If you spent way too much time partaking in the metagame Gwent in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you might want to set aside a few days' vacation for this announcement. CD Projekt, creator of The Witcher, has trademarked Gwent: The Witcher Card Game.
Source: NerdLeaks
Square Enix has just come forward with an entirely new reason you might want to pick up the next Deus Ex game: A brand new arcade shooter mode included with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
An Australian teen is learning one of the many reasons why you shouldn't cause grief for Twitch streamers. PayPal has refused to refund Anthony Archer after he made a total of $50,000 in donations to several well-known Twitch users (including LegendaryLea and NoSleepTV) as part of a trolling scheme. He'd intended to cancel the transactions through PayPal a month after making them, leaving the streamers high and dry, but PayPal wasn't having any of it -- he's on the hook for the full amount. And given that he appears to have used his parents' credit card, he's in more than a little trouble with them, too.
Via: Motherboard
Source: LiveStreamFails (YouTube), Reddit
Ah, the Electronics Entertainment Expo. It's Paris Fashion Week for the video game crowd, where practically the entire industry descends onto downtown Los Angeles for a week of media briefings, game announcements, ill-advised open-bar parties and, for folks on the press side of things, an awful lot of walking, talking and writing to bring you the latest news and interviews straight from the convention. Before the show floor opens on Tuesday, Electronic Arts, Bethesda, Microsoft, Ubisoft and Sony each have keynotes scheduled. We'll be at all of them, starting Sunday with Bethesda and EA and liveblogging Microsoft and Sony on Monday. Here's what you can expect for the week.
At this rate, soccer (aka football) clubs signing eSports teams is quickly becoming an everyday occurrence: Valencia CF has become the first club in Spain's La Liga to have its own eSports team. It's not certain just how many games the new outfit will play (Hearthstone and Rocket League are in the mix), but it's counting Twitch as an official partner. The first virtual match takes place roughly three weeks from now, in Madrid.
Source: Valencia CF
Back at Gamescom in August, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One would be getting a DVR feature for over-the-air TV this year. Well, if you got your hopes up about the add-on, we've got some bad news. The company has confirmed to Engadget that the tool is no longer being added to the console. Why the change of heart? Microsoft cites a decision to focus on "new higher fan-requested gaming experiences across Xbox One and Windows 10." While the company says development is "on hold," there's no indication that it will pick the project back up at a later date.
Via: The Verge
Mike Bithell, the developer behind Volume and Thomas Was Alone announced a PlayStation VR expansion to the former last year. With E3 fast approaching, he's now ready to show the fruits of his labor to the masses.
Watch Dogs 2 takes place in the heart of the tech world, San Francisco, and it's heading to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on November 15th. Information about the game's release date and setting leaked prior to Ubisoft's big livestream this morning, but the reveal offered a few more details about the sequel's main character and new tricks.
Source: Watch Dogs
Square Enix Montréal is back with another touch-friendly "Go" puzzler for mobile devices. After tackling Hitman and Tomb Raider, the studio is taking on the futuristic augmentations of Deus Ex. Unsurprisingly, it's called Deus Ex Go, and will be launching sometime this summer to coincide (roughly) with Mankind Divided, the next core entry in the franchise. It keeps the premise of the previous Go games -- simple, stylized graphics and node-based stages that you have to traverse -- but mixes up the formula with some new power-ups and enemy types. Success is dependent on understanding and manipulating every element on the board.
Remember that prosthetic arm, inspired by Metal Gear Solid, that Konami developed for a British amputee? Well, it seems the company has started a trend. Square Enix and Eidos-Montréal have now teamed up with Open Bionics, a specialist in low-cost prosthetics, to develop some designs based on the world of Deus Ex. The franchise delves deep into a possible future where human augmentation is commonplace, changing society and warfare in equal measure. Two arms -- one based on Adam Jensen, the hero of Mankind Divided, another on the wider Deus Ex universe -- will be released next year as royalty-free designs that anyone can use.
If you enjoyed watching your favorite DC superheroes and villains duke it out in NetherRealm Studios' Injustice: Gods Among Us, get ready to do it all over again. A sequel, simply titled Injustice 2, is ready to swoop in and deliver a swift beatdown.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is still a long way off. In the meantime, fans of the Disney and Final Fantasy mashup are being treated to a part remaster, part compilation called Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (yep, that's the official name.) The games comes with a HD version of Dream Drop Distance, originally released for the 3DS, and two new experiences called Back Cover and A Fragmentary Passage. Confused yet? Don't worry, Kingdom Hearts is known for its convoluted storyline. Today, Square Enix is announcing that the PS4 game -- already confirmed for Japan -- will also be coming to the West. It'll be out "globally" sometime this December.
To whet your appetite, the Japanese publisher has released a new trailer. It starts with Dream Drop Distance but quickly switches to Fragmentary Passage, a new playable chapter following Aqua in the realm of darkness. You'll then see a snippet of Back Cover, a movie exploring a mysterious group called the "Foretellers." It's supposedly tied to Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, a smartphone game that recently launched in the US.
Source: PlayStation (YouTube)
Maybe the team at Bethesda should've seen this coming: Now that mods are available for Fallout 4 on Xbox One, the more unscrupulous among us are apparently stealing creations that originated on the game's PC version and uploading them for Microsoft's latest console. Some flagrant examples noticed by Reddit users include in-game mods there were hosted exclusively on modding emporium Nexus Mods being added to Bethesda.net as original creations, with uploaders even copying and pasting the PC-centric installation instructions into the mod description.
Via: Polygon
Source: Bethesda forums (1), (2)
A gaming company called Secret Sorcery Towers has revealed that its lovely-looking Tethered will be one of the launch titles for Sony's Playstation VR. The company says it was influenced by Studio Ghibli animated films, and the game certainly has a delightfully quirky look, judging by the (pre-alpha) video, below. "We've been working with an incredibly talented concept artist called Espen ... and our art team have been tirelessly replicating his incredible concept pieces and bringing them to life in VR," the studio says.
Source: Sony
Pikachu is undoubtedly the most famous Pokémon out there, but as it stands, apparently it isn't the people's favorite. According to the Pokémon General Election 720, the distinct honor of "favorite" Pokémon goes to a very different monster: Greninja.
Via: Anime News Network
Microsoft and Turn 10 definitely aren't shy about turning the Forza Motorsport series into a competitive gamer's dream. They've unveiled the Forza Racing Championship, a company-run league (no third-party collaborations here) that invites anyone to race for real prizes. Most details aren't available yet, but the championship will kick off with Forza Motorsport 6 in the summer. And don't worry, you'll still get something out of it even if you have no intentions of making a name for yourself. Anyone who has played Forza 6 is getting a code for a free Ford GT Le Mans car, so you'll have something new to try when you're racing purely for fun.
Source: Forza Motorsport
Nintendo's Power Glove may have been forward-thinking and innovative during its time, but unfortunately it didn't always function as well as we hoped it would. Luckily one creative computer engineering grad has given it a new lease on life as a wireless drone controller.
Via: Popular Mechanics
The Into the Pixel jury has chosen the 2016 winners for its E3 art collection, and it's clearer than ever that video games can inspire artwork you'd be proud to hang on your wall. The 14 selections are mostly from titles where visuals not only play an important role, but set the tone for the entire game -- the sci-fi novel look of No Man's Sky gets its due, as does The Witcher 3's brooding fantasy atmosphere and Unravel's miniature world. There's even art from a virtual reality game (Insomniac's Edge of Nowhere) breaking some ground. Most of these pieces are concept art or models rather than what you'd see while playing, but they're worth a look if you've ever felt that game art is just as creative and thought-provoking as what you'd find in a gallery.
Source: Into the Pixel
PlayStation Blog editors are either confused or playing a tricky little prank on Psychonauts fans this week. Double Fine's celebrated PlayStation 2 adventure game is available today on PlayStation 4, even though on Sunday Sony's blog announced Psychonauts was "coming out soon, but not this week." The PS4 version of Psychonauts is $10 on the PlayStation Store, available right now as a PS2 Classic.
Via: Polygon
Source: PlayStation Store
Buying an HTC Vive has been a time-consuming process. Even after it started shipping to customers, you technically had to pre-order the virtual reality headset and twiddle your thumbs waiting for it to arrive. Mercifully, you won't need much patience after today: HTC has announced that the Vive now ships within 2-3 business days of when you order it. You'll have to live in one of 24 countries, but it's otherwise as close to instant gratification as you'll get with high-end VR.
Source: HTC
XCOM 2 hit PCs earlier this year, and in September you'll be able to play it on those current-gen consoles. After some indications that the game wouldn't make the leap to PS4 and Xbox One, 2K is set to release the title in North America on September 6th with a global launch to follow on September 9th. Two DLCs have already been released for the PC version, including a truckload of new gear for the soldiers and the addition of three new Ruler alien enemies. If the PC-only comments had you down, don't fret: you'll be able to take command at the end of the summer on the console of your choice.
Source: XCOM (Twitter), PlayStation Blog
When Nicolas Hamilton was born, two months premature, his family was told he would never walk. He had a form of cerebral palsy that would cause a constant stiffness in the lower half of his body. By the age of 11 he was restricted to a wheelchair, but that didn't stop him from wanting to become a race car driver. He had direct exposure to a Formula One world champion in the family: His elder half brother, Lewis Hamilton, went from casual karting on the weekends to winning three F1 championships.
World of Final Fantasy, the upcoming RPG from Square Enix, is coming to PlayStation 4 and Vita this October. The worldwide releases are almost simultaneous: October 25th in North America, October 27th in Japan and October 28th in Europe.
If you're unaware of what World of Final Fantasy is, or why Cloud Strife looks so damn cute in the image above, it's essentially a chibi-fied take on the Final Fantasy games. It's being pitched at both long-term fans of the series and youngsters, blending kid-friendly visuals and storytelling with classic Final Fantasy combat.
Source: PlayStation
Unlike Final Fantasy XV, which will be released simultaneously in Japan and the US, Persona 5 will have a split release, and the English translation won't come until February 14th, 2017. That's five months after the Japanese release date of September 15th, 2016.
Via: Kotaku
Source: Atlus
The Saints Row series has always been appropriately wacky and out there thanks to developer Volition, but shortly after Saints Row IV released, the company went a bit quiet. It's back now with a brand new game with a whole new attitude. It's called Agents of Mayhem, and it's an open-world adventure set within the Saints Row universe.
Source: IGN
Cross-platform play is getting some fresh company with the new additions coming to the soccer-meets-vehicular-mayhem of Rocket League. As part of the game's next update, the developers at Psyonix say they're adding "rare" and "very rare" items (hats, paintjobs, etc..) that will augment a particular skill of yours. More than that, if you build up a collection of gear that you'd rather not use any more, have countless duplicates of or have found more powerful/uncommon versions of, soon you'll be able to trade items in for more prestigious implements.
Source: Psyonix
Square Enix has just come forward with an entirely new reason you might want to pick up the next Deus Ex game: A brand new arcade shooter mode included with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
An Australian teen is learning one of the many reasons why you shouldn't cause grief for Twitch streamers. PayPal has refused to refund Anthony Archer after he made a total of $50,000 in donations to several well-known Twitch users (including LegendaryLea and NoSleepTV) as part of a trolling scheme. He'd intended to cancel the transactions through PayPal a month after making them, leaving the streamers high and dry, but PayPal wasn't having any of it -- he's on the hook for the full amount. And given that he appears to have used his parents' credit card, he's in more than a little trouble with them, too.
Via: Motherboard
Source: LiveStreamFails (YouTube), Reddit
Ah, the Electronics Entertainment Expo. It's Paris Fashion Week for the video game crowd, where practically the entire industry descends onto downtown Los Angeles for a week of media briefings, game announcements, ill-advised open-bar parties and, for folks on the press side of things, an awful lot of walking, talking and writing to bring you the latest news and interviews straight from the convention. Before the show floor opens on Tuesday, Electronic Arts, Bethesda, Microsoft, Ubisoft and Sony each have keynotes scheduled. We'll be at all of them, starting Sunday with Bethesda and EA and on Monday liveblogging Microsoft and Sony. Here's what you can expect for the week.
At this rate, soccer (aka football) clubs signing eSports teams is quickly becoming an everyday occurrence: Valencia CF has become the first club in Spain's La Liga to have its own eSports team. It's not certain just how many games the new outfit will play (Hearthstone and Rocket League are in the mix), but it's counting Twitch as an official partner. The first virtual match takes place roughly three weeks from now, in Madrid.
Source: Valencia CF
Back at Gamescom in August, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One would be getting a DVR feature for over-the-air TV this year. Well, if you got your hopes up about the add-on, we've got some bad news. The company has confirmed to Engadget that the tool is no longer being added to the console. Why the change of heart? Microsoft cites a decision to focus on "new higher fan-requested gaming experiences across Xbox One and Windows 10." While the company says development is "on hold," there's no indication that it will pick the project back up at a later date.
Via: The Verge
Mike Bithell, the developer behind Volume and Thomas Was Alone announced a PlayStation VR expansion to the former last year. With E3 fast approaching, he's now ready to show the fruits of his labor to the masses.
Watch Dogs 2 takes place in the heart of the tech world, San Francisco, and it's heading to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on November 15th. Information about the game's release date and setting leaked prior to Ubisoft's big livestream this morning, but the reveal offered a few more details about the sequel's main character and new tricks.
Source: Watch Dogs
Square Enix Montréal is back with another touch-friendly "Go" puzzler for mobile devices. After tackling Hitman and Tomb Raider, the studio is taking on the futuristic augmentations of Deus Ex. Unsurprisingly, it's called Deus Ex Go, and will be launching sometime this summer to coincide (roughly) with Mankind Divided, the next core entry in the franchise. It keeps the premise of the previous Go games -- simple, stylized graphics and node-based stages that you have to traverse -- but mixes up the formula with some new power-ups and enemy types. Success is dependent on understanding and manipulating every element on the board.
Remember that Metal Gear-inspired prosthetic arm that Konami developed? Well, it's not the only publisher keen to recreate artificial limbs from video games. Square Enix and Eidos-Montréal have teamed up with Open Bionics, a specialist in low-cost prosthetics, to develop new designs based on the world of Deus Ex. The franchise delves deep into a possible future where human augmentation is commonplace, changing society and warfare in equal measure. Two arms -- one based on Adam Jensen, the hero of Mankind Divided, another on the wider Deus Ex universe -- will be released next year as royalty-free designs that anyone can use.
If you enjoyed watching your favorite DC superheroes and villains duke it out in NetherRealm Studios' Injustice: Gods Among Us, get ready to do it all over again. A sequel, simply titled Injustice 2, is ready to swoop in and deliver a swift beatdown.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is still a long way off. In the meantime, fans of the Disney and Final Fantasy mashup are being treated to another remaster-compilation called Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (yep, that's the official name.) The games comes with a HD version of Dream Drop Distance, originally released for the 3DS, and two new experiences called Back Cover and A Fragmentary Passage. Confused yet? Don't worry, Kingdom Hearts is known for its convoluted storyline. Today, Square Enix announced that the PS4 game -- already confirmed for Japan -- will also be coming to the West. It'll be out "globally" sometime this December.
To whet your appetite, the publisher has released a new trailer. It starts with Dream Drop Distance before switching to Fragmentary Passage, a new playable chapter following Aqua in the realm of darkness. The latter half teases Back Cover, a new movie exploring a mysterious group called the "Foretellers" and "the earliest parts of the series' history." It's tied to Unchained X, a smartphone game which recently launched in the US.
Source: PlayStation (YouTube)
A gaming company called Secret Sorcery Towers has revealed that its lovely-looking Tethered will be one of the launch titles for Sony's Playstation VR. The company says it was influenced by Studio Ghibli animated films, and the game certainly has a delightfully quirky look, judging by the (pre-alpha) video, below. "We've been working with an incredibly talented concept artist called Espen ... and our art team have been tirelessly replicating his incredible concept pieces and bringing them to life in VR," the studio says.
Source: Sony
Maybe the team at Bethesda should've seen this coming: Now that mods are available for Fallout 4 on Xbox One, the more unscrupulous among us are apparently stealing creations that originated on the game's PC version and uploading them for Microsoft's latest console. Some flagrant examples noticed by Reddit users include in-game mods there were hosted exclusively on modding emporium Nexus Mods being added to Bethesda.net as original creations, with uploaders even copying and pasting the PC-centric installation instructions into the mod description.
Via: Polygon
Source: Bethesda forums (1), (2)