Category: Games

Sigma has been revealed as the 31st Hero in Overwatch, and the gravity-controlling mad scientist is currently playable in the game’s PC test server. With so many Heroes in Overwatch now, creating new ones has become a balancing act for Blizzard–one where brand-new mechanics must be weighed against the established lore of the game’s narrative. Sigma is no different, having started out as one character that had to be changed to fulfill specific criteria: someone who further fleshed out Talon and also acted as an anchor tank.

“[Sigma’s introduction] wasn’t really reactionary to the meta,” lead hero designer Geoff Goodman said in an interview with GameSpot. “We were looking to introduce a new barrier tank to the game, specifically an anchor tank that the team could rally around to push through chokes and take objectives. So a lot of the prototyping all began with him having a large barrier and being somewhat immobile, so he’s not running off on his own. The teammates had to gather around him and make a push.”

Blizzard is always working on multiple Overwatch Heroes at once and adapting prototypes as the needs arise. So when it came time to introduce Hero 31, there already was an idea of what the team wanted to do next. “We knew, from a gameplay side, that we wanted this anchor tank, and even at an early point for him, we knew we wanted him to be part of Talon,” Goodman said. “So, he literally was just ‘Talon anchor tank’ on paper for a good amount of time as we were prototyping.”

Though Talon is partially made up of former Overwatch team members and is currently the main antagonist in Overwatch’s narrative, much of the organization still remains a mystery. It’s a trend Blizzard was looking to change, and Hero 30 and 31 allowed the developer to do it. “[Talon is] an extremely important group in the Overwatch universe and while there are already some really prominent and beloved characters in our line-up who are in Talon, I think when you look at it, they’re still a very small sub-section of the overall group,” Goodman said. “As we’re developing the universe, when we add new Heroes, we try and make sure that they call back to the core Overwatch story. So that’s why Baptiste and also Sigma are very related to Talon, because we were thinking, ‘Oh, this would be a good chance to be able to explore more of this world through them and see it through two new characters’ eyes.’ So with this two-pack of Heroes, you [learn] a little bit more about Talon and see Talon grow as a group as well.”

However, before Sigma was created, Blizzard looked to a previously established Overwatch character for Hero 31: Mauga, a Talon member introduced in the Overwatch comic that’s focused on Baptiste and who’s a former friend to Overwatch’s 30th Hero. His willingness to embrace the murderous side of the organization that caused Baptiste to quit made him seem like a good way to explore Talon from another point-of-view. Plus, the dude is built like a truck, making him a prime candidate for the tank role in a video game. “Originally, [Hero 31] started as a different character that we later called Mauga,” Goodman said. “[Baptiste and Mauga] were going to be together. However, we found it kind of difficult because, though we really liked Mauga, it was hard to imagine that guy as a slow-moving dude with a shield, marching with his team. That guy feels a little more like he’d be jumping in like Winston or Wrecking Ball and causing chaos. So somewhere sort of later in development, we decided to shift gears and go with a completely different character, and that’s how Sigma formed.”

Once Blizzard decided to focus on a brand-new character instead of a previously established one, it opened up the possibility of exploring previously established technology and powers in a brand-new way. Both Orisa and Zarya have gravity abilities, for example, but no Overwatch Hero had been completely built around gravity-focused powers. “It was clear that once we shifted courses on this character, that we were going to double down on the gravity abilities,” Goodman said. The idea of doing another scientist–we had some other ideas–came about pretty quickly too.”

Goodman added that Overwatch’s story and gameplay are developed “hand-in-hand” so several of the add-on Heroes have had their design or backstory completely changed prior to their release, like Sigma, to better fit their abilities or vice versa. The prototype for Ana, for example, was an alchemist who operated as a close-range fighter with throwable potions that caused different splash effects. When it came time to implement the alchemist into the game, Blizzard chose to use the opportunity to add Ana as a playable Hero. As Ana had already been established as a sniper in Pharah, Soldier: 76, and Reaper’s backstories, however, most of the alchemist’s explosive concoctions became special bullets, with only one remaining potion-like: Ana’s Biotic Grenade.

Going forward, the creation of Heroes will be impacted by Overwatch’s new Role Queue feature, though perhaps not as substantially as you might think. Blizzard has had plans for Role Queue for a while and has thus already been working within the parameters of its eventual launch. “We have been talking about Role Queue for a long time,” Goodman said. “It took quite a while to implement it. I don’t even remember when we first started talking about it or really committing to it.” Sigma has always been designed with Role Queue in mind, for example, and changes to his character–like removing Accretion’s secondary ability to form a rock-like version of Mei’s Ice Wall–have been a result of balancing the character, not accounting for the new feature.

Goodman did add that Role Queue’s launch does currently eliminate the possibility of seeing a fourth class (beyond tank, damage, and support) in Overwatch, as introducing another class would mess with the balance Blizzard has been operating under with Role Queue in mind. However, there may be more hybrid Heroes–like Brigitte, who’s support class but can use Barrier Shield and Shield Bash to technically act as a tank for her team–in the future.

For now, the only way to play with Sigma is on Overwatch’s PC test servers, but the Hero will be officially launching on all platforms soon enough. Overwatch is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

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15. Not Even The Writers And Directors Know What’s Up With Vormir

In one of the most confusing moments from the three-hour long commentary, all four of the men behind Endgame debate what exactly happens to Red Skull after the Soul Stone leaves Vormir and whether or not Steve Rogers ran into him.

Anthony Russo: “Speaking of Red Skull, have you guys thought about whether or not Cap runs into Red Skull when he’s returning the Soul Stone?”

Steve McFeely: “He would have to.”

Chris Markus: “Many times.”

McFeely: “Well I guess if Red Skull has been released from his bonds…”

Markus: “I don’t think… He’s not released.”

McFeely: “Well, what’s he doing there?”

Anthony: “At the exact moment…”

Joe Russo: “The exact moment the stone…”

Markus: “He’s the guardian.”

McFeely: “But there’s no Soul Stone there.”

Markus: “But it may come back.”

McFeely: “But he goes back the moment before.”

Anthony: “It’s fun to think about.”

The Sega Mega Drive Mini, expected to arrive worldwide on September 19, has been delayed in Europe and the Middle East. Sega Europe now says the mini redux will launch on October 4, two weeks later.

In a tweet posted on Monday, July 29, Sega Europe said “unavoidable logistical challenges” are what is causing the short delay. Whatever these challenges are only affect Europe and the Middle East, as the Sega America Twitter account has not responded to the news.

A Sega spokesperson told Eurogamer that “Customers in those regions are still able to pre-order from participating retailers and those who have already pre-ordered will only have to wait an extra two weeks for their little box full of retro magic.” The spokesperson further said that Sega is “committed to a successful launch for consumers in all territories, [while ensuring] we can meet demand and fulfill all the individual pre-orders and retail orders in Europe and the Middle East at the same time.”

The Sega Mega Drive Mini, which is available now for pre-order, contains a handful of classic and obscure games from the 16-bit era. These games include Comix Zone, Earthworm Jim, Golden Axe, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage 2. You can check out the full list of games below:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Castlevania: The New Generation
• Space Harrier 2
• Shining Force
• Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
• ToeJam & Earl
• Comix Zone
• Altered Beast
• Gunstar Heroes
• Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
• World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
• Thunder Force III
• Super Fantasy Zone
• Shinobi III
• Streets of Rage 2
• Earthworm Jim
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2
• Probotector
• Landstalker
• Mega Man®: The Wily Wars
• Street Fighter II®: Special Champion Edition
• Ghouls ‘n Ghosts®
• Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
• Story of Thor
• Golden Axe
• Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
• Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball
• Vectorman
• Wonder Boy in Monster World
• Tetris®
• Darius
• Road Rash II
• Strider
• Virtua Fighter 2
• Alisia Dragoon
• Kid Chameleon
• Monster World IV
• Eternal Champions
• Columns
• Dynamite Headdy
• Light Crusader

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Sony announced this week that PlayStation 4 shipments have climbed to a staggering 100 million units life-to-date, but it wasn’t all good news. The 3.2 million PS4 systems that Sony shipped in the April-June quarter was “slightly below” the company’s internal expectations. The reason for the downturn?

Sony said it was “primarily” due to the company’s announcement of its next-generation console, the PlayStation 5.

Sony has yet to officially announce its next-generation console, but PlayStation architect Mark Cerny started talking about the console and some of its specs earlier this year. After that, Sony demonstrated the console’s much-faster loading times during a business meeting.

It’s a historical trend in the games business that console sales of an older system drop off to a degree when a new console is revealed. The thinking is that people hold off on buying a console when they know a newer one is coming. That seems to be what’s happening with here with PS4 sales.

As a result of the lower-than-expected PS4 sales, Sony said it has “revised downward” its forecast of PS4 sales during the current fiscal year ending March 2020. The company is cutting its projections by 1 million units, from 16 million to 15 million.

15 million is still a massive shipment number for a console so late into its lifecycle. Sony said this ongoing success “demonstrates that the PS4 platform is still garnering support from many users.”

Sony is also projecting a downturn for game sales during the current fiscal year. The company is lowering its expectations to be flat year-over-year instead of increasing due to lower third-party game sales. Lower-than-expected revenue from free-to-play games was also called out. This may be in reference to Fortnite and other battle royale games that are slowing down when it comes to revenue.

On the plus side, Sony said it expects its “network services” to generate more revenue in the current fiscal year. Overall, Sony said one of its major areas of focus during the fiscal year is on “preparing for the launch of the next-generation platform,” in addition to growing the userbase the company already has.

The PlayStation 5 is rumored to launch in holiday 2020, which is also when Microsoft’s Project Scarlett next-generation system is confirmed to release.

PlayStation consoles might get more expensive for shoppers in the United States. During an earnings call today, Sony’s chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said it will need to increase the price of PlayStation consoles sold in America if President Trump’s proposed tariffs on electronics made in China–including game consoles–do indeed go through.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “most” of the components of PlayStation consoles are made in China. “We believe, and therefore have told the U.S. government, that higher tariffs would ultimately damage the U.S. economy,” Totoki said.

Earlier this year Trump announced a plan to increase tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on electronics made in China and shipped to the United States. These export tariffs are not finalized as of yet, and the US and China are coming back to the negotiation table this week.

This new comment from Totoki comes after Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo jointly released a statement opposing Trump’s tariffs. A 25 percent price increase in consoles to match the tariff cost would “likely put a new video game console out of reach for many American families who we expect to be in the market for a console this holiday season,” the companies said in their letter.

Nintendo is already reportedly preparing itself for the tariffs by moving manufacturing out of China for the new Switch consoles, including the Switch Lite.

Microsoft, too, is working on a new console–Project Scarlett. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said the price of that console may depend on what happens with the tariffs.

Going back to Sony, the company announced that the PS4 shipped a further 3.2 million consoles in the April-June period, bringing the total number of PS4 shipments to 100 million. Sony is predicting a downturn in PS4 sales for the current fiscal year. It originally projected shipments of 16 million for the fiscal year ending March 2020, but now the company said it expects to ship 15 million.

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The final major event of Year 2 of Destiny 2 is now live, as is a new update. Patch 2.5.2 is out now and coincides with the start of Solstice of Heroes 2019, which features a limited-time mode and a variety of cosmetics (including sparrows, emotes, and ghosts, among other things). Here’s what’s new in the update itself and a look at the full patch notes.

While the update’s release marks the start of a big event, the patch itself doesn’t feature much in the way of significant new features. Instead, it largely deals with fixing or improving a variety of areas of the game, starting with Lord of Wolves. The Exotic has been dominant of late in Crucible, so much so that Bungie will be rewarding players with an emblem if they took part in Iron Banner while it was left unchecked. But this patch should mark the end of that, as the shotgun’s effective range has been reduced, and shotgun scavenger perks will now provide the weapon with less ammo when it’s in Release the Wolves mode.

The Triumph Hall sees some adjustments, including making the Emperor’s Gladiator and Scoundrel in Uniform triumphs less difficult to complete. Rather than requiring a full set of Leviathan gear, you’ll now earn progress based on how many pieces you have equipped, bringing it in line with other, similar triumphs. Additionally, Bungie has addressed a glitch that allowed players to farm tributes by using alternate characters; those who did this to obtain the Bad Juju catalyst or emote will no longer have access to those things until they fulfill the requirements the proper way.

Iron Banner may have just wrapped up, but Bungie has made some changes to it, too, making it easier to complete the quest steps involving grenade and sword kills. Likewise, the Menagerie has been updated so that its Heroic version is now guaranteed to drop a sword for players after their first completion. Subsequent completions have a 25% chance to drop a sword.

Various other nagging issues have also been resolved, and you can see everything that’s changed in the patch notes below. Note that the new content–including the European Aerial Zone mode and various cosmetics and Solstice armor–aren’t mentioned here, but all of those are now available for you to check out and obtain for a limited time.

Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2 Patch Notes

Sandbox

Weapons

• Lord of Wolves
  • Reduced the amount of ammo that Shotgun Scavenger perks can give to Lord of Wolves when it is in the Release the Wolves state
  • Decreased the effective range on Lord of Wolves
    • This decrease is more aggressive when the weapon is in the Release the Wolves state
• Perks
  • Fixed an issue that allowed the Feeding Frenzy perk to be applied to any weapon

Armor

• Fixed an issue where the cloth component of the Iron Symmachy Cloak wasn’t rendering correctly
• Fixed an issue where the cloth component of the Terra Concord Mark wasn’t rendering correctly
• Fixed a bug where the Titan Exotic leg armor Peregrine Greaves glowed 130x too bright when wearers were at maximum velocity
• While our intention was for this Exotic to help Titans destroy opponents with 130x efficiency, we did not intend for its glow to burn out the corneas of the user

Investment

Tribute Hall

• Triumphs
  • The Tribute Hall Triumphs “The Emperor’s Gladiator” and “The Scoundrel in Uniform” no longer require you to equip a full set of Leviathan gear to progress
  • Players will now earn more points based on the number of gear pieces worn, similar to other Triumphs
• Tributes
  • Players will no longer be able to place the Tribute Hall introductory tribute on an alternate character to gain credit for a large number of tributes placed
  • Players who accessed the catalyst or emote rewards through this method will have those items relocked until they place enough unique tributes to meet the actual unlock requirements

Iron Banner

• Iron Banner pursuit objective values have been adjusted
  • Reduced the grenade kills required by 50%
  • Ally grenade kills are now worth as much as your own
  • Reduced the Sword kills required by 25%
  • Ally Sword kills are now worth as much as your own
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to equip Season 3 Iron Banner ornaments on their Season 7 armor
• The Wolf’s Favor will no longer drop from daily and weekly Iron Banner challenges
• Fixed an issue where the Triumph “Efrideet’s Gift” was not unlocking for players who earned enough Iron Banner rank-up packages during Season 7
  • This fix is retroactive; it will get players up to speed who have met the requirements

Menagerie / Chalice

• Heroic Menagerie now drops a Sword for first-time completion (100%)
  • Subsequent completions have a moderate chance to drop a Sword (25%)
• Fixed an issue where the Triumph “Drink Deep” would not unlock for some players who claimed the Masterwork slot on the Chalice of Opulence
• Fixed an issue where players could become stuck in the Season of Opulence intro quest by unlocking the first rune slot on the Chalice before completing the Lost Sector The Conflux and being on the correct quest step
• Imperials and runes can no longer be earned by idling through matches of Crucible and Gambit

Truth Quest

• Replaced the step of the Truth quest chain requiring the bounty “Corsair Down” with a step requiring completion of three patrols in the Dreaming City
• Fixed a bug where players could become blocked from earning Truth if they opened the Ascendant chest in the strike “Warden of Nothing” before being on the appropriate quest step

General

• Fixed an issue where completion notifications would not appear after players completed bounties
• This will also fix an issue where players would sometimes not spawn during a Crucible match