Monthly Archives: May 2015
Former Castlevania Producer Announces Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Today, Former Castlevania series producer Koji "IGA" Igarashi announced Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a new game seeking funding on Kickstarter.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is 2.5D action adventure game directed and produced by IGA. He will also handle the role of scenario writer on the project. Castlevania series composer Michiru Yamane will join him along with developer Inti Creates, the same studio behind Keji Inafune's Mighty No. 9, Azure Striker Gunvolt, and Mega Man 9 and 10.
IGA met with IGN to discuss his new venture. After almost a year of silence, we wondered why it took so long to launch this Kickstarter? "I first wanted to see if here was a way to do this through a traditional business model," IGA told IGN in a translated interview. After he went independent, IGA hired Ben Judd, Executive Director of Business Development at DDM, as his agent and spent nine months meeting with publishers to pitch Bloodstained. And, for a variety of different reasons, all of them decided to pass on funding the game.
Canceled Rock Band 3 Sequel Revealed
Rock Band: Sessions entered development shortly after the conclusion of Rock Band 3. Harmonix canceled its excellent concept -- a Rock Band game where you make music instead of matching other artists’ notes -- shortly after the team completed a playable prototype. But the game still exists inside Harmonix, and the team was brave enough to let IGN make some music in a game that will never release.
“It didn’t work for a number of different reasons,” Product Manager Daniel Sussman told IGN. “But Rock Band Sessions was really interesting to work on, and really exposed a lot of strains to us, and made us think about how musical expressivity in the format of a Rock Band game. And it actually informed Rock Band 4 in a lot of ways.”
Darksiders, Saints Row, Metro Go DRM-Free
In collaboration with Deep Silver and Nordic Games, GOG.com is adding a total of five new games to its library of DRM-free software today.
The additions include Nordic Games' Darksiders and Darksiders II, as well as Saints Row 2, Saints Row: The Third, and Metro: Last Light from publisher Deep Silver. And if that weren't enough, you can save up to 75 percent off in discounts throughout the week. The sale will end on May 18.
"It's not every day that we see major games like these, unchained from any forms of DRM," GOG.com VP of business development Oleg Klapovsky said. "With today's big-name DRM-free releases, and the impending The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt premiere, we anticipate even more major titles to follow suit."
10 Movies That Belong in The Twilight Zone
This article was originally published in November 2009.
Today, May 11, marks National Twilight Zone Day honoring the groundbreaking TV series The Twilight Zone, created by the late Rod Serling. The sci-fi/fantasy anthology series, which originally ran from 1959-64, has been a huge influence on a generation of filmmakers and many TV series and movies. Without The Twilight Zone to blaze the trail, it would be tough to imagine TV series such as Fantasy Island, Twin Peaks, Tales From the Crypt, The X-Files, or Lost being backed by a major network. But the influence of the show can also be seen on the big screen, most obviously in the films of M. Night Shyamalan.
If Jurassic Park Were an MMO, iI’d be ARK: Survival Evolved
The first trailer for open-world dinosaur survival game ARK: Survival Evolved has been revealed.
The title, which you can see in action below, will hit Steam Early Access in June, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions planned at a later date.
"As a man or woman stranded naked, freezing and starving on the shores of a mysterious island called ARK, use your skill and cunning to kill or tame & ride the leviathan dinosaurs and other primeval creatures roaming the land," a description reads. "Hunt, harvest resources, craft items, grow crops, research technologies, and build shelters to withstand the elements, while teaming up with or preying upon hundreds of other players to survive, dominate... and escape!"
FOX Reveals X-Files Premiere Date
FOX has announced its prime time slate for the 2015 - 2016 television season, revealing The X-Files is set to return with a two-night premiere event kicking off on Sunday, January 24 with the next episode following on Monday, January 25.
Earlier this year, FOX confirmed the cult hit would return as a new "event" series, comprised of six episodes, with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson back as FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Ex-BioShock Employees’ The Black Glove Put on Ice
The Black Glove, a game from former Irrational Games developers Day For Night Games, is no longer in development.
A statement posted on the studio's website explained that following the title's failure to hit its Kickstarter target, and despite endorsement from Ken Levine, a lack of funds and inability to attract a publisher means development is now being put on ice.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Pre-Orders Pass the 1 Million Mark
CD Projekt Red has revealed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been pre-ordered over 1 million times worldwide.
The highly-anticipated open-world RPG due out on May 19 has already managed to essentially guarantee itself a strong start when it comes to sales.
"We’ve crossed the 1 million pre-order milestone and it’s all thanks to you guys! We would like to thank all the gamers for their trust and support,” said Marcin Iwiński, studio co-founder. “This is the last stretch and we’re pushing hard -- over the last two weeks, we’ve increased performance on all platforms and started working full speed on the expansions, Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine.”
Earlier today it was revealed copies of the game had been sold early in the United Arab Emirates, resulting in several videos of the opening moments and livestreams cropping up online.
American Idol Will End After Season 15
Fox has confirmed American Idol will end following the conclusion of Season 15, which starts in January, 2016.
The network has revealed host Ryan Seacrest and judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. will all be back for the "season-long celebratory event".
Though it may seem surprising to some given the huge impact the show has had on popular culture, the writing's been on the wall for some time. At its peak back in the good old days, the show would grip families across America, but the last two seasons saw numbers fall beneath 15 million for the first time.
This year in particular saw American Idol fall to a new low with a 1.4 rating in the demo, pulling in around 9 million viewers.
Nintendo’s Next Console May Be Region Free
There's a good chance Nintendo's next platform won't be region locked, if recent comments from company president and CEO Satoru Iwata are any indication.
While Nintendo has no intention of removing Wii U or 3DS region locks, the possibility of not having such restrictions tied to its next console are being investigated. "Removing region-locking from current game machines presents various issues, so we don't consider that to be very realistic," Iwata said during Nintendo's latest Q&A with investors (via NeoGAF).