Daily Scoop: August 19, 2014 – Life after Gen Con

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Nicole Kline

Please forgive me for my absence, dear readers! I ventured out to Indianapolis for my first ever Gen Con, and it was an incredible amount of fun! We played some great games (like King of New York), saw tons of amazing and adorable cosplay, and saw more than a few of our favorite people. It was a blast!

There’s tons to talk about today, including the Topware Bundle from Indie Royale! Beat the current minimum to get Dream Pinball 3D, Planets Under Attack, Earth 2140, Enclave Gold Edition, Commander: Conquest of the Americas Gold, Jack Orlando, X-Blades, 3SwitscheD, Chicken Shoot, Chicken Shoot 2, and Pressure. That’s a lot of titles!

There’s also a new bundle at Humble, the Humble Jumbo Bundle 2. Pay what you want for The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Deadlight, and Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition. Pay more than the average to unlock Terraria, The King of Fighters XIII (Steam Edition), and Crusader Kings II with 3 DLC packs. Finally, pay $15 or more to unlock Age of Empires Legacy Bundle.

Over at Steam, the Daily Deal is Bully: Scholarship Edition for $3.74. The Midweek Madness is Metro: Last Light, which is on sale for $4.99. You can also get the season pass for just $2.49.

I bet you missed my t-shirt roundup! Let’s see what I’ve got…

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Disney Infinity 2.0 gets Marvel-less Toy Box Starter Pack

Posted on August 19, 2014 by John Scalzo

disneyinfinity20toyboxDisney Interactive’s big Marvel push begins next month with the release of Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes. The Starter Pack will include three Marvel figures (Iron Man, Thor, and Black Widow) as well as the promise of many more in the future. But what if you don’t like Marvel characters and are just looking to explore the expanded Toy Box mode found in the game that is also known as Disney Infinity 2.0 Edition? Well, you’re in luck, Disney also plans to release a special Toy Box Starter Pack on November 4.

Set to be available for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, the Toy Box Starter Pack will come complete with two Toy Box Game Discs, a 2.0 Edition Base, two figures (Brave’s Merida and Stitch from Lilo & Stitch), and the same Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes game disc as the regular Starter Pack. Looks like you can’t completely get away from the Marvel content.

“Disney Infinity fans spend the majority of their time inside the Toy Box mode, and with our new Toy Box Starter Pack, we’re giving Disney fans an alternative entry point to the Disney Infinity sequel,” said John Blackburn, Vice President and General Manager of Avalanche Software. “We’ve completely re-tooled the Toy Box for this year’s version of Disney Infinity, and we want every Disney fan to experience it using their favorite Disney or Marvel characters.”

The Toy Box Starter Pack will be priced at $59.99, which is slightly cheaper than the $74.99 price tag that has been attached to the Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack.

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Ubisoft reevaluating Wii U because “Nintendo customers don’t buy Assassin’s Creed”

Posted on August 19, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Speaking to Game Informer, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has confirmed that the publisher is getting out the “mature games” business on the Wii U. But let’s face it, the writing has been on the wall ever since Ubisoft pushed back the Wii U launch of Watch Dogs. The open-world game launched for every other possible platform in May, but Ubisoft delayed the Wii U release to some indeterminate point in the Fall. However, Guillemot was firm in stating that the Wii U version will be released: “[Watch Dogs] is coming to Wii U. It will be the only mature game we publish on it.”

Guillemot’s “mature game” clarification was his way of saying that the publisher has no intention of completely abandoning the Wii U. The Just Dance series, for example, is still a big seller for Ubisoft and Just Dance 2015 will be released for the Wii U this Fall. So why do mature games (like the scrapped ZombiU sequel) get the axe? It’s just business, says Guillemot.

“It’s very simple,” Guillemot says. “What we see is that Nintendo customers don’t buy Assassin’s Creed. Last year, we sold in very small numbers.” In fact, across Ubisoft’s portfolio, Nintendo Wii U sales only represent three percent of the total for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.

Ouch, but it sounds like this is all part of a development restructuring that Ubisoft is implementing across the board. The CEO also revealed that all PS3 and Xbox 360 development will likely stop at the studio’s development houses in 2015. “After 2015, it will be hard for us to create games for those systems,” he said.

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The Last Guardian won’t be at TGS 2014 because it’s not ready

Posted on August 19, 2014 by John Scalzo

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The Last Guardian was a no-show at this year’s Gamescom convention, and it looks like it won’t be on display at the Tokyo Game Show either. Speaking to Eurogamer, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the game just isn’t ready for a public unveiling:

“Will we see [The Last Guardian] at Tokyo Game Show?” we asked Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida in an interview today.

“I don’t think so,” was his response. “Sorry.”

According to Yoshida, the development team is “making great progress.” They also have a time frame in mind for when they want to re-announce the game, but apparently that time is not now.

And what about those rumors that the game will make the jump to the PS4? Yoshida chose not to comment, but come on, Sony is not going to release a major exclusive like The Guardian solely for the PS3 in 2015 or 2016 or whenever it’ll make its way to store shelves.

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WWE 2K14 Review: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Dan Hobbs

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I always find it incredibly difficult to write a review for a yearly sports franchise. To innovate and change something that has a real-life counterpart is incredibly hard because, well, the sport just doesn’t change in time for every autumn. Not only do I feel like I’m repeating myself, but it also must be really hard for the developers. Anyway, stop me if you’ve heard this one before… WWE 2K14 is a fantastic pro-wrestling title, probably the best in the Yuke’s-produced series. However, it is held back with bad AI and physics, as well as rough commentary. Yet, it does have the best story mode in a WWE game to date.

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Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Indie Megabooth lineup for PAX Prime 2014 announced

Posted on August 18, 2014 by John Scalzo

After a successful trip across the Atlantic, the Indie Megabooth is coming back to North America with a massive PAX Prime 2014 installation. But before I begin this news article, I’d like to congratulate Warp Zoned’s Nicole Kline and Anthony Amato, who will be sitting in with this iteration of the Indie Megabooth with their card game, Resistor.

But if you’re looking for some video games, there are plenty of great titles on display. All told, 78 games will be available within the confines of the Indie Megabooth… 58 featured games and 20 more as part of the Minibooth. Some of this year’s heavy hitters include a new game from Team Meat (A Voyeur For September), the next game from the Threes guys (Close Castles), the intriguing Oculus title Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and N++ (a game which needs no introduction). Over in the Minibooth, you’ll three of our favorites from PAX East 2014: Max Gentlemen, Catlateral Damage, and Tetropolis.

You want more? You can find the complete lineup after the break and more details on every game at the Indie Megabooth’s official website.

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Evolve takes home Best of Gamescom 2014 Award

Posted on August 18, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Evolve continues to add to its list of pre-release accolades as it took home five 2014 Gamescom Awards including the coveted “Best of Gamescom Award.” Turtle Rock’s 4v1 shooter also earned the awards for “Best PC Game,” “Best Console Game (Sony PlayStation),” “Best Console Game (Microsoft Xbox),” and “Best Online Multiplayer Game.”

Super Smash Bros. 4 and LittleBigPlanet 3 were the only other games to win multiple awards. The 3DS version of Nintendo’s fighter was selected by the judges as “Best Mobile Game” while both versions were picked by attendees as “Most Wanted.” Meanwhile, LittleBigPlanet 3 was awarded “Best Social / Casual / Online Game” and “Best Family Game.”

The full list of winners can be found after the break.

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From Parts Unknown… here is the WWE 2K15 roster

Posted on August 17, 2014 by John Scalzo

wwe2k15-boxSummerSlam is just a few hours away, but yesterday was an equally important day for the WWE. On Saturday, the WWE and 2K Games revealed the roster for this October’s WWE 2K15.

The roster features a lot of familiar names including The Undertaker, John Cena, Triple H, Kane, and Shawn Michaels. But the roster also includes several unexpected names such as CM Punk, who “retired” from the WWE earlier this year. Is his inclusion a spoiler for a future WWE storyline, or does the company just want to squeeze one last appearance out of one of its biggest stars?

WWE 2K15 will be released for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 18. You can find the full roster (which the WWE and 2K both stress as “not final,” so it’s subject to change) after the break.

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