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Posted by Bob Muir on Aug 6, 2014 in Videogames 
Previously rumored as Comet, Ubisoft has announced Assassin’s Creed: Rogue for a PS3 and Xbox 360 release on November 11. Since Assassin’s Creed: Unity is only for current-gen consoles, Rogue will be exclusive to last-gen systems. The story follows Shay Patrick Cormac, a former Assassin who is betrayed and joins the Templars to hunt his former allies. The game is set during The Seven Years War, with locations in the northeastern US. Naval combat should also be returning, which should delight anyone who played Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, a game that added much depth to sailing compared to its predecessor. The only downside is that this isn’t on newer systems; while Black Flag was available on both old and new systems, it had some nice bells and whistles on PS4 and Xbox One, including a higher resolution. With 2014 release trends on these newer systems, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Assassin’s Creed: Rogue: Remastered released in 2015. Read more…
Tags: Assassin's Creed, PS3, Ubisoft, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on May 14, 2014 in Videogames 
I’ll give Microsoft credit for this: they’ll stubbornly hold onto their plans, but if they’re beat over the head long enough, they will change. The Xbox One revealed a year ago required an online connection at all times and the use of a bundled Kinect camera. While the online connection was walked back within a few weeks (notably after Sony didn’t require one), but the system launched with the Kinect bundled in, making the Xbox One $100 pricier than the PS4. It seems Microsoft has finally caved on that too, because Xbox boss Phil Spencer has announced a $400 Kinect-free version, now available for preorder with a release on June 9 in every country that Xbox One has released in. Read more…
Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Ben Huber on May 5, 2014 in Videogames 
Capy has quickly become one of my favorite game developers out there, with their insanely clever and creative collection of games (Sword & Sworcery EP, Below, and now Super Time Force). The latter is finally arriving on Xbox 360 and Xbox One on May 14th. The general concept of the game is that as you platform through the levels, each previous life will repeat its journey beside you, killing the same enemies as before and performing the same actions. If you die enough, eventually you can have an entire army of characters rampaging through the screen — until you get past the point where they died. Check out the trailer below! Read more…
Tags: capy, Indie Games, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Apr 29, 2014 in Videogames 
I can’t blame you if you haven’t purchased a current-gen console yet. Yes, the PS4 and Xbox One are no longer considered “next-gen,” but that doesn’t mean everyone has made the switch from their PS3 and Xbox 360 yet. That’s why it’s good to hear about plans like this one. Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi MMO-FPS Destiny will be released on all four of the previously mentioned systems, which means many players may pick it up on last-gen consoles. But if you upgrade your system, you won’t lose all your progress. Read more…
Tags: Bungie, Destiny, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 20, 2014 in Videogames 
Dark Souls II is going to be hard. Even if it’s a bit easier than the first Dark Souls, that’s still really, really tough. Past trailers for the series have played this up (with slogans like “Prepare to Die”), highlighting the insurmountable odds and oppressive atmosphere that saps the hope from players eager to progress. But this latest trailer is a reprieve, trying to restore some hope that you might finish the game, that your deaths along the way won’t be in vein. It’s a nice idea, but any Souls players know the truth: this is but a trap, meant to lure in fresh blood to be spilled either by the game or by other players invading the newbie’s game. God help them. Read more…
Tags: Dark Souls, Namco Bandai, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 5, 2014 in Uncategorized, Videogames 
Did you know that Thief, the reboot to Eidos’s stealth-franchise, is coming out on February 25? There isn’t much buzz, which probably stems from the delays the title has had during its troubled development. But watch this latest trailer, because despite a smaller marketing budget, this game looks pretty cool. I know some longtime fans of the series seem to have concerns, but as someone who has never played any of the previous games, I’m liking what I see. It looks like a good mixture of stealth and action, and the fact that you could play through the game without killing any enemies is surely enticing to those looking to do more than just build up a body count in a game. Read more…
Tags: Eidos, PS3, PS4, square enix, thief, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 30, 2014 in Videogames 
Final Fantasy XIII has a pretty convoluted story, not at all helped by a horrible presentation that seems to delight in requiring you to know certain information, but not giving that information for hours, requiring a look at a list of terms in a dictionary, which makes the eventual explanation boring. If you can’t tell, I’m not a fan of the poorly-written game or its sequel Final Fantasy XIII-2. But Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the third and final entry, is out soon, so Square Enix made this awesome recap of the story so far. It boils everything down to the bare minimum, and best of all, it’s done in 16-bit graphics like the classic SNES entries. It almost makes things comprehensible! I just want Square Enix to do more with this style of graphics. Read more…
Tags: Final Fantasy, PS3, square enix, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 16, 2014 in Videogames 
Dark Souls II is out on March 11, 2014, so it’s time for those trailers to start rolling in and hyping up all the ways you can die. As expected, you play a cursed character of some sort, and you’ll be dying over and over again against brutal defenses in order to progress through the game. Look at some of those bosses! Though it’s not the most impressive enemy, the guy in shackles creeps me out; maybe I’m thinking of the deformed (and unkillable) Lisa Trevor in the Resident Evil remake on Gamecube? Regardless, everything here looks deadly. It should be fun! Read more…
Tags: Dark Souls, Namco Bandai, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 8, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
The most recent game based on Alien/Aliens was 2013’s Aliens: Colonial Marines, one of the worst games of the year that failed to live up to any of the apparently-false advertising and press demos. Everyone’s rightfully wary of any future games in the franchise, but let’s give Creative Assembly (known for Total War) a shot. They’re making Alien: Isolation, a survival horror game about Amanda Ripley — the daughter mentioned as having died of old age at the beginning of Aliens — exploring a space station to find info on Ellen Ripley and the Nostromo. Instead of hundreds of xenomorph enemies that are treated like cannon fodder, there’s only one, nine-foot-tall, formidable xenomorph that hunts Amanda throughout the game; they’re clearly aiming more for the horror of Alien than the action of Aliens with this game. Read more…
Tags: Alien, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 18, 2013 in Videogames 
It’s a shame that Lab Zero’s Skullgirls has had so many problems. Being an indie fighting game designed by fighting game players already seemed risky, since it’s hard to launch new fighting games from unknown companies and get a community going. But of course, there are more and more problems. The latest one stems from co-publisher Konami, who Lab Zero dropped to only be published by Autumn Games because Konami was dragging their heels on additional DLC characters funded by fans on IndieGoGo. Because they’re no longer the publisher, they arranged to have it delisted from Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network by December 31 because their name is on it. But there’s still some good news. Read more…
Tags: PS3, Skullgirls, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 17, 2013 in Videogames 
I’ve only had my PS4 copy of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag for a month, so it’s easy to forget that the game was out a bit earlier for last-gen systems. In that context, I suppose it’s not too strange that it’s getting its first story-based DLC today, after some previous multiplayer content. The DLC is called Freedom Cry, and it follows first mate Adewale in his quest to free slaves 15 years after the main game’s events. There are nine missions, and as a reminder, you get them for “free” if you purchased the Season Pass. The game is getting a great reception, so more content is good, but I’m more curious if they’ll make a sequel to this game, perhaps even separate from the Assassin’s Creed series proper. Read more…
Tags: Assassin's Creed, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 16, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
People keep asking me why I prefer physical media in an increasingly digital world. Today, I get to give another reason why. Though they didn’t give a specific reason, Capcom has announced that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will soon be delisted from Xbox Live and PSN, along with all related DLC. You won’t be able to purchase them digitally after December 17 (North American PSN), December 19 (European PSN), or December 26 (global Xbox Live). Anyone who has previously purchased the games and DLC will still be able to redownload the games from their download history if need be. While there are still physical copies of UMvC3 out there, there will be no way to buy any extra characters or costumes for it, while the HD version of MvC2 will disappear completely.
And this is the reason why I not only prefer having physical copies of games, but also am wary of DLC and digital-only games. I recognize the boon digital releases have been for indie developers or smaller games from big-budget publishers, because many of those games might never be made and released at all if they needed a physical release. But the idea of this content becoming inaccessible in the future due to whatever reason — I’d imagine that Capcom can’t justify the cost of renewing Marvel’s license — just plain sucks for consumers who may want to purchase these games in the future after hearing about them from a friend.
And even if you have already purchased the content and downloaded it to your hard drive, what happens down the road when this iteration of Xbox Live and PSN are taken offline? After Microsoft shut down Xbox Live for original Xbox consoles, any DLC for those games became forever lost and no longer available to redownload. What happens when your hard drive inevitably fails in the future and you need to redownload unlicensed content from a service that is no longer running?
Many gamers probably won’t care and might put down money for a future rerelease, such as the soon-unavailable HD version of MvC2, which made the game affordable and accessible to those who couldn’t acquire a copy of the original releases from 2000 to 2003. But for those who care about the preservation of these works for future generations to enjoy, the whole thing is nothing but a headache.
Source: Kotaku
Tags: Capcom, Marvel, PS3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 13, 2013 in Videogames 
Microsoft never really did much themselves with HD remakes on the Xbox 360, despite the efforts shown by Sony and various third-party publishers. The only one they put out was Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which gave the original Halo a new coat of paint and some other bonuses. While the core game was the same (meaning that level design was pretty mediocre — that’s right, I’m one of the few who didn’t enjoy it), the gorgeous graphical overhaul and reorchestrated music went a long way towards making the game feel modern (and even alleviating level design issues). Now Microsoft is releasing its second HD remake: Fable: Anniversary, and it’s dated for February 4, 2014. Read more…
Tags: Fable, Microsoft, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 5, 2013 in Videogames 
At this point, it’s hard to tell whether Konami has been poorly communicating information about Metal Gear Solid V on purpose (a la Metal Gear Solid 2) or if it’s just due to their usual bad management. We had heard that there would be two parts to the upcoming sequel: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a prologue (similar to MGS2‘s Tanker scenario), and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the main, longer game (similar to MGS2‘s Big Shell scenario). After the rather inelegant reveal that The Phantom Pain, a game advertised as an independent game made by a fake studio, was unsurprisingly MGSV, conflicting information suggested that both parts of the game would be sold together. Konami has just announced that this isn’t true: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be released by itself in Spring 2014. Read more…
Tags: Metal Gear Solid, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 30, 2013 in Videogames 
Have you heard of this “walking dead” thing? If you’ve been living under a rock, The Walking Dead is a critically acclaimed comic series by Robert Kirkman that has been adapted into a very successful TV series on AMC. Last year, Telltale Games released a episodic adventure game called The Walking Dead: Season 1 that went on to win untold Game of the Year awards based on its strong design, writing, storytelling, and characters, despite competing with games with far bigger budgets. If you haven’t played it yet (or its short expansion 400 Days), go do that now before even thinking about watching what many fans have been waiting for: the reveal trailer for Season 2. Read more…
Tags: iOS, PS3, Telltale Games, The Walking Dead, Xbox 360, zombies
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 23, 2013 in Videogames 
Respawn Entertainment’s highly-anticipated next-gen shooter Titanfall has finally been dated. What seemed like a possible launch title for Xbox One slipped back and is now confirmed to be released on March 11, 2014 in North America, with a March 13, 2014 release date in Europe. The game is not only coming out on Xbox One, but also PC and Xbox 360, though I think the 360 version won’t be purchased as much. But are you somehow going to have some spare money after the new console launches this fall? Then Respawn is offering you an expensive Titanfall collector’s edition. Read more…
Tags: Titanfall, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 15, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Despite being a prequel and switching developers away from Rocksteady, Batman: Arkham Origins is actually shaping up to be an awesome entry in the Arkham series of videogames. One major cause for concern was Mark Hamill retiring from the role of the Joker, but Troy Baker sounded pretty good in recent trailers. If you want to completely erase your concerns, watch this clip from New York Comic-Con of Baker reading aloud a monologue from Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, one of the best Joker-focused comics. Baker sounds right on the money, sounding natural and evoking Hamill’s performance. I’d say we have a worthy successor of voice actors here. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins, DC Comics, PS3, Warner Brothers, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Sep 25, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Okay, the costume you see above isn’t literally Adam West. The Batman in Batman: Arkham Origins is still being voiced by Roger Craig Smith, and the costume won’t change that. But it’s definitely Adam West’s Batman outfit from the ’60s live-action TV show. And though this Batman is bigger and more ripped than Adam West was, I think it’s cool how the outfit makes him look slightly pudgy and soft, just like the TV series. But if this alternate costume doesn’t tickle your fancy, how about Azrael’s Batman outfit from the Knightfall storyline? It looks positively demonic, and perhaps almost too badass for my first playthrough of a game that’s supposed to be about Batman’s early days. If you’re liking these outfits, you may want to consider buying Batman: Arkham Origins on PS3, as they’ll be exclusive to that console. You also get five challenge maps, but aside from people with an unhealthy obsession for this game’s combat like me, the main thing I’d be worried about missing out on is these awesome costumes. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins, PS3, Warner Brothers, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Sep 18, 2013 in Videogames 
Shinji Mikami is well known for directing Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4, classics of survival horror (or I guess just horror for that second one). He and his studio Tango Gameworks have teamed up with Bethesda to make The Evil Within, a new horror game for most major platforms. It does look pretty spooky, with the enemies looking like a mixture of science gone wrong and forbidden occult magic. The Evil Within is coming out sometime in 2014, but hopefully it will be playable at this year’s Tokyo Game Show and we can get more enticing details. Read more…
Tags: Horror, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Sep 4, 2013 in Videogames 
Contrary to popular belief, Disney and Harmonix’s Fantasia: Music Evolved does have some classical music in it. Just look at this gameplay demo of part of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in the newly revealed section of the game called “The Haven.” I’m not sure how much the area is incorporated into the actual game, but it has plenty of charm, including some sort of fantasy snow creature. I’m hoping the game is filled with many of these realms, though I’m sure there are multiple songs featured in a single realm. Hopefully there is the option for even more classical music as DLC. Read more…
Tags: Disney, Music, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Aug 15, 2013 in Animation, Videogames 
“Fantasia” is a name that evokes a lot of musical history and artistry. While some may argue (myself included) about the song selection in Harmonix’s Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, it seems that the music-oriented studio is still trying to stay true to Walt Disney’s original concept of marrying music with fantastic imagery. This latest look helps contextualize what Harmonix is doing in the broader scope of the somewhat-ongoing Fantasia project. In the meantime, it has also been announced that composer Inon Zur is contributing original music for the game. Zur has done music for games like Dragon Age and Prince of Persia, so he’s a solid vet to have involved. Read more…
Tags: Disney, Music, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Aug 15, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Telltale Games knocked it out of the park with The Walking Dead: Season One. It garnered tons of “Game of the Year” awards, which is incredible for a modestly-budgeted game with no bleeding-edge graphics from a smaller developer. Season Two is coming in Q4 2013, but before those episodes start releasing, Telltale has another comic book collaboration to start: The Wolf Among Us, a prequel to Bill Willingham’s Fables series. The episodic game will release its first episode in Q3 2013, with the overall series centering on Bigby Wolf, the reformed Big Bad Wolf who can take human form. Bigby works to keep other fairy tale creatures in line in a part of NYC known as Fabletown. Read more…
Tags: DC Comics, Fables, PS3, The Wolf Among Us, Vertigo, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 31, 2013 in Videogames 
After much waiting, Irrational Games has finally revealed its DLC plans for game-of-the-year contender BioShock Infinite. Burial at Sea will be a two-chapter DLC that tells the story of an alternate reality Booker and Elizabeth who live not in Columbia, the city in the sky, but in Rapture, from the original BioShock, on the eve of is downfall. Unlike the first BioShock, which is set after the underwater city has torn itself apart, this story is at least partially set when the city is still functioning properly. It looks like a film noir story. But most enticingly is the fact that you will play the second chapter, set during the downfall, as Elizabeth, who will play much differently than Booker.
Burial at Sea hasn’t been dated yet, but I’d expect the first chapter to arrive later this year, with the second chapter stated to arrive by March 2014. Each chapter will cost $15, but those who paid $20 for the Season Pass DLC obviously get it for free.
In the meantime, there’s a new piece of DLC you can download right now: Clash in the Clouds. For $5 (or free if you have the Season Pass), you’ll get four arena maps with 60 challenges. It’s standard “horde” mode stuff where you fight waves and waves of enemies. Along the way, you can unlock new concept art, voxophones, kinetoscopes, and other materials in The Columbian Archeological Society. I’m not that astounded by this offering, but if you really enjoyed the main story’s combat, this will be another big dose of fighting.
Source: YouTube
Tags: BioShock, BioShock: Infinite, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 18, 2013 in Animation, Videogames 
The first footage of Cartoon Network’s next Adventure Time and Regular Show games is out! Both Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW and Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land are being made by WayForward, the 2D masters who also made the previous Adventure Time game Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! However, the new AT game isn’t a 2D sidescroller with an overworld (a la Zelda II) like the previous one was. The new game is a multiplayer dungeon crawler, where you can play as Finn, Jake, Marceline, and Cinnamon Bun — yes, Cinnamon Bun! But of course, it’s got that Adventure Time charm, so I’d expect it to me more than just another Gauntlet game. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Adventure Time, Cartoon Network, PS3, Regular Show, Wii U, Xbox 360
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