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.
PokémonSun and PokémonMoonare indeed real games and they're heading to Nintendo's 3DS this holiday season worldwide. Nintendo's announcement was short and sweet, but we know the games will feature nine language options with the addition of both simplified and traditional Chinese.
In other juicy Pokémon news, the classic installments Red Version, Blue Version and Yellow Version will all be available to download in the Nintendo eShop tomorrow, February 27th. These games will also take advantage of the Pokémon Bank, allowing players to transfer their Pokémon to the Sun and Moon games once those launch.
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.
