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All Articles: Destiny
Xbox Store Today: Firewatch, Destiny Rise of Iron, Batman Episode 2, more
Two influential titles from the new wave of first-person exploration games are now available to download for the Xbox One through the Xbox Games Store.
Firewatch comes from developer Campo Santo, and it takes place in the Wyoming wilderness. “You are a man named Henry who has retreated from your messy life to work as a fire lookout,” but as players scan the skies for smoke, a strange mystery draws them out of their tower and into the world. Firewatch is joined on the Xbox Games Store this week by Dear Esther: Landmark Edition, the first game from The Chinese Room. Players will explore beautiful environments on a deserted island as “a powerful story of love, loss, guilt, and redemption” unfolds before them.
An entirely different (but much more familiar) first-person game is also new to the Xbox Games Store this week. Bungie’s Destiny: Rise of Iron (Xbox One) will be the final expansion to the multiplayer shooter, and it asks players to fight back against Fallen mutants who “now scavenge the tombs of the Golden Age.”
And elsewhere on the Xbox Games Store… Batman and Bruce Wayne will continue their crusade to clean up Gotham City in Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 2: Children of Arkham (Xbox One), while Microsoft collected the first three seasons of content for their free-to-play fighter in Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition (Xbox One).
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: The Telltale Series, Destiny, Firewatch, Killer Instinct
Destiny: Rise of Iron, Batman: Episode 2, Dear Esther, more added to PS Store
This week, it is your destiny to play Destiny: Rise of Iron (PS4), the final expansion to Bungie’s interstellar multiplayer shooter. With Destiny 2 on track for a 2017 launch, the developer is closing the door on the first game with an earthbound episode that takes place in the Plaguelands, an area teeming with Fallen mutants who now “scavenge the tombs of the Golden Age.”
And speaking of new episodes, Telltale is back with another entry in their Batman saga, Batman: The Telltale Series (PS4). In Episode 2: Children of Arkham, Bruce Wayne is hounded by the knowledge that his fight might have been involved in Gotham’s criminal underworld, while Batman must deal with “an old friend [who is] now a dangerous adversary.”
Finally this week, the developer behind Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, The Chinese Room, will bring their first game to the PS4. In Dear Esther: Landmark Edition, players will explore a “remote and desolate” island while a man reads letters to his deceased wife, Esther.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And a quick stop at the PlayStation Blog will reveal all the details about this week’s new add-ons and discounts. (more…)
New Retail Releases: Destiny Collection, Killer Instinct Definitive, SMT4 Apocalypse, More
Believe it or not, but Bungie released the original version of Destiny nearly two years ago. After building up a devoted fanbase that continues to obsessively play the shooter to this day, the developer is gearing up to launch the final expansion this week. The Rise of Iron expansion will be available to download from the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store, but players who haven’t yet jumped into Destiny’s universe will be able to pick up Destiny: The Collection this week for the PS4 and Xbox One. In addition to the original game and Rise of Iron, The Collection will also include Expansion I: The Dark Below, Expansion II: House of Wolves, and The Taken King.
Killer Instinct made its debut during the Xbox One’s launch period, and it too will receive a collected edition this week. Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition will include all 26 characters and 20 stages from the game’s first three seasons, as well as a pair of bonus games (Killer Instinct Classic and Killer Instinct 2 Classic).
Fans of Japanese RPGs will also find a pair of new titles available on store shelves this week. Atlus will publish Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, a side-story to the original Shin Megami Tensei IV, for the 3DS. And NIS America will bring a reworked version of Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters to the PS4.
Finally this week, the Air Conflicts: Double Pack, which contains Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers and Air Conflicts: Vietnam, will be available for the PS4.
We’ll be back throughout the week with all the new additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Killer Instinct, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Madden NFL 17 rumbles its way to the end zone as the best-selling game of August 2016
A trio of new releases stood atop the NPD Group’s recounting of the best-selling games of August 2016, but Madden NFL 17 unsurprisingly took the top spot.
EA’s juggernaut is almost always unstoppable during the calendar’s eighth month, but it was equally unsurprising to see No Man’s Sky and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided take up residence at #2 and #3, respectively.
NPD analyst Sam Naji told GamesIndustry.biz: “The release of strong new titles such as Madden NFL 17, No Man’s Sky and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided bolstered console software dollar sales by 8%.”
The remainder of this month’s best-sellers included the usual mix of big titles from 2015 and 2016, with some Grand Theft Auto V (#4) and Minecraft (#9) tossed in for flavor.
A full look at August 2016’s best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
Almost three years after its release, GTA5 was NPD’s best-selling game in July 2016
With a sweltering Summer in full swing, game publishers mostly skipped the month of July. And nowhere is this more evident than the monthly NPD ranking of best-selling games, which was topped by Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, a game that was originally released almost three years ago. The only new release to crack the top ten in July was Capcom’s Monster Hunter Generations, which claimed the #4 spot.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, NPD analyst Sam Naji said: “Lack of strong new titles for the month resulted with poor comparison with last July’s Batman: Arkham Knight with consumers spending 14 percent less year-on-year on hardware, software and accessories. However, the release of Monster Hunter: Generations and the price drop for the 2DS helped to bolster spending for 3DS and 2DS hardware by 44%”
While brand new titles were a rare sight in the NPD’s July 2016 top ten, new-ish titles like Overwatch (#2), Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (#3), and Doom (#8) continue to be popular with shoppers.
The NPD Group continued their foray into tracking sales of digital downloads last month, though Capcom, Mojang, Bethesda, and Blizzard (for Battle.net sales) chose not to participate.
A full look at July 2016’s best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
Activision officially announces Destiny: The Collection
Over in the “I Can’t Believe It Took Them This Long” department, Activision has announced that Destiny: The Collection will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on September 20. Launching the same day as the Rise of Iron expansion, The Collection will bring together all five pieces of the Destiny story including the original game, Expansion I: The Dark Below, Expansion II: House of Wolves, and The Taken King.
The package will be priced at $59.99, though players who pre-order it through the PlayStation Store or Xbox Games Store will receive instant access to all currently-available Destiny content. And just like Rise of Iron, those who pre-order will also receive the Iron Gjallarhorn rocket launcher and Iron Gjallarwing Sparrow hoverbike.
A new trailer for Destiny: The Collection has been embedded above.
Overwatch climbs to the top of the NPD’s list of best-selling games for June 2016
June is typically a slow period for new game releases, but The NPD Group’s look at last month’s best-selling games proves just how slow it was. According to tracking firm, consumer spending on games was down 20% from last year, when Batman: Arkham Knight launched to strong reviews and even stronger sales.
To make matters worse, the only new release to crack the top ten were Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (#3) and Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst (#5). But that means the path to the top of the list was clear for Overwatch, which rode a wave of support from fans to become June 2016’s best-selling game. Grand Theft Auto V (#2) and Doom (#4) rounded out the top five.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom in June, as NPD Analyst Liam Callahan told GamesIndustry.biz: “After 32 months since the launches of the PS4 and Xbox One, the combined cumulative hardware sales for these two consoles exceed the sales of [the PS3 and Xbox 360] by 40% at the same point in their lifecycles.”
However, the biggest news this month might be the new way that the NPD reports their monthly sales data. Provided a publisher supplies the numbers, the company has agreed to begin integrating digital sales into their monthly tally. Most publishers have already signed on, though Bethesda, Sony, and Mojang remain holdouts, and Blizzard has decided not to share sales data from Battle.net.
A complete look at last months top ten best-selling titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Destiny, Doom (2016), Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Minecraft, Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, NBA 2K16, NPD, Overwatch, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Activision officially announces Destiny: Rise of Iron expansion
As expected, Activision and Bungie will release the next major expansion to Destiny this Fall. Destiny: Rise of Iron will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on September 20, and players will be required to own Destiny: The Taken King before they can tackle the new content.
In Rise of Iron, Destiny players will return to Earth to obtain new weapons (including an “Iron Black” Gjallarhorn for those who pre-order) and armor while completing a new six-player Raid (Felwinter Peak) and three-player Strike in “The Plaguelands”:
Guardians must rise to the challenge to take their place as the next generation of Iron Lords. Along the way they will join forces with a legend from humanity’s Golden Age to defeat a plague of unstoppable evil once and for all. The game features a collection of fresh content including an all-new setting on Earth called The Plaguelands, a brand-new six-player Raid, Felwinter Peak, a new social space that looks out onto The Plaguelands, new cooperative three-player Strike, more quests, weapons, gear, competitive multiplayer mode and maps, a Light level increase, a new mutated enemy faction of the Fallen, and more.
Destiny: Rise of Iron will be priced at $29.99, and players who purchase it for the PS4 will receive access to a another collection of timed exclusive content, which will be revealed at a later date. But for now, we can expect to learn more about Destiny: Rise of Iron during next week’s E3 Expo.