NEWS | Week beginning July 27th | Playstation gets mouse and keyboard support, Battlefront gets a new game-mode & Naughty Dog's nice touch!

Good evening guys, and welcome back to another week of video gaming news! Let's get right into it!

TAC4

First up, the Playstation 4 is set to receive a mouse and keyboard support. Peripheral device manufacturer Hori have begun development on the 'Tactical Assault Commander 4'.

The 'TAC 4' device...

The device looks like a typical mouse and keyboard, with the left analog stick mapped to the 'WASD' buttons, and the right analog stick mapped to the mouse. The other buttons, such as Triangle, Square, etc are mapped to other side buttons and keys on the keyboard, along with features such as a Walk button and a button to change mouse sensitivity.

The device is set to release November 30th, tagged with a $120 (£77) price tag. Whether the device will work well on not we'll have to see. Hori released a similar device called the 'TAC3' for the Playstation 3, however, the device did not work very well and was "implemented poorly", according to TechnoBuffalo.

Personally I don't see the point of bringing such devices to consoles. As a person who mainly plays console games, I find it much easier to use a controller over a mouse and keyboard set-up. If you want to play games with a mouse and keyboard, stick to the PC! But hey, I can't say anything until the device has been released. For all I know, it could improve drastically improve my abilities. We'll have to wait until late November to find out...

Blast

Next up, Star Wars Battlefront has had a new game-mode revealed, and it's simply called 'Blast'.
The upcoming Star Wars game had a new Team Deathmatch mode revealed called Blast, which pits up to 20 players, in two teams of 10, against each-other. You either have to reach the 100 kill score limit first to win or have the most kills by the time the match's 10 minute timer expires. Standard Team Deathmatch, nice!

Battlefront will be releasing
November 17th.

Now that may not sound exciting, and even lead level designer Dennis Brännvall admits this. "In truth, it's just Team Deathmatch". He went on to say that "As in other Star Wars Battlefront game modes, the key to success is choosing a hand with a weapon layout that suits you and the battle conditions. He went on to say that "Also, you’ll find weapon pickups strewn across the map, and since there are no vehicles or Heroes & Villains joining the fight, the strategic value of these pickups is quite high. Whether you pick up a Droid scanning for nearby enemies or a turret that’ll control a zone for you, the pickups can really turn the tide of a Blast match. They are not around every corner though, so keep your eyes peeled.”

So, you need to use your noggin' to gain an advantage in the battlefield. This it what I like in first-person shooters. Its not just running around, shooting peepz, you have to scan, look around the battlefield for ways you can gain your team an advantage. It sounds both interesting and fun, and I'm most definitely looking forward to it!

Nice one Naughty Dog!

Finally, Naughty Dog, the developers The Last of Us and the Uncharted series, have showed the world that the gaming community isn't as bad as it's made out to be.

An unnamed Reddit reached to Naughty Dog after his/her father passed away. From Crash Team Racing to The Last of Us, the pair played Naughty Dog's games endlessly. He said that "After he passed, I wrote Naughty Dog a letter thanking them for their games". However, a few months later, something very unexpected happened.

The user went onto say that "They then sent me this [package] three months later…".

A great response from
Naughty Dog!

Naughty Dog had sent the grieving user a gift box, full of The Last of Us themed goodies and accessories, such as a soundtrack to the game and an art book. Also in the box was a letter from Naughty Dog to the user, which explained how the letter had touched many of the staff at Naughty Dog.

"Stories like yours are the reason why we work so hard to make great games, and reading that The Last of Us changed your life is inspiring," a representative responded. "When I read that you felt you were with your father again while playing it, it nearly drove me to tears. I can't imagine the pain you went through these last several months, but I'm touched that we've been able to help you get through it."

This is what we should be seeing in the gaming community. Although we all moan about games and argue over the interwebs, we don't realise that games have the power to bring us all together and remember the good times, which we should always be doing!

So, that's it for this week, what did you think of this week's news? Will you PS4 users buy the TAC4 mouse and keyboard? Are you looking forward to Star Wars Battlefront? What did you think of Naughty Dog's reply to the grieving Reddit user? Let me know in the comments down below. 

Unfortunately, it was another slow week for video gaming news, so again, apologies for the small post. 

Thanks for reading!

Connor :)