Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Gets More Details On PS5 And Xbox Series X/S Versions
This week is looking to be quite a big week. Not only is Activision's annual juggernaut shooter coming out with its latest entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, it's also the launch of next generation consoles from both Sony and Microsoft. You can, of course, also combine the two (just keep in mind you're going to need a lot of that new SSD space), and you'll be getting some prime features if you do.
In an interview with Gamespot, Lead Game Designer Tony Flame detailed the additions you can expect with the next generation versions that will launch alongside the new systems. A lot of it is painted in a broad stroke, focusing on the improved graphics and framerate. One aspect that is being taken advantage of on the PS5 version is the DualSense, as the haptic feedback will actually react differently to each weapon and the adaptive triggers are made to simulate real life trigger pressure when using firearms.
"In general, with next-gen, we had to make sure that across the board, people would have a fair experience, no matter what platform they're on," Flame said. "So the graphics are going to be a higher fidelity–kind of like on PC. If you have a better graphics card it will run at a higher resolution, it can run higher frame rate. But we're paying extra care this time because of cross-platform play, that there is no inbalances due to any particular setting; that any setting that's available on one platform that could give a gameplay advantage is available on another, like the FOV slider, for example.
"The DualSense controller is pretty awesome. It's got new haptic feedback so when you're pulling the trigger, it's shaking, every time a gun fires there is a little motor in there that's firing every time. There is sensitivity on the trigger that represents the trigger pressure on a real weapon. All of that has been tuned in the game for each individual weapon."
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will release on November 13th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One and PC. You check out the other bonuses you'll be privy to if you decide to go with the PlayStation versions through here.
Marvel's Avengers Steam Player Count Has Dropped 96% Since Launch
There are lots of things one can assume. For instance, when you take one of the most popular brands with several of the most popular superheroes and put them in a game, the assumption is that it will be a huge success. Well, Square Enix took that gamble with Marvel's Avengers, and while its initial sales seemed to be okay, it was one of the reasons for big losses at the company. If you have any doubts about the game's legs, well, the Steam player count will stop them.
As documented by Githpy, they show that Avengers peaked on Steam with just 1,190 concurrent players. That marks a massive 96% drop from when the game launched in September. Granted, we are only talking the PC here, Steam specifically, that still paints a big picture of where the game is ultimately at.
Marvel's Avengers is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions were delayed into 2021 alongside the first DLC characters. It's unclear at this point where the game actually goes from here and if it can be resurrected, but only time will tell.
Astro's Playroom Garners High Praise In Accolades Trailer
Sony's PS5 will launch officially tomorrow in some regions, and if you're lucky enough to get one either via pre-order or just get real lucky (or if you're one of those scalping folks, have a bot set up), you'll have plenty of titles to chose from. But everyone will get Astro's Playroom as a pack-in title regardless of where, when and which of the two systems you actually pick up. It also seems like the little game is getting some big praise.
Sony released an accolades trailer for the game to show the little robot getting his just dues. Largely it's been praised for being a fun little platformer, and well, you can't complain about the price, I guess. It also serves as a tech demo for the PS5 DualSense controller to show off its new features, and it really shows them off enough to just kill that battery if some earlier reports are to be believed.
Astro's Playroom will launch as a free pack-in title for all PlayStation 5 systems when they launch on November 12th. It will, of course, also come with PS5s when the system rolls out worldwide on the 19th.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Sales at 6.6 Million, Resident Evil 7 Hits 8.3 Million
Capcom has provided fresh sales numbers for its best-selling titles, which reflects the total units sold as of September 30th 2020. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne continues to do well at 6.6 million sales with 800,000 units sold since June 30th. Resident Evil 7: biohazard hit a whopping 8.3 million sales with 400,000 units sold since June 30th, making it the highest-selling title in the franchise yet.
Of course, the base Monster Hunter World experience continues to dominate with 16.4 million units sold thus far. Of that total, a respectable 300,000 were sold since June 30th. Remakes for Resident Evil 2 and Resident 3 also 300,000 units each since the same date with their lifetime sales at 7.5 million and 3 million respectively.
Devil May Cry 5 has sold 3.9 million units since launching last year with 200,000 units sold since June 30th. With Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition available for Xbox Series X/S and coming today for PS5, expect that number to go up. Check out the top ten best-selling "Platinum Titles" in Capcom's catalog below.
- Monster Hunter: World – 16.4 million sales
- Resident Evil 7: biohazard – 8.3 million sales
- Resident Evil 5 – 7.7 million sales
- Resident Evil 6 – 7.6 million sales
- Resident Evil 2 – 7.5 million sales
- Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – 6.6 million sales
- Street Fighter 2 – 6.3 million sales
- Street Fighter 5 – 5.0 million sales
- Resident Evil 2 – 4.96 million sales
- Monster Hunter Freedom 3 – 4.9 million sales
PS5/PS4 Cross-Gen Titles Will Continue for Next 3 Years
Sony threw quite a few people for a loop when it announced that previously-believed next-gen titles like Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Horizon: Forbidden West would be cross-gen titles. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan even talked about supporting the PS4 into 2022. As if echoing those statements, SIE vice president Hideaki Nishino recently stated that the cross-gen trend will continue for about three years.
Speaking to AV Watch (rough translation by WCCF Tech), Nishino explained the process behind developing for both consoles. "It may not be easy to develop PS5-specific development from Day 1. For the time being, development for PS4 is also necessary. It's not a PlayStation unless you prepare a system that developers can [exploit] over several years, so I think there is great potential in the future.
"In terms of compatibility, it is important to get PS4 titles on PS5, but I have insisted that forward compatibility (supplying the same titles to PS5 as PS4) is important. The current assumption is that the transition from PS4 to PS5 will take about three years. In the meantime, how can I keep buying games on PS4? Can the purchased games be played on PS5? That is important. We ask developers to develop on the premise of 'cross generation' of PS4 and PS5."
It's worth noting that not every PS5 title will be cross-gen until 2023 but we'll definitely see the trend continuing up till that point. This is still a fairly interesting stance from Sony – several months ago, it spoke about believing in "generations" instead of leaning into cross-gen support. Perhaps Microsoft's philosophy of support across multiple generations was a motivator.
Regardless, first-party titles like Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: A Big Adventure along with third-party titles like The Pathless and Bugsnax will be available on PS4 and PS5 on November 12th. Stay tuned for more details on all of these titles in the coming weeks.
Deathloop Releases on May 21st 2021, Pre-Order Bonuses Revealed
After being delayed into next year, Arkane Studios' Deathloop has a new release date. It's now coming on May 21st 2021 for PS5 and PC as per a listing on PlayStation Store New Zealand. Two separate editions – Standard and Digital Deluxe – have been revealed along with pre-order bonuses.
Everyone who pre-orders the game will receive a "Storm Rider" skin for Colt and one Trinket (which allows for equipping a buff). PS5 players get an exclusive Unique Weapon – the Royal Protector Machete. Digital Deluxe Edition owners will receive the Transtar Trencher (PS5-exclusive), Eat the Rich Tribunal and .44 Karat Fourpounder Unique Weapons.
Character skins include the "Party Crasher" skin for Colt and "Sharp Shooter" skin for Julianna along with two Trinkets. Finally, you receive a selection of songs from the original game soundtrack. We'll have to wait and see if this release date lines up with the worldwide release – stay tuned for more details on that front.
Also, despite Bethesda (and by extension Arkane Studios) soon being owned by Microsoft, Deathloop will still be a timed console exclusive for PS5.
Phil Spencer Says He's Played "Quite A Bit" Of Elden Ring And Praises Its Ambition
It's now slowly closing in on 2 years since the original unveiling of FromSoftware's Elden Ring. The reveal was little more than a neat CG trailer, but it got From fans hot and bothered. We know next to nothing about the game, outside a few tidbits of rather vague information, and inside sources have pointed to the game being a long ways off earlier this year. But it seems as if someone has played it, and played it quite a bit at that.
In a recent interview at Gamespot, Xbox's Phil Spencer revealed something quite surprising. He said that he'd played a lot of Elden Ring, specifically saying, "I've seen actually quite a bit. I've played quite a bit," and that he found it to be Director Hidetaka Miyazaki's (who has been the primary Director behind the Souls series including the first game and Bloodborne) most ambitious work yet.
"As somebody who's played all of Miyazaki's games over at least the last decade, this is clearly the most ambitious game that he's done," he said. "I mean, I love his games, but seeing some of the gameplay mechanics stuff that he's tackling, he and the team are tackling this time, of the setting, working with another creator in terms of story. I love it."
Well, take of that what you will, but the fact that Spencer says he's played a decent amount of the game could point to the possibility it is getting close to a release. Of course, that's not necessarily the case, either, since games can be technically playable at various stages well before they are ready for any type of public launch. As it stands, Elden Ring has been announced to be coming to the PS4, Xbox One and PC with no time frame currently expected.
PS5 Will Add Wishlist Feature To The PS Store
Tomorrow will see the official release of the PS5. If you got a pre-order, it seems as if there's a good chance you'll may get it in the mail, and good damn luck to those who are going to try and brave this thing on launch day. By and large, we've seen most of what there is to see with the system with one piece missing: the PS Store. We know they have integrated it into the system and it's no longer an app, and now we know something that will probably make at least some pretty happy.
Push Square managed to get their hands on the machine, and they noted that the PS Store is pretty easy to navigate due to the new integration even if they didn't seem to be huge fans of the new layout. They also say that the Store will now have Wishlist, a feature many have been wanting. That feature was on the webstore at one point, but was taken out for no specified reason. You'll be able to wishlist any game or DLC that you want. You can even set it send you notifications about it over time as well. It's unclear if this feature will come back to the webstore or be added to the PS4 store as well.
The PlayStation 5 launches in select regions on November 12th with a full scale worldwide release on November 19th. Sony also released a large scale FAQ on the system, that you can read about through here.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla – Xbox Series X vs Xbox One X Comparison Shows Significant Differences
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is one of many major AAA multiplatform titles releasing across console generations, but as one of the biggest, it's getting a lot of attention. And it seems it's also a great way to compare how games fare on current gen consoles and their newer counterparts.
GameSpot have uploaded a new video comparing the open world RPG running on Xbox Series X and on Xbox One X side-by-side, and the differences are immediately apparent. For instance, the load times, as you might imagine, are significantly faster on an Xbox Series X, while the visuals look much sharper, thanks to better lighting, sharper shadows, and more. Take a look below.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is out now for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Stadia. It launches tomorrow for PS5. In our review of the game, we praised its "blend of ambition and tradition" and called it "the series' best outing in years, one that can appeal to newcomers, recent fans, and series veterans alike with an enthralling and potently crafted adventure." You can read our full review through here.
Ubisoft have a lot of content planned for the game by way of post-launch support, including two expansions and a Discovery Mode. Read more on that through here.
FIFA 21 Gets Two Sharp Screenshots For Upcoming PS5 And Xbox Series X/S Releases
As always, this year saw a new release from EA's FIFA series. FIFA 21 was solid enough even if there wasn't a lot of noteworthy changes and improvements. You can read our full review through here for the full breakdown. The game already hit all current consoles and PC, and now it's time for the next gen versions to come. Today we got two shots from each system family.
It was revealed yesterday that the next gen versions would be coming at the beginning of December. EA Sports took to the official Twitter to post up two screenshots from them. They are labeled as from all three systems, though neither specifies which console it's actually captured from. It's obviously difficult to parse much from just a single screen, but it does look quite sharp.
FIFA 21 is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. The PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S versions will release December 4th.
𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙇𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 when #FIFA21 arrives on PS5 & Xbox Series X|S on December 4th. Buy now, and upgrade for free: https://t.co/lK3Fzbciqj pic.twitter.com/ibbeTzplLM
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) November 10, 2020