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Tekken 7 Confirmed For Early 2017 Release On PC


Posted on June 26, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7 PC Release will be available in Early 2017 via Steam. Confirmation of this comes as the official Steam Page for the game has gone live – you can view it right here.

During Microsoft’s E3 press conference the game was confirmed for both Windows PC & Xbox One with a trailer showcasing a battle between long time series antagonist Heihachi and new guest character, Street Fighter’s Akuma.

Tekken 7 is also expected to be released on PlayStation 4, although the publisher only had the Xbox One version of the game on display at E3, which we got the chance to play.

Here is the official description of Tekken 7 from the Steam Page:

Love, Revenge, Pride. Everyone has a reason to fight. Values are what define us and make us human, regardless of our strengths or weaknesses. There are no wrong motives, just the paths we choose to take.

Experience the epic conclusion of the Mishima clan and unravel the reasons behind each step of their ceaseless fight. Powered by Unreal Engine 4, TEKKEN 7 features stunning story-driven cinematic battles and intense duels that can be enjoyed with friends and rivals alike through innovative fight mechanics.


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E3 2016 Video and Vlogs!


Posted on June 25, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Rae and I were CRAZY busy at E3! Despite that hustle, Rae and I manged to get a few minutes on camera each day to share with you. If missed it because you aren’t  subscribed to our YouTube channel. Which you should totally fix! But I’m going to drop them all here in on MEGA E3 VIDEO POST!

So first lets do the VLOGS, then make sure you keep scrolling because there is a special secret video at the end!

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E3 Day 1

E3 Day 2

E3 Day 3

If thats not enough E3 Content for ya! Check out this bonus video of an interivew Rae did with one of the lead developers of Elite Dangerous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7ULveIDMM

Keep watching, keep reading, and keep being awesome, we do it all for you <3

 


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Elite Dangerous With Top Tier Gear Is A Whole New Galaxy of Fun


Posted on June 24, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

At E3 developers at Frontier and representatives from Thrustmaster invited me to check out the  manufacturer’s upcoming hardware refresh for their high-end HOTAS line with a convention exclusive demo version of Elite Dangerous. As I’ve written before, Elite Dangerous is one of my favorite VR experiences and it was the first VR title I tried – Elite proved to me that the magic of VR is possible, even with limited vision. So, to get the chance to use some of Thrustermaster’s upcoming toys while piloting an interstellar space ship was a no-brainer, I jumped at the opportunity.

In terms of the in-game demonstration, the version of Elite built for the show introduced players to a lot of the key concepts that are required to be successful while exploring the Milky Way. My demo began with an experience that is very familiar with me – looking around the cockpit of my ship and waiting for whatever space station I was situated at to release my ship so that I could fly out and begin exploration. As the computerized voice in my ear belted out “ship released” my fingers instinctively pressed the button on my right joystick to retract my landing gear as my left hand pushed the throttled to push the ship out of the docking bay. Once the ship was out of the bay I got to fly around in total freedom for a few moments before a waypoint suddenly lit up on my HUD.

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Once my ship was aligned to the new jump point my craft entered hyper-drive, blue and purple particles whizzing past my head as I looked up into the top-side window in my cockpit. As my ship began to decelerate from the faster than light travel I noticed that I had entered orbit around a sun in an unexplored system I was not at all familiar with. As I grabbed my right joystick to move my ship out of the gravitational pull of the sun I noticed something – the look of Thrustmaster’s upcoming joysticks and the button placements are almost exactly 1:1. Representatives from both companies would later confirm to me that this was intentional and that the particular HOTAS setup I was using was designed with Elite in mind.

There wasn’t much time to stare at the magnificent sight that was the sun I was escaping from as enemy units showed up on my ship’s HUID. Pressing the button on my right joysticks I raised my hardpoints and pulled the thruster forward as far it would go. My first few laser blasts missed, the on-board computer needed a few more moments to lock-on. Just as my reticule was about to lock on my foe did a quick dive upwards, but I was ready. I cut power to my engines, aimed my nose up with the right joystick and pushed the thruster full blast again, getting back on my foe’s tail. Once my sights were aligned I got off four shots that destroyed my target just as the demo automatically whisked my ship away.

Rae using the HOTAS for Elite dangerous

Rae using the HOTAS for Elite dangerous

It is hard to convey just how well the presence of the Elite Dangerous E3 demo worked. I was playing on a Oculus Rift CV1 in a very specific set-up that was designed specifically for Elite. To say it was immersive is an understatement, it is probably the closest I’ll ever get to flying in a real spaceship anytime soon – or short of winning the lottery and building the mammoth gaming rig / hardware configuration that Thrustmaster and Frontier brought to their booth.

The HOTAS actual hardware used at during the demonstration was an upgraded version of Thrustmaster’s Warthog line – representatives told me that the controllers on display were actually prototypes, one of only a couple the company had at the moment, and that the final versions will hit retail sometime close to December. Current versions of the Warthog retail for around $349.99 and consist of two discrete parts – the joystick and throttle components. The company also makes lower cost options such as the T.Flight – which do not include as many physical buttons but can still get the job done – which retails for $79.99.

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My experience with Elite Dangerous at E3 just confirms that it is one of the most immersive spaceship experiences available on any platform. Elite Dangerous and its first expansion Horizons is available on both Windows PC and Xbox One. Look for more coverage of Elite, including a video interview with the developers next week.


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E3 2016: Tekken 7 Xbox One Preview


Posted on June 19, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

As a fan of Bandai Namco’s Tekken series since the launch of the 3rd game back on the original PlayStation, I’ve followed the series through four numbered installments, several spin-offs, numerous guest characters and three console transitions. Somehow, against all odds, Namco has been able to maintain the series’ identity of wacky interconnected storylines, multiple unlockable endings, deep strategic fighting and of course the Mishima Zaibotsu.

Bandai Namco announced that Tekken 7 would be coming to home consoles on Microsoft’s Xbox One console along with another hidden surprise – the inclusion of Street Fighter‘s often secret combatant, Akuma!  Behind closed doors at Namco’s small private booth at E3 the home console version of Tekken 7 was playable on the Xbox One and I got the chance to watch several matches.

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Akuma as well as one of the PC/Console exclusive stages – Abandoned Temple – were on display in the build that the developers were showing off at E3. If you’ve played Akuma in other Street Fighter titles then some of his familiar strategies also apply to Tekken 7. Akuma’s tatsumaki forward whirlwind kick is featured as one of his standard moves in T7. He also has access to a focus meter, which works similar to the one found in Street Fighter IV, and builds over time allowing him to land a slowed down but devastating blow to his opponent. In the version of Tekken 7 on display the Focus Attack meter replaced the traditional Rage Meter when Akuma was selected. Another popular strategy that Akuma players relied on at E3 was one particular move combination that had him perform an upwards low kick before transitioning into a downward punch at the ark of a jump.

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The Xbox One version of Tekken 7 is expected to include all of the additional content that is going to be found in the Tekken 7: Fated Retribution update which is due out in Japanese arcades next month.  This arcade upgrade includes 28 characters (including bosses) – returning favorites like Jin, King and Steve Fox join newcomers like the Saudi Arabian born Shaheen and the Otaku-like cat girl Lucky Chloe.  In terms of stages Fated Retribution (and presumably the console port) will include 10 stages at launch including  Artic Snowfall, Devil’s Pit, Forgotten Realm, Mishima Dojo as well as the PC/Console exclusive Abandoned Temple and Mashima Building.

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Tekken 7 is expected to be released for Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs sometime in the first quarter of 2017.


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Hands on with Agents of Mayhem | E3 2016


Posted on June 19, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

One of the things I absolutely could not miss this E3 was the new game from Volition and Deep Silver. makers of the Saints Row franchise. which I absolutely love. This new game is called Agents of Mayhem. Featuring a three character team – each with unique abilities from a team created to oppose the evil masterminds of the world. During the short presentation, we were given prior to the demo we were told to think of the playable hero’s more as rogues, your Han Solo or Dexter Morgan than a true good superhero. This really comes through in the game, as we started out by having a developer telling us that if we used out special ability it would “detonate” any pedestrians that we walked past. Ped-splosion it was called by him. He was not kidding, I activated the ability and purple lightning started emanating from me started a 3 second counter over anyone I walked near. When that timer reached 0, BOOM, no more pedestrians. They literally exploded into tiny little bits of meat all over the place. That single bit of gameplay from the demo would color my entire experience. The whole demo was just fun. Its really hard to describe fun, but imagine basically feeling like a superhero (a stated objective of the game) but one who doesn’t worry about damage to the local area of pedestrians.

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that floating thing is dual pistol girls special move, its controlled by the AI and does MASSIVE damage

 

To get into the actual game itself, you play as a team of three “agents” which you can choose from a stable of 12. I chose three of the most basic, a large man with a shotgun and a harpoon (really? a harpoon, I swear it worked just fine) a tiny girl who had two fast shooting pistols that worked on a cooldown system, and a Hollywood reality star who fast-talked through his lines spent as much time talking as shooting. Each of these team members had a unique weapon and a unique ability called their agent ability. My favorite of these abilities I can only call crotch rocket, which was on the Hollywood reality star character. He sort of stops does a pelvic thrust and it just shoots out a missile in front of you. This is basically the whole game. It is all like this and it is amazing.

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The shotgun guy is large.

Mechanics wise, each hero has a main weapon that is their primary damage, for Hollywood this was a rifle, for the smaller girl two pistols, and the the large man a shotgun, each also has a powerful melee attack which is great when things get in real trouble. The vast majority of the time I didn’t feel like I was in trouble, but there were a couple of moments when my shield did get low, and a large group of enemies was nearby so I resorted to the meele, and I must admit it felt a bit more powerful than it probably should have.

The game is going to rely heavily on building combos, and using different heroes- each with their own different roles.  Each hero has a main weapon, an ability, a sort of super move, and a meele, and it mostly feels balanced. I didn’t feel like any one  of the three I played were more powerful, more like each had its own set of abilities and strengths, some were good at AOE, some had a strong main attack weapon, and some were more balance. Each level will be generated in a  procedural manner, so you will be able to play the man levels of the open game world again and again and again while never really getting bored.

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The game is very colorfull

Squad choice is going to be important, but the developers also told us that each player will be able to play to their style, even if maybe it’s not the best strategy. What stood out the most about the demo was how much it felt like a game that was designed to be fun. Every little piece just seemed to be about having a good time. The Saints row style of dialog, the lack of respect for basically everything on the screen, it just feels good. The demo had a very arcadey carefree feel that took me back to the end of Saints Row 4 when you had max everything powers wise, or perhaps even Crackdown where you could just bounce around and destroy anything you wanted to.  It’s clear that story will be important, each of the Heroes has their own unique stories and they will all fight against the evil organization that is legion (no not the 4chan people that’s what the enemy organization is called). I am looking forward to seeing what sort of unique power-ups and upgrades each hero can get. Sadly during our short play-through there was not enough time to see the whole upgrade tree, but we did get to see a little bit and I can confirm that there are a lot of upgrades that can upgrade damage, health, shields, and other things.

Even though I only had about 20 minutes with the game, I feel like its going to be one of those games that I get lost in for days at a time just like the other games that take place in the same Saints Row universe.


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First time VR experience from a total newb featuring War Thunder VR and the HTC Vive


Posted on June 19, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

So while attending E3 this year I had the chance to check out the amazing War Thunder from from Gaijen entertainment in vivid amazing VR, with the help of and HTC Vive and the amazing  Warthog Hotas from Thrustmaster. I had never experienced VR before, having missed the whole wave of VR. Both because of price, and because of generally not liking to adopt things before they get to their full and ripe potential. (remember Windows Vista? I was day on on that you would stop early adopting too).

So this was really a cold entry in to the VR sphere for me. I sat down and put headset fully expecting to be immersed in to an amazing world of flying airplanes and scenery and other random crap that flew up to me and made me want to throw myself back like in all those cool first time VR videos.  I did not have that type of reaction at all, but I still appreciated it. Two things really prevented it from being that amazing moment for one, the first of which was partly my fault. I didnt have my glasses on when we started, making a lot of the games menus blurry and unreadable. The second issue was that I was not wearing a headset. Lack of sound really takes away from the experience of being in VR.

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That good looking man is not me, however this is exactly how the set up looked right down the razer keyboard.

Its worth mentioning that I know my way around a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle-And-Stick) from years of playing MS flight sims and a genuine interest in aviation. Which meant that going in I was already probably better prepared for this than most would have been. I found my hands quite easily rested on the stick and throttle combination that the Warthog offered, and I quickly found all of the major flight surface controls even with the headset on. Initial problems were solved easily (it feels odd to know more about flying than the developer of the game). I was able to set all of the flight control surfaces to neutral on the HOTAS and get flying with any major difficulties.

After starting a few missions and getting a good feel for the game, I really felt like VR was a huge boon for the game. Instead of looking left and right by hitting the 4 way hat on the top of joystick which is the most common way of doing so in most sims, I was able to just look up. This was pretty amazing, and I found fairly few issues with the game itself in VR beyond some of the text not being readable to start off with.  The blurriness issue was fixed when another member of the games dev team told me to put my glasses back on. Finally able to see the text in menus I felt a lot better about being able to actually see the instruments that are needed for flying (you know like the altimeter?) and got my self out there in the sky to do some flying.

Flying felt pretty good, the controls quite responsive, and although there is no one to one mapping with the Warthog, the screen did sort of reflect the changes in the sticks location. Since they aren’t mapped 1 to 1 like some other flight games are I did have some issues with the disconnect between my mind and body, and at one point the game did crash leaving me in darkness, and I opted to not have the headset on for sound since I was working in tandem with Rae and needed to hear her directions for filming and what not.

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low res textures really take away from the VR aspect of the game

War Thunder is a huge game, with a ton of planes that recently passed 100 use able vehicles, so I only got to see a tiny tiny slice of it, but the missions that I did get to see looked fantastic, and I only had a few small problems with the Vive itself. I was often able to see the swirls of the lenses in the vive, which sort of threw me out of feeling like I was there in the plane, and at a few spot the whole thing crashed leaving me in a disconcerting darkness. Other than that the headset fit my rather large head quite well, and I had no issues with fit or comfort.

Over all I was fairly impressed with my first time in VR. Head tracking is almost flawless, and since this was a full production Vive unit it also came with the two small sensors which are placed on walls around the pc in use to give you mostly flawless head tracking and the ability to stand up and sit down or move around as you want to. This ability to move is not very useful when you are in a small single seat airplane, so again I really felt like maybe this wasn’t the best first VR experience for me. This had very little to do with War Thunder and very much to do with the fact that it just isnt the best use of VR out there. Even so it was still great fun, and if you are a flying simulator enthusiast I recommend taking a look at this set up.


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Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild Live Experience Proves Critics Were Wrong


Posted on June 18, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Critics of Nintendo’s E3 2016 strategy wondered just how the company could have a strong showing with just one game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild playable at their booth. Now that the dust has settled it is quite clear that the big N made the right call in putting all of the cucco eggs in one basket and trusting in the Hero of Time.

Not only did Nintendo bring one of the most refreshing and innovative Zelda titles to date to one of gaming’s biggest conventions (our impressions will be going live later this week) but they also brought a ‘live experience’ that existed opposite the traditional rows upon rows of demo stations that E3 is known for.

Nintendo's E3 Treehouse Livestream Was Just Outside the Live Experience Booth

Nintendo’s E3 Treehouse Livestream Was Just Outside the Live Experience Booth

This real world playground of Zelda: Breath of the Wild delights mimics several key elements new to the game.  Upon entering visitors are greeted by a large statue of Link aiming his arrow towards one of the game’s new tentacled enemies. This particular statue became a popular photo spot for media, fans, developers and other attendees. During my time inside the Breath of the Wild E3 experiencece it was hard to get a shot of the statue without someone beside the it posing for a selfie with Link.

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This Statue Was So Possible It Was Almost Impossible To Get A Shot Where Someone WASN’T Taking a Selfie With Link.

Opposite the large monster / Link statue was a replica of one of the game’s new feature – a goblin stronghold. In the game Link can take these over by completing challenges, thus unlocking new abilities or hidden treasures. Breath of the Wild‘s live experience was watched over by one of these goblin creatures atop the stronghold. Adjacent to the stronghold was a large cooking pot, which contained multiple items that bob-up and down thanks to mechanical motors. This simulates a similar animation that plays when Link uses the new cooking crafting system introduced in Breath of the Wild.

A Goblin Keeps A Loook Out In Nintendo's Live Experience

A Goblin Keeps A Loook Out In Nintendo’s Live Experience

One of the far corners of the live experience mimics the iconic look of Temple of Time but this particular version of the Temple of Time is different than any we’ve seen before. Giant columns rise up  from the ground with vines growing all around them. Large doors complete the new aesthetic, filling in the space between the pillars.

The Temple of Time

The Temple of Time

As a Nintendo PR Rep took me on a tour of this elaborate live experience for the new Legend of Zelda she informed me that all of the objects in the booth are too scale, exactly as Link would see them in his world. That not only means that visitors to the live experience would see recreations of objects & monsters that populate Hyrule in Breath of the Wild but more importantly see them exactly as Link will in the game, right down to the proportions. To top it all off Nintendo had fans blowing a gentle wind through the trees and carrying the smell of forest throughout the booth.

A Chest With Glowing Eyes!

A Chest With Glowing Eyes!

Nintendo promised to transport attendees to Hyrule with their presentation at this year’s E3 and they succeeded like never before. If you thought that ultra cool Twilight Princess booth from 2006 was amazing and immersive – you can’t possibly imagine the feeling of seeing objects through Link’s eyes, feeling the wind on your skin and smelling the faint scent of the trees with every breath.  You can bring a single game to E3 and impress the socks off of everyone and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild live experience booth has set the standard for an immersive convention experience.

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A Wide Shot of Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild E3 2016 Experience

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be released in 2017 for Nintendo Wii U and the unannounced Nintendo NX.


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Mafia III is looking very strong | E3 Preview


Posted on June 17, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

E3 is about half hands on demos, and half theater’s showing hands off demos, so I wasn’t surprised that this year 2K brought their much anticipated Mafia III game to the convention, with a huge booth, complete with a french quarter and a live band and free beer. Unfortunately (at least for us) they did not bring a playable Mafia III demo. Instead they showed about 30 minutes of game play in a private theater, which all thought it wasn’t live was directly captured from in game.

The footage started off with a quick explanation of what was going on in the Mafia III world, we are going to play Lincolin Clay, a man on a mission to avenge his mob which was betrayed and killed by the local Italian mob. Now hes now alone in this quest got three lieutenants to help him out and he’s going on the war path.Your three capo who will help you to rebuild are: Cassandra, who is the  leader of  a local Hatian gang, Thomas Burke -A man the Italian mob betrayed who now hates them with a passion and wants to get revenge., and  Vito Scaletta – a former mob boss now turned against his former colleagues. These three underboss or capo will help you take back your city from the Italian mob who betrayed you. These capo will be responsible for managing your districts which you can take over saints row style, and will give you more money or influence or bonuses based on who manages them.  With these three capo you will set out to rebuild the criminal empire that was taken from you.

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Tommy guns are confirmed in game! Lets sweet some streets!

Mafia III is set in a representation of NewOrleans in 1968 amidst a time period when the south was none too kind to people of Mr. Clays persuasion. The city is a central character in the game and 2K showed us a few of the districts, and said that in the final game theree will be 10. The mission in the demo video took place in the famous french quarter then ended out in the Bayou, so clearly missions will span the districts.  Hayden Blackman, who is the creative head for the game, talked about how the city is one of the games main characters, and emphasized how each of the districts has its own look and feel. The demo showed off a short driving segment so travel seems to mostly be car based between the maps massive districts. 

The demo showed quite a few neat game mechanics, I was most reminded of Saint’s Row 3, since there are districts you can conquer. The mission that was demoed showed you taking down one of the districts bosses by first doing a series of small tasks to starve the district boss of his money, each act of killing, or shaking down, or seizing drugs, made a little counter in the left corner increment down untill you took away all of the bosses income, and he had to come out of hiding in a special sort of event.  Specifically for this demo we were taking back the famous French Quarter from its current controller Lou, who is the brother of the head of the Italian mob in the area. We did a series of tasks that eroded Lou’s control of the French Quarter which then triggered an event at which we were to kill Lou himself.

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Meele combat seemed to be secondary to guns, but it was there in the trailer.

The event took place on a river boat, and was a good show of different mechanics, the person doing the demo used all manner of weapons, in combination with stealth to take down a huge force of enemies and get to the target.  I watched as the demo cycled through stealth kills, brutal weapon finishers, and standard shooting kills all in the name of getting to the underboss who you were supposed to be killing. Health seemed to be of the regenerating type as after we took damage, we just ducked up to cover to wait it out.  Prior to each of the shown mission segments we were given a bit of background, and the game world really feels fleshed out and complete even just based on the limited slices that we saw of it.  Story I think will be the main driver of this game, even though it is advertised as open world, it seems to not have the eternal open world problem of not being able to fit the story in to the world very well.

After we killed uncle Lou, control of the French Quarter was given over to our organization, and we got a small look in to how managing the cities districts will work . We sat down with our three under bosses and each told us why they should be in charge of the newly obtained district. In the demo that was shown we had a rocky relationship with Burt who we had I guess left out of previous deals, and again we chose not to let him manage this district. This was the last straw for B, and our demo closed out with Lincoln having to go to Burts home base and kill him, demonstrating that there is a chance that your three under-bosses could become two or even one if you really fuck up.

Over all despite this just being a theater demo my interest was peaked, the game looked great, no question about that, since I wasn’t able to play it I can’t tell you how it handled but the shooting looked smooth enough, cover seemed to be needed, and it seemed like wood and other “soft” objects could be penetrated by bullets.  Mafia 3 releases October 7th

 


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E3 2016: Lucid Sound Heaphones Ears-On


Posted on June 16, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Lucid is hoping to change the landscape of affordable gaming focused headsets that were the focus of the companies’ E3 2016 offerings. Consisting of the readily available LS30 headphones and the upcoming LS40 & LS50 headsets, LiquidSound is poised to offer a range of headsets whose features rival their competition. Don’t count out LiquidSound just yet because I’ve been using a pair of LS30s for all of the video editing that I’ve done during the convention. Read on to find out why you should give these up & coming headphones a listen before choosing your next gaming headset.

The LS40 is compatible with all of the major consoles including the PS4, Xbox One and Xbox 360 as well as any devices that is compatible with a standard 3.55MM jack, so if you’re like me and you can’t live with your iphone then the LS40 might be your new best-friend. In the box owners will find a standard 3.55MM cable, a 3.5MM to 2.5MM cable, a wireless dongle and a USB charging cable. That’s right, using their own proprietary 2.4GHZ wireless standard owners can plug-in the included USB dongle to their console for wire free quality sound. Just make sure to charge your headset before you use it because the hardware inside of the Liquid Sound LS40 requires power from an internal battery.

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I’ve used the LS30s for the entirety of my E3 experience as well as casual relaxing after the convention. While doing the hour long demo for Nintendo’s stunning The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild through the Wii-U Gamepad’s built in headphone jack. The LS30’s noise cancelling & cushioning pleather cover drowned out the sound of 100s of others also playing the game quite well and allowed me to become fully immersed in the land of Hyrule for the entire demonstration.

You can find out more information about these headphones at their official site. Please be on the lookout for our full review in the coming weeks once we’ve had a chance to try the headset in a full environment.


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E3: Hands-On With Sniper Elite 4


Posted on June 16, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

I had the chance to hook up with Rebellion and to try out their newest entry in to the long running Sniper Elite series. Sniper Elite 4 will be releasing  Feb 14th 2017, but Brokenjoysticks was part of a select few who were able to try the game in its alpha state today. The demo was about 30 minutes long and featured a wide open Italian country side setting, with a primary mission being to blow up a viaduct by placing a satchel charge and then shooting it to blow it up.

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see the beautiful Italian country side through the scope of your rifle.

Loading in to the game the first thing I noticed was we were not in Germany anymore. For anyone else that has played Sniper Elite game, the usual setting is a blown out western front city, with bomb craters and grey mats all over the place. Italy by contrast is vibrant and green. The developer who was assisting us on the demo mentioned that the was in Italy in 1943 and although it was not an “open world” but it is an open philosophy for the game. The maps are quite large described as being at least 100 square meters, with no real boundaries and plenty of secondary objectives to explore.

Since we only had 30 minutes I mostly concentrated on the main objective of the game which was to blow up that bridge. Players familiar with the series will be happy to hear that combat is still very sniper rifle centric, targets are marked with binoculars, and depending on the type of target an icon will appear over their heads and allow you track them as they move across the map.  Since I have already played the Sniper Elite line, the first thing I did was drop prone and use my binoculars to scan the area around me for enemies. I found quite a few and in particular one sniper. Just like pervious sniper elite games, these snipers have a rage that’s so long it actually goes out of your radar range (increased in this game to 70m) so its very important to mark and hit these guys as early as you can to avoid any problems that might come from them spotting you later on.

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Xray Kills now work with melee as well as longer shots

I was playing on a PS4 controller which is much different than my normal Xbox one controller so I took some time to get used to the controls, most of the things from the previous series are here, you have to carefully monitor heart rate, which allows you to use slow time and focus so that you can easily hit your targets. Equipment is still very important, with health packs, grenades, stones for distractions and a variety of traps making an appearance.

I was playing with the intention of being stealthy, but just like previous titles, occasionally I just had to whip out my Thompson and mow down a few enemies. The developers promised that there were over 100 enemies on the large map we were playing on, I only managed to kill 30, but in a 25 minute demo I think that’s pretty good. I also was the only one of our testing group (and only the 5th of E3!, to complete the level in the allowed 30 minute time slot.) Stealth is still very important, and its still very important to crouch and use cover.

From the moment I started the game, I painted my objective, and the enemies near it, and they stayed as icons on the screen guiding me over to my eventual victory. As with all of the other Sniper Elite games, bullet drop is in the game, and I assume that just like other games you will be able to select a mode with out the ever present in this demo red diamond that tells you where the bullet will hit. In Sniper Elite 3 you were able to play a mode with out the assist, and I am eager to see if this game also features it.  Also returning is searching bodies, I was surprised to find that one of the bodies had on it a duty roster. This roster highlighted several enemies I hadn’t spotted through the binoculars, making my journey a bit easier.

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There is an emphasis on being able to do a sort of parkour in this game, you can mantle, climb, and move about quite easily.

Many items are returning favorites, traps and the like are back in game. Flare gun, trip mines, S Mine, Stick Grenade, TNT, and the Silenced Pistol all make returns. Players of course can also strip off any items or weapons the find on bodies around the map.  

Though it was still subject to change there was also a progression system in place as I played that gave me ribbons and little appointments  when i did something that took more effort or work than a simple kill shot. Cover is classed in to separate systems, with wood being able to be penetrated and rock and other harder surfaces impermeable.

enemy AI seems to have been improved considerably, at one point I was forced to play a sort of ring around the rosie with an enemy who was dodging me around the back of a train, I ended up laying a mine down to kill him, and just running off to the next objective.

The standard alert system is back an arrow will appear when there is danger, yellow for when its getting close, and red for when you are noticed. I was noticed twice during the demo, and both times found it fairly easy to slip away from the people whom had noticed me with just a few minutes of clever hiding and shooting.

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Italy is a beautiful shooting gallery.

Fan favorite X-Ray shots return, with a serious vengeance, now everything from melee kills to the sickest sniper shots will trigger the signature mode which shows exploding bone, organs and flesh. I really enjoyed the feeling of nailing that one single shot that got me away from being noticed, or using a well placed burst from the Thompson to take down an enemy.

I Was able to finish the provided demo level, and according to the developer who was assisting with the demo that was better than most. My time was bout 25 minutes, but I did manage not to die at all. Though i did not do it, the game offers a variety of weapons to try, I stuck with the old reliable Springfield, knowing what it was capable of and how it could do damage. But, if you want to be experimental, you can always pick up weapons off of dead bodies and try then out instead of your trusty Springfield and Thompson.

Overall I really enjoyed the demo, I am by no means a skilled player of games such as this, but I found myself able to adapt fairly easily, I really liked the X-Ray feature, as well as what appeared to be very much  improved AI in the enemies. I can not wait for the arrival of this game on Valentines day of this year.

 


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Monster Hunter Generations demo coming June 30th


Posted on June 15, 2016 by Jason Nason

Today Capcom announced a few new tidbits for the upcoming action RPG Monster Hunter Generations. First and foremost a demo will be making its way to 3DS systems prior to the July 15th launch date.

Two weeks earlier a downloadable demo of Monster Hunter Generations, which features three monsters of varying difficulty levels for both new and experienced players, will be released. The demo will come with options for local and online multiplayer (1-4 players).

Players are encouraged to join up with others and start with the newly introduced Great Maccao, then attempt to face the beguiling new owl-like monster Malfestio, all before truly testing their mettle against the fan-favorite Nargacuga. The demo will be available for all gamers to download on the Nintendo eShop on June 30th.

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Several Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness Videos Land During E3


Posted on June 15, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix has released several new trailers, b-roll footage and screenshots prior to the release of Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness on PS3 and PlayStation 4. With these new videos you can get to know Relia, one of the characters in the game as well as meet the actors behind the voice talent that bring the characters to life.

Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness is the fifth entry in the long running RPG franchise that has been around since the days of the original PlayStation back into the 90s. Utilizing a real time battle system players are able to take control of 1 of 7 characters in combat seamlessly with a new system that allows Square to have the game seamlessly transition between gameplay and cinematic cut-scenes. Story wise the main protagonist comes from an ‘under developed’ planet with another species that has highly advanced technology.

The game will be out on June 28th in North America and was released on March 31st in Japan.


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Astro annoucnes new flagship A-50 wireless headset


Posted on June 15, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Today I had the chance to see the all new Astro A-50 wireless headset. Astro just announced this headset, which is compatible with the Xbox, PS4, and PC. Many Astro fans no doubt long for the days when the A40 was the top of the world of headsets. Astro hopes to return to these glory days with the new A50 wireless gaming headset.

I got a a chance to see the product which will be out in August of this year before it was available to the general public at Astros booth at E3. Some of the cooler features that I was told about were that the wireless base station will pair with the xbox or Play Station with out you doing anything, just plug and play. You can swap from PC to what ever console you want with the flip of a switch, so you’ll never end up re-pairing your new wireless headset.

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Astro has stuck with their classic look, with strong lines and those two metal tubes on each side. A lot of aircraft grade aluminum has been put in to this build to keep the strength of the metal, and not make the headset too heavy. Most of the pieces that are made of plastic are replaceable, and Astro will again be selling a “mod kit” that allows you change out the ear cups and a few other things, but for quite a premium cost.

Along with the new headset there is a new base station, with a lot more visual feedback than previous units. You can see when you have the Dolby sound on, you can see how much battery is left, and if you are using PC or Console inputs. Astro is claiming 15 hours of battery life, and says it will take about 5 hours to charge the on board battery. To save battery life the headset features an accelerometer which if you set the headset down will turn the headset off. The headset rests in the base station with gold contacts and magnetic attachment points while it charges. Astro says the expect the headset to last between 3 and 4 years of average work.

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Astro have move the vast majority of the controls for the headset to the the headset it self. The ear cups now have controls for volume, source, mute, and other things instead of using a mixamp like older style ones do. The downside of this is that you no longer get to remove the ear plates, so no more custom printed ear plates for the A-50 line.

Astro has moved all of the EQ settings and sound processing off of your machine and in to the base station, and they claim that their software does not use any CPU cycles to encode the 7.1 simulated audio. It is important to note that the 7.1 audio us simulated only, and not provided by 7 drivers, but instead by 2 much larger 40mm drivers. which they claim can handle up to 48khz 16bit audio streams wirelessly.

I hope to see a lot more on this headset as it gets closer to market, and to get the chance to review it, hopefully for 299$ it will live up to the legacy of Astros last generation of great Wireless headsets.


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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at E3


Posted on June 15, 2016 by Jason Nason

Nintendo spent much of Tuesday spotlighting and showing off The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it looks amazing.

In the little that was previously revealed about the game, one of the things that was touted was the amount of open world there would be in the game. And in what was shown so far at E3 that is an understatement. The world is immense, and only a small fraction of that world was shown off today.

I won’t go into too much detail with all of that though. You can read the details directly from Nintendo’s release below.

But also announced was three brand new ammibo, which will be released in 2017. These will presumably be released day and date with the game.

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Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice story detailed


Posted on June 14, 2016 by Jason Nason

Capcom revealed some new information about upcoming Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice for the Nintendo 3DS.

The game is being presented in demo form at E3, with the new demo introducing bright-eyed monk-in-training and self-styled tour guide Ahlbi Ur’gaid, who has been accused of stealing the Kingdom of Khura’in’s national treasure, “The Founder’s Orb,” and murdering its guard, Paht Rohl. Under the kingdom’s legal system, if the defendant is proven guilty, so is the representing attorney. This has led to the absence of lawyers for many years, but visiting attorney Phoenix Wright steps in to defend Ahlbi against the returning and smugger-than-ever prosecutor Gaspen Payne.

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