Most Recent: Retro
Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 4 gets the last laugh on November 22
Ladies and gentlemen, The Joker has arrived. The Clown of Crime will make his Batman: The Telltale Series debut in Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham, which asks players to help Bruce Wayne attempt to escape from Arkham Asylum:
In Episode 4, Penguin has taken control of Wayne Enterprises, and the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane has a new guest – you – Bruce Wayne. With the Batman removed from the streets of Gotham City, Harvey Dent’s forces and the Children of Arkham are at war, with innocent citizens caught in the crossfire. To escape the “comforts” of your padded cell, you must choose allies to aid in your escape, even if they aren’t the sort to put a smile on your face. How far are you willing to go for justice? For vengeance? What now, Dark Knight?
Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham will be available to download for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices on November 22. You can get a sneak peek at Episode 4 in the embedded above, but beware of spoilers if you’re not caught up to the latest chapter.
Microsoft is repackaging backwards compatible Xbox 360 games in Xbox One cases
More and more Xbox 360 games are added to the Xbox One Backwards Compatibility list every week, and now Microsoft has figured out a way to extend the retail life of some of their previous console’s biggest hits.
Recently spotted by NeoGAF user “Xyrmellon,” Xbox 360 games that are also playable on the Xbox One are now being sold in Xbox One cases with a banner that reads “Plays On Xbox One & Xbox 360.”
It’s an ingenious bit of marketing and I hope more Xbox 360 games from yesteryear stay in print this way.
Persona 5 pushed back to April 4; Dual Japanese/English audio announced
Today has been a big day for fans of the Persona franchise… and not all of it has been good news. That’s because Atlus announced today that Persona 5 will miss its previously-scheduled February 14 launch date. Instead, the game will now be available for the PS4 and PS3 on April 4, 2017.
However, it’s not all bad news. Atlus also announced that everyone who purchases Persona 5 will have the option to download a Japanese voiceover for the game. And whether you buy Persona 5 at launch, or years from now, Atlus will offer the Japanese voiceover as a free download.
But wait, there’s more. The publisher also unveiled a new trailer for Persona 5, “Learn How the Phantom Thieves Live Dual Lives,” which has been embedded above. And if you want to outfit your PS4 in Persona 5’s rather distinctive red and black color scheme, a free Theme is available to download today only from the PlayStation Store.
Finally, Atlus is hosting a Persona 5 livestream on Twitch, so tune in now or catch up with the replay later. And if you’re planning to attend next PlayStation Experience event in Anaheim, be sure to head down to the Atlus Booth to try out a playable demo of Persona 5.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End leads the way at 2016 Game Awards with eight nominations
We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year, and that means the 2016 Game Awards are right around the corner. The Game Awards will once again be produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, who will honor this year’s best games and look to the future with a number of huge World Premieres, including the first gameplay footage from BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Before we blast off to a far away galaxy, let’s stop and recognize Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which received eight nominations this year from the Game Awards Advisory Board. In addition to “Game of the Year,” Nathan Drake’s final adventure is also up for “Best Game Direction,” “Best Art Direction,” “Best Narrative,” and “Best Action/Adventure Game,” along with a “Best Performance” nomination for all three of the game’s main performers.
Uncharted 4 will compete with some of 2016’s biggest titles for “Game of the Year” at the 2016 Game Awards including Doom, Inside, Overwatch, and Titanfall 2.
“The Game Awards is all about celebrating the state of video game art,” said Keighley. “In just a few short weeks we will recognize the most outstanding games of 2016 in unexpected ways, and preview the most anticipated games of 2017 and beyond with the longest, most in-depth world premieres we’ve ever attempted… including surprises and new game announcements.”
The Game Awards will be held on December 1 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time), and fans can watch the show through their favorite video streaming service or at TheGameAwards.com. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo is taking a Legend of Zelda Escape Room on tour in 2017
It looks like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won’t be the only new Hyrulian adventure that Nintendo has planned for 2017. The consolemaker has teamed up with Scrap, the winner of USA Today’s “Best Escape Room of 2016” award, to create a Zelda-themed live puzzle experience known as Defenders of the Triforce:
While the words “escape room” might come to mind when describing this new experience, Defenders of the Triforce is so much more than that. Instead of escaping from a locked room, participants work in teams of six to solve a mystery in a huge area, all within a set time limit. The experience will let guests interact with classic items and characters seen in The Legend of Zelda series like the Goron, Zora, and Kokiri tribes. Discovered items can be used to solve puzzles and move forward into other areas, just like in The Legend of Zelda games.
The Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour is currently scheduled to hit eight cities next year, and tickets can be purchased at ScrapZelda.com:
Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour
- San Francisco: January 31 – February 5
- Los Angeles: February 10-12
- San Diego: February 24-25
- Seattle: TBA
- Phoenix: TBA
- Houston: TBA
- Chicago: TBA
- New York: TBA
Hopefully, more dates will be added to the Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour soon.
Nintendo sold 262,961 NES Classic Edition consoles in Japan last week
It’s no secret that Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition is currently quite difficult to find on store shelves. Naturally, the unfulfilled demand has sent people scrambling to eBay, where buyers are paying exorbitant amounts of money to obtain the nostalgia-fueled microconsole.
Nintendo has promised to replenish the retail stock as soon as they can, but in the meantime, a new report from Famitsu has given us an idea of just how many NES Classic Edition consoles are out there. According to the gaming magazine, Nintendo sold 262,961 consoles in Japan during its launch period of November 10th through the 13th. The microconsole is known as the Famicom Classic Edition in Japan, and features slightly different styling from its American and European counterparts.
While this report doesn’t provide worldwide sales numbers for the NES Classic Edition, we can use a little educated guesswork to get a rough estimate. Assuming a roughly equal shipment between all three territories, it’s likely that Nintendo has already sold more than 750,000 NES Classic Edition consoles. And if Nintendo shipped more consoles to North America and Europe, its possible that total worldwide sales for the NES Classic Edition have already topped one million consoles.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might not be a launch title for Nintendo Switch
Officially, Nintendo will launch The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sometime in 2017, though many fans are hoping it’ll be released in March as part of the Switch’s launch lineup. Unfortunately, if you believe a new rumor from “Emily Rogers,” it’s much more likely the game will available in Summer 2017.
Breath of the Wild is shaping up to be a big game, and according to Rogers’s sources, it’s taking Nintendo much longer to localize it than they originally planned. Because of this scheduling snafu, the sources say Nintendo will need an addition four-to-six months to test Breath of the Wild for bugs, which would push its launch to next Summer:
That brings us to the month of November. More sources have now come forward and corroborated my information. They’ve told me that localization for Breath of the Wild might not be finished until the end of December. After localization is completed, this game will require between (at least) four-to-six months of testing. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of Nintendo’s largest and most ambitious games ever. The amount of testing required for a huge open-world game like this is enormous. Nintendo’s intention is to have the game as bug free as possible.
Eurogamer corroborated this proposed production schedule with their own internal sources, so it’s looking more and more likely that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won’t be ready in time for the Switch’s launch window.
New Pokemon Sun/Moon trailer introduces fans to more new Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, Z-Moves
You’ll be able to catch Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon at your local game retailer this Friday, but in the meantime, The Pokemon Company has released one last trailer to showcase some of the game’s new features.
First up is a pair of new Pokemon, Ground–Steel types known as Alolan Diglett and Alolan Dugtrio. The trailer also gives us a look at two of the game’s Ultra Beasts (UB-05 Glutton and UB-03 Lighting). Finally, the powerful Z-Moves from the game’s three Starter Pokemon (Decidueye’s Sinister Arrow Raid, Incineroar’s Malicious Moonsault, and Primarina’s Oceanic Operetta) are also on display in the trailer.
The last trailer for Pokemon Sun and Moon has been embedded above, and more information on the new Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, and Z-Moves can be found after the break. Both games will be available to purchase, exclusively for the 3DS, beginning this Friday, November 18. (more…)