Monthly Archives: March 2016

Rumor: Call of Duty IN SPACE is real and coming this Fall

Posted on March 29, 2016 by John Scalzo

callofduty-logo-header

It’s looking more and more likely the “Call of Duty IN SPACE” hints that Infinity Ward’s Mark Rubin teased back in 2013 will directly influence this Fall’s Call of Duty 2016.

Expected to be released this November, Call of Duty’s excellent space-based adventure was outed by Eurogamer, who corroborated a similar story being told by a game industry insider at NeoGAF.

Three years ago, Rubin told the Metro newspaper that “everything’s on the table” for Call of Duty 2016. Later adding, “If we think that it’d be cool to have a battle over Jupiter, sure. Why not?” The developer, who is no longer employed at Infinity Ward, was just playfully musing at the time, but after the smashing success of Destiny, I wouldn’t put it past Activision to launch another space-based shooter.

We’ll find out exactly what form Call of Duty 2016 will take during this year’s E3 Expo, where Activision plans to unveil the next game in the franchise during Sony’s E3 Press Conference.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Insert Quarter: Building the Perfect Oculus Rift Headset

Posted on March 28, 2016 by John Scalzo

insertquarter-header

Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

Early adopters of the Oculus Rift will be able to sync their eye holes with the virtual reality headset for the first time this week, but did you ever wonder how a small startup got to this point? Sure, there was a massively successful Kickstarter campaign and the Facebook acquisition, but how did the engineers at Oculus actually build the Rift? Peter Rubin of Wired wanted to find out, so he met with Oculus founder Palmer Luckey and found out what makes the Rift tick:

WHEN YOU SET out to create a virtual reality headset, you soon realize that the idea of form following function is bullshit. It’s a reductive canard. Yes, both of those things matter, and the Oculus Rift does need to be both beautiful and powerful, but it’s not something you hold in your hand—it’s something you put on your face. That’s a daunting prospect: Not only are you blind to the world around you, but there’s the whole I-look-nuts thing.

That’s only part of it, though; once you put it on your face, it needs to disappear. It needs to be not just comfortable but light—or at least feel light. After all, it’s less of a window than it is a wormhole; the more you remember it’s there, the less you’re able to lose yourself in everything happening inside it.

The full article is available for your perusal at Wired.

Posted in Insert Quarter, PC |

Daily Scoop: March 28, 2016 – Last day for Humble CryEngine Bundle

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Nicole Kline

It’s been an amazing few days! I played tons of board games, video games, and tabletop RPGs, and still somehow managed to get enough sleep to start the week. Oh, and I even ate some candy yesterday while playing Dungeons & Dragons, which I think is how every Easter should be spent from here on out.

You have one more day to get the Humble CryEngine Bundle. It is definitely a must-have for game developers. It’s “an exclusive library of CryEngine Assets,” including environment props, textures, audio, vehicles, and much, much more. Some levels also unlock games (including the awesome Nexuiz). $13 or more will unlock everything, and that’s a steal.

There are 230 brand new Weeklong Deals at Steam! Pick up Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen for $22.49, Dead Secret for $13.49, and RymdResa for $5.99, among tons of others. The Daily Deal is Impossible Creatures, which in on sale for $2.99.

Hit the jump to see today’s t-shirts! (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Iron Galaxy unveils bundle options for Killer Instinct Season 3

Posted on March 28, 2016 by John Scalzo

killerinstinctxbo-header

Killer Instinct Season 3‘s launch is less than 24 hours away, but developer Iron Galaxy wants to ensure that players have plenty of options to purchase the many pieces and parts that will be released alongside the free-to-play fighter’s latest update. Besides purchasing fighters on an a la carte basis, players will also be able to choose from three bundle packs:

Combo Breaker ($19.99)

  • Includes 8 New Fighters: Rash from Battletoads, Arbiter from Halo, Kim Wu, and Tusk available now… all other content to be released over the season.

Ultra Edition ($39.99)

  • Includes 8 New Fighters: Rash from Battletoads, Arbiter from Halo, Kim Wu, and Tusk available now… all other content to be released over the season.
  • Early Access to Fighters
  • 8 Retro Costumes, Accessory Sets, 18,000 KI Gold, VIP Double XP Booster, Bonus Retro Color For All Season 3 Characters

Supreme Edition ($59.99 on Xbox One / $49.99 on PC)

  • Includes EVERY Killer Instinct Character from Season 1, 2, and 3 (A Total of 25 Fighters)
  • Includes ALL Content from all 3 Ultra Editions (Costumes, Accessories, 18,000 KI Gold, Early Access to Fighters, VIP Double XP Boosters, Bonus Colors for Season 3 Characters)
  • Killer Instinct Classic (Xbox One Only)
  • Killer Instinct 2 Classic (Xbox One Only)

Players who purchase the Season 3 Combo Breaker or Ultra Edition will also be able to grab all the Season 1 and Season 2 for a discount price with the Double Combo bundle, which includes every fighter from the first two seasons for $29.99.

More information on Killer Instinct Season 3’s launch is available at the official Killer Instinct blog.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox One | Tagged

Turok Remastered and Turok 2 Remastered are both coming to the Xbox One

Posted on March 28, 2016 by John Scalzo

turokdinosaurhunter-header

Night Dive Studios has announced plans to bring remastered versions of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil to the Xbox One:

Night Dive added a number of improvements to the remastered edition of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (including support for high resolution and widescreen displays, improved gameplay and level design, and Steam Achievements) that launched on Steam this past December. Turok 2’s remastered re-release is still in the works for the digital storefront, so it might be a while before either game comes to the Xbox One.

A later tweet confirmed that Night Dive is also considering a PS4 release for Turok and Turok 2, but they don’t have anything to announce at this time.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

TopWare announces Two Worlds III; New DLC in the works for 2011’s Two Worlds II

Posted on March 28, 2016 by John Scalzo

twoworlds2-header

TopWare Interactive originally released Two Worlds II for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 all the way back in 2011. But here we are in 2016 (AKA more than five years later), and the publisher recently announced that Two Worlds II will receive two single-player expansions and eight new multiplayer maps.

The first expansion, Two Worlds II: Call of the Tenebrae, will be released this Spring and features a rat-like genocidal cult:

Two Worlds II: Call of the Tenebrae focuses on the Hero’s return to Antaloor, where he witnesses the shocking murder of DarPha! The killers are a never-before-seen tribe of hideous, rat-like creatures known only as “The Chosen”, who control a mysterious, powerful new magic! Their genocidal plot threatens every living creature in Antaloor, and it’s up to the Hero to find a way to stop them!

Two Worlds II: Shattered Embrace will also be available sometime year, along with an update to Two Worlds II’s game engine. According to TopWare, the engine update will add “[a] much higher level of character and landscape detail, an HD GUI, in addition to tons of in-game Achievements, co-op multiplayer, and lots of new in-game features and upgrades!”

Finally, TopWare confirmed that Two Worlds III is currently in development at developer Reality Pump, but fans won’t get a chance to play it anytime soon. The game is currently in the “concept stage” of development and is at least three years away. So I guess that means we can expect an expansion to Two Worlds III in 2025…

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Street Fighter V’s March Update will be available today

Posted on March 28, 2016 by John Scalzo

Capcom has announced the March Update for Street Fighter V will be available today, March 28. Though players hoping to enter the arena with Alex will have to wait a few more days, as the game’s first downloadable character will be released on Wednesday, March 30.

However, Capcom also said (via the Capcom-Unity blog) that Street Fighter V’s in-game Zenny (“real money”) Shop isn’t ready for primetime just yet, and Alex will temporarily be available as a free download for everyone until its up and running. According to Capcom, there’s no estimate on when the Zenny Shop will be operational, but “[o]nce the Zenny Shop launches, the free trial for any DLC characters that released prior to the Zenny Shop opening will end, and players will need to either use Fight Money, Zenny, or the Season Pass to access those characters.”

The March Update will also include a new tutorial mode, a number of improvements to the Battle Lounge, and a rematch option for Ranked matches. And you can find more information about all of these changes after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS4 | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Batman V Superman V Warp Zoned

Posted on March 27, 2016 by John Scalzo

No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…

Despite a rather rough critical reception, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice set box office records this weekend. So naturally, the battle between DC’s twin titans spilled over into the video game realm too.

Earlier this week, Telltale Games invited the world into their Batcave and gave everyone a sneak peek at Batman: A Telltale Game Series. Most of the good stuff (like some screenshots or a trailer) is still hidden around the next corner, but we do know that players will be able to control both Bruce Wayne and the Batman.

We also replayed the Batman: Arkham adventures this week to help prepare our argument for 4 Ways to Bring Back the Arkham Series. None of them involve Superman, but I’m sure Rocksteady has at least thought about a game adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns.

Elsewhere on Warp Zoned this week, Agent 47’s bald head got a chance to shine. First, we took a look at the Hitman: Intro Pack, and later, we examined IO Interactive’s questionable advertising choices in the light of the Brussels Attack in Hitman, Brussels, and Showing Restraint After a Tragedy.

And happy anniversary to the Resident Evil franchise. The staff took a stroll down memory lane this week in Resident Evil Reflections.

You can read all about the rest of the week that was after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |