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Killer Instinct: Season 2 premieres on October 15

Posted on August 12, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Microsoft has announced that Killer Instinct‘s second season will begin on October 15. On that date, new fighters Maya and TJ Combo will go on sale for $4.99 each. Six more characters will follow at a rate of one new fighter per month. But a pair of package deals will also be available to get all eight characters (and other goodies) at a discounted rate.

The “Ultra Edition” will be priced at $39.99 and it’ll include:

  • All eight Season 2 fighters
  • Select fighter costumes and accessory packs
  • Content Early Access to characters and customization items before anyone else
  • Killer Instinct 2 Classic – A perfect port of the arcade game with full multiplayer support for intense fighting over Xbox Live

Microsoft will open up pre-orders for Killer Instinct: Season 2 beginning on September 23. Gamers who pre-buy the “Ultra Edition” will instantly be able to download TJ Combo and Killer Instinct 2 Classic.

Meanwhile, the “Combo Breaker” pack will be half the price ($19.99), but it’ll only include access to the eight fighters from Season 2. Still, it’s a pretty significant discount.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged ,

2K has unveiled the Pharrell-curated NBA 2K15 soundtrack

Posted on August 12, 2014 by John Scalzo

nba2k15-boxPharrell Williams has completed his curation of the NBA 2K15 and 2K Games announced the final tracklist on their Facebook page today. As you’d expect, there’s plenty of Pharrell to be found on the soundtrack. The “Happy” singer has three songs on the soundtrack as well as a featured credit on another. There’s also appearances by Lorde (“Team” ), Lauryn Hill (“Doo Wop (That Thing)”), Snoop Dogg (“Drop It Like It’s Hot”), and Depeche Mode (“Personal Jesus”).

I’ve got to admit, I wasn’t expecting “Personal Jesus.” Here’s the full soundtrack:

  • A Tribe Called Quest – “Scenario”
  • Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force – “Planet Rock”
  • Basement Jaxx – “Hot ’n Cold”
  • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “River Styx”
  • Busta Rhymes – “Dangerous”
  • Clipse – “Grindin'”
  • Death from Above 1979 – “Romantic Rights”
  • Depeche Mode – “Personal Jesus”
  • Junior – “Mama Used to Say”
  • Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
  • Lorde – “Team”
  • Major Lazer (featuring Pharrell Williams) – “Aerosol Can”
  • Missy Elliott – “On & On”
  • No Doubt – “Spiderwebs”
  • OneRepublic – “Love Runs Out”
  • Pharrell Williams – “Hunter”
  • Pharrell Williams – “Can I Have It Like That”
  • Pharrell Williams – “How Does It Feel?”
  • Public Enemy – “Shut ‘Em Down (Pete Rock Remix)”
  • Ratatat – “Seventeen Years”
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Suck My Kiss”
  • Santigold – “Creator”
  • Snoop Dogg – “Drop It Like It’s Hot”
  • Strafe – “Set It Off”
  • The Black Keys – “Everlasting Light”
  • The Rapture – “House of Jealous Lovers”
  • The Strokes – “Under Cover of Darkness”

2K has created a Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen to the soundtrack right now. Or you can wait until October 7 when NBA 2K15 is released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Sierra returns with Geometry Wars 3 and King’s Quest

Posted on August 12, 2014 by John Scalzo

We knew that Activision had plans to revive the Sierra publishing label as their indie games arm, but I don’t think anybody quite expected this. As part of their announcement revealing Sierra’s return, the publisher confirmed that Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions and a King’s Quest remake are in the works.

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions will be available this Fall and its currently in development at Lucid Games, which is a team comprised mostly of former employees of Bizarre Creations. If you remember, Bizarre Creations was the original developer behind the first two Geometry Wars games:

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is an exciting new evolution of the fast-paced, frenetic Geometry Wars gameplay fans love, and will introduce full 3D action and both cooperative and competitive multiplayer for the first time in the franchise. In addition to a full single-player campaign with 50 unique challenges and over 10 battle modes – five of which are brand new to the series – Geometry Wars3: Dimensions features dynamic and persistent progression, offering players a consistently new experience each time they play.

As for King’s Quest, it will be developed by The Odd Gentlemen (The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom) for a 2015 release:

King’s Quest is a fully reimagined version of the fan-favorite Sierra game fit for both the old and new generation of King’s Quest players. Huge fans of the original King’s Quest series, The Odd Gentlemen are crafting a charming new adventure with an awe-inspiring art style, engaging puzzles, and a wondrous interactive narrative brimming with humor. In the new story, King Graham – revered as the greatest adventurer to ever live – shares his life’s adventures with his curious granddaughter, Gwendolyn. It is through these tales that Gwendolyn discovers the true greatness of her grandfather.

It’s unknown exactly where Geometry Wars 3 or King’s Quest will land, but Pete Wallace, the Studio Head at Lucid Games, said that their game will launch on “more platforms than ever before.” And with Sierra’s plan to release games through Xbox Live, the PlayStation Store, and Steam, that could be a lot of platforms.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , ,

Halo 5: Guardians beta starts in December

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Dan Hobbs

As announced by 343 Industries during the Xbox Gamescom Media Briefing, the multiplayer beta for Halo 5: Guardians will begin on December 29 and run for three weeks.

The beta, which is available to buyers of the upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection, will focus on 4v4 arena-based fights. All players in the beta will start with the same loadout to “ensure matches are balanced and competitive” and seven maps, three gametypes, and a variety of different armour sets will be included. We’ve also learned that the beta will run at a respectable 60 frames per second.

“It’s celebrating the legacy of competitive gameplay that’s always been at the heart of Halo’s multiplayer,” said Josh Holmes, Executive Producer on Halo 5: Guardians. “Having a beta this early in development is crucial because it gives us as developers the opportunity to react to the feedback we get from fans and take it into account as we complete the multiplayer experience for Halo 5: Guardians”

Halo 5: Guardians will be released sometime next Fall.

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Final Gamescom 2014 teaser from Sony promises to “Reinvent Horror” on PS4

Posted on August 12, 2014 by John Scalzo

Sony’s Gamescom 2014 presentation begins in just a few short hours, 1:00 PM (Eastern Time) to be exact, but a final teaser trailer has confirmed one of their big announcements: Until Dawn.

Originally announced at Gamescom 2012, Until Dawn is a first-person adventure game inspired by 80s horror films, especially those of the “cabin in the woods” variety. And this new teaser features a faceless killer slicing and dicing someone while framed within the window of a cabin. Because this is a teaser, the words “Until Dawn” are never said, but the cabin imagery and the “Horror Reinvented” tagline point pretty strongly towards the return of Supermassive’s ode to 80s horror.

Oh, and apparently its moving to the PS4 as well. Groovy.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged ,

Pre-loading and more new Xbox One system features announced

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Dan Hobbs

xboxone-logoBoth before, and during, their Xbox Media Briefing at Gamescom 2014, Microsoft executives announced a whole host of new features coming soon to the Xbox One.

Firstly, announced during the media briefing itself, the Xbox One Games Store will offer pre-ordering and pre-downloading, which will allow gamers to pay for and download digital copies of games before they release. The first games to feature the pre-loading option will be Forza Horizon 2 and FIFA 15.

But before the show, the Xbox Wire revealed several new features coming to the system, first through the Preview program, and then to the general public. The features are not incredibly groundbreaking, but they either fix some annoying issues or add some niche functionality:

New “Friends” section – The new Friends section has been available for a few early access Preview members and we’re expanding it to everyone enrolled in the Preview program. The new Friends section enables users to see at a glance what’s going on with their friends. They can stay up-to-date with their current activities, the most popular games their friends are playing, and a Gamerscore leaderboard to see who has improved their Gamerscore over the last 30 days.

Snap Center – Some of gamers’ favorite features in the Xbox 360 guide, are coming to Xbox One in a way that’s now truly be side-by-side with games. Messages, friends, parties, and achievements will all be available in the new Snap Center, providing a seamless way to switch back and forth without having to leave a game.

Threaded Messages – Keeping gamers in their games while they multitask has been a huge focus. The new Messages app features threaded messages with the full conversation history – including embedded links to Game DVR clips – that can be viewed without interrupting gameplay.

Media Player – A new app will be available soon that enables users to play media files from either an attached USB device or from a network connected home media server that supports DLNA protocols. The preview version of the Media Player app will initially only support USB devices, with DLNA support coming soon. Xbox One will support more formats than Xbox 360, including support for dozens of new file formats like mpeg 2 TS, animated gifs and mkv which will be added by the end of the year. See below for additional file formKats.

Xbox One Digital TV Tuner – Announced last week, this new accessory will enter a limited preview program in Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), in advance of its retail launch beginning in October.

Stream TV to SmartGlass – Launching first in markets receiving the Xbox Digital TV Tuner, Xbox One owners will be able to stream their TV across their home network to their smartphones and tablets using the Xbox SmartGlass app. They can also pause, play and rewind as well as change channels, without interrupting gameplay on the Xbox One. This will work for SmartGlass apps on Windows, iOS, and Android.

Boot to TV – Now Xbox One owners will be able to set their console to boot directly to television when coming out of connected standby.

Live TV mini guide – For markets where OneGuide is available, a new mini guide on the bottom of the screen will display details about the TV content that is currently playing. Users can quickly change channels and see what’s on other channels, while still watching TV.

According to Microsoft, these features will be available on your Xbox One in the “coming months”

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged , ,

Rise of the Tomb Raider is an Xbox One exclusive

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Dan Hobbs

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Today, during Microsoft’s Gamescom media breifing, a new trailer for Square Enix’s Rise of the Tomb Raider ended with the words “Coming Exclusivly to Xbox.” It was also announced that the game will be released at the end of 2015 – right up next to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.

This is huge coup for Microsoft, especially based on how well the 2013 reboot was received by critics and players. Crystal Dynamics needed a partner to push Rise to the next level, and struck a deal with Microsoft to make that happen. With Square Enix not liking the sales of the original so much, a cash injection from Microsoft may have helped insure the game’s development. However, it’s unknown if this deal represents a short-term exclusive window or something more permanent (like with TitanFall). And as an “Xbox Exclusive,” does that mean an Xbox 360 version could be in development? Surely, there must be a PC version in the works, right? Only time will tell for all of these questions.

Darrell Gallagher, Crystal Dynamics Head of Studio, took to the official Tomb Raider Tumblr to discuss the Xbox exclusivity of Rise of the Tomb Raider (which was actually hinted at during its E3 2014 reveal):

This doesn’t mean that we’re walking away from our fans who only play on PlayStation or on PC. Those are great systems, with great partners, and amazing communities. We have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris coming to those platforms this December, and Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition is available on PS4.

Once again, Rise of the Tomb Raider will be released as an Xbox One exclusive towards the end of next year.

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Volition’s next project will be revealed at PAX Prime 2014

Posted on August 12, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Volition will kick off this year’s PAX Prime convention with a “Quiz Show Hour” celebrating the Saints Row franchise. Once the questions are done, developers from Volition will give attendees a sneak peek at their next project:

Quiz Show Hour With Volition – Project Reveal & Prizes
Sandworm Theatre | Friday 8/29 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
The developers behind the Saints Row franchise invite you to participate in a quiz show hour with Natalie Lander, the voice of Kinzie! At the end of the panel, we’ll show you exclusive gameplay, art, and details for an upcoming project from Volition.

Right now, we don’t have much of an idea of what Volition is up to. Their collaboration with Guillermo Del Toro, Insane, was canceled by THQ in 2012. And as for the possibility of Saints Row 5, comedian Jay Mohr said he was doing voicework for the game back in December, but Volition never followed it up with any kind of formal announcement.

But wouldn’t it be wild if it turns out to be a new Descent game?

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