Mega Man Legends launched back in 1997 as a 3D, open-world adaptation of the Mega Man series. Now, designer and producer Keiji Inafune has announced a spiritual successor to Legends, titled Red Ash: The Indelible Legend.
The game, an open-world RPG, is being funded via Kickstarter, and Inafune is asking for at least $800,000. At the time of this writing, it sits at a little over $250,000 with 28 days left.
Concept art of the main character, Beck
Inafune is currently finishing up his last project, another Kickstarter game called Mighty No. 9, which is inspired by the 2D, sidescrolling entries in the Mega Man series. With Red Ash, he appears to be going in a different direction. On its Kickstarter page, he explains, "Red Ash is a very different project from a retro action game like Mighty No. 9, in terms of both scale and concept. The primary goal with Red Ash is to tell a story on a grand scale; all of the primary concepts are clearly visualized in the minds of the creative team, from the overall plot to historical background. Even the final ending scene is planned out!"
To achieve his goals, Inafune has brought together several members from the original Mega Man Legends team. Five of the ten members worked with Inafune on Legends.
If Red Ash reaches its $800,000 goal, the studio will make a prologue to a larger story, consisting of three episodes. At $1.3 million, the developer will be able to make an additional three episodes beyond the prologue. Inafune promises, however, that even the prologue will be a full game: "Of course, this is not to say that reaching the minimum goal will be an incomplete game. It won't be the full story we want to tell, but we promise it will still be a game you will never forget!"
Red Ash is planned for release on PC, with ports to other consoles coming if the studio receives enough money through Kickstarter.
Inafune has simultaneously launched a Kickstarter for a companion anime film, called Red Ash: Magicicada. The movie is in production at Studio 4°C, known for its work on Genius Party and two episodes of Halo: Legends.
Star Citizen executive producer Alex Mayberry has quit developer Cloud Imperium Games. Mayberry leaves the team just a week after the game's FPS mode was delayed indefinitely; his future plans are unknown.
Mayberry left Cloud Imperium Games at the end of June for "personal reasons," a representative for the company told GameSpot today.
Global head of production Erin Roberts will take over many of Mayberry's responsibilities.
"We were sorry that Alex had to leave the CIG family," the representative said. "No impact at all on development. In fact, it's full steam ahead for us."
Mayberry was one of Cloud Imperium Games' most high-profile new hires when he was originally brought on to the team in May 2014. He came to Cloud Imperium Games from developer Blizzard Entertainment, where he worked for more than a decade on the World of Warcraft and Diablo franchises, among others.
At Cloud Imperium Games, Mayberry was responsible for overseeing all development on Star Citizen. He was also charged with managing the company's worldwide development studios. Mayberry reported directly to Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts.
"After 10 years at Blizzard, I didn't think that there was anything that could ever get me to leave," Mayberry said back in May 2014 about joining Cloud Imperium Games. "But then Chris invited me to come check out Star Citizen, and after seeing the game and listening to Chris talk about his vision, I knew that I had to be a part of it."
Star Citizen is the most successful crowdfunded project--of any kind--in history. Its crowdfunding campaign originally began in October 2012 and to date, gamers have backed the project to the tune of $84.9 million.
Development hasn't gone entirely smoothly, however, as the game's first-person shooter mode, Star Marine, was recently delayed indefinitely due to an array of technical troubles.
Cloud Imperium Games also announced today that it has opened a new studio in Frankfurt, Germany. The team is currently made up of "some of the top engineers, artists, and designers in Europe," some of whom actually created the CryEngine technology that powers Star Citizen, the company said in a a press release.
CryEngine was created by Crytek, which is based in Germany, suggesting Cloud Imperium Games has hired away some staffers from that company.
The new Cloud Imperium Games studio in Frankfurt currently has 21 people on the team, but it hopes to have around 50 total employees by the end of the year. A list of open positions is available here. The new studio adds to the developer's existing offices in Los Angeles, California and Austin, Texas.
Amazon appears to have a new discount program for Prime members. At least a few games are currently included, such as Batman: Arkham Knight for $50 (Xbox One/PS4), The Elder Scrolls Online for $50 (Xbox One/PS4), Madden NFL 16 for $45 (Xbox One) or $50 (PS4), and Splatoon for $53. You won't see the lower price until you add the item to your cart and proceed to checkout.
You can preorder a number of games through Dell and receive either a $15 or $25 gift card: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ($25), Mad Max ($15), Rory McIlroy PGA Tour ($15), and Until Dawn ($15).
Walmart is selling the Halo Master Chief Collection Xbox One bundle with a free second controller $349. You also get a free copy of Watch Dogs or Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, or you can pay a bit more to replace it with Need for Speed: Rivals - Complete Edition ($5), Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare ($20), or Batman: Arkham Knight ($30).
Get a free copy of Assassin's Creed: Unity with the purchase of an Xbox One at Best Buy or the Microsoft Store (500 GB/1 TB). At Best Buy, buying the system also gets you $20 off a controller and $10 off a three-month Xbox Live Gold subscription.
Microsoft's latest Deals With Gold promotion is on for a bit longer, discounting a handful of Xbox One and Xbox 360 games, such as Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare for $6.60, Tower of Guns for $9, and Peggle 2: Magical Masters Edition for $5. You can check out all the deals here.
The first episode of Telltale's Game of Thrones series is free on Xbox Live.
There's a sale on Atlus games on the PlayStation Store, discounting primarily Vita and PS3 games. These include Persona 4 Golden for $15, Persona 3 Portable for $10, Persona 2: Innocent Sin for $10, and more.
Amazon prices are accurate as of publishing, but can fluctuate occasionally throughout the day.
GameSpot's gaming deals posts always highlight the best deals we can find regardless of retailer. We also occasionally use retailer affiliate links, which means that purchasing goods through those links helps support all the great content (including the deals posts) you find for free here on the site.
When asked if he'd be upset if it fell short, Suzuki responded, "No I won't be. I am grateful that there's another chance for a new Shenmue. I will make what I can within the budget from your money."
The game has raised over $4.3 million at the time of this writing, and it will likely cross $5 million in the 11 days left in the campaign. Another Twitter user asked what the game would look like with this budget. Suzuki explained that its world would likely be on a similar scale to the main area of the first game in the series. "I'm expecting something similar to Dobuita [the area in Shenmue I] in terms of scale," he answered.
Although announced on Sony's stage, Sony will receive no money from the funds raised via Kickstarter, Suzuki recently clarified. Rather, Sony will assist separately in production, marketing, and publishing for the game. Shenmue III's Kickstarter campaign broke records for the fastest ever to cross its goal, reaching $2 million in less than 12 hours. It will be released for the PlayStation 4 and PC on a currently unknown date.
Though Sony's PlayStation 4 racing game Driveclubsputtered at the starting line upon release last year, one thing was never in question: the game's gorgeous graphics. Now, a representative for one major car brand--Nissan, whose cars are featured in the game--has mistaken the racer's visuals for real life.
A Twitter user named Chris shared some in-game Nissan car images from Driveclub recently with the Nissan USA account, using the caption "Innovation that excites." This, of course, is Nissan's slogan.
The person running the Nissan Twitter account replied, "Awesome shots! Did you take these photos?" It didn't take long before other users pointed out the mistake.
Check out the screengrabs below to see how it all went down.
There's no question that Driveclub's graphics are great. But some believe video game visuals are set to get even better. Both Star Wars studio Industrial Light & Magic and Unreal company Epic Games have said game graphics will be indistinguishable from reality in the next decade.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim launched in 2011 to critical acclaim, but players sometimes encountered bugs during their playthroughs. Developer Bethesda had trouble working with the PlayStation 3, specifically, having to deal with issues in the game that delayed DLC for the PS3 version for months. Bethesda has learned from the rough state of Skyrim, however, and is aiming to apply those lessons to the upcoming release of Fallout 4.
According to a Game Informer interview with game director Todd Howard, the studio better understood how to deal with bugs and problems following the release of Skyrim and its subsequent DLC. Specifically, it learned what to prioritize for the launch of Fallout 4, should that game face similar issues. "I think we've gotten way better there," he said. "For us, [the player's] saved game is the number one thing. If the game crashes that's bad, but it is nowhere near as bad as someone's saved game being hosed. That's our scenario that we will do anything and everything to avoid. We made a lot of progress given how Skyrim went, but we did it during Skyrim. This just builds on that."
It was a while before the developer had really formed a method for addressing those issues. "It probably took us a month or two before we really had a handle on it," Howard explained. "All of the updates we did on Skyrim, and all of the DLC--once we sorted [the bugs out] we had a different process for how we checked the content out."
Last August, developer thatgamecompany announced that it was bringing its PlayStation 3-exclusive game Journey to the PlayStation 4. Now, the game's PS4 release date has been apparently leaked as July 21.
Found in the PlayStation E3 Experience guide on the PlayStation Docs website, the game page for Journey shows the date as coming later this month. The guide breaks down the different games appearing at E3, and it looks like the release date for Journey was probably published by mistake.
Polish developer CD Projekt Red has released the first details about an upcoming Witcher 3: Wild Hunt patch in development for all platforms. The 1.07 patch is described as "very large," making a number of changes, the first of which were detailed on Monday in a forum post.
Among the key changes are "various improvements" to horse behavior, the introduction of an item-stashing system, numerous bug fixes, and an "alternative movement response mode" for Geralt. This will be optional, but no further details were made available today.
You can see some of the big changes coming to The Witcher 3 through the 1.07 update below. The full patch notes, meanwhile, will be announced later this week.
A new, alternative (optional) movement response mode for Geralt.
A player stash for storing items, available in various locations throughout the game. Stash locations are marked on the player's map.
Crafting and alchemy components no longer add to the overall inventory weight.
Books are now placed in a dedicated tab in the Inventory and books that have already been read are properly grayed out.
Multiple sorting options are now available in the Inventory.
Alchemy formulas and crafting diagrams can be "pinned," meaning all components and ingredients required to make them will be conveniently marked in the Shop panel.
Dozens of fixes for quest related issues, both major and minor.
A few performance enhancements, including the optimization of FX, scenes, and general gameplay.
Various improvements to horse behavior.
Witcher 3 patches typically launch first on PC, before coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But it appears that's going to change with 1.07.
CD Projekt Red also shared some less-than-great news today, announcing that it will not release free DLC this week for The Witcher 3 as was previously planned. This is because CD Projekt Red is "all hands on deck" right now working to finish and launch patch 1.07.
Online retail giant Amazon will celebrate its 20th anniversary next week. To mark the occasion, the company has announced plans for a massive sale--bigger than Black Friday.
For one day only on July 15, Amazon will introduce "Prime Day." The retailer is calling it a "global shopping event" that will offer "more deals than Black Friday."
As its name suggests, the sale will be exclusive to Amazon Prime members in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Austria.
Deals will start at midnight on July 15, with new offers coming online as frequently as every ten minutes. Amazon did not say what items will be discounted, but you can pretty safely assume video games will be on sale.
You can read more about Amazon's 20th anniversary plans, which includes a photo contest and more, here.
Amazon Prime cost $99/year. Some of the benefits include free two-day shipping, as well as access to the Amazon Instant Video Collection and the ad-free Amazon Music catalog.
YouTuber Merfish is back with yet another excellent Grand Theft Auto V video, this one recreating the famous Fresh Prince of Bel-Air opening inside the world of Los Santos.
It's not perfect, but the shot-for-shot remake--staring Franklin and called "The Fresh Prince of Rockford Hills"--is fun to watch and a nice little diversion for a Monday morning.
The Fresh Prince video is just the latest example of the creativity and effort put forth by the GTA V community. Check out the links below for some other impressive videos.
Writing on Twitter, Kojima said the video will depict the same mission from the game's E3 video, but with a "different way of infiltration." The video is meant to highlight how the open-world, sandbox-style game can be played in more ways than one.
Kojima did not share any further details. We'll have the video for you as soon as it becomes available.
From Software's acclaimed PlayStation 4 role-playing game Bloodborne is getting a new update--and soon.
The Japanese developer has announced game update 1.05, which includes various, minor-sounding changes to the game. Also included with the update are bug fixes and online improvements.
You can see the full changelog below.
Bloodborne 1.05 Changes:
If a player uses the Beckoning Bell or Small Resonant Bell while using a password, it will be clearly indicated that a password is in use.
If the level difference between the host and the guest when matched using a password is large, the guest's stats will be adjusted to match the host's.
Other bug fixes and matching improvements.
Bloodborne 1.05 will be released next week, immediately following a server maintenance period that will be held July 12/13, depending on where you live. During the period, online play will be unavailable.
The Bloodborne maintenance period will take place:
07/12/2015:
23:00 - 04:00 (PDT)
07/13/2015:
02:00 - 07:00 (EDT)
01:00 - 06:00 (CDT)
00:00 - 05:00 (MDT)
06:00 - 11:00 (GMT)
Looking ahead, From Software explained that it will "continue to make improvements to better the play experience." The game's first expansion is also in development, though neither From Software nor Sony have said much about it beyond confirming its existence back in May.
The latest iteration of the PlayStation 4 is quieter and more power-efficient than previous models Sony has released into the market.
According to analysis conducted by Pocket News, translated and reported by Eurogamer, model CUH-12000--currently only available in Japan--features a smaller motherboard with a new GDDR5 memory configuration.
As opposed to the 16 memory modules the previous PS4 models used, the new version features just eight, which in turn makes it more energy efficient.
The site notes while the size of the main processor is still the same, it has received a new designation, suggesting something has changed internally.
Other changes introduced in the new PS4 model include a new Blu-ray drive design, a new HDMI controller, and a new power supply, which is 80g lighter than the previous one and has a lower energy output.
It also seems that Sony has reduced the amount of noise the PS4's fan makes, though this has yet to be confirmed. For a more in-depth list of the changes, take a look at the site's breakdown using the link above.
In June 2015, shortly before E3, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has certified two new PS4 models for release in the US.
"Offering twice the storage of the existing PS4, you'll be able to download more of the games you love to your PS4, extend your play with more great add-on content and save and share even more of your best gaming highlights," Sony said of the new model.
The new model is also ten percent lighter, weighing a total of 2.5 kg, and also uses eight percent less energy. It's hard drive bay cover has a matte finish instead of a glossy one.
Square Enix released the Mac version of PC MMO Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn at the end of June, but the game's launch did not go well. Players immediately reported all manner of performance issues--and they didn't know what was going wrong.
Now, Square Enix has removed the game from sale, announced plans to offer full refunds, and owned up to the problems quite frankly.
A forum post written by A Realm Reborn producer and director Naoki Yoshida outlines the issues, starting with the refund program. Refunds will be available at all retailers, but Yoshida stressed that the process will vary depending on the store. If you bought the game directly from Square Enix's online store, however, all you need to do is fill out this form to receive your refund.
The issues with the Mac version of A Realm Reborn are, in part, related to the game's system requirements. In short, Square Enix announced false information, which meant that some players bought the game expecting their computer could run it, only to find the game struggling mightily.
"Because of this situation, many of you purchased a product which your Mac hardware could not run at even the minimum system requirements, resulting in insufficient performance, for which many of you have expressed your dissatisfaction," Yoshida said. "Had we provided accurate information beforehand, I know many of you would not have purchased the Mac version, which is why we decided to offer full refunds."
What's more, Yoshida said that "chaos" surrounding the release of the game's Heavensward expansion on June 23 led to Square Enix not devoting enough time to ensuring the Mac edition--which also was released that day--was ready to launch.
"Up until the official release of the Mac version on June 23rd, we were working to improve the client's performance," he said. "Consequently, the system requirements which we should have released were not made available in time, which was a serious problem.
"As an MMORPG, FFXIV has to display many complex objects at once, and as such it is unavoidably demanding on systems" -- Yoshida
"Although our development and QA teams tested the client on Mac hardware, because of our last minute efforts to improve performance and the possibility that system requirements might change, we decided to prepare several versions of these requirements, with the one to be released depending on the final result," Yoshida added. "However, in the chaos leading up to the multi-platform launch of our expansion, we released incorrect requirements, which were not updated prior to the Mac version's official release."
Making matters worse, Yoshida revealed that Square Enix planned to conduct regular maintenance on the Mac version of A Realm Reborn, but due to "miscommunication," the game went live early. As a result, some people bought a pre-release version of the game which had numerous other performance issues.
Looking ahead, Yoshida said Square Enix will resume Mac sales once it has the full list of accurate system requirements ready to share. He did not provide a timetable for when this might happen.
Also in the blog post, Yoshida admits that the Mac version of A Realm Reborn was never going to perform as well as the Windows PC edition. But he said Square Enix wanted to bring the game to Mac because fans were calling for it.
"As an MMORPG, FFXIV has to display many complex objects at once, and as such it is unavoidably demanding on systems," he explained. "If FFXIV were to be developed in native OpenGL for Mac OS, it is expected that there would be a performance gap of approximately 30% compared the DirectX version.
"This difference becomes more pronounced when running the game on lower spec Mac systems," Yoshida added. "For instance, a low-spec Windows PC may run the game adequately, but a Mac system with equivalent hardware may suffer from greatly reduced frame rates, further exacerbating the performance gap."
Yoshida said he takes full responsibility for the issues.
"The mistakes made by the development and operation teams in the lead up to this release have caused considerable confusion and trouble," he said. "To our customers who eagerly anticipate purchasing, or who have already ordered, their copy of the Mac version of Final Fantasy XIV, and to all of our distributors, we offer our deepest and most heartfelt apologies.
"We aim to recommence sales of the Mac version as soon as we are satisfied that the product information and system requirements are properly prepared."
Check out the full blog post for an incredibly detailed breakdown of the entire situation.
2K Games has announced that retired pro-wrestler Steve Austin, better known to wrestling fans as Stone Cold, has been confirmed as the cover star for WWE 2K16.
If--somehow--you don't know who that is, 2K has very kindly provided the video below to help inform you.
Speaking to MTV UK, Stone Cold said he's "very honoured to be the cover star."
He said: "Being asked got me thinking, and I guess I kind of started looking back at all the things I managed to accomplish in the business. But I think it was testament to a very deep locker room in one the best eras in the business. All these years later, it is very special and I'm very proud and I was very happy to get the phone call to be the cover star of such a highly regarded video games franchise."
In its official press release, the wrestler fell back into old habits, declaring he wanted to disrupt the status quo.
"No disrespect to the previous and extremely deserving WWE 2K cover Superstars--Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and John Cena--but it's about time the franchise raised some hell with yours truly on the cover. I look forward to injecting a dose of 'Texas Rattlesnake' into this year's game and overall campaign."
According to 2K, WWE 2K16 will have the largest cast of playable wrestlers of any game in the series, boasting over 120 different characters.
WWE 2K16 launches on October 27 for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3. Which character do you want to play as in the game? Let us know in the comments.
Retailer GameStop's "summer of savings" promotion continues this week with a new Xbox One offer.
Everyone who buys a new Xbox One at GameStop will receive a $40 in-store gift card. The deal is available now through July 12 and it stacks on top of the retailer's existing trade-up offer.
GameStop will give you $150 in store credit toward the purchase of a new Xbox One or PlayStation 4 when you trade in a PlayStation 3 (120GB or greater) or an Xbox 360 (250GB of greater). This means you can get a new Xbox One for $200 (plus the $40 gift card) or a PS4 for $250.
Some of GameStop's other summer savings deals include:
Purchase a pre-owned original Xbox 360 for $59.99 after a mail-in rebate
Get 50% off pre-owned interactive game figures (Skylanders, Amiibo, Disney Infinity) with the purchase of three or more
Buy any pre-owned Wii and receive three pre-owned Wii games priced at under $10 for free
Buy any pre-owned original Nintendo DS or DSi and get three pre-owned DS games priced at under $10 for free
You can see GameStop's full summer sale lineup here.
Check back later today to see GameSpot's full roundup of the day's best gaming deals.
Following a string of teases and leaks, Warner Bros. on Monday officially announced that its fighting game Mortal Kombat X will add its next DLC character--Predator--later this week.
The Mortal Kombat X Predator Bundle, featuring the Predator character from the movie series, will be available to download on Tuesday, July 7. This bundle also comes with Commando Johnny, Infrared Scorpion, and Carl Weathers Jax character skins.
The Predator Bundle is included with the $30 Mortal Kombat X Kombat Pack. If you bought the Kombat Pack, Predator--and the skins--will be available tomorrow. This bundle will be available outside of the Kombat Pack on July 14 for $8.
Alternatively, you can buy just the Predator character for $5 or the three skins for $4.
Warner Bros. has also announced that, as a "thank you" to fans, the Klassic Fatality Pack will be available to all players for free starting July 7. This includes four "klassic" fatalities from the original Mortal Kombat for Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonya, and Johnny Cage. The Kold War Scorpion skin will also be given away for free.
This week's Mortal Kombat X DLC will be available for all platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The fighting game is also coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but Warner Bros. has not announced a release date beyond sometime this summer.
According to a PlayStation Store product page (spotted by Videogamer), the gorgeous, acclaimed adventure game will launch on Wednesday, July 15. This follows a statement from developer The Astronauts in late June that the game would launch in "mere weeks."
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, developed using the Unreal Engine 4, was originally released for PC in September 2014.
"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a stirring tale that walks a fine line between the human and the supernatural," he wrote. "As the layers begin to peel back, what you'll find is a story told with a level of cleverness and elegance rarely seen in games."
For a closer look at The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, check out some images in the gallery below.
The video game industry stands to benefit if the executives at the companies that make them actually play.
That's according to Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, who shared his thoughts on subject recently. He went on to praise PlayStation Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida as being one such example.
Spencer on stage at E3 2015
"I think our industry is better when more people who [make] decisions on games play. Shuhei Yoshida is one of those people," Spencer said on Twitter.
Spencer's comments came in response to a link he shared to a story about Yoshida's huge appreciation for From Software's role-playing game Bloodborne.
Call of Duty fans eager to learn more about Black Ops 3 don't have much longer to wait.
Activision has announced that, on July 9 during a 1 PM PDT panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the company will share the first details for Black Ops 3's Zombies mode. On-hand during the presentation will be Zombies director Jason Blundell, along with lead writer Craig Houston.
Attendees will get to see the Black Ops 3 Zombies reveal trailer and learn which celebrities will be featured in the mode. Advanced Warfare's Zombies mode let gamers play as celebrities such as John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan, and John Bernthal.
It is unclear if this panel will be streamed live.
What's more, people in attendance will have a chance to take home "limited edition" Zombies memorabilia. On top of that, Activision will hold a "Black Ops 3 Escape Room Challenge," which anyone in the San Diego area can participate in, as it takes place outside of the San Diego Convention Center.
"The Escape Room Challenge tasks groups of survivors with solving a series of puzzles in order to escape a locked room before time runs out," Activision says.
But the Black Ops 3 Comic-Con panel will include more than just the first details on Zombies. Activision will also announce the game's various Collector's Editions during the panel. In addition, anyone can play Black Ops 3's multiplayer mode on the PlayStation "Road to Greatness" tour bus outside of the convention hall.
The esteemed economics theory professor that PC gaming giant Valve hired in 2012, who later left to become Greece's Finance Minister, has resigned from his post amid the country's economic plight.
Yanis Varoufakis announced his resignation from his position on Monday in a blog post titled "Minister No More!" His departure comes amid the financial crisis in Greece. Varoufakis became Greece's Finance Minister just six months ago; at the time, he vowed to enact "genuine reforms" to repair the country's situation.
CNNMoney reports that Varoufakis had a style all his own, one that might not have served him well.
"During his time in government, Varoufakis refused to adopt the mannerisms of a conventional European politician," the site wrote. "Instead, he dressed informally and loudly. He frequently appeared in media, launching biting rhetorical attacks against rival negotiators and governments."
In his farewell blog post, Varoufakis said his departure from Greece's government might help Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras come to an agreement with creditors. His resignation comes less than a day after Greece rejected Europe's bailout offer.
"Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted 'partners', for my… 'absence' from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement," he explained. "For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today."
Blackash resulting from the disparity between the way Watch Dogs looked at its E3 2012 debut and the final game has changed the way Ubisoft shows off new titles, according to company CEO Yves Guillemot.
Speaking to The Guardian, Guillemot indicated it now focuses on making sure games were playable on target hardware before showing them off at events such as E3.
"With E3 2015 we said, 'OK, let's make sure the games are playable, that they're running on the target machines,'" he explained.
"When we show something, we ask the team [to] make sure it's playable [and] make sure gamers can immediately see exactly what it is," Guillemot continued. "That's what we learned from the Watch Dogs experience--if it can't be played on the target machine, it can be a risk."
Elsewhere in the interview, the Ubisoft exec reflected on the launch of Watch Dogs, saying he believes it was a good first step towards establishing a new property.
"It's a real challenge to create those types of games," said Guillemot. "When they come out, especially the first iterations, they are not perfect on everything."
"We think we launched a good quality game for a first step in a new brand with a new technology. It's just so complex--seamless multiplayer, connectivity with mobile and tablets, so many things--it was maybe a bit too much for a first iteration."
"Creating a new franchise like that is the hardest thing to do in our industry because there's so much risk involved," said senior vice president of sales and marketing Tony Key.
"We're incredibly happy with the sales of the game and the experiences that the people are having. So it's a franchise. It goes into the franchise barn and now we figure out what to do next. It's something that we can build on now."
Mojang has announced a "whole new version" of Minecraft. No, it's not the HoloLens experience, but rather a new edition of the game built specifically for Microsoft's upcoming operating system, Windows 10.
This new version of Minecraft will "develop and evolve over time" just as the original version of the open-ended sandbox game did, Mojang said in a statement. The developer will launch a beta version of the game on July 29, the same day that Windows 10 is released publicly.
"Just like the other versions of Minecraft, all future updates will be free," Mojang said. "We spoil you. We really do."
Minecraft recently crossed 20 million sales on PC, and all of those players can download a free copy of the Windows 10 edition upon its release. Everyone else can buy the game for $10 through the duration of the beta period, but Mojang has not yet decided how long that will last.
Like the existing PC, console, and mobile versions of Minecraft, the new Windows 10 edition will feature two main game modes, Creative and Survival, as well as multiplayer support. The Windows 10 version of Minecraft will also support online and local multiplayer with the Pocket Edition by way of a free update that should be released "soon" after launch.
Windows 10 players can also use multiple control setups, including controller, touch, and traditional mouse and keyboard. The new version of Minecraft also supports GameDVR to allow players to record and share their gameplay clips. What's more, Minecraft for Windows 10 comes with built-in feedback systems so players can let Mojang know what they like--and what they don't.
Microsoft acquired Minecraft and Mojang last year in a $2.5 billion deal. Just this past weekend, Mojang held its annual Minecon event in London, where the company announced new details about its Minecraft: Story Mode single-player game developed in partnership with Telltale Games.
Felix Kjellberg, better known by his online alias PewDiePie, earned 63 million SEK (around $7.5 million) in 2014, according to financial documents.
According to Swedish newspaper Expressen, translated by NeoGAF, PewDiePie Productions AB, Kjeilber's company, is up from 29.6 million SEK in 2013 and 7.2 million SEK in 2012.
PewDiePie is famous for his Let's Play videos, in which he runs through a game whilst providing his own opinions, often coupled with over-the-top reactions. He also releases short comedy sketches and partners with other big YouTubers on content.
Kjellberg created PewDiePie six years ago and, in December of 2012, he signed a deal with online video content creator Maker Studios, which is now owned by Disney.
He currently has 37 million subscribers and generates over $4 million in ad sales per year.
In 2014, Kjellberg said his videos, in some ways, are designed to encourage developers to create games that are not only fun to play, but to also fun for others to watch.
"It's cool to have this kind of influence, but at the same time it's kind of scary," Kjellberg said.
According to Kjellberg, the original name for his YouTube account was PewDie ("pew" for the sound of a laser gun and "die" for death), but after he lost his account password he had to come up with a new name, so he added "Pie" to it.
He also said his popularity on YouTube is somewhat unsettling: "I'm so central to YouTube now, and that puts me in the spotlight and raises a lot of questions like 'Why is he so big?'" Kjellberg said. "I'd much rather prefer to have something like 5 million subscribers."
Burnout Paradise developer Criterion Games has said it is in discussions with Microsoft to include backwards compatibility support for its open-world racing game on Xbox One.
Posting on Twitter, Criterion said it would have more news about its progress "soon."
Yes, we ARE talking to Microsoft about making XBox 360 Burnout Paradise available on XBox One via backwards-compatibility! More news soon!
Microsoft revealed plans to allow Xbox 360 games to play on Xbox One via software emulation at E3 2015.
According to the platform holder, digital Xbox 360 titles already purchased via XBLA, as well as retail discs of last-gen titles, will eventually be "natively" playable on Xbox One.
Microsoft executive Mike Ybarra explained that about 100 Xbox 360 titles will be playable on Xbox One by "this holiday," with hundreds more expected to follow. Among the first wave will be the Mass Effect trilogy, Super Meat Boy, Halo Reach, and Perfect Dark Zero.
Ybarra also confirmed that some games could look better when displayed on Xbox One, and in an apparent dig at Sony's PlayStation Now subscription service, said that "we at Microsoft won't charge you to play the games you already own".
Additionally, system-wide Xbox One features, such as DVR and streaming, will be available on all Xbox 360 titles.
Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, has said the decision to support Xbox 360 games was made to "make 360 owners look at Xbox One as a safe place to play."
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Batman: Arkham Knight takes the top spot on the UK all formats chart for the second week running, according to sales monitor Chart-Track.
Lego Jurassic World, another title published by Warner, once again finishes at No.2, with an 11 percent drop in sales. Bethesda's The Elder Scolls Online maintains the No.3 spot, with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt moving up one spot to No.4.
Rounding off the top five is Grand Theft Auto V, which moves up one place to No.5.
Here's the full top ten for the week ending July 4.
Acclaimed visual novel series Zero Escape is set for a third entry, publisher Aksys Games has announced.
Revealed during the Aksys Games Panel at Anime Expo in LA, Zero Escape 3 will be released in 2016, and takes place on Mars. More specifically, the game is set on a test facility designed on Mars designed to evaluate the viability of establishing a colony on the planet.
At the centre of it all is a group of people, whose mental state and their personal dynamics, will be one of the driving forces behind the narrative.
Zero Escape 3, which does not have a subtitle yet, will once again be developed by Chunsoft, with writer and director Kotaro Uchikoshi returning for the project.
The game is scheduled for release on PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS. It will feature "familiar faces, fully voiced cinematics, multiple endings, and voices in both Japanese and English." As with previous entries in the series, puzzle-solving will be the crux of gameplay.
"Many government organizations have dismissed our urgent warnings regarding the upcoming game event called Zero Time Dilemma," reads an official press release announcing the game.
Though not a household name, the Zero Escape visual novel adventure game series has developed a small but passionate following. The series, which is comprised of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward has been praised for its intricate plot, narrative twists, and strong characterisation.
In GameSpot's Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward review we said "there aren't many [games] that leave you contemplating and debating their story and worldviews long after the final set of credits has rolled ... Virtue's Last Reward takes its place proudly among this crop of games."
Sega of America has registered domains for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3, sparking speculation that a sequel to its acclaimed real-time strategy series may be on the way.
Of course, the registration may simply be a strategic manoeuvre on Sega's part to secure domains for one of its properties, as opposed to the prelude for an announcement.
Little is known about what Relic Entertainment, developer of the Dawn of War series, has been doing since it released Company of Heroes 2, so it could well be working on a new entry in the Dawn of War series.
Dawn of War 2 was released for PC in 2009 and received praise for shifting its gameplay away from base-building to character-focused action. Players were given a selection of heroes, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, to pick from.
Leading a squad of soldiers, each mission focused on a series of skirmishes where smart use of special abilities and a sound strategy was the key to survival.
In GameSpot's Dawn of War 2 review we said "few RTSs provide combat this exciting and dynamic."
"This is a game that real-time strategy lovers should play," our reviewer continued. "if not for the loot-happy leveling of the campaign, then certainly for the constantly enjoyable online component that will keep you glued to the screen for hours at a time."
A new trailer for upcoming fighting game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 shows that the character Kaguya Otsutsuki will be in the game. Posted by publisher Bandai Namco on its official YouTube channel, the trailer showcases more gameplay footage featuring Naruto battling Madara and Obito, as well as fighting alongside Sasuke and Sakura. Kaguya appears at the 2:09 mark as an in-game character, although it is unconfirmed if she will be playable.
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