Monthly Archives: June 2016
Final Fantasy 15 VR Made Me Cry
Final Fantasy's ability to let players escape into a realm of magic and wonder has always meant a lot to me. As a lonely little girl with few friends, I knew that I could always join the pixelated (and later polygonized) heroes of Final Fantasy on their adventures without fear of rejection. Yet they were on my TV, I was in my room, and I was certain I'd never be able to fully immerse myself in their world. Fast forward to E3 2016, when for seven fun-filled minutes, I was the closest I'll ever get to actually being in Final Fantasy, and it made me teary-eyed with joy.
It's wise of Square Enix to call Final Fantasy XV VR an "experience" rather than a gameplay demo, because the actual gameplay is decidedly simple. Taking on the roll of lanky shutterbug Prompto, you use a gun to help fellow protagonists Noctis, Ignis, and Gladiolus take down one of Final Fantasy's most notorious bosses: the mighty Behemoth. Embodying a gunslinger makes FFXV VR Experience feel like a first-person shooter, which is a bit odd considering FFXV is a third person action RPG, but the mechanic actually makes sense. Rather than having players potentially get motion sickness from constantly turning their head in order to track their sword strikes, they can use Prompto's long distance abilities to stay still and take shots from afar. As someone who gets motion sickness pretty easily, I appreciated that I didn't have to swerve my head in different directions and be subjected to motion blur.
AMC Filmed 11 Versions of Walking Dead: Season 7 Opening
The Walking Dead: Season 6 ends with a dramatic moment that has a major bearing on how Season 7's premiere will play out, and AMC has gone to great lengths to ensure the surprise isn't spoiled.
Warning: The Walking Dead: Season 6 spoilers ahead.
At the conclusion of the Season 6 finale, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) takes a murderous swing at an unknown character. To prevent the victim's identity from being revealed ahead of time, THR reports that all 11 cast members involved in the scene have each had a death scene filmed. The show's producers and episode director are going to work with the editors to decide which character will be killed off in Season 7.
Brutal Walking Dead Figure Set Available as SDCC Exclusive
The Walking Dead will reveal four San Diego Comic Con–exclusive figures before the show begins July 21, and the first is especially gruesome.
Skybound and McFarlane Toys have introduced an exclusive two-pack straight from The Walking Dead comic's one hundredth issue, featuring Negan and Glenn. Two color variants are available for purchase—color blood splattered and black and white.
Both sets include Negan's most-prized possession, the barbed-wire bat called Lucille, and an interchangeable smashed-in head for Glenn. It'll also come with an ax and a knife.
As a reminder, the Negan and Glenn figure set is based on The Walking Dead comic series, and doesn't necessarily confirm Negan's victim on the show.
Why Zelda: Breath of the Wild Is Coming to Wii U and NX
Back in April, Nintendo delayed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and it announced the game would launch simultaneously on Wii U and NX, the code name for Nintendo’s upcoming platform. At E3 2016, we asked Zelda: Breath of the Wild executive producer Shigeru Miyamoto and series producer Eiji Aonuma (in separate interviews) about the decision to release the game for both systems and how it impacted the game's development.
“It’s complicated because as we’re developing this -- obviously development of NX started a while ago -- and unfortunately, I’m sorry, but the development of this game took a lot longer than expected,” Miyamoto told IGN. ”We really felt like we would be able to get it done last year, but there was a lot of struggle with using the physics engine, so that’s why it took a long time.”
IGN UK Podcast #336: The Highs & Lows of E3 2016
E3 came and went like a big greasy whirlwind of sexy game announcements, a shed load of virtual reality stuffs and something about a Scorpion?! In this week's show Dale, Alysia & Gav run through the buzzing highs and crushing lows of the conference which include Resident Evil 7, For Honor and even Crash Bandicoot gets a mention (yeah, cheers Dale!). There's also everyone's favourite feature in the history of podcasts: Keyword Countdown.
Remember some of the team will be running the British 10k for a lovely charity. Found out more and kick in some pennies here on our Just Giving page.
Also, make sure you get your team entered for a place in IGN's Game of Thrones quiz.
Opinion: Marvel Is Losing Ground to DC
Read comics for very long and you're bound to be asked that age-old question - are you a Marvel person or a DC person? I don't particularly care for that binary mentality (especially because the Marvel vs. DC debate ignores the existence of the countless other publishers in the game), but I can't deny that I've always gravitated toward Marvel's heroes first and foremost. It was the X-Men (both in comic book and animated form) who sparked my original transition from casual superhero fan to full-fledged comic book geek in the early '90s. And when I returned to the fold after a long absence, books like Ultimate Spider-Man and New X-Men were as responsible as anything for reigniting my love of comics. Even as I've gained a love and appreciation of the many non-superhero comics the medium has to offer, Marvel has always been a crucial part of this hobby.
Square Enix Wants to Bring Final Fantasy 14 to Xbox One
Final Fantasy 14 could find its way to the Xbox One if Microsoft is willing to tweak some of its regulations. According to Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida, Square Enix is currently in discussions with Microsoft.
"Microsoft actually approached the Final Fantasy 14 team about the cross-platform opportunity," Yoshida told Polygon. "When our team reviewed the regulations that are associated with that, we realized that Microsoft may not have the experience or understanding of running an MMORPG as an online game genre just yet."
The Final Fantasy 14 team expressed these concerns to Microsoft, saying there are "certain elements of its regulations that
Platinum Boss Teases Okami 2 and Bayonetta 3
Future installments for Okami and Bayonetta may be on the horizon, according to hints from PlatinumGames' director Hideki Kamiya.
When asked by METRO in an interview at E3 if he's thinking of making a third Bayonetta game, he replied by saying, "Of course we want to make 3," before adding, "Why should it end at 2?"
Kamiya noted that he hasn't spoken to any publishers about Bayonetta 3 yet, but went on to say, "I’ve spent a lot of time thinking in my head what that game would be. I’ve got ideas in my head for Okami 2 as well."
A sequel to Platinum's upcoming Microsoft-exclusive action title may be on the way as well, as Kamiya added, "We’ve got other Scalebounds in our heads too." For our thoughts on the studio's Dragon-centric action game, which is slated to release next year to Windows 10 and Xbox One, check out our Scalebound wiki.
Final Fantasy 15 Story Length Revealed
Final Fantasy XV's story mode will have around 40-50 hours of gameplay.
At the end of Square Enix's E3 live stream yesterday, FFXV director Hajime Tabata answered a number of fan questions, one of which related to the game's length.
"In terms of clearing the main story, we're anticipating about 40-50 hours of gameplay," said Tabata. "At the very least there will be 40 hours of content to enjoy. But there are a lot of side quests and other extra things. With just the extra stuff alone, we're looking at maybe 100 hours of gameplay. So if you count all of that, maybe we're looking at around 200 hours of gameplay."
Dead Rising 4 Xbox One, Windows 10 Exclusivity Is Timed
Microsoft has revealed Dead Rising 4 will only be a timed-exclusive on Xbox One and Windows 10 when it releases later this year.
According to Gamespot, Microsoft says "it will remain a Windows 10 exclusive for the first 90 days and console exclusive on Xbox One for one year."
Dead Rising 2 is the only game in the franchise to have made it to PlayStation so far, as the first game and Dead Rising 3 were both console exclusives on Xbox.
Dead Rising 4's timed exclusivity means there's a possibility it will be coming to Steam some time after the 90 days are up, and to PS4 after a year. IGN will update you if we hear anything official.