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Telltale revealed a few details about their Batman series… including that it’ll debut this Summer
A team from Telltale Games took the Batplane down to Austin this weekend to talk to the crowd at SXSW about their upcoming Batman series. While it’s still too early for a sneak peek at the game, Telltale was able to confirm the first episode will be available sometime this Summer. A quick recap of the presentation was also posted to the Telltale Blog, where the developer revealed that players will spend just as much time with Bruce Wayne as they will with Batman:
Batman is the perfect character for the studio to explore in a Telltale series, giving the team the opportunity to dive deeper into the mind of the man behind the mask. Each night, Bruce Wayne chooses to change Gotham for the better. The team wants to explore what the consequences are of the player’s actions when decisions made as Bruce have a critical impact on his nightly crusade as Batman, and vice versa. Certain key situations will give the player the decision to approach a scene as Bruce or Batman, with consequences for both sides.
They would go on to say that their Batman game won’t be tied to any existing continuity, and that the Bat Family (Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, etc) won’t play a large role in the story. However, they did announce that Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner Gordon, GCPD officer Renee Montoya, and reporter Vicki Vale would all appear in the game. Naturally, the game’s villains are currently a closely guarded secret within the halls of Telltale.
Some of these characters will interact with both Bruce Wayne during the day, and Batman at night. And how players handle these interactions could change the outcome for certain characters. Whatever decisions you make, they’ll have serious consequences as Telltale also said that their Batman series will be rated Mature and have a “cinematic approach [that] will feel more akin to an R-rated film.”
Holy bursting anticipation, Batman!
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is “Game of the Year” at 2016 GDC Awards
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt might be the last game in CD Projekt’s Witcher saga, but it’s first in the eyes of voters at the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards. The final adventure for Geralt of Rivia was awarded “Game of the Year” honors at the annual ceremony, as well as “Best Technology” for “its complex game engine that combines brilliant visuals with a huge game world.”
However, the big winner of the night was Sam Barlow’s Her Story. After cleaning up earlier in the day at the IGF Awards, Her Story also collected the “Innovation Award,” “Best Narrative,” and “Best Handheld/Mobile Game” at the 2016 GDC Awards.
The only other multi-award winner was Ori and the Blind Forest, which shone brightly as the winner of “Best Visual Art” and “Best Debut.”
As they do every year, the Game Developers Choice jury also distributed a trio of special awards at this year’s ceremony. The “Ambassador Award” was given to Tracy Fullerton, professor and Director of the University of Southern California Game Design program. Bethesda’s Todd Howard won a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his work with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises. And finally, Markus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, was praised with the “Pioneer Award.”
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged GDC 2016, Her Story, Life Is Strange, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rocket League, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Her Story wins Seumas McNally Grand Prize at 2016 IGF Awards
Sam Barlow’s Her Story won the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” at the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards last night. The game, which resurrected full motion video storytelling to tease out its central mystery, was also the recipient of the “Excellence In Narrative” trophy.
It was a great night for independent gaming as several other games were also honored at this year’s IGF Awards. The spooky Oxenfree won “Excellence In Visual Art,” the ultra-tense Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes won “Excellence in Design,” and the hypnotic and soothing sounds of Mini Metro won “Excellence In Audio.” “The Nuovo Award,” which recognizes “abstract and unconventional games,” was awarded to Cibele for its look at online relationships. And the “Best Student Game” of the year was Jenny Jiao Hsia and Alec Thomson’s Beglitched.
Finally, the “ID@Xbox Rising Star Award” was given to Girls Make Games for The Hole Story and Undertale, developed by Toby Fox, won the “Audience Award.”
Congratulations to everyone who was a winner last night at the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards. The complete list of winners, in handy list format, can be found after the break. And don’t forget, if you’re in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference, every nominee from this year’s contest is available to try out at the IGF Pavilion. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged GDC 2016, Her Story, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Mini Metro
RBI Baseball 16 will be available to download on March 29; Retail disc is on deck for April 5
Video Games! Get Your Video Games Here!
MLB Advanced Media has announced that RBI Baseball 16 will be available to download for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices on March 29. The publisher also revealed the game will be released as a retail disc a week later, on April 5, for the PS4 and Xbox One.
RBI Baseball 16 will add a number of new features to the retro-styled sports sim including the opportunity to simulate a single game or an entire season, the ability to dive for a hard hit ball, the chance to make pre-game changes to the lineup, and an improved batting engine. And in a first for the franchise, RBI Baseball 16 will be available as a digital download throughout Europe.
And don’t forget, Opening Day is April 3. Let’s play ball!
The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 2 will be released on March 29
Telltale has announced that the second episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne will be released on March 29. Titled “Give No Shelter,” Michonne is on the run from the leaders of Monroe while memories of her daughter cloud her thoughts:
In Episode 2, “Give No Shelter,” a daring escape from the floating colony of Monroe sees Michonne, Pete, and Sam running for their lives. An all too brief reprieve is soon shattered; the leaders of Monroe don’t forgive and don’t forget. With memories of her daughters bleeding ever further into Michonne’s blurred reality, her world is becoming increasingly fractured… just at the point when she’ll need all of her skills to survive.
In development for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices, The Walking Dead: Michonne is a three-episode miniseries set within the universe of The Walking Dead comic. A new trailer highlighting some of the choices available in the first episode, “In Too Deep,” has been embedded above.
The miniseries will conclude in April with the final episode, “What We Deserve.”
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture leads with 10 nominations at the 2016 BAFTA Games Awards
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) bestowed some absolutely rapturous acclaim on Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture yesterday. The game, which was developed by The Chinese Room and released exclusively for the PS4, was nominated in ten categories for this year’s BAFTA Games Awards.
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture will obviously be competing for “Best Game” at the 2016 BAFTAs, and also for “Best British Game,” “Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Game Innovation,” “Music,” “Original Property,” and “Story.” Two nominations in the “Performer” category (one for Merle Dandridge and one for Oliver Dimsdale) round out its double digit list of accolades.
However, five other games (Fallout 4, Life Is Strange, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Rocket League, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) are also up for “Best Game” and any one of them could easily steal the spotlight from Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture.
We’ll find out who takes the top prize on Thursday, April 7, when comedian Dara O’Briain returns to host the festivities, which will be televised via Twitch and BAFTA.org. The complete list of nominees in all categories can be found after the break. (more…)
Telltale will unmask their Batman game at SXSW 2016
Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner is understandably excited about the developer’s upcoming Batman project, but we’ve yet to get a really good look at the game. That’ll all change next week at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Expo.
Bruner, along with Executive Producer TQ Jefferson, writer Pierre Shorette, and PR guru Job Stauffer, are taking a trip down to Austin to present “Batman: Telltale Unmasked,” a panel with comedian Greg Miller. The Telltale team will delve into what make’s The Batman (and Bruce Wayne) tick, and the reasons behind his neverending battle with Gotham City’s underworld:
Hear the first details on Telltale’s upcoming new series as Greg Miller interviews the award-winning developers to dive deeper into the complex life and mind of Bruce Wayne, the duality of his own identity, and the struggle of responsibility in saving a city overcome with corruption and villainy.
“Batman: Telltale Unmasked” will be held on Friday, March 18, at 4:30 PM in Ballroom C at the Austin Convention Center.
Telltale’s CEO talks about the company’s Batman game and his dream projects
Telltale Games has been busy, busy, busy over the last few years. Since 2013, the developer has launched five different episodic titles (The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead Season 2, Tales From the Borderlands, Game of Thrones, and Minecraft: Story Mode), and they don’t seem to have any plans for slowing down. This year, Telltale will release the final episode for Mincraft: Story Mode, along with The Walking Dead: Michonne and maybe even Game of Thrones Season 2. They’ll also release the first episode of a brand new Batman series this year, possibly their biggest game ever.
Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner recently sat down with Kotaku Australia to discuss the company’s future, and he had a lot to say about the Caped Crusader:
“Our Batman series is looking fantastic. I think it might become one of the best things we’ve ever done. I can’t go into much detail, but the Batman team is amazing and they are really on top of it. It’s not like any other Batman game out there. This game really explores all aspects of Batman, not just the the ‘fighting in the suit’ side of him. There’s a lot of subplots to explore and some really amazing choices that have a big impact on the story being told. I really think it might be the peak of the mountain for us so far.”
Working on a Batman game is clearly a dream for Bruner, but the executive dreams big, and he has a number of other projects that he’d love to be working on:
“Personally, I’m on record saying how much I’d love to make a Telltale Star Wars game. I’ve made Star Wars action games in the 90s when I worked at LucasArts, but a Telltale Star Wars game would be a dream come true. And Bond. James Bond would be freaking awesome. And Fletch. And Chinatown. Oh, and The Shining.”
Until just this moment, I never knew how much I wanted a game based on The Shining. Batman: A Telltale Game Series will make its debut sometime in 2016.