Saints Row games are not targeted to fans of nuance and subtlety. Take its upcoming Agents of Mayhem for instance, a spin-off that wastes no time in conveying its reverence for the 1980s, specifically the charm and aesthetics of G.I. Joe. You can expect a lot of grade school-level humor and dialogue mixed with a hearty peppering of obscenities and mature themes. We spoke with Anoop Shekar, design director at Volition to learn more on what to expect from Agents of Mayhem.
Gamespot: How does Agents of Mayhem fit in the context of the Saints Row series?
Anoop Shekar: It's actually not part of the Saints Row series, per se. It just has a lot of callbacks and references to previous games we've done; the flair has somewhat carried over. Agents of Mayhem is really its own game. We have characters from Saints Row but the Agents of Mayhem versions are different than what you're going to see in a Saints Row game.
If someone created a timeline in their head, does this appear after any particular Saints Row?
At the end of Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, Johnny Gat is presented with a decision from God, where he can do one of many things. One of them is to create a new universe. So Agents of Mayhem is sort of like the idea if that universe was created, this might be one of those.
Agents of Mayhem has a very 1980s direction and aesthetic. How did you arrive at that?
It came from our original inspiration for it, where a lot of us are big fans of G.I. Joe and grew up in the 1980s. We thought it would be cool to do a modern, humorous take on that aspect of our lives and things we grew up on. But we have to make sure it was in a modern context so people who didn't experience those things would still understand and appreciate it.
Who do you see being the main audience for this game? On the surface, it does have that tween level of accessibility, but it also has a lot of R-rated aspects.
Oh yeah, it's definitely a mature game; we're targeting 17. The visual look is supposed to be a juxtaposition to the horrific and more mature things the characters are doing.
What can you say about the activities one can do in the open world that aren't story-related?
There are the outposts you can take over but there are also legion lairs you'll encounter throughout the main storyline. You'll stumble upon them or get information about where they are. These lairs are all over the place and you can get rewards, experience, crafting materials, and money by completing them. There are also races you can do on foot or in your car. We also have targets, legion cannons that are strategically placed throughout the map that you need to take out.
Would you compare the amount of time a person could spend in the open world to the time spent in Saints Row 4?
It's probably a little bit less, except for the legion dungeons, but they are comparable.
Consumers will have a lot of characters to choose from. Do you expect them to get attached to three particular characters to complete a party or are you encouraging them to try everyone as they're gradually introduced?
We put systems and situations in place for you try out all the agents. Before you unlock an agent, you play their unlocked mission. So you get to see what they're like and then it's up to you to decide, "Yes, I'm interested in leveling this character up and making them part of my rotation or part of the three that I always play with." Or you can say, "You know what, that character's not for me, I'm going to just stick with these guys that I've been using for a while."
The idea is to give the player choices and some players will play with all or a lot of the cast while some will stick with four, three, five, or maybe six throughout the whole game.
Will the player be forced to pick certain characters as they near the end of the game?
On the critical path of the main storyline, no. You can always pick any three agents you want to take with you to the end or at any point in the game for the main missions.
What was your design philosophy in trying to keep the cast very offense-oriented but making sure they weren't copies of each other?
We looked at other games that have multiple types of characters, like Skylanders, League of Legends, and Overwatch. We want to provide different ways for people to experience the game. So if you like pet classes, then maybe you'll like one of our agents that we haven't introduced yet. But if you like to just move around a lot with a big gun, then Daisy is a good choice. We wanted to basically create abilities and characters that appeal to a wide variety of people. One of the things we've found when having the game playtested with other people is that we don't have any one agent that's either really liked or really hated. Different people like different things, and that was a key to getting more people to play the game.
A brand new season of Hearthstone is underway, and Blizzard is celebrating by giving away three free packs of cards from its latest expansion, Journey to Un'Goro, to each player.
New to the game, Adapt cards give creatures with Adapt the ability to gain helpful new abilities like Divine Shield or an extra attack. Similar to the Discover ability, you get your choice of three different upgrades and can pick one for your creature.
The Quest cards introduce a second new aspect to the gameplay. If you have a Quest card in your deck, you're guaranteed to draw one in your first hand. Complete the quest laid out on the card to get a big reward.
"Two sources in the financial industry told KrebsOnSecurity that they have received alerts from a credit card processor stating that Gamestop.com was likely compromised by intruders between mid-September 2016 and the first week of February 2017," wrote Krebs, saying he also received confirmation from the company. Krebs says GameStop sent him the following statement:
"GameStop recently received notification from a third party that it believed payment card data from cards used on the GameStop.com website was being offered for sale on a website. That day a leading security firm was engaged to investigate these claims. Gamestop has and will continue to work non-stop to address this report and take appropriate measures to eradicate any issue that may be identified."
GameSpot has reached out to GameStop for a statement, and we'll update you as soon as we know more.
Ghost in the Shell was one of March's highest profile movies, but it opened last weekend to disappointing box office results. It has now been reported that it could lose Paramount as much as $60 million.
According to Deadline, the movie had a total budget of $250 million, which includes the $110 million production cost and $140 million for worldwide publicity and advertising. The site projects the movie will make $200 million, taking $50 million in the US and the rest internationally.
However, Deadline's sources have suggested that the anime adaptation's production budget was in fact far higher than $110 million, possibly up to $180 million, meaning that Paramount's losses will be even larger.
As the site notes, a budget that size is normally the sort allocated to sequels and superhero movies, rather than adaptations of less famous foreign language properties. In addition, the controversy over the casting of Scarlett Johansson in a role that was Japanese in the source material caused a negative buzz which may have hurt its popularity.
Ghost in the Shell had a $18.8 million opening weekend in the US, and has to date made $62 million. Reviews of the movie were also mixed. GameSpot's reviewer Kallie Plagge said that the movie "not only doesn't answer or even truly explore the questions it raises, it also mishandles a story about identity by largely excluding the people it's about. That's a critical failure, and one that cannot be rectified by cool-looking geisha robots."
There are no other details at this time about this new production, but if Kamiyama's previous work on Stand Alone Complex is any indication you can expect high-quality animation, lots of action, and of course a plot revolving around the political and social issues that make Ghost in the Shell such a compelling story.
"The movie not only doesn't answer or even truly explore the questions it raises, it also mishandles a story about identity by largely excluding the people it's about. That's a critical failure, and one that cannot be rectified by cool-looking geisha robots," she said.
For more videos about Ghost in the Shell and how the Hollywood adaptation stacks up to the classic series, head over to GameSpot Universe.
A new Pokemon Go update is coming very soon, developer Niantic has announced. Android version 0.61.0 and iOS version 1.31.0 are "in the process of being updated," and the downloads should be available soon.
Included in the update is a new language setting--Traditional Chinese--along with various bug and text fixes. Lastly, the Pokemon collection screen's scroll bar has been changed, though precisely how is currently unclear.
A recent Water-type event introduced shiny Pokemon for the first time to Pokemon Go. Some fans were concerned the rare creatures would cease to be available after the event ended on March 29, but it seems shiny monsters are indeed still catchable.
Darksiders Warmastered Edition will launch for Wii U on May 23, publisher THQ Nordic has announced. The release date is confirmation the Wii U version has not been cancelled, as rumors had suggested.
Darksiders Warmastered Edition is an improved version of the 2010 action game. It runs at native 1080p on consoles and is also being released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, where it will run at 60 frames per second. The Wii U version, however, is limited to 30 frames per second.
Other features of the re-release include doubled texture resolutions, rendering improvements, better shadow quality, and post-processing effects. The Wii U version will retail for $19.99/£14.99.
The game's sequel, Darksiders II, was remastered and re-released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in October 2015. That version was developed by Gunfire Games, a studio reportedly staffed "almost entirely" of people who worked on the first Darksiders at original developer Vigil Games.
"Naturally (and extremely excitedly!), there will be a large-scale project based on Darksiders, but for now it is very important for us to take care of the existing games and make those available to a broader audience," the company said in a statement.
"Bringing Darksiders II to current gen was a logical step for us and the team at Gunfire Games know their trade inside-out, so we easily and quickly had lots of ideas that we wanted to realize for this specific edition."
As of yet a new Darksiders has not been announced, however.
CD Projekt Red, the developer of The Witcher series and the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077, has defended its decision to trademark the word "Cyberpunk."
The company received some criticicism last week after filing for the trademark in Europe late last year. "I hope they won't be able to push that trademark, it's kind of [an] uncool move," wrote one Reddit user. "We wouldn't be able to have [the] term 'Cyberpunk' used … without a fear of being sued." The application has since been approved by the European Union.
Now, CD Projekt Red has explained the move, claiming, "We want to protect our hard work and we don't plan on using the trademark offensively--it's a self-defence measure only.
"Cyberpunk 2077 … is a massive project and we've already invested a lot of hard work and resources into making it the best game we can," the developer continued. "We have to make sure we are the only entity that can use its exact name and naming scheme.
"Should we ever create a sequel, there's a possibility of someone telling us we can't name it, say, 'Cyberpunk 2078' or 'Cyberpunk 2.'
"The reason for our registration is to protect us from any unlawful actions of our competitors."
CD Projekt Red--which has also held a trademark for Cyberpunk in the US since 2012--went on to reassure fans that it is not trying to block people from using the word in other situations.
The company explained, "A trademark is not a copyright or patent--these are totally different rights and should not be confused. A registered trademark does not prohibit from using the word 'Cyberpunk' if it's not used in the course of business (e.g. branding, advertising etc.) … [and] it also does not give any exclusivity to set a game in a certain environment, or in a certain genre. Use of a protected word in a title may be prohibited only if it could confuse customers.
"If someone names their game: 'John Smith: Adventures Set in a Cyberpunk Dystopian Society' or '20 Short Video Games Set in Cyberpunk Worlds,' none of them should be treated as an infringement of our rights."
The Predator is the long-awaited next part of the long-running sci-fi action franchise, and it is currently in production. Director Shane Black has previously stated that the movie will be a sequel to the classic 1987 Predator--however, original star Arnold Schwarzenegger won't be in there. Now the Austrian superstar has revealed why he's not involved.
In an interview with Yahoo, Schwarzenegger explained that he had read the script--and wasn't impressed with what he was being offered. "They asked me, and I read it, and I didn't like it--whatever they offered," he said. "So I'm not going to do that, no. Except if there's a chance that they rewrite it, or make it a more significant role."
The Predator also stars Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu, Key & Peele), Sterling K. Brown (The People v. OJ Simpson), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), and 10-year-old Jacob Tremblay (Room). Black has released a couple of cast images over the past few weeks--check them out here and here.
One change to note is that Attack and Defence stats no longer apply when in Revenge mode. From now on, only Revenge Attack and Revenge Defence apply during this time.
Some game modes have also been tweaked, with Boosts no longer appearing at the start of Elimination rounds--you'll now have to wait for 20 seconds at the start of the game before they appear.
Click here to see the full list of patch notes on the For Honor blog.
For Honor's last patch arrived just a week ago, re-adding the River Fort map into the game after it was previously removed. Ubisoft has said it will bring back the High Fort map "as soon as possible if everything goes well with River Fort."
World of Tanks is a massively popular game that will stay that way for decades into the future, developers behind the game said during an interview in Taipei today. Mohamed Fadl, Head of Global Competitive Gaming at Wargaming, said during a roundtable interview attended by GameSpot that World of Tanks continues to stay fresh through its numerous updates.
"It competes with any game that is released this year, quality-wise, graphic-wise," he said. "Free-to-play games that are at this level, they never get old. Like a body, a heartbeat; every day, they pump fresh blood into the system."
Fadl added that World of Tanks staying popular for 10, 20, or 30 years into the future is an "easy" prediction to make.
This follows comments from Wargaming CEO Viktor Kislyi, who told Polygon recently that World of Tanks "can last forever," adding that, "We're making the game to be built like the pyramids, for centuries or millennia."
Going back to the roundtable interview, Fadl went on to say that it's a "completely new world" today with the rise of digital gaming as opposed to the idea years ago that a game would be released and that's where the updates end. "Everything is changing," Fadl said.
Also during the interview, Fadl and Wargaming APAC GM Jungwon Hahn discussed the role of betting in esports, which has been controversial among games like Counter-Strike: GO and, more recently, Rocket League.
"You're stupid to say betting is bad," Fadl started off. "It's a natural part of sports."
Fadl went on to say that while real-money betting can become problematic, it's only natural that it will happen in gaming. He said he can envision a future for World of Tanks where players bet virtual currency on matches, while real-money gambling may exist outside of what Wargaming can itself control.
He added that Wargaming must be "very careful" with how it approaches gambling, but it's something Wargaming may want to pursue because there is clearly demand for it.
"I believe betting down the road will be one of the major incomes for esports or streaming platforms," Fadl said.
The conversation with Fadl and Hahn was extended, in-depth, and lively. The pair also discussed things like paying professional World of Tanks players a base salary as Blizzard does for Overwatch. Fadl said this could be a way forward for World of Tanks, though more research needs to be done, he said. As for Hahn, he said he's not sure how long Blizzard can support paying Overwatch players a salary.
Here are some other takeaways from the discussion:
Asked about support for new platforms such as virtual reality and consoles, Wargaming is always doing R&D efforts, though they stopped short of confirming anything.
A major announcement about World of Tanks is coming up this weekend as part the Grand Finals in Taipei. Fadl suggested this may have something to do with Olympics-like national teams. We'll report back later this weekend with the latest.
One of the issues right now with World of Tanks competitive play, Fadl said, is that it's 7v7, while the regular game is 15v15. A future update to the game will address this.
PC currently dominates the pro gaming scene, but console and mobile will eventually reach critical mass for esports, Wargaming believes.
Although Uncharted 4 took home the top honor, Playdead's indie game Inside scored the most awards overall, bringing home four: Artistic Achievement, Game Design, Narrative, and Original Property.
Finally, prolific game designer Brenda Romero was presented with the Special Award in "recognition of her outstanding creative contribution to the industry and for her illustrious career in game design, her advocacy for the art and creative process behind game-making, and her commitment to encouraging the next generation of talent in the industry."
As announced by Bungie in its latest weekly blog post, the Iron Banner event starts Tuesday, April 11, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET and runs for a week, ending on April 18 at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET. The game mode for this latest Iron Banner event is Control, which involves capturing zones on a map.
As usual, people who compete in this Iron Banner can earn some rad-looking rewards. These include rifles and shotguns, as well as armor for Destiny's three classes. You can see all of the items in the image gallery above--click on the thumbnails to see the images in full size.
Also in Bungie's weekly blog post, the developer spoke very briefly about the upcoming Destiny 2 gameplay reveal on May 18.
"The gameplay premiere will be a memorable moment--the first time you see Guardians immersed in Destiny 2 action," Bungie said. "Our focus right now is on making sure that livestream will be awesome, so we'll hold fresh remarks about Destiny 2 until then."
Microsoft has teased the next Halo Wars 2 DLC. In its latest weekly blog post, developer 343 Industries said it will probably start talking about the game's next DLC leader character next week.
"We've got some pretty awesome new details about the game's next DLC leader that should be emerging next week, so grab a buddy and be ready!" the studio said.
In other Halo Wars 2 news, 343 Industries released a small new update for the game this week that fixes a crash scenario and other bugs, including one that was occured with the Kinsano update. The full patch notes follow below, as posted by the developer on its forums.
Crashes / Errors / Performance
Fixed an issue where campaign save files from previous versions/patches were crashing on load. The save files now load successfully.
Gameplay
Fixed an issue where watchtowers and motion sensors did not detect cloaked units
Fixed an issue where cloaking generators would stop cloaking after 15 seconds if the advanced cloaking leader power was fully unlocked/upgraded
Fixed an issue where Forge's warthog was not displaying aura VFX and his upgrades were not working.
Cosmetic
Updated text for Forge's "Rolling Economy" Leader Power to match balance changes made in the Kinsano update (removed text referring to reduced building cost)
By Anonymous on Apr 07, 2017 08:30 am How many crashes have you seen if you've watched every Fast and Furious movie? We scrubbed all 7 movies so you don't have to!
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