Grand Theft Auto V is going next-gen on November 18th. Rockstar Games had previously announced that its crime-fuelled epic would be coming to both the PS4 and Xbox One in the fall, but today the developer finally revealed the exact date that the new version will arrive. Unfortunately, the much-anticipated PC version, which was announced at the same time, has been delayed and won't launch until January 27th 2015. GTA V first launched last September where it proved to be an incredible success on the PS3 and Xbox 360, earning $1 billion just three days after it was released. For those who didn't get in on the action the first time around, the new version not only includes additional content like more cars and guns to play with, but also technical improvements such as more realistic LA-style traffic and improved weather effects.
As a result of GameSpy's closure, PlayStation 3 versions of original Borderlands and Civilization Revolution will no longer be playable online come May 31.
2K Games announced today in a post on its Support site that as a result of the GameSpy Technology closure, it will transition some legacy games to Valve's Steamworks and end support altogether for others.
First, the games that are going offline for good come May 31:
Borderlands (PS3)*
Civilization Revolution (PS3)*
Close Combat First to Fight (PC / Mac)
Jetfighter (PC)
Jetfighter V: Homeland Protector (PC)
Leadfoot (PC)
Rune (PC)
Stronghold 2 (PC)
Stronghold Legends (PC)
Top Spin (PS2 / PC)
Top Spin 2 (PC / DS)
Vietcong (PC)
Vietcong Demo (PC)
Vietcong Fist Alpha (PC)
Vietcong 2 (PC)
Vietcong 2 Demo (PC)
MLB Fantasy All-Stars (DS)
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (DS)
Major League Baseball 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars (DS)
NHL 2K10 (Wii)
NBA 2K10 (Wii)
*2K says it is currently looking into the "technical feasibility" of transitioning Borderlands (PS3) and Civilization Revolution (PS3) to another network. But that's all we know right now. Of course, you'll still be able to play all of these games offline.
Also on May 31, the original Borderlands (PC) and various Civilization games will temporarily go offline while 2K completes a server transition from GameSpy Technology to Steamworks. During this time, players will experience interruption of online play, matchmaking, and VOIP. Offline play is unaffected.
Below is a list of 2K games that will be transitioned to Steamworks starting May 31.
Borderlands (PC)
Civilization III
Civilization III: Conquests
Civilization III: Play the World
Civilization IV
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Civilization IV: Colonization
Civilization IV: Warlords
"We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause," 2K said in a statement.
2K is not the only publisher facing issues from the impending closure of GameSpy. Crytek announced last week that the PC versions of Crysis and Crysis 2 are going offline on May 31. Electronic Arts is also affected, and has pledged to find other means to keep old Battlefield games alive after May 31.
Microsoft is rumoured to be bringing its Xbox Live platform to Android and iOS (iPad, iPhone).
Currently, you can obtain Xbox Live achievements and access your Xbox Live account through select Windows Phone games, just as you would on an Xbox One. But Microsoft wants to take this capability cross-platform.
That's the suggestion made by The Verge, which cites sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.
Interestingly, Microsoft itself has already confirmed it is working on such a project. One recent job posting on the company's careers website spoke of creating "a modern framework that is open-source, lightweight, extensible and scalable across various platforms including Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS, and Android."
The intention here is to said to be to "win back" game developers from iOS and Android. Mobile is currently the hottest area of gaming, but the irony is that Windows Phone with its pure Xbox branding does not figure in most mobile game developers' plans. It's a bit of a barren wasteland compared to its rivals.
Xbox Live currently requires a tight certification process to develop for, but it's claimed that Microsoft will ease these requirements in future. It will also improve its tools for integrating Xbox Live functionality into games.
The report claims that Microsoft will position Xbox Live as an alternative to Apple's Game Center and Google's Play Games as a means for attaining achievements and monitoring friends' gaming activity. It could also conceivably provide something these two platforms cannot - cross-platform multiplayer.
It's been nearly three weeks since developer Dong Nguyen pulled Flappy Bird from the App Store, but its presence is still very much felt in the Top Charts. It seems every other day another clone of Nguyen's hit game pops up in the list of the most popular apps.
That's not too surprising though, considering that according to The Guardian, a big chunk of new iOS games are Flappy Bird clones. How big of a chunk? Well, looking at a group of 300 new games over 24 hours, the outlet says that one-third were FB knockoffs…
In the last 24 hours, just under 300 new iOS games went live on Apple's App Store. Nearly one third of them were clones of – or heavily inspired by – recent app phenomenon Flappy Bird. [...]
Today, when I launched my RSS reader, there were 293 new iOS games released since 5am yesterday morning. After scooting through them, I've been able to identify 95 that are obvious Flappy Bird-inspired games.
The vast majority of these will sink without trace, of course. But at the time of writing, four of the top five free iPhone games in the US App Store fall into the Flappy genre – Flappy Wings, Hoppy Frog, Flying Cyrus – Wrecking Ball and Splashy Fish."
Dredge goes on to list all 95 Bird clones, but we won't do that here. Just know that most of their names are quite ridiculous, ranging from ‘Flappy Beard Hipster Quest' to ‘A Floppy Floppy Flying Disk in The Land of 8 Bit Retro Game,' and everything in between.
What's even worse is that if 95 of these games made it into the App Store, you have to wonder how many are actually being submitted. Remember that Apple began rejecting ‘Flappy' apps shortly after the original was pulled to put a stop to the onslaught of copycats.
A handful of these clones are seeing success—5 of them currently occupy spots in the US App Store's Top 10 list—so I don't imagine we'll see the onslaught slow down anytime soon. As for Nguyen, he says he has no plans to bring the original back from the dead.
All things considered, it's not hard to see why developers have been so anxious to emulate Nguyen's formula. At the height of its popularity, Flappy Bird was earning more than $50,000 per day in ad revenue. Not bad for a game he was able to make in his spare time.
There are plenty of reasons to pick an Android tablet instead of an iPad, but a great selection of third-party games has never been one of them. Although many of the most popular iOS apps do eventually make their way to Android, the Google Play store has never been especially competitive with the App Store. The introduction of 4K gaming could change that, however.
The Verge met up with Qualcomm at Mobile World Congress this week to test out the 3,840 x 2,160 pixel resolution Android tablet, and came away with very positive impressions. Qualcomm showed off the popular racing title Asphalt 8 and DC Comics brawler Injustice: Gods Among Us, and though neither of these games were designed with increased resolution in mind, the 4K upscaling was reportedly very impressive.
According to The Verge, Qualcomm is already prepared to begin shipping the Snapdragon 805 processor that will power the 4K displays. It’s now up to Android device manufacturers to roll out the tablets, which should begin this summer.
