You didn’t think Microsoft was going to have all of these next-gen games and leave out their most popular franchise did you?
The first trailer for Halo 5 shows a mysterious figure cloaked and making their way through a desert until an earthquake stops them in their tracks. A Forerunner ship makes its way out of the sand as Master Chief stands there, fearless, looking rather Master Chief-y.
Halo 5 will release in 2014 for Xbox One.
http://youtu.be/9fEKcOK8gno
Microsoft announced today at their E3 press conference that the Xbox One will release this November and will be priced at $499. The screen during the announcement was touting the “Day One Bundle” for reserve. No details were given on what this bundle will include.
Now we know one half of the next-gen equation. Will Sony have an earlier release date or, even better, a cheaper price point? We will find out tonight.
Zombie Studios free-to-play FPS, Blacklight Retribution, is making the jump from PC to PS4 this fall. A new trailer was released which you can see below. This is another good get for Sony’s new system when you add it to the already good free-to-play lineup of DC Universe Online and Planetside 2.
http://youtu.be/6Sbkv9yQ2V0
E3 hasn’t even officially started yet and already we have an E3 trailer. Ubisoft’s newest look at [amazon_link id=”B00BGHUS58″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Watch Dogs[/amazon_link] has main man Aiden Pearce taking on a human trafficking ring with only his cell phone, baton, guns and a boat load of kick ass.
Just imagine that in this part of the game you are Liam Neeson in Taken and play his phone clip over and over again.
Watch Dogs releases this November for 360, PS3, Wii U, PC, Xbox One and PS4.
What was supposed to be a ho-hum weekend at the box office turned into one of the biggest surprises of the year. The Ethan Hawke thriller The Purge, which was made for only $3 million, cashed in on the light release weekend to the tune of $36.3 million dollars making it the highest grossing weekend for an R-rated movie this year. This left Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn wanting as the Wedding Crashers could not recreate the same magic for The Internship which managed to bring in only $18.1 million for a fourth place finish.
1. The Purge- $36.3 million/ $36.3
2. Fast & Furious 6- $19.8/ $202.9
3. Now You See Me- $19.5/ $61.3
4. The Internship- $18.1/ $18.1
5. Epic- $12.1/ $84.1
6. Star Trek Into Darkness- $11.7/ $200.1
7. After Earth- $11.2/ $46.5
8. The Hangover Part III- $7.3/ $102.3
9. Iron Man 3- $5.7/ $394.3
10. The Great Gatsby- $4.2/ $136.1
The XBLA exclusive, open-world zombie killing fest, State of Decay, was downloaded more than 250,000 times in the first 48 hours. Undead Labs, developers of the game, touted the success on their blog. The game is the second fastest selling game on XBLA behind Minecraft.
I am currently playing through State of Decay for review and can already highly recommend it. It is only $20 and is easily the best zombie game on the market. Our review will be up next week to not get in the way of all of our E3 coverage this week.
Warner Bros. has released the first poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The second film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy will also have a teaser trailer released this week to play in front of Man of Steel. This will be the film that shows us how Jackson will stretch one book into three movies. I liked The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and was forgiving of the changes. Now we will see how much more will change with two movies and six hours of film left.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug releases on December 13th.
Dead Island developer Techland is back and they are staying in the genre that made them famous: zombies. Dying Light is a first-person action game that will have you thinking more Mirror’s Edge with zombies than just another Dead Island.
The new E3 trailer for the game is just as well made at the original Dead Island video that put that game on the map and while the Dying Light video may not tug at your heartstrings it certainly conveys the hopelessness in this society and has a great “pull the rug out from under you” part.
If Techland can correct a lot of the jankiness that accompanied Dead Island and get the smooth, free running gameplay of Mirror’s Edge down, they could be looking at a winner.
Dying Light releases in 2014 for Xbox One and PS4.
Sony is pulling no punches this month. With E3 only days away they have updated their Instant Games Collection on PS Plus for the month of June and as you can see, it is damn insane.
You will be able to get Uncharted 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Saints Row The Third, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Little Big Planet Karting and Machinarium FREE for PS Plus members. The Vita will also be getting Virtue’s Last Reward and Gods Eater: Burst free to play.
So just this month you will be getting well over $200 in games to play on the PS3 just for being a PS Plus member. What more do you need to realize that this is the best deal going in gaming?
In 1996, a game developer called Naughty Dog released a game starring a bright orange bandicoot that spun, wore talking tiki masks, had a super-hot girlfriend, and loved “wumpa fruit.” Crash would soon become synonymous with the PlayStation brand, and that mascot-level connection would only grow across the next two generations with Jak & Daxter on the PS2, and Uncharted’s Nathan Drake on the PS3.
As such, it is fitting that in the twilight before the PlayStation 4 launches in November, Naughty Dog is releasing a game entitled The Last of Us. While this is not actually the absolute final big exclusive for the PS3 (Beyond: Two Souls isn’t until October), it is almost certainly the most anticipated one. Feel free to disagree with that statement in the comments, but only after you’ve read my thoughts below.
1. Presentation
In all my years of gaming, few things have ever left me as slacked-jawed as The Last of Us. The character models are incredible, the voice-acting sounds phenomenal, the lighting effects are a sight to behold, the details on the Infected makes me what to throw up, etc. Take note, because I almost never say this: Here is a PS3 exclusive that might not be graphically possible on the 360.
2. Atmosphere
Graphical prowess aside, the world that Naughty Dog has crafted feels like a very real, very terrifying place. The Infected are horrifying to behold, but the other survivors are arguably more threatening; you have to wonder how far you would go to survive in a similar situation. I’ll also give kudos for the fact that this world doesn’t look empty or dead just because the people are gone; other life would just have more room to roam.
3. Character Stories
The Resident Evil series started losing fans when it became clear that Capcom was more interested in storytelling about their various viruses and conspiracies than their characters. Thankfully, The Last of Us appears to be much more focused on Joel and Ellie’s personal struggles and triumphs; of course, I am interested to know what makes Ellie so important to everyone involved. The best sci-fi has always been more about people than anything else, and I’ve got my fingers crossed on this one.
4. New Mechanics
Most big games have this-or-that new cover feature, AI system, or shell casing shininess engine that marketing loves to hype. The Last of Us is no different, but videos have shown both the “Dynamic Stealth” and “Balance of Power” systems to be more than just hot air. The former refers to the countless different ways players can approach any given situation or obstacle; the latter is the system that governs how enemies react not just to the player, but to the world around them.
5. The Infected
Holy *@&^ these things are terrifying to behold, and the noises they make in the trailers almost make me rethink picking up the game. If you’ve never looked up Cordyceps fungus, hit this link and then get back to me. The concept of these things evolving to infect humans is bone-chilling, and the way the physical changes to the hosts have been conceptualized for The Last of Us is exceptional. It won’t be easy to dethrone Necromorphs in terms of terror, but the Infected have the best shot I’ve seen yet.
I’m not saying The Last of Us is the last great video game ever, or the last great Naughty Dog game ever, or even the last great PS3 game ever (again, Beyond in October, and it looks amazing). But I do genuinely feel like it represents the end of an era, and a culmination of things born on the original Playstation and refined for the last seventeen (!) years of development. I’ll leave you with the trailer below until June 14: