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‘FIFA 19’ has a lot more to offer than just Champions League
In a matter of weeks, Europe's biggest annual soccer competition, the Champions League, went from one video game franchise to its bitter rival. When UEFA ended its partnership with Konami, an agreement that allowed Pro Evolution Soccer to offer the club tournament, it was only a matter of time before EA jumped on the chance to add the competition to its FIFA franchise. The addition of Champions League will undoubtedly give FIFA 19 more depth, especially in its "The Journey" story mode, but the updates to gameplay are equally as important.
Billy Steele06.10.2018
After Math: It's trade show season
Ah June, the January of summer. With Computex winding down and E3 getting started, the weeks are just going to be packed with new gadgets and forward-looking announcements. Oh yeah, Apple had a keynote this past week as well but since there weren't any hardware announcements, most folks just sorta tuned that one out. Numbers, because it's only 6 months until CES!
Andrew Tarantola06.10.2018
'Kingdom Hearts III' will land on PS4 and Xbox One in January 2019
Kingdom Hearts fans will have to a wait until next year to finally play the franchise's next installment, but a few more months don't sound that bad when they've been waiting over a decade for the game to drop. Square Enix has announced at the KH Orchestra World Tour that Kingdom Hearts III will arrive on PS4 and Xbox One on January 29th, 2019. Series director Tetsuya Nomura apologized for the delay since the game was supposed to come out later this year, telling fans that his team is sorry to ask "for a little more time than initially planned."
Mariella Moon06.10.2018
Hands-on with 'Command & Conquer Rivals'
The Command and Conquer franchise made its PC debut all the way back in 1995. In the two decades since, the game has garnered a rabid following with dozens of sequels and spinoffs. In 2018, the C&C experience returns to mobile with the free-to-play Command and Conquer Rivals, which EA debuted ahead of E3 2018 on Saturday. I was afforded a brief hands-on with the title during the EA Play event and this C&C strongly reminds me of the original. In that I had no clue as to what I was doing through most of it and lost almost immediately to a 12-year-old.
Andrew Tarantola06.10.2018
'Command & Conquer' mobile game wants in on that 'Clash of Clans' money
If you were looking for a full-scale return of the Command & Conquer franchise, this probably isn't it. During the EA Play presentation at E3, the publisher revealed the new mobile game Command & Conquer: Rivals, a simplified 1v1 combat game built for small-scale smartphone play. It takes all the trappings of the venerable RTS and crams them into a format made popular by the wildly financially successful Clash of Clans.
David Lumb06.09.2018
BioWare's 'Anthem' arrives February 22nd, 2019
The shared-world shooter Anthem finally has a release date following a delay early in the year. BioWare's Destiny-style game is now slated to arrive February 22nd, 2019 on PS4, PC and Xbox One (February 15th for Origin Access Premier subscribers). The fantasy-tinged sci-fi title has you battling for humanity's survival alongside your fellow players using one of four Javelin exosuits (essentially, class-based armor) as you soar, walk and swim. It's a not so subtle riff on Destiny's theme, although BioWare noted that it's avoiding the lootbox controversy that soured Bungie's game for some players.
Jon Fingas06.09.2018
'Sea of Solitude' pits players against overwhelming loneliness
EA surprised the audience during its E3 2018 press conference on Saturday, announcing the upcoming release of "Sea of Solitude" from Berlin-based studio Jo-Mei games.
Andrew Tarantola06.09.2018
'Unravel Two' is a cooperative sequel and it's out right now
Yarny is back, right here and right now. Unravel Two is the sequel to 2016's Unravel, an adorable and emotional platformer starring a tiny character made out of bright red yarn, developed by indie studio Coldwood Interactive. The new game introduces a second, blue Yarny. Players are able to control both characters or puzzle out the entire thing with a friend in co-op mode. And best of all, Unravel Two is available today on PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One for $20, published via EA Originals.
Jessica Conditt06.09.2018
Origin Access Premier service gives you EA's latest games
Whatever you think of EA's Origin Access, it has an obvious limitation: you're getting the back catalog, not the latest titles. You'll have a better option going forward, though. EA has revealed Origin Access Premier, a new subscription option that will provide the publisher's hotter titles to Windows gamers before their official launch date. It'll start with Madden NFL 2019 (yes, it's returning to PC) and will include big-name releases like Battlefield V, FIFA 19 and Anthem. It's not yet clear how much this will cost, but it'll be available later in the summer. There's little doubt that EA is matching Microsoft's same-day availability for titles on Xbox Game Pass.
Jon Fingas06.09.2018
'Madden' returns to PC this fall
With Madden 18, EA introduced "Longshot," which brought a story mode to the popular football franchise. This year, the big news (at least for right now) is that the game will return to PC when its annual installment arrives this fall. This is the first time you've had that option in about 10 years. So far at E3 2018, EA hasn't gone into a ton of detail about the other changes we'll see in Madden 19 -- like if that story mode will return -- but we're sure to hear more soon. At any rate, you'll be able to play the game on August 7th, including a "Hall of Fame Edition" with some of the all-time great players.
Billy Steele06.09.2018
Of course ‘Battlefield V’ is getting a battle royale mode
EA started off its EA Play show at E3 answering a question on everyone's lips: Will Battlefield V follow the shooter vogue and have its own battle royale mode? Yes, yes it will. While the game's leads introducing the feature offered no details, the franchise's Twitter account tweeted that it will have team play and vehicles. Time will tell if the game puts its own spin on the mode or is just trying to cash in on the zeitgeist, but at least it won't have loot boxes.
David Lumb06.09.2018
UEFA Champions League is coming to 'FIFA 19'
EA has been keen on telling the story of English soccer phenom Alex Hunter for a while now, but his story is about to be told from another perspective. With FIFA 19, EA is adding UEFA Champions League to the game. This move was hardly a surprise though, since UEFA ended its partnership with Konami back in April. However, it's still a big get for EA, bringing the big club tournament in the world to its soccer franchise. It also allows EA to pad its options on the pitch, following the recent addition of the World Cup.
Billy Steele06.09.2018
PSVR's 'Ghost Giant' turns the world into your sandbox
VR is great at providing new perspectives for seemingly familiar experiences, and PlayStation VR's latest game is a textbook example of that. Zoink Games (the creators of the beautiful and inventive Fe) has unveiled Ghost Giant, which uses VR to turn you into an all-powerful companion for the lonely boy Louis as he embarks on a grand journey. Effectively, the world becomes your sandbox: you can open buildings, uproot trees and move vehicles with your ethereal hands. From what we've seen in the trailer, it's a refreshing spin on third-person gaming where you're consciously aware of how you loom over the landscape.
Jon Fingas06.09.2018
We're live from E3 2018 in Los Angeles!
The calendar has flipped to June, which only means one thing: We're back in LA. It also means that you can keep it locked here this week for all the news from E3 2018 as it happens. While Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Bethesda and others all have events planned before the show floor opens on Tuesday, the festivities kick off today with with EA at 2PM ET/11AM PT. We'll be bringing you all the gaming news and analysis starting this afternoon through the end of the week in what's sure to be a jam-packed installment of the summer gaming soirée. In the meantime, prepare yourself with a look at our in-depth preview right here. Follow all the latest news from E3 2018 here!
Billy Steele06.09.2018
How the PlayStation Vita compares to legendary handhelds
The PlayStation Vita is hanging on by a thread. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said in 2015 there was no hope for a follow-up to the handheld console, and since then, the Vita machine has been quietly winding down. Sony is halting production of physical Vita games across Europe and North America on March 31st, 2019, though Sony Japan will continue to churn out carts in the domestic market -- for now.
Jessica Conditt06.08.2018
Xbox One 'Skip Ahead' ring tests features months before release
The Insider program on Xbox One is a few years old now and just keeps rolling out new features for testing by early adopters. Now Microsoft has announced that it's giving participants a chance to try features that are even further away from their scheduled release date with a new "Alpha - Skip Ahead" ring of testers. There's no word on exactly which features people will be able to test, but there's traditionally one or two new items coming in a Winter-window update, and isn't there some kind of event just around the corner where Microsoft might make such an announcement? If you value life on the bleeding edge over stability -- or just have multiple consoles and can afford to have one that's running far-future test builds -- you will see the option to enroll "in the coming weeks" if you're an Alpha tester already, and later by invitation for others.
Richard Lawler06.08.2018
Hero shooter ‘Paladins’ arrives on Nintendo Switch June 12th
Game developer Hi-Rez Studios announced that its hero shooter Paladins will arrive on the Nintendo Switch on June 12th. It will launch next week as a $30 Founders Pack that includes all current and future champions, with a free-to-play version coming later in the summer. But the studio claims the Switch version will run at 60 frames per second and support cross-play with the Xbox One edition.
David Lumb06.07.2018
'Crackdown 3' officially pushed back to 2019
An already thin library of Xbox One exclusives for 2018 just lost one more entry, as Microsoft confirmed that the Crackdown 3 release is scheduled for February 2019. Following a rumor from Kotaku yesterday, Microsoft said in a statement given to Windows Central that "To ensure we deliver the experience they deserve, Crackdown 3 will be launching in Feb 2019. We look forward to sharing more on Crackdown 3 this Sunday during the Xbox E3 2018 briefing." Originally announced as a summer of 2016 release, Crackdown 3 has had a troubled development process, as evidenced by its repeatedly slipping date projections. What we played last year at E3 seemed desperately in need of more polish, and anything that can help avoid a Mass Effect: Andromeda-like misstep is probably a good thing. The question now is what Xbox One owners can look forward to in the meantime, but with E3 starting this weekend we will find out more soon. Microsoft's press conference will kick off Sunday, June 10th at 4 PM ET.
Richard Lawler06.07.2018
Facebook makes it easier to find and support game streamers
Facebook hasn't been shy about its plans to challenge game streaming services like Twitch, Mixer and YouTube Gaming, and it's taking that effort to its next logical step. The social site recently started testing a dedicated gaming video portal (appropriately shortened to fb.gg) that highlights both live and pre-recorded footage based on the games, creators, pages and groups you follow. It'll also put the spotlight on eSports competitions and game-related events, and mobile gamers will see a section for Instant Games. The experience will no doubt seem familiar if you've used rival services, but it's hard to complain when you can find a Fortnite stream that much faster.
Jon Fingas06.07.2018
Avalanche Studios unveils nostalgic '80s robot shooter 'Generation Zero'
If you've caught the '80s nostalgia bug after Stranger Things, this could be the game for you. It's 1989. Machines have taken over rural Sweden, and it's unclear how or why. And it's up to a group of young adults to stop them. That's the gist of Generation Zero, an open-world shooter announced by Just Cause and Mad Max developer Avalanche Studios just a few days before E3 kicks off.
Kris Holt06.07.2018