Last Christmas gamers all over the world filled social media, popular gaming forums and online spaces with stories of their frustration connecting to both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. The DDOS attacks of 2014 were the responsibility of a group calling themselves “Lizard Squad” and if early reports are accurate Christmas is about to be ruined for a whole new generation.
According to Down Detector – a site that tracks user reporter problems with major networks – the PlayStation network has been experiencing issues with connectivity since at least 14:00 PST. Over 50% of the reports on Down Detector indicate a problem with account sign in. Searching PlayStation Network on Twitter also yielded dozens of reports.
Joe Waters passed away on the morning of December 23rd. He was a dear friend of mine and of countless others. As someone who was blessed with knowing him well, both within the game industry and as a friend, I would like to share some words about him.
Joe was a self-declared “asshole”. He was blunt and straightforward. You always knew what he was thinking and what he thought of you. Yet his bluntness and tendency to flip off cameras could not hide that he was an extremely caring, kind and passionate person. I joked to him that he was one of the nicest jerks that I ever had the pleasure of knowing. Even his harshest reprimands were intended to help, much like a parent scolding a child for playing with fire.
His intellect was only matched by his compassion for others. Joe took many under his wing, from people at the countless game companies he worked for to someone standing alone at the bar. He was quick to include you and make you feel truly welcomed. His friendship never felt forced, his conversations never consisted of idle small talk. He was interested in your and your stories and helping you become the best person you could be. Wherever he went, he always brought cheer and positive energy. And, despite his almost intimidating appearance, he was quick to drop a goofy face, a joking comment and a big smile.
Joe himself had clawed his way to where he was in the game industry. He decided he wanted to make video games and forced his way into the industry by making his own video game from scratch, some 17 years ago, an extremely rare accomplishment for those times. He made every lick of it himself, from the art to graphics rendering. He would often recalled with a chuckle how, in his first interview, they asked him what parts of the game he had worked on and he responded “I don’t understand the question” because he made them all himself.
In those years since, he has become a core member of the game industry. His intelligent, programming talent and understanding of graphics rendering gave him immense value, but he was always treated everyone else as peers, no matter their background or profession. In these recent years, he has lead Seattle monthly industry nights that helped connect countless developers, from AAA to indie, from programmers to artists. He had a wonderful talent for helping people connect and has brought countless people together. Like his own friendship, the connections he helped established were deeper and more open than they ever would have been without him.
I, among many others, have the honor of considering him both a mentor and a friend. He always had time to grant advice, give a hug or just share a drink. He valued his friends more than anything in the world and it was apparent in everything he did. The blow of his loss is tribute to how well he lived his life.
We will all take our time to mourn his passing, but he was adamant that, upon his death, he wanted his friends to celebrate his life. So let us celebrate this wonderful man, whether you knew him personally or simply had the pleasure of knowing his work. He has accomplished far more in his life than many could ever imagine and has left a lasting impression upon the world. He was happy, he was loved and he will be missed.
If a social media screen-cap posted on Neogaf is to be believed then a holiday weekend long Flash Sale may be forthcoming in the next few hours on the playstation store.
Posted by Gaf user Spy this Facebook post seemingly comes from PlayStation’s Mexican social media page and advertises a sale featuring some of the biggest new releases from this year including EA’s rebooted Need For Speed, Assasins Creed Syndicate and Just Cause 3.
If Sony happens to announce a surprise Flash Sale we will surely bring it to you!
Can you believe that it has been 15 years since Rare LTD and Nintendo released the N64 swansong Perfect Dark? Hell, it has been half a decade since Microsoft and Rare LTD released the HD remake on Xbox Live.
To help promote the re-release of the HD Perfect Dark remake as part of the Rare Replay collection on Xbox One Rare has posted a very in-depth video featuring several of the prominent developers from the PD team. This video not only covers the development process that Rare’s 90s team used – No regular meetings, no deadlines and folks just adding in brand new features without a light at the end of the tunnel.
[UPDATE 11:13 AM EST] Servers have returned to normal operation, though wait times for support services may be slower than usual, EA reports on Twitter.
EA has had a rough time of it recently. Gamers have lost faith in the DLC models, they have been voted worst company in america. EA tweeted at 10AM that their servers were experiencing issues and shortly after several news sources reported that they were unable to log in to various EA games, such as Star Wars Battlefront. About an hour later services were restored.
Star Craft II developer Blizzard announced today that this will be a double experience weekend in their newest Star Craft game.
We’re excited to offer a double experience boost for all game modes plus an in-game tournament every hour!
From December 24 to January 3, you’ll enjoy earning double the experience for any game mode. Whether you’ve wanted that sweet level 25 dance animation, or want to increase your commander levels in Co-op Missions, this will be a great time to play.
Tournaments will kick off every hour as well, starting at 12:00 p.m. PST and ending at midnight.
Have a safe and happy holiday season, we’ll see you online!
If you’re hitting F5 repeatedly on the PlayStation Blog hoping for Sony to announce a Christmas Miracle in the form of January 2016’s Instant Games Collection you can probably stop because it looks like we won’t find out about next month’s free games until December 30th.
On Twitter PlayStation’s EU community manager Fred Dutton was asked by a fan if we would see the IGC announcement and here is what he said:
Are you a little disappointed that we won’t know which games will be free until two days before the new year? It should also be noted that this past weeks PlayStation Store Update is the last update until the new year as well.
Diablo 3 is one game that consistently has gotten better over the two years its been out. The first version of the game 1.0 was nearly unplayable. Over powered enemies, and endless loot grind, a real money auction house that allowed player to just buy victory, and a lack of diversity for hero builds all plagued the early game. Most if not all of that has been fixed now, the game has been patched a 20.00$ expansion released, loot fixed, the RMAH is gone, and there is no more loot grinding (ok its still a grindy game). So now the only thing left is a few balance tweaks. Blizzard has not been neglegant on that! Through out the 4 seasons that they have had so far, they have pathched, fixed exploits, and generally just tried to not be evil towards their paying customers.
Now Details on season 5 are emerging. First the actual notes right from Bungie
Season Journey Updates
Seasonal Legendaries Removed – All legendaries from patch 2.4.0 on will be “immediately available” regardless of Season participation.
Haedrig’s Gift – New item-based reward will give players set pieces as they progress in the Season Journey, with all pieces given out by the completion of Chapter 4.
Barbarian: Might of the Earth
Crusader: Thorns of the Invoker
Demon Hunter: The Shadow’s Mantle
Monk: Monkey King’s Garb
Witch Doctor: Raiment of the Jade Harvester
Wizard: Firebird’s Finery
New/Updated Conquests
Cosmetic Rewards – Season 5 rewards include the Conquerer’s Boots transmogficiation, exclusive Portrait Frames, and the Wickerman Pet.
Season Rebirth – Non-Seasonal characters can be “rebirthed,” resetting them at level 1 and removing all items and accomplishments except: player name and time played.
Blizzard isn’t shaking the boat in terms of Season structure with Season 5, the shift from Seasonal Legendaries to a full set will change the difficulty curve. The jump from hitting level 70 and dressing down in Legendaries to earning that first full set is likely the most challenging content jump for new players. This could potentially reduce the number of plays who stick around for the full season.
The recently released Star Wars the force awakens is a huge merchandising juggernaught, but it seems that disney will not be pushing its content in to the newly established Star Wars Battlefront game’s cannon.
This may come as a disappointment to many fans. The first set of DLC is set on one of the planets in the movie Jakku, its even called Battle of Jakku DLC but is set 29 years before the film so its not going technically a part of Episode 7.
At least four expansion packs are coming to Battlefront, the first of which will debut in 2016. Together, they will deliver the following content:
Over 20 new items, including weapons, vehicles, and Star Cards for both Rebels and Imperials.
4 additional Heroes and Villains (these were not named).
16 new multiplayer maps featuring “new locations.”
4 new game modes.
The Battlefront DLC pass (which grants two-week early access to the expansion packs and other perks) costs $50 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Assuming EA and DICE follow the same setup as the recent Battlefield games, the DLC packs are likely to cost $15 each.
This may come as a disappointment to many fans. The first set of DLC is set on one of the planets in the movie Jakku, its even called Battle of Jakku DLC but is set 29 years before the film so its not going technically a part of Episode 7.