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Hideo Kojima begins pre-production work on his next game
Everyone knows that Hideo Kojima is a huge movie buff, so it’s not much of a surprise that the Death Stranding creator considered spending the holidays at the theater this year. But instead of settling in for a showing of Last Christmas, he chose to hunker down in his office and begin pre-production work on his “next concept.”
While Kojima hasn’t shared any thoughts about his next game, it’s possible that fans might be able to glean some clues from his workspace. It’s an extremely eclectic bit of clutter, but I spied two books by Cixin Liu, The Autobiography of James T. Kirk, Nick Cave’s Ghosteen, a gorilla skull, a casting of Norman Reedus’s head, and a cup of coffee.
Maybe I was too tired I slept over this morning. I wanted to go see Last Christmas 1st thing in the morning but realized today was Christmas Eve. Me as an old man going to the theater by myself on this day? I changed my plan to stay in my office working on my next concept. pic.twitter.com/6dleNPEJmJ
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 24, 2019
These objects certainly have a decidedly sci-fi bent, but I’m not sure that really helps, as Kojima’s entire career can be linked back to the genre in some way. Although the extraterrestrial nature of his reading choices could point to a new frontier for the famed developer.
All that being said, Kojima didn’t fully peel back the curtain on Death Stranding until a few months before the game’s release. So we’re likely in for a very long wait before we learn more about his “next concept.”
Posted in News
WB Games is here to remind you (with a new trailer) that Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be released in 2020
Happy Star Wars Day! You can head down to your local theater anytime this weekend to catch a showing of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final film in the “Skywalker Saga.” But WB Games and TT Games also want to remind you that Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be available for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in 2020.
The new trailer embedded above features a short glimpse at Lego-ized scenes from all nine Star Wars films, while also promising that fans who played the previous titles in the series will get to experience a “New Game” sometime next year.
Batman: The Telltale Series gets new graphical style with the launch of the Shadows Edition
The Dark Knight is getting a little darker as we head into 2020.
That’s because the resurrected Telltale Games has partnered with Athlon Games to launch Batman: The Telltale Series – Shadows Edition for multiple platforms. Available to download for the PC and Xbox One today (and coming to the PS4 on December 20 and the Switch in the near future), the compilation includes both Batman: The Telltale Series and Batman: The Enemy Within, as well as a brand new noir-style visual filter known as Shadows Mode, which you can see for yourself in the trailer embedded above.
“We’re excited to be able to build and continue the legacy of an iconic Telltale Games franchise by launching Batman: The Telltale Series – Shadows Edition,” said Brian Waddle, the Chief Revenue Officer at Telltale Games. “This is just the beginning in a much more expansive plan to build on our catalog of Telltale Games titles, which we hope to discuss in further detail in the coming months.”
Batman: The Telltale Series – Shadows Edition will be priced at $29.99, but Batfans who already own the games can purchase the Shadows Mode filter as downloadable content for $4.99.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: The Enemy Within, Batman: The Telltale Series
Gears Tactics will be released for the PC on April 28, 2020
Gears Tactics was first announced at E3 2018, but it’s been shrouded in mystery ever since. Microsoft didn’t bring the tactical spinoff to this year’s E3 Expo, nor did it have a showing at the consolemaker’s recent X019 event. Thankfully, that all changed at this year’s Game Awards.
Unveiling a trailer that mixes cinematic moments with gameplay footage, The Coalition and Splash Damage have attempted to bring the spirit of the Gears franchise to the turn-based genre. Here’s what they had to say about their collaboration on Xbox Wire:
Developed by The Coalition and Splash Damage, Gears Tactics is set 12 years before the first Gears of War. Cities across the planet Sera are beginning to fall to the monstrous threat rising from underground – the Locust Horde. With the government in disarray, a squad of survivors emerge as humanity’s last hope. Outnumbered and fighting for survival, players must recruit and command a squad to hunt down Ukkon, an evil mastermind who makes monsters.
Gears Tactics features an immersive and character-driven story, one that follows the defiant soldier Gabe Diaz, voiced by Noshir Dalal, to rescue and build up a squad in a journey of leadership, survival and sacrifice. Playing as Gabe, you’ll customize your squad and equipment to prepare your troops to face tough enemies, upgrading squad skills and outfitting them with loot collected in challenging missions.
Microsoft also confirmed that Gears Tactics will be released for the PC on April 28, 2020. An Xbox One launch will follow at a later date.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Game Awards 2019, Gears Tactics
WolfEye Studios revealed Weird West at the 2019 Game Awards
Raphael Colantonio and Julien Roby shepherded the creation of Dishonored and Prey at Arkane Studios between 2012 and 2017, but the pair recently departed the development team to form a new company known as WolfEye Studios.
While WolfEye officially opened its doors just a few weeks ago, Colantonio and Roby were ready to unveil their first project Weird West, as part of this year’s Game Awards. Currently in development for the PC, and set to be published by Devolver Digital, Weird West is an action RPG that brings “fantastical creatures” to the dusty trails and one-horse towns that populate the American frontier:
Survive and unveil the mysteries of the Weird West through the intertwined destinies of its unusual heroes in an immersive sim from the co-creators of Dishonored and Prey.
Discover a dark fantasy reimagining of the Wild West where lawmen and gunslingers share the frontier with fantastical creatures. Journey through the origin stories of a group of atypical heroes, written into legend by the decisions you make in an unforgiving land. Each journey is unique and tailored to the actions taken – a series of high stakes stories where everything counts and the world reacts to the choices you make. Form a posse or venture forth alone into an otherworldly confines of the Weird West and make each legend your own.
A World Premiere Trailer for Weird West has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Game Awards 2019
Nintendo and Square Enix will bring Bravely Default II to the Switch in 2020
During this year’s Game Awards, Nintendo and Square Enix announced that Bravely Default II will be released exclusively for the Switch in 2020. A World Premiere Trailer for the RPG sequel accompanied the announcement, and it’s been embedded above.
If you’re confused by the title, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Bravely Default II is actually the third game in the Bravely series, and shouldn’t be confused with 2016’s Bravely Second: End Layer. However, it does feature an entirely new set of characters, so it is something of a fresh start for the franchise:
An original RPG experience is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2020 from the team that brought you the Bravely series and Octopath Traveler, and featuring music from Revo, acclaimed composer of the original Bravely Default soundtrack.
A new world, a new story and all-new Heroes of Light await!
Bravely Default II is currently in the works at Square Enix’s Team Asano, whose members produced the original game in the series, as well as 2018’s Octopath Traveler.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Game Awards 2019
Xbox Scarlett will officially be known as Xbox Series X
Rather than wait until early next year to host their own special reveal event, Microsoft used last night’s Game Awards ceremony to officially announce that their next-generation console will be known as the Xbox Series X.
We don’t know why Microsoft decided to go with a name that’s so similar to the currently-available Xbox One X, though I suppose we should have expected shenanigans like this from a company that decided to use Xbox One as the name of their third major console.
Naming controversy aside, the Xbox Series X looks like a pretty impressive piece of technology. It’ll include backwards compatibility for all three previous generations of Xbox hardware, as well as a funky PC-like case design, and a new controller that features a Share button and “an advanced d-pad derived from the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller.”
Xbox Wire has more details about what’s happening under the hood, including confirmation that the Xbox Series X will support visuals up to 120 FPS and with 8K resolution.
From a technical standpoint, this will manifest as world-class visuals in 4K at 60 FPS, with possibility of up to 120 FPS, including support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and 8K capability. Powered by our custom-designed processor leveraging the latest Zen 2 and next generation RDNA architecture from our partners at AMD, Xbox Series X will deliver hardware accelerated ray tracing and a new level of performance never before seen in a console. Additionally, our patented Variable Rate Shading (VRS) technology will allow developers to get even more out of the Xbox Series X GPU and our next-generation SSD will virtually eliminate load times and bring players into their gaming worlds faster than ever before.
The Xbox Series X will launch in Fall 2020, and Microsoft also promised that “the largest and most creatively diverse lineup of Xbox exclusive games in our history” will also be available next year, lead by 343 Industries’s Halo Infinite.
Posted in News
Tagged Game Awards 2019, Halo Infinite, Xbox Series X
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wins “Game of the Year” at the 2019 Game Awards
Geoff Keighley and his co-presenters shotgunned their way through dozens of awards during tonight’s Game Awards, but in between all the World Premiere Trailers, they managed to shine a brief spotlight on a wide variety of titles. Unlike most years when a handful of titles dominate the conversation, this year’s Game Awards spread the wealth among a lot of worthy winners, including Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, this year’s recipient of the “Game of the Year” award.
From Software’s ninja adventure also claimed the “Best Action/Adventure Game” trophy, but it wasn’t able to sway the jury for the other three nominations it was up for. Instead, ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium became the most-honored game of the night, winning “Best Narrative,” “Best Role Playing Game,” “Best Independent Game,” and “Fresh Indie Game.”
Some of the ceremony’s other winners included Kojima Production’s Death Stranding (“Best Game Direction,” “Best Score/Music,” and “Best Performance” for Mads Mikkelsen), Remedy’s Control (“Best Art Direction”), Beat Games’s Beat Saber (“Best VR/AR Game”), Respawn’s Apex Legends (“Best Multiplayer”), and Activision’s Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (“Best Sports/Racing Game”).
In addition to a rousing speech by their former President, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo had a great night too, taking home trophies for “Best Fighting Game” (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), “Best Family Game” (Luigi’s Mansion 3), and “Best Strategy Game” (Fire Emblem: Three Houses).
A complete list of winners from the 2019 Game Awards can be found at Video Game Canon.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Game Awards 2019, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice