Battlefiield 4 Multiplayer modes announced

EA has announced Battlefield 4's game modes that will be available when the game launches. Some explanation about the numbers of players in certain maps have also been given and it differs between PC, current-gen consoles and next-gen consoles.

Team Deathmatch: If you have played FPS online, you definitely know this game mode. There are two teams, and the team that reaches the score limit first wins the round. Simple yet enjoyable.

Squad Deathmatch: A different approach on the old formula of Deathmatch: there are four different squads, and the use of vehicles will be limited. The idea behind it still is the same, except that there will be four teams instead of two.

Conquest: This is the mode that is most known in Battlefield. Huge battles between a lot of players. You will fight your enemy on foot, in armoured vehicles, tanks, ships and planes. The goal is to capture neutral and enemy flags, and reduce the enemy score till it hits zero. Current-gen consoles will run the game with a total of 24 players, while next-gen consoles and the PC version will be able to have battles with up to 64 players.

Domination: This is basically the same as Conquest, except that capturing flags goes a lot faster and the game mode doesn’t have any vehicles in it. Another difference with Conquest is that only 20 players will be able to join a match, instead of the massive 64 that is possible in Conquest mode.

Rush: Push the enemy back by destroying the enemies’ M-COM stations. The attackers of the round will have a limited supply of respawn tickets, while the defending team will have unlimited. The attackers can win by destroying all the M-COM stations, and the defending team will have to make sure that the attackers respawn tickets run out. Current-gen will have a maximum of 24 players, while the PC and next-gen versions will have a maximum of 32 players.

Obliteration (new): A bomb will spawn at a random place in the map (but after quite a few matches you will probably know most of these random places) and both teams have to try to deliver the bomb at one of the three objectives of the enemy team to blow it up. The timer of the bomb will make sure rounds of this game mode won’t be too long. Current-gen will play this mode with up to 24 players, while next-gen and PC will play this game with 32 players.

Defuse (new): Teamwork is one of the most important aspects in this gamemode, since you will only have one life each round. With two teams of five players, every soldier counts. You can win a round by eliminating a military objective. All versions of Battlefield 4 will only support a total of ten players in a match.

Check out the best moments of the Battlefield 4 multiplayer that took place at E3 this year. Are you gonna pick up Battlefield 4 on November 1?

Steam Controller: Revolutionary?

This has definitely been the week of Steam, with Valve making three big announcements. Steam Machines have been announced, and also the operating system called SteamOS. The third and last thing that Valve has announced is their own controller, the Steam Controller. If you give it a quick glimpse it might look like an ordinary controller, but it definitely isn't a controller you have seen the last past few years.

The first thing you will notice about the Steam Controller is that there are two things missing: there are no thumbsticks. Instead of the thumbsticks, Valve has placed two "high-resolution trackpads" that are driven by the players thumbs. With a lot of text and fancy words Valve claims that these trackpads have the resolution and precision that you would expect from a computer mouse. The new controller has a pretty cool feature, the controller will be compatible with both old and new games.

In the center of the controller is a touchscreen which can be used for various things. You will be able to scroll through Steam with it, but developers will also get access to the API so it might get some other uses such as maps or game-menu's as well. Instead of the touchscreens that we all know, this one is actually clickable. What that means that you will have to actually click the screen if you want to select something.

Just like the Steam Machines there will also be a beta for the Steam Controller, and if you participate for the Steam Machine than you will also participate for the Steam Controller. The two differences from the final version of the controller is that there won't be a touchscreen on the beta controller and the controller won't be won't be wireless in the beta.

Valve now has it's own OS, it will have its own hardware and now also has its own controller. Will all these things combined change the way that we play games, and is this enough for Valve to conquer the living room? It will definitely change the way that a lot of gamers play games, but will it turn console gamers into .. PC-console gamers?

Steam OS and Steam Box announced

Valve has made two of the three announcements they are going to make, and it seems that the rumours were true: there will be a Steam Box. Actually, there will be multiple Steam Boxes or as Valve calls them, Steam Machines. These boxes will be running on Valve’s own operating system, which they have crowned as SteamOS.

Valve's Steam boxes are made for the living room, so we are expecting boxes that won't be a lot bigger than your average console. Valve is working together with multiple partners so they can bring a variety of Steam boxes on the market in 2014. All these boxes will have different specifications, prices and of course a difference performance. Since Valve is embracing open-source you will also be able to build your own Steam box with SteamOS running on it. Valve also states that it’s up to you what you do with the Steam Box, so if you feel like running a different OS on it, that’s perfectly fine as well.

Linux based SteamOS is designed for the TV and the living room, and it’s likely it will work a bit like the Big Picture mode that has been introduced last year. Everything will run in the Steam ecosystem, so you will have all your games, friends and achievements in there. The OS will allow you to stream games over your home network from your gaming machine to your Steam box, this means that you won’t need a powerful Steam box in your living room if you already have a powerful PC somewhere else in your house. Steam praises the OS for it’s openness, and developers and users will be able to add and remove certain functions from the OS.

Valve is also working together with many of the big media services, and they will be available on both Steam and Steam. It will “allow you to access your favorite music and video”, so we might be seeing services such as Netflix and Spotify appear on the platform. Steam’s new function called Family Sharing will also be available on SteamOS.

Valve is also looking for 300 beta testers to get sent a Steam box prototype, so if you are feeling lucky you can try to participate. Read more on how to do so here.

Steam Box getting announced Monday?

For about a year there are rumours that Valve was releasing their own console, or at least their own hardware for gaming. It has been a bit silent around this so called Steam Box, but it is time for new rumours to show up. Valve has announced that “the Steam Universe is expanding in 2014”. The webpage that displays this message, also shows a TV and a controller.

The second thing you will see on the page are 3 circles, each with a (for now) meaningless figure in them. Under the first circle is a timer that started at 72 hours and will end on Monday, September 23rd. It isn’t yet known what will be announced by Valve, but the message under the timer makes the Steam Box a very viable option. The message tells you about the Steam Big Picture mode, which has been introduced somewhere last year and makes it easier to make use of Steam on a bigger screen and with a controller. If a Steam Box would be announced, the Big Picture mode will probably be the the way you play games on your TV.

A few days ago at LinuxCon 2013 Gaben Newell talked about the power and future of Linux, and how they will be bringing Linux to the living room. Valve has been supporting Linux for a while, with the introduction of a lot of Linux games in the Steam Store. It's only logical that we will be seeing a lot more of Linux in the coming days.

With the release of both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One in November, will we be getting another console? And will this be classified as a console if it runs on Linux and runs PC games, or will it just be a living room PC?

With the release of both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One in November, we might be getting another 'console' as well. With Steam featuring most games that are available on the PC, as well as a lot of indie games, a console that has access to the Steam Library would be able to play a lot of games. But we will be hearing more next Monday, so be sure to check Steam for updates on Monday's announcement.

Europe: PS+ October 2013

PlayStation has announced the games that will be free to download for PlayStation Plus members in October. Just like the past few months the selected titles this month are pretty amazing. Assassin's Creed III was last month's big free game, and this month you will be getting another amazing title that was one of the biggest games of 2012. As always, you will be getting three games for the PlayStation 3 and two for the PlayStation Vita.

Far Cry 3Big chance that you remember this awesome game from last year, and the time has come to play it if you didn't already. In Far Cry 3 you take the role of Jason Brody, whose tropical holiday with his friends turns into a horrifying disaster when they get stranded on an island that is getting terrorized by pirate and slave trader Vaas. Do you have the will to survive on the massive open-world island and rescue your friends, or is certain doom awaiting you?

Dragon's Dogma: Dark ArisenDark Arisen is the re-release of the action-adventure RPG Dragon's Dogma. The re-release features a lot of new content for the game, as well as a few changes. In this open-world fantasy game you will be fighting against huge monsters, as well as exploring caves and castles. If you feel like playing a good RPG, you should definitely check out this one.

Giana Sisters: Twisted DreamsIf you are old enough you might remember a game called The Great Giana Sisters, a game that was released for the Commodore all the way back in 1987. Twisted Dreams is the successor to that game, and in this beautiful fantasy platformer you are set out to save your sister, who has been abducted by a Giant Dragon. It doesn't get more old school than that!

Street Fighter X Tekken (PS Vita)

One of this month's games for the Vita is a fighting game. In Street Fighter X Tekken a lot of the Tekken characters will be stepping into the world and 2D style of Street Fighter. Can a person wish for more? Well, you certainly can since you get a lot more in the Vita version than the PS3 version, such as: 12 DLC characters for free and over 35 alternative costumes. Pretty good!

Touch My Katamari (PS Vita)

This was one of the launch games for the PS Vita, and the objective is pretty simple: roll the ball, also known as the Katamari. The ball has to grow in size and reach certain spots. A simple game that some people will definitely enjoy.

Steam introduces Family Sharing

Remember one of the earlier features of the Xbox One that later on got scrapped? The Family Sharing that was supposed to be one of the best features of best features of Microsoft's next-gen console, but sadly it was removed. But there is some good news for the PC gamers, and definitely those that have a big Steam library: Steam Family Sharing. Valve announced Family Sharing, but there will be a limited beta before the feature will be officially launched.

But what is it exactly, and what are the limitations? Steam Family Sharing will allow you to share your full Steam library with up to 10 friends or family members. Sounds pretty good, but the 'bad' news is that only one user will be able to access a shared library at a time. So, if a friend wants to play a game in your library while you are playing another game in your library, the friend won't be able to use your library. A friend with access to your library won't be able to kick you out of your game though, but vice versa you can kick friends out if you feel like playing.

You won't be able to share all your games through Family Sharing though, as "region-restricted content will remain in place when lending or borrowing content", which is of course only logical. As a lender you will also be lending your items to a certain Steam user, on a certain device. This means that you will only be able to play the games in the shared library if you are on the device that has gotten the rights to the library.

If you are interested in Steam Family Sharing, and you want to participate in the beta you can do so here. The beta will start in a few days, so better hurry up with signing up because this is a feature that you don't want to miss out on. Only thousand people that have applied will be lucky enough to get access to the beta of Family Sharing.

PlayStation TV and new PS Vita

In a press conference in Japan, the homeland of Sony, the Vita TV and a new version of the PlayStation Vita have been announced. While the new version of the PS Vita is an upgrade or a downgrade (depends on how you look at it), the Vita TV is really an entirely new device. But first things first: what’s up with the new PS Vita?

Sony classifies the newer model of the PS Vita as a more casual and easier to use model of the PS Vita. It will also be released in a bunch of colors, instead of the black that we all know from the handheld. But that’s not the only appearance change that the PS Vita has gone through, because the new version will be 20% thinner and about 15% lighter than the older model. But one of the more drastic changes is that Sony replaced the OLED screen with a LCD display. While the battery life has been increased by an hour, some people might dislike the LCD display since the quality of these displays are of lesser quality than OLED screens most of the time. The new PS Vita also has 1 gigabyte of built-in storage, which is not very impressing but still a welcome addition to the handheld.

What a lot of people didn’t see coming is the Vita TV: a console with the size of a smartphonethat you will be able to plug into your TV. It’s comparable with the Ouya, except that this console runs Vita games, but you will also be able to play old PSP and PlayStation One games on it. To control the device you will be making use of the DualShock 3 controller, the controller that is used with the PlayStation 3. The specs of the Vita TV are the same as the PS Vita, but since you will be playing it on a TV the resolution will be upscaled from 966x544 to 720p or 1080p.

But you will be able to use the Vita TV for more than Vita and PS One games: if you own a PlayStation 4 you will be able to stream content to the Vita TV and display everything that is running on the PS4 on the TV that the Vita TV is linked to. What else Sony has planned for the Vita TV isn’t sure yet, but with the launch of the PS4 heading closer there is a big chance we will be hearing more about the Vita TV and it’s functionalities.

The Vita TV will cost around $100 USD and will only be available in Japan at launch. It’s not sure yet if western countries will be getting the Vita TV. A bundle with a DualShock 3 controller and an 8GB Vita memory card will also be sold, which will cost around $150 USD.

Xbox One SmartGlass: What's new?

You might remember Microsoft's SmartGlass that got announced at the E3 of 2012, and you might also know that there will be an updated version of SmartGlass for the Xbox One. For those that don't know what SmartGlass is, it basically is a second-screen (such as your phone, tablet, PC or laptop) for your Xbox One.There already was some information known about the new SmartGlass, such as the option to set up matches on their second-screen for their game and edit the gameplay that was recorded.

But what else will you be able to do with SmartGlass for the Xbox One? One of the most exciting features is that you will be able to use SmartGlass as a controller for the Xbox One since the latency between the app and the console is low enough for that now, however not much is known about this yet. But we now also know that you will be able to use your second-screen as a remote control for the TV feature of your Xbox One. You can check what programs are on right now with SmartGlass without messing with the TV screen, and you will of course be able to just use it as a remote control when your remote isn't in close range.

There will also be a special help-button inside of the app, which will give you tips when you use it while you're playing a game. SmartGlass follows your progression in the game and knows exactly where you are in the game. Since the game developers have to implement this feature themselves, it's not sure what we can expect from this feature. Will it be a walkthrough, will it get videos to explain certain things in the game or will it just be a handful of small tips that should help you when you get stuck? We will see when the app launches in the end of 2013.

The SmartGlass app will also make it easier for the user to browse the web. You will also be able to control music and video with SmartGlass, and also select games with it. Other features are checking Xbox Live achievements and chatting with your friends. As mentioned earlier in the post, the possibility to use SmartGlass as a controller exists. SmartGlass won't be a replacement of the controller and Microsoft also said that they are not aiming to make tablets and phones a sort of Wii U type of gamepad.

While the old SmartGlass app was designed for the Xbox 360, the Xbox One has been designed with SmartGlass in mind. If you have been using SmartGlass for the Xbox 360, you will notice a huge change in speed of the app. While the old app could take about 15 seconds to start, it will now take about 4 seconds. And the app doesn't have to send data to Microsoft datacenters anymore, it will now directly communicate with your Xbox One over wifi.

Ryse: Son of Room gameplay footage

Ryse: Son of Rome is one of the titles that will be exclusive for the Xbox One, and it has got a lot of negative feedback from around the internet. While the graphics of the game look really good, the combat would be way too simple, all the footage that was shown made it look like the combat would rely too much on Quick Time Events (QTE's) and not actual skill.

But a recent video documentary that has been published by Microsoft shows a different side of the combat system in Ryse: Son of Rome. The in-game footage shows us something different than we have seen before: no QTE's and it looks a lot more like you have to actually do something instead of pressing a few buttons.

The video documentary shows a lot more than just the combat though, it also shows us how the environment the main character Marius moves around in looks both alive and moving. You can see shadows moving over the grass and rocks, and you see some leaves floating through the air. All these small details make the world feel more real, but as the trailer says 'Work in Progress - This does represent final game quality'. This can be both a bad and a good thing. It's good if it means the graphics and gameplay will only get better, but there is also the chance that all of this is played on a high-end PC and that the Xbox One owners will never get to see to see the graphics that are shows in the footage.

The post that comes with the video also has a lot of information about the game that wasn't known yet. The game wasn't always known as Ryse: Son of Rome, the name it has been given in the start was Codename: Kingdoms. Of course, as the name suggests this was just a codename. But the post also tells us that the game had three different versions, a Kinect Only version, a version with both the new Kinect and the controller, and the final version that is only playable with a controller. The post also discusses what the rewards are for executing enemies, and these include XP, Health, Focus and a Damage Boost. The Focus is an important aspect of the game, as it will allow you to give yourself a little breathing room when you're surrounded by enemies when you use it.

As the official Xbox post says at the end, there is more to come and we will keep getting more information about Ryse: Son of Rome.