Recent Video Game News.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

The Witness launches for PS4, PC on January 26


The Witness



The Witness, the PlayStation 4 and PC first-person puzzle exploration game from the creator of Braid first announced as coming to each platform in 2013, will officially launch on January 26 in North America and Europe, developer Thekla announced.
“We originally thought The Witness would be coming out toward the end of the PS4 launch window, but … there’s just been a lot to do,” Thekla president Jonathan Blow said in a PlayStation Blog post. ” I think when the game is in your hands, you’ll find it to be intricate and deep, and also unlike anything else you have played.”
Blow notes that completionists should expect to play the game for about 80 hours, or possibly even 100.
“When we started making this game, I figured it would have between 8 and 12 hours of playtime,” Blow said. “As it happens, the game we’ve finally built is around 10 times as big as that.”
Watch a new trailer below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

You can win this gaudy Gold PS4 through Taco Bell

Perhaps inspired by Donald Trump's fashion, Sony is making gold-colored PlayStation 4 consoles. As part of a promotion with Taco Bell, Sony is giving fans in the U.S. the chance to win a Limited Edition Gold PlayStation 4 Bundle.
The limited edition prize bundle includes a Gold PS4, one gold DualShock 4, a copy of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, and a voucher for one year of PlayStation Plus.
The promotion begins on September 24th and ends on November 4th, with fans having a chance to win this gaudy PS4 every 10 minutes. Sony was kind enough to do the math for us, revealing that this comes out to approximately 6,000 Limited Edition Gold PS4 Bundles.
That probably means your odds for winning one of gold PS4s aren't very good, but I'm pretty sure every participant at least wins a trip to the toilet. So if you want diarrhea with a chance to win this limited edition PS4, head on over to your local Taco Bell, purchase any Big Box, text your unique code, and strike Gold. 

PS4 Exclusive Games 2015: 'Bloodborne: The Old Hunters' Release Date Announced, Cinematic Trailer Launched [Watch]

The brutally addictive third-person action-adventure from FromSoftware will be getting its first downloadable content later this year.
According to The Verge, Sony recently announced "Bloodborne: The Old Hunters" during its Tokyo Game Show press conference. Its cinematic teaser trailer was also launched during the event.
President of Sony's Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida assured that the downloadable content will be a "full scale" extension of the "Bloodborne" world.
Sony has since elaborated on the PS4-exclusive expansion pack on the official PlayStation blog site
"Set in a nightmare world where hunters from the past are trapped forever, explore brand new stages full of dangers, rewards, and deadly beasts to overcome. You'll find multiple new outfits and weapons to add to your arsenal as well as additional magic to wield and add more variety to your combat strategy."
Although Sony didn't delve too much of the DLC's plot details, it's safe to say the new content will serve as a prequel to the original game in many respects. The old hunters were mostly wiped out at the start of "Bloodborne."
Adding weight to the speculation, FromSoftware is also responsible for "Dark Souls 2" and its recently released "Scholar of First Sin" DLC. The first "Dark Souls 2" expansion pack not only explores the origin of the curse of the undead but also lets players change the ending of the main game.
As for the "Bloodborne: The Old Hunters" expansion pack, Sony added that gamers will "experience the nightmare of the hunters who once guarded Byrgenwerth's darkest secrets." The DLC will contain Simon's Bowblade weapon and will also feature a new boss named Ludwig.
The original "Bloodborne" game was released as a PS4-exclusive in March 2015. It has sold more than two million copies worldwide and has since received critical acclaim.
IGN lauded the game for its "stunning world artistry" and gave it a 9.1/10 rating. Meanwhile, the game garnered a 92/100 score on Meta Critic.
"Bloodborne" immerses gamers into an engaging albeit gothic world where each nook and cranny presents an equal amount of excitement and anxiety. Critics admit that gamers might find some missions difficult to accomplish but it only adds to the game's brilliance and overall lore.
According to The Telegraph, the mixture of the game's highs and lows coupled with its surprisingly vibrant environment is in itself a reward for gamers to experience. 
"Bloodborne: The Old Hunters" will be available for PS4 gamers via the PlayStation Store starting Nov. 24. The download will cost $20. The expansion pack will be bundled with the original game starting Dec. 3.

Attack on Titan For PS4/PS Vita/PS3 Looks Dynasty Warriors-Like in New Gameplay Video

A video for Koei Tecmo's Attack on Titan game has appeared online showing off gameplay from the upcoming action game.
The game, which is being developed in collaboration withDynasty Warriors studio Omega Force, seems to be an adaptation of the first season of the Attack on Titan anime.
The video shows characters such as Eren Yeager using the Maneuver Gear to soar through the skies and bring down the Titans.
Although details on the game have not yet been provided, it seems the Dynasty Warriors template of moving between designated points in a large battlefield and taking out enemies is serving as the framework.
Watch the trailer below.

In August 2015, Koei Tecmo president Hisashi Koinuma wrote a little about the project, saying he was "enchanted by the opportunity" to work on the game.
"Having evolved from a manga/anime series to an internationally recognized brand, we were enchanted by the opportunity to create our own take on humanity's last stand against these overwhelmingly powerful beings, the Titans," he said.
"Our studios are already pouring all of their passion and excitement into it and we hope to reveal more information soon!"
The Attack on Titan game will launch on PlayStation 4,PlayStation 3, and Vita.

Sony to make PS2 games compatible with PS4

Sony has plans to make some PlayStation 2 games playable on the PlayStation 4. It looks like PS4 gamers will get to enjoy a handful of known PS2 classics on their console.
As listed on the Pan European Game Information council, the PS2 games included in this latest move from Sony are "Ape Escape 2," "Twisted Metal: Black" and "Dark Cloud 2." Although it is expected that these games will be for a digital-only distribution, they could also be part of something bigger, such as Sony's effort on backward compatibility for its current-generation console.
"I totally understand pople asking for it," Shuhei Yoshia, the President of Worldwide Studios of Sony, said, according to Games Radar. "If it was easy, we would have done that! But our focus is creating PS4 games and adding new services."
"Remaking games on PS4 makes the games even better, with 'The Last of Us,'" he added. "You can play at 60 frames per second. The same goes for 'Dark Souls 2.' Actually, I just finished 'Dark Souls 2' again on PS4."
While Sony is hard at work on HD remakes of some classic games from last generation's consoles, Microsoft is busy gearing itself towards launching backward compatibility for the Xbox One. It is said that Microsoft is going to launch the new feature on the same day it will release the console's new Windows 10 Experience, which has already been slated for November. This was confirmed by Xbox Director of Program Management Mike Ybarra last week.
"At launch, you will be able to play over 100 Xbox 360 games on Xbox One with hundreds more in the months to come," Ybarra confirmed, according to Xbox News. "This includes the added benefit of Xbox One features, including screenshots, streaming, and game DVR - for your favorite Xbox 360 games."

PS2 Games To Hit PS4 Soon? Ape Escape 2, Twisted Metal: Black, Dark Cloud 2 Software Ratings Appear Online

It may not be in the manner fans would like, but it appears Sony is taking another look backward to make a handful of PlayStation 2 games compatible with the PlayStation 4.
PEGI, or the Pan European Game Information council, just listed PlayStation 4 ports of PlayStation 2 classics Twisted Metal: Black,Dark Cloud 2 and Ape Escape 2.
As noted by Gematsu, which spotted the listings first, Twisted Metal: Black was ported to PlayStation 3 back in September 2012.
This trio of PlayStation 2 classics, likely destined for digital-only distribution, could be the start of Sony's effort to brute force backward compatibility for the PlayStation 4.
Famously, Shuhei Yoshida, Sony's president of worldwide studios, stated that the PlayStation 4 would already have backward compatibility if the feat wasn't so hard to do for this particular console.
"I totally understand people asking for it, and if it was easy, we'd have done that," Yoshida said. "But our focus is creating PS4 games and adding new services. Remaking games on PS4 makes the games even better—with The Last Of Us, you can play at 60 frames per second, and the same goes for Dark Souls 2. Actually, I just finished Dark Souls 2 again on PS4."
While Sony focuses on HD remakes of games from the last generation PlayStation and promotes PlayStation Now, Microsoft is about to launch backward compatibility for the Xbox One when it releases the console's all-new Windows 10 Experience in November, Mike Ybarra, Xbox's director of program management, announced last week.
Like Sony's PlayStation Now service, which supports PlayStation 3 games, the Xbox One's backward compatibility, for now at least, will only offer Xbox 360 games.
"At launch you'll be able to play over 100 Xbox 360 games on Xbox One with hundreds more in the months to come," stated Ybarra. "This includes the added benefit of Xbox One features including screenshots, streaming, and game DVR—for your favorite Xbox 360 games. You can even play multiplayer with friends still using their Xbox 360."

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Sony's Project Morpheus is now 'PlayStation VR'

Sony's Project Morpheus VR system has a new, more obvious name: PlayStation VR. The announcement came today at the company's Tokyo Game Show press conference, but that's about the only new information Sony was willing to part with. Explaining the change, PlayStation product business president Masayasu Ito says "The name 'PlayStation VR' not only directly expresses an entirely new experience from PlayStation that allows players to feel as if they are physically inside the virtual world of a game, but it also reflects our hopes that we want our users to feel a sense of familiarity as they enjoy this amazing experience." He adds that the hardware itself will continue to be refined in the coming months, and that Sony is working closely with 3rd parties and in-house studios to ensure there are actually some games for the thing when it launches. There's still no official release date for the headset, which is due for release at some point in early 2016.
PlayStation VR logo

Monday, September 14, 2015

Here’s the heads you can wear in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 on PlayStation

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 will different two sets of “heads” you can wear in-game, and each is a console exclusive.
Today we get a look at the heads for PlayStation consoles: Ratchet, Sackboy, and Sweet Tooth. Each are on display in the video below.
Over on Destructoid, an image of the heads for Xbox consoles shows Cuphead and Mugman(Studio MDHR), and the Sunset Overdrive guy.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 slated for release on September 29.

Tom Clancy's The Division Game Details and News: Ubisoft Shared Some Information About 'The Division's Rogue Mode and Dark Zone

Here's the latest on 'Tom Clancy's The Division' release date and game features.

Recently Matthieu Delisle (Senior Game Designer of 'Tom Clancy's The Division') talked about the newly unveiled feature for PvP called 'Rogue' he discussed in Ubiblog on how you can be 'Rogue' and what happens when you're in Rogue.
The way you can Rogue is by killing a lot of players, the duration of your 'Rogue-mode' depends on the amount of players that you've killed.
He also added that it's hard to survive on Rogue mode since other players are also looking to kills, but in case you did survive you'll receive a bounty and progress to the Dark Zone.
 "You climb the levels of Rogue by killing other players. If you are a level one Rogue, you're Rogue for two minutes. But if you kill more players, you're Rogue for a longer period of time. Every time you kill a player you refresh that counter and it increases up to five minutes. If you manage to survive your Rogue status - which is pretty difficult because all the players want to kill you and can see you on the map - then you receive your own bounty. So you can progress in the Dark Zone by being a Rogue, but it's pretty risky and difficult," Matthis Delisle explained.
It sounds like going Rogue is indeed a high-risk, high-reward situation. But I guess you don't play Tom Clancy's The Division because you want to play-it-safe.
The amount of players that can go Rogue at the same time is still being discussed in Ubisoft; I guess they'll be basing that on fans' response in the upcoming 'The Division Beta'.
'Tom Clancy's The Division' will be released on March 8, 2016 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The first Uncharted looks a whole lot better on PS4

The original Uncharted trilogy is coming to the PlayStation 4 thanks to a remastered bundle dubbed The Nathan Drake Collection, and it looks like it will be a serious upgrade. The first trailer for the collection shows a full 11 minutes of remastered gameplay from the very first game in the series. The dramatic chase sequence, which includes a lengthy shootout from the back of a Jeep, gives a good, long look at some of the improvements you can expect, including beautiful water effects and much more realistic looking characters. The new game will also include Photo Mode support, so that you can snap pics of Drake's enhanced adventure. The Nathan Drake Collection is launching on October 9th, while the next game in the series, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, isn't due out until next March.