Monthly Archives: August 2015
Bungie Explains Why Destiny Ditched Peter Dinklage
Bungie has gone into detail over why it made the decision to replace Peter Dinklage as the voice of Ghost in the upcoming The Taken King expansion
It was announced last week that all of Dinklage's dialogue would be removed from the game, with video game veteran Nolan North re-recording all the old lines as well as the new ones. As Dinklage faced a lot of criticism for his unenthusiastic performance in Destiny, many speculated this was why he was removed from the game.
This Week’s Xbox Live Deals with Gold Revealed
Microsoft has revealed the Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles on sale this week as part of its Deals with Gold program.
The company's Major Nelson has the full list on his blog, with the discounts active from today through August 17. Though most are available to all, higher profile titles like Mortal Kombat X, Project Cars and Thief are reserved for Gold subscribers, with those members also getting higher discounts on some titles.
The full list of discounts is below:
Xbox One
- Thief – 60%
- Project CARS Digital Edition – 33%
Pillars of Eternity Expansion Gets a Date
Obsidian Entertainment and Paradox Interactive have announced that The White March - Part I will be released on August 25.
The White March - Part I is the first expansion to Pillars of Eternity, and was revealed during E3 this year.
It can be played alongside the original game whether players have completed it or not. It adds a higher level cap, artifacts, new companions, new abilities, and a new realm to explore. The story is penned by Carrie Patel, author of the Recoletta series, and Eric Fenstermaker, who worked on South Park: The Stick of Truth.
Her Story Sales Reach 100,000
Her Story's creator Sam Barlow has revealed that the game has sold over 100,000 copies so far.
Writing on Twitter, he said "back from holidays & some cool news waiting for me: Her Story has sold over 100,000 copies after its first month and a bit on sale."
Her Story is a game from the creator of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories where you must decipher a murder mystery by watching clips of police interviews. It came out on June 24 on PC, Mac, and iOS.
PS Plus Subscription Prices Rising in UK and Europe
Sony has confirmed it's set to increase how much it costs to purchase a one or three month PS Plus subscription in the UK and Europe.
As it currently stands, one month of PlayStation Plus costs £5.49 while three months will set you back £11.99. It has yet to be confirmed what the new prices will be, but Sony has promised an annual subscription will remain unchanged at £39.99.
“We are dedicated to bringing PlayStation Plus members the best possible service with the most compelling content," reads a statement. "From September 1, 2015 we will be increasing the price of monthly and three-month PlayStation Plus subscriptions in line with market conditions.
"We will continue to invest in PlayStation Plus to ensure an unparalleled experience, featuring the best quality games and features.”
Blizzard Trademarks ‘Compete’ for eSports
Blizzard has registered a trademark for "Compete", an eSport tournament creation system.
Specifically, the trademark is for "Providing an online non-downloadable Internet-based system application featuring technology enabling users to organize and promote e-sports tournaments, to create and customize tournament brackets and ladders, track tournament progress, maintain related statistics, and post results."
Compete will presumably be used as a tool to back up Blizzard's strong lineup of eSports games including StarCraft II, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone.
A New Boy and His Blob is Coming
With several business changes underway, Majesco Entertainment is now focusing exclusively on downloadable and mobile titles, including a new game called Glue and a new entry in the A Boy and His Blob series.
Outgoing CEO Jesse Sutton wrote in a letter to shareholders that Majesco Entertainment, in an effort to become profitable, has appointed David Rector as the new CEO. In addition, it is reducing staff and shifting away from producing retail games to focus exclusively on digital and mobile content.
This includes Glue and the next A Boy and His Blob title, both of which the company expects to launch within the next two fiscal quarters. According to Sutton, the two games will be released on "all next generation consoles and in some cases, PC."
Arrow: Hannibal, Enlisted Actors Join Season 4 Cast
The cast for CW’s upcoming Arrow: Season 4 continues to grow.
The Wrap reports Hannibal star and True Blood alum Rutina Wesley is in talks to join Arrow: Season 4, while ET Online reports Enlisted star Parker Young has been cast in the superhero TV show.
Wesley's role has not been named, but it is a role spanning a multi-episode arc for the upcoming season.
Rutina Wesley as seen in Hannibal
Fox Could Lose Up to $60 Million on Fantastic Four
20th Century Fox’s latest Fantastic Four reboot is going to cost the studio big time.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the studio could write off over $60 million due to Fantastic Four’s flop in its box office debut. The superhero movie reportedly cost $120 million to produce and tens of millions more to market.
The movie took in an estimated $26.2 million, roughly $4 to $14 million below expectations.
Fantastic Four has been critically panned, and director Josh Trank alleged the studio meddled with the final cut of the film, claiming we’ll never see the “fantastic” version.
Price and Pre-Sales Confirmed for Smach Zero, the Steam-Based Handheld
Smach Zero, the third-party handheld console for Steam games, will open for pre-order on November 10 at an early bird price of US$299.
Previously known as Steamboy Project, Smach Zero is the first Steam OS-operated portable console. Smach Zero features a 720p resolution 5 inch touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI output and 4G LTE connectivity with the PRO model.
The Steam-based handheld has an “AMD embedded G-Series SoC Steppe Eagle with Jaguar-based CPU and GCN-based Radeon graphics under the hood.” It also includes 4 GB of RAM and 32GB internal memory with room for external expansion. Battery life is yet to be confirmed.
According to Smach, the hardware specifications will allow the handheld to support more than 1,000 games in Steam at launch. The company claims the handheld will also support Dota2, Half Life 2 and Civilization V.