Most Recent: PS4

Uncharted 4 wins “Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing” from WGA

Posted on February 20, 2017 by John Scalzo

The Writers Guild of America continued their love affair with Naughty Dog last night, picking the developer as the recipient of a Writers Guild Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing” for their work on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.

The credited writers on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End are Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr, Tom Bissell, and Ryan James, and each can stake a claim on the treasure that is this Writers Guild Award.

This is the fourth Writers Guild Award for the narrative team at Naughty Dog. The developer also came out on top of the “Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing” category in 2015 (The Last of Us: Left Behind), 2014 (2014 The Last of Us), and 2012 (Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception).

Naughty Dog triumphed over three other highly-qualified nominees this year including Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Ubisoft’s Far Cry: Primal, and Night School Studio’s Mr. Robot: 1.51exfiltratiOn.

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Activision Blizzard to help veterans with Brass Personalization Pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Andrew Rainnie

Activision Blizzard has made a lot of money from its highly successful Call of Duty series, but behind the dramatic stories and Hollywood villains, a lot of real men and women have lived through what players only see.

That is why it is nice to see the company launch the Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Brass Personalization Pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Priced at $4.99, the pack contains in-game items such as a Player Card, Universal Weapon Camo, Universal Reticle, and Emblem. Activision will donate 100% of the profits from the sale of this pack to the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit set up by the game company to help veterans find high quality jobs after their military service has ended.

The Endowment’s Executive Direct, Dan Goldenberg, revealed the impact that previous packs have made on veteran’s lives and livelihoods:

Through our previous Personalization Pack and Calling Card programs, the Call of Duty community contributed over $2.1 million to help 3,400 veterans secure good jobs. Employment is vital to providing stability when transitioning from military to civilian life. Raven, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, Sony, and Microsoft continue to be indispensable partners in this effort, as the in-game program would not be possible without their generosity and commitment. We are grateful for their continued support.

To date, the Call of Duty Endowment has managed to find full time jobs for over 31,000 veterans, and aims to raise this number to 50,000 by 2019.

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Telltale Games is hiring for at least one unannounced project

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Brittney Williams

Have you been looking to break into the video game industry? And do you love Telltale Games and their unique catalog of story driven titles? Then this news is for you.

Telltale Games recently updated their Jobs page and added a number of new open positions for some of the company’s future projects.

Want to make great games with fun people? Telltale is redefining the way the games industry works, and we’re looking for some new team members to help us forge the way. If you’re looking for a fast-paced, creative environment where the work you do will make a difference, we’d like to talk to you. Here are the positions we’re hiring for right now.

Telltale’s Eric Stirpe offered some advice for applicants on Twitter, but the developer is also searching for new Animators, Character Modelers, Front-End Developers, Voice Directors, Brand Managers, Programmers, and much more. But with so many new job openings, it’s very likely that Telltale is working on several new games. The question is, what?

Guardians of the Galaxy is expected to arrive “soon,” but so far, no release date has been announced. They are also working on Game of Thrones: Season 2, though we haven’t heard a peep about it since the first season ended. So it’s possible they could be hiring for work on either of the aforementioned games.

So it looks like Telltale has another huge batch of unannounced titles in the works. But right now, there’s only two ways to find out what they’re up to. You can try your hand at getting in on the ground floor by applying to one of their open positions. Or, you can wait for their next big announcement, whenever that may be.

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New Retail Releases: Halo Wars 2, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk

Posted on February 19, 2017 by John Scalzo

It’s the calm before the (Switch) storm in the latest New Retail Releases report…

If you opted to skip last week’s release of the Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition (which includes access to the Season Pass and Halo Wars: Definitive Edition), Microsoft is giving you another chance this week with the Standard Edition launch of Halo Wars 2 for the Xbox One and Windows 10 (which also includes an Xbox One download thanks to the Xbox Play Anywhere program). The real-time strategy game picks up 28 years after its predecessor and introduces players to a new enemy, Atriox, and his loyal army, The Banished. Players will be able to fight it out in the single-player Campaign, several different online multiplayer modes, and the card-based Blitz Mode.

Also available this week is Berserk and the Band of the Hawk, the latest Warriors game from Koei Tecmo and Omega Force. Available for the PS4, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is based on the Berserk manga series by Kentarou Miura and follows Guts, Griffith, Casca, and the Band of the Hawk as they battle demons.

We’ll be back later this week with a look at all the latest digital titles that’ll soon be available to download through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.

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Nihon Falcom and NIS America will release Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana this Fall

Posted on February 19, 2017 by John Scalzo

Publisher NIS America will team up with Nihon Falcom to release Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, the latest entry in the long-running action RPG franchise, this Fall for the PC, PS4, and Vita.

NIS’s Chris King confirmed (to the PlayStation Blog) the game will feature dual English and Japanese audio. He also revealed a few details about the game’s plot:

This will be the first brand-new Ys adventure in eight years! The story begins with Adol, shipwrecked and stranded on a cursed island. There, he and the other castaways establish a village to challenge fearsome beasts and explore mysterious ruins on the island. Amidst this, Adol begins to dream of a mysterious blue-haired maiden named Dana living in an unknown world. Join Adol as he unravels the riddle of the cursed isle and the blue-haired maiden in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana!

And over on Ys VIII’s Steam page, Nihon Falcom President Toshihiro Kondo delivered a message to fans and teased about a minute of gameplay footage.

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Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is finished; Coming to Switch in March and other platforms in April

Posted on February 19, 2017 by John Scalzo

Yacht Club Games has announced (via Twitter) that they’ve completed development on Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, the latest expansion to their NES-inspired platformer, Shovel Knight. The developer expects to launch Specter of Torment first for the Nintendo Switch in March. It’ll later be available as a free update on all other platforms (3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One) in April.

The Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove compilation (as well as the Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows standalone campaigns) should also be available for the Switch in March, with additional platforms to follow a month later.

Specter Knight’s campaign will actually take place before the events of Shovel Knight, and will depict how The Enchantress was able to recruit the evil Order of No Quarter. If you’re interested in learning how it all went down, Yacht Club Games will be attending this year’s PAX East expo to give fans a taste of Specter of Torment before it launches. The Boston-based convention kicks off on March 10.

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NIS America announces release dates for Danganronpa V3, Disgaea 5 Complete, more

Posted on February 18, 2017 by John Scalzo

NIS America announced release dates for a huge batch of upcoming games last night, including their Nintendo Switch debut (Disgaea 5 Complete) and a highly-anticipated sequel on the PS4 and Vita (Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony).

Ready? Here we go…

  • Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (PS4, PS Vita)
    • North America: September 26, 2017
    • Europe: September 29, 2017
  • Disgaea 5 Complete (Nintendo Switch)
    • North America: May 23, 2017
    • Europe: May 26, 2017
  • Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness (Steam)
    • Worldwide: April 24, 2017
  • Cladun Returns: This Is Sengoku! (PS Vita, Steam)
    • North America: June 6, 2017
    • Europe: June 9, 2017
  • Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy (Steam)
    • Worldwide: May 16, 2017
  • Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy (Steam)
    • Worldwide: March, 27, 2017

These release date announcements were made during NIS America’s “2017 Press Event” livestream last night. However, if you missed the big show, you can watch a replay on the publisher’s Twitch channel right now.

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Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands Open Beta begins on February 23

Posted on February 17, 2017 by John Scalzo

Players itching to try out Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands will get their chance beginning next week, as Ubisoft has confirmed an Open Beta for the game will be available on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Open Beta will begin on Thursday, February 23, and players will get all weekend to battle the cartels:

Learning how to use all of the tools in your arsenal is key for taking on the Santa Blanca. First and foremost, use your fellow Ghosts. Whether you’re playing in co-op with up to three other players or going solo with cooperative AI, the other Ghosts can provide valuable distractions and cover fire when things start to heat up. And don’t forget transportation – jeeps, helicopters, APCs, and a large assortment of other vehicles can all become part of your strategy when infiltrating a Santa Blanca base (or escaping from it).

Your environment can also be used to your advantage in Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Itacua is a lush region with plenty of vegetation to hide you from enemy view when scouting for enemies. Meanwhile, the cover of night or a strong storm may be what keeps you from being spotted around Montuyoc’s lakes and sparse terrain.

If you’re concerned your PC won’t be able to handle Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, then you should head over to the UbiBlog and have a look at the game’s Recommended and Minimum System Requirements.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands will be released on March 7. (more…)

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