News::PlayStation VR's launch lineup looks impressively diverse

Sony isn't letting up with the PlayStation VR news. In addition to the price and release window announcement, and what comes in the $400 box, the gaming juggernaut wants you to see what you'll be playing in virtual reality come October. As clichéd as it sounds, it does really look like there will be something for everyone. And if none of these strike your fancy, remember that Sony's promising some 50 games will release in the two months between launch and December of this year.

Source: PlayStation (YouTube)

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News::'Gears of War 4' multiplayer beta starts April 18th

If you've been wondering whether or not Gears of War 4 can live up to the reputation set by (most) of its ancestors, you won't have to wait long to get a good sense of where it's going. Microsoft and The Coalition have revealed that the Gears 4 multiplayer beta for Xbox One starts on April 18th, when existing Gears of War: Ultimate Edition players will get their first shot. An open beta for any Xbox Live Gold member will start a week later, on April 25th, and the whole shebang will wind down on May 1st. Two weeks (at best) isn't a long time to try the game, and there's no single player in the beta, but this test run should let you know whether Gears 4's late-year launch will fill you with hope or dread.

Source: Xbox Wire

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News::Where to pre-order PlayStation VR in the UK

So, Sony has finally given us all the details for its new PlayStation VR headset. It's coming in October and it'll cost you £350, but did you know that some UK retailers are already taking pre-orders? Well, now you do. If you can't wait until nearer the time, the PlayStation VR bundle -- which comes with the all-important headset, HDMI cable and USB cables, stereo headphones, add-on processor box but doesn't include the PlayStation Camera or Move controllers -- is currently available to order via the following stores:

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News::PlayStation VR needs a camera but it isn't in the $400 bundle

What will $400 get you come this October when PlayStation VR finally launches? Glad you were wondering. The box will include an HDMI cable, a USB cable, a pair of stereo headphones with a "complete set of earpieces," the add-on processor box, an AC power cord, AC power brick and last but definitely not least, the PS VR headset itself. What you'll notice isn't included is the $60 (£40) PlayStation Camera. Same goes for the $50 (£27) apiece Move controllers. It's highly likely what was announced today is just the base configuration for folks who already have those bits collecting dust, and that more "complete" packages will be available, albeit at an almost assuredly higher price.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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News::'Star Wars: Battlefront' is coming to PlayStation VR

If you wanted something a little bit bigger to sink your teeth into for PlayStation VR, there's Star Wars: Battlefront. It's a third-party exclusive and, well, Sony's Andrew House didn't say much more beyond that at today's GDC event aside from it being a DICE-developed project -- just like the base game. He promised we'll hear more about it in the coming months. So, E3? Here's to hoping it's more than just virtual reality viewer for the game's collectible diorama pieces.

Source: PlayStation (Twitter)

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News::Sony's PlayStation VR headset launches in October for $400

The PlayStation VR headset lands in October 2016 for $400 (€400 / £350 / ¥44,980), Sony announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco today. PS VR, originally called Project Morpheus, is Sony's answer to the current rush of virtual reality hardware heading to the gaming market. It's exclusive to the PlayStation 4 console -- and it has a fairly strong install base, considering Sony has sold 36 million PS4 units since its launch in 2013.

There are more than 230 developers creating content for PS VR, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House announced at today's event. Sony expects roughly 50 games to launch alongside PS VR. Additionally, EA, Lucasfilm and DICE are creating a Star Wars: Battlefront experience for Sony's system.

The final, consumer version of PS VR includes an OLED display, 5.7-inch screen, 1920x1080 resolution, 360 degree tracking and latency of less than 18ms. Plus, it supports 3D audio.

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News::Microsoft is opening up the world of 'Minecraft' to Gear VR

The Oculus Rift isn't the only virtual reality platform getting a piece of Minecraft's pie. Today, at an event held during GDC 2016, Microsoft and Oculus are set to announce that the open-world phenomenon is also coming to the Gear VR. For many people, Samsung's headset is a far more accessible option than the consumer Rift, so this is good news for anyone who wants to play Minecraft in VR without breaking the bank.

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News::'Harry Potter' meets 'Zelda' in a fantasy action game

Mages of Mystralia is a fantastical romp through a mystical world, starring a young woman named Zia who discovers she has powerful magical abilities -- though this isn't necessarily a welcome development. Zia accidentally burns down her house and is forced to flee her homeland, and as she journeys across the countryside she meets other exiled mages who help cultivate her powers. Eventually, it's up to Zia to save Mystralia from certain doom.

Mages of Mystralia combines elements from some of the most popular fantasy franchises in recent memory: There's a special, magical child like in Harry Potter, whimsical yet creepy woodland creatures as seen in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and a determined, red-headed young warrior like the star of the Disney-Pixar movie Brave. All of this is bundled into a cohesive narrative by a star of Dungeons & Dragons lore, the creator of the Forgotten Realms world, Ed Greenwood.

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News::AMD's most powerful GPU yet is built for VR

AMD has just launched the liquid-cooled Radeon Pro Duo, a graphics card that boasts a lot of superlatives. With 16 teraflops of computing power, it's the fastest single-slot graphics graphics card available, according to the company. At $1,500, it's also the company's most expensive Radeon card ever and consumes 350 watts (via three eight-pin power connectors), meaning it could add $10 a month to your electric bill if you game every day. Despite the high-end specs, however, AMD is not going after gamers, but VR content creators.

Via: Anandtech

Source: AMD

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News::Yahoo Games is shutting down in May

Yahoo Games, part of many people's early online gaming experience, has been on its deathbed since 2014 when the company started killing old titles. Now, Yahoo has decided on when it plans to lay the old casual gaming portal to rest, a month after it first announced that it's shuttering the website along with other products. On May 13th, 2016, Yahoo Games is going the way of the dodo. Those who want to experience it one last time for nostalgia's sake can still play, but note that it stopped accepting in-game purchases on March 14th.

Via: US Gamer

Source: Tumblr, Yahoo Games

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News::'Gone Home' follow-up 'Tacoma' pushed back to 2017

Fullbright, the studio behind the critically acclaimed Gone Home, has delayed its new game Tacoma. The sci-fi mystery was penciled in for the second half of this year, but it's now been pushed back to 2017.

The reason for the delay is quality control. Tacoma has been in development for two years now, and was pretty far along (and enjoyable) when we tried it out last summer. It played out similarly to the narrative-driven Gone Home, but added additional gameplay in the form of gravity-based puzzles, and more than a little of System Shock's eerie tension thrown in for good measure.

Via: The Verge

Source: Fullbright

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News::Razer reveals its latest 14-inch Blade gaming laptop at GDC

At GDC on Tuesday, Razer announced that it is releasing the fifth generation of its popular Blade gaming laptop. The new edition will reportedly offer significant performance improvements over its predecessor from 2014 including an Intel Core i7 running 16GB of DDR4, a GeForce™ GTX 970M GPU powered by 6GB of VRAM, 802.11 AC wireless connectivity and a PCIe SSD. Razer managed to cram all that hardware -- not to mention a 3200x1800 QHD+ display and Chroma backlit keyboard -- into a CNC-milled aluminum case that's less than 3/4 of an inch thick and weighs just 4.25 pounds.

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News::Razer's new Hacker Development Kit natively supports CryEngine

Razer unveiled its latest revision to its Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) developer's bundle, aka Hacker Development Kit v1.4, during GDC on Tuesday. The latest HDK offers a number of improvements over its previous iteration.

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News::'Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine' VR experiment revealed

Last week we got an inadvertent early peek at a new Star Wars VR experience from Industrial Light & Magic, and now the full trailer has been revealed. RoadtoVR has the Trials on Tatooine trailer in its full glory, and it's even better in motion than the stills could reveal. You no longer have to take our word for it, this HTC Vive-linked "experiment" is way better than the Jakku Spy app that came out for Google Cardboard last year.

Source: RoadtoVR, ILMVisualFX (YouTube)

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News::Researchers create a system to predict 'Dota' match winners

Right now, the professional eSports scene is spearheaded by MOBAs like Dota 2 and League of Legends. Each match is a complex affair pitting two teams in a combat-fuelled land grab, punctuated by crucial paths and defensive towers. Even for the most experienced players and commentators, known as casters, it can be difficult to keep up and dissect what's happening. To help, three researchers from Denmark, Germany and Sweden have developed a new way of breaking down and analysing Dota games, leading to accurate predictions about how a match will unfold.

Via: TechRadar

Source: Lund University

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News::Video game downloads now help the UK measure inflation

Helped by the rise of console and PC marketplaces, game downloads are now popular enough that the UK is using them to help calculate inflation rates. Office of National Statistics (ONS) announced today that it's added digital game sales and computer software, like Microsoft Office, to its "basket of goods" -- a list of products and services that helps it measure what consumers are spending their money on.

Source: ONS Basket of Goods

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News::Twitch wants developers to bake streaming directly into games

If Choice Chamber scratched the itch for audience participation in your Twitch streams, get ready for a whole lot more where that came from. The live-streaming juggernaut has announced Stream First, an initiative that it says is focused on making sure Twitch broadcasting is built into a game's design process from the outset rather than shoehorned in later in development. Future in-stream participation could include anything from viewers choosing what happens next, a la Twitch Plays, gaining in-game experience simply by watching your favorite streamer play your (new) favorite game and a host of others.

Source: Twitch Devs

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