EA Sports cancels “College Football 15” amid NCAA lawsuits

Posted on September 26, 2013 by John Scalzo

ncaa-logoEven without NCAA branding, EA Sports planned to go ahead and produce “College Football 15” next year. It looks like someone called an audible as EA announced the cancellation of the game, and stated that the future of the franchise is being evaluated, on their official blog today.

Cam Weber, EA’s General Manager of American Football, said that the decision to cancel the game was partially the result of “a number of conferences” pulling their support from the game. EA might have been able to continue with the words “NCAA” in the title, but multiple missing colleges would have hurt the simulation aspects of the game.

In other NCAA news, The Lanier Law Firm has announced that they’ve reached an agreement with EA Sports over the use of likenesses of student athletes in previous NCAA Football and NCAA March Madness/NCAA Basketball games. Attorney Eugene R. Egdorf said, “Today’s settlement is a game-changer because, for the first time, student-athletes suiting up to play this weekend are going to be paid for the use of their likenesses.”

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

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Watch all ten episodes of Mortal Kombat: Legacy II right now

Posted on September 26, 2013 by John Scalzo

When Mortal Kombat: Legacy was lighting up web browsers everywhere in the run-up to Mortal Kombat‘s launch, new episodes were doled out on a weekly schedule. And the final episode was subjected to a multi-month delay and we didn’t get to see it until the Summer.

That is definitely not the case when it comes to Mortal Kombat: Legacy II.

Today, director Kevin Tancharoen and Warner Digital uploaded every episode of the adaptation’s second season. So you can watch the first episode (which we’ve embedded above) and let it sink in or you can watch the whole thing in one sitting at Machinima’s YouTube Channel.

Hooray for binge viewing!

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CoD: Black Ops II Apocalypse DLC now available on PC, PS3

Posted on September 26, 2013 by John Scalzo

The final Call of Duty: Black Ops II expansion pack, Apocalypse, is now available to download on the PC and PS3. Season Pass owners will be able to download the Apocalypse DLC Pack for free, while the rest of us will have to pay $14.99. The DLC pack includes four new maps and a new Zombies scenario, “Origins.”

The next Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Ghosts, will be available in November for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One.

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Daily Scoop: September 26, 2013 – Gotta Hatch ‘Em All

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Nicole Kline

I didn’t think I could be more excited about Pokemon X and Y, but that changed this morning when I visited Serebii.net. They made two announcements yesterday – one was a new Pokemon, a cool-looking Steel/Ghost type named Doublade. But the amazing news is this gorgeous gold 3DS XL which comes pre-loaded with X or Y, unlike the other 3DS XL that came out last week (which we will never speak of again because who releases a special 3DS without the darn game?).

The sad news is that this 3DS XL will only be available at Pokemon Centers in Japan and on Amazon, which I’m assuming means Amazon.jp, which makes me a sad panda. Oh well – I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

There’s a new Humble Bundle available right now – it’s the Humble Mobile Bundle 2, which includes Star Command, Time Surfer, and Punch Quest. Scoop it up!

Again, I’ve got tons of great shirts for you!

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Nintendo Download: Donkey Kong 3, Etrian Odyssey Untold (Tuesday), more

Posted on September 26, 2013 by John Scalzo

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3DS owners will get the chance to download Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl this Tuesday, October 1, as part of this week’s Nintendo Download. The Atlus RPG will be joined on the 3DS eShop early next week by Rune Factory 4, the latest game in the farm simulator series.

But what can Wii U, 3DS, and DSi owners download today? Well, there’s…

  • Donkey Kong 3 (Wii U), the weird Donkey Kong game where an exterminator has to shoot DK in the hind quarters with pesticide.
  • Carps & Dragons (3DS), a fishing game with dragons.
  • Family Table Tennis 3D (3DS), a family game of table tennis.
  • Let’s Ride: Best in Breed 3D (3DS), another horse trainer sim.
  • Mystery Murders: The Sleeping Palace (3DS), a new hidden object game.
  • Paws & Claws: Pampered Pets Resort 3D (3DS), another pet trainer sim.
  • Astro (DSi), a space shooter.

More details on all of these games can be found after the break.

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Need For Speed movie trailer is like an artsy Fast and the Furious

Posted on September 26, 2013 by John Scalzo

Need For Speed, a film adaptation of the long-running game series will be the home of Aaron Paul’s first post-Breaking Bad role. The first trailer has been released and it looks less like a video game adaptation and more like an artier version of Fast and the Furious, complete with a dramatic voiceover and a operatic score. Also, no one says “Bitch!” or makes a “speed = meth” joke. Priorities, people!

The Need For Speed movie will make its theatrical debut in March 2014.

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Interview: The Harrowing Inspiration Behind Matt Gilgenbach’s Neverending Nightmares

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Andrew Rainnie

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In the recent Sweet September Edition of our regular Kickstart This! feature, we highlighted the pencil-drawn psychological horror adventure Neverending Nightmares. The story behind the game’s development is incredible, and even more heartfelt.

Matt Gilgenbach, the creative mastermind behind the game, is well known for developing the reverse 2D space shooter Retro/Grade. Although it was lauded by critics, the game was a commercial disaster. Its lack of sales pushed Gilgenbach into a state of severe depression, which was also coupled with his on-going battle with OCD. After a couple of years, Gilgenbach managed to take inspiration from his mental disorders and transform them into Neverending Nightmares, a semi-autobiographical tale of horror. I caught up with Gilgenbach to find out more about what has driven him to make such a unique and personal game.

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Valve officially announces their living room PC initiative: “Steam Machines”

Posted on September 25, 2013 by John Scalzo

valveguyHere it is, your official “Steam Box” announcement from Valve… err, sort of.

Today, Valve announced “Steam Machines,” their SteamOS-powered living room PC initiative. Steam Machines won’t conform to a single hardware configuration like the current consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. And Valve won’t produce any of the Steam Machines themselves. Instead, the company plans to partner with hardware manufacturers to produce several different Steam Machine form factors optimized for “size, price, quietness, or other factors.” The first Steam Machines will be available to purchase sometime in 2014.

According to Valve, each Steam Machine will be completely customizable. In an FAQ on their site, the question was raised, “Can I hack this box? Run another OS? Change the hardware? Install my own software? Use it to build a robot?” Valve’s one word response? “Sure.”

To test their new platform, Valve has created a prototype Steam Machine that they want to give away to 300 beta testers. Interested? Head over to the Official Steam Machines Page now and read up on what you need to do to become one of the lucky 300. The beta testers will be chosen on October 25 and the beta will begin before the end of the year.

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