Microsoft has offered only occasional updates on Project xCloud since debuting it last year, to the point that we assumed we had heard the last of it until at least E3 2019. But with the big event mere weeks away, Microsoft has shed a little more insight on the progress of its streaming service.

In an update from gaming cloud VP Kareem Choudhry, Microsoft noted that it has deployed its xCloud tech to 13 Azure regions, allowing game developers like Capcom and other devs to test games using the xCloud platform. This follows an earlier employee take-home program that served as the first real-world test.

Microsoft notes that Project xCloud has the potential to stream more than 3,500 games already, across the three generations of Xbox. An update to the Xbox One version of any game would populate across xCloud immediately without any additional work for developers or downloads for consumers. Microsoft also boasts another 1,900 games in development for Xbox One, which could be put on xCloud easily.

Much of this is similar to Google’s pitch for its Stadia platform, though Microsoft is stressing the ease-of-use with tools developers are already accustomed to if they’ve been developing on Xbox One architecture. The blog also notes that it has updated its developer kit with a new “IsStreaming” API, which allows a game to adjust certain options if it detects that it is being played through the cloud. It could, for example, adjust font sizes for smaller displays like a phone, or matchmake multiplayer games from the same server.

The news that Capcom is one target for Microsoft’s streaming tech makes sense, as Capcom has already been experimenting with streaming games in Japan. Microsoft and Sony also recently announced a strategic partnership on gaming and cloud services, though it’s unclear exactly how that will manifest itself–especially since the announcement apparently took the PlayStation team by surprise.

Microsoft is preparing to “go big” at its E3 2019 presentation, which is widely expected to begin debuting its new console hardware and streaming plans. Check out the full E3 press conference schedule to plan your viewing parties, and then take a look back at how Microsoft has debuted new gaming hardware in the past.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-xcloud-now-being-tested-by-capcom-and-ot/1100-6467154/

The Season of the Drifter is drawing to a close in Destiny 2, and the Season of Opulence is hot on its heels. Everyone’s favorite weekend vendor with a weird face, Xur, is back in the solar system, and if you’re still working on Invitations of the Nine, now is an excellent chance to wrap them up and push yourself up to the season’s Power level cap of 700 before it rises on June 4. Xur is also offering a Year Two Titan Exotic he’s never carried before, so you’re going to want to seek him out. Here’s where to find him and everything he’s selling.

Head to the EDZ on Earth to find Xur–he’s camping out in Winding Cove. From the spawn point, head north toward the wall of the area and climb up the cliff to where a Fallen dropship has crashed. You’ll find Xur standing on the cliff edge.

Your Xur weapon this week is an oldie but a goodie: Sweet Business. This minigun-like auto rifle packs an enormous magazine and sprays bullets like a firehose, with increased accuracy when firing from the hip. Holding down the trigger increases its rate of fire and accuracy, and ammo you pick up will automatically be deposited in the magazine while you’re firing–so do your best Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2 impression and mow down some enemies.

For armor, Titans get One-Eyed Mask, a Year Two Exotic helmet that Xur has never carried before. It marks enemies who damage you, and if you hunt them down and kill them, you get an overshield and increased damage for a short time. Warlocks can also claim a Year Two Exotic in Chromatic Fire, a chest armor piece that creates elemental explosions on enemies when you get kinetic damage precision kills. Hunters can pick up the Raiden Flux chest armor, which increases the duration and damage of your Arc Staff Super when you get quick successive kills.

Xur Exotics For May 24-28

• Sweet Business (Exotic auto rifle) — 29 Legendary Shards
• One-Eyed Mask (Exotic Titan helmet) — 23 Legendary Shards
• Raiden Flux (Exotic Hunter chest armor) — 23 Legendary Shards
• Chromatic Fire (Exotic Warlock chest armor) — 23 Legendary Shards

You can also buy a Fated Engram, if you can afford it. Dropping 97 Legendary Shards on the item will grant you one Year One Exotic you don’t already have for that character. Xur also offers the Five of Swords challenge card for free, which allows you to add difficulty modifiers that increase your score in Nightfall runs.

And if you haven’t finished all nine of Xur’s Invitations of the Nine, you can snag one of those as well. The bounty was new in Season of the Drifter, dispensing Powerful gear rewards, a bit of story about the Nine and the Drifter, and a lore drop.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/where-is-xur-today-destiny-2-location-and-exotics-/1100-6467152/

In 2018, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company announced and released the first Pokemon games for Switch, Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee. They are reimaginings of the classic Pokemon Yellow, designed for newcomers to the franchise and inspired by Pokemon Go‘s mechanics. While the Let’s Go games are mainline Pokemon RPGs and the first on Switch, they’re not the same kind of core Pokemon experience fans have been getting on Nintendo’s handhelds for two decades. That will come with the system’s second set of Pokemon games, Sword and Shield.

Nearly two years after the initial E3 2017 teaser, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company officially revealed Pokemon Sword and Shield. They mark the eighth generation of Pokemon games and are set in an entirely new region with all-new Pokemon, meaning anticipation is high. Because they are set for a late 2019 launch, it’s also highly likely we’ll see more of them at E3 2019. In the meantime, here’s everything we know about Sword and Shield so far and what we can expect at E3 2019.

What We Know So Far

The February 2019 reveal trailer for Sword and Shield contained a number of key details about the Gen 8 Pokemon games. Set in the UK-inspired Galar region, Sword and Shield will include a mix of old and new Pokemon and will see the return of random encounters and wild Pokemon battles after a brief break with Let’s Go. Gyms are also back in Gen 8 after a break from the formula in Sun and Moon.

We were also introduced to the three new starter Pokemon: the Grass-type monkey Grookey, the Fire-type rabbit Scorbunny, and the Water-type chameleon Sobble. Based on this Grass-Fire-Water setup, which has been present in every Pokemon game aside from Yellow and Let’s Go, we can assume that Sword and Shield aren’t totally overhauling the Pokemon formula.

What Is Confirmed For E3?

While Sword and Shield haven’t been confirmed outright for E3 2019, we do know that Nintendo’s Direct presentation will focus on “Nintendo Switch titles for 2019,” which includes Pokemon. Nintendo hasn’t shared many details thus far, but we do know that the presentation will be followed by three days of Treehouse streams; those often include developer interviews and in-depth looks at gameplay. Nintendo’s presentation takes place June 11 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST (2 AM AET on June 12).

What We Hope To See At E3 2019

The reveal trailer showed quite a bit about Sword and Shield: basic Pokemon battles, trainer customization, the starters, and bits and pieces of the varied Galar region. But there are still a lot of question marks. One of the big mysteries so far is a red and blue circular symbol found throughout the trailer, including on a Gym and even in the games’ logo. Sun and Moon also had a symbol in their logo–a crystal, which ended up representing the games’ new Z-Crystal battle mechanic. Fans have speculated that the circular symbol in Sword and Shield could also represent a new battle mechanic, so we’re hoping to find out what that is at E3.

We’re also hoping to see more of the Galar region and its new Pokemon. It looks to be an expansive region, and it even has trains that might be used for fast travel, but we can’t know for sure from a trailer alone. Gameplay of the player character walking around a city, for example, could give us a better idea of Galar’s scale. We also hope to see more of the region’s Pokemon, especially legendaries; a mysterious hill carving in the trailer showed what might be a legendary Pokemon.

Lastly, we’re hoping we get answers to some burning questions. Are there any special surprises in store (like travel to another existing region)? Will Sword and Shield be compatible with Pokemon Bank? How will online work? The Direct presentation and any potential follow-up streams could answer the big gameplay questions and provide smaller details fans are looking for. Regardless, with the games’ launch fast approaching, it’s likely we’ll get answers to some of our questions at E3.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-sword-and-shield-what-we-want-at-e3-2019/1100-6467151/

Join GameSpot as we celebrate gaming history and give recognition to the most influential games of the 21st century. These aren’t the best games, and they aren’t necessarily games that you need to rush out and play today, but there’s no question that they left an indelible impact on game developers, players, and in some cases, society at large.

Nowadays, when a new shooter is announced or comes out there’s one question that consistently pops up: is it going to have battle royale? It’s one that’s asked both seriously and in jest ever since the sub-genre’s popularity exploded just a few years back. The fascination with large-scale multiplayer, where only one player or team per match is left standing, took off like never before when PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds hit Steam early access in March 2017. And while there were battle royale games that came before it and, of course, many that came afterward, PUBG is undoubtedly the force that thrust battle royale into the mainstream.

PUBG’s creator, Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene, had a history of making mods for existing games, namely the military sim series ARMA. His creation of an ARMA 2 mod DayZ: Battle Royale (a mod for a mod, if you will) seeded the first step for the sub-genre. He was then brought on as a consultant with Sony Online Entertainment (now Daybreak Games) for the creation of H1Z1’s battle royale mode. In 2016, this battle royale mode split from the survival-based version of the game and became a standalone product known as H1Z1: King of the Kill.

At the time, H1Z1 had built a dedicated player-base because of the unique thrill of having one life per match, the unpredictable variables like randomized loot and safe zones, and the intrinsic reward of besting 100+ other players. However, there was always a sense of refinement that was missing from renditions of battle royale at the time, even H1Z1. Their nature as mods really showed, whether it was because of some janky mechanics, relatively low production values, or bare overall structure.

That’s not to say PUBG didn’t carry some of that baggage when it came on the scene. But when Greene collaborated with Korean developer Bluehole to bring PUBG to early access on PC in 2017, it was readily apparent that it was breaking the barriers to entry that held battle royale back from a larger audience. The game made a slew of mechanics relatively accessible, allowing newcomers to quickly understand the premise and what needed to be done to survive in a match. Drop from a plane with 99 other players, gear up at key locations on the map, adapt to the map’s ever-changing safe zones, and win those nerve-racking firefights with what you can scavenge.

While there were battle royale games that came before it and, of course, many that came afterward, PUBG is undoubtedly the force that thrust battle royale into the mainstream.

PUBG’s roster of weapons also had a lot to do with its lasting appeal, thanks to their distinct characteristics of damage, range, and recoil, but the attachments system added an extra layer of tactical depth. Firefights carried an unmatched level of intensity because you truly had to understand how your weapons worked and earn your kills with proper positioning and precise aim. Combine that with tools like smoke grenades and the on-the-fly tactics of using your surroundings for cover, and it’s almost as if you had to play mind games with your enemies. Thus, coming out on top would feel like its own reward. Chicken dinners were never this tasty.

PUBG even sustained popularity with only one map through most of its early access period, which is a testament to how varied the map was and the unpredictable nature of safe zones. Previous battle royales were made up of fairly barren battlefields, so with PUBG’s map featuring dense city centers, varied terrain, and expansive hotspots for action, it set the bar higher for such an important aspect of the game. Thus, no two matches would play out the same and emergent situations kept PUBG feeling fresh match after match.

It was the right game at the right time, and the first fully-realized version of battle royale in video game form. PUBG leaned heavily into its military sim roots in a way that made its action play more like a tactical shooter, but struck a balance between hardcore and approachable mechanics. And although it wasn’t without its share of technical issues, it didn’t bear the weight of a mod’s jankiness. When critics were able to have a definitive word on the game when it fully launched with a 1.0 release, it was showered with praise.

To echo the sentiments from my own review of PUBG for GameSpot, I wrote, “It’s not the first of its kind, and despite glaring flaws, PUBG emerges as the most accessible, mechanically refined battle royale game to date.” I capped it off by saying, “Every player has unique stories of their most memorable matches, and even after hundreds of hours, PUBG continues to inspire rousing tales of victory and defeat.”

Polygon’s Chris Plante awarded PUBG a 10/10 score (Polygon no longer does scored reviews), and stated, “Battlegrounds is the refinement of a new language of play, but what may earn it a spot in the video game canon is that conceptual efficiency,” and briefly described PUBG as “imperfectly perfect.” And after hours of on-air deliberation, our colleagues at Giant Bomb named PUBG their game of the year for 2017. Even in a year of amazing, genre-defining games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Persona 5, Nier Automata, Super Mario Odyssey, and Divinity: Original Sin II, PUBG most certainly stood out in its own right and set in motion something larger than itself.

According to Steamcharts.com, PUBG exceeded 1.5 million peak concurrent players in September 2017, breaking the previous record set by Dota 2 in March 2016 with 1.3 million players. PUBG continued its meteoric rise and hit a peak of 3.2 million concurrent players in January 2018, nearly three-times that of Dota 2’s highest player count. Needless to say, others took note of PUBG’s increasingly wild popularity.

Sure, it hasn’t been very long since PUBG busted onto the scene, but battle royale essentially went viral because of it.

A little game called Fortnite is a household name and a cultural phenomenon today due to its adoption of the battle royale game mode. Fortnite was initially a wave-based shooter with construction mechanics akin to a survival game (now called “Save The World”), but the team at Epic Games clearly kept a close eye on PUBG. Game director Donald Mustard stated that Epic loved battle royale games, including PUBG, and a separate team at Epic quite literally spun the battle royale mode for Fortnite in a span of two months. In September 2017, Fortnite: Battle Royale hit early access as free-to-play for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, and soon became its own beast.

How do you even begin to describe Fortnite’s position in games? For starters, the highest concurrent player count Epic has recorded during a non-event day was 7.6 million in February 2019. The game has partnered with Marvel for a limited time Avengers-themed event where players could embody Thanos. It has official NFL-themed jerseys as skins, and just recently incorporated the Jordan brand. And 10.7 million people hopped onto Fortnite for Marshmello’s live in-game concert. Fortnite’s massive success also provided the leverage for Epic Games to open its own digital storefront for PC games. There’s a whole lot more to unpack, like its impact on streamers and esports, but this is all to say that battle royale has been an extremely powerful thing for games, and PUBG led the way.

Fortnite was just the beginning for the battle royale games that followed in PUBG’s footsteps. The biggest first-person shooter franchise in the history of games, Call of Duty, did its own take on the concept with Blackout mode in Black Ops 4, which launched back in October 2018. Electronic Arts and DICE took notice as well, and brought battle royale to their long-running large-scale FPS series with Battlefield V–although it didn’t launch with Firestorm, the mode came as a free update in March 2019. Publisher EA would sort of double-dip when the team at Respawn Entertainment, known for its critically acclaimed Titanfall series, came out with Apex Legends in February 2019.

Apex Legends set itself apart by merging elements of hero shooters, like Overwatch, with the core traditions of a battle royale game. However, smart tweaks to the formula such as the intuitive ping system and the incorporation of respawning teammates kept the genre’s premise fresh. Apex Legends simplified the necessary mechanics for a seamless experience as well, like the automation of looting better items and equipping better attachments. In a way, it makes PUBG look ancient, but Apex’s great success is nonetheless rooted in the foundation PUBG set.

Sure, it hasn’t been very long since PUBG busted onto the scene, but battle royale essentially went viral because of it. While others have bested it from a gameplay perspective and in current relevance, it’s still going strong. Even at the time of publication of this article, PUBG is the third-most played game on Steam with a peak of 680,000 concurrent players, just behind Valve’s own CSGO and Dota 2. PUBG may not have the same popularity it did only a year and a half ago, but it didn’t have to maintain that peak for it to have influenced such a large part of the gaming industry–an influence that we’re still witnessing evolve.

So, what’s the next big game to do battle royale? Tetris?! Oh, wait…

For a look at the rest of our features in this series, head over to our Most Influential Games Of The 21st Century hub.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-most-influential-games-of-the-21st-century-pla/1100-6467139/