Most Recent: Xbox One

Mini Metro, Her Story lead all nominees at the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards

Posted on January 7, 2016 by John Scalzo

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The Independent Games Festival has announced the nominees for their 18th annual awards, and two very different games lead the pack as Mini Metro, a tranquil public transportation sim, and Her Story, a detective story that uses 90s-era full motion video, will both be competing for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize.”

The minimalist Mini Metro collected three other nominations including “Excellence In Visual Art,” “Excellence In Design,” and “Excellence In Audio.” Meanwhile, Her Story also racked up three additional nominations including “Excellence In Narrative,” “Excellence In Design,” and the “Nuovo Award.” Both games will be competing for the “Grand Prize” against Darkest Dungeon, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Superhot, and Undertale.

The 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards will be held on Wednesday, March 16, during this year’s Game Developers Conference. If you aren’t going to be in San Francisco to attend the show in person, you can watch the festivities live through Twitch. However, if you are attending GDC 2016, all of this year’s finalists will be playable on the show floor at the IGF Pavilion.

A complete list of the nominees and honorable mentions for the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break. (more…)

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Warp Zoned’s 2015 Golden Pixel Awards: Honoring Our Favorite Games From Last Year

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Warp Zoned Staff

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The conventional wisdom will tell you that 2015 was a down year for games and that all the good stuff got pushed back to 2016. But how can you trust the conventional wisdom when last year featured a ridiculously entertaining string of good games starring kid squids, gothic hunters, glitchy sci-fi heroes, and the lone survivor of a nuclear war. And all that’s before you dip into the millions of user-created levels from Super Mario Maker.

Yup, we think 2015 was a pretty great year for games, especially the ones that took home some hardware during our annual Golden Pixel Awards… (more…)

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Psychonauts 2 reaches its $3.3 million funding goal on Fig

Posted on January 7, 2016 by John Scalzo

After amassing more than 20,000 backers, Double Fine’s crowdfunding campaign for Psychonauts 2 reached its $3.3 million goal yesterday on Fig. Unlike Kickstarter, Fig allows backers to invest in projects and eventually see a return on their investment once the game is released. At this moment, more than half of Psychonauts 2’s funding ($1.7 million) has been provided by investors.

“We’re so grateful to our backers for giving us this chance to continue the story of Raz and the Psychonauts. Knowing that they will be able to participate as investors in the game makes the whole thing feel more fair and more rewarding,” said Tim Schafer, the President and CEO of Double Fine Productions.

The Psychonauts 2 crowdfunding campaign will wrap up on Tuesday, and then begins the long process of actually developing the game. As of now, Double Fine is planning to release Psychonauts 2 sometime in Fall 2018 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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Xbox Store Today: Hyper Void, G Prime: Into The Rain

Posted on January 6, 2016 by John Scalzo

xboxgamesstore-logoTwo new games were added to the Xbox Games Store today, and both are available for the Xbox One.

Hyper Void is a space shooter that offers more than 25 levels of wave-based action and “dangerous big boss encounters.” Elsewhere on the digital storefront, G Prime: Into The Rain is also available to download. Described as a “slingshot simulating puzzle pleaser,” G Prime asks players to successfully navigate a series of obstacles in space.

More information on both of these games can be found right here:

Xbox One Games

Hyper Void ($9.99)
Punch your way through waves and waves of enemies from all races in the universe as you travel through volatile and crazy wormholes, all rendered in high-quality 3D with a heart-pumping progressive soundtrack! Over 25 levels are awaiting you, filled with challenge and dangerous big boss encounters. And if that wasn’t enough, three EPIC boss showdowns will test every space combat skill you have.

G Prime: Into The Rain ($14.99)
Explore the vast uncharted mystery of The Rain, a solar-system spanning shock wave of gas and dust from far, far away. In your role as sounding officer onboard Ptolemy Station you configure and drive sub-etheric reconnaissance rockets into increasingly challenging fields where Iceteroids, theophosphorus, and quicksand clouds make your mission much more work than your employers led you to believe. A gravity gripping, Steampunk styled, moody-beautiful, slingshot simulating puzzle pleaser.

Posted in News, Xbox One |

EA Sports UFC 2 gets a March 15 release date and a new gameplay trailer

Posted on January 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

EA Sports announced today that EA Sports UFC 2 will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One on March 15. With a release date in place, the publisher is also ready to open pre-orders for EA Sports UFC 2. Players who purchase the game before March 15 will receive access to a trio of additional fighters including Bas Rutten, “The Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba, and a “Mystery Fighter” to be named later. A Deluxe Edition, priced at $69.99, that includes up to $60 of UFC Ultimate Team Premium Packs will also be available.

“Whether fans want to play upcoming cards, recreate the outcome of recent fights, or go back to fight with MMA legends, we’ll help them do that in the most authentic and exciting way ever in an MMA simulation,” said Brian Hayes, the Creative Director at EA Canada. “Our first two pre-order fighters, Bas Rutten and Kazushi Sakuraba are perfect additions to what is already the biggest roster ever for an official UFC game. Adding them is huge, and fans are going to go nuts when we reveal who the mystery fighter is. I can’t wait.”

EA Sports also released a new gameplay trailer to get gamers excited to step into the Octagon once more this Spring. It’s been embedded above.

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Platinum confirms that Scalebound will be released in 2017

Posted on January 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Scalebound, an action RPG in development at Platinum Games, was noticeably absent from the “snapshot” of 2016 Xbox One exclusives that Microsoft released yesterday. And now we know why. A post on the developer’s official website has revealed that the game has been delayed into 2017:

Development on the game is going well and we’re really happy with how it’s coming together. Scalebound is one of the biggest games PlatinumGames has ever created: an epic adventure filled with exploration and fantasy gameplay, inventive multiplayer, and action-packed battles on an unbelievable scale – all set in a beautiful and evolving world. It’s the game our team has always dreamed of making.

In order to deliver on our ambitious vision and ensure that Scalebound lives up to expectations, we will be launching the game in 2017. This will give us the time needed to bring to life all the innovative features and thrilling gameplay experiences that we have planned.

Microsoft originally announced Scalebound during their E3 2014 Press Conference and unveiled the first gameplay trailer this past August during their Gamescom Briefing.

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Rise of the Tomb Raider will officially be released for the PC on January 28

Posted on January 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Square Enix has finally made it official after Steam leaked the news a week ago… Rise of the Tomb Raider will officially be available for the PC on January 28. Lara Croft’s latest will make the jump to the PC with a number of improvements over the Xbox version released in November, including Windows 10 support and a 4K resolution display option.

Players interested in purchasing Rise of Tomb Raider for the PC will get three different bundles to choose from:

  • A $59.99 Standard Edition will be available in stores and online.
  • A $89.99 Digital Deluxe Edition, available only online, will include the game’s Season Pass.
  • A $149.99 Collector’s Edition, available exclusively from the Square Enix Online Store, will include the game, a 12-inch Lara Croft Statue, Replicas of Lara’s Journal and Jade Necklace, a copy of 2013’s Tomb Raider, the Season Pass, and a Collectible Steel Case.

In other Rise of the Tomb Raider news, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has confirmed (via Twitter) that “well over” one million copies of the game have been sold on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 to date.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Microsoft offers a “snapshot” of their 2016 Xbox One/Windows 10 exclusives

Posted on January 4, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Microsoft loved to promote their 2015 release schedule as the “Greatest Games Line-Up in Xbox History,” but the publisher plans to continue to use that tagline in 2016. Mike Nichols, the Xbox Division’s Corporate Vice President of Marketing, has posted a look back at some of Microsoft’s achievements from the previous year on the Xbox Wire, but the executive also gave us a “snapshot” of Big Redmond’s 2016 lineup of Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusives.

Most of these release dates are well known, but it’s nice to learn that the Windows 10 version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will be released this Spring. And it looks like Keiji Inafune’s ReCore will also be released for the PC in addition to the Xbox One, though its release date has been changed from “Spring 2016” to “TBA 2016”:

Greatest Games Line-Up in Xbox History Extends to 2016

  • Cobalt (Xbox One / Xbox 360 / Steam) – February 2
  • Killer Instinct: Season 3 (Xbox One / Windows 10) – March
  • Quantum Break (Xbox One) – April 5
  • Fable Legends (Xbox One / Windows 10) – Spring (Open Beta)
  • Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Windows 10) – Spring
  • Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Xbox One / Windows 10) – Spring
  • Crackdown 3 (Xbox One) – Summer (Multiplayer)
  • Gears of War 4 (Xbox One) – Fall (Launch) / Spring (Multiplayer Beta)
  • Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One / Windows 10) – Fall
  • Gigantic (Xbox One / Windows 10) – TBA 2016
  • ReCore (Xbox One / Windows 10) – TBA 2016
  • Sea of Thieves (Xbox One / Windows 10) – TBA 2016

Microsoft has several other unannounced titles on track for 2016 and will make further “new title reveals” in the coming months.

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