Capcom has a slate of Mega Man games it's bringing to the Wii U Virtual Console in North America next month. And, much as it did last year, it's letting fans decide which one comes out first.
You can vote for which of these four (each of the two Battle Network variants is counted as one game for release date purposes) you want to see launch on May 7 over on the Capcom Unity blog. The remaining games will then be released chronologically, one per Thursday, for the remainder of May. Unfortunately, we can't see the current results of the poll, so the winner will be a mystery until after the end of the voting period, which runs from now through April 29.
Among GBA games on the Wii U's Virtual Console, the Mega Man series is better represented than any third-party franchise, with four games already available, including the first two Battle Network games. A price for the new games wasn't announced, but the previous Mega Man GBA games cost $7-$8 each.
With the game a success, you can now buy a variety of Bloodborne-themed merchandise, including a limited-edition statue that costs $220.
The 10-inch statue is likely to be the most in-demand item, as it truly is limited edition: Only 1,000 are available, and each one is individually numbered. It's not due out until September, but ordering one requires a $100 deposit, with the remaining $120 (plus shipping) being charged once it's actually ready for release.
If your budget is a bit tighter, other Bloodborne items are also available. This includes a t-shirt sporting the game's box art ($20), a pint glass with the game's name ($15), and a messenger bag ($60). There's also the gorgeous, limited-edition lithograph seen above for $40, of which only 300 are available.
You can see all of the merchandise on the PlayStation Gear Store or in the gallery below. Sony says more is on the way, but there's no word on what any of it might be.
Today at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, Disney released the next teaser trailer for Star Wars Episodes VII - The Force Awakens, which comes to theaters on December 18, 2015.
Nintendo has updated Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, but has offered little in the way of details on what's been changed. That's left it up to players to discover the minutae of what the patch does: Nerf Diddy Kong, among many other things.
Diddy Kong is widely regarded as being overpowered, and has been since shortly after this newest Smash Bros. first landed on 3DS last year. This led to serious concerns when it was announced in December that the game wouldn't be receiving any further balance patches.
And although Nintendo hasn't officially announced any specific balance changes for this 1.0.6 patch, players have discovered quite a few, which are being tracked on Reddit.
There are the mundane, expected changes, like the addition of Mewtwo-related content throughout the game, as well as new features like an option to trigger Smash attacks by pressing A and B simultaneously or an indicator that shows who's talking in an online friends match.
Then there are the actual balance tweaks. Quite a few characters have been changed in one way or another; Link's Up+B attack now does more damage, while Sheik's Bair now does less.
But it's Diddy Kong who appears to have been affected as much as any character. Many of his attacks now do less damage--Side-B grabs and kicks, up and down throws, certain air attacks--with the accompanying knockback they cause also being reduced. Whether that's enough to make players happy with him remains to be seen.
You can check out the full, continuing-to-evolve rundown on the patch's changes in this thread on Reddit.
Nintendo, for its part, did make note of the update in today's weekly press release on eShop releases, but it only called attention to two things: the need to update before playing online and the ability to buy new Mii fighter costumes. These include Link, Majora's Mask, and Mega Man getups, which can be had individually for $.75 each, in a 3DS/Wii U bundle for $1.15 each, or in a complete bundle for $6 (per platform) or $9.20 (for both platforms). You can see all of these in the gallery below.
Last year's Wolfenstein: The New Order took us back to an alternate 1960s where the Nazis had won World War II, much to the displeasure of a gruff B.J. Blazkowicz, who had spent the preceding 14 years in a coma. The upcoming standalone DLC Wolfenstein: The Old Blood takes us back even further in time; all the way back to the 1940s, in fact, and the the ascendance of the Nazi war machine. The Old Blood is being developed by The New Order's Machine Games, and we spoke to executive producer Jerk Gustafsson about what changes to expect in the upcoming game, what new weapons and enemies we'll see, and much more.
What would you say are the most significant changes from The New Order to The Old Blood?
Jerk Gustafsson: One of the major differences in terms of presentation is that The Old Blood has a persistent first-person perspective. The whole story is told from B.J.'s point of view which creates a more intimate play-through experience.
Another difference is that we have been able to do some nice rendering updates as well as being able to create larger and more detailed environments as we've only focused on the new consoles and PC. The Old Blood's combat spaces are, in general, more open and include more enemies--while still running the game in 60 frames per second.
What new weapons will be available in The Old Blood?
We have a bunch of new weapons in The Old Blood. Even the ones that have been carried over from The New Order, like the knife, assault rifle, and handgun have been revised and refined. Specifically, the assault rifle has gone through some major improvements--it's now a lot heavier and fast-firing. It's highly entertaining--especially when dual-wielding.
Then we have weapons that are completely new. The pipe, for instance, is a melee weapon that can be used both for getting around the levels and for performing gruesome takedowns on enemy soldiers. We also have a brand new and very efficient shotgun, a high precision bolt-action rifle, which can be upgraded with a scope, and a fun and powerful weapon called The Kampfpistole.
How about new enemies?
A few new examples from The Old Blood's enemy roster are the marksman, a new enemy-type equipped with a sniper rifle, and the heavy soldier who wields a semi-automatic shotgun. There are two new variants of supersoldaten and a new type of drone. In addition to that, we have a few surprise enemies which we can't go into detail on at this point in time.
Are both parts of the game (Rudi Jager and the Den of Wolves and The Dark Secrets of Helga von Schabbs) going to be available right away?
The Old Blood will ship with both parts--Rudi Jäger and the Den of Wolves and The Dark Secrets of Helga von Schabbs. The storyline for each part focuses on one of our two major villains, Rudi Jäger and Helga von Schabbs. However, the two parts are not narratively disconnected--there is an over-arching storyline which binds them together.
Is The Old Blood 1080p on Xbox One and PS4 just like The New Order?
Yes, the game is 1080p on both Xbox One and PS4.
You teamed up with Meshuggah's Fredrik Thordendal for The New Order. Did he write any music for The Old Blood?
No, the music for The Old Blood is composed by Mick Gordon, who also made most of the music for The New Order. There is some truly great music in the game. To create The Old Blood style, Mick recorded live with a string quartet, and spent time manipulating a broken mandolin and cello for percussion and other weird sounds. Mick also prepared a piano by attaching nails, screws, clamps, chains and barbed wire to the inside of the piano, so when the keys were pressed the objects would bounce around and create chaos.
As in The New Order, we also try, as much as possible, to offer a good balance of stealth and action.
Where does this sit in the timeline? As The New Order was a direct sequel to Wolfenstein 2009, can we expect other characters from either game to appear in The Old Blood?
The Old Blood is a prequel to The New Order, taking place in 1946, just a few months before the assault on Deathshead's compound. There is a cameo appearance by one of the characters from The New Order, but I won't spoil who it is. Other than that, The Old Blood features a brand new story set in the German Alps with new allies and villains. .
As we're infiltrating Castle Wolfenstein, can we expect more homages to the original Wolfenstein 3D? More secrets? More pushwalls? Mecha Hitler?
Just like with The New Order, the game contains many nods to Wolfenstein 3D; secrets, dog food, difficulty settings, you name it. To us, it's more than just paying tribute to the original Wolfenstein--it's about the continuation of the spirit of that game.
The Old Blood is also heavily inspired by, and definitely pays homage, to one of my personal favorites of the franchise: Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
How does The New Order's open spaces and variable combat approach translate to a location such as Castle Wolfenstein that is typically comprised of cramped stone hallways?
The Old Blood offers great environment variation and we really want all of the combat spaces within these environments to include different route possibilities in addition to allowing players to approach combat scenarios with their preferred playstyle. As in The New Order, we also try, as much as possible, to offer a good balance of stealth and action.
I do think that we have succeeded with the above in the more cramped areas (like some of the ones inside Castle Wolfenstein) as well as in the more open areas. The levels overall feel sprawling and very inviting for exploration and trying out different approaches to obstacles. Parts of the game also take place in the area around Castle Wolfenstein and in part two, The Dark Secrets of Helga von Schabbs, the story takes us to a medieval German town called Wulfburg which players get to explore.
[UPDATE 2] The panel has ended, but you can watch a brand new Force Awakens teaser trailer right here.
[UPDATE] The event has now begun! What are you hoping to see/learn/hear? Let us know in the comments!
The original story is below.
We're not expecting any news about Star Wars: Battlefront until tomorrow. But director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy will share new details about the upcoming movie Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens in just a few minutes, live from the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California.
Abrams and Kennedy are speaking today during a panel at the Star Wars Celebration. You can watch the entire event through the YouTube streaming video embed above.
The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18, 2015.
The backstory and continuity of the Deus Ex series are complex to the point of confusion. When you have multiple shadowy organisations, mysterious characters controlling puppet governments, and a cornucopia of conspiracies running alongside all of this, things can get confusing.
With Deus Ex: Mankind Divided picking up two years after the end of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, it's worth refreshing your knowledge of what happened at the end of Adam Jensen's first adventure, and what the state of Deus Ex's world is.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the original Deus Ex.
The fall of Panchaea
Panchaea was a massive, geo-engineering Arctic installation ostensibly created to combat global warming, and was the setting for Human Revolution's finale. The facility also contained a secret broadcast centre which, toward the end of the game, emitted a signal that caused all augmented humans around the world to hallucinate and go berserk.
Jensen reaches the signal source and shuts it down, and is then left with a choice of four endings. He can broadcast a video that reveals the Illuminati's responsibility for the augs' mass frenzy, thereby causing humanity to abandon mechanical augmentation. Or, he can blame the incident on the anti-augmentation political groups, increasing support for augmentation. Alternatively, he can put the blame on the corporations creating augmentations, which results in intense restrictions on the use of the technology. Finally, he can cause the facility to self-destruct, never revealing the truth behind the incident and leaving humanity to determine how to view augmentations for themselves.
According to an interview which originally appeared in the latest issue of GameInformer, this last ending is the point from which Mankind Divided continues its story. However, Eidos Montreal is also weaving in select elements from the other three endings to construct the state of the game's world. Finally, although Human Revolution implied Jensen would go down with the ship, Mankind Divided's reveal trailer shows his eventual rescue from the Arctic ocean.
What does that mean for the state of the world in 2029? Humanity has come down hard on mechanical augmentations. In some parts of the world, those who possess them are forced into ghettos. Organisations of augmented people have resorted to terrorist attacks to fight for equality. And soon, a referendum will take place, with humanity voting on some kind of definitive stance on augmentations as a whole. All of this has resulted from Jensen's destruction of Panchaea.
The return of Adam Jensen
Juan Lebedev, a key character from the first Deus Ex, is a member of the Juggernaut Collective.
Rescued from the wreckage of Panchaea and disillusioned with the result of his actions, Adam Jensen joins Task Force 29, an Interpol-led anti-terrorist group. However, Jensen doesn't fully trust his new employers, and is secretly feeding information to a group called the Juggernaut Collective. This isn't the first appearance of the shadowy group of hackers--they featured prominently in Human Revolution's prequel novel, Deus Ex: Icarus Effect (and its retelling-turned-follow-up, Deus Ex: The Fall) as well as in Human Revolution's DLC, The Missing Link.
Not much is known about the Juggernaut Collective, but the group has some significant ties to people and organisations that became major players in the first Deus Ex game. They support a United States secessionist organisation called the New Sons of Freedom--the same organisation which would later become the National Secessionist Forces, or NSF, in Deus Ex. Together with the Juggernaut Collective, these two groups form what is essentially an "anti-Illuminati" coalition.
Given Jensen's affiliation to them, Mankind Divided should set the stage for some interpersonal conflict as well as shadowy wheeling and dealing. At the end of Human Revolution, Megan Reed--Jensen's ex-girlfriend--is heard in conversation with a character which implies she is joining the Illuminati on their next project. That character is Bob Page, the unnamed conspirator seen in Human Revolution's introduction movie, and the primary antagonist of the first Deus Ex game.
The rise of the Illuminati
What new projects are the Illuminati working on in 2029? Given what we know about the first Deus Ex, and the ending of Human Revolution, there are three that stand out. Before conversing with Megan Reed, Bob Page asks for the wreckage of Panchaea to be searched for technology that can be used for something called the Morpheus Initiative. This is a reference to the Morpheus artificial intelligence that can be found and spoken to in the first Deus Ex: a precursor to an AI named Daedalus that the Illuminati creates in an attempt to control the world's electronic information.
VersaLife's logo, as featured in Mankind Divided's trailer.
In the same conversation, Reed also refers to a nanite virus, implied to be a precursor to the Gray Death plague that is ravaging the world as the first game begins. This nanite virus is manufactured by VersaLife, a corporation controlled by Bob Page, and one whose logo features in the Mankind Divided trailer. The nanite plague is a kind of research and development, designed to accelerate the creation of the next generation of nanoaugmentation technology.
The most significant aspect of Mankind Divided's setting of 2029 is that it's the same year in which the first Deus Ex game's protagonist, JC Denton, was born. He and his brother Paul are some of the first people physiologically able to accept the next generation of augmentations. Human Revolution reveals that Jensen is the first human being capable of being augmented--with the present mechanical augmentations--without requiring an expensive drug called Neuropozyne to prevent his body rejecting them. How do we know this? The very first book you can read in Human Revolution reveals that Reed has been experimenting on Jensen's DNA without his knowledge.
The mechanical apartheid
All of this is pointing to the notion that Mankind Divided may have much stronger tie-ins to the original Deus Ex. Jensen's destruction of Panchaea left the Illuminati with the ability to create Daedalus, and his DNA is likely facilitating the creation of the Gray Death and later nanoaugmentation itself. There's a reason Megan Reed is shown in Mankind Divided's first trailer: it's only through her actions at the end of Human Revolution that the future of the Deus Ex universe can come to pass. With public opinion on mechanical augmentation split down the middle, the time is ripe for the shadowy cabals to make their next move. How this happens is something we'll have to wait for Mankind Divided to find out. And as the achievement you earn by finishing Human Revolution is called "The D Project", and has a picture of JC Denton's face, it's highly likely we'll see Jensen and the Dentons' lives begin to cross.
Feminist Frequency creator Anita Sarkeesian has been named to the "2015 Time 100," a list of the most influential people in the world, according to the iconic magazine. The list is broken down into "titans," "pioneers," "artists," "icons," and "leaders," all of whom are people who are "shaping the future."
The list was published today, and Sarkeesian is featured on it as a pioneer for her video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. Her work on this series hasn't been without its detractors, as some in the online community have lashed out at Sarkeesian, sending all manner of horrific harassment and threats her way.
"A lesser person may throw up her hands and unplug her game console, but Anita is determined to ensure that video games are inclusive and representative of everyone who plays them" -- Wil Wheaton
But she continues to stand tall amid the abuse, writes Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton in his essay for Time.
"In the face of hysterical and childish abuse, Anita has refused to back down," he said. "She continues to speak around the world about the role of women in video games and popular media."
"A lesser person may throw up her hands and unplug her game console, but Anita is determined to ensure that video games are inclusive and representative of everyone who plays them," he added. "As her detractors grow increasingly unhinged, we have proof that her efforts are working."
Sarkeesian is the only video game personality to be featured in this year's Time 100. In previous years, however, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson (2013) and Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto (2007) have made the cut. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is on the list this year, but no one from the Xbox team specifically is featured.
Others featured in the 2015 Time 100 include people like rapper Kanye West (titan), Orange is the New Black's Laverne Cox (pioneer), country singer Tim McGraw (artist), Russia president Vladimir Putin (leader), and Taylor Swift and Pope Francis (both listed as icons)
Spartan Strike is a top-down, twin-stick shooter, available now for iOS, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and on PC via Steam. The game was co-developed by 343 Industries and Vanguard Games and can be purchased for $6. It is set during the events of Halo 2, and--unlike Spartan Assault before it--does not include any microtransactions.
Everything in-game can be purchase via credits you unlock through gameplay.
Spartan Strike comes with 30 missions where players, controlling a Spartan soldier, will lead UNSC troops through a variety of locations, including cities and jungles. New weapons, abilities, and vehicles not found in Spartan Assault are available in Spartan Strike.
Microsoft also says that Spartan Strike features "improved touch controls" along with updated graphics compared to the earlier game. For a closer look at the game, see the images in the gallery below.
On top of its campaign mode, Spartan Strike--for Windows 8 devices at least--will offer weekly challenges and leaderboard support, allowing players to track their progress against friends. In addition, players can earn achievements that will in turn unlock an emblem, nameplate, and avatar in The Master Chief Collection.
Microsoft has also announced a new "Halo: Spartan Bundle" for iOS and Steam that comes with Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike. This bundle costs $10 and is also available from today.
Mortal Kombat X launched this week and it's off to a franchise-best start, according to series co-creator Ed Boon. He writes on Twitter that Mortal Kombat X enjoyed the "biggest launch" in the history of Mortal Kombat, though he didn't say if this was in terms of units sold or some other measurement. We've reached out to Warner Bros. for clarification.
Thank you everyone for making Mortal Kombat X the biggest launch in MK history. You made the game FAR exceed our wildest expectations....!!
The game, including the console/PC edition and the free mobile version released last week, attracted "millions" of players right out of the gate, Boon went on to say.
The Mobile & console games have had literally millions of players getting online in a really short period of time, hitting our servers HARD!
Mortal Kombat X's release on Tuesday, however, did not go entirely smoothly. Boon thanked fans for their patience as developer NetherRealm works through some unspecified issues.
We love that so many players want to play MKX and are working (like mad) on all the issues some of you are experiencing! We WILL fix them!
The entire Mortal Kombat franchise, which debuted in the early '90s, has sold more than 35 million copies to date. This number doesn't include sales of Mortal Kombat X.
During a recent Q&A session on Facebook, a fan asked Zuckerberg what his vision was for Oculus Rift. The 30-year-old billionaire responded by saying he sees the technology as an "incredibly powerful" platform that can connect the world in ways previously impossible--kind of like how Facebook itself.
"Our mission [is] to give people the power to experience anything," he said. "Even if you don't have the ability to travel somewhere, or to be with someone in person, or even if something is physically impossible to build in our analog world, the goal is to help build a medium that will give you the ability to do all of these things you might not otherwise be able to do."
"This will be incredibly powerful as a communication medium as well," Zuckerberg added. "Just like we capture photos and videos today and then share them on the Internet to let others experience them too, we'll be able to capture whole 3D scenes and create new environments and then share those with people as well. It will be pretty wild."
When Facebook acquired Oculus VR in 2014, Zuckerberg referred to virtual reality as "the platform of tomorrow." He went on to say at the time that, "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play, and communicate."
Outside of gaming, Facebook plans to extend Oculus Rift to other industries, including communications, media, and entertainment, among others. "Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform," the company said at the time.
Oculus Rift has been in development for years, and there is still no word on when the consumer model will be available or what it will cost.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Polish developer CD Projekt Red's highly anticipated open-world role-playing game, has finally gone gold. That means development on the game, which its developer calls its "most ambitious endeavor to date," is complete ahead of its release next month across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
The milestone is particularly noteworthy, given that The Witcher 3 had been delayed a couple of times.
"We worked so damn hard over the past three years to bring you this game," CD Projekt Red boss Adam Badowski said in a statement. "From the corrupt nobles in Novigrad to ancient monsters lurking in deep forests, to the bustling cities, colorful ports and breathtaking vistas; all the people, all the places--we literally spent tens of thousands of hours to turn all that into an adventure that will kick your ass and make you want to come for more."
Now that development has wrapped on the main game, CD Projekt Red won't just be sitting by idly. Recently, CD Projekt Red announced two major expansions for the role-playing game that will add around 30 hours of gameplay to an already massive title.
For the second week running, Turtle Rock's monster-hunting game Evolve will hold a special, weekend-only challenge offering free DLC to players as a reward. This weekend's event challenges players to deal damage to Monsters using the Bucket support class.
If players can deal at least 200 million damage to Monsters using Bucket's sentry guns between 12:01 AM EDT on April 17 and 12:01 AM EDT on April 20, everyone who plays during that period will receive the Bucket Predator Skin. If players can do even better, reaching at least 350 million damage, everyone will also receive the entire Support Predator skin set.
Both skins are pictured above. If either goal is met, the skin(s) will be handed out to players by Thursday, April 23, Turtle Rock says in a blog post.
To take part in the Evolve weekend event, you don't need to play as Bucket yourself, but he must be in the game.
This is not the first weekend challenge for Evolve--as Turtle Rock held an event last weekend and one before that in March--and it won't be the last. Turtle Rock said Thursday that, so long as players keep meeting the challenges, the developer will continue to hold more in the future.
Sony is preparing to release a remastered PlayStation 4 collection of three games developed by award-winning indie studio ThatGameCompany.
The trilogy, due for release in the summer, will package FlOw, Flower, and Journey onto one Blu-ray disc. Representatives for Sony told GameSpot that Journey on PS4 doubles the framerate to 60fps, but makes no other changes. It will also run at 1080p.
Meanwhile, around the same time as the trilogy's release, a standalone digital edition of Journey will also be listed on the PS4 PlayStation Store. Fl0w and Flower are already available on the digital shop, and both are freely available to customers who already purchased the two games on their PlayStation 3 or PS Vita. Whether Journey would be part of the same Cross-buy promotion has yet to be confirmed.
ThatGameCompany was co-founded in 2006 by two University of Southern California students, Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, and one year later released its first game, Fl0w, on PS3.
By 2009, the studio had made a name for itself after the release of its acclaimed title Flower, in which players take on the role of a gust of wind to spread life across various rural locations.
GameSpot's Flower review summarised: "If you're looking for an antidote to the many sequels and franchises on the market, then Flower offers something unique and while it lasts, it's a great game in its own right."
Journey, the studio's third title, is widely considered to be bar far its most successful both critically and commercially. Following its release in March 2012, the game went on to become the fastest-selling PSN game, and was lauded in GameSpot's Journey review. Critic Jane Douglas wrote: "It's a real accomplishment that Journey draws together so many conventional game elements, and so well, and still feels like the art piece we expect from the makers of Flow and Flower: intriguing, ambiguous, and experimental."
Developer The Chinese Room (Dear Esther) on Thursday showcased new gameplay footage for the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive first-person adventure Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. GameSpot's three-minute video highlights the game's gorgeous visuals and teases some story elements.
In Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, the world has ended, but players take on the role of six characters dealing with the fallout. You explore, among other locations, a peaceful-looking town in the English countryside and piece together what has happened.
Read our hands-on impression for a deeper dive into Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.
The Chinese Room has not announced a release date for Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, though it expects the game will ship before the end of the summer. The game is being worked on by 13 developers at The ChineseRoom with the support of Sony Santa Monica.
For a closer look at Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, check out some images in the gallery below.
My experience with Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, though brief, kept my brain busy for hours afterward. Following my play time, I couldn't play anything else. I just couldn't process anything new. My mind kept spinning back to patterns of splintered light, motes of glittering gold dust, and endless silent depictions of abandonment and pain. All I did was take a walk in a video game, and it chilled me so deeply it took hours to return to the warmth of reality.
Set to launch this summer as a PlayStation 4 exclusive, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is very reminiscent of developer The Chinese Room's previous games, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Dear Esther. You spend much of your time walking around--you can't jump, sprint, or do anything other than trudge through abandoned towns. Occasionally you can interact with objects, but nothing more involved than opening doors or walking up stairs. You walk into houses and up roads, into churches and through playgrounds, looking for clues to everyone's disappearance.
According to The Chinese Room creative director Dan Pinchbeck, the game is set in 1984 in the rural English countryside. This era, a time before the internet and smart phones, was an easier environment in which to depict isolation. This is also the Cold War era, where constant fear reigns.
"The media was bombarding us with all the things that could possibly go wrong," Pinchbeck told us of his memories of that era. "I remember in school having to watch videos about nuclear bombs being dropped. It was still a tense time. So we wanted to portray an isolated community, a sense of that rural-ness, that traditional English bucolic golden age, and we also wanted to get under its skin and play with it."
There is no user interface, no text bubbles, nothing to guide you other than twinkling gold lights that pop up from time to time. Lights floating in place are imprints of the people who have left this world behind. To unlock these conversations, you use the DualShock 4's gyroscope feature, tilting it in all directions until the gold light begins to spin and emit a loud, high-pitched sound. It feels like tuning a radio to find a static-free channel, which I imagine is what The Chinese Room was going for; but instead of looking for radio stations, you're looking to tap into memories. A burst of light indicates you've done it right, and you are then made witness to memories of the departed.
Moments like this are scattered through each area in the game, peppering the small towns you visit searching for clues. There are a select few you need to find in order to witness important chains of events, but many are optional. These optional unlocks, however, will give you more insight into the story, so if you want deeper details on Rapture's mystery, you'll need to find them all. It's entirely up to you, and how much you care, in exploring the world and figuring out what's going on.
Overall there are six main characters in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, with six major stories arcs and many small ones. This is quite a bit to chew on, if you're intent on finding all of them.
"In each location, while you're broadly following one story, you're also encountering others. You can be setting things up in one area that you can see the outcome of in another, " Pinchbeck said. "One of the biggest questions we've asked ourselves is, how are we going to make you care enough about these characters that, three hours later when you're playing as someone else, you'll still associate some of the things you've seen with characters that you've already played as. It really does take a lot of work ensuring that things resonate enough."
And that's the wonderful thing about Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. After nearly 45 minutes working my way through one small town, one small piece of the plot's puzzle, I still had no idea what was going on. I felt like I had gotten somewhere, not enough to be confident in my assumptions but just enough to leave me distraught and breathless. What's happening in Rapture goes beyond weird into openly scary territory, which in no small part is because of the game's audio design.
Walking through the game, soft music follows you. The sound heightens in volume and pitch when you come across the streaks and ball of gold light that lead you to your next destination. Here, music crescendos and twists into an almost ethereal tone, sounding less like music and more like some otherworldly something settling on you. Then everything goes quiet and all you hear are voices--voices of the people who once existed in this space but do no longer, people who have mysteriously vanished without a trace.
Sometimes these conversations end with a horrific cacophony of screeching and radio static, and I don't know what's more unnerving: the calm fear these no-longer-existing people speak as they wink out of existence, or the sound itself, which is inhuman, metallic, and jarring.
It's the apocalypse, that's for certain. But exactly what's causing it is unclear. And the overwhelming sadness that permeates the environment--cars parked haphazardly with doors open, cigarette stubs left smoking in ashtrays, wads of bloody tissues left scattered on floors, on beds, on sidewalks...It's captivating in the most heartbreaking, sorrowful way. Something horrible has happened, and I'm afraid to find out what.
Super Time Force Ultra on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita are getting more platform-exclusive characters heralding from Sony's biggest games.
Joining the already large and diverse cast of Super Time Force is the robed figure from thatgamecompany's critically acclaimed Journey. This little figure doesn't lift a finger to fight on its own, but rather summons bolts of cloth to attack surrounding enemies. These cloth companions float through the air beside the figure as he jumps along, swooping down to lay waste to baddies. The Journey figure can also float up and across distances, which gives him a bit of an advantage in terms of movement speed.
Also joining the fray is Sir Galahad from another more recent Sony exclusive, The Order: 1886. Sir Galahad wields a pistol and an Arc Gun, a high-voltage weapon that can shoot balls of energy and be charged up for a more powerful long-distance attack.
At the PlayStation Experience last December, developer Capybara Games announced that Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, would be a playable character in the PlayStation-exclusive versions of Super Time Force. On the battlefield, Yoshida is a formidable foe. Using his cell phone, he shoots hearts at his opponents. But his ultimate attack is shooting Tweets, sending emoticons and other social media jargon in bursts at enemies. During a recent hands-on with Yoshida's character, it's safe to say he may be a little overpowered; he moves fast and his Tweets do significant damage.
Super Time Force Ultra is slated to launch this summer. The game will be cross-buy between PS4 and Vita.
Eidos Monetreal has revealed more details about the upcoming stealth-action game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, including new information about a hard mode and a total stealth gameplay option.
First, game director Jean-François Dugas recently confirmed on Twitter that Mankind Divided will have a "Give Me Deus Ex" difficulty option that will be no walk in the park.
We'll have the 'Give me Deus Ex' again. Not exactly like the 1999 mode but you should expect a real challenge. https://t.co/jrWHyuYUJp
Dugas also reveals that Mankind Divided will be fully "ghostable," meaning players will be able to complete the entire game--including boss fights--without being seen or detected.
As always and even on boss side, finally! “@DuBrowny: @Jeffachoo Will Mankind Divided by ghostable?"”
After a leak, Mankind Divided was officially announced last week. It's currently in development at Eidos Montreal for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, though no release date has been announced yet.
Mankind Divided runs on Eidos Montreal's proprietary Dawn Engine and will feature Direct X 12 support as well as AMD's TressFX as a means to "not only raise the bar in game performance but bring unrivaled visual fidelity to the Deus Ex franchise." As for the story, Mankind Divided takes place in 2029 and continues the narrative of Adam Jensen from 2011' Human Revolution.
Ahead of its release next month, Bethesda and developer MachineGames have published a new blog post that reveals some new gameplay details for Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, a standalone prequel to last year's The New Order. First, protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz will wield a brutal-sounding pipe melee weapon.
Players will acquire this "handy helper" early in the game and will use the multi-purpose melee item throughout. "The idea was to have something new--something different than the knife," executive producer Jerk Gustafsson said.
The pipe can also be pulled apart so that players can dual-wield it, dealing even deadlier damage. In addition, players can use the pipe for a variety of non-lethal purposes, including climbing and breaking through walls, among other things. "It's equally a progression tool as it is a weapon," Gustafsson said.
Bethesda also says that takedowns with the pipe are going to be brutal, bloody affairs, and can vary depending on its single- or dual-wield status. Plus, since the pipe is hollow, "if you gank someone, there's a good chance a geyser of blood's gonna spurt out the other end."
Also in the blog post, Bethesda confirms that Nazi zombies will make an appearance in The Old Blood (see below), and that MachineGames is aiming for an overall "pulp B-movie vibe" with the game. Check out the full blog post to learn even more about The Old Blood.
The Old Blood launches May 5 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. As mentioned above, since it's a standalone game, it does not require The New Order. The Old Blood will sell for $20.
It includes two main campaigns: "Rudi Jäger and the Den of Wolves" and "The Dark Secrets of Helga Von Schabbs." The game plays out across eight total chapters.
It's April 16, which not only means it's Futurama voice actor Billy West's 62nd birthday, but it's also the day when more free games have become available for Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox 360.
Yet another multiplatform game will run in a higher native resolution on PlayStation 4 than Xbox One.
Developer Codemasters has announced that its upcoming racing game F1 2015 will run at 1080p on PS4 and 900p on Xbox One. Both versions, however, will run at 60fps.
Game designer Stevn Embling confirmed the resolution and frame rate details Thursday in an interview with Eurogamer.
"On console we've had it very, very close to 60fps, certainly on PS4," he told the site. "Everyone at the studio is doing a fantastic with the optimization, and we're in the final couple of months before release where there's a big push that we hit that 60fps, and that's the plan."
F1 2015 was announced late last month, and is due to launch across PS4, Xbox One, and PC in June. The game is being developed on a new version of Codemasters' EGO engine and aims to deliver the "ultimate Formula One video game experience."
For a closer look at F1 2015, check out some work-in-progress images in the gallery below.
A rudimentary modification to GTA 5 on PC has allowed Oculus Rift owners to view Los Santos in virtual reality for the first time.
Footage published on YouTube shows players stepping into the skin of protagonists Michael, Trevor, and Franklin, using an Oculus Rift DK 2 to simulate the game in first-person mode.
For now, the experiment only offers basic VR functionality, in that head movements are used to move the first-person camera. Due to the game's code not being optimised for virtual reality, the results may be unpleasant and uncomfortable for some users.
Footage aired so far shows one player walk around Michael's house in VR (below), while another captures a bike ride at night (above).
GameSpot's GTA 5 PC Review offered a strong recommendation to try the game: "GTA V shines on PC thanks to 4K-grade textures, the availability of additional post-processing effects, and an unlocked frame rate."
The long wait for the release of Project Cars should be over in a matter of weeks, as publisher Bandai Namco has "guaranteed" a specific launch date for the title.
Following a succession of delays to the project on at least three occasions, the racing sim is now due to ship on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on Friday May 8. This release date is specifically for the UK market, and while there is no official launch timings for North America yet, if convention is followed the game should arrive in the US on Tuesday May 5.
Developer Slightly Mad Studios has plans to ship a version on Wii U, but details on the release date for this remain vague.
Meanwhile, a guide for Project Cars' minimum and recommended PC specs has been issued:
GPU: Nvidia GT600 series, AMD Radeon HD7000 series
Memory: 8Gb RAM, 2Gb VRAM
Further below, a list of Project Cars' supported steering wheels can be found (Slightly Mad Studios says this is not final yet).
Developer Slightly Mad Studios originally scheduled to release Project Cars in November 2014, though a month before release that date was pushed to March 2015. Then, weeks ahead of its postponed launch, the game was pushed back again, this time to April.
Ian Bell, the developer who heads up Slightly Mad Studios, said the further delay was initiated because detecting all of the game's final bugs has proven to be a complex task.
"Despite our long heritage and pedigree in making critically-acclaimed racing games, Project CARS is by far the grandest and most intricately detailed of them all," he wrote in a prepared statement.
Project Cars Supported Steering Wheels
PLAYSTATION 4
Thrustmaster T300RS
Thrustmaster T300 Ferrari GTE
Thrustmaster T100 Force Feedback
Thrustmaster T80
Thrustmaster TH8RS
Thrustmaster TH8A
Thrustmaster T3PA Pedals
Thrustmaster T500RS
Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S
Fanatec Porsche 911 GT2
Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 v2
Fanatec CSR (+ Pedals)
Fanatec CSR Elite (+ Pedals)
Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base
Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base v2
XBOX ONE
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition
Thrustmaster Ferrari 458 Spider Racing
Thrustmaster TH8A
Thrustmaster T3PA Pedals
Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base
Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base v2
Mad Catz Pro Racing Force Feedback
PC
Thrusmaster T300RS
Thrustmaster T300 Ferrari GTE
Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition
According to their source, the entire studio will be shutting down, and every staff member will lose their job, saying "All hands are gone." The costs of operating a AAA studio in Australia were reportedly the cause of the studio shutting its doors. Official comment is expected to be issued soon.
2K Australia was the country's last remaining AAA studio. Most recently, the developer took the lead on Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, but the studio has long played a large part in assisting the development of other 2K properties, such as the BioShock series, and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.
Update: Official comment from a 2K representative has been provided to Kotaku Australia: "We can confirm we have taken steps to begin the studio closure process for 2K Australia in order to better manage ongoing development costs while improving the working proximity of our creative teams. We are very grateful for the team's valuable contributions to numerous 2K projects, and are working with affected staff to explore reassignment opportunities where possible."
Grand Theft Auto V on PC just launched yesterday, but users are already taking advantage of one of the game's new, system-exclusive features: the movie editor.
Fans are able to cut together their own movie in-game and share the results to YouTube. Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, always a little bit weird. Here are a few of the best ones we've found so far.
(Needless to say, most of these are NSFW in one way or another.)
Baywatch
Poor Kitty
"Why does this one have so many downvotes?" someone in our office asked. "Oh....that's why."
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
"This is a deep and thought provoking story of love, love, and then eventually death."
Barbara Schwartzburger
"Hot Action Woman"
Sins of the Past
Franklin Visits the Shipping Docks
I Ain't Nah Gym
Health & Wellness
"Laws are made to be followed."
After Prison
Really great editing here
Sunday Drifting
Jetski
The Beauty of a GTA Bug
Police Chase
Harold's Day Off
"96-year-old Harold works hard at the elementary school where he teaches. Some days, he needs to take a trip to Vespucci beach to blow off some steam."
Have any personal favorites (or have you made a great one yourself)? Let us know in the comments below!
Natsume Atari's upcoming Godzilla: The Game is less an action-oriented tie-in to the last year's Godzilla film and more an homage to the more than half a century-old show that spawned the kaiju phenomenon.
During a recent hands-on session with the game, my fears about the title's content were assuaged. When I saw an early build of the North American version this past February--the game has been out in Japan since late last year--I noted that things looked clunky; the monsters and buildings fell in choppy animations that made it look like the game was running slowly. The localized version was still in early stages, but based on the interactions between Godzilla and his opponents, I felt like I was watching a simple beat em up in the Godzilla skin.
But what I initially thought was game lag is actually a stylistic choice from the developers, a deliberate decision to slow down the action into small segments that allow players pause to watch the destruction. According to Godzilla producer Shunsuke Fujita, this design choice is meant to mimic the look and feel of the classic Godzilla television show. It's less about the visual drama, and more about recreating the monster's origin point.
"It was the 60th anniversary of the Godzilla series last year. The basis of making this game was really on that, on the lore of the original Godzilla and how we could celebrate that," Fujita said, noting the most important element of development was making the game faithful to the old shows and films.
"It was important to recreate the atmosphere of the movies and, also inside of that, being able to control Godzilla, to be Godzilla," he added. "What is Godzilla? Godzilla is destruction, destroying the city, that's really what it's about. So having that ability was really important. That's ultimately why the game looks the way it does.
"Everyone who first sees Godzilla, most people see it when they're a kid, and he just looks so cool. I didn't want to make a game where you had to fight against Godzilla or destroy him, because people don't want to destroy Godzilla. They want to be him."
Playing as Godzilla feels powerful, despite the choppy animations; his two bigger attacks, a tail whip and his famous laserbeam, deal big damage to enemies and buildings. You do start the game as a smaller Godzilla with the goal to destroy buildings and earn extra meters on your height (you can grow up to 100 meters this way), but you never feel handicapped. You are never weak Godzilla trying to earn his place. You are always the giant, strong Godzilla.
There are a couple of neat tweaks that make Godzilla interesting. The first has to do with your combatants; you can battle not one, but two other giant monsters as Godzilla. Typically battles begin with one monster crossing Godzilla's path, with a second suddenly appearing as you whittle down the first's health bar. A kaiju fan myself, it was a little thrilling to be blasting King Ghidorah into the ground only to have Mothra fly up behind me and knock me flat on my scaly butt.
The human military is also firing on you the whole time. Waves of fighter jets and machine gun spray will often get in Godzilla's way, as humanity fights to take you down along with the monsters that you are trying to take down. So not only does Godzilla have to destroy other monsters, but he has to survive assaults from the city's inhabitants. It's a lot to take in and keep track of, but not too much; it's just enough to keep you on your toes while still allowing you to enjoy smashing buildings.
The second interesting wrinkle is the ability to change camera angles. By default battles will start with angled views watching from above or the side, but you can also choose to watch your fight through the windows of nearby buildings and from the street level. This is really neat; fighting as Godzilla and gazing up at his monstrous forms while he smashes Biollante to bits is great. It's just like those old-school Godzilla shows.
Also Space Godzilla is in this game. Space Godzilla is pretty great.
Speaking of additional monsters, there are a lot to choose from in Godzilla. Hedorah, King Ghidorah, Mothra, three different versions of Mechagodzilla (spanning five generations of the kajiu's history), and Jet Jaguar, to name a few. Producer Fujita explained that many of these monsters were added to the game before he could sign off on them; developers would make the monsters they loved the most, and when he showed up to check on progress, there they were, already animated and running. The developers would often over-develop out of enthusiasm. How could he say no?
"There were some [monsters] that I had to push on my end, because I wanted them in the game," Fujita said. "One thing was for Mechagodzilla. Three Mechagodzilla are in the game. Originally the plan was to make two Mechagodzilla, the most-different two of them, but I looked at that and said, no, we have to put in three, because I also want Super Mechagodzilla in there. It was important to me.
"I wanted all generations [of kaiju] in," he added. "Within those areas I would let developers decide which ones they wanted to go with."
Godzilla: The Game launched for PS3 in Japan in December of last year, but an updated version called Godzilla Versus was recently announced for PS4 in the region. The PS4 version has more features; the three-monster battles will be exclusive to the newer console, as will the ability to battle other players online and use Space Godzilla as a playable monster. This content discrepancy will also hold true for the North American versions: The PS3 version will be the same as the Japanese PS3 version, while our PS4 version, the localized Godzilla Versus, will also contain the same extra features. However, the game will just be called Godzilla: The Game for both platforms in the West.
So why is this sci-fi icon getting a video game adaptation? Why is Godzilla--and in turn the kaiju phenomenon--so important to popular culture? Fujita believes it's because Godzilla's literal larger-than-life status places him above other genres, like superhero films, in terms of the fantastical. It's something that can never exist, and so we crave it more in our fiction.
"The main element that people are really into is that Godzilla, definitely, is impossible in the real world, it's impossible to have huge monsters fighting one another," Fujita said. "You might have something like Batman or Spider-man, and that''s more down to scale, it's not humanly possible but more down to scale. But the scale of huge monsters fighting one another--it's completely, definitely not possible. It's also just really cool."
Bandai Namco is known for publishing a wide variety of games based on popular anime properties, including Naruto and Once Piece. According to the company, if there is enough fan interest, another anime IP could join their roster: Sailor Moon.
The Sailor Scouts and their adventures were catapulted back into the spotlight last year with the launch of a new animated television series; the show would differ from its lengthy predecessor by more closely following the plot of creator Naoko Takeuchi's manga, which ran from 1992 to 1997. Speaking at a press event this weekend, senior manager of IP strategy Tak Miyazoe suggested that a game based on the popular magical girl series isn't entirely off the table.
Miyazoe acknowledged that Viz Media, the distributor of the anime and manga in North America, is pushing hard with the new wave of Sailor Moon. In addition to the new anime, the resurgence in popular interest has sparked a variety of merchandise. The new uptick in mainstream interest has many fans hopeful for a new video game adaptation.
"We're always exploring ideas, the potential is always there," Miyazoe said. "It's more about, are there fans out there who want it? Can we hear enough voices? From a business perspective, would [a Sailor Moon game] make sense, and more importantly, what do the fans want?"
There have been Sailor Moon-based games in the past. All except one were released only in Japan, with the one outlier also launching in France. One game was released specifically for the U.S., called The 3D Adventures of Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon games have mostly been beat 'em ups and fighting games, with a few side-scrolling and puzzle titles in the mix. One, Pretty Solider Sailor Moon: Another Story, featured an original storyline not tied to the anime or manga.
Bandai Namco's North American branch is responsible for localizing games from Japan, so it's not up to them to develop the game. However, the idea of the company developing in the name of the moon makes the most sense. Bandai Namco has had a business relationship with Toei Animation, the company heading the new Sailor Moon anime, since 2007. Toei's properties make up most of the anime games Bandai Namco publishes; Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, One Piece, Digimon…the list is long.
Miyazoe suggested that the idea of Sailor Moon game is something he's heard before. And with its pedigree of bringing quality anime tie-in games, many of them brawlers, to North America, it seems Bandai Namco would be the best choice to bring the gift of Sailor Moon to the West.
Electronic Arts has shared the top five most-requested fixes players are getting in the next patch for the cops-and-criminals-themed first-person shooter Battlefield Hardline.
"While the launch has proven stable, we can always get better and you'll see some miscellaneous fixes for the most frequent crashes in this patch," Battlefield Hardline lead multiplayer designer Thaddeus Sasser said on the game's website. "We're also addressing these top 5 priority issues as identified by the community."
The top five fixes:
Punkbuster fixes – "We're addressing some of the heavy CPU usage seen by players"
Nvidia DirectX driver fixes – "We're working with our partners at Nvidia to create new drivers to prevent the most common crash issues"
Extended Conquest time – "We've extended the length of Conquest matches by increasing the number of tickets on both Large and Small"
Fixed TDM spawns – "We've adjusted spawn points and the spawn system for better TDM spawning"
Multiple weapon balance tweaks – "We've addressed some common complaints with the weapon balance, there will be more coming soon"
"If your favorite fix isn't listed here, don't despair – just remember that fixes will always run behind community sentiment," Sasser said. "We're still working hard every day to improve the gameplay experience to make Battlefield Hardline even more fun."
You can find the full patch notes on the Battlelog forum, and EA said it will share an exact release date for the patch "soon."
EA also announced that its introducing a "Rent-A-Server program," which will allow players on all platforms to customize multiplayer matches and play with friends.
Microsoft and CD Projekt Red are teaming up to offer an Xbox One bundle themed around The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, at least in the United Kingdom.
UK retailer Game (via Eurogamer) has posted a product page for a Witcher 3 Xbox One bundle that includes a non-Kinect system and a copy of the game for £309.99 ($460).
According to the listing, the special console will go on sale May 19 alongside the game itself. It's also listed as "Only at Game," suggesting it's an exclusive for the retailer.
We asked Microsoft if this system would also come to the United States, and were provided with the following statement:
"Decisions about promotional and pricing strategies are made at a local level and based on market context. We're committed to offering fantastic value to all our customers but we have nothing more to announce at this time."
We've also contacted CD Projekt Red itself for an explanation, but have not heard back at press time.
Dying LightPC players can now create new content for the game with its official Developer Tools, developer Techland has announced.
"All PC players can now take on the role of game designers and build their own quarantine zones," Techland said. "The Dying Light Developer Tools allow for the creation of brand-new maps, custom stories, and insane scenarios limited only by the imagination of the author."
All content users create with the Developer Tools can be easily shared and downloaded thanks to Steam Workshop integration.
As you can see in the trailer above, the Developer Tools will allow you to write your own stories in the style of the open-world, melee-focused, first-person zombie game, or just make silly creations, stacking up explosive barrels and knocking zombies off of cliffs and into giant targets.
Techland said that it plans to regularly expand and update the Developer Tools with new features, assets, and functionality.
The developer has embraced user-created content since the game was released in late January. In Early February, it released a patch for the game as part of a wider effort to curb cheating in its Be The Zombie multiplayer mode, but the changes had also blocked out user-made mods.
Last month, Techland announced that Dying Light netted 3.2 million players in the first 45 days following its launch, making it the most popular title in the company's history.
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