Playdate: Death becomes us in ‘Darksiders 2’
When publisher THQ went bankrupt a few years back it was a staggering blow to the game industry. Sure, the company made some flops (oh hi, Homefront), but it also published some killer games like the Saint’s Row and Metro franchises. The label also had Darksiders from developer Vigil Games. But unlike the first two series that I mentioned, Darksiders wasn’t scooped up by a major publisher during the bankruptcy proceedings and comparatively was kind of left to languish. I’d honestly thought all hope was lost because while the series is great, it just couldn’t really find an audience. So I was incredibly surprised when word came down that Darksiders 2 was getting a remastering earlier this year.
Sony’s adding PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility to the PS4
Revisiting PlayStation 2 games (at this point) might cost more than you expect. Sony and Electronic Arts have a Star Wars: Battlefront PlayStation 4 bundle available right now and with it comes a quartet of games from a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away: Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, Star Wars Racer: Revenge and Super Star Wars are available via a single download code. This news comes by way of the tech-minded folks over at Digital Foundry who say that of the PS2-era games (all but the latter), they’re running via emulation. The evidence is in the details here, as DF says that the sophomore console’s select and start buttons have been mapped to either side of the DualShock 4’s touchpad, which, considering these were made by Lucasarts Interactive and not Sony, wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Source: Eurogamer
Adorable, grisly adventure game ‘Jenny LeClue’ hits PS4 in 2016
Jenny LeClue is a coming-of-age story wrapped in a choose-your-own-adventure novel and tied up with the pixelated ribbon of a point-and-click detective game. And it’s coming to PlayStation 4 next year, creator Joe Russ announced on the PlayStation Blog today. We’ve been keeping an eye on this one since its $105,800 Kickstarter in 2014 — it’s poised to be a witty and charming investigation game starring a pugnacious young woman, Jenny LeClue, on a mission to prove her mother is innocent of murder. However, Jenny is fictional even within the game, where she’s the star of a series of (also fictional) choose-your-own-adventure novels. As Jenny hunts down evidence and discovers secrets in her sleepy, creepy town, her author narrates, and the two characters play off of each other in often-humorous ways.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Cyberpunk noir game ‘Read Only Memories’ heads to PS4 and Vita
Read Only Memories, a pixelated adventure game set in the futuristic city of Neo-San Fransisco, will make its way to PlayStation 4 and Vita “soon,” developer Midboss announced in a new trailer. Midboss is composed of the folks behind the annual GaymerX convention, and Read Only Memories is a narrative-driven, sci-fi romp set in 2064 that happens to include an array of inclusive character options, such as the ability to choose your preferred gender pronoun. However, these options are almost a side-note to the game’s emphasis on story, retro 2D gameplay and robust character interactions.
Source: PlayStation Blog
‘Gravity Rush Remastered’ launch date shifts up a week in Europe
Sony is doing the fine people of Europe a solid and pushing up the release date of Gravity Rush Remastered from February 10th to February 2nd. This is the new-and-improved, PlayStation 4 version of Gravity Rush, originally a (truly incredible) Vita game. Gravity Rush Remastered includes updated graphics, motion-sensing controls, and extra missions, costumes and challenges. The game is due to hit PS4 on February 9th in the US, in both digital and physical forms. A sequel, cleverly called Gravity Rush 2, is also on its way to PS4 — and PS4 only, with no Vita version in sight.
Source: Sony
Horror game ‘The Park’ creeps onto consoles in 2016
The Park, a dark thriller about a child lost in an amusement park, was not everybody’s cup of tea when it came out for the PC on Halloween. But we certainly had fun with the messed-up, H.P. Lovecraft-style story, and other players must have too, because it’s now coming to the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Developer Funcom said it was “encouraged by the positive reactions we have received on the Windows PC version.” As a reminder, you play the game as a distraught mother seeking her son in a decrepit amusement park. The atmosphere is over-the-top creepy, but are the scares real or in her paranoid mind? If you want to play on console, you’ll find out in early 2016.
Via: Eurogamer
Source: Funcom
The original ‘Valkyria Chronicles’ heads to PS4 in HD (in Japan)
Valkyria Chronicles, Sega’s strategy RPG that hit the PlayStation 3 in 2008, is getting an HD upgrade for a launch on PS4, Famitsu reports (as translated by Gematsu). The remake is confirmed for a release in Japan on February 10th, with no mention of North American plans just yet. Sega is also working on a new entry in the series, Valkyria: Azure Revolution, slated to hit Japanese PS4s in winter 2016, according to Gematsu. Valkyria Chronicles debuted on PC in November 2014, and while that wasn’t an HD remake, it featured dual-language support, Steam Achievements, customization options and all previously released DLC — not bad for $20.
Source: Gematsu
‘Uncharted’ for beginners: My first romp with Nathan Drake
I am the 80 percent. Let me explain: Sony recently released a remastered collection of the Uncharted series for the PlayStation 4. The games were all critically acclaimed, with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves ranking among the best games of the last decade, but developer Naughty Dog says that 80 percent of PS4 owners have never played them. I’m part of that group, and I figured it was high time to catch up with one of the most lauded trilogies of the last decade. Now that I’m in the thick of Nathan Drake’s adventures, I’m going to answer one question: If you’ve never played Uncharted, are these games worth your time?
Fallout 4’s greatest asset is its color palette
Of all the ways Fallout 4 outshines earlier entires in the series, the way it uses color is perhaps the most apparent. The game is a vast improvement over its predecessors in one simple way: It’s loads more vibrant. In 2008’s Fallout 3, nearly everything in the post-nuclear apocalyptic Washington D.C. was a sickly shade of green, a deliberate choice by the developers at Bethesda Softworks to sell an omnipresent feeling of sickness and decay (it still persists in certain places here). B-team developer Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout: New Vegas introduced a bit of chroma to its irradiated Las Vegas landscape in 2010, but it was still primarily a brown game. Bethesda’s triumphant return to the Wastes is what shakes the series’ palette up the most. As you’ll see in the gallery below, the use of vibrant colors and a tightly defined palette serves a couple of purposes here: It differentiates one room or Boston-area landmark from the next and keeps everything in Fallout 4 looking visually fresh.
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PlayStation Vue internet TV is coming to Chromecast and Amazon
Sony’s TV subscription service, Playstation Vue is expanding to the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick with Chromecast support coming soon. The electronics giant also announced a $5 price drop on Core ($54.99 from $59.99) and Elite ($64.99 from $69.99) packages. Subscribers will notice the price reduction during the next billing cycle. The Vue service already works on the PS4, PS3, iPad and iPhone. While a price reduction for bundles is nice, the streaming TV service announced at E3 it would offer up á-la-carte network subscriptions this fall. It’ll be interesting to see the pricing of built-to-order subscriptions when this launches. PlayStation Vue is available in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas with more markets planned for the future.
Source: Sony
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