“Soon” sounds awfully optimistic.Square Enix Yanks Bug-Ridden Final Fantasy XIV on Mac

Waves of vitriolic gamers forced Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix’s hand, prompting the company to suspend sales of the Mac version of its online roleplaying opus heading into the holiday weekend, citing—as with Arkham Knight—serious performance issues. The game’s producer/director Naoki Yoshida outlined the issue in a 2,000-word mea culpa on Square Enix’s forums. In summary: the Mac version was released too soon, the system requirements were set too low, and boy is Square Enix ever sorry. The word “apologize” occurs seven times on the page. The Mac version of Final Fantasy XIV uses middleware developed by TransGaming to get Windows’ DirectX visual systems working in the Mac’s OpenGL environment. That, in portability parlance, is what’s known as a wrapper, and since wrappers have to translate crazy-complex rendering logic in realtime, they always induce a performance penalty. Studios use wrappers to port games much faster, lowering their development costs. But what’s interesting in Yoshida’s disclosure is his claim that a native OpenGL version would still have been significantly inferior to the DirectX version. “Taking into account FFXIV’s high-end graphics, and the need to simultaneously render multiple objects, we determined that it would be near impossible to provide the same frame rate in native OpenGL that could be achieved with DirectX,” he writes, going on to explain why, and that both cost and the low rate of native performance returns led to the company’s decision to use a wrapper. Long story short, if you want to play Final Fantasy XIV at maximal speeds on a Mac, use Boot Camp. If you want a refund, Square Enix has you covered here. And if you bought the game and plan to ride things out, Yoshida says the company plans to update the game’s system requirements imminently, continue to improve the game’s performance, and once those two points align, re-release the game for sale. Indeed, Yoshida writes that “With the adoption of DirectX11 for Mac, and the replacement of OpenGL with a new graphics API in Apple’s next OS, the fundamental gap in current performance issues may soon be eliminated.”

Elder Scrolls Online PS4, Xbox One, PC: Tamriel Unlimited changes revealed

The new pack from ZeniMax Online Studios will launch first on PC on August 31, then Xbox One on September 15, followed finally by PlayStation 4 on September 16. The heart of the Cyrodiilic Empire has fallen to Daedric Prince Molag Bal and it is up to the three alliances to retake the Imperial City while still fighting amongst themselves. The Imperial City is the first DLC game pack for Elder Scrolls Online and has been promised to add hours of additional gameplay. New areas, quests, enemies, and exclusive items are set to be added, while pricing depends on the status of a players ESO Plus membership. The full Imperial City DLC game pack is included with an active ESO Plus membership, although if you are not an ESO Plus member, or your membership lapses, the Imperial City DLC game pack will cost 2,500 crowns in the ESOTU Store. The Imperial City will come in two parts-the DLC game pack, and the base-game patch, while everyone who owns The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited will receive the base-game patch at no cost.

Real Madrid vs Real Madrid on FIFA 15

We play the "same shirts mega challenge" because there are no real games to preview Those who have played FIFA 15 since its release will have noticed a recurring theme online; an annoying, impossible-to-escape reality in which every single person you play against chooses Real Madrid. Real Madrid are just too good in the game. All the pace, all the power, all the Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema. The UK FIFA champion told our very own Tom Edwards that his number one tip for winning at FIFA was simply, "go as Real Madrid".www.gmfifa.com And so, to celebrate the absence of any real football taking place this week, we have simulated the pinnacle of all FIFA 15 games: Real Madrid vs Real Madrid. To make this less boring and add a touch of spice, we have played the game wearing the exact same iconic white strip, making the deduction of who you are passing to very difficult. What ensued was a game of FIFA full of twists, turns and ridiculous penalty decisions. Enjoy.www.gmusd.com

ArenaNet added that specific refund timings as well as the extra character slot timings will be revealed soon.

"For all players who purchased the Guild Wars 2 core game from our website and registered it between January 23, 2015 and June 16, 2015 in anticipation of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, we will automatically refund what you paid for the core game should you decide to pre-purchase Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns from our website or in-game store any time through July 31, 2015. If you take advantage of this refund and pre-purchase Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, all of your current account progress will be kept intact. "If you purchased the core Guild Wars 2 game from our website and registered it between January 23, 2015 and June 16, 2015, and you no longer want to play Guild Wars 2, we will refund your core game purchase price and close your account provided you make the request by July 31, 2015. Please contact our Customer Support team to make this request. "If you purchased the core game from a third party, we are unable to provide a refund. However, if you registered the core game between January 23, 2015 and June 16, 2015 and upgrade it by pre-purchasing any Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns edition before Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns' launch, we will add one additional character slot to your Guild Wars 2 account."www.mmozt.com ArenaNet added that specific refund timings as well as the extra character slot timings will be revealed soon.

Gearing Up for Apexis Changes in Patch 6.1

In Warlords of Draenor, players can use Apexis Crystals to buy new gear, collectable items, and even Followers. With enough Crystals, even those who are having no luck with the RNG goblins can get new and powerful gear to help them take their adventures in Azeroth even further. Currently, the Apexis traders in the Horde town of Warspear and Alliance town of Stormshield offer gear up to item level 655, but in Patch 6.1, you’ll be able to trade up to ilvl 670 Ethereal Waist, Head, Wrist, Legs, Hands, Back, and Finger (ring) items.

There are already lots of ways to get Apexis Crystals, and with the patch we’re introducing even more in the form of new Missions and purchasable Scouting Missives, which will be available for 200 Garrison Resources each. These Missives can be purchased in your Garrison and will unlock an additional Apexis Crystal daily quest.

A change to questing is also coming with the patch that makes it so players will no longer be able to work on quests and complete them while in a Raid group (though Apexis Crystals will still drop from enemies). You’ll still be able to use the Group Finder tool to locate five-player groups you can join to complete your Apexis dailies.

You can read the complete Patch 6.1 notes here.

For more information on gathering and spending Apexis Crystals, check out Wowhead’s handy guide.

FIFA 15 review: football fantasy

One play and its aftermath fairly summarize the subtle distinction of FIFA 15 from the five-year run of best-in-class offerings that preceded it.
It was beyond the 90th minute in a match between FC Barcelona, one of the best teams in the game, and Tottenham Hotspur, under my frantic direction. We'd given up a goal at the end of the first half and now I was looking at a 1-0 loss. I sent the entire team into an all-out attack.

Then the miracle happened. Not only did it look like one, it felt like one.

My goalkeeper scooped up an indifferent Barcelona shot and boomed the ball well past midfield. Federico Fazio chest-trapped it and, in one motion, turned and lobbed a soft ball to Emmanuel Adebayor, steaming in from the left. The striker headed it into the back of the net past the bewildered defenders and a frozen goalkeeper. It must have taken less than 10 seconds, start to finish.

Adebayor raced to the corner flag, pursued by nine delirious teammates, and was pinned to the ground. White Hart Lane shook; the speakers poured forth the crowd's joy. The camera vibrated as the images cycled-there's Messi! Head down, hands on hips! Absolutely stoic.

In that scene are the key ingredients of the FIFA 15 experience: the new television presentation, the emphasis on player reactions and emotions, a lucky bounce or two from the new momentum-based physics added to the ball, a goalie caught flat-footed, and a big goal. Absolutely the big goal.

Bug Fixes and New Rosters Available in New FIFA 15 Ultimate Team Update for Windows Phones

The most recent updates for FIFA 15 brought new bug fixes for consoles and PCs. In addition, the new Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion clubs, Orlando City SC and New York City FC, were added to the game.

Though the mobile app hasn’t introduced the new clubs, there has been new features added to the game and bug fixes.

An update for FIFA 15 Ultimate Team on Windows and Windows Phone has just been released, and with it comes all the updated player rosters following the closure of the January transfer window for the big leagues in Europe, in addition to stability improvements to the connection of the app to EA servers.

The downloadable version for FIFA 15 Ultimate Team update for Windows and Windows Phone are located in the links below.