What will $100 get you in the special edition of The Elder Scrolls Online?
-12″ statue of Malcolm McDowell…or Molag Bal
-Steelbook packaging
-Improved Emperor’s Guide to Tamriel (224 page illustrated book)
-White Imperial horse mount
-Mudcrab vanity pet (I can’t make this shit up)
-Ability to play as an Imperial in any Alliance
-A new $15/month fee on you bank statement
Check out the new trailer below. The Elder Scrolls Online releases for PC on April 4th and Xbox One/PS4 in June.
And the remnants of Cliffy B. have left the building.
Epic Games have sold the rights to the Gears of War property in its entirety to Microsoft Studios, meaning that the future tales of humans and Locusts will remain an Xbox exclusive. Let’s get the official bit out of the way first.
“Today we’re excited to announce that Microsoft Studios has acquired the rights to the “Gears of War” franchise from Epic Games, including rights to all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise. In addition, we are excited to announce that Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver, BC will take over development of the “Gears of War” franchise and that Rod Fergusson, former Director of Production at Epic Games on the “Gears of War” franchise, will join Microsoft and play a key studio leadership role at Black Tusk on the development of the franchise going forward.”
This sale solves two problems at once: I assume Epic did not want to make any more Gears games and Microsoft wants more because the machine runs on money.
This tells me that the next game in the Gears universe will most likely be a sequel unlike the, (Toy Story 2 was) OK, Judgement.
Microsoft must think a lot of unproven developer, Black Tusk, to give them the reigns to Gears of War. This paid off once before when 343 Industries took on Halo 4 and knocked it out of the park. Hopefully with a lot of new brains working together we will get some new gameplay ideas that will reinvigorate the series. I am sure Microsoft will take the Halo approach and write a blank check to Black Tusk for development.
No timetable was given on when to expect a new Gears of War game. I would expect some sort of teaser trailer at E3 this year to begin with. Don’t expect the game until at least 2015 or 2016.
Bethesda is certainly showing that money is not an object when it comes to the production of The Elder Scrolls Online. They have released a new video that interviews some of the game’s more famously known cast including Alfred Molina, Michael Gambon, John Cleese, Malcolm McDowell and Kate Beckinsale.
Mmmm…Kate Beckinsale.
I am still sticking firm to not paying $15 a month for this game but I’ll be damned if Bethesda isn’t trying my resolve the more I hear about the game.
The Elder Scrolls Online releases on April 4th on PC and in June on PS4 and Xbox One.
If you were already on the fence about the myriad of Steam Machines releasing this fall (as I was), this may make you fall off completely, at least for one of them.
Alienware, whose Steam Machine has certainly been the most talked about because of its design, has delivered the facepalm of the day by announcing that their box will release every year in new iterations. Not only that, but the existing box you purchased will not be customizable like with a PC.
“Lifecycle wise, consoles update every five, six, seven years, we will be updating our Steam Machines every year. There will be no customisation options – you can’t really update it. The platform will continue to evolve as the games become more resource intensive.”
It seems like Alienware has lost what little sense Valve was trying to instill in these boxes. Some other variations come equipped with extra video card slots for future expansion. I can not perceive why Alienware would try to annualize a game machine like this. This isn’t a $100 Ouya. It is a machine that will, most likely, come in at $500 or more. Now you are asking potential buyers to play with a non-upgradable PC for one year before charging them again.
Has this hurt the Steam Machine’s already murky future? Will it make consumers look harder at the other brands offering them or turn them off to the concept completely?
The folks at Buzzfeed have answered that question with this new video.
Now we aren’t talking about jumping out of a plane with no parachute or going Carmageddon on everyone but rather what will you do with the 746 wheels of cheese you have stored in one of your Skyrim homes.
Of all of these, the skipping dialogue seems the most usable to me. Mostly because I am a dick.
The single player DLC for The Last of Us, Left Behind, seems to have a Valentine’s Day release date if the picture from the PSN store stays true.
The add-on will be a prequel to my pick for Game of the Year and will feature Ellie and her friend Riley. Only one survives and I will give you one guess who. Of course, Naughty Dog could troll us all and Left Behind is a parallel universe story where Ellie and her friend have to make their way through the Rapture with guest star Kirk Cameron.
The Last of Us: Left Behind will cost $14.99 to download or free to those who purchased a Season Pass last year.
Are you already tired of your two month old Xbox One controller and need a change? Microsoft knows what ails you. Take a look at the custom controller for Titanfall that will release this March. It will only set you back $64.99 or roughly 1/4 the price of the [amazon_link id=”B00G2HSX86″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Titanfall Ultra Mega Huge Look At This Bastard Collector’s Edition[/amazon_link].
Of course you could just tell people it is some kind of rare Mass Effect 2 or Deus Ex controller for Xbox One. As long as it is a game that has an over-dependence on orange colors and is futuristic it will work.
In a few weeks Square will be re-releasing last year’s Tomb Raider for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One as Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. The team at Crystal Dynamics have reworked their engine to harness the power of the next-gen consoles to give one of last year’s best games a makeover including changing the way Lara looks altogether.
The fine folks at IGN have posted a video that compares the PS3 and PS4 versions while executive producer Scot Amos explains all the fancy stuff they have done to the game.
I am actually getting this version of the game even though I played through the Xbox 360 version twice last year. Don’t ask me why. I normally hate double dips but I had a blast playing the game and will gladly go through it again for the Xbox One achievements. It is also a great chance for people who did not play it last year to pick it up on their shiny new consoles if they want.
To all the people bitching about the re-release; you don’t have to buy it. No one is making you. Calm down.
More reasons to be a PS Plus member as Sony has announced that the survival horror game, Outlast, will be free to Plus subscribers on PS4 in February. The game was released for PC back in September and will be available for download on the PS4 on February 4th.
Today also sees the start of the PSN 14 for 14 Sale where 14 games on both PS3 and Vita are over 50% off as well as 75% off for PS Plus. The games range from Crysis 3 for $5, Tales of Xilia only $10 and Killzone: Mercenary on Vita for $9.
Check out the full list of games on the Playstation Blog.
The Last of Us
2013 was one of the strongest years ever for video games. So many games that deserve recognition for being incredible in their own right. When it comes right down to it, as I sat and looked at my list of possible picks, there was only one choice that was easy for me to make.
The Last of Us is a game that defines a generation and it comes at the very end of the current one. Naughty Dog’s reputation as a premiere developer was already sealed with their Uncharted trilogy, Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot, but with The Last of Us they married the gameplay and story so seamlessly it reimagines what is possible in video gaming. Not just very good at one and slack at the other, rather a symbiosis created and learned over 30 years of gaming.
Led by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who set a new bar for voice acting, The Last of Us is the story of Joel and Ellie and their journey across the country, which spans a year, and set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic outbreak twenty years prior that has left mankind hanging on by a thread. We have seen the apocalypse scenario before. In fact, we are inundated with it in pop culture with the current zombie craze which makes Naughty Dog’s ability to make it feel fresh all the better. The lines of “video game as art” are blurred further the more you play.
It has been a long, long time since I felt so much emotional connection to characters in a game, not since the original Mass Effect in 2007. As Joel and Ellie’s relationship grows from contentious to so much more you can not help but have your own attachment to both of them, especially if you have experienced the type of loss that both of them have. I can not thank Naughty Dog enough for creating such a fully realized world and characters that will always stick with me.
The Last of Us is a journey that reveals just how good…and horrific humanity can be in its worst hour. As a species on the brink of dying off you are focused on these two engaging people who show you that The Last of Us isn’t about the last of humanity, but rather, the last of humanity left in us.
The best of the rest
-Bioshock Infinite
Any other year. Any other year this would be sitting at the top of my list. Taking the fun Bioshock formula and add in a host of mindfucks and you have only just begun to realize what awaits you.
-Tomb Raider
Welcome back, Lara Croft. It has been awhile. Where Uncharted was a spiritual successor to the original Tomb Raider this brings it full circle and the new Lara is a spiritual successor to Uncharted. Smooth controls and beautiful to look at.
-Assassin’s Creed IV
I had all but given up on the Assassin’s Creed franchise then Ubisoft goes and does this. Who doesn’t want to be a pirate on the high seas? It lets you live out your Jack Sparrow fantasies and reinvigorates the series.
-Super Mario 3D World
It looks like I bought a Wii U just in time. Crazy level design and co-op play that will make friends enemies. It is easily the best Mario game since Super Mario 64. Should be a system seller.