If you still haven't picked up NieR: Automata, the game is now 25% off on both the PS4 and PC platform thanks to a new deal from two different retailers.
For PC gamers head over to DLGamer where they've struck the price down 25% making buyers pay only $44.99. Best discount online from an authorized Steam key retailer.
The deal is matched for PlayStation 4 gamers at everyone's favorite retailer to rag on GameStop. Shipping is free when you punch in coupon code SAVER at checkout. Otherwise store pickup is also available.
The discounts come on the heels of NieR: Automata's new DLC release 3C3C1D119440927. The new $13.99 DLC doesn't have a PlayStation discount as of yet, but on PC you can find her 18% off with a drop to $11.47 at GMG for the Steam key.
The new 3C3C1D119440927 DLC adds a good bit of content to the game. New outfits (pictured above) for 2B as well as other outfits for 9S and A2. There's also new sub-quests, three colosseums, different battle challenges, and more.
One of the best parts about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (besides a proper Battle Mode and portability)? The resurgence of extraordinary and oftentimes excruciating highlights shared for our viewing pleasure.
Remind me not to overdo it on the snooze button next Wednesday.
Starbreeze is putting on a streaming event with "first looks and previews" for a bunch of games, a few of which -- like System Shock 3 and Psychonauts 2 -- you're probably keeping tabs on. The stream is scheduled for 9:00am Pacific. On the docket:
Overkill's The Walking Dead
Psychonauts 2
System Shock 3
Exclusive Payday 2 announcement
"A Veterans of the Industry" panel featuring Warren Spector, Tim Shafer and Bo Andersson.
Raid: World War II
Deliver Us The Moon
Trailers and unveils
Community interaction and giveaways and more
I keep forgetting Starbreeze has this much going on as a publisher. I still tend to associate its name with The Darkness, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and Payday 2.
If you can't quite recall what this particularWalking Dead game is like, it was announced back in 2014 and it's a cooperative FPS with "elements of action, role-playing, survival horror, and stealth." I'm curious how that's coming together.
Prey has me shook. I've seen plenty of aliens and they're all intimidating, but at least they're an obvious threat. It's the ones I can't see that have me paranoid, inching closer to a desk that could very well be just a regular desk. "But why would there be two coffee mugs on one desk," I ask myself, steeling my nerves for something to suddenly shapeshift and attack me.
Blaster Master Zero's free 1.2 update arrived yesterday on the eShop, which came with an extra difficulty mode and an extra character (Gunvolt) as DLC. While the update will naturally be applied instantly by way of a patch the DLC is housed separately on the eShop, under the Blaster Master Zero heading, towards the middle of the listing.
I'm reminding you all because Gunvolt will only be free for a limited time before he reverts to $1.99. From now until May 17 you can grab him without paying, and the same goes for Ekoro who will be free from June 1 to June 14.
If you'd rather check out a demo first, it's available on Switch and 3DS.
Relic isn't done with supporting Dawn of War III just yet. While there aren't many issues with the final version, some annoying little bugs have reared their heads for players and Relic is hot on the case. For the first patch, coming this Monday, Relic is going to be tackling issues with units being invisible as well as including a surrender option for when the battle is basically lost. I know that would be my most used button, overall.
On the following day, Relic will be looking at server issues that have been plaguing users. For some, the game has been pairing them up with servers that aren't close to them, resulting in a lot of input lag. Relic states they are going to refine which servers specific regions utilize based on latency data from the first week of play, so hopefully that issue will be an easy fix.
Finally, sometime later in the month, Relic will be releasing a balance update. They are looking at data on least used units and looking over reports of unit abilities that are overpowered (they mention, specifically, Zapnoggin's teleport). They will also be looking into how escalation phases work in multiplayer to see if the buff tiers are scaled correctly.
All in all, it sounds like the multiplayer portion of Dawn of War III should become a bit more balanced. I haven't played much of the multiplayer since release, but I wasn't particularly excited about it in beta. Maybe balance issues really were to blame, but either way the game should be getting better going forward.
A lot of projects have seemingly added in elements of Bushido Blade over the years, but that just goes to show how damn influential that game was.
Slice, Dice & Rice is the latest title to adopt a one-hit KO gimmick, and is now available on Steam. As a 2D fighter with an eye-catching art style you'll battle across the underworld with eight characters, ranging from traditional samurai to mythological creatures like Tengu.
Cancels and parries are a huge part of the game, and I'm really itching to try it out at some point. The only thing I don't really like about it is the title -- "slice and dice," Dark Knight Returns Mutant style, would have sufficed!
Bob Ross is about to do battle with the gods. The Joy of Painting host, known for his soft voice, permed afro and "happy little trees," is coming to Hi-Rez Studios' mythology-themed MOBA Smite later this month as a character skin for Sylvanus.
Neuromods are the lifeblood of Prey. The whole reason the TranStar Corporation refitted the game's abandoned space station into a research facility was in pursuit of neuroscience. Scientific breakthroughs led to the development of Neuromods, modifications that remap the subject's brain. Grafting one on immediately enhances a person, allowing them to, for example, be instantly fluent in another language.
They're wildly valuable in Prey's universe, as the wealthy are willing to pay outrageous sums to effortlessly better themselves and prolong their lives. Neuromods are similarly valuable to players, as they're the items that function as skill points. And, there's an early exploit that will have you absolutely swimming in them.
YouTuber HarryNinetyFour recently uploaded the above-embedded video where he explains and exploits the flaw. There are a couple things to understand first. Although Prey positions Neuromods as rare items to find, there's also a blueprint that allows the player to craft them. GameCrate has a good guide explaining how to find this schematic in the early game.
It's also important to understand how the inventory system works. Each item in the inventory takes up a certain number of spots, but multiples of the same item share a single spot. So, one medkit uses the same amount of inventory as six medkits. However, Prey allows the player to split items into separate slots (although I'm honestly not sure what function this serves).
But, the essence of this trick lies in how the recycler functions. Scattered around the space station are recycling machines that the player can use to convert unwanted items into materials. They can then take those materials to a fabricator to craft them into something else.
As the video shows, there's some sort of error in the way the recycler calculates materials being split. When 561 units of materials are put in and split across 9 slots, the machine interprets it as 1,437.5 units. When he reinserts the new amount and again spreads it across 9 spaces, it spits out 3,683.6 units. This is especially baffling because materials seem like they shouldn't even be allowed to be put in the recycler; it's already the finished product.
As this pertains to Neuromods, anyone with the blueprint and any amount of exotic materials should be able to grind out skill points for as long as they want. It's also possible to do this with any other craftable item. It's worth noting that this exploit requires update 1.01 to be installed, which is the most current version of the game at the time of writing.
Also, anyone looking to do this should probably do so sooner than later because it seems like something that will be patched very quickly. And, of course, take advantage of this at your own peril. Being flush with superpowers sounds cool and all, but it's probably going to break the pacing that Arkane worked hard to create.
Folks were hyped up when they found out that VA-11 HALL-A, also known as the anime bartender simulator, was rated in Brazil for a ton of platforms (including the Switch), but as it turns out it likely won't come to most of them.
Developer Wolfgame noted on Twitter that while they did file for a rating on multiple platforms because it was easier to do, they're only planning on bringing it to Vita in the near future. Right now the only place you can get it is PC.
That's a bummer as I think it would fit perfectly on the Switch, but smaller developers don't have unlimited resources of course.
A board game adaptation of Deadly Premonition is one of those things I didn't know I wanted.
We're still very much in teaser mode for this project until next week, but the countdown website does offer a clue about what type of experience it'll be: "a game of innocence, incrimination, and murder."
With the oddball residents of Greenvale in the mix, that could prove quite entertaining. (Just don't tell resident board game obsessive Darren Nakamura I said as much. He'll never stop hounding me.)
An event in South Korea, featuring characters created in Japan, set to the tune of an American made musical -- globalization at its finest (or most masochistic).
Songdo, South Korea hosted the Pokemon World Festival this past week, and one of the celebrations involved a series of dance numbers from performers dressed up in Pikachu costumes. The thing is (at 1:00 in the video) one of the front and center costumes started to hilariously and slowly deflate in front of the audience's eyes, leading to two officials immediately running up and grabbing the poor little mouse creature like they needed to be escorted out of the building.
Later in the video (at 4:20) the deflated 'Chu attempts to rejoin the festivities after some forced clapping, but doesn't quite make it into the conga line. It's so weird to hear Hairspray being played in South Korea, but then again my hotel in Iceland blasted nothing but '60s tunes at all hours of the day.
If there's one thing that can really bog down a horror game, it's the difficulty. Make it too easy, and there's no real chance of maintaining tension. Make it too hard, and repeated playthroughs of the same challenging section over again and again will have once-scary moments feeling rote. It's a tricky balance.
After monitoring player feedback, Outlast 2 developer Red Barrels has found that things aren't quite where they ought to be, difficulty-wise. Today's update brings "minor adjustments to the game’s difficulty in key areas and moments. On Normal difficulty this will offer players a more appropriately balanced experience while still maintaining higher levels of challenge on Hard and Nightmare difficulties."
Larger subtitles, bug fixes, and a tweak to the microphone (it not longer uses extra batteries) are also included in the patch, which is out now on PC and "coming soon" to the console versions. Find the full notes here.
Following the reveal trailer, IGN has shared 12 minutes of pre-alpha footage from Darksiders III.
This is one of those times when the powers that be probably should have waited longer before starting up the marketing cycle. The game isn't due out until next year, and this early look is exactly that: early. The footage gives us an idea of what they're going for with Fury's whip-centric combat style, but so much of what I'm seeing here can be summed up as "needs polish," from the way attacks land to enemy behaviors to the HUD. It's clearly labeled pre-alpha, yes, but first impressions still mean a lot.
I'm on board with the whip, conceptually, but that incessant sound effect is going to break my mind. If you don't care to see the whole video, consider skipping to the eight-minute mark for a boss fight.
Valve customer support, a service that's pretty notorious among Steam users, is very very busy with refunds. How busy? Think roughly 50,000 a day.
According to a report from Gamesindustry.biz, Steam refund requests are now up to 49,199 per day, compared to 16,535 requests for all other issues. It's hard to believe this system has been around since 2015, because outside of a number of developers (mostly who create two hour experiences) there haven't been many complaints.
Curiously, studios are now starting to pivot this system into a selling point. Arkane's Raphael Colantonio recently told people to "just play the game on Steam and refund it" rather than play an official demo (which they aren't releasing), which is all sorts of shady. What if people don't have the $60 to plunk down at the moment, or have an issue with their refund? Or they accidentally play over the two hour mark?
It's just a weird system in all, mostly with the way studios have responded to it. But it's Valve, so they wouldn't have it any other way.
Developer Void Interactive just loosed the trailer for a SWAT simulator called Ready or Not, which seems to bring back the planning phase-fueled magic of a number of '90s shooters.
It boasts eight player co-op or solo play with AI teammates, as well as a lean system, more door opening control than your typical game, and realistic armor and weapon effects. Anyone who played series like Delta Force back in the day will probably remember these staples, albeit with a more retro and simplified tint.
I really liked Rainbow Six Siege in spite of its PVP, action-oriented leanings, but it would be great to get a purely tactical game in the mix again.
According to the latest issue of Dengeki Nintendo, Fire Emblem producer Hitoshi Yamagami has cleared the air regarding the future of the core Fire Emblem series on the 3DS -- that is to say, it has no future.
Speaking to Dengeki he notes that the game will "likely be the last mainline 3DS entry," clarifying that while spinoffs such as Fire Emblem Warriors could still make it over, he reminds us that the next core title is Switch-bound for 2018. From there, we could just see series that were typically reserved for portables head over to Switch full-time. I mean, Nintendo is keen on supporting the 3DS through 2018, but the timeline after that is anyone's guess.
Since Dota 2's inception, Valve has held a massive event, named The International, to highlight the best players of the game in a gigantic battle for supremacy. Players form teams and duke it out for a chance to win an insane amount of money (the first pot was $1.6 million). Starting in 2013, Valve let fans contribute to the prize pool by offering a digital compendium for sale through Steam. Along with offering some cosmetic items for players, sales of the compendium would contribute to the prize pool for that year's tournament. 2016 had a pool of over $20 million, for instance!
While that amount may be crazy, it looks like Valve isn't content with just offering a simple compendium this year. In promoting The International 2017, Valve has announced that all purchases of the $10 2017 compendium will receive a brand new co-op campaign for Dota 2. Titled Siltbreaker, the campaign will task parties of three to battle through two acts with varying landscapes and monsters. The first act will be available in the coming weeks with act II launching in July.
One of my biggest problems with MOBAs is the steep learning curve for competitive play. Randomly jumping into a match is a great way to get berated for being an idiot, but having a campaign focused challenge sounds a lot more pleasant to me. I'm not sure if I'll blindly buy it, but I feel more inclined to actually give Dota 2 a shot, now.
As for the other bonuses that come with this year's compendium, the list is pretty massive. I really and truly don't know much about what these things are, so I'll link you to this wiki that has everything listed out.
With a few big companies winding down their presence, the ESA is winding up their attendance numbers with public entry. But unlike (the bigger) Tokyo Game Show that has press and public days they're just tossing 15,000 people into the fray to make up for a 3.5% less in attendance from 2015 to 2016.
But enough raw numbers talk, here's what you came for -- the conference times. We'll update them as they change and bring you the news as it comes closer to E3.
So... the PC Gaming Show. It's been...a weird event, to say the least for the past two years. Amidst ads masquerading as skits there are a few snippets of news here and there, the consensus seems to be that it leaves much to be desired -- yet isn't as horrid as some of the bombed conferences like EA's.
If you did happen to enjoy it in the past though you're in luck, as it's been confirmed for the third year in a row for E3 2017. It'll have the same host, Sean "Day9" Plott, and will take place on June 12 at 1PM ET. The official site says it should last an hour and a half, but if past events are anything to go by it'll feel three times as long.
If you're attending E3 in LA this year and want to attend you should head over to the official page and get a ticket!
The first time I played Birthdays the Beginning, I didn't put the controller back down for four hours. I was in a trance, totally incapable of wrestling free. The next few nights went similarly: multi-hour sessions cut short not by dwindling interest, but by the pesky need to get at least some sleep.
I can't say I didn't see this coming. Birthdays is a sandbox title and those tend to have a powerful time-warp effect on me. This specific one also happens to be something of a dream game -- an ecosystem simulator in which your almighty meddling causes species to rise, fall, and evolve.
It might not be flashy, exciting, or much to look at, but Birthdays is such an engrossing game.
Nintendo's latest portable, the New 2DS XL, isn't even out yet and people are already questioning its existence. Does the company really need another handheld gaming console, especially with the recent launch of its hybrid Switch? For Nintendo, the answer is an obvious "yes," based on the belief that consumers want a 2DS with the form factor of a 3DS XL. At $150, the 2DS XL will slot in between these two models, which cost $80 and $200, respectively. So, what exactly do you get in return? If you're comparing it to the 2DS, the extra-large version is nearly identical, with the main difference being the clamshell design. Otherwise they both come with the same processor, same battery, same low-resolution cameras and, well, you get the point.
Now that the current Injustice 2 roster is set, it's apparently already time to look toward the future. Not including Darkseid, Injustice 2 has nine DLC characters planned and we got confirmation of the first three today. Fan favorites Red Hood (formerly the Jason Todd version of Robin) and Starfire (a notable Teen Titan) will be part of Fighter Pack 1 along with Sub-Zero, who's following in the guest character footsteps of Scorpion.
Although this is a pre-rendered trailer and we have no gameplay to breakdown yet, there's something else of interest to cross-examine. At the end of the trailer we're treated to silhouettes of the remaining six characters. Raiden and Black Manta are pretty distinct, but I have no idea who the other characters could be. Have any guesses?
Injustice 2 is out on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One May 16. The nine DLC character pass is included in the Ultimate Edition of the title, but we'll update with pricing and release date information when available.
What's an eccentric near-billionaire (or as comedian Gary Gulman would say, "barely billionaire") to do after he gets ousted from his own company? Travel the world with your [near] billions, of course. After basically not being seen in public since January he's still ingrained in the VR world, and headed to Japan for a VR festival held in Tokushima, dressed as Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V.
Luckey is seemingly pulling a Phil Fish, going full parody character (I always thought Fish was a pretty meh Andy Kaufman, and he even had the on-the-nose avatar to drive that point home) and embracing his infamy. As a self-described "shitposter" I'd say his act is pretty dull, but as one of the biggest driving forces of the modern VR movement, he'll likely always stay relevant.
If there's one upcoming video game adaptation that actually makes sense, it's Gears of War. Its visuals are pretty much perfect for adaptation, and Hollywood sure loves stories where big beefy men and women shoot a bunch of aliens. I know Gears of War has some emotion in there somewhere too, so it's an adaptation served on a silver platter.
According to Deadline, Universal and Microsoft Studios have hired Shane Selarno to write the adaptation's script, which will be an all new story set in the Gears universe. Selarno is currently writing James Cameron's Avatar saga (handling parts two through five, jesus) and his past credits include...uh...Savages, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Shaft, oh and Armageddeon!
But what stands out to me the most is that Selarno wrote a few episodes of New York Undercover, one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Malik Yoba is the G.O.A.T.
In case you haven't heard, Nintendo is officially filling us in on the story between Splatoon and Splatoon 2, framed around the relationship of the Squid Sisters. In what basically reads like a script from a network drama, we're slowly learning how their relationship (or any relationship really) is unraveling.
In the third chapter we find Marie out on the town, hamming it up with Crusty Sean (who was in the original) while Callie happens upon their meeting. On any other day she'd stop and say hi, but decides to leave her be because "[she] couldn't remember the last time she'd see Marie talking so cheerfully with anyone besides her." How subtly soul crushing!
If you're into Splatoon at all it's worth catching up on the three chapters on offer so far. It's not a game-changing narrative but I love that Nintendo is putting this much effort into a barely two year old franchise. I mean it's official -- it's here to stay -- it even got love in Smash and Mario Kart.
