https://stayclose.social/MillieBills9/ Latest updates from Millie Bills https://stayclose.social/blog/114214/activision-announces-record-financial-results-driven-by-success-of-overwatc/ Everyone remembers the games that changed everything. Wolfenstein 3D brought the industry into the 3D era, Final Fantasy VII made the PlayStation a direct threat to Nintendo’s empire, and Halo 2 brought online multiplayer to consoles. However, there’s not a recent game that sticks in player’s minds like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Infinity Ward’s risky leap into a modern setting ended up not only being one of the best games of 2007 but one of the most groundbreaking. The Modern Warfare's intuitive create-a-class, killstreak, and progression system forever changed multiplayer. To this day, recent Call of Duty titles still incorporates a version of this system. Now, in 2016, Activision and Raven Software are re-releasing a remastered version of the classic, but does it remain the ultimate Call of Duty experience, or has it aged horribly?


GAME OF THE YEAR Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment) Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment) Inside (Playdead) Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks) Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic) Honorable Mentions: DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (Thekla), Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic A


BEST TECHNOLOGY Battlefield 1 (EA DICE / Electronic Arts) No Man’s Sky (Hello Games) Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment) DOOM (id Software / Bethesda Softworks) Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment) Honorable Mentions: Inside (Playdead), Pokemon Go (Niantic), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witness (The


Finally, some general changes and bug fixes have been made to the overall game. Players will no longer lose progress on their On Fire meter, your first win won't count as a loss in career mode any more, and Sombra will no longer be able to get out of the playable area on Eichenwa


Today the organizers of the 17th Annual FPS Game Weapons Developers Choice Awards announced via press release the list of nominations for the ceremony, that will be held on Wednesday, March 1st at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center during the 2017 Game Developers Confere


The main highlight of the new patch is addition of the Horizon Lunar Colony . As the name suggests, this new map takes place on the moon, and is available to play in both quick play and competitive modes. This map was previously announced back in May with a trai


We want more heroes! Just please, please not another string-along ARG event like Sombra's release. The months and months of anticipation really killed the hype. But there is still hype! There are some heroes fans have been hyped about since the first Cinematic Trailer was released for Overwatch . In this particular trailer we get nods to heroes named Soundquake and Fusionator. In the center of all the action is Doomfist's gauntlet. And at the end we get a still image of some of our favorite founding members of Overwatch alongside some unknown faces. Some of these early hero concepts have been discarded, merged with other ideas to make heroes like Mei and Zarya, and some, we hope, are still in development. It's this mystery that feeds the hype. We've only heard about founding Overwatch team member Liao , and seen some secondary characters like Mirembe in more than one digital sh


On October 11, 2016, Blizzard launched its Halloween Terror event for Overwatch _ . The event included Overwatch's _ first-ever player versus environment game mode and a variety of new Halloween-themed customization items. The event drove even higher engagement and participation than the Summer Games ev


Blizzard Entertainment released patch notes and information on a new update that is now available in the game's Public Test Region on PC. Specifically, the new update addresses some balance changes with certain Heroes, such as Roadhog's hook being a bit more balanced, while Ana, D.Va, and Sombra also have some changes in p


Healing boost on allies has been decreased by 50%



**Developer Comments: ** The healing boost from Ana’s Biotic Grenade was providing too much healing, especially when used on targets with large health po


Most conversations about incoming patches have to do with how it's going to change the meta. Ana's getting nerfed and Reinhardt is a must-pick, always. Even the professional e-sports teams start to look the same in their lineups. This is why some fans have been arguing to legitimize a narrow but popular niche community within Overwatch : The 3v3 players. Currently, 3v3 is in the Arcade and only has one map, but with any combination of three heroes to choose from there are countless possibilities for a quick win or a long drawn out battle. It's arguably more dynamic, which is why many 3v3 players want to see a competitive mode made, and more attention given to this game mode. Without knowing your opponents' hero selections, it becomes more about teamwork and how your team's heroes can compliment each other. Oh, and of course it's also about who can melt the most fa
]]> https://stayclose.social/blog/114214/activision-announces-record-financial-results-driven-by-success-of-overwatc/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:57:23 +0000 Millie Bills https://stayclose.social/blog/114173/the-game-rant-game-guide-february-2012-edition/ Let’s get a bit of dream/obvious casting out of the way, shall we? Torbjorn tends to either be people’s favorite Overwatch character or their least favorite. Mostly, that’s due to the fact that his fighting style involves building turrets and babysitting them throughout the match. As a character, though, he’s brimming with personality. His classic quips stem from his veteran status, and his direct sense of humor is delivered with enthusi

You mentioned that there were classic things and animations that you were wary of changing, where do you draw that line? How do you figure out what people considered to be the classic experience and what you might need to change?


These three are being grouped together for the simple reason that they will ultimately be CG characters in this live-action adaptation. Bastion is the easiest to cast as he’s a purely mechanical creation – minus his bird companion – who speaks in beeps and boops. No notable actor is required to play him. Zenyatta and Winston are a little more interesting in that they do actually have dialog and therefore could be played by big name tale


He’s also relatively silent most of the time, which means that the actor playing him needs to be immediately established as a true threat based on their physicality alone. That quality is what makes veteran actor Vinnie Jones the clear pick, even if Jones would need to work in some prosthetics in order to achieve Roadhog’s signature physique. If Jones can make the Juggernaut (mostly) work, he can sure make Roadhog a thr


Much like Genji, casting the role of D.VA requires a bit of care, as much of her time is spent within the confines of a suit. When Song is required to step out of the suit and stand on her own, however, Jamie Chung is our pick to help make the character stand out. The actress' work in Big Hero 6 as the spunky, mechanically obsessed Go Go should be a pretty good indication as to what kind of magic she could bring to the screen in this r


There's always been a simple pleasure that comes from hopping into a digital world and shooting your friends. From Doom , to Goldeneye, to Halo , many of the greatest video games ever made allow you to enter a digital battlefield and wage war against your fellow combatants. Overwatch is the latest major entrant into that proud genre. Like other shooters that came before, part of the joy of Overwatch comes from being able to prove your worth in a competitive arena. Unlike many of those other games, however, much of Overwatch ’s appeal comes from the personality of its characters. These bombastic creations have the rare ability to draw you into the FPS game updates’s world and feel a genuine sense of attachment to the ch


The update also brings Capture the Rooster, Overwatch's version of Capture the Flag, to Arcade as an ongoing mode. Additionally, Capture the Rooster versions of Nepal, Lijiang Tower, Ilios, and Oasis have been added, giving you 12 m


February is kind of the post-holiday aftershock. A ton of great games are all scheduled to hit gamers where it hurts this month, and I honestly do not have much time to play them. I'll probably be playing Soul Calibur V throughout February, with a little Saints Row: The Third sprinkled in. As for new games though, I'll have one last chance to try out the PS Vita at a launch event later this month, and I'll decide then if it's something I'm willing to part with $250 for. Uncharted: Golden Abyss is looking pretty damn sexy tho

I looked over at Brian Raffel, our studio head, and we just kind of smiled at each other and we nodded and for me it was just so gratifying to hear the response that we felt for so long. When this project was first proposed I don't think there was a single person at Raven that wasn't like 'yes yes we want to do this. Absolutely we're all in.' That's very exciting right? It's also many moons ago that we started on this, and we knew we had something good and something fun but we didn't know know. Until you get in front of gamers you're not really gonna know. So today's reveal was king of the hold our breaths for a little bit, and the applause and the excitement; it resonated and I kept smiling most of the morning because of it. I got an opportunity to go and take pictures and the lines were long afterwards and I was like 'they screamed and in a good way, and the lines are long so they really meant it.' So I did a little bit of walking around and listening to people. So that was a fun thing for me to get on my break was a chance to hear what people thought. So I think it went pretty well, social media seems to be going pretty well for us too.


So, maybe January wasn't as high profile of a month as last year. That's fine. February will more than make up for it. With the PlayStation Vita launching later in the month, as well as many anticipated triple-A games, there should be plenty to appease gamers of all types. Here, we'll detail what we plan to play throughout Febru
]]> https://stayclose.social/blog/114173/the-game-rant-game-guide-february-2012-edition/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:42:28 +0000 Millie Bills https://stayclose.social/blog/114140/uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end-voted-game-of-the-year-2016-by-neogaf-doom-and-ove/ February is kind of the post-holiday aftershock. A ton of great games are all scheduled to hit gamers where it hurts this month, and I honestly do not have much time to play them. I'll probably be playing Soul Calibur V throughout February, with a little Saints Row: The Third sprinkled in. As for new games though, I'll have one last chance to try out the PS Vita at a launch event later this month, and I'll decide then if it's something I'm willing to part with $250 for. Uncharted: Golden Abyss is looking pretty damn sexy tho

I don't think there was ever any hesitancy, but there was a realization that this is freaking terrifying. Because it's not just important to us, right? Being in the COD family it really means a lot, but dude I remember skipping school for this game. So it's one of those things that it means a whole lot to be playing that game and it means a whole lot be able to bring that to the fans and trying to figure out 'what's the most important thing to me as a gamer,' and 'what's going to resonate with the community,' because there's actually a really healthy community out there. Like 20,000 people still playing on Steam pretty regularly. It's crazy, but dude they love it. If you haven't played some of their mod severs they're friendly, it's fun to play, but they're really really engaged. The Steam forums will let you know that. It is a daunting task and it has been. I would probably say regularly it was like 'okay is going to make a fan pissed off?' I think we got out in front of that really early with that 'don't f*ck with the gameplay,' as our number one tenet, and that coincides with Raven's mantra of gameplay first. So our entire team already had that mentality of we're not going to mess with what the designers say is important. We were pushing for you keep the timing the same, you keep the feel, you keep the spacial design/the level design cannot not change, but we can add personality and we can add character to it.

Voting started on December 24th, and ended on January 21st. Each voter was asked to give ten preferences in order, with the first game scoring four points, second and third scoring three, ranks from four to six scoring two points, and the rest only one. Two honorable mentions were also allowed, but scored no points.


As an open world Fps Game Tips, some issues were expected but many players agreed that these were unacceptable. Plus, they were following on from other Unity controversies including its lack of playable female characters, a decreased framerate on consoles, and Ubisoft's decision to include microtransacti


Ever been matched for a game that you felt was unwinnable? Those that solo queue feel it worse than others, but when teams face an MRR disparity of 300-500 SR points, it can be frustrating to think you were matched to take the fall. A lot of fans' complaints allude to many levels of 'unfairness' including larger 'grouped' groups playing smaller or ungrouped teams, or that a good matchmaking system should feel like a win rate of 50%. Scott Mercer, principal designer of Overwatch tried to explain how the matchmaking algorithms work , while remaining committed to make the experience better. The situation often arises when it would take more than the ideal amount of time to make a fair match, or when players are playing in off-peak hours and there is simply not the right competitors online. This results mostly from the smaller pools of available players at either the extreme bottom or top of the ranks. The 'Stay As A Team' option has definitely helped immensely, but all players can agree the game is much more fun when you feel like you have a fighting cha


Unfortunately, players would have a hard time getting into that multiplayer, as The Master Chief Collection 's matchmaking has been notoriously terrible. Players were unable to get into matches – sometimes having to wait for hours – and although a patch was released following the game's release, it took more than a dozen patches to solve the problem once and for


But playing the game, and exploring its supernatural lands proved to be quite difficult for PS3 players. This was down to an issue in which the game's cache quickly fills up after just one hour of playtime. The longer someone plays Skyrim on PS3, the more that will fill up and the more the game will slow d

The biggest concern was probably the ADSing because you have a fair argument to say that the static image that you pop up is iconic. I think that there's something to be said about that. I think that what won out in the end was that the gameplay had not changed in any kind of significant way with any of the improvements and the new animations. So when we had done our user testing and play testing, and this is play testing across most of Activision so we had Treyarch, IW, Beenox, we had our whole crew. However many studious are in the business at this point. We had a lot of people in there and these are hardcore people. If it f*cking sucks they will tell you it sucks, and these are the people playing the game and giving us the feedback on it. Universally it was loved and appreciated so we knew after a couple play tests like that and run throughs we're not hearing the negativity that we feared, and it doesn't get more hardcore than hardcore COD makers. We're all playing this pretty regularly. So we felt really confident. That was one of those ones that we were a little worried about and given some of the social media stuff I'm not worried once they get it in their hands, I'm just hoping that they give it the chance that I think that it deserves. I think that they'll be happy with the results.
]]> https://stayclose.social/blog/114140/uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end-voted-game-of-the-year-2016-by-neogaf-doom-and-ove/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:26:31 +0000 Millie Bills https://stayclose.social/blog/114138/uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end-voted-game-of-the-year-2016-by-neogaf-doom-and-ove/ February is kind of the post-holiday aftershock. A ton of great games are all scheduled to hit gamers where it hurts this month, and I honestly do not have much time to play them. I'll probably be playing Soul Calibur V throughout February, with a little Saints Row: The Third sprinkled in. As for new games though, I'll have one last chance to try out the PS Vita at a launch event later this month, and I'll decide then if it's something I'm willing to part with $250 for. Uncharted: Golden Abyss is looking pretty damn sexy tho

I don't think there was ever any hesitancy, but there was a realization that this is freaking terrifying. Because it's not just important to us, right? Being in the COD family it really means a lot, but dude I remember skipping school for this game. So it's one of those things that it means a whole lot to be playing that game and it means a whole lot be able to bring that to the fans and trying to figure out 'what's the most important thing to me as a gamer,' and 'what's going to resonate with the community,' because there's actually a really healthy community out there. Like 20,000 people still playing on Steam pretty regularly. It's crazy, but dude they love it. If you haven't played some of their mod severs they're friendly, it's fun to play, but they're really really engaged. The Steam forums will let you know that. It is a daunting task and it has been. I would probably say regularly it was like 'okay is going to make a fan pissed off?' I think we got out in front of that really early with that 'don't f*ck with the gameplay,' as our number one tenet, and that coincides with Raven's mantra of gameplay first. So our entire team already had that mentality of we're not going to mess with what the designers say is important. We were pushing for you keep the timing the same, you keep the feel, you keep the spacial design/the level design cannot not change, but we can add personality and we can add character to it.

Voting started on December 24th, and ended on January 21st. Each voter was asked to give ten preferences in order, with the first Fps Game Tips scoring four points, second and third scoring three, ranks from four to six scoring two points, and the rest only one. Two honorable mentions were also allowed, but scored no points.


As an open world game, some issues were expected but many players agreed that these were unacceptable. Plus, they were following on from other Unity controversies including its lack of playable female characters, a decreased framerate on consoles, and Ubisoft's decision to include microtransacti


Ever been matched for a game that you felt was unwinnable? Those that solo queue feel it worse than others, but when teams face an MRR disparity of 300-500 SR points, it can be frustrating to think you were matched to take the fall. A lot of fans' complaints allude to many levels of 'unfairness' including larger 'grouped' groups playing smaller or ungrouped teams, or that a good matchmaking system should feel like a win rate of 50%. Scott Mercer, principal designer of Overwatch tried to explain how the matchmaking algorithms work , while remaining committed to make the experience better. The situation often arises when it would take more than the ideal amount of time to make a fair match, or when players are playing in off-peak hours and there is simply not the right competitors online. This results mostly from the smaller pools of available players at either the extreme bottom or top of the ranks. The 'Stay As A Team' option has definitely helped immensely, but all players can agree the game is much more fun when you feel like you have a fighting cha


Unfortunately, players would have a hard time getting into that multiplayer, as The Master Chief Collection 's matchmaking has been notoriously terrible. Players were unable to get into matches – sometimes having to wait for hours – and although a patch was released following the game's release, it took more than a dozen patches to solve the problem once and for


But playing the game, and exploring its supernatural lands proved to be quite difficult for PS3 players. This was down to an issue in which the game's cache quickly fills up after just one hour of playtime. The longer someone plays Skyrim on PS3, the more that will fill up and the more the game will slow d

The biggest concern was probably the ADSing because you have a fair argument to say that the static image that you pop up is iconic. I think that there's something to be said about that. I think that what won out in the end was that the gameplay had not changed in any kind of significant way with any of the improvements and the new animations. So when we had done our user testing and play testing, and this is play testing across most of Activision so we had Treyarch, IW, Beenox, we had our whole crew. However many studious are in the business at this point. We had a lot of people in there and these are hardcore people. If it f*cking sucks they will tell you it sucks, and these are the people playing the game and giving us the feedback on it. Universally it was loved and appreciated so we knew after a couple play tests like that and run throughs we're not hearing the negativity that we feared, and it doesn't get more hardcore than hardcore COD makers. We're all playing this pretty regularly. So we felt really confident. That was one of those ones that we were a little worried about and given some of the social media stuff I'm not worried once they get it in their hands, I'm just hoping that they give it the chance that I think that it deserves. I think that they'll be happy with the results.
]]> https://stayclose.social/blog/114138/uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end-voted-game-of-the-year-2016-by-neogaf-doom-and-ove/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:26:17 +0000 Millie Bills https://stayclose.social/blog/114121/activision-announces-record-financial-results-driven-by-success-of-overwatc/ Genji's Deflect ability also has another use in battle, though you need to have amazing timing to pull it off, as you can only use it for two seconds before it needs to recharge. When Hanzo uses his Dragonstrike ultimate attack, it is possible for a Genji player to get in front of him as the dragons are let loose and hit it right back. If the Deflect ability is used at the right time, then it is possible to reflect the dragons right back at Hanzo and his teammates. This is incredibly difficult to pull off but is devasting if you can do


On August 30, 2016, Blizzard launched World of Warcraft: _ **_Legion ** , which sold-through 3.3 million copies on day one, matching all-time records achieved by previous expansions, and ranking amongst the fastest-selling PC games ever. The new expansion grew franchise MAUs A by nearly 30% quarter-over-quar


In season one, you didn't play competitive. In season two, you placed platinum but ended in silver. In season three, you placed 600 bronze? You might remember the big overhaul to Competitive Mode in season three , where the Overwatch team felt gold and platinum brackets were overcrowded. They warned players, 'you might be ranked lower than you expected' and they couldn't have been more right. Players who had never seen the depths of ELO hell (the bottom of bronze, where it feels impossible to dig yourself out of) found themselves frustrated and hungry for a win, while new players were getting earfuls of criticism over their non-meta attack Bastion picks. This is because a huge factor in placement was now your previous season's performance, not just the 10 placement matches, and varying levels of experience were being jostled together once again. Some players have called for the amount of hours of competitive play to be a factor in placement and matchmaking. Others have called for placements to occur in their own bubble, not in others' competitive match. But all players just want something consistent, and would hate to suffer a big surprise like they did with the opening of season th


When attackers outnumber defenders while taking a control point on Assault, Escort and Assault/Escort maps, the defenders’ respawn time will slowly increase until it hits a maximum value or the defense manages to gain the upper hand.



Developer Comments: Until now, stalling an attack by repeatedly throwing yourself at the point has been a common defensive strategy on Assault, Escort and Assault/Escort maps—even when the attackers have a decisive advantage. Typically, this tactic doesn’t change the outcome of battle; it simply delays the attackers’ progr


As spoiled as Overwatch fans may be, there are a few legitimate concerns and complaints that have resonated throughout the community, and many fans hope the Overwatch team continues to deliver by addressing these issues in the coming year. This list won't be too concerned with 'nerfing Symmetra' or 'buffing Winston' as Overwatch is really good about making slight adjustments to their characters over time, and measuring their overall performance, but will instead focus on elements of the game that players either simply want more of or have found to be troubling for some time now. These are 18 Changes Overwatch Fans Want In 20


INNOVATION AWARD The Witness (Thekla) Inside (Playdead) No Man’s Sky (Hello Games) Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic) Pokemon Go (Niantic) Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment), SUPERHOT (SUPERHOT Team), Thumper (Drool), Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Ga


Today the organizers of the 17th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards announced via press release the list of nominations for the ceremony, that will be held on Wednesday, March 1st at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center during the 2017 Fps game Strategy Developers Confere


BEST NARRATIVE The Last Guardian (JAPAN Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment) Oxenfree (Night School Studio) Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment) Inside (Playdead) Firewatch (Campo Santo / Panic) Honorable Mentions: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games), Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks), The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine _ (CD Projekt RED / CD Projekt), _Kentucky Route Zero - Act IV (Cardboard Computer), Mafia III (Hangar 13 / 2K Ga


Porhhub graciously released a list of the most popular Overwatch character searches on their site. The most popular by far is Tracer, with D. Va coming in at a distant second. In fact, the whole top ten is dominated by female characters, with the exception of Lucio, who is placed at


A second gate no longer closes after the payload passes through the castle doors. Instead, rubble from the damaged doorway partially blocks the entrance.

Developer Comments: Once the offensive team gets through the castle entrance, the map becomes very heavily stacked in the defense’s favor. This change will give the offense more entrance options, which should improve the map’s overall bala
]]> https://stayclose.social/blog/114121/activision-announces-record-financial-results-driven-by-success-of-overwatc/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:14:41 +0000 Millie Bills https://stayclose.social/MillieBills9/ https://stayclose.social/MillieBills9/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:14:26 +0000 Millie Bills