Adversary Modes, Daily Objectives and More New Updates Also Coming to GTA Online March 10th

Adversary Modes, Daily Objectives and More New Updates Also Coming to GTA Online March 10th

Next week, Heists will deliver a brand new gameplay experience to GTA Online, offering players the chance to team up to take down big scores. Alongside this massive new addition comes a range of new features and enhancements to make the entire GTA Online experience bigger and deeper.  Adversary Modes bring three new kinds of competition to GTA Online while new Daily Objectives and other Freemode activities bring new life to the hectic streets of Los Santos and Blaine County.  Here's a rundown of just some of the new features and additions launching next week alongside Heists that will continue to expand and augment the world of Grand Theft Auto Online.

NEW ADVERSARY MODES

These brand new player vs. player modes bring a range of intense new competitive challenges to GTA Online. Adversary Modes will unlock as players progress through Heists.

Come Out To Play
A team of three Runners just trying to make it home, and a team of Hunters are out for blood. Runners are well-armed but limited to movement by foot, while the opposition wield free-aim shotguns and ride motorbikes or ATVs. Hunters must stay on their bikes and have access to unlimited lives, while the Runners have just one life but all their weapons available to pick off the Hunters at will. 

Siege Mentality
Up to four players stand their ground, outnumbered but not outgunned as they fight to survive against up to 6 determined attackers in a location defense mode, GTA style. Attackers have unlimited lives but fight only with sawn-off shotguns. Defenders have full use of all their weapons. 

Hasta La Vista
The chase is on as Truckers in big rig cabs hunt down a team of Cyclists. The Cyclists' goal is simple: reach the final checkpoint without getting crushed under the wheels of the pursuing trucks. Without traditional weapons the Truckers must rely solely on their vehicles to crush the Cyclists. Meanwhile, the Cyclists must harness the manoeuvrability and acceleration of their bikes to evade the trucks, while keeping an eye over their shoulder. If one of the Cyclists reaches the checkpoint, the Cyclists win. If all Cyclists are terminated, the Truckers prevail.

Daily Objectives
The Los Santos daily hustle just got a little more lucrative. Whether you tend towards Jobs or free-form activities, Daily Objectives will give you a rotating series of challenges to take on for GTA$ rewards. With three new objectives per day, players can stack up challenges over consecutive days to earn bonuses of up to $500,000.

New Freemode Activities
You and your fellow players also have new opportunities for cash and RP rewards with new activities added to the world in Freemode. Be on the lookout for calls from Lester, who may need help to distract the cops in a specific area while Lester’s accomplices finish their criminal business. Lamar may call looking for help destroying a vehicle or two, while Trevor and Ron need occasional help picking their business rival’s planes out of the sky. Along with GTA$ and RP bonuses, there are all-new Awards available for completing these challenges with style.

There's also a new in-game Email notification system that will allow you to contact and message any of your GTA Online friends, no matter what session they’re in - as well as a host of new Awards that yield new items including exclusive t-shirts and car modifications.

Everything detailed here will be added to GTA Online for consoles in tandem with Heists on March 10th and on day one for PC when it launches on April 14. Stay tuned to the Newswire for more news, including our suggestions on how you can ready your crew to take down scores when Heists launch next week.

Elite Dangerous is coming to XBox One

Elite Dangerous is coming to XBox One

Microsoft announcements at GDC 2015

·         The Xbox Live SDK for Windows 10 that provides developers access to many Xbox Live services currently available on Xbox One is coming soon to a broader set of developers.

·         The Windows Universal App Platform means any developer can create a single project to target multiple devices, easing the process for game developers to bring content to more people.

·         With the Windows Store, developers will now have the ability and flexibility to deliver content across PCs, console, tablets and phones, reaching more than 1.5 billion people.

·         The Universal Development Centre is the developer portal to building and delivering games to the Windows Store.

·         DirectX 12 enables PC developers to have a new level of power and control and is a single API developers can access across devices. Announced today, Epic is creating “Unreal Tournaments” on Unreal Engine 4 running on DirectX 12, which set a new bar for visual fidelity in PC gaming.

·         All wireless Xbox gaming accessories will be designed for and supported on both Xbox One consoles and Windows 10 PCs.

·         “Elite: Dangerous” from Frontier Developments is coming to Xbox One this winter.

·         ID@Xbox will be expanding the program to enable developers to target all Windows 10 devices, including future ones like HoloLens.

·         A partnership with Motiga will bring its first game, “Gigantic,” to Windows 10 and Xbox One.

Millions of people use Windows every day, and they spend countless hours playing all kinds of games - from World of Warcraft and League of Legends to Minecraft andMinesweeper – on a variety of devices, whether they are PCs, laptops, tablets, or phones.

Gaming with Xbox has always been inherently personal and social – your games, your friends, your triumphs and stories. But moving from your console to your PC or phone is a challenge. We saw an opportunity to bring your gaming networks on the console and PC together. Most commonly, the game you play on Xbox doesn’t allow for multiplayer play with someone on the PC. And your gaming legacy only lives on one device or the other.


This morning at the Windows 10 media briefing, Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox at Microsoft, shared the company’s vision for gaming on Windows 10 and Xbox One. With Xbox on Windows 10, we’re bringing some of the most exciting features from Xbox Live and some of the most popular Xbox experiences into Windows 10 itself. The built-in Xbox app is the place where your world of gaming comes together. It’s a unified view of the games you care about, your friends, and your gaming activities. And with Xbox Live, more than 50 million members will now connect across screens in new ways.
“Over the last 13 years, Xbox has been focused on creating and expanding great gaming and entertainment experiences on console. We’re incredibly proud of the Xbox One and are fully committed to ensuring it’s the best place to play console games in 2015 and beyond,” said Spencer. “Now, we are also bringing that same focus, passion, and commitment to gaming on Windows 10, enhancing the PC games and gaming devices you already love, including the Xbox One. We’ve listened and learned from our past efforts in PC gaming and I am excited about what the future holds.” 


Let’s take a closer look at what this means for gamers. Here are some highlights of the news announced today at the Windows 10 media briefing.

• The Xbox App. Whether you only game on the PC, the console or both, the Xbox app brings together the most important aspects of your gaming life: Games, Friends, Messages, Activity Feed, your gaming legacy with Achievements, and much more.
• Xbox Live and multiplayer across devices. Xbox Live is social, interactive, and seamlessly integrated directly into Windows 10, bringing gamers the experiences they love across devices, like multiplayer gaming on Windows 10 against players on an Xbox One, and messaging and chat with friends. And developers will get full access to the Xbox Live API, making it easier to create more powerful gaming scenarios across devices.
• Game Streaming. Thanks to the deep integration of Xbox on Windows 10, games on Xbox One can be streamed through your home network to your Windows 10 PC or tablet, anywhere in your house. Xbox One gamers will now be able to play many of their favorite console games on their PC. And many Xbox One accessories will work interchangeably on the console and PC (with more on the way), so you can customize your experience in whatever way you see fit.
• DirectX 12. We’ve enhanced our graphics technology to squeeze every ounce of performance out of your supported hardware and open up a new wave of innovation for high-end graphics. Delivering greater complexity and detail on your current PC, games authored or updated for DirectX 12 are able to run faster and have richer visuals. And this technology is already in the hands of developers today. The engines used to power hundreds of games are implementing DirectX 12, including Unreal Engine 4 from Epic and, as we announced today, Unity.
• Game DVR. On Xbox One, one of the most popular features used by gamers is Game DVR, which gives simple access to recording, editing, and sharing out your most epic gaming moments. It’s not easy or consistent to do that for PC games today. We’re bringing this beloved feature to Windows 10, now accessible by simply pressing Windows+G. With the games you love playing – whether on Xbox Live, Steam, or other services – you can record, edit, and share game clips with all your social networks.
• Fable Legends. Today we announced that we are bringing Fable Legends to Windows 10 PCs, day-and-date with the Xbox One version in 2015.  This means Fable fans running Windows 10 will be able to play against their fellow gamers on Xbox One. It’s the same game, in the same world, on the same map. Fable Legends is just the first of the major game franchises from Microsoft Studios coming to Windows 10 and we will have more to share in the coming months.

In the next week, anyone will be able to download the Windows 10 Tech Preview to begin interacting with an early version of the Xbox app. We’ll post a video walkthrough of the app in the coming weeks so you can have a closer look at the initial features available to gamers.



Now, while Xbox is coming to Windows, Windows 10 is also coming to Xbox One. As you know, Xbox One runs on Windows today for its app environment. Later this year we’ll update to Windows 10 to enable seamless interaction with PC gamers and to give developers who want to extend their applications to the television an easy path to do so.
Today marks a new era in gaming for Microsoft, and we’re looking forward to sharing more about what Windows 10 means to Xbox One at Game Developers Conference in March. 

New Avengers: Age Of Ultron brings the Vision

New Avengers: Age Of Ultron trailer brings the Vision

A brand new trailer for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron finally has given fans a glimpse of The Vision.

Watch the brand new trailer for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron below.

Project Morpheus Prototype unveiled

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT UNVEILS THE NEW PROTOTYPE OF “PROJECT MORPHEUS” – A VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM THAT EXPANDS THE WORLD OF PLAYSTATION®4 (PS4™)  New Prototype Enables Developers To Immerse Players in Amazing Virtual Worlds Project Morpheus To Launch In The First Half of 2016

Tokyo, March 4, 2015 – At the 2015 Game Developers Conference held in San Francisco, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) unveiled the new prototype of “Project Morpheus” (Morpheus) - a virtual reality (VR) system that takes the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) system to the next level of immersion and demonstrates the future of gaming.  Morpheus enables players to experience a sense of presence, where they feel as though they are physically inside the virtual world of a game. This unique VR experience was met with huge interest and industry enthusiasm since the unveil of Morpheus in March 2014. Over the past year SCE has been listening to feedback from both developers and consumers, and has made several enhancements that will further the capability of Morpheus to deliver a sense of presence and push the boundaries of play.  OLED display In exchange for the 5-inch LCD, the new Morpheus VR headset is equipped with a 5.7-inch 1920 x RGB x 1080 resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of view and enables low persistence, removes motion blur and flicker, both of which build immersion and help deliver the sense of presence for the player.  120fps output By adopting OLED, Morpheus now supports 120fps output, and is able to render 120 images per second. Furthermore, via a system software update, all PS4 systems will handle native 120fps output when connected to Morpheus. By combining the OLED display’s high refresh rate and the power of the PS4 system, Morpheus produces amazingly smooth visuals and achieves the next level of immersion.  More accurate tracking and reduced latency To make positional tracking more accurate with PlayStation®Camera, the new prototype has added three more LEDs to the headset for a total of nine. Morpheus continues to support 360 degree tracking, and additional LEDs improve robustness and stability. Additionally, the overall system has been optimized to reduce latency between the physical movement of a player’s head and rendering on the headset’s screen.  User-friendly design While inheriting the original visor style headset design that reduces the pressure on the players’ face, the new Morpheus prototype features a single band and a quick release button, which makes it easier for players to put it on and take it off. Other components have also been adjusted and configured to make the headset lighter, so that players do not find the headset cumbersome or uncomfortable to use.  Developers will be able to use the new prototype to create Morpheus content for PS4, a robust and well-defined platform that has sold over 20.2 million units*1 within 16 months of its launch. In addition to the enhancements, the new prototype will continue to support 3D audio and social screen, a feature that outputs the same gameplay that’s within the Morpheus headset to a TV so additional players can interact. Furthermore, SCE will provide an SDK that converts 60fps images to output in 120fps, which will allow developers to bring their content that was being developed on the prior prototype to the new Morpheus prototype.  SCE will continue the development of Morpheus in order to launch as a consumer product in the first half of 2016.  “With the technical specs achieved on the new prototype, we are one step closer to realizing our vision for making amazing VR experiences on PS4, and ultimately to deliver a real sense of presence to players,” said Shuhei Yoshida, President of SCE Worldwide Studios. “We believe that the near-final technology of Morpheus combined with the power of PS4 will provide a standard for game developers to target as they build on their creative ideas and turn them into VR games and experiences.”

Seventh Son: Film Review

Seventh Son: Film Review

Cast: Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Olivia Williams
Director: Sergei Bodrov

The fantasy genre gets another entrant with the potential start of new franchise being kicked off with Seventh Son, the first entrant in series The Wardstone Chronicles.

Though, based on the execution of the first one, it seems unlikely any further books in the series will be adapted onto the big screen.

Barnes is Tom Ward, a seventh son of a seventh son and who suffers from hallucinations. The main focus of those - Jeff Bridges' John Gregory, the local spook and knight protector of the vale whose raison d'etre is to fight the demons who haunt their kingdom.

When the previously imprisoned Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore, all crimped red hair and bedecked in Maleficent style garb) escapes, Gregory realises that their world is in mortal danger. And having lost an apprentice to Malkin, he seeks out Ward to join his quest and save the day...

Seventh Son is such a mash-up of other elements and CGI that it barely proffers enough to stand out on its own two feet.

Following familiar fantasy tropes is all very well and fine (and many others of a similar ilk have done the same) but Seventh Son relies too much on the VFX to help it negotiate through the muddied waters of its unoriginality. The problem comes in the writing with it feeling like it's seriously underdeveloped in places in favour of simply showcasing the FX once again.

Of the main cast, Barnes is forgettable as Ward (a crime for a leading man); Vikander puts a rare foot wrong with the love interest (due to a lack of chemistry even though there is a literal spark between the pair); Moore is two shades away from pantomime dame in her crimped hair and Gothic outfit (and suffers the indignity of being made out to be a major threat before being summarily dismissed with ease) and an eccentric Bridges seems to be channeling some kind of four score and ten years ago -Yoda-like voiceover for his character as the Spook, the last of his kind and prone to the few laugh-out-loud putdowns scattered throughout.

With its training ideas and set up, Seventh Son is very much a film that wants to launch a franchise, but it's unlikely we'll see more of The Wardstone Chronicles. While it's not badly executed overall, its distinct young adult tones are evident from the start and don't help it to soar when it should - and certainly by taking things too seriously, the film doesn't work.

There's very much the feeling that Seventh Son would sit among Harryhausen's catalogue if he was still alive, but a lack of script and character development cuts down Seventh Son before it's even had chance to reach its prime.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB review - Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Whiplash and Boyhood

Newstalk ZB review - Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Whiplash and Boyhood

This week's reviews take in oldies and the films from the Oscars.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-the-second-mediocre-marigold-hotel/

Focus: Film Review

Focus: Film Review

Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro, BD Wong
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

The con is back on in Will Smith's latest.

Well, a rom con anyway.

Smith is Nicky Spurgeon, a veteran con-man who takes newbie Jess (Robbie) under his wing and into his bed for his latest scam. But when the two part ways and reunite by chance three years later, their meeting could cause all kinds of problems for either side.

For a film with as generic a title as Focus and with a subject matter of con-men and heists, this latest heist flick entrant into the pantheon does little to distract you from its sleight of hand trickery as the cat-and-mouse game plays out.

Packaged up into a pristine shimmer with many backgrounds and scenes looking like they're straight out of adverts, there's very little to shake your attention away from the flimsiest of plots and lightest of characters.

With the likes of Now You See Me, American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street, Ocean's 11,12 and 13, The Hustler and others ringing in your ears, you know nobody is to be trusted (hence shattering any kind of illusion before it's started) and no lines are simply thrown away for no reason whatsoever (in fact the denouement's resolution is mentioned early on if you know where to look)

But the joy of Focus comes from seeing Smith hustling as an ultra-slick veteran conman out to score big; there's a thin crackle of chemistry between him and rookie pickpocket wannabe big timer Jess (a star cementing turn from Robbie) whose naïveté sets you off mark to begin with; (it is, after all, a conman caper, and everybody is on the make, surely)

There's a minor fizzle that never quite froths over in Crazy Stupid Love's directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's handling of Focus' action as it swirls from one moment to the next.

But like any magic trick or smart con, the real thrill is supposed to come in the chase.

However, a healthy detachment from any veracity to anyone's comments and a once-over-lightly touch for the main leads actually holds the film back from achieving some of the tension it occasionally strives for.

And at times, it's a real struggle to love - or even like - Smith whose weariness requires effort to engage with; as opposed to Robbie whose infectious and effortless charm is self evident from the moment she's on screen. Equally, the tubby comedy relief offered by one of Nicky's cohorts played by Adrian Martinez - which speaks volumes that a supporting character's better written than anyone else.

That and the fact the heists are more fun and a little more convincing than the two lead's story.

(And don't the best heist films work when you care about the protagonists?)

That's not to say a couple of sequences don't stand out in Focus.

These include BD Wong's extended cameo at a high stakes bet at a football game and an initially puzzling sequence with a goon sent for Nicky which really see the film focus in on what it does best, by sharpening the elements and giving you something to really drill down to. Which is the inherent problem of Focus - you're expecting the bait and switch at any moment, which cripples it and the two halves of the story don't quite gel together as perhaps they should.

Ultimately, Focus is a frothy style over substance tale, complete with the smooth upbeat jazzy music you'd expect of its genre and the resolution you can see a mile off, rather than a smart last minute pull-the-rug-from-under-you Eureka moment.

The greatest con Focus will be able to pull will be convincing an audience into either loving it or remembering it days after it's done.

Rating: