Injustice 2's release is now just hours away, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is marking the occasion with the release of a launch trailer.
At this point, there isn't a ton we don't know about Injustice 2, as developer NetherRealm Studios has provided an in-depth look at numerous elements of the game. That leaves this launch trailer to briefly tease out the story, show off some gameplay, and highlight its many characters (and their different looks). You can check it out above.
Customization is a significant component of Injustice 2. Its gear system allows you to make adjustments to a character's stats and appearance, although you're able to opt out of playing with stat-changing gear if you so desire. NetherRealm provided us with an in-depth explanation of how the system works earlier this year and recently published a trailer that provides an overview of it.
New details are out today about Tokyo 42's frenetic multiplayer mode. In the trailer above, we get a sneak preview of the all-out carnage that breaks out after players discover each other.
"Each player starts with a randomized skin and very little ammo. They must attempt to blend in with the crowd and build up their arsenal without being spotted by others," publisher Mode7 said in an email.
"Once the players' identities are discovered, havoc ensues as katanas, pistols, miniguns, rocket launchers, and various flavors of grenade are whipped out and put to use."
Staying in disguise is harder than it seems thanks to Trackacat, a "crack reconnaissance feline able to sniff out the slightest whiff of an assassin."
It all plays out on five different maps: Tears, Autoshow, Looks Like a Quadcopter, and Market (the "archetypal Tokyo 42 map," with dense crowds, hiding places, and tricky ammo pick-ups). The fifth map, HRBRT, is an open-air map perfect for "grenades, automatic rifles, and sniping."
Tokyo 42 is described as a "hyper-stylish isometric open-world shooter," where you must battle your way through micro Tokyo. It will launch on PC and Xbox One on May 31, and on PlayStation 4 in July. You can get a look at the game's super-short first trailer here.
Ubisoft has shared new details regarding the second DLC expansion for Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which launches fairly soon.
Fallen Ghosts, as it's called, consists of 15 new missions, three locations, and four bosses to eliminate. There are also six new weapons, including assault rifles, sniper rifles, and a crossbow capable of firing explosive arrows.
With this DLC taking place after the fall of the Santa Blanca cartel, you'll take on the role of a new character who starts at level 30. Your new character comes with every skill available in the main game and can unlock nine further skills as you progress toward the new level cap of 35.
Fallen Ghosts tasks you with evacuating members of the CIA and American civilians in Bolivia, who are being hunted by a new "special unit" called the Los Extranjeros. "Shot down en route to their mission, the Ghosts find themselves in the middle of the jungle, without external support, facing deadly enemies equipped with the latest gear and technology," the description explains.
Here's how the four new elite soldier classes are described:
Armored: Equipped with heavy bulletproof plates, they are especially threatening in close combat.
Elite Sniper: Geared up with an advanced movement detector, these Elite Sniper are able to notice far away targets and never miss their shot.
Jammer: With a jamming antenna directly in their backpack, they are able to neutralize drones and interfere with all electronic equipment.
Covert Ops: Equipped with a new prototype cloaking device that makes them almost invisible and a powerful crossbow, they give a new meaning to the word Ghost.
PS4, Xbox One, and PC players who own the Wildlands season pass will have access to Fallen Ghosts on May 30. Alternatively, it will be sold on its own starting on June 6 for $15.
Sega is looking to bring back some of its "major" unused game franchises, the company revealed in a recent business presentation.
Following its earnings report for the most recent fiscal year, Sega Sammy shared its "Road to 2020" presentation, which outlines the company's plans to utilize and expand its catalog of IPs in order to create more global hits. In the "packaged games" sector, Sega Sammy will double down on its existing properties and look to "obtain" new ones "for North American and European PC games." The publisher also plans to "promote global development" by organizing studios around IPs: Phantasy Star, Puyo Puyo, and Persona were singled out as the major franchises of its domestic studios, while Sonic, Company of Heroes, and Dawn of War are the driving forces of its North America developers. Total War, Football Manager, and the Endless series, meanwhile, are the main focus of its European division.
Most interestingly, the presentation also revealed that Sega Sammy is planning a "revival of major IPs." While the company didn't go into details about which of its dormant IPs it plans on revitalizing, there's no shortage of franchises it could potentially bring back, like Shinobi, Panzer Dragoon, and Jet Set Radio. Obsidian, the studio behind Sega's Alpha Protocol, also commented on the news via Twitter, though the tweet seems more like a good-natured joke than an explicit tease for a new installment.
Stock-car racing is coming back to PS4, Xbox One, and PC this fall with NASCAR Heat 2, the sequel to last year's Heat Evolution. Publisher 704 Games revealed the title today, further announcing that it will launch on September 12.
Heat 2 is in development at Monster Games, which also made Heat Evolution, and the publisher states that it features a variety of improvements over last year's installment. There will be "enhanced online multiplayer, a deeper career mode, track updates, [and] additional drivers," according to a press release.
Richard Garcia, president of Monster Games, stated, "We added a slew of new features designed to take NASCAR games back to their roots, while delivering an authentic racing experience for fans."
The publisher is working with Toyota for a cover-athlete competition which fans can participate in. Until May 19, you can vote at the game's website on which of four athletes you want to be featured on Heat 2's cover. Of the top two choices, the one who finishes first at a May 20 NASCAR race will be the cover athlete. A similar competition was held last year for Heat Evolution.
The show sees Dominic Cooper return as Jesse Custer, a smalltown Texas preacher who is possessed by a supernatural creature and controlled by opposing forces of both good and evil. Josh Gilgun, Ruth Negga, and Graham McTavish will also reprise their roles from Season 1, and the show is once again overseen by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
In a recent interview with Variety, Rogen spoke about how there was now less pressure to be faithful to the source material than there was with Season 1. "It was much more nerve-wracking changing the beginning of the comic," he said. "That's what was really scary. If you were expecting the comic within one second of seeing the pilot you would have the realization that you were not getting that.
"There's much less pressure now knowing that we are getting into stuff that's A: is just more exciting for us to be executing, and B: if you're a fan of the comics it's more of the stuff you've been waiting to see."
Preacher was created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and first published in 1995 by the DC imprint Vertigo to huge acclaim. It ran for a total of 75 issues, including several one-off specials and a limited series.
This year's E3 conference is particularly notable in that it's the first one that is open to the public. 15,000 tickets were available to anyone who wanted to attend the show, but today the Entertainment Software Association--the organizer of the event--announced that all of those passes have sold out.
On the official E3 Twitter, it was revealed that no more passes are available. The ESA had originally put tickets on sale to the public for $250 each.
The doors open at E3 2017 on June 13, and it runs through June 15. However, press events from the big video game companies and publishers take place during the days preceding the conference; you can see the full schedule here.
As always, GameSpot will be covering everything from E3 2017. So if you didn't have the opportunity to snag a ticket to the event this year, keep an eye on GameSpot.com, as well as our YouTube and Twitch pages, the coming weeks.
Advertisements and trailers for Alien: Covenant have largely taken a similar approach, focusing on the violence, horror, and we're-totally-screwed nature of the situation its characters find themselves in. The latest one takes a slightly different approach.
Adult Swim shared the video below over the weekend. It throws the titular stars of Rick and Morty into an Alien situation of their own. Check it out:
A facehugger shows up partway through, but Rick quickly determines its weakness. The two characters don't shy away from acknowledging their awareness of the Alien movies, although nothing specifically connects this to Covenant until the final seconds.
Covenant has already debuted in some markets and arrives in US theaters this Friday, May 19. The reception has been fairly positive, as you can read about in GameSpot's Alien: Covenant review and review roundup.
Developer 34BigThings announced way back in 2015 that its high-speed, hyper-futuristic racing game Redout would be coming to PS4 and Xbox One. Today, it finally revealed the console version's release date.
Redout is getting a retail release on PS4 and Xbox One that'll launch on August 29 in the United States and August 31 in Europe. Redout: Lightspeed Edition bundles together the original PC release and two DLC packs, and it also includes a new split-screen mode. All together, the Lightspeed Edition features 30 tracks for players to race on.
The Lightspeed Edition will cost $40 (£30 in the UK). In addition to the DLC and split-screen mode, the console versions include an exclusive paint job for your ships. Publisher 505 Games also released a new trailer for the game today, which you can see above.
Redout is heavily inspired by games like Wipeout and F-Zero, and it's been available on PC since September 2016. 34BigThings is also bringing the game to Nintendo Switch on July 25 for $40.
This June, Netflix will debut its newest series GLOW--the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which follows a small wrestling federation made up entirely of women. The streaming service revealed the first trailer for the show, which you can check out above.
The series follows Ruth (Alison Brie), an out-of-work actor, who joins a new women's wrestling federation. It is made up of big personalities and a former soap opera star (Betty Gilpin) who left work to have a child but found out her home life isn't what she thought it would be. Comedian Marc Maron plays Sam Sylvia, a B-movie director turned person in charge of GLOW.
Creators Liz Flahive (Nurse Jackie) and Carly Mensch (Weeds) will be showrunners. Jenji Kohan (Orange is the New Black) will serve as executive producer.
While GLOW was a real-world syndicated show during the '80s, the new series will be a fictionalized version of the events, characters, and world. The original show ran for four seasons from 1986-1990. Since 2001, GLOW saw a revival while owned and operated by Ursula Hayden.
The first season of GLOW will run 10 episodes and debuts on Netflix on June 23, 2017.
War for the Planet of the Apes is the third movie in the blockbuster sci-fi action series since it rebooted in 2011. The final trailer before its July release arrives tomorrow and in the meantime we have this dramatic teaser--check it out below:
The film follows Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). It's directed by Matt Reeves, whose previous credits include Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Cloverfield, and who will next helm the standalone Batman movie for DC.
A previous trailer was released in March--you can watch that here. The film stars Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, and Judy Greer.
In a recent interview with Slashfilm, Serkis spoke about the movie's "epic" scale. "It's an amazing arc that Matt and [co-writer] Mark Bomback have written," he said. "What they've managed to do each time, with Dawn and then with this one, is to amplify the stakes emotionally and scale-wise.
"It's very epic. It's on a massive scale not just because of its title… but because the stakes are just so much higher. And the global understanding... the apes find out there are other apes outside of the smaller group who are evolving and changing and discovering how much the virus is affecting humanity. It's a fantastic journey."
War for the Planet of the Apes hits theaters on July 14, 2017.
Project Rap Rabbit is described as a rhythm-action game that combines the traditional, rhythm based mechanics of past games with a "rap battle system where you can counter-rap against a competitor." This occurs through an "emotion/dialogue wheel that was inspired by dialogue systems of modern RPGs."
You can get a glimpse of Project Rap Rabbit gameplay in the video below. The video also consists of a discussion between the two big names behind this project: NanaOn-Sha's Masaya Matsuura (best known as the creator of PaRappa, Um Jammer Lammy, and Vib-Ribbon) and INIS' Keiichi Yano (who was behind Gitaroo Man, Osu Tatakae Ouendan, and Ouendan successor Elite Beat Agents).
To help fund the game, NanaOn-Sha and INIS are turning to Kickstarter. The just-launched campaign is looking to raise about $1.1 million (£855,000) over the next 35 days to bring Project Rap Rabbit to PS4 and PC. Stretch goals will bring the game to Xbox One (at $3.1 million) and Nintendo Switch ($4.95 million), while others will add more content. Somewhat strangely, the game has a publisher, PQube, but there's no explanation on the Kickstarter page for why crowdfunding was necessary.
You'll need to pledge at least $39 to secure a copy of the game, with higher reward tiers offering physical copies, soundtracks, and other bonuses.
You can claim the two freebies through the Xbox Store links below. Adding them to your account will allow you to play them for as long you're a Gold member. Another current freebie, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, will remain available through the end of May.
WB Games and TT Games have announced Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 and released a teaser for the upcoming sequel. The short video was posted on Facebook and is a riff on the opening sequence from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which hit cinemas recently.
Obviously, if you haven't seen that film and want to go in completely fresh we'd recommend avoiding this video. For those that have seen it, we think you'll get what we mean if we say it's that Groot moment from the start.
The video also confirms a full-length trailer for the game will be released on May 23. You can watch the teaser above.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 will no doubt feature characters and plot points from the most recent crop of Marvel movies. However, as you can see in the art below, there will also be some other unexpected characters joining the game, including Spider-Gwen.
The first Lego Marvel Super Heroes was released in 2013. In GameSpot's review Chris Barylick awarded it a 7/10, saying its "inviting visuals, surging music, and hilarious character interactions make for breezy entertainment."
He continued: "Weird moments, such as accidentally turning Mr. Fantastic into a tea kettle, and Iron Man doing the robot, further widen the smile you're sure to be wearing on your face. It's moments like these, along with taking down a suit of flying Hulkbuster armor via the House Party protocol from Iron Man 3--wherein half a dozen Iron Man suits soar in to pound on your opponent--that keep you coming back for more.
"Whether you're looking for a way to take down the Juggernaut or working to help a random citizen in Free Play mode, Lego Marvel Super Heroes is all sorts of web-slinging, shield-flinging, Hulk-smashing fun."
"In this beautiful hardcover, Blizzard Entertainment reveals the creative process behind one of the most popular FPS games of all time," reads the product description for the standard edition. "Filled with never-before-seen art as well as commentary provided by the game's development team, this book is sure to please any Overwatch fan."
The limited edition version, meanwhile, is "packaged in a beautiful clamshell box with magnetic closure and includes an acetate slipcover featuring the game's most popular hero, Tracer, as well as two portfolios containing a total of three prints chosen by the Overwatch team."
Furthermore, Amazon is also listing Overwatch: Anthology Volume 1, which collects all the comics depicting the backstory of the game's various heroes. It is available to preorder for $19.99 and is set for launch on October 10.
"From Soldier: 76 to Ana, Tracer to Symmetra, discover the history behind Overwatch's heroes. How did Bastion become part of the team? Why did Ana Amari disappear? Where did Tracer get her catchphrase? Learn all this and more in this hardcover anthology of the first twelve issues of Blizzard's Overwatch comics, written and illustrated by an all-star creative team including Matt Burns, Robert Brooks, Micky Neilson, Nesskain, Bengal, and more. Whether you're an Overwatch novice or a Grandmaster, this is an essential companion."
Of course, all of these comics are available to read on the Overwatch website, but if you want a physical version, this is the way to get it. Blizzard has not yet officially announced the books, it could be that the reveal was intended to happen around the same time as the next event, which is believed to celebrate the game's first anniversary.
Bethesda's Prey takes the No.1 spot on the UK sales chart for the week ending May 13. Although it was unable to snatch the spot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe when it originally launched, it has done so in its second week on sale.
As noted by sales monitor Chart-Track, this is the first time since 2015's Fallout 4 that a Bethesda title has reached No.1. Nintendo's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, meanwhile, moves down to No.3, making way for Grand Theft Auto V to slip into No.2.
You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of sales monitor Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
"We had four scripts in development when I arrived in LA last week, but by the time I left we had five," Martin wrote, adding that TV is a "fast-moving business" with changes happening all the time. "We have added a fifth writer to the original four. No, I will not reveal the name here. HBO announced the names of the first four, and will no doubt announce the fifth as well, once his deal has closed. He's a really terrific addition, however, a great guy and a fine writer, and aside from me and maybe Elio and Linda, I don't know anyone who knows and loves Westeros as well as he does."
We'll report back with more on this fifth spinoff as details come to light. The four announced spinoffs are being written by Max Bornstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland, and Carly Wray.
Also in the post, Martin said he is not very fond of the term "spinoff." Instead, he said you should think of the new shows as those that exist in a "secondary universe," which is a term that The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien popularized. These stories will be set in Westeros and "the world beyond."
"None of these new shows will be 'spinning off' from GOT in the traditional sense," he explained. "We are not talking Joey or After MASH or even Frazier or Lou Grant, where characters from one show continue on to another. So all of you who were hoping for the further adventures of Hot Pie are doomed to disappointment. Every one of the concepts under discussion is a prequel, rather than a sequel. Some may not even be set on Westeros. Rather than 'spinoff' or 'prequel,' however, I prefer the term 'successor show.' That's what I've been calling them."
Martin is involved with all of the new shows, first meeting with HBO about them back in August 2016. It was at this time that he pitched HBO two shows, one of which is in development.
The author also clarified that he is working with all four of the announced rights, not just two as some reports claimed. "They are all amazing talents, and I am excited to be working with them. In between visits, I've been in touch with them by phone, text, and email, and I expect there will be a lot more back-and-forth as we move forward," he said.
Martin also took time to temper fans' expectations for the Game of Thrones spinoffs. There is no guarantee that all five will ever get made. At this stage, all they amount to
"Decades of experience in television and film have taught me that nothing is ever really certain... but I do think it's very unlikely that we'll be getting four (or five) series," he said. "At least not immediately. What we do have here is an order for four--now five--pilot scripts. How many pilots will be filmed, and how many series might come out of that, remains to be seen. (If we do get five series on the air, I might have to change my name to Dick Direwolf)."
Martin went on to say that everyone involved in the new Game of Thrones shows want them to be "as good" as Game of Thrones, which sounds like a tall order considering how acclaimed the show is.
"I can't tell you what the shows will be about (well, I could, but I won't), but I will tell you a couple of things they WON'T be. Which will disappoint some of you, sure, but better to do that now than later, I think. We're not doing Dunk & Egg. Eventually, sure, I'd love that, and so would many of you. But I've only written and published three novellas to date, and there are at least seven or eight or ten more I want to write. We all know how slow I am, and how fast a television show can move. I don't want to repeat what happened with Game of Thrones itself, where the show gets ahead of the books. When the day comes that I've finished telling all my tales of Dunk & Egg, then we'll do a TV show about them... but that day is still a long ways off."
He also confirmed that the story of Robert's Rebellion is not one of the scripts.
"I know thousands of you want that, I know there's a petition... but by the time I finish writing A Song Of Ice & Fire, you will know every important thing that happened in Robert's Rebellion," Martin explained. "There would be no surprises or revelations left in such a show, just the acting out of conflicts whose resolutions you already know. That's not a story I want to tell just now; it would feel too much like a twice-told tale."
Finally, Martin stressed that he is still working on the next Game of Thrones novel, Winds of Winter, but it is not yet ready.
"I will confess, I do wish I could clone myself, or find a way to squeeze more hours into the day, or a way to go without sleep. But this is what it is, so I keep on juggling. Winds of Winter, five successor shows, Fire & Blood (that's the GRRMarillion, remember?), four new Wild Cards books, some things I can't tell you about yet... it's a good thing I love my work."
Following a teaser trailer last week, Fox today released the first full-length trailer for its upcoming X-Men TV show The Gifted. The video sets up more of the story, which follows an average family that is stunned to discover that their children have mutant powers.
The children are then forced to leave their home and sync up with an "underground network of mutants and must fight to survive."
The show as written by Burn Notice's Matt Nix and directed by X-Men series director and producer Bryan Singer. Its stars include Stephen Moyer (True Blood) and Amy Acker (Person of Interest).
The Gifted debuts on Fox this fall. It's produced in partnership with Marvel.
A new report from Newzoo answers that question, showing that China again sits on top of the list for 2017 with an estimated $27.55 billion in revenue. The United States is second, with an estimated haul of $25 billion, with Japan ($12.5 billion), Germany ($4.4 billion), and the UK ($4.2 billion) rounding out the top five.
One important element here is that China's population (1.38 billion) is far greater than the population of the US (326 million). Looking at a per-person basis, the US generates more revenue than China.
Newzoo's chart also tracks the "Internet Population" of each country. Unsurprisingly, China is also No. 1 here, with an estimated 801.6 million figure, followed by 261.1 million for the US.
Note that the numbers do not include hardware sales or revenue from online gambling services, while revenue from B2B (business-to-business) services is also excluded. The numbers come from "primary consumer research, transactional data, quarterly company reports, and census data."
A list of the top ten countries by game revenue follows below; you can see a table of all 100 here on Newzoo's website.
Nintendo is bringing another one of its major franchises to mobile, it seems.
The Wall Street Journalis reporting that the company will launch a Legend of Zelda mobile game, while the report also claims The Pokemon Company is planning another card-based title for mobile devices.
Sources told WSJ that a version of Zelda is set to launch after the release of the Animal Crossing mobile game, which the site said is due out in the second half of the year. However, the sources said nothing is locked down as of yet in terms of timing. Officially, Nintendo has said that the Animal Crossing mobile title will be released sometime before April 2018, following a delay.
Nintendo's mobile game partner, Japanese game developer DeNA, is working on the untitled Zelda mobile game. Nintendo and DeNA declined to comment when approached by WSJ.
There is no word yet on what kind of gameplay the Zelda title for mobile devices would offer or what it might cost. Nintendo's Super Mario Run title is an auto-runner that is free to start but costs $10 to unlock all the stages.
Considering that Zelda is one of Nintendo's biggest and best-known franchises, it's no surprise that the company would leverage the series as part of its mobile game endeavors.
As WSJ points out, the mobile games haven't been a big hit commercially, however, bringing in less than ¥20 billion ($176.4 million) for Nintendo covering the fiscal year ended March 30.
Also in WSJ's report today is news that The Pokemon Company, which Nintendo owns a 32 percent piece of, is making a new card-based Pokemon game for mobile devices. This information was sourced to a pair of unnamed sources, with The Pokemon Company declining to comment.
With months still to go before Call of Duty: WWII's release in November, Activision has installed a massive poster for the military shooter in southern California.
The Sledgehammer Games Twitter page brings us this image of the game's poster as seen on Santa Monica Boulevard, nearby Activision's headquarters in the city.
As the poster shows, Call of Duty: WWII comes out at the usual time for the series, launching on November 3 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
We might be seeing more posters for the game soon, as Activision typically has a poster for the year's Call of Duty game at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the site of E3.
While Call of Duty: WWII isn't out until November, Activision is launching the Zombies Chronicles expansion for Call of Duty: Black Ops III later this week, first on PS4. It includes eight remastered Zombies maps from past Treyarch-developed Call of Duty games.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles catches your eye immediately. With its striking, saturated, stylized scenes, this 3D open-world RPG may remind you of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Developed by a small team (3 staff and 2 contractors) at Australia's Prideful Sloth, Yonder differentiates itself from that game and others in that it has no combat whatsoever.
We played a portion of the game and visited a new biome, which you can see in the gameplay video above. There are eight biomes in all, so what you're seeing represents just a slice of what the game offers in terms of diversity and scope. Note that the video was captured on PC.
Zelda was not the only influence for Yonder. Prideful Sloth director Cheryl Vance says Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon were also touchstones throughout the game's development, something that becomes obvious when you dig into the game's farming system and meet the animals that inhabit the world. Additionally, she mentions a game that might surprise you: Shadow of the Colossus.
"Shadow of the Colossus was really impactful for me from the point of view of how beautiful and empty the world was, and you still enjoyed being in it," Vance said. "Between us and the contractors, we've probably got 100 gaming years under our belts--so a lot of influences in small, little ways, too. So many different things."
Your goal in Yonder is to clear out the "Murk," an evil presence that physically blocks your progression, by collecting sprites throughout the world of Gemea. Sprites are scattered throughout the world, and you also need to complete quests, including farming, to get what you need.
At the start of our gameplay demo, we came across a creature that looked like a buffalo who was chomping down on grass and minding his own business in the middle of a grassy field. Upon approaching the creature, it turned its back and shied away. To obtain the affection of a creature you must find the food it likes. After doing that, floating hearts appear and you're likely to let out an 'Awww' the first time you see this animation. After you've befriended an animal, you can lead it back to your farm where it will stay. You can customize the look and layout of your farm, placing items like stables and stalls on a grid system to your liking.
You must also grow crops, and collect items on quests (including things like gathering wood and cooking food) to curry favor with locals and get the items you need to eradicate the Murk. The Murk descended on Gemea due to an item called the Cloud Catcher becoming corrupted. It is your job to restore it and bring the world to peace again.
But why no combat? Vance told GameSpot that not including combat helps the game potentially appeal to a wider audience.
"That really came down to more of the influence of Harvest Moon and things like it...it's just more of a thing of going, 'What can we do and not wanting to put it in there was sort of the pillar we have, which is the called the 'safe, inviting world.' It's more about being able to load it, not run five minutes, and then get splattered. Our focus was the Nintendo audience, initially, [but now] it's broadened past that, which is nice to see."
Yonder has been purposefully designed to cater to a more casual crowd; those who want to pick up and play and not get frustrated with challenging controls.
"Not everybody wants to die. Once you get into the world, it doesn't feel like [combat] needs to be there. It's not something...it would feel odd, putting it in," Vance said.
Combat can sometimes, for some games, "get in the way" of the story, she explained.
While our Yonder demo was limited to a particular section of the larger world map, when the game launches, people will be able to basically run from one end to the other right from the start. It is this kind of freedom that Vance and Prideful Sloth wanted to emphasize, and combat was seen as something that could have gotten in the way of that open-endedness, she said.
There is a full day/night cycle in Yonder (some objectives and activities are only available at certain times of the day), as well as environmental effects such as rain. On top of that, Yonder has seasons, though our one-hour gameplay demo only brought us six days into the game world, so we did not see how the world changes with each season. One example Vance provided of how a particular season can impact gameplay is that in the winter, lakes will freeze, allowing you to cross where you otherwise could not.
The camera in Yonder is a treat. Presented from a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective, Yonder's camera is set far enough off the character to provide a wide field of view. Sometimes the camera is low to the ground, which provides a nice effect that frames the world in such a way that you can take in more of what's around you. Prideful Sloth worked with John Nesky, who worked on the camera features for thatgamecompany's acclaimed adventure game Journey.
Yonder launches on July 18 for PlayStation 4 and PC. Prideful Sloth is considering other platforms, though that will depend on if the game is successful. There are only two programmers at Prideful Sloth, Vance reminded us.
Here are some other things you might find interesting about Yonder:
When you jump off a high space, you float to the ground with an umbrella.
Tools do not break, so once you have an item in your inventory it will always work.
Yonder also has a trading/currency system; You can trade items you collect in the world to merchants or sell them.
The in-game economy, which is still being tweaked, Vance told us, will respond to your decisions. Flood the market with a lot of one item and its value will drop.
The creatures have silly names, including the Fabbit--which is a fat rabbit.
Prideful Sloth has a lot of ideas for what it could do for DLC or a sequel, if the first game is a hit.
According to his public LinkedIn profile page, Lee joined Microsoft in 2003 as a software test engineer, before joining Microsoft's game development division as a software development testing engineer in 2004.
Having already released "Anniversary" editions of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, Microsoft won't follow those up with a remaster of Halo 3, at least not yet.
Writing on Reddit as ske7ch343, Halo community manager Brian Jarrard said, "OMG stop. There is no Halo 3 Anniversary." This comment came as part of Jarrard's confirmation that Microsoft won't show Halo 6 at E3 2017 next month, though it will have "a little something" to reveal for a different project.
Halo 3 was released in September 2007, so some people thought it would be fitting to release a remaster to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary this year. But it's not going to happen, apparently.
Microsoft's Halo and Halo 2 Anniversary editions featured remastered campaigns and multiplayer support, along with the ability to switch between classic and remastered graphics.
According to Time, the popular sandbox game runs at 720p in both docked and mobile modes. Some fans might have wanted to see 1080p, but this is not possible due to "issues currently experienced shifting from one resolution to the other when docking/undocking," Time reported (via DualShockers), citing a Microsoft representative. According to the spokesperson, the Switch's power is not holding the game back from reaching 1080p, but instead the "issues" laid out above are to blame.
As Time points out, it is possible that Minecraft for Switch could reach 1080p if those items are sorted out. We will report back with more details as they become available.
Priced at $30, Minecraft for Switch features local and online multiplayer support as well as Mario-inspired skins, as you can see in the image gallery above.
In other Switch news, the eShop got a welcome upgrade recently, as it now allows users to store their credit card information. Previously, you had to enter it every time you made a new purchase, unless you were willing to add credit to your digital wallet on the system.
James Gunn wasn't always sure that he wanted to come back for the third chapter in the Guardians of the Galaxy series. In April, he announced his intention to direct the upcoming film. He almost didn't do it, and now the director has revealed one of the reasons why he was hesitant about coming back.
SPOILERS FOR GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 FOLLOW BELOW.
In a Facebook Q&A, Gunn said he almost said no to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because the character played by Michael Rooker, Yondu, is unlikely to factor into it much for obvious reasons.
"Let me tell you, there was nothing harder for me than the choice to kill Yondu in this movie," Gunn said, as reported by Entertainment Weekly, when asked why Yondu had to die. "Michael Rooker, for all the crap I give him, is one of my closest friends in the world and the last thing I wanted to do was to make a movie without Michael Rooker in the future. I almost didn't do Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because there was no Michael Rooker in it and I couldn't see making the movie without him."
Rooker has been in every one of Gunn's movies to date, going back to Slither. Gunn went on to say that he wrote versions of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's script where Yondu survived. But ultimately, that felt "dishonest," and it was changed so that Yondu didn't make it.
"He means that much to me and I love him that much. And it was the hardest choice I've ever had to make from a storytelling perspective to choose to have Yondu die," Gunn said. "I wrote a bunch of treatments where Yondu did not die. There were other endings--he was saved at the last minute after taking the sacrificial stance, and I wrote many drafts like that. And I realized I was being dishonest. That was not what this story was. For me, the most important thing in making a movie is to tell the truest and most honest story possible, and that's whether you're making a $500,000 indie film or a $200 million dollar spectacle film.
"And the truth of this story, this was about a father's true and ultimate love for his son," he added. "This is a movie about, Who really are our fathers? Who really are our siblings? And the only way for it to be an honest story was for Yondu to die, and anything else would have been half measures, and would have been me backing out because I was afraid to tell the truth. And so that's why Yondu dies."
Windows Central has obtained internal Microsoft documents that reveal a number of interesting data points and context around who the typical Xbox gamer is and more.
Based on the responses of 2,000 gamers in the US, the documents, distributed to development partners to help them understand the audience better, show that the 58 percent of Xbox gamers are male, compared to 42 percent female. The 25-34 age bracket is the biggest, at 28 percent, followed by 35-44 (23 percent), 18-24 (18 percent), 45-54 (15 percent), 13-17 (10 percent), and 55-65 (6 percent).
45 percent of respondents said they live with their spouse, followed next by 23 percent who said they live with their parents. In terms of household income, $50,000-$74,999 (21 percent) and $75,000-$99,999 (21 percent) were the highest in terms of percentages.
Another slide is focused on player behavior and how players fit into groups. Fifty-three percent of users are interested in "Socializing," which Microsoft defines as spending the most time on Xbox Live (17 hours per week) and has four times more friends than average. Forty-nine percent are in the "Exploring" category (plays an average of 15 games per year), while 31 percent are in the "Achievement" group, which means their Gamerscore is 2X more than others, have spent 37 months on Xbox Live, and play around 14 hours of multiplayer each week.
Last week, EA announced Tom Brady as the cover star for Madden 18. Given his stature as one of the league's best, most reliable players, some Patriots fans might be concerned about the so-called Madden Curse. Brady himself said in a statement that he doesn't believe in it (despite what happened last year) and now his team has put out a very silly video that expands on that even further.
In this TB12 video, Brady attends a fake board meeting of sorts where he criticizes his team for making him wear a "TB12 Performance Safety Bubble" that prevents him from injuries but negatively impacts his lifestyle and training. It gets better from there, leading up to something even worse (for Brady) at the end. Take a look:
In other Madden 18 news, creative director Rex Dickson has teased some of the new game mode styles that players can select in the upcoming pro football game. The options include Arcade, Simulation, and Competitive. You can see full descriptions for each of these in the image below.
Brady is one of the NFL's more polarizing players. A lot of people love him and a lot of people love to hate him. Not everyone on EA's own Madden development team likes him. Dickson, the game's creative director, (jokingly?) tweeted that he wished EA would have OK'ed the following cover art proposal:
Madden 18 launches on August 25 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, though there are multiple ways to play early. The game's first teaser trailer suggests that it will have some kind of story mode, possibly not unlike FIFA's The Journey. More details will be announced at EA Play during E3 in June.
Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky's next film is titled Mother!, so he took the opportunity today--on Mother's Day--to celebrate in his own way.
The director released the first poster for Mother!, which shows actress Jennifer Lawrence holding her heart in her hands, ripped from her chest. Blood covers her white dress. The colorful background shows frogs, flowers, and vines. It is very eye-catching, and you have artist James Jean to thank for that.
— darren aronofsky (@DarrenAronofsky) May 14, 2017
According to Entertainment Weekly, Mother! is a psychological thriller that "follows the story of a couple whose relationship is tested by a group of unexpected visitors."
Skyfall actor Javier Bardem's name is also on the poster; he apparently plays Lawrence's other half. The film also stars Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kristen Wiig, Domhnall Gleeson, and Brian Gleeson.
Mother! opens on October 13. Let us know in the comments below what you think of the poster.
Marvel's latest superhero movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, is still on top.
The latest US box office estimates have arrived, showing that the movie made $63 million this weekend, according to Entertainment Weekly. That is significantly ahead of the No. 2 film, Amy Schumer's Snatched ($17.5 million). Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has now made around $246.2 million domestically after just two weeks.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 made $145 million for its first weekend in the US, meaning sales dropped 57 percent week-over-year. That downturn is of course expected, given the front-loaded nature of Marvel movies and others, but the dropoff is less than Iron Man 2 and Avengers: Age of Ultron, which each fell 59.4 percent for the second weekends.
The movie premiered earlier globally, and made $115.2 million more this weekend from international markets. Worldwide, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has now pulled in $630.6 million.
Elsewhere, Guy Ritchie's new King Arthur movie starring Charlie Hunnam finished in the No. 3 position with $14.7 million. According to EW, the movie had a $170 million budget, so it's not off to the best start. It made $29.1 million from international markets to boost the worldwide total to $43.8 million.
In fourth place this weekend was The Fate of the Furious, which made $5.3 million in its fifth week. Worldwide, the film now has pulled in $1.193 billion, making it the 11th highest-grossing movie in history, overtaking Minions ($1.16 billion).
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