Monthly Archives: July 2015

Tabletop for Two: Board Games Couples Can Play Together

Board game nights are great. You get friends together, you play a few games and you have a blast. Then everyone leaves and they don’t come back for a while. What do you do between then? How do you fill that gaming time when it’s just you and your special someone? Fortunately, there are a lot of games that are great to play with just two people.

In fact, there are so many games that are enjoyable with two that we couldn’t possibly list all of the best. Instead, we’ve broken them down into three categories: Quick, cooperative, and competitive.

There are, of course, plenty of games that only play two players. Those aren’t on the list. After all, you kind of know they are going to play just fine with two players by design. This list is of games that suggest four, five, or even eight players, but still play well with just a pair.

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PS4 Release Date For Vanishing of Ethan Carter Confirmed

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is coming to PlayStation 4 on July 15.

Developer The Astronauts teased late last week that the PlayStation 4 release was "mere weeks from today, not months", and today, the game has appeared on the PlayStation Store for £14. (We'll confirm the availability/cost across other territories just as soon as we know more.)

In the game you play a detective on the trail of a missing boy in rural Wisconsin, using your ability to see into the past to piece together puzzles and uncover what happened to the titular boy, Ethan Carter.

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Dragon Quest 11 Will be an Offline Game for Home Console

Dragon Quest XI will be an offline game designed for home console, according to series creator Yuji Horii.

Speaking to FFRing (via NeoGAF) Horii explained the next entry in the series wouldn't be an MMO like Dragon Quest X, and is currently in development for home console.

Horii doesn't go into details about what platforms the game is targeting, though recent iterations in the Dragon Quest franchise have been published outside of Japan by Nintendo. Presumably if we wanted to see Dragon Quest XI on PS4 or Xbox One, Square may have to take these duties back in-house, though this could simply be an issue with translation.

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Journey PS4 Release Date Reportedly Outed

Journey is set to land on PS4 on July 21, according to a Sony site.

The Docs for PlayStation site reveals the critically-acclaimed title should arrived on PS4 in a matter of weeks, which falls in line with what we previously heard about a mid-2015 release.

Though the vast majority of thatgamecompany's masterfully-crafted PlayStation 3 title will remain untouched, the framerate has been doubled from 30 to 60.

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Dragon Quest 7 and 8 Reportedly Coming West

Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII are reportedly set for a Western release, according to series creator Yuji Horii.

Speaking at the Japan Expo 2015, which took place in Paris this past weekend, numerous sources report Horii saying both games will be released in French. If this is the case, an English version will be coming too.

Dragon Quest VII originally released for PlayStation in 2001, with IGN praising the game for "deep gameplay,

massive quest, and sheer variety." And this former localization of the RPG may make it seem like it's easier for Square Enix to bring the game over, but Dragon Quest mobile producer Noriyoshi Fujimoto explained that the company "revamped the translation" for the franchise since Dragon Quest VIII and onward. So there still would be many changes to be made to the script as well as spells and monster lists.

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Square Enix Halts Final Fantasy XIV Online Mac Sales, Issues Refunds

Square Enix is suspending sales of the issue plagued Mac version of Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn and is offering refunds to those who bought the role-playing game on the platform.

“We have received a great deal of feedback regarding the performance of the Mac version, as well as various problems which resulted from the information we provided prior to its release,” producer and director Naoki Yoshida writes in a post to fans on the Square Enix forums. “For these issues, we apologize.”

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Penny Dreadful Creator Breaks Down the Season 2 Finale

Warning: Spoilers for Penny Dreadful's Season 2 finale follow...

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Well, that was a hell of a ride! Vanessa going to toe-to-toe with the Devil in a "Verbis Diablo" duel for her soul. A guilt-stricken Ethan handing himself over to Inspector Rusk. Victor confronting Lily and Dorian, seeing the true horror of his creation, and then being driven to drug-addled madness. Penny Dreadful's Season 2 finale didn't play around. And now all our heroes have been scattered to the wind. Ethan's on his way back to America while Sir Malcolm's set sail for Africa to return Sembene's body to his homeland. Meanwhile, John Clare's decided to ditch humanity completely and head for the arctic.

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Terminator Genisys: Franchise’s Worst Debut in 30 Years

There were no fireworks for Terminator Genisys at the holiday weekend box office as Inside Out and Jurassic World once again secured the top two slots, nearly tying for No. 1.

Jurassic World added another $30.9 to its domestic revenue for a total of $558.2 million to date and became the fourth-best showing of all time in North America. Inside Out followed closely behind with $30.1 million for a total of $246.2 million.

Despite Arnold Schwarzenegger's return and strong buzz, the Terminator franchise saw its worst debut in 30 years as Genisys scored $28.7 million and a five-day total of $44.1 million. Filmed on a $155 million production budget, Paramount and Skydance studios hoped the film would reach at least $55 million in its North American launch, but it was hindered by poor reviews (IGN gave it a 6.3), causing concern for the other two scheduled installments, notes The Hollywood Reporter.

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Here’s Why You Can’t Kill the Disgaea Franchise

Recently, at E3, amidst the bright lights and packed appointment schedules, I sat down to play an English language build of Disgaea 5 for the first time. Both the game, and the experience itself, was practically the opposite of everything that E3 and the video game industry as whole has become.

Alan Costa, one of my main PR contacts at NIS America sat quietly as I explored the colorful, familiar hub world. Every now and again, I’d break our silence with a question. Alan would answer, simply and plainly, in a parlance free of any catchphrases or marketing double-speak. His answers rarely surprised me; Disgaea 5 on PS4, to my relief, feels like Disgaea always has. It’s a little bit prettier, there’s some new monsters and classes...nothing game-changing, and also nothing that’s going to stop me from tossing Prinnies for another 100 hours.

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