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DriveClub: PlayStation Plus Edition is finally available on the PlayStation Store
After a ridiculous number of delays, Sony is finally ready to release the DriveClub: PlayStation Plus Edition on the PlayStation Store today. However, Shuhei Yoshida, the President of SCE Worldwide Studios, posted a warning on the PlayStation Blog that not all features will be available to all players right away:
We’ve spent a long time preparing for this launch after some difficult and unexpected set-backs. To make absolutely certain that all players have the smoothest and most stable experience possible we are going to be duly cautious about how we release the game this time around.
Starting today, all players will have access to the game’s Offline Mode. But Sony and Evolution Studios plan to soft launch the game’s Online Mode with a small number of players that will slowly grow as long as all game systems continue to operate smoothly. Yoshida apologized for this new delay, but asked fans to be patient as the Online Mode of DriveClub is actually very demanding:
We know that this might be frustrating after your extra wait already, but hope you can understand that we are taking extra precautions to protect your experience when you do get online. We want to make sure we don’t overload the servers as we invite millions of PS Plus members to download the game tomorrow.
We have to take this precaution because DriveClub connectivity is demanding for a multiplayer game, with countless ever-growing social connections across clubs, challenges, multiplayer, and hundreds of thousands of dynamic leaderboards and activity feeds.
Players will be able to monitor the status of DriveClub’s online component at the game’s official website.
PS Store Today: Alien: Isolation, NBA 2K15, DriveClub, Vib-Ribbon, more
The Fall gaming avalanche comes to the PlayStation Store this week. Some of the biggest games of the season are now available to download on the PS3, PS4, and Vita as well as a bona-fide classic, and a handful of smaller titles as well.
A trio of AAA release are now available as of today. Alien: Isolation (PS3, PS4) is Sega and Creative Assembly’s attempt to bring the “haunted house in space” atmosphere of 1979’s Alien to the video game realm. It’s joined by DriveClub, Evolution’s ambitious PS4 racer, and NBA 2K15 (PS3, PS4), the latest game in 2K’s long-running sports simulation series.
Even though all these new titles are now available to download, today’s real surprise if the release of Vib-Ribbon, a PSone Classic that was originally only available in Japan and Europe. Vib-Ribbon is a rhythm game from the creator of PaRappa the Rapper that uses a unique line-drawing art style. It has appeared on multiple “Best of” lists and is considered by many to be one of the best games never to come to America. Thankfully, that changes today.
Finally this week, a few indie games that are definitely worth a look have popped up on the PlayStation Store. Dust: An Elysian Tail, a side-scrolling action-RPG that was originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2012, is now available on the PS4. Dust’s hand-drawn artwork would serve as a nice complement to Spelunky, which has also been released for the PS4 today. Divekick, a rather unique fighting game (“First You Dive, Then You Kick!”), rounds out this week’s batch of indie PS4 ports.
A complete look at all of this week’s new releases (including a few additional titles) can be found after the break. And a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Divekick, DriveClub, Dust: An Elysian Tail, NBA 2K15
New Releases: Alien: Isolation, NBA 2K15, DriveClub, More
After a relatively quiet September, the Fall gaming rush has begun to kick into high gear now that we’ve reached October.
Sega plans to take another crack at the Alien universe with the Creative Assembly-developed survival horror game Alien: Isolation (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One). Players will attempt to help Amanda Ripley search for her missing mother while she’s stalked by a singular Xenomorph. After nearly a dozen games starring the Colonial Marines, it’s definitely a new take (on an old idea) for the franchise.
Also new this week is…
- NBA 2K15 (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One), 2K’s latest basketball sim.
- DriveClub (PS4), Evolution’s long-in-development racing game.
- Skylanders: Trap Team (3DS, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One), the latest toy/game hybrid from Activision.
- Project Spark (Xbox One), Microsoft’s game-building game.
Finally, Microsoft is reliving the Xbox One launch with newly expanded and updated versions of Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition, Forza Motorsport 5: Game of the Year Edition, and Ryse: Son of Rome – Legendary Edition.
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, DriveClub, NBA 2K15, Project Spark, Skylanders: Trap Team
DriveClub finally has a release date: October 7
After numerous doubts and delays, Sony’s DriveClub finally has an official release date.
The racer from Evolution Studios was initially set to release during the PlayStation 4’s launch period last November but was later pushed to early 2014. But last month, Sony said the developers had “gone back to the drawing board” on the title. But today, Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Worldwide Studios, has announced (via the PlayStation Blog), that DriveClub will be released on October 7.
Yoshida noted that the game also has a new Director, Paul “Rushy” Rustchynsky, who was in charge of 2012’s MotorStorm RC:
“With Rushy in the lead, we know DriveClub will deliver on its initial promise to be a truly next-gen racing title for our PS4 portfolio. We are really proud of the incredible work the team has produced — their tenacity and passionate pursuit of excellence is admirable, and DriveClub will be all the better for it.”
However, releasing on October 7 may be a mistake for DriveClub. The game will be joined by a trio of additional games also set for release that day: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Morder, Alien: Isolation, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Continue Countdown #1 – Project Morpheus, The Last of Us Movie, South Park RPG, More
Welcome to the world premiere of Warp Zoned’s “Continue Countdown.” In each 30-minute episode, the Warp Zoned staff will discuss nine news stories from the week that was.
Get your quarters ready because in this episode Editor-In-Chief John Scalzo, Senior Editor Nicole Kline, and Staff Writer Mike Ryan talk about Sony’s “Project Morpheus” headset, the movie adaptation of The Last of Us, DriveClub’s delay, our expectations for Alien: Isolation, Gone Home’s console port, the epicness quotient of Angry Birds Epic, South Park: The Stick of Truth and the future of the licensed game, used games at Walmart, and our suggestions for the Official Scrabble Dictionary.
Posted in Mobile, PC, Podcast, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Angry Birds Epic, DriveClub, Gone Home, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Tabletop Games, The Last of Us
Sony sends DriveClub “back to the drawing board”
When Sony and Evolution Studios originally announced DriveClub during the PS4 reveal event, it was expected to be a launch title for the next-generation system and a stopgap before the next entry in the Gran Turismo series. Instead, the game’s release was pushed back into February, with plans to launch it alongside the PS4’s Japanese debut. That date came and went, and now the game has been delayed indefinitely.
Speaking to IGN, Scott Rohde, Sony’s Head of Software Product Development, has revealed that DriveClub is undergoing a massive overhaul. More specifically, Evolution is going to take it “back to the drawing board” to ensure it represents the great game the studio originally set out to make when it is finally released:
“What I will say is that it all comes back to that fundamental principle, and that’s that we want to build great games,” Rohde said. “And we really don’t want to release a game before it’s ready. And sometimes, this happens in the normal course of business, where we think we’re on track to deliver what we think is going to be a great game, and when we get closer, we realize that we’d be doing everyone a disservice if we shipped it before it was ready.”
“So, I think that at PlayStation, perhaps more than at other places, we’re willing to kinda eat that [cost],” Rohde continued, “and go back to the drawing board and make sure the game is great before we ship it. And that’s what’s going on right now with that game.”
An unnamed Sony representative would also tell IGN that more details about DriveClub’s future will be revealed soon. So hopefully we won’t have to wait long to find out the game’s new release date.
DriveClub stuck in neutral, won’t be ready for PS4’s Japanese launch in February
Evolution Studios’ next-gen “social racer” DriveClub certainly showed a lot of promise back when it was first revealed at the PlayStation 4 introduction back in February 2013. It was initially promised as a launch title, but it skipped the North American and European windows, and now looks to bypass the Japanese launch window as well. According to Siliconera, Sony has officially delayed the Japanese release of the game, from February 22nd (the launch date of the PS4 in Japan), to the ominous “To Be Determined (TBD).”
While no official reason has been given, the most likely scenario is that the game still requires a good deal of polish, not only for the visuals but for the game’s ambitious social feature to work as it was originally envisaged.
Evolution told IGN that it will reveal the revised release date of DriveClub shortly:
“The team at Evolution Studios are working hard to bring DriveClub, a truly next gen driving experience to PS4 and we will announce the release date shortly. We’re really excited about how DriveClub is progressing and thank you for your patience.”
Given the recent bad press surrounding games being released rushed and full of bugs, Sony may want to take its time with what could be a very important franchise for the future.
DriveClub release date shifts into early 2014
Sony has announced that another expected launch title for the PS4 has been pushed back into early 2014. This time, the delay falls on Evolution Studios’ ambitious racing title, DriveClub. According to Shuhei Yoshida, President of SCE Worldwide Studios, the team needs “more time in order to deliver on their vision.”
This delay will also affect the free-to-play DriveClub: PlayStation Plus Edition. Yoshida assured fans that the PS Plus Edition is still in the works and will be released alongside the retail edition.
But this delay doesn’t change the fact that Sony wants to offer two free PS4 games to PlayStation Plus subscribers in November. So instead of DriveClub, the consolemaker has confirmed that Contrast, a “surreal vaudevillian, film-noir inspired reality full of performance, intrigue, shadow-play and drama” will join Resogun as part of November’s PS Plus offerings for new PS4 owners.