Most Recent: PC

Sports! NBA 2K17, Madden 17, FIFA 17, NHL 17 are the best-selling games in September 2016

Posted on October 21, 2016 by John Scalzo

nbalogoFootball season is in full swing, and the NBA season is getting ready to tip-off this weekend, so it’s a great time to check out this year’s newest sports simulations. Gamers definitely agreed, as four sports titles were at the top of September 2016’s sales report from The NPD Group.

2K’s NBA 2K17 was #1, and it was followed by three from EA Sports: Madden NFL 17 (#2), FIFA 17 (#3), and NHL 17 (#4). Shooters dominated the rest of the list with BioShock: The Collection rounding out the Top 5, and Destiny: The Collection (#6), Overwatch (#8), and Call of Duty: Black Ops III (#10) all in the Top 10.

Believe it or not, Minecraft failed to find a place in the Top 10 for the first time in nearly a year. Perhaps this is why hardware, software, and accessory sales totaled $838.2 million last month, which is down from September 2015’s $1.09 billion tally. But the NPD is pinning the blame on the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S.

“Spending on software, hardware, and accessories declined by 23% compared to this time last year,” NPD Analyst Sam Naji told GamesIndustry.biz. “The release of the PS4 Slim and the second month of the Xbox One S was not enough to stimulate total hardware spending and this month’s new software releases could not compete with last year’s stronger slate of new games.”

The full Top 10 from September 2016 can be found after the break. (more…)

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Play Zombie Mini Golf with the Dead Rising 4 Deluxe Edition or Season Pass

Posted on October 21, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Microsoft has announced (via the Xbox Wire) that Frank West will find a few extra toys under the Christmas tree this year thanks to the Dead Rising 4 Season Pass. Priced at $24.99, the Season Pass will include three downloadable content expansions which will be available sometime after its launch on December 6.

The highlight of the collection is clearly Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini Golf, which reconfigures the town of Willamette (and the Willamette Memorial Megaplex Mall) into a zombie-filled golf course. However, if you’d prefer to extend the story, the Frank Rising expansion forces a freshly-infected Frank West to search for a cure in a time-limited version of the campaign after he’s bitten by a zombie. Finally, the Stocking Stuffer Holiday Pack is your standard issue “bonus content” pack and will include an assortment of “festive” weapons, vehicles, and costumes.

More information about each expansion can be found right here:

  • Stocking Stuffer Holiday Pack: Frank West is home for the holidays and he’s got a naughty list the size of Willamette, Colorado. Tear up the streets with festive weapons, zombies, vehicles, costumes, and more.
  • Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini Golf: You’ve mastered the outbreak – now it’s time to master the green, with eighteen holes of pure wanton destruction you can play with up to three friends online. Flip zombies the birdie where bloodthirsty, over the top zombie mayhem is par for the course. The world of Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini Golf is extreme and the fairways are the town of Willamette, Colorado, including the iconic Willamette Memorial Megaplex Mall. Use Frank West’s favorite weapons as your set of golf clubs. With an oversized golf ball, drive down the fairways, reaching for the green to nail the perfect putt. Watch your score as you do not want to bogey in this zombie filled eighteen-hole golf course. Mini golf is made crazier with the zombie horde as obstructions and hazards. Dead Rising Fore!
  • Dead Rising 4: Frank Rising: In this DLC, Frank West is freshly infected and needs to find a cure before he becomes a zombie and is lost forever. While searching for a cure, Frank discovers that everything is not the same as it was; zombies are getting smarter, people cannot be trusted and paramilitary forces are plotting to wipe out Willamette. Frank has a limited time before he reverts to the full zombie state and the city is wiped out. Frank will have to get to the truth first… or die trying.

The Season Pass content can also be obtained as part of the Dead Rising 4 Deluxe Edition ($79.99), which will be available exclusively as a digital download. And don’t forget, if you opt for a digital download of Dead Rising 4, you’ll receive the game on both the Xbox One and Windows 10 PC thanks to the Xbox Play Anywhere program.

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The apocalypse is delayed… THQ Nordic will release Darksiders: Warmastered Edition on November 22

Posted on October 19, 2016 by John Scalzo

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THQ Nordic has announced the Darksiders: Warmastered Edition won’t be finished in time for its previously-announced October 25 release date. Instead, the remaster will now be released for the Wii U (eShop only), PS4, and Xbox One on November 22. PC players will also be able to pick it up on November 29, but Wii U owners looking to purchase a disc-based copy of Darksiders: Warmastered Edition will have to wait until “a later date” to find it on store shelves.

The Warmastered Edition of Darksiders will take the original apocalyptic action game and polish it up for today’s newest platforms using improved graphical rendering to present the action in 60FPS (30 FPS on the Wii U) with 1080p visuals, better shadow quality, doubled resolution on all textures, and new post-processing effects.

THQ Nordic is also working on a third entry in the Darksiders franchise, but it may be quite a while before we hear anything official about Darksiders III.

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Watch Dogs 2 on PC: Launch pushed back to November 29, System Requirements revealed

Posted on October 18, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Ubisoft has revealed that they’re taking special care with the PC version of Watch Dogs 2, with plans to support full 4K Resolution with “Ultra Textures” and “Extra Details” options and an uncapped framerate. But to squeeze this kind of performance out of the game, they’ve also announced that the PC version will be available on November 29… two weeks after the launch on the PS4 and Xbox One.

In the meantime, publisher Ubisoft unveiled Watch Dogs 2’s System Requirements through the UbiBlog:

Minimum System Requirements

  • OS: Windows 7 SP1/8.1/10 (64-Bit Version)
  • Processor: Intel Core i5 2400S @ 2.5 GHz | AMD FX 6120 @ 3.5 GHz
  • RAM: 6GB
  • Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 (2GB) | AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2GB) or Better
  • Hard Disk Space: 50 GB
  • Peripherals: Windows-Compatible Keyboard and Mouse | Microsoft Xbox One Controller | DualShock 4 Controller
  • Multiplayer: 256 Kbps or Faster Broadband Connection

Minimum System Requirements

  • OS: Windows 7 SP1/8.1/10 (64-Bit Version)
  • Processor: Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHz | AMD FX 8120 @ 3.9 GHz
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 (4GB) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (3GB) or Better | AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB) or Better
  • Hard Disk Space: 50 GB
  • Peripherals: Windows-Compatible Keyboard and Mouse | Microsoft Xbox One Controller | DualShock 4 Controller
  • Multiplayer: 256 Kbps or Faster Broadband Connection

A complete listing of Watch Dogs 2’s PC-exclusive features is also available at the UbiBlog.

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New Retail Releases: Battlefield 1, Civilization VI, Skylanders Imaginators, More

Posted on October 16, 2016 by John Scalzo

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While the Call of Duty franchise continues to push further and further into the future, EA and DICE are taking the Battlefield franchise back to The Great War for Battlefield 1. The shooter will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this week, and Microsoft is even offering a special Xbox One S + Battlefield 1 Bundle in two sizes… 500 GB and 1 TB.

Firaxis Games and 2K will return with a different sort of trip through time this week with Civilization VI. The strategy game will be released for the PC, and it’ll once again ask players to battle it out with famous world leaders and grow their civilization.

Skylanders fans will get the chance to try out a new entry in the franchise, as Activision will bring Skylanders Imaginators to the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this week. For the first time, players will be able to design their own Skylanders characters with the brand new Imaginators system.

In what has become a regular occurrence in the New Retail Releases report, another batch of games will get the re-release treatment this week. WB Games will swoop down to save the day in Batman: Return to Arkham, a PS4 and Xbox One compilation featuring Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. The publisher will also package together Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 in Lego Harry Potter Collection, exclusively for the PS4. WayForward will give 3DS owners another chance to pick up Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, this time in a new Retail Edition. Finally, Harmonix will release the Rivals expansion for Rock Band 4 this week, and launch a special Rock Band 4 + Rivals Expansion pack for the PS4 and Xbox One.

A complete look at this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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Ubisoft reveals full Just Dance 2017 tracklist… including Maroon 5’s “Don’t Wanna Know”

Posted on October 15, 2016 by John Scalzo

Just Dance 2017 will boogie its way into stores on October 25, so now’s the perfect time for Ubisoft to unveil the game’s full tracklist.

In addition to previously-announced tracks from Justin Bieber, Sia, and DNCE, Just Dance 2017 will also include music from Beyonce (“Single Ladies”), Ariana Grande (“Into You”), and Zayn (“Like I Would”). “Don’t Wanna Know,” the newly-released single from Maroon 5’s upcoming new album, will also be a featured track in the game.

Just Dance 2017 will be available this month for the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game is also in development for Nintendo’s NX console and it’ll presumably launch alongside the console in March 2017.

The full Just Dance 2017 tracklist can be found after the break, and a gameplay trailer featuring “Don’t Wanna Know” has been embedded above. (more…)

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Friday the 13th: The Game delayed to Early 2017 to add single-player campaign and Tommy Jarvis as playable character

Posted on October 13, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Today is October 12th, and even though there’s almost three weeks left in the spookiest month of the year, I long ago assumed that Gun Media and Illfonic would be forced to move Friday the 13th: The Game from its previously-announced “October 2016” launch date. Today, they made that delay official… but they also announced so much more.

First, the developers confirmed that a single-player campaign (with bots and missions based on the film franchise) is in the works and will be available as a free post-launch update next Summer. The base game, which will include the multiplayer portion of the game and three maps (including the newly-announced Packanack Lodge from Friday the 13th Part 2) will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Early 2017. Finally, a PC-only Beta will be available sometime this Fall for everyone who pre-ordered the game.

The expanded scope of Friday the 13th: The Game has also lead Gun Media and Illfonic to include Tommy Jarvis (Jason’s nemesis from The Final Chapter, Part V, Part VI, and Part VII) as a playable character.

“The first thing people are going to read here is delay,” said Wes Kelter, Gun Media’s Studio Head. “We want everyone to be assured that coming to our decision to delay was no easy matter, but we believe that the positives far outweigh the negatives. We’ve been reading day in and day out on our social media feeds that single player and Tommy Jarvis were in such a demand that we couldn’t ignore our fans.”

More information about the delay, the single-player campaign, and the Beta is available in the latest Kickstarter update for Friday the 13th: The Game from the developers.

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Skyrim Special Edition’s system requirements announced by Bethesda

Posted on October 12, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Bethesda has announced (via Bethesda.net) that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition has officially “gone gold” and is ready to be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 28. They’ve also offered up the system specifications for PC owners who want to make sure their rigs are up to snuff ahead of time:

Minimum System Requirements

  • OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-Bit Version)
  • CPU: Intel i5-750 / AMD Phenom II X4-945
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Hard Drive: 12 GB
  • Video Card: Nvidia GTX 470 1GB / AMD HD 7870 2GB

Recommended System Requirements

  • OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-Bit Version)
  • CPU: Intel i5-2400 / AMD FX-8320
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Hard Drive: 12 GB
  • Video Card: Nvidia GTX 780 3GB / AMD R9 290 4GB

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition will include a number of graphical tweaks including volumetric lighting (“God Rays”), dynamic depth of field, and remastered art and effects. Console owners will also get the chance to deploy mods in Skyrim for the first time, and PS4 Pro owners will get to experience the game with native 4K support.

Finally, Bethesda unveiled the hard drive requirements for console owners. PS4 players will need 20 GB (33 GB in Europe), while Xbox One owners require 17 GB (25 GB in Europe) of free space.

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