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2015 Writers Guild nominees: Alien: Isolation, Last of Us: Left Behind, AC: Unity, Freedom Cry

Posted on January 15, 2015 by John Scalzo

wgaThe Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for this year’s Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing award, which they use to honor the best game writing of the year.

Continuing their love affair with Ubisoft, the Guild nominated both new entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, for this year’s Writers Guild Award. Two other games are have also been nominated this year, Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Left Behind expansion. The full list of nominated writers can be found here:

Alien: Isolation (Sega)
Writers: Dan Abnett, Dion Lay, Will Porter

Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (Ubisoft)
Lead Scriptwriter: Jill Murray
Scriptwriter: Melissa MacCoubrey
Story: Jill Murray, Hugo Giard, Wesley Pincombe

Assassin’s Creed: Unity (Ubisoft)
Story: Alexandre Amancio, Sylvain Bernard, Travis Stout
Scriptwriting: Alexandre Amancio, Travis Stout, Russell Lees, Darby McDevitt, Ceri Young
Additional Scriptwriting: Jeffrey Yohalem

The Last of Us: Left Behind (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Written by: Neil Druckmann

Writers from Naughty Dog and Ubisoft have been trading off top honors at the WGA Awards for the last five years. Naughty Dog prevailed last year for their work on The Last of Us, following wins for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2012) and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2010). In between, Ubisoft collected a pair of WGA Awards for Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (2013) and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2011).

If history repeats itself, writers from Ubisoft will be hoisting a trophy in victory when the winners of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards are announced on February 14.

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

New Xenoblade Chronicles X trailer is a travelogue of the planet Mira

Posted on January 15, 2015 by John Scalzo

During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo unveiled a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles X that showcases the game’s expansive open world. The game is set on an alien planet known as Mira, which is now home to a cadre of humans who left Earth in a generation ship. But Mira was already home to a wide variety of animal life including flying whale-like creatures and massive worms who traverse lush forests, towering mountains, and endless oceans alongside our main characters.

So what’s the game all about? Aside from serving as a spiritual successor to Xenoblade Chronicles, the story of Xenoblade Chronicles X is still shrouded in mystery. But we won’t have to wait much longer to find out more as the game is still on track for a 2015 release exclusively on the Wii U.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Nintendo adds Super Mario Galaxy 2 to Wii U eShop with more Wii games to follow

Posted on January 15, 2015 by John Scalzo

goty-supermariogalaxy2The Wii U eShop is about to get a whole lot more interesting as Nintendo has announced that they have begun adding Wii games to their downloadable.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be the first Wii game added to the Wii U eShop and it is available to download right now. It will joined shortly by the excellent Punch-Out!! (January 22) and the ultra-rare Metroid Prime Trilogy (January 29). All three titles have been priced at $19.99 apiece, but Nintendo will offer them at a heavy discount ($9.99) during each game’s first week of availability.

All Wii games sold through the Wii U eShop will require a Wii Remote and Nunchuk combo, though games that originally included Wii Classic Controller support will be playable with the Wii U GamePad.

Posted in News, Wii, Wii U | Tagged ,

Get your first glimpse at Kung Lao (and Kitana!) in the latest Mortal Kombat X trailer

Posted on January 14, 2015 by John Scalzo

As promised by Ed Boon yesterday, a new Mortal Kombat X trailer starring Kung Lao was unleashed upon the world today. While the man with the razor-rimmed hat got plenty of screen time, an appearance by Kitana and her razor-rimmed fan blades raised just as many eyebrows. Or the developers at NetherRealm really like razor-rimmed weapons, I can’t decide.

Kitana looks quite similar to her previous appearances, with a veil covering her face and blue bikini armor (barely) covering the rest of her. Like Kung Lao, it’s currently unknown how the Princess of Edenia/Outworld survived her apparent death at the end of 2011’s Mortal Kombat. Perhaps we’ll learn more about her backstory for Mortal Kombat X, and her three character variations, in a future update from NetherRealm Studios.

Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14.

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

Daily Scoop: January 14, 2015 – Castle Crashers time

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Nicole Kline

Well, there’s another great Daily Deal at Steam today, but again, it’s one of those cases where if you don’t own it already, you must pick it up. Chances are, you’ve already got it, but if you still need to add Castle Crashers to your library, it’s just $3.74 today. If you want to nab a four pack, that will cost you just $11.24. The Midweek Madness is on Assassin’s Creed Unity, which is on sale for $40.19.

There are a few sales at the Humble Store as well. You can get early access to The Long Dark for $9.99, pre-order The Witcher 3 for $53.99, or pre-order Blackguards 2 for $29.99.

There’s also a brand new bundle over at Indie Royale – it’s the Coffee Bean Bundle. Beat the average to get QP Shooting – Dangerous!!, Nanofights, Proxy Blade Zero, Space Warp, and Crash and Burn Racing.

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

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Xbox Store Today: Monopoly Plus, Monopoly Deal

Posted on January 14, 2015 by John Scalzo

xboxgamesstore-logo

You Have Won Second Prize in a Beauty Contest… Collect $10

OK, not really, but it’s Monopoly Day in today’s Xbox Games Store update as Ubisoft has added Monopoly Plus and Monopoly Deal to the Xbox 360 storefront.

Monopoly Plus is the same great game you played for hours (and hours and hours) with a few moderns twists including a 3D city at the center of the board, an adaptable set of rules, and a “Speed Die” for faster games. Meanwhile, Monopoly Deal translates the classic board game into a fast-paced card game.

More information on both games can be found right here:

Xbox 360 Games

Monopoly Plus ($9.99)
It’s Monopoly for a new era! Play the classic game and watch the board come to life! A full 3D city at the center of the board lives and evolves as you play. Play the way you want, change the rules and adapt them to your playing style. Use the Speed Die for a faster game or select from a catalogue of the top six House Rules. Win or lose, the game allows you to take and display photos at key moments for an amplified social gaming experience. Monopoly Plus raises the classic game to a new level!

Monopoly Deal ($4.99)
Everything great about Monopoly, now a fast paced, delightfully addictive card game! Compete online against your friends or the community in this frantic card-game: steal sets of cards, collect debts and be the first to collect three complete property sets of different colors. Build your real estate empire in a new and faster way! Keeps everything you love about Monopoly but packs it into a fast burst of fun.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

Nintendo announces more Amiibos including Wave 4 (with Pac-Man!) and Super Mario series

Posted on January 14, 2015 by John Scalzo

amiibo-wave4

amiibo-supermariowave

Are you ready for even more Amiibo figures? While I’ll probably never get my hands on a Little Mac, Nintendo has gone ahead and announced a fourth wave of the popular toys as well as a special Super Mario series.

Wave 4 will be available sometime this Spring and will be comprised of six figures (Robin, Lucina, Pac-Man, Wario, Ness, and Charizard). Meanwhile, the special Super Mario series will launch on March 20 and include new figures for Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser. The series will also include Toad, who will be making his Amiibo debut.

All of these Amiibo figures will be compatible with Super Smash Bros. For Wii U and some will work with other Wii U games such as Mario Party 10 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged , ,

Nintendo has officially announced the next Fire Emblem game

Posted on January 14, 2015 by John Scalzo

It’s been three long years since Fire Emblem: Awakening first graced our 3DS systems. Today, during their latest Nintendo Direct presentation, the consolemaker has confirmed that the series will return to the 3DS in a game that’s currently known as “The Latest in the Fire Emblem Series.”

Known in Japan as Fire Emblem If, the game will be developed by the same team that worked on Awakening and promises a “new adventure [that] adds challenges never before seen in the series” and asks players “to make decisions that will affect the game’s world in new ways.”

“The Latest in the Fire Emblem Series” will be the 12th game in Fire Emblem’s main series and it might be a while before we can play it. Nintendo did not reveal a release date to go along with their game announcement.

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged