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For the sake of full disclosure I'm still exploring the original map from Fallout 4, and now Bethesda hits us with this galvanizing bit of news..a landmass in the Far Harbor DLC is slated to be bigger than Oblivion's biggest map (even though that game came out ages ago). Let the jaws hit the floor.

The biggest catch, or qualm rather, that I hold here is the fact Far Harbor will have less 'playable content' than Shivering Isles. Ah well, if anything we'll enjoy some better developed faction quests, more challenging creatures and dastardly dungeons and higher-level armor and weapons sets.

And the big 'ol bold news for Fallout 4 don't stop there, as I'm sure you know, survival mode hit PCs today alongside a new patch. Some of the notable takeaways with the new survival mode :

-Quicksaving and "almost" all autosaves are disabled; you will instead need to find a bed and sleep for at least an hour to save the game.

-Threats (outside of those added by a Recon scope) will not display on your compass; additionally, the distance at which areas of interest will show up has been "significantly shorted."

-You will also need to take care of yourself, staying hydrated, fed, and rested. Don't eat, drink, or sleep for a while and your health will deteriorate.

-Fatigue will affect your Action Points, meaning the more Fatigue you have, the less Action Points you'll have available for sprinting and using V.A.T.S.

Via: Gamerant

Far Harbor set to drop in May.

When one particularly perturbed Overwatch gamer named Fipps basically flipped the f**k out on a forum over the 'over the shoulder' pose (I mean hey, you're entitled to your own opinion..) the game's director made quick moves to say they'll be removing it in his official statement that reads, "We'll replace the pose. We want *everyone* to feel strong and heroic in our community. The last thing we want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable, under-appreciated or misrepresented. Apologies and we'll continue to try to do better.

And now, the pose in its full and unfettered, and highly controversial glory:



Next, a tidbit from the incendiary monolague unleashed by the outraged Fipps on the actual forum:

“What about this pose has anything to do with the character you’re building in tracer? It’s not fun, its not silly, it has nothing to do with being a fast elite killer. It just reduces tracer to another bland female sex symbol.”

“We aren’t looking at a Widowmaker pose here, this isn’t a character who is in part defined by flaunting her sexuality. This pose says to the player base, oh we’ve got all these cool diverse characters, but at any moment we are willing to reduce them to sex symbols to help boost our investment game.”

“I have a young daughter that everyday when I wake up wants to watch the recall trailer again. She knows who tracer is, and as she grows up, she can grow up alongside these characters. What I’m asking is that as you continue to add to the overwatch cast and investment elements, you double down on your commitment to create strong female characters. You’ve been doing a good job so far, but shipping with a tracer pose like this undermines so much of the good you’ve already done.”

What do you think? Are people getting 'butt-hurt' over a badass pose, or what? 

Yes, behold the latest alleged NX controller leak pics. They're definitely more of a sell than the last liberated, albeit ugly one. According to redditor perkele37, the one who posted these shots:

• Only the upper 'nubs' of the sticks move. The bottom part is static (kind of like the circle pad, but it moves along the bottom 'sphere.'

• The rollers on the top feel and look pretty much identical to a mouse scroll-wheel. Though I do don't believe this will be the final design.

• Haptic feedback is feels like Apples 'taptic' engine. Not like regular rumble.

• 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom.

Ubisoft has announced plans to build a 10,000 square meter (over 100,000 square foot) theme park in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From the Ubisoft Blog:

Have you ever played one of Ubisoft’s games and thought, “This is fun and all, but I’d really like to experience it as a theme park ride”?

I mean, no, not really, but sure, I guess.

The aim of the park is to "immerse people in reactive worlds where they can interact with each other and become the heroes of their own life-sized game,” according to Jean de Rivières, senior vice president of Ubisoft Motion Pictures. The park will feature rides and other attractions built around Ubisoft's franchises, which have not been named but are sure to include Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, something from Tom Clancy, and please God not Just Dance. which, according to Comingsoon.net will include Just Dance, Assassin's Creed, and Rabbids.

It's hard not to compare this theme park to Nintendo's similar announcement of Nintendo IP appearing at Universal Theme Parks earlier this year, which, if I'm being honest, seems like a far better idea. What about you; would you rather visit a Nintendo or Ubisoft park?

Nintendo has announced exclusively through Eurogamer that Pikmin 4 is not only in development, but nearly completed. The company did not specify what platform Pikmin 4 will be released on, though details about the new NX console won't be available until some time next year. Given that it's near completion, Pikmin 4 could be one of the last Wii U titles.

An interim patch for Batman: Arkham Knight on PC has finally been released, allowing PC players to get their hands on the game without crippling framerates. User feedback suggests all is going well with the new patch, which fixes the following:

Reduced frame rate hitches
Optimizations for system memory and VRAM usage
Improved performance on all GPUs (requires the latest drivers)
More Comprehensive In-Game Settings
Fixed low resolution texture bugs
Fixed hitches when running on mechanical hard drives (HDD)

More optimization is planned for the future, which will add more support and optimize the game for Windows 10. You can read the full patch notes here.

According to Finnish newspaper Kaleva, Lizard Squad member Julius “zeekill” Kivimaki has been convicted of 50,700 computer crime charges including data breaches, felony payment fraud, and telecommunication harassments in relation to his work with the group of hackers. Lizard Squad claims responsibility for last year's Sony PSN and Microsoft's Xbox Live DDOS attacks. He has also performed acts of SWATting, and harassed people by leaking their personal information and destroying their finances. Kivimaki, who is 17, has been given a two year suspended sentence and will have his internet activity monitored by authorities. 

In Finland, a suspended sentence delays a person's imprisonment while placing them on probation. At the end of the probationary period, if that person has not committed a crime, they may not be subject to imprisonment. Kivimaki's age is likely a factor in his sentence, though many feel the sentence is entirely too light for his crimes.

Daybreak CEO John Smedley, who was a victim of Kivimaki, had some choice words for the hacker on Twitter:



You tell him, Smedley! What do you think, should Kivimaki face jail time for his cyber crimes?

You know that mobile game you've only heard of because Kate Upton is in all its commercials?  I'm sorry to report that her reign is over; a new angelic set of knockers is about to descend upon the Game of War marketing scene.  

According to TMZ, 45 year old pop diva Mariah Carey is the new face of Game of War: Fire Age.  Her commercial deal is reportedly costing the company a full seven figure sum, which may not be too big of a spend given that the game rakes in more than a million dollars every day.  

Maybe if we're really lucky, Carey will pen a new song for Game of War.  If it's anything like her latest single, it'll surely get you in the mood for war:

The Oculus Rift is finally coming to consumers early next year, and included with it comes an Xbox One controller.  If that doesn't tickle your fancy, you may want to get your hands on their newly announced "Oculus Touch," a set of motion tracking controllers designed for 360-degrees of motion tracking equipped with a thumbstick, two buttons, a hand trigger, and an analog trigger.



The Oculus Touch can detect input from all of your fingers, and features shaking haptic technology to let you "feel" the objects you're touching.  If you thought you looked like a huge nerd using the Oculus Rift before, just wait until you see yourself using these things too.



Attendees of E3 next week will get to try these controllers out in person, while the rest of us will have to wait to get our mitts on them until Q1 of next year.

Nintendo finished the the fiscal year ending March 31 with ¥41.8 billion ($349.2 million) net income, above their forecasted ¥30 billion ($250.6 million).  Last fiscal year the company came in at a loss of ¥23.2 billion ($193.8 million).

Nintendo missed their shipment goals for Wii U and 3DS, moving 3.38 million (against a target of 3.6 million) Wii Us, and 8.73 million 3DS (9 million targeted).  Forcasted for the new year are 3.4 million for Wii U and 7.6 million for 3DS.

The Dead Island 2 team announced a delay to 2016 on Twitter today.  The game was originally slated for release this spring.  The full announcement is as follows:

We have always set ourselves a big goal for Dead Island 2: to create the sequel that takes Dead Island to the next level. A game that takes what our fans tell us they love about Dead Island – multiple different characters to play with, co-op, and turning a paradise setting into a zombie slaughter melee – and a game that adds a ton more content and combat options on top of that.

And we wanted to have all of that that done for release in Spring 2015.

We have been looking at the game long and hard, and we have decided we didn’t reach that goal we set out to achieve quite yet. This is why we have decided to delay Dead Island 2 to 2016.

Right now we are focusing purely on development, and we will have more info to share at a later stage.

We know that our fans will be disappointed by this news, but by giving Dead Island 2 more time we are confident that everyone will get a better game to play as a result.-Team Dead Island 2

A fourth Five Nights at Freddy's game titled "The Final Chapter" has been announced, and slated for release this Halloween.  I have my doubts that this'll truly be the final chapter, but I don't know for how many more games after that Freddy's body can hang on.  He's looking as loosely stitched together as this franchise.

Viscious Cycle has announced a new game based on the popular animated series 'Adventure Time.' The game is described as "an action-oriented twist on the graphic adventure genre..." And it will be focus on Finn and Jake solving mathematical mysteries in the land of Ooo. 

Lets just hope Viscious Cycle does justice to 'Adventure Time,' because the last game was just snoozeville. 

Westerado: Double Barreled is Ostrich Banditos’ homage to Spaghetti Westerns about dirty pasts, consequences and taking a hold of your future. When your family is murdered by a mysterious desperado, you set out into the world to take revenge. Take control of your own fate and that of others, all using your trusty shooting iron. If words aren’t enough to persuade a character, draw your revolver and see what happens. You can shoot whomever, whenever you like. Be an outlaw or a saint, explore the open world, meet a varied cast of characters and decide how you want your revenge story to unfold.