During Google’s GDC 2019 keynote presentation, the company’s vice president and general manager Phil Harrison announced Stadia, a cloud-based streaming service that allows you to play games across most of your devices. At the end of his portion of the keynote, Harrison also mentioned that most games on Stadia would feature cross-platform support, which could come in multiple forms.

Cross-platform play specifically has been confirmed, allowing you to play with your friends regardless of whether you’re gaming on console, PC, tablet, or mobile device. Whether games will allow play between Stadia versions and those on other dedicated gaming platforms like PS4, Xbox One, and PC remains to be seen (and will likely vary by game), games running on Stadia should work regardless of what hardware you and other players are using.

Harrison also said that Stadia would support cloud saves for game state and save files, so specific titles will also have cross-platform progression. Again, it’s unclear if progression will be shared between Stadia and non-Stadia versions of games, but if you’re playing a Stadia game on multiple devices, your progress will move with you. So, if you were to play a multiplayer-focused game on your PC through Stadia, navigating over to your phone would bring all your unlocked items with you.

Google plans to use Stadia to bring together all aspects of gaming–whether you want to play, spectate, or develop–on to one platform. During the GDC keynote, for example, the company showcased how someone watching a trailer for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on Ubisoft’s YouTube channel can click a link at the end of the video which allows them to begin playing the game through streaming in just a few seconds.

Harrison promises Stadia will be supported across several platforms, including desktops, laptops, TVs, tablets, and phones. At launch, Stadia will support streams in 4K at 60 FPS with surround sound, and Google plans on upping that to 8K resolution in the future. You’ll be able to use existing controllers with Stadia, but Google also announced its own controller specifically built for the service. The controller features most button inputs seen on Xbox One and PS4’s respective controllers, but it will also include one that allows you to ask Google Assistant a question. Stadia is scheduled to launch in 2019.

For more information on cloud gaming, you can read up on how it works as well as which companies other than Google are investing in the technology behind it. We’re collecting all the Google gaming news announced at GDC today as well, including the reveal that Doom Eternal is coming to Stadia.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/stadia-googles-cloud-gaming-platform-will-have-cro/1100-6465683/

At the Game Developers Conference, Google unveiled its vision for the future of video games: a cloud streaming service called Stadia, which gives instant access to play games across Chromebooks, smartphones, tablets, and TVs. In other words, it’s a platform that is accessible through devices you may already own, and it will will be compatible with keyboards and other input devices you might have, too. However, Google will also release its own proprietary Stadia controller, and now we know what it looks like and how it works.

The Stadia controller was shown off at GDC in three different color schemes. It connects to Google’s servers through Wi-Fi, and it identifies what screen you want to play on. In addition to the standard array of inputs, it also features two unique buttons: one allows you to capture gameplay and share and save it to YouTube, while the other is a Google Assistant button, which accesses the controller’s built-in microphone to get gameplay advice from an assistant. And in a fun reference, the back of the controller is home to the Konami Code.

The streaming tech behind Stadia is the same that powered the Project Stream test that ran last year, when Google partnered with Ubisoft to stream Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for free through a Chrome browser. The company has made other big moves into the video game space, recently hiring Jade Raymond, best known for her work at Ubisoft and EA. Raymond will head up Stadia Games and Entertainment, a new first-party studio that will develop games exclusively for Stadia.

Stadia will launch later this year. It’ll be available first in the US, Canada, the UK, and “most of Europe.” Google hasn’t shared any pricing details for the service or its controller, but it promises to reveal more information this summer, including what games will be available at launch “and beyond.”

One key detail we don’t know beyond specific pricing is how you’ll buy games–will they be available through a subscription or like a standard game purchase? That remains to be seen, though we know Doom Eternal is coming to Stadia. Odyssey was also featured prominently during the GDC keynote. Ubisoft, the publisher of the latter, seems to be a big supported of Stadia, and when we spoke with CEO Yves Guillemot at GDC, he suggested there could be multiple ways to buy Stadia games.

For more on cloud gaming, check out how cloud gaming works and read up on the companies investing heavily in the cloud. Be sure to catch up on all of the Google Stadia gaming news from today’s GDC event.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-2019-google-stadia-video-game-controller-revea/1100-6465675/

Respawn has launched the latest update for Apex Legends, and it’s a big one. This patch serves as the start of Season 1, meaning it covers more than just the typical additions and tweaks–although those are a big part, with the much-anticipated hit box changes being implemented. The new update also adds both the Battle Pass and new character, Octane. Here’s everything new and different in the patch notes.

Respawn released the patch notes for the Season 1: Wild Frontier update on the Apex Legends subreddit, and they give a little more detail on a few things, like how long Octane’s abilities last, and included a bunch of quality-of-live improvements that are now part of the game as well. Arguably the biggest is the hit box change, though. According to Respawn, the hit boxes for Gibraltar, Caustic, and Pathfinder have been changed “to better align with their shapes.” These were announced previously, and the adjustment to character hit boxes should make big characters like Gibraltar, Caustic, and Pathfinder a lot more viable on the battlefield.

Hit boxes are invisible shapes assigned to characters that register when they’ve been hit–if you shoot a character but your bullet lands outside their hit box (hitting, say, a hand or a piece of clothing), the hit doesn’t count and the character takes no damage. Caustic and Gibraltar, being the biggest characters in Apex Legends, had the biggest hit boxes, but they were also apparently not quite in line with the character players see on screen. The same is true of the robot Pathfinder, whose hit box previously extended into places that didn’t look like they should count as a hit, such as the space between his metal legs. The change should make all three characters a little tougher to hit, and therefore, more players will be likely to choose them going forward.

The new update also throws in a number of bug fixes, like patching a spot in Gibraltar’s shield that wasn’t blocking bullets and fixing a problem in which Pathfinder’s zip line wouldn’t deploy if players used it while jumping. There are a bunch of other quality-of-life changes that should make playing the game a bit easier for some people, like the ability to swap the functions of the left and right bumpers on controllers.

Another notable addition in this patch is the new ability to report people you suspect might be cheating. Players using hacks have been a problem for Apex on PC, and Respawn said in its patch notes it has banned just shy of 500,000 players for cheating. That’s a pretty big number, but considering Respawn says 50 million people have downloaded the game, there might still be a long way to go in cleaning up the cheater problem.

Finally, another aspect of note is improved crash reporting. PC crashes are still more commonplace than many would like, and this update aims to improve the way reports are generated. It also makes it easy for you to decide whether to share this report with Respawn and that there isn’t any personal data being included when you do.

You can read the full patch notes below. The update–and accompanying new content, include Octane skins–is now live on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Apex Legends March 19 Update Patch Notes

Stability & Performance

We’ve got some fixes in this patch that will improve stability on PC but we know there are still issues out there we need to address. We also added crash reporting so we can better understand how to tackle the issues we haven’t solved yet and address future ones.

• Improved stability for various GPU configurations.
• Capped PC FPS to 300 to balance improving stability but still letting you folks enjoy those sweet frames.
• Addressed issue with PS4 crashes due to running out of memory.
• Introducing better reporting when Apex crashes on PC without error message.
  • We really want to fix any crashes people happen to get on PC. We also respect our player’s privacy. So, if the PC game crashes, it will write “apex_crash.txt” to your “Documents” folder. This tiny file is plain text, so you can easily see for yourself that it has no personal information. If you choose to share this file with us, it will tell us whether the crash was in Apex or in third party software. If the crash was in Apex, our programmers can use the information to find and fix it. If you experience a crash, please include this file when you report.
    • We protect your personal information.
    • You can easily see everything in the file yourself; we have no secrets.
    • You’re in control of whether we ever see the file.

• Added Report a Player feature for cheating and abuse on PC.
  • Players can now report cheaters they encounter in-game and it’ll be sent directly to Easy Anti-Cheat. You can do this from either the spectate view after dying or when looking at your team’s Banner Cards in the Squad tab.
  • We have lots of other work going on behind the scenes and this remains high priority for us. We won’t be able to share many specifics of what we’re doing but we’ll strive to provide updates on progress for the things we can talk about.
  • As I’m finishing the notes this morning, 499,937 accounts and counting have been banned for cheating.
  • Speed hacking: We do currently have anti-speed hacking in Apex Legends, but it’s not being as effective as intended due to a bug that we believe we’ve identified and will be addressing in our next server update. Will provide ETA for it when I have it. Working to get it out ASAP.

• Added Report a Player for abuse on Consoles
  • You can report players from the spectate view after dying or when looking at your team’s Banner Cards in the Squad tab.
• Optimized skydiving to improve overall server performance.
• Fixed bug where sometimes the client could crash when opening Apex Packs one right after the other.

Quality Of Life

• Added “Swap LT/RT & LB/RB” / “Swap L1/R1 & L2/R2”) toggle in the Controller Button Layout settings.

  • Lets you quickly swap what your bumpers & triggers are set to, with any controller preset.

• Added “Sprint View Shake” setting under the Video tab.

  • Setting this to “Minimal” can be especially helpful for players susceptible to motion sickness.

• Added “Trigger Deadzones” setting under the Controller tab.

  • Customize how far you want to pull the triggers before they register.

1. Added “Advanced Look Controls” settings submenu under the Controller tab.

   • Fine-tune specific aspects of the look controls for a custom feel; such as Deadzone, Response Curve, Target Compensation (aim assist), and more.

• When you relinquish the Jumpmaster position to another player you will now hear your Legend’s VO line in addition to the new Jumpmaster. The third player won’t hear it though.
• Pathfinder grapple: updated icon
• Pathfinder grapple: added indicator near crosshair to show when player is in range of grapple-able geo
• Improved mantling from a grapple point.
• Pathfinder can now grapple ziplines.
• We’ve added D-pad navigation as a convenience in most of the menus. Our hope is this will speed up browsing and improve accessibility.
• UI improvements to the KO Shield
  • Shield bar drains to indicate the remaining health of the shield.
  • When you have a Gold KO Shield and are down, we’ve added an effect to the label that reminds you that you can self revive.
• We saw that the Ring indicator that appears when players are viewing the whole map wasn’t accurately showing the player’s position so we fixed that.
• Character animations while taking damage now accurately reflect the direction the damage is coming from.
• Fixed a bug where occluded sounds would sometimes sound unoccluded.
• Patched up some issues with missing geo on Kings Canyon and fixed a few spots where players were getting stuck.
• Fixed a script error that could happen when removing attachments on holstered weapons.
• General polish to game UI fixing some grammar issues, improved navigation, and composition of elements.
• Fixed PC users constantly switching weapons while scrolling through items in a Death Box.
• Fixed issue where we were seeing server stability issues sometimes caused by purchasing items while matchmaking.
• Fixed script errors that could occur during the skydive.
• Reduced skybox fog.
• Adjusted the code for Supply Bins so they are less likely to kill players. If you do still get killed by one please let us know!
• Made it so push-to-talk is no longer on when a chat box is active.
• LT/RT no longer switches between players in spectator mode while the map is open.
• Updated the minimap to more accurately reflect the geo and points of interest on the main map.
• Adding sound FX to the UI for the key binding menu.
• Fixed issue where a player’s name would not show up when they send a message that reached the character limit.
• Fixed bug where sometimes the Champion screen resolution would be stretched in widescreen resolutions.
• Fixed audio bug where sometimes the zipline sounds FX would keep playing after disembarking.
• Added accessibility option to modify the subtitle size.
• Improvements / fixes for color blind players:
  • Added better color blind support for Blood Hound’s Threat Vision.
  • Colorblind colors per setting are now displayed in the settings menu.
  • Colorblind settings moved from Video Settings to Gameplay->Accessibility. They are now applied on the fly.
  • Enemy pings now use proper enemy color instead of only using red.
• Audio:
  • Turned down volume when Wraith activates a portal.
  • Turned down the end sounds on the Peacekeeper charged shot.
  • Turned down the draw/holster sound slightly for thermite grenades.

Legend Hit Box Adjustments

• Adjusted hit boxes for Gibraltar, Caustic, and Pathfinder to better align with their shapes.

Weapons

• Fixed players being able to shortcut weapon swap by changing stance
• Fixed players being able to shortcut Peacekeeper rechamber sequence
• Fixed inaccurate auto ranging fullscreen (sniper) optics when base FOV is not set to default
• Spitfire: fixed ADS view on Legendaries partially obscured by custom geo. (The Continuum, The Heavy Construct)
• Fixed ADS view being blocked when using Caustic legendary skins with certain weapon/ optic combos
• Digital threat optics: threat highlights are now more visible (slightly brighter; no longer affected by TSAA)
• Fixed bug where Devotion audio sometimes wouldn’t accurately reflect rate of fire.

Additional Bug Fixes

• Fixed rare issue where a player could get stuck on the drop ship and be invulnerable.
• Patched up the hole we found in Gibraltar’s shield.
• Fixed issue where Lifeline’s revive shield wouldn’t stay put while on a moving platform.
• Fixed issue where sometimes players would get stuck in map geometry while skydiving from the dropship or Jump Towers.
• Fixed bug where players could still shoot even after being downed.
• Fixed bug where occasionally Lifeline’s D.O.C. drone would stay connected to a player but not heal them.
• Limited the amount of Lifeline’s D.O.C. drones that can connect to a player to 2.
• Fixed Pathfinder’s zipline not deploying when jumping.
• Fixed a bug with the HUD where sometimes the Heal Bar would stay up if the heal was cancelled right after it was started.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes the audio would continue to play sound FX for the Knockdown Shield even after it’s been destroyed.
• Fixed issue where sometimes players could get disconnected when unplugging their controller during a game.
• Fixed the exploit where you could do infinite wallclimb using Pathfinder’s Grapple.
• Fixed bug where sometimes you couldn’t fire the Peacekeeper after riding a zip line.
• Fixed issue where sometimes the skybox fog would not appear while spectating after you died.
• Fixed bug where Banner Cards would show through walls occasionally when viewed through a very high FOV.
• Fixed some odd light flickering that was happening on the ballon flags attached to Jump Towers.
• Fixed bug where sometimes a player’s Banner Card would not show up after character select.

Razer Chroma Support

Apex Legends will now detect Razer Chroma peripherals and supported devices will now play animated colors that react to things you do in the game! Some examples:

• Red lights during banner transitions.
• While skydiving colors will tune to the color of your smoke trail.
• Picking up loot.
• Opening Apex Packs
• Firing and taking damage.
• Colors that flash when your Ultimate is ready.
• And more!

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/apex-legends-season-1-patch-notes-update-with-octa/1100-6465684/

Angry Birds developer Rovio has announced a new game in its popular bird-flinging franchise. Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs, the series’ first-ever step into augmented reality, is coming exclusively to iOS devices in late spring, with pre-orders opening in the App Store today, March 19.

Like other Angry Birds games, the object of Isle of Pigs is to slingshot your small flock of birds at increasingly complex block towers, toppling them over and crushing the pigs lurking within. The game is divided up into four themed worlds and is “initially launching with at least 40 levels,” according to Rovio, suggesting more may be on the way.

Where Isle of Pigs differs from most other Angry Birds games is that it reinterprets the series’ gameplay in a 3D space. Using Apple’s ARKit technology, the game overlays the levels onto your surroundings, making them appear as though they were in the real-world. You still drag your finger on the screen to draw the slingshot back and fire your birds, but like the series’ VR spin-off, you’ll be doing so from a first-person perspective rather than a side-on view.

The AR tech also allows you to get a 360-degree view of each level. You can maneuver your iPhone or iPad around to better angle your shots, and many levels feature explosive blocks and other items hidden around the back, encouraging you to play around with the angle in order to clear the stages in as few shots as possible.

Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs will be free to download when it launches, with optional in-app purchases. The game will be compatible with any iOS device that supports ARKit, meaning it can run on iPhone 6 and newer models, as well as fifth- and sixth-generation iPads and all iPad Pro devices.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/angry-birds-ar-game-announced-for-ios/1100-6465665/

You know what’s good? A nice freebie. Luckily, you can get a pretty cool freebie today if you’re a Spotify Premium for Family subscriber in the UK.

If you are, you can claim a free Google Home Mini. The offer works for both new subscribers and existing ones, but only until stocks last, so be quick. Also note that standard Spotify Premium members do not qualify for the deal–you must be a Premium for Family subscriber, which is an extra £5 per month and allows you to add up to five family members onto your plan. Claim your device here.

Spotify ran this promotion in the US last year, but has now decided to bring it to the UK. Google Home Mini launched in 2018 as Google’s answer to Amazon’s Echo Dot. They typically sell for £49 at retail, so getting one at no extra cost with a monthly £15 Spotify Premium for Family subscription is not too shabby.

GameSpot sister site Cnet said Google’s miniature device “stands tall as one of the best affordable smart speakers out there, along with the Amazon Echo Dot, but it doesn’t do enough to supplant the Dot at the top of the list.” Read more in Cnet’s 8.4/10 Google Home Mini review.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/get-a-free-google-home-mini-with-spotify-uk/1100-6465671/