PlayStation VR is in a weird spot. It has the userbase, the pricepoint, and Sony has a massive industry lead.
Can it stay in for the long haul? What about the second wave of modern VR (cordless), which, according to a few industry experts and developers I've spoken to, is coming sooner than we think. For now, the Aim Controller will have to do.
Injustice: Gods Among Us was an ambitious undertaking, creating an original story based on an alternate DC Universe where Superman gives into a murderous fallacy and pits heroes against one another in a way not seen since Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come. Unfortunately, all the ambition in the world couldn't save the final product from feeling a little lackluster.
But now that NetherRealm no longer had to create a fighting game from scratch (similarities to the Mortal Kombat series notwithstanding) and was able to build on an already existing framework, Injustice 2 excels at finesse.
It feels reeeally good punching Superman in the face this go around.
Phantom Dust was a surprise treat from Microsoft Japan that arrived in the US (thanks to intervention by Majesco) at the end of the original Xbox's run, and after years of work, a team has revived the original game's assets to build a version that works across the Xbox One and PC. Its business model was still up in the air a couple of weeks ago, but today Xbox Games marketing head Adam Greenberg announced it will be released tomorrow for free (with some paid DLC options available to speed your progress through the game).
Source: Adam Greenberg (Twitter), Microsoft Studios Blog
This episode of toco toco has a similar appeal as the others we've covered on this site. It's a day in the life of a creator -- in this case Kazutoshi Iida, the designer of Aquanaut's Holiday, Tail of the Sun, and Doshin the Giant -- and it's good for the creative soul. We get to tag along, seeing where he spends time and draws inspiration from in Kyoto. It's the same 10-minute-or-so documentary format as before.
But unlike prior episodes that profiled the minds behind games like Silent Hill and No More Heroes, here, I feel like I got some great insights into a creator I knew nothing about. Doshin has long existed on my radar as something I'd like to one day seek out (for GameCube), but I never once connected the dots to see who made the game, why, and what else they've had a hand in.
"In art history, we saw a transition from realism to abstract," says Iida. "I thought that it would be interesting to apply that to games as well. Facing a game that you don't understand, but where you end up understanding yourself. This is the type of contemplative experience I wanted to create."
With that quote in mind, I also need to play Aquanaut's Holiday. I'm worried I'm too late to the party since it's a PS1 game that wasn't particularly well-liked back when it was new, but its premise -- a first-person ocean-exploration sim free of time limits and enemies -- sounds like total bliss to me.
Iida also had an interesting remark about his career. "From the moment I decided to make video games, I set myself a rule that I would create three titles," he said. "I don't know exactly why it was three. Doshin the Giant was my last title. I put all my thoughts and everything I wanted to make in that game."
For Europe and North America, Gundam Versus will be coming out this fall. However, for Japan and Asia, the game launches much sooner, on July 6. Namco is slowly rolling out the marketing campaign, starting with a new TV spot for the game. The most interesting part of the trailer happens at the end however.
Hours earlier than expected, Deck13's The Surge has gone live on Steam. Those a little skeptical of the $49.99 list price should check out the best deals online from various retailers, with discounts reaching up to 24% off. If you're interested in Souls-like gameplay in a sci-fi setting, this is worth looking into. (Deck13 also held an AMA this morning for those interested into reading more on the game.)
These are the best prices online from authorized PC gaming retailers.
The Surge Deals
There are other discount options available beyond the two retailers mentioned above. Just a few bucks higher than GMG is DLGamer with a 20% drop to $39.99. GamesPlanet is a good option for UK buyers as they are selling at £33.99, or 15% off the £39.99 list.
Those wondering if their PC can handle The Surge should know that you'll need to have at least a GTX 560 Ti and Core i5-4690K (or Radeon R7 360 and AMD FX-8320) for the minimum specifications. The game will only take up about 15GB of space, so it's not as massive as some recent releases.
Steam previously had a 10% off pre-order discount, but that deal is gone now that the game is released. As of writing, The Surge is #3 on Steam and GMG's top-seller list.
If you're still tearing up Ghost Recon Wildlands' Bolivian sandbox or wishing you had more of a reason to do so, here's something to keep in mind: the next expansion isn't far off. Fallen Ghosts launches first for season pass holders on May 30, with the option to buy it on its own coming one week later.
Numbers-wise, you can expect 15 more missions, 4 new bosses, and 3 regions, all told. The Santa Blanca cartel has been dealt with, but Unidad's military is vying for control. That puts your squad in a less-than-ideal place as you work to extract American agents and civilians amidst a civil war.
"To help restore order, the Unidad enlists cartel members, veterans, mercenaries and criminals from various nearby countries as volunteers. Together, they form a new brutal special unit, Los Extranjeros, which is ordered to track and eliminate all American agents."
You'll be able to roll with six new weapons, including a crossbow with explosive arrows (a time-honored video game tradition). That said, your targets will have new toys, too -- bulletproof plating, motion detectors, jammers, and cloaking devices.
Ubisoft also added that in Fallen Ghosts, "players will start with a new character at level 30 and equipped with all of the main game skills. The level cap will increase from 30 to 35, and players will be able to unlock nine new skills, including physical, weapon, and drones skills." I'm not sure how I feel about starting fresh in an expansion, but maybe that approach is for the best here.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, an industry-only video game trade show that has always had a suspicious number of 11-year-olds running around, has sold out. The 15,000 tickets that the ESA allotted to the public have all been bought up.
You might think there's something of a double entendre in that headline. E3 is at capacity, sure, but the more risque meaning might be that the ESA sold the convention's ideals for a money grab. That's probably true, but it didn't happen in 2017. E3 has always been accessible for those willing to pay enough, regardless of your ties to the industry. This is just the first year that it's openly advertised as such.
So, there will be an extra 15,000 people at the video game industry's show of shows this year. E3 2016's attendance was just more than 50,000 which means that we can reasonably expect 65,000 or so this time. Sure, that's fine. That's on par with both PAX East and West, events that are perfectly okay to be at.
For all the media whining about how much worse E3 will be now, it's mostly hyperbolic. Anyone with business at E3 will be able to carry on as usual. They'll have appointments scheduled and a press room to work from. The general public isn't going to infringe on any of that. There might be a bit more traffic when going to and fro, but that shouldn't be what stresses you out; you have more important things to worry about.
And to those 15,000 people who are attending their first E3: Rock on. I hope it's a magical experience for you, a perfect reminder of why you love video games in the first place. Just don't discover the well-hid taco truck that Destructoid frequents and we won't have a problem.
A virtual-reality makeover for Half-Life 2 sounds like a terrific new reason to revisit the iconic game, and with Valve prioritizing other initiatives, fans have taken it upon themselves to make it happen.
The community-built Half-Life 2: VR mod for Oculus Rift and Vive has been in development since 2013. More recently, though, it appeared on (and has now made its way through) Steam Greenlight. That's one step down, untold more left to go. This trailer will give you a sense of what they're going for:
In terms of a progress update beyond just the Greenlight confirmation, the team did have more to say. "Having the project on Steam will make it easier for us to develop, and of course much easier for people to install and update when we start releasing builds. We know the top question on everyone's minds is when exactly that will be, but these things they take time, especially with a team of unpaid volunteers. The best we can do for now is 'soon,' as soon as the hands of our programmers and artists allow it."
Frankly, this is one of those fan-led efforts I'd prefer to forget about until it's literally done. These things have a way of slipping as team members come and go. I do hope everything works out, though!
Time, Dr. Freeman? Is it really that time again? [Steam]
Here's a nice little announcement: Microsoft is giving away the remaster of Phantom Dust for free and it's coming tomorrow to Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. That's right, Microsoft's surprising us with both an imminent release date and a freebie.
Head of Xbox marketing Aaron Greenberg just revealed the news on Twitter. Phantom Dust was a cult classic on the original Xbox, and many people were thrilled to find out that it's being gussied up and re-released. Microsoft announced the remaster at E3 2014 but eventually cancelled it. Later, Microsoft re-committed to the idea and began development again, leading to the launch that's evidently coming tomorrow.
One thing to consider is that even though Phantom Dust will be free, it'll feature microtransactions. However, creative director Adam Isgreen confirmed earlier this month that no progression type stuff has been altered to pressure the player to buy anything. That aside, this is a fantastic opportunity for people to experience one of the most beloved but overlooked titles from the first generation of Xbox.
@aarongreenberg [Twitter]
As Destiny winds down with Destiny's Child incoming, its players are saying goodbye in the insane ways only Destiny players can. For example, killing all the raid bosses in Challenge Mode with no guns and without dying.
"It took us around 60 hours to complete it," the video description reads. "We had come so close SOOO many times, but failed in one way or another. However, persistence lead us down the road to victory… FINALLY!"
Because raids takes some time, especially with such harsh self-imposed restrictions, 12 players were involved in finishing the challenge. If you feel like trying this yourself, strategies are recommended in the video description (my own recommendation just reads: "don't.")
In a 24-hour flash sale at GMG, the price of Conan Exiles and The Elder Scrolls Online have been smashed to a new-low territory. If you've been on the fence, the digital retailer is hoping this sale will sway you.
The deals are a part of GMG's Birthday Sale which has been running 24-hour flash sales like this for the last six of seven days. To get the deals you'll need to login or create an account to get their best "VIP" deals and then apply voucher code "7YEARS" at checkout.
The games are at or near their best prices ever. In the case of Conan Exiles, the game is hitting a new low by $2, beating out the previous low of $20. The Elder Scrolls Online Gold Edition at $19.99 is only $0.45 off its historic low and the base Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited a dollar fifty off its best ever. If you're interested in the upcoming Morrowind expansion, $20 isn't too much to commit to everything ESO before you decide on the Morrowind upgrade.
MMO Flash Sale
Use coupon code: 7YEARS
These discounts have a very limited run and will end tomorrow Tuesday, May 16 at 11:00 AM Eastern.
Halo 6 won't be making an appearance at E3 this year, leading fans to speculate that Microsoft and 343 Industries are cooking up a Halo 3 remaster to fill the gap. Wouldn't it be great to play the premiere Xbox Live game on modern hardware (even though that is already possible)? Well, stop all that nonsensical speculation, because Halo 3 Anniversary is not going to happen!
343's community manager, Brian Jarrad, took to Reddit to squash the rumors once and for all. As he aptly put it, "OMG stop. There is no Halo 3 Anniversary." Seeing as how the first two games in the series received overhauls, I suppose fans were just assuming the company would tackle the third entry to liven it up a bit.
That being said, 343 Industries does have some kind of "surprise" planned for E3. It probably won't relate to much more than DLC for Halo 5, but you never know. Maybe all of this talk about no Halo 3 remaster is just misleading us so we can get our minds blown.
Halo 3 Remastered Won’t Happen Says 343 Community Manager [CGMag Online]
I don’t remember much about Charlie Murder from its original 2013 release. It was such a late Xbox 360 title that a lot of people overlooked it in favor of the looming Xbox One and PS4 launches. To make matters worse, Microsoft seemed to stop promoting its "Summer of Arcade" initiatives that brought us such classics as Braid and Castle Crashers. It was like MS just gave up at the end.
Similar in vein to Ska's previous efforts with the Dishwasher series, Charlie Murder is a brutal and grimy beat-'em-up with a lot of stylistic touches. Charlie is focused on the story of a punk band that goes through a zombie apocalypse to stick it to a rival group that tried to kill them. The soundtrack and characters all represent some form of punk vibe right down to your power-ups being tattoos you can collect. It oozes with a rock 'n' roll attitude that even Guitar Hero didn't quite capture.
While I'm not sure how well the game sold on Xbox 360, this Steam release gives Charlie Murder a second chance at becoming a success. How does the port hold up, though?
We've got our broader impressions on Minecraft for Nintendo Switch up on the site right now, where Jed notes that, "the good certainly outweighs the bad." One of those bads is that it runs at 720p in both handheld and docked modes. If that was the one that stood out to you, perhaps you're wondering: why?
Well, according to a Microsoft representative, via Time, Minecraft cannot currently run at 1080p on the Switch thanks to, "issues currently experienced shifting from one resolution to the other when docking/undocking."
It's not that the Switch is underpowered for the blocky game. And if Microsoft can figure out how to address those issues, Minecraft could end up at 1080p on Switch eventually. For the time being, at least it runs at 60fps both docked and undocked!
Amazon listings point to Blizzard releasing two art books for its hit shooter Overwatch, as well as a collected, physical release of the game's comics.
The Art of Overwatch ($50) has an October 24 release date on Amazon. There's also a $100 Limited Edition, "packaged in a beautiful clamshell box with magnetic closure and includes an acetate slipcover featuring the game’s most popular hero, Tracer, as well as two portfolios containing a total of three prints chosen by the Overwatch team."
The book is "Filled with never-before-seen art as well as commentary provided by the game's development team, this book is sure to please any Overwatch fan." Aforementioned fans might also be interested in Overwatch: Anthology Volume 1, which collects the characters' backstory comics (which are available to read online for free) into a hardcover release coming October 10.
The heart of Prey isn't in an obvious place. It isn't in its scientific moral quandary or its inky aliens or its ever-escalating plot. It isn't in its retconned 1960s history that serves to justify this research center or in its numerous combat abilities or even in its constant sense of tension and dread. No, the heart of Prey lies in its stories.
There are two meaningful types of stories in Prey and developer Arkane never really pushes the player toward either one of them. The first is the day-to-day of a space station, the mundane details that make this place feel lived-in before everything went catastrophically wrong. It's a masterpiece of environmental storytelling, a million little things to find that all subtly paint a picture as to who these people were, and what preoccupied them in both their professional and personal lives.
The Pokemon Company is working on a new card game for mobile phones, according to sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal's Takashi Mochizuki in the same report that Nintendo was working on a The Legend of Zelda game for smartphones.
"Pokémon Co. is planning a new card-game app, two people familiar with the matter said. Pokémon Co. already makes physical cards that players collect and use in competitions," the WSJ report reads. "A company spokeswoman declined to comment."
The Pokemon Company already offers an online version of its collectible trading card game, but it only works on PC, Mac, and Android and Apple tablets. Given the success of Pokemon Go on smartphones, it makes sense to come up with an app that works on the smaller devices most of us keep in our pockets at all times. We'll have to see if this new app is just meant to be a wider replacement for the existing card game app, or something newer and perhaps in the same vein of Pokemon Go.
Nintendo Developing ‘The Legend of Zelda’ Smartphone Game [Wall Street Journal]
DC comics fighter Injustice 2 is out tomorrow (PS4, Xbox One) so here's a launch trailer to get you primed to defeat its calamitous villain, Braniac, who looks like a cross between Marvel's Doctor Octopus and Ivan Ooze.
Starfire, Red Hood, and Sub-Zero will be joining the fray soon as the first of nine DLC characters.
After about 40 hours playing The Caligula Effect, I can confirm to you, dear readers, that this JRPG has nothing to do with the legendary 1980 erotic historical drama Caligula.
I would understand if you decided to stop reading now.
Sega has given us a major tease ahead of E3, noting that they want to revive "major IPs" as part of a sort of corporate restructuring. We've already seen some revivals, a few of which have had success. Just look at the well received Strider, for instance. But this strategy seems to be kicking it into overdrive, just like Capcom has been doing with all of its remasters these past few years.
For me, Sega is sitting on a gem with Nights. Sure, we got a Nights game as recently as 2007 on the Wii, but it wasn't really what the series deserved. A true follow-up with more polish and an over-the-top soundtrack could make waves, especially on the Switch. If Sega was so inclined, Virtua Cop would work great with the PlayStation VR (and possibly the Move Aim Controller).
But enough about my wants, tell us your top picks, preferably with childhood stories to boot!
Redout, a futuristic racer running on Unreal Engine 4, first released for PC on September 6, 2016 with support for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Open Source VR. Originally scheduled for early 2017, the Xbox One and PS4 ports will be delivered both physically and digitally by 505 Games as Redout: Lightspeed Edition on August 29 in America and August 31 in Europe at $39.99/€39.99/£29.99. Nicalis will publish the Nintendo Switch version at a later date, although it too was supposed to release in Spring 2017.
Redout: Lightspeed Edition will include a new split-screen mode, the two DLC packs Europa and Neptune, and console-exclusive liveries (translator's note: basically a decal? I'm not a car dude): blue and black for PS4, green and black for Xbox One. Since there was such heavy support for VR on PC, one would expect PlayStation VR support, but no word has been given yet. Price and contents of the Switch port are also unknown.
Disgaea 5 Complete only managed to sell 20,000 units in Japan on the Switch. Sure it's a new platform, but with so many other titles doing so well already, it's not a hopeful sight. It's a lot more hopeful in the west though, as developer NIS reports that they've already secured 110,000 units in pre-orders in the US and Europe -- that's day one, basically, without accounting for future legs, as one of the only strategy games on the Switch at the moment.
Speaking to MCV, NIS America CEO Takuro Yamashita (who is known for his candidness) is pretty blunt regarding the games industry in Japan:
"The era is over for [Japanese games companies] to just rely on the Japanese market. The Japanese video game market is getting smaller. If you look at the recent Tokyo Game Show, you do not feel the momentum that it used to have until five years ago. The Japanese video game market share might be now less than 30 per cent of the world, while I think the western market share accounts for around 70 per cent.
Therefore, Japanese games companies need to focus more on the Western market to expand their game business. “In order to make the NIS Group’s consolidated figures better, our western sales is very important. While the Western pre-order units of Disgaea 5 Switch exceeded 110,000 units, the Japanese sell-in number on the game was unfortunately less than 20,000 units. We had predicted this would happen to some extent. However, we were surprised that the gap was much bigger than we thought."
It's a strategy that many other publishers have adopted, with some coming way late into the game. It's no wonder that we've been seeing so many western-centric PC ports, or witnessing many Japanese companies going from throwing up half-assed versions on PC to actually caring about things like unlocked framerates and aspect ratios. We'll have some brief thoughts on Complete in the near future.
Disgaea 5 [MCV]
"The reports that Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition is the best version of the game are greatly exaggerated." - Mark Twain aka Jed Whitaker
No, really. People are acting like it is the best thing since sliced bread when it reality it is just week old bread: still tasty, still functional, and still the thing you love. Just, ya know, it would be better fresh, or in this case on PC and basically every other console. Also, this bread costs $10 more than anywhere else because the baker dropped some food coloring into the dough to make some of the bread look like Super Mario Bros. characters.
"BUT...BUT...BUT...MUH PORTABLE!" I know what you're saying, but currently, the Nintendo Switch has Xbox One syndrome with all of its ports, meaning they all run lower resolution and often times have issues keeping a stable framerate. Minecraft is no exception.
Much like how Marvel loves to tease things we already know, WB Games has thrown up a teaser trailer for the upcoming Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 on the game's Facebook page today. There isn't a whole lot to gather from the 16 second clip, but it looks like this new game will be expanding the roster to include some newer MCU characters.
The video only shows off Baby Groot and has Doctor strange floating above the logo, but the Facebook banner image shows off a whole heaping of different things. You've got Hulk in his gladiator armor, a western themed Captain America, Spider-man 2099 and even Spider-Gwen. Should be a neat treat for fans deep into the Marvel lore.
