Capcom has partnered with Six Flags to offer a Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate-themed roller coaster at the amusement park chain's Magic Mountain location.
Beginning on March 28, visitors will be able to ride a special version of the Goliath coaster, which will have a custom-skinned passenger train made out to look like MH4U's Gore Magala monster. The coaster features a 255-foot drop where the train reaches 85 miles per hour, thus ensuring I never step foot on it. You can see the non-Monster Hunter Version of it in action in the video below.
In addition to the coaster, the park's Cyber Cafe will have 3DS units on hand to allow visitors to try out a demo of MH4U. There will also be special Monster Hunter merchandise of some kind available for sale.
The custom coaster will be in the Valencia, CA-based park through August 10. If you're able to make it there on March 28 or 29, the ongoing Caravan Tour will be stopping in, giving you the chance to "be immersed in the world of Monster Hunter with a custom setting that recreates the look and feel of the traveling Caravan from the game."
Capcom didn't have any photos to share of any of this just yet, but promised we'll be getting a look at it all soon.
This isn't the first time Capcom has partnered with Six Flags, having done so for the release of Resident Evil 6 previously.
MH4U was released in February for 3DS in North America and Europe. Combined with those of the Japanese version released last October, sales had already eclipsed three million units as of mid-February.
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection launches on March 24th, and to celebrate we're giving away a copy of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection – Claptrap-in-a-Box Edition for Xbox one!
The extremely limited Handsome Collection- Claptrap-in-a-Box Edition (only 5,000 units worldwide) includes Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel, along with all their DLC, 12 Vault Hunter lithographs, a collectible steel case, and of course the awesome gyro Claptrap toy.
How do you enter to win this awesome super-limited prize? Easy. Fill in the required information, and select which prize you would like to try to win. (Sorry, US only)
In addition to Dante and Nero, both of which were playable in DMC 4, Dante's brother Virgil is being added to the game's roster. Virgil will be an amalgamation of the Devil May Cry 3 and 2013 Devil May Cry versions, according to Capcom's blog. Joining him as new characters are Trish and Lady.
The official details on all three new characters:
Vergil: Dante's ice-cold twin brother and master of the iaijutsu sword fighting style. As described by the game's director, Hideaki Itsuno, Vergil will have a fully upgradable move set based on his rendition in Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, with elements of DmC Devil May Cry's Vergil added in, making this the definitive version of the character. He will also feature a new "Concentration" mechanic, which makes his attacks get more powerful the more flawlessly he fights.Vergil will be playable on any mission.
Trish: Resident badass since her first appearance in the first Devil May Cry's opening cutscene, Trish does away with the need for weapon switching, instead utilizing the versatile Sparda sword, her pistols, and her bare hands in a variety of inventive ways. Trish allows players to fight with relatively few buttons, but is still quite a deep character with an awesome move set. Trish will be playable on Dante's missions.
Lady: Playable for the first time, Lady specializes in long-range, firearm-based combat, making the game feel completely different. Her signature weapon, the Kalina Ann, features a grappling hook which allows her to traverse environments similarly to Nero, among other applications. Lady will be playable on Nero's missions.
Also being added is the Legendary Dark Knight mode that lets players fight through huge waves of enemies. This was first seen in the PC version of DMC 4.
All of this runs in 1080p at 60 frames per second, with other, unspecified "improvements to the game tempo and balancing" being made. You can also count on seeing new costumes that you'll even be able to see during cutscenes.
DMC 4: Special Edition is set for release as a downloadable title this summer on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
For more, check out the newly released trailer above and screenshot gallery below.
A listing of several new Dragon Age: Inquisition achievements has emerged online, offering suggestions into what the game's next DLC could bring.
Although publisher Electronic Arts has yet to confirm a new DLC expansion for the highly acclaimed action-RPG, the data miners at XboxAchivements.com have found four new achievement descriptions, supplied with new art for the game.
Possible spoilers follow.
The first achievement, called Firestarter, is unlocked if players manage to "destroy all the Winter Shards and light all the fires in the Old Temple". The reward is 15 gamerscore points.
Next is a 30-Gamerscore achievement called Legend-Marked, which is earned for "impressing the Avvar of Stone-Bear Hold and gain their friendship."
The third, called Historian, is another 30-Gamerscore reward, unlocked if players can "Uncover the secrets of a legendary figure."
Meanwhile, the fourth achievement, titled Winter's End, is equally ambiguous. It comes with 90 Gamerscore points and is earned when players "dispel a myth of ancient days."
Dragon Age: Inquisition was a contender for GameSpot's game of the year. Critic Kevin VanOrd wrote in his review that the BioWare project was "a wonderful game and a lengthy pilgrimage to a magical world with vital thematic ties to one we already know."
The game shipped in November 2014 for consoles and PC. Although an official sales number has not been announced, publisher Electronic Arts says the game is BioWare's most successful launch, in terms of units sold, in the developer's history.
Following an initial tease last week, Telltale Games on Monday announced that the third episode in its six-part Game of Thrones adventure series will be available starting tomorrow, March 24. Telltale has also released a new trailer, which you can see above.
Episode Three is titled "The Sword in the Darkness." It will be available tomorrow on PC/Mac and on the PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in North America. Xbox 360 and Xbox One players (and PlayStation fans in Europe) can buy the chapter March 25.
The Sword in the Darkness will also be available March 26 for iOS and Android devices.
Telltale's Game of Thrones series will span six episodes in all, which is one more than seasons for the developer's other franchises, including The Walking Dead and Tales from the Borderlands. Episodes cost $5 each or $25 for the full season.
The series is based on the world of HBO's Game of Thrones TV show, which itself is rooted in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire universe. For more on the first two chapters, check out GameSpot's reviews below.
The "super-stable" 3D featured in the New 3DS was a last minute addition that came at the behest of legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed.
"I think you're probably familiar with the tales of how, in the late stages of development, Mr. Miyamoto always upends the tea table," Iwata told Time. "So a similar thing happened this time. The hardware developers had designed a piece of hardware that they felt was at the final stage of prototyping, and they were bringing it to us for approval to begin moving forward with plans for manufacturing. But Mr. Miyamoto had seen that super-stable 3D just one week before, and he asked, 'Why aren't we putting that in this system? If we don't put this in it, there's no point in making the system.'"
Super-stable 3D allows the player to move his or her head without disrupting the glasses-free 3D effect on the system's upper screen. This corrects one of the major problems with the original 3DS (and 3DS XL), where the 3D only worked when the player's eyes were directly lined up with the screen--an especially problematic proposition when playing games that use the 3DS' gyroscope.
While super-stable 3D did end up making it into the system--which launched in Japan last October and then last month in North America and Europe--it didn't come without Nintendo's engineers repeatedly asking Iwata whether it was really something they were going to add.
"But Nintendo is a company of Kyoto craftsman, and what we don't want to do, is if we know we can make something better, we don't want to leave that behind," Iwata said. "So we were able to bring the super-stable 3D to reality by looking technically at what we can do to solve those challenges and finding those steps along the way to make it happen. This is where my background in technology is quite helpful, because it means that the engineers can't trick me."
Before becoming the president and CEO for Nintendo, Iwata worked as a developer at Kirby and Smash Bros. developer HAL Laboratory.
The New 3DS XL is now available for $200, while the non-XL variant--which features removable faceplates--has not yet been released in the west.
This could be last generation of dedicated home consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, at least in their present form, according to Emmett Shear, the founder of live-streaming site Twitch.
Speaking this week at the Changing Media Summit in London, Shear said 7-10 year hardware lifecycles familiar to home consoles don't make much sense anymore.
"The problem is, the seven-year upgrade lifecycle doesn't work in the face of the two-year upgrade cycles for every other hardware platform," he said, as reported by The Guardian. "It's so intrinsically built into how consoles get manufactured and made and the full business model, that I'd be surprised to see another generation."
Shear seems to agree with Harada. He doesn't necessarily think that platform-holders like Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo will exit the hardware business, but instead they would be smart to create new systems that are more in-line with set-top boxes. These would be designed for a variety of uses and live for a relatively shorter period of time before the next upgrade cycle.
"I could imagine a version 1.1 product from both Microsoft and Sony which adds in slightly more speed and slightly more memory very similar to how phones and tablets work today." -- Emmett Shear
"They're going to have to change form," he said. "You can already see this on both Xbox and PlayStation where there's a tighter upgrade loop for both the operating systems and the games. This is the first step toward being able to iterate the hardware platform. I could imagine a version 1.1 product from both Microsoft and Sony which adds in slightly more speed and slightly more memory very similar to how phones and tablets work today. I think it's going to look more like the mobile phone market over time."
Shear isn't dismissing home consoles altogether, however, as he also says that Twitch integration on Xbox One and PS4 has enjoyed "smashing success" so far.
The Xbox One, PS4, and Wii U, of course, are capable of doing much more than just playing games. In fact, Microsoft and Sony are positioning the Xbox One and PS4 as the only boxes users need through things like live TV services meant to replace traditional cable. For its part, Sony has also said that the PlayStation brand will become more service-oriented over time.
"We see PlayStation as a brand, not just as a box," PlayStation executive Fergal Gara said in 2013.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has now told Time: "As of now, I have nothing new to share with you in regard to the use of our IPs for any TV shows or films, but I can at least confirm that the article in question is not based on correct information."
You'll notice that Iwata's statement doesn't flat-out deny that such a production is in the works. GameSpot will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.
According to The WSJ's source, Netflix's Zelda TV show is aiming to be "Game of Thrones for a family audience."
Nintendo is known for being extremely protective of its franchises, only allowing a handful of TV/movie adaptations to date. Legend of Zelda was produced as an animated show, but it ran for only one season in 1989. And of course, the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie was a trainwreck.
More recently, leaked emails revealed that Sony and Nintendo were discussing a new Mario movie. Spider-Man producer Avi Arad is reportedly brokering a deal with Nintendo to obtain the Mario film rights. Contrary to earlier reports, Arad says negotiations with Nintendo are not finalized, but rather "just the beginning."
Microsoft still has "hundreds of stories to tell" in the Halo universe, according to Bonnie Ross, who heads up the Halo team at developer 343 Industries. These stories could unfold across not only games, but also books, live-action, and other mediums, she says.
"For us, as we think about the Halo universe and how large it is, there are just hundreds of stories to tell," Ross said during the latest Gamer Girls Gone Wild podcast. "So we use our fiction and our novels to kind of broaden the universe so that we have more locations to go in the future with whatever we want to do; whether it's games, comics, live-action, wherever we want to go."
Expanding the Halo universe beyond games is a "pretty core part" of what 343 hopes to do with the Halo franchise, Ross explained.
Growing the Halo franchise in this way was a necessary move, she said, because the first three Halo games "had a tendency to kill a lot of characters," meaning the wider story was somewhat limited. Ross also pointed out that "you can only tell so much story" through the lens of a first-person shooter, so it was essential to move Halo into new storytelling areas.
Microsoft has experimented with a variety of non-gaming Halo stories, though these efforts haven't always worked out. The Peter Jackson Halo movie famously fell apart years ago, with director Neil Blomkamp creating District 9 out of the ashes of that film.
Microsoft has also commissioned a series of Halo novels, the most recent of which--Halo: New Blood, focusing on Halo 3: ODST hero Edward Buck--was announced in January.
As for Halo games, Microsoft has at least two new titles based on the series due out this year. Halo: Spartan Strike (early 2015) and Halo 5: Guardians (fall). Ross also teased that 343 will talk more about Halo 5: Guardians at E3 2015, offering new details about its story campaign, multiplayer mode, and more.
Nintendo has a successful franchise in almost every genre of gaming, but not since Metroid Prime has it committed to the shooter genre with as much gusto as it is with Splatoon, the creatively non-violent shooter coming to Wii U this May. Nintendo isn't scared of small experiments, occasionally introducing lightweight games and new characters (Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, Dillon's Rolling Western), but it's banking big on Splatoon's success in the hope that it will blossom into yet another flagship series.
By taking a wholly wholesome approach to designing Splatoon, Nintendo's created a game that stands out as new and different, bucking the need for direct comparisons to bloody, kill-focused behemoths such as Call of Duty and Battlefield. There are no headshots or kill counts here; the goal in competitive multiplayer is to cover more of the map than your enemy, using guns that are loaded with ink rather than bullets.
Fittingly, you play as Inklings, human-squid, and your dual-species status means that you can walk on two feet, but also swim through puddles of ink, an ability that's incredibly useful and unlike any maneuver seen in other shooters. While swimming through the opposing team's ink slows you down and makes you an obvious target, your own ink is the perfect hiding place; enemies can't see you if you remain motionless in squid form. Given that Inklings move faster through ink than on their feet, you can also take advantage of this ability to reposition yourself on the map, dodge enemy ink, and get to high ground beyond the reach of your modest jump ability.
The standard Turf War competitive matches are a blast in Splatoon, and while it takes a while to get over the shoot-to-kill mentality, it does sink in, and that transitional moment is when Splatoon's greatness clicks. Even though you aren't racking up kills to win a match, you still want to take out opponents on occasion, because your target can't contribute to the team painting effort during their respawn cooldown timer. However, spend too much time preventing the enemy from spreading ink by going for "kills", and you miss the opportunity to cover the map with your own ink. Thankfully, covering a large area in your team's color feels as good as taking down opponents in other shooters, so you never really miss the feeling of accomplishment by forgoing killing in the name of painting.
The ink swimming mechanic is the most unique and interesting element in Splatoon, whether you're using it to cross the map or to pop in and out of cover. It provides depth and strategy beyond what many shooters offer, which rarely extends beyond weapon choice and positioning. That's not to say those aspects don't matter here, just that they take on a different meaning. Positioning is largely guided by the need to paint, rather than the urge to kill. The same is true for your choice of weapon. There's the standard automatic rifle, which fires ink bullets at a rapid pace, but if you choose the ink roller, you paint large swaths of color across the map, and can easily overrun unsuspecting enemies. You have to sacrifice range attacks with the roller, but if your job on the team is to worry about coverage more than kill-age, you won't worry about your limited reach. Players can also earn currency during matches that goes towards purchasing new weapons and clothing, secondary equipment that comes with stat boosts. You do this from within Splatoon's humorous and charming hub world, which is filled with pun-derived merchants that play on the game's oceanic theme.
Splatoon easily stands apart from other shooters, but it's missing something that every competitive shooter must have if it's going to be taken seriously: team voice chat. Nintendo, for whatever reason (likely to maintain a family-friendly environment), has stated there will not be voice chat in Splatoon. Rather than strategize via direct communication, Nintendo suggests that players use the bird's eye view of the map that's displayed on the GamePad to locate their teammates. Even without voice chat, there are other solutions that Nintendo could have implemented, such as touching the GamePad screen to direct fellow Inklings. Currently, you can only guess what your friends are thinking by watching their movements.
Nintendo has been pitching Splatoon as a competitive game, but there's a single player adventure inside that's fun on its own, offering a unique set of equipment, challenges, and most importantly, level designs. Here, you are fighting to kill, essentially, by gunning for Octarians, your Octopus-like adversaries. There are other objectives which vary between stages, but inevitably, you need to clear a path by firing at your enemies, and this is when Splatoon feels more like the shooters that we all know, and that some of us love. Single player levels also differ quite a bit from multiplayer maps. They offer greater verticality and feature unique elements, such as sponge platforms that grow when hit with ink. I've only played a handful of Splatoon's single player missions, and while they were on the easy side, they were still more interesting and and varied than typical multiplayer matches, which says a lot.
Single player is a fun alternative to competitive play, but it's also a great way to hone your skills before jumping into ranked multiplayer matches. Most people will have plenty of time to practice as ranked matches will come post launch once a certain percentage of players reach level 10 in the standard multiplayer mode. These differ from the standard Turf War setup, one example being a king of the hill mode where you have to cover an isolated area of the map with ink and defend it from your enemies. Everyone starts with a rank of "C" in ranked mode, and it fluctuates based on your individual performance. To keep things fair, Nintendo's going to automatically filter matches based on rank.
Splatoon has come a long way since E3, where it was presented as more of a vertical slice, or a concept, rather than a complete vision. Now, Splatoon has an established world and story, a single player mode that feels distinct from multiplayer matches, and elements, including gear and ranked matches, to lure in fans of other competitive shooters. The lack of voice chat is concerning, but for casual players, it may not matter. I had such a fun time swimming as a squid, trying to sneak around a map and cover enemy territory with ink, that I wasn't as concerned for what my team was doing. Perhaps I should have been, but we were all doing the same thing, and most importantly, having a great time.
Splatoon splashes onto the Wii U in just a couple months, and with it, one of Nintendo's biggest bets in a long time. Its success, both as a new franchise and a multiplayer shooter, will rely on a large and active player base, which isn't something Nintendo's had to rely on in the past. If anything, it will be interesting to see how Nintendo handles all of the new challenges that Splatoon represents, and whether it has what it takes to drive up Wii U sales.
In response to the widespread server issues that marred the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection late last year, Microsoft announced a compensation package that included a free copy of a remastered version of 2009's Halo 3: ODST. But bringing this game to Xbox One was never the plan.
"We did not plan on putting ODST out," she said as part of the latest Gamer Girls Gone Wild podcast. "I mean, I love ODST. But we did not plan on putting it out. We were pretty deliberate on Master Chief's journey leading up to Halo 5 as being The Master Chief Collection."
Halo 3: ODST, unlike the four other games included with The Master Chief Collection (Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4), does not feature Master Chief himself. Instead, in that game--developed by Bungie--you play as an Orbital Drop Shock Tropper.
So why include it with The Master Chief Collection? It's what fans wanted, Ross said.
"Obviously when we had the stumble [with The Master Chief Collection], I think when we looked at what people were asking for, before the stumble and after, what they would love have," she said. "ODST was on the top of the list. So that's why we did it. But we had no plans to do it prior to that."
You can see a work-in-progress screenshot for the updated version of Halo 3: ODST above. Microsoft has not yet announced a launch date for the new edition of ODST. We'll have that information to you as soon as it's available.
In addition to a free copy of ODST, Microsoft already handed out a free month of Xbox Live Gold to make up for The Master Chief Collection's launch woes. Players will also get the Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer map Relic for free. Anyone who bought The Master Chief Collection between launch (November 11) and December 19 is eligible for the freebies.
The video flaunts the graphical splendor of the current-gen-only title, in terms of both the scale and detail of Gotham, with the Dark Knight traversing across its skyline and swooping through the streets.
Warner Bros.' trailer then moves to the series' signature combat, with its familiar combo chains and counters. Perhaps most noticeable is the enhanced cinematography present throughout, with gameplay sequences stitched together by in-game performances and signified, at times, by changes to the musical score.
Also present is Batmobile gameplay, with the high-speed tank darting through the streets and launching missiles at enemy vehicles. The video ends with an interrogation scene, which caries a more sinister tone, adding to speculation that this final game in the trilogy will be the darkest of the three.
The recent round of layoffs at Driveclub developer Evolution Studios could affect a reported 55 staffers, amounting to "roughly half" of the UK-based game developer. That's according to a source speaking with Eurogamer on the matter.
Sony confirmed the job losses at Evolution on Friday, March 20. But at the time, the platform holder--which owns Evolution--did not provide any details regarding the extent of the cuts.
One of Eurogamer's sources suggested that "some" of the 55 affected staffers will stay on as contractors, though this has yet be confirmed.
The cuts at Evolution were made as part of a wider Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios restructuring effort. As part of the move, Evolution "will now focus on Driveclub as a service going forward," Sony said last week.
Driveclub was originally intended to be a PS4 launch game back in 2013. Following numerous delays, it was finally released last October. The aforementioned PlayStation Plus Edition, meant to be a free version of the game with select content, has been delayed numerous times due to technical issues with the full game. Sony once again confirmed last month that the Plus Edition has not been cancelled.
"We're a developer that hates to make any compromises, so we are sorry to say this means it's going to be just a little big longer until you can play the epic conclusion to the Arkham trilogy," game director Sefton Hill said.
Rocksteady has also released a new gameplay trailer for Arkham Knight. Everything you see in the extended video, called "Officer Down," was captured on PS4. On display are some trademark Arkham melee sequences, an impressive-looking Batmobile driving section, and an interrogation scene that may explain the game's well-publicized M rating.
The trailer also reveals that Breaking Bad actor Jonathan Banks, or someone who sounds just like him, will play a role in the game.
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