titanfall
Latest
.jpeg.cf.jpg)
Joystiq Weekly: Titanfall review, BAFTA Awards, NPD data and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Titanfall is one of those games that's fun even if you're not playing it. Watching a group of friends suffer the fallout from a crumbling strategy plan is easy to laugh about, especially as the final pilot from their crew gets run over by a Titan. It seems that, despite a few hiccups on Xbox Live's side of things, fans have also been able to enjoy a relatively smooth launch. An online-oriented experience that doesn't stumble its way into functionality? We know, it's crazy. We've got a review of both the game and the online experience, but if giant robots aren't really your thing, we've got our take on Dark Souls 2, Towerfall: Ascension and Yoshi's New Island, too. This week also brought us fresh NPD data, a Costume Quest 2 reveal and more, all of which is neatly compiled for you after the break in the Joystiq Weekly. [Image: Respawn]
Titanfall developer wants to see game on OS X
Titanfall -- a first-person shooter from a team comprised of many former Call of Duty development veterans -- debuted this week for Windows and Xbox One. It's a massively popular game that has a good chance of becoming a franchise in short order, and according Respawn Entertainment CEO Vince Zampella's twitter account, the team is interested in seeing the game on Apple's hardware. When asked by a Twitter user if his company's new baby would appear on OS X, Zampella claimed that talks are already in the works about just such a thing. "We are talking to Aspyr," Zampella tweeted, "they should do it." "Aspyr" is Aspyr Games, a publisher that specializes in bringing beloved games to Apple's various platforms. In fact, Aspyr is the same company responsible for the Knights of the Old Republic on iOS, which I happen to love. The company's other work includes BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, and several Call of Duty releases. If Titanfall were to appear alongside those titles on OS X, it would be a pretty big deal for Mac gamers, so keep your fingers crossed. [via Joystiq]
Engadget Podcast 388 - 3.14.14
This week's podcast begins with some behind the scenes perspective of SXSW before Ben's allowed to get all Titanfall on us. That said, there's a melange of topics under discussion, from the Game of Thrones/HBO experience to tales of a 6-year-old Chelsea Clinton and her kitchen table opinion coaching. Joseph exposes his vicious nature while playing the real-world SXSW version of Mario Kart and Terrence reflects on the addictive nature of his recently acquired Android version of Threes. Finally, Ben gets to tell us that Titanfall is definitely worth the $60 and after some verbal judo, Joseph adds that penny loafers will get you across the river Styx (if you have the penny, apparently). It's all pure info and entertainment, so please join us for this wild episode of the Engadget Podcast! Hosts: Ben Gilbert, Terrence O'Brien, Joseph Volpe Producer: Jon Turi Hear the podcast:
Titanfall State of Service: Day Three
This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. See our scored review of Titanfall here. Friday, March 14 | T-minus 27 days until final verdict Current State of Service: Good Summary: Launch day problems resolved. PC experiencing limited issues. Australia receives dedicated servers. It appears that Titanfall's launch day kinks have mostly been ironed out. The Xbox One and PC versions seem to be running as intended, with Joystiq staff reporting no significant problems on either platform since launch day. Some PC players are reporting an error that produces an infinitely looping loading screen. The Respawn Twitter account advises players encountering this problem to lower their in-game texture settings. Some PC users with Belkin routers are also having trouble connecting. Respawn has stated this problem will have to be addressed by Belkin. Also of note, Australia now has access to dedicated servers for Titanfall. The servers were quickly inundated with players. As of earlier today, more servers are being put online. If you encounter any problems with Titanfall, let us know in the comments or on Joystiq's Twitter or Facebook accounts (use the hashtag #sos and don't forget to specify your platform!).
Australia gets dedicated Titanfall servers
Good news for Titanfall fans living Down Under: EA has announced that Australia now has dedicated servers for Respawn's robot-infused first-person shooter. According to EA's help site, that applies to all platforms, so both Xbox One and PC players should be able to take advantage of the new, local servers. Respawn engineer Jon Shiring stated on Twitter that Australia's new servers were "tapped pretty quickly," and that more servers are already being added. [Image: EA]
Respawn: Titanfall not originally planned for Xbox One
While Titanfall might be one of the Xbox One's most popular games this year, Respawn said the game wasn't originally in production for the console at all. In an interview with Eurogamer, lead engineer Richard Baker explained that Titanfall was initially in development for PC only, saying that "originally we weren't planning on an Xbox One version of the game." Baker added that Xbox One development made the PC version of the game that much better, as it "justified the effort in moving to [DirectX 11] and even 64-bit." Those changes were necessary to adapt the Source engine so the game would run properly on Xbox One. This heavily involved making the engine "multi-threaded" so it "buffered commands as soon as they were issued." Among the other development decisions made by Respawn was the use of uncompressed audio in the PC version's 48 gigabyte download. [Image: EA Games]
Respawn CEO: 'We are talking to Aspyr' about Titanfall on Mac
The giant, stompy robots and diminutive, squishy pilots of Titanfall may find a new battlefield on Apple's OS X. Vince Zampella, CEO and co-founder of Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment, was asked point-blank if the hit shooter would appear on Macs. "We are talking to Aspyr," Zampella tweeted, adding, "they should do it." Aspyr is a company that specializes in porting PC games to the Mac. Its most recent efforts include BioShock Infinite and Borderlands 2. Mac gamers should be pleased by this news, but shouldn't get their hopes up just yet. Zampella's tweet is far from a confirmation that the game is coming to Mac, and even if things pan out that way, it will take a while for Aspyr to bring Titanfall to Apple's hardware. Aspyr's Borderlands 2 port appeared four months after its PC incarnation, while BioShock Infinite lagged behind its counterpart by half a year. [Image: Respawn Entertainment]
Titanfall pushes Guinness World Record holder to 1,000,000 Gamerscore
Raymond Cox - or Stallion83 as he's known on Xbox Live, Twitter and Twitch - has reached a level of gamer previously thought unobtainable. We've seen gamers, even Super Gamers. Cox showed us back in August 2011 what it looked like when a Super Gamer ascended past a Super Gamer - or, you could just call it a Super Gamer 2. But this ... this is to go even further beyond. This is one million Gamerscore. Cox hit the one million mark at approximately 2:35 a.m. EST, March 13, 2014, after completing a game of Titanfall. His score has to be verified with Guinness to be recorded as the official highest Gamerscore, but considering Cox broadcast his ... uh, achievement to the world on Twitch, it's unlikely there's any sort of shadiness going on here. Congrats, Raymond! [Image: Microsoft]
Titanfall K'Nex sets drop in on the US this fall
Now you can own a real-life mech from Titanfall – scaled down and made out of plastic, and with some assembly required. The K'Nex Titanfall line is due out this fall in the US, with six sets including various environments and robots, running from $13 to $100. The $100 option is called "Titanfall: Ultimate Angel City Campaign Building Set," and it includes 1,200 pieces to build two 12-inch Titans, six other figures (Pilots and Spectres), and "an assortment of working weapons and stationary turrets." Here's hoping that "working weapons" means they shoot little plastic sticks that look like rockets, and not actual tiny rockets. The MILITIA Ogre Titan set and IMC Atlas Titan set each run $35 and include their respective mechs, plus a Pilot that works with the Titan. The remaining sets focus on buildings. See the breakdown of each option below. [Image: EA]
'Stiq Tips: A Titanfall Guide
Titanfall is finally here, and you're going to be blowing up tons of Titans. Dozens. Hundreds, even. But with such a tiny body as a Pilot, it can be pretty intimidating to take on a giant robot -- until you read these tips, that is. First things first: Before you do anything, complete the campaign. Although it isn't a fully-featured solo story mode, the campaign is a separate playlist that's integrated into multiplayer. So basically, you're going to be playing with a lot of newcomers who just picked up the game (as opposed to hardcore people that are in the competitive playlists), which will better help you acclimate. Also, you can earn two new Titan body types by completing the story that will be unlocked for life -- so do it!
Titanfall State of Service: Launch Day
This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. See our scored review of Titanfall here. Wednesday, March 12 | T-minus 29 days until final verdict Current State of Service: Moderate Summary: Xbox One and PC versions experienced matchmaking issues. Problems seem to have been resolved. PC version experiencing crash bug. Some players experienced problems with matchmaking during Titanfall's launch yesterday. Later in the afternoon, Xbox Live itself began to malfunction, with many users unable to login to Microsoft's online service at all. Joystiq ran into these problems firsthand during a live stream of Titanfall, during which we had trouble matchmaking and even connecting to in-game parties. At one point, our own Susan Arendt left the game, rebooted her Xbox One and was unable to sign into Xbox Live. For its part, Microsoft has stated that Xbox Live issues were unrelated to the launch of Titanfall. Late last night, Xbox Support announced that overarching Xbox Live issues had been resolved, and advised users to power cycle their Xbox One consoles. Joystiq staff then played several hours of Titanfall without further problems. The PC version of Titanfall has encountered matchmaking issues of its own, a problem that was solved this morning, according to the Titanfall Twitter account. Furthermore, the EA Help site notes that the PC version may crash when attempting to join a friend's match while currently playing a different match. EA Help recommends exiting to the lobby before issuing or accepting invitations. If you encounter any problems with Titanfall, let us know in the comments or on Joystiq's Twitter or Facebook accounts (use the hashtag #sos and don't forget to specify your platform!).
Joystiq Streams: Once more unto the Titanfall breach [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers (and sisters) that make up the Joystiq Troopers have not acquitted ourselves well in Titanfall. In fact, our myriad attempts to roll deep in Respawn Entertainment's debut shooter have fallen squarely on the comedy spectrum. First came what is now known as the great Joystiq Titanfall Beta Massacre of '14, wherein we got hosed by far more experienced players. Then there was Monday's stream, wherein we got hosed by the Xbox One party system. Both incidents were highly embarrassing and highly entertaining. Today will be different, though. Today is the day that Joystiq rises up in Titanfall and squares off in vicious 6-on-6 fights right alongside a fully-populated game. Tune in to the Joystiq Twitch channel at 4PM EST to behold the Troopers at full strength as they attempt to win more than a single round. It will be utterly glorious. We'll not offend one stomach with our play. Joystiq Streams broadcasts live every Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST. [Images: Respawn Entertainment]
Titanfall PC's 48GB install the result of uncompressed audio
PC players will have to spend quite a bit longer waiting for their Titanfall download to drop than those on Xbox One. The PC download of Titanfall clocks in at a substantial 48 gigabytes, considerably larger than the 17GB download on Xbox One. The reason for the size discrepancy, developer Respawn tells Eurogamer, comes down to uncompressed audio. Respawn opted to use uncompressed audio in the PC version to account for less powerful hardware configurations, specifically dual core machines, which meet the minimum specs required by Titanfall. The concern, according to Respawn lead engineer Richard Baker, was that "a two-core machine would dedicate a huge chunk of one core to just decompressing audio," so the studio decided to use completely uncompressed audio – 35 gigs of it – in order to optimize performance. If you haven't started your download yet, you might want to get on that. [Image: Electronic Arts]
Metareview: Titanfall
Prepare for Titanfall! Today's the big day when the big mechs come falling from the sky. Our review said it "isn't tuned to perfection for everyone yet, but it starts as a smart, swift and startling movement in well-traveled space." If you're still cyber fence-sitting about the game, check out as team @Joystiq plays the game together today on Joystiq Streams at 4PM Eastern (1PM Pacific, 8PM UK). We'll have a post with the specifics up in a few hours. Let's see what everyone else has been saying about Respawn's debut game...
Must See HDTV for the week of March 10th: Cosmos, Vice, F1 and Titanfall
After omitting Cosmos from the listings last week, we can only offer our deepest apologies. The premiere episode Sunday night wowed us with its display of the universe at large, and we highly recommend checking out this week's episode (the premiere is available either tonight at 10PM on National Geographic or online right here). Other than that, have you seen Titanfall? Assuming you're not diving deep into the new PC / Xbox One game, we'd also keep an eye out for the second season of Vice Magazine's show on HBO premiering this Friday, and the return of F1 racing. The Australian GP will air live on NBC Sports at 2AM Sunday morning, so arrange your schedules accordingly. Check after the break for trailers plus our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Daily Roundup: Titanfall's secret weapon, Edward Snowden talks encryption, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Respawn: Titanfall's server stability is in Microsoft's azure hands
Titanfall will be propped up by dedicated servers. As much was made known last June, but what may not be so clear to players is that post-launch hiccups are primarily Microsoft's responsibility. Respawn engineer Jon Shiring recently explained to Engadget how Respawn used Microsoft's "Azure" cloud computing technology to handle elements of Titanfall like AI hosting and physics calculations. "One of the really nice things about it is that it isn't my problem, right?" Shiring said of potential server issues at the game's launch. "We just say [to Microsoft], here are our estimates, aim for more than that, plan for problems and make sure there are more than enough servers available -- they'll know the whole time that they need to bring more servers online." Shiring said that during the game's lengthy beta program, the game's European servers filled up, and players were quietly transitioned to East Coast US data centers, indicating the developer's contingency plans in the event its launch is wildly popular tomorrow. Titanfall, a multiplayer-only game, is so reliant on the Azure servers that Respawn opted to not launch the game in some regions, such as South Africa. Shiring also noted in late January that server-side updates for the game won't cause downtime for players. Our review of Titanfall will be supplemented with our first of many State of Service reviews, so expect to hear more about how the game's online play holds up after it launches. [Image: Electronic Arts]
Titanfall ships at 792p on Xbox One, post-release resolution 'likely to increase'
The Xbox One version of Respawn Entertainment's first-person shooter, Titanfall, will showcase its mech-battling action in 792p resolution when it ships this week, lead engineer Richard Baker confirmed during an interview with technical analysis site Digital Foundry. The retail version's resolution and 60 frames-per-second output (mostly) mirrors the visual presentation seen in Titanfall's pre-release beta from last month. Baker explained that Titanfall is "likely to increase resolution after we ship," though day-one players will be locked at 792p. "We've been experimenting with making it higher and lower," Baker said during Digital Foundry's interview. "We're going to experiment. The target is either 1080p non-anti-aliased or 900p with FXAA. We're trying to optimize... we don't want to give up anything for higher res. So far we're not 100 per cent happy with any of the options, we're still working on it." [Image: Respawn]
Joystiq Streams Special: Preparing for Titanfall [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
The Joystiq Troopers are locked and loaded, waiting to spring like an angry mongoose, to take the Titanfall servers by storm when our usual Tuesday broadcast rolls around. Our motto, however, is, "Always be prepared when trying to commandeer giant robots while struggling in a horrific interstellar war." To that end, we're sending in the Joystiq Troopers advance team to lay groundwork and do some light leveling ahead of the main event. That's Titanfall on Joystiq Streams two days in a row. At 4PM EST on Monday at the Joystiq Twitch channel, Richard Mitchell (@TheRichardM), Alexander Sliwinski (@Sliwinski), Xav de Matos (@Xav), and Susan Arendt (@SusanArendt) will suit up for a few test rounds. Deck officer Anthony John Agnello (@ajohnagnello) will be hanging in the chat as liason between you good viewers at home and our Titan pilots abroad. Come hang out. Joystiq Streams' regular schedule is every Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST. [Images: Respawn Entertainment]
Watch us play Titanfall for Xbox One (poorly) right here! (update: and it's over!)
Xbox One's first major release officially drops this week: Titanfall, from the folks who made Call of Duty into the 800-lb. gorilla it is today. Well, specifically, it launches tomorrow, but we've got it right now and thought you'd like a taste before deciding if it's your next thousand-hour addiction, so we're streaming it via Twitch just below the break. Though both Ben Gilbert (that's me!) and Tim Seppala are on the stream today, you'll have to settle for just Ben's audio as we try and figure out how to incorporate more editors into the mix. Technology is hard, folks. And hey, this is our first stream, so let us know what you think in the comments: love it? hate it? what would you like to see? what don't you? Your input is appreciated! Now let's go shoot some robots. Update: Sorry for the troubles, folks. With the Xbox One Twitch app still in beta, we're having some issues keeping a stream up and running. Bear with us! Update 2: Okay folks, we're out! Again, please let us know how you feel about this concept in the comments/via email/on Twitter/etc.! Head below for the archived video, and thanks very much for joining us!
