Warp Zoned Presents
All Articles: E3 2017
Sony’s Cory Barlog has plans for multiple sequels to next year’s God of War
Cory Barlog stepped away from the God of War franchise after the release of 2007’s God of War II, but Sony managed to lure the developer back to direct the upcoming Norse-themed reboot, God of War. And in a new interview published the UK’s Daily Star (conducted during this year’s E3 Expo), Barlog revealed that Kratos’s next adventure is actually the opening chapter to a much larger story.
According to the developer, he’s got an outline in his head for stories that could be told across multiple sequels:
Daily Star: The way you talk about Kratos now, it’s like the beginning of something. And clearly, the work that’s gone into this game, to create such a bold new chapter for the character, presumably this can’t be a one-shot deal for you and the game?
Barlog: For me, I am just trying to get this game done. But I will say that when I chose this story, I had chosen it because I already outlined and mapped out stories for multiple games. I have an arc in my head that goes well beyond this game and everything that we are doing in God of War, to me, is very much building towards that.
Like you see the second God of War game and it ends with Kratos going up to Olympus. Everybody said that it was the stupidest decision like why are you doing this, nobody wants a cliffhanger ending. But I was like, whatever, this is awesome. This is telling people more to come, this is great. And with this game, I think people know that we’re going to be here for a while. Me personally, I know I’ve got a couple more of these in me.
We don’t yet know what the future holds for Kratos, but we do know that God of War will be released exclusively for the PS4 in Early 2018.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged E3 2017, God of War 4
Yacht Club continues to joke about Shovel Knight 64… and talks seriously about King Knight expansion
Developers from Yacht Club Games have joked about creating Shovel Knight 64 for a few years now. But the company’s “Pixel Artmancer,” Nick Wozniak, revealed that their fanciful daydreaming about a Shovel Knight sequel that uses the blocky polygonal style made famous by the N64 might be real during an E3 2017 interview with App Trigger:
App Trigger: I’ve seen a little bit of Yacht Club talking about working on more Shovel Knight, or more things besides Shovel Knight after all this is done. What would your personal preference be? If you could work on anything, what would it be?
Nick Wozniak: Anything? I think one of the things we want to work on in the far future is definitely like a Shovel Knight 64, a 3D platformer. We would all love that. We all love Mario 64 to pieces and would just love to be able to jump into that.
Of course, this wasn’t an official announcement for Shovel Knight 64. Wozniak said that Yacht Club doesn’t just want to be known as “the Shovel Knight company,” and that they’re currently hard at work on “something new.”
However, the developer is also putting the finishing touches on Shovel Knight’s King Knight expansion, and Wozniak also had a bit to say about the game’s final add-on:
App Trigger: [King Knight is] great. He’s the light-hearted guy. Even though you guys gave us choices at the beginning of Shovel Knight, your eye is drawn more toward King Knight, so I think that’s the one a lot of people start with.
Nick Wozniak: He’s great. He’s the first guy you probably encounter, and he sets the tone of the rest of the game. You know what to expect, kind of, when you see King Knight. He’s a joke, even in his name. He’s not a king, he’s a knight who’s kingly, and that’s ridiculous and stupid and it sets the bar for your expectations of what the game is and what the knights are. His campaign is going to be a big departure from the very tragic story that Specter Knight was, but it will be interesting and focused on his journey to becoming King Knight. I’m not sure what the timeline is now, we’re still working through what it is, but it’ll be goofy.
Yacht Club has previously said they want to release the King Knight campaign before the end of the year, so it shouldn’t be too long before we can all be royals.
The Master Trials expansion for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now available
The Master Trials, the first expansion for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now available to download through the Nintendo eShop for the Switch and Wii U.
Players who purchase the Expansion Pass will be able to participate in the “Trial of the Sword” challenge, a wave-based dungeon that will “awaken” the Master Sword when completed. New armor pieces, a more challenging Master Mode, and other additions to the game will also be included in The Master Trials:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Expansion Pass: The Master Trials
More adventures await in the Master Trials pack. By completing the Trial of the Sword challenge, Link will prove that he has grown worthy, and the Master Sword will be awakened to always be in its glowing, powered-up state while usable. Master Mode ups the challenge, Hero’s Path mode tracks 200 hours of footsteps on the map, the Travel Medallion creates a warp point, eight new armor items offer unique effects, and the Korok Mask helps locate Koroks.
The Master Trials is available as of Breath of the Wild’s Expansion Pass ($19.99), and cannot be purchased on its own. But players who own it will also receive access to a second downloadable expansion, The Champion’s Ballad, that’ll be available this Fall.
And in case you missed it, the Nintendo Treehouse team recorded an in-depth look at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Expansion Pass: The Master Trials during this year’s E3 Expo. You can find the video after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged E3 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo might re-release more Wii U games on the Switch
Even before the official unveiling of the Nintendo Switch, many “insiders” said that Nintendo would re-release a large number of games from the Wii U’s library on their then-upcoming console. And after the successful launches of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (along with this Fall’s Pokken Tournament DX), it looks like they were right. But a new interview out of this year’s E3 Expo has revealed that Nintendo might continue the practice with further Wii U re-releases.
The question was posed to Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime by Waypoint, and while he didn’t answer in the affirmative, he did confirm that Nintendo is thinking long and hard about bringing more Wii U games to the Switch:
Waypoint: So, the second question I have that jumps off of that previous one is that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is doing incredibly well, that’s also, there’s obviously some new stuff there but, much of that game was available on the Wii U, and I think it took a little time for me to wrap my head around why it was coming out so soon on the Switch, and then I realized, well, completely honestly, a lot of people didn’t play a lot of great Wii U games. Can we expect more of those Wii U games to find a home on the Switch, as a way of reaching a larger install base?
Reggie Fils-Aime: What I would say is this: the observation you have that, given the install base of Wii U, there was some fantastic content that consumers did not get to play. So that creates certainly a business opportunity. On the other hand, one of the things that we’ve discussed internally is, there really needs to be an additional element to that game to make it fresh, and to further compel the consumer to buy in.
I think the best example of that is Pokken Tournament Deluxe. Additional fighters, that gives the fan a reason to buy into it. Same is true with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, providing a mode that the consumers wanted in terms of a better battle mode, that was then included in that game. And so, I think the way we will continue to evaluate this is: yes, do we have opportunities with great games that maybe were not played as broadly on the Wii U, but then what’s the plus alpha that’s going to make it really compelling for the consumer?
The Wii U ceded victory to competing consoles early on, and small sales numbers (less than 14 million consoles, worldwide) made sure that most gamers never played some of its biggest titles. But Nintendo actually managed to release a few stone-cold classics for the console, and I’d love to see them reborn on the Switch. And after a quick check of the monthly NPD reports, it looks like I’m not alone.
So even though Reggie didn’t deliver an unequivocal “yes,” I think it’s very likely that more Wii U games will make their way to the Switch in the near future.
Super Mario Odyssey wins “E3 2017 Best of Show” from Game Critics Awards
A marquee upcoming release for the Nintendo Switch has once again claimed “Best of Show” from the Game Critics Awards at the E3 Expo. Super Mario Odyssey took home the big prize this year, along with additional wins for “Best Console Game” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
Altogether, Nintendo took home top honors in six categories. Super Mario Odyssey’s trio of statues were joined by “Best Handheld Game” for Metroid: Samus Returns, and “Best Original Game” and “Best Strategy Game” for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
The editors that make up the Game Critics Awards panel made a lot of obvious picks in the rest of the categories, but they also threw in a few surprises. Strong debuts from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (“Best Action Game”), Destiny 2 (“Best PC Game”), and Forza Motorsport 7 (“Best Racing Game”) lead to a few big wins, but I’m not anyone was expecting Arc System Works to surprise the crowd with Dragon Ball Fighter Z.
All of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny 2, Dragon Ball FighterZ, E3 2017, FIFA 18, Forza Motorsport 7, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Super Mario Odyssey, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Ubisoft unveils the first in-engine gameplay demo for Beyond Good and Evil 2
Michel Ancel’s pre-show fakeout fooled us all, which meant that Beyond and Good Evil fans were suitably thrilled when its sequel made its debut during Ubisoft’s E3 Press Conference. But that wasn’t the only E3 2017 appearance for Beyond and Good Evil 2.
In addition to the cinematic trailer they showed to the public, Ubisoft also produced a “closed door” gameplay demo for members of the media. Beyond and Good Evil 2 is still in an extremely early state, and the demo only offered viewers the chance to see what the game’s engine is capable of, but today, Ubisoft released a video of that demo to the public.
Now’s your chance to marvel at the massive cities of System 3, including the unique architecture built in to the massive structures you’ll be able to fly right up to. From there, blast off into outer space and get a feel for the game’s spaceship sections, and then crash back down to the craggy surface of the planet.
The UbiBlog offers up a similar description of the video:
In a new behind-the-scenes video, creator Michel Ancel will walk you through what Beyond Good and Evil 2’s new engine is capable of, showing off its massive scale, intricate level of detail, multiple methods of exploration, and more.
A prequel to the first Beyond Good and Evil, Beyond Good and Evil 2 tells a story of space piracy in System 3, a star system being colonized largely through the use of human-animal hybrids as slave labor.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently in development at Ubisoft, with an unknown release date, for unknown platforms.
The A-Z of E3 2017: Warp Zoned’s Full Recap of Gaming’s Biggest Showcase
The 2017 E3 Expo was one of firsts. It was the first time that gaming’s biggest showcase was open to the public, and the first time that developers sat down for panel discussions in the E3 Coliseum.
It was also a show of firsts for us here at Warp Zoned. We premiered the first two episodes of our Content Crash podcast (Episode #1: The Eve of E3 2017 and Episode #2: The E3 2017 Recap), and asked “So Did Anyone “Win” the 2017 E3 Expo?” for the first time.
But we also got our first glimpse at how the game industry will be shaping up this Fall and into 2018. The Xbox One X is going to make everything a little prettier, but Nintendo wants to make everything a little weirder. And Sony just wants to make all our Spider-Man dreams come true. So read on for a full recap of this year’s E3 Expo, and to learn more about what we thought of this year’s biggest games-to-be. (more…)
343 Industries has no plans to unveil Halo 6 in 2017
Microsoft doesn’t want to talk about the far-flung future right now. All the games on display at the consolemaker’s E3 Press Conference are set to launch fairly soon, and that meant there was no room to talk about Halo 6 on gaming’s big stage.
According to Jeff Easterling, “GrimBrother One” at 343 Industries, that stance won’t be changing anytime soon. Writing on Halo Waypoint, Easterling revealed that Microsoft and 343 Industries have no plans to talk about Halo 6 at all this year:
That being said, for some people – like most who are still reading this blog – the Xbox media briefing was bandied about as much for what it didn’t show, as what it did. Specifically, a new (or old-made-new) Halo title. For some folks, their despair stemmed from a lack of remastered fight-finishing. I know I know, we should have told you ahead of time to not expect anything like that. Others were hoping for a tease of things farther off to come. While there’s little to nothing that can be said on that front, it’s been made clear that we won’t be talking about Halo’s next major title for quite some time. And no, that doesn’t mean Gamescom. Or PAX. Trust us, when we’re ready to begin pulling back that proverbial curtain, you’ll know. It won’t be soon.
Halo Wars 2was released earlier this year, and is the most recent addition to the vast Halo franchise. A new expansion for Halo Wars 2, Awakening the Nightmare, was unveiled at E3 2017, and it’ll be available this Fall.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2017, Halo Infinite