Monthly Archives: March 2015
Banjo Kazooie Spiritual Successor Headed to Kickstarter
The self-described "Rare breed" of developers behind the spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie will be taking their project to Kickstarter.
Playtonic Games, a studio made up of game industry veterans from Rare Ltd., made the announcement that their upcoming game, currently called Project Ukulele, is planned to hit the crowdfunding service in May.
Playtonic's Gavin Price told Eurogamer that the company could make the game "with a few hundred thousand pounds," and added that if the Kickstarter is able to go beyond that goal, "we will scale up the game and add features as fans want from us."
Crytek Prepares To Announce ‘Huge’ Licensing Deal
After a rocky 2014, Crytek is getting ready to announce details about its future following a licensing deal it describes as "huge."
Crytek followed up on reports of its financial difficulty last year with a confirmation that it had obtained enough capital to secure the company's future.
The developer-turned-publisher is preparing to release more details about this now, namely a licensing deal that it says has been in the works for a while.
"A lot of people are under the impression we had to find a new investor or something, but that wasn’t the case," Crytek PR head Jens Schaefer told Develop. "We made a licensing deal."
Daily Deals: PS4 With a Free Controller, $10 Off Evolve, PS4 Headset
PlayStation 4 Bundle With Two Controllers
A controller is the best kind of freebie because they never drop in price, and you can pick from black, white, blue or camo for your free controller. You also get a decent wired headset, a far cry from the free earbud you normal get with a PS4.
EA Announces Rory McIlroy PGA Tour
After a one-year hiatus, Electronic Arts' golf franchise is back in the form of Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, the publisher announced today.
Prior to the game's recent absence, famed golfer Tiger Woods was the cover athlete for the franchise, until he signed a 2013 deal with Zynga Sports 365. McIlroy, the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world at the moment, will adorn the new cover when the golfing game releases in June for PS4 and Xbox One.
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour isn't a numbered entry, so it's unclear if it will be annualized like the Tiger Woods titles were, and aside from the release window and platforms, not much else is known about the golfing game. In a press release, however, EA touted the Frostbite Engine as a welcome change to the golfing formula. The engine allows for realistic depictions of real-world courses, detailed fairways and greens, and new modes and features, the last of which have yet to be specified, EA said.
Utomik Wants To Be Netflix For Games
A new service called Utomik wants to offer unlimited PC games for only $10 per month, minus the long downloads, lag, and bad quality usually associated with cloud gaming.
Utomik's goal is to make games playable with just one click, with virtually no installation time stopping you from playing what you want right away.
The method used by Utomik is similar to progressive downloading, made possible by what it calls its own "unique proprietary file streaming technology."
Downloading smaller batches of files as they play, according to Utomik, allows its users to have access to any game in the service's library, instantly.
9 Things to Watch This Week
COMMUNITY'S BACK! STREETS AHEAD! BUTT STUFF! HUMAN BEINGS!
Yes, Dan Harmon's Community returns to our lives this week via Yahoo Screen - with the first two Season 6 episodes airing Tuesday the 17th, beginning at noon.
Netflix in March: Kimmy Schmidt, 3rd Rock from the Sun, More
Also, it's a week of new comedies, comic book supervillains, and - yes - another new Netflix series. This time it's Bloodline starring Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler, from the creators of Damages.
Sony Running Free Online Multiplayer Weekend for PS4
All PlayStation 4 users in North America will be able to play multiplayer online free of charge this weekend.
PlayStation Plus lead brand manager Asong Fong made the announcement today in a post on PlayStation Blog, noting that from March 20 at 12:01 a.m. PT to March 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT, no PlayStation Plus subscription will be required to play online multiplayer.
With Battlefield Hardline set for release tomorrow, this weekend may be a good time for non-members of Sony's premium service to give the online mode of Visceral Games' upcoming cops vs. criminals shooter a test drive.
This isn't the first time Sony has done something like this for PS4 owners either –– the company ran a similar PlayStation Network promotion surrounding the launches of Destiny and Madden NFL 15 last year.
Disney’s Canceled Kingdom Hearts Game Featured Star Wars, Frozen
Concept art for a canceled Kingdom Hearts iOS and Android title featured a number of exciting Disney-owned universes never before seen in the series, including Star Wars. The game, titled Kingdom Hearts: Fragmented Keys, was in the works at Disney back in 2013, but didn't make it past the cutting room floor.
GFL Animation Studios, the production team responsible for crafting the game's characters and locations, posted a whole bunch of concept art of the game on its website, according to the Kingdom Hearts-focused site KH13. Disney-themed worlds based on popular film franchises including Wreck It Ralph, Frozen, and Star Wars were revealed.
Kevin Smith Confirms Mallrats 2 Will Start Filming in 2016
Kevin Smith has confirmed the long-awaited sequel to the 1995 cult classic Mallrats is happening, with filming due to commence in 2016.
Speaking on local Tuscon morning show Rock102 Mornings with Shmonty & Carolina (via THR) this past weekend, Smith confirmed the script is still being written, though there's no news as yet if the original cast of Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Shannon Doherty and Stan Lee will be back.
"It's half a script right now, and we're pulling our loot together," he said. "We've got up until the beginning of 2016. By the time we get to May 2016, we're going to be shooting."
The Emotional Storytelling of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture – IGN First
IGN First this month is about a handful of special games, and this week we're focussing on Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Sony's upcoming first-person emotional exploration game for PS4.
Today we're starting with a commentary with creative director Dan Pinchbeck and composer Jessica Curry over 13 minutes of new gameplay footage captured from pre-beta code (yes, it looks that good already). But we'll be following up with an in-depth interview with the pair, in which we dig deeper into the unique emotional storytelling behind the experience, before a more detailed look at how music is being used to support and further the narrative.