Trade off unwanted ‘Rocket League’ gear for hats and profit
Cross-platform play is getting some fresh company with the new additions coming to the soccer-meets-vehicular-mayhem of Rocket League. As part of the game’s next update, the developers at Psyonix say they’re adding “rare” and “very rare” items (hats, paintjobs, etc..) that will augment a particular skill of yours. More than that, if you build up a collection of gear that you’d rather not use any more, have countless duplicates of or have found more powerful/uncommon versions of, soon you’ll be able to trade items in for more prestigious implements.
Maybe best of all is news that trading gear among your friends will be possible too, and the loot might become even more valuable as it’s passed from person to person. Rocket League’s next patch is shaping up to be pretty sizable, and the developers tease that there will be even more info about it coming later this week. Party on, Wayne.
Source: Psyonix
Whimsical ‘Yooka-Laylee’ debuting at E3 2016
We’ve known about Playtonic Games’ upcoming 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee for some time now, but it’s finally getting some time in the spotlight during E3 2016 from June 14th through the 16th in Los Angeles.
Published by Team17 (Worms, Alien Breed) Yooka-Laylee is a colorful romp featuring the charismatic animal duo of Yooka and Laylee, a chameleon and a bat tasked with exploring Hivory Towers to stop the nefarious Capital B and Dr. Quack from taking all of the world’s literature and turning it into profit.
The game will be shown off by appointment only at E3 ahead of its planned Q1 2017 release. Previously Playtonic had planned on shipping the game this October, but the team has decided on pushing the release back to 2017 in order to “add a few extra months’ polish” to their schedule and release a better game overall.
“We’re sure some will be disappointed by the prospect of a few extra months’ wait, however the Playtonic team is confident that we’ve made the right decision for the game and that you’ll be pleased with the results when the game arrives early next year.”
Yooka-Laylee is planned for release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U and PC.
Source: Playtonic Games
EA’s ‘FIFA 17’ lands on September 27th
Game studios are getting a jump on the E3 news cycle and Electronic Arts is no different. Today, the company announced that FIFA 17, the next installment in its popular soccer franchise will arrive in September. What’s more, the game will be powered by Frostbite, a move that VP and executive producer Dave Rutter says “unlocks a whole new world of possibilities.” The studio used Frostbite on a sports title in last year’s PGA Tour release after employing it on Battlefield and other games.
To ensure the gameplay is as realistic as possible, EA worked four world-class players to create the “innovation” that’s set to be revealed during next week’s E3. The group includes Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez, Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus. Those four are also available for an 8-match loan as part of the FIFA 17 Ultimate Team if you’re willing to pre-order. The game arrives September 27th in North America with the global launch to follow two days after. When FIFA 17 is available, you can expect to play it on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. However, the Frostbite tech will only be used in the current-gen and PC versions.
Source: Electronic Arts
Remastered ‘Final Fantasy XII’ comes to PS4 in 2017
Add Final Fantasy XII to the next batch of Square RPGs getting a major facelift. The company announced today that a revamped version, titled Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age, is heading to the PlayStation 4 next year. And before you start worrying, yes Sony has confirmed that it’s headed to North America and Europe in 2017 as well. As usual, you can expect it to run in 1080p and it’ll feature an upgraded music mix. There will also be a revamped job system and some interface tweaks originally seen in the international version of the game.
FFXII was originally released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, so you could think of this version as a belated anniversary release. The game was one of the last major releases for that console, and it looked surprisingly great considering the PlayStation 3 was right around the corner. Judging from the trailer below, the revamped version should hold up well against today’s RPGs.
Source: Sony
Blizzard deal lets you stream its games on Facebook Live
Blizzard is about to make it much, much easier to share your gaming exploits with the world. The developer has unveiled a deal with Facebook that will let you stream its games directly through Facebook Live — you won’t have to do much to broadcast your latest Overwatch marathon for your friends. There isn’t a firm timeline for when this will be available, but it won’t be limited to Overwatch when it arrives.
Appropriately, the pact introduces Facebook logins to Blizzard’s games. You won’t need to create a distinct Battle.net account, in other words — you can just use your Facebook details to sign up for World of Warcraft or log in to StarCraft II. The integration starts later this month in virtually all of Blizzard’s titles.
Via: Polygon
Source: Activision Blizzard
‘Horizon: Zero Dawn’ pushed back to February 28th, 2017
Did Horizon: Zero Dawn’s 2016 release window seem overly optimistic to you given its open world game mechanics, David-versus-Goliath battles and novel setting? Your concern was well-warranted. Guerrilla Games has delayed the release of the PS4 title to February 28th, 2017. It needs the extra time to live up to its “ambitious vision” for the title. That’s not a gigantic setback, but it’s bound to be disappointing if you were hoping to hunt gigantic robot dinosaurs by the holidays.
Via: Polygon
Source: PlayStation Blog
Nintendo tour lets you try 3DS games this summer
If you or your kids are jonesing for something to do this summer but would rather play Super Mario Bros. than go on vacation, Nintendo has your back. It’s launching a free Play Nintendo Tour that, as the name implies, gives you a chance to play a range of 3DS games in a kid-friendly environment. On top of getting to try some of Nintendo’s better-known titles (ranging from the shiny new Kirby: Planet Robobot to an older title like Mario Kart 7), the 12-stop US tour has contests, photo ops and prizes.
Each stop lasts for just a few days. Things kick off in earnest between June 17th and 19th, when the tour begins in Los Angeles, and wind down just before school (September 2nd through 5th) in Alpharetta, Georgia. You’ll have to be in the right place at the right time, then, but it could be worth the trip if you’re raising a family of gamers.
Source: Nintendo, BusinessWire
Cortana is coming to the Xbox One this summer
Microsoft announced the first big update to Windows 10 — known as the “anniversary update” — earlier this year. And now that the Xbox One is technically a Windows 10 machine, it’ll be getting some new features as far of the fun. It’s not near as radical an update as what we saw last year, but a handful of new features will make the console a bit more user-friendly.
The most notable addition here is full Cortana integration. The Xbox One has been notorious for the voice commands Microsoft tried to push with the Kinect, but the company is promising a less strict, more fluid and conversational experience with Cortana. Now, to turn on your console, you’ll say “Hey Cortana, Xbox On.” All of those same Xbox commands that previously were supported will still work, but you’ll need to say “hey Cortana” to get the assistant’s attention first and then tell it what you want to do.
Probably more significant is how Cortana’s intelligence comes into play when using voice commands. In a demo, I was able to say “hey Cortana, I wanna play Killer Instinct.” The assistant was smart enough to look through my library of installed games, which contained several Killer Instinct titles, and then ask me which one I wanted. Saying “the first one” launched the first title in the list.
That’s a definite improvement over the current system, which requires you to say the exact title to launch the appropriate game — something that can get a little unwieldy. The system is also smart enough to parse conversational phrases like “I wanna.” It’s also smart enough to let you string multiple commands together into one phrase. You can say “hey Cortana, invite Terry to a party” and it’ll both start the party and send the invite — two distinct commands that it can parse as one.
Microsoft said that it was primarily focused on getting Cortana working with game-related functionality first and foremost, but some of its other features are included. If you have location settings turned on, you can ask it to show you nearby restaurants and get results from Bing, for example. And if you’re logged in to the same Microsoft account you use for Cortana on other platforms, your history and Cortana notebook will all come along to the Xbox One.
Other improvements include a new navigation system to go through your game library. It’s a lot simpler and cleaner than before, with a large scrolling grid showing everything in your library, whether it’s installed on your console or not. From there, you can short by letter to quickly find a specific game. And there’s also a new queue showing your most recent purchases. It’s nothing revolutionary, but it’s definitely a cleaner look at your library and what’s installed than before.
The games store has also been cleaned up a bit — it’s easier to see what games are on sale, with a strikethrough on the old price and more bold text indicating when something has had a price drop. You’ll also see more clearly what games have deals through the Xbox Live Gold and EA Access programs, as well.
Microsoft is also getting the console ready for Windows 10 universal apps. Right now, developers like Netflix need to write apps specifically for the Xbox One, but soon universal Windows apps will be supported on the console — so you can write the app once and have it work across PC, Xbox and Windows Phone (for what that last one is worth).
Lastly, the Xbox Live app for Windows 10 computers has been updated to more closely link the PC and console together. If you’re into recording gameplay footage and editing it, you can now import things you’ve recorded on your Xbox One to your Windows PC, edit it using whatever tools on your PC you choose, and then re-upload the new copy. The app also pulls in more of your Windows PC gaming activity into your social stream. If you’re playing games on your PC from Steam or any other Windows-based gaming platform, your activity will show up for your friends. The idea was to give a more comprehensive view of you as a gamer and not keep things limited to just your Xbox activity.
Again, none of these changes on their own are revolutionary, but it’s good to see Microsoft continue to polish the gaming experience for users, regardless of whether they’re on a console or PC. If you want to check out the new Xbox software, a preview version rolls out this week, with a final version planned for later this summer. And Microsoft teased one more big update before the end of the year, but there’s no word yet on what’ll be included.
Play a free, futuristic ‘Cops and Robbers’ on your Xbox One
Rumors are swirling that we could see more of the new Crackdown in just over a week’s time at E3, but until Microsoft’s media briefing you’ll just have to make due with All Points Bulletin: Reloaded. The free-to-play online game of futuristic cops and robbers recently launched on Xbox One after a lengthy delay, and if you log in within the first month (or before its initial patch, whichever comes first), there are a few bonuses for you. In addition to weapon skins and a placard for your avatar if you play for 10 hours, there’s a special weapon (the Fireworks Flare Launcher) and vehicle (Mikro JC14 “New-Cross”) in store for everyone, regardless of play-time.
But how are Crackdown and APB even remotely connected? Well, in case you forgot, it’s time for a bit of a video game history lesson. Developer David Jones worked at Rockstar North precursor DMA Design, and was a producer on the original Grand Theft Auto. He worked on a few Nintendo 64 games after that (Body Harvest and Space Station Silicon Valley) before returning to a life of crime with Grand Theft Auto 2.
Jones founded Realtime Worlds in 2002, which was responsible for the first (and best) Crackdown, a comic-book styled open-world game that put you in the shoes of what was essentially an acrobatic superhero cop, and then the original All Points Bulletin. If you’re a fan of GTA Online, know that it got a lot of its ideas from APB.
Despite the game’s ambition and potential, though, financial woes forced the game to shut down in 2010 after the MMO’s servers had been live for just three months. It was picked up and turned into a free-to-play game by K2 Network in 2011 under the name APB: Reloaded. Now, Jones is heading up development on Crackdown 3 for Microsoft. See? Full circle.
APB: Reloaded is still scheduled for release on PlayStation 4, and the developer promises Sony fans will be able to play the game sometime after the Xbox One version’s first patch hits. The announcement post also lists all the changes that’ve been made to the game or that are en route for the new PC version as well.
Source: Reloaded Games
Computex highlighted VR’s growing pains
2016 is the year of virtual reality. Consumer versions of three major VR headsets — the Oculus Rift, HTC’s Vive and the PlayStation VR — have or are about to hit store shelves, while smartphone-based models like the Gear VR are growing in popularity. But even as VR gains momentum, it’s still an enigma for most people. This was never more apparent than in the halls of this year’s Computex in Taipei. VR was front and center, but instead of traditional game demos, we saw examples of curious and niche applications that suggest the use case for VR is still evolving.
Take the VR rower I tried a few days ago, which had me wearing a HTC Vive while using an ergometer. I do like the idea of pretending you’re paddling in a kayak rather than on a stationary rower, but it doesn’t seem very practical for most consumers as it requires the investment of not just VR headset but a specialized computer. How many people will buy this? Will gyms and fitness centers cough up the cash for it? If they do, how will they solve the issue of the sweaty headset? (Believe me, it’s a real issue.)
The same goes for the Birdly flight simulator. It’s admittedly pretty cool to flap your arms as wings, but the use case seems extremely niche — it’s just for the one game! And if a consumer like you and me isn’t going to buy it, who will? Arcades? Luxury health clubs? Will they then offer rentable headsets for each customer? This is an example of hardware looking for an audience.
Besides, the technology itself doesn’t seem to be fully baked. The most glaring example of this are VR backpacks, which aim to solve the wire nest problem of current headsets. I tried out the MSI Backpack PC here at the show, but HP released something similar last week as well. Another company, Zotac, didn’t even bother creating a special chassis for the PC; it simply crammed one of its VR-ready mini PCs into what looks like a regular canvas backpack and then connected a Vive to it.
The whole concept is extremely silly and impractical, with the clunky setup making virtual reality look even dorkier than it already is. Plus, these VR backpacks are really just stopgap measures until companies like Oculus and HTC figure out a wireless solution.
It all seems as if the VR industry is still messing around with half-baked ideas. And this is a problem because right now we’re here (thousand-dollar gaming PCs and bulky VR headsets connected with inch-thick wires), when we need to get to there (seamless, VR entertainment that’s as immersive as Star Trek’s Holodeck).
Despite the barriers, however, it’s clear that VR has momentum. Google announced its Daydream platform a couple of weeks ago, which could lead to a whole new generation of VR-compatible smartphones. Microsoft entered the fray as well earlier this week by opening up its Windows Holographic technology to VR use cases.
And even though virtual reality is expensive right now, it’ll get more affordable — and accessible — in the future. AMD, for example, just announced a $200 VR-ready GPU, which is far cheaper than anything else currently on the market. Of course, the technology will have to improve too.
But while we wait for the future to arrive, I guess we’ll have to live with awkward PC backpacks and strange flapping-bird contraptions at technology trade shows.
Stay on top of all the latest news from Computex 2016 right here.
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