July 7, 2016

Xbox Live Head of Programming, Major Nelson, To Give Keynote @ PAX Australia


Posted on July 7, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Larry Hyrb, better known to Xbox players under his gamertag ‘Major Nelson’, will give the keynote address to attendees at November’s PAX Australia at the Melbourne Convention & Expo Centre.

Major Nelson has been a central figure within the Xbox community for more than a decade – with his well-known podcast ‘Major Nelson Radio’ reaches a wide audience of gaming enthusiasts through iTunes and other podcast providers. Alongside the podcast Larry Hyrb also hosts the ‘Inside Xbox’ video series which usually announces new hardware peripherals and promotions. His blog is also one of the most prominent sources for gamers and media alike  – featuring the latest sales & discounts on Xbox Live, announcements from Microsoft and other exclusives.

PAX Australia will take place between November 4th and 6th. Tickets are priced as low as $60 AUD for a single day pass & a full 3 day weekend pass will cost $160 AUD, more information is available on the PAX Australia website.

Xbox went for a light up logo, where as Playstation chose a more muted one


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Pokémon GO Released in the US


Posted on July 7, 2016 by Renee Gittins

After being released to Australia and New Zealand for iOS and Android earlier on July 6th, Pokémon GO has now been officially released in the United States, much to the joy of many Pokémon fans.

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Pokémon GO is an augmented reality phone app from Niantic, the creators of Ingress. Much like Ingress, Pokémon GO is a GPS-based game that will require users to explore the real world. In Pokémon GO, players can find Pokémon, eggs, Poké Balls and other items, then use them to battle other trainers and even gym leaders.

 

The game starts by placing the original starter Pokémon around you, allowing you to catch one. From that point until level 5, you can gain experience by visiting PokéStops where you can pick up items and by catching Pokémon that appear in the world with a finger-flick toss of a Poké Ball.

Once you reach level 5, you are required to pick a team to join, much like Ingress’ Resistance and Enlightened. However, Pokémon GO sports three teams: Team Instinct (Yellow), Team Mystic (Blue) and Team Valor (Red). You can support gyms owned by your team by leaving Pokémon there to fight and battle gyms owned by another team. You battle by tapping and swiping on your screen.

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While the phone app is free, there are numerous micro-transactions happy to relieve you of your money. You can discover Poké Balls and other items out in the world, but you can also purchase them. I also have a feeling that more customization items might be available for gold in the future.

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Later in July, another item will be available for purchase: the Pokémon GO Plus, a wrist-worn wearable with that “notifies the player about events in the game—such as the appearance of a Pokémon nearby—using an LED and vibration.” It also promises the ability to “catch Pokémon or perform other simple actions by pressing the button on the device.”

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Good luck out there, Pokémon masters!


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Evolve Developer Refers To Game As ‘DLC Shit Show’, Will Be Taking A New Direction


Posted on July 7, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Is Turtle Rock Studio’s 4 Vs 1 shooter Evolve even a blip on the radar of gaming’s collective attention span? Perhaps that is why the co-founder of the studio referred to the game as a ‘DLC shit storm’ in a rather lengthy blog post explaining their new vision for the gamefree to play.

Evolve was a huge success, marketing wise, prior to its’ release in February of 2015. With over 65 awards under its belt and an entire season pass of content under its belt, it seems like all of the good will that existed up until the game’s launch has all but drained away. Perhaps this is in part to the games monster sized collection of DLC which includes 9 new heroes, three retails editions, a whole confusing mess of character / monster skins alongside several free updates that have added new modes and three maps.

MacMan’s post touched on how the DLC fiasco surrounding the game dampened the communities’ reception of the game after launch:

“Then, when Evolve launched, the reception wasn’t what we expected. Sure, there were some good reviews. There were also bad reviews. Yes, there was excitement. There was also disappointment – for players and for us. The DLC shitstorm hit full force and washed away people’s enthusiasm, dragging us further and further from that first magical pick-up-and-play experience.”

Evolve’s official steam community forums had threads up until yesterday’s Free-To-Play announcement asking the reason as to the game’s demise. Before the game was pulled from the  Steam Store yesterday StemCharts shows that on average only 100 people were playing at any given time within the last 30 days.

A number of improvements will be coming to Evolve as part of the transition to free to play. Players can expect faster loading times, improvements to both maps & A.I, bug fixes and a brand new progress system. Here is the full list that Turtle Rock Studios provided in their community update:

  • We’re reworking the hunter classes to make the team less reliant on having experienced trappers and medics.
  • We’re making improvements to the maps and UI.
  • We’re improving load times, overall performance, and getting you into the game faster.
  • We’re focusing on improving stability and fixing bugs.
  • We’re completely reworking our progression system and tutorials.
  • We’re adding more customization options.

The beta version of the free to play edition of Evolve enters open beta later today and players who originally purchased the base edition of Evolve or any of the add-on content (whether through Season Pass or packed in DLC codes) will have their content transferred over. Owners of the retail version of the game will also be given a “founders” title in the new version.

No information on how micro-transactions, content pay walls or additional cosmetic items were available at the time of publication. There was also no information available on how this might effect the console version of the game.


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One Punch Man to air on Toonami


Posted on July 7, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

If you havent seen One Punch Man yet, read my reivew first, then scream with childish excitment. Why? Becuase Toonami, that revived block of anime and awesome on Saturday nights, is bringing it to you. Leave it to my own beloved Viz media to take this amazing show to the masses. VIZ Media and Adult Swim’s Toonami team made the announcement before a packed audience of fans at the nation’s largest anime convention Anime Expo held this past weekend in Los Angeles.

If you Missed AX dont worry, its mostly jsut news and famous people. If you missed One Punch Man this is a great time to catch up on it!

One-Punch Man is a one of a kind show and we’re excited to have it join our Toonami line-up,” said Jason DeMarco, senior vice president and creative director, on-air for Adult Swim. “We know our viewers have been hoping this would happen for a while, and we’re thrilled to have been able to make it happen!”

I for one am incredibly excited to see one of my favorite shows on Toonami on saturday nights! Its one of the only reasons I still have cable!


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