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EA CEO promises Star Wars: Battlefront 2 will be “even bigger” than first Battlefront

Posted on February 1, 2017 by John Scalzo

Electronic Arts presented their quarterly financial report to investors yesterday, and once again, CEO Andrew Wilson delivered a progress report for Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Wilson reiterated that the game is still on track for a Fall 2017 launch, while also promising to include “more locations” and “more heroes and characters [from] multiple Star Wars eras.”:

We’re thrilled to bring a new Star Wars Battlefront game to fans worldwide in 2017 holiday season. In the past two years, Rogue One and The Force Awakens have opened new storylines and captured the imagination of hundreds of millions of Star Wars fans. We’ve listened closely to our passionate Star Wars: Battlefront community and have expanded our existing game with more great content and experiences since its launch. As that game continues to thrive, we have also heard our players’ desire for even more depth and progression.

Our next Star Wars Battlefront will be even bigger, taking players into more locations and allowing them to play with more heroes and characters across multiple Star Wars eras. There will be new ways to play, including an all new single-player campaign and much, much more that we are excited to share with our players in the months ahead. To build a game of this magnitude, we’ve brought together three great studios, DICE, Motive and Criterion, and allowing their areas of expertise to deliver an amazing experience in the next Star Wars Battlefront.

Towards the end of the report, Wilson also said EA is actively listening to fan feedback and that he believes the new single-player campaign is “very, very exciting”:

This is going to be a big game. The first game was very well received. It was widely regarded as a game that fulfilled people’s Star Wars fantasies in ways they could never imagine. But it was also a game where people asked for a lot more, and a lot more depth and a lot more of the greatness of the game kind of embodied.

This game, again, is going to be in more locations, more game modes, more eras, more shifts, including a full single-player campaign which is very, very exciting. So, we have every reason to believe we’re delivering fans exactly what they’re asking for with respect to a Star Wars game.

With the game’s launch less than ten months away, we should be hearing a lot more about Star Wars: Battlefront 2 in the coming days.

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

Catch up with the story for Double Dragon IV… which is now available for PC and PS4

Posted on January 30, 2017 by John Scalzo

Double Dragon IV is now available to download for the PC (through Steam) and the PS4, and developer Arc System Works has unveiled a new trailer detailing the story and enemies found in the retro reboot.

This time around, the Black Warriors are still causing trouble for Billy and Jimmy Lee, but now they’re joined by a motorcycle gang known as The Renegades and a mysterious group in Japan that’s pulling all the strings. And even though she was gunned down in Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Marian might somehow still be alive.

Double Dragon IV was created to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary, and several members of the original development team from 1987 (including Planner Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Designer Koji Ogata, and Composer Kazunaka Yamane) helped bring the game to life.

Posted in News, PC, PS4 | Tagged

Phantom Dust’s PC/Xbox One re-release should launch sometime before E3 2017

Posted on January 30, 2017 by John Scalzo

But in 2015, Microsoft revealed that they’d quietly put development of Phantom Dust 2 on hiatus, effectively killing the project. A year later, the consolemaker also quietly announced that a high definition remake of the original Phantom Dust, which launched for the Xbox in 2004, would be released for the PC and Xbox One in 2017.

With the calendar flipping over to 2017 a few weeks ago, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer confirmed today that Phantom Dust HD is scheduled to be released sometime before this year’s E3 Expo in June:

Hopefully, we’ll hear more about Phantom Dust HD in the coming weeks.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox One | Tagged

CoD: Infinite Warfare Sabotage Pack launches tomorrow… preview the new maps in this trailer

Posted on January 30, 2017 by John Scalzo

PS4 owners will be able to purchase the first downloadable expansion for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare beginning tomorrow. Like every other downloadable addition to the Call of Duty canon, the Sabotage DLC Pack will contain four new multiplayer maps and a new chapter for Zombies Mode.

Activision released a trailer for the next entry in Infinite Warfare’s Zombies Mode, “Rave in the Redwoods,” last week. So it seems fighting that today they’ve given fans their first look at the four new multiplayer maps available in the Sabotage DLC Pack.

Believe it or not… the Beastie Boys don’t make an appearance on the soundtrack.

Multiplayer Maps in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Sabotage DLC Pack

  • Noir – A dark, grimy city map inspired by futuristic Brooklyn at night, Noir is a classic three-lane map set against a backdrop of a dystopian future, filled with cafes and parks surrounding a brutal downtown warzone.
  • Neon – A virtual training center designed for urban warfare, Neon is a unique, digitized battle arena where cars and other structures spawn out of thin air and enemies dissolve into hundreds of pixels when defeated. Middle lane sightlines will cater to long-range players while the outsides of the map allow for quick counter-attacks in close-quarter action.
  • Renaissance – Set in Northern Italy, Renaissance pits players against each other on the narrow streets of Venice surrounded by classic architecture and buildings that promote continuous action through the canals and neighborhoods of this iconic city.
  • Dominion – A re-imagining of the classic Afghan map from Modern Warfare 2, now set on Mars, Dominion retains all the memorable landmarks and gameplay of the original, anchored by the crashed ship in the center, with a few enhancements designed to take advantage of the new movement system.

The Sabotage DLC Pack is part of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Season Pass, or it can be purchased separately for $15. The expansion will also be released for the PC and Xbox One sometime in late February or early March.

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Samurai Sword VR slashes it’s way to Steam today

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Brittney Williams

There’s no denying it, VR is what’s hot right now! While some of us have chosen to stay away, instead watching the market to see where virtual reality will wind up and waiting for some of the peripherals to receive a price drop, early adopters have opted to jump head first into what is arguably the next step in gaming. But every new innovation comes with a price… for early VR adopters, that price is a limited access to quality games.

In comes Samurai Sword VR, the latest of a slow but steady trickle of VR games hitting the market. Based off of the trailer alone, Samurai Sword VR doesn’t feature the same high-end graphics you’d find in a AAA release. But its developer, Degica Games, has a pretty good track record with many of their releases receiving stellar reviews.

So what is Samurai Sword VR? Samurai Sword VR is a new virtual reality experience featuring seven stages with an authentic ancient Japanese aesthetic, epic boss battles, kunai and shuriken levels, multiple sword choices, and a soothing traditional Japanese soundtrack. Sadly, if you don’t already own an HTC Vive (one of the more expensive virtual reality headsets), and a PC capable of running the game, for the time being, you’re going to have to sit this one out. Though support for additional headsets could be added down the line.

Samurai Sword VR releases today, January 30, although it doesn’t officially drop for a few more hours. In the meantime, you can watch the Launch Trailer embedded above and check the game out for yourself.

Posted in News, PC |

New Retail Releases: Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World, Hitman Season One, Digimon World Next Order, More

Posted on January 29, 2017 by John Scalzo

Yarn Yoshi is is back, and as adorable as ever, in Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World for the 3DS. Nintendo will re-release the side-scrolling platformer for the 3DS this week, and players can expect to find the complete Wii U experience along with new levels starring Yoshi’s pal Poochy.

Another re-release will also be available on store shelves this week as Square Enix will collect Hitman‘s “Complete First Season” in a retail package for the PS4 and Xbox One. In addition to all of Agent 47’s previously-released missions, Hitman: The Complete First Season will also include a trio of bonus missions and the Requiem Blood Money Pack, which includes “the signature Blood Money White Suit, White Rubber Duck, and Chrome ICA Pistol.”

Switching gears entirely, anime fans will find a pair of new games on stores including Digimon World: Next Order for the PS4 and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto for the PS4 and Xbox One.

Finally this week, 505 Games and Giant Squid will bring the oceanic exploration of Abzu to the PS4 and Xbox One. Originally released through the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store in August, this retail re-release will give the public a second chance to check it out.

That’s it for now, but we’ll be back later this week with a look at the latest digital releases on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged , ,

The Video Game Canon – Resident Evil

Posted on January 27, 2017 by John Scalzo

Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look at how Resident Evil brought the then-moribund zombie genre back to life. Here’s a teaser…

If a Bizarro Universe doppelganger of Jerry Seinfeld was a hacky comedian who worked the nerd belt, I have a feeling he’d start off every set with, “What’s the deal with all the zombies?” And he wouldn’t be wrong. Zombies are everywhere. Just absolutely everywhere. But why? And why now? If you trace the epidemic all the way back to patient zero, it leads to a publisher named Capcom and their desire to create a scary game with zombies known as Resident Evil.

George A. Romero is rightly considered the godfather of the modern zombie movie. Starting with 1968’s Night of the Living Dead, his first film inspired a horde of filmmakers and lead to a pair of sequels in 1978 and 1985. But after the release of Day of the Dead and Dan O’Bannon’s Return of the Living Dead, the genre fell out of favor with the moviegoing public and was reanimated only when some low-budget film studio wanted to add something to the direct-to-video slush pile. Not even Romero himself, who helped visual effects master Tom Savini remake Night of the Living Dead in 1990, could bring it back to life.

Six years later, Capcom brought the zed menace back in a big way with Resident Evil. First released on Sony’s fledgling PlayStation console (and eventually re-released 12 times over the next 20 years), the game’s amateurish acting and stiff tank-like controls never obscured the terrifying zombie tale underneath. You might say that exploring Spencer Mansion and delving deeper into the story behind the T-Virus infected players in a way that few games ever had before.

Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.

Posted in DS, Features, PC, PS3, PS4, Retro, Top Story, Video Game Canon, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Obsidian announces Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire… and its already fully-funded on Fig

Posted on January 27, 2017 by John Scalzo

Obsidian Entertainment was well-known for working as a hired gun for publishers such as LucasArts, Sega, Ubisoft, and Bethesda during the 2000s. But after dealing with some financial struggles in 2012, the developer turned to Kickstarter to self-fund their next project, Pillars of Eternity. The crowdfunding campaign was a massive success and eventually launched to near-universal acclaim in 2015.

Yesterday, Obsidian announced that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is officially in the works, and kicked off a new crowdfunding campaign on Fig. Obsidian is seeking $1.1 million to finish development, but if you’re worried that lightning won’t be able to strike twice, you can relax. More than 10,000 backers have banded together to pledge the full amount needed for Pillars of Eternity II’s development over the last 24 hours.

So with the hard part out of the way, let’s see where Obsidian wants to take the sequel:

Eothas has returned. The god of light and rebirth was thought dead, but he now inhabits the stone titan that sat buried under your keep, Caed Nua, for millennia. Ripping his way out of the ground, he destroyed your stronghold and left you at the brink of death. To save your soul, you must track down the wayward god and demand answers – answers which could throw mortals and the gods themselves into chaos.

Your hunt takes you to the Deadfire Archipelago. Located even farther east than the colonies of the Eastern Reach, Deadfire comprises hundreds of islands spanning thousands of miles – ranging from lush tropics to barren deserts. Many of these lands have never been charted, while others are inhabited by rich native cultures and a new wave of colonial settlers.

You can learn more about Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire with the Fig campaign page and the trailer embedded above. If all goes well, Obsidian plans to release the RPG exclusively for the PC in Early 2018.

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