Monthly Archives: May 2016
Top 8 PlayStation 4 Headsets On the Market
More than two years on from the launch of the PS4, the field of excellent gaming headsets has started to fill out – no matter what price point you're looking at.
Between Sony's own headsets and the bevy of third party cans from Polk Audio, Turtle Beach, Astro, Kingston, and SteelSeries, we've spent dozens of hours weighing the options to bring you our top picks.
Sony's basic wireless headset entry. The set uses a USB dongle to link the headset and the console. While that's a bit less convenient than a Bluetooth connection, for example, it does allow you to use the set with a PC or Mac as well.
CBS Looking for New Network for Limitless
Today is CBS’ Upfront day, as they reveal their full new schedule for the 2016-2017 season. But as the network executives unveiled the schedule to press this morning, one question stood out – what’s going on with Limitless?
CBS has not renewed the series, nor has there been word it’s been cancelled, even as CBS made the decision to end Rush Hour earlier this week (and renew several lingering “bubble” shows).
Paragon Free Weekend Coming Next Week
Epic Games is inviting everyone to play Paragon for free on PC and PS4 next weekend.
Running from Thursday May 26 to May 30, the free beta weekend is open to anyone who registers by May 25. This follows some stress test weekends which Epic ran recently.
StarCraft 2 Patch Adds New Co-Op Commander
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void patch 3.3 adds Zerg gene sequencer Abathur as a co-op commander.
Abathur became available in the co-op mode—which allows players to control hero commanders in an accessible multiplayer arena—yesterday. Although patch 3.3 is free, Abathur costs $5 USD to unlock.
The new co-op commander gives players a Zerg option that doesn't "rely on a hero unit being on the battlefield." Abathur is not controllable in the field as a hero; instead, he uses his evolutionary mechanics to mutate and command his army.
Additionally, Blizzard added new content to its co-op missions. Gameplay modifiers called mutators are intended to add fresh challenges to each mission. Mutations will update weekly.
New CBS Schedule: MacGyver Fridays; Training Day Midseason
CBS announced their new fall schedule today, revealing that with Supergirl moving to the CW, the network is bringing back their two-hour Monday night comedy block, doubling down on comedies with two complete blocks now on both Monday and Thursday nights.
Per usual, there will be some shifting going on a few weeks into fall, thanks to Thursday Night Football. Big Bang Theory will kick off Mondays initially, leading into the new Kevin James sitcom Kevin Can Wait, before moving back to Thursdays. Monday night will also include the new Matt LeBlanc comedy Man With a Plan, along with 2 Broke Girls and The Odd Couple.
Star Wars Battlefront Had No Campaign Because of The Force Awakens
Star Wars Battlefront's lack of a campaign was a "conscious decision" to get the game out in time for the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
During EA's Investor Day briefing, EA Studios boss, Patrick Söderlund addressed the much-criticised omission:
"The one thing that we got criticized for was the lack of a single-player campaign", he said. "It was a conscious decision we made due to time and being able to launch the game side-by-side with the movie that came out to get the strongest possible impact."
New Book Delves into the Magic of Cinema and Sorcery
Fans of the zombie genre will no doubt be familiar with Arnold T. Blumberg and Scott Alan Woodard, the hosts of the zombie-centric Doctor of the Dead podcast. I had a chance to speak with them recently about their newly released non-fiction compendium of sword and sorcery fantasy movies, Cinema and Sorcery: The Comprehensive Guide to Fantasy Film.
The painstakingly researched volume provides an in-depth look at some of the most notable movies in the genre, as well as a comprehensive index listing every known sword and sorcery movie ever made. Read on for our full chat, and click here to order a hard copy of Cinema and Sorcery and here for the Kindle version.
EA to Work on VR, ‘Virtual Humans,’ and Deep Learning
EA has created a new team which is looking to improve upon virtual and augmented reality.
Speaking during the recent EA investor call, executive vice president of EA Studios Patrick Söderlund announced what part EA's future will look like.
Frostbite Labs is a team of 30-40 people working on "out there" EA projects. Söderlund says they are "a set of very talented people that are working on longer term things, that I believe could be profound for the industry."
"When virtual reality becomes important to us, which I think it will be, how you're seen as a virtual human in that world is something we need to solve," said Söderlund.
EA will also be looking towards deep learning and neural networks to create procedurally generated content. "Instead of having to work with a conceptual artist to build a level and figure out whether it's winter, whether it's night-time,
EA Originally Rejected DICE’s Battlefield 1 Pitch
DICE's initial pitch to take Battlefield back to World War 1 was initially "absolutely rejected" by EA Studios boss, Patrick Söderlund.
"It wasn't the most obvious choice," Söderlund said at the EA Investor Day briefings yesterday. "When the team presented to me the idea of World War 1 I absolutely rejected it. I said 'World War 1 is a trench war, it can't be fun to play'."
What convinced him was DICE's decision to physically show him how we was wrong (a pretty bold gambit when it comes to your boss):
"The team continued and persisted in the fact that this can be fun, and showed up with a very short demo that convinced me at least that this was the right path. The good news is whenever you take creative risks and it works, you actually can get to substantial success."
Blizzard and Twitch to Tackle Livestream Racism
Blizzard is working alongside Twitch to create a pilot programme to combat livestream racism, harassment, and abuse.
The news comes following an incident at last week’s DreamHack Austin Hearthstone tournament which saw an unprecedented amount of racism thrown at black finalist Terrence "TerrenceM" Miller.
"We're extremely disappointed by the hateful, offensive language used by some of the online viewers during the DreamHack Austin event the weekend before last," says Blizzard president Mike Morhaime to Polygon.
"One of our company values is 'play nice, play fair.' We feel there's no place for racism, sexism, harassment, or other discriminatory behavior, in or outside of the gaming community."