Daily Scoop: April 9, 2014 – Thank you, Gearbox

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Nicole Kline

Those sneaky dudes at Gearbox have done it again. After saying they weren’t working on Borderlands 3, they go ahead and announce a Pre-Sequel, which is set to come out later this year. I went from disappointed to excited in no time flat!

Anyway, let’s talk about games you can get right now! Indie Royale has a new bundle up, the Atomic Bundle. Pay what you want for Humans Must Answer, Cube & Star: An Arbitrary Love, The Chaos Engine, Super Killer Hornet: Resurrection, Fields of War, and Livalink. And the Humble Bundle: PC and Android 9 has just added a ton of unlockable games – in addition to Kingdom Rush and Knights of Pen & Paper +1 Edition, you can now also get The Shivah, Savant – Ascent, and Syder Arcade.

There are some deals over at Steam, too. Still in the Midweek Madness spotlight is Spelunky, which is on sale for $5.09. And the new Daily Deal for today is Alice: Madness Returns, which is 75% off at $4.99.

And now: t-shirts!

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

XBL Store Today: Lego The Hobbit, Kinect Sports Rivals, RBI Baseball 14, more

Posted on April 9, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Six new games are now available through the Xbox Live Store in today’s update…

The Xbox One will play host to three of those games as Lego The Hobbit, Kinect Sports Rivals, and Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut have all been released for Microsoft’s new console. Kinect Sports Rivals brings the popular minigame compilation to the Xbox One for the first time while Strike Suit Zero is now available for consoles in an expanded and enhanced new edition. Lego The Hobbit is also available on the Xbox 360.

Another Xbox 360 release this week is MLB Advanced Media’s first foray into video game development, R.B.I. Baseball 14. The beloved baseball franchise is back and so is its signature style of fast-paced gameplay. Before today, you could say that they don’t make ’em like R.B.I. Baseball 14 anymore. But now they do again. Finally this week, the third episode of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us, A Crooked Mile, is available to download through the Xbox Live Arcade. The latest tale of murder in Fabletown has been priced at $4.99, but will be free to anyone who purchased the Season Pass.

More details about all of these titles can be found after the break.

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

Sony officially announces The Last of Us Remastered for PS4

Posted on April 9, 2014 by John Scalzo

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After that rather embarrassing PlayStation Store leak this morning, Sony has officially gone ahead and announced that The Last of Us Remastered will be released for the PS4 this Summer.

The Last of Us Remastered will be developed by Naughty Dog and will include all of the downloadable content currently planned for the PS3 edition including the “Left Behind” expansion, the “Abandoned Territories” map pack, and the upcoming “Reclaimed Territories” pack. The PS4 edition of the game will also feature 1080p visuals and optional commentary from Creative Director Neil Druckmann, Troy Baker (Joel), and Ashley Johnson (Ellie).

If you’re interested in pre-ordering The Last of Us Remastered, you’ll net yourself a few in-game bonuses including:

  • 100 Supply Points (XP) for use in Factions mode
  • Two special bonus skins for Joel and Ellie which will be unlocked after you complete the Single-Player Campaign
  • Increased Crafting Speed for use in the Single-Player Campaign
  • Increased Healing Speed for use in the Single-Player Campaign
  • 9mm Reload Speed Increase Upgrade for use in the Single-Player Campaign
  • Rifle Clip Capacity Increase Upgrade for use in the Single-Player Campaign

And if you pre-order the digital version from the PlayStation Store, you’ll receive all of the above as well as a trio of bonuses for the game’s Factions multiplayer mode:

  • Early Access to the Brawler Survival Skill
  • Early Access to additional Loadout Points
  • Early Access to the Jeep Cap and Surgical Mask

On the PlayStation Blog, Naughty Dog has promised they will reveal more details about The Last of Us Remastered soon.

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Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel officially announced

Posted on April 9, 2014 by John Scalzo

The rumors are true! 2K Games, Gearbox Software, and 2K Australia have announced that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is officially in development. As expected, it will be released this Fall for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

The moon… jetpacks… Handsome Jack before his rise to power… everything that was hinted at in Monday’s leak is now official:

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is the newest entry in the critically acclaimed Borderlands franchise that is currently being co-developed by Gearbox Software and 2K Australia. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel continues the franchise’s tradition of industry-leading co-op, allowing up to four players to experience all-new low-gravity, shoot ‘n’ loot gameplay on Pandora’s moon. Featuring four new playable character classes armed with powerful laser and icy Cryo weapons, players will battle against an array of new enemies. Taking place in-between the events of Borderlands and Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel showcases Handsome Jack’s transformation into the ruthless tyrant fans loved to hate in Borderlands 2.

In bridging Borderlands and Borderlands 2, The Pre-Sequel will reintroduce players to four characters they’ve already met, but who are playable for the first time:

  • Athena, the Gladiator: Uses her Kinetic Aspis, which is a shield that can absorb incoming damage, then convert it back into energy to use against enemies. Athena made her debut in “The Secret Armory of General Knoxx” DLC for the first Borderlands game.
  • Wilhelm, the Enforcer: Wilhelm was previously seen in Borderlands 2 as one of the first deadly bosses in the game.
  • Nisha, the Lawbringer: The sheriff of Lynchwood from Borderlands 2, Nisha will be dealing out her own brand of justice, which we’ll discuss further in the coming months.
  • Claptrap, the Fragtrap: Wait – Claptrap? The goofy robot companion from Borderlands 2, now playable for the first time? Fragtrap is his character class? Well, you can play him too!

Be sure to check out the trailer above for a first look at Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. And if you’re attending this weekend’s PAX East convention, 2K Games plans to showcase the game at their booth all throughout the entire show.

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The Evil Within’s PAX East trailer is full of horrific images

Posted on April 9, 2014 by John Scalzo

Shinji Mikami and the rest of the Tango Gameworks team are attempting to create something truly scary with The Evil Within. And if the PAX East 2014 trailer they released this morning is any indication, it’ll scare us silly.

The trailer is absolutely packed with blood and gore and the freaky residents of Beacon Mental Hospital. If you’re eating breakfast, I’d suggest watching this trailer after you’re done. It also reintroduces us to “The Boxman,” a deranged butcher who will be the star of Bethesda’s live demo presentation of The Evil Within during this weekend’s PAX East convention.

The Evil Within will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on August 26.

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

Nintendo has another Mario game in development

Posted on April 9, 2014 by John Scalzo

mario-saluteAre you sitting down? You might want to sit down because Nintendo has confirmed that another Super Mario game is in development. Take a moment to compose yourself, this is a completely unprecedented and unexpected announcement.

OK, I kid because I love.

Yoshiaki Koizumi and Kenta Motokura of EAD Tokyo recently spoke to Edge, and confirmed the news that Mario will return. The pair was asked if the game would be released for the 3DS or the Wii U, but Koizumi shut that line of questioning down by saying, “That’s still a secret!” However, he did reveal that the team isn’t afraid to possibly shake things up: “There’s still a lot more room for discovery and invention, and we’ll continue to propose new and exciting game mechanics going into the future.”

On that note, Motokura added that if the game is in development for the Wii U, it “might need to make even more use of the [Wii U] GamePad.” Interesting.

So we still don’t know much about the next Mario game, but we do know that it’ll be the 20th game in the long-running franchise. Can you imagine if Nintendo stuck with the Super Mario Bros. title scheme after all these years? The fact that this is technically the announcement of Super Mario Bros. 20 utterly amazes me. And hopefully we’ll find out more about it soon.

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged

Sony confirms The Last of Us Remastered to be released for PS4

Posted on April 9, 2014 by John Scalzo

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A banner ad currently in rotation on the PlayStation Store has confirmed that Sony and Naughty Dog will bring The Last of Us to the PS4 in an enhanced edition known as The Last of Us Remastered.

The PS4 edition of the game will be priced at $59.99 and will be available through the PlayStation and as a retail disc release. However, when it will be available is the big queston as clicking on the banner ad returns a “Page Not Found” error. It’s also unknown if The Last of Us Remastered will include the Left Behind expansion, but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume it will as including downloadable content is par for the course for this kind of re-release.

Keep your eyes peeled to the PlayStation Blog, I’m sure an official announcement with all of these details is imminent.

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PS Store Today: Lego The Hobbit, Strike Suit Zero, Persona 4, Final Fantasy XIV, more

Posted on April 8, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Prepare yourself for an unexpected journey with today’s PlayStation Store update. Lego The Hobbit is now available to download for the PS3, PS4, and Vita… just in time for the Blu-ray/DVD release of Desolation of Smaug.

If controlling a Lego Minifig version of Bilbo Baggins doesn’t interest you, how about a massive starfighter that also morphs (some would say transforms) into a flying mech? Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut is now available to download for the PlayStation 4 in an enhanced, expanded, and updated version. We took a look at the game’s new features a few weeks ago. Speaking of newly enhanced and updated versions of previously released games, the PS4 is now home to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Square Enix’s MMO will be available in stores on April 14, but players who elect to download the game will be able to play it six days early.

Rounding out this week’s store update is the next episode in Telltale’s Fables adaptation, The Wolf Among Us: A Crooked Mile; the return of R.B.I. Baseball franchise in R.B.I. Baseball 14; and a PS3 release for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4. Persona 4 is definitely a PS2 classic and it is now available to download through the PS2 Classics section of the store. Fancy that.

More information on all of this week’s release, along with a few others, can be found after the break. And a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can found at the PlayStation Blog.

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