Explore ‘Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’ on August 11th
The middle of August is looking mighty fine if you’re an indie game fan. Not only do we get the incredibly snazzy-looking Volume from Mike Bithell on the 18th, Everybody’s Gone to Rapture exclusively hits PlayStation 4 the week prior on August 11th according to the PS Blog. What’s more, the mysterious look at what happens after the world ends from the team behind Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs has a new website that’ll be updated with fiction, music and more on the road to the game’s release.
If you’re worried about said fiction spoiling the game’s mystery, however, developer Dan Pinchbeck writes that those worries are unfounded as the stories will introduce characters and themes — not plot points. It’s likely helping build the world and adding to its mystique rather than pulling a Hollywood and cramming a two-hour movie into a 90 second trailer. And speaking of which, there’s a new one of those and a fresh song off the soundtrack below.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source: PlayStation Blog, Gone to the Rapture
‘Ratchet & Clank’ for the PS4 looks like more than a remake
When Sony and Insomniac Games teased that there would be a “re-imagining” of Ratchet & Clank for the PlayStation 4, that raised at least a few questions. Would there be a genuinely new story? New mechanics? Or would it be yet another remaster? Apparently, you can rest easy. Insomniac has offered its first look at the action series’ reboot, and it’s definitely not just a visual upgrade. While it’s undoubtedly prettier (see above), you’ll also get “modern controls” and a heaping of new content that includes an expanded story, several new planets, refreshed gameplay segments, and a weapon collection that’s largely built from scratch. Your muscle memory from the original game isn’t going to help here, folks.
Just be prepared to wait. The studio recently pushed back the PS4 version of Ratchet & Clank to spring 2016, roughly in sync with the closely related movie. Patience should be a virtue here, though — you won’t just be getting a 1080p version of a game you played over a decade ago.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: PlayStation Blog
The next game from ‘Thomas Was Alone’ developer due August 18th
The follow-up to indie darling Thomas Was Alone finally has a firm release date. Developer Mike Bithell’s incredibly stylish stealth-puzzler that hinges on you being heard, Volume, hits PlayStation 4, PlayStation TV, PS Vita and Steam August 18th. Performance capture and voice-over extraordinaire Andy Serkis stars in the game as well, but it doesn’t sound like he was ready to make an appearance for the spankin’ new trailer below. Given what Bithell achieved with a handful of a handful of colored squares in his last effort, we’re pretty excited to see what he can do with something a little more human this time out.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Mike Bithell (YouTube)
Studio wants to preserve games with the same care as movies
Classic movies frequently get reissues and remastered versions with behind-the-scenes content, but games seldom receive that kind of affection. More often than not, you get a barebones port, a technical upgrade (which sometimes breaks the experience) or a full-on remake. Newcomer studio Digital Eclipse thinks the industry can do a better job of preserving these classics. It’s launching ports that are more about honoring the history behind a game than upgrading it, much like the Criterion Collection does for movies. Its inaugural title, Mega Man Legacy Collection, will include both the first six Mega Man games as well as artwork and other bonus material from the series’ early days. About the only major change to the games themselves will be a Challenge Mode that “remixes” gameplay to add some extra spice.
The Mega Man update should reach the the PC, PS4 and Xbox One this summer for $15, with a 3DS version arriving in the winter. However, this is just the start. Digital Eclipse built an engine (the Eclipse Engine) explicitly to streamline the process of adapting old titles to newer platforms. So long as its technology runs on your device of choice, there’s a good chance that you’ll get that game you cherished in your youth. You probably won’t be buying deluxe boxed sets, but the days of begging your favorite developer for a re-release might soon come to an end.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: The Verge
Source: Digital Eclipse, Capcom
Showtime’s cord-cutter service will come to Roku and Sony devices
We already know that Showtime’s internet-only service is coming to Apple TV, but that’s not the only home entertainment platform that’s been invited to the party. The company has revealed that if you own a Roku device, one of the TVs with the hardware built in or Sony’s PlayStation Vue, then you’re all good, and it will launch for all three on the same day. The outfit also mentions that Showtime (yes, that’s what it’s called) will be the only “premium” offering that broadcasts its live East and West Coast feeds to its users, just like its Anytime apps on various platforms. No matter what device you use, you’ll be asked to cough up $10.99 a month for the privilege of catching the forthcoming Twin Peaks revival. The system is due to launch “early July,” although given that the new seasons of Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex premiere on July 12th, we’re gonna say July 11th is a good guess.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source: CBS
Guess who’s (kinda) keeping ‘Rock Band 4’ from PCs
Rock Band 4 arrives on the PC-like Xbox One and PS4, so it made sense for Eurogamer to ask if the game would ever make its way onto the real thing. Unfortunately, PC gamers won’t be getting a version of their own, and it looks as if the music labels’ heavy-handed demands for anti-piracy measures are to blame. In an interview, Harmonix project director Daniel Sussman explained that the two consoles have various secure tools that make it hard for users to get at the assets inside each game. PCs, in his words, are more of an “open platform,” which would put the onus on Harmonix to protect the “licensed music” that’s featured in the title. Squint hard enough and those lines roughly translate to: we could, but labels want us to lock their music up so tight that it’d be impossible to achieve on the PC.
It’s not the only objection to the idea of launching a third version of the music game, as executives are worried that there isn’t enough of an audience to sustain a release. After all, nobody has done it before, and you know how risk-averse these types can be. Sussman did leave the door open for a PC version further down the line, saying that nothing is “unsolvable,” but given the costs of making a PC game secure enough for a picky studio head, we’re not optimistic. Oh, and if you are the head of a major music label, just remember that people can listen to all of the title’s tracks on YouTube, you know, for free. Look, we can even embed some right here:
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Eurogamer
‘Battleborn’ has the trappings of a modern shooter and more
The folks at Gearbox Software want you to know a few things about Battleborn, the incredibly colorful “hero shooter” ahead of its grand showing at E3 in a few weeks. Why? Probably so it can expand upon the following details and/or show off even more stuff in Los Angeles. Let’s get down to business. First up, the game has a story mode that you can play solo or co-op — either split-screen or online, with replayability encouraged so you can go back for better loot when the mood strikes. There’s also some 25 playable characters, all with different abilities, armaments and personalities according to a press release. Of course, there’s multiplayer as well, which is where the MOBA-inspirations perhaps show through strongest.
“Incursion” tasks you to defend a base against waves of AI minions as you try to destroy an opponent’s stronghold, while “Meltdown” has you defending your minions so they can throw themselves into an incinerator and score you points for doing so. Not into these? An objective-based death match mode is here too, dubbed “Devastation.”
And of course, it wouldn’t be a modern shooter without a progression system. That comes in a few flavors, with character ranks affecting, you guessed it, individual characters and “command rank” pertaining to your overall profile, with perks that you can bestow to any character you play as. If none of this info is enough, there’s a brand-spankin’ new trailer below as well. Beyond that, well you’ll just have to wait for E3. Patience!
http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518865444&responsive=false
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Massive shooter ‘PlanetSide 2’ hits PS4 for free in June
PlanetSide 2 is massive — it holds the Guinness World Record for the most players in a single online, first-person shooter battle with 1,158 people — and it officially launches on PlayStation 4 on June 23rd, completely free to play. It’s been in beta on PS4 since January, but the floodgates really open later this month, especially considering you don’t need a PlayStation Plus subscription to jump in for free. Developer Daybreak Game Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) promises to keep the updates coming on PS4 with holiday content, new features and fresh items.
“On behalf of the PlanetSide 2 development team, we’d like to thank the tens of thousands of players that have taken part in the Closed Beta testing,” Director of Development Andy Sites says. “Because of you, we’ve been able to make a ton of refinements to the game that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible without your valuable feedback.”
Source: PlayStation Blog
Fallout 4 is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC
In the four-plus years since Fallout: New Vegas was released, gamers have been waiting for Bethesda to confirm the next title in the super-popular franchise. The company had us salivating when it dropped a new 24-hour counter on its website yesterday, but even before the timer has reached its conclusion, we finally have confirmation of the next instalment: it’ll be called Fallout 4 and it’s coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. Details are scarce but it appears that that Amazon, Best Buy and GameStop will begin accepting pre-orders, most likely from today. We can expect more news at 10AM ET when the game’s teaser site goes live, showing us the first official trailer and what we can expect to see at Bethesda’s E3 showcase on June 14th.
Another screencap from Fallout 4, this one’s a bit more high res (thanks @DigDugg89) pic.twitter.com/pQXptWtyWC
– Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 3, 2015
Source: Fallout 4
‘Gravity Ghost,’ a game that heals, heads to PlayStation 4
Gravity Ghost is currently in development for PlayStation 4, but it’s already a success. It launched on Steam in January, offering physics-based platforming tucked inside of soothing, spiraling gameplay and wrapped in a touching story. Ivy Games founder Erin Robinson Swink of course hoped that people would enjoy Gravity Ghost, but reception to the game still surprises her five months after its release. She’s mostly touched by the emotional reaction many players describe on the game’s Steam forums. Gravity Ghost helps people deal with loss in a visceral way.
“It’s not a forum where I usually see people sharing personal details from their lives, but there are multiple posts like this,” Robinson Swink says. “One reviewer said the game changed how he felt about his reaction to losing his grandfather…. Another ended their review with this: ‘My mom died last year, and in some weird way, this helped me deal with that? I can’t explain it, but it… well, did.’ My jaw just dropped when I read those.”
It’s more than loss, too: Gravity Ghost has found its way onto a list of recommended video games for self-care and one of Robinson Swink’s acquaintances said she played at least 20 hours of the game after her home was severely damaged. “It surprised me because that’s far longer than it takes to beat the game,” Robinson Swink says. “She must have started over a few times. We’re so early in the life of the game, it’s hard to know what its legacy will be. But if it continues to help people bring down the level of stress in their life, I will consider that a great success.”
Gravity Ghost stars Iona, a celestial spirit searching the stars for her lost best friend, a similarly ghost-y fox. Iona soars through a splintered galaxy, flinging herself around the gravity fields of planets to collect survivors and fragments of broken worlds. In Gravity Ghost, you can’t die — you only fly.
Soon, Gravity Ghost will be able to entertain and help people on PS4. There’s no official release date yet, but the PS4 version will feature exclusive content, including a new constellation with new challenge levels, three new original tracks from composer Ben Prunty and a new, unlockable character to play. Until now, Gravity Ghost has been strictly a PC game, from conception to sale. Robinson Swink says she developed it entirely on her laptop, where everything is small and up-close.
She’s not just an avatar, she’s a character in this world.
“For me it’s a very different experience to be playing the game on a TV,” she says. “It feels larger and makes outer space feel more encompassing. I deliberately made Iona very small compared to the planets, but now I get to see her in high detail even when the camera is far away. It makes her feel a lot more real, somehow. She’s not just an avatar, she’s a character in this world.”
Robinson Swink believes Gravity Ghost should do well on PS4, considering that players already compare it with Journey, a soothing, highly acclaimed, PlayStation-exclusive game. Besides, PC sales have already covered her direct development costs, so from here on out it’s smooth sailing — or soaring.
“I’m pretty stoked to bring it to the PS4, as it’s a platform where I think not many people have heard of the game yet,” she says. “I think the chill-out gameplay and impressionistic art style will be a really good fit with that audience…. Obviously I’d be thrilled if our sales were really good on the PS4, but I think the port will be worthwhile no matter what.”
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