Zen Studios is best known for their entries into the Pinball genre, but this time the team is busy creating CastleStorm, a medieval themed game that is described as a “super genre mashup of physics based destruction meets tower defense brawler.” The team wanted to share their creation process of their newest game and have done so by sharing a developer diary which you can watch below.
CastleStorm pits Knights and Vikings against each other in real time battles. The game features a story-driven campaign mode, online and splitscreen multiplayer, co-op and more with multiple winning conditions for each mode such as destroying their castle or stealing their flag. An arsenal of fun and explosive weapons is available at your disposal such as apple grenades, flying sheep and my personal favourite, homing eagles. As you battle, new troop classes and weapons become unlocked.
CastleStorm has been in development for over a year and looks to offer unique, fun gameplay coupled with some gorgeous graphics. Make sure you check out this title when it releases on May 29th for the Xbox Live Arcade.
That game is “One Piece: Unlimited World Red” which will be the latest game to fit into the “Unlimited” title and we haven’t seen one of those for at least three years. Like a great deal of Anime games Namco Bandai Games is developing the “Multi-Action Adventure” title which is a good sign in my opinion because Namco Bandai never seem to miss a mark when it comes to Anime games. There has been no release date set as of yet nor is there a price set though it really doesn’t come as a surprise considering it was just revealed but I can’t imagine we will be waiting too much of a long time before we get more information on the title.
The new game has gotten me excited, if not all other One Piece fans out there. This game will NOT be a Wii Port or anything of the like it’s going to be totally new and…guess what? It’s going to be Multi-Player Co-op. Yeah! The game will allow for up to four players to all join each other, play through the story, back each other up and explore the One Piece world. If you look closely at the image you can see mini games like fishing and bug-catching which seems silly and boring but with three friends at your side blazing through mini games will be a cake walk, it also helps to know that those types of things wont be what the whole game is about.
The announcement page also reveals that the One Piece Romance Dawn role-playing game is getting a port for the 3DS which will be shipped, in Japan, on the 8th of August.
Keep your eyes on the site for more info on this gem as it’s released and don’t forget to head to our comments section below to tell us what you think about this.
While we’ve already seen bits of news concerning Jacky and Ein being in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, Tecmo Koei has officially announced the addition of these new characters and also released a handful of screenshots and a gameplay video showing them in action.
Besides these two, the company also announced that there will be a few new costumes for the fighters, including Hitomi wearing a pony-tail, Kasumi in a blue cardigan, and Christie in a sexy police officer’s outfit. There are also two new stages called “Lost World” and “Forest.” The forest stage and Kasumi’s new outfit can be seen above while the Lost World stage and the fighters in action can be found below.
It’s been five long years since we first got our taste on first-person free running video games, but a sequel to 2008’s Mirror’s Edge may have inadvertently been announced thanks on an online listing.
Amazon Germany has posted (though now removed) a product listing for the yet to be announced game in what looks to be an Xbox One case. An eagle eyed NeoGAF user spotted the product, but apparently it’s no secret that the game has been in development for quite sometime.
In response to the sighting, a representative from EA has simply stated:
“We appreciate fan enthusiasm for Mirror’s Edge, especially fans throughout the retail channel. This is not official EA material. We have nothing to announce at this time.”
With all the buzz surround the PlayStation 4 and the recently announced Xbox One, it doesn’t seem too left of field that Mirror’s Edge will be making a return on the next generation of consoles.
Today fans of the PlayStation Vita exclusive Ragnarok Odyssey will be pleased to hear that it’s enhanced version, Ragnarok Odyssey Ace, will be making its way to both North America and Europe this Winter season. Interestingly enough, it was announced that Marvelous USA/XSEED will be handling the publishing of the game in North America while Europe will be getting the game from GungHo Online Entertainment America.
It is interesting to note that Ragnarok Odyssey Ace will be available for both the PlayStation Vita as well as the PlayStation 3. Those interested in seeing our review for the original Ragnarok Odyssey can find it here.
Today Rockstar Games announced both Special and Collector’s Editions for Grand Theft Auto V which will be released alongside the basic edition on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 7th.
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The Special Edition which costs $79.99 comes with the following bonuses:
Full retail copy of Grand Theft Auto V;
Collectible SteelBook with Exclusive Artwork – features custom color and metallic treatments to bring out the detail of the Michael, Trevor and Franklin artwork created exclusively for this SteelBook;
Blueprint Map – exclusive, 21.5″ x 26.75″ map displays a blueprint view of Los Santos and Blaine County;
Special Ability Boost – Michael, Franklin and Trevor each have a unique special ability. With this boost, the special ability bar will generate 25% faster;
Stunt Plane Trials – single-player Stunt Plane Trials let players take on additional aerial challenges spread throughout Los Santos and Blaine County;
Bonus Outfits, Tattoos and More – Michael, Franklin and Trevor get bonus outfits in their wardrobes, character specific tattoos at tattoo parlors, and special deals from shopkeepers across Los Santos and Blaine County;
Additional Weapons – when visiting Ammunation stores in single-player, merchants will have special weapons in their inventory available for free: the Pistol .50, Bullpup Shotgun and melee Hammer
Click to see full image
As for the Collector’s Edition, it will cost $149.99 but come with a number of additional bonuses including:
Includes the contents of Grand Theft Auto V Special Edition
Grand Theft Auto V Security Deposit Bag with Logo Key – inspired by the heists in Grand Theft Auto V, this custom 10.75″ x 8.5″ money bag features a pop-up style lock and laser cut logo key to secure important items. The reverse side features a pressed Rockstar Games logo on the security mount with a framed ID window;
Grand Theft Auto V New Era 9FIFTYTM Snapback Cap – this exclusive New Era 9FIFTYTM cap features an embroidered Los Santos logo on the front, a stitched, black Rockstar Games logo on the wearer’s left side, a Grand Theft Auto ‘V’ logo applique on the opposite side, and snapback closure for an adjustable fit;
Custom Characters for Grand Theft Auto Online – get classic Grand Theft Auto characters to use within the Grand Theft Auto Online Character Creation System;
Unique Vehicles and Garage Property – players will instantly receive a garage to store custom vehicles. In single-player, the garage will be stocked with the 1930′s style Hotknife hotrod and the CarbonRS sports bike. In Grand Theft Auto Online, players will get the high-end Khamelion electric car.
Comes packaged in a collectible outer box featuring a foil embossed Grand Theft Auto V logo on the top and finished with a matte, scuff-resistant film lamination housing all of the contents.
It is also worth noting that anyone who pre-orders the game will gain access to the “Atomic Blimp.”
CD Projekt RED are best known for the Witcher series, the first of which we saw back in 2007. Following the success of the first and second title, the studio gained international acclaim, and are now back to bring us not just one, but two new offerings. We recently got the chance to speak to CD Projekt RED’s Project Leader, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, to find out more about the much anticipated ‘Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ and the equally enticing ‘Cyberpunk 2077’.
CC: First of all, thank you for taking the time to speak to us. I’m very keen to learn more about the latest Witcher title and I’m sure that’s a curiosity shared by many of our readers. So to kick things off, what can you tell us about Projekt RED’s early days?
KT: Boy, did we have fun back in the early days. I mean, we actually have more fun now, but reminiscing about the “old days”… Well, it seems everything had this special glow back then. RED studio came into being in 2002 and began working on the first Witcher installment a year later. Back then, The Witcher 1 was the biggest-budget Polish game ever and, in a way, we were pioneering development on such a large scale in our country. We went big right off the bat – we cooperated with the Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Tomasz Bagiński, comic book writer Przemysław Truściński and, most importantly, Andrzej Sapkowski – the author of the Witcher book series.
Don’t get me wrong – we had a fairly good idea how to go about making a game, but many things were new to us, especially the scope of what we wanted to do. We decided our first game would be an RPG, and a complex one at that, set in a grim universe, which isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to pull off. Still, we were doing what we loved, which is what gave us the fuel to keep going. After all, we were developing a game that we’d like to play ourselves. Eventually, The Witcher turned out to be a critical success, winning over 100 awards, as well as the hearts of RPG fans around the world.
CC: What games of old have inspired Projekt RED’s work?
KT: Definitely RPGs – we’ve got a full spectrum of role-playing fans here at RED. Whether it’s DOS-era dungeon crawlers, custom LARPs (including Witcher-themed ones), pen-and-paper games or Japanese RPGs on consoles no one has even heard of – I bet there’s someone at CD Project RED that has played them, mastered them and continues to play them to this day. We draw inspiration from all of these every day – singling out one or two titles that inspired us is just impossible.
CC: We know Projekt RED best for the stunning Witcher series, what can you tell us about the upcoming ‘Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’?
KT: In a nutshell, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will combine all the things you loved about the previous games with open world exploration. A deep and mature story, emotionally-provocative choices and a gritty world full of social inequality – it’s all here and it’s more intense than ever. This time around, however, you’ll get to experience it in a world that you can traverse as you wish. Explore it on horseback or by boat, scale cliffs, swim through lakes – for the first time in the series, we provide gamers with this kind of flexibility of exploration. And it’s going to rock! Keep in mind, though, that we haven’t changed the series’ focus – yes, you can explore the world as you please, but we’re not forgetting what made the previous games such a success – the story is still key and it’s going to be our proudest accomplishment.
CC: How important has the response from fans been in the development of Wild Hunt?
KT: Very. Something we always have in the back of our minds is why we’re actually making these games and who we’re making them for. How could we not listen to our players? We have a very active and supportive community, and the forums are full of great ideas, feedback and general chatter on do’s and don’ts from the gamers’ perspective. For example – Geralt himself has been and undoubtedly will continue to be one of our most discussed topics. We’ve been approached countless times about modifying his appearance: hair in ponytails or loose, cut long or short, with a beard or without – it’s all been subject to player scrutiny and we love every bit of it. We’ve also benefited a ton from gamers commenting on the games’ interface, quests and much more. Fans are our best focus-testers and that’s why we love them so much!
CC: Has there been talk of a fourth game? Or will this be the last in the series?
KT: I’d rather not dodge this question with a typical “yes, everything’s possible,” but that’s exactly the case – one of the fun things about making games is that nothing’s written in stone. Still, currently we’re only focusing on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, so let’s leave talk about what the future might bring for another occasion.
CC: What, in your opinion, drove the success of the first two Witcher games?
KT: I think it was definitely the approach we adopted. We consciously decided to open the genre to mature players and then proceeded to bring this vision to life. The Witcher games were never about just “running around fighting monsters and gaining experience points” – we always wanted to master storytelling and, well, that’s what we did. Backed by Andrzej Sapkowski’s great universe, we introduced a never-before-seen depth to how fantasy worlds can be constructed. One of the things we’re most proud of is how this world mimics the problems of contemporary societies – we’ve got social inequality, plotlines that tackle racism and other wrongs that you can see in the world around you. There’s no clear distinction between good and evil – our world is not binary, it’s focused on that big swath of gray between black and white. Tough choices generating real consequences at every juncture – that’s what secured us a spot in gaming dictionaries under “non-linearity”. The Witcher is not your typical story of orcs killing your family and you, the “it-just-so-happens” long-lost heir to the throne, slashing at everything you see out of vengeance. We delivered a compelling tale of a complex hero in a richly-developed world… and gamers got hooked!
CC: What can you tell us about the inspiration behind your newest project, ‘Cyberpunk 2077‘?
KT: The Witcher universe is unique – we approach fantasy like no other game developer. A lot of the world is built on the tension stemming from processes that play out on a larger, societal level. These processes engulf individual characters, shaping them and prompting their actions. This is one of the things we love in the Witcher and, well, we saw a lot of potential to translate this dynamic to Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk. His original vision stated “Cyberpunk is about the seductive qualities of corruption and decay… It doesn’t have to be dirty or grimy on the physical level. But on the psycho-social level, even the cleanest and most orderly Corp-zone should be rife with darkness and collapse.” That’s well in sync with how we perceive a well-constructed and engrossing game world.
CC: What can we expect to see in terms of gameplay? Will Cyberpunk make use of the Witcher engine?
KT: It’s too early to disclose gameplay information just yet. On the technical side of things, however, I can confirm that Cyberpunk 2077 is being developed on the REDengine. If you want to get a feeling of how it’s going to look like in terms of visual quality, keep an eye on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – we’re going to raise the bar for the whole genre with these two games.
CC: Will this too, become a series? Or is this a standalone title?
KT: We’re not really into announcing sequels before releasing the main game. Let’s make one game and then talk about the possibility of others.
CC: What would you say separates Projekt RED from other development studios?
KT: It’s hard to answer that kind of question because I’m not objective – RED is the best studio on the planet *laughs*. Seriously though, we believe in our games, we believe in supporting them to give gamers a complete experience – The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings received two major updates, 2.0 and an Enhanced Edition, for free. We don’t believe in DRM, so we cope without it wherever we can, and even though we develop games with the “it’s ready when it’s done” attitude and might seem a little tight-lipped at times about release dates and details on our works-in-progress, we still communicate with our community extensively. As far as the practical side of work at our studio goes, RED consists of people who not only like making games, but also like each other – this significantly improves the overall quality of what gamers can later find on the shelves. I know that sounds like something from a recruitment website, but in this case, well, it’s just the truth.
CC: What can we expect to see from Projekt RED moving into 2014?
KT: The quality we’re known for, massive amounts of new info and a great next-generation RPG.
And so our interview with CD Projekt RED’s Konrad Tomaszkiewicz comes to a close, but those wanting to find out more should visit CD Projekt RED’s official blog for the latest updates on both releases.
Similar to games like Street Fighter and Streets of Rage, Combo Crew was designed especially for today’s mobile gamers. The touch controls are smooth and intuitive, so your fingers do the fighting with no virtual D-pad to get in the way. You’ll swipe over baddies to attack them, tap and hold to unleash a powerful combo breaker, tap the screen to counter and swipe with two fingers to perform special combos.
The single player mode stars a trio of heroes; video game obsessive Parker, martial arts master Gina, and action movie celeb Dolph, who are being held prisoner in a giant tower. They must face off against hordes of enemies in order to fight their way to the top. Players must master each characters unique fighting style and special moves, unleash crazy combo streaks, and try for a high score to win the gold medal.
In co-op mode friends team up to rescue and revive each other from KO. Best of all, the multiplayer is cross-platform, so iOS and Android users can play together as part of the same crew.
Emeric Thoa, The Game Bakers’ creative director says:
With Combo Crew, we wanted to recreate the fun of playing a brawler co-op with a friend on the sofa, but adapt this to mobile gaming. So the Draw Something style asynchronous multiplayer really made sense. And if your friends aren’t around, no problem, we’ve included ourselves on the friend list. So if you’re in a pinch, you can request a rescue from The Game Bakers and one of the developers will help you out!
But just how much will this “fee” cost for gamers? In an interview with Kotaku, Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison indicated that the fee to play a new game on another console, unless the original profile is signed in, would be equivalent to the full retail price of the game in question.
Let’s assume it’s a new game, so the answer is yes, it will be the same price.
So is Microsoft killing the used game market? Kind-of-sort-of-not-really-but-maybe? We don’t know, actual concrete details on Xbox One’s ability to play used games is scarce at the moment.
Harrison went on to say that there would be a way to trade your previously played games online. Though he didn’t go into any further details than that.
Microsoft has released a official comment on the used game situation stating that:
We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We’ll have more details to share later.
Keep in mind that the system has just been announced and rumours and speculation are just that, rumours and speculation. So in the meantime we’ll have to wait a little longer until we know what the real deal is.
Housemarque, the award winning developer of titles such as Dead Nation, Outland and Super Stardust HD, announced they are hard at work on two unnamed PlayStation 4 exclusives. One has been announced as a ‘spiritual successor’ to the Super Stardust franchise.
Super Stardust HD was one of the early PlayStation Network hits. It was the first game to get trophies patched in and the first to run at 60 frames per second, and at 720p in each eye with its 3D effect too.
Housemarque’s CEO Ilari Kuittinen said that they are;
Super excited to be working on Sony’s next-gen hardware. The platform’s performances are enabling us to do things that wouldn’t be possible otherwise and we truly believe that better technology can lead to better gameplay.
He followed on stating that;
The more tools and resources we have at our disposal, the better. We can take advantage of the architecture of PlayStation 4 to create incredible visuals with direct impact on the way the new game feels.
No details were provided on either of these two games, but Housemarque teased that more news will be coming in the next couple of months. So hopefully we’ll get to see the Finnish studio’s new works at E3 and if not then surely at Gamescom in August. Housemarque have consistently proven they can make a great quality game time and time again and these two titles are definitely something to get excited about.
