Nintendo’s first mobile “game” is a communication app known as Miitomo

miitomo

Nintendo recently revealed their first mobile game as part of their quarterly financial report. Rather than producing a Mario platformer or a Zelda-style adventure game, Nintendo has partnered with DeNA to create Miitomo, a “conversation starter” communication app.

Miitomo will let players create a Mii, which will then ask you questions about hobbies, thoughts, and experiences. These answers will then be shared with your friends (through your Mii) to get everyone talking. Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima talked a bit more about how Miitomo works during his presentation:

These “friendly communication starters” have an advantage that even the people who are less willing to send messages can easily participate. Another unique characteristic of Miitomo is that you may be able to find out unknown aspects about your friends or unexpected commonalities you share with your friend because Miitomo may pick up the topics that you usually do not discuss but would be willing to answer if asked.
What we would like to realize is, through such communication, you will be able to deepen friendly relationships and have more people with whom you can play games.

Miitomo will be released for mobile devices in March 2016. Nintendo and DeNA will follow it up with the release of four more titles by March 2017.

Posted in Mobile, News |

Tekken 7 officially announced for PS4 and other home consoles

After being available in arcades since early this year, Bandai Namco has finally announced that Tekken 7 will soon be available for “home consoles.” Sony later followed up their announcement with confirmation (via the PlayStation Blog) that the game’s first destination will be the PS4.

Tekken 7 will use Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 and it’ll include “numerous modes and enhancements beyond its arcade counterpart.” The 1v1 fighting game also promises to reveal the fate of the Mishima clan and serve as a conclusion to the franchise’s sprawling storyline:

Tekken 7 is currently in development at Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.’s Tokyo, Japan studio under the leadership of franchise director, Katsuhiro Harada. Powered by Unreal Engine 4, Tekken 7 sets a new standard in graphics quality for the series, featuring highly detailed characters and dynamic environments. In its first appearance on home systems, Tekken 7 will feature numerous modes and enhancements beyond its arcade counterpart, including an in-depth story mode that lets players fully experience the canon storyline. Players will also be able to check out new fighters Kazumi Mishima, Claudio, Josie, Shaheen, Katarina, Lucky Chloe, Gigas, and more for the first time outside of the arcade.

As exciting as this news is for PS4 fans, we don’t yet know what other “home consoles” Tekken 7 is in development for. The Xbox One is always a possibility in situations like this, as is Nintendo’s NX, which could be released as early as next Summer. Bandai Namco didn’t announce a release date for Tekken 7’s PS4 debut, but hopefully we’ll learn more about it soon.

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Xbox Store Today: Halo 5: Guardians, WWE 2K16, Divinity: Original Sin, more

halo5guardians-header

Xbox One owners get ready… Halo 5: Guardians is finally here. According to Microsoft, “the Master Chief is missing and his loyalty questioned” in “the most dramatic Halo story to date.” The consolemaker has always tried to position Halo as a Star Wars for a new generation, but they also worked with a cadre of professional gamers to get the multiplayer portion just right. Will it all work out? We’ll have to find the Master Chief and ask him.

Also available this week is WWE 2K16, the latest professional wrestling sim from 2K Games. Featuring the biggest roster in the franchise’s history, WWE 2K16 for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 will also star “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and include an expanded and enhanced Create-A-Wrestler mode.

Speaking of expanded and enhanced things, Larian Studios will release Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition for the Xbox One. The classic-style RPG now includes splitscreen cooperative play and a brand new user interface. Oh, and there’s also new quests, combat styles, locations, and story sections. And speaking of the word “story,” Telltale Games continues Minecraft: Story Mode this week with Episode 2: Assembly Required for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.

More information about all of these games can be found after the break.

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Daily Scoop: October 28, 2015 – Another dreary day

It’s a dreary day outside, but the good news is, my copy of Persona 4 just arrived! I’m really excited to jump into that world, especially since I’ve been having a really hard time getting into any games lately. Hopefully this will help!

Anyway, let’s talk about deals! There are some great games on sale at the Humble weekly sale. You can get Viscera Cleanup Detail for $8.70, Quest Run for $1.79, and Blue Flamingo for $0.99, among others.

There are lots of great games under $10 at Steam! Grand Theft Auto III is $2.49, Life Is Strange is $4.99, and the take-off hit Undertale is $9.99. They’ve got some other great deals as well, like Alien: Isolation on sale for $24.99, and Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings on sale for $13.39.

And now, t-shirts!

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Posted in Daily Scoop |

No Man’s Sky will be released in June 2016

Hello Games’s Sean Murray wouldn’t tell Stephen Colbert the release date for No Man’s Sky, but the developer was more than willing to share the news with the audience at Paris Games Week. Sadly, the space exploration game won’t make it out by the end of 2015 as originally planned. Instead, No Man’s Sky will be released for the PC and PS4 in June 2016.

Writing on the PlayStation Blog Europe, Murray said that this delay will allow the team to add even more features to the game, including ones that haven’t been revealed yet: “Every hour of every day between now and then allows us to add more features, polish and diversity to our universe. Some of those features are things we haven’t shown anyone yet, but are our most requested.”

A new trailer for No Man’s Sky, which gives us a look at the game’s combat options, was also released as part of the Paris Games Week presentation. Believe it or not, but that’s Rutger Hauer providing the voiceover.

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DriveClub Bikes, WWE 2K16, Divinity: Original Sin, more added to PS Store

With Halo 5: Guardians ready to launch for the Xbox One this week and a bevy of Paris Games Week announcements to digest, Sony wisely kept this week’s PlayStation Store update to the bare minimum. However, they did surprise-release DriveClub Bikes (PS4), a standalone expansion to Evolution’s racer that features a full Tour Campaign, a Challenge Mode, multiplayer, and a ton of customization options.

If you drop all the motorcycle gear, you’re left with two men in speedos, which is a perfect segue into the news that 2K Games will bring WWE 2K16 to the PS3 and PS4 this week. Their latest wrasslin’ title includes the franchise’s biggest roster to date and an expanded Create-A-Wrestler mode.

No speedos can be found in Telltale’s Minecraft: Story Mode, which is quickly expanding this week with the release of Episode 2: Assembly Required on the PS3 and PS4.

Finally this week, a pair of re-releases will make fans of RPGs very happy. Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition makes its console debut this week as Larian Studios brings an expanded and enhanced version of their RPG to the PS4. Slightly more familiar to PS4 owners might be this Friday’s PS4 release of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, which includes the apocalyptic action RPG sequel (originally released for the PS3 in 2012) and all its downloadable content.

More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) is available found after the break. And, as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog.

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Posted in News, PS3, PS4, PSP, Vita | Tagged , , ,

Dhalsim joins Street Fighter V, which will officially launch on February 16, 2016

Dhalsim was my guy back in the Street Fighter II days, so it’s great to see that Capcom has added the yoga master to next year’s Street Fighter V. The publisher also announced that we can stop saying “next year” and instead use the much more accurate “February 16,” which is when Street Fighter V will be available for the PC and PS4.

If you’re stretching yourself in knots to learn more about Dhalsim, don’t worry, the Capcom-Unityy blog recently put together this complete report about the character’s stylish new moves:

About Dhalsim
Debuting in Street Fighter II, Dhalsim’s yoga fighting style means that using his long range limbs and slow projectiles will frustrate even the most aggressive of his World Warrior opponents. Although he’s a pacifist, Dhalsim is always saving others whether it’s helping to raise money for the poor or destroying dams that are keeping water from reaching his village.

V-Skill: Yoga Float
Upon activation Dhalsim hops into the air and floats for a few seconds. During this time, all airborne attacks and specials are accessible. This can also be activated in the air.

V-Trigger: Yoga Burner
Dhalsim shoots out a stream of flames that stays on the screen on the floor for an extended period of time. If the opponent stands in the flames, they will slowly lose life in the form of recoverable damage. Once they step out of the flames, their life will begin to recover.

Besides revealing a release date and Dhalsim, Capcom also confirmed that six downloadable characters will be available for Street Fighter V by the end of next year. A new character will appear roughly every two months and all of them will be obtainable for free with Fight Money, Street Fighter V’s in-game currency. Players will be able to earn Fight Money by completing daily challenges (land X number of Hadokens, land X number of anti-air attacks, etc) or by leveling up characters. Of course, new characters can also be purchased with real money too.

Capcom will include 16 characters in Street Fighter V when it’s released early next year, so expect to learn more about the final one in the very near future.

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Quantic Dream’s “Kara” tech demo is officially in development for the PS4 as Detroit

Do you remember Kara, the amazing tech demo released by Quantic Dream in 2012? At the time, the developer was adamant in their assertion that Kara wouldn’t be their next project. And they kept their word, releasing Beyond: Two Souls for the PS3 in 2013. However, it looks like Kara’s story isn’t finished, as the android will star in Quantic Dream’s first game for the PS4, Detroit.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, developer David Cage talked a bit about Detroit, which will feature Kara’s awakening as a new kind of artificial intelligence and what ramifications that might have for humanity:

[W]e imagined our world in a near future where androids like Kara would look, speak, and move like real human beings. We wondered how we — humans — would react if we were confronted with a new form of intelligence, how androids conceived as machines would be perceived if they started to have emotions.

We didn’t want to do another story on AI (there are already so many great ones), we wanted to talk about what it means to be human and what it would be like to be in the shoes of an android discovering our world and their own emotions…

Detroit is currently without a release date, but its debut trailer has been embedded above. Take my advice, drop everything you’re doing and watch it right now.

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