Saints Row IV keeps keeping on with their Hail to the Chief series this week with a look at the Abduction gun perfect for getting all sorts of pesky things out of the way. But, it seems that the new video isn’t the only piece of news developer Volition and publisher Deep Silver have for today as they used the release of this video as the perfect time to announce that Saints Row IV is now gold.
Now that Saints Row IV is set to start being manufactured and is all but ensured to make its release date, true fans of the series that don’t want to miss out on any DLC will be interested to hear that the Season Pass is now available for purchase. Priced at a mere $9.99, the Season Pass will include two mission packs (the first being a director’s cut of “Enter the Dominatrix”) and one exclusive weapon, the “Rectifier” anal probe.
So, be sure to watch the newest Hail to the Chief video embedded below and those wanting to purchase the Saints Row IV Season Pass can find it in retailers now. Saints Row IV is set to release August 20th in North America and August 23rd worldwide for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
For those that weren’t aware there is a special competition going on right now to win a chance to experience GT Academy 2013 and learn real racing skills. For fans of racing games like the Gran Turismo series this might be a dream come true and as it would seem this is exactly the kind of people the competition is for as to qualify, players must download the GT Academy 2013 demo from the PlayStation Store on the PS3 and then race their hearts outs to meet the qualifying time.
Now the competition is currently on its final week of qualifying, so players that are just starting are going to need all the help they can get, which may be why a new video was released with first winner of GT Academy, Lucas Ordonez, offering up some pro tips. So, anyone wanting to cash in on these tips can view the video embedded below.
Those wanting to win a chance to get advance access to Gran Turismo 6 from developer Polyphony Digital as well as the full GT Academy 2013 experience can download the demo for PS3 today and get racing. Those wanting more information on the competition can find it on their website.
The latest adventure that Sam Fisher is set to undertake had a lot of focus thanks to the Stealth Gaming Panel at PAX Aus, mainly in show casing the fact that Splinter Cell: Blacklist is about letting players play the way that they want. Which seems to be pretty well planned by Ubisoft as the newest trailer as all about these different play styles.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is all about choice in how to tackle the different levels. With 3 different play styles; Ghost, Panter, and Assault players can handle things as stealthy and lethal as they choose. The trailer does a good job explaining just what the differences are between the three; Ghost being unseen and nonlethal, Panther being unseen and lethal, and Assault being seen and lethal but not leaving anyone to talk about it.
Those wanting to check out the trailer for themselves to see the best way to utilize each play style can watch it embedded below. Splinter Cell: Blacklist will release August 23rd, 2013 for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, and PC.
PAX Australia 2013 in Melbourne was host to a number of great exhibitors and panels, but it was also home to a wealth of brilliant cosplayers each strutting their stuff clad in the garb of their favourite characters.
Be it video-game characters, TV/film characters or even anime characters, the cosplayers at PAX Australia 2013 had it covered. On show was characters from Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Star Wars and even Team Fortress 2. All in all it was a great showcase of cosplay from a great number of cosplayers.
You can check out some of these great cosplayer’s efforts in the photo gallery below for a full look at the caliber of cosplay at PAX Australia 2013.
At PAX Australia 2013 in Melbourne, we were able to get out hands on the upcoming Wii U remake of the legendary Gamecube classic Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker at Nintendo’s booth. The game takes the classic Zelda adventure into the world of high-definition all the while retaining the charming visuals which enchanted gamers a decade ago.
Upon getting my hands on Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, I was overcome by a sense of sheer joy the likes of which I had not felt since I first played The Wind Waker a decade ago. The visuals are as charming as they are gorgeous and truly faithful to the original game. This is indeed the Gamecube classic, only polished to perfection and brought to life once more with today’s tech.
The game still retains the original’s sense of scale. There is no Legend of Zelda game that feels as vast and immense as The Wind Waker, the world is huge and naturally so inspires a sense of curiosity that players won’t be able to shake. This is a world you want to explore and with your trusty ship, the ocean is your playground and the world is yours to see.
That exploration aspect is what made the original Wind Waker such a remarkable game. There was always the feeling that there is more to see. In most game worlds, it expands to a point where it no longer can expand and thus retracts and feels smaller, such is not the case with Wind Waker which never feels as though it ends.
In terms of gameplay, the fundamental mechanics of the Legend of Zelda series are retained and the game feels very much like the original Wind Waker game. This is a very good thing, because the original itself was a brilliant game in every regard. The exploration balanced with combat and puzzles is perhaps the best of the series. The combat is addictive and fun, while the puzzles are challenging and satisfying. On top of that the game’s excellent exploration elements make this the perfect all round package in the Legend of Zelda series.
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker may not be the game that many remember the franchise for, but it should be. It is the most innovative and experimental game in the series and a true gem that many overlooked a decade ago due to its allegedly ‘kiddy’ visuals. The game is a masterpiece and is made even better in beautiful HD.
In 2003, The Wind Waker was far ahead of its time. It challenged preconceptions of what a Legend of Zelda game could be and what kind of worlds and journeys video-games could take us on. It stands up today as one of the greatest achievements in video-game history and this HD remake does this legendary game true justice.
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is a must-have title for the Wii U. Whether you played the original or you didn’t, this is a game the must be experienced. The wind rises once again for one of Nintendo’s greatest works, don’t miss out on The Wind Waker HD, it is the game to own on the Wii U.
At PAX Australia 2013, it was nice to see two things – other than blockbuster AAA adventures – take the focus of the crowds: indie titles and the Oculus Rift. With Wander, we got to experience both. Wander is a non-combat, non-competitive and collaborative exploration game. Its Creative Director is the trickster God himself, Loki (Davison), whom I snatched away from the busy booth for about 10 minutes. The following is our interview. Be sure to read to the end for a quick impression of the game and its utilisation of the Oculus Rift.
So why don’t you tell us about your history in games development and on Wander.
We’ve been doing lots of different things for a while – this group was set up specifically for this game, so this group is also called Wander. Because we thought, making this kinda scale game as an indie, I think it’s kinda peculiar to think that we could actually make other games at the same time and have a suite of different games. For this one, I’m planning this to be the game that we keep making for hopefully a very long time. Like Eve – Eve has been continuously updated for what, about eleven years now?
I hope that we can keep doing Wander for a while. I mean, we’ll release it soon. We’ll be in open beta in about two weeks. People will be able to buy it then, but our main release is going to be probably September-ish, just in time for the Sydney Fringe Festival (Sept 11-18). But then we’re gonna keep updating it; it’s an online multiplayer kinda game after all. They are their own, unique beast.
Speaking of, in terms of goals, we’re seeing a blend of all these genres lately with online, multiplayer and single-player all coming together and so they’re becoming a lot less clear. Maybe you could give us an overview of the game and what the goals are.
I think we’re a very different focus. There are a lot of online games where, like World of Warcraft or games like that, there is a narrow experience as far as multiplayer gameplay goes, either because you don’t interact with other players much, or because it’s very goal centred – all your discussions in the game are about “how do we kill those guys better?” or “how do we focus on this particular, very specific goal?” Like, I love World of Tanks, I think it’s a good game. I’m playing World of Tanks and World of Warplanes right now. But, the conversations I have usually when playing are about “what direction should we go, what should we do, how should we attack these people?”
Wander is much less goal oriented and is more about the interactions where somebody is lost in the forest and they find somebody else after ‘wandering’ a bit – and the world is 64 square kilometres and then you’ve got the floating island and stuff – so unless there are a lot of players on at once, you’re not going to run into that many of them, but when you do, it’s very exciting. And there’s no map or indicators to show you where you are or where they are. So when you meet somebody else, you can ask them “hey, have you seen anything cool?” because lots of the stuff is pretty hard to find. There are a few things we thought or hoped people would find here.
The easiest way to find something in Wander is find somebody else that’s found it and ask them. And they’re like “oh yeah, I found this really awesome area with this big cave system, and you can enter it from here…” So there’s things like that. And with characters; you start off as the Ent – a giant, living tree – and then as you explore you can start to discover other characters. That’s not the goal of the game, it’s just a thing that lets you achieve other things in the game. You can find the griffin and fly, or you can find the sea creature and swim. The elf is more agile than the Ent and you can get into smaller places.
We’re planning much later to add a butterfly as well. Not enough games have butterflies as playable characters. But then again, not enough games have quadrupeds as playable characters, which has been a technical challenge for us. We really wanted to focus on giving you the feel of what it’s like to be those different creatures. They are also difficult to find in some cases, but there’s a little bit of a hint in the world because they sing to you; like a siren’s song. They sing as opera singers.
Is that, and also the communication with other players, partially a conscious design decision in helping players get their bearings because you fear they may get frustrated if they are unsuccessful in finding anything after a long period of time? Obviously it’s about exploration and that’s not the point…
Yeah, those kind of things help with that. There are a lot of game design choices that you have to have when you’re moving away from such traditional mechanics. But as well as having these different mechanics, people also naturally know how to navigate a bit. When you get used to an area, you recognise landmarks. People got around okay before there were GPS’s. Fantasy has more GPS’s than I’d expect, but Wander is a different type of fantastical landscape.
What has working with the Oculus Rift been like for you? So many people have been praising it.
Yeah, I think for our kind of game it’s great because we’re an exploration based game. And we’re kind of slow-moving and it’s about enjoying and experiencing what it’s like to be a character so it works well. It’s very good. I like playing it both ways [mouse and keyboard also] – they’re very different experiences. And you can also see that we’re using the hydras, the motion controllers. I think traditional controllers are a bit peculiar with Wanderand the Rift. I mean, I love mouse and keyboard when you’re playing on a screen, but with the rift it kind of distracts you from the world.
So the game wasn’t designed for the Rift?
We thought of it early on, but the Oculus Rift, I think, is an improvement to the basic concept. The Rift integration isn’t an add-on really as much, it is something we thought of early on. But without the Rift, it is a game we wanted to make because we didn’t think there were enough games that focus on this. I love post-apocalyptic shooters and all kinds of things, but those are stories that have been told really, really well. Stalker does an amazing job of telling that story. But I don’t think there’s a game like this.
After our interview, I briefly got to go hands-on with Wander using the Oculus Rift. I didn’t spend too much time with it as there was a constant line all day, every day to play this – Loki and the team were very pleased. As for my experience, the first thing when strapping on the Rift is to do some calibration, which is basically lining up your vision with your feet and then looking up and down, side to side. Once that was done, I “took off” as an Ent. At first, movement wasn’t particularly accurate as pressing straight up on the Hydra thumbstick would have me move in a slightly diagonal direction, but I settled into it quite quickly. I also heard the aforementioned siren call of the elf before passing the transformation portal Loki spawned me near.
Soon enough I had been transformed into the griffin…well, before that, Loki told me to jump off the cliff before the crucial step of divulging how to fly. Maybe he just didn’t like me… *sobs*. Anyway, after joking about my apparent suicide, I was reset and took flight. For the first few seconds, I actually felt a small sense of vertigo, but it dissipated shortly after. Then it was just about acclimating to the rolling as I seemed intent on flying upside down and meeting a similar fate to my last griffin. I did eventually make a pretty great landing in the forest though. Overall, the Rift does a good job of immersing you in the world you’re playing in, although it was quite blurry. I’m assuming this is a technical limitation of early devkits.
If you would like to learn more about Wander, please visit their official website, and keep it locked to Capsule Computers as we continue to update you on the game and all things Oculus Rift related.
You can download the game now on the Steam Store right here. Alternatively you can pick up the game on the Nordic Games store in both the Standard Edition and Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition comes with the game’s official soundtrack and a special ‘making of’ booklet that details to game’s creation. Be sure to pick up Raven – Legacy of a Master Thief now.
Indie developer, Kidalang, have confirmed the release date for their upcoming iOS game Sage Fusion 2. They have announced that Sage Fusion 2 will hit the iTunes app store on the 14th of August, 2013.
Sage Fusion 2 is a hybrid title that combined elements of both role-playing games, adventure games and even visual novels. The original Sage Fusion was released last year in November 2012.
The game is said to have been designed to accommodate players who have not played the original Sage Fusion, so you will be able to understand the story of Sage Fusion 2 regardless of having played the original.
You can check out the official trailer for Kidalang’s upcoming Sage Fusion 2 game below. Be sure to pick up Sage Fusion 2 when it launches on the iOS on August 14th, 2013.
Welcome to another episode of CC Indie Spotlight with Senior Editor Jamie Laike Tsui, where we demo the latest and greatest of indie gaming.
This episode features Lost Marbles from Binary Takeover. The developers drew inspiration from two classic games, Marble Madness and The Lost Vikings and created a brand new game. The result is a unique puzzle platformer that is sure to win the hearts of indie gamers everywhere. Lost Marbles gives players control of three unique marbles, and tasks the players to successfully navigate a course full of deadly traps.
Lost Marbles is available for Mac and Windows. It costs $9.99 and is available from the official Binary Takeover site as a DRM-free download. Want to know more about Lost Marbles? Be sure to check out our review.
Along with our interview with the Senior Producer on Assassin’s Creed IV, we made another stop at the Ubisoft booth at PAX Aus to interview Stephane Jankowski, the Producer on the free to play online card game Might & Magic: Duel of Champions at Ubisoft Quebec. Stephane took us through the process of turning the Might & Magic universe into a card game, keeping the game balanced and what’s next for Duel of Champions.
Q: For those out there who might not know about Might & Magic: Duel of Champions, would you mind explaining a bit about what the game is and how it is played ?
Might & Magic: Duel of Champions is an online free to play card game. It’s happening on PC and on iPad and is actually a cross platform game so when you are on one platform you can play against players from the other and vice versa. Your account also follows you so you can play on PC and carry on later on the iPad if you want. It’s really a traditional card game set within the Might & Magic universe. So you have your hero trying to defeat the opponent’s hero using different creatures and spells that you can strategically place on the battlefield.
Q: Did you find the Might & Magic universe easy to transition into a card game ?
That was the beginning of the story. We had some card players who were big fans of the Might & Magic universe. We figured it would be a good idea so we started prototyping and we developed a good concept, pitched it to the top management at Ubisoft and they were like let’s do it, let’s create the game.
Q: Do you have a favourite card or strategy you like to use in the game ?
(Laughs) Personally I’m a sanctuary player. So it’s a control strategy so you play slow paced and you outmanuever the other player. You move the other player’s cards directly during your turn, it’s an enraging strategy and the other player hates playing against that.
Q: Do you monitor the online play to ensure there are no dominant strategies or cards that players begin to abuse ?
Yes we have many different steps here. So we have a pool of players that are really passionate about the games. We give them access to new cards before they are released so they can help us balance the game, give their insight etc. Then when we release the cards, we monitor the game using data analytics. We have full insight into how the game is being played, who is winning against who, are any cards dominating etc. That helps us alot to bring balance to the game, if we see that there is a huge inbalance we can do some live changes.
Q: Have you found the free to play model to be successeful for duel of champions ?
Yeah it’s really successful for everyone. For us at Ubisoft the model is working, for the players it’s really interesting because there is no limitation. We don’t have an energy system or play five times in a day and come back tomorrow, it’s really accessible for everyone and all the content is actually accessible for free. So you can get all the cards if you don’t want to pay. You still have a chance to get all the cards if you are lucky enough or spend enough time in the game. For us it’s a balance that works and makes alot of sense.
Q: The game has been made available on the iPad, will be seeing an Android version in the near future?
Well we are working on the technical details for that. Programming and development for the Android world is alot different than the iPad stuff so we are looking into that. If things are going well we will have good news on that.
Q: The Road to Paris championships was just announced. What do we have to look forward to with that and what goes into making a worldwide event like that happen ?
Oh my God, yeah as you say it’s a big event. So what we are doing is some live events like here at PAX Australia where we are doing some live qualifications. The tournament happened yesterday, we had a big, big, big final with the two finalists fighting very, very closely. It ended up being one card that made the difference in the end in the final game so it was a really cool final. The finalists will be flying to Paris this Fall to play in the Paris Games Week event at the big final with the eight best players in the world. We are also doing some online qualifications. You can go to Road2Paris.com, you can register and if you are good enough after one month of qualification you can also qualify to compete in the Road to Paris.
Q: Thank you for your time Stephane. What’s next for Duel of Champions in terms of incoming content? Will we be seeing new expansion packs ?
We are always releasing new content. Every three months or so we are adding new cards. Right now we already have about 400 cards in the game and we are announcing the next expansion very soon for September. We are always aiming to add new content, new game modes and as we discussed we are going to look into new platforms. Competition is also a big, big thing so we are doing alot of tournaments around the world so there is a good chance you are going to see us around.
If this interview has peaked your interest and you want to give Might & Magic: Duel Of Champions a go yourself, you can play right now online for free (the game is also available on iPad from the iTunes store).
If you like the game and fancy your chances as a master dueler, you may be able to compete in the Road to Paris Championships that will be held during Paris Games Week from October 30 to November 3. Jesse Coad, known to gamers as ‘Jezilla’, triumphed over 32 other contestants at the qualifier held at PAX Aus over the weekend and earned himself a spot to compete in the Championships later in the year. He will go up against other contestants that have already qualified or will qualify at various tournaments that will be held at a number of future gaming conventions. If you wish to learn more about the Road to Paris Tournament Series, please click here.
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