Tag Archive

Major Quake Champions Patch Makes Fundamental Changes To Loot System, Adds Bots

Posted on June 8, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Sabre Interactive and Bethesda released a brand new patch for Quake Champions yesterday that adds many features that the community have been asking for since the Open Beta last summer. Bots, further Champion adjustments and a fundamental redesign of how the tribolt weapon works. Despite all of the positive additions the one thing that’s been widely panned by the QC community is how skins are crafted and what “shards” can be spent on. 

Positive: Bots Now Exist But Not Like You Think 

Veterans of previous Quake games have always had offline bots as a fallback option for when a stable internet connection isn’t available or to spend countless hours practicing against in order to hone those twitchy fragging reflexes. QC’s developers have spent a lot of time working on the fundamentals of QC and while bots have always topped the list of requested features, only now nearly 12 months after the Open Beta are we seeing playable progress on them. 

For those hoping for offline bots to practice against will be disappointed that not only is Quake Champions still not playable without a connection to the central server but the first stage of QC bots cannot be used in custom games or parties. 

On the positive side, Quake Champion’s bots are pretty challenging. You can face off against one of them in the brand-new tutorial. Bots wil also be used fillout the roster of games where another player disconnected or there isn’t a high enough population to fill out a team roster. Bethesda has promised that adding bots to Custom Games with selectable difficulty levels will come in a future patch. 

Here’s Bethesda’s official description of bots:

BOTS GALORE – Want to hone your skill? Did some quitter bail from a game mid-match, leaving your TDM crew a bit short? Well, now Bots are here to save you. That’s right, the same kind of AI that will soon reach singularity and grow into our apocalyptic overlords now powers (optional) enemies in-game! Featuring a scalable skill level to help players practice and improve in training mode, Bots will also automagically fill slots in live games where needed. This small, first phase of the impending robo-pocalypse – in Quake form – supports Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Instagib modes. More exciting updates on our road to Matrix-style Armageddon are scheduled to come soon!

Positive: Champion Stats Are Now Aligned 

Individual champion statistics are no more! Instead all of the available characters are divided into Light, Medium and Heavy and the heroes within these categories will share the same armor, health and speed statistics. 

Here’s the rundown: 

Balance Changes: In addition to the more on-the-surface improvements, Quake Champions is receiving some under-the-hood tweaks to improve the overall balance of the game. These changes include alterations to movement speed, health and armor stacks for Light, Medium and Heavy Champions as well as changes to certain weapon statistics and specific Champions abilities. 

Negative: Skins Can No Longer Be Crafted, Shards Are Only Usable For Loot boxes 

Oh dear… so this change is not “controversial”, it’s downright removing player’s ability to choose what kind of rewards that they want to work towards. Prior to yesterday’s update duplicates found within Backpacks or Chests (loot boxes) would reward players with “shards”. Saving up between 300 – 600 shards players could purchase pieces of a given skin set. While very grindy and still reliant on RNG loot boxes – which are predatory – did provide players with some agency on the type of things they could unlock through play. 

Under the newer system duplicates no longer provide shards at all and individual pieces cannot be crafted at all as well. Want that really cool Scalebearer skin or want to relive Quake III with the classic machinegun skin? Better hope it drops from a chest which you can only get with real money or by leveling up after a couple of hours. It’s all RNG.

Are you enjoying this latest Quake Champions patch? I’d love to hear thoughts on this latest update to Bethesda’s soon to be free-to-play online shooter in the comments. 

 

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Sims 4 Seasons Falls In To Place This Summer

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

The world of The Sims 4 is about to get a lot more dynamic with the announcement of The Sims 4: Seasons, due out on June 22nd. 

The Sims 4: Seasons will add the four seasons – Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter to Electronic Art’s latest “people simulator” complete with new features like Holidays and even a count-down clock that will allow your sims to countdown until the next big celebration. Outfits available to sims will also change depending on the season – in the Winter they’ll bundle up tight in layers upon layers while in the Spring they might put on a yellow rain jacket and rubber boots. Players will also be able to create their own holidays in addition to the existing Winterfest (Christmas), Harvestfest (Halloween), Love Day (Valentine’s Day)/ 

Also included in The Sims 4: Seasons is a brand new career path – The Gardener. By taking on the Gardening career path sims will be able to analyze different types of plants, make groundbreaking discoveries, deliver flower arrangements around town and curate their own special arrangements as well. 

Speaking about the new dynamic weather system, Grant Rodiek, a producer on The Sims 4 had this to say:

“With a vast variety of weather elements that empower the ways players can play with life, The Sims 4 Seasons will allow players to use their Sims to tell relatable stories like those they’ve experienced in real life. The ever-changing weather will transform worlds in unique ways by impacting gameplay choices, Sim’s relationships, and Sim’s daily life, while also delivering new challenges,” 

Included below are 3 screenshots provided by EA as well as the official trailer. According to the The Sims 4 website, Seasons has an MSRP of $49.99 CDN. 

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Final Fantasy XIV Patch 4.3 Details Further Unveiled During Letter From The Producer Live

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

FFXIV’s next big update Patch 4.3: Under the Moonlight will be delivered to players on May 22nd it has been revealed during the latest entry in the Letter From The Producer Live live-streams. During the show with Producer / Director Naoki Yoshida, a special guest joined the show in the last half – none other than the creator of Italic himself – Yasumi Matsuno, to further discuss the second tier of the Return to Ivalice raid series.

The Main Scenario Continues
As with every major patch released for Final Fantasy XIV, the Main Scenario revolving around the player character and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn continues for yet another instalment full of twists and turns. Patch 4.3 will see the storyline regarding the far eastern land of Doma come to a dramatic conclusion as the newly installed leader of Doma, Hien, grapples with a tense prisoner exchange with the Gatlean Empire. Can we trust the Empire’s intentions at face value? For a faction that has invaded Eorzea and caused a devastating calamity five years ago, there isn’t much reason to trust them.

Job Adjustments
Several jobs will receive adjustments as part of Patch 4.3, it was noted that the Tank role of Dark Knight could be due for a complete redesign but we shouldn’t expect it during this patch series – as this redesign would take at least six months of development time. Dark Knight, Monk, Astrologian, Black Mage, Samurai and Scholar will all receive adjustments with this patch.

• Samurai – Potency increases, Basic combo potency to be increased, possibility of empty control (remove empty like Machinist / Bard?) to be included with these adjustments.
• Dark Knight – Potency increase across the board, animation cool downs to be reduced, defence buffs.
• Astrologian – Cast times for Attack Spells reduced across the board, Lightspeed MP cost of affected spell reduced from 50% to 25%, Danage reduction effect currently on this spell to be removed.
• Scholar – misc Pet adjustments.
• Monk – Skills that allow Monks to reduce the amount of Emity they generate will be introduced.
• Ninja – Unspecified adjustments for use with the Deep Dungeon Heaven on High.

New Deep Dungeon: Heaven on High

Remember the Jenga tower in the Ruby Sea that the camera focuses on for a long dramatic pause before never being mentioned again? Players were correct in their assertion that this will be the new Deep Dungeon – similar to Palace of the Dead – with a focus on quick experience gain and it’s own levelling system. Rather than contain 200 floors of challenging MOBS, Heaven on High will feature 100 floors with the really hard content beginning on floor 31. It was also mentioned that a “grand summing” system will become available in Heaven on High, but what this actually entails is currently unknown.

Forbidden Land of Eureka: Pagos (To be introduced several weeks later in Patch 4.36)

Our last expedition to the Forbidden Land of Eureka seems like it has been a success with the announcement of the commencement of the Pagos expedition expected to be released sometime in June. This snowy region of the misplaced island of Val could very well focus on the Blizzard aspected aether that players use to defeat some of the Notorious Monsters across Val. Once players locked down the pattern of knowing the NM spawn times, moving as a cohesive “train” from Monster to Monster and power-levelling. The obvious problem with this system was that lower level characters could contribute to the battle against the stronger NMs like Pazuzu. Here’s hoping the vague promise of ‘new gameplay elements’ can make our time in Pagos engaging and entertaining.

Final Fantasy XIV Under The Moonlight will be released next Tuesday, May 22nd. Alongside everything outlined above it also brings a brand new 24-person raise, a new Extreme Trial, a mysterious unannounced Story related trial (it’s Zenos.. come it has to be) and the Ultima Weapon’s Refrain (Ultimate) – the next segment of the ultra-hard content for the top % of players. For further coverage check out my post from last month.

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Star Wars Episode 1: Racer Is Back, In GOG Form

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Almost 20 years after its release, Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is back in the news thanks to a collaboration between Lucasfilm, Disney and GOG.com.

GOG brought the 1999 original game into the shop and fine tuned a few things to make sure that it plays nice on more modern operating systems and chipsets.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the features of Episode 1: Racer provdied by GOG’s game page:

  • Hang on tight – with afterburners on, Podracers max out at a simulated 600 mph!
  • Relive all the thrill and excitement of the Podracer sequence from STAR WARS™: Episode I.
  • Race in furious competition against 21+ opponents.
  • Take on over 21 tracks on 8 unique worlds!
  • Avoid hazards such as methane lakes, meteor showers and Tusken Raiders.
  • Spectacular 3D environments.
  • Vehicle sound effects and epic soundtrack taken directly from Episode I.

Originally released in April 1999, Star Wars Episode 1: Racer was released on the Nintendo 64, SEGA Dreamcast and Windows PC. The original PC Port had LAN multiplayer support but this no longer works due to the depreciation of the IPX protocol across multiple Windows releases since 99. On Nintendo 64 Episode 1 Racer lacked a number of pre-rendered cutscenes seen in the other two releases but did make us of the N64 Expansion pass for higher resolution output and textures.

[Source]

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Free Elder Scrolls Online Trial Returns This Weekend

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Players in the online iteration of Tamriel have been able to enjoy free access to all of the bonuses of the usually subscription only Elder Scrolls Online plus service. For existing subscribers this means free “Crown Crates” which provide an RNG chance at highly sought after loot box only mounts. We’ve written in the past how paid for RNG chests can be addicting and recently were ruled analogous to gambling in the European Union.

Benefits of the ESO+ trial that runs from now until Monday the 30th of April includes:

  • 10% increase to all experience earned.
  • An unlimited storage crafting bag.
  • Double the placement space for furnishings and collectibles in housing / private rooms.
  • Doubling of your character’s personal inventory and bank space.

ESO plus also includes access to the following DLC packs while a subscription is active:

  • Imperial City
  • Orsinium
  • Thieves Guild
  • Dark Brotherhood
  • Shadow of the Hist
  • Horns of the Reach
  • Clockwork City
  • Dragon Bones

To activate the ESO+ trial simply head on over to the in-game crown store once logged in and claim the ESO+ trial item to begin.

I personally always look forward to these free trial periods as I let my subscription lapse around November of last year and have found little reason to re-up. Whenever the trial comes around I’ll run as many dungeons and Cyrodil Alliance Wars as I can over the weekend to stuff as many resources into the crafting bag as I can. For someone who plays a merchant ad likes to collect gold to buy new housing items – the ESO+ trial is a good time sink.

[Source]

 

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Yoku’s Island Express dated for May 29th

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Jason Nason

Villa Gorilla has a delightful looking pinball platform adventure, Yoku’s Island Express, which will be launching on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC on the May 29th.

Yoku the dung beetle has arrived on Mokumana Island to take over the role of postmaster and he’s ready for the easy life, soaking up the sun and delivering parcels on a tropical paradise!

However, an ancient island deity is trapped in a restless sleep – and it’s all down to Yoku to traverse the island using a unique blend of pinball mechanics, platforming and open world exploration, in an amazing adventure to help those in need!

In an interesting mechanic, you will flip and bump the pint-sized protagonist around the stunning hand-painted island on your quest to rebuild the post-office and wake an old god from its slumber.

The game mechanics somewhat reminds me of the way Kirby’s Canvas Curse for the Nintendo DS had gamers controlling Kirby by manipulating the environment by drawing on the screen.

Yoku’s Island Express is rolling on to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC on the May 29th and will be priced at $19.99 USD.

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Tennis World Tour Latest Trailer Reveals First Career Mode Details & Gameplay

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Jason Nason

Publishers Maximum Games and Bigben along with developer Breakpoint revealed the first details of Tennis World Tour’s career mode today in an extensive new trailer for the title, which launches May 22nd on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

In addition to fast-paced realistic tennis gameplay, Tennis World Tour’s career mode puts you in control of your career trajectory. Your main goal is to become the best in the entire world, but to do that you’ll have to learn to manage both your schedule and your form. Take part in an exhibition match or a tournament, train or rest — your choices are crucial and will have an impact on your career.

If you string multiple matches together, or travel relentlessly around the world, fatigue will sneak up on you, your performance will diminish, and you risk hurting yourself.

The most strategic players will strike the right balance, win tournaments, and win credits to hire staff, buy equipment and pay the entry fees to enter more prestigious tournaments. Once you’ve reached the top, you’ll have to fight to stay there by accomplishing specific objectives: win the four coveted Grand Slams, go undefeated for a season… there are numerous challenges open to you. Tennis World Tour’s career mode is a unique and complete mode that will let you experience a career befitting a professional tennis player.

With realistic technical play developed in part with talent behind the Top Spin series, positioning and shot power are as important in Tennis World Tour as they are on a real court. Tennis World Tour features more than 30 real-life professional athletes, including Roger Federer, who shares the game’s U.S. packshot with Americans Madison Keys and John Isner.

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Community Developed Halo Online Eldewrito 0.6 Confirmed To Release This Friday

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Microsoft has long since abandoned their attempts to bring Halo 3’s multiplayer experience to PC via the Russian only free to play title Halo Online. Although almost two years have passed since the game’s official closure in August of 2016, a dedicated group of community developers have kept the game going with semi-regular updates thanks to a leaked Russian build of the Halo Online client.

Here are just some of the improvements and highlights that the Eldewrito team is promising for the upcoming 0.6 release:

  • The original Halo experience brought to PC (for free).
  • Dual wielding and deployable equipment implemented (from Halo 3).
  • Improvements to the Forge Mode which include new material types, new tools and new items.
  • Advanced map control: Weather, skyboxes and lighting.
  • Inclusion of an auto-updater to keep everyone on the same version. (not in the trailer but confirmed on the game’s reddit.)

I’ve had a lot of fun with Halo Online in the past couple of years and have blogged about it a handful of times. Version 0.6 is a longtime coming and brings a lot of requested features that fans have been hoping for – dual wielding and workable equipment. It is even more impressive when you consider that these passionate community devs don’t have access to the game’s source code or development tools. All of these improvements and features have been fixed or implemented with only an outdated leaked build of the client.

Once the full patch notes and download are made available on April 20th I’ll be sure to make another post.

[Source]

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FFXIV 4.3 Will Conclude Doma Storyline, Introduce Second Ivalice and Mobile Companion App

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

The next major update to Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood will come out in late May Producer / Director Naoki Yoshida confirmed during a regularly held community live stream known as Letter From The Producer LIVE. Patch 4.3 brings a number of brand new features to the game – the conclusion of the Doma main story questline,  a brand new raid, a new “deep dungeon” leveling experience and so much more!

In terms of in-game content adventurers will be able to take part in the second of the Ivalice themed 24 person raids, The Ridorana Lighthouse. Smaller parties will be able to take on a brand new secret trial (Zeno extreme as rumored by players? The next of the Four Lords series perhaps?) as well as journey through a brand new dungeon called the “Swallow’s Compass”. Crafters and Gatherers who have jobs at least level 60 can start to befriend the fish-like Namazu.

Players who have completed the Stormblood MSQ might remember a Jinga-like structure that received prominent placement in a cut-scene during the Ruby Seas ark. Well it turns out that the structure is actually called “Heaven On High” – similar to Heavensward’s “Palace of the Dead” – a self contained leveling experience where adventurers start at level 1 and rapidly progress through their profession’s abilities. After completing a set number of floors in “Heaven On High” it is expected that players will receive at least 1/4th of a level out of the tower upon completing 10 floors. Unlike Palace of the Dead, the total number of floors is only 100 floors vs the 200 of Palace of the dead. In HoH floors 30+ will be challenging content.

Here is a breakdown of all of the in-game content coming in FFXIV 4.3 – some of these descriptions are obviously just little tidbits:

  • New Main Scenario Quests – The story of Stormblood continues.
  • New Alliance Raid – The Ridorana Lighthouse.
  • New Trial
  • New Dungeon – The Swallow’s Compass.
  • New Beast Tribe Quests – The Namazu.
  • New Sidequests – The Four Lords, Doman Reconstruction and Further Hildibrand Adventures.
  • New Deep Dungeon – 100-Floor Heaven-on-High.
  • The Forbidden Land, Eureka Expansion – Pagos Expedition.
  • New Ultimate Difficulty Raid – Ultima Weapon.
  • Updates to jobs, PvP, glamour system, housing, performance actions, new more powerful gear and more.

Coming at some point later will be an official FFXIV Companion App that will enable all users to chat with friends as well as message the Free Company chat channel.  Organizing inventory, purchasing and placing items for sale on the in-game market boards will also be supported.  A paid for premium plan allows subscribers to double their chocobo Saddle Bag storage, sell up to 2 items per day using Kuppo Nuts (vs 1 with the free plans) and have an extra retainer. We don’t have an official price for the premium tier just yet.

Here’s a breakdown of the companion app that Square Enix provided:

ll players that download the app will be able to enjoy benefits such as the following:

  • Chat with friends and free company members
  • Organize events with the scheduler
  • Organize inventory and armoury chest
  • Peruse the Market Board
  • Put items up for sale and purchase items
  • Register an additional favored destination Aetheryte

An optional, Premium Plan is also available, which unlocks the following features for a monthly fee:

  • Organize Saddlebags and Retainer Inventories
  • Saddlebag capacity is doubled
  • One additional Retainer can be employed

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With The Next Destiny 2 Expansion Bungie Must Win Back Player Trust

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

We’re now six months post launch for Destiny 2 and it is quite clear that the game doesn’t have the same staying power that the original possessed. With Curse of Osiris firmly in the rearview mirror and the next expansion, Warmind, on the horizon – Bungie has to make good on their previous promises of listening to player feedback if they hope to keep guardians engaged beyond the initial content offering.

Destiny 2’s “Go Fast” update is also now behind us and while player feedback on the crucible changes -specifically the 6 Vs. 6 rumble mode in crucible has been strong –  Bungie will have to really deliver future updates that are also in line with what the community wants if their goal is to retain hardcore players.

In the opposite direction – if the developers chose to implement a crafting material grind for end game weapons, like in D1, then they’re going to have to easily explain to more casual players how they can still stay relevant without in terms of gear level without investing hundreds of hours. “Casual vs Hardcore” gear balance isn’t something that Destiny 2 has particularly excelled at.

Here is a point by point breakdown of everything that Bungie has promised on their latest developer roadmap:

May 6th Update (Warmind Launch)

  • Seasonal Crucible Rankings
  • Private Match Support
  • Vault Space Increase
  • Multi-Emote
  • Exotic Weapon Masterwork
  • Seasonal Vender Progression
  • Exotic Weapon Sandbox Changes
  • Heroic Strike Modifiers
  • Nightfall Challenge Cards

Summer Update

  • New Seasonal Event
  • Faction Rally Improvements
  • PC Clan Chat
  • Bounties
  • Exotic Armor Sandbox Changes

September Release

  • Gear Collections
  • Weapon Slot Changes
  • Weapon Randomization

Certainly Heroic Strike Modifiers, Exotic Weapon Masterworks and most importantly whatever the Weapon Slot Changes entail will bring some new reasons to log back in to Destiny 2 for even mid-core players. Honestly stuff like Seasonal Rankings and Vendor progression probably should have been in the game at launch and the same goes with Clan Chat Support on PC – these feel like obvious must haves and adding them almost a full year into the game’s lifecycle is still kind of baffling. Also of concern is how little detail we have on what could be some of the more major changes to the game. Bungie says they want to make Weapon Slots more flexible to allow Guardians to use weapon types that aren’t very popular at this moment. How that will be achieved has yet to be revealed and that is something that worries me – what if Bungie’s goals align with what their players want but the execution ends up being way off the mark?

To close this post off I’d like to post a small list compiled by the folks over at r/DestinyTheGame of features that have appeared on previous Bungie development roadmaps but do not appear on this current one.

They include:

  • Improvements to Lost Sectors
  • Scoring for Strike missions
  • Improvements to the Shader System (last seen in the January update roadmap)
  • Any possible changes to the Sandbox experience before the September update. Sandboxes have seen little in the way of updates compared with the PVP experience.

Will Bungie be able to turn Destiny 2 around from the Cash Shop focused micro-transaction festival that the game was a launch? Will all of these Quality of Life improvements like the introduction of Heroic modifiers and Master Worked Exotics be enough to satisfy the hardcore who want to see complete random perks come from Destiny 1? Will all of these QOL improvements lead to a better experience for casual players like myself?

Time will tell… Destiny 2: Warmind launches on May 8th.

[Source]

 

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Empires of Eve: Volume II Now Live On KickStarter

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Andrew Groen’s Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online – a compendium that chronicles the ever changing alliances, wars and political intrigue as told by the players involved throughout the game’s 15 year history – will be receiving a second volume in May 2019.

Empires of EVE: Volume II is a non-fiction book that covers the player run corporations and alliances that govern the volatile Null Sec region of New Eden.  By interviewing the people behind the in-game capulseers, Groen is able to paint a complete as possible picture of the major battles, betrayals and shifting ownership of Null Sec region that the game has become known for.  Volume I covered the events up until the end of 2008, with the alliance Band of Brothers finally collapsing. Volume II picks up at the end of Volume I and covers the events from 2009 through 2016.

Volume II is intended to be a standalone edition, meaning readers won’t have to read the first volume to understand the nuance and gravity of the events depicted. It will include a “full and concise crash course” of EVE Online’s gameplay mechanics and broad history so that non-players can dive in and enjoy the modern era of EVE Online intrigue.

Empires of Eve Volume II comes in a few different tiers as available on the KickStarter page:

  • $10 USD provides a digital e-book copy (PDF, e-pub etc)
  • $25 USD provides a soft cover physical copy and digital e-book.
  • $50 USD provides a hardcover physical copy and digital e-book.
  • $80 UD provides hardcover copies of both Volume I and Volume II as well as e-book versions of both.

Having personally read through Volume I with my wife, I can attest that Empires of EVE is a fascinating and captivating look into one of the most complex and intricate long running MMORPGs. Full Disclosure: I immediately backed the $50 USD tier on KickStarter because there was no way I was going to pass up the chance at a hardcover copy of Volume II.

[Header image via IMGUR]

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Spike Chunsoft Announces 2018 Line-Up

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Spike Chunsoft has revealed their full 2018 slate of games coming out for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. New entries in the Fire Pro Wrestling franchise, Pixeljunk Monsters series and the acclaimed visual novel 428: Shibuya scramble are all coming soon.

First up is a new entry in the Pixel Junk Monsters series:

Pixeljunk Monsters 2
Platform  PlayStation 4
Release Summer 2018

Features:

  • Local & Online Play – Maximize the fun by playing with your friends on the couch or online!
  • Close Encounters – Multiply the suspense by toggling your POV from top-down to an in-your-face view!
  • 3D Stop Motion Graphics – Immerse yourself in Gati Gati Island like never before as the animation takes full advantage of the power of the PS4™!

 428: Shibuya Scramble
Platform PS4 | Windows PC
Release 2008 (originally), Summer 2018 (N.A / Europe localization)
Originally released in 2008 this murder mystery is finally being localized for North America & Europe. Tasking players with investigating the lives of 5 unique protagonists during a 10 hour time-frame this intriguing title boasts over 5 different endings a weird mix of live-action video, text and still image narration.

Features

  • A Mosaic of Mediums – Unlike traditional visual novels, the narrative is presented with a palette of different mediums, combining text, live action stills, and video sequences.
  • Non-linear Storytelling – Five Protagonists. 10 Hours. Decisions made in one character’s story can affect the story of another character in unforeseen ways, culminating in a total of up to 50 different endings!
  • Famitsu Fresh – One of the very few titles to ever receive a perfect score (40/40) from Japanese video game magazine Famitsu Weekly!

Fire Pro Wrestling World
Platform PlayStation 4
Release Summer 2018

Last on our tour of Spike Chunsoft’s 2018 line-up is another entry in the decades old Fire Pro Wrestling series of games. Fire Pro Wrestling World is set to feature a story mode that will allow players to customize every facet of their matches. Different sets of rules will also be available ranging from deathmatch, to steel cage matches to even a set based upon the popular MMA style of fighting.

Features:

  • Play Online – Organize exhibition matches, tournaments, leagues, championship bouts and battle royals with players from around the world.
  • Mix Up the Rules – Modes include Deathmatch (steel cage, barbed wire or landmines), MMA rules and no-holds barred Gruesome Fighting.
  • Unlimited Customization – Create your dream wrestler from over a thousand devastating moves and even more body parts to battle for custom championship belts. Personalize the ring, mat logos and even the referee!
  • Realistic Simulation – Give your creations personalities with a robust CPU logic system that defines their every action. Does your wrestler play to the crowd, or play dirty? You provide actors for the ringside drama.

[Source: Spike Chunsoft PR]

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Fox n Forests Coming To Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC This Spring

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bonus Level Entertainment’s retro 16-bit inspired platformer Fox n’ Forest will be hitting Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC this bring. To help drum up some hype for the release of this beautiful pixel creation publisher Eurovideo sent out a press release today highlighting a brand new in-game video – featuring level 1:2 titled “Gorgeous George”.

In Fox n’ Forest players take on the role of anthropomorphic fox who will utilize a magic crossbow and the ability to change the seasons at will to navigate the stunning worlds of this title.  When the seasons change the world around Rick also changes – for example when changing the season to Fall, leaves might become platforms that open up alternate routes to harder enemies, epic loot and brand new puzzles.

Speaking about their approach to level design the game’s director Rupert Ochsner had this to say:

“Level design is one of the most important tasks in game development, All elements need to come together in an entertaining way and it can make or break the game.”

Based in Munich, Germany Bonus Level Entertainment successfully KickStarted 100,000+ Euros to bring their vision for Fox n’ Forest to life during the summer of 2016. Their mission is to reinvent the 16-bit style of gameplay by preserving what made the SNES era so magical while introducing new gameplay mechanics and systems from a more modern perspective.

Check out their latest video embedded below:

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FFXV / Tekken 7 DLC Featuring Noctis Now Available On Console & PC

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Tekken 7 patch version 1.12 is now available on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well as on Windows PC.  General improvements to be found in this latest patch include better stability for online matches, across all platforms and automatic capture of Shadowplay highlights for Windows PC using Geforce graphics cards when certain conditions are met.

FFXV Noctis Lucis Caelum Pack includes the playable Noctis fighter, a fighting arena based upon the Hammerhead Station from Chapter 1, 5 unique costumes for Noctis to wear and the “Apocalypsis Noctis Remix” BGM track.

Check out a video of all of Noctis’ moves and combos which I’ve embedded below.

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Getting To Quake Champions Hasn’t Been Cheaper With New $4.99 Entry Level Pack

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

The arena FPS genre hasn’t exactly been a hotbed of activity – especially with games like Battleborn and Unreal Tournament 4 seeming to cease development. Bethesda’s Quake Champions might be the last true arena deathmatch FPS game in production, not counting the AFPS indie offspring like DUSK and TOKIK.

Previously access to Quake Champions was divided between the previous closed beta test players who are able to play the game in “free to play mode” through the Bethesda Launcher or by purchasing the $29.99 USD “Champions Pack” which provides access to the Quake Champions client and all of the released / future champions.

Now players on Steam have the chance to get access to the base game for $4.99 USD which includes unlocks for two champions – Ranger and Scalebearer. Ranger will be unlocked for all players by default whether they’re playing in F2P mode or this newly released $5 pack. Scalebearer is an interesting choice to provide at a low cost – he’s a giant hulking tank class champion who has a plentiful health pool and is able to obliterate enemies in his way with his charge ultimate. Truth be told Scalebearer is probably my favorite champion in the game with the versatility that his kit can provide.

Quake Champions exited closed beta last August and has been available in Early Access ever since. It does make use of micro-transactions and blind RNG boxes (both provided for “free” and paid with in-game currency for real money). We’ve covered in the past why RNG boxes in AAA games can set a bad precident and be harmful to players in general but also those with addictive tendencies.

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