Most Recent: Vita
Battlefield 1, Batman: Return to Arkham, Lego Harry Potter 1+2, more added to PS Store
“Come on, boys!” EA and DICE are heading back to the frontlines in Battlefield 1, which launches this week for the PS4. The game will be available to download this Friday, but PS4 owners can get it early if they’re willing to spring for the Early Enlister Edition, which includes bonus downloadable content, or the Ultimate Edition, which comes bundled with the post-launch Premium Pass.
Also available to download this week is a pair of re-releases that will give PS4 players a chance to relive two of WBIE’s PS3-era successes. Batman: Return to Arkham will collect Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City as a single package with “fully remastered and updated visuals” and all previously-released downloadable content. And the Lego Harry Potter Collection brings together Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 with newly redone graphics.
Over on the PS3 side of the PlayStation Store, players will be able to continue Batman: The Telltale Series with this week’s launch of Episode 2: Children of Arkham.
Finally this week, Harmonix will launch the Rivals expansion for Rock Band 4. Players will be able to tackle a brand new campaign mode known as “Rockudrama,” and battle it out with others online in “Rivals Mode.”
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And a complete listing of this week’s new add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
New Retail Releases: Battlefield 1, Civilization VI, Skylanders Imaginators, More
While the Call of Duty franchise continues to push further and further into the future, EA and DICE are taking the Battlefield franchise back to The Great War for Battlefield 1. The shooter will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this week, and Microsoft is even offering a special Xbox One S + Battlefield 1 Bundle in two sizes… 500 GB and 1 TB.
Firaxis Games and 2K will return with a different sort of trip through time this week with Civilization VI. The strategy game will be released for the PC, and it’ll once again ask players to battle it out with famous world leaders and grow their civilization.
Skylanders fans will get the chance to try out a new entry in the franchise, as Activision will bring Skylanders Imaginators to the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this week. For the first time, players will be able to design their own Skylanders characters with the brand new Imaginators system.
In what has become a regular occurrence in the New Retail Releases report, another batch of games will get the re-release treatment this week. WB Games will swoop down to save the day in Batman: Return to Arkham, a PS4 and Xbox One compilation featuring Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. The publisher will also package together Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 in Lego Harry Potter Collection, exclusively for the PS4. WayForward will give 3DS owners another chance to pick up Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, this time in a new Retail Edition. Finally, Harmonix will release the Rivals expansion for Rock Band 4 this week, and launch a special Rock Band 4 + Rivals Expansion pack for the PS4 and Xbox One.
A complete look at this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Igarashi teams up with 505 Games to publish Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
In the latest Kickstarter update for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Koji “Iga” Igarashi has announced that he’s signed an agreement with 505 Games to publish the side-scrolling “IgaVania” game. To seal the partnership, “Iga” sat down to showcase some new footage from the game in the trailer embedded above.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will be released sometime in 2018 for the PC, PS4, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox One.
Dragon Quest Builders Hands-On Preview: Raising the Roof
Last week, Square Enix released a demo of Dragon Quest Builders ahead of its October 11th launch. I haven’t played a Dragon Quest game since Dragon Warrior hit the NES, and that one ended in horrible tragedy. I never had any prior interest in Dragon Quest Builders; my only knowledge being that it incorporated elements of mega-hit Minecraft. I was a fan of Minecraft, so I decided to give it a shot. I mean, that’s the point of a demo, right? (more…)
PlayStation Experience 2016 will invade Anaheim on December 3rd and 4th
For the third year in a row, Sony will host a PlayStation Experience event for fans in December. This year, the platform-specific game show will travel to Anaheim, California on December 3rd and 4th.
According to the PlayStation Blog, the 2016 PlayStation Experience will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, and tickets are available to purchase now through PlayStation.com. Fans who purchase a Two-Day ticket before October 16 will be able to lock in their spot for $60. But all Two-Day tickets sold after that date will be priced at $75. Saturday-Only and Sunday-Only tickets are also available.
It’s unknown what Sony and their third-party partners will bring to this year’s event, but a teaser video included quick glimpses of Horizon: Zero Dawn, The London Heist, Shadow of the Colossus, and Gran Turismo Sport. Fans will also be able to check out the PS4 Pro on the show floor, as well as PlayStation VR, developer panels, a merchandise booth, and the PlayStation Showcase keynote.
FIFA 17, XCOM 2, Contra, more added to PS Store
Soccer stars and a double dose of aliens lead the way for this week’s PlayStation Store update…
We start things off with FIFA 17 for the PS4 and PS3, the latest soccer simulation from EA Sports. This time around, the publisher has added a new story-focused career mode known as “The Journey,” where players take control a teenager trying to make it in the Premier League.
But if you’d prefer to battle an alien invasion, you’ve got two choices on the PlayStation Store this week. Firaxis and 2K will bring the tactical fighting of XCOM 2 to the PS4, while Konami will launch the original arcade version of Contra on Sony’s console.
Finally, players who’ve been following the King’s Quest saga will be able to check out Chapter 4: Snow Place Like Home on the PS4 and PS3 this week. In this episode, King Graham recounts the time he had to rescue Prince Alexander from Queen Icebella’s Frozen Castle.
More information about 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 add-ons and discounts is available at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Max Brooks is writing an “Official” Minecraft novel for Mojang
There are lots of novels based on Minecraft on the shelves at your local bookstore, but Mojang has announced they’ve partnered with Max Brooks to produce a series of official novels based on the blockbuster game.
Brooks is best known as the author of World War Z, an “Oral History of the Zombie War” that was recently adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt. But Brooks is also the author of The Harlem Hellfighters (which features many of the same events and people as this Fall’s Battlefield 1) and The Zombie Survival Guide. He’s also the son of legendary parodist Mel Brooks and Oscar-winning actress Anne Bancroft.
The first novel will be titled Minecraft: The Island, and according to Mojang Blog, readers should expect “cuboid Robinson Crusoe, but madder: a hero stranded in an unfamiliar land, with unfamiliar rules, learning to survive against tremendous odds.”
“I’m very excited to be part of this new venture,” Brooks said. “Finally I can justify all those hours I’ve spent playing Minecraft.”
“From our first meeting with Max, we knew he would be a perfect fit for our first foray into novels based on Minecraft,” said Lydia Winters, the Brand Director at Mojang. “His enthusiasm and understanding of all things related to the game bring out the sense of wonder and possibility that so many players love about Minecraft… ourselves included.”
We don’t know when Minecraft: The Island will be released, but we do know it’ll be published by Del Rey Books.