Most Recent: PC

Rock Band VR announced for Oculus Rift/PC

Harmonix and Oculus announced they’re making Rock Band VR, and they did it in the most adorable way possible with this video. Watch it to see DragonForce attempt to make rock stars out of the staff. They showed some footage of the game as well, where you play guitar from first-person view, and can look around to see the audience cheering for you and watch your virtual band rock out. Some folks will surely say that it looks very similar to Guitar Hero Live.

Rock Band VR is due out for the PC sometime in 2016 after the launch of the Oculus Rift.

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Telltale will release a new Batman game in 2016

Telltale released a trailer at last night’s Game Awards announcing a new Batman game set for release in 2016. This comes just a few months after they announced they’ll be also releasing a Marvel game in 2017. I can’t believe they’re able to keep such a tight lid on these! Also, they are so busy.

There’s no formal date other than “2016,” and not much other information other than that it’ll be “A Telltale Game Series.” Here’s hoping Kevin Conroy will be voicing Batman!

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Double Fine partners with Fig to launch crowdfunding campaign for Psychonauts 2

After years of teasing, Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions are finally ready to announce that development has begun on Psychonauts 2… but wait, there’s a catch.

Like Broken Age and Massive Chalice, Double Fine will partially fund the creation of Psychonauts 2 through a crowdfunding campaign. This time, the development house has teamed up with Fig in an attempt to raise $3.3. million for the game. In addition to the standard crowdfunding reward tiers, backers will also have the opportunity to earn a piece of Psychonauts 2’s profits if they sign up as an Investor through Fig (and if the campaign is successful, of course). Finally, Double Fine has contracted with an external partner to raise the more than $10 million they expect to need for a proper sequel to Psychonauts.

Schafer is quite literally getting the band back together for Psychonauts 2, as multiple members of the original team (including co-writer Erik Wolpaw, artists Peter Chan, Scott Campbell, and Nathan Stapley, composer Peter McConnell, voice actors Richard Horvitz (Raz) and Nicki Rapp (Lili), and voice director Khris Brown) have returned to Double Fine for the sequel. And what a sequel it could be:

In Psychonauts 2, Raz will realize his dreams and visit the Psychonauts Headquarters as a fully established agent. But when he gets there he finds it’s not the perfect place he expected, and he quickly realizes that the Psychonauts need him, more than he needs them.

Psychonauts 2 will feature a new hub world inside Psychonauts HQ. You’ll access new mental worlds as Raz peeks inside the minds of a host of new characters who need his help to combat their inner demons and unravel their deep-seated emotional issues. Raz will hone his secret agent PSI-abilities—and learn new ones too—using them to solve mysteries and uncover evil plots.

If all goes well (and Double Fine has already raised almost a $1 million after in less than a day), Psychonauts 2 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One sometime in 2018.

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The Walking Dead: Michonne is a standalone Telltale Games series that’ll launch in February

Originally announced as a small expansion to The Walking Dead Season 2, Telltale Games revealed that The Walking Dead: Michonne will be released this February as a standalone three-part series during last night’s Game Awards.

Set during Michonne’s previously untold absence from The Walking Dead comic book (issue #126 through #139), Telltale has said that players “will discover what took Michonne away from Rick, Ezekiel, and the rest of her trusted group… and what brought her back.” Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black‘s Poussey Washington) will portray the character throughout the series.

“We’ve been hard at work on this very special exploration of The Walking Dead universe that will further bridge together our game series with the canon of Robert Kirkman’s comic though one of its most complex characters struggling to maintain her own humanity,” said Kevin Bruner, Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. “Deeply haunted by the decisions of her past, putting players in the role of a character like Michonne to navigate the broken world around her is an experience that feels uniquely Telltale, and something we simply cannot wait for The Walking Dead fans to play.”

Like Telltale’s other Walking Dead adaptations, The Walking Dead: Michonne is in development for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices.

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Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2 includes Leatherface, Xenomorph, Tri-Borg, Bo Rai Cho

NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat X is going to get even crazier in 2016 (and stepping ever closer to Ed Boon’s proposed slasher movie fighting game).

After this year’s Kombat Pack added Jason Voorhees and The Predator to the game, next year’s Kombat Pack 2 is going to double down on horror icons. The new downloadable expansion will see the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Alien‘s Xenomorph burst into the Mortal Kombat arena. Interestingly, the Xenomorph in Kombat Pack 2 will use Baraka as its host, so the Tarkatan’s arm blades made it through the metamorphosis. I’ll give you a moment to get giddy at the possibilities of an Alien with Baraka’s arm blades.

Also included in Kombat Pack 2 will be classic Mortal Kombat characters Bo Rai Cho, the “master of the drunken fist,” and the cyborgs, (Cyrax, Sektor, and Robot Smoke), who have merged together to form Tri-Borg.

All four characters from Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2 are expected to be released early next year.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins Game of the Year at 2015 Game Awards

gameawards-statueAfter racking up more nominations than any other title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt easily waltzed away with the “Game of the Year” prize at the 2015 Game Awards. Held last night in Los Angeles, the game also secured the “Best Role Playing Game” statue during the awards show, as well as “Developer of the Year” honors for CD Projekt Red.

While The Witcher 3 is known for its size, two smaller games also managed to win multiple awards last night. Sam Barlow’s Her Story took home the Game Award for “Best Narrative” and “Best Performance” for actress Viva Seifert. Meanwhile, Rocket League reached its goal by winning for both “Best Independent Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”

Nintendo had a good Game Awards as Splatoon took home a pair of awards for its unique take on the multiplayer shooter (specifically, “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter”). Nintendo also won “Best Family Game” for Super Mario Maker.

Many other titles took home a trophy last night including Mortal Kombat X (“Best Fighting Game”), Life Is Strange (“Games For Change Award”), Ori and the Blind Forest (“Best Art Direction”), and Lara Croft Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”). And Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack,” though host Geoff Keighley explained that he wasn’t able to accept either award as Konami had barred him from the event.

While that turn of events was a bit shocking (and frankly, rather petty), the biggest surprise may have been that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was completely shut out at the 2015 Game Awards.

A complete rundown of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)

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Rive pushed back to 2016 by Two Tribes

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Netherlands-based Two Tribes has announced that their side-scrolling shooter, Rive, will miss its planned 2015 release date. Instead, the game will launch sometime in 2016 for the PC, PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One. Designer Collin Van Ginkel gave a very direct explanation for the delay on the company’s website: “The reason why we’re moving it to 2016 is simple… we’re not done yet.”

Ginkel added:

Since moving to a three man team early last year we had to rediscover how to handle things with less man-power. This means a lot of tasks have to be handled sequentially, instead of spread throughout the team. If we need a new trailer, the level designs stall for two weeks. If we decide to attend PAX or EGX with a booth, the entire project is paused for several weeks. It’s frustrating, especially since it means we can’t let you play the final game yet, but it’s our current reality and we are adamant to make Rive the absolute best game we’ve ever created.

Two Tribes has also released a trio of new screenshots for Rive. You can find them at their website.

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SteamWorld Heist will be released for 3DS on December 10; Other platforms to follow in 2016

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Image & Form has announced that SteamWorld Heist, their turn-based space adventure starring sentient robots, will be released for the 3DS on December 10. SteamWorld Heist will be regularly priced at $19.99, but Image & Form is slashing the price by $3 (to $16.99) for its first three weeks of availability. The developer also revealed that a brand new trailer for the game will be available just ahead of the launch date, on December 8.

SteamWorld Heist will also be released for the PC, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, and mobile devices sometime in 2016.

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