Stone Marshall's Blog, page 115
February 10, 2018
Far Cry 5 season pass will take you to Vietnam and Mars
As a reminder, Far Cry 5 is set in present day Montana, USA.
And that’s not all – the season pass also includes a downloadable copy of the series’ high point to date: Far Cry 3, AKA the one with Vaas.
Ubisoft will release Far Cry 3 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this summer, but Far Cry 5 owners get the game a month early as part of the season pass.
Today also brings a new story trailer for Far Cry 5. See it below:
Far Cry 5 is now less than two months away – it arrives on 27th March. This isn’t the first time Ubisoft has decided to go all-out with its DLC, either – Far Cry 3 fans will remember the deliciously loopy sci-fi expandalone Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds gets update to improve divisive desert map experience
Developer Bluehole has released a new update for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on PC, this one aiming to improve the divisive play experience of the game’s recently released desert map, as well as offering enhancements to its new anti-cheat system.
Battlegrounds’ desert map, also known as Miramar, now features more off-road routes for easier vehicle navigation, changes to item spawning in certain areas for better loot balance, and additional buildings and cover across the map – all designed, says Bluehole in its latest patch notes, “to improve the engagement experience”.
Many players in the Battlegrounds community have expressed dissatisfaction with Miramar and have, in the absence of an in-game map selection option (although one is apparently incoming), taken it upon themselves to find ways to remove it from play – ranging from manually deleting the relevant game files to deploying tools that automate the process.
Bluehole’s patch notes sound like a tacit acknowledgement to the community that Miramar, in its current state, perhaps isn’t where it should be from a gameplay perspective.
Elsewhere, alongside general fixes and an improved replay system, the latest update also iterates on Bluehole’s new work-in-progress anti-cheat measures.
Cheating has become the bane of many Battlegrounds players in recent months, with Bluehole struggling to stay on top of rule-breaking ne’er-do-wells. This new anti-cheat solution is the first phase in the developer’s attempts to minimise the disruption caused by cheaters, and to make for a fairer, more enjoyable gaming experience.
Bluehole notes that its new anti-cheat tech is still in the testing stage, “and its stability and compatibility need to be verified”. It’s being released now in order to “collect data about potential compatibility issues, analyze it and solve any issues that may emerge”.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds gets update to improve divisive desert map experience
February 9, 2018
Minecraft’s Better Together Update is a mess on console
When Microsoft announced Minecraft’s Better Together update, fans cheered. Minecraft feels built for cross-network play. It’s the world’s biggest family game, an experience designed with collaborative play in mind, and now truly open to everyone regardless of device (except PlayStation).
At least, that’s how it seemed. Sadly, the edition which has arrived on console is not quite what fans had envisioned.
Microsoft never did a great job of communicating the fact its Better Together Update is not actually an update for console owners. It’s a completely different game – one which is almost identical to Minecraft’s previous Pocket Edition for mobiles.
This change has already occurred on Xbox One, with the old Minecraft: Xbox One Edition replaced in the console’s store with a separate game client, just named “Minecraft”. Likewise, in the near future, Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition will also be left behind. Upgrading is free, but far from painless.
Minecraft’s crafting and inventory interface, designed for touchscreen or mouse control, has not been well received by console players.
Minecraft is Minecraft, right? Well, not really. Minecraft console developer 4J Studios has, for more than half a decade, built a version of Minecraft which feels great when played with a console controller. (Microsoft’s new version of Minecraft no longer lists 4J in the game’s opening splash screens.)
The new version of Minecraft has ditched the console version’s user interface completely. Your inventory and crafting are now organised using a different UI – shown above – from the mobile version of the game designed for a touchscreen, or for a mouse and keyboard.
Microsoft has a Minecraft feedback site set up to track user-requested fixes. Reinstating a console-style UI, at least as an option for Minecraft on console, is one of the highest requests out of more than 5800 ideas.
“This is the major reason that keeps me from moving away from Xbox One Edition,” one fan wrote. “I cannot stand the current BTU UI using a controller.”
“When playing on the Xbox, the Play Together UI is a large step backwards from what we have in the console edition, both in terms of layout and responsiveness,” another added.
“I’m honestly just gonna play regular Xbox One edition until they fix this, the new UI on Xbox is far, far worse and alienating to Xbox players,” a third fan agreed.
Other top requests include fixes for other casualties of Microsoft’s decision to base the new Minecraft on the game’s Pocket Edition: redstone and coordinates.
Minecraft’s various console editions showed your coordinates on a map. The new Minecraft does not.
Redstone (Minecraft’s equivalent of electrical wiring) has different systems on different platforms. The old console version was different to the Pocket Edition version – so imported worlds from Minecraft: Xbox One Edition now need redstone to be rewired to work.
Coordinates – being able to see your exact position on the game’s map – also worked differently, depending on platform. Knowing your position is a vital part of meeting up with other players, and correctly constructing large building projects.
On console, players have always been able to see their position on an X/Y/Z axis by holding any map item. On Pocket Edition, you could not do this. So, since this new version of Minecraft is based on the Pocket Edition, console players have been left without this option. (Microsoft has recently relented to allow coordinate viewing as a cheat – but enabling cheats will disable achievements and other stat tracking).
And then there’s the in-game store. Minecraft’s store is front and center when you load the game, the option to buy a world the first you need to scroll past before being able to dismiss the game’s latest patch notes.
The store already feels cluttered… and that’s if it even loads.
It is intrusive – and for the first time, console players are being offered packs from third-party sources. This new version of Minecraft has only been available for a couple of weeks, and the shop already feels bloated.
I don’t own these packs, but hitting the option to simply create a new world brings me a list full of them. The store feels like it has encroached way beyond the actual shop’s limits.
Finally, there are the bugs. I’ve found it incredibly difficult to transfer my world over from the previous Xbox One version of the game. I’ve tried this a couple of times, with mixed success. It’s a slow process, but that’s fine – give your world 15 minutes or so and it should be downloaded and converted to play instantly from now on.
“Should be” is the key here, however. I had to try three times on my home console before it actually worked and didn’t time out. I tried twice here in the office and both times failed, the last time hard crashing the whole console. Each time, I was waiting to play for more than half an hour in total. Not a great start. When my world did finally load, I couldn’t eat.
This happened a lot.
To put it bluntly, this new version of Minecraft is not the one I’m used to playing. I asked Microsoft about the issues raised here and from the thousands of fans on the Minecraft feedback website, but have not yet received a response.
Microsoft ran a beta for the Better Together Update before it rolled the game to everyone. I played it during this time and quickly went back to the previous Xbox One Edition – which I’m still playing on now, even though I know it will no longer be updated. I assumed Microsoft wouldn’t launch the Better Together Update until it had thought through Minecraft’s issues and made it friendlier for console owners. Sadly, perhaps due to the headline-grabbing nature of its truly remarkable cross-network play, it has launched with these issues intact.
Playing with fans across platforms undoubtedly still feels like the future for Minecraft – but right now on console, the option feels like it does not outweigh the Better Together version’s other issues.
You can now play as Master Chief in Nintendo Switch’s Minecraft
Characters from Banjo Kazooie (which was, obviously, originally released on N64), plus Fable and Gears of War franchises are also included in the skin pack, which launches today for both Switch and Wii U.
Xbox owners will likely have the pack already – it’s been available for years on Microsoft’s own consoles – but it also arrives for the new, unified version of Minecraft today across all of its platforms.
Somewhat oddly, the now-discontinued Minecraft: Xbox Edition also gets a new skin pack today for the Disney film Moana.
Minecraft: Xbox Edition is no longer available to buy and download – it has been replaced by the cross-platform Minecraft which, months on, still feels like the game’s mobile version plonked on a console with little more thought to it (because that’s exactly what it is).
I wrote about this new “Bedrock” version of Minecraft a while back, and called it a mess on console. Back in October, the Minecraft community was asking for a user interface tailored to consoles, like the old Xbox Edition had, and fixes for other things which the new version had changed (redstone, coordinates). Months on, it doesn’t seem like anything has changed.
You can now play as Master Chief in Nintendo Switch’s Minecraft
February 8, 2018
How To Download Minecraft For Free
Do you want to download Minecraft? Looking for a way to download Minecraft for free? Well we got some good news for you. Yes, you can download Minecraft for absolutely free in your PC and have fun.
Minecraft is a very popular sandbox game across the globe. The game is trending in most parts of the planet. But the sad part is that the game is not available free download. But there is always a key for every lock. We will guide you the whole process so that you can download Minecraft for free in your PC.
Source: MinecraftThe full version of the game is a paid one. Hence you have to pay a certain amount to get full access to the official full version of Minecraft. If you are not willing to pay out any amount, you can easily get hands on the demo version of the game. Stay tuned and follow the following steps to download Minecraft in your PC for free
How To Download Minecraft for Free?
Minecraft is an adventure mining game and allows a lot of activities to the user. Each user will have a unique gaming experience than the other. The game is pretty customizable which allows you to roam around the virtual world, build unique and different 3D blocks. This addictive game comes with a lot of game modes. There are a lot of users confessed that they have downloaded the game for free. Well a few of them might be right. Follow the guide we are going to discuss.
Visit the official minecraft site which is minecraft.net.
Change your url to https://minecraft.net/en-us/download and visit the page.
Find the download option, you will find java version for windows. Click to start downloading.
After the downloading is completed, install the file in your PC. After installation, you are ready to go.
Now you can play minecraft in your PC and have fun.
You Can’t Play Minecraft Without a Valid Account
Finally you have downloaded the game and ready to play. But wait what? You are not able to access the game? Sadly you can’t play the game without having a valid user account. You have to register via Mojang website providing a valid email for confirmation. Provide a unique username and password which will be used further while playing the game. Hence remember the details being provided. Without the valid username and password, you will not be able to access the game.
Source: MinecraftIn this article, we have discussed the most easiest and working method to download Minecraft for free and play it in PC. Do note that you will need a proper and valid account with username and password to play the game. We hope this article will help you out. Do let us know if this trick worked well for you and what were your experiences with the game? We look forward to help you in near future too. Till then keep mining!
Moana Has Come To Minecraft! Here’s Your First Look
Minecraft just got 100% more awesome with these incredible new character skin packs. Here are all the details.
A boatload of awesome new character skins – including some from Disney‘s Moana, and a huge selection of iconic video game mascots, including Halo’s Master Chief – are on their way to Minecraft.
While players of the Xbox Edition have been able to play as Master Chief for awhile now, this is the first time these skins have been available to Nintendo Switch and Wii U players, too.
image: http://www.mtv.co.uk/sites/default/fi...
Moana has come to Minecraft! / Mojang
“The Moana Character Pack features an intrepid crew of Pacific islanders, the shapeshifting demigod Maui, a giant gold-grabbing crab, coconut-clad pirates, watery apparitions, volcanic demons and other denizens of the deep. You can even play as a lethally stupid chicken,” says an update on the official Minecraft website.
Character skins from Disney’s Moana are on their way to Minecraft!
“The Moana Character Pack features an intrepid crew of Pacific islanders, the shapeshifting demigod Maui, a giant gold-grabbing crab, coconut-clad pirates, watery apparitions, volcanic demons and other denizens of the deep…
“You can even play as a lethally stupid chicken,” says an update on the official Minecraft website.
“Also arriving on new versions of Minecraft and Nintendo Wii U and Switch editions is the exceedingly popular Skin Pack 1! The pack contains various feudal favourites from the Fable series – queens, kings, wizards and warriors – and a slew of heroes from across the world of gaming, like Master Chief, Banjo, Cole Train, ‘Splosion Man and others.”
Just don’t expect to see Herobrine in the skin pack, of course…
Did you catch yesterday’s news about PixArk, a dinosaur-Minecraft crossover game you never knew you wanted? A mashup of Ark: Survival Evolved and Minecraft – is slated to hit Steam Early Access and Xbox Games Preview in March 2018.
Wondering what else is new this year? Check our our picks of the best games coming up in 2018!
– By Vikki Blake @_vixx
Read more at http://www.mtv.co.uk/minecraft/news/m...
February 7, 2018
Fans Are Comparing ‘Skyscraper’ To An Action Classic
Universal Pictures debuted the first trailer for Skyscraper during Super Bowl 52 Sunday, and social media users are accusing the Dwayne Johnson blockbuster of ripping off 1988 action classic Die Hard.
The action thriller sees the Fast & Furious and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star as former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Ford, who sports a prosthetic leg and now assesses security for skyscrapers.
While on assignment in China, Ford finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze — and he’s been framed for it. Wanted and on the run, Ford must find those responsible, clear his name, and somehow rescue his trapped family from gun-wielding bad guys.
“My family is trapped 244 floors in the air,” Ford says, as he’s seen beaten and bloody, using duct tape to fashion makeshift gloves before using rope to tether himself to the stories-high building.
The trailer sees Ford engaging in a one-man war against foreign bad guys with guns, pulling off daredevil feats and impossible escapes, as he attempts to rescue his wife and two young daughters.
Potential moviegoers immediately compared Skyscraper to the original Die Hard, where Bruce Willis’ police detective John McClane is forced to single-handedly infiltrate a towering office building to rescue his wife and mother of his two young children.
“So they’re remaking Die Hard with the Rock and calling it Skyscraper?” asks Will Kennedy on Twitter.
“Love the trailer for the Rock’s new movie Not Die Hard,” jokes Brett Erlich.
Social media users pointed out the obvious similarities, but did point out the minor difference of Will Ford being differently abled with a prosthetic foot:
“Yippy kai-yay IF YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK. IS. COOKING,” joked Ken Yeung, while Drew Olanoff dubs the movie “Die Hard: As a Rock.”
Others still compared Skyscraper to 1974 action disaster flick The Towering Inferno, which saw a disastrous fire break out in the world’s tallest building.
“I dunno how The Rock has all this time to do terrible good movies, charm his way through [HBO series] Ballers, embarrass [Fast & Furious co-star] Tyrese publicly and still love his family, but somehow he does,” writes Rae Sanni.
“If The Rock wants to keep making the same movie over and over again,” writes Jamal Thalji, “I’m here for that.”
Skyscraper is the latest from Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, under producers Beau Flynn (San Andreas, Baywatch), Hiram Garcia (San Andreas, Central Intelligence), and director Rawson Marshall Thurber (director of We’re the Millers and Central Intelligence).
Skyscraper opens July 13.
‘Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS’ Teases English Dub
Yu-Gi-Oh! fans have a lot to look forward to in 2018 because not only will the first movie be screened in U.S. theaters in a new resolution, but it will also premiere the English dub of the newest series in the franchise, VRAINS.
Fathom Events and 4K media are having a special event where the movie will have an extremely limited run in theaters March 11 and 12.
Here’s the description of the event:
“Fathom Events and 4K Media are excited to bring the 2004 anime hit, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie, to cinemas nationwide for two days only on March 11 & 12!
Heroic Yugi squares off against archrival Kaiba in an adventure even more dangerous when the imaginary monsters in their playing cards become ferociously real… and when an old evil enters the fray. Who will win this ultimate smackdown? Whether you’re a novice Duelist or a professional, you’ll want to watch and find out! Recently digitally remastered, this special two-day event also features an exclusive first look of the sixth Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS!”
Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS has only been available as a simulcast on Crunchyroll in its native Japanese with English subtitles, but Fathom Events has confirmed that the VRAINS preview they will be showing fans in attendance is indeed the first look at the English dub.
You can purchase your tickets for the event here, and now the event will definitely be a must see.
Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS is the fifth version of the series following Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V and started airing in 2017. It takes place ten years into the future, where Duel Monsters is played through virtual reality tech. It follows a young boy named Yusaku who is dueling to defeat a mysterious hacker group that has run rampant throughout the virtual world.
For those unfamiliar with Yu-Gi-Oh!, the series was originally created by Kazuki Takahashi. It ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump from September 1996 to March 2004. The series follows Yugi Mutou, a young boy who solves an ancient puzzle and is possessed by the spirit of the Egyptian pharoah. Being skilled at deadly games, the Pharoah goes on to create and solve problems for Yugi based on deadly games of chance.
Two anime series were created for the series, but the one most fans will recognize is Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters was the first arc in the story to focus on the “Duel Monsters” card game and was the first season licensed for an English language release by 4Kids Entertainment. The first season of the series, which fans often dub as “Season 0,” was more focuses on deadly games of chance with horrible consequences. It’s a darker season of the series featuring many changes from the series’ identity later on.
February 6, 2018
‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’ Has The Best Yamcha Easter Egg
Fans have spoken, and it seems Dragon Ball FighterZ is the game to beat this year. The much-anticipated title is out now, and its all-out action has got gamers feeling good. Of course, anime fans are also loving the title thanks to its clever anime throwbacks.
So, if you haven’t gotten Yamcha to unleash THAT easter egg yet, then you need to load up your game. You have a treasure to dig up.
If you have played Dragon Ball FighterZ, you know it has a massive roster of characters. Everyone from Goku to Majin Buu are up for grabs, but the game’s top easter egg can only be unlocked with Yamcha and Nappa.
If you set up a match between the two characters, they come into the arena ready to go. Yamcha calls out the Saiyan and tells Nappa is strategy of using Saibamen will not work on him this time. Nappa isn’t phased in the least as he says he will just kill Yamcha himself this time around.
However, the Saiyan eats his words if you manage to beat Nappa with Yamcha.
If you unlock a dramatic finish in this match, Yamcha will get his sweet revenge on Nappa. The baddie will send a Saibaman flying at Yamcha in another attempt to kill him, but the martial artist hurls the creature back at Nappa. The Saiyan freaks out before the Saibaman explodes, leaving Nappa KO’d in a crater just like the one Yamcha died in years ago.
As you will remember, Yamcha did fall for that Saibaman trick back in Dragon Ball Z. The fighter was taken out when he stepped up to Nappa, but he didn’t even get a chance to fight the Saiyan. One of the villain’s Saibaman took him out instead, and Yamcha was killed by the fake out. The sudden death ruined Yamcha’s reputation since he was taken out by such a weak adversary, and his death pose has become on the Internet’s most enduring memes. So, it is time to see how Nappa handles that kind of humiliation…
DragonBall Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. CST. Adult Swim airs the English dub during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and is now available to stream on FunimationNOW and Amazon Video.
Are you glad Yamcha got revenge on Nappa even if it was just in a game? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!
Get the Xbox One S Bundled with Minecraft for a Huge Discount
The Xbox One S might not get the same kind of recognition that its other 4K-wielding older sibling might, but the system is still a great addition to Microsoft’s line of consoles, especially for new gamers. With that in mind, there’s a new sale over on Amazon that makes this console a little more enticing, by knocking a huge chunk off of the price and bundling it with the game that turned into a cultural phenomenon: Minecraft.
The 500 gigabyte Xbox One X (with the game) is currently $239.95 on Amazon, down from its usual $299. Games are playable in 4K, and can be played on both the console and PC through Microsoft.
For those of you who may have somehow missed the outbreak of Minecraft when it basically because the most talked-about game on YouTube, here’s a briefer on the legendary sandbox game:
Explore randomly generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles. Play in creative mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in survival mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off the dangerous mobs. Create, explore and survive alone or with friends on mobile devices or Windows 10.
FEATURES:
– Skins, texture, and mash-up packs! We have biome settlers, city folk, town folk, and more!
– ADD-ONS! Learn more at minecraft.net/addons, where you can try some examples for free or learn to create your own.
– Realms! Play with up to 10 friends cross-platform in worlds that exist anytime, anywhere. Try a free 30-day trial in-app and learn more at http://minecraft.net/realms.
– Xbox Live support, including achievements
– The Nether and all its inhabitants. Fight Ghasts and make friends with Pigmen
– Cross platform play for up to five players between Pocket Edition and Windows 10
– Redstone! Pistons, comparators, repeaters, dispensers, droppers, and more!
– Spooky witches and their huts, complete with cauldrons filled with random potions and the ability to dye armor
– Ocelots! And bunnies!
– Slash commands to let you tweak how the game plays
– you can give items away, summon mobs, change the time of day, and more.
Minecraft is available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox One S, and more.
Get the Xbox One S Bundled with Minecraft for a Huge Discount
