New Games Added To Xbox One Backwards Compatibility

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Xbox One

Major Nelson announced on his blog that 11 games have been added to the Xbox One backwards list. He also made readers aware of a policy change that will enable MS to push Xbox 360 emulators as soon as they pass certification rather than on a monthly roll out.  More information on the Xbox Backwards compatibility is available through the Xbox F.A.Q.

Interestingly players have logged over 21 million hours playing older software on their Xbox One consoles.

Here’s the full list of titles that have been added:

  • Aegis Wings
  • Age of Booty
  • Counter-Strike: GO
  • Jeremy McGrath Offroad
  • Sam & Max Save The World
  • Skullgirls
  • Smallgirls
  • Small Arms
  • Soulcalibur
  • Space Giraffe
  • The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings

0

SEGA Revives 9 Classic Games For SEGA 3D Classics Collections

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

SEGA of America teased a brand new reveal coming today on their official twitter account and today the publisher announced that they will be reviving 9 of their classic Genesis titles for the SEGA 3D Classic Collection. As the title suggests 9 of the companies classic games including well known titles like the original Sonic The Hedgehog and Altered Beast will be available in a physical cartridge for the Nintendo 3DS.

Two of the included games, Power Drift & Puyo Puyo 2, were never released outside of Japan. Some of these games are already available digitally on Nintendo E-Shop but SEGA is hopping that owners of these games may consider double dipping for the promise of playing two previously unreleased titles.

SEGA 3D Classic Collection will be available at retail in North America for $29.99 USD / $44.99 CDN on April 28th.

untitled

Here’s a brief description of each game as provided by SEGA:

  • Power Drift – A high octane sprite-based circuit racer
  • Puyo Puyo 2 – A head-to-head competitive puzzle game.
  • Maze Walker – A 3D mystery adventure.
  • Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa – A classic psychedelic scrolling shooter.
  • Fantasy Zone II W – Fantasy Zone II W is basically an updated version of the game above.
  • Sonic The Hedgehog – Control the iconic character in the classic fast-paced platformer.
  • Thunder Blade – Helicopters, guns, missiles and explosions. What more do you need?
  • Galaxy Force II – Save the galaxy in this space themed3D shoot ’em up.
  • Altered Beast – A beat ’em up set in ancient Greece.

0

Nintendo Affirms April Release Date For Star Fox Zero, Confirms Amiibo Support

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Star Fox Zero

Nintendo reaffirmed their plan to launch Arwings into the stars on April 22nd despite rumors that they would delay the upcoming Star Fox reboot, Star Fox Zero, after an online retailer listed the game for a July release.

The game not only features a unique dual screen approach to piloting the Arwing but will also have support for Amiibo Nintendo confirmed via press release. So far two Star Fox characters – Fox and Falco- have joined Nintendo’s line of collectable figures. It is not known what functionality Amiibo will bring to Star Fox Zero or whether or not we will get that Arwing themed figure that Miyamoto teased last year.

Here’s the full quote from Nintendo’s Press Release:

Finally, Star Fox Zero delivers a new beginning for the classic shooter series. With a unique control scheme that uses both the TV screen and the screen on the GamePad, players pilot multiple vehicles through intergalactic levels with Fox and his classic crew. The game launches exclusively for Wii U on April 22 and will feature amiibo compatibility. More details will be revealed at a later time.

[source]

0

GDC 2016 Survey: VR Support Up, PS Vita Support Nowhere To Be Found

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

The upcoming Game Developer’s Conference will be held in San Francisco this coming March and ahead of the conference GDC has released their annual “State of the Industry” survey results. State of the Industry captures the pulse of the development community thanks to over 2,000 participants, the results give developers, students and the media (heh.. that’s us) a sense of what is trending in development circles.

Here are some of the interesting findings from the 2016 survey:

VR’s Popularity Among Developers Is On The Rise

Oculus-Rift-5

Development kits for the popular Oculus Rift have been available for sometime, Samsung has entered the fray with the Samsung Gear line-up of headsets and the consumer version of the Oculus will go on sale for $600 later this year. With all of that providing unprecedented levels of hype for Virtual Reality it is no surprise that 16% of respondents said that they were developing games with VR in mind.Read More

0

Project C.A.R.S Gets VR Support With Upcoming Oculus Rift Patch

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Last years’ Project C.A.R.S will be receiving an update this coming March which will enable stereoscopic 3D and head-tracking support for the consumer model of the Oculus Rift. Presumably this support will be delivered via a game update and will be free to all who own the game on Windows PC.

Slightly Mad Studios has said on their forums that they are tinkering with a number of improvements for the game internally. They are currently using the 0.8 SDK + Driver Set but are waiting for the consumer focused drivers to be released by Oculus before releasing the patch to the public.

Here’s the full quote from their forums:

“We’re internally working with the post 0.8 SDK that will be released along with the headset. We have a bunch of updates and features in the works already, but due to the newer SDK only rolling out to the general public when Oculus releases the headset, the Project CARS Oculus Rift updates will also be released at that time, right when you guys will be receiving your shiny new CV1 headsets.”

It is exciting to see developers go back and add VR support to their titles post-release. It certainly helps bump up the number of titles early adaptors will be able to play on the hardware without the compromises that 3D non-native VR can bring.

Project C.A.R.S was originally released on May 7th 2015 for Windows PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Sony’s upcoming PlayStation VR headset will be supported on the PS4 version of C.A.R.S and has been demo’d at a few trade shows including TGS.

Some folks who have the development version of the Oculus Rift have already moded Project C.A.R.S to run on the hardware. Slightly Mad Studios has also been huge proponents of VR, stating that:

“Virtual reality is a perfect fit for racing games since the game world literally comes rushing towards you from the distance and the increased sense of depth and speed that stereoscopic vision affords you makes this incredibly real and tangible. So when you’re racing you get a much better perception of distances and position and you feel far more enveloped by that world rather than just looking through a window at it.”

[Source]

0

Mortal Kombat X PC Will Not Get Netcode Update or New DLC

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Nether Realm Studios’ latest fighting game, Mortal Kombat X, hit several platforms last year including Xbox One / PS4 and PC. 

According to a community specialist with the company the PC port will not be receiving a substantial Netcode update or the second season of extra characters.

Fighting game fan site Shoryuken described the revelation that the PC port would receive no more major updates thusly:

NetherRealm Studios community specialist Tyler Lansdown has confirmed that Mortal Kombat X’s upcoming Kombat Pack 2 will not be heading to PC.

The PC port of Mortal Kombat X was handled by a third party developer outside of Nether Realm and MKX wasn’t the only major game from last year to have a broken PC Version. Players of Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham Knighe also experienced major issues as well.

Season 2 of MKX’s DLC will add Learherface, Xenomorph (from the Aliens franchise), Bo Rai Cho and Triborg.

0

WB Games / 2K Sales Hit PlayStation Network This Week

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Prepare to enter the shadows like the caped crusader or sneak up on some Orcs like the protagonist of 2014’s Shadow of Mordor with deals from both Warner Bros Games and 2K Games on PlayStation Network this week.

I’ve neglected to list pricing on these games simply due to the fact that the Canadian dollar is in a bit of a free fall right now and I suspect the prices I am seeing on the PlayStation Network might not exactly be accurate.

Currency oddities aside there are a number of excellent games from years past on sale this week. If you haven’t played any of the Arkham games across both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 the entire RockSteady trilogy is available at a reduced price.  You also can’t go wrong with the Handsome Collection – which includes two awesome Borderlands titles (2 & Pre-Sequel) with enhanced graphics for the PlayStation 4.

PS4 Games

  • A Boy and His Blob
  • Batman Arkham Knight
  • Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
  • Evolve
  • Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
  • Lego: The Hobbit
  • Mad Max
  • Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor GOTY Edition
  • Mortal Kombat X
  • WWE 2k16

P3 Games

  • Batman Arkham Asylum
  • Batman Arkham City
  • Bioshock
  • Borderlands 2
  • Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
  • Mortal Kombat (2011)

PS Vita Games

  • A Boy and His Blob
  • Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
  • Mortal Kombat (2011)
  • Odd World N’ Tasty

[Source]

0

Latest Humble Weekly Bundle Features Firaxis Games

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Humble Bundle have teamed up with Firaxis Games to offer up a tiered discount on a number of their games including last year’s Civilization: Beyond Earth and its Rising Tides DLC. If turned based strategy is your jam and you don’t own some of these excellent games like Xcom: Enemy Unknown then this might be the bundle for you.

The $1 bundle will net you 2012’s Xcom reboot as well as several older titles. The BTA (beat the average) price gets you some DLC to augment your Enemy Unknown experience as well as the critically acclaimed Enemy Within expansion. 2010’s Civilization V is also included in the BTA tier but unfortunately it doesn’t include any of the games’ DLC. Civ V is probably the one game out of all of the ones on offer that I’ve spent the most time with.

Of course all of these bundles come with the previous tiered titles – Example: Buy the BTA tier and you’ll also get the games in the $1 tier. Also all of these games require Steam in order for you to play them.

$1 Tier

  • Xcom: Enemy Unknown
  • Sid Meier’s Pirates!
  • Ace Patrol Bundle
  • Civilization 3 Complete

Beat The Average Tier (currently $9 USD)

  • Civilization IV Complete
  • Civilization V Base Game
  • Sid Meir’s Starships
  • Two X-Com: Enemy Unknown DLC Packs
  • Xcom: Enemy Within

$15 or More

  • Civilization: Beyond Earth
  • Civilization: Beyond Earth Exo Planets DLC
  • 33% off voucher for Rising Tides DLC

[Source]

0

A Few Things You Learn When Buying A Used Oculus Rift Off Of Kijiji

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Two weeks ago while pursuing the online computer classifieds I came across something I didn’t think I’d see locally for some time, an Oculus VR headset at a reasonable price. After the announcement that Oculus wanted $600 USD for the upcoming consumer version (known as CV1 in the Oculus community) I figured my dreams of trying modern VR were all but washed away, except for maybe the odd industry convention for the foreseeable future. Here are three things that I’ve learned after acquiring and using my Oculus DK1 for more than a week.Read More

0

Fan Made Half-Life 2 Campaign Given The Seal of Approval From Valve

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Nova Prospekt

While some fans have spent the time between iterations of the Half-Life series speculating about potential leaks and other tidbits others have used this time to create their own original content set in the Half-Life universe.

One such stand-alone game is the upcoming Prospekt which has the unique distinction of being one of the few fan creations to receive the official seal of approval from series developer Valve. Developed over the course of 18-months single handily by modder Richard Seabrook, Prospeckt has players venturing once again into the decaying combine prison Nova Prospekt, which is used to turn prisoners into striders as well as home to the Combine’s technological development.

Players will take the role of unnamed Nova Prospekt guard who is on-duty during the events of Half-Life 2. Not only does Prospekt provide a change of view for our protagonist but will also continue some story elements introduced in Gearbox Software’s 1999 expansion for the original Half-Life – Opposing forces.

Prospeckt is available for pre-order on Steam for the low asking price of $9.89 CDN and will be available later next month. It joins another well known Half-Life fan project, Black Mesa, as one of the few games to receive approval for Valve. Here’s hoping Prospekt’s 13 missions are just as engaging as the original expansion that inspired it.

Check out a list of features for the game after the jump:Read More

0

Reliving Shadow Moses (MGS In Unreal 4) In HD Is a Sight To Behold

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Promising to allow players to “relive the era defining classic in beautiful next-generation environments” iRam Gamer’s first teaser trailer for their Shadow Moses project is a thing of beauty. Seeing iconic areas like the loading bay from the opening chapter of the original Metal Gear Solid, the chamber where your fight Ocelot for the first time and the highly decorated office that houses the fight with Psycho Mantis certainly brings back a lot of memories.

The Shadow Moses project is a fan run development effort to recreate the original Metal Gear Solid in Unreal Engine 4. This brief teaser trailer doesn’t actually contain any gameplay but we do get to see the model that the developers are using for Solid Snake. It looks like they are taking a bit of artistic liberty when it comes to the famous super soldier.

It will be interesting to watch the development of Shadow Moses over the next little while. Their public facing Facebook Page already has 12,000 subscribers and Shadow Moses has been trending on Facebook as well today. It may be only a matter of time before Konami’s lawyers sneak up behind them and pull this promising fan project away into the shadows.

0

SpaceX’s Latest Rocket Landing Attempt Ends In Fantastic Explosion

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

SpaceX

Before we can colonize other worlds or send astronauts on journeys outside of our immediate interstellar backdoor we must first find a way to reuse spacecraft. This is the current goal of Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, who today attempted to land a craft on a floating platform after deploying a satellite. They absolutely nailed the first part, but the landing? Not so much.

What could only be described as an epic fireball of failure, the Falcon rocket failed to connect with of the latches for it’s four legs. The rocket promptly keeled over onto the landing pad and promptly exploded, as you can see in the embedded Instagram video below.

Mr.Musk took to Instagram to not only share video of the botched landing but also offered a theory as to what caused today’s explosion:

Falcon lands on droneship, but the lockout collet doesn’t latch on one the four legs, causing it to tip over post landing. Root cause may have been ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff.

According to CNN each of the Falcon rockets cost the company between $60 and $90 million dollars to manufacture. Three other attempts to land the Falcon onto a seafaring platforms have failed, however the company did successfully land one of the rockets on land at Cape Canaveral this past December.

A video posted by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on

;

0

Japanese Phantasy Star Online 2 PS4 Beta Detailed

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Phantasy Star Online 2

During a live-stream held today for the Playstation 4 version of sci-fi MMORPG Phantasy Star Online 2 publisher/developer SEGA announced that the Japanese closed beta for PSO2 on PS4 will begin in just a few short weeks. For console users this will be their first chance to join their fellow Guardians on PC in exploring the galaxy in this latest take on the long running Phantasy Star series.

Registration for the JPN PSO2 console beta will open on January 25th and will run until Feb 25th. All potential players have to do to be selected for the beta is download a special “ticket” from the JPN PlayStation Store between those dates. 50,000 eligible accounts will be selected by SEGA and entered into the closed beta phase which will run from Feb 25th thru March 6th. According to the live-stream the closed beta won’t be live that entire time, but rather select windows of time. The floodgates for all Japanese PlayStation users open on April 20th, and best of all PSO2 won’t require PlayStation Plus to play online!

As of press time the Japanese PC version of PSO2 does not filter via geolocated IP address, meaning that North American players can play together on Japanese servers. SEGA has been oddly silent on the potential western release of PSO2, with their official social media account going dark since PAX 2012. Reportedly a contract between SEGA and their Chinese distribution partners is one of the reasons for the continued silence and lack of a western release. At this point with over 4 years between releases it seems doubtful SEGA would ever bring the game here.

Check out some screen grabs from the live-stream after the jump.Read More

0

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Second Story Trailer – “The Transmission”

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Homeworld Deserts of Kharak

The latest Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak trailers contains some rather chilling words from a representative of the antagonistic Gaalsien fleet… “Diplomacy has failed!”

It seems as if the forces that chief science officer Rachel S’jet will face in the game’s campaign as she attempts to explore the mystery of an anomaly in the deserts of Kharak are more than ready for a fight.

Kath Gaalsien are a major religious sect and antagonists of this latest game, who have existed on the planet of Kharak ever since the Kushan settled on Kharak after being exiled from their former planet in the original Homeworld (1999). They believe that eventually their exile will expire and that they will be sent into heaven by Sajuuk, their believe that this sentence was imposed upon them for their ancestor’s arrogance.

Check out the brand new trailer in the embedded player below. Gearbox Software is publishing this Homeworld prequel on January 20th on Windows PC via Steam. Development was handled by former members of Relic Entertainment at the Vancouver based studio Blackbird Interactive.

[youtube id=”AbXYmmsARe8″]

0

Square Enix Embraces Episodic Model For Latest Hitman

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

The latest game to star the bold barcoded assassin, Agent 47, will be released completely episodically with a physical released later in the year for all platforms. Square Enix recently cause a bit of a panic among users of the PlayStation Store when they decided to cancel all existing digital pre-orders. This shift to a purely episodic format for the game would explain why.

Announced at last year’s E3 Hitman was originally supposed to ship last Fall on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC with 3 different locations (Paris, Sapienza and Marrakesh) with additional areas added later via optional expansion content. Under the new model the “intro pack” will include a playable prologue and just the Paris map & activities. Other locations including Japan, America, Sapienza and Marrakesh will be available as optional $10 episodes. No other downloadable content has been announced for the game and the developers have stated that there will be no micro-transactions and that free weekly challenges will be available to all players.

Honestly I think that is an excellent move for an open world game like Hitman and that if its successful perhaps other games that contain multiple open world maps will follow suit. By allowing potential assassin’s to walk in 47’s shoes for a lower price, $15 USD for the intro pack, Square is providing players with a self contained sandbox that will give players the AAA experience without the risk of investing $60+ in a game they may not enjoy. This wouldn’t have worked with a game that relied on one map (like Arkham Knight) but it certainly is an interesting idea.

0

Get the latest articles and news from BrokenJoysticks and a selection of excellent articles from other sources.

Simply fill out the form below and you’ll be on your way to getting our upcoming newsletter.