The long wait is finally over for PlayStation 3 owners of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim who want to purchase DLC for the game. Today gamers throughout the world can now turn on their PlayStation 3 and access the PlayStation Store to download the most recent piece of DLC for the game, Dragonborn.
For the first week of the DLC’s release it will be sold at a 50% discount compared to the normal price tag. The rest of the game’s DLC, Hearthfire and Dawnguard are going to follow shortly after this DLC with Hearthfire arriving on February 20th while Dawnguard will be released on Febraury 27th.
We’ve seen plenty of Western based super heroes appearing in movies, comics and television series, but what about a super hero oriented anime? Well Viz Media is bringing one such series to a store shelf near you next week in the form of Tiger & Bunny which focuses on an aging hero being paired with a younger hero who possesses the same super power as him. Viz Media will be releasing the first half of the Tiger & Bunny anime series, which contains episodes 1-13 of the 26 episode anime season.
It is worth noting that Tiger & Bunny Set 1 will be released on both Blu-ray and DVD and interestingly enough, the Blu-ray version of the series will contain a special bonus feature called the “Making of Tiger & Bunny” which is not available on the DVD release. The DVD version will be selling for $44.82 while the Blu-ray will cost you $54.97.
While the English dub of the series has already debuted on Viz’s Neon Alley service, the company also has provided the entire first episode of the series in English which you can check out below. It is also worth noting that the company is currently running a special promotional contest that will run until March 5th where those who enter have a chance to win a 16GB iPad Mini or the Tiger & Bunny Set 1 Blu-ray version.
With Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance set to be released next week on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 throughout the West Konami has released yet another gameplay trailer to show off some of the unique weapons that you will be able to get outside of Raiden’s basic sword.
These weapons can be obtained from the game’s bosses and are a Pole Arm, a set of Tactical Sai and Pincer Blades which all can be upgraded individually. You can see which boss provides which weapon and how each one will function in combat in the video below and if you pay close attention, you’ll notice another reason why that weapon is called a “Pole Arm.”
EA and Firemonkey Games have released the realistic racing thrill ride Real Racing 3 on the iOS platform in Australia and New Zealand. The game will be hitting the Android platform next month at some point.
Real Racing 3 features some Australian race tracks, specifically the legendary Mount Panorama race track and the Melbourne CBD which was meticulously detailed by the Firemonkey Games Studio.
You can pick up Real Racing 3 on the iTunes store here for the insane price of absolutely free. What do you think of Real Racing 3? Will you be picking up this awesome racing experience? Let us know in the comments section below.
We’ve all heard the jokes about Aquaman and how he probably shouldn’t be included in Netherrealm’s upcoming super hero fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us. However it seems that they have taken the jokes and ran with them because today the company has revealed that the Aquaman will be a playable fighter in the title.
Currently Netherrealm has only shown the trailer off on IGN and his moves look to be focused around his trident, though his finishing attacks and storyline abilities obviously make use of his ability to speak with marine life, including Great White Sharks, Giant Octopus and some very strange looking crustaceans.
If you were hoping to pick up Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us on May 7th then you better hold your horses because the game has just been delayed. Naughty Dog has announced that The Last of Us will now be released on June 14th this year.
In their statement to the press, the company stated the following as to why the game has been delayed:
The Last of Us is an ambitious project. In many ways it may be Naughty Dog’s most ambitious project to date – brand new universe and cast of characters, brand new tech, brand new genre, not to mention it’s easily the longest campaign Naughty Dog has ever made.
As we entered the final phase of development for The Last of Us, we came to realize just how massive Joel and Ellie’s journey is. But instead of cutting corners or compromising our vision, we came to the tough decision that the game deserved a few extra weeks to ensure every detail of The Last of Us was up to Naughty Dog’s internal high standards.
As a team we pride ourselves on setting a very high quality bar for every aspect of our games – gameplay, story, art, design, technology and more. We want to make sure The Last of Us raises that bar even further – for ourselves, and most importantly, for you, our fans.
The extra wait will be very short and your patience will be rewarded. Update your calendars. You won’t even have to change seasons. The Last of Us will be available June 14th, 2013. Until then, know that we will be working extremely hard to deliver an experience that matches your high expectations.
The latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump has announced that there will be an announcement regarding a new Hunter x Hunter anime project in the next issue of the magazine. The announcement is said to be rather ‘shocking’, although no further details were given.
In terms of speculation, one can ponder a few ideas of what the announcement could be. Such as more details regarding the second anime film which is slated to focus on Hunter Association Chairman Netero. Or perhaps it could be another video-game, perhaps based upon Greed Island? Maybe it is in regards to the 15th anniversary of the Hunter x Hunter series? A lot of food for thought for Hunter fans.
What do you think the big announcement for Hunter x Hunter could be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
After a massive day of presentations on the 6th, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wasn’t about to let the pace slip. There was one less presentation on the 7th to allow for the awards presentation at the end. A strict ‘no denim rule was applied for the awards, which I’m assuming would cut the attendance in half simply because these people own nothing other than jeans and slack fittings tees.
Gabe Newell had the opening keynote on day two, following his opening keynote on the previous day which he had co-hosted with J.J. Abrams. He had two core theses he wanted to explore, the first being the integral role of the PC for driving innovation in gaming. He followed that analysis with several predictions on how digital distribution platforms alongside new methods of consumption was going to alter the forms that games currently take, bringing in new formats for games that have yet to be explored.
Microsoft Games’ Executive Producer Kiki Wolfkill (who easily has the most appropriate name for working in gaming) and Franchise Development Director Frank O’Connor focused on communication when approaching the presentation on ‘Changing the Universe.’ Using their experience taking over the Halo franchise as a touchstone for the importance of transmedia was a big point in explaining the significance of having the community on board from day one (just count how many times they say ‘New York Times Best Seller).
President and Co-founder of Gearbox Studios Randy Pitchford used his childhood love of illusions to explain how game designers should be using the logic of magicians to give the audience a view into an implausible world they can involve themselves in. Randy used a bunch of psychological papers to explain the impact of choices and how designers can guide people’s long term impressions by composing the choices players can interact with.
Warren Spector, having just witnessed the demise of Disney Interactive under his brinkmanship, honestly spoke of the need to consider the aging market of gaming. Using his own personal preferences of games, Warren seems to have captured the zeitgeist for the 50+ crowd which grew up with games. Now they have different demands that frame what they can practically engage with and how they want to meld their tastes with these types of games.
Wargaming CEO and founder Victor Kislyi covered the ‘Evolution of Free To Play Games’ looking at the economics of free to play and how to make the marketing machine do the leg work for your company, your brand and of course, your game. Funnily enough he didn’t seem to think the game had to be particularly good in order to generate millions in income required to get to the point where your branding is making a significant proportion of your money.
For Jenova Chen, of thatgamecompany, the emotional core of games is attached to the sense of achievement that is unique to the gaming medium. From here, he believes you can analyze the market for emotions that are being displayed as well as those that are absent and from there you can develop mechanics that generate real emotion. This is a must for anyone who appreciates narrative construction or fiction writing in general.
Unfortunately ‘The Age of the Mobile Blockbuster: Launching Angry Birds Star Wars’ from Rovio’s Petri Järvilehto is missing from the presentations that were posted online to my knowledge. If you find it, point it out in the comments so we can complete our coverage.
Next was David Ting, General manager of eSports at IGN, a term he personally hates. Trawling through the kinds of stats that sport fans generally love, David looked at the massive growth in eSports as well as his personal endeavors to keep pushing that growth. He moved to the example of poker’s massive success of late and drew parallels between virtual gaming and card gaming.
The final presentation from the conference was Dan Connors of Telltale Games whose massive success with the Walking Dead operated as a platform to discuss episodic gaming. Differentiating ‘episodic’ from ‘appointment,’ Dan utilized a lot of the marketing strategy from television to describe how people’s comfort with this form of consumption can used for the greatest success. The end of this one is intense and has spoilers so watch out.
Then there were the awards! Before we get to the winners check out the promo video because it is epic.
The Nerdist’s Chris Hardwick hosted the event with a whole bunch of charisma. It’s good to see a gaming event that is hosted by some one who actually cares about the medium as opposed to over hyped celebrities that are disconnected from the people who are turning up.
You can find a list of the various award categories and the games that won the award below:
Action Game of the Year: Borderlands 2
Mobile Game of the Year: Hero Academy
Handheld Game of the Year: Paper Mario – Sticker Star
Outstanding Achieving in Original Music Composition: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Story: The Walking Dead
Outstanding Character Performance: The Walking Dead – Lee Everett
Downloadable Game of the Year: The Walking Dead
Casual Game of the Year: Journey
Web Based Game of the Year: SimCity Social
Family Game of the Year: Skylanders Giants
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year: Mass Effect 3
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Journey
Sports Game of the Year: FIFA Soccer 13
Racing Game of the Year: Need for Speed Most Wanted
Fighting Game of the Year: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity: Halo 4
Outstanding Achievement in Animation: Assassin’s Creed III
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering: Halo 4
Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Adventure Game of the Year: The Walking Dead
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction: Journey
Game of the Year: Journey
That’s everything. There was a lot of technical talk in the summit however a lot of these guys managed to inject some humor and real insights for you. I hope you enjoyed our coverage of this event and if you are curiosu about what happened on day one of the D.I.C.E. Summit then you can find coverage of that day here.
The Kickstarter for Asylum will soon draw to a close and with only 2 weeks left until its money-raising campaign comes to an end, developer Senscape has officially announced that their game engine, the Dagon engine, is now officially open-source, effective immediately.
An AMA session has been scheduled for February 14 (Valentine’s Day) at 4 PM EST (9 PM GMT), where the company will be taking your questions about the Dagon engine as well as other topics including Asylum, Scratches, horror and adventure games, and more.
The Dagon engine is already available to people interested in delving through the code via its GitHub repository here. An SDK is also in development to be released “for the purpose of enabling fans to create and play their own stories based on the deeply detailed game world.”
If you’re interested in Asylum, you can check out their Kickstarter page here.
Special Forces: Team X Developers: Zombie Studios and Microprose Publisher: Atari Platform: XBLA (Reviewed), PC Release Date: February 8th, 2013 Price: 1200 MS Points – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to multiplayer third-person shooters for PC and XBLA, there aren’t overly too many. Sure there are some, but there tends to be far more of the first-person variety or other genres. Players hoping or looking for a good multiplayer experience then may be in luck with the new shooter titled Special Forces: Team X that’s come to both PC and XBLA. Does it offer everything a player could want? Or will those that play it find it falling short? Read on oh interested persons.
Story
Story? Pfft, who has time for that? Don’t be looking for a story here because this game is designed to itch the multiplayer scratch and nothing else. Special Forces: Team X includes no single player, zero solo gameplay, and the games career is simply a set of personal achievements for players to attempt throughout all their multiplayer games.
Gameplay
Alright, so no story to fall back on, so what is there in terms of gameplay? Well first off, there is no tutorial, no training, and no explanation as to how to play the game at all outside of a diagram pointing out the buttons. That should mean a fairly straight forward game. What I found was the worst gameplay experience as I ranked up from Level 1 to Level 4. I was consistently killed without barely any kills to call my own. In addition to weapons that seemed difficult to aim and movement speed that with the exception of sprinting forward meant being dead in the water in any firefight. Then I figured out it was a cover-based shooter. Oops, well that does explain the abundance of chest high walls.
After figuring out the key gameplay element I found myself having a far more enjoyable time. I could kill things, live longer than ~20 seconds, and actually contribute to my team, which incidentally is another major gameplay element. Special Forces: Team X doesn’t just encourage working as a team, it rewards it. Sticking close to teammates will slowly build up a multiplier, the longer together the higher the multiplier, even giving a warning when leaving a teammate’s range and about to lose that multiplier. For the vast majority of gameplay this feature works well, keeps players from going lone wolf and the only time it gets in the way is with poor teammates. In addition to the multiplier players have skills they can activate, which will buff all those currently in range with better damage resistance or accuracy, etc. While this could be overlooked, those that learn to use it effectively as a team make a better impact.
Besides cover-based shooting, Special Forces: Team X has taken a few other cues from shooter trends by utilizing a level system. Play, rank up, unlock stuff, modify load outs, repeat. At first I thought that this was the cause of my failure in the game, having poor equipment facing those with superior, but they actually seem fairly balanced. All the guns, which incidentally have permission to use actual guns like Colt and Kalashnikov, can also unlock different attachments throughout the levels to get them exactly how anyone could want them. The one slight miss is a few of the appearance aspects that can be unlocked. Different clothes that can be unlocked, alright, but body types don’t really need to be locked. Going along with the appearance, how a load out is picked is exactly how the character appears in the game. No shading them to a specific color to easily tell teams, everyone in varying camos and outfits, cause this is realistic-ish combat.
Finding a game is incredibly straight forward, a list of current sessions is available that gives gametype and current number of players. After figuring out what the abbreviations for the gametypes are, hint its not that hard, finding a game of exactly what a player wants is super easy. This list however is just the public matches as matches can also be made private, working exactly like public matches and even contributing for missions and levels. Teams aren’t limited to only 2 either, going up to 4 different teams which can really change the gameplay dynamic, if only the match list included that with the other information.
The guns themselves and how they unlock are actually pretty unique. While load outs have a primary and secondary weapon, primary weapons are reserved only for rifles and SMGs, while secondary weapons include pistols, shotguns, and a combat knife. Don’t get too excited though, the right to carry both a rifle and shotgun is reserved for those at least level 9. Though be careful when picking a weapon load out as the damage information on the side is a little buggy and only shows the last weapon selected to compare against, which isn’t helpful when trying compare between the different secondaries unless a secondary was selected last to re-up the information. Not big, but was a little confusing until I figured that out.
Besides the load out weapons, special weapons do appear on the map during gameplay. From the sensible sniper rifle, powerful RPG, mighty mini-gun, supportive air strike canister, to the crazy chainsaw. Complete with a giddy run animation as the character tries to find someone to use it on. During gameplay, they seem like a one shot deal. Whoever picks them up gets to use them and if they die it can’t be reclaimed. This is both good and bad, it sucks that someone can pick it up and immediately get taken out nerfing it that spawn, but on the other hand it’s good that failing to wade through enemies with a chainsaw wont end up with the enemy getting it themselves and wading through their team. A little bit different than other games, but in my opinion a better option as it prevents matches from becoming a fight over the power weapons and instead a special bonus during a match for whoever grabs it.
The map a match takes place in is actual one of the most unique features of the game. Being broken up into three tiles, the map’s actual layout is voted on before the match begins, with players cycling through the various pieces in each slot and the highest votes for each are the ones selected. This gives the single three tile map over 100 combinations, which may seem a little daunting, but it mostly comes down to familiarizing oneself with each of the tiles a much smaller easier task. All in all, it makes the terrain much more versatile though with a bit of a different learning curve than other shooters.
Visuals and Audio
As could probably be told from the screenshots, the visuals of Special Forces: Team X goes more for the cell shades kind of look, but may be closer to over saturated. While interesting it kind of highlights the difficulty the game has in deciding if it is serious or silly. Without this kind of art style things like the chainsaw would seem out of place, but with it the inclusion of accurate gun names is weird. For the most part the visuals do work, even when getting a headshot and seeing the bloody stump where a face used to be, as too realistic something like that might not go over very well. While it doesn’t really work against it, it doesn’t overly add to the experience either, being more or less just there.
The audio doesn’t fair much better unfortunately, while the music on the Main Menu is pretty solid at first it turns out to be about the only music in the game, repeated over and over. Luckily, players will only be on the menu for short periods of time, so it’s not too bad. While in a match the vast majority of the audio is gunfire and whatever characters happen to be saying, from throwing grenades, to the current status of their dogs. This is unfortunately pretty flat dialog with really dry delivery, I mean I’ve never heard the phrase “My dog’s dead” spoken so unemotionally. The audio leaves a lot to be desired.
Overall
Despite my little hiccup in how to go about playing the game at the beginning, Special Forces: Team X has fun and well-balanced gameplay. The only real stumbling block is the audio, which if played with a headset in total communication with the whole team isn’t so necessary, but without that it’s dull. A general selection of gametypes, yes, but executed very well in a game that focuses a lot on team play. Those players that are really into team based shooters should have a good time, just remember to use that headset to hear people that might actually sound like they care about what’s going on.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
