Paying $15 gets you everything above, as well as the Ardennes Assault expansion for Company of Heroes 2. Bump that figure up to $30 and you'll get a Relic t-shirt.
As always with Humble Bundles, you're allowed to divide up your money between the publisher, Humble, and charity. The charities this time around include Arts Umbrella, War Child UK, SpecialEffect, and WDC.
With the release of Batman: Arkham Knight coming up in a little less than a month, we recently got the opportunity to play some more of the game. Here's all of our newest impressions and gameplay trailers for the upcoming Arkham series finale.
Newest Features
Batman: Arkham Knight Tells "A Much More Personal Story" -- "The word 'Arkham' has come to represent an aesthetic and a philosophy," says Arkham Knight's marketing director, Dax Ginn. "Our games are very 'real'--not hyper-real, but there's a realism about the way the characters behave. There's a grittiness about the appearance of them. The connotations of the word 'Arkham' have moved away from a literal connection to Arkham Asylum. But we think about the word 'Arkham' as meaning more than just the geography of the place. It stands for an interpretation of gritty realism within the game world."
Rocksteady Says Batman: Arkham Knight Is "The Biggest Game We've Ever Made" -- "What we don't want is for, while you're playing, to know more than what Batman knows in the game," Ginn explains. "Because then you don't feel like Batman--you actually feel like you, as a player, are smarter than Batman, which makes him feel like he's a bit of a dud. Which is totally the opposite of what we try and do with our games--we try to make you feel like you are Batman."
The role actor Andy Serkis will play in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has finally been revealed, at least partially. The official Star Wars website today shared an image of Serkis in motion-capture gear for his character, someone named Supreme Leader Snoke.
It appears this character will be entirely CGI, which isn't strange territory for Serkis, who played fully digital characters like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Whether or not Snoke is a good guy or a bad guy (or something in between) remains to be seen. But his stern facial expression and the fact that his name is prefaced by "Supreme Leader" makes you think he might be one of the movie's antagonists.
Serkis previously confirmed that he did the voiceover for the first Force Awakens trailer. In this trailer, a voice we now know to be Supreme Leader Snoke said, "There has been an awakening … Have you felt it? The dark side. And the light…"
The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18, a couple weeks after DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront debuts on current-generation consoles and PC.
What do you think about Serkis' character? Let us know in the comments below.
Atlus today revealed a number of new details about the latest continuation of the Persona 4 storyline, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, including the contents of a special edition and a release window for North America.
Dancing All Night will be out for PlayStation Vita (and PS TV) in the United States and Canada this fall in two forms. There's the Launch Edition, priced at $50, and an $80 Disco Fever edition.
The latter consists of a two-CD soundtrack, a Persona 4-themed Vita pouch, two premium DLC outfit packs (including a bonus song), a Teddie keychain, and a collectible box (with custom disco ball art) that houses all of this.
Buying the Disco Fever edition or preordering the standard edition (referred to as the Launch Edition) will also get you the Cover Band bonus. This consists of an exclusive decal skin for the Vita (the more recent Slim model), as well as 10 Vita wallpapers designed to match the decal.
Dancing All Night eschews the RPG format of Persona 4 in favor of--as the title suggests--that of a music game. Much like the Persona 4 Arena fighting game spinoffs, Dancing All Night remains a story-driven game. It features both new music and returning tracks from the past Persona 4 games.
You can check out Atlus' full description of the Disco Fever edition below, as well as some new screenshots of the game in action.
Two Discs Chock Full of Persona 4 Music Remixes: Hear the Persona 4: Dancing All Night soundtrack in all its glory! The two-disc CD set is full of original classics including "Pursuing My True Self," and "Shadow World," new song arrangements including "Heartbeat, Heartbreak" and "Your Affection," remixes by artists including Lotus Juice, TK, and Yuu Miyake, and completely new songs specifically composed for P4D!
Last Night a Vita Pouch Saved My Life: Protect your PS Vita in this custom P4D enameled pouch with a full color P4D design featuring Teddie in all his Elvis-esque jumpsuit glory on one side, and an embossed version of the P4D logo on the reverse. Not for sale in North America, the "Disco Fever" edition is the only way to get the exquisitely detailed pouch.
Costume Change: Two sets of paid DLC outfits will come with the "Disco Fever" Edition for free -- Persona 3's Gekkoukan High School uniform set, and the summer break outfit set to dress up Chie, Kanji, Rise, Naoto, and the rest of the human (sorry, Teddie) Investigation Team! The song "Never More" is also included as a bonus playable song.
All About that Bear: Never lose your keys or whatever else again with a golden Teddie keychain. Exclusive to North America, the gold (not real gold, of course) keychain comes embossed in the visage of all of Teddie's gloriousness, based on the belt buckle design on his P4D jumpsuit!
The Whole Package: All the items will come in a large collectible box with custom disco ball art (based on the Japanese Crazy Value Pack version of P4D).
This post contains The Shawshank Redemption spoilers.
The latest 8-Bit Cinema video from YouTube channel CineFix came online this week, this one presenting 1994's The Shawshank Redemption as a retro adventure game. Prison may be no fairytale world, but it does make a pretty decent setting for a point-and-click video game.
Watch as the six-minute video re-tells the movie's story, beginning with Andy Dufresne's incarceration and leading up to his unlikely escape from the Maine penitentiary.
Most of the major plot points in between are covered, including the rooftop beer scene, Tommy's tests, and Andy getting sent to solitary confinement for calling the warden "obtuse."
There isn't much in the way of action, outside of a section where you must tunnel through the walls as fast as you can before the guards return. Instead, you go around talking to other inmates, collecting items, and giving the maggot you found in your food to Brooks so he can feed his bird.
Would you play this game? Let us know in the comments below.
A new update for OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood launching on PS4 today adds a new local multiplayer mode for up to four players, developer Roll7 has announced.
Combo Rush allows for you and up to three friends to compete across every level in the game in one of four modes. Here's how Roll7 describes them:
Time: Rack up the beefiest score in a set time.
Race: Clash against your mates in a quick race to the end.
One-Shot: Think Daily Grind, but without the practice!
Score: Set a target score and pray you don't sloppy land that massive combo!
Before starting, you'll set a length for a tournament where each round is scored until you have a winner. Should you end up tied afterward, you'll compete in the skateboarding equivalent of sudden death: a random One-Shot level.
Combo Rush will be available for free today. This update as describes as "one massive, sexy, bodacious update left for you on PS4." The mode had been discussed prior to launch, but didn't end up finished in time.
Non-combat MMO Wander--which allows you to play as a bird or a sentient tree, among other creatures--finally has a release date. The intriguing-looking game will be released on June 4 for PlayStation 4 and PC, writer and character designer Crystal Flinn announced today.
A new trailer for Wander is also now available, revealing a new playable creature called Hira. She's a humanoid with gills and fins. Using her fins, she can swim and also use them as a Just Cause-style wingsuit.
As you'll see in the trailer, Hira can also ride griffins and even jump from one griffin to another mid-flight.
A new in-game communication system for Wander was also announced today. While players explore the world, they will find stones that teach them how to draw symbols. The DualShock 4's touchpad can then be used to communicate with other players.
Hira is just one of Wander's playable characters. The full lineup is below.
Oren -- A walking, sentient tree (you begin the game as Oren)
The Griffin -- A flying creature
The Azertash -- A creature that can swim and breathe underwater
Microsoft has announced the games that Xbox Live Gold members will receive for free in June, with the Xbox One's game being a brand-new one.
Throughout June, Gold members will be able to download Massive Chalice for free. The turn-based strategy game is the latest project from Double Fine, having been Kickstarted back in 2013. It's set to launch on Xbox One on June 1 for $20, and Gold subscribers will be able to immediately download it for free.
Meanwhile Pool Nation FX, one of the existing Games With Gold titles on Xbox One, will remain free throughout June.
On Xbox 360, Just Cause 2 will be free from June 1-15. It will be replaced by Thief on June 16, which will remain available free of charge until the end of the month.
[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, a Microsoft represenative offered the following statement:
"We're gearing up for an exciting E3 where we'll showcase more games and experiences. We have nothing further to share at this time."
The original story is below.
One of Microsoft's E3 surprises may have been spoiled. The company's own Xbox Support website reveals a new version of the Xbox One controller that features a 3.5mm headphone port at its base.
A line from the description explains that this port will "only available on controllers released after June 2015." This timing would suggest an announcement at Microsoft's E3 briefing next month, though this has not been confirmed. It's also unclear if a 3.5mm port is just one of the rumored controller's new features.
#16 is the new 3.5mm port
As you can see in the image above, the new controller design, in terms of form factor, is identical to the existing controller. We've contacted Microsoft, asking for more information.
This would be the first change to the Xbox One controller since launch in November 2013. Controller revisions are somewhat rare in console gaming, though Microsoft does have a history of making tweaks.
Back in 2010, Microsoft announced a new version of its Xbox 360 controller that featured a transforming d-pad. This decision came in response to complaints about the standard d-pad, which players felt yielded insufficiently precise inputs for some games.
Square Enix has provided an overview of its ongoing strategies for improving its business, which include the creation of new "experimental" games.
Speaking as part of a financial results briefing for the fiscal year ended March 31, company president Yosuke Matsuda highlighted key IP policies Square Enix will adhere to going forward.
In addition to "strengthening and rebooting" existing IPs on video game consoles and smart devices in parallel, Matsuda said Square Enix will create new IPs, but didn't provide further details.
"I cannot disclose much at this moment," he said, "but we are working on various initiatives, including some experimental projects."
He also said that the company is "planning to announce several titles" at its "private conference at the next E3." Since the report is translated from Japanese to English, the wording creates opportunity for misinterpretation, but Matsuda suggests new games will be shown behind-closed-doors at E3 2015.
Square Enix has not hosted a media briefing at E3 since 2012, where it showcased its next-gen Luminous Engine for the first time, leading many to speculate that it must have good cause to do so this year.
Elsewhere in the briefing, Matsuda reflected on the performance of the new consoles, saying the "PS4 seems to be doing especially well, mainly in the West," but adding that he believes "both PS4 and Xbox One are continuing to grow."
On the subject of augmented and virtual reality, Matsuda said Square Enix is "monitoring [these trends] with great interest, and considering various initiatives."
"There will not be a companion app," a Ubisoft spokesperson told the site. "For Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the team wanted to focus all their efforts on the core experience."
Unity's, for example, allowed users to view their gear statistics, access tutorials, and look at a map of the game's version of Paris. Meanwhile, Black Flag's offered an interactive world map and let you send your ships on missions, among other things.
Syndicate also will not have a multiplayer mode, something recent entries in the series offered players.
"The reason we are doing this is to really focus on the roots of the franchise," creative director Marc-Alexis Cote told GameSpot earlier this month. "That's why all nine studios are focused on delivering this single-player experience."
Fable designer Peter Molyneux's indie studio, 22Cans, is undergoing a "reboot" in the wake of recent controversy regarding claims of broken promises and more.
Phillips
The UK outfit announced this week that Molyneux will focus on his role as creative director while 20-year industry veteran Simon Phillips steps into the position of CEO. Previously, Phillips was an executive director at 22Cans, joining the company after holding high-ranking positions at FairPlay Media and Gusto Games.
"22Cans is unlike any team I've ever worked with before and has been one of the stand-out studios over the last three years," Phillips said in a statement to GamesIndustry International. "I'm super excited to be part of the future here and to help take 22Cans to the next level."
"At 22Cans, we have a mission statement and that is 'to create world-changing ideas,' and with Peter now able to fully immerse himself in the creative direction of not only Godus but The Trail and all the really smart, cool ideas we have, I believe we can do just that."
22Cans found itself embroiled in controversy earlier this year regarding broken promises for Godus. Molyneux is known for his passion and exuberance about games. However, he's also been criticized for over-promising and under-delivering, something he has openly admitted to.
In April, Molyneux "protege" Jack Attridge, the co-creator of Godus, quit 22Cans. At the time, he said his departure from the company was unrelated to the recent controversy.
22Cans' next game is The Trail. The studio isn't talking much about this game just yet, and that's intentional.
"We're going to make our mistakes and go down those blind alleys privately before presenting the game to the world," Molyneux said back in February.
[UPDATE] A Nordic Games representative told GameSpot that the PS4 Darksiders II "Death-initive Edition" retail listing is indeed legitimate. More details are coming "soon."
The new version is reportedly called the "Deathinitive Edition," a title that it both amazing and terrible. In Darksiders II, you play as Death, one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse; so the name does make some sense.
The $40 Deathinitive Edition is listed only for PlayStation 4, while the page provides a December 31, 2015 placeholder release date. There is no word on an Xbox One version.
We've contacted publisher Nordic Games for more details.
Upon its launch on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, GameSpot critic Kevin VanOrd wrote: "Darksiders II is remarkably well put together, particularly in light of its impressive scope."
Although Industrial Light and Magic's origin is inextricably tied to Star Wars, the studio that George Lucas founded in 1975 has since become a visual effect behemoth.
Since the release of the first Star Wars, ILM has worked on some of the most loved movies ever released, such as E.T., Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park, to name a few.
More recently, under the stewardship of Disney, it has reached major milestones in visual effects on movies such as Avengers Assemble, Cloud Atlas, Pacific Rim, and many others.
To celebrate its rich heritage, ILM has put together a short video that takes 40-years worth of its visual effects work and compresses it into an impressive one-minute showcase.
Check out the video below, and let us know in the comments which impressed you the most.
Among ILM's future projects is Warcraft, a movie based in the same universe as Blizzard's World of Warcraft MMO. The studio will be creating the Orcs for the film, which will be performed by real actors.
The Warcraft movie will feature a combination of live-action and CGI. Visual effects supervisor for the film, Bill Westenhofer, described the Orcs as "gritty and real," going on to say the movie will come across as "Avatar meets Game of Thrones."
The first images of ILM's Warcraft movie's orcs were recently published and, according to its designers, were based around concept art provided by Blizzard Entertainment and photos of actor Robert Kazinsky.
Following multiple delays, the Warcraft movie is now scheduled to open June 10, 2016. It stars Clancy Brown (Spongebob, The Shawshank Redemption) as Blackhand and Dominic Cooper (Need for Speed, Captain America) as King Llane. For more on the movie, check out GameSpot's Warcraft cast coverage here.
Tanya will be available for Kombat Pack owners on June 2, while everyone will be able to buy her a week later, on June 9.
Tanya was previously confirmed as a DLC character back in March alongside Jason Voorhees (of Friday the 13th fame), Predator, and Tremor. She's been a playable fighter in a number of previous games, dating back to 1997's Mortal Kombat 4.
Grand Theft Auto V mods on PC continue to be a source of endless entertainment for the GameSpot crew, so, once again, we've rounded up some of our favourites in the video below.
Highlights this time around include a couple of quirky subtle new additions in the form of Fuel Script Mod 0.7, which gives you a simple fuel gauge for cars and adds a refuelling mini-game. Customize Plate v1.2.3, meanwhile, lets you change the license plate on your car on-the-fly.
Ok, now on to the real wacky stuff: Gravity Gun 1.5 turns the stun gun into, well, a gravity gun. This allows you pluck cars of the road and launch them into the distance. Naturally, the perfect opportunity for cow bowling (see video below).
Grand Theft Zombie will allow you to turn the world into night time and spawn zombies to take on, which you can do as little dogs. There's also a mod called Fun Vehicles, but we won't ruin the surprise, just watch.
If you're interested in the downloading these mods, we've included the links below.
CD Projekt Red's acclaimed role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launched last week, but the Polish studio has not stopped releasing new trailers for it.
A new video released Thursday, titled "Beautiful world of The Witcher," highlights the RPG's massive open world. On display is the game's sprawling and varied environments, including snowy mountains, lush forests, streams and rivers, and cities.
The Witcher 3 received glowing praise upon release last week, earning a rare perfect score from GameSpot. In our review, critic Kevin VanOrd wrote: "Where the Witcher 2 sputtered to a halt, The Witcher 3 is always in a crescendo, crafting battle scenarios that constantly one-up the last, until you reach the explosive finale and recover in the glow of the game's quiet denouement."
For more on The Witcher 3, check out some recent stories below.
With just a few more weeks to go before Jurassic World's release in theaters on June 12, Universal Studios has launched a new featurette for the movie, complete with new footage and insight from Steven Spielberg.
His 1993 adaption of Michael Crichton's novel is a classic, and he doesn't hold back in talking up the new movie. "To see Jurassic World come to life is like seeing Jurassic Park come true," he says in the video.
Jurassic World "goes down an original road and it's a breathtaking adventure," Spielberg adds.
Check out the full video below, which also includes insight from lead actor Chris Pratt and director Colin Trevorrow. Also on display is some new footage, including a reference to the goat scene from Jurassic Park.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released a new gameplay trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight, the third--and supposedly final--entry in Rocksteady's acclaimed series.
The latest trailer, titled "Time to go to War" shows the Dark Knight flying around the city, swooping down under bridges and soaring over rooftops, before dropping in on a few thugs and getting to work on punching faces.
During the fray Batman shows off his many gadgets, before having a chit-chat with Poison Ivy and then taking her for a spin in the new Batmobile.
Nearly a year after the release of WildStar, Carbine Studios has announced that the MMORPG will be going free-to-play this coming fall.
Carbine Studios, a studio consisting of former World of Warcraft developers, launched WildStar in June 2014 under a traditional MMO monthly subscription model. Previously, the studio had defended its choice to follow a subscription model before the game released. But after its launch and a variety of content updates, WildStar will now be transitioning to the free-to-play model.
Similar to The Elder Scrolls Online, Carbine Studios will also give players the option to purchase a monthly membership that will provide various additional perks. These include convenience bonuses and enhancements as well as additional character, costume, bank, supply, and decor items. But unlike Bethesda's MMO, WildStar won't require you to put down money on a physical or digital copy of the game to play; that means the MMO will be 100% free once the transition takes place.
To flesh out the details on the announcement, I recently sat down with Carbine Studios product director Mike Donatelli to discuss what the free-to-play model means for WildStar.
What main factors led to the decision for WildStar's free-to-play model?
Mike Donatelli: Back at the beginning of the year I shared Carbine's plan of action for WildStar in 2015, which centered on listening to player feedback to make the game more fun and less grindy, creating content for a variety of different types of players and play styles, and focusing on growing and enhancing WildStar. Our past three content updates have all focused on making the game more fun and providing a variety of content for all types of players. WildStar is now a much better game than it was when it launched nearly a year ago. We're at the point where it's time to really focus on growing the game, and we as a team feel that the best way to do that is to make it so that everyone who wants to play can do so with as few hurdles as possible. This means removing the two biggest barriers of entry to the game -- the cost of the box and the required subscription.
What sort of research did you do when coming to the decision to go free-to-play? What sort of things did you learn from other recent MMOs that started with subscriptions before eventually switching models?
We definitely looked at other games in the industry that have made similar transitions and paid close attention to what worked and what didn't in those situations. One big thing we are doing differently is announcing our plan early (months ahead of time). Part of the reason is that we plan to put a lot of this stuff up on the PTR (public test realm) before the fall transition and actually get player feedback about how things will work. We think that being transparent with current and future players is absolutely essential.
Another key point is that with this transition, we are not putting any of the core game content behind a paywall. The WildStar that players have been able to enjoy as paying subscribers will be the same WildStar that everyone will experience when we go free-to-play. What we are doing is adding more content, like convenience items, on top of WildStar for those players who do choose to pay for these items.
Can you describe how monetisation will work? What sort of items will be purchasable with real-world money?
The items that players can purchase with real-world money will be cosmetic or convenience items [dyes, fast travel, etc.] and will not provide any competitive advantages over non-paying players. Players who pay with real money will be purchasing NCoins, which can be used to buy these convenience items in our MTX (microtransaction) store. For players who don't want to spend money, a sweat currency called Omnibits will drop in-game as they play. These will allow players to purchase the same types of convenience items.
What things do you think will help WildStar stand out among other free-to-play titles?
Since its launch last year, WildStar has always stood out as a game with a unique style, interesting world and characters, engaging combat system, and so much more. It was a critically acclaimed game that's only got better over time as we've listened to our player feedback and improved the overall experience. This fall, players will be able to experience the very best version of WildStar yet, and they'll be able to do it completely free. We're looking forward to it!
For the first time in the Arkham series, the villains Batman faces in Batman: Arkham Knight are unified in purpose. Led by Scarecrow, with the titular Arkham Knight at his right hand, this "united rogues gallery", as the game's marketing director, Dax Ginn, puts it, has already caused Gotham to be evacuated. The city is now under siege by the combined forces of the game's villains--but can such twisted people stay united forever?
"At the beginning they do appear to be a united force," Ginn explains. "But then, as the game unfolds, you can see they've actually got agendas within the overall plan. They're not as uniform a team as they would first appear. But they're much more integrated than they ever were, compared to Joker's role in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, where he was very chaotic and the rogues gallery were fighting each other just as much as they were fighting Batman."
Compared to the Joker, Scarecrow values order and a strict power hierarchy. But the villains beneath him--people like Two-Face, Penguin, and Firefly--aren't necessarily just going to fall in line. "So the way the rogues gallery starts to fracture is an interesting part of the narrative," Ginn says.
But it's the Arkham Knight who is the biggest wildcard, here. He's Scarecrow's right-hand-man, and an entirely new villain created for the game--but one we know almost nothing about. Ginn says we'll see insight into the Arkham Knight's character through his interactions and dialogue with Scarecrow, but beyond that, Rocksteady is keeping the Arkham Knight a mystery to put you in Batman's shoes--because Batman doesn't know who the Arkham Knight is, either.
"What we don't want is for, while you're playing, to know more than what Batman knows in the game," Ginn explains. "Because then you don't feel like Batman--you actually feel like you, as a player, are smarter than Batman, which makes him feel like he's a bit of a dud. Which is totally the opposite of what we try and do with our games--we try to make you feel like you are Batman."
So how would Batman approach this situation? Gotham is under attack, and there so many villains to pursue. How would Batman actually take them down?
"We found that, with Batman: Arkham City, we had a lot of side missions, but because you were never even forced to encounter the starting point of any of those, it was very easy to just miss them completely," says Ginn. "So we wanted to give gamers a taste of them on the mandatory story path, and then it's up to you if you pursue them. As you're focusing on Scarecrow, which is the main path, you will come into contact with all of those characters. But then, their stories branch off. So you've got a decision point, for example, to say, 'Well, I'm just going to really focus on the Riddler, and go after the Riddler from that main path intersection'. Or, you can branch off to any other."
Ginn thinks this will avoid the 'Avengers problem', where it would be almost impossible to give every character their due focus. "If the game was five hours long, yeah, we'd be in trouble cramming that all in," he continues. "If you had Penguin and Two-Face and the Riddler and Harley Quinn simultaneously coming at you, that's just a mess. So you have to break the game out so you've got a buffet to choose from, but you can take those meals on discretely. But the game is massive. I can't put a time on it, but it's far and away the biggest game we've ever made."
As you start filling up your plate, you'll find that not every villain is out to simply kill Batman. Scarecrow wishes to destroy the myth that Batman has built around him. The Riddler wants to prove he is Batman's intellectual superior. Others will find that Batman's weaknesses may be external to Batman himself. If Arkham Knight really is Rocksteady's biggest game, then there are more than enough chances not every character will make it through to the end.
Rocksteady's Batman games have evolved beyond their humble origins in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Where Batman was once confined to this single location, later games in the Arkham series have granted him greater room to glide through. In Batman: Arkham Knight, the entire city of Gotham is under siege by a united rogues gallery--so where does Arkham itself fit into the story?
"The word 'Arkham' has come to represent an aesthetic and a philosophy," says Arkham Knight's marketing director, Dax Ginn. "Our games are very 'real'--not hyper-real, but there's a realism about the way the characters behave. There's a grittiness about the appearance of them. The connotations of the word 'Arkham' have moved away from a literal connection to Arkham Asylum. But we think about the word 'Arkham' as meaning more than just the geography of the place. It stands for an interpretation of gritty realism within the game world."
'Arkham' also represents Rocksteady's interpretation of Batman himself: playing as him offers "a fantasy of empowerment", according to Ginn.
"That's been an escalation from Arkham Asylum through to Arkham Knight, with every game being a step up in the threat that Batman faces, but also counter-threat that he brings," he continues. "The skill tree that he has in terms of combat and gadgetry, as well as the addition of the Batmobile, makes him more powerful than he's ever been. But the threat that he faces is more threatening than it's ever been. That's the essence of this arms race that has been the plan throughout the three games."
If it sounds like an unstoppable force is about to meet an immovable object, you wouldn't be far off the mark. The eponymous Arkham Knight has been designed to be Batman's equal, so when the two inevitably clash, Ginn hints that the result will be a "fascinating gameplay experience."
And yet, in the Arkham series so far, Batman rarely ever feels like he's in real danger. This plays into the power fantasy Ginn speaks of, and is a core aspect of the character: Batman is equipped to deal with any situation. So what is the nature of the new threat he faces in Arkham Knight, and why is it actually threatening if Batman is more powerful than ever? This time around, Batman is joined by what Ginn calls the 'Bat-family'--Nightwing, Robin, Oracle, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Lucius Fox, and Catwoman--and they are the ones who cannot withstand an unstoppable force.
"Batman's allies become more important, but his allies aren't as capable as him, and they get drawn into the crossfire that surrounds him because of the decisions he has made about the war he has brought upon himself through his own moral compass," Ginn explains. "This is a fascinating aspect of Batman's personality that we haven't covered at all in the previous games. It's a much more personal story than we've ever told before."
At the core of Arkham Knight's story is the question: 'Is Batman a solitary character? Or is he part of an alliance?' Ginn says that's an open question, as other interpretations of Batman have seen him feature in a group of superheroes, but it's one that Arkham Knight may see you find a different answer to.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog's highly anticipated PlayStation 4 action-adventure game, will arrive before April 2016. That's according to PlayStation president Andrew House, who included the game on a slide during his recent Investor Day presentation for the fiscal year 2015.
Sony's fiscal 2015 ends March 31, 2016.
We already knew that Uncharted 4 had been delayed from fall 2015 to "spring 2016," but this new information confirms the project will launch sometime in the first quarter of calendar 2016.
Explaining the Uncharted 4 delay back in March, directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley said: "Giving us a few extra months will make certain that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End not only meets the team's high standards but the high standards that gamers have come to expect from a Naughty Dog title."
It's been a long time coming, but EA's FIFA series is finally putting female players into the game.
FIFA 16 will include 12 of the top women's international teams--including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, and the USA--and will be playable across multiple modes. Whilst those modes are yet to be confirmed, EA has stated that women's teams will not be able to be played against men's teams in order to remain "authentic" to real-world football.
The inclusion isn't a mere reskinning of existing players, however. According to FIFA 16 producer Nick Shannon, new technology--including animations, body types, and even hair physics--had to be retooled or created from scratch to accommodate the introduction of female players.
We talked to Shannon to find out more details about women's teams in FIFA 16
How long has this been in the works for?
Nick Shannon: It's been a while. The most important thing for us when we wanted to add the women's international teams was that we wanted to do it right. We wanted to do it properly. For us to be able to do that, there were a lot of things that we actually had to change within our game. We wanted to make sure that the body types looked good, so we actually created new body types. We created new body scaling technology that's actually helped with the men as well, so you'll now see a bigger differentiation with a tall, skinny player than a bigger, well-built player. That was down to us wanting to make the women's models look right in the game.
We also wanted to make sure we could get our scanning technology. We sent that out on the road, so we've scanned many of the teams to make sure we make the faces look as authentic as possible. We've never been able to do hair simulation during game play as the we've had problems maintaining 60 frames a second. We managed to be able to do that and maintain 60 as well. We wanted to do it right. We wanted to do it properly. This year was the year that we could do that.
It seemed like there was quite a lot of work to put into this. Can you quantify how much extra development it took?
It's not really something we're looking at because ultimately a lot of these things as I said with hair and body types are across the entire game, and it was something we needed to do to make the women's feature run properly.
Why is now a good time to introduce female players?
It's the right time because we're able to get the technology in place to do it properly. It's as simple as that.
Is this something that you're looking to expand in future features?
We'll see. I mean we obviously don't really talk about the future--we're still focused on what we're doing this year. Beyond that we'll have to wait and see. We'll again listen to feedback and what people liked and didn't like about it. Then we'll go from there. We're just really excited to be bringing it to players.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launched last week behind rave reviews, but--being a massive open-world RPG--the game has suffered from a few enduring problems.
One of these issues, players explain the CD Projekt Red forums, involves the reduction or outright removal of experience points gained during missions and sidequests. As you might have guessed, players aren't happy about it. But thankfully for anyone encountering the issues, which appear to be affecting all versions of the game, CD Projekt Red is preparing a fix.
"We have found the issue and started working on a fix," a developer wrote. "We're especially sorry about this bug!"
It's unclear how widespread the issue is. Some are reporting that the bug started appearing after the latest Witcher 3 patch. We'll continue to monitor the situation as it develops.
In other Witcher 3 bug-related news, CD Projekt Red community lead Marcin Momot chimed in on Twitter to offer what appears to be a temporary workaround for PlayStation 4 error CE-34878. He also shared some advice for how to avoid fall damage. Check out the tweets below.
How are you enjoying The Witcher 3 so far? Running into any major bugs? Let us know in the comments below.
PSA for PS4 users: If you encounter CE-34878-o error, please complete the Contract: The Mystery of the Byways Murders from your quest log.
Warner Bros. and developer Rocksteady, in conjunction with Sony, have released a new trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight that shows off the game's range of PlayStation 4-exclusive content.
As previously announced, this content takes the form of Scarecrow Nightmare Missions, as well as various Batman and Batmobile skins.
This content will be exclusive to PS4 through "at least" fall 2015, after which it could be released for Xbox One and PC, though no plans have been announced.
Check out Arkham Knight's PS4-exclusive content in the video below. Arkham Knight launches June 23 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
It appears Bungie is no longer the only developer working on sci-fi shooter Destiny.
A newly discovered job advertisement at Activision's High Moon Studios reveals a previously unannounced partnership between the Transformers and Deadpool developer and Bungie.
"We need to add world class talent as we partner with Bungie to support work on their groundbreaking Destiny franchise," reads a line from a job ad for a mission designer.
An ideal candidate for the position will be "passionately familiar with the Destiny franchise." Skills that will make a candidate more attractive include experience and familiarity with cooperative mission design and open-world design. These are the hallmarks of Destiny.
We've contacted Activision and Bungie to ask for more details regarding the new High Moon-Bungie partnership. We'll update this post with anything we hear back.
High Moon has a history of playing a supporting role in the development of blockbuster games. Most recently, the studio developed the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Although Bungie may be looking for help on Destiny, it doesn't mean the developer has stopped hiring internally. In fact, the studio currently has a whopping 74 open positions posted to its website.
Watchdog, a BBC series that investigates accusations of customer service misconduct, is expected to broadcast an episode looking into Playstation Europe's refund policy for digital content.
The episode, set to air on Thursday, will primarily deal with the case of a customer who was refused a refund for a digital purchase, despite Sony's internal investigation revealing it was made when the account had been compromised.
Sony has an awkward refund policy for digital content, stating on its PlayStation Store website that a customer's right to cancel store purchases and claim a refund "depends on the type of product" purchased from the Store.
"Wallet top-ups and purchases of digital content are final," it said. "This means that we will not credit your wallet, refund any wallet balance or transfer funds or content to another account, unless required to by local law."
Although this stance is common among other companies that deliver content digitally, it has left some customers to complain about the standards of customer service. In one recent case, John Lappin, a PlayStation 4 owner in the UK, was told that a Sony investigation had concluded that a £39.99 purchase made using his PlayStation Network account had come from a console he didn't own, and concluded that fraud had been committed on his account.
Despite this, Lappin was not offered a refund for this purchase.
In the recorded phone call below, Lappin talks to a PlayStation customer service representative, and proceeds to read out an email he apparently received from the company.
Citing the email, Lappin said Sony's response was: "In relation to the transactions you recently flagged, our investigation concluded that the serial number of the console on which these transactions were made does not match the serial number on the console you provided to us."
He continues: "The next sentence then says, regrettably, you can't offer any refund for purchases unless they're defective. So what's being said there is 'yes, it probably was someone fraudulently making the purchase, but because it works for them, we can't refund you,' which is just ridiculous."
According to the customer service rep, Sony is unable to provide the refund because it cannot conclusively prove that he didn't personally allow someone else to purchase the content.
Posting on NeoGAF, Lappin further detailed his dealings with PlayStation customer service, saying he spoke to multiple people and, ultimately, was unable to resolve the situation satisfactorily.
"I phoned and spoke to 4 or 5 different people, all but one were nice enough but all said the same thing and that they couldn't do anything," he said.
"The last [conversation], when I asked where the money was now, after all they'd banned the offending console and revoked access to the game, Sony reluctantly admitted [they] had it. When I asked why they couldn't give it back she explained it was my 'punishment' in case I had been trying to trick them."
Lappin added that he understands the issue is "not that big of a deal," but said Sony's attitude towards the issue gave him cause to pursue it.
"Normally I'd let shit like this go and put it down to bad luck, but the attitude of Sony was so appalling it actually made me laugh," he said. "I genuinely couldn't believe some of the things they were saying and it was just amusing.
"Ultimately, it's £40 on a videogame that a 35 year-old bloke lost, who cares? But this has happened to a lot of people, that money adds up. What if some kid gets a PSN card for his birthday and has that money taken?"
Issues pertaining to PlayStation's customer service have been a topic of discussion on the RLLMUK forum, with the more extreme issues collated on the Tales From Sony Customer Service website. It may be that some of the other stories on this website will be referenced in BBC's program.
GameSpot has contacted Sony for an official response on the accusations and the Watchdog episode. A spokesperson has said a statement will be issued shortly.
This episode of Watchdog is scheduled to be shown on BBC One at 8pm UK time (12pm Pacific) and will also be available following its airing on BBC iPlayer.
EA's new Need for Speed reboot will be released on November 3, according to a release date listed on Xbox.com.
The listing has since been removed from the US version of the website but, at the time of writing, can still be accessed from other territories.
EA has not yet officially confirmed a release date, and it must also be noted that Xbox.com has been known to attach placeholder release dates to upcoming games, so it may be that this date is incorrect.
GameSpot has contacted EA for a comment.
Xbox.com's listing also features new details on the game, teasing "five unique ways to play and win" and "rich authentic customization."
It reads: "Carve your own unique path, via multiple overlapping stories, gaining reputation on your journey to become the ultimate icon … Build a car that reflects your character through extensive visual and performance customization.
"Need for Speed returns with five unique ways to play: Speed, Style, Build, Crew, and Outlaw, enabling you to earn reputation and ultimately win your way."
Also mentioned is a new "West Coast Urban" setting: "Discover a nocturnal open world of urban car culture you never knew existed. Ventura Bay is your urban playground; from downtown, the harbour, and the canyons, the city comes alive while you sleep."
This year's Need for Speed game has been described as a "full reboot," and EA previously said it is due to launch this fall for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Streaming platform Twitch.tv has announced a policy preventing games rated Adults Only by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board from being streamed on its service.
In a blog post detailing its stance, the company said it would no longer make game-specific decisions on which games can and cannot be broadcasted, as this method is "unsustainable and unclear."
Instead, in an effort to make its policies more transparent, it will now no longer permit games rated Adults Only in the US by the ESRB on Twitch broadcasts. Equivalent ratings in other territories also apply.
"While the ESRB ratings apply exclusively to US titles, our policy extends to versions of these games in all territories. Generally, if the US version is rated for Adults Only (18+) or has an equivalent rating in your territory, you should not broadcast the game," the blog explains.
Twitch further clarified that "ESRB rated Mature versions of of Adults Only titles are permitted for streaming, such as Mature versions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy."
"Games rated 18+ by other rating systems are fine to stream, so long as they are not rated AO by the ESRB, and they don't violate the standard language of our [rules of conduct] and [terms of service]."
The current list of Adult Only rated games consists mainly of old and very obscure games that have been given the classification due to strong sexual content, nudity, and blood. However, among them are a few high-profile releases, including Rockstar's Manhunt 2 and Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude.
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