News

Details On Dark Souls Remastered

Published

5 years ago

April 4, 2018

Anthony DiMoro

Dark Souls Remastered was announced earlier this year and gamers immediately started celebrating what’s coming in the future.

Dark Souls Remastered will arrive on May 25th for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Just in case you were wondering what is going to be different when Dark Souls ReMastered is finally released, you can see the full list of changes right here, courtesy of IGN.

Dark Souls Remastered Changes

Graphics

Dark Souls Remastered will have a 4K resolution with a compatible TV/monitor at 60fps on the Xbox One X, PS4 Pro and PC. It will display upscaled 4K resolution on PS4 Pro and Xbox One, while the PC version will be native 4K.
PS4 and Xbox One – 1080p resolution at 60fps.
On the Switch, it will have a 1080p resolution at 30fps when docked to TV, and 720p resolution at 30fps when in handheld mode.

Online Multiplayer

The maximum number of players online has increased from 4 to 6.
The Dried Finger item will be needed to play with 6 players.
The Dried Finger has been moved from the Painted World of Ariamis level to the Undead Burg merchant to be obtainable earlier in the game. The Dried Finger location in the Painted World has been replaced with a Twin Humanities item.
Password Matchmaking is now available, similar to Dark Souls 3. When a player is summoned in Password Matchmaking the player level will be synced.
It’s now easier for friends to be matched with each other. When the guest player’s character level and weapon is higher than that of the host player, the level will be adjusted accordingly.
Healing items will not be available during PvP with the exception of Estus Flasks. To prevent long and drawn out battles, the number of Estus Flasks is halved for phantoms.
When a player defeats an invading phantom, their Estus Flask is restored.
Players can turn on/off global matchmaking
Players can now prevent matched Red Phantoms from seeing their “White Sign Soapstone” sign
Players can no longer summon ally phantoms consecutively when in combat with enemy phantoms.
In online play, players who are outside of the host’s parameter range will not be matched with each other (the players can still be matched via Password Matching).

Arena

3v3 and 6-player deathmatch have been added.
Arena battles can also use Password Matching.
Respawn points will be random.

Miscellanious

Players can select the number of usable items, such as consumable souls or covenant items, to use instead of one at a time as in the original game.
The number of languages has been increased to the number found in Dark Souls 3.
A Bonfire has been added next to Vamos the Blacksmith.
Covenants can be switched at Bonfires.
Button configuration is available.
Items will not automatically be registered into an item slot when picked up.
When the up or down directional pad button is held down, the first item equipped will be selected.
The online network has been changed from P2P to dedicated servers.

Console

Microsoft Unveils Xbox Developer Sustainability Toolkit

Published

2 months ago

March 22, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

Xbox has officially unveiled the Xbox Developer Sustainability Toolkit which is aimed to help creators reduce energy consumption and measure carbon emissions during game development processes.

The Xbox Developer Sustainability ToolKit includes resources that include:

Power Monitor tools
Certification reports
Power consumption dashboards
Best practices

Ubisoft and 343 Industries were named as early users of the Xbox Developer Sustainability ToolKit with 343 Industries able to reduce energy use by 15% without impacting the player experience at all.

Ubisoft and Xbox are co-developing an energy-efficient eco-mode for users.

You can check out the full report right here.

Business

Epic Games Store Hits $820 Million in Player Spending During 2022

Published

2 months ago

March 22, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

Epic Games has officially released financial data related to it’s growing marketplace on PC, showing that $820 million was spent on the Epic Games Store during the 2022 year, and promised support for third-party subscription services and new ‘content hubs’ to help companies promote their titles.

According to the data:

The numbers

Total users of Epic Games Store PC: 230 million (up 19% year-on-year)
Epic cross-platform accounts: 732 million
Daily active users peak: 34.3 million
Monthly active users: 68 million (up 10%)

Total spending, incl. Epic’s games: $820 million (down 2%)
Spending on third-party games: $355 million (up 18%)
Free games claimed: 700 million
Number of new PC releases: 626
Total library of PC games: 1,548 (up 68%)

Epic Games stated on it’s blog that more PC games launched during the 2022 year than in any year prior.

Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto 5, Rocket League, Genshin Impact, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands were among the most popular titles related to player engagement and player spending, and Epic Games looks to deepen their focus in 2023 as they aim to improve the store launcher’s performance.

Epic Games also aims to add support for subscription services from third-party publishers and live service products by the end of the 2023 year, adding that they are also working on ‘content hubs’ which will be separate from product pages and will enable publishers to “share information with users in a robust editorial format.”

Business

California Judge Dismisses Gamers Lawsuit Filed Against Microsoft

Published

2 months ago

March 22, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that the group of 10 plaintiffs “[lacked] allegations” in their lawsuit filed last year that claimed Microsoft’s ownerships of Activision Blizzard would harm consumers and competition in the video games market, according to a filing shared by Reuters.

While US District Judge Jacqueline Corley dismissed the case, she also gave the plaintiffs 20 days to refine their lawsuit and resubmit it, and the group’s lawyer, Joseph Saveri, said that there are plans to officially submit an amended lawsuit with “additional factual detail” that will address the judge’s concerns.

It marks a victory for Microsoft, but their battles are far from over as they still face a hearing over the Federal Trade Commission’s legal complaint, which is currently slated to take place in August of this year.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard originally expected the transaction to be complete by June 30, 2023.