Most Recent: Articles

PAX East 2014 Indie Showcase selections announced

paxeast2014It’s almost time for one of our favorite events of the year: PAX East! They’ve announced their selections for the Indie Showcase, which has six “of the best indie games you’ve never heard of available on mobile platforms.”

The games are Crowman & Wolfboy (which has “an unlikely pair of shadow creatures on a bizarre journey to escape their own nature and find the mysterious ‘humans'”), Duet (no, not Cypher Prime’s Duet – “a hypnotic new ‘hex-like’ mobile action arcade game with a mesmerizingly beautiful soundtrack by Melbourne composer and Gotye multi-instrumentalist Tim Shiel”), Framed (“an award winning narrative-puzzle game that plays like an animated comic book”), The Spookening (“a 3D scare ‘em up game à la Tim Burton, where you die every night and spawn as a ghost trying to resurrect”), Tiny Dice Dungeon (a game that “brings RPGs back to their roots… no more mysterious battle stats, instead you directly control what happens by rolling the virtual dice”), and Wayward Souls (“an action-adventure dungeon crawler with randomized levels and permanent death”).

For a full description of the games, head to the PAX East Indie Showcase page.

Posted in Mobile, News | Tagged

Oculus Rift production will temporarily cease as company searches for new components

oculusrift

Oculus Rift is suspending production of Dev Kit 1 due to a lack of materials, the company posted on their subreddit. Andres Hernandez, the company’s Community Manager, explained the situation:

Certain components used in the Oculus Rift developer kit are no longer being manufactured, meaning they are no longer available to us for production. As a result, we don’t have the necessary materials to produce additional kits. We still have some stock available, but we’re quickly running out. We are looking into alternate sources for the needed components, and we don’t yet have a timeline for when additional units will be available. We’ll be sure to keep everyone posted.

He went on to say that the only locations they are selling and shipping to are the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Switzerland, and Norway.

Finally, he thanked the supporters of Oculus, saying it couldn’t have been done without them – trying to put a positive spin on this obviously negative situation.

Over at Road to VR, Ben Lang speculates that the missing component is most likely the screen:

The screen is the most likely bet for the component Oculus is missing. The Rift developer kit (DK1) was originally planned to use a 5-inch panel. When it was discontinued before Rift production, Oculus moved to the current 7-inch 1280×800 panel. I can’t imagine that such a panel, previously found in devices like UMPCs, draws much demand in 2014.

He goes on to make the most important point: “High demand for the developer kit is a good problem to have, but suspended sales is not one that you want to have for long; the Rift would be dead in the water without content made by developers by the time it hits the consumer market.” Hopefully there will be news soon on Dev Kit 2.

Posted in News, PC |

Daily Scoop: February 25, 2014 – Nintendo eShop cards on sale

It’s Tuesday again, which means game release day! Today marks the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, as well as the new Professor Layton game. Too bad I’m nowhere near caught up enough in either series to be that far along!

But at least there’s one thing I’m caught up in, and that’s deals. Best Buy is having a pretty great sale right now – they’re offering 20% off prepaid Nintendo eShop cards. If there are some digital games you’ve been looking to download to your Nintendo systems, this is a really great way to save yourself some money doing it!

As usual, there are some new deals over at Steam. The Midweek Madness deals are on RPG Maker VX Ace (marked down to $17.49) and State of Decay (marked down to $9.99). Their Daily Deal is on Strike Suit Zero, which is $9.99.

I’ve got a few t-shirts for you today as well…

(more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Activision confirms that Tony Hawk will ollie again in a new game

tonyhawknewgameThere’s a new Tony Hawk game in the works, according to IGN. Activision has confirmed to IGN “that they have something in the works with Tony Hawk, more info is coming soon.”

Hawk said, “We’re working on a game, we are working on a game, it’s pretty cool” on SiriusXM on his Demolition Radio Show. “It’s a whole suit you have to put on,” a co-host replied to him. After IGN reported on this and reached out to Activision, they confirmed it.

Hawk had previously told IGN that he wanted to see more of his games on the newer consoles, so this comes as no surprise.

Posted in News | Tagged

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate descends on PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360 on April 1

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition brings the handheld content to high definition, replete with 2.5D graphics. It will also have 5.1 surround sound, voice acting, a new map, and a new hint system as well.

The storyline, in case you missed it the first time around, is pretty typical Batman fare: Blackgate Prison, a place full of baddies Batman put there, is having a rebellion, and the only man who can stop it is the caped crusader. Those who played Batman: Arkham Origins can continue the story of that game here.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition will be released for the PC (through Steam), PlayStation 3 (through the PSN), Xbox 360 (through the Xbox Live Marketplace), and Wii U (through Nintendo’s eShop) on April 1 for $19.99.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Dark Souls II’s “Hollow Lullaby” trailer sings you to the eternal sleep

“This isn’t about death… this is about what you learn from death. This is about doing what you were meant to do.”

Dark Souls II is ready to destroy your free time, your soul, and your will to play video games. No, that’s not true – it’s ready to challenge you, and to weed out those who are weak at heart. Do you have what it takes to face death down?

Dark Souls II will be out on March 11 for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

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

Diddy Kong swings into Super Smash Bros. 4

diddykongwiiu

Great news for fans of Diddy Kong – he’ll be joining the cast of Super Smash Bros. 4! According to this post in the Miiverse, the announcement was made to celebrate the release of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. They have also “increased Diddy Kong’s flexibility this time… [this is] how far his punches stretch during his strong side attack.”

Check out the Diddy Kong page for more images. Super Smash Bros. 4 is due out sometime this year for the 3DS and Wii U.

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

PS4 version of Octodad pushed back to April; Xbox One version a possibility

octodaddadliestcatchIf you’re waiting to play Octodad: Dadliest Catch on the PlayStation 4, you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer. The game has been pushed back to an April release, according to tweets from the game’s Twitter account.

The good news is that there might be an Xbox One version of the game in the works. Again, according to Twitter, “Our word on the Xbox One version is, ‘We’re thinking about it.'”

The other good news is that, if all else fails, you can always play it on PC.

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