weapons
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Watch a sniper nail his target from 500 yards without even 'looking' at it
Smart-weapon company TrackingPoint seems pretty intent to make real-world guns act like the virtual firearms we use for offing video game villains. The latest demo of its ShotView targeting system showcases live video being transmitted from a rifle's scope to a set of off-the-shelf Smith Optics I/O Recon goggles via WiFi, enabling the marksman to hit an explosives-filled pop bottle from 500 yards down-range without even looking at it. While the previous concept clip used Google Glass, a TrackingPoint spokesperson tells us that the Smith goggles don't lag like Google's wearable does in this scenario. Speed might not make a huge difference at the firing range, but, for soldiers in the field, we'd imagine that keeping pace with a mobile target is somewhat important -- especially if they aren't physically looking at it. For a gander at an advanced warfighter's possible arsenal, make sure to peep the video below.
US Navy wants to blast enemy drones with Humvee-mounted laser cannons
Mounting laser weapons on a Humvee to shoot down drones might seem like a military pipe dream, but the US Navy has now awarded contracts for just that. It figures that unfriendly armies will soon be equipped with inexpensive camera- or bomb-equipped UAVs, and wants a highly portable way to counter them. Though its 50kW ADAM HEL laser is powerful enough to down most drones by firing 50 laser bursts in a millisecond, the mounting platform for that weapon is a battleship. The Navy's confident that more efficient 30kW lasers could still do the job, however, and given recent progress, shrunk down enough to fit on a Hummer. It will trial a 10kW system against targets later this year as a step toward the 30kW system, which it hopes will be test-ready by 2016. Meanwhile, watch the ADAM laser destroy hapless drones, missiles and boats in the videos below.
Heroes & Generals vidlog details new guns, tanks
Heroes & Generals is getting fairly frequent updates these days, and even though the free-to-play MMO shooter is technically still in beta, developer Reto-Moto has a polished and playable game on its hands. The latest Videolog, number 12 if you're keeping score, summarizes content additions from the last two "Patton" updates, including an extensive list of new tanks and infantry weapons. You can watch the full seven-minute clip after the cut!
The Division shoots for realistic weapons from Tom Clancy studio
Rainbow Six studio Red Storm is helping Ubisoft's Swedish house Massive Entertainment and UK studio Ubisoft Reflections with development of The Division, the open-world Tom Clancy game due out in 2014. Mainly, Red Storm's help comes in the form of realistic weaponry. "I, personally, have been doing it for about six years now," Red Storm Lead Weapons Designer JD Cragg says in an Ubisoft blog post. "One of the guys on my team has been doing it for almost nine. This is pretty much all I do – authentic military weapons, vehicles and that sort of thing." Red Storm is focusing on the weapons artwork, and it has an in-house authenticity department and connections with the local military. The studio has "tens of thousands of photos" of broken-down firearms. "We've had manufacturers come in and literally disassemble the entire weapon all the way down to the nuts and bolts, and our guys are taking hi-res photos of those things," Red Storm Producer Tony Sturtzel says. "We probably have unparalleled access to these types of things because of our authenticity department and their focus on relationships. We're not ever gonna let the cat out of the bag on some of the relationships we have." The Division is due out in 2014 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, though that release window is reported to be "laughable," according to a Massive Entertainment team member. [Image: Ubisoft]
US Navy fine tunes seafaring laser weapon and unmanned robocopters (video)
That electromagnetic railgun is cool and all, but it's not the Navy's only wargadget in progress. Apparently, the Armed Forces branch has also been working tirelessly to improve its ship-mounted lasers and autonomous helicopters since we'd last heard about them. The new laser prototype, in particular, is a beefed-up version of what we saw in 2013. It's capable of firing high-energy beams for $1 per shot, providing ships a low-cost alternative to weapons that require expensive ammunition. Within the past months, Navy engineers have consolidated the weapon's controls, so a single person can target, track and fire at threats like unmanned aircraft and attack boats using only a video game-like controller. The Navy wants to deploy this cost-effective death ray this summer aboard the same ship its predecessor occupied (the USS Ponce in the Gulf Sea), but it's still going through some final-stage adjustments.
Killzone Shadow Fall drops new weapons and modes in April DLC
Killzone: Shadow Fall's first multiplayer expansion will launch in April with new weapons, abilities and game modes for the PS4 launch game. Titled "The Insurgent Pack," the expansion is headlined by the addition of the insurgent character class, which features hack and steal abilities. The assault, scout and support classes will also receive new abilities: Assault characters will gain access to a guard drone, scout players get an e-pulse emitter and support characters can send out a tactical echo emitter to stall infiltrating enemies. Insurgent Pack owners will also receive a single-player "elite mode," limiting them to three lives on hard difficulty in the Shadow Fall campaign, in addition to collectible crates that will spawn once per online match for a limited time. The DLC also includes the M82 assault rifle from Killzone 2 and Killzone 3, as well as the L512 SMG Pistol and Sta14 sniper rifle. Lastly, Sony announced that two of the free multiplayer maps for the game are now available to play on PSN. They arrive just as the game's multiplayer mode becomes free this week. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment America]
Exploring weaponcrafting in The Elder Scrolls Online
If you've merely puttered around The Elder Scrolls Online on a beta weekend, you might not have realized the game boasts a robust crafting system to allow players to make their very own pointy sticks and other implements of blood and battle. A post on the official ESO site today shows off some of these crafted items and explains how different racial styles are achieved. Says the post, Smiths in Tamriel add their own personal touches to every weapon, shield, and piece of armor they forge, from choosing a racial style to imparting special bonuses they've learned called traits. Master blacksmiths, clothiers, and woodworkers can take ordinary arms and armor and, with the right materials, transform them into equipment worthy of a true hero. Click to enlarge the picture embedded after the cut to see 27 of the weapons in their full glory.
WoW Archivist: What has never changed?
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? With WoW's tenth anniversary fast approaching, one thing is clear: virtually everything in this game has been changed, updated, or replaced at one time or another. The UI, the stats, character creation, raid systems, class abilities, questing -- all have undergone necessary overhauls to keep the game relevant and modern. A question for the Queue last month asked a very interesting question: What in WoW has never, ever changed? You might think so, but no Many aspects of the game seem like they have never changed, but they have. The act of gathering: Sure, Blizzard added bonuses to the professions in Wrath such as the crit bonus for skinning or the HoT from herbalism. And as of Cataclysm, you can now earn XP by gathering. Gathering no longer requires tools. Yet the fundamental mechanics have always been the same: you right click stuff, get the stuff, and skill up so you can click on better stuff. Right? Back in classic, gathering actually had a chance to fail. Orange difficulty nodes would not cough up their resources to anyone who wandered past with the minimum required skill. Failing three or four times on a node before a successful gathering attempt was not unheard of. This led to some interesting "PvP" gathering scenarios, even on PvE realms. If two players converged on the node, the first to click it didn't necessarily get the goods. This situation sometimes led to a hilarious "duel" in which both players failed at gathering over and over again. It became a matter of luck, persistence, and rapid clicking. Mining was especially bad, because it used to take multiple strikes to clear out a node. Two players could spend minutes trying to outmine each other on a single rock. Racial bonuses, enchantments, and items that boosted gathering skills all mattered much more, not just to save time from the failed attempts, but to beat other players to the punch.
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords heading to Europe, Australasia this spring
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords will launch this spring on PSN, Namco Bandai (soon to be Bandai Namco) announced today. The launch window for the free-to-play fighting game is for Europe and Australasian regions; no word on a North American release date as of yet. It was originally expected in winter 2013. Meanwhile, Japanese players should be able to check out the game today. SoulCalibur: Lost Swords is exclusive to PS3, and features weapon forging and discovery as well as elemental combat. According to the trailer that accompanied the announcement, players will "gather allies from around the world" by using friends' characters for support in their battles. Other than that, it is entirely a single-player experience.
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online combat 101
As I had mentioned in previous articles, it's become apparent that readers don't have a clear picture of The Elder Scrolls Online. I can certainly understand where this comes from; the advertisers have held back a lot of specific information about ESO. Although we have had one trailer that included in-game footage, it didn't really give us a good taste of what it feels like to play the game. It certainly didn't show what the game has to offer beyond PvP. Although PvP will likely be a lot of fun in ESO, I know that not everyone will pick up or wants to pick up the game strictly for that reason. This week, I would like to dive into a bit of the combat basics. Creative Director Paul Sage and his crew have given multiple demos showing the combat of ESO, and even a few of our own reporters have hopped onto a demo PC at a convention or two to experience the game firsthand. I certainly suggest you read those write-ups if you're looking for the overall experience because today I'm talking about combat specifically. How does it work, and more importantly, what will it feel like?
The 12 Days of iMas, Day 3: An iPhone case that could get you arrested
Today is the third day of a 12-day feature where we'll show you the strangest Apple-flavored gifts we can find. Check out the previous days here: Day 1, Day 2 Day 3: The iPhone "Knucklecase" Want to be absolutely, undoubtedly, 100 percent sure your iPhone doesn't make it through airport security? Slap one of these bad boys on it. This is the iPhone "Knucklecase," and unlike the US$5 plastic versions, this one is machined out of a solid piece of aluminum, meaning that it could probably dent someone's skull if wielded with a reasonable amount of force. The company that makes this brutal accessory adds some fun language to their terms of sale, stating that the case is strictly for the protection and transportation of the iPhone and is in no way sold as anything else. Yeah, OK. Of course, the fine print won't matter much if you find yourself getting searched by law enforcement in a country or US state where knuckle weapons are prohibited. At the least, they'll likely be confiscated, but depending on the situation you may end up taking a nice trip downtown, and all for the low price of $120.
Captain's Log: Fleets for new players in Star Trek Online
Once again it's time to delve into tips and tricks for new players in this week's Captain's Log. I'm quite happy to say that many of these previous columns are still very popular and generate a lot of feedback. This week I will endeavor to help new Star Trek Online (and MMO) players with questions I've received via email about the pros and cons of joining a fleet. All MMOs have social groups, most called guilds. In Star Trek Online these groups are appropriately referred to as fleets due to the naval structure of the factional militaries. These social groups are extremely diverse, as diverse as the people who play the game. The trick is finding the right fit.
Should weapons be more universal?
I admit it, I love talking about the new gear paradigm in Warlords of Draenor because it's such a big change, with so many permutations. But as big as it is, some folks think it's not going far enough. This post over on the 7th Tower discusses weapons and how they could be made more universal, and it got me thinking - should we move away from the era of agi, strength and/or int weapons? There are multiple ways to do this. The easiest would be simply to put Attack or Spell Power on weapons, which would still leave them segregated by role to some extent (melee would want the AP weapons, ranged casters would want the SP weapons, and hunters would still be the only ones using bows, crossbows and guns). A more complicated but perhaps more compelling system would be to have them switch between AP and Spell Power, so that a holy paladin could use a weapon for healing, then switch over and use said weapon for tanking. Still more complex but perhaps even more interesting would be to have weapons retain int, agi or strength and switch depending on which class was using them as well as each role. If you visit the original post at 7th Tower, he breaks down how it might look using Siege of Orgrimmar as a template. The current breakdown of agility and strength weapons would, in either scheme, now be available to a broader range of players. It would certainly fit within the paradigm of broader usefulness for gear established by the changes to armor. The question becomes what are the up and downsides to this?
DUST 514 dev blog showcases new assault weapons
Two new weapons are headed to the DUST 514 battlefield in the form of the Caldari rail rifle and the Minmitar combat rifle. These items join the Gallente assault rifle and Amarr scrambler rifle as the latest in DUST 514's race-specific weaponry; each gun possesses unique traits based on the preferences of the race that designed it. The Minmitar combat rifle comes in three-shot burst and fully automatic variants. The Caldari rail rifle also comes in two variants; the assault version uses no sight and loses range for increased rate of fire, while the normal version fires slowly but with higher accuracy. You can check out full crunchy breakdowns on both in the typical CCP style over on the official update post.
Swordsmith forges iconic blades from Assassin's Creed IV
Master swordsmith Tony Swatton has a knack for building fictional weapons, and for his latest YouTube video Swatton has set his sights on Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed IV. In the course of the nearly nine-minute-long video, Swatton walks viewers through the process of creating a pirate's cutlass as well as the Assassin's Creed series' trademark assassin's blade. The former is a relatively simple forging process, but the mechanisms involved in the largely-fictional hidden wrist blade weapon require more meticulous effort. Impressively, the end result looks even more sinister in our reality than it does when plunging into the necks of your virtual foes. While watching this video, please keep in mind that Swatton is an expert. Unless you, too, are a master swordsmith, please don't try this at home.
Destiny behind-the-scenes video shows weapon options
Bungie unveiled a new behind-the-scenes video for Destiny today, delving into the environments, weapons and abilities players will explore in the game. Titled "Out Here in the Wild," the video noted that players can carry three weapons at a time, from assault rifles to a heavy weapon slot reserved for guns that cause "unrealistically large amounts of damage for a very small window of time." Destiny is due out in 2014 for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
APB Reloaded offers more gun-borne pathogens to players
A week ago, APB Reloaded introduced a new gun that had a unique trick to it: You could only get the gun if someone killed you with it. The Colby .45 AP was a hit, and killing several players offered a special title, so the team decided to go to the next level with new guns that travel like diseases. Players who rack up kills with the limited-time Colby .45 AP can unlock two new weapons based on the Argotech Close Engagement System (ACES) platform. The ACES SMG boasts a permanent modification that increases its rate of fire while degrading accuracy, making it ideal for taking down opponents in close quarters. The ACES rifle, on the other had, has an extra-long barrel for increased accuracy and damage, turning the same core weapon into a long-range killer. If you've already got the Colby, start racking up kills to unlock the SMG and then the rifle; if you don't, the handgun can be purchased from Armas or Joker Distribution. Start infecting people with bullets!
Chaos Theory: The joys of build-swapping in The Secret World
Unless you've only ever played sandboxes, chances are you're used to wielding just one or two types of weapons in your games because access to others is restricted. As such, forethought often goes into what you play. Whether you decide on your death delivery system based on how cool it looks, playstyle (melee or ranged), or roleplay reasons, you're stuck with it unless you roll another alt. So it's understandable if you settle into a familiar routine of keeping to just two select weapons when playing The Secret World. However, if that's the case, then you are missing out on one of the key aspects that make TSW unique. Previously, we covered how to improve your DPS build, but we focused mainly on gear and stats, only touching on swapping out abilities. This time, we're going to zero in on the ability to swap between weapons and abilities on the fly and how it can really enhance your experience.
EVE Evolved: First impressions of DUST 514
Every time I'm in a conversation about DUST 514, I find myself excusing its gameplay problems on the basis that it's treading new ground and has years of development ahead of it. But even though CCP has revealed an aggressive new schedule of big monthly updates, console gamers aren't willing to give it a free pass today based on future potential. I finally convinced my console gamer friends to pick the game up this week and gave it a fair go myself. I absolutely love the idea of DUST 514 and want to see the game succeed, but console gamers just don't seem impressed. When the game officially launched on May 14th, it was largely regarded as just another mediocre and buggy first-person shooter with a perishable gear system. The MMO components such as territorial control aren't very visible or accessible to new players, the gameplay balance and graphics need serious work, and the link with EVE Online feels practically non-existent. It pains me to say it, but DUST is neither a great FPS nor a great MMO. In this week's EVE Evolved, I delve into DUST 514 and give my first impressions of it as an EVE player.
Grand Theft Auto 5 to feature weapon, vehicle customization
Grand Theft Auto 5's weapon and vehicle customization systems will allow players to perform drive-by shootings as unique as they are, thanks to mods that alter how items and rides perform, as well as how they look. Customizing weapons will play a part in successfully completing certain missions, lead mission designer Imran Sarwar told Game Informer. Extended clips/magazines, scopes, flashlights, suppressors and cosmetic alterations will let players tailor their armory to both their personal tastes, as well as the requirements of whatever gangster stuff they're about to perpetrate. Likewise, car customization returns, though with reportedly more depth than the system seen in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. "Some missions ask you to customize vehicles in certain ways, and we have taken vehicle customization in general a lot further," Sarwar said. Cars and bikes can be outfitted with stuff as traditional as new body kits and paint jobs, to more miniscule alterations like changing tire smoke color, adjusting engine tuning and swapping out the vehicle's horn.
