Yesterday there was word of a new PlayStation handheld, today it’s talk about a Fallout: New Vegas 2, both rumors that won’t ever go away until they become true. Here’s what you need to know.
A new branch titled "newvegas2" was added to Fallout 4's backend, and was made visible to players after an update on April 4. Think of software and game development like a tree. The trunk is the game itself, and developers can create branches from that trunk to work off of without tampering with the actual project, or stepping on the work of another developer.
Since this “newvegas2” branch is connected to the trunk of Fallout 4, the speculation is that the game’s next gen update, that was announced last fall with an intended launch sometime this year, will feature new content around New Vegas. Specifically, content featured in Creators Club third party mods initially developed by fans.
While the branch has since been either deleted or properly hidden from users, that hasn’t stopped people online from speculating about a New Vegas sequel. Considering that Microsoft now owns the IP holder of Fallout, Bethesda, and the developers of the original New Vegas, Obsidian, the company has literally all the pieces to make a New Vegas 2. There’s even interest from involved parties to do so, with head of Obsidian Feargus Urquhart telling Gamepressure in January, "Of course, if we ever got the opportunity to make another Fallout game, we'd make it."
Unfortunately for New Vegas fans, Urquhart confirmed in the same interview that Obsidian does not currently have a Fallout game in development, lending further credence to the theory that the mysterious "newvegas2" branch is strictly related to an upcoming Fallout 4 update, and likely unrelated to a remake or sequel of Obsidian's 2010 RPG.
Going back to yesterday’s PlayStation handheld rumors, which made mention the device would include controls akin to a DualSense controller with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, it seems the company might take things to a completely other level with a potential DualSense 2, with a new patent application that suggests Sony is looking to implement temperature feedback into its controllers.
The company has filed a patent application for a material that can simulate temperature feedback to its controllers in order to reflect what is going on during gameplay. The controller would feature a malleable membrane for its exterior rather than the hard plastic of traditional controllers.
Not only could this membrane change shape based on what was occurring in the game, but an electrical current could pass through it in order for the user to feel a simulated change in temperature. This material would also allow for better, more precise haptic feedback than the current material of the DualSense.
While this all sounds cool in practice, what I’d rather simply have Sony invent is a DualSense controller with decent battery life.
