Diablo III’s 2.3.4 update hit the public test realm today, giving PC players a chance to play through a 16-level retro dungeon packed with bosses from the 1996 original. It’s not quite a remake, but it hits all the right notes.
Track: Burning Finger Theme | Artist: G Gundam | Album: G Gundam Soundtrack
Tyranny is an RPG that hearkens back to the good old days of games like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment. It’s weird, then, to see it offering mobile-game-like daily rewards for regular play.
[Dishonored 2 is out today, and Chris is warping and killing his way through Karnaca to give you a review as soon as he can. In the meantime, you could read my extremely-last-minute interview with co-creative director Harvey Smith below to better understand Arkane's development process and perception of its game.]
Sitting in a dimly lit bar/lounge called The Edison that had me in a thematically-appropriate mood, I spoke with Harvey Smith at length about how his past projects have informed Arkane's latest, what it's like to be a household name in the gaming industry, and how he considers Dishonored a cult game. That last idea stuck out to me in particular. But first, let's set the stage.
I had just finished playing through the Clockwork Mansion level, using a provided device to record three playthroughs: one where I examined every little thing as Emily before realizing that would make for a horrible video, another where I played like a gosh-dang expert, and a third as Corvo just to try out his abilities in the provided environment. Due to some screw-up on my end, the footage is all jittery and unpublishable, so allow me to paint the (entirely fabricated) scene for you.
I ghosted through the whole level, not even breaking a sweat. A crowd of journalists and developers alike slowly filled in behind me, a burgeoning e-sports player easily worth millions of dollars, offering to buy me drinks. When I finished the level, Smith came up to me, a single tear gliding down his cheek as he ruffled my hair and said "Y'did good, kid." Then each person in attendance gave me $100 each so I could pay off my credit card debt.
Ahem.
Some more images have surfaced for Konami's pachislot machine based on Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and, ugh, these characters have never looked so good. This is the stuff of broken dreams for any fan wishing that somehow, some way, things would've turned out differently for the series.
Microsoft is all about unified apps these days and that applies to its $2.5 billion baby Minecraft, too. The Pocket and Windows 10 versions of the blocky creation-and-survival game are almost at parity with the original Java version, developer Mojang announced today. The 1.0 update, dubbed "The End," brings end-game boss The Ender Dragon and the The End dimension to desktop and mobile players. But, despite its name, Mojang says that continual updates are planned after this is released. Oh, and the 1.0 version is what will arrive by year's end on Apple TV as well.
Source: Mojang
Sombra is a free spirit, a rebel. You can’t put her in a box. I mean that literally, by the way.
With last month's release of Super Dimension Neptune vs Sega Hard Girls, the calendar of upcoming titles from developer Compile Heart was looking a bit barren. In fact, nothing had been announced for western shores past that game.
Well, last night that changed. At a press event in San Francisco, publisher Idea Factory International unveiled three games set to hit North America and Europe in the first half of 2017, as well as a Steam release of one of Compile Heart's better PlayStation 4 titles.
Today’s the day you can finally get your hands on Nintendo’s attempt to squeeze a little more revenue out of the NES games library. That’s right, the tiny NES Classic Edition is finally hitting stores, which got us thinking, does Nintendo have an SNES Classic Edition in the works too?
The NES Classic Edition is already shaping up to be this holiday season's more elusive purchases. While waiting in line for one this morning, a man who looked to be about 35 offered me and others waiting alongside me $100 in cash for one. He said it was for his son's birthday, which strangely enough, just happened to be today.
I wasn't sure I believed him, but I didn't have long to think about it. Someone behind me in line was quick to take him up on his offer. I wouldn't be surprised if that particular NES Classic Edition is up on eBay right now for +$250 plus shipping.
My son, on the other hand, is definitely real, and he's definitely getting a kick out of our new toy. His favorite part of the package is probably the poster that comes with it. Spoiler ~ it makes a cool crinkling sound when you wave it in the air like a flag.
His second favorite part is probably Duck Hunt, even though Duck Hunt isn't actually included on the console's list of pre-loaded games. That's just how much he loves the word "duck". And who could blame him? It's the only word he knows how to say.
If "hunt" ends up being his second word, how will that reflect on me as a parent?
What a week. I’m a little burned out on drinking and crying, so this weekend I’m going to play some games.
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Not since the days of amiibo-mania have we seen a Nintendo product that's in as high demand and as low stock as the NES Classic currently is. The miniature console released today and it seems as if most stores sold out immediately. It's mostly the same story for online retailers. But, there's still one more hopeful prospect.
As we told you two days ago, Amazon will begin selling the NES Classic at 2pm Pacific today. That's 30 minutes from the time this post goes up. Here's the direct link to the product page.
If you want one, come prepared. Amazon has stated that "quantities are very limited." Make sure your shipping and credit card information are up to date. This will likely be gone within a matter of minutes. Any wasted time probably means you're out of luck. Also note that one-click ordering is turned off for this item and that customers are limited to only one NES Classic.
Amazon seems like it's the last US retailer to open the ordering process. Anyone who can't secure one here probably won't get an NES Classic until later down the road. With some determination and maybe a bit of luck, you might be Playing with Power in the next few days.
Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition [Amazon]
The first thing you should know about the NES Classic, aka the Mini-NES, is that it does exactly what it’s supposed to do. The second thing you should know is that it’s kind of a pain in the ass.
After a disheartening delay to 2017, production on Gravity Rush 2 has wrapped.
The soaring action-adventure game is done, according to director Keiichiro Toyama and producer Nick Accordino, who added "See you in January!" We most certainly will.
Generally speaking, I don't pay much attention to games "going gold," but in this case and a couple of other recent notable examples like The Last Guardian, gosh, it feels good to have that confirmation.
Toyama also shared a short clip of Gravity Rush 2 alongside the news. When you're done watching it, you may want to catch this mini documentary from toco toco about the game director.
In my game of The Sims 4, there’s an NPC named Bruce Biggs. I first met him as he wandered over to a park bench, shirtless, wearing basketball shorts and a luchador mask. He promptly fell asleep.
PlayStation Experience, a video game convention that is held in early December every year, is much closer than it feels. In a mere three weeks, people will congregate in Anaheim to celebrate everything PlayStation. It should be a good time.
As expected, Sony has a good number of exhibitors lined up to show off their games. As of right now, 67 are scheduled and they range from the biggest of the triple-A publishers to small indie studios. Here's the full list of exhibitors at PlayStation Experience 2016:
We all have a tipping point. There's a moment when we hear about one more act of violence or one more slight against people in our community, and all of the injustice we've witnessed in a particular situation suddenly coalesces into clear conviction. At this moment, we can't sit silently and watch anymore. We are compelled to act.
Dain Saint's tipping point was the shooting death of both Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two black men who died at the hands of police officers just one day apart from each other in July.
"I couldn't do nothing, but I didn't know what to do," Saint says. To gather his thoughts, he wrote a post on Medium titled We Can Be Better. It's a call to action and a raw, eye-opening take on the state of trust, fear and empathy in America. As a black engineer living in Philadelphia, Saint himself is realistic but filled with optimism, and so is his blog post.
“Splash” has traditionally been a move of total disappointment, hence why people associate it with Magikarp. Splash usually does absolutely nothing. Well, not in Sun and Moon.
November 11, 1918 -- the same date as the end of World War I -- is when Poland became a free country for the second time. For the previous 123 years, it was ruled by other forces like the Russian Empire. Admittedly, I did not know any of this before today. I am a Bad American who really only knows the US' Independence Day because we get an excuse to drink and to blow things up.
What I do know is that Zack and I visited Poland last month and it was a fantastic reminder that a lot of great games are developed in that country. Polish Independence Day feels like as good a reason as any to have a big ol' PC games sale.
Games Republic, which is owned by Warsaw-based 11 bit, has more than 100 games discounted. Some highlights are Shadow Warrior for $5.99, This War of Mine for $4.99, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter for $4.99, and The Witcher 2 for $2.99. There's a lot more to peruse.
Hit up the sale and rummage around if you're feeling particularly cultural and celebratory. Or, if cheap PC games aren't your thing, say "Na zdrowie!" as you tip back a shot of vodka. Both will work just fine.
Polish Games Days [Games Republic]
Short version: The new PS4 Pro is a more powerful version of an already good console. We like the PS4 a lot, and the Pro doesn’t do anything to diminish that. However, it’s going to be a while before we know just what that added horsepower will be used for.
Oh hey, Yoshi's Woolly World is getting a 3DS port next year with Poochy's name tacked onto it -- I totally forgot!
Well, it's always been in the back of my mind because of the Poochy amiibo, but that's besides the point -- I was more in tune with the toy than the actual game. But there's good news coming out of Nintendo though on the 3DS edition, as it will actually gain, and not lose, features, unlike Super Mario Maker when it hits their portable next month.
One confirmed new mechanic is the Yoshi pattern creation tool, which lets you use the stylus to craft your own symbols to adorn on Yoshi himself. I uh, can't see this being used inappropriately at all.
Nintendo of Europe [Twitter]
2D fighting games are a very video game kinda thing, but where there’s a will, there’s a Way of the Fighter, an upcoming board game that tries to replicate the digital genre on a tabletop.
"I don't want to sit on the floor while I play video games," my buddy Josh told me. "I'm not 7 anymore." My friend was parked just 4 feet away from my 40-inch television, playing Ninja Gaiden on the NES Classic Edition -- a tiny re-creation of Nintendo's original home game console. The diminutive game system has everything a nostalgic gamer could want: an iconic design, a built-in collection of 30 classic games and pixel-perfect emulation. But for Josh, the two-and-a-half-foot-long controller cables were a deal-breaker. It's a shame, too: Almost everything else about the NES Classic is perfect.
Two German-based directors made an anime opening for the Nintendo Switch, inspired by Transformers.
The Tron lightcycle is one of the coolest vehicles of all time...and now you can drive it in GTA Online, thanks to a new “Deadline” mode. The update is one of the best additions to GTA Online in a long time.
Line Wobbler isn’t how most gamers picture a dungeon-crawler. It’s a long LED strip stretching down from the ceiling connected to a spring-based joystick—more installation art than video game. A physical thing, a few dozen copies of Line Wobbler exist. Developer Robin Baumgarten didn’t expect his niche little project to gain much traction in the gaming community.
