily on experiences you would play on your TV.”

This basically completes the slow decay of Microsoft’s console VR plans, at least for now. In 2016, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said that the upcoming Project Scorpio console would support “high-end VR” like that available on Windows PCs. Since Microsoft had previously partnered with Oculus to support Xbox controllers on the Oculus Rift, there was widespread speculation that Scorpio might work with the Rift as well.

This never happened, but later that year, Microsoft announced an entire line of VR headsets — and a few months after that, it said that mixed reality content would be coming to Xbox devices in 2018. However, at last year’s E3, Spencer was substantially less enthusiastic. He told Road to VR that although he was “long-term bullish” on VR, it wasn’t ready to come to Xbox yet, and the market was “years away.” Now, Nichols is barely even expressing interest in the platform.

Spencer described an “over-exuberance” in Microsoft’s early VR plans, and the market has definitely grown more slowly than many imagined. However, Microsoft’s competitor Sony has done reasonably well with its PlayStation VR headset, and Microsoft has gone forward with several PC VR headsets alongside partners like Samsung and Acer. Microsoft is still trying to shore up the Xbox One’s shaky position, though, in part because it overemphasized selling the Kinect motion controllerearly on. It’s not surprising to see the company’s Xbox VR plans slip away — especially since it’s largely focusing on business uses for its mixed reality headsets.

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by Stefanie Fogel via Variety

Rocksteady Studios, the developer behind the popular “Batman Arkham” series, is apologizing to fans for skipping this week’s E3 event in Los Angeles.

“We know some of you were disappointed we were not at E3 this year,” Rocksteady co-founder and game director Sefton Hill tweeted on Wednesday. “The whole team has been reading your comments, and all of us here at Rocksteady really appreciate your passion for our next project. Knowing how much it means to you keeps us inspired and energized to deliver a game that you will be proud of. We’ll share it with you as soon as it’s ready.”

Rocksteady’s last-known project was a virtual reality adventure game called “Batman Arkham VR.” It launched on PlayStation 4 and PC in 2016. Later that same year, Hill revealed in a Reddit AMA the team is working on something new.

“We’re very hard at work on our next project but we won’t be releasing the details for a while,” he wrote. “When we do you guys will be first to hear as we want to get the community involved heavily in what we do next.”

Since then, fans have wildly speculated about whether or not Rocksteady is creating a new DC superhero-based game (it’s one of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s in-house studios) and which property it could be. Rumor is it’s working on a Superman titlein Unreal Engine 4 that will be three times larger than “Arkham Knight.”

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by Jacob Siegal via BGR News

At its E3 press briefing on Sunday, Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, confirmed that the next generation of Xbox consoles is already being made, suggesting that it won’t be long before we see new hardware from Microsoft. He didn’t share a release date, an image, or offer any specific details, but nearly five years after introducing the Xbox One, Microsoft is finally ready to clear a path for the ninth generation of game consoles in the coming years.

But just because Microsoft wasn’t able to get into specifics doesn’t mean that we have to settle for vague teases. On Tuesday, Brad Sams of Thurrott.com reported that Microsoft is currently planning to release its next Xbox console in 2020. The future of Xbox is codenamed “Scarlett,” but that name actually refers to a family of devices.

Here’s what Spencer said about the next Xbox near the end of the E3 2018 press briefing on Sunday:

The same team that delivered unprecedented performance with Xbox One X is deep into architecting the next Xbox consoles, where we will once again deliver on our commitment to set the benchmark for console gaming.

Jargon aside, the fact that Spencer referred to “the next Xbox consoles” seems significant. Sams doesn’t know if the new hardware will consist of completely new devices or be more in line with the One X, but considering how recently the One X launched, it would be shocking to see Microsoft abandon the platform altogether in 2020. This might point to the Xbox Two (or whatever it’s called) being backwards compatible with the Xbox One. And we also have to take into consideration the “console-quality game streaming network” the company is building.

Be it consoles, phones, games, or anything else, leaks this far out are always worth taking with a grain of salt, even if they come from reliable sources. Microsoft’s plans could change over the course of the next year, and between Spencer’s proclamations and this new report, we know that the Xbox team is getting ready for the future of console gaming.

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by Cooper Hood via Screen Rant

Dave Bautista is pursuing the lead role of Marcus Fenix in the Gears of War movie. The so-called video game curse has resulted in some lacking entries into the genre, but it hasn’t stopped studios from trying to succeed. There’s plenty of future adaptations in the works, including one for The Coalition and Epic Games’ big screen take on Gears of War. The sci-fi war game has been a massive hit for the studio and Microsoft since the franchise launched in 2006, and there’s plenty more to come on the gaming side.

There’s also been plenty of interest in bringing Gears of War into theaters. Coalition announced a partnership with Universal at the end of 2016 to help get the film project moving. Since that point though, there hasn’t been a lot of news. The studios tapped Avatar 2 scribe Shane Salerno to write the script over a year ago, but nothing else has come to light.

If Gears of War is ever going to happen, it will need to secure a few more major pieces. The director will help shape the tone and style, but the cast will be a major factor in manufacturing further interest in the movie. It may be too early for casting at this stage of Gears of War‘s development, but Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista revealed during a Twitter Q&A with GameSpot that he’s eager to be involved and play the lead role of Marcus Ennix.

Bautista is best known for his role as Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he’s expanded his filmography and range in recent years still. The former WWE star turned actor has appeared in major films like Spectre and Blade Runner 2049and can be seen in this week’s new release Hotel Artemis. Bautista could undoubtedly fill the action-heavy requirements that would come with this role, and he actually bares quite the resemblance to Fenix in the games.

While it is likely too early for Bautista to get cast, he would be a great fit for the role of Marcus Fenix. He was a soldier for the Coalition of Ordered Government prior to defecting, but later rejoined the COG as part of their last stand against the Locust Horde. Fenix goes on to have a huge arc centered around his family in the games’ sequels, which will continue in Gears of War 5. Bautista has shown he’s much more than the comedic character he plays in the MCU, so it’d be great to see him take on a major action role like this one. He’s yet to be a true lead, especially on this scale, but since Gears of War could assemble a great cast around him, Bautista is as compelling of a choice to play Marcus Fenix as anyone.

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