Weekly News Round-Up, May 4 - 10: New Unreal Tournament! Call of Duty Is Game Of Thrones! The Shaq-Fu 2 Apocalypse! The Gameboy Is Still Direct Competition! Exclamation Marks!

Written By: Tyler


Remember That Call of Duty Series? Here Are Some Details On The New Game, Advanced Warfare
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/tons-of-call-of-duty-advanced-warfare-details-emerge/1100-6419415/

Try not to pass out from this news, but it appears that there's a new Call of Duty coming. I know, I know... craziness.

Here are some details about the new game, stolen from Gamespot:

• In development at Sledgehammer Games for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. A separate studio to be named later is working on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. There's no word on Wii U.
• The game runs on a new and unspecified game engine.
• The story opens with a catastrophic event that Sledgehammer Games cofounder Michael Condrey describes as "like a global 9/11." There's little more to go on, but major cities on multiple continents are affected by some kind of terrorism perpetrated by a terrorist organization called KVA.
• It is set in 2054.
• You play a character named Private Mitchell, who is voiced by prolific voice actor Troy Baker. You may know Baker for his recent roles in The Last of Us (Joel), BioShock Infinite (Booker), and Batman: Arkham Origins (The Joker). Mitchell only speaks during cutscenes; never during gameplay.
• Mitchell starts Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare as a Marine, who is squadmates with Will Irons, the son of Private Military Company Atlas Corporation CEO Jonathan Irons (played by Kevin Spacey). After their tour of duty is done, the elder Irons asks Mitchell if he wants to leave the Marines to join his company. Mitchell says yes and is outfitted with an "EXO" suit for his new job.
• Unlike past Call of Duty games, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has only one protagonist.
• Kevin Spacey says he was "very excited" about joining the game when he was originally approached.
• You'll earn points every mission that can be used to upgrade your EXO suit. Using the EXO suit, you can climb walls with magnetic gloves, boost-dodge toward cover, perform super-jumps that let you get to higher ground, use optic camouflage for cloaking, and hover in mid-air.
• Your arsenal includes "variable grenades," which can be switched from concussion to threat detection while they cook. The threat detection grenade reveals enemy locations and makes this information available via an augmented reality system visible in your visor.
• Some of your guns are energy-based, and do not use traditional ammunition.
• There is a rideable vehicle called a Pitbull, which is based on the real world Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle.
• There's no official word on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare multiplayer yet, but Condrey teases, "You can probably imagine the possibilities of a lot of the stuff you saw in single-player and how it would apply online." Activision also says it is "absolutely committed" to supporting eSports.
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will have some kind of co-op mode.
• Veteran Metal Gear Solid composer Harry Gregson-Williams is working on the game's soundtrack. Audio director Don Veca says, "I think Advanced Warfare is going to be the best-sounding and certainly the best-mixed game ever."
• In an effort to create a believable world, Activision consulted with "experts from production design in movies to experts in the military to scientists and futurists," according to Sledgehammer cofounder Glen Schofield.

Somebody took some influence from TITANFALL.


Guns Up! And Everything's Game Trademarked By Sony
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-sony-trademarks-discovered-before-e3-include-guns-up/1100-6419427/

Continuing their pursuit of trademarking stupid and silly names, Sony recently trademarked Guns Up! and Everything's Game. I can only assume that Guns Up! includes guns.


The Best Kept Secret Since Area 51 -- What Is The Dualshock 4 Light Bar Really For?
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/05/08/dualshock-4-light-bar-created-for-project-morpheus

What is the Dualshock 4 light bar for? When did it come here? Is it friendly or foe? Does it prove the existence of life outside of Earth? Is it alien technology? Does it make sandwiches?

I can answer one of those questions. The Dualshock 4 has annoyed a lot of people apparently, and they released an update that allowed you to dim it. But why is it here? Well... it is on the controller because it has to do with the construction of Project Morpheus, the VR system that Sony is working on.

http://thepsdualshock4disclosureproject.com/notarealurl.html


Phil Spencer Is Talking Again
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-boss-promises-new-ip-and-sequel-announcements-at-e3/1100-6419419/

Phil Spencer recently said that there will be new IPs and sequel announcements at E3, but he also said some other stuff. Again, from Gamespot:

• Microsoft is focusing on hardcore gamers for the show.
• Some announcements will be made in May, ahead of E3. "Yea, you'll get a couple of things before. May should be a good month for news. Took me a month to get plans set," Spencer said.
• Microsoft will announce new studios it's working with.
• Spencer is not allowed to talk about anything related to what Halo studio 343 Industries is working on.
• Microsoft's overall goal for 2014: "I feel like what we will show this year is stuff we are committed to, from top studios, for this year and future."
• Don't expect a Microsoft-made gaming handheld anytime soon. "I don't think we'll do a dedicated handheld gaming device, rather just focus on [Windows Phone], tablets, maybe with controller support someday," Spencer said.
• Spencer wants Microsoft's E3 2014 showing to be more "fan focused."
• Microsoft thought about using the voice of Cortana for their E3 show, but Spencer did not like this. Asked if the Cortana voice search functionality could come to Xbox One someday, Spencer said, "I like [Windows Phone] feature but don't want to overdo it."
• Gamers won't need to wait until the Tokyo Game Show (September) to learn about new Japanese Xbox One games.
• Microsoft is close to finalizing a release date for the Xbox One version of Minecraft.
• The Lost Odyssey rights are "a bit complicated," but Spencer would like to see the 2008 role-playing game come to Games on Demand some day.
• Details about external storage support for Xbox One are coming later.
• Why there hasn't been a Battletoads sequel: "Just time, lot's of things we want to build, all the teams are full right now and a long list of what they'd want to do next. You want to spend time because you want things to be as good as they can be, I don't want to do cheap ports," Spencer said.

Their E3 presentation will be titled "Xbox: Game On" and it will take place Monday, June 9 at  9:30 a.m. PDT.


First Screenshot From Tales From The Borderlands Has Shown Up
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/first-images-of-walking-dead-developer-s-borderlands-game-emerge-what-do-you-think/1100-6419425/

The game is told from the perspective of Rhys and Fiona, and is told through flashbacks. The loot that you can collect will be usable in other games in the Borderlands universe. 



NHL '15 Announced, Nobody Is Surprised
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nhl-15-announced-for-xbox-360-xbox-one-ps3-and-ps4-check-out-a-teaser-trailer/1100-6419423/

If you thought a new Call of Duty was a big surprise, then I have a whopper -- not to be confused with the delicious burger -- for you: there's a new NHL game from EA. There's a teaser trailer in the link above, but I can tell you exactly what it'll look like. I bet there's going to be two teams full of people with bad hockey hair, hitting each other and pucks. I know, I'm psychic. 


Mortal Kombat Will Not Show Up On The Wii U Virtual Konsole
http://www.destructoid.com/ed-boon-shuts-down-possibility-of-mortal-kombat-wii-u-virtual-console-releases-274268.phtml

It's important to know that this was called, "If video games were real."

Ed Boon said that the first few Mortal Kombat games will not show up on the Wii U Virtual Console. That's it, seriously. That's pretty much all he said.


Marek Okan Is A Tease
http://www.destructoid.com/the-last-of-us-concept-artist-teases-something-with-artwork-274281.phtml

He posted this picture and said, ""let me tease you something... Its coming."

It looks like a grown-up version of Ellie from The Last Of Us. After he realized people gave a crap, he said this:

Lol. This is how you know you are teasing your stuff the right way
So before its gonna get blown out of proportions - its gonna be strictly personal image.
Is it about TLOU2? Not really... Maybe... Its classified ;P
But seriously its gonna be just a fan art ;]

Oops I did it again, I played with your heart...

From Software Has A New Game?
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/05/05/from-softwares-rumored-to-be-working-on-project-beast

There are images in the link above, and if it is true, the game is titled "Project Beast" as of right now. Is this legit or is it fake? I don't know, but I will call From Software tomorrow.



People Are Going To Jail For Stealing In-Game Items
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/thieves-going-to-jail-for-stealing-in-game-items/1100-6419443/

Two people realized that they could make money by taking in-game items and selling them for real money in the game Dungeon Fighter Online. They were unemployed and dedicated so they got someones login information and cleaned him. And now they're going to jail.



The Danish Government Created The Entire Country In Minecraft
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/danish-government-creates-entire-country-in-minecraft-users-promptly-blow-it-up-and-plant-american-flag/1100-6419412/

The Danish Geodata Agency created the entire country on a 1:1 scale as a teaching tool. Then, because they forgot to disable the minecart with dynamite item, users started blowing stuff up... replacing things with American flags and tanks.

Ah yes, just like the good ol' days.


Microsoft Released Its Second ID@Xbox Game: Nutjitsu
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-s-first-sub-10-game-launching-this-week/1100-6419461/

On May 8th, Nutjitsu was released. This is big news because it's the second game released under the ID@Xbox program, but it's also the first Xbox One game to be under $10. $6.49 to be exact.



Get In On The WildStar Open Beta Between May 8 - 18
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/upcoming-pc-mmo-wildstar-gets-an-open-beta-this-week/1100-6419450/

Go to this linky right here in order to request a key so you can play the open beta of WildStar. If you are unaware of what the game is, it's an MMO because the market is getting a little shallow in MMOs right now. In the beta, you can advance to level 30.


The Shaq-Fu Sequel Has Reached Its Funding Goal
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/shaq-is-back-new-shaq-fu-fighting-game-reaches-funding-goal/1100-6419447/

Activision Is Giving Bungie $500 Million For Destiny
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-investing-500-million-for-bungie-s-destiny/1100-6419444/

It appears that it is their destiny (I'm sorry) to get lots of money, as Activision is giving Bungie $500 million to make Destiny. This is just pocket change to me, but I'll let Activision handle this one.



Here Comes The Doom And Gloom Again -- Nintendo Posted A $457 Million Loss
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/wii-u-sales-slow-to-a-crawl-as-nintendo-posts-457-million-loss/1100-6419475/

Speaking of pocket change, Nintendo posted a loss of $457 million. Here's the article in a nutshell: The Wii U isn't selling (shocking), but the 3DS is doing better. Nintendo is still expecting to post a profit though.

If you want specific numbers of sales and whatnot, they're in the link above.


EA Will Announce 6 Games At E3, 1 Will Work At Launch
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-will-announce-a-major-frostbite-3-game-at-e3-what-do-you-think-it-is/1100-6419476/

EA's presentation at E3 is going to be called "EA World Premiere: E3 2014 Preview," and it takes place June 9 at 12 p.m. PDT. They are expected to show off six games and announce a "major" Frostbite 3 game. 


Nintendo Is Low On Money... Re-Releasing Pokemon Ruby And Sapphire In November
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-ruby-sapphire-remakes-coming-to-3ds-this-year/1100-6419483/

3DS owners will see the re-release of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire this November. They will be titled Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and they will make a lot of money.


Don't Start Is Going To Have Multiplayer
http://www.destructoid.com/multiplayer-is-coming-to-don-t-starve-274469.phtml

Entitled "Don't Starve Together," Don't Starve will be receiving multiplayer in alpha form in summer of this year. I look forward to maybe eating my friends. I also look forward to playing Don't Starve Together.


The Second Towns Developer Has Left... And You Probably Shouldn't Pay Attention To This Game Anymore
http://www.destructoid.com/towns-left-in-limbo-as-second-developer-quits-the-project-274462.phtml

"I'm putting this whole fucking town in my rear view."

Florian Frankenberger is making like Ben Affleck in The Town and putting Towns in his rear view. After the original developer left, he tried to do what he could, but he's not making money and has bills to pay and people to feed so he's out. And you should be out of Towns. Go to a nice village or something, avoid the city.


Stephan Frost Says That WildStar Is One Of The Most Feature-Complete MMO In The Last 10 Years
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/upcoming-pc-game-wildstar-is-one-of-the-most-feature-complete-mmos-of-the-past-10-years/1100-6419508/

From Gamespot:

"We decided to go with the subscription fee because we are a triple-A game," Frost said. "We are one of the most feature-complete MMOs to be coming out in the past 10 years. HBO, for example, is premium content. It has great shows like Game of Thrones and True Detective. They don't charge extra for those things, they're just charging that sub fee and people gladly pay it because it's good. If it wasn't good, they wouldn’t pay for it."

Except HBO is a channel that offers TV shows of various types... you're a single game that offers the same experiences all the time, because you're just one game. But besides that, yeah, you're right.



The Elder Scrolls Online Delayed For Consoles
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/elder-scrolls-online-xbox-one-ps4-delay-confirmed-bethesda-explains-why-it-was-necessary/1100-6419504/

If you're a console gamer and are waiting to be bored like the rest of us, you'll have to wait. It looks like The Elder Scrolls Online is delayed for consoles. They cited "unique problems," but they're trying to make us a deal: if you buy the game on PC now, you can transfer your characters from PC to Xbone/PS4 and get the game for consoles for $20. Why not... buy it twice?

Go PC Master Race!


Activision Is Comparing Call Of Duty To Game Of Thrones... Nobody Buys It
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-wants-call-of-duty-to-be-talked-about-as-much-as-game-of-thrones/1100-6419503/

Yup, another masterpiece by yours truly.

They want CoD to be discussed like people do with Game of Thrones. They are planning to make Advanced Warfare story heavy, hoping to hit emotional moments that resonate with players for years to come.

But people do talk about Call of Duty. It just... usually isn't nice anymore, it seems.


Nintendo Abandons The Wii U To Develop "New Consoles" In Other Markets
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-to-launch-new-console-not-the-wii-u-or-3ds-in-emerging-markets/1100-6419501/

I'm just kidding... Nintendo didn't abandon the Wii U. But they are developing different consoles for countries like China in order to get their foot in the door.


Nintendo Explains Why Mario Won't Be On iPhones Anytime Soon
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-explains-why-you-won-t-play-mario-on-your-iphone-anytime-soon/1100-6419502/

The President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, said, "Our games such as Mario and Zelda are designed for our game machines so if we transfer them into smartphones as they are, customers won't be satisfied. If customers aren't satisfied with the experience, it will decrease the value of our content."

To be fair, I won't be satisfied with the experience just because touch screen controls are the devil.


Nintendo Feels Responsible For Their Problems
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-president-i-feel-deeply-responsible-for-poor-performance/1100-6419499/

Satoru Iwata also said, "Posting an operating loss for the fourth fiscal year running is something unacceptable. I feel deeply responsible for this and I need to fulfill my responsibility by recovering the momentum of our business."

I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem.


Nintendo To Get Into Figurine Games
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/update-nintendo-to-integrate-skylanders-like-figurines-with-wii-u-and-3ds/1100-6419497/

Like Skylanders, Nintendo is looking to integrate figurines into their games. They're going to call it NFP-nfc. They also announced Mario Kart TV, which will tie into Mario Kart 8 and let you watch Nintendo videos, replays and see rankings.


Nintendo Plans To Quit Hardware Business At The End of 2015 And Focus Solely On Making Games For Microsoft


Gimme Gimme Gimme -- Monolith Soft's X Is Destined For 2014
http://www.destructoid.com/monolith-s-x-is-still-on-track-for-2014-for-both-japan-and-the-west-274523.phtml

X is going to rule the world. Seriously, after Xenoblade: Chronicles I have so much faith in them that I'd buy Farmville if they were making it. Good news for fans who are looking forward to X, because it should be released in Japan and North America in 2014.

They also gave a brief list of some other games and their release dates:

• Bayonetta 2 -- 2014
• Hyrule Warriors (temp.) -- 2014
• Yarn Yoshi (temp.) -- TBD
• Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem (temp.) -- TBD
• The Legend of Zelda (temp.) -- TBD

Dying Light Is Delayed Until February 2015
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/08/hopes-of-dying-light-in-2014-flicker-out-as-title-is-delayed.aspx

Techland said this week that Dying Light will be delayed until February 2015, so they don't have to compromise on any of their ideas. This is good news for quality, I'm sure, but I wanted to play it!


Here's A Doozy -- Epic Games Revealed The Free Unreal Tournament
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/05/08/epic-games-reveals-free-to-play-unreal-tournament

The next Unreal Tournament is coming in the not-so-near future, but it's going to be free and co-developed with the community so their mods and whatnot will be important post-launch. Free Unreal Tournament, and they stress it's "not free to play, just free."
 

Oh Yes, Sunset Overdrive Gets Its First In-Game Footage
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/462820/video-watch-sunset-overdrives-first-in-game-footage/

Ladies and gentlemen, our cherries have been popped, because we got some footage for Sunset Overdrive, that you can find in the link above. I'd post the video here but blogger is stupid and sometimes it just deletes the videos I post.

If you can't watch the video, basically it's crazy. It's an open world game but you can run across walls and movement seems to be really fluid. There are a lot of crazy guns because it's Insomniac Games, and it just looks like it's going to be ridiculous.

Anybody want to start funding my Xbox One purchase?


Harmonix Released The Free-To-Play Rhythm Runner "Record Run"
http://www.destructoid.com/harmonix-releases-free-to-play-record-run-for-ios-devices-274557.phtml

If you got an apple device, you can grab the new Harmonix game for free now. It's a rhythm runner where you avoid obstacles and whatnot, and you can import your own playlist. So finally you can use that grindcore-laptop-death-pop-jazz fusion-jelly-fishcake-thrash-rap song that you really like.

It's going to be coming to Android as well.



Believe In The Shield Because Portal Is Coming To The Nvidia Shield Next Week
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-s-beloved-portal-comes-to-nvidia-shield-next-week/1100-6419520/

On May 12, you can pick up Portal on the Nvidia Shield. So... do that.


Oculus VR To Create The Largest MMO Ever?
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-vr-aspires-to-create-an-mmo-world-with-1-billion-people-in-it/1100-6419518/

The Oculus CEO stated this week that he wants to create the largest MMO ever, using the Oculus Rift. He is planning on a billion people. He also had this to say, which I want to make fun of:

"Do we want to be Game Boy, or do we want to be iPhone or Android? I think Game Boy is an awesome platform, but I think you'll see that handheld gaming device largely disrupted by the mobile market. For VR, where we want to go, connecting a billion people, do you want to be building a platform that has a billion users on it, or 10 or 20 or 50 million?"

Released last century, still on competition today... apparently.

 It's fun that he mentioned the Game Boy since we're at the Nintendo 3DS. I know this is just semantics, but like I said I want to make fun of him. For someone so forward thinking, it's great that he chose such an old handheld.


Games I Kind Of Wish I Could Stop "Reporting" On -- TITANFALL and Battlefield 4

New TITANFALL DLC Is Called Swampland, Here's A Picture Of It
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dlc-map-swampland-screenshots-and-details-released/1100-6419517/

DICE Give Up, Turn To The Community
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-4-dev-turns-to-fans-for-help-testing-new-improvements/1100-6419516/

It appears that DICE themselves realize that they can't fix Battlefield 4, because they have created the "Community Test Environment" that allows PC users to help them test out things.

You've spent your money on it, now you can help fix it. That seems... fair.

I kid Battlefield 4, I kid. I actually enjoy you.


GLAAD Is  Not ?Glaad? That Tomodachi Life Doesn't Have Same-Sex Relationships
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-responds-to-criticism-regarding-same-sex-relationships-in-tomodachi-life-update/1100-6419530/

It appears that GLAAD -- the LGBT group -- is not happy about Nintendo not including same-sex relationships in their odd, life simulator (that doesn't fully simulate life) game Tomodachi Life.

Wilson Cruz cruz'd to a criticism of Nintendo, stating, "In purposefully limiting players' relationship options, Nintendo is not only sending a hurtful message to many of its fans and consumers by excluding them, but also setting itself way behind the times."

The Big N had this to say in response, "We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to change this game’s design, and such a significant development change can’t be accomplished with a post-ship patch. At Nintendo, dedication has always meant going beyond the games to promote a sense of community, and to share a spirit of fun and joy. We are committed to advancing our longtime company values of fun and entertainment for everyone. We pledge that if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players."

In my humble opinion, it would have been nice if Nintendo had included homosexuality in Tomodachi Life so I could finally come out of the closet in a safe environment (with myself?), but it's likely that a lot of people will just see this as silly, thus hurting GLAAD's crusade.

Can't we all just get along? #Ihatehashtags


Sony's E3 Press Conference Is June 9 At 6 p.m. PDT
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-playstation-e3-2014-press-conference-dated-for-june-9-6pm/1100-6419546/

Sony last year.

On June 9 at 6 p.m. PDT, Sony will be doing their press conference. If you remember, which if you're a gamer you probably do, Sony came in like a wrecking ball last E3. Will they do what they did last year and become the Heavyweight Champion of the World while they slap down the competition? Or will it be more normal? I can't wait to find out.




Well folks, that is it for the Weekly News Round-Up. We've had United States terrorism/imperialism, free Unreal Tournaments, DICE throwing in the towel, and lots of Nintendo saying things. We've had some good times, we've had some bad times, we've had some grey times because LIFE ISN'T BLACK AND WHITE MAN. Until next week -- or whenever I write another article that you will subsequently ignore -- I am Tyler, and you can tell me what you think on my pretentious Twitter account @ArtBathednCrime or in the comments below. You can even send a carrier pigeon to my house if that's what tickles your fancy. See ya!

Video Game History Month: The SNES Is The Best System Ever (Part 2) -- The RPGs

Written By: Tyler

In the previous installment of "The SNES Is The Best System Ever," I talked a little bit about the more technical aspects of the system, and discussed briefly why it's the best system ever. But now it's time to get down and dirty and start talking about what makes any system a success: the games (or in the case of the Wii -- a gimmick followed by Wii Sports).

The SNES has a lot of great games, and I'm not going to be able to cover every single game but I would like to drop dime on some of my personal favourites. To do this, I figure it will be more efficient to group the games into genres and write a few posts instead of just having one massive article that nobody will ever finish. Since I'm a role-playing game fan at heart, I reckon that the RPGs are a good place to start. I'm not going to talk about every single RPG on the SNES, but I will select a decent collection of them. So let's begin this party with some big-ass letters.


The RPGS

Final Fantasy 3/6 - Final Fantasy 6 (3 in North America for a long time) is probably the best Final Fantasy ever. It had a large cast of characters, but most of them were actually memorable. I can only think of a couple that weren't, and to be honest, they were optional characters anyway. FF6 managed to be incredibly dark and surprising, with excellent gameplay. It always amazes me that the villain basically "won" halfway through the game when Kefka destroys the world. Sure, you beat him in the long run, but he's also messed up everything at that point and it'll be a long time before they can rebuild society.

I once borrowed this game from a friend, and I ended up losing it... though to this day I feel like my mom misplaced it or something else happened. Regardless, it seemed to have disappeared. To pay my friend back, I gave him one of my games, and for the longest time I felt like he was getting a better deal out of things anyway. I'm not entirely sure I feel that way anymore, but the next game in the list is said game and it's a testament to how good both games are that I'm conflicted about which is actually better.


Chrono Trigger - One of the greatest RPGs of all-time. It is a story of time travel with very memorable music and characters. At the time it was a small but wonderful detail that added to the immersion, but I was impressed by how you just whipped out your weapons and scrapped on-site. Not many games afterward actually did this.

I spent a lot of time playing this as a kid, and if you haven't played it you should... you owe yourself that much.


Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - The marriage of two of the most influential companies in my life at that point: Squaresoft and Nintendo. Yes I know that Square developed games on the Nintendo platform before, but they literally took Mario characters -- along with creating some of their own -- and made an awesome RPG out of them. The battle system was still turn-based but due to the nature of timing your attacks, it added another dimension to it.

Super Mario RPG still has a line that I use to this day on occasion, "Are you leaking, my dear?"


Final Fantasy 2/4 - Though it's kinda sorta lightweight compared to the absolute monster that came afterward, Final Fantasy 4 (again, Final Fantasy 2 for a long time in North America) is still a completely solid entry in the Final Fantasy series, with incredible music and a lot of human sacrifice -- if only they hadn't ruined that at the end. There's actually a lot of emotion present throughout the game because of how much each and every character goes through. There are twins turning themselves to stone, love triangles, friend betrayals, Cid jumping down a massive hole, etc.

To this day, Kain is a favourite Final Fantasy character for me, and he brought about my love of Dragoons. Even in Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, I got giddy once I did my first "Jump" attack.


Final Fantasy 5 - This is a Final Fantasy that didn't touch down on North American soil until later on, unless you had an emulator because a bunch of Gods translated it. I don't go to this one for the story or the characters, but it had a pretty boss job system that encouraged replay.


Secret of Mana - Secret of Mana, what can I say about you? I spent many hours playing you by myself in a dark room with romantic music on and with friends. Outside of the fact that maybe the ring system is a little outdated -- it's not a bad system, but in magic heavy battles it's annoying being the guy who isn't casting magic -- it's one of the best RPGs ever and just an amazing game to play with a friend.

Seiken Densetsu 3 - This is the sequel to Secret of Mana, and it wasn't released here in North America. Luckily, like Final Fantasy 5, it was translated by some fine people and I was able to play it. Technically it's probably a better game than Secret of Mana because it offers more of everything, like multiple characters and classes to choose from with more plotlines to play, and enhances the experience while retaining the core gameplay. I usually say I prefer Secret of Mana due to the amount of time I spent with it but SD3 is awesome too.

Secret of Evermore - It's not Secret of Mana, which was a disappointment for some, but it had its own flair, style and gameplay mechanics that made it its own game. The story was more out there and Sci-Fi, which I think was actually more interesting than Secret of Mana, but it is a lesser game as a whole. Regardless, I'm not saying it's a bad game... it's just lesser compared to an RPG that's one of the best of all time. That's hardly even a criticism.


Earthbound - My brother told me that a nerd at Comic-Con said that Earthbound is "too mainstream." I remember a time when nobody knew it. I remember going to rent it and getting that massive instruction manual/strategy guide that is still the best instruction manual I've ever seen. I remember playing Earthbound for hours on end as a kid, being amazed by the humour, characters and music. Years down the road I remember digging deeper into the story and being impressed by how clever the game actually was.

What I'm trying to say is that as a kid I appreciated Earthbound on a base level. As an adult I appreciate Earthbound as a complete experience, as a classic of the genre, a deconstruction of the RPG and North American culture... and possibly a story about abortion.

Basically, screw you random nerd.


Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals - The first Lufia game is a classic too, but I want to group the two games together. I'm a huge Lufia "mark," to use a pro-wrestling term. Lufia 2 is a prequel, and the ending is literally spoiled within the first twenty minutes of the first game, but that didn't matter because it was one of the most heart-wrenching sacrifices in the history of gaming.

Aside from that, Lufia 2 took the elements of the first game and added things like Capsule Monsters, enemies you could see on-screen and... puzzles? Normally I don't really want puzzles in my RPG, but Lufia 2 is okay by me.


Shadowrun - Some people say that the Shadowrun on Genesis is actually better, but I never got to play it. Shadowrun kind of creeps me out to this day, and I can't really understand why. It's a dark, cyberpunk world where within the first half hour you've scared people so bad they left the room and won't open the door, talked to an ugly dude about you getting "geeked" and talked to a dog in an alley. Awesome.

We never got another Shadowrun that could match up to this one, but Shadowrun Returns came close.


Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen - Top 5 RPG of all-time for me. This, FF6, FF7, Parasite Eve and Chrono Trigger tend to be the RPGs I fall back on, which Earthbound as an honourable mention (depending on my mood, really, because you can rotate any of these and I'll be happy, with Parasite Eve being the only game that is always number one). Ogre Battle 64 was a worthy successor, but nothing has compared to the original SNES one. This amazing strategy RPG has incredible replay value because a) it's hard as hell to not be a bad guy, and b) the customization of your army encourages this kind-of thing. There are also secrets I've never even found.

This is a game that we need to see another sequel of. Right now.


Dragon View - This is probably one of the RPGs on the list that don't get nearly enough recognition. It was a sequel to Drakkhen, which itself was a decent take on the computer RPG, but didn't wow me in any significant way. The dungeons are in a side view and the game becomes an Action RPG, and I'll never forget the scene where you walk into a room and Giza beats the everliving piss out of you.


Super Ninja Boy - Super Ninja Boy is another game that doesn't get any recognition. It's not that the story is incredible, but it's actually a completely solid two-player RPG with a battle system that was rarely seen back in the day -- you could actually run around freely in the battle screen, jump, punch and throw enemies into holes that for some reason are in the ground. It doesn't seem like much now, but it was a big deal then, and when I played this game again years ago I still really dug it (outside of how many random encounters there were).


Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons - Just today my older brother (he loves when I mention him, and I know he reads this so I will keep doing it) said, "It's the first open world game I ever remember playing." I never thought of it that way but he could be right. Uncharted Waters 2 is a game where you pick one of, I believe, four characters (though I could be wrong), and they all have their own goals to accomplish. I remember that one guy has to map the world.

From there, it's a bit of an odd mixture. It's part strategy game, part simulation, but websites seem to classify it as an RPG so I had to mention it too. It's just out of my Top 5 RPGs of all-time, but it's very close and I do adore it more than my unborn children.

You sail the world, getting in ship battles, and I was always particularly intrigued by the one-on-one sword duels you could get into. Uncharted Waters 2 is actually one of the games that most influenced what I did outside. If you don't want to hear about younger me, then skip down, but I would go outside on my deck with a friend and basically  just re-enact the game. I would pretend that the deck was my ship, I'd create a fleet and attack other fleets, while creating my own story. So thank you Uncharted Waters 2 for impacting both my indoors activities and my outdoor activities too. Damn it I'm such a nerd.


The Others

There were other solid RPGs like Illusion of Gaia, Lagoon, Brain Lord, Breath of Fire 2, 7th Saga, Inindo: Way of the Ninja, Live A Live and Equinox as well. All of those are great in their own ways, and I'm not discussing them simply because I was trying to keep it to my all-time favourite RPGs on the SNES... but then I cheated and threw out these honourable mentions because I feel like it's a disservice to gaming if I don't mention them.


But Wait, There's More

However, my journey with SNES RPGs is not over, as their are two games in particular on deck that I intend to play someday. These were originally not released in North America and I can't read Japanese (well I can, just not successfully), but due to people being awesome and the internet, I will now be able to play them.

Star Ocean - I remember reading about this in, I believe, the same magazine that I originally read about Final Fantasy 7. I always waited for it and it never came. It's since been re-released for, I believe, the PSP, and I intend to eventually get it and finally play the game. I love love love Star Ocean: The Second Story, so I can't wait to play this one.

Terranigma - This is a game I never knew about until I got the internet, and I still haven't played it because all these new games keep coming out. I hear Terranigma has an awesome story, and from what I've heard of the soundtrack, that is great too. Eventually I shall sink my teeth into this and Star Ocean.




So there you have it people. Did I miss any SNES RPGs that you absolutely adore? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @ArtBathednCrime. I'd love to hear about your own SNES experiences, and stay tuned for next time when I give you Part 3... though I'm not sure what genres I will be tackling next.

Video Game History Month AND Top Ten Tuesday - Top 10 Best 16-Bit Video Game Songs (For Me Of Course)

 Written By: Tyler

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday in a while, but I decided that since it's Video Game History Month, I'll do a Top 10 Best 16-Bit Video Game Songs. This is a collection of tunes -- mostly for the SNES -- that I can still listen to today and enjoy them as much as I did back then. These are top of their class-type songs.


10: Ogre Battle - Thunder (Revolt)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDAMxLKY2EY 

This song almost didn't make the list, but then I listened to it again. It's not a song that I listen to a lot, but when I hear it a lot of great Ogre Battle memories come flooding back to me. This is the song that often plays as you lay siege to everything, and it's such a great song for a war... watching your troops proceed and attack. Ogre Battle was special, and this song -- along with the battle theme -- help make it that way.


9:  General Chaos - General Chaos Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO63dZic1l8

There's a lot of war going on in my list. This song pumps me up for battle.


8: The Lost Vikings Theme (SNES)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAd9x5fTSVo 

I'm not entirely sure why they picked a song like this to be the theme music for a game about Vikings, but dammit it worked because I get excited every time I hear it. It's cool, and when you pair it with the images of the Lost Vikings posing, you have quite a team. The whole soundtrack is great, but this really sets the tone.


7: Secret of Evermore - Dog Maze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSQszBHMHHc

Secret of Evermore is a bit of an underrated game I think, and Dog Maze is one of the best SNES tracks of all time. The beginning especially is extremely haunting and it conjures up sad images in my head. After all this time, honestly, I can't even remember where the song is actually from but despite that the music fits the title. Dog Maze, indeed.


6: Final Fantasy 2/4 - Sorrow In Loss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfT4X-Sr6Bc

I could make an entire list of great Final Fantasy tracks. Hell, I could probably make a Top Ten of just Final Fantasy 4 tracks, but since I said I'd only pick one song from each game, I'm choosing to represent Final Fantasy 4 with one of the most depressing video game songs I've ever heard. It perfectly captures the mood and adds a lot to any scene it's in.


5: Super Metroid Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vYsVk23oxA

When you're flying through space as a bounty hunter, seeing things that a normal person could only dream of, you need a fitting song to represent the simultaneous badassdom and isolation. Cue the Super Metroid theme. It plays at the beginning when Samus is recapping what's been going on in her boring life, and as a kid it creeped me out. Now it just makes me go "hell yeah!"


4: Chrono Trigger - The Day The World Revived
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwi9cjQkteA 

There's a lot of good music in Chrono Trigger -- hell, despite placing this particular song at number 4 as opposed to 1, it's actually one of the best soundtracks of all time -- but I'm a miserable young man and sad, pretty music is what gets me. I considered the Magus theme because of how kick-ass it is for a theme of someone, but I went with this song that manages to install hope but be incredibly tragic at the same time.


3: Final fantasy 3/6 - Atma Weapon Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH40gYZhwWI

Atma gets its own battle theme, and it's awesome. It's such an intense song, and manages to make Atma feel like the biggest boss battle ever. 


2: Lufia & The Fortress of Doom - Fortress of Doom (Last Duel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzBsFGh6zoc

I won't say a lot about the scene, but this plays at the beginning and this song will always benefit from the marriage of it with that scene. But even by itself, it's still one of the best "dungeon" songs of all-time. I hear it and I can't help but feel hyped to explore the fortress.


1: Secret of Mana - Opening Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6YAiLHXw_c

You don't have to wait long until you hear one of the best video game tracks ever. Turn on Secret of Mana, and just let it do its thing for a while. This gorgeous tune will play that will sweep you away to another world, and if you're like me, you will be in awe of how pretty and emotional it is -- and at this point you haven't even done anything yet! I can't quit this song.

Video Game History Month: The SNES Is The Best System Ever (Part 1)

Written By: Tyler

 

Video Game History Month rolls on, and a few days ago I posted an article about what brought me to video gaming, which was the Nintendo Entertainment System. If the NES was my humble origin story about me as a little kid who wasn't kissing girls on the playground, then the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is the story of me starting to grow into my own as the preteen/teen guy who wasn't kissing girls on the playground. Or, to put it in a more flattering way, if the NES was Batman Begins, then the SNES was The Dark Knight.

I love the SNES -- it's my favourite console of all-time. This largely depends on the kind of genre you prefer, and I'm a JRPG guy in my heart of hearts. It didn't have much in the way of first-person shooters, but it had great RPGs, sports games, platformers and other action titles. It had some great puzzle games, fun adventure games, etc.

To celebrate video games, I'm going to celebrate the SNES. This will consist of multiple articles because I can't do it justice with just one. In this article I will talk about the more technical aspects of it like graphics and sound, and maybe even drop dime on something more personal.


What Is It?

The SNES is the prime of Nintendo. While the N64, Gamecube, Wii and Wii U are all fine systems (regardless of what haters say), the SNES was Nintendo firing on all cylinders. They made some of their best games as a company -- though to be fair Nintendo makes great games most of the time -- and they had a lot of support from other companies... something they lack these days.

Nintendo had Squaresoft back when they could churn out classic RPGs whenever they wanted. They had Enix while they were creating great games as well. The marriage of Squaresoft and Enix back then was kind-of a "super studio" type of deal.

There were fantastic strategy/historical simulation games, which is something that North America doesn't see a lot of these days. There are still games in the genre being made, but we never hear about them anymore. Koei was a beast back on the SNES.

Though sports games have gotten more complex, there was a simple fun to be had with some of them. We had a good mix of more realistic (relatively speaking) sports games and more extreme, less serious ones.

Platformers were on-point, and they were incredibly popular then. Sure, there were too many because at some point genres get oversaturated. We live in the era of the first-person shooter now, but back then we had a lot of platformers.

You get the idea... though games have evolved and we've gotten more genres and innovations since, some of the finest examples in a lot of genres were on the SNES. The main theme of the SNES is that we had legendary companies creating legendary games more often than not. That's an incredible feat.



It Sounds So Good

Audio back then was different, because they all used the same chip. And what a sound chip it was. Compare how music sounds on the SNES to how it does on the Genesis -- it's night and day. The quality, at least back then, was absurd. Not only that, but we had a lot of talented artists using the chip in fantastic ways, creating some of the best video game music of all-time.

Since then, we've obviously adopted a more modern, technically complex way of producing music, but if you're a fan of retro music, then the SNES is as good as it gets. It was to the point that I'd set up a tape recorder and hold it up to the TV to record the music. I'd have to be extremely quiet so it didn't pick me up, but I wanted to have the music so bad I'd do that.



It Looks So Good

Obviously graphics have gotten more detailed, with motion capture, more artists at work, more processing power, etc, but there's a charm to the SNES that hasn't gone away. Pixel art is still in. I think the NES also has a certain charm to it, but I feel like it's mostly just a nostalgia thing. With the SNES, it was the highest point for this type of art. There are a lot of SNES games that still look legitimately good today. Take a game like Chrono Trigger for example -- it's gorgeous. Companies had figured out how to best use this style, and the SNES was complimentary to that.

Take for example a system like the Playstation 1. I love the system (it's also a big RPG system), but they were going through an awkward transitional period during this point in time so games can look a little silly. They don't age as well as the SNES games do. The SNES isn't as complex, but the graphics looked beautiful despite that.


I Want It In My Bed

Um... never mind that one.



So this was just a little article of me praising the more technical aspects of the system, but over the next parts -- I don't know how many yet -- I will delve into what matters: the games. I'm not sure yet if I will sort them into different genres and maybe do a couple genres per post, or if I'll just pick a bunch of games and write about them, but check back over the next few days because I'm going to try to unleash that beast.

Fly Through The Air Like You Just Don't Care -- A Child of Light Review

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PC

 

See 10 minutes of gameplay here: http://youtu.be/70Kkn2YOAt0


Rating: 8.5/10
Verdict: Child of Light does a few intriguing things with the format, and is an incredibly polished, beautiful game, but it doesn't stand among the best JRPGs in the world. It's only $15 though, and it could cost a little more and I still wouldn't feel ripped off.


Child of Light is an interesting gamble for Ubisoft. They are known recently for violent, expansive, open-world/sandbox games, and indeed, their next game in May is the much anticipated/eater of worlds Watch Dogs. Child of Light is a Japanese RPG made by North Americans, and it has slipped into existence a mere month before Watch Dogs gets released into the wild. It's very cool to see a company like Ubisoft release a smaller passion project before a big release, and it's especially cool that it's a genre that has fallen off the radar a bit over the years. But is it any good?

In a nutshell -- yes, Child of Light is good. Great even, but not a classic. It will not stand amongst the best JRPGs in video game history, but if there is any justice in the world then it should be remembered as a completely solid side-scrolling, turn-based RPG that does a few neat things with the genre.

You play as Aurora, a sick little Austrian girl who drifts asleep and wakes up in a foreign, fantastical land -- Lemuria. She is trying to get home. Whether it's real or a dream isn't apparent at the beginning, and you mean an odd bunch of characters through the ten hours or so that you adventure through the world.

The plot is interesting and emotional, while being told entirely through poetry. This is an awesome stylistic choice, because how often do we get to see a game where everyone talks in rhyme? Unfortunately some of the dialogue is timed and this can be problematic because of the nature of it -- it's lyrical, so it may take a moment to fully comprehend and the game doesn't always give you the time to understand it.

It's hard to talk about the game without acknowledging the visuals. The hand drawn/painted art style is beautiful and makes it very easy to drift into this wonderful fairy tale. Look in the background and there is plenty going on, or look around you and see how fully realized the entire area is. This game oozes atmosphere on all fronts, and it's an early candidate for visuals of the year.

In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say that I think the primary focus of the game is creating a rich, awe-inspiring yet believable world. This extends to the music. The music doesn't stand out like some games, but it's solid and always there to compliment the visuals wonderfully with its usage of a lot of strings. It sounds like it belongs in a fairy tale, as opposed to in a big Hollywood movie like a lot of games these days go for.

The JRPG is known for turn-based combat, and Ubisoft has decided to bring that back. However, they didn't bring it back in a bland, unoriginal way. There are a couple ideas here that progress the genre. There is a timeline on the bottom of the screen and you can see who is going to get to attack next. Some enemies/characters are faster so they will move along the line more quickly. You can use spells to decrease or increase speed, and it becomes a battle to see who can get there first. You could just hammer it out and get through the game because it's not that hard, but there are a couple elements to the combat that encourage you to use strategy.

Your blue firefly companion can slow down enemies. He has an energy bar and if you click and hold down the mouse button on an enemy, they move slower along the timeline. You can also use him to heal yourself. This allows you to get a bit of an advantage on enemies, or at least somewhat level the playing field if they're faster than you.

He also ties into the two-player mode, and while I haven't played it, I can't imagine it's that much fun. He has a few ways in which he helps, like in combat. But you also use him to reach items, solve easy puzzles (I'm notoriously stupid and had no issues), stun enemies -- since they can be seen on the "world map" you can go behind them and get a sneak attack -- and collect healing. The multiplayer just seemed tacked on and unnecessary to me.

There is also importance in going first beyond the obvious reason of just attacking the enemy. You can actually interrupt enemy attacks if you've timed it right, which sets them back on the line. What this means is that you could essentially go an entire battle without getting hit if you plan accordingly and things work out well. Like I said, you don't really need to put this much thought into the combat, but the options are there and it's much more rewarding if you do.

In battle you can also switch your characters on the fly, allowing you to utilize any and all characters since they all have their pros and cons. Some are best at healing, some can caste haste, some are brutes, etc. I always enjoyed this aspect in Final Fantasy X, and it's nice to see it employed again.

There is another way in which the game is like Final Fantasy X, and that's in how you level up. Child of Light essentially has a Sphere Grid, only it's more of a Sphere Grid-lite. There are a couple different ways you can go, but in my experience there's really only one way I wanted to go, except for with a character or two.

You can unlock new abilities, or upgrade your statistics like strength or magic defense. You level up at least every second fight (I'm not kidding), and while that might sound cool, due to the limited nature of level progression, it's not really all it's cracked up to be. There isn't really a sense of accomplishment after you've put a few hours in because you level up so quickly. I get what they're doing by constantly offering growth, but sometimes less is more.

Regardless, due to the fact that you ultimately have a choice with how your character progresses, and the fact that there's a crafting system -- there is a decent amount of depth here. The Oculi crafting system is simplistic and straight-forward, but it does pay to experiment a little bit to see how all your gems can benefit you. In this case, despite how minimalist it is, it's better to have it than not because it adds to the experience.

At the beginning of the game you walk and jump, and it's slow going, but in roughly an hour or less you can suddenly fly. Yes, you can fly... with no limitations except for the map ending. There is no energy bar to prevent you and you never have to walk again. This may seem like a simple thing, but it gives the game a more open feel and it's just beyond cool to be able to take flight whenever you see fit, and travel wherever you damn please (within reason). The game doesn't force feed you where to go, or how to do anything, so you can get disoriented pretty quickly if you're not paying attention, but there's a tip section when you pause that poetically tells you where to go.


Despite how technically sound it is in a lot of ways, it didn't grab me like the best RPGs do. I still really dug it and was into it, but favourite games have a way of burrowing their way into your heart, leaving you with this feeling of amazement (depending on who you are, this is either starting to sound erotic or romantic).

Child of Light is a polished JRPG-lite in a few ways, but in other ways it is near the top of its class (such as the visuals). It's not a long game, and anybody looking for a serious challenge should look elsewhere, but it's also only $15 so you definitely get your money worth. 

Weekly News Round-Up, April 27 - May 3: Nintendo Actually Did A Lot This Week, Yay Nintendo! That's A Good Giiiirl.

Written By: Tyler

Welcome to the Weekly News Round-Up, where I take video game news from other sites and report on it as if it was my own. Let's get right to it because we have a lot to talk about.


Last Week I Started With Suikoden 2, This Week I Start With News That Matters -- New Madden Will Go Back To Old Naming Style And Be Titled Madden '15
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-returns-to-its-classic-name-style-with-madden-nfl-15-in-august/1100-6419266/

Yes.


Towerfall Has Sold Better On PS4 Than PC Or Ouya
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/towerfall-sold-better-on-ps4-than-pc-ouya-version-trails-behind/1100-6419269/

It turns out that Towerfall has sold best on the PS4, which makes sense because there are no other games to play on it yet. I'm not surprised that it beat the Ouya version because nobody owns an Ouya, but beating PC is an accomplishment. Does this mean the end of the PC Master Race?

That's right, your days are numbered PC gamers!

Nintendo Gets Lippy, Says They Do Whatever They Want
http://www.destructoid.com/iwata-nintendo-more-than-videogames-company-can-do-whatever-it-wants--273900.phtml

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata recently explained why Nintendo is making other things besides video games.

"So even though we won't chance the fact that our focus is on video games, I felt the need to take that occasion to state that Nintendo is a company that can do whatever it wants."


Angry Birds Developer's Profit Halved
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/angry-birds-developer-sees-profit-halved-during-what-it-calls-a-foundation-building-year/1100-6419262/

The Angry Birds developer, Rovio Entertainment, reported that their net profit over the past year has been about half as much as the year before, which means they only made a gazillion dollars because of that stupid game, rather than 2 gazillion. It'll be okay Rovio, have your "foundation building" year.


Brian Fargo Praises Valve... Says PC Gaming Was In The Dark Ages
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-helped-bring-pc-gaming-out-of-the-dark-ages-says-wasteland-2-dev/1100-6419261/

Head of inXile Entertainment, Brian Fargo, had some nice words for Valve (which nobody else does, obviously). Here are some of them:

"They're the saviors of the PC as far as I'm concerned. They've been great. You think about where we all were, kind of in the dark ages, when there was nothing. There was just flash."

"Valve has all this power but they don't wield it. They let us all work in an open system. So for that I can't say enough good things about them."

I think he might like Valve.


Microsoft Revealed Their Original TV Shows
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-reveals-programs-for-xbox-original-tv-programming/1100-6419255/

I want to do this news justice, so I'm just going to quote a whole bunch from Gamespot:

Halo TV Series - We already knew that Micorosft was partnering with iconic director Steven Spielberg for this one. Spielberg will work as executive producer, and he'll be working with develoer 343 Industries and Amblin Television. We don't know much about it, but Micorosoft's Phil Spencer has said before that the show won't just be "filler."


Untitled Halo digital feature - Separate from the Spielberg's TV series, this "digital feature" from Ridley Scott and Battlestar Galactica director Serigo Mimica-Gezzan is set to debut sometime later this year.

Every Street United - A soccer reality TV series "focused on the global search for soccer's most gifted and undiscovered street stars scouted across eight countries." The show will feature soccer stars Thierry Henry and Edgar Davids, and the search will come to a head in July with a "4v4 street game finale in the shadow of the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro."

Bonnaroo music festival - You'll be able to watch the 13th annual through Xbox Live. The festival run from Friday, June 13 to Sunday, June 15, and will include "interactive features" to let viewers interact with other watchers and also switch between different stages.

Signal to Noise/Atari: Game Over - Signal to noise is the working title for a documentary series from Academy Award winning producer Simon Chinn (Searching for Sugar Man and Man on Wire) that will "expose little-known stories of how modern technology has radically altered the way we interact with our world." The first part deals with this weekend's desert dig for millions of buried E.T. Atari video game cartridges (spoilers: They found some, but we're not currently sure exactly how many there are).

Humans - An eight-episode drama from the UK Channel 4 about an parallel present reality where almost everyone has a human-like robotic servant in their home called a Synth. And if science fiction has taught us anything, it's that creating robots that look like humans always goes really, really well for everyone involved.

We also learned about some in-development projects that are currently unconfirmed.

Fearless - An "unscripted series" from former Australian Navy bomb clearance diver Paul de Gelder who travels around the world to seek out people who "risk their lives to make the world a better place."

Gun Machine - A "hard-boild detective thriller" based on the novel buy Warren Ellis. The story will follow a "detective tracking a serial killer who is tied to a mysterious collection of guns used in infamous New York murders."

Untitled JASH comedy - A half-hour variety show from the comedy collective JASH, which was founded by Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera, Tim and Eric, and Reggie Watts. It's being pitched as a show where "the biggest names in comedy" give the stage to "the people that make them laugh."

Extraordinary Believers - A stop-motion show from the creators of Robot Chicken. Seth Green and Matt Senreich are involved as executive producers.

Winterworld - A live-action series based on the graphic novel Winterworld. In a world after a second Ice Age that's frozen the planet completely, the last vestiges of humanity have "formed tribes that war, enslave, and trade with one another in an effort to survive the infinite winter."

I'm sure the soccer show will do great in the USA.


Star Citizen Has Gotten 43 Million Dollars So Far In Crowdfunding Love
http://www.destructoid.com/starstruck-star-citizen-crosses-43-million-in-crowdfunding-273980.phtml

Star Citizen is rolling in money much like I do. It has hit $43 million. That's 43,000,000. In binary I think that many 0s says, "We're rich!" But seriously, with so much money coming into the project, fans got to vote on the stretch goals and they chose a "mysterious object" instead of getting free stuff. So what does this mysterious object at noon (foreign movie reference, I'm so cultured) entail?

Well it's the Hadesian Artifact. The Hadesian Artifact is, "a puzzle players will someday compete to solve. Where the artifact lead you? A lost Hadesian outpost, a cache of technology, a hidden jump point? It’s up to you to find out!"


Nintendo Announced The Nintendo Digital Event... Nintendo
http://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-skips-e3-press-conferences-announces-nintendo-digital-event-273961.phtml

On Tuesday, June 10 at 9 a.m. PT, get ready for the Nintendo Digital Event. What is this you ask? It is their E3 plans, since they're too cool for school and won't do things the normal way. The Nintendo Treehouse team will be live at E3, showing off demos and whatnot from the Nintendo booth. There is also going to be a Super Smash Bros. Wii U invitational tournament that will be streamed live online. There is also going to be a tournament for gamers who go to Best Buy and play. More details will come, but do yourself a favour and watch the announcement video, because it is wonderful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghEhI4CJjAM#t=286



"Our Game Is Going To Be Unbalanced" - Said No Game Developer Ever
http://www.destructoid.com/destiny-s-competitive-multiplayer-will-be-balanced-says-bungie-273772.phtml

Even though Destiny is shaping up to be very customizable in the sense that you can change your stuff to fit whatever play style, Bungie insists that the game will be balanced.


Square Enix Is Going To Have A Fan Festival For Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn
http://www.destructoid.com/square-enix-announces-global-fan-festivals-for-final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-273890.phtml

There isn't much info on it yet, but Square Enix is going to have a fan festival for FF14: A Realm Reborn. The North American one will take place in Las Vegas in October, and that's all the info I have until I call Square later today.


Another One Bites The Dust (At Naughty Dog)
http://www.destructoid.com/naughty-dog-lead-character-artist-leaves-273887.phtml

The lead character artist of The Last Of Us, Michael Knowland, has followed in the footsteps of a few other high profile Naughty Dog employees... which means Michael Knowland knew what land he belonged in and went there. He left Naughty Dog is what I'm trying to say in the worst way possible.


New Dragon Quest?
http://www.destructoid.com/a-new-dragon-quest-game-is-in-the-works-273864.phtml

Apparently series creator Yuji Horii surprised everyone this past week by announcing a new Dragon Quest. I guess he wasn't supposed to do that.

Sony Online Entertainment Announced A New Subscription Plan
http://www.destructoid.com/sony-online-rolls-out-new-14-99-all-access-subscription-plan-273968.phtml

Sony Online has unleashed a subscription plan that nets you basically all their major titles for $14.99 a month. Games like Planetside 2, Everquest 2, DC Universe Online, etc.


Wanna Play As A Guy Named T-Bone? Me Neither, But Here's Some Watch Dogs News
http://www.destructoid.com/this-is-what-s-included-in-watch-dogs-season-pass-273966.phtml

If you're thinking of getting the Watch Dogs season pass, here's what you need to know. You will be able to play as an eccentric hacker named T-Bone in a single-player campaign. There's also a game mode called Digital Trip which allows you to hunt cyborgs.

T-Bone.


Driveclub Delayed Again
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-exclusive-racer-driveclub-delayed-again-but-gets-a-new-director/1100-6419279/

Here's a big surprise: Driveclub is delayed again, this time until October 7. Does anybody remember when this game was supposed to be a launch title? Me neither because that was an eternity ago. On the plus side, the game has a new director -- Evolution Studios designer Paul Rustchynsky. At the very least the game has a director with a cool last name. 


A Guy With Three First Names Is Helping Telltale Games With The Game of Thrones Game
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/george-r-r-martin-s-assistant-working-with-telltale-on-game-of-thrones/1100-6419276/

HBO put Ty Corey Franck in charge of being a "story consultant" for Game of Thrones -- the Telltale Games episodic series that is coming (yes, like Winter). Thank God it's not George R. R. Martin himself or it'd never get done.

"Little do you guys know, I'm in charge of the Weekly News Round-Up Now."

Buy A GeForce GTX 660, 660 Ti, 670, 680, 690, 760, 770, 780, 780 Ti, or Titan Black And Get Watch Dogs For Free
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/watch-dogs-pc-free-with-select-nvidia-cards/1100-6419288/

I think this pretty much explains itself. Grab one of those video cards, and get yourself the game that will... change...the world?


There's An Elder Scrolls Online Patch -- Still The Game Nobody Asked For
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bethesda-releases-major-elder-scrolls-online-patch-here-s-what-it-fixes/1100-6419292/

Bethesda has released a new patch for their MMO, and here are the details, which are taken from Gamespot:

Alliance War:
General

• Fixed an issue where new characters of different alliances could get automatically assigned to the same campaign.

Combat & Gameplay:
General

• Fixed an issue that caused some Nightblade abilities to become unresponsive when you were engaged in combat with a large number of enemies.

Dungeons & Group Content:
General

• Veteran Darkshade Caverns: You will no longer receive boss loot from the Hive Lord Scrib adds, and cannot pull the boss without his adds.

Exploration & Itemization:
General

• If you decide to skip the tutorial, the items granted to you can no longer be deconstructed.
• Adjusted the time after you loot a delve or overworld boss before you are eligible to receive loot from these types of bosses again.

Miscellaneous:
General

• You must now reach level 10 before creating a new guild.
• Fixed an issue with the Mac client that would occasionally cause crashes or performance issues.
• Fixed an issue that would cause your screen to occasionally freeze and cause unwarranted CPU usage.
• Fixed an issue that would give the appearance that objects were invisible or missing.
• Fixed an issue so everyone must pay the COD fee to accept COD items.
• Fixed an issue where the game could crash while viewing the in-game map.
• Fixed an issue where the game could crash when you encounter select animated NPCs.

Quests:
Main Quest

• Lowered the level requirements to attain the following quests:
  • Shadow of Sancre Tor
  • Last Council of the Five
  • Messages across Tamriel
  • The Weight of Three Crowns
  • God of Schemes
    • Note: This only pertains to the level at which the quest can be attained; the levels of the monsters have not changed.
• The Weight of Three Crowns: The three alliance leaders will now reliably show up to the meeting.
• Messages Across Tamriel: Vanus will now always be present and appear where intended.
• Castle of the Worm: Cadwell will now assist you in combat.

Alik’r

• Honoring the Dishonored: Zariya's spirit will now always appear in the correct location.

Auridon

• Harsh Lesson: Fixed an issue where Zaban's body would sometimes not be interactable after the theatre scene.
• To Dawnbreak: Completing the quest “Through the Ashes” before “To Dawnbreak” no longer results in getting blocked.
• Breaking the Barrier: The shards will now always appear properly when on the quest step “Use the Runed Talisman on the Wards.”

Bangkorai

• The Waking Darkness: Fixed an issue that would prevent Preinrha from spawning if she previously got stuck.
• A City in Black: Fixed an issue that would prevent Strastnoc from respawning after being killed.

Deshaan

• Search and Rescue: You will now always be able to interact with the egg under all circumstances.
• The Dungeon Delvers: Increased the number of Dwarven Spiders in the area to accommodate more players.

Glenumbra

• Season of Harvest: You will now always be able to throw dirt onto the fire.
• Reclaiming the Elements: Fixed an issue where the portal stone could not be used when looking at certain areas in front of the Wyrd Tree.
• Vines and Villians: Fixed an issue where the quest would not advance after freeing Marie Orinth.

Grahtwood

• Heart of the Matter: Killing Ulkaezai and absorbing her spirit will now always correctly advance the quest.
• Eyes of Azura: You will now always be able to interact with the journal pages.
• A Lasting Winter: It is now possible to advance the quest if you fight General Endare and die.
• The Unquiet Dead: Fixed an issue that allowed other players to kill the target before the Bone Scepter animation completed.
• Blood Hunt: Fixed an issue where the vampire event would not always spawn after interacting with the fountain.
• Forgotten Soul: The Central Welkynd Stone is now interactable on the quest step “Attune Surrounding Welkynd Stones.”

Guilds

• The Prismatic Core: Killing the boss while Merric is stunned will no longer break the quest.
• Proving the Deed: Aelif will now always respawn properly if she gets stuck, or if you die while following her to Ragnthar.
• Proving the Deed: Updated the pins on your compass that lead you to the boat to take you from Wayrest to Alik’r.
• Circus of Cheerful Slaughter: Fixed an issue where one of the Aldmeri actors would get stuck and despawn, blocking the quest from advancing.

Khenarthi’s Roost

• Storm on the Horizon: Razum-dar will now always appear at the proper location.

Reaper’s March

• Hadran's Fall: Tand will no longer get stuck when being freed.
• Hadran's Fall: Fixed an issue where the quest could break if you kill Hadren, leave the room, and quickly return.
• Stonefire Machinations: Fixed an issue if any of the Dar-M’Athra got stuck and the quest would break.
• Hircine's Gift: Leaving through the portal on the step "Wait for Songamdir to begin the ritual" will now no longer lock you in place.
• Questionable Contract: Pircalmo will now always spawn inside Treethane Ranneth’s house when on the appropriate step.

Rivenspire

• The Lightless Remnant: Verandis has been found and will always appear in the proper location at the end of the quest.
• Foul Deeds in the Deep: Thrug, Larzgug and Osgrikh will now always appear at their proper locations, under all circumstances.
• Children of Yokuda: The sigil will now always respawn when you leave the area and return with a follower.

Shadowfen

• Pull the Last Fang: Captain Nahrevii has been found and will now show up at the appropriate location.

Stonefalls

• Climbing the Spire: Fixed an issue where the summoning bowl would sometimes not spawn correctly.

Stros M’Kai

• Tip of the Spearhead: Fixed an issue where you could get into a state where you were unable to stun the guard.

The Rift

• Yngrel the Bloody: Yngrel the Bloody will now reliably spawn under all circumstances.
• A Walk Above the Clouds: It’s no longer be possible for “Intense Cold” to remain on you outside of the quest area.

You'll notice that nowhere in there does it say, "TESO is now basically just Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim with a couple friends like you all wanted instead of an MMO." Maybe next time.


The PC Minecraft Sells 15 Million Copies
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/minecraft-pc-sells-15-million-copies-notch-celebrates-with-a-can-of-red-bull/1100-6419294/

Since PC Minecraft has sold 15 million copies, the logical thing to do is drink a can of Red Bull and post a picture of it. That's what Notch did, and not only that, but he did his finest Siskel & Ebert impression and posted a thumbs up with it -- since they are the first people to ever use their thumbs.

Since you probably needed to see the picture. Safe to say that it lives up to the hype.

The Xbox One Is Going To China In September
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-coming-to-china-this-september/1100-6419305/

Since China lifted their video game ban, now is the time for Microsoft to tap into the potential over there. They will be doing this in September when they release their tank, the Xbox One, over there.


New Call of Duty Is Army Of Two
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/this-year-s-call-of-duty-focuses-on-private-military-contractors-will-be-revealed-may-4/1100-6419354/

It appears that the new Call of Duty is taking a bit of a different turn. Instead of countries, the game will revolve around private military contractors. Give us air guitars and ass-slapping, and you can sign me up, despite the fact it's Call of Duty.

The first trailer is coming May 4.

Or right now, because it got leaked anyway:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/update-call-of-duty-advanced-warfare-trailer-officially-released/1100-6419370/

The trailer is in the link above, the game releases on November 4 (big surprise that it releases in November) of this year and oh yeah, this guy:

100% cooler than me.

If I may take a moment to just reflect on what I just saw... the trailer actually looks really cool even if there's very little gameplay actually in there. But where have I played a futuristic shooter recently that handles a bit like CoD? Hmm...


On June 4, Defiance Goes Free-To-Play
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/defiance-going-free-to-play-on-pc-xbox-360-ps3-dev-promises-no-tricks-or-traps/1100-6419332/

Coinciding with the premiere of the new season, Defiance will be adapting a new business model on June 4 -- the beloved free-to-play model. I actually always found the idea of Defiance neat but didn't want to pay, so this could potentially be good news. They say that there aren't going to be any tricks (editors note: bullshit) or anything, so let's hope. (editors note: there is no editor or he/she would have caught the mistake in the editor's note)


Community Manager of Turtle Rock, Josh Olin, A Victim Because He Called Donald Sterling A Victim
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/community-manager-fired-after-controversial-tweets-about-embattled-nba-owner-donald-sterling/1100-6419367/

Josh Olin has been relieved of his duty at Turtle Rock because of the tweet posted above, in which he defends freedom of speech in America... something that only seems to apply when what a person is saying is in line with what everyone else thinks.

This is what Mr. Olin told Kotaku in response:
"Anyone who follows me knows my tweets were not in support of Sterling's actions. Rather, they were promoting three core tenets I believe in: 1) The harm sensational media presents to society. 2) The importance and sanctity of your privacy within your own home. And 3) The right to be whatever you want to be as an American, as long as it isn't hurting anyone else. That last point not to be confused with condoning Sterling's actions, which I don't."

"That said, it's disappointing to see that a select few in Turtle Rock and 2K Games management bought into this hysteria without even having a conversation with me--or even thoroughly reviewing the context of the tweets themselves. Ironically, it serves as a great example of why I hold tenet #1 above so close to heart. That said, everyone should totally still buy Evolve. The guys and gals making that game know their ***, and are making it good."

No Josh, we don't understand context here on the internet.

Does anybody else find it funny that the Community Manager got fired for posting a controversial tweet?


Boy, I'm Going To Jump Right Into The PvP Section of Destny
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/unlike-halo-you-ll-need-to-unlock-destiny-s-multiplayer-mode/1100-6419350/

In an attempt to balance the PvP element of their upcoming game Destiny, Bungie won't allow you to play it until you've played a little bit of the single-player. Before you say it, yes the game is online, so obviously you can still play the game... you just can't go fight other people until you're at a certain point so it's competitive.


Nintendo To Show Off New Hardware At E3?
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-nintendo-hardware-to-be-unveiled-at-e3-2014-say-reports/1100-6419371/

VideoGamer has cited a third-party source that says that Nintendo will show off new hardware at E3. What this could be remains to be seen, as it could be just about anything, so what do you think it could be?


Sony Forecasts That They Will Lose 1.3 Billion This Year
http://www.destructoid.com/sony-expects-losses-to-total-1-3-billion-now-274093.phtml

Sony is losing money... they expect to lose 1.3 billion. They recently sold off their PC division and laid off 5000 workers. Their sales on PC were not up to par. Do we start the doom and gloom now?


Stealth Inc. 2 Is Coming To Wii U... Exclusively
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/there-s-an-actual-new-wii-u-exclusive-coming-stealth-inc-2-announced/1100-6419285/

In news that shocks just about everybody, the Wii U is getting an exclusive that isn't made by Nintendo. The sequel to Stealth Inc. is hitting the Wii U later this year.

 

Hey Guys, We Got This New Idea... A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Game With Zombies -- H1Z1 Gets First Gameplay Trailer
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-s-postapocalyptic-pc-mmo-h1z1-gets-first-gameplay-trailer/1100-6419329/

They have showed off a short gameplay trailer for H1Z1 in the link above. It looks like DayZ, but I have faith because I like what they're planning -- a mixture of DayZ and Rust. I'm also not sick of this genre even though it seems like it's blowing up because the massively multiplayer games (not State of Decay) aren't even released yet and I still really enjoy this idea.


Arma 3 Getting A Major Expansion In 2015
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/tactical-military-shooter-arma-3-getting-major-expansion-in-late-2015/1100-6419348/

I'm not sure why they released the news so early, but there's a major Arma 3 expansion coming late 2015. There aren't many details yet, and they gave a Roadmap for 2014/2015 on their blog, so check that out.


I Don't Care What You're Doing (Reading This Obviously, Duh), But Stop It And Go Download The Lost Vikings... For Free
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/216877/Rock_n_Roll_Racing_The_Lost_Vikings_now_free_on_Battlenet.php

Aw hell yaaaah.

Blizzard is offering the absolute CLASSIC The Lost Vikings as a free download now on Battle.net. You can also get Rock n' Roll Racing but The Lost Vikings.


Not Only That, But On May 8 We May Have A New Unreal Tournament Revealed
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/unreal-tournament-will-make-a-comeback-in-unreal-engine-4/1100-6419402/

Make sure to tune into Epic's Twitch channel on May 8 at 2 pm E.T. because they're going to talk about the future of Unreal Tournament.

Oh my lord, first free Lost Vikings and now probably a new Unreal Tournament... let's keep the good news rolling!


Neversoft Gets Eaten By Infinity Ward -- A New "Stupid Super Studio" Emerges
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-dev-infinity-ward-absorbs-tony-hawk-dev-neversoft/1100-6419405/

Damn what a boner kill.

Neversoft has been absorbed by Infinity Ward in an effort to create a "super studio" and takeover and/or destroy the world. The merge was only a matter of time because they worked together on Call of Duty: Ghosts and found that they complimented one another. Aww.

Well, folks, that just about does it for this week. Like what you read? Tweet me @ArtBathednCrime or leave a comment! Don't like it? Tweet me @ArtBathednCrime or leave a comment... only lie to me and tell me you do like it!