The upcoming expansion to Destiny, The Taken King, will bring with it some significant improvements to in-game quests.
In its Weekly Update this week, developer Bungie detailed the upcoming changes to bounties and quests, revealing a dramatic overhaul to the tasks. First of all, The Taken King's creative director Luke Smith stated that the studio is making the expansion's new quests more in line with the base game's Exotic Bounties. These bounties are multi-step, difficult challenges that rewarded players with Exotic weapons upon completion.
"These Bounties took you on a journey through multiple activities--which in the best cases had flashes of unique moments--and ended with rewards players cared about," Smith explained. "In many ways, these were the earliest tendrils of how we'd come to think about Quests in Destiny. Quests are an arrangement of activities and challenges that tell a story and represent a journey for the player. We want Destiny to provide more experiences like that."
He also revealed that in-game organization of quests and bounties would be different in the expansion. Upon release of The Taken King, the tasks will be organized in a menu tab called "Quests." This will consolidate all story missions, bounties, and other activities into one page.
Additionally, quests and bounties will now be tracked in the HUD, allowing you to follow your progress without having to go into a menu. Just press a button on the directional pad and your progress will pop up. You'll also be able to hold even more bounties, up to 16 at a time.
Finally, players will no longer have to go back to the Tower social space to turn in bounties. You can complete them from the Quests page in the menu.
On Tuesday, Bungie revealed a special perk for loyal players. If you finish every task on this page, you'll receive a unique emblem. In the Weekly Update, the studio shared some stats about player activity following this incentive. As compared to last week, there's been:
39% increase in Public Event completion
74% increase in Skolas kills in Prison of Elders
40% increase in Crota's End Hard Mode participation
10% increase in Vault of Glass Hard Mode participation
The Taken King launches on September 15 and will cost $40. Recently, Smith stated that Destiny has a "huge amount of potential that we haven't met at all in a bunch of ways." He also hinted that the studio is already working on something else for Destiny following The Taken King.
The game will sell for $15 across all platforms, but you'll have a chance to get it for less. Steam users who preorder before July 21 will save 10 percent, while Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus members can enjoy a similar 10 percent "launch discount," though the parameters of this deal are unclear.
We've followed up with Sega to find out.
Tembo the Badbass Elephant features 18 levels, each replete with tongue-in-cheek humor and references to '80s action movies. "It's seven-and-a-half tons of fun," Sega said in a press release.
"We don't think there's a single game out there with a better name and hope that consumers will stampede the digital marketplaces in order to get their hands on this mammoth adventure," Sega executive John Clark said in a statement.
For a closer look at Tembo the Badass Elephant, check out some images in the gallery below.
As promised, a special Grand Theft Auto Online event has kicked off to celebrate the launch of the game's latest update, allowing players to earn extra in-game cash and experience over the next few days.
More specifically, deathmatches, golf, and tennis will award double RP, while races will offer twice as much in-game money. RP bonuses earned during races (for things like drafting or entering first place) will be doubled, too.
Also during the event, you'll receive an exclusive in-game t-shirt for each day that you complete all three of your daily objectives. Gold metal resprays for your vehicles are free this weekend, as are Pegasus deliveries.
Additionally, Rockstar is hosting new video editor and Snapmatic contests, the details of which are outlined on the company's website.
The Ill-Gotten Gains: Part Two update consists primarily of high-end items for players with plenty of cash to throw around. In addition to new clothing options, it adds new weapons and vehicles that you can now buy in-game.
Earlier today, a report claimed that Nintendo of America was backing out of publishing Devil's Third, an upcoming Wii U game from Ninja Gaiden designer Tomonobu Itagaki. Now, Itagaki himself has responded to the rumor. In a Facebook post titled "Calm down," Itagaki said, "Which do you believe: me or such site?"
Itagaki did not mention Nintendo of America by name or offer specific about the status of Devil's Third. Instead, he said, "The world brims over with lies and rumors. Thanks always, mates."
Nintendo of America has not commented on this rumor yet.
Even if Nintendo does decide to no longer publish Devil's Third in North America, which wouldn't be unprecedented, it's always possible another company could step in.
For a closer look at Devil's Third, check out some images in the gallery below.
Gamers Club Unlocked members can save $20 or more on a few PS4 games at Best Buy right now, including MLB 15: The Show for $16, The Order: 1886 for $16, and Bloodborne for $32.
Amazon appears to have a new (hidden) discount program for Prime members. At least a few games are currently included, such as Batman: Arkham Knight for $50 (Xbox One), The Elder Scrolls Online for $50 (PS4), Madden NFL 16 for $50 (Xbox One/PS4), and Splatoon for $53. You won't see the lower price until you add the item to your cart and proceed to checkout.
You can preorder a number of games through Dell and receive either a $15 or $25 gift card: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ($25), Mad Max ($15), Rory McIlroy PGA Tour ($15), and Until Dawn ($15).
Walmart is selling the Halo Master Chief Collection Xbox One bundle with a free second controller for $349. You also get a free copy of Watch Dogs or Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, or you can pay a bit more to replace it with Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition ($5), Need for Speed: Rivals - Complete Edition ($5), Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare ($20), or Batman: Arkham Knight ($30).
Get a free copy of Assassin's Creed: Unity with the purchase of an Xbox One at Best Buy or the Microsoft Store (500 GB/1 TB). At Best Buy, buying the system also gets you $20 off a controller and $10 off a three-month Xbox Live Gold subscription.
The first episode of Telltale's Game of Thrones series is free on Xbox Live, and the subsequent episodes are on sale as part of the aforementioned Ultimate Game Sale.
The new Humble Weekly Bundle features Bohemia Interactive games like Arma 2 and its many mods (including DayZ), all of which you can get for just a few bucks.
If you have a free Green Man Gaming account, you can access the VIP area of the site where you can find some nice deals, including SimCity for $10, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin for $25, and Project Cars for $35.
The PlayStation TV is available for $40 at Best Buy and GameStop .
The PlayStation Store's superhero sale also includes some Vita games, including Injustice: Gods Among Us for $12, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X for $4, and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate for $10.
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.
For the first time in series history, FIFA 16 will have a female player on the cover--but only in Australia.
Steph Catley beat out two of her teammates on the Australian National Team in a fan vote to receive the honor. This is both the first time that a FIFA cover athlete has been chosen by a vote, and the first time a female has ever been the cover athlete.
She'll join Barcelona's Lionel Messi on the cover. This is the fifth consecutive appearance for Messi on the cover of a FIFA game.
In the United States, some fans were asking for a member of the US Woman's National Team to be on the cover of the American version of the game, but it seems that the cover will only feature Messi.
In the United Kingdom, Liverpool FC's Jordan Henderson was chosen to be Messi's co-cover athlete. Henderson beat out Sergio Aguero of Manchester City, Thibaut Courtois of Chelsea, and Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur.
You can check out our impressions of the game here. The developer is focusing on improving defenses to make them more competitive. Defenders have several new animations, and slide tackles have been overhauled to give them more strength.
Bethesda has released a new update for popular mobile game Fallout Shelter, which introduces a new Photo mode and makes a few changes.
The new photo feature lets you snap a shot of your vault and then share it with friends if you want.
You tap a button in the bottom-left corner of the screen and it takes a capture of whatever is on the screen, with the HUD stripped out.
Also included in today's Fallout Shelter patch is a fix for a pregnancy problem, along with general maintenance to clear up crashing problems.
The patch notes, which Bethesda wants you to think are written by engineers at Vault-Tec, are below.
Overseers are encouraged to record any bizarre dweller behavior with the new Photo Feature. Sharing with those outside your Vault is optional, and will not result in your replacement or termination.
Vault air filters have been causing some mothers to not deliver babies and we understand this is causing long term discomfort. We have solved this (not the discomfort, the baby coming out part).
We've also done general maintenance to improve sudden Vault shut down and removed some other pesky issues with the capacitors inside various aspects of the simulation.
Among the changes are an optional new movement response mode for Geralt. Character movement in the open-world RPG has been divisive, with many players feeling the gradual build to a run and the slow response to changes in direction takes away from an otherwise very positive gameplay experience.
Other tweaks include multiple inventory sorting options, improvements to Roach's behaviour, and performance enhancements including the optimisation of effects.
The full--and very lengthy--list of changes can be found below.
Introduces an alternative movement style for Geralt. To enable, go to the Gameplay\Movement Response submenu.
Fixes a rare issue where the player's horse would not fall to the ground properly.
Fixes a rare issue where the player could be locked into the aiming animation if hit while throwing a bomb on horseback.
Fixes a rare issue with an infinite loading screen in the Ladies of the Wood quest.
Includes a variety of collision fixes.
Fixes an issue where Wild Hunt warriors would remain present even after the player completed the main storyline.
Fixes an issue where players could repeatedly buy foreign currency from a loan shark and sell it at the Vivaldi Bank.
Fixes an exploit whereby players could loot gold from a single chest more than once.
Fixes an issue whereby some skills were not properly removed after the player used the Potion of Clearance.
Fixes an issue with target locking, which should now be more responsive.
Introduces a number of changes in selected game-world areas to prevent players from unexpectedly progressing quests or leaving the playable area by climbing certain elements of the landscape.
Fixes an issue where sometimes players could not use Signs after reaching Skellige for the first time.
Fixes an issue where damage from certain sources was incorrectly calculated.
Fixes an issue where the durability of alternative weapons did not drop as intended.
Fixes an issue where the game would remain in slow motion if the player had used manual targeting.
Fixes an issue whereby meditation could be blocked by certain quests.
Fixes an issue where Stamina did not always regenerate properly.
Fixes an issue where Geralt's statistics could be multiplied if the player stood in a Dimeritium bomb cloud while the Cluster skill was activated.
Introduces a number of fixes, improvements and clarifications in the map-pins and objectives for multiple quests.
Fixes an issue where in certain circumstances gravity ceased to apply to the player's horse.
Adds a stash for player convenience. Players can now store loot in their stash, access to which is available in different parts of the world. Stash locations are marked on the map.
Fixes an issue whereby the player's horse would often stop abruptly before bridges or other narrow passages.
Fixes an issue whereby encumbrance was not updating correctly, resulting in players being overburdened where in fact they were not.
Fixes a rare issue where players were unable to choose different Signs.
Fixes an issue where the player was sometimes unable to craft glyphs.
Fixes an issue where not all merchants would accept junk loot.
All crafting components and alchemy ingredients now weigh nothing.
Fixes an issue where certain armor/hairstyle combinations interacted incorrectly.
Fixes an issue where instances of the Quen Sign would occasionally burst during dialogue scenes.
Fixes a rare issue where the player could not play gwent with Madame Serenity at the Passiflora.
The Zoltan gwent card should now always be present beneath the Hanged Man's Tree if the player does not win it earlier in White Orchard.
Fixes a rare issue where players could not talk to, or play gwent with, the innkeeper at the Inn at the Crossroads.
Includes a number of wording and spelling fixes in multiple localized versions.
Introduces a number of improvements in the game streaming system. Players should experience fewer blurred textures, NPC spawn times should be markedly reduced, and there should be an overall improvement in the speed with which game assets are loaded. Streaming system improvements should be most noticeable on consoles and systems with non-SSD drives.
Improves performance in the swamps of the No Man's Land region.
Fixes an issue whereby the presence of fog could adversely affect game performance.
Optimizes various FX which should result in improved performance during the Battle of Kaer Morhen quest.
Introduces a number of optimizations that improve overall performance throughout the game.
Improves overall game performance.
Fixes an issue where Keira's magic bubble could adversely affect performance.
Fixes an issue whereby the mouse cursor would remain visible during in-game video playback.
Adds a warning if the user runs out of disk space and wants to crate a new game save.
Fixes an issue whereby Colorblind mode was not properly saved.
Fixes an issue whereby Zoltan would sometimes appear in the incorrect location after the Novigrad, Closed City quest.
Fixes an issue during the Last Wish quest whereby Geralt would continue his conversation with Yennefer after they parted.
Fixes an issue where two simultaneous instances of some characters would appear in a scene in the Broken Flowers quest.
Fixes an issue whereby some objectives were not available to the player and would be automatically failed during the Battle of Kaer Morhen quest..
Fixes an issue where in certain circumstances Lambert did not board the boat during the Final Trial quest.
Fixes an issue where in certain circumstances Madame Serenity was improperly placed during the Deadly Plot quest.
Fixes an issue where the Fake Papers quest would be failed if the player did not mention that one of the brothers was dead.
Fixes an issue whereby players would sometimes be unable to start the final horse race, The Heroes' Pursuits: For the Goddess' Glory! in Skellige.
Fixes an issue where unintended objects were present in Novigrad after the Battle of Kaer Morhen quest.
Fixes an issue where a progression break could occur if Geralt was knocked out by guards while following the Bloody Baron during the Family Matters quest.
Fixes an issue where players were sometimes unable to interact with a torch in the Get Junior quest.
Fixes an issue where players could sometimes experience an infinite loading screen during the Iron Maiden quest.
Fixes an issue where in certain circumstances players could encounter a blocker during the Contract: The Apiarian Phantom quest. Players who have encountered this bug need to backtrack to the frozen hive and examine the footprints around it again.
Fixes an issue whereby the player could get locked inside a room during the Through Time and Space quest.
Fixes an issue where on rare occasions players were unable to progress the game after the Get Junior quest, specifically upon reaching Vernon Roche's camp.
Fixes an issue whereby purchasing wine during the It Takes Three to Tango quest would not always progress the quest properly.
Fixes an issue where the In Wolf's Clothing quest did not progress properly after the player read Morkvarg's journal.
Fixes an issue where on some rare occasions players were unable to interact with the Wild Hunt soldier's body during the Echoes of the Past quest.
Fixes an issue whereby Keira would not always properly use the portal during the For the Advancement of Learning quest if asked to go to Kaer Morhen.
Fixes an issue where the Scoia'tael from Novigrad was not always available to play in the Gwent quest.
Fixes an issue where the player could get blocked inside a cellar during the King's Gambit quest.
Fixes an issue where in certain situations the player was unable to find Triss during the Final Preparations quest.
Fixes an issue where occasionally the Kingfisher tavern was left without an innkeeper after the Now or Never quest.
Fixes an issue where Yennefer was not spawned in Oxenfurt during the Great Escape quest.
Fixes a rare issue where Captain Wolverstone was not at the Golden Sturgeon when intended.
Fixes a rare issue where the bodyguards in the Reason of State quest were not hostile.
Fixes a rare issue where the griffin would not always appear in the Contract: The Creature from the Oxenfurt Forest quest.
Fixes an issue where the wyvern would not appear in the Contract: Phantom of the Trade Route quest.
Fixes an issue with enlisting Sukrus from Skellige to be Hattori's bodyguard in the Of Swords and Dumplings quest.
Fixes a rare issue whereby the visions in the Echoes of the Past quest were not displayed.
The Contract: Devil by the Well quest no longer counts towards the Geralt: The Professional achievement.
Fixes a rare issue when the player could not speak with Lambert at Kaer Morhen during the Final Trial quest.
Fixes a rare issue where players could not always complete the Hey, You Wanna Look at my Stuff? quest.
Fixes an issue where players were sometimes unable to summon a horse after the Fencing Lessons quest.
Fixes an issue where in the Scavenger Hunt: Viper School Gear quest the gate to the mausoleum was locked.
Fixes an issue where players could not use Signs or swords after the fistfight at the Rosemary and Thyme during the Broken Flowers quest.
Fixes a rare issue whereby players could not examine the source of interference during the Disturbance quest.
Fixes an issue with the Dirty Funds quest.
Fixes a rare issue with a loading screen in the Contract: The Phantom of Eldberg quest.
Fixes a issue with a loading screen at Aeramas' residence during the Of Dairy and Darkness quest.
Fixes an issue where quest givers for the Deadly Delights and Jenny o' the Woods contracts would disappear.
Introduces a number of improvements to overall game stability.
Fixes an issue where the Potion of Clearance would pop into the quick slot if the player ran out of food.
Adds a Books tab to the Inventory panel.
Introduces a number of additional loading screen hints.
Introduces a pinning feature for formulae and diagrams. Ingredients and components for pinned formulae/diagrams are highlighted in the shop view. This should greatly facilitate the purchase of currently needed elements.
Introduces a feature whereby currently equipped items are highlighted in the Repair panel, facilitating prioritization of items needing repair.
Adds a feature whereby read and unread books are marked differently in the Inventory panel.
The list of all available DLC packages is now displayed in the Main Menu/Options/Downloadable Content submenu for better clarity.
Microsoft will not have an official presence at this September's Tokyo Game Show, one of Japan's largest video game events. The company announced the news on Friday in a statement to Japanese media.
"This year, Microsoft will not exhibit the Tokyo Game Show, but we're making various preparations to deliver the latest Xbox news to fans and media," Microsoft Japan marketing executive Masayuki Inoue said in a statement to Gematsu. "We will provide an update as soon as we can."
Inoue did not elaborate further on why Microsoft is skipping TGS this year. He went on to say that Japanese Xbox fans can look forward to an "attractive" lineup of games for this year.
Competitor Sony, which is based in Japan, usually attends TGS, but has not announced its plans for this year's event. TGS 2015 runs September 17-20. Attendance for the public event last year was down, but the 251,832 attendees still represented the second highest in the show's history.
The Xbox One has not sold very well in Japan since its release there in September 2014, but Microsoft hopes to improve sales over time by listening to gamers' suggestions. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said in previous interviews that Japan is a "soulful" place for games, and one that is "critical" for Microsoft to support.
"I think we'll have done a good job if people are shocked at the end of the game and surprised by the direction that [we] took," O'Connor said as part of a new Halo 5 video posted in the Halo Channel.
Through a viral campaign, Microsoft has been teasing that Master Chief may not be all he says he is. Locke is charged with hunting him down, but we don't exactly know why just yet.
The nature of the Locke/Chief relationship remains unclear, though it certainly sounds interesting.
Locke actor Mike Colter mentioned previously that he "can't confirm whether he's a friend or foe of Master Chief," but he also offered up some more clues about that relationship. Locke is on a manhunt for Master Chief, however, "...you won't know what the purpose of finding Master Chief is [right away]. Or what will happen if we do find him, what condition he will be in, and where he's at mentally. But I'm sure that'll be a plot twist in Halo 5."
Although Master Chief remains the main character and hero of Halo 5, Locke will also be playable for portions of the game.
Also in the video, senior designer Alex Cutting said developer 343 Industries is hoping to avoid a sophomore slump with Halo 5. "Anyone can get lucky once," Cutting said about the generally positive reception to Halo 4, the first all-new Halo game that 343 developed. "This is our sophomore effort. This is where we prove whether we can really pull Halo off."
Ben Affleck will co-write, direct, and star in a new Batman standalone film. That's according to a new report at Comic-Con this week from reputable Hollywood news site Deadline.
Citing "studio sources," the publication claims that Affleck--who plays the Dark Knight in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice--is teaming up with DC Comics chief creative officer Geoff Johns for the untitled movie.
Johns has written a number of acclaimed comic books for DC including the ongoing Batman: Earth One. John is also accredited with rejuvenating interest in Green Lantern, and helmed the New 52 reboot of Justice League.
Affleck and Johns could submit a script as early as this summer, according to the report. It still sounds like early days for the new Batman movie, however, as the site goes on to say that Affleck will not start production on the movie until after he completes his big-screen adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel Live By Night.
Live By Night is currently pegged to hit theaters in fall 2016
The new Batman movie, meanwhile, might not arrive until 2018 at the earliest The report claims the movie's plot would reflect "the Batman character that emerges" after next year's Batman vs. Superman and 2017's Justice League. Might want to get comfortable, Batman fans.
Affleck is no stranger to the director's chair. He previously directed Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo. That last film earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture, his second, following his Best Writing award for Good Will Hunting.
Both were announced this week at San Diego Comic-Con. The 18" x 24" print features all 30 games from the upcoming Rare Replay collection, including Banjo-Kazooie, Battletoads, and Perfect Dark. It was created in partnership with iam8bit.
As for the Battletoads vinyl, the awesome-looking cover illustration was designed by Brooklyn-based artist Nick Gazin, who previously worked with hip-hop group Run the Jewels. The 180-gram vinyl features a "Dark Queen" gatefold variant and a "Sound Chip" jacket exclusive to this version.
The music, of course, was composed by David Wise.
The Rare print and Battletoads vinyl are sure to become collector's items, as the print is limited to just 400 units, while only 300 copies of the soundtrack are being produced. Both will be available to buy only at the Xbox Lounge at Comic-Con this week, so you'll have to visit San Diego to get one.
In the video, which you can watch below, The Coalition designers, including studio head Rod Fergusson, explain how the power of the Xbox One allows for greater authenticity overall. One part of this is simply that characters will look more believable.
You'll see the wrinkles on character's skin (see the embedded image of Marcus Fenix) and you'll see skin sliding over bone as it would in real life, among other improvements. This all should help sell the emotion of a particular scene, The Coalition said.
The developer also called out one cinematic in particular that has been improved due to the power of the Xbox One. We won't spoil it for you in case you haven't played the game, but it's toward the end.
This video is the first in a nine-part behind-the-scenes video series for Gears of War Ultimate Edition. The game launches for Xbox One on August 25, while a PC version will come later.
Fallout fans may want to pay attention to QuakeCon later this month, as Bethesda has announced plans to host a Fallout 4 presentation at the event, led by none other than game director Todd Howard.
The Fallout 4 presentation will be held on Friday, July 24, at 1 PM CT. Some QuakeCon panels will be streamed live around the world, but it appears this one will be for attendees only.
Other high-profile events at QuakeCon this year include presentations for the new Doom (July 25, 3 PM) and The Elder Scrolls Online (July 24, 4:30 PM), among others.
The Warcraft movie doesn't hit theaters until June 2016, but Legendary Pictures is already starting to ramp up its promotional efforts for the film. This week at Comic-Con, Legendary's booth on the show floor is stuffed with all manner of epic-looking Warcraft movie props.
We caught up with WETA Workshop's Mike Gonzales for a walkthrough of the booth, which includes practical human Alliance armor and gear used in the movie, as well as expertly crafted Orcs, among other things. Watch the video below or scroll to the bottom of this post to see some more images in a gallery.
WETA Workshop is perhaps best known for its award-winning work on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The studio, which also has a digital arm called WETA Digital, has worked on others franchises, too, such as The Hobbit, District 9, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Furious 7.
After multiple delays, the Warcraft movie is now scheduled to open June 10, 2016. It stars Clancy Brown (Spongebob, The Shawshank Redemption) as Blackhand and Dominic Cooper (Need for Speed, Captain America) as King Llane. For more on the movie's cast, check out this story.
At Comic-Con this week, Warcraft film director Duncan Jones revealed that the film is nearly done and that he has ideas for a trilogy. Legendary also released a special VR app that gives you a 360-degree view of Azeroth's Stormwind region.
We're expecting to learn more about the Warcraft movie this week at Comic-Con. Legendary Pictures has a panel scheduled for this Saturday, July 11, where we may finally see the first trailer for the Warcraft movie.
Not long after Daybreak CEO John Smedley lashed out at one recently convicted Lizard Squad member, the hacking group has claimed responsibility for a new string of DDoS attacks against the studio's games.
As of this writing, the issues appear to remain unresolved.
"All games, websites, and forums are still impacted. We do not have an ETA for when services will be restored," Daybreak said on Twitter last night. A follow-up tweet posted this morning states, "We are still working to resolve connectivity issues affecting many of you. Thank you for all your patience and understanding."
In addition, Smedley has posted a new statement on Reddit in which he again speaks out against Kivimaki, his sentence, and the legal action he plans to take against Kivimaki and other hackers.
"I'm extremely angry that the Finnish justice system chose to let Julius Kivimaki off with a two-year suspended sentence. This guy is the worst kind of bad news," Smedley started off.
"He's been involved for years in every kind of terrible thing you can imagine including Carding, hacking, swatting people all over the world," he added. "He's also participated in a major way in DDOS attacks that caused a lot of grief for gamers and a lot of economic damage to the companies that make and run games."
Smedley went on to detail some of the harassment he attributes to Kivimaki. In addition to the grounding of his flight due to a fake bomb threat, Smedley claims that Kivimaki and others sent him "pictures of my father's grave with nasty stuff on it." In addition, Smedley said his entire credit history has been published online, along with his Social Security Number and his family's personal information.
On top of that, Smedley claims he has been "swatted" multiple times and that Kivimaki and company even filed false tax returns on Smedley's behalf.
"So to put this bluntly, I want this kid in jail for a long time," Smedley said. "You shouldn't be able to do crap like this without any hint of a consequence. I plan on doing everything in my power to see him get what's coming to him in court one way or another. What he just got convicted of were over 50,000 separate incidents of hacking and other nastiness. This has nothing to do with the downing of the plane or the DDoS stuff he did or the things he did to me (not just me btw he did this to a lot of other people too). Those cases are still pending, but they have him dead to rights."
"So you guys can debate this... and that's all well and good, but meanwhile this sh** is real to my life and my family's life and I'm sure as hell not lying down for it for a second," he added. "I've been working with law enforcement to put him and others into jail where they belong. Some of them are minors which makes it tough. Most of them are outside the US, which makes it tougher. But I'm patient and I'm going to be relentless about this."
Nintendo of America "has no plans" to publish Devil's Third, the upcoming Wii U title from Ninja Gaiden designer Tomonobu Itagaki and is "not backing it in any way" in North America.
Unseen64, which has a strong track-record of uncovering cancelled Nintendo projects such as Mario Spikers, explains in a new video that the publisher is "purposefully distancing themselves from the game."
"Nintendo of America has lost faith in [Devil's Third]," the video states. "We could end up with a Disaster [Day of Crisis] situation on our hands."
Developed by Monolith Soft for the Wii and published by Nintendo, Distaster: Day of Crisis was initially scheduled for a North America, but these plans were later cancelled.
"Nintendo of America has no intention of publishing the game in the US," the video claims. "That is why we never saw it on [Nintendo's E3 event] Treehouse Live this year and that is why it has been removed from the eShop."
As the video notes, if Nintendo does pass on publishing Devil's Third in the US, it could still be released via another publishing partner.
Nintendo of America has not confirmed that the rumour is accurate.
As for why Nintendo of America is apparently distancing itself from Devil's Third, the video states early indications suggest it "just isn't very good," and cites sources in the European press playing the final version, who say it has "incredibly inconsistent frame-rate" and "less than sub-par" visuals.
The idea of Nintendo of America choosing to pass on a game other arms of the company are publishing because of quality concerns is not unprecedented.
Following confirmation that Disaster: Day of Crisis would not be released in the US, Nintendo exec Reggie Fils-Aime was vocal about is distaste for the game, going so far as to describe elements of it as "laughable."
Devil's Third has had somewhat of a rocky development path. It began life as a THQ title, but the now defunct company eventually decided not to publish the game.
Capcom has released a new video for Resident Evil 0 HD, providing a visual comparison between the different versions of the game.
Unlike most comparison videos, Capcom has opted to take a deeper dive into the history of Resident Evil 0. The video brings together a prototype originally produced for the Nintendo 64 in 1999, the GameCube release from 2002, and the upcoming remastered version for comparison.
Capcom announced Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster (Biohazard 0 HD Remaster in Japan), a high-definition remake of 2002's GameCube-exclusive Resident Evil Zero in May 2015.
Along with better visuals, Resident Evil 0 HD will have improved sound, widescreen support, and the option to use a "modernised" control setup.
Resident Evil 0 is set before the events of the original Resident Evil, which Capcom also recently remade.
The game follows STARS officer Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen, a prisoner on death row. The duo must team-up to survive a virus that has resulted in a zombie outbreak.
In terms of gameplay, players can switch between the two characters at any time for the duration of the game, a feature called "partner zapping." Each character possesses unique abilities. Players can also control both characters simultaneously, or have them separate to cover more area when exploring.
A version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown may be coming to the PlayStation Vita, evidence suggests. An entry on the Korean video game ratings board site (via All Games Beta) lists a recently released rating for a game titled XCOM: Enemy Unknown Plus for the PlayStation Vita. The game was submitted by Take Two Interactive, the parent company of XCOM: Enemy Unknown publisher 2K Games.
Seen on Korean video game ratings site.
The title of the game hints at a tie-in with Sony's PlayStation Plus subscription service. GameSpot has reached out to publisher 2K Games for comment, and will update with any additional information.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was first released in 2012. An expansion pack, XCOM: Enemy Within, was released in the following year. A sequel titled XCOM 2 is currently being developed and is scheduled for release in November this year.
Role-playing game Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition will be getting an expansion titled Siege of Dragonspear, publisher Beamdog announced on a livestream today. The expansion will introduce seven new chapters and feature 70 new areas for players to explore. Dragonspear will also include a new class, the Shaman class, who can summon ghosts and cast druid spells.
Dragonspear will sport an entirely new user interface, with an improved journal system and combat health bars offered as an option. The game will also have two new difficulty settings; story mode, which was first introduced in the Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, and allows players to go through the game's story without too much challenging combat. The second mode is titled Legacy of Bhaal and is similar to the Heart of Fury mode which was featured in Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, which adds what Beamdog described as an "all new level of challenge for veteran players."
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition was first released for PC in November 2012. As its name suggests, the game is a remake of 1998's Baldur's Gate. Earlier this year, Beamdog first teased that a new game in the Baldur's Gate series was being worked on.
Siege of Dragonspear does not currently have a release date.
Today at a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Gears of War developer The Coalition revealed that it was resources and time kept them from doing a full remaster of the entire Gears of War series. The studio is developing Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, but opted to stop at the first game instead of remaking the series like Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
When asked why the studio is only remaking the first Gears of War game, studio head of developer Coalition, Rod Feguson, responded by saying it was difficult enough doing a single remaster. He said that the studio isn't big enough or well-versed enough in developing a Gears game to take on a remake of the entire series. "It's really hard work [to remaster an entire series]," Ferguson explained "It takes a long time. It took us in the end 16-18 months to do the first one, and to try and do three games... How many people would we need to have? It just wasn't logistically or physically or technically possible. For us it was really about what can we do, what can we focus on."
Ferguson said that the developer's decision to focus on the first game resulted from a desire to get better acquainted with the Gears of War franchise: "We had a brand new studio which had never made a Gears game before, and having to go in and remaster--because we went right down to the studs of this thing--meant that everyone had to learn what it takes to make a Gears of War game. It was sort of this on-ramp to the franchise to get ready for Gears of War 4."
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition launches on August 25 for Xbox One and on a later date for PC. It will come as a free pack-in with every new Xbox One console following its release, the developer announced during the same panel. Keep an eye on GameSpot for more news about Gears of War in the coming months.
During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con today, developer The Coalition revealed that Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, the remaster of the first game in the series, will come as a free pack-in with every new Xbox One following the game's release in August. The bundle will cost $350, the normal price of the system.
The Coalition also announced that the remaster will include five extra single-player missions. These missions were cut from the Xbox 360 version of the game to let the studio launch the game on time, and they were later added to the PC port.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition launches on August 25 for Xbox One and later this year for the PC. It includes access to the Gears of War 4 beta, which as of now does not have a date. The Ultimate Edition will be playable at 4K resolution on PC.
The Animal Crossing series is getting two spinoffs in the coming months, Happy Home Designer and Amiibo Festival. In a new interview, the director of the series has revealed that the team is making the games simply because they wanted Animal Crossing to get Amiibo figures.
Talking with USGamer, Aya Kyogoku explained that the decision to create Animal Crossing spinoffs started with the possibility of linking the series to Nintendo's Amiibo figures and cards. The developer wanted to see if it could get Animal Crossing Amiibo toys, so it designed games around them. Kyogoku also wished to escape the limitations of regular Animal Crossing games.
"One thing that we focused on was, 'What kind of game play experience can we create using Amiibo figures and Amiibo cards?'" she said. "We also went in with the approach that we didn't want to be limited in the scope of what we can do based on what Animal Crossing in the past has been. So this is the result of our endeavor and coming up with a new game play experience with Amiibos and Animal Crossing."
When Amiibo figures were announced last year, there was no tie-in to the Animal Crossing series. That motivated the team to come up with a way to connect the two properties, Kyogoku said.
"Initially when the Amiibo was announced, there was nothing really said about Animal Crossing Amiibos or any plans for that matter," she explained. "But as the Animal Crossing team, we were confident that if there was one, it would be really cute... honestly, we just wanted Animal Crossing Amiibo. We wanted the company to make Animal Crossing Amiibo, so that's why we made a game that works with them."
In Happy Home Designer, your only task is to design houses for town citizens. In Amiibo Festival, you use Amiibo figures to move around a Mario Party-like game board, doing different tasks along the way.
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer launches September 25 for 3DS, and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival is coming later this year for the Wii U.
In Toy Soldiers, Ezio fights alongside other assassins from the Brotherhood. Ezio and the assassins are somewhat different than other armies on the Toy Soldiers battlefields, using Renaissance-era weapons and stealth to fight. As the post on Ubisoft's website explains, "If you prefer your secret societies to be a little more on the virtuous and acrobatic side, you'll be happy to know that toy versions of Ezio Auditore and his Assassin Brotherhood are joining the war as well, putting their stealth, parkour, and Renaissance-era artillery at your command."
Ubisoft also revealed today that Cobra Commander, the antagonist from the G.I. Joe universe, will be playable in the game.
Cobra Commander and Ezio round out the eight armies in the game. They join G.I. Joe, He-Man, and four Toy Soldiers characters: Kaiser, Starbright, Dark Lord, and Phantom.
Toy Soldiers: War Chest is a hybrid action/tower defense game, and it's the third entry in the Toy Soldiers series. Players have the ability to either defend against attacking armies from a strategic view, or take control of heroes to attack directly. It has both single-player and multiplayer components.
The game launches this summer for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can buy the Hall of Fame Edition for $30, which comes with all eight heroes, or you can purchase each army separately for $5 each. If you want just G.I. Joe, Cobra Commander, Ezio, and He-Man, the Legendary Heroes bundle is available for $15.
Gravity Falls, the successful animated show aired on the Disney Channel, is getting a 3DS-exclusive video game made by Ubisoft.
Today, Ubisoft detailed the game, officially called Gravity Falls: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets, and promised that it would be faithful to the spirit of the TV show. Similar to how it worked directly with the South Park creators to make South Park: The Stick of Truth, Ubisoft has brought on Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch to help develop the game.
As Ubisoft explains in a press release, "The game delivers Gravity Falls' trademark quirky humor in an authentic and interactive way, letting fans play as Dipper and Mabel as they set out to solve mysteries and restore order to Gnome Kingdom. Along their journey, players will encounter many more characters from the show and will explore locations including the town of Gravity Falls, the Mystery Shack, and more. Hirsch also designed the game's original key art."
Notably, the game will run on the UbiArt engine, which powers Rayman: Legends, Child of Light, and Valiant Hearts: The Great War. In the vein of those other games, Gravity Falls will be a 2D sidescrolling platformer. From the reveal trailer, it looks like the game will have Metroidvania elements, as well. There's a store to purchase items at, and the video implies that you'll be able to return to locations you've already visited.
The game launches this fall for Nintendo 3DS. Keep an eye on GameSpot for more news about the game in the coming months.
As rumored, the featured offering is the Black Ops III "Juggernog" edition, which comes with a working mini-fridge that holds up to twelve soda cans. Also included is the game's DLC season pass, art cards for the game's Specialist character, Perk-a-Cola coasters, a "Giant Zombies" bonus map, and more.
Check out the image below to see everything that comes with the premium bundle. It's currently available for preorder on Amazon for $200, although this price is subject to change.
Activision also announced Digital Deluxe and Hardened Editions, the contents of which you can see in the images below. The Digital Deluxe Edition is priced at $100 and is available for preorder, while the Hardened Edition hasn't received an official price yet.
Black Ops III launches November 6 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. The game is development at Treyarch Studios, which created the Black Ops sub-franchise and its signature Zombies mode.
The Zombies mode for Black Ops III is called "Shadows of Evil." It's set in the 1940s, when the four characters come together "under mysterious circumstances" to unravel the world's secrets.
Activision calls Black Ops III's Zombies mode the "deepest Zombies experience to date."
Black Ops III launches November 6 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. The game is development at Treyarch Studios, which created the Black Ops sub-franchise and its signature Zombies mode. Activision also today announced the Black Ops III Collector's Edition, which--amazingly--comes with a functional mini-fridge.
While the mode will bring more content to explore, the developers also mentioned at a panel for the reveal that there are still undiscovered easter eggs in the current Call of Duty Zombie modes. However, when pressed for details, they wouldn't hint as to what map they might exist in.
In other Zombies-related news, Activision and Omaze have announced a special charity campaign that gives you a chance to have a zombie version of yourself appear in the game. Head to the Omaze page hereto enter yourself into the contest.
This isn't our first look at Devastation, the existence of which was leaked in early June before being officially confirmed at E3. But the new trailer shows more of the game in action than the video released during E3, offering a better look at the giant Devastator enemy glimpsed previously, as well as the classic, Transformers: Generation 1-style characters.
We also get to see some of the game's combat, which includes the ability to juggle enemies in mid-air. When we got to go hands-on with it last month, we found it to be similar to Bayonetta (it even offers a Witch Time-esque mechanic), albeit a somewhat simpler version, with fewer weapons and combos to concern yourself with.
Devastation harkens back to old-school Transformers; Activision told us at E3 that it's "paying homage to the rich history of the brand. Recently, it's been gritty and real, we're changing that and going towards the classic stuff from the Transformers universe."
Although Platinum has quite a few projects in the works currently, including Scalebound, the new Nier, and Star Fox Zero, Devastation is due out in a matter of months--it's set for release later this year on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
While the PlayStation Network has experienced a number of instability issues recently, the service overall is missing a number of seemingly basic features. A group of PlayStation fans have now set up a campaign called Better PSN to help bring Sony's attention to the improvements that fans most want to see.
After starting out as a thread on NeoGAF, a new website, betterpsn.com, has gone online to coordinate the efforts. This primarily involves tweeting with a hashtag, #BetterPSN, to Sony executives like Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes.
Some of the proposed improvements
The website also allows users to make suggestions for new features or improvements they'd like to see, as well as vote on those submitted by others. Currently, the most popular ideas include the ability to change your online status, better profile pages (with stats, favorite game lists, screenshots, and so on), continuous trophy syncing, and enhanced friends lists. Others include ways to send recorded videos to friends, disable party notifications, and delete unwanted items from the PS4's library.
Sony itself already has a website for suggesting new PSN features, PlayStation Blog Share. There, the top-requested feature is one that's also popular on Better PSN: a way to change your PlayStation Network ID. This is something you can do on Xbox Live (albeit for a fee), but it's been absent from PSN since its inception. Sony says this hasn't been allowed in the interest of inhibiting trolls.
It remains to be seen what Sony's response to this new campaign will be. The last major PS4 update came in March, adding new PSN features like Share Play, verified accounts, and a way to search for PSN friends using your Facebook account.
Capcom has announced Ken Masters will join its growing cast of fighters for Street Fighter V.
Ken was debuted at the panel during San Diego Comic-Con and is described as using an "aggressive, in-your-face fighting style." According to Capcom he'll also have "big damage [and] flashy combos."
Fans of the series will notice Ken has been given a big redesign and now sports longer hair pulled back in a ponytail, much like his younger, Alpha period incarnation.
Courtesy of Twitter user Nibel.
Although the slide shown at the panel describes him as a "Shoto," it looks like he will play very differently from his previous versions.
It is likely that Capcom will release official images and a trailer for the Street Fighter V version of Ken very soon.
Capcom has said in the past it is aiming to make every character feel unique, the decision to make Ken play uniquely would be in line with this goal.
A brief trailer for Ken was shown during the panel. In the video below you can see the new-look Ken showing off some of his iconic fire-imbued kicks. Towards the end of the trailer there are flashes of another face, teasing another character reveal. Current speculation is that it could be either Akuma or a brand new character. The latter seems more likely.
Ken has been a staple in Street Fighter games since the first, playable in all of them. Recently, rumors also suggested that Alex and Urien, characters from Street Fighter III, would be coming to Street Fighter V, but Capcom has yet to confirm this.
Capcom recently detailed the upcoming Street Fighter V beta, which is set to begin on July 23 at 6 PM PT on PlayStation 4. The beta will have a total of six characters to play, but will launch initially with four, with Cammy and Birdie joining later.
Street Fighter V launches in March 2016 for PlayStation 4 and PC. Keep an eye on GameSpot for more news about Street Fighter coming out of Comic-Con.
Take a look at some new Street Fighter V screenshots below.
Click to view images in full screen
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