Monthly Archives: June 2015
Countdown to E3 2015
Hard as it is to believe, another 12 months have come and gone in the world of video games and now we're mere days away from the event that tells us what we should expect the following year. Or maybe the year after that, if the recent trend of delays is anything to go by.
With that in mind, Alex, Luke and Chris sit down to talk about the biggest titles from each publisher we're looking forward to seeing, as well as those we hope may crawl out of the woodwork. There's also some fairly ludicrous predictions, one of which has come true since recording. So next time you think we don't know everything, here is your proof.
Other topics include the mighty Jurassic World, Heroes of the Storm, The Simpsons divorce drama, the sad passing of Christopher Lee, impressions on the Star Wars Secret Cinema event and Game of Thrones running out of ideas. So what are you waiting for?
Can Battleborn Become the Next Borderlands?
Battleborn, Gearbox’s follow-up to its immensely popular Borderlands series, is a game with many identities. It walks a fine line between its MOBA elements, specifically its playable roster and character development, and its obvious heritage from the adventures we had on Pandora. I played through a single mission in this five-player, cooperative shooter three separate times, and the results were both warmly familiar, and surprisingly unique.
Jumping into Battleborn immediately brought a sense of familiarity to the Borderlands series. The world is colorful, the enemies are insane and plentiful, and the dialogue is genuinely funny. Whether it was the main story beats featuring a mechanized, walking tank who became oddly self-aware of its impending doom, or just the random barks between two characters, I found myself laughing more than I do in 99% of other shooters. In the span of a single 20 minute mission, Battleborn cemented the playful tone of its world, and the fantastic variety of its cast of incredibly different weirdo characters in a really impressive way.
PES 2016 Features and Release Date Revealed
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 will launch on PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on September 15 in North America and September 17 in Europe, according to Konami.
The new entry in the franchise, which we discovered earlier in the week will feature Neymar as cover star, aims to go back to the series' roots. Set to use the Fox Engine and completely redevelop Master League, here are some of the new features coming this year.
From a gameplay perspective, collisions have been improved, which in turn enables aerial battles to be more visceral. 1-on-1 situations are also subject to faster reaction times, while performing tackles at the right time lets you shove the player out of the way and creating stronger counters. AI has been improved, you have more control in goal celebrations and goal keepers now have varying stats in Catching, Clearance, Collapsing and Deflecting, meaning you can find one to suit your style.
Twitter CEO Stepping Down in July
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo will be stepping down on July 1, to be replaced by Jack Dorsey as interim CEO.
Costolo had been under pressure after many months of slow user growth, and controversies surrounding piracy and abuse on Twitter. The decision to step down was his own, and he will be remaining on the board of directors.
In a statement, Dick Costolo said "I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the company."
Over the first three months of the year, Twitter missed targets for growth, posting a net loss of $162 million (£104 million).
How Blizzard’s Heroes Went From Concepts to Icons
In the course of its long and illustrious history, Blizzard Entertainment has pumped out one incredible game after another. Yet at the core of each of these titles, alongside addictive gameplay, are characters that have successfully installed themselves as icons of the medium thanks to great design and diverse stories.
Now, with the launch of Heroes of the Storm, the great and the good of Blizzard's back catalogue are coming together for the first time. With this in mind, we decided to sit down with Phil Gonzales and Luke Mancini, two of the studio's long-serving designers and 3D artists, to discover how some of the studio's most iconic figures went from concepts to legends, tracing each step along the way.
John Carpenter on Remaking Big Trouble in Little China
Filmmaker John Carpenter has confirmed that he’s yet to discuss the upcoming remake of Big Trouble in Little China with Dwayne Johnson, who’s currently in negotiations to star in it. Johnson mentioned last week that he felt the project would have a good chance of success if they were able to bring Carpenter on board.
“It’s very early in the process,” Carpenter told The Wall Street Journal. “I haven’t spoken to Dwayne Johnson about any of this.”
Blizzard on Designing Blackrock Mountain’s Cards
Hearthstone’s latest adventure, Blackrock Mountain, brought 30 new cards to the game and introduced a number of new gameplay mechanics as well as a focus on the dragon minion type. I caught up with Team 5 senior game designers Ben Brode and Mike Donais to chat about expanding Hearthstone generally and some of the more interesting new cards specifically. It’s a long conversation, but hardcore fans will find some fascinating nuggets about the design process – and how cards changed from inception to final design.
IGN: What’s your strategy for building a smaller set of cards for an adventure, as opposed to something like Goblins vs Gnomes, which had 120+ cards? How difficult is it to find the right 30 cards when you have so much smaller a set to work with?
Advanced Warfare Supremacy DLC Dated for PS4, PS3, PC
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's Supremacy DLC is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC on July 2.
Currently available on Xbox One and Xbox 360, Supremacy introduces four new multiplayer maps -- Kremlin, Parliament, Compound, and Skyrise -- as well as the next chapter in Advanced Warfare's Exo Zombies mode, featuring actor Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead).
Kremlin, Parliament, and Compound are located in Russia, London, and Colorado, respectively, while Skyrise is a reimagining of Modern Warfare 2's Highrise.
For more on Call of Duty, head over to IGN's Advanced Warfare multiplayer wiki, or check out everything you need to know about this year's entry in the series, Black Ops 3.
Street Fighter 5 on Xbox One Is Not Going to Happen
If you want to play Street Fighter V, you have two options and one of them isn’t Xbox One.
A Capcom representative definitively confirmed to GameSpot in an interview that Street Fighter V will only release on PC and PlayStation 4.
“One comment we see a lot is that something like a Super Street Fighter 5 is going to come out on Xbox,” the representative said, adding that the partnership between Capcom and Sony is “real” and that Street Fighter V is console exclusive to PS4 for the game’s run, meaning no future ports to another console.
Driveclub for PS+ In ‘Final Stages of Development’
Driveclub game director Paul Rustchynsky has confirmed via Twitter that Driveclub’s long-awaited PS+ Edition is nearing completion.
Pressed for information regarding when PS+ members could expect to be able to play the free version of Driveclub, Rustchynsky replied, “We’re in the final stages of development now.”
@undeadrocker666 We're in the final stages of development now.
— Paul Rustchynsky (@Rushy33) June 10, 2015