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?
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| 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.
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| "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
Combat & Gameplay:
- Fixed an issue where new characters of different alliances could get automatically assigned to the same campaign.
General
Dungeons & Group Content:
- Fixed an issue that caused some Nightblade abilities to become unresponsive when you were engaged in combat with a large number of enemies.
General
Exploration & Itemization:
- Veteran Darkshade Caverns: You will no longer receive boss loot from the Hive Lord Scrib adds, and cannot pull the boss without his adds.
General
Miscellaneous:
- 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.
General
Quests:
- 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.
Main Quest
Alik’r
- 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.
Auridon
- Honoring the Dishonored: Zariya's spirit will now always appear in the correct location.
Bangkorai
- 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.”
Deshaan
- 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.
Glenumbra
- 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.
Grahtwood
- 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.
Guilds
- 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.”
Khenarthi’s Roost
- 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.
Reaper’s March
- Storm on the Horizon: Razum-dar will now always appear at the proper location.
Rivenspire
- 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.
Shadowfen
- 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.
Stonefalls
- Pull the Last Fang: Captain Nahrevii has been found and will now show up at the appropriate location.
Stros M’Kai
- Climbing the Spire: Fixed an issue where the summoning bowl would sometimes not spawn correctly.
The Rift
- Tip of the Spearhead: Fixed an issue where you could get into a state where you were unable to stun the guard.
- 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.
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| 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:
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| 100% cooler than me. |
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
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| 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 "
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!
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