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DriveClub Bikes, WWE 2K16, Divinity: Original Sin, more added to PS Store
With Halo 5: Guardians ready to launch for the Xbox One this week and a bevy of Paris Games Week announcements to digest, Sony wisely kept this week’s PlayStation Store update to the bare minimum. However, they did surprise-release DriveClub Bikes (PS4), a standalone expansion to Evolution’s racer that features a full Tour Campaign, a Challenge Mode, multiplayer, and a ton of customization options.
If you drop all the motorcycle gear, you’re left with two men in speedos, which is a perfect segue into the news that 2K Games will bring WWE 2K16 to the PS3 and PS4 this week. Their latest wrasslin’ title includes the franchise’s biggest roster to date and an expanded Create-A-Wrestler mode.
No speedos can be found in Telltale’s Minecraft: Story Mode, which is quickly expanding this week with the release of Episode 2: Assembly Required on the PS3 and PS4.
Finally this week, a pair of re-releases will make fans of RPGs very happy. Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition makes its console debut this week as Larian Studios brings an expanded and enhanced version of their RPG to the PS4. Slightly more familiar to PS4 owners might be this Friday’s PS4 release of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, which includes the apocalyptic action RPG sequel (originally released for the PS3 in 2012) and all its downloadable content.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) is available found after the break. And, as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, PSP, Vita
Tagged Darksiders II, Divinity: Original Sin, Minecraft: Story Mode, WWE 2K16
GoW3 Remastered, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Rory McIlroy PGA, more added to PS Store
It’s a big day for the PlayStation Store as some of this Summer’s biggest releases are now available to download on the PS3, PS4, PS Vita, and the PSP (yes, really).
Let’s start with the PS4 first as its now home to a remastered version Kratos’s final assault on the Pantheon of Gods (God of War III Remastered), the first PGA Tour game not to star Tiger Woods in more than a decade (Rory McIlroy PGA Tour), a moody first-person mystery (The Vanishing of Ethan Carter), and a surprise remake of a pair of PS3-era open world games from Activision (Prototype: Biohazard Bundle).
On the PS3, Godzilla will roar to life on the video game stage and do battle with other kaiju in Bandai Namco’s latest adaptation of the radioactive beast. The game is also available on the PS4.
Meanwhile, the Vita welcomes Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess, an updated and enhanced version of Deception IV: Blood Ties. Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess is also available for the PS4 and PS3.
Finally, the PSP comes back to life with Angus Hates Aliens, a tactical shooter starring a redneck shooting aliens. Angus Hates Aliens is also playable on the Vita.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, PSP, Vita
Tagged God of War III, Prototype, Prototype 2, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour
Video Game Release Calendar Changelog: Pre-E3 2015 Edition
Don’t Forget! This is just a changelog of recently announced release dates. Warp Zoned’s complete Video Game Release Calendar includes every title we could find with a 2015, 2016, 2017, or unannounced release date.
The 2015 E3 Expo will kick off in just a few days with the first-ever E3 Press Conference from Bethesda. The publisher has promised a first look at Fallout 4, as well as Doom 4. Both games currently have “TBA” release dates, but that will likely change this Sunday. As I dive into the rest of the new release dates in this Pre-E3 2015 Edition of our Video Game Release Calendar Changelog, I can’t be sure I got them all. Dozens of games have release dates (or, at the very least, release windows) that didn’t before.
So here’s a few more games we can start looking forward to…
- Until Dawn, Sony’s “kids in the woods” horror game for the PS4, will be released on August 25.
- Skylanders SuperChargers will bring its “interactive game toys” (we need a better name for this genre) to nearly every platform on September 20.
- The Mega Man Legacy Collection will collect the first six games in the series on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this Summer.
- Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection will bring the three PS3 games to the PS4 on October 9.
- Square Enix will release Dragon Quest Heroes on the PS4 on October 13.
- Bandai Namco’s Tales series will expand on October 20 with Tales of Zestiria on the PC, PS3, and PS4.
- And the next Tales game after that, Tales of Berseria, has been officially announced, but it’s release date is currently “TBA.”
Even more new release dates from this edition of the Video Game Release Calendar Changelog can be found after the break. And check back with us after E3 when we’ll surely get the chance to pencil in even more release dates. (more…)
XSEED @ E3 15: Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 1/2, EDF 4.1 PS4, EDF 2 Vita, more
XSEED Games has big plans for the remainder of the year. The publisher, which specializes in localizing obscure and niche titles from Japan, will release ten more games by the end of the year and they plan to bring all of them to this year’s E3 Expo.
Here’s a quick look at XSEED’s full lineup:
- Corpse Party (PC) – The first game in the survival horror series is in development for the PC. (Fall 2015)
- Corpse Party: Blood Drive (PS Vita) – The third, and final, game in the survival horror series will be released for the Vita. (Fall 2015)
- Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space (PS Vita) – The second game in the bug-bashing shooter series will shrink down onto the Vita in its first American release. (Fall 2015)
- Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair (PS4) – An enhanced version of Earth Defense Force 2025 will come to the PS4 with an expanded level count. (Fall 2015)
- Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (3DS) – Farm and fight in this turn-based RPG. (Fall 2015)
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter (PC, PSP) – Yes, the “Trails in the Sky” series will finally continue in America with this PC and PSP release. (Fall 2015)
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (PS Vita, PS3) – Another Legend of Heroes game, set in the same universe as “Trails in the Sky” but starring different characters, is also coming soon. (Fall 2015)
- Onechanbara Z2: Chaos (PS4) – The “bikini zombie slayers” will be back chopping heads on the PS4 soon. (Summer 2015)
- Senran Kagura: Estival Versus (PS Vita, PS4) – The wave-based fighter will offer ten-player play on the PS4 and four-player play on the Vita. (Fall 2015)
- Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson (3DS) – The anime-influenced fighting series will return for another go-round shortly. (Summer 2015)
Finally, XSEED will also release The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II for the PS3 and Vita, but it currently has no release date and likely won’t be at this year’s E3 Expo.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, PSP, Vita
Tagged E3 2015, Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space, Earth Defense Force 2025
Insert Quarter: Should Mega Man Make a Comeback? Maybe We Don’t Need Him…
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
With Shovel Knight, 20XX, and the upcoming Mighty No. 9 giving the gaming populace their fill of homages/spiritual successors to Mega Man, some people have started to wonder if a new game starring the original Blue Bomber is even necessary. GameRadar’s David Roberts is one of those people.
According to Roberts, Capcom is so handcuffed by the Mega Man formula that we might just be better off with the imitators. I’m not sure I agree, but he makes an interesting case:
It’s been nearly five years since Capcom released the last official Mega Man game. Mega Man 10 was just like all the other Mega Man games (Mega Mans?) that came before it; crunchy 8-bit graphics, a series of themed robot bosses, and soul-crushing difficulty. Since then, Capcom has released a fan-made Street Fighter/Mega Man crossover and let the Blue Bomber fight against a stable of Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros. That’s all Mega Man has to show for the last five years; everything else has been cancelled. And you know what? Maybe that’s for the best.
The full article is available for your perusal at the GamesRadar.
PS Store Flash Sale features dozens of games under $1 including Pac-Man CE DX+, Katamari Damacy, MK Arcade Kollection, more
Are you looking to stock up on games this fine March morning? Then I suggest you amble over to the PlayStation Store, because Sony is currently running hosting a massive Flash Sale and dozens of games are available for under a dollar.
As with any sale of this kind, there’s a lot of forgotten titles to sift through, but there are also a few good games and a few outright classics. Games like Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+, Katamari Damacy, Twisted Metal: Black, Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection, Dead Nation (both the PS3 original and the PS4-only Apocalypse Edition), Payday: The Heist, Mega Man X4, Mega Man X5, and many others.
The Flash Sale began Friday, but it doesn’t end until Monday at 2:00 PM (Eastern Time), so there’s still time to go bargain hunting. You can find the full list of deals after the break. (more…)
Insert Quarter: The PlayStation’s Face Buttons Explained At Last
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Have you ever wondered why PlayStation controllers use X-Circle-Square-Triangle for the face buttons instead of the more traditional B-A-Y-X that Nintendo has employed since the Super NES days or the mirrored A-B-X-Y that Microsoft overlaid on the Xbox controllers? It’s OK, it’s kept me up at night too. Why? Why? Why?
Thankfully, Kill Screen’s David Shimomura went looking for an answer and he found one by talking to Teiyu Goto, the developer who originally designed the PlayStation controller for Sony back in the mid 90s. Goto revealed that he named the face buttons what he did in a nod to symbolism and semiotics. However, American and European players didn’t have the same connection to Goto’s symbols as a Japanese player would and it caused all sorts of friction within Sony:
Goto wanted to be memorable but he also wanted to make sense, at least in his own mind. “I gave each symbol a meaning and a color,” he states in the same interview. “The triangle refers to viewpoint; I had it represent one’s head or direction and made it green. Square refers to a piece of paper; I had it represent menus or documents and made it pink.” So far so good, sort of. The triangle is reminiscent of an arrow or a direction. It has directionality to it and, even though it’s equilateral, it must point somewhere. The square is a little looser but the connection between a page and the square are strong, at least for Goto. One can construe it as a box and use it for inventory or some other kind of menus. But then things got weird.
The full article is available for your perusal at Kill Screen.
Atelier Ayesha Plus, Monopoly Plus, a PSP game, more added to PS Store
This week’s PlayStation Store update is either incredibly skimpy or incredibly generous, depending on your point of view. If you’re interested in Sony’s PlayStation Now game streaming service on the PS4, you’ll be pleased to know that a subscription option is now available. Currently boasting more than 100 PS3 games, PlayStation Now is definitely a window into the PS3’s more obscure corners.
If you’re looking for new releases, a few new games were added to the PlayStation Store this week, including a PSP game. Monopoly Plus (and its two add-ons, Monopoly Deal and My Monopoly) is the only new PS3 game.
The handheld realm is where its at this week as five new games are now available. Two of the games, Bandai Namco’s Atelier Ayesha Plus: The Alchemist of Dusk and Hello Games’ Joe Danger 2: The Movie, are shrunk down (but expanded) Vita versions of previously-released PS3 games. And Fat Princess: Piece of Cake is a match-3 puzzler set within the Fat Princess world.
Finally, that PSP game is Brandish: The Dark Revenant, an action RPG from XSEED that is actually a remake of a Super NES game that was first released in 1995.
More information about all of games can be found after the break and a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)