The World Cup may have come to a close over the weekend after what has been, by all accounts, an epic tournament, but for football / soccer fans, it was only a precursor to the season upcoming. We're approaching that time of the year when, for Europe and many other parts of the world, the games are about to commence, and on cue, the launch of the new FIFA title. Lionel Messi, Argentina's talisman, may have just missed out on the sport's most coveted prize, but he can take some solace in the fact that as well as scooping the official award for best player, he's also the face of FIFA 15.
During the course of the past few years, the gaming industry's sales charts have been dominated by Activision's Call of Duty franchise, but last year, things changed. Not only did Grand Theft Auto 5 blow CoD: Ghosts out of the water, but its monumental success saw it break several Guinness World Records, and even though Rockstar Games' most celebrated release is now effectively done and dusted, there's still the small matter of the next-gen release. In retailing the original GTA 5 just two months before the arrival of the PS4 and Xbox One, Rockstar knew that it could further monetize with an up-scaled version for the newer consoles as well as the PC, and while the official announcements of these upcoming editions have just been made, we may now also have a firm date.
After the monumental success of Grand Theft Auto 5, you could forgive Rockstar Games for taking its foot off the gas somewhat and merely enjoying the moment, but then again, we know just by playing the immensely enjoyable title that Rockstar is a company that simply doesn't, by nature, rest on its laurels. Having remained fairly coy with regards to an upgraded, tweaked, and generally better version of GTA 5 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the PC, the company has now put the doubts to rest by making it official, and as you might expect, the gaming world has dived straight in to try and gather as many details as possible.
If you've been on an airplane in the last ten years, then the chances are you're already well aware of some of the rather overzealous restrictions that are being enforced upon air travellers. Mothers forced to prove that baby milk is indeed just that by drinking it is a story we've all heard before, but now it seems that the US Transportation Security Administration isn't content with just making sure liquids are as they appear, anymore.
With every new year in the gaming industry, one or two titles always seem to carry the flag, serving as the most exciting and hotly-anticipated amid hundreds of releases. For this year, Titanfall was among the coveted few, and whilst an excessive build-up often leads to a disappointing eventual title, it's abundantly clear that Titanfall has come through and realized its potential. For a limited time, Titanfall is available to play for free, and if you've been curious to see what all the fuss is about, now would be a great opportunity for you to indulge in this cracking first-person shooter.
Grand Theft Auto 5 wasn't just the biggest release in the gaming calendar last year, but an entertainment launch of unprecedented proportions, smashing numerous records including many of those consistently claimed by Activision's Call of Duty franchise. But despite incredible successes in 2013, the story of GTA 5 has not yet reached its conclusion, with an upscaled launch headed to the Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4 in due course. To give us an idea of just how much better it will look on the next-gen machines compared to those preceding, a new side-by-side clip has been released of the title on PS3 vs. PS4, and as you might imagine, the difference is stark.
If you're a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto series of games then you're going to want to prick your ears up, because even thought the fifth installment in the franchise has been around for nine months, the game is still set for a big release on the next generation platforms alongside the PC. And it will be up for pre-order starting today.
With E3 commencing today, it's all about the games, and with Microsoft having spilled the details on a bunch of eagerly-anticipated titles including Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Halo 5, it's almost Sony's turn to take center stage and unleash some announcements of its own. If you're a PlayStation fan and have been eagerly awaiting news, you'll be pleased to learn that Battlefield Hardline has just arrived as a beta to the PlayStation Store, and with a simultaneous beta also rolling out for PC, fans of the immensely-popular franchise will be able to aid the process of creating yet another great installment.
Digital delivery is very much the future of how we are going to get our games, and with PSN, Xbox LIVE, Steam and others going great guns, the days of having to wait for a little plastic disc to arrive in the post are thankfully coming to a close. The lack of having to send anything trough the postal system allows companies to offer big discounts at times too, something that Steam has very much taken advantage of over the years.
The introduction of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One late last year may have offered significant improvements in terms of graphics and general performance, but some are already looking ahead to what the future holds for the video gaming industry. A new hack for Crysis 3, which allows the resolution to be bumped to 8K, offers a vicarious look at the level of gaming we may be enjoying in years to come, and if you happen to be a big gamer, prepare to have your mind blown.
