EA Responds To Battlefront 2 Pay-To-Win Concerns; Switch Adds Huge Features! – GS News

GameSpot News with Jess McDonell and Dan Crowd brings you the video game news that matters. At least, for the previous 24-hour period. Except today, because Chastity Vicencio and Kallie Plagge are filling in. But they will also give you the news that matters.

New Star Wars Battlefront II Story Trailer; EA Comments On Pay-To-Win Concerns

The new trailer showcases some of what we can expect from Battlefront II’s single player campaign. There are some glimpses of space battles and a chase with the Millennium Falcon. We also see appearances by Luke Skywalker, Leia, and Maz Kanata.

Aside from the single-player campaign, a lot of discussion surrounding the game has focused on its microtransactions. It will use a loot box-style system for unlocking various upgrades, leading to some fans accusing the system of being “pay-to-win.” In an interview with GameSpot, EA said people’s fears are “understandable,” at the same time as calling the accusations “hard to dodge.”

Big Nintendo Switch Update Released, Adds Nice New Features

Nintendo Switch just got a very big update that adds gameplay capture, save data transfer, and more. With the 4.0 update applied, you’ll be able to hold down the capture button and record the previous 30 seconds of gameplay. This currently only works with certain games, including Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Arms, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The other major new feature is the ability to transfer save data to a new Switch, similar to how it works with 3DSes.

Mario Kart 8 Switch Update Out Now, Adds Video Capture And Adjusts Blue Shell

Related to Switch updates, there’s a new one out for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that enables the aforementioned gameplay capture feature and tweaks the way the dreaded Blue Shell works. With the update, the Blue Shell will no longer target the second-place player if the first-place player hasn’t yet crossed the finish line.

And that’s it for today’s news! Kallie and Chastity will be back tomorrow with the top five stories of the week.

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Huge LawBreakers Update Out Now, See The Patch Notes

The biggest-ever update for LawBreakers, the new game from Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski’s new studio Boss Key, is out now on PS4 and PC. The update adds a number of new things, but perhaps the most notable of which is Boss Leagues. This is a ranked mode, which Boss Key says is something fans have been clamouring for.

While Boss Leagues is now live, the first season is something of a test. Season 0, as it’s called, is a “beta” season, with the goal of gathering feedback to make future seasons better. There are three modes in Season 0: Blitzball, Uplink, and Occupy, and there can be no double-ups on roles. To help players find matches faster, the matchmaking system will look at players from across multiple regions instead of just one.

As with ranked modes in other games, you’ll need to play an allotment of matches (in this case 10) before receiving your rank. From there, your rank will rise or fall depending on the skill level of the other team and if you won or lost. You don’t have to worry so much about your Kill/Death ratio, as ranks are all about winning. You can read more about LawBreakers’ new Boss Leagues mode here in this blog post.

Also new in today’s update, which is called 2.0/All-Star, is a new map for Blitzball. Called Gateway, the map is set above the streets of San Francisco. “Gateway, the Blitzball stadium, is a such a marvel, as it floats effortlessly in the sky thanks to Hadronium’s anti-gravitational properties,” Boss Key says.

Gateway is not the only new map now available in LawBreakers. Today’s update also introduces a “blood moon” version of the Redfalls. In this version, you’ll see a spooky-looking red moon in the sky that makes it look “darker” and more “sinister,” Boss Key said. In terms of gameplay, nothing is changed, however.

Additionally, the new LawBreakers update adds new character and weapon skins themed around Blitzball; in all, there are more than 120 new items that you can get through loot boxes. Finally, today’s update adds a new tutorial mode to help players get up to speed on the game’s various roles, while there are also a number of character-specific balance changes. You’ll also now get a double XP bonus for your first win of the day in any mode.

You can see the full PS4 and PC patch notes below. For lots more on LawBreakers, you can check out GameSpot’s in-depth interview with Bleszinski about the steps his company is taking to save the game.

LawBreakers PS4 2.0 Patch Notes:

ROLE CHANGES:

HEALTH REGEN (ALL ROLES) –

“We’re increasing the out of combat delay so that hopping from engagement to engagement takes more strategy.”

  • Increased the time it takes out of combat for health regen to start from 3 → 5 seconds.

ASSASSIN –

“With the health adjustments in Patch 1.4, Assassins aren’t as squishy and don’t need as much help sustaining while in Frenzy. We’ve cut down on the healing per hit to address this.”

  • Arc Blade’s healing per hit while Frenzy is active has been decreased from 70 → 55.

  • Frenzy replenishes all movement charges upon activation (Patch 1.4 missing note)

BATTLE MEDIC –

“We’ve added more charges to Firefly so that Battle Medics can command the battlefield a bit better. Having the same amount of ammo on both weapons should help their swap timing and make them more viable in skirmish modes.”

  • Firefly’s number of charges increased from 4 → 6.

  • Increased time between replenishing Firefly charges from 0.2 → 0.25 seconds.

ENFORCER –

“Enforcers health has been brought down since previous patches have increased his survivability.”

  • Base health reduced from 500 → 475.

GUNSLINGER –

“We’ve added charge multiplier logic to the Omega that increases alongside damage. This should reward high accuracy players and curtail “spam slinger” effectiveness.”

  • *NEW* Gunslinger’s Omega headshot multiplier will now scale up based upon how long your charge your shots.

  • Omega’s min headshot multiplier is now 1.1.

  • Omega’s max charged headshot multiplier is now 1.75.

HARRIER –

“Harrier’s kit inherently makes them extremely survivable, so we’ve knocked 25 points off of their Base Health. The Shoc-Croc has been adjusted to deal more damage if you can train your weapon on an enemy’s head. We’ve also shortened the length of Convergence to make it less oppressive.”

  • Base health reduced from 450 → 425.

  • Shoc-Croc’s headshot multiplier increased from 1.5 → 1.75.

  • Laser Tag cooldown visual now changes from red to blue when able to fire.

  • Convergence beam duration reduced from 6 → 5 seconds.

JUGGERNAUT –

“Juggernaut needed a bit of help when low on ammo, so Instigator has gotten a reload speed bump. We’re working on some bug fixes to reload issues overall in future patches that will help them out.”

  • Instigator’s reload speed has been sped up by 10%.

  • Holo-Deflector can be manually destroyed by pressing the activation button again (Patch 1.4 missing note).

TITAN –

“Titan has gotten some quality of life improvements this patch. They can now perform more actions while in Berserk mode, and we’ve added our version of a much requested range indicator for Hammerhead rockets.”

  • *NEW* Detonation indicator will now appear when a target is within a rocket’s explosion radius.

  • Pulverize’s max damage increased from 125 → 175.

  • Titan can now kick and jump while Berserk is active.

VANGUARD –

“Vanguard’s Meteor Shells + Pulsar burst potential has been dialed in a bit and we’ve made the shell’s self damage less punishing.”

  • Pulsar’s damage radius lowered from 200 → 175.

  • Pulsar’s max damage lowered from 120 → 110.

  • Hydra’s time its takes to get to full fire rate has been increased by 7.5%.

  • Updated Hydra’s primary reticle.

  • Meteor Shells self damage reduced from 100% → 50%.

WRAITH –

“Wraith is getting out dueled and damaged at his intended effective range. We’ve adjusted their reload speed to help them exchange fire and increased the minimum damage from Wasp to match a default kick. Chrono Switch has also seen an adjustment so that hitting targets with it should be more reliable.”

  • Spektor’s falloff start distance increased from 600 → 750.

  • Spektor’s reload speed has been sped up by 25%.

  • Wasp’s minimum stab damage increased from 30 → 75.

  • Chrono Switch’s slowing rings travel speed has been increased by 30%.

  • Increased the time between firing Chrono Switch’s slowing rings by 10%.

GENERAL ADDITIONS/IMPROVEMENTS:

  • *NEW* Multi-region Queue has been added to place players with acceptable latency in matches from all around country and/or world.

  • *NEW* First Win of the Day XP Bonus has been added for getting your first win in any mode.

  • *NEW* Progression UI Widget has been added to the bottom right to show current Account / Boss Leagues progression, as well as a current creds total.

  • *NEW* Customizable reticle options in the Settings menu now include a Simple Dot, Simple Circle, and Simple Crosshair plus color options.

  • Increased the amount of XP awarded in all modes for time played. This means quicker account progression for everyone.

  • Added in text for score amount awarded on scoring events.

  • Added in major text announcements for carriers picking up the objective object in Blitzball, Overcharge, and Uplink.

  • Crosshairs now draw on top of all HUD elements.

  • Made it so that text chat does not switch sides during death cam.

  • General Spectator improvements to overall visuals, clarity, and bug fixes.

  • Added in a ton of stat tracking for different weapons, abilities, and scoring events for roles that are displayed on the statistics page of the player profile.

  • Hit Detection Improvements

    • Improved hit registration by speeding up smoothing on replicas to make positions more accurate.

    • Added latency compensation logic to improve Arc Blade grapple hit detection.

    • Titan rocket air detonation has latency compensation (so if you detonate it when you see it near somebody, it should deal damage, even at higher pings)

  • Redesigned the “Play” mode selection screen.

  • Added bonus XP when backfilling into and completing a match that was missing players.

  • Don’t count a match as a loss for a player that joined late and filled in a missing player’s spot.

  • Visual improvements for full screen effects like Distortion Field and Chrono Switch’s slowing effect.

BUG FIXES:

UI –

  • Fixed framerate drop issues in the main menu.

  • Fixed issues related to Blitzball carrier’s status not updating for people who just joined a match in progress.

  • Fixed an issue where a teammate’s name would sometimes appear red when you first see them.

  • Fixed a host of in game scoreboard alignment issues dealing with Twitch status, icons, and text placement.

  • Fixed multiple issues during end of match podium not rendering appropriately on 21:9 aspect ratio monitors.

  • Fixed a bug where being stabbed and killed by TAC knife would cause death cam to break.

  • Fixed overtime text announcement not showing in Blitzball.

  • Fixed multiple match history issues related to missing player names and stats for matches played.

SOUND –

  • Fixed error sound not playing issue when attempting to equip a locked account portrait.

GAMEPLAY –

  • Gunslinger

    • Fixed an issue where shooting the Alpha while blindfiring Omega would interrupt Omega’s animation.

  • Juggernaut

    • Fixed issues that improve the transition from sprint super jumping into blindfire,

  • Wraith

    • Fixed wall jump occasionally triggering on stairs and other unintended surfaces.

  • Turf War

    • Tie breaker overtime rules in Turf War fixed, so you have to capture 2 zones to win.

  • Fixed crashes occurring directly after killing an objective carrier with a kick.

  • Fixed an issue where players could potentially cycle to a new match and see a black screen during character select, they would not be able to play without restarting.

  • Fixed an issue where not all assist based scoring events were tracking for achievements.

SETTINGS –

  • Fixed a bug where holding left d-pad and left stick would cause settings to adjust twice as fast.

LawBreakers PC 2.0 Patch Notes:

ROLE CHANGES:

HEALTH REGEN (ALL ROLES) –

“We’re increasing the out of combat delay so that hopping from engagement to engagement takes more strategy.”

  • Increased the time it takes out of combat for health regen to start from 3 → 5 seconds.

ASSASSIN –

“With the health adjustments in Patch 1.4, Assassins aren’t as squishy and don’t need as much help sustaining while in Frenzy. We’ve cut down on the healing per hit to address this.”

  • Arc Blade’s healing per hit while Frenzy is active has been decreased from 70 → 55.

  • Frenzy replenishes all movement charges upon activation (Patch 1.4 missing note)

BATTLE MEDIC –

“We’ve added more charges to Firefly so that Battle Medics can command the battlefield a bit better. Having the same amount of ammo on both weapons should help their swap timing and make them more viable in skirmish modes.”

  • Firefly’s number of charges increased from 4 → 6.

  • Increased time between replenishing Firefly charges from 0.2 → 0.25 seconds.

ENFORCER –

“Enforcers health has been brought down since previous patches have increased his survivability.”

  • Base health reduced from 500 → 475.

GUNSLINGER –

“We’ve added charge multiplier logic to the Omega that increases alongside damage. This should reward high accuracy players and curtail “spam slinger” effectiveness.”

  • *NEW* Gunslinger’s Omega headshot multiplier will now scale up based upon how long your charge your shots.

  • Omega’s min headshot multiplier is now 1.1.

  • Omega’s max charged headshot multiplier is now 1.75.

HARRIER –

“Harrier’s kit inherently makes them extremely survivable, so we’ve knocked 25 points off of their Base Health. The Shoc-Croc has been adjusted to deal more damage if you can train your weapon on an enemy’s head. We’ve also shortened the length of Convergence to make it less oppressive.”

  • Base health reduced from 450 → 425.

  • Shoc-Croc’s headshot multiplier increased from 1.5 → 1.75.

  • Laser Tag cooldown visual now changes from red to blue when able to fire.

  • Convergence beam duration reduced from 6 → 5 seconds.

JUGGERNAUT –

“Juggernaut needed a bit of help when low on ammo, so Instigator has gotten a reload speed bump. We’re working on some bug fixes to reload issues overall in future patches that will help them out.”

  • Instigator’s reload speed has been sped up by 10%.

  • Holo-Deflector can be manually destroyed by pressing the activation button again (Patch 1.4 missing note).

TITAN –

“Titan has gotten some quality of life improvements this patch. They can now perform more actions while in Berserk mode, and we’ve added our version of a much requested range indicator for Hammerhead rockets.”

  • *NEW* Detonation indicator will now appear when a target is within a rocket’s explosion radius.

  • Pulverize’s max damage increased from 125 → 175.

  • Titan can now kick and jump while Berserk is active.

VANGUARD –

“Vanguard’s Meteor Shells + Pulsar burst potential has been dialed in a bit and we’ve made the shell’s self damage less punishing.”

  • Pulsar’s damage radius lowered from 200 → 175.

  • Pulsar’s max damage lowered from 120 → 110.

  • Hydra’s time its takes to get to full fire rate has been increased by 7.5%.

  • Updated Hydra’s primary reticle.

  • Meteor Shells self damage reduced from 100% → 50%.

WRAITH –

“Wraith is getting out dueled and damaged at his intended effective range. We’ve adjusted their reload speed to help them exchange fire and increased the minimum damage from Wasp to match a default kick. Chrono Switch has also seen an adjustment so that hitting targets with it should be more reliable.”

  • Spektor’s falloff start distance increased from 600 → 750.

  • Spektor’s reload speed has been sped up by 25%.

  • Wasp’s minimum stab damage increased from 30 → 75.

  • Chrono Switch’s slowing rings travel speed has been increased by 30%.

  • Increased the time between firing Chrono Switch’s slowing rings by 10%.

GENERAL ADDITIONS/IMPROVEMENTS:

  • *NEW* Multi-region Queue has been added to place players with acceptable latency in matches from all around country and/or world.

  • *NEW* First Win of the Day XP Bonus has been added for getting your first win in any mode.

  • *NEW* Progression UI Widget has been added to the bottom right to show current Account / Boss Leagues progression, as well as a current creds total.

  • *NEW* Customizable reticle options in the Settings menu now include a Simple Dot, Simple Circle, and Simple Crosshair plus color options.

  • Increased the amount of XP awarded in all modes for time played. This means quicker account progression for everyone.

  • Added in text for score amount awarded on scoring events.

  • Added in major text announcements for carriers picking up the objective object in Blitzball, Overcharge, and Uplink.

  • Crosshairs now draw on top of all HUD elements.

  • Made it so that text chat does not switch sides during death cam.

  • General Spectator improvements to overall visuals, clarity, and bug fixes.

  • Added in a ton of stat tracking for different weapons, abilities, and scoring events for roles that are displayed on the statistics page of the player profile.

  • Hit Detection Improvements

    • Improved hit registration by speeding up smoothing on replicas to make positions more accurate.

    • Added latency compensation logic to improve Arc Blade grapple hit detection.

    • Titan rocket air detonation has latency compensation (so if you detonate it when you see it near somebody, it should deal damage, even at higher pings)

  • Redesigned the “Play” mode selection screen.

  • Added bonus XP when backfilling into and completing a match that was missing players.

  • Don’t count a match as a loss for a player that joined late and filled in a missing player’s spot.

  • Visual improvements for full screen effects like Distortion Field and Chrono Switch’s slowing effect.

BUG FIXES:

UI –

  • Fixed issues related to Blitzball carrier’s status not updating for people who just joined a match in progress.

  • Fixed an issue where a teammate’s name would sometimes appear red when you first see them.

  • Fixed a host of in game scoreboard alignment issues dealing with Twitch status, icons, and text placement.

  • Fixed multiple issues during end of match podium not rendering appropriately on 21:9 aspect ratio monitors.

  • Fixed a bug where being stabbed and killed by TAC knife would cause death cam to break.

  • Fixed overtime text announcement not showing in Blitzball.

  • Fixed multiple match history issues related to missing player names and stats for matches played.

SOUND –

  • Fixed error sound not playing issue when attempting to equip a locked account portrait.

GAMEPLAY –

  • Gunslinger

    • Fixed an issue where shooting the Alpha while blindfiring Omega would interrupt Omega’s animation.

  • Juggernaut

    • Fixed issues that improve the transition from sprint super jumping into blindfire,

  • Wraith

    • Fixed wall jump occasionally triggering on stairs and other unintended surfaces.

  • Turf War

    • Tie breaker overtime rules in Turf War fixed, so you have to capture 2 zones to win.

  • Fixed crashes occurring directly after killing an objective carrier with a kick.

  • Fixed an issue where players could potentially cycle to a new match and see a black screen during character select, they would not be able to play without restarting.

  • Fixed an issue where not all assist based scoring events were tracking for achievements.

SETTINGS –

  • Changing window settings from full-screen to windowed mode will now persist between game restarts.

  • Fixed an issue where changing the window mode while matchmaking may change a player’s region.

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New Jigsaw Movie Clip Shows A Horrific Trap In Action

It may have taken seven years but the Saw franchise is back. Jigsaw is preparing to rip into theaters just in time for Halloween and if this new clip from the movie is any indication, the insanity has not lost a step.

In this clip, someone is up to Jigsaw’s (Tobin Bell) old tricks. A group of new players in the Saw universe’s twisted game wake up to find themselves with buckets over their heads, chained to a wall filled with circular saw blades. Then, as they struggle to figure out what’s happening, a voice speaks.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’re here. You’ll deny culpability, no doubt, for the circumstances in which you find yourselves,” their mysterious tormentor says. “Salvation can be yours. An offering of blood will set you free. I want to play a game.”

That’s when the chains start retracting into the wall as the circular saws turn on, pulling these people to what would surely be a grisly end. This is a Saw movie though, meaning this trap is simply the beginning. As the movie’s trailer promises, there’s several horrible traps ready to put these poor souls in danger.

It’s unclear exactly how they’ll escape this particular situation, though giving up “an offering of blood” seems like as good a place to start as any. It’s interesting to note that of those chained to the wall, one is already on the floor, unconscious. Perhaps his blood is the key to survival.

Jigsaw lands in theaters on October 27.

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Gorgeous New Destiny 2 Art Book Releases Soon; Check Out Some Of Its Images

Bungie has always created beautiful games–skies, in particular–and Destiny 2 is no exception. While some fans are upset with how the endgame works out, it’s a game that’s undeniably nice to look at. If you’re a fan of Destiny 2’s art, a new book is on the way that’s right up your alley.

The Art of Destiny: Volume 2 features artwork from the recently released PS4 and Xbox One shooter, which launches for PC next week. Below, you can check out both the official cover art as well as a preview of several pages from the book itself.

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According to its publisher, the book consists of “hundreds of pieces of concept art,” including “everything from early sketches and illustrations of characters to paintings of sweeping vistas the designers used to help shape the in-game worlds.” As you can see in some of the preview images, it consists of not just artwork, but also commentary from Bungie staff who share behind-the-scenes details. It also teases “exclusive, never-before-seen imagery.”

The Art of Destiny: Volume 2 releases on November 28. It carries a suggest retail price in the US of $45, although Amazon currently offers it for nearly half that, $28.46.

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AMC VR App to Feature Extra Scene from TWD Premiere

AMC is making the jump to virtual reality with its biggest show, The Walking Dead.

Deadline reports the upcoming Season 8 premiere, which is also the 100th episode of the series, will feature an extra scene that can be viewed via AMC’s new VR app. Executive producer Greg Nicotero directed the episode, titled “Mercy,” and Kevin Cornish is co-directing the 360-degree VR scene, which will focus on Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

“With the launch of AMC VR, we are pleased to bring shows like The Walking Dead and Into the Badlands to life in an immersive and experiential way,” said AMC and Sundance TV’s EVP of Innovation and Product Development Mac McKean. “Viewers want to enter the worlds they watch on AMC, and this app brings them there.”

Continue reading…

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