Category: Gaming

Steam announces Game Streaming Services

Steam has announced their own game streaming service today. The service is currently in prototype for Android, Raspberry Pi, and Steam Link devices. It will allow you to stream your games from any device as long as you have a strong internet connection rather than Steam Link which was only for home networks.

With Steam being the biggest distributor for PC gaming, it has a strong advantage against Epic, Discord and potentially Google’s streaming service. More announcements on the service will be announced at GDC next week.

 

Google teases Gaming product for GDC

Google teases new video game controller for GDC.

Google has been spending money behind the scenes for gaming for a few years. They will be having a panel at GDC (Games Developer Conference) on March 19th at 9am. Many people have speculated that Google will release a gaming console but only a trailer has been officially released. While the trailer doesn’t show much, more patents have been revealed.

A controller patent was found a few days ago. While it showcased a basic controller scheme, the interesting part is that it’s designed to work with several devices; including PC, television screens, tablets, and mobile phones. Chromium, Google’s Chrome internal team, has recently been working on enabling Nintendo Switch controller functionality on their browser.

A unique feature is that the controller will receive notifications from different cloud-based games. It will also act as a storage key as it will store your portfolio, game info, and save data on the controller rather than a console or PC.

People are speculating that Google will not release a console but rather a subscription service to allow players to play video games on any compatible device. This is similar to their partnership with Ubisoft where they offered Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for free on their online service. It is also similar to their current business practices for Google Suite and YouTube Red.

More definitive announcements will be shown at GDC.

Halo The Master Chief Collection comes to Steam and PC

Halo games are coming to Steam and the Microsoft Store

Halo is coming back to PC. The Master Chief Collection will include Halo 1, 2,3, 4, ODST, and Halo Reach. The release date and price hasn’t been released yet. The game will also release sequentially from the original release of the series. This will be the latest Halo FPS game to come on PC after Halo 2 back in the early 2000s. The video game series has always been exclusively on the Xbox series besides the strategy game Halo Wars.

Anthem Players plan Blackout to Protest Loot system

Anthem’s loot system causes players to start week long protest

Anthem has some problems with its community. Early during the game release, players were unintentionally joining raids far beyond their levels and also shutting off PlayStation 4 devices. A new issue has arisen with EA Bioware making changes to the loot system within Anthem.

get in

What changed?

In Patch 1.03, level 30 players will no longer receive common or uncommon loot. In plain view, this seems to be a great option for stronger players; however, it is still extremely exhausting to earn legendary or master tier items. Some players on the Reddit have reported that they have played over 60 hours in Grandmaster without receiving any significant loot. Players are frustrated as Anthem, at its core, is a loot based shooter similar to Destiny and Warframe. They feel as though their time is wasted.

The Weeklong Protest

Reddit user r/Afinda created a post suggesting a week-long protest where no one would play Anthem. The post is currently at 12,000 upvotes.

You’re Pissed? You want to make a point once and for all? Well, what could hurt a game that has Real Money transactions for cosmetics (lol, yeah there are nearly none i know) or is a live service more than anything? Get your point across, simple as that. Stop Playing the game for a whole Week (Hopefully with the support of the entire Subreddit) to show BioWare that all it’d take for us to really enjoy the game, is to receive loot.

This protest is good for Ubisoft as The Division 2, another loot-based shooter, releases this week. The protest is already making waves. EA Bioware’s Head of Live Service for Anthem tweeted:

Player feedback is key, especially to modern loot based games. For example, Star Wars Battlefield 2 by EA is now much better received after the huge outrage from their loot box systems. The game has removed all aspects of  Ubisoft’s For Honor was also being boycotted by their player base during its launch. Their protest caused Ubisoft to quickly change their game rewards and increased in-game currency earnings by 25%.

Hopefully, EA Bioware makes these changes soon. Anthem has received mixed reviews and the spotlight on them is making the game look worse. While I personally don’t own the game, I don’t want the game to be awful for its community.