Daily Scoop: November 17, 2014 – What games are you picking up this week?

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Nicole Kline

This is an intense week for video games. Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, the re-release of GTA V on next-gen consoles, and Little Big Planet 3 all launch tomorrow. That is a ridiculous list of games right there. And this Friday, the new Pokemon game, Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby, are coming out. It’s going to be an intense weekend!

There are some brand new deals for you today, so get ready! Over at the Humble Store, you can pick up Mercenary Kings for $7.99, SteamWorld Dig for $2.49, 10 Second Ninja for $3.39, and Steel & Steam for $1.49, among others.

Steam has a slew of brand new games on sale in their Weeklong Deals section. The Tropico 4 Collector’s Bundle is $5.99, The Tiny Bang Story is $0.49, Electronic Super Joy is $2.79, and Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is $2.29. They’ve also got a brand new Daily Deal, which is Sakura Spirit on sale for $3.39. Scoop ’em up!

Got a handful of t-shirts for you today as well…

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Insert Quarter: Should Games Have All Content Unlocked From the Outset?

Posted on November 17, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

Back in the NES era, many games included cheats or Game Genie codes to unlock some of the more difficult levels or fill our coffers with 1-Ups. How else were we supposed to beat Battletoads? But today’s games don’t do that, opting instead to lock much of their advanced content behind a scavenger hunt for baubles or a seemingly impossible boss fight. Most games, but not all. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a rather notable exception. Ars Technica’s Kyle Orland writes that Microsoft’s decision to unlock every campaign level and multiplayer match type was a master stroke:

It doesn’t have to be this way, as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and its immediate unlocks show. Original campaigns aren’t going anywhere, and we’re not about to start skipping content by default. But there’s no reason to prevent players from deciding how and when they can access whatever content is in a game—from levels and items to weapons and costumes—at the moment they first launch it.

You can read the rest of the article at Ars Technica.

Posted in Insert Quarter, Xbox One | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: The Game Awards Cometh Edition

Posted on November 16, 2014 by John Scalzo

No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…

Geoff Keighley spent the last decade building up the Spike TV VGX Awards (formerly the Video Game Awards) from a show that was completely embarrassing to a show that’s now mostly tolerable. But the famed game presenter has decided to jump ship and start his own end-of-year awards show, The Game Awards. Keighley has sought out the help of Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and Valve to produce his show, which will also include a collection of clips from some of 2015’s most-anticipated games.

Personally, I hope Spike TV chooses to continue the VGX Awards so we can have two chances to watch awkward game executives and bored Hollywood types hand out awards to developers who aren’t sure how they’re supposed to react. Plus, it might lead to more drunken development deals.

Are you looking for more news from this past week? Then I suggest you look for it after the break where we delve into a bunch of new game announcements (Yay!) and a few delays (Oh no!).

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Super Smash Bros Wii U, Far Cry 4, Grand Theft Auto V PS4/Xbox One, More

Posted on November 16, 2014 by John Scalzo

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After years of revealing screenshots and teasing trailers (including one 35-minute “Extravganza“), Nintendo is finally ready to release Super Smash Bros. For Wii U this week. It’s a big week for Nintendo in general as the publisher will also release Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire and Pokemon: Omega Ruby for the 3DS along with their first wave of Amiibo figures.

What can the rest of the publishing world do to compete? A lot, actually. Rockstar will bring Grand Theft Auto V to the PS4 and Xbox One for the first time while Ubisoft will release the Himalayan-set Far Cry 4 (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One) too. Those are both massive open-world games… though only one lets you ride an elephant. Also available this week is BioWare’s latest RPG, Dragon Age: Inquisition (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One); Sony’s latest LittleBigPlanet game, LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS3, PS4); and Deep Silver’s Dead Island spinoff, Escape Dead Island (PC, PS3, Xbox 360).

And if you’re looking to pick up some previously released major releases on new platforms, now’s your chance. WWE 2K15 makes the jump to the PS4 and Xbox One, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor downgrades to the PS3 and Xbox 360, and Watch Dogs finally makes its way to the Wii U.

And you can find even more new releases after the break.

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Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

We Are Doomed coming to PS4, Vita in 2015

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Nicole Kline

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The hyper intense and visually stunning We Are Doomed will be coming to the PlayStation 4 and Vita in 2015, according to developer Vertex Pop’s post on the PlayStation Blog. Vertex Pop consists of a single talented Canadian named Mobeen Fikree. His gorgeous twin-stick shooter was featured in our PAX Prime PAXpocalypse list last year, and we also saw it at PAX East 2014. Since then, I’ve played it a lot on PC, but I’m very excited to see what Fikree has done to improve it for Sony machines.

On that note, Fikree will be at PlayStation Experience in Las Vegas on December 6th and 7th, so if you’re going to be there, you should swing by and give the game a go. You can also tide yourself over with the recently released PC and/or Mac version, which costs just $4.00.

We Are Doomed is coming to the PS4 in early 2015. The Vita version will be coming later, because he’s “just one person,” and can you cut him slack? I guess I can for now, but boy am I stoked to see it on the Vita.

Posted in News, PS4, Vita | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: November 14, 2014 – Skeeball Champions!

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Nicole Kline

So last night, my amazing skeeball team, the Alex Mack Daddies, won the championship! It was absolutely glorious. I’ve been on a league for a while now, but that was my first ever playoff win. I was so excited! I’m totally exhausted today, but it was worth it. And to come outside into the snow was wonderful, too!

There’s not too much going on today when it comes to deals. Over at the Humble Store, you can get Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor for $37.49, Frozen Synapse Prime for $21.24, The Sun and Moon for $8.99, and Mount and Blade: Warband for $4.99, among others. Over at Steam, the Daily Deal is Gone Home for $4.99, which is a great deal you should hop on right now.

Just a few t-shirts today…

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

ScreamRide coasts into stores on March 3

Posted on November 14, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Microsoft has announced that ScreamRide, their roller coaster creation sim, will be released for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on March 3. Developed by Frontier Developments, ScreamRide is expected to serve as a spiritual successor to the RollerCoaster Tycoon series.

More than 50 levels will be included in ScreamRide and Xbox One owners will be able to share their original creations with other owners of the game. Players on both platforms will be able to add their name to a set of global Leaderboards. Best of all, ScreamRide will be budget priced… $39.99 on the Xbox One and $29.99 on the Xbox 360.

And remember to keep your hands and feet within the car at all times.

Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Xbox Store Today: Terraria, Toybox Turbos, Pure Pool

Posted on November 14, 2014 by John Scalzo

Welcome to the weekend as three new games have been added to the Xbox Games Store. Terraria, the side-scrolling world-builder, is now available for the Xbox One and with a special launch trailer to boot. It’s joined by Pure Pool, VooFoo’s billiards sim that was originally released for the PC and PS4 over the Summer.

Over on the Xbox 360 Games Store, Codemasters’ return to their top-down racing roots, Toybox Turbos, is now available to download.

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

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