Warp Zoned Presents
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Hitman HD Enhanced Collection will bring Absolution and Blood Money to PS4 and Xbox One next week
IO Interactive has never been content to sit on their laurels, and the prolific developer is kicking off 2019 with a new project… the Hitman HD Enhanced Collection.
Set to launch for the PS4 and Xbox One next week, the compilation will package together Hitman: Blood Money and Hitman: Absolution with enhanced visuals (4K Resolution and 60FPS) and updated control options. More details about the specific upgrades can be found at IO’s official website:
In Hitman: Blood Money you experience a globe-trotting adventure from the vineyards of Chile, to the Paris Opera House and even the White House itself in a face-off against a group of assassins known as “The Franchise”. When assassins from his contract agency, the ICA, are systematically eliminated in a series of hits, Agent 47 suspects that a larger, more powerful agency has entered the fray. As he suddenly loses contact with the ICA, Agent 47 senses that he may be the next target, so our merciless contract killer travels to America to take care of business himself…
Rediscover Hitman: Absolution and experience the deep and personal story of Agent 47 as he pursues redemption across 20 intense missions. Enjoy a distinctive art style that combines with rich dialogue and performances by an impressive Hollywood cast to create a unique gameplay experience.
“We’re very happy with this collection and how we were able to update and remaster two of our classic Hitman titles for modern consoles,” said Hakan Abrak, the CEO of IO Interactive. “Hitman: Blood Money and Hitman: Absolution have helped us on our journey to where we are today, and we’re looking forward to players enjoying them in 4K and 60 FPS.”
The Hitman HD Enhanced Collection will be available to download on January 11.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Hitman: Absolution, Hitman: Blood Money
Red Dead Redemption 2 leads the way with 7 nominations at 2019 GDC Awards
It looks like Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man, and God of War will be taking over another awards show, as the three games lead the way at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards. Rockstar’s “Cowboy Game” secured the most nominations with seven, but Sony’s Spider-Man and God of War were close behind with six apiece.
As you might have guessed, all three games are in the running for the coveted “Game of the Year” trophy, and they’ll be competing against Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn and Matt Makes Games’s Celeste.
A handful of other games will attempt to push their way into the spotlight at this year’s GDC Awards, including Mountains’s Florence (four nominations), Enhance’s Tetris Effect (three nominations), and Nomada Studio’s Gris (two nominations).
In addition to the main awards ceremony, the GDC Awards will also present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Amy Hennig, the creator of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted franchise.
The 2019 GDC Awards ceremony will take place on on Wednesday, March 20, at 6:30 PM (Pacific Time). The full list of nominees, and all the Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Celeste, GDC 2019, God of War 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of the Obra Dinn, Spider-Man
NIS America delays RPG Maker MV for consoles to “later in 2019”
NIS America’s RPG Maker MV was expected to make its PS4, Switch, and Xbox One debut on February 26, but the publisher has confirmed that the game creation tool will now be released “later in the year.”
Citing “ongoing issues with development,” NIS America decided to delay RPG Maker MV to make sure they were able to deliver “the best possible product to our fans.”
NIS America has been regularly updating RPG Maker MV’s official website, and they’ve promised that more information regarding the game’s new release date will be announced soon.
Return of the Obra Dinn was nominated in five categories at 2019 IGF Awards
Papers Please, Lucas Pope’s puzzle game about censorship in a dystopian dictatorship, was a huge hit when it was released for the PC all the way back in 2013. And thanks to today’s announcement of the finalists for the Independent Games Festival Awards, it looks like his latest project, Return of the Obra Dinn, will reach similar heights.
Return of the Obra Dinn is an “innovative and uniquely stylized murder mystery” set aboard an abandoned ship in the early 1800s. Using “1-Bit” graphics reminiscent of early Macintosh games, players had to explore the ship and discover what happened to the crew. These elements helped Obra Dinn receive nominations for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize,” as well as “Excellence In Audio,” “Excellence In Design,” “Excellence In Visual Art,” and “Excellence In Narrative.”
Return of the Obra Dinn will be competing against five other games for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, including Zachtronics’s Opus Magnum, Nolla Games’s Noita, Fictiorama Studios’s Do Not Feed the Monkeys, Hypnospace Outlaw (developed by Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., and Corey Cochran), and Minit (developed by Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio, and Dominik Johann).
A complete list of the nominees and honorable mentions from the 2019 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Infinity Ward might be teasing an upcoming announcement for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 or Call of Duty: Ghosts 2
The Call of Duty franchise’s rotating carousel of developers will point towards Infinity Ward this Fall, and it looks like the developer’s Ashton Williams has begun dropping hints about what they have in the works. For the past week, the Senior Communications Manager has been posting several cryptic images on her Twitter account, including a skull with glowing eyes, a skeleton with a sniper rifle, a baby demon, a coven of witches, an adult demon, the Grim Reaper, a few ghosts, and another skull.
There’s always the possibility that Infinity Ward is teasing something brand new, but there’s also reason to believe that this imagery is slyly referencing an upcoming announcement for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 or Call of Duty: Ghosts 2.
The case for Ghosts 2 is pretty obvious, as all of these images tie back to the supernatural in some way (including more than one literal “ghost”). But the Modern Warfare 4 link is also pretty strong, as Simon “Ghost” Riley (and his distinctive skull mask) was one of the main characters from Modern Warfare 2.
Again, it’s possible that Infinity Ward might be in a completely different direction for Call of Duty 2019, though it’s easy to assume they’re working on a sequel to one of their past hits. But with less than a year to go before the game’s (probable) launch, we’ll all find out for sure soon enough.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Who is the new character in Mortal Kombat 11’s New Year’s teaser?
Mortal Kombat fans have been speculating about the possibility of time travel shenanigans in Mortal Kombat 11 ever since the fighter’s Announcement Trailer at the 2018 Game Awards featured a pair of Scorpions and a brief glimpse at a mysterious woman standing in front of a giant hourglass. Ed Boon and company gave us a closer look at this new character yesterday as they were counting down to New Year’s Day on Twitter:
(Let’s try this one more time)
It is only a matter of time. #MK11 pic.twitter.com/dqxbnTJR2s
— Mortal Kombat 11 (@MortalKombat) December 31, 2018
Is she a playable character? If so, who is she? And if not, what role will she play in Mortal Kombat 11’s storyline and the stalemate between “Evil” Liu Kang and “Evil” Raiden?
Thankfully, we won’t have much longer to wait for answers to these questions as NetherRealm Studios is planning a “Community Reveal Event” for Mortal Kombat 11 on January 17. And the fighting game will launch shortly after that on April 23 for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Atlus announces Persona 5 R; More information to be revealed in March 2019
Atlus officially announced Persona 5 R over the weekend, but aside from a PS4-branded trailer promising more details in March 2019, we still don’t know exactly what kind of game it’ll be.
Persona 5 R is widely believed to be an expanded edition of the blockbuster RPG, especially since the publisher has a history of re-releasing games in the Persona franchise with additional content. Persona 3 FES expanded on Persona 3 in 2008, and Persona 4 Golden did the same for Persona 4 in 2012.
Earlier this month, Atlus and Nintendo announced that Persona 5’s Joker would be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2019. It’s possible this new partnership could help bring Persona 5 R (again, whatever it is) to the Switch, but that’s all speculation as of today.
From Software has two unannounced games in the works
The developers at From Software always manage to keep themselves busy, and the team is currently hard at work on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which is currently slated to launch on March 22. But you might not know that they’ve also got two unannounced projects currently in development.
Speaking to 4Gamer, From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki elaborated a tiny bit about these two mystery games:
Mr. Miyazaki: It is not the right time to talk about details, but I think both of them are like [titles From Software has created in the past]. We still need some more time, but we will be able to tell you what shape they’ll become in the future.
So there you have it. Do you think From Software is going back to the Dark Souls series? Or might the develper finally give fans the Bloodborne sequel they’ve been asking for since 2015? At this point, I have no idea. And neither does anyone else. With so few details to work with, baseless speculation is really all we have to go on.
That said, Miyazaki previously mentioned that From Software was working on Armored Core 6 in 2016. Could a sequel to the long-running mech franchise be in cards? Baseless speculation says… maybe.