Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts

Thursday 3 March 2016

First Look at Virtual Reality Minecraft at Xbox Showcase

Minecraft

Minecraft – Loved by Millions Game Lovers Worldwide


Minecraft is much loved by millions game lovers across the world and now Microsoft has revealed what the immersive world tend to look like in virtual reality. Microsoft purchased the block building phenomenon in 2014 for $2.5bn which is a massive deal that has made the fans apprehensive about its future.

The US firm has assured not to ruin its widespread formula and has instead stated that it would invest in bringing Minecraft to the next level. At the event in trendy Mission District in San Francisco, the Xbox division showed for the first time, the virtual reality version of Minecraft. Palmer Luckey, creator of the Oculus Rift VR headset commented that it makes one feel like they are in the world of Minecraft.

Similar to several VR experiences, it seems to be completely absorbing and for those passionate with addictive building process of Minecraft, it seems to be a big leap from watching it on a normal screen. As for a game focused mainly for children, there is one figure which could bother the parents which is $1,500. It is the recommend price which needs to be spent if intending to purchase an Oculus Rift headset and a PC adequate enough to power it.

PC Gaming – Fastest Growing Segment of Gaming


Minecraft on Oculus seems to be one of the many games on display at the Spring Showcase of Xbox an opportunity for journalists together with a few influential YouTube gamers to get their hands on with the forthcoming blockbusters. Several of the titles on show had been pushed as great to play on PC through Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.

Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer had commented that if one tends to look at the numbers, PC gaming seems to be the fastest growing segment of gaming and it is natural that one focus on gaming on Windows. Microsoft had chosen not to make its own headset with regard to virtual reality; though it is developing the augmented reality focused Hololens and is rather working in making it compatible with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

With regards to price debate, Mr Spencer stated that he was of the belief that virtual reality would follow the path of high definition TVs, which is a luxury product to begin with though hard to resist once experienced.

Company Not a Victim of Hack


He added that the early adopter will be there to help spur the VR industry. New games seem to mean nothing unless gamers tend to get online to play them and recently it has been more of a challenge. The service Xbox gamers would play against each other over the internet which has stressed out thousands.

Displeased fans comprise of rapper Snoop Dogg had requested Bill Gates to fix the issue or he’d blemish to PlayStation and Mr Spencer had apologised for the issues. He stated that it’s obviously always regretful and the last outage was a concern and they learned from it.

They understood precisely what the issue was and it took a little more time that they would have liked.He disagreed that the company had been the victim of a hack stating that when its network was under continuous attack it was not as it was claimed, demolished by coordinated attempt to cut the gamers off. Besides this on the risk of losing Snoop Dogg, he commented that Snoop had been a long time gamer and long-time supporter of Xbox.

Thursday 24 December 2015

3D Video Games Can Improve Your Memory

3D_Video_Games

3D Video Games – Improves Memory Retention


A new research published in the Journal of Neuroscience shows that 3D video games could improve memory retention in individuals.It has been observed by the researchers at the University of California Irvine – UCI that playing three dimensional video games could help people to perform better at memory tests.

The researchers trace the improvements in spatial and visual memory back to activity in the hippocampus, the area of the brain which is responsible for the spatial navigation and memory formation. When engrossed in a 3D game, the hippocampus tends to get stimulated and makes the subject more skilled at memorising spaces as well as creating mental maps of their surround.

 This discovery could be utilised in formulating new methods of preventing and treating dementia and memory loss. Researchers have encouraged that same part of the brain in virtual reality in experiments enabling mice with digital maze to run through, 3D environments, manufactured one could sharpen their memories in remembering spaces. It seems that the same stimulation tends to happen to humans while entering an immersive 3D game.

3D Performers Better than 2D Players


In order to test it, the researchers carried out a series of experiments with 3D as well as 2D games to observe if the 3D element or other type of immersion could be responsible in boosting the memories of the brain. For instance, in one experiment, the subject were engaged in playing Super Mario 3D World and Angry Birds for around 30 minutes daily in the course of two weeks.

Another group was monitored playing League of Legends – 3D and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, 2D comparatively. On playing these games, they were then given an image based memory test – MST-LDI, wherein they were asked to remember a set of images and relate whether an image in a set were included in the first. The individuals were also asked to navigate through a virtual version of a Morris water mazethat test for spatial learning as well as memory.

It was observed by the researchers that those who played 3D games seemed to perform much better on those memory tests than those who had only played 2D games. The results could be observed on how Super Mario players beat Angry Birds players on visual memory test over a period of two weeks.

Immersive Video Games – Beneficial/Enriching Experiences


The paper states that there is a possibility that by avoiding a narrow focus on single or small set of cognitive domains and by closely paralleling natural experience, immersive video games could be beneficial in providing enriching experiences which can translate into functional gains. Though the indications mention that 3D games tends to benefit memory in a way which 2D games do not, the study also cautions against bearing traditional video games in with games which are specially designed for training of the brain.

The study tends to highlight that it is still not known if the hippocampus is stimulated by the overall complication or only by the spatial exploration. They have stated that these observations could help in the development of new ways of keeping the hippocampus strong and active as the person tends to age.

The researchers have also stated that environmental enrichment such as 3D video games or real life mazes to navigate could be a system of reversing age related cognitive deficits. Professor Stark comments that `it is often suggested that an active, engaged lifestyle could be a real factor in stemming cognitive ageing’.

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Sony to Roll out 'Ultra Street Fighter IV' PS4 Patch


Ultra_Street_Fighter_IV
Sony has announced to release patch for its recently launched Ultra Street Fighter IV by next week for the PlayStation 4 (PS4) users. The gamers have already complained about the lag in the game in form of unwanted glitches, lag in inputs and some silly but important shortcomings like the button which starts the screen is non-existent along with other issues. In short this game doesn’t provide optimum level of gameplay experience which Sony games are known to deliver.

The Much Awaited Patch For PS4 Users

A tweet has revealed about the much awaited patch by none other than the Sony Director of Third Party Production, Gio Corsi. Tweet had shared the information that patch had been successfully completed by the game developers and it will be tested to analyse its performance. Once this patch successfully passes in the test it will be rolled out for the all the legitimate game users.

The Problems Faced By The Game Players

Ultra Street Fighter IV was launched in March by Sony with a huge fanfare and great expectations of providing a demanding and adventurous game for the gamers. But it turned out to be plagued by a huge number of bugs along with menu slow down. Play Station platforms are designed in such a way that it offers an exclusive and dominant version which can be easily used for the tournaments and other purposes. Furthermore Play Station 4 offers better graphics and gameplay functionalities over the predecessor PS3.

Ultra Street Fighter IV Fails To Feature In Game Tournaments

Due to the number of reports relating to the glitches and problems along with input lags in Ultra Street Fighter IV, Capcom decided not to include this exciting fighting game for tournament play. Capcom certainly won’t be allowing this game in the tournament for aggressive gameplay until the issue is rectified or resolved from the Sony. Even other tournament organisers are dwelling on their decision whether to use this game on the PS4 platform or not. Sony has maintained that this game is very much playable on the Xbox 360 platform without suffering any glitches or problems. Sony and Capcom are required to address this problem and rectify it as soon as possible; otherwise it will certainly destroy its reputation on the PS4 platform.

Patch Expected To Resolve All Issues

Ultra Street Fighter IV had suffered problems both on the online and offline gameplay which seriously diminished the quality of game in all essential sections of graphics, audio and video retention. Menus happened to load terribly slowly along with jagged textures and numerous technical glitches which were subsequently reported by the game players. Sony has confirmed that it will be releasing patched to fix the bugs present in the game through a synchronized roll out plan. The Ultra Street Fighter IV fans are delighted by this development and they are hoping that Capcom will reconsider its decision of excluding the game from EWO 2015.

Monday 9 February 2015

Exploding Kittens Game Blows Up Kickstarter


Exploding_Kittens
There are times when simple idea gets huge backing and astonishing support and money. Exploding Kittens has made a sensation by blowing away its humble $10,000 funding goal with attracting a whooping funding of $4 million in pledges on the popular crowd-funding forum Kickstarter. Exploding Kittens is simply a card game which offers a unique perspective and engaging game-play to the players which had inspired a huge amount of crowd sourcing fervour.

Exploding Kitten Fares Extremely Well On Kickstarter

The funding campaign for the Exploding starter saw an amazing response from the backers and it got fully funded within first twenty minutes. Another forty minutes later it reached 1000 percent of its funding goal.
This card game has been created by an online famous celebrity who is popularly known for his The Oatmeal and himself being called Matthew Inman. He had brought up his own distinct enthusiastic art style in the card design. The co-designer Elan Lee has been left stunned more than surprised with an overwhelming response they had received for their Exploding Kittens project on Kicstarter. Regarding this usual interest and funding pattern shown by this card game Kicstarter’s Luke Crane has said that the backers had been enthralled by project’s sense of humour, art style and presentation.

Exploding Kittens Is An Innovative Card Game

This game works in the manner of the Russian Roulette wherein players draws cards and tries to avoid being evicted from the from by unknowingly or accidently triggering an exploding kitten. It has all the interesting features to enhance the game-play by bringing a tragedy, drama, strategy and weaponized back hair. This card game is available in a regular deck and suitable for the players of 7 years of age and above.

Exploding Kitten is all about the strategic betrayal wherein the players would be pitied against each other. Players would be left to decide which one is to betray and how they wish to perform it. This game shouldn’t be taken literary as it has nothing to do with hurting cats or kittens. The object of this game is to defuse the explosions which might occur if the kittens happen to get into trouble.

Exploding Kitten Breaks Reading Rainbow Record On Kickstarter

Exploding Kittens has created a sensation of the crowd-funding website named Kickstarter. Currently its holds the record of eight most funded Kickstarter projectin its history. Exploding Kittens still have a 23 left days which gives it a great chance of becoming the most funded project in is history.

Exploding Kittens is attracting funding at a break-neck pace and it is all set to break the record of Reading Rainbow. Reading Rainbow had set record of most funded project in 2014 with a whooping backers count of 105,857 but Exploding Kittens has already achieved those number of backers and many are still pledging to support its endeavours.

As Exploding Kittens has already achieved the most number of backers, now comes the time to deliver what it projects. Inman is heavily busy creating the art work for the cards and aims to send it to their backers by the end of summer.

Monday 2 February 2015

Teaching Mario to Play with Himself

Mario


When it comes we talk about artificial intelligence, so one of the most challenging sides it to teach computer to how to measure, understand, and react according to situation in the world around us. Actions, which are in the nature of human, can be taught to a robot, but teaching the decision making ability is difficult.

A team of researchers at the University of Tubingen, Germany has experimented and created a project which will change the concept of a real-world robot as AI is on the way to take the different challenges by reaching the Mario to play his own game on computer. Team of researchers has created the video, which will explain that how this system will work in step-by-step manner, but at the high levels the actions and response of Mario’s can be quantified as values.

In the whole process AI seems to start with basic information that how to navigate the world and how he is relating the various objects. The team has also created the tracking pattern for Mario’s curiosity about the rest of the world and how he is focusing on the collection of coins.

AI notes all the events when it encounters enemies and when it queried with a question that what are you thinking about Goomba? So Mario responds that, I don’t know anything. And after few experiments of interactions, Mario learns that how to jump or land on the Goomba and how to know that Goomba is dead. When it is translated back into human words, “If I will perfectly jump on Goomba, so he will die”.

Mario also learns that how to navigate any environment or how to activate question blocks which can grab power ups or how to jump to higher objects to reach any particular locations. AI has absolutely different rule if Mario is small or big because his behavior can vary according to his size or if he will get the mushroom or few fire flowers.

It is clear that AI learns about any particular environment and now Mario has an idea about real world and according to any particular situation he is free to behave or express his expression like; when first time he will jump on Goomba, so he will shout that may be Goomba is dead an later he test this hypothesis on the Goomba of future by comparing the expected result with expected outcome.

In the experiment Mario never use scripted responses, he only responds to syntax with his understanding and vast array of words. Now it’s clear that he can told the things like; “If you will perfectly jump on Goomba than Goomba will die, or he can learn by his own. In whole process he was able to complete syntax.

As a human we have applied same principles of communication and learning millions of times in life, but we have learn them when we were child and teaching something to Mario to jump on Goomba to kill it, it’s really fascinating example of AI.


Tuesday 27 January 2015

Call of Duty Makes First Trip to China with Launch of Public Beta


Call-of-Duty
When it comes to the world of gaming, every sales record has been shattered by Call of Duty, the first person shooter franchise. Even though the game has been enjoying all the possible success anyone can image, they have been really absent or non-existent in a country which is known to be the most populous country, but for not long. The wait is over and the free-to-play version of the first-person shooter, Call of Duty Online, has been officially launched in China on an open public beta. This announcement was made by the publisher Activision on Monday. The game, which has been specifically designed for the Chinese market has been released in partnership with the Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings. Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings has been based in China.

Chinese Market

The game’s launch marks the entry of wildly popular franchise for the first time and that too it will be widely available for the consumers in China. Even though the gaming population in the country has crossed more than a million marks, some of the people still play either the games, which have been developed by domestic Chinese companies, or other companies, which have been carrying out their business outside in the United States of America. Call of duty (an American game) was not available in the country until now.

In China for many years, traditional games consoles like PlayStation and Xbox were banned. Last year, 2014, the country announced that they are going to life the ban and would start allowing the console makers to launch their devices within the country’s border with one catch point- the products have to be distributed by a Chinese company. A while back companies like Microsoft and Sony announced that they are planning to launch their consoles in China. Even though Xbox One at present is available in the country, but Sony was forced to postpone the launch of PlayStation 4 last week. According to the sources from Sony, the company is still not sure about the launch date of PlayStation 4 in China.

As soon as the information pertaining to the lifting of ban was spread, the American companies have started working on the idea of releasing or launching their titles in the country. According to the survey conducted in 2014, there are nearly 300 million people, who are part of the Chinese gaming population and out of this, one third of the people are interested in the first-person shooter games. This data was more than enough for Activision. As many companies have made their games free for consumers, it is no surprise that the company has chosen the online medium.

The title of game, which is full Call of Duty game has taken many aspects from popular franchise like Black Ops and Modern Warfare. The game comes with single-player campaign, full online multiplayer, and Survival Mode for co-op playing. The company is trying to get some money by encouraging the user to either purchase the game or rent the game items.



Wednesday 7 January 2015

The Best Games for Your New Android Phone


Rymdkapsel

There are lots of arguments pertaining to the lack of games on Android based phones and tablets when compared to the ones with iOS. Even though Android is working hard to get these gaps filled, still there are lots of games which are worth playing and having on the phone. The games for android range from monster-punch madness to a Zen like strategy games. The list is endless. Some of the favorites among market experts and players are:

1 Rymdkapsel: - This game is a space-age strategy game, which has been set in a strange, pixel-perfect world. In this game, the player has to control many white rectangles as they keep on gathering resources, food stores, fire lasers at intruders and research unexplained monoliths.

2 Smash Hit: - This game is known to elevate itself into a total art form and is well known method of stress relief. The players have to go through a path wherein they have to face Glass walls, pyramids, windows, and even DNA-like helixes in their path. The players have to destroy these obstacles before they can do any damage to them. This game is very simple and addictive and can be a player’s delight.

3 Badland: - This game explains more or less about the evolution of human genome through time. In this, the untitled protagonist species keeps on shrinking or multiplying many times in a single level. The immersive 2D aesthetic and the puzzles make this game a pleasure to play.

4 Plants vs. Zombies: - The game is about strategically positioning the plants on the game board to avoid the legion of zombies, which are ready to overtake the game board. New challenges and increased number of zombies make this game more than one can handle.

5 Hearthstone: - At present this game is accessible on phones and tablets with more than 6 inches screen. This can be full of thrill of one on one fight and quickly made the player addicted.

6 Jetpack Joyride: - The game is all about getting the highest score through some of the basic cartoon animations of the game.

7 Super Hexagon: - In this game the player is in the form on a triangle and moving across on a pulsating hexagon, which keeps on throwing obstacles at the player. It is difficult for the players to be alive for more than 60 seconds but, this is what makes the game so addictive.

8 The Room 2: - This is a sequel to The Room and the developers have already taken the game to a new level and made it even more exciting. The puzzles are much more complex this time and it will not be easy for a player to get out of the room so easily.

9 Kingdom Rush Origins: - This is one of the best tower defense game that anyone can get on their phone or tablet. Origins are the latest additions to the Kingdom Rush series and it has everything to excite the fans of the previous game.

10 Minecraft:- Pocket edition: - This game carries out the essence of the main mine-craft game very well and sure to keep a beginner happy.

Thursday 18 December 2014

A Thrilling Publication “Grand Theft Auto V” of Rockstar Games


Grand_theft_Auto_V
Grand Animation Imaginary World

“Grand Theft Auto V” a publication of Rockstar Games and created by Rockstar North. It is a kind of story packed with extremely exciting imaginary world and can be explicitly presented in audio-visual method, i.e. in the form of a video games. All the characters viewed in this video are adventurous. In this present scientific age, people do not have enough time to look through the printed publication stories and, therefore, the better choice is to go in for stories through the pleasant and attractive electronic media, i.e. video players when at a time more than one people can look through.

A Story of Improved Version of Grand Theft Auto V

Immediately after the publication of Grand Theft Auto IV, there is tremendous development through extensive research work and widely recognized for different game play, tremendous technical improvements in Grand Theft Auto V. Grand Theft Auto V has very well received public approval and praise. The criminals are the main characters that they are freely moving around the cities with modern weapons.

The officers of law enforcement force are after the criminals to contain the harmful grievous activities, violence for peace and law and order. Grand Theft Auto V is so speedy entertainment and much approved and praised by the public has been proved for its all time record sales from the day of publication.

Improvement on Leading Characters Role and Open World Space

The characters of the protagonists are adventurous, exciting and each character has thrilled events in which one follows another one directly. Moreover, areas of the open world are much wider than the earlier series of previous entries. The open world is thoroughly searched and discovered from the starting of the game without limit and as the story proceeds more and more games open up with the active imagination, producing interesting ideas. In totality, the Grand Theft Auto V is the improved version of Gameplay Video of earlier Grand Theft Auto IV.

Roles and Skills of Players

Players use weapons, explosives, guns, etc. to attack crowded places of the cities and can swim, jump, run to directly discover the open world with no restriction. In the fighting, players take the help of auto-aims and cover system against enemies. Players may go to the hospital when their health reduces.

 The officers of the law enforcement give signals through “wanted” meter to the players doing crimes while playing . Each player with the set of eight expertise shows the efficiency in shooting, driving. The last skill, i.e. eighth skill is a special skill which denotes the ability of the player.

Impeccable Advancement of Technique

The improvement on technical quality, the detailing of light, sounds, pictures, especially the weather and advancement of lighting technique to the eyes of reviewers are laudable. The critics also praised the design of the open world where space of the Los Angeles meticulously used by the designer. Many also passed remarks that the game play represents the American culture. Many critics are also charmed with the perfection of soundtracks and music selection during the game play.

Admixture Views of Critics 

Regarding characters of the story to the eyes of the critics, it is felt that this is repetition of the earlier version Grand Them Auto IV. Some acting of characters is not matching with emotions as the players’ action does not support their emotion perfectly. The acting of players does not represent true, real and depth. But, in totality Grand Theft Auto V version is a high improvement of different fields which will be amazing to the viewers.Some negative feedback also received.

Saturday 22 November 2014

GTA 5 Patch Coming to Xbox One Soon!


GTA 5
Grand Theft Auto V – GTV 5, an open world action adventure video game which has been developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games was released in September 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and on 18 November 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. For Microsoft Windows it is scheduled to be released on 27 January 2015.It is the first main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series since the Grand Theft Auto IV in 2008.

It is set within fictional states of San Andreas which is based on Southern California wherein the single player follows three criminals with their efforts in committing heist, are under great pressure from a government agency.

It enables the players to freely roam San Andreas including open countryside as well as the fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles and the game is played from a first person or a third person view while the world is navigated by a vehicle or on foot.

Players have the capabilities of controlling the three lead protagonists throughout the mode of a single player, switching them during and outside of the mission with the focus on the heist sequence. The mission revolves between shooting and driving gameplay and players who tend to commit crimes may receive a response from law enforcement agencies which is measured by a `wanted’, system which governs the response of their aggression and a patch update is going to be released soon.

Latest Games Envisaged Issues of Download

Since the craze following the release of GTA 5 for the next generation console has begun, several players have envisaged issues in the latest game which had won positive reviews from major gaming sites and many players have postedon the official Rockstar Forum their inability to download the first update thereby being unable to play the online version of the game.

Rockstar has been working to resolve the issue faced by several players stating on 18 November 2014 that `at this time PlayStation 4 users should no longer have issues downloading the patch. All character migrations are now working on PlayStation 4 and affected PlayStation 3 users can play GTA online as normal.

This issue will be addressed for Xbox One and Xbox 360 users tomorrow’. The GTA V draws inspiration from several other past Rockstar titles which include Max Payne 3, Midnight Club, Manhunt and Red Dead Redemption.

Several Unique Features 

There are several unique features in the game wherein when the players are playing as one of the three protagonist, the other two tend to live out their daily lives and one will be surprised in finding what the characters are doing when one switches back into them. The other feature is the character swapping feature which is executed in a Google Earth manner which was displayed at a Game Informer demo, showing a smooth run without any lag.The Xbox One, PC, and PS4 version would be presenting an exclusive feature that is a first person mode and the entire game can be played through the concept of the protagonist. The mode of the gameplay will bring about a new way of playing the game and cars will have detailed interior which would be different from one another while the shooting will be like a FPS game.

Friday 21 November 2014

Assassin’s Creed Unity- Stuffed with Bugs and Poor on Computers and Consoles


Assassin’s Creed Unity
Assassin’s Creed Unity, which was released with such hype, got a complete blow when 12 hours post the game’s release, it was declared a completely messed up game. The consumers are stating that the games from its looks, looks like was not yet ready and the Company Ubisoft wanted to just get it released as soon as possible.

Some of the drawbacks f the game includes its limitation to 900p on the consoles, the poor draw distance, dramatic decrease in the frame rates, and due to some unexpl
ainable reasons the characters and the faces keeps on disappearing.

Drawbacks: 

There are a completely new thread which has been dedicates to the performance of the Assassin’s Creed Unity on the PC, which is even more than NeoGAF. The creator of this thread had tried to run on the game on Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 but still unable to get the desired results. This thread consists of many posters having the same issue of cut scenes dipping below the 30 fps.

There are some of the screenshots, which display the bug, which have drawn lot of criticism. Ubisoft send the Xbox version of the game to many outlets for overview and the response was dire and indicated that the problems with the Assassin’s Creed Unity is no longer limited to computers only.

As per the Joystiq, both Xbox A single and PS4 versions are having problems with the game-breaking bugs and the dipping in the frame rate. Unbelievably it is true that the frame rate of the Xbox A is more noticeable and the consoles are locked at the maximum of 900p.

According to the reports from PC World, the game Assassin's Creed Unity although available can be rough. They have stated that the game itself is having riddles of self-performance. On similar lines, users have been posting nasty feedback about the game on the NeoGAF.

The company had placed a devious review restriction during the first half of the day of the launch, which actually caused many people to take the plunge and buy the game even without seeing the full review.

Why the game has so many flaws? 

The Ubisoft company is known to have the best of the software engineers, they have the required talent pool and enough finance to make unbelievable games, but going by the looks of Assassin’s Creed Unity, the short turnaround time given to the development team has affected the final product. The game would have had all the advantages if the company would have held back on the release data and given more time for the internal resources to show its effect on the product.

Ubisoft already knew that the game will not be making the people around the world happy and it has certainly brought lot of embarrassment to the company. Although there are times when a game is launched, people give time to the company to run initial updates and patches but the feedbacks and reviews of the game have been extremely ferocious.

Thursday 13 November 2014

Now Fight Zombies without a Season Pass - Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Call of Duty
Taking three years in development with the franchise, Sledgehammer Games have brought about a newer level of experience to the multiple players platform in "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Day Zero Edition" as Activision Blizzard mentioned of a new release of entry in the popular Call of Duty series.

In spite of the fact that this is a newer level of experience for the multiple players, this does not go without controversy as the gamers were more concerned not about what the game offered in the general but more about what the game lacks in like the zombie mode which they enjoy and benefit from. Most of the gamers were more so annoyed as the players had access to game content which was worth US$50 before the decision to package the Zombies mode with a Season Pass was taken which eventually effected the gamers. However this mistaken email sent from GameStop was a spark that rose anger or fear which apparently caused a confusion as per Activision spokesperson Kyle Walker.

As confirmed to the source that all players jut like yesteryears will still be able access the Zombie content via DLC he says that the season pass is not the only way to get to zombies but its just another pass to get all DLC at discounted rates. As mentioned by Walker " Sledgehammer team created a surprise for their fans with the zombies in the AW being an Easter egg, just shows their own new take and new style of creation on zombies to be presented to their fans"

As quoted by CEO Eric Hirshberg to Activision Publishing that three years ago the decisions they have taken to actually invest into a three year development cycle and as well as to make bout.Sledgehammer Games the first new lead studio for Call of Duty in a decade was not a bad decisions as it paid off which resulted in a fantastic game which involves a good story, performance, graphics and mechanics that makes it better than an adrenaline rush than Call of Duty which exists and that is what results are all about.

In the new Call of Duty the gamers start with the World War II-Era involving American and the Soviet Soldiers where the players now can gear up in exoskeletons and go through a world where terrorists are defeated by technology.

An epic performance of Kevin Spacey makes him a James Bond style super villain wo dons a power suit of another tools who is bent to dominate the world with the corporate type of new weapons The notable fact of Spacey's role is the advanced versions of the storytelling elements used in the 1960's but with full motion videos.

As said by Billy Pidgeon (independent video game industry analyst) to the source that animation is getting so goo that and more famous that its hard to differentiate between animated sequences from the actual filmed video. They added to say that with the computer animation technology growing so advanced it is getting really hard to differentiate where computer is generated.

Monday 13 October 2014

Google's 'Ingress' Offers New Creative Outlets for the Players


Ingress
The new mission feature which is now available to Android users and expected to be available on iOS soon, is a feature announced by Google's Niantic Labs. Through this feature the users will be able to feed user-generated content in the Ingress augmented reality game. The new mission will challenge the players to visit different locations and complete a whole range of tasks like capturing or hacking or even use clues for solving puzzles to move ahead in the game.

In the latest feature of Ingress, the Niantic's Field Trip app data has been included which will enable the user to incorporate location pertaining to art, history, dining, shopping and many more, which has been given by more than 200 publishing partners. Niantic has not only been able to create new missions, but also allows the user to create new missions and also share it with other players of Ingress. Currently Niantic is working on increasing the reach of this feature to the level 5 of the game. However, at the moment this capability has been limited to only experiences agents.

Millions of Players: 

Although the game was made available to public in 2012, this complex science fiction back-story has a continuous narrative and with the vast online multiplayer, the game still relies on the GPS. In the game the players have the option to choose between resistances or enlightened. Ultimately they fight is about the controlling the exotic matter. The matter which is placed in a variety of portal all around the world are a source of energy and score for the players and their teams. According to reports more than 7 million people have actually installed Ingress on their Android operating systems and iOS.

New level of Player Involvement:

The new missions and features will raise the level of excitement in the players. Players will show increased loyalty part of the usage. They will be more invested in the outcomes of these missions. With a game like Ingress which basically mixed reality with fantasy, the players have their own ideas to how they would like to see the outcome. Gamers will be able to test their creativity in creating new missions for other players. Loyal players will enjoy this new opportunity. Keeping gamers involved is the key for keeping long existence in mobile market.

Possibilities of Growth in Market: 

Ingress will be able to offer users the opportunity to show their creativity, which is one the same line as that of Minecraft which also allows the users to customize and create their virtual world. Google has always been about empowering people and they are able to express the same through this game. Players will be able to share as well as communicate through Ingress.

According to Lewis Ward, research director for gaming with IDC, this new feature will mean lot of business in the market. One should be ready for visiting some of known locations due to the fact that there will be various companies interested to invest in the game to get their location added to the list.

Sunday 5 October 2014

Reasons of Setbacks for the Launching Of Xbox One


Xbox One
Microsoft has kept on waiting until practically the final possible moment to delay the release of the Xbox One in the country of China. It was originally scheduled to be launched on Tuesday, that is, September 23rd. At present, they are stating it will be out in the nation prior to the end of the year. However, they are quite ambiguous about the causes behind the delay.

A Microsoft spokesperson declared that they are really proud as they are able to deliver exciting games and amusement by means of Xbox. He also said that to keep that promise it is needed to alter the launching date of this Xbox. Working in collaboration with their associate, BesTV, they look forward to release it in China by the closing stages of this year.

Selling of Xbox One-

According to the other sources of news, it has been learned that the Xbox One appear in Japan, selling almost 23,562 pieces its first 4 days. In the past, the Xbox has not been sold great in Japan. The 360 traded 62,135 units in 2 days after releasing in Japan, while the new Xbox was sold 123,929 its initial weekend. This dispute is contradicted by those referencing unofficial news that the Xbox One had one lakh preorders in China ahead of its launching. Microsoft is working with twenty-five various sales partners in China, with nearly four thousand physical outlets. Excited gamers can even buy the Xbox One via online.

Reasons of the delay-

The delay is the most recent in a sequence of setbacks for the company Microsoft in China, where this is under investigation for supposed anti-trust violations associated with the Windows operating system and also Microsoft Office.The Chinese government raised a 2000 ban on the gaming consoles previously this year. Microsoft had reached a deal with Chinese internet television set-top box creator BesTV New Media Co Ltd to make a joint venture to produce the consoles in Shanghai's Free Trade Zone one year ago.

China has the huge, infamous video game black market filled with low-priced, cracked systems. The problems with being the first new console to release in China have probably made Microsoft understand that they have to build a few extra things out. Still, it is surprising that the delay was proclaimed literally 3 days away from the assumed launch, indicating something rather great must have come up rather soon.

From the last obtainable data or as per the global information, the Xbox One sold at 5.1M pieces lags behind Nintendo's Wii U as well as Sony's PS4 (10M). The ratios of their sales are more balanced in the country of America that has always had a soft corner for Xbox, but distorted elsewhere in the world, mainly in the Asian as well as European markets where it is released. Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president stated in May that the company wants to launch new game tools in emerging market in the year 2015 but did not indicate its plans any more than that.

Tuesday 30 September 2014

Innovations In Video Game Console Design

Game Console Design
The technology sector is dominated by major corporations that have billions of dollars to cover costs such as advertising, research and development. However, there are some success stories in the high-tech world involving small companies and even individual entrepreneurs. The video game industry can be used as an example to demonstrate this point. There are only a few major companies that produce the world's most popular game consoles. However, some ambitious inventors have come up with innovative ways to challenge corporate giants that produce high-quality game hardware.

Introducing new high-tech features into modern video game consoles is an effective way to beat the competition of this industry. Traditionally, companies focus on improving microprocessors, graphics cards and audio components of video game systems. Some creative entrepreneurs have realized that modern gaming devices lack basic features found in other consumer electronics. Connecting video game consoles to other devices has become a revolutionary idea. The introduction of Bluetooth and WiFi technology has now become standard in video game design. Such simple features open up an entire new world of virtual gaming that's connected to a network of global users.

Internal memory storage has also been a major problem in some of the most successful video game consoles worldwide. Some investors have figured that boosting a game system's memory capacity would be popular with users. The introduction of memory card compatibility with portable and stationary video game systems has been successful. Other hardware features such as USB and HDMI ports have also enhanced video game console design. Entrepreneurs who come up with innovative ways to improve gaming systems can sell ideas to major manufacturing companies that already have strong holds in the market. It would be very costly for small companies to try and manufacture their own game systems with unique hardware features. However, some businesses are confident that their modified video game consoles could eventually compete with major manufacturers that are reluctant to change traditional designs.

Introducing GPS technology into a portable video game unit might seem like an extreme idea. However, this concept is actually quite popular in a high-tech age dominated by mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Location based services can truly enhance game play of portable game systems with built in GPS. For example, a user's actual surroundings could be used to influence some of the settings and characters in a video game. GPS technology provides an immersive and fun experience that is unprecedented in traditional video game consoles. An inventor such as Carl Freer and other entrepreneurs are examples of business people who develop innovative video game systems
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Companies that develop high-tech handheld game systems often target mobile device users. It is important to highlight the advantages of using an actual gaming gadget for playing video games rather than using smartphones or tablets. For instance, it's much more convenient to press actual buttons and keys than using touchscreens to play video games on the go. Handheld gaming systems also provide a superior playing experience because of CPUs and other hardware components that are optimized for displaying high-quality graphics and generating artificial intelligence during game play. At the same time, it is important to launch handheld video game devices that could be synced with smartphones via data cables and wireless technology.

Saturday 30 August 2014

Microsoft Research Invented Video Game Time Travel to Repair Cloud Gaming


Cloud Gaming
In spite of huge efforts from companies like OnLive and Nvidia, the cloud based gaming still seems to be difficult dream to be fulfilled. Even though there are latency issues, remote server based games are now making more sense at a time when low power Smartphone’s and tablets are continuing to grow. Microsoft’s research team seems to have got solution in video game time travel. They are calling it DoLorean.

Existing cloud gaming platforms might have to strike a balance between value and latency. Based on the user input and the data transfer over internet before you can get the end result seem to be causing quite a long delay. This is basis for the frame to get rendered. To keep the round trip time (RTT) sensible, Cloud gaming will have to rely on rough compression and low resolutions. DoLorean has been developed keeping all these factors on mind.

How DoLorean works? 

It actually performs four tasks which have been developed to improve response and lower the RTT. The tasks are

1. Future input prediction

2. State space sub sampling

3. Mis-prediction compensation, and

4. Bandwidth compression


These tasks will improve and eliminate the lag upto 250ms and it will be cloud based game accessible even on mobile connections example being Doom 3 and Fable 3. Let’s say if a person is playing a cloud based shooter game, before anything can be done, DoLorean based server will be able to initiate three of the slaves in one instance. These are used for rendering frames as you progress in the game. These are all saved in the main server and it will send the correct frame whenever there is an input sent from the player’s end. Depending on the past behaviors, algorithm method has been used to make this as accurate as possible. The space sub sampling along with GPU computation play a significant part.

What to expect? 

If only few known instances of the cloud game, DoLorean seem to unable to deliver all likely future. Mis-prediction compensation comes into existence if the prediction of the future is no correct but it is close to the correct answer. DoLorean can use the interpolation to match the output with the rendered frame. This is very fast when compared to rendering on frame from initial point. It can also opt to compression of bandwidth to maintain a lower latency. According to Microsoft, video encoding system can get this job done even with fewer artifacts. 

Very high end software was being used by Microsoft to get the DoLorean running. This server comprises of quad-core Intel Core-i7, RAM of 16GB and Nvidia GTX680 along with VRAM of 4GB. In order to get the game running on DoLorean, the server was manually configured to artificially develop delays; a slight change might be required though. But still the future of gaming might be lying on this at the moment.

Wednesday 15 May 2013

SimCity Updated!



Maxis and Electronic Arts announced recently that the next update of SimCity will be deployed soon. 3.0 stamped this new version bring once again focus on traffic problems, the players complain since the launch of the title. The updates of SimCity are very similar to that of the previous version. After version 2.0 deployed in late April, with a lot of bugs, it has taken a few extra days to see the land version 3.0. At this rate, SimCity will soon catch up with Chrome on the numbering of its updates. The program for this new version has many features many bug fixes, including addressing trafficking, and management indicators RCI. On the first point, the main addition is from a modification of the routing system. U-turns and the attitude of the vehicles have been reviewed and are expected to improve traffic flow. Similarly, the working hours of different businesses and industries of the cities will be slightly offset to avoid peak traffic. Finally, the vehicles will turn right when the traffic lights are red, again to facilitate traffic. About RCI indicator changes are minor but annoying bugs fix. For example, some abandoned buildings could not be reoccupied ... because moving trucks do not have access. Finally, some more surprising bugs are also deleted. For example, the university will now be able to cross the road when walking, which was clearly not the case so far, and the buildings will no longer overlap. The rating upgrade is available here in English. Still expect the deployment of this update before declaring victory, the latest of which brought its share of surprises.

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Makey Makey: Create your controller from any object


What if there is a lack of lever when we invite a few friends for an evening of video games? It only remains to use everyday objects as game controllers thing become possible thanks to Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum.

The two students at MIT Media Lab is directed system called Makey Makey, to create a controller from any object. How does it work? The two designers have achieved a first device in contact with the player's skin on the one hand and connected to a printed circuit in the form of joystick other.

Friday 9 December 2011

Insert pee: the video games on urinals

Apparently the new trend: the video games in urinals. A crazy idea but in the end probably knows popular with men. Following the example of Sega with Toylet, Captive Media puts it in turn.

Indeed, the group has recently presented his toilet fun and high-tech in the London bar the Exhibit. Specifically, the bar is located in a suburb south of London, Balham. Each urinal is equipped with sensors and above is LCD screens. To access the games and control, just simply relieve them. The sensors calculate the pressure, volume, or the movement of the jets of urine. These parameters are used as controls.