Watch the first gameplay from Bethesda’s ‘Prey’ reboot
Following its reveal at E3, Bethesda has shown the first gameplay footage from Prey. The new reboot is a divisive one, as it appears to abandon the character and spiritual powers that defined the original in 2006. Instead, you play as Morgan Yu, a human living in a space station called the Talos 1. Suddenly, in a plot twist that will surprise no-one, the ship is taken over by a sinister alien force. Yu is the subject of an experiment, however, that’s granted him unnatural, devastating powers. You’re tasked with battling through black, smokey monsters while uncovering larger mysteries.
The spaceship is styled after the 1960s, giving the trailer a Dead Space-meets-Bioshock vibe. While spooky, it’s a clear departure from the game developed by Human Head Studios. That team worked on a sequel for many years, called Prey 2, which was ultimately canned. (A teaser trailer was shown at E3 in 2012.) The new game, which “reimagines the franchise from the ground up,” is being put together by the Austin, Texas branch of Arkane Studios. It’s due out in 2017 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. Bethesda will be hoping it can win over skeptical Prey fans before then.
Source: Bethesda (YouTube)
Google sneaks Olympic-themed minigames into its mobile app
The 2016 Rio Olympics officially kicks off today with the opening ceremony, and Google’s already got the fever. In addition to peppering search results with easy-access schedules, stats, highlights and other pertinent info, big G wants to indulge our competitive sides, too. The 2016 Doodle FruitGames is a collection of seven colorful tap-and-tilt titles playable within the Google app for Android and iOS until August 21st, when the Olympics draw to a close.
Hiding behind the Doodle in Google’s mobile app, the games all feature simple control schemes typical to the search giant’s previous pick-up-and-play titles. The mixture of endless scrollers, time-sensitive point maximizers and the like are the kinda games you can spend two minutes playing or dump hours into, ensuring you’ve got the best sprinting strawberry time of all your peers. And who knows… being a champion spider-riding, hurdling grape around might well be your calling.
Source: Google
‘Overwatch’ now has over 15 million players
It’s safe to say that Blizzard Entertainment’s foray into first-person shooters has been a successful one. After surpassing 7 million players in just over a week, Overwatch has seen that number double and now has 15 million people charging their ultimates. The news comes just days after Blizzard introduced its Olympic-themed “Summer Games,” which lets players buy sporting skins, sprays and other in-game items for their favorite characters.
With Warcraft now taking the Hollywood route (although a new expansion is coming), Overwatch is proving it’s more than capable of building a sizeable community. World of Warcraft reached 12 million players at its peak, but Blizzard’s first ever shooter has the advantage of being available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
With players logging 500 million hours (71 of them mine) in the game so far, Blizzard is keen to build on that momentum by releasing new content throughout the year. Earlier this month, the game got its first new player — a healing sniper called Ana — but gauging from the easter eggs included in the new Summer Games release, we may soon learn who the mystery “Sombra” is.
Over 15 million Overwatch players? Whoo! Get HYPE!
Thanks for believin’, heroes. 💙💚❤️ pic.twitter.com/C1us6IBDyO
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) August 4, 2016
Via: Polygon
‘PokĂ©mon Go’ dev says it needed to block scrapers to expand
Niantic Labs is still facing backlash from some players over blocking many third-party PokĂ©mon Go services, but insists that the moves are necessary. In a blog post it provided a graph (without any numbers) that it says shows how much traffic dropped off after it blocked many scraper services. It says that “freeing up those resources” is what enabled it to launch in Central and South America earlier this week, and blamed scrapers for delaying the rollout in the first place.
There’s no indication of whether this strategy will change in the future, but it’s still insisting it will continue work on new features once the game is “on stable footing.” Finally, in something that will probably affect all players, it confirmed that a bug is causing an increase in the odds of escape and omitting the XP bonus, so you’re not imagining it — those Pidgeys and Rattatas really are harder to catch than they should be. It’s working on a fix, but there’s no word yet on when it will roll out, so you may want to save your PokĂ©balls when and where you can.
Trainers, a new bug affecting throw accuracy increases the odds of escape and omits the XP bonus. We are working on a fix, stay tuned…
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) August 4, 2016
Source: Pokemon Go
Beat the world at ‘Forza’ and drive away with a Ford Focus RS
Your skills at driving supercars around on Forza’s meticulously detailed racetracks could net you a real ride. The top prize in the first-ever Forza Racing Championship is a 2017 Ford Focus RS — an almost $40,000 and 350 HP hatchback built with pure performance in mind. Sign-ups are open right now for the ESL-ran event, with the first Elite Cup races starting August 8th.
Qualifying rounds will follow each week after and the top four competitors from each event will go onto the Grand Finals. Oh, right: This only applies to last year’s Forza Motorsport 6, so if you were hoping all that time spent in Forza Horizon 2’s Nice, France would pay off, you’re out of luck. Maybe next year?
Source: Xbox Wire, ESL
Valve is open-sourcing HTC Vive’s room-scale tracking tech
Much like Valve open-sourced its Steam controller gamepad, it’s doing the same for the Vive VR headset’s stand-out feature. The company has recently opened up SteamVR’s room-scale 3D tracking system to anyone, as spotted by The Verge. Development kits include a pair of HTC Vive base stations; a “full complement of EVM circuit boards to enable rapid prototyping of your own tracked object” and 40 sensors for your tracked object that could be applied to a VR golf club or indoor drone, among other options.
On the FAQ page, Valve writes that there isn’t a catch for the company not charging licensing fees. And while that’s technically true, you do need to attend a $3,000 in-person training session in Seattle as part of the process. Valve hopes to allay that in the future, but for now, classes start in September, with Gabe Newell and Co. recommending that groups of industrial designers, and mechanical-and-electrical engineers attend rather than individuals. Those sessions start in September.
Honestly, they sound a bit like a college class and will have lecture and lab sessions covering SteamVR integration, troubleshooting and designing your own trackable objects. Are you ready to go back to school? Then maybe use Intel’s recent advancement in VR tracking for inspiration.
Via: The Verge
Source: Valve (1), (2)
Cult classic ‘Indigo Prophecy’ gets a new PS4 release date
Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls developer Quantic Dream has announced that one of its earlier pseudo-cinematic games, Indigo Prophecy, will be released for PlayStation 4 via the PlayStation Store on August 9th. It will arrive as a PS2-to-PS4 game so it won’t be fully remastered, but this version will still support Trophies. The game was originally supposed to come out on Sony’s console in July, but was held up for unknown reasons.
The beloved paranormal thriller was first released in 2005 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. Its story takes place in New York City, and follows protagonist Lucas Kane as he tries to clear his name of a murder he doesn’t remember doing. You take control of Lucas as well as Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles, two NYPD officers chasing after Lucas.
Indigo Prophecy employs many of the tropes and unusual mechanics present in Quantic Dream’s later games. There’s an emphasis on making story-based choices that affect the plot moving forward, and a peculiar control scheme that makes simply walking around a difficult task. You can spot similar gameplay and narrative ideas in Quantic Dream’s upcoming latest effort, Detroit: Become Human.
Source: PlayStation Blog
‘Prey for the Gods’ is a modern ‘Shadow of the Colossus’
It’s strange that Shadow of the Colossus, a game so well-received on the PlayStation 2, has had so few imitators. The beautiful art style, spectacular battles and surprising story (I won’t spoil it) seem ripe for adaptation. That’s why we’re curious about Prey for the Gods, a new game kickstarted by fledgling developer No Matter Studios. The team has name-dropped Shadow of the Colossus as an inspiration, and its DNA is clear in early screenshots and trailers. You play as a lone hero, wandering a wintery island filled with giant, fantastical creatures. Survival is no easy task.
The developers have been focused on a PC version, but recently confirmed that console ports (PS4 and Xbox One) are also in the works. If those versions materialize, they’ll be outliers — many take to Kickstarter promising ports for Sony and Microsoft hardware, but few actually deliver. Those that do are often poor (Mighty No. 9) but there are some exceptions, such as Broken Age and the episodic stealth series Republique.
Brian Parnell, co-founder and director of No Matter Studios said: “I look to Shadow of the Colossus as a game that inspires ambition. I watched friends play it, and what I saw blew me away. I was amazed at what they accomplished. To push oneself to the limits like Team ICO pushed itself on the PlayStation 2 is certainly something we want to honor.”
Sony has highlighted the game on the PlayStation Blog, lending some credibility to the project and its likelihood of success. As with all crowdfunded video games, however, there’s no guarantee, so be warned if you feel inclined to make a pledge on Kickstarter. Prey of the Gods is being worked on by a three-person team and has been in development since January. The group says they’re “about 25 percent” done, but admits there’s “still a lot of work left to do.” We’re trying to stay optimistic — a spiritual successor to Shadow of the Colossus would be pretty rad.
Via: PlayStation Blog
Source: Prey for the Gods
Listen to the full ‘No Man’s Sky’ soundtrack on YouTube
No Man’s Sky is just a few days away. If you’re itching to explore its vast and colorful galaxy, there’s an easy way to whet your appetite: by listening to its stellar soundtrack. 65daysofstatic, an electro math rock band from the UK, has uploaded the 10-track set to YouTube. It’s just over 45 minutes in length, offering a hint of the atmosphere and depth that Hello Games is trying to deliver. And if you like what you hear, there’s always the No Man’s Sky tour to look forward to. Or one of these cool-looking vinyl records.
Source: 65daysofstatic(YouTube)
Beloved indie game ‘To the Moon’ heads to iOS, Android in HD
To the Moon is a heartwarming RPG that landed on PC in 2011 and quickly found success, garnering multiple accolades including a nomination at the 2012 Independent Games Festival. In 2017, mobile players will get the chance to play To the Moon in an HD, remastered version coming from Ragnarok Online developer XD Network. The iOS and Android editions feature updated mechanics and a softer overall design: The original game’s sharp pixel edges have been smoothed out in a painting-inspired art style.
To the Moon deals with death through the veil of time travel. It stars two lovable doctors who traverse through an old man’s memories in order to make his dying wish come true, and along the way, they discover a tender tale of love and platypuses.
To the Moon creator Kan Gao expects the HD remaster to be ready for testing in 2016, with a full launch in 2017. Gao is the sole developer behind To the Moon and its sequel, Finding Paradise, which is also set to come out in 2017. Finding Paradise features the doctors from To the Moon as they attempt to alter the memories of a new patient.
Earlier this year, we spoke with Gao about the pressures involved in following up a successful independent project.
“To the Moon’s release certainly changed my life in a lot of ways,” Gao said in January. “It is certainly wonderful to be able to not worry about stability for the time being while making the game, but at the same time — and I really don’t mean to sound ungrateful, as it has really been so fortunate — there is a kind of expectation and pressure that comes with it that almost balances things out in terms of my focus.”
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