Correction: this story originally incorrectly stated that From Software’s rumored new title could be a Game of Thrones game. Martin himself has only confirmed that he did some “consulting” work for a new game developed in Japan. What’s more, the rumor is that Martin is working with From Software on a new video game project of some kind but not necessarily a Game of Thrones game. GameSpot regrets the error.

HBO’s Game of Thrones is officially over, but the series is continuing with a two-hour documentary on May 26 and then potentially a new prequel TV show. Outside of TV, author George R.R. Martin is keeping busy. He wrote on his blog that he did some consulting work on a video game from a studio in Japan. He never says it is a Game of Thrones game, so he may only be doing consulting work for writing or other world-building, but it’s still exciting to think about.

Martin said this mysterious game is being developed “out of Japan.” Gematsu reports that Sekiro, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls developer FromSoftware is working on the game, which is an open-world title featuring horse-riding. Hidetaka Miyazaki is reportedly working on the title with Martin. It remains to be seen if it is a Game of Thrones game, however.

The game is said to be published by Bandai Namco, with a reveal at Microsoft’s E3 2019 briefing planned for June. The game has reportedly been in development for three years. Gematsu notes that it only confirmed this information with a single source but decided to publish its story in light of Martin’s blog post revealing a new game in development by a Japanese studio.

It would definitely be an intriguing development to learn that From Software was working on a new title from Hidetaka Miyazaki with the help of George R.R. Martin, even if it isn’t a Game of Thrones game. It is the kind of announcement that would be a huge get for Microsoft if it were to premiere at the Xbox E3 briefing. Even if the cat is out of the bag now–if this is even real–it’s exciting to think about.

From Software’s latest big release was Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which was published by Call of Duty publisher Activision. The game was received well by critics and it sold more than 2 million copies around the world in less than 10 days.

Correction: this story originally incorrectly stated that From Software’s title could be a Game of Thrones game. The only suggestion is that Martin is working with From Software on a new video game project of some kind.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/george-rr-martin-teases-new-game-that-could-be-dev/1100-6467049/

Since Pokemon X and Y, each mainline installment in the series has allowed you to customize your trainer’s outfit, and it looks like that will be the case in Pokemon Sword and Shield as well. While the games’ reveal trailer hinted that trainer customization would return, the feature was confirmed when clothing retailer Uniqlo announced the winners of its Pokemon t-shirt design competition.

The winning design will not only be made into a real shirt, it’ll also appear in the upcoming Nintendo Switch games as a clothing option for your trainer (via Serebii). Uniqlo’s website shared a pair of screenshots showcasing the male and female trainers wearing the winning shirt rather than their default clothes, confirming you’ll be able to change their outfits. You can take a look at the screenshots below.

It remains to be seen how many different clothing options will be available in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Both Pokemon X/Y and Sun/Moon allowed you to purchase an assortment of different outfits and accessories for your trainer, from hats and glasses to bags and shoes, and that will presumably be the case in Sword and Shield as well. One thing we do know for sure, however, is your avatar will at least be able to don a soccer-like uniform; the male trainer could be seen wearing one as he entered a stadium near the end of the games’ reveal trailer.

Nintendo gave fans their first look at Sword and Shield during a special Pokemon Direct broadcast this past February. While the presentation was fairly brief, it did reveal some important details about the upcoming games. For one, the titles are set in a new region called Galar, which appears to be inspired by the UK. We also got to see the games’ new starter Pokemon: the Grass-type monkey Grookey, the Fire-type rabbit Scorbunny, and the Water-type lizard Sobble.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are slated to launch for Switch in “late” 2019. We’ll presumably learn more about the games during Nintendo’s E3 2019 presentation, which is set to take place on Tuesday, June 11, at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST. Until then, you can check out everything we know about Pokemon Sword and Shield so far.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/yes-pokemon-sword-and-shield-have-trainer-customiz/1100-6467030/

Popular battle royale title Apex Legends has received a new patch that addresses a variety of issues concerning audio, hit detection, PC crashes, and more. Respawn Entertainment community manager Jay Frechette took to the EA blog to detail the patch, which is available now for all three platforms.

Frechette discussed improvements made to audio performance. “We have made improvements both in our code and with our content that will hopefully fix [sounds dropping out, missing sounds for an extended duration, or distortion for a period of time].” These fixes should lower the encounter rate of the described audio issues.

Also in the audio department, Frechette confirmed the team has addressed other issues, “including increasing the volume of close proximity enemy footsteps and lowering the overall volume of the game from the character select screen to the end of the drop sequence.”

Hit detection has been contentious for Apex Legends but this new patch should eliminate most incorrect hit detection with the help of some behind-the-scenes bullet damage tracking. “We expect there will still be some remaining hit registration problems, but with these fixes and diagnostic information, we are better equipped to track them down,” Frechette wrote.

It seems internet connectivity can result in incorrect hit detection. In order to better determine how internet connectivity factors into hit detection, Respawn has “refined the functionality behind [their] network problem indicator icons in the upper right of the screen.” These icons may show up more frequently now, but they will help “[narrow] down the cause of any bugs” the team may notice.

Lastly, PC crashes seem to be ubiquitous amongst Apex Legends players. Respawn noticed, specifically, “that Intel CPUs sometimes were not executing the instructions properly in one particular function.” The crashes seem to occur when writing to invalid memory. And so, Respawn found that “lowering the clock speed always fixed the crashes, even if the CPU wasn’t overclocked or overheating.” Intel has been notified, but this patch includes a temporary workaround to prevent and/or limit the number of crashes in the meantime.

You can check out the full patch notes below.

Audio Fixes and Improvements

One of the biggest issues we had to tackle was improving the audio performance to address reports of sounds dropping out, missing sounds for an extended duration, or distortion for a period of time. We have made improvements both in our code and with our content that will hopefully fix these issues for many players, and should lower the amount and length of time they encounter audio issues for others.

We have also addressed some of the other mix issues with the game, including increasing the volume of close proximity enemy footsteps and lowering the overall volume of the game from the character select screen to the end of the drop sequence. We will continue to monitor mix issues and address them as necessary. Below are the notes on improvements we’ve included in today’s patch as we continue to work on future improvements.

Performance

• Improved audio engine to be around 30% more CPU efficient, lessening the chance of distortion or dropouts.
• Lowered impact on data loading through code and content changes to improve potential dropout issues.

Quality of Life

• Lowered the master volume of all sounds during the character select screen through the end of the drop sequence.
• Lowered the volume of Wraith’s ambient kunai knife sound for those who are sensitive to the sound. If it is still bothersome we will remove it in a later patch.
• Increased the volume of close proximity enemy footsteps for all Legends.
• Increased the priority of enemy footsteps to ensure the sounds play even in heavy combat situations.
• Slightly lowered the volume of Pathfinder footstep sounds heard from the first person view.
• Fixed missing or quiet dryfire (out of ammo trigger click sound) and low ammo (the progressive change in sound that the gun makes as the magazine approaches empty) sounds for the R301, Hemlok, Flatline, and RE45.
• Increased the volume of the music that plays when winning a match.
• Added more detailed audio to the Training mission.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed occlusion bug for the Havoc’s “wind down” sound.
• Fixed issue with automatic weapon fire sounds occasionally getting stuck on, usually after a Legend respawns.
• Fixed bug with RE45 missing tail sounds (the echo in the environment after the shot) when in close proximity.

Hit Detection Fixes and Improvements

As we talked about last week, in this patch we’ve pushed some fixes that should eliminate many cases of incorrect hit registration. This patch also includes some behind-the-scenes tracking of bullet damage logic. We expect there will still be some remaining hit registration problems, but with these fixes and diagnostic information, we are better equipped to track them down.

One potential cause of hit registration bugs can be simple internet connection problems. In order to determine how much of a factor this is in reality, we’ve refined the functionality behind our network problem indicator icons in the upper right of the screen. These icons are now pickier about your connection quality and may show up more frequently than they did before.

These icon changes will be useful in narrowing down the cause of any bugs that we continue to see. Please continue to share videos and report hit registration issues you still encounter after the patch.

Fix for Lifeline “Pick Me Up” Banner Bug on PS4

• The issue has been resolved and we will be re-enabling the banner after the patch is live.
  • NOTE: We made changes to client and backend to address this, and it’ll take a little time to take full effect. We’re expecting the error to resolve within a few hours after the patch is live.

[PC ONLY] Crashes Specific to Intel CPUs

We investigated the crash reports from many people who were crashing frequently and found that Intel CPUs sometimes were not executing the instructions properly in one particular function. A common example was an instruction that only reads a register crashed on writing to invalid memory. With the help of many forum users, we found that lowering the clock speed always fixed the crashes, even if the CPU wasn’t overclocked or overheating. Thanks everyone, with a big shout out to Falkentyne, TEZZ0FIN0, JorPorCorTTV, and MrDakk!

This has been by far the most commonly reported PC crash over the last month or so and we’ve notified Intel about the issue. In the meantime, we’ve put a workaround in this patch to avoid the crashing at your original clock speeds just by changing the instructions used by that one function.

Additional Bug Fixies

• Fixed issue with the Fortified Passive ability for Gibraltar and Caustic where they would take damage through shields.
• Fixed the bug that allowed players to stick objects to Gibraltar’s Gun Shield.
  • Admittedly, it’s been fun to see the results of this, but the behavior is not intended by design and could get out of control. Items will no longer stick to Gibraltar’s Gun Shield. However, it will now deflect Arc Stars.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-apex-legends-patch-113-is-available-now/1100-6467031/