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SirMadsen

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Blog Entries posted by SirMadsen

  1. Overwatch 2 is having a rough start. Everything from DDOS to server queues. It's becoming quite a theme over at the Blizzard headquarters, server queues, it's almost as Blizzard was a small indie company living of off funding from a kickstarter project and not a billion dollar company.
    If you try and join a Overwatch 2 game now, you should not be surprised if you are put in a hour long queue with upwards to 20,000 people in front of you also waiting to join. And it's not likely to get better at this hour when people on the American servers are coming home from their jobs and schools trying to log in. Also because of the servers being DDOS'ed you can enjoy random disconnects from games. I would suggest to not play ranked for the next few days.
    Overwatch have been running for six years and up until the launch today. The company even had the entire game down for server maintenance several hours before opening the doors at launch, still, they couldn't anticipate the huge influx of players wanting to play the brand new Overwatch 2 at launch day. It's not like they didn't know that people wanted to play, and they already had the experience just recently with the release of Wrath of the Lich King Classic.
    Good luck playing for the next few days.
    What are your thoughts on the release of Overwatch 2?
  2. Company of Heroes 3 joins many games when it is postponed from the fall of 2022 to 2023. November 17th becomes February 23rd in a flash, and the reason is that Relic wants to polish it further. In a tweet , they admit that the game in its current state "doesn't quite live up to our or the players' expectations". Another three months should hopefully do the trick for Company of Heroes 3.
    Sega, for its part, says that it is now time for improvements, balancing and fine-tuning.
    It is hardly an understatement that expectations are high. Not least the Company of Heroes game has one of the highest averages ever for an RTS. When the third is even close, it will be very good.

  3. CD Projekt has FIVE games in the works

    Gaming · SirMadsen · 10/08/2022 06:47 PM

    When CD Projekt talked about their business strategic plans earlier this evening, it was clear that they have a total of five games in the works. And two more after that. It is planned and worked on both The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 series, but also on a completely new brand.
    Polaris
    Working title of the next AAA major The Witcher game from CDPR. The first of three titles, just like the original series. This project was announced in March of this year , and was then in “pre-production” so it will probably be a while before release.
    Orion
    The working name of the next Cyberpunk game. No details on… well, anything at this point, but Orion being planned has been mentioned before.
    Hadar
    Code name for a brand new brand, or IP, being made from scratch by CDPR themselves. Zero clues as to what kind of game it might be, but it will be a while – it says it’s in the “earliest parts of the creative process”, so the actual development work hasn’t started yet.
    Canis Major
    Codename for another The Witcher game! Also full size, but separate from the Polaris title/series above. Made by an outside studio, with “experienced developers” who have previous experience with The Witcher.
    Sirius
    Codename for a game set in The Witcher universe. It is made by American The Molasses Flood, which CDPR bought last fall , albeit with help from CDPR. The game will have both single and multiplayer, the former with a campaign that contains both story and quests. Described as different from the company’s previous work, though it’s unclear how.
    It sounds like CDPR friends have a very bright and interesting future ahead of them. But before any of these projects are ready for release, they have a few things to finish. First, a PS5 and Xbox Series adapted version of The Witcher 3 ( due for release this year ) and the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty (due for release in 2023).
  4. The agreement to make USB-C the mandatory standard for portable electronics has this afternoon been approved by an overwhelming majority. The law will reduce the amount of e-waste and make it easier for consumers, as devices such as smartphones, tablets, headphones, e-readers and digital cameras will be able to be charged with the same cable and charger.
    The regulations are also intended to standardize fast charging. However, the press release raises some questions as, for example, according to the wording, it seems that the rules only apply to devices that are charged up to 100W – a limit several manufacturers have already crossed.
    The law will come into effect at the end of 2024.
     

  5. Musk reverses the purchase of Twitter

    Misc News · SirMadsen · 10/08/2022 09:17 PM

    Elon Musk appears to be doing a U-turn on his purchase of Twitter, now offering to move forward with the original deal. Twitter confirms this on its own platform on Tuesday.
    The offer comes just two weeks before the trial scheduled in which Twitter has sued Musk for trying to back out of the deal.
    That Musk has changed his mind when it comes to the deal is evident from documents submitted to the US financial inspection agency SEC, AP reports. Twitter confirms on its own platform that they have received an offer, and that the company’s intentions are to sell at the original price. A deal worth $44 billion.
    During early Tuesday evening, trading in Twitter’s stock was halted as it rushed by 13 percent after early unconfirmed information began to abound that the deal was on the agenda again. Later on Tuesday evening, the stock reopened for trading with continued gains. At the close of the exchange, the share had risen 22.26 percent.
    Musk announced in April that he wanted to buy Twitter, with a bid of $54.20 per share. In July, however, he chose to withdraw the bid, claiming that Twitter inflated its user numbers and that many of the accounts are actually bots, spam and fake accounts.
    Twitter then sued Musk, citing that he allegedly violated the “purchase agreement that was signed”. Musk, for his part, chose to file a counter suit shortly thereafter. The trial between the parties is scheduled to start on October 17.
  6. Overwatch 2 was released a couple of days ago, and some really lucky players have actually been able to play it. The usual server problems that appear at most releases of online games have been present, and Blizzard says that the game has been subjected to DDoS attacks. Now Blizzard has come out and apologized for the release, which they say did not meet the expectations of the players or their own.
    Regarding actually getting into the game, they say they’ve updated a server to make the login itself more reliable, and they’re working on another update to reduce the risk of being disconnected once you get into the game. Unfortunately, they don’t mention anything about increasing server capacity, so expect continued queues during popular hours of the day.
    When it comes to missing in-game items, they say half of the cases are due to the players in question simply not completing the process to merge their Overwatch and Overwatch 2 accounts, which is partly caused by a missing prompt to do so on some consoles. For the other half, it’s because the transfer takes a bit of time, but they assure that no items or data are lost.
    In conclusion, they address the equally criticized as appreciated decision to require SMS verification for all accounts, and which in many cases requires having a phone plan rather than a prepaid card. Some believe this excludes people who can’t afford an ongoing subscription, some of whom have been playing the first Overwatch for years.
    In response, Blizzard has now decided to remove the phone requirement for anyone who has played Overwatch since June 9, 2021. Those players will be able to play Overwatch 2 (or at least queue up to try to get in) starting October 7, which is tomorrow , If everything goes as planned.
  7. Dynasty Warriors developers Omega Force, together with EA, will enter the monster hunting genre with Wild Hearts. In the announcement trailer from last month we got to see some quick glimpses of gameplay, but now they're back with a proper seven minute gameplay trailer.
    There we get to see the player moving around in the game world, Azuma, and emphasize how big a role building various skin pairs will play, not only for easier hunting monsters, but also for getting around. The player builds, among other things, a helicopter-like glider, a large harpoon to create a cable car up a mountain, and a simple platform to more easily get up to a plateau and the giant pig that is there.
    However, the pig proves to be too powerful, and before the second attempt the player receives reinforcements from another player. Together they spear the pig's knuckle, and there the demon ends. Wild Hearts will be released on February 17, 2023 for Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
  8. This week vague but big CD Projekt news was revealed , with five Witcher games and a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. Project Orion is the code name for the latter. It will have multiplayer and the development will mainly take place in the USA. Many, many people will be working on the game.
    Piotr Nielubowicz, CFO of CD Projekt, estimates that it could be up to 500 people.
    "As for the total headcount required for such a production, I believe the best reference is Cyberpunk 2077, our most recent release and a good reference point when thinking about development headcount and future projects of this scale. I think it’s safe to assume that between 350 and 500 developers should be required.
    He made the statement in connection with a meeting with investors (thanks, IGN ). The estimate is probably spread across the Warsaw studio and the US offices. After the Phantom Liberty expansion, which will be released in 2023, the burden of moving will largely go to Boston – where the development of Cyberpunk 2 will mainly take place. Very likely a lot of new blood will join there soon.
  9. Now the Steam people can link their Steam accounts to their Playstation account. Or well, right now you can just do that in Marvel’s Spider-Man which was patched today to rake the arena for the new feature. Sony has also launched a small website for the purpose, with images of Uncharted, Days Gone and God of War . In other words, more is coming, but we don’t know exactly when.
    And what do you gain from this? Well, in Spider-Man you get a couple of skill points, a suit and a “Concussive Blast Gadget”. And very true: Sony promises that more games will soon receive bonuses.
    "Link your Steam Account to PlayStation Network to receive unlocks in this and other PlayStation Studios games.
    There are also rumors that a Playstation Launcher is on its way to PC, but nothing is confirmed.
  10. The streaming service had grand, Marvel-inspired plans for Tolkien's Middle-earth, with new TV series about Aragorn and Gandalf.
    JRR Tolkien's relatives have been quite protective of the rights to his books and characters. After Peter Jackson's film trilogies, it took a long time before Amazon was allowed to record "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" which we have been able to stream this fall.
    But Amazon was far from the only streaming service trying to get its paws on the precioussss rights. A major article published by THR reveals that both HBO and Netflix were involved in the bidding war.
    HBO's plan was a remake of the "Lord of the Rings" movies, something Tolkien's family wasn't too keen on.
    And even though Netflix actually offered "hundreds of millions more" than Amazon, they got the nod. The reason was Netflix's gigantic pitch, where they wanted to take on Midgard with several new television projects. Among other things, "a TV series about Gandalf and a drama about Aragorn" are mentioned.
    "They wanted to do like Marvel and it scared the crap out of Tolkien's family," says a source.
    Amazon were the ones who ultimately came up with the winning idea, but still had to shell out well over $200 million for the rights.
    Since this summer, the Swedish game group Embracer has been managing the rights, and they have already talked about the availability of several new films, series and games. Who knows, maybe Netflix will get the opportunity to dive into Middle-earth after all?
  11. The joke about the lack of mobile phones is perhaps starting to get a little tired, but now the fact is that it is starting to be needed even for non-mobile games. Blizzard stated that Overwatch 2 requires players to have a mobile number to play and now it appears that this also applies to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 reboot . It must of course also be a "real" number, prepaid cards and the like will not be accepted.
    Requiring a mobile number for ranked play has been done before as both Dota 2 and Rainbow Six Siege have been running it since 2017. But requiring a number to access the game is relatively new. In any case, the idea is that it should help stop some of the toxic players out there.
  12. Last week it was time for Chivalry 2 to be released on Game Pass, and judging by the player numbers, many were hungry for the action-packed medieval battles. Via Twitter, the official Chivalry 2 account writes that over 500,000 new players have jumped into the game since its release on Game Pass, and that was written after just four days, so it's not impossible that the number has risen further.
    The game came out last April, and after a month Torn Banner Studio was able to proclaim that it had sold over a million copies, making it their fastest selling game ever. Since then, new material has been released continuously, and a few months ago the game received its biggest update, Tenosian Invasion, in conjunction with its release on Steam as well. It most notably added the ability to fight from horseback, but also the new Tenosian faction, new tracks, and more.
  13. Curious players have for some time been able to participate in the open beta test of EA App - the PC client that will act as a replacement for Origin and which for several years was the client we had to use to play their games. And now the EA App is more or less finished, which means that Origin will soon be gone.
    They describe EA App as the fastest and lightest PC client they've ever created, and the smooth design is said to make it easy to find the games and content you're looking for. It also offers features that should be more or less standard for such clients, such as automatic game downloads and background downloads of updates.
    It should also be possible to connect your EA account to other platforms, such as Steam, Xbox and Playstation, in order to collect friend lists and other things. If you already use Origin, you will shortly receive an invitation to switch to the EA App, and games, cloud save files, friends list and other things will be automatically transferred. If you play on a Mac, Origin will continue to apply.
    As you know, EA has started to return to Steam, but many of the games still require their client to be running.
  14. "The Mean One" is described as a horror parody of Dr. Seuss' classic Christmas story.
    Not long ago, we got our first look at Winnie the Pooh and Piglet as sadistic psychopaths in the upcoming horror film "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey."
     
    Now it's time for the next child favorite to walk the same path, and become a brutal killer. The Grinch, the green creature who hates Christmas, is the main character in a new slasher film released just in time for Christmas. Here he torments the small community of Newville, where a young woman is trying to process the murder of her parents 20 years earlier.
    The film goes under the title "The Mean One" and is described by Bloody Disgusting as a total reinterpretation and a wild parody of the classic story, but with more violence and slaughter.
     
    We have previously seen Jim Carrey make the grumpy role in a Christmas movie from the year 2000, and a few years ago Benedict Cumberbatch lent his voice to an animated "Grinchen". The new film stars David Howard Thornton, whose main IMDB credits seem to be the b-horror movies "Terrifier" 1 and 2.
  15. The players who paid for Star Citizen have put in an average of $296 each. It emerged after Chris Roberts' opening speech during Saturday's Citizencon event, Twinfinite writes.
    Roberts said that 1.7 million of the 4.1 million players listed on the funding page have paid for it. And with 504 million dollars collected, it is quickly possible to calculate that the buyers put in about $300 each.
    Other interesting numbers from Roberts are that it has averaged 50,000 players per day this year, with several peaks of 130,000. Last year, the game averaged 32,000 players per day, and in 2017 the number was 10,000. Play time per day has also increased, and is now 3 hours per day, compared to 48 minutes in 2017.
    The Citizencon event itself revolved a lot around the way forward to version 4.0. As usual, there's tons of information and videos to take in, and you've got a whole bunch listed here .
    If you feel like it, feel free to tell us in the comments how much you paid for Star Citizen.
  16. Several laptops' LCD screens have suffered permanent damage after the computers were updated to version 5.19.12 of the Linux kernel, reports Ars Technica .
    "After reviewing some logs, it results in potentially incorrect delays in panels' power sequence supply which can damage LCD panels
    - writes Intel engineer Ville Syrjälä.
    His recommendation is that no users with Intel GPUs should run 5.19.12 of the Linux kernel and instead go back to an earlier version.
    At the time of writing, version 5.19.13 of the Linux kernel is now also out.
    Please note that if you have already suffered permanent display damage as a result of 5.19.12, these will unfortunately remain even if you switch to an earlier or later version of Linux.
  17. The latest Saints Row game has been out for a while now, but has mostly been met with a shrug of the shoulders and a hesitant "nahaaaa". In addition to not quite living up to its predecessors, many players have also complained about various bugs that mar the experience, including trains plowing through buildings, T-positions, and NPCs getting stuck in things.
    Help is on the way, though, and developer Volition says they're working hard to improve the experience and have heard all feedback. The focus is now on delivering improvements rather than new features, and the November update is expected to include more than 200 bug fixes and stability improvements. Among other things, they point out co-op as an area that should be improved.
    That said, there will also be some content-wise additions, including less repetition in certain activities, more rewarding challenges, improved vehicle handling, redesigned rumble and haptic feedback, and more. Next year we can also look forward to more action-based content, which can be accessed either through the game's Expansion Pass or separate purchases.
  18. Overwatch 2 is not even ten days old and has already managed to acquire a rich list of problems - which players will be compensated with via various cosmetic tinkering and double xp weekends.
    Now Blizzard is investigating another bug, which some PC players are forced to deal with. Blizzard reports computers shutting down or restarting when players play Overwatch 2. They encourage affected players to submit their DXDIAG, which you can do via Blizzard's forums.
    Blizzard has released several games that saw off the ankles, such as Diablo Immortal and the Warcraft 3 remaster. At the moment, the Metacritic score for Overwatch 2 is also abysmal.
    One possible fix we have already discussed:
     
  19. Disaster struck when promising wild west/fantasy shooter Evil West was delayed in August. The new release date was November 22nd, and now it looks like it will actually be held, as publisher Focus Entertainment has announced via Twitter that the game has gone gold – in other words, it's basically done, although of course they will continue with the polishing right up to the release.
    The game is being developed by Flying Wild Hog, who are mainly known for the Shadow Warrior games, but also released Trek to Yomi earlier this year. Evil West is just as goofy and action-oriented as Shadow Warrior, but skips the humor in favor of a darker and more serious atmosphere. It takes place in an alternate version of the Wild West where a group of vampire hunters try to protect the world from bloodsuckers and other monsters.
    So November 22nd it hits, and that's on Playstation 4/5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

  20. Duke Nukem is leaking again

    Gaming · SirMadsen · 01/03/2023 12:10 AM

    The Duke Nukem 3d remake leaks online.
    Once again, there has leaked code from a Duke Nukem game. This time it is playable code from Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded which has been found online, and those responsible go under the nick x0r, reports PC Gamer. It's the same nod that last May leaked the Duke Nukem Forever code from E3 2001.
    Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded was announced in 2010 under the working name Duke Nukem: Next Gen and would become a remake of the 90s classic, coded by Danish Interceptor Entertainment (now Slipgate Ironworks). But after the pale reception for Duke Nukem Forever in the summer of 2011, Gearbox chose to pause the development of the 3d remake, and that was the end of it.
    The now leaked version should contain a couple of paths and a multiplayer mode (which borrows some from UT) against bots. The movie clip shows what it looks like.
    This is the third Duke leak since last spring. First, as DNF said in 2001, and a few weeks ago we wrote that the hunting game (japp) Duke Nukem: Endanged Species also appeared online.
     
  21. Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games released a new video showcasing content coming in the next update.
    The video focuses on a derelict that will be placed on the surface of Microtech with the upcoming Alpha 3.17.2 version of the game. Basically, it’s a crashed starship that has been taken over by an NPC faction.
    The second part of the video is perhaps even more exciting, featuring a look at the area created for the “Siege of Orison” event, which will see players square off against NPC pirates in the floating city of prison. This time around they won’t be able to rely on their ships, as the event is focused on FPS combat on the “ground” (if you can call Orison’s platforms “ground”).
     
  22. Markus “Notch” Persson has, via Notch Enterprises, made large dividends to himself almost every year in recent years. 2020 was an exception, but last year it was again time for a large dividend of SEK 500 million.
    Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson has become a billionaire on the gaming phenomenon. Since 2014, however, it is the giant Microsoft that owns the game studio Mojang (which thus developed Minecraft).
    Exactly what Markus Persson does today we do not know for sure. Pretty soon after the Mojang founders sold their Mojang, "Notch" started a new game studio together with colleague Jakob Porsér , which they call Rubber Brain.
    That game studio has not had any revenue since the start in 2014. But Notch himself has said on Twitter that a game is being developed. 
    Another interesting "Notch" company is instead Notch Enterprises, which will manage Markus Persson's assets. This is also where we usually find the Minecraft founder's various dividends to himself after the giant deal with Microsoft. 
    The recent annual report shows that Markus Persson last year indulged in a dividend of as much as SEK 500 million. 
    Since the sale of Minecraft, Markus Persson has picked out billions in dividends. The dividend in 2018, for example, was SEK 150 million and in 2019 , “Notch” treated itself to SEK 750 million . In 2020, on the other hand, no dividend appears to have been paid.
  23. Two new craters on the moon puzzle Nasa. Astronomers have mapped how they formed and when, and know that it happened in connection with a rocket crashing on the celestial body. But no one knows whose rocket is.
    In late 2021, a group of astronomers discovered that a rocket was heading for the moon. The crash itself took place on March 4 this year and now Nasa, with the help of the space probe "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter", has for the first time published images of the crash.
    An article published on the US space agency's website describes the extent of the crater - which in fact consists of two such.
    - It's cool, precisely because it's an unexpected result, says Mark Robinson, professor of geology, who works to produce images from the "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter", to the New York Times .
    The eastern crater is about 18 meters in diameter and overlaps the western, which in turn is 16 meters in diameter. No other rocket has caused double craters on the moon, and in total they extend 29 meters in width.
    NASA compares the size of the craters with those from the Apollo rockets that struck the moon in rounds during the 1970s. The largest pit from there measures 35 meters in width.
    Who fired the rocket?
    The question that eludes astronomers now is what kind of spacecraft reached the moon this spring. At present, it is highly unclear and no country has reported the rocket as its own.
    NASA's theory goes no further than speculating on what may have caused a double crater. The mass of a spacecraft is usually concentrated at the end, where the engine is located. No one currently knows more than that.
    - It will always be much more fun than if the forecasts for the crater, its depth and its diameter, had been completely certain, says Mark Robinson.
  24. The graphic design of Return to Monkey Island, the sequel Ron Gilbert has wanted to do since the 1991 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, has been discussed and criticized. It is okay. The word is free.
    What probably does not surprise anyone is that some "fans" take it a step further and go to personal attacks, something Ron Gilbert now testifies to. He has already expressed his disappointment that he is being pressured into doing a Monkey Island he does not want to do. So now it has gone a step further.
    In his blog, Grumpy Gamer, Gilbert says that he turns off the comment fields, as people are "evil", and he has felt compelled to delete comments that have personally attacked him.
    Gilbert seems to have turned off more than that, as the site is currently down.
    However, Gilbert writes (or wrote) that he insists that Return to Monkey Island is an "incredible game", and says that it is up to us not to play it, "without ruining it for others" .
     
  25. There has been some talk. It has been teased, and tassled. But not until now do we have a proper, official confirmation. With the release of Overwatch 2 in October, the original will be phased out and all focus is on the sequel. No more updates, patches or extensions then. The new version will simply replace the original.
    Players have wondered, especially after a Reddit-AMA created some confusion. But now Blizzard has clarified what will happen:
    “Overwatch 2 will replace the current Overwatch build”.
    All player data and all progress will be transferred to the sequel, which is free-to-play unlike the first one. What repercussions this grip will have in the player base remains to be seen.
    What are your thoughts about this?
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