Adam Pavlacka reports:
''Over the years, various games and game genres have made the jump between the PC and the console. Often this results in ports that are near-identical to the original game. Other times, it results in tweaks to the underlying engine in order to try and optimize the game for its new home. Usually it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Of all the genres to make the move, real-time strategy, or RTS games have always suffered on consoles. Sure, Starcraft was an awesome game on the PC, but trying to shoehorn its control system onto a controller for Starcraft 64 wasn't exactly a shining moment in the Nintendo 64 library.
Acutely aware of the issues faced in the past, the team at Ubisoft's Shanghai studio decided to rethink what it meant to be an RTS when they decided to develop a new property for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Rather than stick with longstanding genre conventions, the core elements of an RTS game were distilled out and used as a starting point to build Tom Clancy's EndWar with a console in mind. After getting the chance to play a few rounds, it appears that the gamble is paying off.
The biggest hurdle for console-based RTS games has been the lack of a mouse. The de facto standard on a PC RTS, a mouse allows players to quickly select a group of units, issue an order, and send them on their way. On the console, such functions have previously been relegated to the analog stick and action buttons. It's a combination that works, but it's not the most elegant solution on a controller born from an arcade heritage. For EndWar, the developers simply got rid of the analog stick.''
The PlayStation Network is back again for its weekly sale which currently features games from the Tom Clancy franchise like the recently released Rainbow Six Seige and Splinter Cell Blacklist.
The sale has a variety of titles spanning across the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita. The sale will be starting today and will run until next Tuesday 11:00 am. This is the time for gamers to give the tactical Rainbox Six Siege shooter a chance as you can save up to 45%.
Forget discounts,If they want to compete with EA Access, they need to bump up the AAA Games that are on the PS Store and on PS Now. There weren't a lot of games on PS Now that interested me, especially for that price point.
Let's take a moment and think about this..
Sony, I love you, but take notes! EA Access has a lot of extras that sound great if you’re looking for a new loyalty program, that blanket 10% off digital video games will definitely save subscribers some money if they’re big fans of Electronic Arts’ video games. Users who purchase a brand new Electronic Arts Xbox One title a month will break even on that first game, saving $6 off a $60 purchase.
PSN store trying to compete with EA Access? What nonsense!
Total different things!
And they need to bump up the AAA games on the PSN store? What? All the AAA games can be bought on the PSN store.
And no, PS Now is also not trying to compete with EA Access, again something else entirely...
And no, EA Access is not good value at all if you do not live in the US! They give 10% off on digital game purchases, MSRP of games is €70, 10% off means they are €63 but I can buy physical copies during initial release for between €50-55. Then there are a gazillion sports titles for free that I have no interest in. The games I'm interested in I already buy so don't need free copies a year after their release. The only nice thing about it is the 10 hours early access, that's it!
Ubisoft have today announced that Tom Clancy’s EndWar Online has completed its Alpha and is kicking off the Beta Test phase. The Closed Beta will start on September 1 and will run until the beginning of November and will come with two brand new commanders on each side, a brand new PvE mode called Special Operations, support for multiple characters on an account, a new VIP system and tons of additional improvements.
Ubisoft Shanghai have announced that after some great feedback from Part #1 of their On the Front Lines: A Fresh Start Developer Blog for Endwar: Online, they have begun to include some suggestions into Alpha Update v0.5.0, and have now released Part #1.5, in which the development team says that one of the biggest advantages of being involved in the Alpha Test is the flexibility.
