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Rockstar Games on Thursday announced that Christmas is coming to Grand Theft Auto V. The game's multiplayer mode, GTA Online, will see a number of holiday-themed additions, including snowball fights, ugly Christmas sweaters, cookie-face masks, and lots more.
Below is a roundup of what to expect in GTA Online, beginning today after you apply the latest title update, which Rockstar is calling "Festive Surprise."
Weapons - Homing Missile Launcher and Proximity Mines are now available. What do these have to do with Christmas? Rockstar says they arrive just in time "to make spirits bright."
Snow Days - An extremely rare weather system is moving through Los Santos, and players will be able to take part in snowball fights. "But be forewarned, those icy little suckers can pack a wallop," Rockstar says.
Free Christmas Gear and Masks -- You'll be able to wear ugly Christmas sweaters, a gingerbread man mask, and lots of other holiday-themed items. They're all available now for free in your inventory.
Four New Vehicles - Drive the new Hot Rod Christmas Ratloader and Slam Van, or deck out your Massacro and Jester sports cars with new Race liveries.
Holiday Special Crate Drops - Special crate drops will fall frequently now through January 5, featuring all manner of rare collectibles.
Christmas Day Gifts - On December 25, head to your GTA Online apartment to find some special items in your inventory.
New Year's Eve - From December 24 through January 5 you'll have access to the Firework Launcher and Firework Rocket Ammo that lets you shoot fireworks into the sky.
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The update, arriving tonight, will help improve usage of some applications.
Not much else is known about the update outside of that small detail, which was offered in a recent PlayStation tweet.
The update to version 2.0 caused problems for many PlayStation 4 users, including unresponsive systems and errors connecting to YouTube. The issues were not universal, through Sony did acknowledge them and said it was looking into the issues at the time.
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Ever since the dawn of the Twitch livestreaming age, it's seemed like a no-brainer for Steam to add some sort of quick and easy broadcasting option. And yet for some reason (hint: it's Valve), they've taken their time. But finally, it's here.
Valve explained the new feature, called broadcast, on an update page. Finding a game to watch is as simple as trawling your friends list and selecting "watch game" (if they've set Steam to allow it) or finding someone who's made their streams publicly available by way of a game's hub page. People can also choose to allow friends to watch their games only if they request to do so first, or they can make them invite-only.
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According to Valve, broadcasts begin when people start watching. There is not, it would seem, some sort of dedicated "start broadcast" option. Rather, you have to toggle your settings accordingly and wait for people to trickle in. Seems like that might make it a little hard to advertise the specifics of a stream, but we'll see.
On the upside (or downside, depending on who you talk to), Steam's broadcasting function features a live chat, ala Twitch. I can't wait to see what kinds of new and inventive ASCII dick art Steam's community dreams up.
Despite all the Twitch similarities, however, Valve's service does not in any way link up with Twitch. This is in-house Valve tech, which is kind of a bummer. I mean, on one hand this gives Twitch some real competition—something that's especially interesting in the wake of the recent $970 million Amazon buyout—but people with large pre-existing Twitch audiences won't have any easy way to get everybody under one roof. I guess you could stream over both services at once, but that sounds a) clunky and b) like it would devour the entire world's supply of bandwidth.1
The whole thing seems very basic at the moment, though. There's no option to add a camera; it's just you, the game, and a mic. There's also no indication of whether or not Valve plans to let players monetize their streams with advertisements or anything like that. I've emailed them to find out what their plans are there, and I'll update this post as soon as I hear back.
Fans of the ever expanding Final Fantasy universe are all surely anticipating the release of the long talked about Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Demo. Well if you are, then mark down December 20th of this year as a special day on your calender as the demo will be featured in a live stream coming straight from Jump Festa, Tokyo.
The demo that has been teasing gamers for a good while now is said to be somewhere in the region of 1-4 hours long. Final Fantasy XV’s Episode Duscae Demo will be featured alongside Final Fantasy Type-O HD (purchasing will guarantee a download code for the FFXV demo), Bravely Second the sequel to the smash hit 3DS title, Dragon Quest X, Dragon Quest Heroes and Final Fantasy Explorers.
The live stream will be taking place on 20th of December, 11am local with Final Fantasy XV being the last thing on show.
Who would have thought that Sony's PS4 console would be something to worry about. With Microsoft and the Xbox One having shot themselves repeatedly in the foot since the beginning of the announcement of their console, you'd think Sony would be fine. But at the moment, we're not so sure. Sony has been living off the success of its reveal, not its content.
The last few months have been so exciting for the gaming community with the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, GTA V, The Evil Within, Advanced Warfare and much more! But all of these games exist on both consoles, and the one that's been having some great exclusives, is actually the Xbox One.
Xbox One Exclusives vs PS4 Exclusives
Bloodborne
The Xbox One has had two huge successes in the last few months with Sunset Overdrive and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The former is an insanely enjoyable title, one that embraces its wacky art style and insane combat. Grinding around Sunset City is one of the greatest thrills you can have on NextGen, and its hilarious to boot!
Halo: The Master Chief Collection represents what 343 Industries is all about: looking after Halo fans. Every game in the collection has been lovingly taken care of and beautifully remastered for the Xbox One. It's so great to see Combat Evolved running so well and Halo 2 is just one of the best games ever. Once they fix all those multiplayer issues, the game will be everything you want it to be.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
But what about Sony and their PS4? The best game that you can get for their console is a remastering of The Last of Us. Now I know well enough that The Last of Us is one of the greatest games ever made, but it's not exactly a reason to move over to the PS4 if you own it already. Sony is going to need some seriously big hits, and fast!
I have a feeling that their Christmas sales may be beaten by the Xbox One. And that's an upsetting thing to say for a console that runs most games at 900p and features consistent drops in frame rates (also I really hate their home screen and menus). How has Sony dropped the ball on this one? How is there no big title coming out this Christmas?
Uncharted 4, Bloodborne & The Order 1886
The Order 1886
The PS4 has some incredible looking exclusives on the way. But are they all too late? Uncharted 4 simply has a release date of some time in 2015. Bloodborne has been pushed back to March and The Order 1886 isn't out until the end of February. There are an awful lot of players out there who haven't changed over (am I wrong in saying that?), and Sony isn't offering them much.
Rockstar probably did a great favour for Sony and Microsoft, as everyone wants to try and play GTA V in first person (let me just tell you that it is actually so awesome!).
GTA V First Person
Uncharted 4 looks amazing. Being able to grab a controller and play as Nathan Drake again will be exactly what we're all looking for on the PS4. The Order 1886 looks like Sony's attempt at trying some kind of Gears of War. I'm a bit sceptical about this title, but they could really make it work. And then of course, they have From Software's Bloodborne, which I'm sure is going to be exactly what I hope it to be!
But all of these amazing games feel so far from our grasp, and when you get a NextGen console for Christmas, you want to be able to jump straight into a game that only that console can offer. Sony's future looks really amazing, but then so does the Xbox One's.
Halo 5, Inside, Scalebound, Quantum Break
Scalebound
Inside looks really beautiful. This is the next title from Playdead Studios who brought us the unbelievable Limbo. In terms of indie games, they also have Ori and the Blind Forest coming our way. Halo 5 is naturally one of their biggest titles, as I'm sure even people who own a PS4 console would buy the Xbox One just to get the opportunity to play.
Scalebound looks like an awesome adventure, a tongue and cheek RPG with dragons and other giant monsters. Sounds perfect! Then we have Quantum Break which Microsoft has been showing off for quite a while now. The gameplay looks sensational, I really hope all of these titles succeed, that goes for both platforms!
Quantum Break
With all of the games that they have now and the ones they plan to have in the future, where do your loyalties lie? Which console do you have now and are you happy with it? Which games are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments!!
I have a PS4 and I love it, but the fact that I can't play something as great as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Sunset Overdrive, means that I'd have it on my list this year!
Final Fantasy 15 is blowing our collective minds with each and every clip showing off its vast and beautiful world. It could be one of the most successful Final Fantasy games that Square Enix has ever produced, and they really need that after the disaster of Final Fantasy 14.
I for one have never been the biggest fan of Final Fantasy, though I of course loved it as a child. Though in recent years the games haven't really been drawing me in. Yet with every piece of news that Square Enix give us surrounding FF XV, I can't help but look forward to what they have planned.
Final Fantasy 15 & Square Enix's New RPG
Final Fantasy 15
Are you excited for Final Fantasy 15? How long have you been a fan of the series, or are you a new comer? Let us know in the comments! The game seems to boast the kind of graphics we were promised for our PS4 and Xbox One consoles from the start. Every screenshot is stunning, and the gameplay videos never fail to instil a sense of awe.
So Square Enix could really be back on track with their games, with this in mind, what's this news we've heard about concerning their brand new RPG? Yosuke Matsuda, president of Square Enix, let fans of the world know that they were planning something new in the latest issue of Famitsu.
Final Fantasy 15
The RPG in the works will more than likely be an exclusive title for the PS4 and Xbox One consoles. He didn't give us any information about the game, but stated that it would be discussed further in December. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
With the Video Game Awards of 2014 promising new game announcements during their show, we may be in luck to get a glimpse of this RPG that Square Enix are working on. Fans of the Fallout series may also be blessed with some word from Bethesda, but this could be just a fanboy dream.
Final Fantasy 15
With the VG awards and Sony's Playstation Experience taking place in December, we may also get to see this new RPG at the latter's convention. Either way, we hope to get some new word from Square Enix regarding Final Fantasy 15 also. What do you think, will we see this new RPG in December, or will it only be talked about?
Imagine your ideal RPG from Square Enix, where would you have it take you? Would it be similar to the Final Fantasy universe, or would you prefer for them to go back to their roots and create something as great as Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen? Let us know!
The attention is fast turning to Thanksgiving tomorrow and the shopping bonanza that is Black Friday a day later. But before you disappear, Rockstar is running a giveaway for a highly collectible couple of games consoles, and it doesn’t cost you anything to try and win one of them.
What Rockstar has done is to design its very own custom GTA Vcasing for the Xbox One and the PS4. Both use an exclusive black-on-black GTA V design including laser etching on micro perforated metal panels. The glossy green is painted onto the panels, and matched on the controller designs. It looks great, is very limited edition, and could be worth something a few years from now.
Entering to win one or both of the consoles couldn’t be simpler. For the PS4 just visit the Rockstar Games Facebook page and enter your details. For the Xbox One you need to head on over to the Rockstar Games Social Club instead.
If you’re not lucky enough to win one of the consoles, Rockstar is offering 10 runners-up prizes per console in the form of a Deluxe Prize Pack. They contain exclusive, new official GTA V gear and collectibles. The pack includes things like pin and sticker sets, a paper weight, mouse pad, T-shirts, and even an exclusive water bottle. Check out the image below for the full contents of the pack:
It’s not stated anywhere in the giveaway announcement, but I expect that if you win either console you’ll also be getting a copy ofGTA V in the post. It would be silly not to send the game with the custom console, right?
While fans might still be sadly waiting for the official "Final
Fantasy 15" release date, they can at least be comforted to know that
"Final Fantasy 13-2" for PC has not only a new trailer to gush over, but
also a December release date to look forward to.
In the Anime News Network forum
for the announcement of "Final Fantasy's 13-2" for PC, fans were mostly
concerned about graphics. One fan however had the somewhat hilarious
lament that they'd have to decide which platform to play the game on.
"I want to get this, but I already have 15 hours on my PS3 save. I
don't think I'm in mood to replay 15 hours again," said Core Signal. The
fan then followed up with a signature frowny-face emoticon.
According to Siliconera,
the trailer for "Final Fantasy 13-2" for PC was originally streamed on
Square Enix's official youtube channel but was taken down and then
reposted on Steam, the PC platform in which the game will be sold. The
trailer has since been re-posted (perhaps someone at Square Enix jumped
the gun) in which fans can watch it below.
For fans who may need a refresher on the plot for "Final Fantasy
13-2," Wikipedia describes it as follows: "As a result of Cocoon's fall
at the end of Final Fantasy XIII, some of its surviving citizens now
reside on Gran Pulse, and the world has adopted a new dating system
("AF" or "After the Fall"). In the three years since, new towns and
cities have been established. While searching for Lightning, Serah and
Noel travel to old and new places on Pulse and in Cocoon."
As for the release date, according to "Final Fantasy 13-2's" official Steam
site, the game will be available for wide purchase starting December
11. Any eager "Final Fantasy" fans can also pre-order the game right
now.
By now, so much has been written about Grand Theft Auto 5 that very little of it bears repeating. But in case anyone reading this has been locked in an isolation ward for the better part of a year, here’s the skinny:
Grand Theft Auto 5 isn’t just one of the best games on the last generation of consoles, it’s one of the best games ever made, period. Rockstar North has always reigned supreme in the third-person open-world genre it helped shoot to prominence with Grand Theft Auto III, but for its last iteration in the series, the Edinburgh-based developer seriously outdid itself.
NEW GEN CLONES CAN'T COMPETE
Grand Theft Auto 5 is the benchmark for open world games. Even new gen offerings such as Watch Dogs, Dead Rising 3 and the HD port of the really rather good GTA clone Sleeping Dogs can’t compete with it. Players controlled three protagonists, sure, but the game’s biggest and most important character was the city of Los Santos itself; even though it’s a pared down version of the City Of Angels, Los Santos felt – and still feels – like a living, breathing city – albeit one whose denizens are beyond twisted.
Los Santos perfectly captures the essence and otherworldliness of the city it’s based on; it’s a place where the American Dream and its twin Nightmare mesh into some ungodly whole. A place in which the luxury mansions of Rockford Hills gazes down over winding streets on rolling hills into the glistening glass and concrete of downtown. Blaine County’s dustbowl of trailer parks and gas stations looks positively post apocalyptic and the ghetto neighbourhoods of Ganton and Davis buzz with palpable menace.
But beyond its neon-encrusted strip malls, towering skyscrapers and beachfront hipster hives, what really immerses players in Los Santos is its population – both the NPCs walking the streets and the antagonists that the players run into. The paparazzi scumbag motorcyclist, the abusive fitness freak at the beach, the bounty hunters in Blaine, the beggars on the street, the odd couple yelling about which movie they should see – the density and detail of these NPCs bring Los Santos to life and makes players feel like a part of it. And it’s on bringing the player closer to this sense of immersion that Rockstar North has wisely focused for its new gen version of Grand Theft Auto 5.
The first way it’s done this is through the new gen versions’ swoon-worthy visuals. That’s not to say GTA 5 on the last gen was something of a visual slouch – far from it – but on the PS4 and Xbox One the game’s presentation gleams with a gilt-tipped edge.
Everything from concrete textures, foliage, water and animals has been thrown into sharper relief making the natural beauty of both Los Santos’s urban jungle and its outlying areas a wonder to behold. The improved draw distance is also something of a boon. The ability to see further ahead than on the previous iteration makes blasting through the streets in a supercar or flying in a plane a far more rewarding experience and one that’s easier to navigate too. Take a bicycle up to the top of one of the many hills surrounding Los Santos and marvel how the greenery of the countryside stretches out as far as the eye can see.
The other marquee new feature is the player’s ability to toggle between Third and First Person perspective. It’s handled very well overall; simply tapping the corner of the PS4 controller’s touchpad switches views and once having adopted a FPS perspective, players will notice there’s quite a bit of weight to their chosen character’s actions and movements.
There are some teething problems, to be sure; if you’re used to playing FPS games, the X-button sprint mechanic – mapped usually to the right thumbstick in shooters – takes a bit of getting used to. It’s also rather fiddly to use when you’re driving; players used to steering in first person perspective in sim racers may have less trouble, but reversing and spatial awareness for the rest of us has a bit of a learning curve.
The real advantage to the First Person View is how close it makes all the action seem. Shootouts and punch-ups feel far more brutal than before and lend the whole experience an immediacy that Third Person View just can’t offer. Simply walking down a street in this mode brings players closer to the social madhouse of Los Santos and it makes every car and motorcycle crash feel a lot more eye-wateringly painful.
A BOATLOAD OF CONTENT TO ENTICE LAST GEN PLAYERS
But GTA 5’s improvements on the new generation of consoles go beyond bringing players ever closer to Los Santos. Rockstar has front-ended its latest release with a boatload of content – and a lot of it is aimed at enticing anyone who bought GTA 5 on the last generation to shell out the requisite sheckles for the new gen version.
Beyond the pre-order bonus – which tipped $1m of in-game cash into player’s accounts, split in $500,000 increments between the online and campaign mode – returning players have some new weapons to play with, vehicles to drive and activities to get stuck into. Players can solve a series of murder mysteries with Michael, which will unlock a gritty filter for the game that they can access through their smartphone, and a wild life photography challenge for Franklin to complete, which unlocks a rather sweet submarine called The Kraken.
GTA Online has also been expanded – and returning players can port their character across from the last gen platform, complete with all their weapons, cars, properties and jobs, so long as they have a Rockstar Social Club account. There are more features in the character creation suite and the overall player cap in online has been increased to 30 – although an extra 2 players can observe the action.
There’s a lot about Grand Theft Auto 5 that remains unchanged; the protagonists in it – in fact all of the characters – remain relentlessly hateful, the campaign veers between nuanced storytelling and fart-gag immaturity and the online mode contains as many trolls as it does players genuinely interested in forward progression. But on the new gen, this is still worth exploring.
Remember, it’s one of the best games ever made – period – and the jump between last gen and new gen hasn’t changed this fact one iota.
