Last year at QuakeCon, Bethesda Softworks announced Prey. A game that caught the attention of everyone involved as the events of what happened aboard the space station Talos I. The games full reveal at QuakeCon left to a breathtaking scene of horror, survival, and suspense as Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Dishonored 2) applauded this new intense title.
With their announcement, Bethesda Zenimax confirmed that Prey will launch on Friday, May 5th, 2017 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Those whom decide to pre-order the title, will be able to receive the exclusive Cosmonaut Shotgun Pack. Players will also be able to enjoy three Neuromods they can take advantage of their adventures with and even use a Fabrication plan to create the Shotgun as well as the ammo.
Rest assured, we look forward to the games release, and will put our review out soon as we are able to. So stay tuned.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
At QuakeCon 2016 I got to meet up with my pal Oshry and the team at New Blood once more to get my hands on the up and coming highly addictive titled Dusk. If you were at the event, you know exactly one I am talking about, and it’s one that left us all craving for more.
The title as stated in our previous article is one that offers a respectful nod tot he days of DOOM, Quake, Heretic, and even games such as Blood: A Whole Unit. If you haven’t already been checking it out? You definitely should have it on your radar in the upcoming days.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
At QuakeCon 2016, we were lucky to sit down and interview Dennis “Thresh” Fong who has been known for his great achievements as both a competitive gamer in titles such as Quake, Quake II, and QuakeWorld. He has also been known for his adventures that have lead him into working in gaming social media such as the once famed VoIP client XFire, the ever-extremely-popular, Raptr.com gaming service and his newest project Plays.tv that acts as the Instagram for gamers.
As one of the most intriguing and controlling players in Quake history, Dennis “Thresh” Fong revolutionized what it was like to be a control based player in Quake, and even push players to their limits. He was and is also known for his standard in using the WASD keyboard standard for movement. In 1997 Thresh revealed how good he is, how good he can be, and how great he will be always remembered for as he continues on in gaming as well as business. His greatness is deserved as he has now become the second inductee into the Esports Hall of Fame. You can see his induction video below as well as our one on one interview with him about his vision as an eSports gamer and a businessman.
Dustin:Your achievements in the pro-league, before pro-leagues existed, have been a really important thing as for me as a gamer in the competitive edge. One thing I did notice is, I had to go back and read because I didn’t realize your joint-adventures continued post Quake. What really, cuz I know you did XFire and I know you’ve done Raptr, I actually use Raptr, it’s a really cool service. Do you foresee Raptr continuing to grow towards not just social media integration, but even further out than that beyond Twitch, Daily Motion, and other services?
Thresh: Yea, I mean, with Raptr, what we’re focused on right now is our new service called Plays.tv. Actually, ever product and company I started was to solve my own personal frustrations as a gamer – most of the time. Y’know, I always felt that PC gaming, the community was kind of neglected by the developers. Not so much anymore, Steam’s obviously much, much better than it used to be, but we built stuff for me basically. Plays.tv is basically like an Instagram for gamers. Where you know, most people, I feel like live streaming is so much work.
I don’t think I would have ever really live streamed, but I would have used a service like Plays.tv to share cool moments while I was playing.
Dustin: Like getting that triple kill or team wipe?
Thresh: And to make it really easy to do that. So a lot of people don’t know Plays.tv for all the top games like League, Counter Strike, DotA, and Rocket League. It automatically records every kill, death, assist, triple kill, whatever key objective, and creates clips for you that are already pre-edited. Not only can you go back and watch your play and see what you did wrong, or if you did great, you can share it. From like doing something cool in a game to sharing it at the end of a game takes less than 10 seconds.
Dustin: That’s going to be one thing I’m pretty sure of us here that game know that perspective of. I do a little bit of PlayStation 4 gaming, I do a little PC, I do a little Xbox Gaming also.
Thresh: It’s like the Xbox auto-capture.
Dustin: One thing,we know there has been some hardships. Can you discuss some of those hardships? I know XFire was one of them since it got shut down. Can you discuss that?
Thresh: So that had nothing to do with me, actually. So I started XFire in 2004, MTV/Viacom bought in 2006. This is the hayday of Xfire, when it was the most popular kind of social communication tool.
Dustin: I used it when I played World of Warcraft
Thresh: Exactly. Sold it in 2006, I left in 2007. The XFire that you know that is around today, the XFire that has been around for 8 years, had nothing to do with the original team. I heard it was shut down, but it had nothing to do with me. I believe they were doing some tournament related stuff with it.
Dustin: I probably stopped using it around 2008, I probably actually Uninstalled it by then. I was probably already using the Steam overlay by then.
Thresh: But XFire, we invented overlays, we invented buddy lists where you could see what your friend are playing, invented joining your friends in a game with a click. We are proud on all the stuff we created and invented. But, since basically 2007, certainly by 2008, none of the original team that built the thing, had anything to do with it anymore. So that’s probably why it started declining after we all left.
Dustin: Once the content updates, not so much content, but the hotfixes for the integration tools I noticed a lot of people stopped using XFire. It just kind of died all of the sudden, it wasn’t over time, but it was almost instantly.
Thesh: But yea, that had nothing to do with me. *starts laughing*
Dustin: I figured I would ask that, because I know that was one thing you were involved with, but I honestly didn’t have a lot of time to research into that.
Thresh: Yea, nope, I was involved in creating it obviously. And it got bought, and then we all left.
Dustin: With a perspective of pro gaming. I know it started with you. It is truly even recognized, you started it all. How do you feel where it’s gone to this point? Where it’s gotten to these big leagues like ESL, Twitch.TV leagues that just pop up, Call of Duty pro leagues; how do you feel about what you started? This overall giant empire of pro gaming.
Thresh: Yea, I mean, as I said, I always dreamed it would be as big as it is now. But I always thought it was inevitable. There was never a moment where I was like this thing isn’t going to happen. I actually thought, it’s just a matter of time. It’s still incredible to see what’s happened in the past 3-4-5 years; we’ve really seen it grow. Personally, I think a lot of the credit goes to Riot because they invest very heavily into production values of building a story. Because you know, when I follow most professional sports, it’s like the arch of the entire season, and the trials and the tribulations that the team or your team experiences through it; and the individual players and their struggles; and triumphs. That’s what makes sports: sports.
But eSports for a long time, was like “Oh there’s a tournament here, and there’s a random tournament here, and another one here.” Like, it’s not necessarily the same players that attend each one. So like, who’s the legitimate champion when someone – the guy who couldn’t make it out to Denmark or something. But where as with Riot, it’s like, all the teams are pretty much all the same teams through almost an entire season. They have splits. Y’know, they spend a lot of money. I think it was like last year, I think they spent $100 million dollars on eSports. A $100 million dollars.
Dustin: That’s just mind blowing.
Thresh: Yea, it’s mind blowing, but if you look at the production value, it’s just like professional sports. They have directors, producers, analysts, dozens of people, like, just like a NFL broadcast practically. So yea, it’s come a long ways. It’s pretty cool to have been apart of it when it was growing.
Dustin: Especially with the LAN-Parties I know you’ve attended. I mean, that’s, how many years hooked like how they were and now the fact it could be online or in person.
Thresh: I mean, I was playing online too. I mean, that’s when I first started playing online gaming was online. It wasn’t actually networked. DOOM was one of the first you could be online. It was kind of what got me hooked in the first place.
Dustin: That’s what got a lot of us started. One thing I’ve noticed that’s really important with gaming, I know, we were talking before the interview started about games in general. With titles like Overwatch, stuff like that, you’re seeing people literally binge on it. Especially because of matches going anywhere between two minutes, to twenty minutes, to thirty minutes. With people who are binge gaming, not on just PC, but also on consoles what would you say to these people that are actually practicing? What advice would you give to actual pro-teams that are younger, if you had to give them a number one tip on time framing?
Thresh: I would definitely all gamers, really, take more breaks. I remember very distinctly my parents would tell me it all the time and I would not do it. I mean, I think the chances of listening to that advice is close to zero, honestly. This is what I found in almost all aspects of life, particularly when it comes sports and eSports. There is something to be said about natural talent, and natural talent to me is a combination of, not just like intuitive. Like there is certain people who are more intuitive, and learn; and improve better than others. There is like uber competitive.
Dustin: You see players now. I’ve watched several like OpTic_Nadeshot, I don’t know if you who OpTic_Nadeshot is. I’ve watched him and some of their coaches, I know like football players, they will sit there and watch what they did wrong.
Thresh: Like that, everyone should do. What I’m saying is actually, eSports is not that different from professional sports in the sense that there is very few people that have the talent to become a pro. Just because you love games, doesn’t mean you can be a pro or that you’re good enough. What I have found is, there are certain people that are pro level gamers that are good at almost any game that they put their minds too, right? It’s not necessarily because of the way they practiced. They just have something. Just like Michael Jordan had something special, Tiger Woods had something special. These top players just have something, the way that you view the game is different, the way that you improve their game subconsciously it’s at a different level than most people.
Dustin: It’s like yours, I know you were real strategic, I know I watched a lot of your gameplay. Growing up we didn’t have YouTube and stuff like that. I know when I was learning to play Quake, I didn’t learn till around the time YouTube started coming up. Then you saw gamers starting to post on there. I remember seeing several of your gameplay’s and you would starve your opponent. I noticed that was your tactic. You would starve, hit and run, and keep them starving for anything. ‘Cus you would take damage, grab a health pack, grab a rocket launcher, go grab pistol if you had to. I noticed that was your specialty was starvation of an enemy player and keeping them hurting the entire time.
Thresh: Yea, my play style was, y’know, was basically a control based play style. Y’know the thing that I had, more players have today, but what I focused on was not necesarily just control, but you know, people used to call it “Thresh ESP.”
Dustin: I’ve actually heard that term before *Laughing with Thresh*
Thresh: I didn’t coin it, someone else did. I have very strong ability to predict what my opponents are thinking, doing, and feeling. That was actually natural. Like, something I actually didn’t practice consciously. It’s just – I could feel it. I actually believe everyone in this world has some kind of super power. Something that they are just innately, naturally really really good at. Then something about games in general. Like some people just have really really strong empathy or they are really organized or whatever. Everybody has something. Mine happens to be that and it translates really well to gaming.
Dustin: Your talent seems not just to be gaming, but also seems business and outreach not just with business, but even gamers.
Thresh: But if you think about that, it’s my super power. I learned it, I figured out when I was younger – I could see and feel things through other peoples eyes without consciously without spending brain cells trying to figure it out. When I talk to you, I’m not thinking what you are thinking, but I can kind of. Just, it happen naturally. So it translates to gaming, because I’m like ‘if I were in his shoes, what would I be thinking, doing, and feeling? Am I starting to crack?’
It’s all happening in real time without thought. It’s just intuition. It translates into business as well because, if you’re trying to partner with somebody, what do they care about? If you’re trying to talk to users – what do users care about?
Dustin: It’s like what you said with Raptr. It’s like that deal. It was personal frustrations, but it linked with everybody that games. You’re definitely one of those, you seem like one of those that like with how Smite does spring, summer, winter, and a lot of their teams stay together.
Thresh: Yea. Like DotA2, those super teams form, then they disband. I don’t care who wins DotA2 to be honest. It’s a huge prize. The money that doesn’t make me watch this stuff.
Dustin: It’s the pride?
Thresh: It’s the people. The personalities. That’s what ultimately matters, right? DotA2 I can’t keep track of, who’s who, who is what – it feels very mercenary to me. I personally think it does eSports a disservice.
Dustin: Before we finish, I definately want to thank you for everything you’ve done, not just for casual gamers that play competitively, but for everything that you’ve really built, not just the pro, but even interactivity through Raptr, through xfire when you were apart of that. It’s an amazing thing that you’ve accomplished and helped us gamers be able to do. So thank you so much for that.
Thresh: Thank you, that’s very kind of you.
I want to give a very big thank you to Kevil Kelly of ESL and eslgaming.com for the opportunity of letting us meet with “Thresh”. We also want to thank Dennis Fong for his time spent to sit down outside of his extremely busy schedule so that we could interview him.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
When we think of QuakeCon, we think of a set number of things ranging from games to PC mods. What we don’t think about often? The hidden gems that manage to hit the showroom floor. These can be things as small as titles such as Strafe, which reflects upon its roots as a shooter only to visit titles like Shadow Warrior 2, which are much bigger in name. Among these games, however, was a game hidden in a corner with a single demo station – Dusk.
Published by New Blood Interactive, Dusk is developed by a single creator by the name of David Syzmanski. His upcoming indie project is one that doesn’t stand heavily within the shadows of the other games there, rather Dusk propels itself forth as it follows in the bullet-hell style game we’ve come to know from Quake and DOOM. That’s if they had an obscenely blood hungry child that crept behind the corn rows in some farmers field(Children of the Corn meets DOOM or Quake anyone?).
The game stays true to those aesthetics, but where it truly shined? Was the games endless horde mode, which was presented to us on the QuakeCon showroom floor. The title’s mode provided players with an ever-growing challenge as hordes grew stronger, more volatile, and weapon resources would grow slim. At one point? I even stood by while watching a Cody run through the game in 40 waves, which set him apart from everyone there, but what came out pleasing about the game? It stood true to what I knew. Having once more met up with my distant pal Dave Oshry, I gave the title a whirl. There I sat down in the rather comfy black and red DXRacer, which matched the games shirts that were handed out, and even the games musical number (Classic heavy metal anyone? Thank Andrew Hulshut for the badass riffs that played if you were there to experience it).
While sitting in the chair, it was time to crack my fingers, tune everyone out, and get my blood bath going. My opening seconds started out as expected – pistol, shotgun, a few enemies, and a lot of item grabbing to do before all Hell broke lose. Within those minutes I found myself quickly grabbing up an assault rifle, hunting rifle, a rocket launcher of sorts, and some armor known as “Mercy”. With these items? I began to pound my way through enemies – dispatching them one by one. As I did? The difficulty began to ramp up while moving through the waves. The amazing part? I couldn’t put the game down as all of this became familiar. WASD to move, weapon will to change weapons, and “J” to jump.
While the floor was empty, there was a brief moment where I pulled myself from the immersion I found with this highly addictive title. The single player mission was much to my expectation. Use the weakest weapons in the game, kill a few enemies, and move on towards my final goal. This meant exploring a rather creepy as Hell farmhouse, which creaked with each passing second. Enemies would lie in wait for me to open doors, take a few cheap shots, and almost kill me every time. Other moments it was calmer, allowing for a brief sigh of relief while restocking ammo, health, armor, and once more moving on.
The thing to take away? The game was fresh, it was original, and it followed perfectly in the steps of the first-person shooters we grew up to. This is where Mr. Szymanski should be able to rejoice as his independently developed title could quite easily join the tyrants of the FPS legacy and become a mainstream title for PC gamers to enjoy. As of now? The title sat in a few early pre-pre-pre-alpha build. For now? We’ll just have to wait and see what New Blood Interactive has to say about the upcoming title.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Alas Quakecon 2016 has come to an end – It was a great three days. When you first walked into the exhibit hall you were at a stage where you could compete in the DOOM “Unto the Evil” Death Match Tournament. The screens were set so spectators could watch the action from the front of the stage – it is a great DLC that I will have to get here soon.
Credit: David Murphy | Build Credit: Cyberpower PC/Thermaltake
Thermaltake had their booth decked as usual. We’ve been looking at expanding our reviews to do more PC gaming and at the beginning of our adventure – the Thermaltake Core P5 Case had my interest. Once our adventure ended – the Core P3 case became the case of choice. Shannon Robb was a tremendous help in closing our decision. He had a P3 set up very close to what we’d been speccing and it will work perfectly for what we know.
In the back of the exhibit hall Bethesda had a short Doom and Fallout 4 VR example you could play. One that relied on the HTC Vive. I had never tried to play a game with the Vive VR headset. Those two games are excellent normally, but the VR took it to a whole different level of intensity. It will be a must down the road when they are available.
The people of DXRacer were there again this year. I love the look of their chairs. I sat in several during the event. These gaming chairs are special – they are made in many sizes with a decent enough price range between each type. I found two, both of which I really liked and took notes. Later this fall we are going to order one and do a review on it. We will start with how hard it is to assemble and then a follow up on how it is holding up and how we feel about it.
Credit: David Murphy | Game: Dusk by New Blood | Chair: DXRacer
There were several new games there again this year. The one that caught my eye was Dusk by New Blood Interactive. It’s a fast paced first person shooter – one, in which, I loved the retro look and feel of. There isn’t much story, but there is a lot of stuff that needs killed.
There were several seminars we attended. All of them were well thought out and the panels very informative as to what went into gaming, development, and story writing. We will have articles on those in the coming days.
When you’re at QuakeCon you always have to go by Modders Inc – the builds they have on display are always top notch and the best of the best on the floor. I love going over because I can ask whatever question I have and they try to answer it. They’ve never treated me with the look of “that was a dumb question”, and I know I’ve asked several of those. Instead they are happy to share their knowledge so you can do your build and just enjoy your PC builds and gaming.
Credit: David Murphy | Booth: Modders Inc.
We did see three games coming up that will have to be on the get list. We saw trailers for Prey, Dishonored 2 and Quake Champions. All three of these looked great. Dishonored 2 will be out this year on 11/11/16 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Prey and Quake Champions is a bit further out. I can’t wait to see more on these titles.
Last, but not least, I want to thank all the people and sponsors that put this on each year. Without the companies like Alienware, Bethesda, id Software, DXracer, Nvidia and everyone I missed, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy this.
About the Writer:
David Murphy is B.A.T.G.R.’s behind the scenes man who helps get things up and going as well as keeping things in order. Don’t be surprised to know that the old man contributes rather heavily to editing, news, and information he digs up so that editorials as well as articles are done properly. He also likes Fallout… A lot. We’re not sure he’s not secretly the Vault Boy in disguise.
It’s a nice day here in Dallas, Texas, one that has brought hundreds of gamers together to move among the crowd in unison. With plenty of games to see such as Dusk by New Blood, Shadow Warrior 2 as well as Strafe by Devolver Digital, DOOM (2016) on Vulkan API, and even The Elder Scrolls Legends for fans to enjoy. Among the group of vendors, exhibitors, and showings, Bethesda has once more brought the largest LAN party in North America together again. With games such as Dishonored 2, Fallout 4 VR, DOOM VR, and even Quake Champions on the way, the lineup is huge for fans to expect.
As the event opens, we are given a warm welcome by Tim Willits, a man that brings the event to life with Pete Hines. With much of this, we’ve learned that there will be upcoming panels, giveaways, and even more as the weekend gets underway. As a kickoff, we are introduced to many of the sponsors for the event such as AMD, Nvidia, id Software, and many more as the event begins to come to life.
The focus this year isn’t just at what makes QuakeCon live outside of the fans, but it’s also the fact that fans have come across the country to make this happen – the fans that serve as volunteers. With QuakeCon remaining as big as it is, we learn that it’s not just the fans and teh volunteers, but the vendors, the companies that want to get their product out. The community itself is what helps make this event live the way it does.
As the stage lights up Pete Hines, VP of PR & Marketing steps out onto the stage. As his opening speech begins, he welcomes in the volunteers for this year in order to recognize them for their hardwork they will do. With games coming up in the VR booths such as The Elder Scrolls: Legends, which is upcoming for PC, Android, MAC, and Linux. Guess what makes this even better? The best part? It’s going Open Beta for PC as of today. Yes, that’s right. All you have to do is head over to the website in order to play the game.
As this news breaks? Pete goes on to let us know that Prey will be getting a new trailer here at QuakeCon. Doing so we are given a glimpse of a screen opening up to display the future we will see. One that is grim, dark, and troubled as our protagnist walks out, pistol in hand, our character? Morgan warns us about what is happening – a nightmare that is happening – a place where their is no room for uncertainty, there is no room for mistakes – this is the reality and humanity is lost. To fix it? Someone must die in order to save humanity. As the trailer ends, Pete once more comes to stage to inform us of the that the QuakeCon Trials are once more live. This includes Fallout Shelter on PC, Dishonored, DOOM, and even the Elder Scrolls: Legend.
With DOOM having released this year, they have announced that DOOM’s Eye on the Prize, which just reuqires attendees to wear a DOOM shirt. That’s all- it’s that easy. With DOOM also being the big game, the SnapMap Jam also gets underway starting Friday and Saturday between 12-4pm. With it being a big title, there’s prizes to win. With this news? Attendee’s will also be getting this free in order to enjoy the new content. This also comes with news of sales that include games up to 60% off for fans that don’t have them.
This news also comes with what donations people make by purchasing games through Amazon or partners will go to partners of theirs. With this news ending, Marty Stratton takes to the stage in order to talk about what’s going on with id Softwares latest work on DOOM. With DOOM being a critical acclaim by the press, the fans, and more. They recognize both forums and critics, but also the development team for the games success. As he discusses this, he also recognizes the fans love and passion for what they have worked on. He takes note the game has been getting a good size amount of new and additional content as it comes out. Some of this includes the new multiplayer DLC 01 called “Unto the Evil” releasing today and will be playable by those who have been waiting for it. The pack includes new maps Cataclysm, Offering, and itual. All Hell themed maps. One is a new weapon called the new Kinetic Mine and the AUC EMG pistol and the new Demon titled “The Harvester”, which many will remember fro the base game.
The screen dims, we get a look at Dishonored 2, giving us a look at a world much different than the one we had gotten to know. With whales in the water and a boat headed to shore titled the “Dreadful Wale”, we’ve gotten a glimpse of what has happened to the world. With the future of the city gturning grim, we once more get to learn we will be under taking the roles of Corvo for this mission view in the world set before us. His future is grim, dark, but memorable as he once more gives glimpse of his skills as an assassin using his weapons and his teleport entitled “Blink”. We’ve also gotten a glimpse at his capabilities as a figther. This includes abilities such as possession, his ability to take over the enemy, but also his ability to sneak past his foes. As his assination target comes into play, we learn that Corbo remains as a master assassin in a world that is grim, a world that is dark, and quite easily troubled. With slow time remaining possible, his chance to be as deadly as ever remains true. His enemies? Set aflame with his incendiary bolts before being taken out by Corvo.
Like before, the verticality in the world plays a major role as Corvo displays his need to continue his status in the world. To right wrongs, and to fix what has troubled the world around him. His combat prowess is deadlier than ever as he takes out his target Paolo, as he assists his new group – the Overseers, which players can side with. Dishonored 2 will be out November 11th. As the gameplay comes to an end – Pete Hines reminds us that the imgarey that people take with the cameras and phones is not allowed. As he finishes Raphael Colantonio and Ricardo Bare come to the stage to tell us about their upcoming title – Prey.
For those new to the game, it is a much different take on the title we knew before. Prey this time takes place on a Space Station titled Talis 1, one where a new project has gone underway, but as it does? Something has gone wrong: Aliens have invaded. These Aliens are hunting our main protagonist. With the game being open world, we’ve learned that the game will take the approaches we’ve never seen before, which doesn’t change much from the direction we could have imagined. The beauty of it? The world is deadly, it is alive, but it is also barren of the world where we wanted. A lockdown has occured, which leaves our protagonist fighting enemies such as weapons, but we’ve learned that weapons are rare, they aren’t as easily obtainable as one would hope.
This gives the element of ideology that the world of it exists. We’ve learned players will grab new abilities called Neuromods. This will allow players to upgrade their character to fit their playstyle as they do. The upgrades can be made by human while some can be directly learned from the aliens themselves. With weapons such as the Gloo Gun being capable of being around, we’ve learned the game will make it so that the player can freeze enemies in place, use an alien power, and even turn ourselves into things such as coffee cups with the Mimic ability. The Gluu gun itself can also be made for players to create their own path as they explore the world around them. With enemies around the corner, players will have to be readily aware for combat with weapons such as the shotgun, which can bring players down to fighting for survivability. With a weapon and ability wheel at their disposal, fans can easily get underway with what they are doing. A weapon titled the recicyling charge, players can gather ingredients to craft what they need. This also can open up paths they will need in order to explore the world around them.
Prey in this era will change heavily from the one we knew, and even become its own entity for players to enjoy. It will be a game that sets into a genre that fans of Bioshock, Dishonored, and even System Shock will enjoy quite a bit. Especially with items being fabricated for their use. Prey is a promising glimpse of open exploration of freedom as the demo takes us forth into outer space, where players can see a place to explore – an open world scifi experience that requires awareness of O2 and their supplies to keep alive. Abilities can be upgraded for players to use, making them more effective, more powerful, and even attract the attention of deadly enemies. This will be a game that will be a must have for PC, Xbox One, and PS4 owners when it launches in 2017.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
With its 21st year underway, Bethesda Softworks and id Software have announced that they will be helping give back by hosting several charitable organizations in order to help give back to the communities around them. This year they have announced they will be teaming up with the American Red Cross, 1Up on Cancer, Dallas Pets Alive, and Extra Life.
“We’re honored to host these amazing charities at QuakeCon this year,” said Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing, Bethesda Softworks. “Giving back to the community is extremely important to us, and we’ve got a wonderful group of attendees that come to QuakeCon year after year to lend their support to great causes.”
With the largest BYOC LAN Party in North America under their belt, Bethesda Softworks and id Software will host the organizations at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas starting Thursday, August 4th through Sunday, August 7th, 2016. Lets take a look at how you can help, what these charities look at doing, and what they are about. We know we will be donating to help out the communities we love and know.
The American Red Cross will be collecting blood to provide lifesaving contributions to people in need during the critical summer months. Attendees who wish to donate blood can sign up with an American Red Cross representative onsite in the Topaz room from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6. Donors who take part in the Blood Drive will receive a limited edition Bethesda Softworks t-shirt to honor the donation, while supplies last.
1Up On Cancer, a gaming community-based non-profit organization dedicated to direct financial assistance for adults in the United States undergoing cancer treatment, will be in booth #703 in the Exhibit Hall.
Dallas Pets Alive, a local non-profit dedicated to promoting and providing the resources, education, and programs needed to eliminate the killing of companion animals, will be on hand with adoptable dogs and raffles of various prizes, including signed merchandise and a custom Vault-Tec™ Animal Friends Xbox® One. Attendees who adopt a pet or contribute a charitable donation will receive “Vault-Tec Animal Friends” Frisbee while supplies last. Visit Dallas Pets Alive in the Exhibit Hall (booth #701) throughout the event.
Extra Life, a peer-to-peer fundraising group that raises money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals through the power of play, will be in attendance raising awareness at booth #702 in the Exhibit Hall. Players can visit http://www.extra-life.org/team/quakecon2016 to register an account and join the QuakeCon 2016 Team to join a group effort to raise $10,000 during the weekend.
As they continue to express appreciation with their ability to give back, Bethesda Softworks has announced they will be offering a QuakeCon Sale in partnership with Amazon.com in order to help benefit GameChanger. They have also announced they are also supporting a cure against paralysis by also helping battle cancer by teaming with with Conquer Paralysis Now, the leading authority on spinal cord injury research and treatment committed to finding a cure for paralysis. Beginning August 2 through August 8, all digital PC Bethesda titles and a number of others will be on sale with a portion of the proceeds benefiting both organizations. For full details on the QuakeCon Sale and a complete list of the deals, be sure to visit Amazon.com/quakecon on August 2.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
QuakeCon 2016 is almost upon us. The show will undoubtedly herald in a higher anticipation than ever for some of their upcoming titles that have already received a heavy round of applause. On August 4th, at 10am CT, the doors for QuakeCon will open, welcoming in thousands of the publishers fans from all walks of fandom. Remaining open till 12pm CT on August 5th, fans will prepare to see a rather large kick-off at 3PM CT where they will open up the show with the highly anticipated title Quake Champions only to give attendee’s some exclusive gameplay presentations of their recently announced Prey and the follow up title Dishonored 2.
If you can’t make it in time for the Thursday presentation? Arkane Studios’ Harvy Smith and Raphael Colantonio will return to the Ventrillo stage on Saturday, August 5th, where they will lead up with encore presentations of both Prey and Dishonored 2 for another exclusive look at the game.
Along with these presentations, Bethesda has announced that attendee’s will have a chance to experience DOOM‘s multiplayer, Fallout Shelter for PC, and the in-beta title The Elder Scrolls: Legends. In addition to this, players can also head down to the Exhibit Hall where they can get their hands on Bethesda VR. While down there, attendee’s can also meet up with featured exhibitor events, exhibitors, and sponsors for the event.
If you’re looking for something to do Friday and Saturday – look no further. Bethesda is offering the opportunity for attendee’s to see their developers as well as industry personalities discuss the importance of creating entertainment, giving fans a behind-the-scenes looks at went on behind the scenes with the development of DOOM and much, much more. Take a peak at the full list below. If you are attending? Head over and download the official QuakeCon App on your Apple, Android, or Windows mobile device to ensure you don’t miss a thing! The app will contain a full listing of daily events and will be continually updated throughout the show. It’ll be updated over the course of the event.
If you can’t attend? Don’t be worried, you aren’t being left out, you can head onto Twitch.tv/Bethesda for live streaming of select panels and presentations, as well as Twitch.tv/QuakeCon to watch all of the official QuakeCon tournament action in real time. So stay tuned for our coverage as we will be covering the event live at QuakeCon with constant article updates, and possibly some live interviews!
Before we wrap up, we want to give a special thanks to all the support that both id Software, Bethesda Softworks, the exhibitors, the 2016 event sponsors, and all of the Volunteer Staff give for the event to happen. If you are interested in attending, head on over to http://registration.quakecon.org, and pre-register now. For more information on QuakeCon 2016, you can check out: www.quakecon.org.
Official Schedule
(Please note: All times listed are Central Time.)
FEATURED EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Thursday, Aug 4th
Annual QuakeCon Welcome
3:00pm | Streaming Live from the Ventrilo Main Stage
Friday, Aug 5th
Panel: Uncapped: DOOM and the Power of idTech 6
Moderated by Marty Stratton, Game Director
2:30pm – 3:30pm | Sapphire Room
· Sit down with members of id Software’s technology team (Robert Duffy, Chief Technology Officer; Billy Khan, Lead Programmer; Tiago Sousa, Lead Rendering Programmer; Shale Williams, Technical Specialist) to get an inside look on how they drive technology decisions and push the limits on graphics, framerates, and performance.
Panel: Creating Worlds: A Discussion About Bringing Life to Games, Movies, and Books
Moderated by Andrea Rene and Geoff Keighley
3:30pm – 4:30pm | Streaming Live from Topaz Room
· Join Hugo Martin (id), Harvey Smith (Arkane), Ricardo Bare (Arkane), Andrew Reiner (Game Informer), Scott Porter (Actor), and Rick Malambri (Actor/Streamer) as they discuss the creative process and differences behind entertainment.
Fast as Hell: Live Speedrun
Moderated by Bethesda’s Global Community Lead, Matt Grandstaff and id’s Peter Sokal (Gameplay Systems Designer) and Kurt Loudy (AI Gameplay Designer)
4:30pm | Streaming Live from Sapphire Room
· Watch as record-holder DraQu puts his world class speed-running abilities on display while playing DOOM running on Vulkan.
Master Pancake Theater
9:00pm – 12:00am | Ventrilo Main Stage
Saturday, August 6th
PC Perspective Hardware Workshop
10:00am – 12:00pm | Streaming Live from the Ventrilo Main Stage
· Get ready for two hours of prizes, games, and raffles during the annual PC Perspective Hardware Workshop
Panel: Creating Hell: The Art and Design of DOOM
Moderated by Adam Sessler
12:00pm – 1:00pm | Sapphire Room
· Join key members of id Software’s development team (Marty Stratton, Game Director; Hugo Martin, Creative Director; Shinichiro Hara, Animation Director; Jerry Keehan, Level Design Director; Chris Hite, Audio Director) to get a unique look at creating and designingDOOM’s epic single-player.
QuakeCon Attendee Exclusive Presentation of Prey and Dishonored 2
2:00pm | Ventrilo Main Stage
Panel: Bringers of DOOM
Moderated by David Houghton (GamesRadar+)
3:00pm – 4:00pm | Streaming Live from Topaz Room
· Join DOOM’s senior leadership team (Marty Stratton, Game Director; Hugo Martin, Creative Director; Robert Duffy, Chief Technology Officer) as they share stories about their journey to bring DOOM to a modern audience. Learn about their reactions to the post-launch acclaim as well as get an exclusive look at never-before-seen production assets and art.
Official QuakeCon Tournament Finals Party!
6:00pm | Streaming Live from the Ventrilo Main Stage
QUAKECON TRIALS
Participants in this year’s QuakeCon trials will need to complete five unique goals tied to DOOM, Dishonored, The Elder Scrolls Legends, Fallout Shelter, and Quake Champions for a chance to win raffle tickets for Ventrilo ‘Ultimate Power Up’ sweepstakes. All participants will also have an opportunity to win $5,000 during the QuakeCon Finals Party. The QuakeCon Trials will be held Thursday, August 4th – Saturday, August 6th from10:00am – 5:30pm in the Exhibit Hall. Visit booth #212 to register.
FEATURED TABLE TOP VILLAGE ACTIVITIES
Table Top Village will be open for the duration of QuakeCon (Thursday, August 4th at 10am – Sunday, August 7th at 12pm) and the full schedule of events will be available on the Official QuakeCon App.
FEATURED EXHIBIT HALL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
This year’s Exhibit Hall hours, exhibitors and sponsors are listed below. In addition to the schedule of events above, the Exhibit Hall’s Alienware Event Stage will feature numerous presentations and activities from our 2016 exhibitors and sponsors. The full Alienware Event Stage schedule will be available on the Official QuakeCon App.
Exhibit Hall Hours:
Thursday, August 4th: 10:00am – 6:00pm
Friday, August 5th: 10:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday, August 6th: 10:00am – 6:00pm
QuakeCon 2016 Sponsors
Alienware (Premier Sponsor)
AMD (Premier Sponsor)
BenQ America Corp. (Premier Sponsor)
Corsair
CybertronPC
DXRacer (Premier Sponsor)
iBuyPower
Fatal1ty
HTC VIVE
Intel (Official Tournament Sponsor)
Magic Box
NVIDIA (Premier Sponsor)
Razer
Ventrilo (Premier Sponsor)
QuakeCon 2016 Exhibitors:
· 1UpOnCancer
· Alienware
· Altex Computers and Electronics
· Attic Space Games
· BAWLS Guarana
· BenQ America Corp.
· Bethesda Softworks
· Catalyst Mints
· Cheshire Cat Studios
· Corsair Components Inc
· CPU Magazine
· Dallas Pets Alive
· Devolver Digital
· DXRacer
· Extra Life
· FSP Group USA
· Glitch Gaming Apparel
· iFixit
· Inspired by Nerd
· Modders, Inc.
· New Blood Interactive
· NVIDIA
· Roll2Play
· SolarFlare Games
· Steam Knight
· ThermalTake USA
· Think Geek
Attending? Let us know, we’d love to meet up, and talk!
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
David Murphy is B.A.T.G.R.’s behind the scenes man who helps get things up and going as well as keeping things in order. Don’t be surprised to know that the old man contributes rather heavily to editing, news, and information he digs up so that editorials as well as articles are done properly. He also likes Fallout… A lot. We’re not sure he’s not secretly the Vault Boy in disguise.
