Fortnite’s latest update has arrived, and this is going to be a fun one. The first thing you might have noticed is the versioning is slightly different for this release; it’s listed as v5.10 instead of just v5.1. That change is deliberate. “Our versioning strategy changed very recently so 5.10 is correct, then the next biweekly patch afterward would be 5.20, and so on,” Epic Games’ Neuronbasher explained in the subreddit yesterday. “A minor patch between 5.10 and 5.20 could be either 5.10.1 or 5.11, depending on things like whether a new client patch was necessary and other boring internal tooling details.” The latest update celebrates Fortnite’s first birthday with a fun event and brings back the popular Playground mode that made such a splash the first time around, and this time it has some interesting new features. But that’s not all that’s coming to the game in this patch. Let’s take a look at the full list of … [Read more...] about Fortnite patch v5.10 change list
90s music list
Spotify to launch new version of free music streaming service this month
SPOTIFY is set to launch a new free music streaming service within weeks that will be more like its premium tier. The upgrade will give users more controls over tracks and quick access to playlists on mobile, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. Currently, Spotify is split in two: there's an ad-free option that costs £9.99 per month, which helps the firm rake in over 90% percent of its £3.56 billion yearly revenue, and a free version that's used by the majority of listeners. Unlike paid users, those on the free service can't listen to every song in Spotify's library on-demand, but they can access its popular playlists and songs on shuffle. This model has worked a charm, helping Spotify become the biggest streaming service in the world, with 157 million users (71 million of who fork out for its premium tier). And the company expects to reach 200 million users by the end of the year. But it's also locked in a heated battle for ear drums against rivals Apple Music, Google's … [Read more...] about Spotify to launch new version of free music streaming service this month
StarCraft: The past, present and future
Back in the ‘90s, Chris Metzen had an idea for a new game. For the still-blooming Blizzard Entertainment, these were formative years. There was Warcraft as of 1994, but there was no World of Warcraft. There was talk about doing more real-time strategy, as the company was arguably getting good at it, and a keen interest in heading into space. Senior VP of Story and Franchise Development Metzen, along with present-day VP of Art and Cinematic Development, Nick Carpenter, was working on concepts for something new. It was a sci-fi, fantasy-driven epic — a story told in a far-out universe with a huge world and different factions. It was "badass," says Metzen. It was ... space vampires. "The rest of the team was like, ‘I dunno man, space vampires are pretty wack,’" Metzen says. "‘We want to do something a little broader’." A statue of Jim Raynor in the Blizzard offices Bloodlines, which Metzen wouldn’t talk about publicly until the 2013 release … [Read more...] about StarCraft: The past, present and future
Crash Bandicoot: An oral history
The first time Taylor Kurosaki and Bob Rafei saw a running PlayStation, they were in a Las Vegas hotel room. It was the 1995 Consumer Electronics Show. They, along with the company they worked for, Naughty Dog, were being given a behind-closed-doors look at Sony's first foray into the game console industry. When they describe the event now, they use words like "inspiring" and "enthralled" and phrases like "blown away." They didn't know it at the time, but the members of Naughty Dog in that room — Kurosaki, Rafei and co-founders Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin — were looking at the system that would host the team's next game: Crash Bandicoot. They were seeing the console their company would eventually create the unofficial mascot for — the console they would develop Naughty Dog's first smash hit for. It was Kurosaki and Rafei's second day with the company. Naughty Dog released Crash Bandicoot for Sony's original PlayStation in September 1996. In it, the team took an old … [Read more...] about Crash Bandicoot: An oral history
Indies In Development: This week’s most promising picks from #ScreenshotSaturday
Subscribe to PCGamesN on YouTube This is a golden age of videogames. More than ever before, people from all backgrounds are making games using freely accessible tools that industry pioneers of the '80s and '90s could only dream of. The only problem now is information overload; with more games than anyone could ever process, what are you to do? It's that time of the week again, and PCGamesN returns to help you cut through the noise, and tune your signal into some of the most intriguing experiments in the indie scene this week, one enticing image at a time. Check out the latest crop below, and check back next week for more. Plus check our our lineup from last week, January 14th, if you missed it! As with last week, these games are picked from the most recent roundup on the #ScreenshotSaturday tag, but if there's a better trailer available than the latest animated GIF shown, we may use that. Any or all of these games could be the next big thing. Here's some of the … [Read more...] about Indies In Development: This week’s most promising picks from #ScreenshotSaturday