Monthly Archives: June 2015
Smite’s Open Xbox One Beta Date Announced
Smite will go into open beta on Xbox One on July 8.
Hi-Rez Studios has announced that all Xbox One owners will be able to try out the free-to-play MOBA game next month. Currently, Smite is in closed beta testing on Microsoft's home console.
The Smite open beta on Xbox One will last until the free-to-play game officially launches later this year. In addition, Hi-Rez has revealed that closed beta players don't have to worry about data wipes, as their earned Gods, currency and achievements will carry over to the open beta.
As for PC players, they also can bring over their progress and purchased items to the Xbox One version of Smite. For more on the free-to-play MOBA, be sure to check out IGN's preview of Smite on Microsoft's home console.
Forza Motorsport 6 Lets You Play as a Woman
Forza Motorsport 6 players will have the option to chooose between male and female drivers in Forza Motorsport 6 for the first time in Turn 10 Studios’ racing series, creative director Bill Giese told IGN during E3 2015.
"For the first time, yes, in Forza Motorsport 6 you will be able to change your driver,” Giese said. “And you'll be able to choose between a male or female driver. For the last two years, as we start to learn our playerbase, and especially with Forza Horizon 2.
“The great thing about Horizon is that it's fun, open-world and really approachable. It's bombastic. And even this past week we've seen I can't tell you how many female players who've said they got in
Batman: Arkham Knight Collector’s Edition Canceled
Warner Bros. has canceled the Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile Edition.
Kotaku reports that customers who pre-ordered the collector's edition of Batman: Arkham Knight, which was set to come with a transformable Batmobile, are receiving cancelation notices from retailers in the United States, Europe and Australia. Warner Bros. says that quality issues with the product led to the company scrapping the limited bundle.
New Images of Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Replica
Bethesda not only revealed Fallout 4 at E3 this week, but also the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition, which comes with a real-world replica of the survival device.
In addition to the sandbox sequel, the Pip-Boy Edition includes a Vault-Tec Perk Poster, Pocket Guide and the aforementioned Pip-Boy, which can house most smartphones. The replica also comes with Power Armor collectible casing. Check out the images below for a closer look:
Bethesda's Todd Howard sat down with IGN in Los Angeles recebtly to discuss the developer's plans after the upcoming sequel, and how mod support will work on consoles.
Check Out These Star Wars Disney Infinity Figures
Disney showed off figures for its upcoming Disney Infinity: 3.0 Edition, including the much anticipated line of Star Wars based figures.
The figures run the gamut of Star Wars lore, from the original movies to the modern Star Wars Rebels. The Boba Fett figure, it should be noted, will only be available for PlayStation bundles initially. If you want to get your hands on one without buying a PS3 or PS4 version of Disney Infinity, you're going to need to wait until January for standalone figures.
The figures follow closely the art style of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the more recent Star Wars Rebels, and functionality aside, they're really slick looking figures. Definitely a day-one pick up for Star Wars collectors.
Unravel and Yarny Have Stolen my Heart
When a visibly nervous Martin Sahlin took to the stage during E3's press conference earlier this week, few would have anticipated he was about to announce a title so delightfully charming it would linger in the audience's minds for just as long as Mirror's Edge and Star Wars Battlefront. Yet over the following ten minutes, despite clearly being terrified, he introduced us to Unravel - a gorgeous physics-based platformer with a playable character that seems destined to become one of gaming's famous faces. Now, having spent time playing the game, I can confirm early signs suggest it's definitely set to deliver.
The demo I played opened on an exquisitely rendered cinematic of an old woman looking wistfully out her window. From there she gets up and proceeds upstairs, but not before straightening a picture of a baby on the wall and picking up her basket of yarn. It's as she does this that a lone ball falls out and rolls out of shot. From there, our adventure begins.
Shenmue 3 Smashes Guinness World Record for Fastest Game Crowdfunding
The newly announced Shenmue 3 now holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest video game to raise $1 million in contributions on a crowdfunding platform. Ys Net’s role-playing game raised $1 million in 1 hour 42 minutes, breaking the previous record of 6 hours 5 minutes set by Torment: Tides of Numenera in 2013.
Shenmue 3 is now the second fastest Kickstarter project overall to the Pebble Watch’s record of 46 minutes to raise US$1 million in February.
Sony showcased Shenmue 3 and revealed the game's crowdfunding campaign earlier this week during its E3 press conference. The project was successfully funded on Kickstarter, smashing through its US $2 million target less than nine hours after the campaign went live.
Jim Henson Company Created Puppet Iwata
The Jim Henson Company worked with Nintendo of America to produce the puppet versions of Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto.
Ben Henson, son of Kermit the Frog creator Jim Henson, helmed the intro and segues of Nintendo's E3 Digital Event, with Jim Henson's Creature Shop in charge of the puppet versions of the executive trio. "Thanks to @NintendoAmerica for allowing the Creature Shop
Brian Henson to be part of #NintendoE3," wrote The Jim Henson Company on Twitter.
"Making people smile is in our DNA. We are a company that’s all about entertainment," Nintendo President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime told IGN in an interview.
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s Incredible Balance of Action and RPG
Guerilla Games' reveal of Horizon: Zero Dawn immediately grabbed our attention with its gorgeous world, massive mechanical beasts, and intense combat scenarios. But in a behind-closed-doors demo of the game at E3 2015, the studio delved much deeper into Horizon's mechanics, flow, and backstory, all of which helped vault it to the top of my list of most exciting games of 2016.
The project, which began back in 2011 and really ramped up production after the launch of Killzone: Shadow Fall, looks to be the most ambitious game Guerrilla has ever worked on. According to the studio, the single-player, completely open-world (meaning that anywhere you see, you can go) action-RPG falls halfway on the spectrum between the action-oriented open world games that Ubisoft has been producing for the past 7 years, and the most RPG-focused adventures that Bethesda works on.
Sony Still Not Pursuing Backward Compatibility for PS4
Despite news of backward compatibility on Xbox One, Sony still doesn't plan on implementing similar technology on PlayStation 4.
Earlier this week at E3 in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced that over 100 Xbox 360 games will be able to run on Xbox One, and that Xbox One users will be able to play older titles online with 360 owners. But while the announcement undoubtedly pleased many Microsoft players - especially considering the newly announced Rare Replay collection - Sony isn't re-evaluating its stance on backward compatibility.