Friday, November 1, 2013

10 zombie games where the undead are the least of your concerns

Zombies are powerful and terrifying enemies. They’re also an endless source of cannon fodder — and sadly, most games with zombies tend to use them for this very reason.

It’s easy to see why people can get tired of that. But we shouldn’t write off the undead just yet. A new wave of games are showing us that zombies have more to offer beyond the cheap thrills of slicing off their limbs. Some of these titles examine how humanity would cope under such stressful circumstances. Others try to replicate the survival experience with detailed gameplay systems built around growing food or making weapons and tools. You still have to kill plenty of zombies along the way, but they’re no longer the focus of these adventures.

Original Call of Duty working title was "MOH killer"

Activision's Call of Duty franchise has not always been the industry-leading series that it is today. That designation was previously with Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor series. Speaking with MCV, former Infinity Ward artist Justin Thomas, who also worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for EA, recalled the first days of what would become 2003's Call of Duty.

"The project was actually named 'MOH killer' until an official name could be found," Thomas said. "We were focused more on fun than success, with the idea that if it was fun, it would be successful. We were just going to make a great game, and do the things better than we did on previous projects. The great thing is that a team learns from previous projects."

Thomas explained that one of the challenges associated with building Call of Duty was making sure it did not too closely resemble the Medal of Honor series.
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Pokemon X & Y hacker discovers unobtainable new creatures

As a series built entirely around finding and capturing rare creatures, Pokemon is the perfect avenue for hidden secrets and surprises. If there's one thing the Internet is great at, though, it's ruining surprises before they're even gift-wrapped. A little digging into Pokemon X and Y seems to have uncovered some Pokemon that aren't otherwise accessible, likely to be given out during special events.

As uncovered by the hacker Smealum and shown on Serebii, the Pokemon are numbers 719-721: Diancie, Volcanion, and Hoopa (above). He also found new Mega Evolutions called Latias and Latios. These are likely event Pokemon, to be given out similar to the current Torchic distribution. Keep in mind, of course, that since these are the product of a hacker, they're not officially confirmed.

Rocksteady's next game aiming for 2014

The latest Batman: Arkham game was not developed by series creator Rocksteady. But, of course the studio is working on something. And whatever it is, it's coming in 2014.

Internet supersleuth Superannuation discovered several job postings matching text of Rockstead's career openings for what is "tipped to be one of the most successful games of 2014." If all goes according to plan, it looks like Rocksteady's next will be ready next year.

It's likely Rocksteady is working on a proper sequel to Arkham City. As clearly labeled by the title, the recently-released Origins was a prequel. Kevin Controy, the de-facto voice of Batman said he was working on an Arkham game--but he doesn't appear in Origins.
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People Can Fly renamed Epic Games Poland

Epic Games subsidiary People Can Fly has been renamed Epic Games Poland, the company has told Pixel Enemy.
Epic also confirmed that the studio behind Gears of War: Judgment and Bulletstorm is currently working on Fortnite, Epic's first Unreal Engine 4 game.

"We've changed the studio's name from People Can Fly to Epic Games Poland," Epic said. "We're a global company with talented people working toward one goal across the world. We think this helps better reflect that. Multiple Epic studios, including Epic Games Poland, are working on Fortnite."

In April, Epic Games VP Mark Rein told CVG that Fortnite - first unveiled in December 2011 and rarely seen since - "might be the best thing we've ever done".
The PC exclusive is described as "a co-op sandbox survival game" that has players scavenging for resources to build fortifications as they battle for survival against hordes of monsters.

GTA Online stimulus package now expected end of next week

Grand Theft Auto Online players are going to need to wait for at least another week to receive the first half of their promised $500,000 GTA$ stimulus package.

Rockstar Games announced today that the next title update for GTA Online (1.05) addressing player progress loss issues will be available early next week. After this, the developer said "we hope" to be able to deliver the GTA$ Stimulus Package by the end of the week.

"A big thank you to GTA Online players worldwide for your continued patience and understanding and we will continue to keep you all updated," Rockstar said.
When Rockstar originally announced the $500,000 of in-game cash for players (to be delivered in two deposits of $250,000) earlier this month, the company said it would not dole out the money until the game was stable.

Grand Theft Auto V has shipped 29 million copies to date, though it is unclear how many have been sold to consumers.

Ryse: Son of Rome gets a multiplayer DLC Season Pass

Did you know that Crytek's upcoming Xbox One exclusive Ryse: Son of Rome has a co-op multiplayer mode? And because it has multiplayer, of course there's going to be a DLC Season Pass.

For $20, you'll be able to score four add-on packs at a discounted rate of more than 25 percent off. The Season Pass will include a total of 14 multiplayer maps, a new mode, six player skins, new level events, and access to a new tier of weapons and armor. In addition, Season Pass holders get an exclusive in-game sword and shield with bonus attributes.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Exploring the deep themes in Beyond: Two Souls

When I went to play Beyond: Two Souls for the first time, I didn’t know much about it. I tried to stay away from the trailers so I could be surprised. All I knew was that it was made by Quantic Dream, the people behind one of my favorite games, Heavy Rain, and that it was about a girl named Jodie Holmes who has a link with an entity. Little did I know the story was going to affect me emotionally as much as it did.

The reviews for Beyond are mixed, with people on one end of the spectrum saying that it’s one of the best games ever made and those on the other end saying that it’s a complete mess. I’m one of those people on the positive side. I wasn’t so sure about it at first as the anachronistic storytelling threw me off, but I really came to love it.

Titanfall will remain exclusive to Xbox, PC

Zampella was also asked if Respawn Entertainment will make a PlayStation 4 game some day. He replied, "Of course we will, just not the first Titanfall."

The original story is below.
PlayStation and Nintendo fans hoping to play Respawn Entertainment's first-person shooter Titanfall on their consoles appear to be out of luck. The game will remain exclusive to Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC "for the life of the title," Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen said today during an earnings call.

Titanfall is the first product from Respawn Entertainment, the studio founded by numerous former Call of Duty developers, including Infinity Ward cofounder Vince Zampella. "For the life of the title" suggests that a potential Titanfall sequel could be released on a non-Microsoft or PC platform, though this has not been announced.

Microsoft featured Titanfall prominently in its recently launched Xbox One advertising campaign, rolling out on TV, the Web, and on billboards this month in the lead-up to the Xbox One launch on November 22.

Grand Theft Auto 5: nearly 29 million copies shipped

"Oh, you think you're proud of selling one million copies? Your friend, Grand Theft Auto 5 sold almost 30 million copies! You're such a failure!"

That's probably what an overzealous mom would sound like, if she had mothered a video game. And video games were people. But thankfully, we're safe from this horrifying alternate reality.

"During the fiscal second quarter, we delivered record Non-GAAP results driven by the unprecedented success of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 5," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a recent earnings call. "The title received stellar reviews, shattered entertainment industry records, and has already sold-in nearly 29 million units to date. The extraordinary success of Grand Theft Auto 5 illustrates the positive momentum in our business and consumers' enduring appetite for the highest-quality interactive entertainment.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out revenue passes $100 million

The Simpsons: Tapped Out has now generated over $100 million in life-to-date digital net revenue, publisher Electronic Arts announced today. The game was released in August 2012 and has been in the top 20 iPhone grossing games in the United States for all but 12 days since launch, EA said.

The news came as part of EA's latest earnings report for the quarter ended September 30. Overall, EA posted a profit of $105 million on $1.04 billion in revenue.

"EA's strong second quarter was driven by great title launches, continued digital growth, and financial discipline," new CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement.
"While we have made good progress in the first half of the year, we remain focused on executing our FY14 plan and delivering a full slate of amazing games and services to players on current and next-generation consoles, mobile, and PC," he added.

Also in the report, it was confirmed that EA had to pay around $40 million in college football settlement expenses related to the settlement between EA and a group of former athletes.

Tearaway story trailer reveals folk influences

Tearaway is about more than the artistic wonders of papercraft. There's a story involved, too, one based on strong folk influences. To offer some of what the story entails, Sony and Media Molecule have a released a new trailer for their upcoming Vita-exclusive papercraft platformer.

"The actual story is all about this character, the Messenger, with an envelope-shaped head," lead creator Rex Crowle says in the trailer. "Their whole reason for existence is that they have something, they have a message, trapped inside them, which they're trying to deliver. And the person that they're trying to deliver this message to is you, the player, the person that's holding their hold world in their hands."

Pokemon Dev Opposed to the Idea of DLC

Pokemon X & Y may have signaled the maturing of Game Freak’s successful series, but that doesn’t mean the team is interested in implementing other kinds of contemporary features. This includes DLC, according to art director Ken Sugimore in a recent interview (translated by Siliconera).

“When it comes to business, the one thing I’ve always said ‘no!’ to is ‘the act of buying Pokémon with money’. That is something that has been said since the days [creator Satoshi] Tajiri was completely involved in everything.

“The reason being, is because it’s one of things that could ‘ruin the worldview’ of Pokémon. I believe the reason we don’t simply commercialize [Pokémon], is that it’s a way of protecting the brand, and for this purpose, we have the specialty company called The Pokémon Company. Therefore, suppose we sell a Pokémon for 100 yen, then we must prepare something that is worthy of that 100 yen, along with a reasonable consent for doing so.”

Titanfall to remain exclusive to Microsoft

Those hoping to get a taste of towering mechs on their PlayStation 4 will be very disappointed to hear that Titanfall will most likely not find its way to a Sony platform. EA has stated that the game will remain exclusive to Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC for the entirety of its life cycle.

"In the case of Titanfall, it's a brand new IP and it's exclusive only for the life of the title on Xbox One and Xbox 360 and PC," said EA CFO Blake Jorgensen during today's EA financial call (via Joystiq).

This statement contradicts an earlier statement from Respawn, who had previously expressed that a PS4 version was "definitely not out of the question." Respawn's Vince Zampella has weighed in on Twitter, adding that the studio will not release Titanfall on PS4, but will develop future games for the platform.
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