Capybara will now release Below in 2016

Posted on December 22, 2015 by John Scalzo

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It look like Capybara’s Below, a roguelike in development for the PC and Xbox One, is going to need a little more time in the oven. Originally expected to be out by the end of 2015, Capybara’s President and Co-Founder, Nathan Vella, recently told Game Informer that the game was pushed back to 2016:

Below is indeed coming in 2016. Past that I can’t share much, yet. We’ll certainly have a lot more content to show and news to share in the new year.

Since there’s just a week and a half to go in 2015, this news isn’t too surprising.

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Concept art from Agent unveiled by an artist formerly employed by Rockstar

Posted on December 22, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Even though it was announced more than six years ago, Rockstar’s Agent, their PS3-exclusive Cold War shooter, has never officially been canceled. But aside from the game’s logo, the gaming public hasn’t heard anything else about it in all that time. Until today, that is.

Darren Charles Hatton, an artist formerly employed by Rockstar North, has updated his official website with some concept art he created for Agent back in 2009. According to Hatton, his team was pulled off the project less than a year later and eventually put to work on Grand Theft Auto V. The artist left Rockstar in 2010, but he said, “[I’m not] sure if this project will ever be published.”

The leaked concept art has been posted after the break, and you can find even more environment tests at Hatton’s Agent portfolio. Take-Two Interactive renewed the trademark for Agent back in 2014, but hasn’t spoken publicly about the game in years.

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Harmonix hopes you’ll “Desire” the U2 Essentials 01 Pack… which is available through the Rock Band 4 Music Store beginning today

Posted on December 22, 2015 by John Scalzo

Harmonix is taking a trip “Where the Streets Have No Name” today to give players a chance to purchase an eight-pack of U2 songs in Rock Band 4.

The U2 Essentials 01 Pack starts with 1983’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” before taking a career-spanning journey through many of U2’s biggest hits including 1984’s “Pride (In The Name Of Love),” 1987’s “Where The Streets Have No Name,” 1988’s “Desire,” 1992’s “One,” and 2004’s “Vertigo.” The pack closes out with two songs from last year’s Songs of Innocence: “California (There Is No End To Love),” and “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone).”

Players will be able to purchase the complete U2 Essentials 01 Pack for $13.49, with individual songs priced at $1.99 apiece. A video preview of all eight songs has been embedded above.

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Kickstart This! Deserted, Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, Night City Assault

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Andrew Rainnie

Kickstarter recently released a long-awaited Fulfillment Report, an independent analysis of its crowdfunding activities by Professor Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania. While the report contains a lot of interesting data, the number many media outlets are focusing on is the 9% failure rate of fully-funded projects. The report has this to say about the numbers:

Is a 9% failure rate reasonable for a community of people trying to bring creative projects to life? We think so, but we also understand that the risk of failure may deter some people from participating. We respect that. We want everyone to understand exactly how Kickstarter works — that it’s not a store, and that amid creativity and innovation there is risk and failure.

Let’s look at this another way. 91% of projects across all categories succeed and deliver. What industry can say that? There is an old adage in the film industry that mentions that 7 out of 10 features lose money, two break even, and one film makes enough money to cover the loss. This is almost the opposite.

Personally I have yet to support a successful project, video game related or otherwise, that has not delivered after receiving my funds (or at least been on course to do so). Yes, I practise what I preach and donate on crowdfunding sites. I recently had an update from lead developer James Fletcher about his long-gestating project Knite and the Ghost Lights. In a nutshell, he had to put the project on hiatus to work for six months so he could support his family and then return to the game. Despite waiting longer than I thought I would for the game, James’ commitment to do six months of commercial work in order to realise his dream keeps my faith alive in the crowdfunding community. There are people out there who seek to con others, but that’s why we have columns like Kickstart This!

So what games are we urging you to back this time around? We start off with RPG action-adventure Deserted, before shining a light on not one but two games from Australia. The first is cutesy robot puzzler Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, while the second is the Streets of Rage-inspired RPG beat ‘em up Night City Assault.

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Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, PS4, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One |

Daily Scoop: December 21, 2015 – Last day for big Humble Bundle

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Nicole Kline

I played so much Fallout 4 this weekend it was kind of embarrassing! I just can’t put it down once I start playing. I can’t wait for the holiday break!

You’ve got just one more day for the Humble NeoGeo 25th Anniversary Bundle! You can “celebrate NeoGeo’s 25th Anniversary with a bundle of games making their PC debut!” Pay what you want for Art of Fighting 2, Fatal Fury Special, King of the Monsters, Metal Slug 2, Samurai Shodown II, Sengoku 3, The King of Fighters 2000, and Baseball Stars 2. Beat the average to unlock The Last Blade, Pulstar, Metal Slug, Metal Slug 3, Shock Troopers, Neo Turf Masters, The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition, and Twinkle Star Sprites, as well as the newly added Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers, The King of Fighters 2002, Blazing Star, and Ironclad. Pay $10 or more to unlock Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, Samurai Shodown V Special, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Metal Slug X, and The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match. Finally, if you want all of that and a limited edition Metal Slug t-shirt, it’s just $40.

There are 15 brand new Weeklong Deals at Steam. Flotilla is $4.99, Rush for Glory is $5.09, and Thirty Flights of Loving is $2.49, among others. The Daily Deal is Organ Trail: The Director’s Cut, which is on sale for $1.99.

There’s only one t-shirt today, but it’s a great one!

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Posted in Daily Scoop |

Bandai Namco officially announces a US release for Tales of Berseria

Posted on December 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

Six months after the debut of its Japanese announcement, Bandai Namco is finally ready to confirm that Tales of Berseria will also be released in North America for the PC and PS4. There’s still no release date for the next Tales title, but we do know it’ll be the first game in the series to feature a female main character:

In Tales of Berseria players embark on a journey as they assume the role of Velvet, a young woman whose once gentle nature has been replaced and overcome with a festering anger and hatred after a traumatic experience three years prior to the events within Tales of Berseria imbued her left hand with a special ability. Velvet will visit a wide range of breathtaking environments as she travels the world in an all-new adventure developed by the celebrated team behind the Tales of series. Along her journey, Velvet will meet a whole cast of characters, including a young boy named Laphicet. If Velvet is the embodiment of “darkness,” then Laphicet is created in the image of “light” and will be an important ally to Velvet.

While Bandai Namco is being rather secretive about Tales of Berseria, the publisher did reveal a new trailer at this weekend’s Jump Festa, which has been embedded above. They also said that they’ve recruited several Tales veterans (Mutsumi Inomata, Kosuke Fujishima, Minoru Iwamoto, and Daigo Okumura) to create the characters and creatures for the game.

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Remastered re-release of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is now available to download on the PC

Posted on December 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

“I… Am… Turok!”

Night Dive Studios has reached into the past once again and pulled Turok: Dinosaur Hunter into the present. The first person shooter, originally published by Acclaim, was all the rage back in 1997 and this PC re-release adds a number of improvements for modern day players including support for high resolution and widescreen displays, improved gameplay and level design, and Steam Achievements.

Stephen Kick, the CEO of Night Dive Studios, is very proud of his studio’s latest remaster: “When Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was first released it was nothing short of revolutionary. To that point, no game had ever offered the combination of graphics and an open world environment that Turok featured. We are very excited to have had the opportunity to bring this great franchise back to life and to be able to share this great title with today’s gaming audience.”

A launch trailer for the remastered version of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter has been embedded above, and you can download it now from Steam, GOG.com, and the Humble Store.

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New Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC teaser focuses on Nikolai Belinski and Zombies Mode

Posted on December 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

Treyarch has released a new teaser trailer for the Awakening DLC Pack, the first expansion in development for Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The teaser is more specifically focused on “Der Eisendrachen,” the next entry in the franchise’s Zombies saga. Starring a very weary Nikolai Belinski, the teaser asks players to take a seat at his campfire and contemplate his many regrets, his belief in destiny, and his hope for the future.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s Awakening DLC Pack will be available to download for the PS4 sometime in February. PC and Xbox One owners will get a chance to purchase it a month later.

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