By Anonymous on Jun 06, 2015 12:01 am
Following the recent revelation that digital games distributor Desura was late on payments to game developers, the store's parent company has now reportedly filed for bankruptcy.  Bad Juju, which acquired Desura from Second Life creator Linden Lab in November, is said to be in the midst of bankruptcy. This was confirmed to Gamasutra by Bad Juju's head of developer relations, Lisa Morrison. "I asked Tony [Novak, CEO of Bad Juju] for confirmation and all he could tell me was, 'The lawyers have said I can't say anything or answer any questions yet, but yes it's true,'" Morrison said. At this point, it's unclear what impact this will have on Desura, if any. Bad Juju could potentially resolve its bankruptcy situation and move forward or sell the site, which has been in existence since 2010. In any event, certain developers aren't wasting time in ensuring fans can continue to play their games. Norwind Interactive, developer of Astraea, published a message on its section of the Desura site letting owners of the game know they can get in touch with the company to receive a free copy through its website. Project Zomboid developer The Indie Stone is encouraging Desura players to redeem their Steam keys as soon as possible. Both companies note they have no inside knowledge as to what's happening with Desura; Norwind specifically states it hasn't heard anything directly from the site. Desura is a relatively small games distributor that primarily focuses on indie games. Whether or not the the name seems familiar, it's possible you own games through it, as Desura was used to distribute some titles in early Humble Indie Bundles. We've reached out to Bad Juju to find out more and will continue to follow this story.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 11:36 pm
Valve's Dota 2 tournament this year will offer up the biggest prize pool in the history of competitive gaming. The tournament, called The International, has a current prize pool of $11.6 million.  This exceeds last year's then-record of $10.9 million, and the number is likely to grow further still. The International exceeds some high-profile, traditional sports when it comes to prize pools. Professional golf's most prestigious tournament, The Masters, this year had a $10 million prize pool. One big difference between The International and The Masters is that Dota 2 matches are played as a team, meaning prize money is divided, while golf is a solo game (with some money going to the caddie). Funds for The International's prize pool come from sales of the virtual Compendium, which contains in-game items that unlock as the pool increases in amount. Should the tally reach $12 million, a new "music pack" will be released. You can see the other stretch goals at Valve's website. Each Compendium costs $10, and 25 percent of the proceeds go to the prize pool. This means that total revenue derived from Compendium sales is actually somewhere in the area of $45 million. The International 2015 takes place in Seattle August 3-8.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 11:28 pm
 The Microsoft Store is offering a $50 store credit with the purchase of the Halo Master Chief Collection Xbox One bundle for $350. Walmart continues to sell the Last of Us Remastered PS4 bundle with an extra controller or Battlefield Hardline for $399. Alternatively, you can add $10 to get The Witcher 3 or Mortal Kombat X in place of the controller/Hardline. Alongside Green Man Gaming offering Fallout 4 preorders for $46, Steam has discounted the entire Fallout series. You can get Fallout 3 or New Vegas for $5 each, or the Game of the Year/Ultimate editions for $12 each. The pre-Bethesda games are discounted, too; you can get the Fallout Classic Collection for just $12. GOG kicked off its DRM-free summer sale this week, offering new PC games and bundles every day. By spending certain amounts over the course of the sale, you'll be able to get free games: SimCity 2000 ($1), Stalker: Clear Sky ($20), and Xenonauts ($50). Current deals include Broken Age for $8.49, Age of Wonders III: Deluxe Edition for $11, Hotline Miami 2 for $11, and much more. Amazon has also begun a summer sale on digital games and DLC. Current PC deals include a GTA bundle for $15, the Mass Effect Trilogy for $9, the Max Payne trilogy for $7, and Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition for $5. The PlayStation TV is available for $40 at Best Buy. Amazon also has it at that price, but it's currently out of stock. You can, however, order it for $40 and it'll be delivered when more are in stock. You can preorder Batman: Arkham Knight through Dell and receive a $15 gift card. Below you'll find the rest of today's best deals divided by platform: PlayStation 4Groupon has the Last of Us Remastered PS4 bundle with copies of Alien: Isolation and Call of Duty: Ghosts for $420. EBay has seller-refurbished PS4s for $324. Trade in a working 250 GB Xbox 360 or PS3 Slim and get at least $175 toward a new PS4 at Best Buy. You can get a digital copy of The Last of Us Remastered for $12 at eBay. The PlayStation Store has kicked off a sale on Capcom games, primarily offering discounts on PS3 games. There's also a PSN sale on NBA 2K15, bringing its price down to $30 and discounting its in-game currency. Other PS4 game deals: - Mortal Kombat X -- $38.49 (Target)
- Evolve -- $23 (Amazon) / $23 (Target)
- Bloodborne -- $43 (Amazon)
- Metro Redux -- $20 (Amazon) / $20 (Best Buy)
- Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition -- $35 (Amazon)
- Borderlands: The Handsome Collection -- $50 (Amazon) / $50 (GameStop)
- Dead or Alive 5: Last Round -- $34 (Amazon)
- Battlefield Hardline -- $40 (Amazon)
- Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin -- $48 (Amazon)
- Resident Evil: Revelations 2 -- $28 (Amazon) / $28 (Target)
- Tropico 5 -- $42 (Amazon)
- Far Cry 4 -- $30 (Amazon)
- Far Cry 4: Kyrat Edition -- $70 (Amazon)
- The Order: 1886 -- $40 (Amazon)
- Final Fantasy Type-0 HD -- $43 (Amazon)
- LittleBigPlanet 3 -- $41 (Amazon)
- Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition -- $41.65 (Amazon)
- Grand Theft Auto V -- $50.66 (Amazon)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare -- $34 (Amazon)
- Dying Light -- $40 (Amazon)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition -- $39.58 (Amazon)
- Alien: Isolation -- $24 (Amazon)
- Wolfenstein: The New Order -- $30 (Amazon)
- The Crew -- $30 (Amazon)
- Destiny -- $20 (Amazon) / $20 (Target)
- WWE 2K15 -- $26.59 (Amazon) / $26.59 (Target)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor -- $27 (Amazon)
- Natural Doctrine -- $30 (Amazon)
- Infamous: Second Son -- $28 (Amazon)
- Watch Dogs -- $16 (Amazon)
- Assassin's Creed: Unity -- $20 (Amazon) / $20 (Best Buy)
- Killzone: Shadow Fall -- $23 (Amazon)
- The Last of Us Remastered -- $16.30 (Amazon)
- NBA 2K15 -- $30.49 (Amazon)
- NHL 15 -- $28 (Amazon) / $28 (Target)
- The Evil Within -- $39 (Amazon)
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes -- $15 (Amazon)
- Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham -- $19 (Amazon)
- Disney Infinity 2.0 Toy Box Starter Pack -- $33 (Amazon)
- Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack -- $40 (Amazon)
- Call of Duty: Ghosts -- $19 (Amazon)
- Shadow Warrior -- $17.49 (Amazon)
The free PlayStation Plus games for June are now available and include Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Skulls of the Shogun, and more. Xbox OneWalmart is offering the Halo Master Chief Collection Xbox One bundle with a free second controller or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for $349. Adding $10 more lets you get Battlefield Hardline in place of Advanced Warfare, while $20 more lets you pick either Witcher 3 or Mortal Kombat X. Best Buy is selling the Assassin's Creed IV/Unity Xbox One bundle for $350 and throwing in your choice of select free games. You can choose from Sunset Overdrive, Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition, Forza Motorsport 5: Game of the Year Edition, or Ryse: Son of Rome Legendary Edition. Groupon is offering an Xbox One with a free copy of Project Spark for $320. Using the promo code GOODS5 takes 5 percent off, bringing its price down to $304. You can buy a year of Xbox Live Gold on eBay for $37. Best Buy will take $20 off the price of a one-year Xbox Live Gold membership when you buy any Xbox 360 or Xbox One. Microsoft's latest Deals With Gold promotion is on, discounting a handful of Xbox One and Xbox 360 games, such as Costume Quest 2 for $6 and Metro 2033/Last Light Redux for $12.50 each. You can check out all the deals here. Other Xbox One game deals: - Mortal Kombat X -- $42 (Target)
- Evolve -- $25 (Amazon) / $25 (Target)
- Metro Redux -- $20 (Amazon) / $20 (Best Buy)
- Borderlands: The Handsome Collection -- $47 (Amazon) / $50 (GameStop)
- Battlefield Hardline -- $40 (Amazon) / $40 (Target)
- Final Fantasy Type-0 HD -- $33 (Amazon)
- Resident Evil: Revelations 2 -- $28 (Amazon) / $28 (Target)
- State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition -- $25 (Amazon) / $25 (Best Buy)
- Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition -- $35 (Amazon) / $28 (Target)
- Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition -- $25 (Amazon) / $25 (Best Buy)
- Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin -- $48 (Amazon)
- Sunset Overdrive -- $25 (Amazon) / $25 (Best Buy)
- Forza Horizon 2 -- $51 (Amazon)
- Far Cry 4 -- $30 (Amazon)
- Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition -- $15 (Microsoft Store)
- Dead or Alive 5: Last Round -- $29.40 (Amazon) / $30 (Walmart)
- Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition -- $39 (Amazon)
- Alien: Isolation -- $25 (Amazon)
- Destiny -- $27 (Amazon)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare -- $39 (Amazon)
- The Evil Within -- $29 (Amazon)
- Dying Light -- $40 (Amazon)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition -- $42 (Amazon)
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection -- $27 (Amazon) / $35 (Best Buy)
- NBA 2K15 -- $30.49 (Amazon)
- NHL 15 -- $28 (Amazon) / $28 (Target)
- WWE 2K15 -- $39.49 (Amazon) / $28 (Target)
- The Crew -- $30 (Amazon)
- Disney Infinity 2.0 Toy Box Starter Pack -- $35 (Amazon)
- Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack -- $40 (Amazon)
- Ryse: Son of Rome - Legendary Edition -- $25 (Amazon) / $25 (Best Buy)
- Assassin's Creed: Unity -- $20 (Amazon) / $20 (Best Buy)
- Watch Dogs -- $19.49 (Amazon)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor -- $29 (Amazon)
- Wolfenstein: The New Order -- $28 (Amazon)
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes -- $15 (Best Buy)
- Call of Duty: Ghosts -- $16 (Amazon)
- Shadow Warrior -- $16.61 (Amazon)
June's free Games With Gold games are now available and include the newly released Massive Chalice and Just Cause 2. PCGet a free set of eight indie games with any purchase at Green Man Gaming. The latest Humble Weekly Bundle features Slitherine strategy games games, including Frontline: Road to Moscow and Rise of Prussia Gold. Get 23 percent off at Green Man Gaming with the promo code: 23PERC-ENTOFF-48HOUR Ultima VIII: Gold Edition is free on Origin. Other PC game deals: - XCOM: Enemy Unknown - The Complete Pack -- $10 (GMG)
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown -- $7.49 (GMG)
- XCOM: Enemy Within -- $7.49 (GMG)
- The Bureau: XCOM Declassified -- $4 (GMG)
- Football Manager 2015 -- $17 (Steam)
- Skullgirls -- $3 (Steam)
- Planetary Annihilation -- $6 (GMG)
- The Banner Saga -- $5 (GMG)
- Diablo III -- $25.66 (Amazon)
- Diablo III: Reaper of Souls -- $33 (Amazon)
- StarCraft II: Battle Chest -- $24 (Best Buy)
- Tropico 5 -- $24 (Amazon)
- Dying Light -- $40 (Amazon)
- Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure -- $5 (Steam)
- South Park: The Stick of Truth -- $18.50 (Amazon)
- Battlefield Hardline -- $38 (Amazon) / $38 (Target)
- NBA 2K15 -- $20.39 (GMG)
- The Sims 4 -- $40 (GameStop) / $42 (Target)
- The Sims 4: Get to Work -- $28 (Target)
- Assassin's Creed Rogue -- $32.50 (Amazon)
- Evolve -- $35 (Amazon)
- Watch Dogs -- $12 (Amazon)
- Batman: Arkham Origins -- $16 (Amazon)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition -- $40 (Amazon)
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag -- $19.49 (Amazon)
- The Lego Movie Video Game -- $15 (Amazon)
Wii UBest Buy still has the special edition Splatoon Wii U bundle for $300. If you don't mind a refurbished system, Nintendo's online store also has a Wii U bundle with Nintendo Land for $200, or Nintendo Land and Super Mario 3D World for $225. The new Humble Bundle is offering a number of Wii U (and 3DS) games on the cheap, marking the first time a Humble Bundle has ever offered console or handheld games. - Mario Party 10 -- $40 (Amazon) / $40 (Best Buy)
- Mario Kart 8 -- $50 (Amazon) / $50 (Best Buy)
- Bayonetta 2 -- $45 (Amazon) / $45 (GameStop)
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze -- $42 (Amazon)
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut -- $15 (Amazon)
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U -- $49 (Amazon) / $50 (Best Buy) / $49 (Walmart)
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two -- $8.49 (Amazon)
- Super Mario 3D World -- $48 (Amazon)
- Hyrule Warriors -- $49 (Amazon)
- Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition -- $14.39 (Amazon)
- Batman: Arkham Origins -- $15 (Amazon)
- Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham -- $20 (Amazon)
- Watch Dogs -- $18 (Amazon)
- Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed -- $16.51 (Amazon)
- Scribblenauts Unlimited -- $16 (Amazon)
- Transformer Prime: The Game -- $11.57 (Amazon)
3DSWalmart is offering a New 3DS XL bundle with Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and your choice of select Amiibo figurines for $219. Alternatively, the retailer has a New 3DS XL bundle with your choice of select games and a Pokemon figurine for $219. Eligible games include Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Super Smash Bros., The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, and quite a few more. Groupon is selling the 3DS XL Super Mario Bros. 2 Gold Edition, which includes the game and a limited-edition system, for $175. The new Humble Bundle includes several 3DS games. - Pokemon Y -- $30 (Amazon)
- Steel Diver -- $8 (Best Buy)
- Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate -- $32.50 (Amazon)
- Scribblenauts Unlimited -- $8 (Best Buy)
- Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure -- $12 (Amazon)
- Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion -- $7.49 (Amazon)
- Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate -- $12 (Amazon)
- Code Name: Steam -- $30 (Amazon)
- Crosswords Plus -- $6 (Best Buy)
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes -- $15 (Amazon)
- Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham -- $12 (Amazon)
- Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars -- $21 (Amazon)
- Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed -- $11 (Amazon)
- Hometown Story -- $15 (Amazon)
PlayStation VitaThe PlayStation Vita's Borderlands 2 bundle is available on eBay for $170. - Persona 4: Golden -- $20 (Amazon)
- Tearaway -- $28.64 (Amazon)
- Gravity Rush -- $19 (Amazon)
- The Wolf Among Us -- $13.33 (Amazon) / $15 (Best Buy)
- Borderlands 2 -- $20 (Amazon) / $24 (Best Buy)
- Freedom Wars -- $20 (Amazon)
- The Walking Dead: Season Two -- $19 (Best Buy)
- Mind Zero -- $22 (Amazon)
- Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed -- $18 (Amazon)
- Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd -- $22 (Amazon)
- Xblaze Code: Embryo -- $20 (Amazon)
- Arcana Heart 3: Love Max -- $20 (Amazon)
- Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars -- $21.45 (Amazon)
- Resistance: Burning Skies -- $5 (Best Buy)
- Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational -- $10 (Amazon)
- 16GB Memory Card -- $36 (Amazon)
- 32GB Memory Card -- $68 (Amazon)
Hardware- PlayStation 4 Camera -- $45 (Amazon) / $45 (Walmart)
- PowerA DualShock 4 Controller Charging Station -- $14.40 (Amazon)
- Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury Gaming Mouse -- $41 (Amazon)
- Logitech G502 Proteus Core Gaming Mouse -- $61 (Amazon)
- Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse -- $55 (Amazon)
- Logitech G700s Gaming Mouse -- $63.58 (Amazon)
- Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows -- $43 (Amazon)
- Wired Xbox 360 Controller for Windows -- $28 (Amazon)
- Black Xbox One Wireless Controller -- $49.49 (Amazon) / $49 (Rakuten)
- PlayStation Silver Wired Stereo Headset -- $27 (Amazon)
- Turtle Beach Ear Force PX22 Amplified Universal Gaming Headset -- $56 (Amazon)
- Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930 -- $80 (Amazon)
- HyperX Cloud II Gaming Headset for PC & PS4 -- $100 (Amazon)
- PlayStation 3 3D Glasses -- $9 (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.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 11:07 pm
In May of 2015, it was The Witcher this and The Witcher that. All Witcher, all the time, it seemed, and for good reason: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a phenomenal role-playing game and a worthy recipient of the public's attention. Take a step back, however, and the juggernaut that is The Witcher 3 becomes part of a larger tapestry into which other excellent and influential games were woven. Geralt casts a large shadow, of course, but his shadow doesn't spill into outer space, where Kerbal Space Program reveals its well-earned prestige. Kerbal gained a huge following during its years of early access availability, so its official release seemed almost like an afterthought, the game coming as it did with a dedicated fanbase and years of updates to power its popularity. It's a game that defies categorization: a space travel simulation that lets you play the role of engineer, commander, pilot, and spacewalker. It is a niche game, a difficult game, and a must-play game, unique and strange and wonderful.    Kerbal Space Program confines you to a single solar system, though is no less wondrous for it. Galactic Civilizations III delivers a galaxy to your doorstep, inviting you to crisscross the harsh vacuum of space one turn at a time. Like so many games of its ilk, GalCiv III is about exploration, exploitation, expansion, and extermination. What makes it special is that it does all of that 4Xing while providing lots of customization and a heavy dose of dry humor; It might be a highly technical game, but GalCiv III is not lacking personality and alien flavor. Meanwhile, back on terra firma, Project CARS is all but overwhelmed by its own devotion to the technical elements of driving fast cars in beautiful places. By eschewing the progression systems that bog down other simulations, it allows you to own the road in the supercar of your choosing from the moment you boot it up. Just don't expect to be an immediate master of the racing line. Alas and alack, Geralt's silver sword has vanquished these monsters in the race for Game of the Month of May, 2015. You can nitpick its specific elements, but it's hard to deny that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a great accomplishment. Geralt, the witcher of the game's title, is a stoic presence in an unwelcome world. As he navigates one of gaming's exquisitely crafted lands, he witnesses couples finding love amid horror and politicians enduring the turbulence of unhappy citizens. Choice and consequence take on new meaning as you alter the course of people's lives, all while galloping across mysterious bogs and battling ferocious, awe-inspiring monsters. No game has it all, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has an air of totality, giving you everything you might want in an open-air RPG, feeling simultaneously enormous and intimate, thus creating personal connections in kingdoms that stretch on for many miles. Congratulations, The Witcher 3, for inspiring in us a great urge to explore--and for earning GameSpot's award for May 2015's Game of the Month.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 11:05 pm
A listing for an Xbox One console with a 1 TB internal hard drive has been posted on Amazon, suggesting Microsoft may announce a new model at E3. The new, Kinect-less system comes with a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection and is listed with a $400 price and a launch date of June 15. That's the same day that Microsoft's E3 press conference is scheduled, so it could be planning to announce and then launch the new model that same day. Doing so wouldn't be unheard of it; it did just that with a new Xbox 360 SKU back in 2013. It also launched the Kinect-free model of Xbox One during E3 last year. The Amazon listing in questionIt would come as no surprise for Microsoft to introduce an Xbox One with a larger internal hard drive. While the system supports external USB hard drives, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has acknowledged the "need for bigger HDs." Last year, Microsoft offered a limited-edition Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare system that sported a 1 TB hard drive. Outside of that, the Xbox One has always been equipped with a 500 GB hard drive. With mandatory game installations routinely requiring 40-50 GB each and the full 500 GB capacity not being usable (you have closer to 350 GB free out of the box), additional hard drive space can quickly become necessary. The Amazon listing also references a "controller with a 3.5mm headset jack, so you can plug in any compatible headset." That matches up with the new Xbox One controller model that recently leaked. When contacted for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson would only say, "We're gearing up for an exciting E3 where we'll showcase more games and experiences. We have nothing further to share at this time."
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 10:47 pm
Ill-Gotten Gains Update: Part One, the first chapter in a two-part update for Grand Theft Auto V's multiplayer mode, will arrive next Wednesday, June 10, Rockstar Games announced on Friday.  The Grand Theft Auto Online update adds a host of luxury-themed items to the game, including solid gold airplanes and helicopters, along with new cars, weapons, and more. Check out a gallery of screenshots from Ill-Gotten Gains at the bottom of this post. The update will be available for all versions of GTA V. Rockstar also has announced that it will hold a special Social Club weekend event focused around the Ill-Gotten Gains update, starting next Friday, June 12. Participants will have the chance to earn bonus RP, GTA$, and other items that are suited for the "consummate capitalist." The second Ill-Gotten Gains chapter will come later, though Rockstar has not announced a release date for this update or provided any details regarding what it will contain. The Ill-Gotten Gains update comes in response to fans wanting more items to spend their money on. GTA V has shipped nearly 52 million copies across all platforms. Though Rockstar has continually updated GTA Online with smaller DLC items, fans are still waiting for the promised single-player DLC.       
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 10:38 pm
When XCOM 2 launches later this year, it will--unlike its predecessor--be available exclusively on PC. Developer Firaxis hasn't shot down the possibility of it coming to Xbox One or PS4 in the future, and it's now explained the rationale behind forgoing a simultaneous launch on consoles. "When we looked at what we wanted to do with the sequel, we had all these very, very ambitious goals," creative director Jake Solomon told IGN. This includes things like improved destruction and procedurally generated levels, which would require the relatively small team at Firaxis "to use all of our studio expertise … and our expertise here is PC. That's our home, and that's where we're really comfortable." "When we have our meetings, when we talk about stuff, we only talk about PC," Solomon explained. "We talk about 'What is the experience like on PC? What does the mouse feel like in this experience?'" Focusing exclusively on PC right out of the gate means XCOM 2 will be better tailored to a keyboard-and-mouse control scheme and interface. (Controller support is planned for post-launch.) And knowing that players are likely to be sitting closer to their screen than they would be on consoles, Firaxis is free to provide more information. This is said to include things like the reasoning for your hit-chance going up or down. If you're still clinging to the hope that you'll be able to play XCOM 2 on Xbox One or PS4, it sounds like it's possible, but you'll be waiting longer than PC gamers. "We're certainly not opposed to that," Solomon said, "but I can assure that's something we're not even discussing yet." XCOM 2 is set for release on PC in November. For more, check out our story about its announcement.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 10:04 pm
 On these courts, the story is everything. What will your story be? Narrated by Spike Lee.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 05:04 am
 You can get access to the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta when you purchase Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Star Wars: Uprising has been revealed for mobile, and Battleborn gets a new trailer!
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 03:00 am
Imagine a Super FX chip version of Deus Ex: that's Neon Struct whittled down to its essentials. If such a game had existed in 1993, we'd still be talking about it in the sort of reverent, hushed tones we'd use if we had been front-row center for Moses bringing two God-forged tablets down from a mountain. That Neon Struct still has enough going on to remain engaging in 2015 is a testament to the skill involved, but it simply can't help but suffer under the weight of its own ambitions. The set up is straightforward. You are Jillian Cleary, a woman of mystery who carries out espionage missions for the world's most conspicuous spy agency against a backdrop of the neon cyberpunk future the 80s told us was coming. During the course of a mission, she discovers that the agency might be working as an illegal arm of whatever the future's iteration of the Patriot Act looks like. People of interest the world over have been implanted with surveillance chips for the so-called "greater good." Jillian is tossed in a cell for her silly belief in justice and clarity, but she breaks out and immediately goes to work to try and expose the truth. Yes. Furtwengler. His parents HATED him.Some heavy stuff goes on in Neon Struct storywise, which makes it all the more jarring that it's executed in an aesthetic that's not that different from the original Star Fox. The soundtrack may be a decent enough mixture of Vangelis-lite synth tones and beats, but polygons are intentionally low-res, enemies and NPCs are faceless and voiceless, and although you'll jetset back and forth across the country, environments always feature the same dark skies, sparse populations, and vague, looming, futuristic machinery. Instead of feeling like a final version, it feels like a pre-production build of a bigger cyberpunk adventure. Stripping away the niceties of generations of graphical advancement is always a good road to take to get to the true heart of whether a game works or not. To wit, Neon Struct is functional as far as the most basic and fundamental stealth mechanics are concerned. There's even a satisfying purity to it. You can run, jump, climb over obstacles within reason, and perform a silent, cool, Mirror's Edge-like slide to slip into cover in a hurry. You have no weapons to speak of, though you do get a hacking tool, which allows you to bust open doors by playing a quick game of Breakout on whatever passes for an iPhone in this bright, shiny future. You also get a variety of stims, which give you a short but sweet special effect, like making your footsteps entirely silent or throwing a grenade that immediately teleports you to its location, Nightcrawler-style. A bar at the bottom of the screen shows you your visibility level, dropping to completely empty if you're invisible, which can happen even if some guards saw you duck into a shady corner just 5 seconds ago. You can knock out guards and toss their bodies into the nearest convenient tidy pile somewhere, but the checklist at the end of each stage frowns upon such violence and offers higher grades to those who can get around without ever resorting to this direct approach. I flunked every single time. Think for yourself, QUESTION DOORS. The do-no-harm approach can be done, and there's plenty of challenge for folks who enjoy pacifist runs. The issue is that there are so few alternatives that don't involve waiting out guards on a leisurely midnight stroll through an industrial complex or taking a nightstick to the face. Cold-cocking a guard is just sweet, instant relief. Not that the guards are terribly smart to begin with--they're pretty quick to dispense nightstick justice. Even though you're equally quick to crumple like a paper towel after taking two or three hits, it's just as easy to watch them fumble around inches in front of your face and slip out of a hairy situation when they come stalking. This is all perfectly well and good for a cheap-shot app offering quick doses of mindless stealth action on the go. The starting missions are simple sneak-in-sneak-out stealth runs, but Neon Struct has greater ambitions for its world. However, the sparse world building creates some gaping, disappointing holes. The better the story gets, the less the game built around it satisfies its needs. The earliest and best example is Jillian's jailbreak. She's just discovered a conspiracy that actually does go all the way to the top. When her grossly misogynistic boss has her tucked away in a detention facility until someone decides it's neutralizing time, her field handler, an Indian gentleman by the name of Vinod, manages to bust in and hack her door open. This is all fine, but the very quality of the story betrays what you expect when she's out. Most of the cells around her are empty, save one delusional prisoner. There's a workout room for guards and a two-way glass room for visitations; otherwise, Jillian's terrifying Guantanamo is a sterile, blocky hotel crawling with baton-wielding drones and the same three or four recycled textures. There are no indicators to be found besides the dots, question mark, and exclamation points placed over alerted guards, which helps with immersion but makes traversing the labyrinthine corridors a pain. That area's one of the most frustrating moments in the game for the same reason. The one button allowing you to exit the facility is in a security room that you'd never really identify as a security room except that one tiny, inconspicuous switch is located on a ledge in a room you might entirely overlook. Aw, do I have to choose? The sterility might make sense for a government facility, but it makes less sense when the game drops you into big, well-known cities and everything is faceless, abstract, and completely missing a personality (besides the game's default personality for everything, of course). A sequence on the next level has Jillian attempting to sneak into a medical facility to surgically remove the tracking device in her arm. You walk up to a bed, hit X, a spurt of red stuff hits the screen, and the objective is complete. Again, that's all well and good for an art project or a proof-of-concept, but it's not so great when we're asked to engage with much bigger ideas and action. It's a double-edged sword, though. Can we really fault a developer for trying to give a very simple game more depth than necessary? It's a tough call. Neon Struct has the right spirit behind it. It tries to be a rebellious, anti-government tale of capitalism and intelligence communities getting into bed with each other to the detriment of all, and that struggle is far easier to believe than many of gaming's recent attempts to outdo William Gibson. But with the game-making tools at our disposal, that story should be told using as much fire and verve as can be mustered. Instead, it's told here with a technical manual's austerity. The story here acts as little more than the cellophane frames old-schoolers had to paste over their TVs to create a new background for the tiny lights that darted across the screen. Both do their jobs sufficiently, but we no longer have to simply dream of more.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 02:53 am
Metaphor serves not only as one of the most used concepts in just about every medium imaginable, but also as the basis for entire works of art. Whole paintings are often metaphors for the artist's feelings or background, and movies can link chains of symbolism together to represent some more abstract concepts. Games can go further by inviting the player into the metaphor itself through interactivity, conveying difficult real-world problems like illness and societal inequalities. The trick to creating an effective metaphor as a game is to be subtle enough with your themes so they don't overwhelm the playing experience itself while simultaneously ensuring that the game still communicates the themes clearly. Sym, a platformer inspired by social anxiety, fails on both counts, leaving us with a clumsy, confusing experience whose bright spots are muted by rough design and heavy-handed themes. Boiling down what Sym is about is simple: You play as a person trying to escape the prying eyes of other people by escaping into a world where they can't follow you, one where you can be alone. This is reflected in your experiences by your ability to sink into the floor and emerge upside-down on the other side. Suddenly, what were once solid platforms become empty space to move through, and vice-versa. Occasionally, you run into switches that cause blocks to appear and disappear in patterns marked with arrows, and, of course, you have to avoid enemies and hazards. However, most of the game's identity lies in its dual nature, forcing you to think about how far you need to progress before you have to switch orientation. Mapping out the correct path to the end is the most engrossing part of the game. The words and phrases that litter levels can be a bit much. Sym's mechanics falter when they're put to the test, however. The floaty jumping mechanics don't match up well with the frequent pinpoint platforming you're required to do. It's pretty difficult to land on a patch of safe ground only as wide as you are with the amount of control the jump physics allow, and not in a good way. Compounding matters is your character's hitbox, which extends past your actual body ever so slightly. You'll die by drawing too near a saw blade without ever actually touching it. And then there are narrow shafts you have to fall into at just the right angle or else get stuck awkwardly along the edge. The levels themselves are interesting thanks to good use of the orientation switching mechanic, but that's the only bit that works as advertised. These issues are small, but they add up, sucking away the promising potential Sym initially displays. But its biggest failing is in how it fails to convey anything meaningful about its inspiration from social anxiety. You can see the obvious starting point for the extended metaphor in the central mechanic. Sinking into the floor is synonymous with hiding from the world's prying eyes as they try to drag you out into the light and consume you. What developer Atrax Games is going for here is pretty clear because of the game's very literal interpretation of these platitudes. The first set of levels features giant eyeballs that stare at you without trying to hurt you. In these levels, only environmental hazards, like sawblades and pitfalls, can harm you. Later stages have actual enemies that will kill you, like carnivorous plants that spontaneously grow out of seeds you see on the ground or hungry beasts that pace back and forth looking for a meal. Even the people you meet later on prove to be foes, pulling you out of your hiding place in the ground as you dissolve in a fit of social paralysis. It's all very on-the-nose, but you can see a vague character progression as fears intensify and you careen towards either finding friends amidst your anxiety or hiding away forever.  Arrows sometimes serve as a loose guide, but also indicates where moving platforms appear.Though the game practically screams its inspiration at you, it has nothing coherent to say about social anxiety. The levels feature the aforementioned allusions to a hazardous world you must hide from, but everything else is muddled. The levels themselves rarely tell any sort of story on their own. Instead, anguished phrases are used to fill in the gaps where the game's thematic design drops the ball. But these also confuse any thematic ties the game manages to establish by reading like a moody high school student's musings scrawled in the margins of a notebook. That in itself is a cool idea, and it goes with the pencil-inspired graphics. But they don't reveal anything or lead the themes anywhere except to depict anguish for anguish's sake. Until the game splits off briefly into two different sets of final levels, the messages convey the same depth of pain and panic throughout. In fact, they sometimes border on incoherent ramblings not dissimilar to the stereotypically exaggerated dialogue you'd hear from a schizophrenic person on an episode of Law and Order, which matches poorly with the meager thematic progression the levels suggest. It's confusing, distracting, and occasionally insulting to those who suffer from social anxiety. The few themes that do come through loud and clear--hiding from social situations, the fear and consequences of being caught in one, and the eventual message that finding and sharing the connections and burdens between people is the beginning of the answer--all would make a fine foundation for a game like Sym if they were handled with more subtlety. Likewise, the erratic writing plastered everywhere contributes very little, actively obscuring any sense of progression the themes try to develop. Even when divorced from its themes, Sym manages to be mildly entertaining but just shy of a competent game thanks to the many small yet significant design flaws you have to work through. Most disappointing, though, is that Sym manages to successfully convey nothing enlightening, moving, informative, or even coherent about social anxiety. Hiding may be a central mechanic in Sym, but obscuring your meaning to this baffling degree is never the answer.
By Anonymous on Jun 05, 2015 01:59 am
Carmageddon, released in 1997, was a bloody and entertaining car combat racer for its time. It was one of those oft-declared "violent games of the '90s," featuring enough wanton carnage to attract the ire of hand-wringing parents, politicians, and censors. You raced and killed your way to victory in one of many exaggerated vehicles, each of them strapped with rough blades, spikes, and other nasty parts, as you wrecked opponents and turned mobs of wandering pedestrians into chunks of flayed meat. The game was defined by its era. Carmageddon: Reincarnation attempts to bring that game back to life, but it does little to improve on the old formula, and the result feels out of its time. The game would be mediocre at best, but a host of serious performance issues and slippery controls ultimately leave enjoyment idling in the garage, choking on fumes. Carmageddon: Reincarnation has many problems under the hood, but clunky performance is worst of all. The frame rate struggles to stay around 30, occasionally diving to create something akin to a Red Asphalt slide show; at times, it sputters and chugs worse than a 1970s-era Chevy truck left to rot in the backyard. One map in particular, a small arena with a large metal saucer that periodically drops on any hapless vehicles below, is nearly unplayable. As cars and trucks get crushed, the game screeches to a halt, leaving you to ponder the game's fragile state and wonder just when it will all fall apart. But you won't have to wait for long--the game crashes, freezes, and locks up your computer, forcing restarts. Of course, you can lower your graphics settings to squeeze out more frames, but doing so offers no favors in a game that already looks aesthetically dull. The performance, however, would be at least somewhat bearable with vehicles that are fun to drive. Well, buckle up.  A host of serious performance issues and slippery controls ultimately leave enjoyment idling in the garage, choking on fumes.
You would expect a game entirely focused on vehicles, from racing to combat, to put the utmost care and effort into how well they handle. Carmageddon: Reincarnation, however, could have spent more time under a mechanic's careful eye--a lot more time. You can unlock a large roster of vehicles--most will be familiar to longtime Carmageddon fans--and send them soaring through frightened crowds of cows and human pedestrians (or peds, as the game refers to them), but precious few are worth taking out for a drive. Some of the heavier vehicles take to the road with the grace of a lobbed brick, but the majority control as though they're being driven over greased ice. At the slightest provocation, from bump to severed body part, vehicles spin out of control, making you fight to stay on the road. Even a minimal increment, such as diving from road to sidewalk, can cause your car to wildly jerk to the side, or worse, flip end over end. Small ramps also hide untold danger because hitting them at the wrong angle will more often than not send you flipping through the air to land on your roof. Large vehicles with large tires to match tend to have more stability on and off the road, but they lack the speed of the faster, sportier cars. And because most of Reincarnation's game types favor zippy cars over slow-moving trucks, it's not likely that you'll stay behind the wheel of one for long. At the slightest provocation, from bump to severed body part, vehicles spin out of control, making you fight to stay on the road.
 Speaking of game modes, let's go over which ones are good and which ones are bad. Ok, that was a trick statement: none of them are that good. In Classic Carma, you can win in one of three ways: finish a race, kill all the pedestrians, or destroy every opponent. Colored oil drums that dot the map provide you with the means for victory. Red barrels provide weapons and items, including flying Acme-sized anvils, explosive mines, oil slicks, and springs that propel nearby opponents and pedestrians through the air or into walls. Yellow barrels add a few more seconds to a countdown timer or some extra points. Those points can also be used to purchase weapons or defensive boosts, which you can add to a set of hotkeys. The mode takes you on a tour of the maps in Carmageddon: Reincarnation, which are surprisingly large (leading to lengthy load times), providing long, winding races across beaches, through sea towns, under icy caverns, and past industrial complexes. Classic Carma is Reincarnation's best form. To my surprise, I stumbled into rare moments in which racing along as my opponents and I exchanged metal and flak was actually fun. But these offered short bursts of excitement, and they were dragged down by technical issues and, after a while, boredom. Yes, you can only spend so many hours smashing lazy pedestrians and tumbling onto your roof for the umpteenth time before the game's cheesy metal soundtrack gets drowned out by your tired sighs. The Fox 'n' Hounds game mode is a frustrating mess.The other modes, many of which are inspired by those from the original Carmageddon, are mostly omissible. Two of them, Checkpoint Stampede and Ped Chase, are practically the same. One has you and your foes drive through a checkpoint, and the other asks you to crush a highlighted pedestrian on one side of a map. In the Car Crusher arena, you must destroy opponents to gain a point, while getting wasted costs you one. Another mode, Death Race, is fairly self-explanatory. Fox 'n' Hounds, however, is just bad. In this mode, one player is the fox and is highlighted in blue. To win, you must spend a certain amount of time as the fox while avoiding being touched by other combatants, who otherwise become the new fox. Naturally, you would think that just avoiding enemies would be enough to snag an easy win. But the elementary intelligence powering your foes deflates any fun and challenge the game type could offer. Enemy cars smash into the fox, creating a twisting, writhing clump of metal as the fox title gets passed around so quickly that the game announcer has a hard time keeping up. This is the majority of my experience in Fox 'n' Hounds, a mode I eventually avoided like it was an oncoming bus. The frame rate struggles to stay around 30, occasionally diving to create something akin to a Red Asphalt slide show.
  The game also offers an online mode, in which you can test your ped-crunching skills against actual humans, who are smarter and deadlier than any CPU opponent. Here you are privy to all game modes, save Classic Carma, with the only major change being that resetting your vehicle takes three seconds instead of happening instantly. I didn't get as many hours into the online portion as I wanted, mainly because I rarely found a game with people to play against. So, with poor performance, stiff controls, and relatively dull game modes, I suppose the only thing Carmageddon: Reincarnation has left to offer is its dazzling sense of humor. Perhaps I have simply grown up, but I no longer chuckle at splattering dumb pedestrians against the hood of a digital car, with heads and viscera flying in all directions. I remember playing the original Carmageddon in my youth, giggling at a flying severed arm or three as I tore down a street. It's all the same in Reincarnation, and I can't get over how tame it feels. It's not just that other games do violence better; this is the game's humor, and it just doesn't cause a reaction. During your travels, you will also spot a phallic-shaped building in the distance or hear frightened people screaming on a runaway elevated train as it tears around a city. There are rare chuckles, and I am not completely humorless, so hearing my car squeezing out a mine to the tune of a gurgling fart as it pummels disco-dancing bovines did provide a short laugh. But there isn't much beyond that. After playing for a few hours, the humor was all but spent, as was much of the game. Carmageddon: Reincarnation has the same flavor as the Carmageddon of yore, but not much attempt has been made at a revolution. It's the same as it always was, and that isn't exactly a point in its favor. Mowing down hundreds of the same meandering pedestrians demonstrating the same lousy animations is no longer as fun. Some games today, such as anything from Saints Row, do a much better job at car combat, racing, and killing heaps of pedestrians. Instead, the only thing Reincarnation actually achieves is standing as a reminder of how far gaming has come. The vehicular manslaughter of thousands of listless fodder swiftly falls into tedium after only a handful of hours, long before reaching the end of the game's surprisingly lengthy 16-chapter campaign. The rose-tinted glasses are off; I was glad to have experienced Carmageddon all those years ago, but that's where it should have remained.
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