The Halo 5: Guardians collector's edition comes with a special statue, and now we know what it looks like.
Amazon has updated its product page for the game, revealing the statue in full. It follows the theme of the game, depicting the conflict between Master Chief and Spartan Locke.
The Halo 5 Collector's Edition, which costs $250, also comes with the following:
Guardian model by Metal Earth
Uniquely-designed Spartan themed SteelBook
Warzone REQ Bundle: 14 Premium Requisition packs
Spartan Locke's Classified Orders and the Halo: The Fall of Reach - Animated Series
Xbox Live Gold 14-day Trial
E3 2015 has brought quite a lot of news about Halo 5, which arrives October 27. Check out some of the big stories and a video from the show floor below.
This year's Madden game will have women in the stands for the first time in series history.
Madden NFL 16 features a host of improvements to player movement and behavior, graphical fidelity, and apparently gender representation in crowds. According to an interview with Madden developers on GameSpot's E3 stage, this year's installment adds females to the people filling the stadiums, something that no other Madden had done before.
"We're excited about FIFA adding women players, but we wouldn't let them steal all the thunder," a Madden developer said. "So we've added women to our crowds."
It's surprising that women hadn't been added before, but this is still a good step in reaching greater representation in games.
Madden NFL 16 launches on August 25 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Check back on GameSpot for all things Madden as we get closer to its release date.
Virtual and augmented reality has been a major talking point at E3 2015 this week--Microsoft and Sony have new demos to show for their HoloLens and Morpheus headsets on the show floor. But the third platform holder, Nintendo, doesn't. And now a top executive at the company has chimed in on the subject.
In a new interview with Polygon, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says the current state of virtual reality is "not fun" or social, two requirements that need to be met before Nintendo gets onboard.
"We have knowledge of the technical space, and we've been experimenting with this for a long, long time," Fils-Aime said. "What we believe is that, in order for this technology to move forward, you need to make it fun and you need to make it social."
"I haven't walked the floor, so I can't say in terms of what's on the floor today, but at least based on what I've seen to date, it's not fun, and it's not social. It's just tech."
Nintendo fans will remember that the company experimented with commercial virtual reality hardware in 1995 with the Virtual Boy. This product ultimately failed, and Nintendo hasn't tried again since.
Looking ahead, Nintendo's next platform, the NX, is currently in development. Nintendo did not talk about NX this week at E3, instead opting to begin discussing the platform sometime in 2016.
Killzone developer Guerrilla Games always wanted the lead in its new PlayStation 4 game Horizon: Zero Dawn to be a woman--but there was a lot of discussion internally about this decision. PlayStation Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said in a new interview that Sony wondered if it would be "risky" to launch such a major project with a female protagonist.
"She's a female lead character," he said in an interview with Polygon. "That has always been the vision by the team, but we had a discussion. Is it risky to do a female character?"
There was so much discussion inside of Sony about Horizon having a female lead that the company hired a marketing team to conduct focus testing for the character, along with the game's other standout features.
"The concern came after the game was in development," Yoshida explained. "We started to show it to many more people internally and they had questions about it. So we worked with our marketing groups to do this focus testing. We wanted to see how people would react to some of the things: open-world RPG, the set up of machine versus primitive weapons, and the female protagonist. All of those things."
The season pass has become a part of video games, like it or not. More than ever season passes accompany game releases, selling all the DLC for games up front.
Not everyone in the industry is on board with this trend, however. Hitman developer IO Interactive believes that this isn't the right way to go about selling extra content. In an interview with VideoGamer.com, studio head Hannes Seifert explained that IO is trying to do something different to encourage players to buy its games.
"We think it's wrong to approach players like that because players want to be part of that experience but they don't necessarily want to be ripped off," Seifert said. "What we're going to sell is all of that but it's for a one-price package."
The new Hitman game, announced this week at E3, is positioned to be a platform to build upon in the months after its release. Following a substantial initial offering, digital episodes will launch periodically for free. Some of these will be time-sensitive, appearing and then disappearing forever after a certain amount of time. It will launch digitally first in December on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and later on IO will release a retail disk with all of the additional Hitman content.
Keep an eye on GameSpot for all things Hitman in the coming months.
When you die in No Man's Sky, a Call of Duty-style motivational quote will pop up on screen. We've now learned that, in addition to quotes from science-fiction writers and philosophers, the ambitious PlayStation 4 and PC game will present players with motivational quotes from...Jaden Smith.
Hello Games founder Sean Murray revealed the detail in an interview with GameSpot this week at E3 2015. One of the Jaden Smith quotes featured in the game (there will be more than one) is this gem from May 2013: "How Can Mirrors Be Real If Our Eyes Aren't Real."
Murray explained that Hello Games wanted to talk about the Jaden Smith motivational quotes during the game's showing Monday evening at Sony's E3 briefing, but Sony nixed the idea.
Instead, they went with a Carl Sagan quote, which is probably more appropriate, but a lot less fun.
As for why Jaden Smith quotes are featured in No Man's Sky in the first place, Murray said only featuring quotes from scientists and scholars might have led people to perceive the game as being too pretentious.
Retailer GameStop has praised Microsoft's decision to offer backward compatibility on Xbox One. Speaking with GameSpot today at E3 2015, director of merchandising Eric Bright said the new feature will "breathe new life" into Xbox 360 games--no doubt a nice thing for a company in the business of selling games.
"Microsoft, at this E3, decided to introduce backward compatibility into their system. That's obviously something people are looking for," Bright said. "And GameStop will be ready, whether you're looking to purchase Xbox 360 games or trade yours in, we'll be there."
"I think it breathes whole new life into Xbox 360 games that possibly consumers may not have thought about before," he added. "A huge catalog of your favorites will be available on the Xbox One."
Xbox One backward compatibility should also help "ease the transition" for people who are on the fence about upgrading to an Xbox One, Bright explained.
"If you're an Xbox 360 owner and you're worried about transitioning up to an Xbox One, now with backward compatibility, you'll see more and more of your favorite titles available on the Xbox One," he said.
"It will actually be a boon for Xbox 360 game sales. As people are picking those up, their favorites, maybe they traded in earlier; maybe they were afraid to pick up because they wanted to transition to an Xbox One and were sort of on the fence and waiting," Bright added. "Now, it removes that on-the-fence feeling, that barrier to purchase. You're able to get your Xbox One and have your Xbox 360 games at the exact same time."
Xbox One backward compatibility is available now for Xbox Preview members, before it rolls out to everyone this fall. At that time, "hundreds" of Xbox 360 games will work natively on Xbox One. You can also write to Microsoft to tell them what game you want to see added to the lineup of supported titles.
Genei Ibun Roku # FE, the working title of the Fire Emblem/Shin Megami Tensei crossover project in development with Nintendo and Atlus (and loosely translated as "Mirage Spinoff # FE") is the result of one woman's passion for Fire Emblem.
In an interview at E3, Fire Emblem producer and Nintendo group manager Hitoshi Yamagami told GameSpot that a Nintendo employee who loved Atlus games initially came up with the idea.
"In our team at Nintendo Co., Ltd, there's a woman who really loves the Shin Megami Tensei series," Yamagami explained. "This is how this all started. And when she started this conversation within the company, we were working with Atlus at the time on a purikura [decorative photography] program for DSi and 3DS. At the time she said, 'Mr. Yamagami, there's something I would like to do. I want to make a game that mixes Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei.' And we said, that's exciting, let's give it a shot! But when we brought it to Atlus, they said, we'd like to but we can't, we're busy."
Yamagami said that Nintendo abandoned the idea, until two years later Atlus approached them to revive the concept.
"When they asked if I wanted to [work with Nintendo], I was heading the Devil Survivor series," added Atlus producer Shinjiro Takada. "So once that series finished, two years after that conversation, I said, let's give this a shot."
Initially the companies began building a turn-based strategy game in the style of previous Fire Emblem games. But as pre-production wrapped up and concepts were starting to take shape, both developers realized it was the wrong approach for their collaborative project.
"From Nintendo's point of view, because it's Fire Emblem, we thought, let's make this a turn-based strategy game," Yamagami said. "In the beginning, even Atlus wanted to make it a turn-based strategy, but after finishing the concept for it, I said, no, don't do this, if you do something like this, it's something [Fire Emblem developer] Intelligent Systems could just make with the main series.
"Do something we can't do. That's when we decided to make it a JRPG set in modern Japan."
After this, initial designs were scrapped and Atlus started over making a JRPG in their own company style. It--like the Persona games--would be set in present day Japan and incorporate the more fantastical Fire Emblem elements as foreign presences from an alternate world, much like Shin Megami Tensei's demons.
"If you're going to be very strict about it, it is a Shin Megami Tensei game, but it's only similar to it, it's not exactly like Shin Megami Tensei," Takada explained. "But we put Fire Emblem elements into that kind of framework."
The game is set in modern-day Tokyo and focuses on two students, Itsuki and Tsubasa. The world is attacked by mysterious entities from another world, and the only people who notice are a talent agency. The two heroes join the agency and become pop stars on their quest to rid the world of these evil beings.
Fire Emblem characters appear in Genei Ibun Roku # FE as Persona-type entities called Mirages. In footage shown by Nintendo in trailers, we've already seen Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening and Pegasus Knight Sheeda from the Akaneia Fire Emblem series, re-designed in "Atlus-style" with darker, more fantastical looks. Takada was careful to point out that the Fire Emblem characters we see in the game aren't the same exact people that appear in other Fire Emblem games; they are new versions of the characters created specifically for the crossover.
"One of the reasons [we made Fire Emblem characters Mirages] is because since it's an RPG in modern times, we can't have a Pegasus Knight suddenly show up and have the player think that it all makes sense," Yamagami explained. "Because Fire Emblem has its own world, we had to have these characters enter the modern world as visitors from a mirror dimension, called the Idolosphere. And as there are ally units like Chrom and Shiida who come from this world, there are also antagonists that come from that world as well and want to destroy our world."
Mirage Masters are the crossover's Persona users, individuals who attract the attention of Mirages both good and evil and who can partner up with them to attack. The main characters of the game, Itsuki and Tsubasa, partner up with Chrom and Shiida respectively, the latter pair transforming into the weapons the teenagers use and alternate the pair's appearances.
Yamagami and Takada also explained why the game is so heavy on Japanese pop idol culture and why so many characters are shown singing.
"This is why the characters are all entertainers: in Japan, similar to Greek mythology, there's the idea of the gods being connected to the arts," Takada said. "It's a shamanistic element that's been interpreted by Atlus. The idea is, Japanese priestesses would dance and the dancing would bring them closer to the gods. We wanted to spin this in an Atlus way, so all the characters in the game have some connection to the arts, and that connection and their ability to express themselves attracts the Mirages to them. People who are good at singing or dancing or acting have really strong bonds with Mirages."
Combat in Genei Ibun Roku is a mix of top-level mechanics from both Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei. The Fire Emblem triangle-model of weapon mastery is present; the relationship between swords, spears, and axe weapons have different strengths and weaknesses and will determine how effective characters' weapons are against others. On top of this is the Shin Megami Tensei combat staple of having to identify and exploit an enemy's weaknesses. According to the developers, these two mechanics were a perfect fit together and easy to incorporate, giving the crossover project a true touch of both series' combat flair.
Another interesting combat feature is characters' special attacks, which are tied to songs. Throughout the game, some side stories will lead to a character releasing a song, which in turn will grant them another attack ability. This was added because developers wanted to give players a meaningful reward for completing side missions, much in the way completing side missions in Fire Emblem games allow you to recruit additional characters.
That being said, despite the modern setting and prominent pop-idol elements, it sounds like the game will feel at home in the hands of longtime Fire Emblem fans. Yamagami suggested that players who have been with the series for a while will have a different, deeper understanding of the game than series newcomers.
"What I'm most proud about this game is the fact that despite everything that we've said about it, as you play through the story, you'll realize that, what happens happens for a reason, because this game is inspired by Fire Emblem," he said. "So as a Fire Emblem fan, you'll recognize why things are happening; it's happening because it's Fire Emblem."
Halo 5: Guardians' Warzone multiplayer mode is a worthy test of one's focus and ability to adapt. Whether influenced by the growing popularity of online battle arenas or not, 343 Industries knew that it's not enough for Halo 5 to rely solely on a traditional suite of familiar and novelty modes. Warzone hones in on the appeal of multi-phase adversarial combat, something that the Battlefield series has utilized for years.
Warzone marks a notable, albeit unsurprising change for the series and, more importantly, a change that complements the foundation of Halo's long-revered multiplayer. The match I played started off simply enough: liberate a UNSC base from Promethean occupation. I haven't faced off against these bio-mechanical-ethereal warriors since the release of Halo 4 so it's refreshing to once again disintegrate these foes into fading glimmers of light. With the base cleaned out and some initial kills under the belt, my team and I were on our way to unlocking the weapons and vehicles that weren't immediately available at the start of the battle. It's typical in-match progression rewards.
The next phase was to take over three neutral outposts, which is also when you clash against human opposition. A PvE skirmish then becomes a PvE-PvP hybrid match. This essentially turns the battle into a Conquest mode. By now, I managed to earn access to my preferred field weapon: the sniper rifle. I complemented this upgrade by summoning a Covenant Ghost from my base's garage. While not the most potent armed transport available, I was in the mood for its speed and maneuverability. Being able to run over a couple opponents is a welcome bonus.
With each of the three outposts claimed, the third and final phase of the match started: boss fights. Conquest-style matches have enough to keep you busy, whether it's defending your outpost or going rogue on a vindictive kill streak. You're doing whatever you can to help your team reach the score goal; in this match's case, it's 1000 points. The bosses range from flying vehicles to hulking beasts inspired by Halo's Brutes. Defeating any of these can result in a lead change, even more so if you can also take over all three previously-neutral outposts. Again, you've never short of goals. Would you be most useful focusing on one objective or should you spread your contributions evenly throughout the map?
The Halo franchise was born out of a single-player campaign, but it matured thanks to its multiplayer. With over a decade's worth of competitive modes in Halo, Warzone is a promising addition to multiplayer, especially for those who find Slayer too straightforward.
The feature which first stood out to me in Gigantic was not its colourful graphics. It wasn't the colossal sense of scale I felt when the giant guardians in the game crashed together. It wasn't how quickly the action escalated from the start of a match.
It was the two bars in the heads-up display placed on the left and right of the player character. The green bar on the left side represented the player's health, and the blue bar on the right side represented the player's stamina. To me, these bars meant more than just how much remaining health and stamina the player had. To me, they represented a large awareness of the platforms the game is being built for.
Described by developer Motiga as a "free-to-play shooter MOBA" game, Gigantic is being made for the Xbox One and PC. I saw a live demonstration of the Alpha version of the game on the Xbox One at E3 2015, where creative director James Phinney helped provide big insight into its mechanics.
Gigantic pits two teams of five players against each other in a single map. Each team has a guardian, an enormous creature that can move around the map and possesses its own skillset. The goal of each team is to destroy the enemy team's guardian. Killing enemy heroes powers up the guardian and eventually prompts it to go on a rampage, wounding the enemy guardian and providing an opening for the team to deal some extra damage to it.
Phinney confirmed that the game will support cross-platform play between Xbox One and PC versions. The feature will be opt-in, so players can still choose to be matched up with others on the same platform as themselves if they so wish.
Few MOBA games have transitioned to console and experienced as much immense success as their PC counterparts, but simply seeing those two bars placed in the center of the screen gave me hope for Gigantic. Peripheral input aside, playing a MOBA game on a sizeable television screen is a very different experience to playing it on PC. Important information such as health and stamina could be easily lost in the interface on a bigger screen, but Motiga's design has resulted in a HUD that places everything you need to see, where it is the quickest for your eyes to see it.
When the character levelled up, the pop-up descriptive text for the skill choices on offer did not take up a lot of screen space nor was it difficult to read. Gigantic uses a branching skill-tree as an alternative to items, which typically provide an option to change up the way a character can be played in most MOBA games.
Not that there was a lack of action being showcased; according to Phinney, the goal is to have matches run for 15 minutes on average. This will be helped by the fast pace set by the combat in Gigantic, which was as colourful as it was frenetic. While having ten players duke it out on the battlefield brought with it some rather chaotic moments, it was when the colossal guardians went head-to-head that the situation felt like it really escalated. Like King Kong versus Godzilla, seeing the two giant guardians clash made the hero seem so small and insignificant by comparison.
With the promise of quick matches, a colourful setting, and epic-scale battles, I am interested to see what Gigantic can bring to the Xbox One in particular. Its control-scheme and interface make me hopeful that it will be the game that bring a new take on the MOBA genre to the console and experiences success there. Gigantic will launch its beta phase this August, with the full game to be released sometime this year.
The Last Guardian's appearance during Sony's press conference meant the world to fans of Fumito Ueda, the iconic Japanese developer who's responsible for Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, two pillars of the PlayStation 2's library of games. Will The Last Guardian follow in their footsteps? Ueda certainly thinks so. During a presentation by Ueda earlier this week, he made it perfectly clear that The Last Guardian is, in many ways, a combination of the two games' core design principles: "we tried to take the best of both worlds."
"We" is important, because beyond Ueda, there are a number of other developers working on The Last Guardian who've also had a hand in designing Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. "This is a collaborative effort between Japan Studio and genDESIGN, where Fumito Ueda is the Creative Director of The Last Guardian," said Ueda's translator. "genDESIGN is a game creation studio that is formed primarily by the original developers of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus."
This isn't terribly surprising, as The Last Guardian looks like a distant cousin of Team Ico's previous work, with ancient, man-made architecture set in the midst of lush, desaturated landscapes. Even animation peculiarities of the boy, where he moves fluidly, swaying and stumbling with equal parts grace and imbalance, recall memories of Ueda's former hero characters.
"we tried to take the best of both worlds."
To hear Ueda describe the story for The Last Guardian, which is still largely a mystery, deepens the connection to Ico even further. Ueda pointed out that The Last Guardian is "all about a young boy who's been kidnapped under mysterious circumstances." The pair "take an incredible journey together. They encounter ancient ruins. Their ultimate goal is to escape from this environment somehow, and that's for the player to experience as the story unfolds." Details aside, this is broadly the same tale that was told in Ico, where Ico is locked away and he attempts to escape a fortress with Yorda.
Players are expected to read the environment that they're in, to utilize the strengths and weaknesses of each other characters. The boy is weak, but he has a logical mind--your mind. Trico, the hybrid animal, can't be directly controlled--like Yorda--but it obviously possesses greater physical strength than the boy. Finding a solution to the puzzles in The Last Guardian will require equal parts of the boy's mind, and Trico's physicality.
"Looking back," Ueda said, "Ico was more or less about the cooperation between the boy and Yorda. She was a non-playable character, so we've taken elements from that. Looking back at Shadow of the Colossus, he continued, "it was more about the dynamic interaction with the giant creatures."
Based on the demo at E3, The Last Guardian not only embraces height; it thrives on it to instil emotions into the player that solidify our perception of the symbiotic relationship between the boy and trico. Ueda's translator noted that "Ueda's games always have a sense of height and depth, in Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and in a different way for The Last Guardian. The difference here is that you have Trico there beside you to cling onto as a safety net. It also helps the player overcome the psychological stress when standing on ledges, and to overcome those challenges, therefore leading to a sense of accomplishment." In other words, height is the source of fear and stress, but it's also an opportunity to feel a real sense of relief, something that should be very familiar to fans of Ueda's past work.
Ueda and The Last Guardian have escaped a prison of their own, in a way, resurfacing from the rubble of political strife and years of missteps. To see Ueda appear on stage was the relief that many of his fans were looking for, who for years have feared his absence was a sign that the game was no longer in production. In that sense, perhaps there's a deeper connection to be made. The Last Guardian is, by Ueda's admission, a combination of his past games, but perhaps it's also an allegory for his journey developing the game. Be that true or not, I'm just relieved to see that the game is still alive, and that Ueda is committed to pursuing his vision.
Turtle Rock Studios and publisher 2K Games announced more DLC for their monster-hunting game Evolve today--and fans won't have to wait long to start playing the new content.
Five new characters (four Hunters and one Monster) are coming to the game before March 31, starting with Lennox (an Assault class character), who will be available to buy next week, starting June 23 for consoles and PC. Everyone who buys Lennox--and the four other upcoming characters--will also receive an "exclusive" skin.
Lennox is unique in that she is the first Hunter in Evolve who has a melee attack. She wears a mechanized "Thunderchild" suit that is outfitted with a Plasma Lance that "deals massive amounts of damage in close combat." She also has ranged attacks called Autocannon and Thunder Strike.
Turtle Rock did not provide specifics about the four other characters coming to Evolve, but you can watch a teaser above. They will be offered individually or through the Hunting Season 2 pack, though pricing details were not announced.
"The new Monster and Hunters coming to Evolve in Hunting Season 2 are some of the most unique characters our team has created," Turtle Rock design director Chris Ashton said in a statement. "Each of these characters introduces combat mechanics that are brand new to the Evolve gameplay experience."
Now that retailers are accepting preorders for Fallout 4, one superfan has attempted to pay for the game with bottle caps, which are the in-game currency for the post-apocalyptic RPG series.
"Fallout 3 was my favorite game for several years, so I made the rational choice to start saving up bottle caps. Turns out 4.5 years of undergrad and three years in a Master's program leads to a lot of drinking."
In all, GatorMacheteJr sent more than 2,000 bottle caps (weighing more than 11.2 pounds) in a box to Bethesda, in hopes that they would accept them as payment for a copy of the game.
Also included in the box was a note to Bethesda's PR department; you can read it in the gallery below.
It's not known if the box has reached Bethesda's offices in Maryland yet or if the company will actually honor the request. GatorMacheteJr says they'll keep everyone updated.
One of the biggest pieces of news out of E3 this year came from Microsoft on Monday morning, when the company announced Xbox One backward compatibility support for Xbox 360 titles. Now, Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida has responded to the news, calling it "interesting," and stating that the company has no immediate plans to offer native backward compatibility on PlayStation 4.
"The technology involved must be very challenging," Yoshida said in an interview with Polygon.
Xbox One backward compatibility is available now for Xbox Preview members, and will roll out to everyone this holiday. At that time, the initial list of supported games will be expanded to "hundreds" of digital and physical Xbox 360 games. System-wide Xbox One features, such as DVR and streaming, will be available for all Xbox 360 games.
The PS4 does offer some kind of backward compatibility by way of PlayStation Now. However, this is a paid streaming service. But could the PS4 ever offer a native backward compatibility solution?
"I don't think we will change our approach," Yoshida said. "The PlayStation 4 doesn't have backward compatibility."
He went on to say that Sony will instead focus on building new features and services for the PS4. But Sony hasn't ruled out native backward compatibility entirely.
"Backward compatibility is hard," Yoshida explained. "I won't say we'll never do it, but it's not an easy thing to do. If it was easy we would have done that."
[UPDATE] Ubisoft's own Uplay store has posted a product page for the $160 collector's edition. Check out an image of the premium bundle below.
The original story is below.
The Division, like so many other AAA games today, is getting a DLC pass. Ubisoft made the announcement on Friday as part of its E3 briefing in Los Angeles. The existence of the DLC pass comes as part of the announcement of two premium versions of The Division.
The Gold Edition comes with the game, an "exclusive" National Guard Gear Set, and the Season Pass, which comes with a "full year of major expansions and exclusive benefits."
The Division's Collector's Edition, meanwhile, contains everything from the Gold edition, as well as "an array of exclusive memorabilia including the Agent Watch Replica."
Ubisoft also announced today that all preorders for The Division will come with guaranteed access to the game's beta, which begins first on Xbox One in December. What's more, people who preorder will receive the Hazmat Gear Set for their character. More information about The Division's beta is available here.
In XCOM: Enemy Unknown, your soldiers needed to recover alien technology to advance their own scientific knowledge and construct better equipment. This was done automatically at the conclusion of each mission; you would receive a certain amount of alien technology to be researched and reverse-engineered. In XCOM 2, a new looting system means you can manually recover even more valuable technology from the corpses of enemies, and place it in your soldiers' new backpacks.
"You'll be able to take them back to base and do some very, very cool stuff--such as customising your weapons, and customising the inherent attributes of your soldiers," says Garth DeAngelis, lead producer on XCOM 2.
Players of XCOM: Enemy Unknown have found ways to customise their soldiers' stats in the form of gameplay mods. But that customisation was limited, and now that XCOM 2 is PC-only, the modding support this time around is going to be more fully-featured. "We're going to have Steam Workshop support, and the Unreal editor so you can do total content conversions," says DeAngelis. "And we're going to release the gameplay source, so you can do partial edits to existing abilities and stats."
One new system that isn't based on stats is the concealment phase, which DeAngelis says allows the player to "take on the role of the invader". Because XCOM is bringing down a corrupt alien-government alliance, your soldiers need to infiltrate enemy territory. They begin the mission in a state of concealment, which means enemy units aren't immediately hostile when they enter your line of sight. Instead, a smaller detection radius surrounding enemies allows you to sneak closer and assume advantageous positions without alerting them. Some enemies will follow patrol routes, and you can remain hidden if you're behind full cover when an enemy looks in your direction and walks past.
"You want to turn the tide of battle and take out that first group as efficiently as possible, and then the alarms go off, and they know you're there," DeAngelis adds. "Reinforcements may come. And then, it's a more classic XCOM. We'll be able to push on that with some later-game abilities that we're not talking about yet. You can do some unique stealth things with them."
Once combat does start, the increased destructibility of cover means that you'll be in more danger—but some interesting tactical opportunities could also arise. "Let's look at the foundation of XCOM," DeAngelis proposed. "You have cover. What's the most terrifying thing that can happen to you? Cover is suddenly ripped out from you. There are still toughness levels on cover, so depending on the type of ammo you have, the type of weapon tiers, cover will either stick around or go away. In the demo, the Advent were using magnetic weaponry, so that takes out baseline cover much quicker. But the other cool thing about destructibility is, if you're in a building, and you have a unit on the second floor, or the roof, if someone shoots at you, that floor could go out from under you at any time and you can fall through--which is an homage to the original XCOM: UFO Defense."
The way Firaxis is encouraging more dynamic events in combat carries over into the way XCOM 2's missions are designed. Not only will every map's layout be procedurally generated, but so will that map's objectives.
"In EU, you had kill missions, and scripted VIP rescue missions," DeAngelis explains. "Now, we're sort of combining the two, within a very procedural system. Not just procedural maps, but now there are gameplay mechanics layered on top, where you don't know exactly what you're doing when you go in. It could be recovering intel, hacking a workstation, destroying a building--and they're not scripted like they were in EU. They work based on a number of parts in the procedural system. So it's super replayable."
XCOM: Enemy Unknown fans will be familiar with that replayability, having most likely lost the game at least once and failed to repel the alien invasion. DeAngelis says the team actually has data that shows most players lost the campaign at least once, which is why XCOM 2 follows on from a scenario in which XCOM essentially failed.
"We're not a movie; we're not a book; we're not beholden to what story we want to tell. What's more interesting to us is what actually happened to players--their actual experience with the game. And that led to this--XCOM lost, the aliens occupied Earth, and that's a reason to bring XCOM back 20 years in the future. They didn't finish the job. For the players that did win the game, it doesn't undermine what they did. In that universe, XCOM isn't needed--you won the game. Your personal experience after you probably lost once or twice, you won and had that sense of triumph. But, there's also a universe where XCOM lost. That's what we want to tell with this story."
And what does that mean for the Council of Nations, the mysterious body of powerful people that funded the original XCOM project? "You'll have to wait and see," DeAngelis teases. "There might be some continuity there."
XCOM 2 launches in November exclusively for the PC.
When Drawn to Death was announced at PlayStation Experience last year, I was immediately intrigued by the art style. It's meant to evoke the twisted drawings of middle-school boys, with exaggerated characters and over-the-top weapons. Color is used sparingly but effectively, filling certain portions of the levels to distinguish their parts. It's all designed as if the levels are notebook doodles come to life.
But regardless of the art style, an arena shooter needs to do arena shooting well. After playing a couple team deathmatch rounds, I came away unsure of whether Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe's newest creation could hang with the rest of the genre.
When you spawn into a game in Drawn to Death, you free fall into a notebook page and hurtle toward a tiny map drawn in one corner. It gives you a chance to move your character around and decide where on the map you want to spawn. I found this to be a nice feature, allowing me to either jump right into the thick of the action or to hang back and plan a strategy of attack.
After falling into the level, you spawn with a gun, a melee weapon, and a launcher of some kind. I used an assault rifle, a guitar-turned-battle axe, and a gun that shot balls that could do damage if they struck enemies. But when I began playing, I was most concerned with trying to get accustomed to my player's movement.
Your character is agile. He can double-jump, mantling buildings and flinging himself through windows. I had a great time bounding over rooftops and getting the drop on enemies on the ground below. But this ease of vertical movement comes with a strange trade-off: your horizontal movement is slow and plodding. I expected to zip around the map like other fast-paced arena shooters, but instead the walking speed isn't well-tuned to how fast you can move upward.
Further, the sprint felt less like a coordinated run and more like a full-on, head-down burst toward whichever way I was looking. Once I started sprinting, it was hard to change direction, making sprint generally useless in the tight spaces of the map I played on. I also found myself fighting with the sprint button, trying and failing to keep up a sustained sprint. Unlike other shooters, your character doesn't continue to sprint for a short time after you tap the sprint button. You have to hold the thumb stick down to keep running.
When you get to a battle with another player, the guns come out and the bullets start flying everywhere. The 2v2 games in Drawn to Death actually lend themselves to near-constant action, and I was always trying to take down enemies. The act of killing foes, though, was more frustrating that it should have been. Characters are bullet sponges, taking massive amounts of damage before dying. I emptied what felt like nearly a hundred shots from my gun before my target finally died, and even though I had gotten the drop on him, I came away nearly dead myself. Even the high-damage weapons, like grenades, only take away a quarter of a character's health, requiring you to continue to dump bullets into it.
I also felt like the guns I used were irritatingly imprecise, undermining my attempts to square up head shots. A seemingly immense bullet spread brought on situations where both an enemy and I would face off and start shooting from a relatively small distance, and it would be several seconds before either of us had taken any hits.
It felt lethargic when it should have been hectic and empowering. Playing as a slow, walking tank with an inaccurate and weak gun contradicted that twisted, middle-school fantasy that Drawn to Death is built on.
To give it credit, that fantasy is so cool. I found a lot of potential in my time with the game. My favorite moment was when I discovered my melee weapon and pulled out a guitar. My character began to strum furiously as he entered battle, very reminiscent of the guitar-wielding Doof Warrior of Mad Max: Fury Road. I jumped up high near an enemy and crashed down in a booming ground pound that severely hurt my foe. This move exhausted, I swung my guitar back and forth in a melee attack that also shot grenades around everywhere, further hurting the enemy. Then, switching to a launcher, I lobbed a ball at him and caught him in the chest, injuring him even more. I finished him off with my machine gun, landing a shot to the head which finally felled him.
In that moment I felt powerful and I saw the crazy, eccentric goal of Jaffe's game. There's something to this caricatured, exaggerated, twisted game, something that could lead to a fun and chaotic arena shooter. But its unique art style only goes so far. It needs the gameplay to fit the aesthetic. If that happens, then we should all look out for Drawn to Death when it comes out later this year.
The press conferences are all done, and now is when we get to dive into games and actually experience all of the things we've heard so much about. And everyday on our stage show, we highlight some of the biggest games with new information that you might not have heard about yet. In case you missed them, catch up with our recaps for:
"We regret to inform you that we are not able to release the Batmobile Collector's Edition of Batman: Arkham Knight due to unforeseen circumstances that greatly compromised the quality of this extremely limited run of product," Rocksteady said in a statement.
"We are deeply apologetic for this unfortunate outcome."
Refunds are available at the retailer where you preordered.
The marquee feature of the Arkham Knight Batmobile edition was supposed to be a transforming Batmobile statue. The statue was to be developed by TriForce. Presumably, the "unforeseen circumstances" regarding the "compromised quality" are related to the Batmobile toy.
Though the Batmobile edition has been scrapped, Rocksteady said it still plans to offer the New 52 skin pack, which comes with skins of Batman, Robin, and Nightwing, for free to everyone.
Earlier this week, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End co-director Neil Druckmann suggested in an interview with GameSpot that the upcoming PlayStation 4 game may be the final entry in the series to star Nathan Drake. Now, that seems like a sure thing, based on new comments from another Naughty Dog developer.
"[Druckmann and Bruce Straley], our directors, they have a vision [for Uncharted 4]," lead designer Kurt Margenau said during GameSpot's E3 2015 livestream today. "We are fulfilling that vision and it's going to be awesome. It's Nathan Drake's final chapter, so I think fans are going to be happy."
From our earlier interview, here's what Druckmann had to say on the subject of bringing an end to Nathan Drake's story:
"The first three games were the set-up, and if we were to do one more, how would we top it all off? How would we bring Nathan Drake's journey to a close? Everything we're doing [with Uncharted 4] is constructed towards that; Bringing closure to a very long journey."
Speculation about Uncharted 4 being the final entry in Drake's saga began when the game's ominous subtitle, A Thief's End, was first mentioned. The game's announcement trailer also showed an older, more weather Drake; someone who might not be fit for another adventure.
Even if Uncharted 4 is the final entry in Drake's saga, we would be surprised if it was the last game in the series overall. After all, Uncharted is a tentpole Sony franchise; sales have been strong with more than 21 million copies sold to date and a movie is even in development.
As for who might take over for Drake if there is to be an Uncharted 5, that remains to be seen.
You can watch our full Uncharted 4 interview with Margenau below.
Uncharted 4 launches in spring 2016 exclusively for PS4.
Did you know that Kanye West is walking the halls of E3, checking out games like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Cuphead? He totally is. We saw him enter Sony's demo room this afternoon, and others spotted the rapper on the show floor at the Xbox booth and elsewhere earlier in the day.
Here's a picture of Kanye meeting with Rich Taylor of the Entertainment Software Association, which is the group that puts on E3 every year.
The developers behind Bethesda's upcoming PC free-to-play multiplayer game Battlecry have designed its female characters to be "aspirational" to female players, the company explained today at E3 2015. They won't look like strippers, Battlecry executive producer Rich Vogel said during an panel presentation.
"We have both male and female warriors in our game, and one of the things we wanted to do was make sure our female warriors are aspirational to female players," Vogel explained. The game's female characters should represent what female players "would enjoy and be proud of playing," instead of "something you would see at a strip club," he said.
Battlecry is a 32-player online multiplayer game currently in development at Battlecry Studios in Austin, Texas. The game's unique art style comes from the mind of Viktor Antonov; you may not know his name, but you're probably familiar with his work, as he designed Half-Life 2's City 17.
There are no guns in the game (it's set in an alternate history where nations signed a peace treaty forbidding the use of gunpowder), so combat is often up-close and personal. Overall, Bethesda describes Battlecry as a game that accentuates the "nobility" of battle.
During the HoloLens reveal in January, Microsoft showed off a Minecraft demo for its augmented reality technology. Now, the company has turned its attentions to another one of its biggest gaming franchises--Halo--for an all-new HoloLens experience this week at E3 2015.
Today I got to try the Halo HoloLens experience, which really should be called HaloLens (a name 343's Bonnie Ross used earlier this week). Though it didn't blow me away, it was certainly an impressive experience that has me excited for what might be possible for HoloLens gaming in the future.
Here's how it worked. I entered a dimly lit "lab" on the E3 show floor where Microsoft employees wearing white labcoats outfitted me with a HoloLens headset. Next, I walked down a physical hallway and a Halo objective marker directed me where to go. I never had any previous idea of how utterly cool it would be to walk around the real world whilst being directed by Halo's diamond-shaped waypoint.
Next, I turned left--again this is happening in the real world, not inside a game--and peered into a virtual window to see a bustling UNSC base with ships hovering in the air and a window out into space. I tilted my head in different directions to see around the scene, but my field of view was quite limited--I wanted to see more. Perhaps Microsoft is still working on a bigger demo for later.
After this, I stood around a custom-built command station with four other journalists as a fully voiced hologram of Commander Sarah Palmer from Halo 4 virtually appeared in the middle of the station. This was also really cool just to look at, like something out of Star Wars. She gave an overview of Halo 5's massive Warzone mode, talking about base locations, describing enemy types, and offering strategies for success.
Perhaps it was because my HoloLens was not perfectly fitted to my face, but I had trouble seeing the full scene at my natural eye level. I had to tilt my head downwards somewhat to see the scene as it should be. This was a little unfortunate, but the overall demo was still very impressive.
Watch the video below to see it in action.
Microsoft was very clear that we were not allowed to take photos or shoot video. But the HoloLens headset I tried looked nearly identical to the one Microsoft showed off back in January. It felt relatively light on my head and fit comfortably after some adjustments.
It should also be noted that this was only an experience--and one conducted in a closed Microsoft environment, not in a home where you may eventually use HoloLens. In addition, there was no gameplay involved; I never held a controller. The experience served only as an elaborate introduction to Warzone.
The Halo demo was my first experience with HoloLens and it's one that left me pretty excited about the technology. Whereas Oculus Rift and Morpheus block out your entire vision and fully bring you into a virtual world, HoloLens blends the real world with the virtual for a different effect that is striking in an entirely new way.
HaloLens was meant to make you feel like an actual Spartan preparing for battle, but it's not quite there. While there is clearly some promise in this early stage, for now, it's just an experiment--albeit an impressive one.
"How many CRPGs on console can you think of that feature split-screen co-op?"
This question from Larian Studios creative director Swen Vincke gave me pause, because honestly, I couldn't think of any. Cooperative action role-playing games are clearly represented on consoles, but split-screen play, and co-op outside of the Diablo-esque realm, are hardly common. The other reason this question struck me was that Vincke used the term "CRPG"--that is, Computer RPG--instead of the more common "Western RPG" moniker. Vincke and I understand each other; we were playing games at a time when different terms were used and different styles were cultivated.
Of course, one of the things I adored about Divinity: Original Sin when it was first released on the PC was that it didn't just rely on old role-playing tropes: it introduced new mechanics that made the game feel as fresh as anything else appearing in the RPG space. At E3 2015, I played Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition on the PlayStation 4 while speaking to Vincke at length about what this new version of Original Sin has in store for us. As it happens, the list of what's new is exhausting and exciting. And if you already own Original Sin on the PC and worry that the new iteration leaves your version of the game obsolete, the Enhanced Edition will be available to you free of charge.
Allow me to share some of these adjustments. There are new skills like boulderdash and rain of arrows, some of which initiate the elemental interactions that make Original Sin's turn-based combat such a joy. Skills themselves are now separated into novice, adept, and master levels, with the higher-level skills costing more action points. Every graphical asset has been modified, so the camera can be rotated 360 degrees, giving you whatever view you desire. It's much easier to inspect enemies to see their strengths and weaknesses, and thus more easily plan out an appropriate attack strategy. The inventory is much less cluttered, and it's easier to move objects around between party members. Every line of dialogue is voiced, and every spell effect has been revamped. And, vitally, missions, puzzles, and story points have been overhauled. "Things we didn't like, we improved. You will recognize things when you play, but you will say, 'Shit, that's twisted completely, that's different now.' We got rid of all the filler, essentially."
And, of course, controller support was added, and feels as natural as it should as you steer your character around with your party members in tow. Split-screen support is just as natural, incorporating a method that should be familiar to anyone who's played one of Traveller's Tales' Lego games: when you and your partner are near enough, you share the same screen space, and when you separate, the screen vertically splits. Just as in the original release, cooperative partners are not required to stick together. In fact, Wincke and his partner purposefully split, both of them approaching the same quest in two different ways, reminding me what makes Original Sin such a special game.
The quest in question involves infiltrating a cult called The Immaculates (a quest veteran Original Sin players will recall). Wincke reached his destination--Sacred Stone--by using an invisibility spell, then engaging stealth mode in order to pick a priest's pocket in the middle of a sermon. The key you steal from the priest opens a hatch, which in turn leads you to a portal that takes you to Sacred Stone. It's a shortcut of sorts, an unexpected quest solution that results from Divinity: Original Sin's systemic possibilities, and not the path most players would think to follow. The second player followed another systemic path that most people wouldn't consider: he got himself arrested. A little inventory fiddling, getting another party member to break you out of jail, and use of a teleporter pyramid also provides a shortcut--as does pickpocketing the jailer, if you so desire. Every non-player character is required to follow the same rules as the players, so you will not run into objectives that break the rules in order to force you down a specific trail.
This quest also exemplifies the game's exploratory freedom, which gives players the chance to split up and converge as they see fit. I got to experience some of this freedom myself when Wincke handed me the second controller and we traversed Original Sin's opening region. It didn't take long to get used to using a controller; movement is handled using the left analog stick, as expected, the D-pad provided quick access to inventory, and the triangle button opened access to the skill bar. One tweak in particular that I like is that you can hold X not only to reveal nearby objects that you can interact with, but also interact with them from the menu that opens when an item is nearby. This makes pesky lever- and button-hunts much easier to handle, as you don't need to pick a tiny visual cue out of a cluttered screen.
The fundamentals, however, remain beautifully intact. As you (or you and your local/online cooperative partner) navigate Rivellon, you move objects around when they block the way, solve environmental puzzles, engage in conversation minigames with other characters, improve your core attributes, and, of course, use the elements to your benefit by, for instance, spreading oil on the ground and then setting it aflame with a fire spell. Aiming spells is a breeze using a controller, and the conversation interface has been enhanced to make dialogue simple to handle. (Don't expect Witcher 3-style complaints about font size, in other words.) Then there is that Divinity charm, evident when Wincke and I encountered a pair of inebriated guards who were almost too silly in their drunkenness to keep alive. Almost.
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition is due out this fall--hopefully October, if Wincke has his way. After playing it, I'm excited to get back to Rivellon all over again. I am also excited to see the game gain a new audience on consoles. Original Sin has lost none of its unique flavor in the transition, and I can't wait to compare notes with everyone stepping foot into this world for the first time.
After playing two matches of Destiny's new Mayhem mode coming in the Taken King expansion in September, I can sum up my experience with one sentence: Don't bring a gun to a super fight.
Mayhem is, as the namer suggests, absolutely out of control. General shooter rules need not apply; Gameplay generally comes down to hiding for the few seconds until your super recharges, then sprinting after enemies to blow them away.
Five-second grenade recharge timers mean that near-constant explosions accompany every encounter between players. Quicker melee recharge rates lead to every punch causing instant death. A much, much faster super move charge means that running around in a match is always perilous, and at any instant you can be utterly pulverised.
It's such a thrill. It's a treble-whisky shot of Destiny. I've rarely had so much fun in a game, and the nature of Destiny's super moves means that it still requires some precision and strategy. Mayhem brings a much-needed light-heartedness to Destiny's competitive multiplayer, an over-the-top alternative to the other modes.
Since Mayhem is a part of the Taken King expansion, I played with the new subclasses. Just like the subclasses in the base game, these new ones all have their own unique feel. Different grenades, skills, and supers define these new subclasses and give Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans different ways to approach the game.
A look at Sunbreaker in PvE.
In my first game, I chose to use a Warlock with the Stormcaller subclass. When I used my super move, my Guardian became a floating, glowing, intimidating spellcaster with lightning crackling all around it. I pressed the trigger and my Warlock shot lightning bolts out of its hands, as if Emperor Palpatine had been added to destiny. The powerful electricity snaked away from me towards the enemy, striking it and decimating its health. The electrocution took a few seconds, but soon my foe was dead and I floated off in search of a new enemy.
But I noticed soon after that it's actually a little challenging to get kills with this Stormtrance super. It's more methodical, and it requires patience. Whereas the Warlock's Nova Bomb instantaneously vaporizes enemies upon impact, Stormtrance forces you to keep firing at your enemy for several seconds. You're also exposed during this time. It's much like using one of Destiny's machine guns: it's powerful, but it takes a bit of time to kill an enemy and you'll be vulnerable to flanking fire while using it.
After finishing the first match, I switched to a Titan with the Sunbreaker subclass. Not knowing what to expect, I ran toward some enemies and executed my super move, Hammer of Sol. My Titan suddenly caught fire and glowed with unbelievable intensity, and a hammer materialised in my character's hand. Getting an enemy in my crosshairs, I attacked and watched as my Titan threw the massive hammer right into the torso of the opposing player. The foe was incinerated as I watched, a satisfying insta-kill in the midst of the battle. Then, with the sound of a gong, my hammer flew back into my hand and was ready to be thrown again. For about ten seconds, I could throw my hammer as many times as I wanted. My super got me a couple triple-kills during this match.
I didn't get a chance to play as a Hunter, but was the victim of the Nightstalker subclass' Void bow super, which was particularly frustrating, although not very harmful in the wrong hands. You don't have much time to aim--as soon as you use it, your Hunter pulls back and shoots the arrow. If it connects with an enemy, it's an instantaneous kill. Otherwise, it creates an area-of-effect field that slows and blinds enemies within it. It'll be great for Destiny's strikes and raids, but it didn't work that well in the hectic environment of Mayhem.
This match took place on the Venetian map, Crossroads, another great addition to Destiny. As soon as I spawned into the game, I was reminded of Halo games of yore, because man-cannons and teleporters are finally in Destiny. Flinging yourself across a chasm never felt so good, and these catapults will put you directly into the main chokepoints. Long sight lines also add room for sniper gameplay, something lacking in most of Destiny's maps.
As my final Mayhem game came to a close, I thought about the new additions to the core Destiny formula. The upcoming subclasses provide some much needed variety to the gameplay loop. I felt more powerful and had more fun than ever with the new super moves.
Bungie seems to be working hard to revitalize Destiny, so I'm optimistic about The Taken King. Keep an eye on GameSpot in the coming months for more about the expansion.
Speaking in an interview with GameSpot at E3, Jim Ryan, the chief executive of PlayStation Europe, was asked how long the exclusivity deal would last, which he would not comment on.
"That whole thing was very ambiguous," he said. "What we're not doing is saying it's an outright exclusive, which I think is a subtle difference [compared] to what happened last year." During Sony's E3 2015 press conference, Sony's Adam Boyes, VP of developer relations, revealed that the long-awaited remake of Final Fantasy VII is finally happening.
According to Boyes, Tetsuya Nomura would be directing the remake, with scenario writer Kazuhige Nojima and producer Yoshinori Kitase also contributing.
A CG trailer showed Cloud and Barret walking through the slums of Midgar. In an interview with GameSpot, Nomura indicated that the story in the remake may deviate from the one set out in the original, suggesting the remake may be more of a reimagining.
"We've announced an HD port version on the PlayStation 4, and then we have the remake coming to PS4," Nomura said through a translator. "You'll have this extremely, very, very pretty FFVII existing on the same plane. We feel that if that happens, it's like, why have the same exact game?
"We think that if a game is on a certain platform and that platform becomes obsolete, then we'd recommend playing the new port version," he added.
During the interview, Jim Ryan also discussed Sony's faith in The Last Guardian, despite the development woes it faced, as well the current state of the PlayStation Vita.
During the second-half of the PlayStation 3's lifespan, Sony was publishing acclaimed and exclusive titles with such regularity and creative flair that it made the whole operation seem easy.
Things don't seem so easy at the moment. As we now approach the second anniversary of the PlayStation 4's release, the system still lacks flagship first-party exclusives. Key releases, such as Uncharted 4, have been delayed to 2016, and the slate for this year is, by its own account, "a little sparse."
And yet, PlayStation has entered into one of the most prosperous periods in its 20-year history. The PS4 has become the first choice, both for consumers and the publishers who serve them.
At this year's E3, Sony revealed a powerful and promising line-up of exclusive first-party games, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Uncharted 4 among them. It also put an end to years of speculation by finally reintroducing The Last Guardian--complete with an awe-inspiring gameplay demo--and made dreams come true by announcing a Final Fantasy 7 remake. All of these titles are scheduled to ship in 2016 and beyond, which makes you wonder, if Sony has such incredible momentum already, just how dominant will it be in the months and years ahead?
GameSpot sat down with Jim Ryan, the chief executive of PlayStation Europe, to discuss that future in greater detail.
Hi Jim. How has E3 been for you so far?
All good. I enjoyed Monday a lot, I enjoyed all the shows, and you really get the sense that developers are now really confident about next-gen development. They're getting into the swing of things.
It's great to see so many publishers making bigger bets on triple-A games. In the three years prior to the release of Xbox One and PS4, I found that publishers were a little more reserved in terms of how many games they were working on.
Yes absolutely, I think there were a lot fewer games than we would have liked.
Now there's a lot of major franchises in production again, across the industry, and I think a lot of it has to do with the commercial success of the PlayStation 4. I think it has given more incentive for publishers to invest in consoles.
Yeah, and this industry is all about cycles. If you start a virtuous one, you're in a good place. If you're in a vicious cycle, things can get very tough.
With regards to that virtuous circle, Sony has been striking a number of major timed-exclusivity deals with third-party publishers. There's the Capcom deal for Street Fighter V, the Square Enix deal for Final Fantasy 7, and the Activision deal for Call of Duty. These are the kinds of partnerships that you appeared to struggle with during the PlayStation 3 days. What's changed?
I think a few things have changed. It certainly makes discussions with publishers easier when you have a significant installed base, and one that is fast growing, and one that is noticeably further ahead than the competition. I wouldn't say we have become the industry's default option, because there are other factors come into play, such as amounts of cash. But I would say we're starting to become the first thing a publisher thinks about when they consider partnerships.
The last Guardian re-reveal is one of Jim Ryan's E3 career highlights
Was getting to that position the hardest job for you? Because only a short while ago, Microsoft was the first thought for publishers, because of the success of the Xbox 360.
Well, I think the vast majority of people running third-party publishers are rational executives, who are very observant. They are making the right decisions for their business.
"It certainly makes discussions with publishers easier when you have an installed base that is fast growing, and noticeably further ahead than the competition."
Going back to the press conference, you must be relieved to finally announce The Last Guardian project on PS4.
[Laughs] Yes. Relieved. If only to stop you constantly asking me about it. I'm so happy just for that alone. You can't imagine how much of a relief it is.
Jim, when is The Last Guardian 2 coming out?
[Laughs]
Could you give us a bit more detail about what was happening to the project during that long period of silence?
Well, clearly, when a game has a gestation period as protracted as this one was, not all could have been well. If all had gone swimmingly the game would be out by now. So, it's fair to say that there were times when the publishing side of the business wondered if the game would ever happen. But the pedigree of the developer is such that we kept the faith.
I think that faith was justified by the reaction we got. When we showed the game on stage, I think it was one of my favourite moments in all the years I've been doing E3. It was wonderful.
I heard a rumour that Mark Cerny was called in to help the project. Is there any truth to that?
Well, as you know, I'm not closely involved in the development side of the business. But, y'know, Mark gets active in all sorts of areas of PlayStation.
Sony won't say when the FF7 exclusivity PS4 deal will expire
Another big E3 reveal for you was the HD Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which was a huge crowd pleaser. How long does the timed exclusivity deal last?
We don't have anything to say about that at this point in time.
I understand. I remember when Microsoft announced the Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusivity deal, and Phil Spencer was engulfed by the press who were asking him how long the exclusivity lasted. I feel this issue deserves the same scrutiny.
Yes, but that whole thing was very ambiguous.
Yes, but this is ambiguous as well. No one knows how long Final Fantasy 7 is a timed exclusive for.
[PR spokesperson: "At this stage, we are announcing that it's coming to our platform. There's nothing else we can say, in terms of exclusivity."]
But that is ambiguous. People who want to buy this game don't know how long it will remain as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.
[PR spokesperson: "At this stage, we are just saying announcing the title, so it's very common, especially at this stage, to say it's coming and that it's coming to our platform.]
Ryan: What we're not doing is saying it's an outright exclusive, which I think is a subtle difference [compared] to what happened last year.
I'll move on. You also have a deal with Activision on getting Call of Duty exclusivity for add-on content, and some would say you need key third-party deals right now, because your first-party slate is looking a little thin.
Yes I'll admit it's not the strongest we've ever had. But if you look over the full year, we've had Bloodborne, we're getting Until Dawn, and Tearaway Unfolded. I think the latter will surprise many people, and we also have the Uncharted trilogy. So taking all that, and added with all the third-party games in the pipeline for this year, we're feeling confident.
Ryan insists that Sony is still backing PS Vita
Sony is in a unique position, because there's no flagship, must-have, first-party game for the system yet, but it's also remarkably popular. How does that make you feel?
Well, it certainly gives us some cause for optimism in 2016 [when Sony will ship major titles, such as Uncharted 4].
Certainly in the UK, it's still rather close [when compared to Xbox One sales], but we have been edging ahead every month. But across Europe, it's fair to say we're beating [Microsoft] by a considerable margin. Once you get into that position, the popularity of a console can start to become its selling point.
So when you look at what drives sales of a console, obviously exclusive games do help, but if you have 75 to 80 percent of the market, it makes the system easier to sell.
"We've had Bloodborne, we're getting Until Dawn, Tearaway Unfolded, and we also have the Uncharted trilogy. All that, and add in the third-party games in the pipeline for this year, and we're feeling confident."
I'd like to talk about PlayStation Vita too. Is it over for the system?
No, not at all. We're still selling respectable quantities. We have a hundred games in development, and you might say, "Well yeah but they're all indie games," but many of these games review very highly. Also the PS4's Remote Play feature is something that is valued a lot.
Sure. I'm not sure if the handheld market has long-term potential. I know you still support PlayStation Vita, and I know people who own it swear by it. But the handheld market has collapsed, has it not?
There's no disputing that it's not the size it used to be. It's a much smaller market than when the DS and PSP were in their glory days. But that market still does exist.
But is it still a profitable market, is what I wonder. Do you think that PS Vita will be Sony's last handheld?
You know, that would be a great headline for you there if I answered that, but I'm not going to give it to you [laughs].
Last year, Harmonix, the developer of the Rock Band series, announced Music VR, a music visualization experience for the Samsung Gear virtual reality headset. Today, Harmonix announced the project for Sony's Morpheus headset and also released a trailer and images for the first time.
Music VR takes any of your songs and generates a unique visualization, resulting in a sort of drive through a psychedelic, colorful dream world that changes with the rhythm of your music. In my opinion, the word to describe it is trippy.
There will be several different "worlds" that you can choose to set your visualization in, although the developer hasn't given any more details about that. There's no word on a release date on Morpheus, so keep an eye on GameSpot for news when it becomes available.
Check out some animated gifs of the surreal Music VR below:
Dragon Quest Heroes, an action role-playing game developed in partnership between Square Enix and Koei Tecmo, could lead the charge for more localized Dragon Quest titles if the game does well in the West.
Dragon Quest Heroes is a spin-off title featuring two new characters--created by franchise designer Akira Toriyama--and a handful of heroes from previous Dragon Quest titles. The game launched in Japan for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in February and will be available in North America this October for PS4 only. It's the first Dragon Quest game since 2011's Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 to be released in North America.
When asked if Square Enix could bring more Dragon Quest games West if Heroes sold well, producer Ryota Aomi was optimistic. He also said developers plan to leverage the PS4's popularity to create more new Dragon Quest in their native Japan.
"We really are looking to expand on the series in a number of different ways, and we're not just looking to expand into North American but more in Asia as well," he said through a translator. "Using the PlayStation platform is one big way of doing that. So we'll look at how the game does and how that's working, and then maybe use that to think seriously about which of the previous Dragon Quest titles we want to bring out to other regions."
Dragon Quest Heroes will launch in North America on October 13 and in Europe on October 16.
The Last Guardian was believed by many people to be dead numerous times, and it's hard to blame those who thought so. Apparently it wasn't just fans who were skeptical; even some people at Sony were uncertain that the game would come out as planned.
Speaking with GameSpot at E3, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO Jim Ryan discussed the arduous development of The Last Guardian. Asked for more details on what was happening during the long stretch where Sony didn't talk about the game, Ryan said, "Well, clearly, when a game has a gestation period as protracted as this one was, not all could have been well. If all had gone swimmingly the game would be out by now.
"So, it's fair to say that there were times when the publishing side of the business wondered if the game would ever happen. But the pedigree of the developer is such that we kept the faith."
Sony opened up its E3 press conference earlier this week with a gameplay demonstration of The Last Guardian for PS4 and a 2016 release date announcement.
As you can imagine, particularly in light of the response to the demo, Ryan thinks Sony made the right call in sticking it out.
"I think that faith was justified by the reaction we got," Ryan said. "When we showed the game on stage, I think it was one of my favourite moments in all the years I've been doing E3. It was wonderful."
As for recent reports that Mark Cerny, architect of the PS4, has gotten involved with the game's development, Ryan didn't have much to share. "Well, as you know, I'm not closely involved in the development side of the business," he said. "But, y'know, Mark gets active in all sorts of areas of PlayStation."
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