Monday, May 8, 2017

News:: This week is your chance to try Quake Champions

Quake Champions has been off doing its thing with a closed beta test. Maybe you signed up. Maybe you didn't. Maybe you wanted to, but you tend to have terrible luck getting accepted for these sorts of things, so you didn't even bother. This week is your week (if you're still interested).

id Software is planning a "large-scale tech test" that will run from May 12 through May 21 with access to all existing Champions and maps, and also a new four-on-four mode called Sacrifice.

"If you signed up for the Quake Champions Closed Beta, you WILL receive an invite before this weekend's test," according to the studio. Better yet, the technical test will be playable "24/7," with none of the usual weekend-only restrictions. Quake is such a known quantity, but Champions is trying some new things, and that makes this a particularly good candidate for pre-release previewing.

Quake Champions – Large-Scale Tech Test & Sacrifice Mode Coming Soon [Bethesda]

This week is your chance to try Quake Champions screenshot



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News:: Deal: Save on Strafe before tomorrow's release

Back in 2015, a Kickstarter began for a 1990s-style first-person shooter that is now culminating in tomorrow's release of Strafe. Now under the Devolver Digital umbrella, the game is going live on Steam for $19.96 tomorrow, but bargain hunters can find a 21% off pre-order discount available.

The retailer in question is the Sweden-based GamersGate, offering the Steam copy of the game for $15.77. This is the best price online from an authorized retailer. The discount expires upon Strafe's 1:00pm Eastern release tomorrow and will revert to full price at that time.

Strafe Deals

  • Strafe (Steam key) — $15.77  (list price $20)
  • Releases 5/9 at 1:00pm Eastern

As mentioned, the discount on Strafe will only be valid up until its release date. After that time we'll keep you updated on other available deals from the usual suspects.

For those unfamiliar, the game's intention is to capture the old-school Quake and Doom style of the '90s. All maps are randomly generated, so each playthrough should be unique. If you're interested in some classic FPS action, $15 isn't a bad price for what looks to be a promising title.

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Deal: Save on Strafe before tomorrow's release screenshot



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News:: D. Va slots nicely into a MOBA, but she needs a bit more polish

Overwatch's increasing presence in Heroes of the Storm has been met with jubilation and tepidness alike.

Personally, I love that the series is doing well enough to warrant frequent crossovers, and the characters are interesting enough to justify their existence in multiple projects. That, and the Heroes team does a bang-up job of converting their FPS kits to a MOBA.

D.Va is yet another hero that's been ported over to perfection -- at least in terms of the way she works mechanically. While her abilities are on point, there's a few things that she could use in terms of patch-centric polish.

D. Va slots nicely into a MOBA, but she needs a bit more polish screenshot

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News:: Dead Island 2: Still a thing

Like a good little zombie, Dead Island 2 refuses to stay down. You could be forgiven for thinking Dead Island 2 was one of those games that got quietly cancelled; Deep Silver hasn't said much about it since developer Yager was taken off the project in the summer of 2015. The marketing trail has gone cold.

However, Dead Island 2 isn't six feet under taking a dirt nap. In a statement to Eurogamer (who simply asked something along the lines of "Hey, is this still happening?"), Deep Silver confirmed the game is still in production. Here's the comment in full:

"Dead Island 2 is in development at Sumo Digital, and we are excited by the progress the team are making with Deep Silver's most successful IP. When we are ready to share more information, we will."

It's not the sexiest of quotes but it does the trick, essentially just raising its hand as the teacher does role call. Present and accounted for. Basically "don't bury me, I'm still not dead."

(As a side note: Whoa to Deep Silver calling Dead Island its most successful property. I figured that would have easily been Saints Row. Maybe Deep Silver can't completely love Saints Row because it's a stepkid.)

Dead Island 2 is still alive, Deep Silver insists [Eurogamer]

Dead Island 2: Still a thing screenshot



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News:: GOG weekly sale includes $5 Crysis, Dragon Age: Origins, and more

For the price of a foot-long sub you can pick up the Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition, Crysis, Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, or a treasure trove of other classic EA titles in a new PC gaming sale at GOG. If you enjoy these "classics" but don't really want to deal with Origin, this is a good way to go.

Dozens of EA games are at their historic low price points. All titles are DRM-Free, as GOG has proudly been offering since 2008. The discounts are valid for one week lasting now through next Monday. Though there are much more titles on sale, our top picks of the sale are listed below.

Top Picks

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GOG weekly sale includes $5 Crysis, Dragon Age: Origins, and more screenshot



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News:: Rocket League remodeled its most unpopular arena

At the beginning of Rocket League's competitive season 4, players scored a major victory. They lobbied Psyonix so hard to remove Neo Tokyo from competitive play that the developer finally buckled and pulled it. The much-maligned map (although some defended and enjoyed it) featured elevated sections on the far left and right sides, which critically altered how games would play out.

Psyonix isn't keen to pull it permanently, so it's offering a compromise of sorts. According to the outline for the May 10 update, Neo Tokyo has been reworked so it no longer features those ramps. Now it's more akin to a standard map, and it'll be reintroduced to competitive and non-competitive playlists. The original Neo Tokyo has been renamed "Tokyo Underpass" and it'll be available to play in private and offline matches.

The other major component of the 1.34 update is the addition of the Nitro Crate. A new car will be included in the new crate -- the Mantis. Basically a Batmobile knockoff, the Mantis has the exact same hitbox and turn radius as the Dark Knight's vehicle. However, the Mantis is fully customizable and the Batmobile isn't. This is essentially a way to get your own decals and silly toppers onto something that functions the same as the Batmobile.

We'll know more about the new update on Wednesday when Psyonix releases the patch notes and when all the Nitro Crate items are properly detailed. But for now, get ready for a return trip to Nippon; it seems far more tolerable than when we last saw it.

What's Coming in V1.34 [Rocket League]

Rocket League remodeled its most unpopular arena screenshot

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News:: Crowdfunded: HEE HEE HEE!

For this blog there’s many topics to pick from - I could talk about many of the great games I’ve gotten, some of the more disappointing ones, one of the worst decisions I ever made crowdfunding-wise (Ouya), or what I’m still waiting on. But instead, for the moment at least, I find it prudent to just talk about my favorite so far: Shovel Knight.

Crowdfunded: HEE HEE HEE! screenshot

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News:: There's going to be a Risk of Rain 2

Risk of Rain and Deadbolt studio Hopoo Games is about six months into its next project, and that project is none other than Risk of Rain 2 -- in 3D, no less! I wasn't expecting a sequel to the 2013 roguelike action-platformer anytime soon, much less one that looks like this, but here we are.

"As a preface, I reaaaaally want to stress this: the game is still very VERY early in development," wrote the team in its reveal devblog post (emphasis theirs). "None of the systems, artstyles, assets, or game design choices will necessarily translate to the final game. We're learning as we go along - I hope that you guys find it as interesting to read as we do to develop."

There's going to be a Risk of Rain 2 screenshot

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News:: GameStop is giving away Midnight Form Lycanroc for Pokemon Sun and Moon

Bring your 3DS and Pokemon Sun or Moon into a GameStop between May 15 and June 5 to snag a code for a special Midnight Form Lycanroc. The level-50 rock monster features a hidden ability that guarantees all moves -- its own and its opponents' -- will hit during battle and comes holding a Life Orb.

Meanwhile, last month Japan was giving out Shiny Tapu Koko. Enjoy your edgelord furry.

GameStop is giving away Midnight Form Lycanroc for Pokemon Sun and Moon screenshot



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News:: Someone already beat Prey in under 20 minutes

It's only been out a few days, but people are already speed-running the new Prey with impressive results. Twitch streamer DraQu just clocked a sub-20-minute time, embedded above. This run is an improvement on his 44-minute time from yesterday; he halved his time in a day. We'll see just how low the speed running community can go, and I'll try to beat it in under 20 hours if I can ever finish Persona 5.

Someone already beat Prey in under 20 minutes screenshot



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News:: Don't forget, that LocoRoco remaster for PS4 is out tomorrow

The PlayStation Portable sure had some tremendous titles, didn't it?

I'd easily count LocoRoco among that lot, and with the world-tilting platformer getting a PS4 remaster tomorrow (whoa that snuck up on me!), now's the perfect time to reminisce. My PSP is little more than a brick with a busted-up battery, so remasters like this and Patapon are coming straight for my wallet.

It's as charming as I remember. LocoRoco Remastered's trophy list has surfaced already, so if you care to know about that stuff in advance, you darn well can. And yes, there's a Platinum trophy.

Don't forget, that LocoRoco remaster for PS4 is out tomorrow screenshot



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News:: Come see the Zombies Chronicles expansion for Black Ops III

As you might have heard last week, Zombies Chronicles is an about-to-launch expansion for Call of Duty: Black Ops III that assembles and remasters eight maps from the Treyarch back catalog. Before the $30 compilation releases first for PlayStation 4 on May 16, 2017, here's a "story" trailer.

What's different in this package? On the audio-visual front, these maps will have "current-generation visuals, enhanced lighting, revamped character models and environments, and updated AI and audio systems." In terms of gameplay, "Zombies Chronicles also lets players use custom weapons, including current weaponry featured in Black Ops III that wasn't featured in the original maps."

Speaking of, these are the selections:

  • From Call of Duty: World at War: Nacht der Untoten (Abandoned Bunker), Verruckt (Wittenau Sanitorium) and Shi No Numa (Jungle Swamp)
  • From Call of Duty: Black Ops: Kino Der Toten (Theater of the Dead), Ascension (Soviet Cosmodrome), Shangri-la (Exotic Jungle Shrine) and Moon (Lunar Base)
  • From Call of Duty: Black Ops II: Origins (WWI France)

I understand why this is an expansion, but it would've been much more tempting as a standalone product for lapsed Call of Duty players like me who are curious, but not that curious. Maybe one day.

Come see the Zombies Chronicles expansion for Black Ops III screenshot

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News:: Volition's Agents of Mayhem has a lot of potential

Agents of Mayhem must've slipped off my radar, but it's back on now. Gosh I hope this turns out well.

Today's trailer better introduces three of the game's dozen playable characters: Hollywood, Fortune, and Hardtack, who you might recognize from Volition's prior marketing materials.

In the lore, these were the first three agents recruited for the evil-stopping M.A.Y.H.E.M., and in the game proper, you'll have access to a team of three characters at any given time when you're completing missions or roaming open-world Seoul. So, if you don't like the look or sound of Hollywood, for instance, you can go with someone else (and based on Steven's preview, I'll be doing just that.)

I have such a soft spot for the Saints Row franchise -- even the first one, which I'm sure has not aged particularly well. As much as I probably would keep playing direct sequels, it's wonderful to see Volition build on that ridiculous third-person shooter foundation with something a little different.

Also, they brought Pierce back under an alias. Good move.

Volition's Agents of Mayhem has a lot of potential screenshot



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News:: Burger Clan and the weird history of awkward video game promos

Executives at Burger King are convinced playing video games makes people really, really hungry. Like, debilitatingly hungry. So hungry, in fact, that they can't take a few minutes to grab a snack, order a pizza or even look away from the screen.

Thankfully for starved players in Madrid, Spain, Burger King and Sony have rolled out a solution to this dining dilemma: Burger Clan.



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News:: 'Sonic Riders' may have been (legally) plagiarized

Sonic the Hedgehog is known for two things: going fast and his love of chili dogs. While the blue blur is returning to the fray in a pair of new games (made independently of each other, no less) this year, the ever-vigilant folks at Unseen64 have uncovered an entry from the expedient rodent's past we'll never get to play. It was a skateboarding game called Sonic Extreme that used the groundwork of a Nickelodeon-skinned version of a game featuring Tech Deck finger-skateboard toys and was set to release on Gamecube, PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox. And you thought your family tree was complicated.

Via: Polygon

Source: DidYouKnowGaming?



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News:: A fighting game tournament with two-second rounds? I'm in

Having been to arcades in Japan, it's incredible what you can find. Entire floors dedicated to preserving games from 30 years ago is just one wonder, but thriving fighting game competitions were another awesome sight to behold.

Over in Takadanobaba, Tokyo, the Mikado game centre has been hosting all sorts of tournaments, from retro games to shiny new titles. But one of the more unique games that has been getting some traction is Galaxy Fight, the Sunsoft-helmed Neo Geo fighter, due to some interesting regulations -- two-second matches (the timer is set to :01, but since :00 counts as a tick it's two seconds in all).

You can see the practice for yourself in the video below. The enthusiastic casters really help make it more exciting, and since matches go so quickly it's really easy to cycle players in and out. If you're curious and want to play Galaxy Fight for yourself, it's currently on PSN and the Xbox Marketplace.

Galaxy Fight [YouTube via Kotaku]

A fighting game tournament with two-second rounds? I'm in screenshot

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News:: Emily is Away Too set to break hearts on May 26

Emily is Away was a very realistic look at how relationships can escape one's grasp. The take away was that it is better to speak your mind then to forever bottle your emotions up. The worst thing that can happen is you get rejected; life doesn't end and you won't be worse off for it. The game also accurately recreated AOL Instant Messenger circa 2002, so there was that.

I guess people were eager to continue getting smacked with emotional baggage and nostalgia, as developer Kyle Seely has been working on a sort of sequel. That follow up, titled Emily is Away Too, will be hitting Steam on May 26. Instead of being free like the original game, Too will cost $4.99.

Here is a trailer for the game, which looks to expand the scope of the original title beyond just instant messenging.

Emily is Away Too set to break hearts on May 26 screenshot

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News:: First full trailer for Blade Runner 2049 brings us back to the future

The first full trailer for Blade Runner 2049 has finally landed giving us the best look yet at what the Ridley Scott produced/Denis Villeneuve directed film has in store... and I can't say I'm all that enticed. To be fair I didn't think Blade Runner really needed a sequel in the first place, especially given its ability to stay relevant in the years since its release. And if anyone really wanted more the underrated game delivered a surprisingly complex kind of retelling. 

But I digress, a sequel is here and we'll put our trust in Villeneuve to recapture the atmosphere of the original. Scott definitely doesn't deserve it. The trailer delivers a bit of the plot, which involves K (Ryan Gosling) tracking down Deckard (Harrison Ford) and trying to uncover some deep secret that could destroy everything. The original is proclaimed because of its introspective themes on humanity, and I'm not sure that this one is going to be able to carry on that tradition given the action and gun shooting rampaging through it. I also maybe reading too much into this, but are they telegraphing Gosling being a replicant a little too hard here? 

I guess I'm cautiously excited for something I never really wanted. And you gotta love the Atari throwback to the original

First full trailer for Blade Runner 2049 brings us back to the future screenshot



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News:: Here's a look at Heroes of the Storm's version of D.Va

Starting today D.Va will be playable in the PTR for Heroes of the Storm, which means her talents and abilities, as they relate to a top-down MOBA, have come to light.

D.Va will retain her "in and out of mech" kit from Overwatch, and can call her mech back faster when dealing damage in pilot mode -- interestingly, killing her mech counts as half a hero kill, and she can only mount while outside of the mech.

Beyond that she has boosters, her signature defensive matrix, self-destruct ability, and two Heroics -- Bunny Hop (a stomp that makes her unstoppable) and Big Shot (a line skillshot in Pilot mode that greatly reduces her Mech cooldown).

Here's a look at Heroes of the Storm's version of D.Va screenshot

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News:: The Dragon Quest Summer Festival will kick off in August this year

Dragon Quest is having one of its biggest years in its 30 year history. Alongside of the July launch of Dragon Quest XI (in Japan), there's also a number of 30th anniversary celebrations on top of several recent re-releases.

One such event is the "Dragon Quest Summer Festival 2017," which will be held on August 5-6...in Japan. It's free to get in, but you'll have to pay 2,000 yen (roughly $17) to get access to its celebrity guests on the main stage.

If you're interested you can find tickets here if you want to attend at the Tokyo Big Sight venue. Say what you will about Square Enix, but they make a pretty big effort to constantly hold fan events like this, most of which seem to go over well.

Dragon Quest Summer Festival [Square Enix via Siliconera]

The Dragon Quest Summer Festival will kick off in August this year screenshot



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News:: Sega is once again teasing a Vanquish PC port

Sega has been known in recent years to put a heavy amount of brand stock into Twitter, and they're doubling down this week with yet another Vanquish PC port tease.

While we already got a Vanquish avatar update by way of the Bayonetta PC release, Sega also tweeted out the phrase "2017," accompanied by a conspicious emblem. As astute folks have already pointed out, this is the same emblem (Order of the Russian Star) donned by Victor Zaitsev, the main antagonist of Vanquish.

It seems set in stone at this point, the real question is just "when?" It'll probably be before E3, as I can't see it fitting into any particular conference.

Sega [Twitter]

Sega is once again teasing a Vanquish PC port screenshot

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News:: Splatoon 2 maps will rotate 'every two hours'

One of my biggest hopes for Splatoon 2 is that Nintendo will take little suggestions here and there to improve online play, and it seems like they're on the right track.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami explained that when the sequel arrives, it'll have a quicker map rotation than its predecessor. While they're sticking with two maps at a time for now, it'll only take two hours for them to rotate as opposed to four. Nogami explains, "We feel that part of the gameplay is actually selecting which weapons would be best for that combination of two maps. In Splatoon 2, the maps rotate every two hours, so it’ll be a much faster cycle than the previous game."

It's a great start, but I hope that in the future they move toward a full rotation or a bigger pool. At first it's fine for newer folks to not understand what weapons work best for each map -- so a learning curve is expected -- but months down the line you have to expect that most of the community picked up some of the more general nuances of the game.

Splatoon 2 [Edge via NeoGAF]

Splatoon 2 maps will rotate 'every two hours' screenshot



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News:: Battle Sports Mekuru could give Switch owners a party game fix

It was announced that in several weeks, Battle Sports Mekuru, a Sentai-esque battle game for the Nintendo Switch, will be available to play at the annual BitSummit conference -- there's even going to be a tournament, so expect plenty of impressions. Developer Over Fence also notes that it's expected to arrive this summer.

Even if it doesn't hit the west at the same time as it releases in Japan, the amazing cross-regional openness of the eShop will make it easy to "import." It looks a little more Fusion Frenzy than Mario Party (there doesn't seem to be an emphasis on a board), but I'm hopeful for this one -- the Switch could use a few more party games.

Battle Sports Mekuru could give Switch owners a party game fix screenshot

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News:: I would still play this dated, lost Sonic skateboarding game

This has been one of my favorite episodes of the Unseen64 series, partially because of the lengths that folks have gone to in the name of game preservation. Years back there was a Sonic-themed skateboarding game slated for Xbox, PS2, and GameCube from a relatively obscure developer called Vision Scape.

Built as a prototype the project ended up getting out into the wild over the years, but the story of how it met its end is rather bleak. Featuring Sonic and Shadow, much of it apes the Tony Hawk series, right down to an Emerald basically representing a Secret Tape collectible. But based on some tinkering with another mode, it's also themed around Downhill Jam's race-centric gimmick, which makes sense when it's Sonic we're talking about here. In other words, this is a pretty comprehensive mockup and even in its limited state, shows a lot of promise.

After the developer assembled the prototype and sat down with the head of Sonic Team for a formal meeting, it was agreed that they would move forward with the project after a design document was proposed. So why didn't it happen? Well, Vision Scape gave Sega the docs, but didn't hear anything back. There were no hard feelings apparently at the time, but they did feel burned when they basically took their idea and crafted their own Sonic Riders a few years later. The team was essentially screwed by way of an NDA they had signed at the start of their partnership -- Sega and Sonic Team to date have declined to comment.

There's no way to officially know what happened, but it does look bad on Sega's part. Either way I'm just glad that the prototype exists and posterity will be able to see it, and make their own decisions.

I would still play this dated, lost Sonic skateboarding game screenshot

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News:: Street Fighter V's sluggish Season 2 will likely continue with Ed

While the PlayStation Store excitedly confirmed Ed already, an official image from the Street Fighter V website (which is now pulled) has confirmed him with reckless abandon. In all likelihood he's completed, we're probably just waiting on final balance changes and play testing

Ed will be the third character of Season 2 of the game (since, for now, there isn't going to be a "Super" edition), which has been crawling along at a snail's pace since December's release of Akuma (six months). By comparison Season 1 began in March of 2016, and was completed by September -- that's six characters over the same period of time.

For those who aren't aware, Ed is another member of M. Bison's Shadaloo organization, a stable that Capcom constantly plucks from across the series if they need ideas. I'm not judging yet as he could be fun to play, but Season 2 really needs to pick up the pace -- as do general updates to bring people back into the fold.

Street Fighter V DLC [NeoGAF]

Street Fighter V's sluggish Season 2 will likely continue with Ed screenshot



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News:: Rumor: New Assassin's Creed is still set for Egypt, will feature two protagonists again

Take this with a grain of salt, but there's allegedly more information regarding the Egyptian-bound Assassin's Creed that was revealed last year by Kotaku.

According to sources at WWG (facilitated by the typically reliable Liam Robertson), the game has been renamed from Assassin's Creed Empire to Origins, and although it'll still take place in Egypt, it'll have more of an open world focus. A non-linear emergent storyline has been teased similar to the Elder Scrolls series, which would be a great pivot for the formulaic franchise.

It'll also supposedly have two protagonists again (a man and woman, just like Syndicate, and that it has benefited greatly from the two ear development cycle (since they skipped last year) -- naval combat and exploration as far as Greece are mentioned. According to WWG it'll be out later this fall.

I'm down for all this if it's done right. Assassin's Creed games seem to be good every other entry at this point, but with the extra development time it could end up being one of the better ones in recent years.

Next Assassin's Creed Is Named Origins, Rumoured To Feature Naval Combat [WWG]

Rumor: New Assassin's Creed is still set for Egypt, will feature two protagonists again screenshot



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