Gaze into the darkness long enough and a reluctant British vampire will gaze back at you. Sure, that's not quite what Nietzsche said, but it's the angle Dontnod is taking with its latest game, Vampyr. Set in London in 1918, Vampyr stars Jonathan Reid, a military doctor who specialized in blood research during World War I. He's also a vampire, though he doesn't enjoy killing; he dedicated his life to healing, after all. The Spanish Flu is ravaging Europe and as Reid stalks London's foggy streets, he must balance his bloodlust with his still-intact moral compass.
We still don't have exact timing for the upcoming Fallout 4 add-on packs and survival mode, but perhaps a pretty sizable update to Fallout Shelter is an olive branch of sorts. For the most part, the patch brings a level of parity between the console and mobile game with the addition of armor and weapons crafting, a day-and-night cycle and Vault Dweller customization by way of a new room type (a barbershop). Oh, and because Bethesda doesn't discriminate against non-four-legged creatures in terms of pet ownership, parrots are joining a few new cats and dogs in your underground utopia.
Sony announced on Monday that it will shutter the PSP's native store on March 31, 2016. Customers will still be able to purchase PSP content from the company's webstore, just not directly through their devices. That said, users will still be able to access their previous purchases from their on-device Download list and can still make in-game purchases directly. This move comes just days after Sony announced that it will no longer sell its PlayStation TV accessory in Japan.
It's often the little things that make a big difference. Mojang has released a combat-focused Minecraft update that lets you carry items in both hands, dramatically streamlining how you play. You can carry both a sword and a shield (also new) when you're expecting a rough fight, or place torches while you're digging tunnels with your pickaxe -- no more switching back and forth for some mundane tasks. This may take some time to get used to if you're a veteran, but it promises to make your virtual life considerably easier.
Razer and the OSVR alliance have been working on their developer-ready VR headset for a while, but they haven't said much about what you'll play on this early hardware. That's a bit odd for technology that revolves around gaming, don't you think? Never to fear, though, as the first games have arrived for OSVR's Hacker Development Kit. They're mostly what you'd expect for a SteamVR-compatible device: a pair of Valve classics (Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2), a popular spaceflight game (Elite: Dangerous) and a racing title (Live for Speed). About the only outlier is Spermination, a shooter that's about as odd as its name suggests.
The ridiculous but delightful Rocket League -- a game that basically lets you play soccer with rocket-powered cars rather than human beings -- was one of the surprise indie hits for the PS4 and Steam in 2015. Earlier this month, it hit the the Xbox One, and now we're learning that you'll soon be able to buy a physical copy of the game. Rocket League: Collecor's Edition will be released in retail stores around the world in Q3 of this year and will include the three DLC update that have been released thus far as well as some additional retail-only content.
The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti is a psychedelic hipster dream disguised as a narrative-driven adventure game. It stars Francis Vendetti, the fictional nephew of the late, great musical icon Johnson Vendetti. In this alternate universe, Johnson was the David Bowie of his time, legendary and untouchable. Francis is a young musician himself, struggling to find his own voice and separate himself from his uncle's legacy. On his quest of self-discovery, Francis connects with a laser artist named Violetta, and he traverses a multidimensional highway packed with neon lights and tentacled aliens.
The Artful Escape presents the kind of world that burgeoning musicians might fantasize about, the ultimate rock star dream of conquering new, exciting dimensions with the power of music alone. It's the kind of dream that the game's creator, Johnny Galvatron, once had -- before he signed a record deal with Warner Bros. right out of college and discovered what the true rock star life was really all about.
"You feel like those sort of record deals will unlock these magical doors to worlds of wonder to explore that you imagine when you're young," Galvatron says. "And then you realize very quickly that's not what it is, and you live in a hotel room with six really smelly dudes. I guess The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti is informed by my teenage imaginings of what the music industry would be."
If you passed on the Oculus Rift because you're dead set on owning HTC's Vive VR headset, your time has now come. The company has just opened pre-orders for the $799 bundle (€899 in Europe and £689 in the UK), which includes the Vive headset, two wand controllers, a couple of room scale movement sensors and three VR titles.
If you're a developer, today's the day Microsoft is making good on its mixed-reality promise. Pre-orders for HoloLens, the company's augmented-reality Windows 10 headset, are now live. Invites to purchase the $3,000 device will begin to hit the inboxes of those who've already applied, while others can sign up today for a shot at building out HoloLen's ecosystem of apps. And the wait won't be that long either, as Microsoft plans to begin shipping units in the US and Canada beginning March 30th.
The days may be numbered for the PlayStation TV (aka PlayStation Vita TV), Sony's attempt at bringing the Vita experience into your living room. The company has updated the PSTV's Japanese product page to say that it has stopped shipping the mini console, at least in that country -- if you want one, you'll have to track down whatever's left on store shelves. We've reached out to the company to learn what this means for the ultimate fate of the PSTV in the US and elsewhere, but it's not looking good when Sony itself isn't making Vita titles.
Watch Ben as he tackles the challenge of soldering the main processing chips of an Atari 2600 into a new configuration. In this episode, he'll Introduce concepts and tricks such as the optimal layout of wiring between chips, what to do with dry joints and how to lay out passive components between pins on a piece of strip board. It's almost hypnotic. Join The Ben Heck Show team and suggest builds and projects on the element14 community.
Gabe Newell, head honcho at Valve, has abruptly (and very publicly) fired 'Dota 2' Shanghai Major tournament host James "2GD" Harding. Newell made the announcement via Reddit on Friday, stating "We've had issues with James at previous events. Some Valve people lobbied to bring him back for Shanghai, feeling that he deserved another chance. That was a mistake. James is an ass, and we won't be working with him again." Newell also confirmed that he'd fired the production company responsible for the tournament's broadcast.
Sony has reportedly filed a trio of patents for a new glove-based controller system. NeoGAF user Rösti came across the filings. The system centers around a finger-tracking flex sensor, a separate contact sensor that registers when the user touches a physical object and a communications module that sends this data to a VR headset where it is incorporated into the simulated experience.
The filing describes the system as "a trackable object that is configured to be illuminated during interactivity" with "at least one inertial sensor for generating inertial sensor data" which sounds a lot like a more dextrous iteration of the PS3's Move motion controller. With it "users collaborating may use their gloves to touch objects, move objects, interface with surfaces, press on objects, squeeze objects, toss objects, make gesture actions or motions, or the like," the claim said of this emergent tech," the filing states.
Now, as always, just because a company files a patent for an idea doesn't mean that it will ever actually become a real thing. However, given the current levels of rabid interest in VR technology from both industry and consumers -- not to mention Sony's imminent release of the PSVR -- this idea doesn't sound all that far fetched.
Street Fighter V might not feel entirely complete right now, but that's no reason to abandon good sportsmanship. Developer/publisher Capcom is aware of the problems the community is facing in terms of people rage-quitting when online matches that aren't going their way and it wants you to help. Over the weekend, if someone can't handle the Snake Eyez-level of heat you're bringing with Zangief and they disconnect, the gamemaker is urging you to use the PlayStation 4's "share" button to catch him or her in the act once the match has ended.
If you need any more proof that Yu Suzuki really is making a new Shenmue game two decades after the last one, look above and below the fold. Yes, these are actual Shenmue 3 screenshots (and even a little video) that Suzuki's team showed off at the Monaco Anime Game International Conferences. They're still just a work-in-proggess, true, but they're enough to give you an idea of what the sequel will look like. Suzuki started working on the classic franchise's third entry after his Kickstarter campaign last year breezed through its $2 million goal. It ended up raising over $6 million, enabling the team to go through with the game's development for both PS4 and PC. Shenmue 3 won't be out until December 2017 or later, but the team will likely release more tidbits of info (and more photos!) to tide us over until then.
A slasher movie is only as good as its big bad, and that goes doubly so for interactive horror flicks. Take the upcoming Friday the 13th game, for example. To ensure that its Jason is as terrifying as possible, the team at Gun Media enlisted Kane Hodder, the man behind the hockey mask from the film franchise's seventh through tenth installments to terrorize the forever-randy camp counselors. Even though everyone in the video below are wearing mo-cap suits on a sound stage, it's hard to not cringe when Hodder tests the flexibility of the human leg, arm, neck, and, well, just about every appendage he lays hands on.
Here's one to add to your video game watch list: Necropolis is a stylish, hardcore dungeon-diving game from Harebrained Schemes, the studio behind the magnificent cyberpunk title Shadowrun Returns. It was originally due to hit PC and Mac on March 17th, but now Dark Souls publisher Bandai Namco is involved and the times, they are a-changing.
Necropolis is now due to hit PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the summer, with Bandai handling the console publishing duties. Harebrained Schemes is self-publishing the game on Steam.
Alix Stolzer was one of the first game developers to truly embrace the power of livestreaming. She's the feline half of independent studio Robot Loves Kitty (her husband, Calvin Goble, is the android), and she's been using Twitch as a marketing and communication tool since 2013. That year, she organized the inaugural Indie Dev Supershow, a weekend marathon on Twitch highlighting a handful of games trying to score spots on Steam.
Since then, the annual Indie Dev Supershow has garnered roughly 700,000 unique views. This year's show kicks off today at 11 AM EST, and it's poised to add a lot more viewers.
"I'm really happy with the number," Stolzer says. "My goal is to get other devs into the eyes of the public, and it's better than the turnout of a year's worth of expos like PAX and E3. That doesn't mean I'm not trying to grow what we have, though."
High Voltage debuted its newest offering for the Oculus Rift, an immersive, turn-based collectable card game called Dragon Front. It plays much like Magic: the Gathering in that players draw from customized 30-card decks, arrange them on a standardized playing field -- in this case a 4 x 4 grid -- and attempt to whittle down the HP of the opposing player, as well as their forces, to win. Players can choose from single player (vs AI) or multiplayer matchups. Like similar physical card games, these various assets all consume Mana to operate. However, with the added capabilities of VR, the actual combat is closer to a Dejarik match than a simple card game.
Neverending Nightmares will be tip-toeing its way onto PS4 and Vita before the second half of 2016, bringing its unusual brand of horror and psychological exploration in tow. The game was originally launched on PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya in 2014, following a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised just over $100,000 for developer Infinitap. Players take on the role of Thomas, a young man that wakes up from a horrific nightmare in his home. Or has he woken up? A cycle of dreams begin to form, unravelling dark emotions and memories that continue to haunt him.
Although the game is now two years old, it should still be effective given its use of (mostly) monochromatic and 2D visuals. For PlayStation owners, the developer says it's improved "plenty of rough edges," making it easier to reach and recognise the points where the narrative branches in different directions. "This makes a huge difference in the experience," Infinitap creative director Matt Gilgebach says. The updated version will also run at a "targeted" 1080p and 60 frames per second with antialiasing, which should make the environments and character models a little sharper.
Finally, the PlayStation titles will support cross buy and cross save at launch -- so if you own both pieces of hardware, you can switch between the two at any time and continue playing, no questions asked. Just have a pair of headphones ready when you switch to the PlayStation Vita, because the spooky soundtrack thoroughly deserves a decent set of cans.
The turn-based tactical shooter Hard West is getting a pretty sizeable expansion soon called Scars of Freedom.
If you haven't already played Hard West you can read our preview, but the simplest explanation of Hard West is that it's a lot like XCOM, but with a very rich narrative, a Weird West (think Wild West with demons) setting and a ton of additional gameplay elements.
Quantum Break is a little more than a month away, but already fans are speculating about a possible sequel to Alan Wake, the last big game from developer Remedy Entertainment. A trademark application for "Alan Wake's Return" was spotted by a user on the gaming forum Neogaf, pointing to another instalment of the Twin Peaks-style thriller. Remedy's creative director Sam Lake has always said that he would like to return to the franchise, going so far as to release prototype footage. Alan Wake 2 was eventually scrapped in favour of Quantum Break, although some of the team's ideas eventually wound up in Alan Wake's American Nightmare.
Nintendo may want to send its crystal ball back for a refurb, because it has once again failed at forecasting. It just announced a downgrade to its 2016 estimates because the new 3DS and 3DS XL portable consoles haven't been selling as well as hoped. The company thought it would move 7.6 million units across the world between April 2015 and March 2016, but it's now revised that figure to 6.6 million. It also lowered its 3DS software sales estimate by 9 million units. With Wii U sales estimates unchanged, that means the company expects 2016 revenue to fall 70 billion yen, or approximately $620 million.
Ready to re-buy Resident Evil 4 again? This time for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One? Well, you'll be able to do that this year, but not before developer/publisher Capcom drops gussied-up versions of Resident Evil 6's hot garbage and the divisive Resident Evil 5 first. Come March 29th, the absolute mess that's better known as RE6 will hit the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live stores for $20, with RE 5's African adventure starting sometime this summer and the series' modern highpoint, RE 4, releasing this fall.
The universe of human emotion is complex and dense, filled with wildly firing synapses and warring wavelengths. Some people embrace all-consuming feelings like love but shy away from adrenaline-pumping activities like skydiving or haunted houses. Others love to be scared, yet are terrified of love.
Few people understand these emotional inconsistencies better than Bloober Team. The studio released the heart-pounding horror game Layers of Fear on February 16th, just two days after Valentine's Day -- and about three months after Halloween.
"Paradoxically, we like to be scared," says Rafal Basal, a spokesperson for the company. "Although we cannot say that we live in times devoid of problems and fears, but most of us rarely feel terrified and our bodies just need to remember how to react to fear. The horror genre gives us a way of filling that gap in a safe environment."
At some point, every laptop-owning PC gamer asks the question: Can I hook a desktop graphics card up to my notebook? Until recently, the answer was no, but times are changing. In the past year Alienware, MSI and ASUS have all announced laptops with external GPU accessories, promising a workhorse on the go and a gaming behemoth at home. Razer's take on this trend took CES by storm, running away from the electronics show with Best of CES awards for both People's Choice and Best PC. And why not? The Razer Blade Stealth is sleek with impressive specs and has a strong pedigree. Still, there's a problem: This ultraportable laptop ships without the GPU dock it needs to actually play games. Whoops.
Life hasn't been kind to you if you're a fan of the players-versus-AI Firefight mode in Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach. You didn't just lose a direct equivalent to it in Halo 4 or Halo 5 -- you didn't even get it back with the remastered ODST from the Master Chief Collection. However, 343 Industries has finally heard your cries. As part of a content roadmap, the studio has revealed that Firefight is coming to Halo 5 in several months through a new mode, Warzone Firefight. The developer isn't saying much about what's different at this point, but you should get your fix of players-versus-environment gameplay as you fight off "common foes." Riveting! This won't make up for the relatively undercooked initial launch, but it could give you a reason to keep playing well into Halo 5's lifespan.
Disgraced former state senator Leland Yee has been sentenced to five years in jail after using up all of the world's irony in a single go. If you're not familiar, Yee was previously state senator for California most famous for leading a moral campaign against violent video games. The official authored AB-1179, a bill that would have outlawed the sale of games like Grand Theft Auto V which was defeated by the Supreme Court. When he wasn't doing that, however, he was basically acting like one of the corrupt officials that pepper the aforementioned video game's universe.
Fallout 4's Survival Mode isn't going to be pretty. As VG247 reports, enterprising Redditor ShaneD53 dug through in-game files to pull out text pertaining to the upcoming game mode and got a lot of info.
It often feels like there's a fundamental break in how Oculus and Valve see the future of VR: While Oculus' Rift focuses mostly on seated experiences, Valve wants you to stand up and walk around an area. However, the gap between the two won't be as large as expected, as Valve will offer some benefits -- but not all -- of its Chaperone system on the Rift.
Vinyl is all the rage (sorry) these days, and game soundtracks are hitting the medium on the regular. One of the upcoming releases is Streets of Rage 2, a title that's widely regarded as having one of the best and most influential 16-bit soundtracks. The audio compositions of Yuzo Koshiro are up for pre-order in three options: 2 x 180g transparent vinyl with smoke and blood splatter, 2 x 180g transparent vinyl with smoke and the traditional 2 x 180g black vinyl. Those first two are priced at £24.99 while the third will set you back £22.99 (that's around $35 and $32, respectively)
When it comes to sports games, virtual players tend to be capable of feats no real person could accomplish. And then there's Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry. The reigning NBA MVP dazzles with new moves nearly every time he steps on the court, and Curry's real-life skills are giving the folks behind the NBA 2K fits. In an interview this week, the title's gameplay director Mike Wang admitted the studio is having trouble capturing the star's on-court antics.
The glorious Metroid-style nostalgia bomb that is Axiom Verge will hit the PlayStation Vita soon, developer Thomas Happ says in a blog post this week. In fact, a playable version is already up and running on Sony's handheld -- rather, it's running on Happ's handheld. The rest of us will have to wait a little (emphasis on little) while longer to play Axiom Verge on Vita.
"Here's the good news: The game is ported," Happ says. "It runs and is playable! Anyone who has worked on a porting project can tell you that that represents the biggest hurdle.... So from here on out, our focus is on cleanup, polish and bug fixing."
Now that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are officially out of the bag, it's time for peripheral makers to introduce products for Samsung's latest flagship smartphones. Not surprisingly, Mad Catz is spearheading that movement. The company has brought a refreshed version of its S.U.R.F.R mobile gamepad and media keyboard to Mobile World Congress 2016; one that's made to work perfectly with the new S7 and S7 Edge. While the add-on has been around since last year, this model is part of Mad Catz's recent commitment to the Designed for Samsung program, an effort by the Korean tech giant to offer quality control guidelines for accessories.
With Uncharted 4: A Thief's End just a matter of weeks away Sony has released a new trailer. For a story trailer, it's... pretty light on story. But it at least offers some rough ideas on the nature of the adventure. Oh, and did we mention it looks incredible?
When Running With Scissors released Postal in 1997, Senator Joe Lieberman offered a succinct review of the game during a press conference in Washington, DC: "This is sick stuff. And sadly, it sells."
Senator Lieberman and other lawmakers were on a mission to ban or censor many violent, mature games in the United States, and Postal was at the top of the list. It was an action game based entirely on random, mindless killing -- viewing the cartoonish Postal Dude from an elevated perspective, players run through unsuspecting towns, villages and cities gunning down as many people as possible. Each level ends when the Postal Dude has murdered the required amount of people. It's uncompromising and gruesome, and the gameplay is interspersed with diary entries that read like the religious ramblings of a megalomaniac.
It's the kind of game that, even today, would walk a fine line between garnering public praise and open disgust -- and Running With Scissors is ready to see which way the tides will turn. Again. Postal Redux, an HD version of the original title, is heading to Steam (for PC, Mac and Linux) this spring, and to PlayStation 4 later this year.
The bedrock of Twitch is its community and a good deal of watching a live broadcast's fun comes from interacting with the regulars who show up in chat. And while you can always check out an archived video if you miss when your favorite streamer goes live, you're missing out on a chunk of the experience because chat wasn't saved along with the clip. Until now. As part of the live-broadcasting service's bigger push toward video-on-demand, Twitch is including the chat log with each previously aired video.
Coming just fifteen years after the book was (initially) closed on the View Askewniverse, Kevin Smith is (finally) making a Jay and Silent Bob video game. Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch! is a 2.5D multiplayer side-scrolling tag-team brawler in the style of Castle Crashers that's being produced by Interabang Entertainment. In it, Jay and his hereto life mate Silent Bob are on a mission to find their long-lost customers, trapped inside a new shopping mall in a neighboring town.
Bethesda's Fallout 4 may have won a handful of accolades at the DICE Awards, but the company has no plans to divert attention away from the post-apocalyptic RPG. Speaking with Game Informer shortly after the ceremony, Executive Director Todd Howard provided some updates on the title, confirming that official mod support will come to the PC version of the game in April, with consoles following shortly after.
Despite what GameStop has in mind, Sony might actually still make its promised "first half of 2016" release date for PlayStation VR. That the company has sent out invites for a special media event just ahead of the annual Game Developers Conference only adds to that suspicion. When you consider PlayStation has used the trade show for the setup's debut in 2014, announcing a release window and upgraded innards last year, it only seems more likely we'll get a hard release date and price on the helmet.
Risk of Rain is a gloriously, ridiculously challenging action game that debuted on Steam in November 2013 -- and it's headed to PlayStation 4 and Vita in early 2016. This isn't your standard pixelated, sidescrolling independent platformer; Risk of Rain ramps up in complexity as you play, with difficulty levels ranging from "Very Easy" to "Impossible" to "HAHAHAHA." Players have just one life, meaning if (when) you die, you have to fight through hordes of enemies and collect your favorite weapons all over again. And again. And again. And probably again.
Are you the sort of Star Wars fan who seeks out "de-specialized" versions of the original movies, and knows that Han shot first? If so, you're going to have a field day with the latest update for Star Wars Battlefront. The release adds a film grain option that lets you dial in as much of that classic look as you like, giving the game more of the late '70s/early '80s vibe from the early flicks. That's not the only upgrade, either.
It's official: Activision Blizzard is committed to mobile gaming in a big way. The company has closed its $5.9 billion acquisition of King, making it the owner of Candy Crush Saga and giving it 310 million extra users. King will continue to operate independently, but make no mistake -- this is about filling a gap at a game publisher whose moneymakers are mostly limited to consoles and PCs. Between this, the purchase of MLG and the creation of a video studio, it's evident that Activision wants to have all the bases covered.
