It's hard to defend yourself when there's such a stigma attached to what you are, that you aren't even comfortable saying the press has attacked you. You don't want people to know, because of what the press has already done to your image. I'd imagine this is even harder for women who are also on the spectrum, but I only speak for myself.
They've had weeks to think. Instead, they push these stereotypes harder than ever to get clicks off who's popular now.
Update: Click on the headline to hear what TotalBiscuit thinks of the "weaponised charity" accusations.
At a recent Ubisoft Farcry 4 Preview Event I got hands on time with the game for a few hours! Here are my First Impressions and some funny gameplay moments!
A new vision for the blockbuster franchise, Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare takes players to a future devastated by a global attack. Rising from the chaos is Atlas, a Private Military Corporation led by the cunning Jonathan Irons. With the most powerful military force in the world, Atlas has effectively become a superpower for hire. Playing as Jack Mitchell, suit up in an advanced exoskeleton and join a highly-trained unit committed to restoring order.
The exoskeleton carries over into Multiplayer, where an all-new movement system changes the way players traverse the terrain. Chain together boost actions like jump, dodge, and dash in a fast and fluid style of play. Equip all-new abilities and armaments in the revamped Create-a-Class. Earn additional weapons and gear through in-game Supply Drops, outfitting your operator in the deepest customization experience in franchise history.
In a deleted tweet, Microsoft's Phil Spencer has teased a Marcus Fenix Collection, which would contain Xbox One versions of Gears of War 1 - 3. Like the Master Chief Collection, it would be missing one game, Gears of War: Judgement.
One Angry Gamer has the story! Allistar Pinsof was blacklisted for attempting to expose an IndieGoGo campaign.
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Allistar Pinsof, a former writer for Destructoid, has come forward after dealing with a year of turmoil and frustration for not having received proper justice, following an unusual situation that spawned from Pinsof warning consumers about an IndieGoGo campaign. Combined with certain e-mails from the Game Journo Pros mailing list, his information corroborates a lot of what gamers suspected but didn’t know how to deal with or expose. For the purpose of this story, some names may be redacted as requested by some people involved with the situation.
This is a massive milestone for the team and also means that the game will be available for Pre-Order and Pre-Download later today. I couldn’t be more excited to start having fans grab this game online so everyone can hit the ground running on release day! The team has been working incredibly hard to make this happen, so we’re all eager for you to play this labor of love.
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That is to say, the sheer size and scope of the content. To recap, Halo: The Master Chief Collection contains four complete Halo games, every multiplayer map ever released (including DLC from console and PC) across each game, a complete remaster of Halo 2 with all-new audio and Blur’s mind-blowing cinematics, and all of this is tied together with (and enhanced by) a revolutionary user interface.
From the start, our philosophy has been to give Halo fans the best possible experience and not compromise the quality or features of the collection. The result is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will take up almost all of the usable space of a single Blu-ray (45 GB), and we will also issue a content update at launch that is estimated to be 20 GB. You’ll be able to start playing Campaign and more as the content is installing, with some features and multiplayer content being added via the update. Yes, the update is large, but we weren’t about to cut corners to save disc space. This ensures that you are getting every bit of Halo goodness we can fit in. Our work is not done, however, as we continue to tune, tweak and optimize the online experience to ensure a smooth multiplayer launch. This will continue right up until launch day.
One caveat we wanted to share is that Spartan Ops, our episodic co-op experience from Halo 4, will now release in December. In the meantime, we’re making some technical enhancements to that experience to make sure it’s smoother and even better than before. All ten episodes will be available at the same time, so we’re working to make an event out of it with our Community teams.
No multiplayer or Spartan Ops on the disc and the Spartan Ops is delayed until December. Good to see they have their act together.
Bad news race fans, Project CARS has been delayed until March 2015.
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Slightly Mad Studios and Bandai Namco Games today announced they will be moving the release of Project CARS for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC to March 17 in North America and March 20th 2015 in Europe and Australasia.
The move positions the title away from the competitive holiday scene dominated by household names while affording the team at Slightly Mad Studios additional time to extend and polish their ground-breaking and accomplished next-gen racing experience that’s been created alongside a community of over 85,000 racing fans and real-life professional drivers.
“Our goal has always been to deliver a landmark title that encompasses the wishes and desires of racing fans from all around the world; something with features and content powered by the community that provide a truly unforgettable and pioneering experience” said Ian Bell, Head of Studio at Slightly Mad Studios. “Whilst a tough decision to make, the change in release date allows the game the greatest chance of success and visibility, and the opportunity to polish the game even further to the high standards that both ourselves and our community demand and expect. We’re eager for you all to see what we’ve been working on in just a few months.”
Project CARS aims to deliver the most authentic, beautiful, intense, and technically-advanced racing game on the planet. Crowd-funded by a passionate community that has been involved in the development process from day-one to create their ultimate racing experience, Project CARS includes the largest track roster of any recent racing game, a huge variety of motorsports to play, a freeform and authentic career mode, world-class graphics and handling, dynamic time of day & weather, and a suite of community features and connectivity that leave the competition behind in the dust.
Activision sends along word that Destiny's launch month retail sales rank in the top 10 largest of all time in the US.
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NPD released data showing that Destiny was the top-selling game in the US in September. NPD data is based on physical retail sales of software.
In addition to strong sales of software at retail in the US, the first month of Destiny included strong digital sales and a very popular PlayStation 4 hardware bundle as well. Incorporating these figures, not only is Destiny the biggest new franchise launch in video game history, its launch month retail sales rank in the top 10 largest of all time in the US*. In fact, it's the only new video game franchise in the top 30 all-time based on U.S. retail sales in the launch month**.
"We're, of course, ecstatic that Destiny has set sales records. But what we're most excited about is that this is a game that millions of fans can't seem to stop playing. A month after launch, people are still playing Destiny an average of three hours per day, which is phenomenal engagement." said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "Bungie is making weekly updates to the game based on player feedback so there's even more great gameplay to come."
*Source: NPD and Activision internal estimates
**Source: NPD
Pre-Order Evolve – the most award-winning game coming in 2015 – and get access to the Evolve Big Alpha on Oct 31 – Nov 2. Also get the Monster Expansion Pack, which includes the Savage Goliath Skin and the fourth playable monster character free!
Yesterday during the new wave of negative articles surrounding the #GamerGate scandal (and during National Bullying Prevention Month), Sam Biddle of Gawker's Vallewag came out to say the following:
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Ultimately #GamerGate is reaffirming what we’ve known to be true for decades: nerds should be constantly shamed and degraded into submission
As a reaction to this, followers of #GamerGate have started a fundraiser to support PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. A link to the drive can be found here, with OVER 9000 dollars donated within 24 hours:
In this video, we take a look at some of the great new features we’ve implemented into siege battles in Total War: ATTILA, set against the backdrop of Londinium in 395AD.
Dynamic fire simulation: Fires can break out in a city as a result of burning projectiles or marauding soldiers. They also have a chance of spreading from building to building, according to the weather conditions. The city’s defenders become affected as it sustains increasing levels of damage, and will experience growing penalties to their attack, defence and morale characteristics.
Multiple siege escalation states: If you attack a city directly without besieging it on the campaign map, you’ll be faced with undamaged walls and stout defences. However, conduct a siege for several months beforehand, and you’ll gradually wear down the city’s defences to the point where the walls become breached, and fires may already be sweeping through the city when the battle is initiated.
Barricade deployment: Defenders may now erect barricades at the start of a city battle. These are destructible, but provide a temporary defence to any units mounted upon them. However, they take time to break through, so enemies may opt to avoid them, which gives the player the opportunity to funnel invaders around the city into their own bottlenecks and killzones.
Deathtrap, a tower-defense game with strong action-RPG elements, comes to Steam on 22nd October as an Early Access Game with many exciting features you've been longing to see in this genre. Choose from three game modes (PvP, Single Player and Cooperative Campaign), create your own maps and monsters, share them with your friends and get ready for a game of vicious tricks, killing machines, rotating blades and splattering blood.
Be clever, be quick – and show no mercy.
Coming for PC! To be released on Xbox One and PS4 later.
Dreadnought is an aerial armada action game scheduled for release on PC in 2015. It is set in a futuristic era of war and hardship, where players take on the role of a mercenary spaceship captain who owes allegiance to no nation, fighting for glory amidst a galaxy of chaos. Battleships in the game are massive spacecraft that come in varied shapes and classes. Commanders will assume complete control, dedicating power to specific sub-systems, customizing weapons, engines, armor, abilities, crew and their ships’ aesthetics. The game will feature 5v5 multiplayer as well as a single player campaign.
In this video, Game Director Peter Holzapfel and Game Designer Eino Joas take you "play by play" through an action-packed session showcasing the Archon Dreadnought.
PAYDAY™ The Heist is an action filled first person shooter that lets players take on the role of a hardened career criminal executing intense, dynamic heists in constant pursuit of the next “big score”. Load out with an array of weaponry and equipment. Navigate six high-stake heists with three other live or A.I. Co-Op partners in crime.
Time for a PAYDAY™ - Cash in Before you Cash Out!
Scott McCarthy from SCEA has updated the PlayStation.Blog with a preview of the PS4's upcoming system software 2.00 update.
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You may already know that PS4’s upcoming system software 2.00, codenamed Masamune, adds some big features including Share Play, YouTube support, and Themes – but the updates don’t end there. I have personally stated in past blog posts that we listen to our fans. PlayStation has heard gamers when they say they want more ways to find friends to play with, and more ways to personalize their PS4. With this update, we’ve added a Players You May Know tile, the ability to listen to your music while gaming, the option to change the look of your PS4 experience, and easier ways to sort and filter your library of content on PS4.
PS4 has been on sale for almost a year and we’re committed to improving the player experience in entirely new ways. As always, we welcome feedback as part of our ongoing effort to make PS4 the best place to play.
USB Music Player: PS4 owners can play their own music in the background while playing a game using USB Music Player*. After inserting a USB stick loaded with music into the PS4, a new option for USB Music Player will appear. Supported filename extensions include MP3, MP4, M4A, and 3GP.
Change colors: In addition to the ability to add a theme, PS4 owners can also change the background of the home screen from light blue to one of seven new colors: gold, blue, red, green, purple, pink, and gray.
Players You May Know: PS4 will now suggest players you may know as potential friends in the ‘What’s New’ section.
Enhancements to Live Broadcasting: Masamune brings a variety of improvements to live broadcasting on PS4. In the Live From PlayStation app, PS4 owners can now select a Featured channel, which includes official broadcasts from PlayStation, broadcasts from people on a players friend list, and any game channel that the player has followed. Additionally, Live From PlayStation now has filters for searching broadcasts on a specific game, as well as support for archived broadcasts.
Content Area and Library: PS4’s Content Area, which shows the latest games and apps a PS4 owner has used, has been redesigned to help make it easier to quickly find and access content. It now shows 15 of a player’s most used apps or games, and additional items will be added to a player’s Library. The Library on PS4 has improved filter and sort functions to help organize contented by type (game / app / TV & video), name (a – z or z – a), recently used, or install date.
Enhanced Voice Commands: The ability to control PS4 using voice has been improved. Players can now say ‘PlayStation’ to begin commands, and ‘All Commands,’ to see a list of all voice command options available. New voice commands were added for live broadcasting, including “Start broadcast,” “End broadcast,” and “Find face.”
Add To Library: The monthly free PlayStation Plus games will have an ‘Add to Library’ button in the PlayStation Store. This button will add a game to a PS4 owner’s library without downloading it – saving space on their hard drive.
The tenor of moral panic has changed since then. Now, the main source of fear, loathing and general misanthropy in the gaming industry stems from the cultural left rather than the socially conservative right. Similar to the old right, the new cultural warriors argue that games promote violence and reinforce so-called rape culture. Arguments that games perpetuate sexism and racism are also fairly common. Instead of being seen as mere escapism, the tastes of modern gamers are portrayed as dangerous and subversive, a threat to right-on values. Gamers ought to be feared and shunned. In this remarkable video, a cultural warrior goes on a tirade against mainstream gamers, culminating in the destruction of a copy of the controversial video-game Grand Theft Auto V before a cheering crowd. The misanthropic disgust with ordinary gamers is palpable.
The growing contempt of the games-industry elite for the preferences of gamers has accelerated in recent months. Following a major confrontation between gamers and activists last August over allegations of journalistic favouritism, article after article has been published decrying the gaming community for its alleged bigotry, sexism and narrow-mindedness. The worst examples of ‘social-media harassment’ were used as an excuse to present gamers as a mass of hateful savages. To those familiar with the regular and sometimes absurd panics over football fans, this language will sound familiar.
You may well ask how these activists are able to sustain these bizarre beliefs, particularly given the mounting evidence that gamers are actually a pretty diverse and welcoming group of people after all. One explanation is their fondness for echo-chambers, maintained through exclusive email groups, social media blocklists and mass deletions of user comments on open forums. The extent to which the new cultural warriors will go to remove uncomfortable opinions from view is quite extraordinary. Reinforcing, rather than challenging, one’s own biases has become the norm.
Here is the trailer for upcoming game Hatred from small indie team Destructive Creations which has already begun to stir up the internet.
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Hatred is an isometric shooter with disturbing atmosphere of mass killing, where player takes the role of a cold blood antagonist, who is full of hatred for humanity. It's a horror, but here YOU are the villain. Wander the outskirts of New York State, seek for victims on seven free-roam levels. Fight against law enforcement and take a journey into the antagonist's hateful mind. Gather equipment of the dead ‘human shields’ to spread Armageddon upon society. Destroy everything on your way of hunt and fight back when it's disturbed...
...just don't try this at home and don't take it too seriously, it's just a game. :)
Click on the headline to watch the trailer.
The continued negative response to this game will be interesting considering the current climate of the video game press...
Apple unveiled a thinner iPad Thursday with a faster processor and a better camera as it tries to drive excitement for tablets amid slowing demand. The company also released an update to its Mac operating system and introduced a high-resolution iMac model that might appeal to heavy watchers of television over the Internet.
The new iPad Air 2, at a quarter of an inch "thin," also adds many of the features previously available on iPhones. That includes the ability to take burst shots and slow-motion video, and unlock the device with a fingerprint ID sensor instead of a passcode.
Meanwhile, Apple made its new Mac operating system, Yosemite, available as a free download starting Thursday. The new 27-inch iMac — which Apple is dubbing the "Retina 5K" model — went on sale Thursday as well.
The company also said Apple Pay, its new system for using iPhones to make credit and debit card payments at retail stores, will launch on Monday.
I'd like to get the iPad 2 Air to use for reading comic books.
SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON – October 16, 2014 – SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced a pre-order incentive for Company of Heroes 2™: Ardennes Assault consisting of an all-new Company known as “Fox” Company. This band of Rangers is led by Captain Monte Durante and sits alongside the three Companies already included in the game; Airborne, Support and Mechanized. Players can choose up to three Companies on a campaign play-through; each with its own unique play style, specializations, abilities and Officer.
Captain Durante will have his own backstory for players to discover throughout the campaign, which will allow players to experience Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault from a whole new perspective. The “Fox” Company DLC will feature unique mission and company reports, thus representing a significant amount of additional gameplay options and outcomes, all free for those who pre-order.
“We are really excited to offer such a substantial piece of content to those who pre-order!” said Alex Price, Brand Director at Relic Entertainment. “There are a huge amount of playthrough options for Ardennes Assault already, but the inclusion of Fox Company adds even more variety to the game.”
To celebrate the announcement, SEGA and Relic will be running a free weekend on Steam for Company of Heroes 2™ and Company of Heroes 2™: The Western Front Armies from 10AM PST/6PM BST/7PM CET, Thursday October 16, 2014 until 10AM PST/6PM BST/7PM CET on Monday October 20. Steam users will be able to download and play the game for free during this period, so there has never been a better opportunity to try out the series. There will also be various price promotions on Steam for Company of Heroes 2 running alongside the free weekend should players want to make it a permanent addition to their gaming library, including 75% off of Company of Heroes 2 and 66% off of Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies. Check the Steam product pages during the promotion for more information.
Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault is developed by Relic Entertainment and will be launching on November 18, 2014 for Windows PC digital download platforms.
Click on the image to view the screenshots and the headline for the trailer.
Assassin's Creed Unity is full of charismatic characters. Meet the actors behind Arno Dorian, Elise, Napoleon and more. Learn how they have embodied their character, allowing Assassin's Creed Unity to display a powerful story.
In 1820, the whaleship Essex is crewed by Captain George Pollard, Jr. (Benjamin Walker), first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), second mate Matthew Joy (Cillian Murphy), and cabin boy Thomas Nickerson (Tom Holland). During their voyage, the ship is struck by a large bull sperm whale, ultimately leaving its crew shipwrecked at sea for 90 days over a thousand miles from home. After the attack, the crew sails for South America and is forced to become cannibalistic.
Stardock Entertainment sends along a press release announcing a big update to Galactic Civilizations III on Steam Early Access.
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Plymouth, MI – October 16, 2014 – Rival factions across the galaxy now have another weapon in their arsenals today as diplomacy and trade – along with a new playable race, the Krynn – are now available as part of Stardock's first major content update for the Galactic Civilizations III beta. The beta is currently available for $44.99 as part of Steam Early Access (currently at a 10 percent discount: http://store.steampowered.com/app/226860/).
Diplomacy provides space emperors and empresses the opportunity to find common ground with rivals or enforce a United Planets embargo, providing further depth to gameplay and altering how players pursue ultimate rule over the galaxy. Trading is also included in today’s patch, so players have a good reason to make friends – although goods passing through trade routes are subject to...aggressive renegotiation of their ownership should a hostile warfleet happen by.
Another faction joins the race to dominate the galaxy today as well. The Krynn are a conglomeration of species whose government is comfortably in the pocket of organized crime, and who enjoy healthy boosts in spreading their “protective” influence around the galaxy as well as a leg up in keeping their own populace content – or at least well-behaved.
Galactic Civilizations III, available only for 64-bit Windows PCs, puts players in charge of one of several fantastical sci-fi races (including 23rd-century humans) about to begin interstellar colonization. Spreading your empire throughout the galaxy, unlocking the secrets of creation through radical scientific research, and building massive fleets of starships to defend your way of life is only the beginning.
As the age of expansion ends and the age of war dawns, you must navigate the waves of conflict crashing through the galaxy. Diplomatic channels may secure your borders, cultural imperialism might expand them peacefully, or you could do things the old-fashioned way through military conquest. Finally, the age of transcendence brings the struggle for galactic dominance to a fever pitch as mighty empires bring titanic forces to bear in the race for final victory.
Adapt your ride for each terrain! Street, Performance, Dirt, Raid, Circuit… each specs has its own purpose. Every driver has the potential to customize, stand out and win out in the world of The Crew.
Watch the full intro cinematic to the new science-fiction-themed entry into the award-winning Civilization series. As part of an expedition sent to find a home beyond Earth, lead your people into a new frontier, explore and colonize an alien planet and create a new civilization in space.
A New Beginning for Mankind is coming October 24, 2014.
