Monthly Archives: December 2016
Wrestling Wrap Up: New Day Earns Record-Breaking Reign
It's a New Day, yes it is!
Congratulations to Kofi, Big E. and Xavier for their tremendous, ground-breaking double-win on RAW the other night.
To be fair, heading into this particular show, where New Day would be challenged one more time for their tag titles before beating Demolition's record, I was on the fence. Well, not on the fence per se, but I would have been fine with New Day beating the record OR losing at the eleventh hour and coming up short. Either outcome would have been okay, honestly.
Dishonored 2 New Game Plus Release Date Revealed
Dishonored 2's New Game Plus mode will release for PC in beta today and in full for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on December 19.
The new mode, which is part of Dishonored 2's first free game update, will allow you to start over after beating the game with either Emily or Corvo and will give you "access to the full suite of abilities from both of the game’s heroes," according to Bethesda.
"If you've ever wanted to make higher-powered characters, now's your chance," said creative director Harvey Smith. "If you've wanted to play Emily Kaldwin with Possession or Devouring Swarm, or Corvo Attano with Domino, now you can. We've been having fun with it here at Arkane Studios, and we hope you will too."
For Honor’s Shugoki Is a Devastating Mountain of Meat
Even based on looks alone, For Honor looks like it’s all about putting axes to faces. But while that’s certainly a big part of the equation, there are a lot of other variables that make it interesting. Each warrior, like this new lumbering Shugoki is a set of tools and attributes that can either be leveraged for success or exploited by your opponents with impunity, depending on the map and mode.
In Dominion, For Honor’s primary multiplayer mode, the Shugoki’s large health pool and strong defense make him difficult to outlast when he’s defending the central control point. He even has a special move that replenishes his health on hit, giving him tremendous survivability.
Tim Schafer on Remastering His Best-Selling Adventure Game
Of the many adventure games that Double Fine founder and LucasArts alum Tim Schafer has been involved in over his long and decorated career, Full Throttle is the best-selling of the lot, according to Double Fine, and also my favorite. The 1995 point-and-click comedy featured stylized graphics, razor-sharp humor from the deadpan biker hero Ben Throttle, a killer hard rock soundtrack, and a memorable villain in the form of Mark Hamill’s slimy corporate stooge Adrian Ripburger.
Over 20 years later, absolutely all of those qualities may very well remain true thanks to Full Throttle Remastered. Like Schafer’s previous updates to his other classics, Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango, Throttle is being given a visual facelift. And like those two revivals, the doctor (in this case, Schafer and his team at Double Fine) knows not to go too crazy on the operating table. By and large, Full Throttle Remastered retains its visual identity, seemingly looking like it would had 1080p widescreen displays been the norm in ‘95.
Final Fantasy XV’s First DLC Will Bring Back a Classic Villain
Gilgamesh will be making a return to Final Fantasy once again in an upcoming piece of DLC for Final Fantasy XV.
According to VG24/7, a new special edition book sent to some YouTubers contains information regarding the first piece of DLC, entitled Episode Gladiolus.
Final Fantasy XV's DLC producer Haruyoshi Sawatari said in the book: "The player confronts an enemy called Gilgamesh, who can only be seen in Episode Gladio." In addition, he comments that "in Episode Gladio, you're able to go into areas that cannot be entered in the main game."
Valkyria Chronicles Follow-Up Gets Western Release Date
Japan's Valkyria Azure Revolution is dropping "Azure" from its title and coming to the West.
While the game loses a word from its title, it gains an extra platform on its trip West. Sega announced Valkyria Revolution is coming to Xbox One in addition to PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.
Valkyria Revolution Screen Shot
The newly-named Valkyria Revolution is a follow-up to Valkyria Chronicles, the alternate-reality World War 2 tactical RPG. Sega calls it a "whole new entry" in the Valkyria series, with "new characters, a new world, and new gameplay mechanics."
Stan Against Evil Renewed for Season 2
Stan Against Evil, the popular horror-comedy series from IFC, has been renewed for a second season.
Season 2 will air sometime in 2017, the network announced. The first season debuted to strong numbers for IFC, serving as one of its most successful original series launches yet. In fact, the show's total viewer count more than doubled within the week before the release of each new episode.
"Stan Against Evil instantly connected with IFC viewers, making it one of the network's most popular original series launches to date," IFC president Jennifer Caserta said in a statement.
The series stars John C. McGinley as Stan Miller, a former small town sheriff from New England who's forced into retirement. He's joined by Janet Varney, who plays Evie Barret, "the beautiful new sheriff in town," who Miller ends up joining forces with when things take an unexpected turn in their demon-plagued town.
New Lin-Manuel Miranda TV Project Gets a Showrunner
John Rogers, creator of The Librarians, will be writing the pilot and executive producing the upcoming TV series based on The Kingkiller Chronicles books by Patrick Rothfuss.
This news comes via Deadline, who also report Jennifer Court, head of development at Rogers' Kung Fu Monkey company, will also be an executive producer.
Rogers' previous credits include co-creating and showrunning Leverage, creating and running The Librarians, and creating and executive producing The Player.
Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was recently announced as the head of musical development and creative producer on the show.
Todd Howard to Receive Hall of Fame Award at DICE 2017
Todd Howard, Bethesda Games Studios game director and executive producer who has been part of both the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, will be the next person inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Game. Howard will be presented with the honor at the 20th DICE Awards Ceremony on February 23, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"I know that many of us in the industry have spent countless hours enthralled in the vast, open worlds that Todd has created," AIAS President Mike Fischer said in a statement. "He’s made us all reconsider the player-game relationship and extended the storytelling possibilities of our medium. We look forward to honoring Todd and celebrating his achievements and contributions to the video games industry."
Miitomo Seems to Contain Hints to Unreleased Nintendo Games
Nintendo's first mobile game, Miitomo, appears to hint at two other projects from the developer.
Miitopia - a 3DS RPG that has been formally announced for Japan but with no western release - is mentioned on a loading screen (seen below). It marks the first time Nintendo has ever mentioned the game in English, sparking speculation of a localised release.
Hmmm... pic.twitter.com/6Fwi1GM7B4
— Tony (@tonyh24613) December 12, 2016