All Articles: PC

You Don’t Know Jack will return in Jackbox Party Pack 5

Jackbox Games will bring back “You Don’t Know Jack” in this Fall’s Jackbox Party Pack 5 on the PC, consoles, and other “major digital platforms.”

An announcement on the developer’s official website lays out all the details, and it looks the trivia game will include many of the features and question types that fans have come to expect. But it’ll also get a change of scenery so that Jackbox can mock “binge” culture:

We didn’t want to do another YDKJ just because we could. We wanted to wait until we had a fresh take on the classic formula. This version sees the game (and Cookie) acquired by the friendly corporate overlords at Binjpipe, your premiere media bingeing streaming service. It’s a big scenery change that’s led us to update the game in really fun ways, and given us a ton of new stuff to make fun of.

“You Don’t Know Jack” will also include support for up to eight players, as well as “new question types, audience integration, brand new fart sounds, a lot of old fart sounds too, streaming features, begrudging meme references,” and “more than one Frasier joke for some reason.”

Like the previous Jackbox Party Pack collections, Jackbox Party Pack 5 will also include four other games that’ll be announced at a later date. For now, check out the C2E2/PAX East Trailer embedded above. It’s a hilarious takedown of binge-y buzzwords.

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The Video Game Canon: 2018’s “Version 2.0” Update

The Video Game Canon is a statistical meta-ranking of dozens of “Best Video Games of All Time” lists that began in 2017 with Version 1.0, and the ranking has been updated several times since then. Which game is #1? There’s only one way to find out…

The Video Game Canon has been upgraded to “Version 2.0” thanks to the addition of four new lists that were published throughout the last year. Edge Magazine’s “100 Greatest Videogames” issue, Jeux Video’s “Top 100 Best Games of All Time,” Polygon’s massive “500 Best Games of All Time,” and Stuff UK’s “50 Greatest Games of All Time” have reshuffled the ranking in a big way.

Let’s take a look…

Visit VideoGameCanon.com for all future updates to this project and to explore the complete Top 1000.

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Gorogoa Review – A Museum-Worthy Puzzler

Nearly five years ago, at my first IndieCade East, I was amazed by what games could do. The feelings they evoked in me, the anxiety, the joy – that weekend helped solidify in me that games were more than just an activity. Sometimes, they could be an experience, one that was unique, evocative, and memorable.

Unsurprisingly, one of the games I played that cold weekend in New York City was the hauntingly beautiful Gorogoa. (more…)

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Staff of Polygon name their “500 Best Games of All Time”

Polygon recently celebrated its fifth birthday with a weeklong countdown of their choices for the “500 Best Games of All Time.”

Along with a high-profile roster of special guests (including Jeremy Parish, Susan Arendt, Jon-Paul Dyson, and Benj Edwards), the site’s staff put together this massive ranking of games that includes titles from nearly every platform and stretching back to the very beginning of the medium. They even set some ground rules:

We asked everyone to vote based on innovation, polish and durability, rather than simply personal taste. We cut games released in 2017 to eliminate recency bias. And we left out sequels that we deemed too similar to the games that came before them.

Collecting all those votes together, we then combed through the data for anomalies and came up with the final order you see here.

Polygon’s final tally looks very similar to our own “Scientifically Proven Best Video Games of All Time,” and this includes their selection of Tetris as the #1 game of all time.

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Thief 4 confirmed for PC, PS4, other next-generation consoles

Thief 4 is dead… but say hello to Thief. Game Informer has revealed that the rebranded reboot of the stealth series will grace the cover of its April 2013 issue. The magazine also confirmed the Eidos Montreal-developed game will be released for the PC, PS4, and “other next-generation platforms” (such as the unannounced Xbox 720) in 2014.

Our April cover story is a world-exclusive look at this next-generation stealth title. Series hero Garrett returns to the Gothic, industrial metropolis known simply as the City to steal any and everything that will make him richer. Unfortunately, the City is broiling with social tension as it is ravaged by a plague and lorded over by a political tyrant known as the Baron. In order to survive his adventures, Garrett will have to pay attention to his environment and make use of the many possible paths through each of the game’s levels.

We’ll have to ask Square Enix to be sure, but it sounds like the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Thief 4 have gone up in smoke.

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Griffin, Durant, Rose score a spot on the NBA 2K13 cover

With the lockout a thing of the past, 2K Sports has decided to not go with a retired legend for the cover of NBA 2K13.

Instead, the publisher has tapped three of the best players currently playing the game: Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. All three were suitably humbled to be selected for the cover. And why not, they were preteens when NBA 2K was released!

“Being crowned as one of the NBA 2K13 cover athletes is a huge honor and something I always dreamt about,” said Durant. “It’s definitely humbling to grace the cover after the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.”

“There’s so much young talent around the NBA, so it’s very exciting to be chosen for NBA 2K’s ‘New Dynasty’ alongside Kevin and Derrick,” added Griffin. “The NBA 2K series has always been my first choice when I want to get a game in.”

“It’s a dream come true to be one of the cover athletes for NBA 2K13,” commented Rose. “I’ve worked closely with 2K Sports since NBA 2K10, and I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jordan as the latest Chicago Bull to be featured on the cover.”

NBA 2K13 will be released for the PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 on October 2. A Wii U version will also be available before the end of the year.

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Diablo III named best-selling game of May 2012 after collecting a ton of loot

Can you guess the best-selling game of May 2012 according to The NPD Group’s monthly calculations? Go on, guess, it’s not really a mystery… The best-selling game of May 2012 was Blizzard’s Diablo III.

Diablo III’s loot frenzy was the lone bright spot for the game industry this month as total sales were down 28% from May 2011 with console hardware taking the biggest hit (a 39% drop).

But that’s not for lack of trying. A ton of new releases broke into the top ten this month including Max Payne 3 (#2), Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (#3), Sniper Elite V2 (#7), and Dragon’s Dogma (#9). But I guess they didn’t put up the sales numbers to compete with last May’s biggest game, L.A. Noire.

The complete top ten can be found after the break. (more…)

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NBA 2K13 slams it home on October 2; tips off at Wii U launch too

It’s bad luck to change anything in the middle of a hot streak. Your favorite headband, your driving route to the court, even your underwear. It all has to stay the same. Every athlete knows this.

It looks like the people at 2K Sports are a superstitious bunch as well. Just as they’ve done every year since 2007, the publisher plans to release NBA 2K13 for the PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 during the first week of October (October 2 to be exact). A Wii U version is also in development and will ship during the “holiday season.”

NBA 2K13 is, as always, in development at Visual Concepts. This year, the developer plans to include a new downloadable NBA All-Star content package with every pre-order of the game. Buying early on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will net fans a trio of star-studded bonuses:

[The NBA All-Star] add-on content will be set in Houston, the site of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game and will allow fans to stage their own NBA All-Star Game, including three NBA All-Star events – the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout, BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest featuring all-new intuitive, pick-up-and-play controls.

Gamers can pit the NBA’s current superstars against classic players in both the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Rosters for both the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge and 2013 NBA All-Star Game will feature the 2012 All-Stars, with dynamic updates to the 2013 rosters once the participants are announced.

“The NBA All-Star package is our way saying ‘thank you’ to fans for their ongoing love of the NBA 2K series,” said Jason Argent, Vice President of Marketing for 2K Sports. “This content provides a ton of depth and value to our fans, and it’s just the beginning of a lot of big news about NBA 2K13.”

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