Technology - Google News

'Cyberpunk 2077' hands-on preview
What to expect now that AT&T officially owns Time Warner
Xbox VP Expresses Interest In 'Destiny 2' PS4-Xbox One-PC Cross-Play

'Cyberpunk 2077' hands-on preview

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 08:34 AM PDT

Research Center: Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 looks like the future.

That seems obvious, given the name – but I’m not talking about the setting. The future I see in Cyberpunk 2077, the upcoming first-person shooter-RPG from The Witcher series developer CD Projekt RED, is an unprecedented level of choice and consequence in RPGs. Cyberpunk cultivates an open-world experience where every small detail is perfectly curated to immerse you in a dirty neon city. It helps quite a bit that, even within a highly structured demo, it feels as if Cyberpunk imposes very few limits. You can approach every conversation and scenario however you’d like and perhaps, more importantly, it seems as if every system — from driving to dialogue to hacking to shooting — is well-considered and polished.

Simply put, Cyberpunk 2077 feels like a larger, more complete simulation than any game I’ve ever seen. If the game works half as well as its E3 2018 demo suggests, it should be at the top of your wish list.

Welcome to Night City

In Cyberpunk 2077 you control V, a cyborg mercenary living in the futuristic metropolis, Night City. While the game’s story hasn’t been revealed, it’ll certainly place you in the world’s very active, extra-legal underbelly. You’re the person people call when they need to break rules and get things done.

Though your name can’t be changed, everything else about your version of V is customizable. At the start of the game you set the character’s stats, fine-tune their appearance, and create their backstory. As in many RPGs, that customization does not end when the game starts. V will be able to acquire clothes that not only change your look, but also boosts your stats.

Cyberpunk 2077 feels like a larger, more complete simulation than any game I’ve ever seen.

Looking cool is synonymous with being powerful in Cyberpunk’s worldview — your character level reflects your “street cred,” and every action you take in the world feels like a maneuver, which makes sense considering that CD Projekt Red claims every dialogue choice you make will have an impact on narrative and gameplay.

More importantly, since you’re a cyborg, you can upgrade your “spec,” the cybernetic enhancements that provide a wide array of active and passive abilities. Some enhancements are as simple as showing additional HUD information, like ammo count. Other enhancements, like extendable blades that jut out from your arms, have more practical applications. Though we didn’t see any mechanical upgrades that changed V’s physical appearance, based on other characters in the world, such upgrades may exist.

It certainly looks the part

Night City is a classic cyberpunk neo-noir world. Giant companies called “megacorporations” hold all the legitimate power, and turn a blind eye to poor communities, allowing organized crime syndicates to become legitimate power brokers.

If you’ve ever watched, read, or played any stories that fall under the genre — Blade Runner, Neuromancer, Deus Ex, and the recent Netflix series Altered Carbon all come to mind — you’ll have a feel for the world right off the bat. If you haven’t, we think you’ll pick up on how the world works in a few minutes.

Even the smallest details, like the slang — shopkeepers who upgrade you cybernetic enhancements are called “ripperdocs” — helps establish a deeply developed world. One detailed I loved: Every consumable, from drugs to health recovery, is an inhaler. Use one, and the effect is immediate, with a bit of a kick. It feels efficient and brutal, like every aspect of this game.

What does it mean to be in control?

CD Projekt Red team says Cyberpunk 2077 is a game about control, and the fight to keep it. Though you have the freedom to act however you’d like, the game’s many systems and factions all apply pressure on you and try to force you to act the way they’d like.

Looking cool is synonymous with being powerful.

A large section of the demo revolved around an early story mission to secure a high-tech military drone, which has been stolen from Militech, a weapons manufacturing megacorporation, by a gang of body-modifying addicts called the Maelstrom. V’s commissioned to get the bot by Dex DeShawn, an underworld “fixer” who facilitates crime. He doesn’t care how you get it, just that you do, but he suggests V work through a Militech agent tasked with finding whoever stole the bot.

V chooses to pursue that option in the demo, which we’re told right off the bat is a risky maneuver because, upon arranging a meeting and surveilling the situation, the agent and her bodyguards are much higher level than V — she probably won’t be able to shoot her way out of this. Immediately the corporation puts the screws to V. She gets hacked, forced to take a lie detector test, and then pressured to handle the Maelstrom in a very specific way. Militech gives you a credit chip for 50,000 Eddies (the game’s cash) and asks you to pay them with it. On the one hand, that gives you a way to make a deal and pay for the bot, which seems helpful. As it turns out, however, the chip has a virus, and using it will force you to fight your way out of the facility.

This is where we talk about the shooting. Cyberpunk’s combat is incredibly sharp. Obviously, we can’t say for certain how it feels, but the gunplay seemed far more accurate and snappy than you’d expect from a game of this size and scope. It’s closer to Call of Duty than Fallout or Deus Ex.

V can stealthily attack unsuspecting enemies, killing them or hacking them by plugging a wire from their arm into their neck. Depending on the context, that may give you access to several tactical options. In the demo, V was able to unlock a door in the Maelstrom hideout by hacking one of the gang members.

There’s also a “loot” component to Cyberpunk. Guns and gear do have stats attached and fall into loot tiers. We saw an “epic” submachine gun, which had an added ability called ricochet targeting, that showed a UI guide that allows V to bounce bullets off walls.

Be prepared for consequences

Cyberpunk 2077 makes you feel that you can do whatever you like, but adds systemic and, dare we say, social pressures to restrict you. There’s a clear give and take. For every bit of help you get, the mission becomes a little more specific, a little harder.

You could ignore Militech entirely but then you’d have to just walk in and engage the gang head-on. You can also break your word. If you talk to Militech, but don’t use the chip, we imagine the corporation will either come after you or, at the very least, be more inclined to shoot you in your next run-in.

Cyberpunk 2077 Compared To

Everything eventually works out in the demo. You get to keep the bot in the end to sell to DeShawn, but as we said, it appears to be a very early mission. It’s safe to say jobs won’t always go so well.

There’s currently no release date for Cyberpunk 2077.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

What to expect now that AT&T officially owns Time Warner

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 08:16 AM PDT

AT&T yesterday completed its acquisition of Time Warner Inc., two days after a federal judge ruled against a Department of Justice (DOJ) attempt to block the deal. The DOJ could still appeal the ruling, but it agreed not to seek a stay pending appeal, allowing the merger to be completed.

You can expect more personalized advertisements as AT&T combines a major programmer with its DirecTV, home broadband, and mobile services.

By adding Warner Bros., HBO, and Turner to AT&T's TV and broadband services, the combined company will "bring a fresh approach to how the media and entertainment industry works for consumers, content creators, distributors and advertisers," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in the merger completion announcement. AT&T will "offer customers a differentiated, high-quality, mobile-first entertainment experience," he said.

“Firewall” between Time Warner and AT&T Communications

The DOJ's agreement not to seek a stay came after AT&T said it would maintain some separation between its old and new business units. Turner networks will be part of a separate business unit, which is distinct from the AT&T Communications division that operates DirecTV, U-verse, and the company's home and mobile broadband businesses.

"AT&T Communications will have no role in setting Turner's prices or other terms to unaffiliated distributors, and Turner will not consult with AT&T Communications in setting Turner prices or other terms for programming provided to unaffiliated video distributors," AT&T said in a letter to the DOJ yesterday.

AT&T also said that it "will implement a firewall between Turner and AT&T Communications to prevent the transmission or exchange, either directly or indirectly, of competitively sensitive information of unaffiliated programmers or distributors."

That separation won't prevent AT&T from using customer data gleaned from its broadband and TV services to sell more targeted ads, though. Internet users would have to opt out of targeted ads, because last year Congress prevented implementation of privacy rules that would have required home Internet and mobile broadband providers to get consumers' opt-in consent before using their Web browsing histories for advertising.

AT&T said it will have an advertising and analytics division that "provides marketers with advanced advertising solutions using valuable customer insights from AT&T's TV, mobile and broadband services, combined with extensive ad inventory from Turner and AT&T's pay-TV services," AT&T said in the merger completion announcement. Time Warner will become "AT&T's media business" and be given a new name, AT&T said.

AT&T could come up with new ways of packaging Time Warner content. Last year, Stephenson suggested that hourlong Game of Thrones episodes could be cut into 20-minute episodes for people watching on mobile devices.

AT&T, Verizon, Comcast expand into new businesses

AT&T buying Time Warner continues a trend of broadband and pay-TV providers getting deeper into the programming and advertising industries. Verizon purchased AOL in 2015 and Yahoo in 2017, for example.

Comcast, which purchased NBCUniversal in 2011, is now attempting to buy major portions of 21st Century Fox. Comcast made its offer for Fox the day after AT&T's court victory, saying that it is now "highly confident that our proposed transaction will obtain all necessary regulatory approvals in a timely manner."

The DOJ's lawsuit against the AT&T/Time Warner merger raised concerns about TV and broadband network operators controlling both distribution and content. As the owner of Time Warner programming, AT&T could raise prices on its rivals and hinder development of online streaming services that compete against cable and satellite TV, the DOJ argued.

But the government failed to prove that the merger would substantially lessen competition or that AT&T would use its ownership of premium content to harm rival TV providers, US District Judge Richard Leon's ruling said. AT&T had argued that it has no intention of limiting distribution of Time Warner programming.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Xbox VP Expresses Interest In 'Destiny 2' PS4-Xbox One-PC Cross-Play

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 08:39 AM PDT

I am quietly chuckling to myself as I can clearly see Xbox sensing a weakness in Sony in the wake of this Fortnite cross-play issue, and are now doing their best to try and needle them on similar topics.

Sony effectively tripped on the one yard-line of E3 when Fortnite players realized that not only could not they cross-play with Switch and Xbox One if their account was PS4-linked, but they couldn’t use that account at all on those other systems, namely the Switch, which many players have been dying to use to play Epic’s blockbuster.

Sony issued a weak statement about its large playerbase and dodged the account locking issue entirely, drawing even more ire, and now Xbox smells blood.

Xbox VP Mike Ybarra took to Twitter yesterday with a question:

“I’d love cross play with Destiny on PC, Xbox, PS. Would you?”

The resulting poll, which drew almost 30,000 responses, drew a resounding 87%-13 yes/no split, I have to imagine that a lot of nos were just thinking about PC players dominating on console (but it would probably just be like Fortnite where it just means console players can tag along on PC). I can’t imagine anyone actually doesn’t want cross-play between Xbox One and PS4, as there’s just no reason not to on the players’ end.

Ybarra went on to add after a fan question that he also supports cross-progression, meaning progress made on one platform would carry on to all others, something Fortnite has across all systems (except PS4), that Destiny doesn’t.

I find it rather funny that Microsoft is now needling Sony about this, because again, this only doesn’t exist because Sony doesn’t want it to, but also in this case there’s an added wrinkle.

Bungie and Activision have an ongoing blood pact with Sony that they have to make exclusive PlayStation content for Destiny and now Destiny 2. While Fortnite might have the odd PS+ skin, it’s a much different situation for Destiny, where cross-play would be made extremely complicated in that oftentimes strikes and crucible maps are PlayStation exclusive, meaning you would have to have fragmented matchmaking pools with Xbox players not “allowed” to access them. A new issue, but just a different form of Sony BS.

Bungie has not been quite as eager as Epic about cross-play in general, however. One thing fans have been asking for relentlessly is cross-save/cross-progression between the PC and console versions of the game, yet Bungie has yet to ever budge on that, and I don’t think that’s because Sony is opposed to it in that case. I think Bungie might be worried about security issues, ie. some exploit in PC then being able to infect the console game economy, but I’m not sure if those concerns are worth avoiding this issue, as I really would play a lot more if I was able to play on both PC and console with the same account. Instead, I just have one random PC Guardian I use sometimes that’s probably 20% as powerful as any of my mains because I don’t want to bother spending the time to build him up.

The Fortnite issue could end up having ramifications for Destiny, however. Part of the issue with Sony is that if they bend or break for Fortnite, that might open the floodgates and other games and their audiences all start demanding cross-play/progression as well. If Sony gives up, this could actually happen, though again, those complications remain with Sony-exclusive Destiny content, another reason that deal needs to die a fiery death.

We’re all waiting on a new, not-terrible response from Sony about this issue. I would not hold my breath about cross-play heading to Destiny, but the market is moving in that direction, so I suppose anything’s possible.

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Pre-order my new sci-fi novel Herokiller, and read my first series, The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook.

Let's block ads! (Why?)