Horizon Forbidden West Has Gone Gold, Guerrilla Releases New Look At PS4 Gameplay

Guerilla Games has announced that Horizon Forbidden West, the upcoming post-apocalyptic sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn, has gone gold. To accompany the news, the studio released some new gameplay footage and screenshots from the PlayStation 4 version of the game. 

When a game goes gold, it means the version of the game being put onto discs has been finalized. However, as anyone that plays games today likely knows, Day One updates are quite a regular occurrence and while Forbidden West has gone gold, Guerilla is likely working on one for this title. That means that sure, when you pop in the disc on February 18, the game will be playable but Guerilla will likely want you to download that Day One patch for an even better launch day experience. 

We have some exciting news for your all: Horizon Forbidden West has gone GOLD! ✨#HorizonForbiddenWest #RiseAboveOurRuin pic.twitter.com/oRHDtDlxTI

— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) January 27, 2022

To accompany today’s news, Guerilla has released a new look at Forbidden West, this time on the PlayStation 4 Pro. Studio director Angie Smets said “in the past few months, we’ve shown you a selection of our brand new machines in action, as well as some of the locations and settlements of the vibrant tribes inhabiting the world of Horizon, all captured on the PS5 consoles,” but that today, Guerilla is sharing a “look at gameplay that we captured on the PS4 Pro console.” 

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

 

                                                                                                            

As you can see, Forbidden West still looks great on the PS4 Pro console. You can also visit Guerilla's blog post for a look at some gifs that show off PS4 Pro in-game footage, too. 

While waiting to play it on your console of choice next month, meet the cast of Forbidden West in this trailer and then read about how Guerrilla Games is taking Aloy to new places in Forbidden West. Check out these eight promising improvements coming to Forbidden West after that. 

---

Are you excited for Horizon Forbidden West? Let us know in the comments below!

Kardboard Kings Will Let You Live Out Your Card Shop Dreams When It Launches Next Month

Game Informer can exclusively reveal the release date for Kardboard Kings, a new game from developer Henry’s House and publisher Akupara Games. As the name implies, it’s a game about becoming, well, the Kardboard King. That means designing and running the world’s best card game shop, and you’ll be able to do this on PC (via Steam) on February 10. 

You’ll not only need to customize your game shop and continually up its customer base, but you’ll also need to keep players coming back by buying, trading, and selling the rarest and best cards. Of course, you’re free to put your favorites in your card binder just for yourself, though.

Click here to watch embedded media

 “You are the newest owner of a local game shop in the thriving town of Parakeet Bay,” Akupara Games tells Game Informer. “Live the ultimate card enthusiast dream. Collect, buy, and sell rare cards to drive your sales up and develop a bond with the locals to increase your reputation. Beautify your space by decorating it from a wide assortment of unlockable embellishments and awards to solidify your spot in the Kardboard Kingdom.” 

Oh, and did we mention there’s an adorable Pomeranian named Piccolo in Kardboard Kings? Because there is.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

 

                                                                                                            

 

Here are some of the features you can expect in the game when it launches next month: 

• Buy, trade, sell, or collect cards: Buy low, sell high, and store your favorites in your card binder. 
• Hundreds of cards to collect: Rip open booster packs or trade with your clientele to collect over a hundred different cards, each with different rarities (and shinies, too). 
• Manage a shop in an unpredictable market: You’ll need to manage reprints, ban lists, kids’ meal promotions, theft, and of course, condemnation from the church, to keep your prices attractive and profit-worthy. 
• A thriving card game community: Running a successful shop means befriending locals, finding the cards they need, and more to ensure they return to your card shop. 
• Customization galore: It’s your shop! Create your dream business with a catalog of walls, flooring, knickknacks, and more. 
• An intriguing story to experience: “All is not what it seems on the Seaside. A sudden appearance of a mystery patron has you wondering why they trust you with more than just information.” 

For more information about Kardboard Kings, be sure to visit the official website for the game. 

---

Are you going to be checking out Kardboard Kings next month? Let us know in the comments below!

Here's What Horizon Forbidden West Looks Like on PS4 Pro

As Horizon Forbidden West goes gold, developer Guerrilla Games has revealed short clips of the game running on PS4 Pro. While it's hard to judge performance from such a small sample size, the signs are encouraging.

On the PS Blog, Guerrilla's Angie Smets acknowledged that all previous footage had been from the PS5 version of the game, and revealed 3 clips of the game running on last-gen hardware. You can one of those clips in the tweet below:

Horizon Forbidden West PS4 Pro gameplay showcases more of Guerrilla’s vibrant world as the game goes gold.

Join Aloy on her new adventure on PS5 and PS4 on 18th February: https://t.co/8ZBkzGKc3J pic.twitter.com/vb0aIDEZta

— PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) January 27, 2022

The clips show three separate parts of the game: Aloy walking through the Utaru tribe's Plainsong settlement, a fight against Clamberjaws in a woodland, and a separate fight against Bristlebacks featuring Aloy using multiple pieces of equipment.

Even amid Twitter and gif compression, the game appears to scale down impressively for PS4 Pro. However, Sony hasn't gone into detail on what the missing or downgraded graphical elements will be, and hasn't shown the game on a base model PS, so it remains to be seen exactly how impressive the cross-generation efforts have been.

Having gone gold, we'll be seeing the game arrive on February 18. We recently played four hours, saying that it's "shaping up to be a fulfillment of all the promises made by its predecessor."

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/horizon-forbidden-west-ps4-gameplay

Uncharted Devs Seem to Want to Make Another Sequel: 'It's a World We Want to See More Of'

Uncharted creative director Shaun Escayg has hinted that developers at Naughty Dog would like to make another sequel in the blockbuster series, saying that it's a "world we want to see more of."

As part of an interview with GamesRadar, Escayg offered fans a slight hope that perhaps there could be more to come from the Uncharted franchise when speaking about his thoughts on the topic.

"I think we can say for certain that we can never say never. Yeah. Uncharted is a franchise we love – that the studio loves. I love, and [Uncharted: The Lost Legacy director Kurt Margenau] loves. It's a world we want to see more of. So I can certainly say that," explained Escayg.

While the creative director didn't share any studio secrets, and certainly didn't confirm that a new Uncharted game is on its way, his comments will have left Uncharted fans hoping that there's a chance the series could make a return beyond remasters.

Recent reports indicated that Days Gone studio Sony Bend had at one point been working on a new Uncharted project, and rumours had circulated for some time before that about a new entry in the series. Whether those rumoured projects have continued remains unknown.

Past Uncharted games continue to arrive in new forms, however – Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, which includes remasters of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, is due out for release on PS5 tomorrow, January 2, with a PC version to follow.

The game includes a variety of graphical updates including a Fidelity mode, which allows fans to play the game on a 4k display at a 30 FPS target, a heightened framerate patch that allows PS4 versions of the game to target 60FPS, and a Performance+ mode, which targets 120 FPS at a 108p resolution. To see how the game performs against those targets, make sure to check out our recently released performance review for the game.

While Legacy of Thieves may be the next Uncharted remaster to release it isn't the only Nathan Drake-themed content in the pipeline. Next month will see the theatrical release of Sony's Uncharted: The Movie, starring Tom Holland (Nathan Drake) and Mark Wahlberg (Victor Sullivan).

For more from Uncharted, make sure to check out this article revealing the secrets behind the series' best chase sequence.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/uncharted-devs-make-another-sequel-world-we-want-to-see-more-of

Xbox Changing How It Handles Renewals for Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold in the UK

Xbox is changing how it handles automatic renewals for both Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold subscriptions in the UK, after the government got involved. It's not clear if those changes will be made in other regions.

The changes by Microsoft were revealed as part of a report (spotted by Eurogamer) following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the video game sector that highlighted a number of concerns about Microsoft's online gaming services.

According to the CMA, the concerns related to Microsoft were particularly focused on the company's auto-renewal processes and revolved around several key factors - whether or not the company was clear upfront that its subscription contracts would renew, how easy it was to cancel or turn off automatic renewal, and whether people may not have realised that they were still paying for the service long after they'd stopped using it.

As per the report, the CMA has stated that Microsoft has undertaken a number of voluntary arrangements to improve its Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold auto-renewal services, which include the following changes:

• Better upfront information: Microsoft will provide more transparent, upfront information to help customers understand their Xbox membership – making clear, for example, that the subscription will auto-renew unless the customer turns off auto-renewal; when the subscription will auto-renew; how much it will cost; and how the customer can receive a refund after an accidental renewal
• Refunds: Microsoft will contact existing customers on recurring 12-month contracts and give them the option to end their contract and claim a pro-rata refund
• Inactive memberships: Microsoft will also contact existing customers who haven’t used their memberships for a long time but are still paying. These customers will be reminded how to stop payments, and if they continue not to use their memberships, Microsoft will ultimately stop taking further payments
• Better information about price increases: Microsoft will give clearer notifications of any future price rises, and will ensure people know how to turn off auto-renewal if they don’t want to pay the higher price

Following the action from Microsoft, Executive Director of Enforcement at the CMA Michael Grenfell issued a statement detailing the need for companies to act in a similar fashion. "Gamers need to be given clear and timely information to make informed choices when signing up for auto-renewing memberships and subscriptions," explained Grenfell.

"We are therefore pleased that Microsoft has given the CMA these formal undertakings to improve the fairness of their practices and protect consumers, and will be offering refunds to certain customers. Other companies offering memberships and subscriptions that auto-renew should take note, and review their practices to ensure they comply with consumer protection law."

It's not clear if Microsoft will bring those changes to other markets, or if this will remain an approach specifically for the UK. We've contacted the company for comment.

For more recent news surrounding Xbox Game Pass, make sure to check out this piece detailing everything that's being made available on the service across this month.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-changing-renewals-game-pass-xbox-live-gold-uk