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Most Recent: PS3
Danganronpa 1-2 Reload, Styx: Shards of Darkness, Momodora, more added to PS Store
With the northeast buried under a literal mountain of snow, now’s a great time to explore this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store…
After slowly gaining momentum with PS Vita and PC players over the past few years, NIS America will bring the first two murder mysteries in the Danganronpa franchise (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair) to the PS4 this week as Danganronpa 1-2 Reload. Also available to download this week for the PS4 is Styx: Shards of Darkness, a stealth adventure from Cyanide Studio and Focus Home Interactive.
And later this week, PS4 owners will be able to download Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, a “MetroidVania” with “highly satisfying combat and gorgeous pixel art.”
So keep shoveling and dig into more details about all these games (and the rest of this week’s new releases) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
The Video Game Canon: Ms. Pac-Man
Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look at the accidental creation of Ms. Pac-Man. Here’s a teaser…
It’s easy to forget nowadays, but Ms. Pac-Man was actually created by accident. Like Doc Brown’s invention of time travel after a tumble from the toilet, Ms. Pac-Man was created when a group of game developers from MIT attempted to release an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man known as “Crazy Otto.”
Before turning their sights on the biggest arcade game of the day, the development team, General Computer, first used their programming skills to create an “enhancement kit” for Atari’s Missile Command. Instead of creating their own game from scratch, the enhancement kit hooked into Atari’s code and altered it to provide a new gameplay experience. Essentially, General Computer created the first expansion pack.
Even though the enhancement kit required an original Missile Command cabinet, Atari later attempted to sue General Computer for copyright infringement. But rather than become mired in a protracted court case, the arcade giant and the enterprising college students reached a settlement. Atari would hire General Computer to design original arcade games so long as they agreed not to create any additional enhancement kits without the permission of the original game publisher. The developers quickly signed on, but first they took a nearly complete version of “Crazy Otto” to Midway, the North American distributor of Pac-Man.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Uncharted 4 leads all games at the 2017 BAFTA Games Awards with 8 nominations
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominees for the 2017 Games Awards, which will be handed out in a special ceremony in London on April 6. Viewers at home will be able to watch a livestream of ceremony through BAFTA’s Twitch channel.
This year’s top nominee is Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which scored eight nominations including “Game of the Year.” Nathan Drake’s final adventure will also compete in the “Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Music,” and “Narrative” categories, as well as with three separate nominations in the “Performer” category (Troy Baker, Nolan North, and Emily Rose).
Uncharted 4 will fight for BAFTA’s “Game of the Year” honor against five other critically-acclaimed games from 2016 including Campo Santo’s Firewatch, Playdead’s Inside, Blizzard’s Overwatch, Concerned Ape’s Stardew Valley, and Respawn’s Titanfall 2.
The complete list of nominees in all categories can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Firewatch, Inside, Overwatch, Pokemon Go, Rocket League, Stardew Valley, The Last Guardian, TitanFall 2, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Atlus released a new “Sizzle Trailer” today for Persona 5
Persona 5, the first numbered entry in the series since the PlayStation 2 era, is less than a month away from its arrival on the shelves of your local game retailer. To celebrate the impending launch, Atlus released a brand new trailer for the game today.
The “Sizzle Trailer,” as Atlus is calling it, provides prospective players with a bit more insight than previous trailers have, as fans will get the chance to see additional combat, classroom scenes, cutscenes, and skill building. Those who watch the trailer will even learn a little more about Persona 5’s storyline.
From what we’re able to gather, the game’s Protagonist will be a high school transfer student with a troubled reputation. Distancing itself from the countryside setting of Persona 4, Persona 5 takes place in the vibrant and bustling city of Tokyo, where the troubled youths form a group called the Phantom Thieves in an effort to change the world. However, stepping away from previous narratives, we can conclude that the incidents unfolding throughout the game will have a greater impact on things outside of Japan. What that will be, and how it will impact the storyline, remains to be seen.
But like previous entries in the Persona franchise, we know for certain that Persona 5 centers around a group of Japanese students who unlock the powers of their Persona by removing their social masks and embracing their true “self.”
Atlus has announced that they have more promotional material slated for release ahead of Persona 5’s launch for the PS4 and PS3 on April 4th. But for now, you can enjoy the above trailer and focus on finishing up Persona 4… if you haven’t already.
Sleeping Dogs lives on with a film adaptation starring Donnie Yen
Remember Sleeping Dogs? Sure you do… it’s that game that spent years in development hell. You know, the one that initially started off as the third installment in the short-lived True Crime franchise. It was that game that eventually got picked up by Square Enix and turned out to be one of the most amazing games of 2012. Well, apparently I’m not the only one who loved Sleeping Dogs, because Neil Mortiz of Fast and the Furious fame has opted to produce a movie based on the game.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, or have simply, for whatever reason, chosen to avoid playing Sleeping Dogs, here’s the rundown. Sleeping Dogs was a game released in August 2012 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. And it was later ported to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as one of the first Definitive Editions for the current generation of consoles.
The game centers around protagonist Wei Shen (played by Will Yun Lee), a Chinese-American cop who goes undercover for the Hong Kong Police Department to take down the local Triad organization. Shen finds his loyalties tested as he’s reunited with old friends and finds himself deeper drawn into the Triad underworld.
A free-to-play spinoff known as Triad Wars was scheduled to be release in 2015, however, it was canceled by developer United Front Games, which has since closed down. Square Enix retains the rights to Sleeping Dogs, but as far as the future of the franchise is concerned, the publisher has kept silent since the release of the Definitive Edition.
According to Deadline, the Sleeping Dogs movie will star Donnie Yen, a rather famous actor and martial artist in his native China. If you’re not familiar with Yen’s name, you certainly know some of his recent roles. The actor began to break into Hollywood features this year, and had memorable appearances in both Rogue One: Star Wars Story and XXX: The Return of Xander Cage.
Yen is an excellent choice for the lead, especially given the heavy use of hand-to-hand and martial arts combat featured throughout the game. And here’s hoping that an international interest in the upcoming Sleeping Dogs movie will generate a renewed enthusiasm for the game, perhaps compelling Square Enix to start working on a much-desired sequel.
Horizon Zero Dawn, Torment Tides of Numenera, Suikoden IV, more added to PS Store
It’s time to venture into a new kind of post-apocalyptic world as Sony and Guerrilla Games will release Horizon: Zero Dawn exclusively for the PS4 this week. Now available to download from the PlayStation Store, join Aloy as she explores an Earth that has left humanity behind. Between the robotic wildlife that roam the remnants of the world and the tribal warfare that threatens to snuff out the last of mankind, there are sure to be many secrets to discover in Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Several other epic adventures are available to download this week through the PlayStation Store, including Torment: Tides of Numenera, a sci-fi RPG for the PS4. Built from the ground up as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, Tides of Numenera takes place one billion years in the future and asks players to explore a world “built on the bones of extinct, hyper-advanced civilizations.”
Also available this week is Suikoden IV, an RPG that was originally released for the PS2 in 2004. PS3 owners can now purchase Suikoden IV as part of the PS2 Classics program, and discover the origins of the Rune of Punishment.
Finally this week, Square Enix will give PS4 owners the chance to download A King’s Tale: Final Fantasy XV for free. Previously available as a pre-order bonus for Final Fantasy XV, A King’s Tale is a retro-styled 2D brawler that takes place 30 years before the events of the main game.
You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Horizon: Zero Dawn, Torment: Tides of Numenera
Video Game History Foundation wants to create a digital record of the industry’s past
Frank Cifaldi is a developer who has worked on Mega Man Legacy Collection and IDARB, but he is also the founder of the Video Game History Foundation, a new non-profit that seeks to preserve and digitize the history of video games.
The Video Game History Foundation launched their first “Digital Collection” yesterday, focusing on The NES Launch in 1985. Cifaldi is also seeking donations to expand the scope of the Foundation, as detailed on their “What We’re Doing” page:
The heart of the Foundation is its digital library, an online repository of artifacts related to the history of video games and video game culture. The ultimate goal is to create a searchable, organized, always-online archive of verified, high-quality material that is accessible to researchers and historians as a public education resource.
All donations to the Video Game History Foundation are tax deductible, and I can’t wait to see what collections they come up with next.
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is finished; Coming to Switch in March and other platforms in April
Yacht Club Games has announced (via Twitter) that they’ve completed development on Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, the latest expansion to their NES-inspired platformer, Shovel Knight. The developer expects to launch Specter of Torment first for the Nintendo Switch in March. It’ll later be available as a free update on all other platforms (3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One) in April.
The Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove compilation (as well as the Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows standalone campaigns) should also be available for the Switch in March, with additional platforms to follow a month later.
Specter Knight’s campaign will actually take place before the events of Shovel Knight, and will depict how The Enchantress was able to recruit the evil Order of No Quarter. If you’re interested in learning how it all went down, Yacht Club Games will be attending this year’s PAX East expo to give fans a taste of Specter of Torment before it launches. The Boston-based convention kicks off on March 10.
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged PAX East 2017, Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment