Most Recent: PS3

Q*Bert Rebooted will hop onto the PS3, PS4, Vita next week

Posted on February 9, 2015 by John Scalzo

Show of hands, who remembers Q*Bert? Anybody? Q*Bert was an alien-looking little guy who served as the main character of a mostly forgotten 80s arcade classic also known as Q*Bert. After players plugged their quarter in, they helped Q*Bert climb to the top of a pyramid of stacked cubes over and over again.

After an appearance in Wreck-It Ralph, Q*Bert will return in Q*Bert Rebooted. Originally released for Steam and mobile devices last year, Q*Bert Rebooted will be available to download from the PlayStation Store very soon.

In addition to the original arcade game, Q*Bert Rebooted’s main draw is the… wait for it… all-new Rebooted mode. Now, Q*Bert doesn’t just climb cubes, but hexagons as well. Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Jason Sorensen of Loot Entertainment said that the five-way movement allows for “really interesting level designs, especially later in the game.” The game will also add a variety of new features to the time-tested franchise including “time and score challenges, new enemies with their own unique behaviors, new playable characters, power-ups, traps, and gem-collecting.”

Just how close is the PlayStation version of Q*Bert Rebooted? Very close. The game will be available for the PS3, PS4, and Vita as a Cross-Buy title next week on February 17.

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Abandon hope, all ye who watch this new trailer for Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

Almost two months from now, Bandai Namco will release Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin for the PS4 and Xbox One. The Scholar of the First Sin package (which include all three downloadable expansion and other gameplay improvements) will mark the first time a game from the Dark Souls franchise will be available for new-generation consoles, though a PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 re-release is also planned.

To get gamers in the right mood, the publisher has released a brand new trailer for Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin that focuses on the game’s world and the brutal combat that players will be forced to endure. Good luck.

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin will be available on April 7.

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Shadow of Mordor wins eight awards at 2015 DICE Awards but not Game of the Year

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor won eight awards during last night’s DICE Awards ceremony (out of nine nominations), but it was unable to snag the big prize. Instead, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose to award “Game of the Year” to BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition.

But don’t feel too bad for Monolith Productions and their romp through the Lord of the Rings universe. Shadow of Mordor’s eight wins included “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming,” “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Character,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” and “Outstanding Technical Achievement.”

The third game in the Dragon Age series was only able to walk away with a single other award: “Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year.”

Bungie’s Destiny (which took home four awards) and Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Mobile Game of the Year” and “Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year”) were the only other multi-award winners last night. Though Nintendo’s pair of Smash Bros. games were awarded “Handheld Game of the Year” (Super Smash Bros. For 3DS) and “Fighting Game of the Year” (Super Smash Bros. For Wii U).

The complete list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)

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New trailer details Weekly Faction Wars, Dynamic Challenge Towers in Mortal Kombat X

Posted on February 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

NetherRealm has been slyly hinting at Mortal Kombat X‘s Faction War mode for a while now, but the game’s newest trailer finally laid it all out for us. When players first launch Mortal Kombat X, they’ll be asked to join one of five Factions (Lin Kuei, White Lotus, Brotherhood of Shadows, Special Forces, or Black Dragon). After that, everything they do in the game will earn points for their Faction in the weekly war.

Players will also be able to compete in inter-Faction challenges and perform “Faction Kills” on players that belong to a different Faction. About all we don’t know is what the winning Faction will receive every week.

The trailer also gave us a quick look at the new Dynamic Challenge Towers that will be included in Mortal Kombat X. According to NetherRealm, the Dynamic Towers can change hourly, so there will always be a new Challenge waiting to be conquered.

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

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Activision confirms Skylanders 5, Call of Duty 2015, “unannounced initiatives” during quarterly presentation

Posted on February 5, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Just as the sun rises in the east, Activision uses their first quarterly financial presentation of the year to talk about the next games in the Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises.

Dennis Durkin, the publisher’s Chief Financial Officer, had the task of revealing the non-news that Call of Duty 2015 and Skylanders 5 will be released this Fall. As expected, Call of Duty 2015 will be developed by Treyarch while Skylanders 5 is being described as “innovative.” Durkin finished his remarks by revealing that Activision also has “several unannounced initiatives” in the pipeline that they’ll talk more about “in the months ahead.”

Then the CEO of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg, took the stage to talk about Destiny. He confirmed that the game’s second expansion, House of Wolves, will be released in the Spring. He also said that Destiny 2 is in development, though we won’t see it this year. But Bungie is planning to launch a “major content release” connected to the franchise for this Fall.

Finally, Blizzard’s CEO, Michael Morhaime, said that both StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void and Overwatch will be available for beta testing this year. However, Morhaime would not comment on either game’s final release date, which means that both will probably slip to 2016.

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Atlus has released a gameplay trailer for Persona 5

Posted on February 5, 2015 by John Scalzo

It’s been more than a year since Atlus gave us our first taste of Persona 5. Today, they made up for their protracted silence with a new trailer that runs nearly three minutes and is absolutely oozing with style.

I’m not entirely sure I know what’s going on, but the trailer introduced us to the main character and his friends before diving into in-game footage of their school life and a glimpse at a few battles. After dark, these characters turn into masked vigilantes of some sort as they displayed some very Batman-like maneuvers atop a moving train. Also, one of the main characters is a cat… or possibly a little kid in a full-body cat costume. You never can tell with the Persona series.

Persona 5 will be released for the PS3 and PS4 sometime in 2015.

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CoD: Advanced Warfare Havoc Pack will be released for PC, PS3, PS4 on February 26

Posted on February 4, 2015 by John Scalzo

Activision has announced that the Havoc DLC Pack will be released for PC, PS3, and PS4 owners of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on February 26. The Havoc DLC Pack will include four new competitive maps as well as the first episode of the cooperative Exo Zombies mode. In case you missed it, here’s what you can expect from Havoc’s four competitive maps:

Core: Deploy to the Gobi desert where the ravaged ruins of a nuclear fusion plant set the stage for a high-octane warzone. Take down enemies through the wreckage in long-range combat or get up-close and personal in the tunnels surrounding the central turbine. Activate decontamination drones using the map-based scorestreak to help clean out the competition.

Urban: Prepare yourself for brutal, high-speed combat in Dallas Ward 3, a future mega structure, funneling players into a close-quarters free-for-all. This modular compound’s verticality unleashes the exoskeleton’s capabilities. Stay focused during the timed event as blast doors alter the map’s flow and sightlines.

Sideshow: In the shadow of Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, this abandoned inn’s open layout amplifies its creep factor. Blast your way through the clown inn with close-quarters battles or use long-range site-lines from the mining facilities and natural terrain. Use the map-based scorestreak to activate the lights, music, and magic of the clown marquee and rain down a barrage of rainbow smoke-trailed cannonballs.

Drift: An idyllic ski resort high in the Rocky Mountains is transformed into a festive high-altitude playground, perfect for an all-out firefight. Make your way to the highly contested over watch in the glass observation deck or take a ride on the carousel to deliver 360 degrees of carnage. Players can use the map-altering timed event to their advantage as an avalanche of snow and debris disorients players, intensifying the battle.

The Havoc DLC Pack will be priced at $14.99 on the PC, PS3, and PS4. It’s also part of the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass, which will include access to all four DLC Packs for $49.99.

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2K Tidbits: Borderlands 3 only on PS4/Xbox One, GTA5 ships 45 million, Battleborn still on track for late 2015/early 2016 launch

Posted on February 4, 2015 by John Scalzo

taketwo-logoTake-Two Interactive held their quarterly financial presentation yesterday and it looks the publisher is in a better position than ever before. In addition to reporting “strong financial results” for the quarter, Take-Two raised their yearly fiscal forecast due to the pending release of Evolve, Grand Theft Auto V on the PC, and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection.

Speaking of Grand Theft Auto V, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick announced that the company has shipped more than 45 million copies of the game to stores since its release last year, including more than ten million copies of the remastered PS4/Xbox One edition.

Zelnick didn’t discuss Rockstar’s future during the presentation or the question-and-answer period that followed, but he did say that Take-Two doesn’t believe in annualizing their big franchises. Specifically, he said, “[W]e think big tentpole releases should not be annualized except for sports titles because we think it’s valuable to build anticipation and because it takes some time to make the highest quality products in the business.”

To that end, Take-Two’s President, Karl Slatoff, reconfirmed that Borderlands 3 is in development at Gearbox. According to Slatoff, the game currently has no release date and it is being developed “specifically for next-gen consoles.” With the PS4 and Xbox One launching in 2013, this probably shouldn’t come as too much of a shock.

However, one thing we do know about Gearbox is that their team-based shooter, Battleborn, is still on track for a “Fiscal 2016” release. That means it’ll launch sometime between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016… but it’s safe to assume that a late 2015/early 2016 release is much more likely.

Finally, Slatoff revealed that the publisher has numerous unannounced games in development. More details about those games will be released over the course of the year.

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