The adapter that allows Xbox One controllers to be used wirelessly with PCs and tablets is coming later this month, Microsoft has confirmed.
A listing for the dongle, officially known as the Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows, references a release date of October 20 on the official Xbox website. Confusingly, GameStop and Amazon listings offer two separate dates--October 27 and November 3, respectively.
Microsoft confirmed with GameSpot that October 20 is the official release date, though at this point it remains unclear where you'll be able to purchase it on that day.
"[W]e can confirm the Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows, announced earlier this year, will release on Oct. 20 in most markets," the company said in a statement today. "We look forward to sharing more details soon."
That will remain the only option for some PC and tablet owners, as the new wireless adapter requires Windows 10. The new operating system is a free upgrade right now for Windows 7 and 8 users, but while adoption has been strong, there are invariably going to be those who aren't up-to-date and thus will be unable to use the adapter.
"Here's my view--and again, I'm a simple director and not involved in the marketing at all," he told IGN. "However, it was absolutely not done for any kind of attention in any way. It was not done maliciously, or as any kind of scare tactic. I personally am very sorry for anyone who looked at it and got the wrong idea because it genuinely wasn't meant that way."
In late September, the official Call of Duty account was modified to make it look like an account that reports real-world news. Following a series of innocuous tweets, it began sending out messages about a terrorist attack in Singapore. This culminated in a tweet reading, "This was a glimpse into the future fiction of #BlackOps3." The account has since returned to its standard Call of Duty name and branding.
While Activision appeared to be going for a sort of War of the Worlds-style marketing campaign for the game, there was an extremely negative backlash in the wake of the tweets.
"It was done on our channel, and it was to talk about the fiction of the world," Blundell continued. "I think we were as shocked as everybody else when it started blowing up, because essentially we were teeing up ready for a story beat. So again, very sorry for anyone who took it that way. It wasn't meant that way at all--it was supposed to just be getting ready for a campaign element."
Activision has still not commented on the incident. We've reached out to the company but have not yet received any response.
The first trailer for the second season of Netflix's Marvel series Daredevil screened at New York Comic Con this weekend. The trailer leaked onto the Internet before being withdrawn earlier today, but now a lower quality version has appeared. It can be viewed at vk.com here. IO9 have also released screencaps from the teaser, which provide a clearer look at some of the scenes. Check them out here:
Although much of the clip simply recaps events from season one, the teaser does provide a few tantalising glimpses of what fans can expect from the new season. Regular stars Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, and Elden Henson appear, alongside Rosario Dawson as kindly nurse Claire, and Peter McRobbie's Father Lantom.
More excitingly, the teaser also reveals brief looks at two of the most anticipated new characters, namely Elektra and The Punisher. Both are important parts of the Daredevil story in Marvel's comic books, and are played by Élodie Yung and Jon Bernthal respectively.
Last week, Bernthal remained elusive when asked by CBR about his role. "They're so strict about this stuff, like what you can talk about and what you can't," he said. "I know that sucks. But it's just the way it is. That's all I can really say about it."
Nevertheless, Bernthal has been tweeting intriguing pictures while filming. When asked about these, he teased: "Whether you think that has anything to do with the show or not, that's up to you."
[Update: A version of the trailer has appeared on Twitter. You can watch it below, at least until it gets pulled.]
Daredevil season two will premiere on Netflix in 2016. In the meantime, the streaming giant's latest Marvel show, Jessica Jones, will be released in its entirety on November 20, 2015.
Activision on Monday published a new trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops III's "Shadows of Evil" zombies mode, and it does not disappoint. Watch as the video explains the origins of the game's four main characters, played by Jeff Goldblum, Heather Graham, Neal McDonough, and Ron Perlman.
Shadows of Evil is set in the 1940s. The characters played by the celebrities are shown in this video committing murders of varying types. Perlman's character, for instance, is a boxer. He wears brass knuckles under his gloves and kills his opponent in the ring. Goldblum, meanwhile, kills his wife after she racks up more debt than he's comfortable dealing with. Watch the video to see all four killing sequences.
In the second half of the video, the four are shown drinking something that causes them to collapse. Then, a mysterious "shadowy figure" offers the four a shot at redemption, which involves killing zombies. "Only through me, the Shadow Man, will you find your redemption," the figure says.
It's a very slick trailer, with the character models rendered in stunning detail. Click through the gallery below to see what Goldblum, Graham, McDonough, and Perlman look like in the game.
Halo 5: Guardians comes out on October 27th so we're celebrating! GameSpot is excited to partner up with MEGA BLOKS, Microsoft and Vizio to do a HUGE give away.
One grand prize winner will get an amazing prize pack featuring:
A limited edition Halo 5: Guardians Xbox One Bundle, featuring a 1TB custom console with Halo 5: Guardians downloaded.
Exclusive HALO 5 XBOX with a Master Chief controller(supplied by Xbox and MEGA BLOKS) featuring the green and metallic orange of Master Chief's armor.
A limited edition Halo 5: Guardians controller featuring a unique laser-etched design, metallic blue accents, military insignias
Suite of MEGA BLOKS HALO products, including:
BOOMCO. Halo Covenant Needler Blaster: The HALO 5 Blaster include light up magenta "needles" (darts) on top that turn off as you fire to simulate in-game action. With one exclusive HALO-themed Smart Stick target so you can practice your aim or set up a multiplayer challenge and see where you nailed it.
Astro A40 Headset: The A40's over-the-ear design is cushioned with breathable fabric, highly adjustable, and surprisingly lightweight. It provides long-lasting comfort as you attempt the campaign or jump into Warzone to take on your friends.
55" VIZIO TV: Clear Action 480 depicts fast-moving content with highly articulated clarity and VIZIO's full-array LED backlight with 12 Active LED Zones delivers blacker blacks and brighter brights, giving gamers even more of an immersive dive into the world of HALO 5.
50 other lucky Halo fans will be getting a fabulous suite of Mega Bloks HALO 5 products including super-poseable figures:
MEGABLOKS Halo Covenant Commander: Featuring a buildable Ghost, with dual rapid-fire plasma cannons. And includes a highly detailed Jul 'Mdama micro action figure.
MEGABLOKS Halo UNSC Attack Gausshog: The iconic UNSC Attack Gausshog with black resin finish and gold interior, 360-degree rotating Gauss Cannon, and working suspension. It includes the iconic Master Chief and Arbiter micro action figures.
MEGABLOKS Halo Phaeton Gunship: Forerunner Phaeton with a highly detailed,UNSC Spartan and two Promethean Soldier micro action figures.
MEGABLOKS Halo Scorpion's Sting: The UNSC Scorpion main battle tank with articulated tracks and rotating turret. Which includes Spartan Buck, Spartan Protector, and a Covenant Elite.
BOOMCO. Halo Covenant Needler Blaster: The HALO 5 Blaster include light up magenta "needles" (darts) on top that turn off as you fire to simulate in-game action. With one exclusive HALO-themed Smart Stick target so you can practice your aim or set up a multiplayer challenge and see where you nailed it.
The giveaway will run through October 26th at 9am.
Ahead of Star Wars Battlefront's launch next month, EA today announced plans to offer a season pass for the shooter which sounds similar to what's been offered for developer DICE's past games.
The season pass provides access to four expansion packs "coming at a later date." EA didn't provide any specifics regarding what these packs will consist of or how often they'll be released. It did, however, say they'll be "filled with new content that will take you to new locations across a galaxy far, far away," suggesting new maps will be a key component.
In addition to presumably getting the four DLC packs at a discount, season pass owners get two weeks of early access to each expansion. The pass also comes with a "Shoot First" emote.
Listings on the Xbox Store, PlayStation Store, and Origin all list a $50 price for the season pass. Assuming EA and DICE follow the same setup as the recent Battlefield games, the DLC packs are likely to cost $15 each.
If you know upfront that you'll be buying the season pass, you can opt to pick up the newly announced Ultimate Edition of Battlefront. This version of the game includes everything that comes with the Deluxe Edition, as well as the season pass. A price for the Ultimate Edition wasn't mentioned, but the Deluxe Edition on its own costs $70.
Despite Activision's decision to cut the story mode for Call of Duty: Black Ops III on last-generation consoles, the publisher remains committed to storytelling inside the Call of Duty universe. In a new interview with GameSpot, producer Jason Blundell started off by saying he was fully supportive of Activision's decision to drop campaign for the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of this year's game.
"My job is to push the current-gen consoles as far as I can," he said. "When I heard that an old-gen version was going to be made outside of Treyarch, and found out the things that would have to be cut in order for it to work, I was fully behind Activision's decision to remove it."
You might read online and in forums that campaign modes in shooters like Call of Duty are getting less play as people gravitate towards multiplayer experiences. This might be true, but for Call of Duty specifically, campaign mode is still of great interest to players.
"You say that fewer people are playing campaigns these days, but our metrics say different," he said. "This was an active topic at Treyarch, until our numbers showed us that, regardless of what you read on forums, players spend a good amount of time in all modes."
"As a medium, we have to tell stories" -- Blundell
Cautioning that it's his personal viewpoint, Blundell went on to say that he hopes storytelling remains a point of focus in the Call of Duty series and other franchises going forward.
"I'll say this, and this is my personal view, the death of storytelling and the death of campaign is the death of society," he said. "As a medium, we have to tell stories. For Black Ops, it's absolutely essential to continue the art of storytelling."
Activision says it cut the campaign mode from Black Ops III's last-generation versions because the game's 1-4 player co-op campaign was so ambitious that it "could not be faithfully recreated on old generation hardware." The last-generation version of Black Ops III is being developed by Beenox and Mercenary Technology, not principal developer Treyarch Studios.
There are at least four variants of melee attack in Black Ops 3. One, a Halo-esque swing of a rifle's backside. Two, a guileless yet honest straight jab to the face. Three, an electrified open-palm strike to the heart. Four, a Mortal Kombat-inspired plunge into a robot's chest (whereupon the player rips out the android's core then uses it as a grenade).
It would not be surprising to discover a fifth and sixth. In place of any profound innovation that the series is now screaming for, Black Ops 3 developer Treyarch has doubled-down on player choice and customisation. The newest golden hatchling to roll out of Activision's Call of Duty battery farm once again attempts a delicate task of making the same egg look different.
Hence the many optional alternatives to melee attacks. And the freedom to play any part of any campaign level alone or with up to three friends. And the choice to customise your character by wearing alternate headgear. Then there's the immensely intricate weapon loadouts, offering preferences on gun attachments, optics, grenades, perks, wildcards, and so on.
In Black Ops 3, all campaign levels are unlocked from the outset.
Even narrative chronology has been sacrificed in the name of player choice. In Black Ops 3, all campaign levels are unlocked from the outset. So if you want to go Tarantino on the story's timeline, you can select the final level as your first mission. The reason for this, according to producer Jason Blundell, is to remove level-select restrictions from online co-op. The byproduct is that you can outright ignore missions and certain points in the story if you wish.
This is what has become of Call of Duty. More than half a decade since Activision first faced the innovator's dilemma with this important and polarising series, the corporation continues to huff and puff to ensure it still seems fresh and modern, without taking that daring gamble on the kind of reinvention that could save it from franchise fatigue.
Activision's announcement in early 2014, when it revealed that Call of Duty would switch to a three studio development model where each was given three-year deadlines instead of two, generated positive rumblings. The hope was that the likes of Treyarch and Infinity Ward would be given a break from their development conveyor-belts, and finally have time to think bigger. But on the evidence of Black Ops 3, the extra 12 months is merely being used to add more content, not more thought.
Click on the thumbnails below to view each image in full-screen
Black Ops 3 replaces things with things. Instead of tossing back a grenade, there's now an air gun that can fire them back. Instead of observing how many foes are aiming at you, there's now a lavish graphical interface that calculates it. Instead of loading screens, it has loading screens with True Detective-inspired vignettes. Instead of just firing bullets, players can now shoot audio waves that make enemies vomit. They can point at foes' holstered grenades and set them off. They can possess robots to turn them on one another.
But the way you think will not be any different. You still aim a crosshair at a non-American and pull the trigger. Again and again you will do this, amidst a miasma of testosterone and commotion, as vistas unfold and plans predictably go south at the eleventh hour. Based on the hands-on preview event I attended in London on Friday, you'll have fun if you can still tolerate that old routine. But if you simply can't stand that same rigmarole any longer, well, there's little here for you.
"As a medium, we have to tell stories. For Black Ops, it's absolutely essential to continue the art of storytelling."
Black Ops 3 producer Jason Blundell
In Treyarch's defence, if this is somehow your first Call of Duty then it's likely going to blow your mind. The core mechanics have been refined to perfection, with anything that slows the flow and tempo deemed immaterial. Players can now point and fire even when they clamber over short walls. They can shoot underwater as though they were on dry land. They can endlessly sprint, they can perform Titanfall-like diagonal dashes across walls. They can powerslide several metres, and double and triple and quadruple-jump across skylines. Should this obsessive refinement continue unopposed, in a few years you'll basically be playing the campaign as Neo.
That is, of course, if campaign modes in FPSes don't become obsolete before then. Modern entries in the genre, from Rainbow Six: Siege to Evolve, are clearly prioritising multiplayer, while the likes of Titanfall to Battlefront have ditched solo campaigns entirely. Further doubt was cast over the future of campaign modes when, in September, Activision announced that the last-gen versions of Black Ops 3 would be the first entries in the series to be multiplayer-only. Blundell insists, however, that campaign remains a vital part of Call of Duty going forwards.
"My job is to push the current-gen consoles as far as I can. When I heard that an old-gen version was going to be made outside of Treyarch, and found out the things that would have to be cut in order for it to work, I was fully behind Activision's decision to remove it," he says.
"You say that fewer people are playing campaigns these days, but our metrics say different. This was an active topic at Treyarch, until our numbers showed us that, regardless of what you read on forums, players spend a good amount of time in all modes. I'll say this, and this is my personal view, the death of storytelling and the death of campaign is the death of society. As a medium, we have to tell stories. For Black Ops, it's absolutely essential to continue the art of storytelling."
Stories so important that you can immediately skip to the last chapter, then. But perhaps that's a tad cruel on a series that, at the very least, remains fully committed to single-player when so many other games are stepping away from it. Which is ironic, because if Call of Duty continues to throw out the same old game every November while the rest of the industry shifts to multiplayer, it might eventually become unique again.
DICE has announced three new modes for Star Wars Battlefront, including Hero Hunt, Droid Run, and Cargo. These were revealed today alongside news about the sci-fi shooter's $50 DLC pass. Read on for descriptions of the three modes, while you can also see some images in the gallery directly below.
Hero Hunt:
In this 7v1 mode, one player begins as a Hero or Villain character, while the other seven play as either Rebels or Imperial forces of the opposing side. Kill the Hero/Villain and you'll take their place. Rack up the most time as the Hero/Villain before the match is over and you win. Read more here.
Cargo:
This is Battlefront's version of capture the flag. Here's how it works, courtesy of DICE.
"Rebels and Imperials both have a base on the map where valuable cargo is stored. Your objective is to run in to the enemy base, pick up the cargo, and return it to your home base. It's a classic concept, but we've added one twist: you don't need to have your own cargo in your base in order to bring back the cargo you've taken from your enemies. This creates a tug of war experience where you simply need to collect as much cargo as possible."
Scoring begins at 5-5. Take hold of a cargo crate and your side will take a 6-4 lead, with the rest of the match's scoring changing in that way. The team with the most points after 15 minutes is the winner. Read more here.
Droid Run:
Described as one of the game's more "unpredictable and fast" modes, this gametype sees players fighting to control three "mischievous" GNK droids.
"There are three active objectives on the map that you need to control. These aren't just any objectives--what you need to get a hold of are three different GNK droids. What's particularly charming with these is that they're all moving and have to be caught before the capture process can start. This creates a more dynamic and action-filled experience," DICE said.
These matches are 6v6. Your objective is to capture and hold all three droids before the 10-minute match is up. There are weapon pickups on the map, but no Hero/Villain character or vehicles Read more here.
Battlefront's other modes include Walker Assault, Blast, Drop Zone, Supremacy, and Fighter Squadron. The game does not have a traditional single-player mode, but comes with Survival Missions, which can be played offline or through split-screen.
In addition to the previously announced DLC pack launching this week, Rocket League is getting another one next week--and it's the coolest stuff yet.
Back to the Future's DeLorean, the movie series' iconic time-traveling car, is being released on October 21. That date isn't entirely random; October 21, 2015 is the day that Marty McFly visits in Back to the Future Part II, leaving us with just over a week to get those weird outfits and hovering skateboards into everyone's hands.
While the car, which is included in the $2 Back to the Future Car Pack, looks great, the best part of all this is that it comes with its distinctive flaming tire tracks. This is available in-game as a new rocket trail, which might be worth the $2 on its own.
Street Fighter V may draw inspiration from contemporaries such as NetherRealm Studios' recent Mortal Kombat titles to present its story in a completely new way.
In an interview with HipHopGamer, producer Matt Dahlgren was asked whether Capcom intends to change the way it delivers story in light of the positive reception to Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat X's cinematic approach to storytelling.
"I can't reveal specifics on our story, but I can say we are going to be doing things differently this time around," Dahlgren replied. "We're definitely paying attention to what our competitors are doing and want to raise the bar."
He continued: "Our story content is going to be unique and different from any previous Street Fighter game."
Capcom has announced the next Street Fighter V beta will begin later this month. This second beta will support cross-platform play between PlayStation 4 and PC.
Laura Matsuda, a Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu user, was announced recently for the game. As the heir to the famed Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu fighting style, she travels the world seeking out strong opponents to defeat, building a legendary name for her style.
This week GameSpot is sharing a set of special features on Rise of the Tomb Raider. Come back each day for a new look at Lara Croft's latest adventure, set to launch on November 10. Today's story features an evaluation of Lara's psyche, a deep dive into what she's feeling and the motivations driving her at the start of the game.
Last summer, during E3 2014, we got our first glimpse of battle-scarred Lara Croft since the conclusion of her adventure in Yamatai; head bowed beneath a hood, legs nervously fidgeting, she looked nothing like the cool, confident Lara of Tomb Raider titles past. Rise of the Tomb Raider, the second title in the franchise's reboot, opens with Lara in a significantly different frame of mind, and will detail how she grew into the strong and capable archeologist-adventurer we know.
At the end of 2013's Tomb Raider, we left Lara in turmoil. The events on the island of Yamatai forever changed her; she had glimpsed a world stranger and more spiritual than ours, and learned that maybe every myth is not just a myth. Having learned to survive in the wilderness and defend herself made her a stronger person, but witnessing many deaths--including some of her friends--left her emotionally bruised.
The Lara we saw in that first trailer for Rise of the Tomb Raider was shrouded in the darkness of a doctor's office, with what appeared to be a therapist peppering her with questions. These brief scenes were intercut with clips of Lara braving snowy wildernesses and dizzying heights, the light from a torch triumphantly blazing across her face as she entered stony ruins. I sat with game director Brian Horton and franchise creative director Noah Hughes to talk about this new side of Lara. Is she coping with post-traumatic stress? Is she upset that people don't believe her stories about the events of Yamatai?
"When we think about what Lara's gone through, she's suffered through these traumatic events, seen friends die, and come out of the situation forever changed," Horton said. "That obviously has an affect on her mental state and her psyche. The idea of her in the doctor's office was a way for us to express the idea that yes, she has gone through some stuff, and she probably is mentally affected by it. But that doctor wasn't necessarily helping her deal with those problems. In a way, that doctor was a construct for the people at large that don't quite believe her, and believe that she is in some way hallucinating or telling tall tales about her experiences in Yamatai.
"A lot of that tapping and fidgeting, while you can attribute to the stress that she had from the events, is more the unease that she has with being questioned for what she's saying is true," he continued. "There is a tension between what people think of her and what she knows to be true, and they're at odds with one another. Traditional therapy isn't what Lara needs at this point; what she needs is a way to reconcile the pain that she has suffered and also the draw that she has, this compulsion, to discover more of these things now that she's just glimpsed them on Yamatai."
The tension in Lara's life is so great--the desire to pursue the truth for herself and the inability to settle back into a normal life--that she has outcasted herself from society. Unwavering, unflinching, she's committed herself to the cause, offering us a glimpse of the daredevil Lara Croft of the series' past. But on her way to that point, her motivations aren't entirely altruistic; there's selfishness in her desire to leave conventional life behind, and in her need to find her secrets on her own.
"I break it down on two sides," Hughes explained. "Coming back from Yamatai there is a sense of: how can you return, after you've been through what she's been through? Not just the physical trauma, but glimpsing something that can't be explained, something that could change the world. How can you just go back to a normal job, right? So even if she tried to stuff that back inside, there's this little voice going, 'But what if this is real? Think of the difference it can make!' There's this burden of destiny that she can't shake, no matter what."
Horton noted that while Lara is intentionally putting herself in harm's way, it's not necessarily because she's seeking a thrill. Friends of Lara, like her adventuring pal Jonah, think running headlong into danger is her way of coping with her memories. After all, how do you stop acting like, well, an action hero when you already know you can be one? This social tension runs through Rise of the Tomb Raider in a big, obtrusive thread: Lara says she has the pieces to prove she's right, and those around her doubt she has these pieces, or her own sanity. Her willingness to put her life on the line and the fervor of her search is frightening to her companions, making them question her state of mind.
"The people around her don't quite understand exactly what's going on, and really see her as potentially doing some damage; it's not a healthy road for her," Horton explained. "Those that care for her want her to be safe, but ultimately Lara knows that this is a path she has to take, and she's slowly but surely convincing those around her that this is in fact something that is real."
Hughes added, "But I also think she's not an adrenaline junkie. There is a feeling of being part of something important, part of something that could change the world, that she does get caught up in. I do think there's a personal motivation that she can't let go of, and part of that is this idea of nobility and doing the right thing. But she is someone who has lost meaning in her life and is finally finding something that could have great meaning, and she could be the one to make that meaning. It's from this personal, visceral level of thinking, 'I can't just work in a coffee shop, I'm beyond that now, I'm almost damaged goods.' But there's nobility to it. We use [Terminator's] Sarah Connor as an example in that context, of someone who has glimpsed something which isn't believed by others, but if it is true, there's almost an obligation for her to see it through."
Lara is very much like Sarah Connor in that respect. She's compelled to scour the earth based on a goal wrapped in unproven facts-find the secret of youth and protect it from the ancient organization Trinity--at the cost of herself.
"This really is the end of the road, the convergence of all the knowledge she has acquired."
"You might think, 'Well, Sarah Connor is crazy,' but ultimately she's just burdened with the truth that others aren't aware of," Horton explained. "And Lara is burdened with this truth, with this knowledge, and also has this legacy. She's now seen her father in a new light, and she has a reason to believe now that myths are real. So those things put together help forge her destiny going forward. And it makes sense in context to what she's experienced and who she is and what she's meant to do."
In Rise of the Tomb Raider, we get a deep look at Lara's childhood and the slow deterioration of her relationship with her late father. We see her pick up the pieces of his research, and in finishing what he started she grows close to his memory; perhaps her motivations to move forward are tinged with guilt, a simmering unhappiness that she never supported her father's work while he was alive. She is becoming "that kind of Croft," which she vehemently protested against in the previous game. And to an extent, Lara is also motivated by the fear of failure. If she fails her mission, she also fails her father's memory.
But Lara's work carries a greater consequence: the flipside of this equation is Trinity, a group that has been searching for the secret of youth for centuries. Lara is racing them to the finish line, and every step of the way they give Lara more reasons to believe the secret would be devastating for humanity in their hands. Her reasons for thwarting them, however, still might not entirely be altruistic.
"There's this sense of wanting to make that difference, wanting to fulfill that," Hughes explained. "But as much as there is a nobility, there's that flipside which is finding meaning to her life, finding her place in the world. Yeah, there's a selfish piece of it; in the 2013 game she says, 'I'm going to make my mark,' and there's some sense that she's still looking for her opportunity to make a difference. This is that opportunity, which this is the chance for her to take everything she knows, her archeological and mythological and linguistic background and understanding, and her survival instincts and abilities she's learned... All of these come together to be the perfect package to solve this problem.
"And that's where the stakes escalate," he continued. "Unraveling these truths and revealing them and solving these mysteries of mankind have initially just an inherent nobility to it. But she begins this chain of events that ultimately won't stop whether she participates or not, and that takes what is initially a passion and a personal interest and almost turns it into an, 'Oh my gosh, if I set these events in motion now, either someone will do good with what they find or they will do bad with what they find.' Trinity doesn't have the best intentions, and they're the first to discover these ancient mysteries."
Horton added, "She's gone through a lot of different avenues to get where she's at. This really is the end of the road, the convergence of all the knowledge she has acquired, all the evidence she's picked up. If it's not this, she's thinking, 'What if this doesn't lead to the destination I'm hoping for?' There could be a tremendous disappointment after all of that work. She still has that belief in her heart that she'll find it, but the stakes are really high.
"Especially now that she's seeing others dragged into it and potentially bad actors [Trinity] involved, it escalates it from a personal drama to a potentially devastating global one if she doesn't achieve her goals. And I think that's the other brush to paint this with. If you can imagine that kind of power in the wrong hands, it would have devastating effects on humanity. So for all the good it could have, it could also be extremely negative. That's where the race also enters into the equation in addition to that personal drive."
Trinity and Yamatai aside, Lara's passion inevitably boils down to the spark passed on by her father. As a child, Lara accompanied him on digs and she inherited his passion for history and language. Years later, the people around Lara view her within her father's legacy--down to assumptions that she may be going mad. Her passion is called obsession, her research thrill-seeking, and every step of the way she becomes more like Lord Croft than she can probably recognize. According to the developers, viewing Lara through the lens of her father was the perfect way to understand who she is on the most granular, personal levels without sacrificing the importance of the strength and skill she inherits along her journey.
"Even as we're swept up in some global conflict, eventually it emerges that her attachment to this isn't, 'I need to save the world' or anything, she really just falls in love with archeology, falls in love with mythology, and ultimately begins to have this relationship with them," said Hughes.
"Her father begins to go down this path of, 'These aren't just relics and ruins, these are secrets and truths.' He almost becomes that crazy believer in what could possibly be the underlying truth of all these myths, and she loses her father to that; literally and figuratively, and she resents it. But she's never lost that passion for mythology, archeology, and unraveling these ancient secrets. Early on she does really define her relationship with those secrets as very much a scholar, as a gatherer of facts and a recounter of the details of these ancient societies.
Hughes continued, "On Yamatai, we see her realize just like her father did that these ruins and these artifacts and these stories are ultimately pointing to underlying truths that we really don't understand and have lost in the dark corners of the world. What was once a scholastic pursuit becomes a pursuit of the underlying truth about humanity and the meaning of life, and these become all-consuming.
"The reason we bring [her father] in is to genuinely understand where the beginning of her passion came from, and how her distancing from her father became potential energy for realizing that all along that she was pursuing something slightly outside of truth. If at the very highest level you summarize it as Lara finishing her father's work, it's a gross understatement of her personal investment; her father's role was to share that passion early on with her as a child and to fuel her relationship with these ancient secrets."
In this way, the trauma in Lara's life begins long before Yamatai, within her own home. Her losses add up to something, leading her down specific paths and guiding her towards her destiny as the Tomb Raider. Her father's memory represents her passion and her greatest qualities--intelligence, resourcefulness, and determination--but also the pain that keeps her grounded in reality. No matter what myths she chases, no matter what she unravels, that pain is what she comes back to keep her bound to reality.
"The experience of Yamatai rekindled some of those feelings she had when she was younger, and it set the perfect stage for us to tell the next chapter in her story," Horton said.
"She's reconciling this pain, she's on her own therapeutic journey, she doesn't need a therapist to help her with this. It's really about the pain of becoming someone who is unique in this world, and that is not something that you can put a resume down for. It's not something that you can train traditionally at a college for. It's something she needs to experience, and she's going to retrace her history as she's marching forward to her future."
The X-Men series remains one of the most popular superhero movie franchises, with a number of spinoff films in the works, alongside the ongoing main movies. X-Men: Apocalypse is due next summer, and is to be the final film in a series that began way back in 2000. Director Bryan Singer has spoken about what fans can expect from the movie when it arrives.
As reported by comicbookmovie.com, Singer was asked about the film while attending a screening of his classic thriller The Usual Suspects at the San Pedro International Film Festival. "It cuts a little long right now," he said. "I think it's gonna be a longer X-Men movie. The X-Men movies, I usually I keep under two hours, but this one I may actually let be a longer movie because it's sort of a wrap-up of six movies. There's even an homage at the end. There's a scene--it's gonna get spoiled because we decided to use it in the trailer which comes out, like six months, but it's a really cool trailer--but the [homage] is kind of a wrap-up of six movies."
Singer also spoke about working with Michael Fassbender, who plays the young Magneto in the film. "Fassbender did something so wonderful in this movie... We're at the end of the scene, and he asked me not to call cut and when the scene was over, he continued and did something that made me cry. It was so beautiful, I've never seen an actor do this for me and [Fassbender] just took the scene to a whole other level."
The previous X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, was released in 2014, and became the highest grossing film in the series to date, earning more than $748 million worldwide. Other X-Men related films in the works include Wolverine 3, Deadpool and Gambit.
X-Men: Apocalypse is due for release on May 27, 2016. It also stars James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, and Rose Byrne.
The newest Humble Indie Bundle is a good one, and it has only a day left. It includes games like Skullgirls, Planetary Annihilation: Titans, Xenonauts, and more. You can get everything for $10, or only select games by beating the average (currently $7.35) or paying any price you want. New games have been added since the bundle first launched.
PlayStation Silver Wired Stereo Headset -- $22.49 (Amazon)
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.
Journey developer thatgamecompany's next project remains a mystery, but now, we've learned a little more about the tone it's aiming for. The developer said on Twitter (via DualShockers) that this unannounced title "won't have the same emotional experience of Journey." Previously, thatgamecompany said its upcoming project would be an "emotionally engaging experience centered around human connections for players of all ages and backgrounds." How the two will differ in terms of "emotion" remains to be seen.
"Its deliberate ambiguity brings on the urge to speculate on deeper meanings, but meaning here is bound to be personal, and best discovered for yourself. Discover it you should," our reviewer wrote at the time.
The developer's unannounced game is described as "very ambitious," with plans to "positively touch more players than ever before." Thatgamecompany's previous games--Journey, Flower, and Flow--were released on PlayStation platforms and PC, but the next project is likely to be a multiplatform effort.
This game is also being self-published by thatgamecompany, funded in part by $5.5 million in venture capital money that it received in 2012 from Benchmark Capital. According to the developer, "Being exclusive to a platform means players who don't have access to that platform can't play our games, and this goes against our vision to create broadly accessible games for everyone."
No release date for thatgamecompany's next game has been announced. What are you hoping to see from the studio's next title? Let us know in the comments below.
Rock Band 4 is getting new gear and songs. Harmonix on Monday announced a Pro-Cymbals expansion kit and more DLC songs are coming to the newly released music game later this year.
The Pro-Cymbals kit comes with crash, ride, and hi-hat cymbals, which feature 10-degree strike angle support and can detect soft and hard hits. Connect them to the new Rock Band 4 drumkit (the only drumkit the new cymbal pack will work with) and you'll get to try the game's Pro Mode.
This adds even more challenge to drumming experience. You'll probably only want to do this if you've already mastered the game on Expert...or if your name is Mike Portnoy.
You can preorder the Pro-Cymbals kit from Mad Catz's website today for $50. The kit ships this holiday. For a closer look, click through the images in the gallery below.
Harmonix also today announced a handful of new Rock Band 4 DLC tracks. The full list of songs arriving on October 13 is below. You can buy them for $2 each.
GameStop won't be open on Thanksgiving Day this year, the company announced today, saying the move comes out of respect for employees and shoppers alike. This applies to all United States GameStop stores, as well as the company's Spring Mobile, Simply Mac, Cricket Wireless, and ThinkGeek retail outlets.
In a statement, GameStop said the company is taking a stand against the "emerging trend" in the retail industry of "taking away holidays from customers and associates." The company was also closed on Thanksgiving Day in 2014.
GameStop executive Mike Buskey said customers and workers alike should be able to spend Thanksgiving Day, November 26, enjoying the holiday with their family and friends, "not worrying with the stress of where to find the best shopping deals."
He added: "We know this is in stark contrast to what many other retailers are doing, but we are taking a stance to protect family time during this important holiday."
GameStop's online store will remain open on Thanksgiving Day. The next day, November 27, is Black Friday, and GameStop is going big this year. Physical stores will open across the US at 5 AM local time on Black Friday, and GameStop will offer "bigger and better" deals than ever before.
The retailer's full Black Friday deals lineup has not yet been announced. We'll have a roundup of the best Black Friday deals from GameStop and other retailers ahead of the shopping bonanza next month.
They're not getting any younger, but the veteran action stars of The Expendables look set to return for another movie. Variety have confirmed that The Expendables 4 is set to film next year, for a 2017 release.
Even though 2014's The Expendables 3 made less than either of its predecessors, a sizeable proportion of the total gross was taken in China. This has led to considerable Chinese investment in a fourth movie, with SSXH Beijing and Max Screen Film Distribution putting more than $25 million into the production.
The disappointing box office performance of The Expendables 3, which starred Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Mel Gibson, has been put down to a combination of the film leaking early onto the Internet, and the decision to make it a PG-13 rather than the R rating of the previous films. In an interview with CraveOnline last year, Stallone admitted that it was a mistake to aim for a lower rating.
"I believe it was a horrible miscalculation on everyone's part in trying to reach a wider audience," he said. "And in doing such, diminish the violence that the audience expects. I'm quite certain it won't happen again."
"In an R-rated film it is difficult to believe that none of the heroes die. I personally just believe that the characters become identifiable and their demise could put a dark cloud over an audience exiting the theatre after seeing the film. But that may change in Expendables 4."
The Dark Souls 3 network test beta is now available to download from the North American PlayStation Store, publisher Bandai Namco has confirmed. Before you download it, however, there are some caveats: You'll need a code to access the network test, and to get that you would have had to sign up for access and be selected. Unfortunately, you can't just download it and play.
The test has only been announced for the PlayStation 4 and is scheduled to last until October 18 in both North America and Japan. A European stress test has not been announced yet. Take a look at the official test periods for North America below.
Network Stress Test sessions (America)
Friday, October 16th, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. CEST
Saturday, October 17th, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. CEST
Sunday, October 18th, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. CEST
In an interview with GameSpot, Bloodborne director Hidetaka Miyazaki, who is also directing Dark Souls 3, provided assurances that the quality of Bloodborne's expansion will not be impacted by this project.
Bloodborne's expansion was revealed at Sony's press conference during Tokyo Game Show. Titled "The Old Hunters," the add-on tells the story of the "legendary hunters" alluded to in the main game. Players will be taken to a "nightmare world where hunters from the past are trapped forever," to relive Yarnham's history.
For various reasons, not every Square Enix game gets localized for the western market, despite interest from gamers. Now, a Square Enix executive has said he's open to the idea of using crowdfunding to help fund the localization process. Speaking in the latest issue ofGame Informer, Square Enix Europe CEO Phil Rogers didn't make any promises, but said crowdfunding "seems very natural" for such an endeavor.
"It's a topic that comes up a lot, and we understand why it does," he said about localization in general. "To a great extent, in a really positive way, we're absolutely humbled that we have this loyal and dedicated fanbase that wants to give us the feedback. We're constantly working with the teams in Tokyo to show them this and to work with them there. The simple truth is that in some ways the development process and the tools, it's not always an easy undertaking to reopen a game and add localization subsequently.
"But I think as we go forward, with the way the group is working, technically, and the way it's now thinking globally, I'm really hoping that in the next 10 years, localization is seen as pleasing all our fans, because it's truly global and the methods in which we can localize now are vastly improved."
Asked specifically if crowdfunding could be a means to help localize more games, Rogers agreed that it could, but stopped short of confirming any specifics plans. He also said Square Enix fans are smart; they understand that the localization process can be time-consuming and expensive.
Some games may never be localized. But Rogers suggested that crowdfunding is a "very natural" idea to help fund localization for certain games.
"I think it's a really interesting idea," he said about crowdfunding. "I would love to try and work with that, to find a way, because ultimately we want to satisfy the demands of the fans. I think also, our fans are very rational. They understand, and if we explain things, they often go, 'Oh, I get that now. Thanks for explaining.' They know it's complex, or very expensive, and it's not as simply as you say as using Google Translate."
He added: "To get that essence of it actually translated requires this amount of resource. To see if fans want to sign up for it and say, 'This is the absolute demand for it,' and we can set targets and say if we achieve that, then we can do it. I think that's a relationship that seems very natural to build. I'd love to see how we get that to work."
Microsoft has published the "launch gameplay trailer" for Halo 5: Guardians, setting up the sci-fi shooter's dramatic story which pits Master Chief against Spartan Locke. In the early events of Halo 5, Chief goes rogue. Locke and his team are tasked with bringing him in, and as such, "the hero becomes the hunted."
At the same time, the galaxy is facing mass destruction from an unknown event, which Microsoft said previously has something to do with the Guardians, the ancient Forerunner constructs. The events set into motion in Halo 5 represent "the beginning of the greatest hunt in gaming history," Microsoft says.
As you'll hear, the trailer is set to Muse's "Knights of Cydonia." The video uses the song to great effect, focusing on Chief during during a particularly strong segment of the song that sums up the game's story.
"No one's gonna take me alive / The time has come to make things right / You and I must fight for our rights / You and I must fight to survive"
Batman: Arkham Knight and Mortal Kombat X have each sold more than five million units, according to The Wall Street Journal. The figure was stated in an article contrasting the success of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment--the video game arm of the entertainment company--with the lacklustre reception to the output of its movie division.
"In the past few years, the studio has shot to the top, thanks to major hits including Batman: Arkham Knight and fighting game Mortal Kombat X, which have each sold more than five million units globally," the publication said.
Lego Jurassic World, it continues, has "sold about four million." It is unclear, however, whether a distinction between shipping units to retailers and selling them to customers is being made.
Batman: Arkham Knight debuted with strong commercial sales, topping charts in both North America and UK The PC version of the game, however, was pulled from store shelves and sales on digital platforms such as Steam were suspended. This was due to significant graphical and performance bugs and glitches.
Mortal Kombat X, meanwhile, enjoyed the "biggest launch" in franchise history to date. In August, 2015, the game--along with Arkham Knight--was cited as a key contributors in parent company Time Warner's revenue boost for the quarter ending June 30.
Like many other AAA games today, Halo 5: Guardians will offer optional microtransactions for players looking to speed up their progress. Pricing for these microtransactions in Halo 5 starts at $2 for REQ Packs, and now, developer 343 Industries has spoken out to defend the game's use of such payments.
In an interview with GameSpot, Halo 5 design director Kevin Franklin stressed that everything available in the game's REQ system is obtainable "whether you spend money or not."
"There's no crazy special items that are only going to be reserved for people who spend a lot more money," he added. "Also, you get a lot of rewards whether you're playing Arena or Warzone, so you're always going to have a ton of stuff that you'll be able to use. The biggest thing for us the moment we started even talking about this system was that the game has to be balanced. At the end of the day, it's a multiplayer game. It's not a spend-more-to-win game. We wanted to make sure that if you spend a whole ton of money, and you thought you could get five Scorpions just because you spent more money, it's not going to work. You're still going to have to earn the right to call these Scorpions into the battlefield."
Previously, 343 said it expects players will earn around 2000 RP for every Warzone match played. Bronze REQ Packs sell for 1250 RP; Silver for 5000 RP; and Gold for 10000 RP. If you do indeed earn 2000 RP every match, it won't be long until you can buy more REQ Packs with in-game currency. In addition, everyone gets 7500 RP to start when they buy Halo 5.
Franklin went on to say that Halo 5 has been purposefully designed to feel balanced and fair.
"We have a mid-session progression loop, which any MOBA player will be familiar with," he explained. "You have to level your character up in-game, every game, by killing enemies, going after A.I., and contributing to your team. Then you'll unlock the ability to use these cards. So if you have 10 Scorpions, you can't just call in 10 Scorpions. You actually have an energy system, and that levelling system that will gate you and keep the end-game balanced. And that was really huge--we're multiplayer designers, we can't just make a really unbalanced game. It just wouldn't feel Halo."
It's not a trailer as such, but Warner has released a new video to promote next year's release of their superhero face-off Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It's a fake viral clip that showcases LexCorp's new Operating System LexOS. Check it out below:
Jesse Eisenberg will play the villainous billionaire Lex Luthor in the movie, which also stars Ben Affleck as Batman, and following 2013's Man of Steel, sees Henry Cavill return to the role of Superman.
Speaking to MTV in July, Eisenberg explained why his portrayal of Luthor would differ from the pervious screen versions, in particular Gene Hackman in the 1978 movie Superman.
"There's an emotional core to the character," he said. "It's not a silly villainous character. It is an entirely different thing. Also, the tone of that [Superman] movie is so different. Like, that movie wouldn't be made now.
"The way we expect movies to be now is to have some kind of--I mean, it's probably for the best--there's some kind of psychological accuracy. That the person is coming from a place probably diagnosable in some way."
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will open on March 25, 2016. It is directed by Zack Snyder, and also stars Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, with support from Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Jeremy Irons, and Laurence Fishburne.
Ubisoft has responded to claims of "deceptive marketing" tactics for the recent release of Might & Magic Heroes VII's collector's edition, apologizing for the confusion and offering refunds and free games to people who want them. This controversy stems from marketing materials for the PC game, which suggested that Ubisoft would deliver a physical copy of the title with the $100 premium bundle. Instead, people on Reddit and Imgur report that they received a digital copy of the game. They aren't happy about it.
Now, Ubisoft has confirmed that the Might & Magic Heroes VII's collector's edition comes with a digital copy, not a physical one. Marketing material on the game's website has now been updated, while Ubisoft is offering complete refunds and a free game to make up for "any frustration and disappointment."
"Ubisoft regrets any confusion created by the marketing materials from our Might and Magic Heroes VII Collector's Edition," the developer said in a statement. "We understand that some customers in North America were not aware the Collector's Edition delivered digital versions of the game and soundtrack. Ubisoft apologizes for any frustration and disappointment resulting from these items being in digital format vs. physical format."
This pertains only to copies of Might & Magic Heroes VII Collector's Edition sold in the United States through Ubisoft's Uplay service. In Europe, the collector's edition comes with a physical disc.
With just two weeks to go before its release, Microsoft has launched a new interactive website for Halo 5: Guardians. The website features five videos each for Master Chief and Spartan Locke, which dive into the game's galaxy-changing story. Locke believes Chief is a traitor, while Chief think he's a freedom fighter.
Watch all 10 videos and you'll earn a special REQ Pack for multiplayer. Mine came in the form of a Vengeance Assault Rifle Skin, though it's unclear if this is the reward for everyone who watches all the videos. They are less than 10 seconds long, so it won't take you too long to zip through them all.
Three former Yager developers have left the Spec Ops: The Line and Dead Island 2 studio to create their own independent outfit, which they are calling InBetweenGames. The developer's first game is called The Mammoth: A Cave Painting, which is inspired by prehistoric cave-paintings; watch a trailer for it below.
You don't have to wait to play A Cave Painting, as it's available now for free for iOS and Android devices or through your browser.
Looking beyond A Cave Painting, the Berlin, Germany-based InBetweenGames says it's working on multiple prototypes for the studio's "first big release," which is penciled in for fall 2016. No further details are available at this time, but the studio says, "We're not doing pixel art nor puzzle platformers."
InBetweenGames was founded by Yager veterans Isaac Ashdown and Jan David Hassel, who worked on Spec Ops: The Line and Dead Island 2, as well as 15-year industry veteran Rafal Fedro.
"While we have Spec Ops: The Line under our belt we still feel like we have something to prove," Hassel said in a statement. "We want to make games and give them to you. That's what we're here for. That didn't really work out in AAA the last couple of years for us. So we will have a go at this indie thing and don't hold back intending to punch above our weight class as hard as we can. It will either work out or it will go up in flames. But it will be fun. You should watch."
The release of A Cave Painting comes just days after Ubisoft announced its own prehistoric game with mammoths, Far Cry Primal.
"Haha… straight coincidence!," Fedro said. "I was really surprised when I've seen announcement trailer. We have this running joke that we are the 'trend-setters,' but of course that's not true. To be able to ship it in 2016--they must have been working on it for at least one year now. It's an interesting direction Ubisoft is taking for Far Cry series."
DICE has spoken out to address the technical performance of Star Wars Battlefront in the wake of criticism about the game's frame rate and resolution. Technical director Johan Andersson says on that the sci-fi shooter prioritizes frame rate over resolution to achieve the best possible overall experience.
Responding to criticisms about how Battlefront's beta runs at 900p on PlayStation 4 and 720p on Xbox One instead of full 1080p, Andersson said, "Frame rate and fidelity is indeed king; don't want to sacrifice it for resolution. But a choice each game team does."
A previous technical analysis of Battlefront's beta revealed that both PS4 and Xbox One are targeting 60fps. However, this frame rate can dip during some particularly intensive encounters.
The UK government has pledged £4 million to the games industry to encourage developers to take unique ideas and develop them into worldwide successes.
Pictured: Gunpoint
The Video Games Prototype Fund, which continues the work started by Abertay University's Prototype Fund, is designed to support independent game developers based in the UK. It will offer grants of up to £25,000 to help developers prototype their ideas and £50,000 for select projects to continue development beyond this phase.
Currently, developers in the UK are responsible for some of the biggest blockbusters in the industry. Most notable among these are the Batman: Arkham series, created by London-based Rocksteady Studio, LittleBigPlanet from Guilford's Media Molecule, and Grand Theft Auto V from Edinburgh's Rockstar North.
Games from UK indie developers such as Mike Bithell's Volume, Gunpoint from Tom Francis, and Roll7's OlliOlli--among others--have also attracted worldwide attention. This effort, according to minister for culture Ed Vaizey, is something the government should more directly support.
"Britain's video games punch well above their weight internationally, and we need to build on this and invest in the strength of our creativity," said Vaizey.
"This fund will give small businesses, startups, and individuals the support they need to better attract private investment and go on to create the blockbusters of tomorrow."
FIFA 16 has finished top of the UK sales chart for the week ending October 10, holding off Sony's Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, which debuts at No.2.
Activision and Bungie's first major expansion for Destiny, The Taken King, moves up one position to No.3, ahead of Lego Dimensions, which slips two places down to No.4.
Xbox One exclusive Forza Motorsport 6 holds its place at No.5, while Grand Theft Auto V climbs up three positions to settle at No.6. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer ends the week at No.7, ahead of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and NBA 2K16, at No.8 and No.9. New entry Rock Band 4 completes the top 10.
Here's the full top 10 for the week ending October 10.
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