Mortal Kombat X is heading to Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on 14th April 2015. But Creative Director of NetherRealm Studios; Ed Boon has hinted to the possibility of the world-renowned fighting game heading to the PS Vita along with the rest of the platforms.
MK1 stop motion model still sitting on my desk. I wonder what that means…? Oh well… probably nothing. pic.twitter.com/wN8TfxrCEm
The most enticing part of his tweet is the PS Vita sitting in the bottom corner of the image with Mortal Kombat playing on it. In the past Ed has teased plenty of new games so it would not be a surprise if this tease came true as well.
Other NetherRealmsgames:Injustice Gods Among Us and Mortal Kombat 2011 were ported to the PS Vita mere months after their official release.
The Dead Island 2 beta site has been uncovered and it has revealed a lot of enticing information. The site opens by asking you for a Gamestop or EB Games pre order promo code. Once you have entered the site there is a FAQ that reveals that the beta is available on Playstation 4 before any other of the other platforms.
The official site also says that the release date for the beta is still unconfirmed but those who enter their redemption code will receive it 2 weeks prior to the Xbox One or PC beta.
Dead Island 2 is set to release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC April 2015. To register just click here.
Super Smash Bros Wii U is Nintendo’s Flagship Holiday Title but Doesn’t Do the Franchise Justice
Super Smash Broshas become the new Mario Kart with one appearing on every Nintendo console. Each release is surrounded by tremendous hype and, sometimes, this excitement creates expectations that cannot be met. Melee smashed the bar and Wii U has a hard time stacking up.
It becomes clearly evident that Nintendo’s strategy for Super Smash Bros Wii U is multiplayer, multiplayer, multiplayer. The series has always been about competing against friends but it’s now being taken to the limit. Single-player modes have been stripped away to make room for more co-operative or competitive modes.
Smash Tour is one such new feature. Up to four people play a board game to collect and boost their fighters. Afterwards they compete in a final battle with the collected fighters with the winner taking home the trophy. I found this mode to be fun for a while but it really loses its charm because of how long it drags on.
Maybe if you had four people really getting into it, Smash Tour would be a worthwhile investment but, without that, is absolutely no substitute for tournament mode. Personally, if I wanted to play Wii Party U, I’d play Wii Party U.
I never thought I would say this but I genuinely miss Adventure mode and the Subspace Emissary. Possibly the latter more so. Whenever I played them I was aching for a straight up fight. Now, however, I feel lost in how to go about unlocking characters and stages.
Super Smash Bros Wii U retains the challenge board but the Subspace Emissary provided a very nice, clean way to play through and unlock characters. It was neat. This game feels chaotic.
Updates
Moving from Brawl to the Wii U is going to be a bit of a change for many players. I found that damage was racked up much faster than in Brawl and characters were much easier to K.O. in general. My first couple of games were very unusual. I looked away from the percentage for a few seconds and found myself at upwards of 80%.
Not to mention Ganondorf’s Warlock Punch managed to K.O. two fighters at 0% – albeit lighter ones (Meta Knight and Sonic). This change is designed to make the game more competitive and slot somewhere in between Melee and Brawl in terms of difficulty. It’s the right move.
As competitive circuits get more and more prevalent and lucrative, Super Smash Bros Wii U is in rare form to capitalise on Melee‘s cult following and Brawl‘s mass appeal.
Going from 64 to Melee, the focus was on expanding the character roster. I still remember sitting down with my British friends before Australia got even the Gamecube and seeing the huge roster of fighters to choose from. Brawl brought in third party characters and more interactive stages.
I fail to see, however, what advances Smash Bros Wii U is bringing to the table. A convoluted series of “special orders” that boil down to much the same thing? Customisable moves? Sure, being able to personalise your favourite fighters is a cool feature and opens up a level of strategic flexibility. I expect this will remain in casual matches between friends, however, so much of the tactical potential is wasted.
Amiibo
One of the big marketing tactics for SSB Wii U was Amiibo. I was really excited for this functionality. Being able to train an ally that could fight by your side or a rival that can learn and adapt to your play style is wicked. The sparring options, therefore, do not cap at the highest level computer player.
It is a lot of fun to watch the Amiibo grow as it levels up from 1 to 50. Of course my Link is level 25 and cannot even come close to taking a stock off me. I’m hoping the difficulty increase is exponential because if this continues, I’ll be disappointed.
One of the letdowns for the Amiibo came about due to my misinterpreting the function. I went into the game expecting to be able to play as my personal version of Link, which is, of course, incorrect. Ultimately, it’s equally cool just playing with or against it. I’m disappointed about how restricted the Amiibo are.
They are only accessible in one mode (the Amiibo mode). After selecting the mode, you scan in the appropriate Amiibo. To be honest, it feels like quite a lot of work to set up a fight.
Last Word
Super Smash Bros Wii U doesn’t reinvent the wheel or anything. Its presentation harks back to the titles that came before it. While this is a nice piece of nostalgia for those of us who’ve played the series throughout the years, it stops the game from being truly revolutionary.
At its core, this game looks too much like Brawl. There are new items and new stages but so much of the graphical detail is the same as its predecessor. Not to mention there’s a strange level of fan service. You can put Zero Suit Samus in beachwear and Shulk in swimming trunks.
Maybe it’s not as full of promise and exciting as Melee or Brawl, but Super Smash Bros Wii U is a treat. By virtue of being a Smash Bros title, it’s better than most of what’s coming out this year.
When I finally get together with some people to test our Amiibo’s mettle and play through the expanded multiplayer functions of the game, I’m sure I’ll be showering it with praise.
Super Smash Bros Wii U is available now along with the first batch of twelve Amiibo.
Nearly everyone interested in Xbox or Halo will know that the Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been experiencing issues with nearly every aspect of the game, especially the matchmaking system which cause short matches to no match at all because the system seems to have an incredibly low rate of finding an actual game.
An official apology from 343 stated that they are 100% committed to fixing the game’s various problems, and now those who buy the Halo: The Master Chief Collection digital edition of the game will receive 15,000 Microsoft points.
Those who have already bought the game will not be getting compensation at this time, this deal is only for people who buy the game now.
Developer Epic Games have announced that their upcoming survival sandbox game, ‘Fortnite’ is starting its Alpha period from December 2nd to December 19th.
Epic are calling this test 1 and they are using it to test various small features but will mostly focus on the gameplay mechanics. If anyone has been following the game and would be interested in participating in this alpha you can go to the sign up page.
Fortnite is a co op survival game that revolves around the day and night cycle. Through the day players will gather resources and build fortifications and at night you will be forced to retreat into these fortifications to defend yourself against waves of monstrous creatures.
The game will be free to play upon its release sometime next year.
The Game Awards 2014 will be arriving on the 5th December and it has been confirmed that over 12 games will premier at the show. Geoff Keighley a producer tweeted “This Friday night we will showcase more than a dozen world premieres at The Game Awards.”
According to the producer these premiers will be new trailers for games that we already know about but there will also be a few new reveals.
“We are thrilled to announce that Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima will be appearing at The Game Awards next Friday to announce and world premiere Metal Gear Online. This mark’s Mr. Kojima first-ever trip to Las Vegas.”
According to Keighley not all of the reveals will be for the world and may instead be dedicated to one place. But you can also look forward to plenty of updates on upcoming games.
Game publisher/developer Activision have set their sights on the YouTube gaming community, in particular Machinima Partners for uploading videos showing exploits with the new Call of Duty title.
According to an email sent to YouTubers under the Machinima banner; Activision has been issuing DMCA claims towards Call of Duty videos. As it stands the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims are only issued to YouTubers who show glitches or exploits of their top-selling game franchise Call of Duty.
Email from machinima to partners
Wes Holmes or known on YouTube as “Pure Monsterz” is one of those YouTubers who have been issued with a DMCA copyright strike, with around a thousand subscribers and 80,000 views he has been targeted by one of the biggest game publishers/developers.
Activision released a statement regarding the DMCA claims towards the YouTubers,
“We’re excited that so many fans are having fun playing the game and posting videos of their gameplay. We love watching the videos ourselves. Occasionally, some folks post videos that promote cheating and unfair exploits. As always, we keep an eye out for these videos – our level of video claims hasn’t changed”.
“We are appreciative of the community’s support in helping to ensure that everyone has the best playing experience possible.”
Unfortunately for both parties, the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) does not specify if game play falls under critique (fair usage of intellectual property) or copyright. The more parties involved in a DMCA claim directly increases the liability of said parties. YouTube, to save itself from legal action complies with the publishers and has implemented a takedown policy to cover their own assets which ultimately leaves the YouTubers to comply or quit.
Using copyright strikes to mitigate content that the publishers want on the website is a little on the nose. With all of the “ethics in journalism” articles floating around these days you would think that Activision would stop and think for a second about lodging DMCA claims to small YouTube channels focusing on bugs and issues with a game they had published. Strikes against a YouTube account can shut a channel down and do permanent damage to a person’s reputation.
In a way, YouTubers who expose exploits in AAA games such as Call of Duty are doing these developers a favour when it comes to patching and customer feedback. Fixing bugs and issues before release should be a stable in the life cycle of game development, maybe in the future we can use these bright YouTubers to alpha test these games while allowing them to produce ENTERTAINMENT content through their YouTube channel.
For more on DMCA have a look at Totalbiscuit’s video on Strikes and DMCA lodgements –
Are Activision within their rights to use this tactic on YouTubers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
A remake of Dark Souls 2 is on the way in the form of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, and will arrive in 2015 on PS4 and Xbox One.
Publisher Namco Bandai announced that the game will be released on current and ‘next-gen’ consoles in April next year, a couple of months after the eagerly anticipated Bloodborne.
Rekindled
Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin will include numerous changes such as improved graphics (on PS4 and Xbox One), thanks to the hardware and additional gameplay challenges, as well as all of the previously released DLC.
All versions will include:
Additional NPCs for an improved story experience.
Parameter adjustments for improved game balance.
Improved Online matchmaking.
Augmented item descriptions.
PS3 and Xbox 360 players will receive these changes as part of a patch, so if you already own the game there isn’t much of a case for buying it again, especially if you have purchased the Crowns DLC like me.
One of the flaws of the game I thought was the lack of NPCs, prominent in the DLC. The story is still compelling, however if the addition of more NPCs can bring with them more clarity and a better overall story experience then it can only aid the game, and not having to pay for them (owning the game on PS3) is a bonus.
On ‘next-gen’ systems the most notable improvements are to graphics, sound, performance and the total number of online players being changed to six. I would have loved the game to have been released on PS4 and Xbox One when it came out originally but I understand that Namco and From Soft wanted this to be a complete package.
If Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is significantly discounted for people that already own the game then this would help sway many gamers back into the unforgiving lands of Dragleic, ready to die over and over in 1080p.
Hopefully this can bring me to play through Dark Souls 2 for a third time, but we’ll have to wait and see. I would recommend that new players pick up Scholar of the First Sin, or those who have an Xbox or PC and can’t play Boodborne.
Ubisoft have stated that their upcoming racing MMO The Crew will have a smooth release. One of The Crew’s designers told fans that he has complete confidence that the game’s release will go to plan and that there will be few to no issues.
In recent weeks Ubisoft have been bombarded with by fans after Assassins Creed Unity and Far Cry 4 were released after players encountered bugs in both games that ranged from frame rate drops, to saved data becoming corrupted and unplayable. This has caused Ubisoft to give away free DLC as compensation.
Serkan Hasan the lead designer for The Crew said “For The Crew, we’ve reaped the benefits of a long term beta program, designed specifically to push our infrastructure as far as possible in real world situations, with thousands of players from all over the world playing the game at the same time.”
PAX Australia 2015 tickets are now available for purchase. Close to two months after PAXAUS 2014, the very popular Melbourne gaming convention goes on sale for next year.
From past experience, tickets usually remain available for a few months after release so if you cannot afford the discounted early bird specials you have a chance to pick some up at a later date.
Prices start at $50AUD for a single day through to $150AUD for the 3 Day Pass.
Dates for PAXAUS 2015 are again around Melbourne cup which makes for a very expensive week in Melbourne; October 30 – November 1, 2015.
PAX Show Hours:
Friday, 30th October 10:00 am – 11:30 pm
Saturday, 31st October 10:00 am – 11:30 pm
Sunday, 1st November 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Expo Hall Hours:
Friday, 30th October 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday, 31st October 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday, 1st November 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
