News::GameStop won't sell consoles bundled with digital games

Perhaps more than any other retailer, Gamestop has serious clout when it comes to selling video games. The retail chain makes money hand over fist on game trade-ins and the resulting used game sales, and in an effort to protect that, it's made an edict that it'll only sell bundles that include a physical disc rather than a download code. In a shareholders call (PDF), chief operating officer Tony Bartel specifically cited the current Madden '16 Xbox One bundle. Rather than carrying the official deal, the company worked to offer a free physical copy of the annual football title with the purchase of a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, refusing to stock the digital bundle at all.

Via: Giant Bomb

Source: The Street (PDF)

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News::'Star Wars: Battlefront' beta will be open to everyone, work offline

It seems like every time we see Star Wars Battlefront, it gets a little more exciting. Small, but epic missions. Huge multiplayer battles. Aerial combat with up to 20 players. Can this game possibly live up to its own hype? You're going to find out. Yes, you personally -- EA has announced that the Star Wars Battlefront beta is going to be open to everyone.

Via: Eurogamer, EA

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News::This web game shows that landing a Falcon 9 rocket is pretty much impossible

You thought the carrier landing stage in Top Gun was a nightmare to pull off? Then get ready to scream obscenities you didn't know you knew at MIT Media Lab's SpaceX Falcon 9 Lander. This 8-bit web-game combines all of the pulse pounding excitement of landing a multi-million dollar prototype spacecraft with the rage-inducing control scheme from a 1983 Yugo. The goal of the game is simple, get the rocket to set down gently on an ocean-going platform using only the WASD keys before its limited fuel supply runs out. Now try it without giving yourself a coronary.

[Image Credit: top - Space X, inline - MIT Media Lab]

Via: The Verge

Source: MIT Media Lab

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News::Playdate: We're getting weird with 'Metal Gear Solid V'

I have no idea what's going on with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's story. That has a lot to do with my only experience with the series resting squarely on playing half of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance on Xbox and nothing else. I never had an original PlayStation (Playdate regulars know that I have a history of owning the wrong console) so I didn't fawn over Metal Gear Solid and traipsing around the game's Alaskan military base the way everyone else in the late '90s did. Hell, if it weren't for our Twitch regular Chris "lXDUKEXl" Duquette's suggestion the other week, Sean Buckley and myself wouldn't even be broadcasting ousted auteur Hideo Kojima's latest for two hours today starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT.

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News::EA removes female players from 'FIFA 16' after NCAA eligibility concerns

EA is no stranger to issues with the NCAA, and this time FIFA 16 women's rosters are the culprit. The gaming studio announced today that following an NCAA notice, it would remove 13 players from the game that are currently on or "likely" to be on college rosters. "We believe this decision denies these 13 athletes the opportunity to represent their countries in the game, but we have removed them from FIFA 16 to ensure there is no risk to their eligibility," EA said in a blog post. While EA didn't compensate those players for appearing in the game, the NCAA says that including them would still jeopardize their ability to take the pitch for their respective schools. The group of players that won't make the game includes six players from Canada, six from Mexico and one from Spain (detailed info here). All 12 women's national teams are now playable with EA Access Play it First Trials.

Via: VG247

Source: Electronic Arts

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News::'Myst'-inspired game 'The Witness' hits PS4 and PC in January

The Witness has been cloaked in a fair bit of mystery since Jonathan Blow started working on it in 2009, right after the rabid success of his first game, Braid. Now, we finally have some concrete information: The Witness will launch on PlayStation 4 and PC on January 26th, 2016. Blow and his team announced the release date in a new (4K, 60fps) trailer that shows off the game's latest graphics and a bit of puzzle-based gameplay.

Filed under: Gaming, HD

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Source: Jonathan Blow (YouTube)

Tags: hdpostcross, JonathanBlow, pc, ps4, STEAM, TheWitness

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News::The best part of playing 'Metal Gear Online' isn't the shooting

Metal Gear Online takes The Phantom Pain, well, online. We've just got to go a few rounds in Bounty Hunter, one of two play-modes -- the other is Cloak and Dagger and focuses on stealthier things. Controls will be familiar to anyone that's played MGS5, but because everyone can't be Solid Snake (ugh), in MGO there's a range of roles and abilities from stealthier builds with non-lethal or silenced weapons, to a half-mech suit (the Walker Gear) that lets you blast the hell out of your opponents. While the mech seems like the easy choice for a whole lot of kills, but that doesn't necessary mean it's the funnest way to play.

Filed under: Gaming

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Tags: metalgearonline, metalgearsolid, mgs, mgs5, stealth, tgs2015, video

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News::Amazon Fire TV comes out to play with 4K and Alexa, stays at $99

If you're one of the folks that's purchased a 4K TV, Amazon has some good news for you: The new Fire TV supports 4K and still costs $99.99 (£80). In addition to handling all those extra pixels, the voice remote now calls up Alexa, the Echo assistant with access to more than just movie and TV titles. Ask it about the weather, sports, traffic and have it play music from your Amazon playlists and Prime. All of the information is displayed on your TV. The company also announced a $49.99 (£45) Fire TV Stick with a Voice Remote (finally) and a new game controller also with voice control and a headphone jack so your zombie shooting ways don't disturb the rest of the house. Slideshow-320558

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Household, HD, Amazon

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Source: Amazon

Tags: 4K, amazon, FireTV, FireTVStick, hdpostcross, UHD

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News::YouTube will soon support game streaming from Android phones

Google has revealed that you'll soon be able to stream Android smartphone or tablet games directly to YouTube without any additional software or hardware. The incoming feature will also let you add video and audio commentary via your device's front camera and a headset, and you'll be able to record and upload game play clips to YouTube from Google Play Games. YouTube Gaming head Ryan Wyatt unveiled the feature at the Tokyo Game Show, and Japan will be the first nation to get it.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Google

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Source: Tokyo Games Week (YouTube)

Tags: gamestreaming, google, streaming, Twitch, video, YouTube, YouTubeGaming

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News::Your PS4 is screaming out for some color (and a gold DualShock 4)

Admit it: these new DualShock 4s and color plates for your PS4 are going to make that living room obelisk pop. Slideshow-320584

Filed under: Gaming, Sony

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Tags: colorpanels, controllers, dualshock, dualshock4, hands-on, playstation, ps4, sony, tgs2015

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News::A giant rat bird was the closest I got to 'The Last Guardian'

Well, I got to tease it with a giant pink ball. To promote The Last Guardian, which is very much happening and also very not playable (so far) at the Tokyo Game Show, the team at genDesign hooked up a 20-foot screen with a projection of the lovable / grotesque (delete as applicable) Trico. The feathery giant rodent is projected at fictional life-size, while two hidden depth cameras pick movement of anyone near its cage. We seemed to get the best reactions when the organizers brought out that aforementioned pink ball to catch its attention. It still roars a lot, which only scares the crap out of you the first... twelve times. It's a simple little technical demo that doesn't reveal anything more about the game, but it's better than watching similar gameplay videos again. Hand me a controller.

Filed under: Gaming, Sony

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Tags: japan, projection, sony, tgs2015, thelastguardian, trico, video

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News::'Dark Souls 3' is coming for your patience next April

Don't have a PlayStation 4 and Bloodborne but still want in on some punishing action by way of the folks at From Software? Good because Dark Souls 3 hits PC, PS4 and Xbox One next April -- right in line with the "early 2016" window we were teased with during E3 this year. And for those who need something to do between now and then, perhaps the recently announced "The Old Hunters" expansion for Bloodborne will whet your whistle come its November 24th release date. Here's to hoping you're suitably prepared to die evade peril by then.

Slideshow-320586

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD

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Tags: 2016, april2016, bloodborne, darksouls, darksouls3, dlc, fromsoftware, gaming, hd, hdpostcross

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