All Articles: Mortal Kombat X

New Releases: Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Mortal Kombat XL, Far Cry Primal (PC), More

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It’s a big week for re-releases as Nintendo, NetherRealm, Ubisoft, and NIS America are all giving some of their biggest games a second shot at the spotlight.

Nintendo is likely on the verge of another console transition, but the jump from the GameCube to the Wii felt unique in that players were given two chances to experience latest Legend of Zelda game. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princes was available for both platforms back in 2006, but now it’s back for its tenth anniversary as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD on the Wii U. In addition to the enhanced graphics implied by the “HD” branding, Twilight Princess HD will include a new Challenge Mode, a harder Hero Mode, and a beautiful Wolf Link Amiibo figure.

Another game getting an expanded re-release this week, though less than a year after its original launch, is Mortal Kombat X. Available this week for the PS4 and Xbox One, Mortal Kombat XL will add in all of the previously released downloadable content as well as the four new fighters from “Kombat Pack 2” (Alien‘s Xenomorph, Leatherface, Bo Rai Cho, and Tri-Borg).

NIS America will also jump onto the re-release train with The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition, a PS4 remake of an action RPG originally released for the PS3.

And finally, after making its PS4 and Xbox One debut last week, Ubisoft’s Stone Age adventure, Far Cry: Primal, will be released for the PC this week.

The rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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Fallout 4 wins “Game of the Year” at 2016 DICE Awards

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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences held their annual DICE Awards ceremony last night, and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 emerged from The Vault to take home “Game of the Year” honors. The expansive open world RPG also won in two other categories, “Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year” and “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction.” However, it wasn’t a sweep for the post-apocalyptic adventure.

A trio of other games took home three awards last night including Moon Studios’s Ori and the Blind Forest (“Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition,” “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction”), Psyonix’s Rocket League (“Sports Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay,” and the “DICE Spirit Award”), and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (“Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” and “Outstanding Technical Achievement”).

While the ceremony featured plenty of revelry and merriment, last night’s DICE Awards were also a bittersweet affair as Satoru Iwata was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for his distinguished business leadership of Nintendo. And Hideo Kojima, who recently parted ways with Konami after more than three decades with the company, was named to the AIAS’s Hall of Fame.

A complete list of this year’s winners (which also includes Super Mario Maker, Mortal Kombat X, Star Wars: Battlefront, and many more) can be found after the break. (more…)

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See Tri-Borg’s variations (including Cyber Sub-Zero) in the latest MKX Kombat Kast

The second season of ESL Pro League competition for Mortal Kombat X came to a close yesterday with Dominique “SonicFox” Mclean tasting victory, and more importantly, retaining his championship belt. But in between matches, NetherRealm’s Tyler Lansdown and Derek Kirtzic held a special Kombat Kast (beginning at 7:17:00 in the video embedded above) to introduce viewers to Tri-Borg.

Tri-Borg is an amalgam of Sektor, Cyrax, and Smoke, so it’s not surprising that the kombatant splits neatly into “Sektor,” “Cyrax,” and “Smoke” variations. And don’t worry, it loks like players who honed their skills with these characters in 2011’s Mortal Kombat will feel right at home with Tri-Borg. Sektor returns with his missiles, Tele-Punch, and a brand new air dash. Cyrax gets his bombs, a teleport, the Buzz Saw, and the awesome Energy Net. And Smoke wafts into view with his trusty Trident Spear, Smoke Bombs, teleport, Smoke Away/Smoke Towards, and invisibility.

Best of all, these practice fights all take place in “The Pit,” giving viewers a closer look at the rebirth of the famed MK arena. Actually… I was wrong… the best part of the Kombat Kast is the reveal that Tri-Borg will include a special fourth variation based on “Cyber Sub-Zero.” Lansdown only teased the cold steel of Cyber Sub-Zero for a few seconds, but it was enough to make the crowd go bonkers.

Tri-Borg will be available as part of Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2, which will be available to download for the PS4 and Xbox One on March 1. And if you’re new to the game, the character will also star in Mortal Kombat XL, a retail re-release that’ll include the 2015 game and every downloadable character and costume.

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Mortal Kombat XL will bundle together base game and both Kombat Packs on March 1

NetherRealm Studios has always asserted that Mortal Kombat X is pronounced with an “Ecks,” and they’ve provided further proof with today’s announcement of Mortal Kombat XL. This stacked re-release will include the full base game, as well as all of the additional content released through the Kombat Pack and Kombat Pack 2

  • Pre-Order Character: Goro
  • Kombat Pack Characters: The Predator (from Predator), Jason Voorhees (from Friday the 13th), Tremor, and Tanya
  • Kombat Pack 2 Characters: Xenomorph (from Alien), Leatherface (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Tri-Borg, and Bo Rai Cho
  • Never-Before-Released Costume Pack: Apocalypse Skin Pack
  • Previously Released Costume Packs: Klassic Pack #1, Klassic Pack #2, Predator/Prey Pack, Ultimate Horror Pack, Samurai Skin Pack, Brazil Skin Pack, Kold War Skin Pack, and Kold War Scorpion Skin

Mortal Kombat XL will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on March 1.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops III is the best-selling game of 2015; CoD franchise sells more than 250 million copies since 2003

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The numbers have been tabulated and the Call of Duty franchise once again reigns supreme over all other video games.

According to The NPD Group’s yearly report of retail releases, Call of Duty: Black Ops III was the best-selling game in 2015, besting EA’s Madden NFL 16 (#2) and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 (#3). The Call of Duty franchise also controlled the back end of the list with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare taking the #10 spot. Activision’s Scott Lowe added (by way of the Activision Games Blog) that the entire franchise has sold more than 250 million copies since the release of Call of Duty in 2003.

Believe it or not, games outside the Call of Duty franchise found success in 2015 as well, though most of them were released after July 1st including Star Wars: Battlefront (#4), NBA 2K16 (#6), and FIFA 16 (#9). The only game to break that trend (aside from a few 2014 stragglers like Advanced Warfare) was Mortal Kombat X (#8), which was released in April. The game-playing public may not always like it, but this does explain why publishers constantly strive to release their games in the back half of the year.

On the hardware side, console sales surged in 2015, as the PS4 and Xbox One continued to outpace the PS3 and Xbox 360. The PS4 was the overall winner in 2015, but NPD analyst Liam Callahan told GamesIndustry.biz that both platforms did well: “After 26 months of sales, the combined cumulative sales of Xbox One and PS4 exceeds the 26 month total of the PS3 and Xbox 360 by 47 percent,”

The NPD’s list of the top ten best-selling games for 2015 can be found after the break. (more…)

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Nominees for the 2016 DICE Awards have been announced with Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3 leading the way

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The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 2016 DICE Awards.

Square Enix’s Rise of the Tomb Raider and CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt lead all other games with eight nominations apiece, including “Game of the Year.” They’ll be competing for the AIAS’s highest honor against three other games: Bloodborne, Fallout 4, and Ori and the Blind Forest. All told, 53 different titles received at least one nomination.

“Looking at the nominees for the 19th Annual DICE Awards, I am especially impressed by the broad range of titles catering to gamers’ increasingly sophisticated and diverse tastes,” said Martin Rae, the President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. “It is always gratifying to watch our industry and its many artists and craftsmen grow and continue to challenge and thrill audiences.”

In addition to this year’s awards show, Satoru Iwata will be honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award and Hideo Kojima will be inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame.

The ceremony for the 2016 DICE Awards will take place on Thursday, February 16, during this year’s DICE (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)

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Gameplay trailer for Mortal Kombat X: Kombat Pack 2 released

WB Games wants you to have a bloody good Tuesday as they’ve released the first gameplay for Mortal Kombat X‘s upcoming Kombat Pack 2 DLC. In development now at NetherRealm Studios, Kombat Pack 2 will add four new fighters to the game: Leatherface (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the Xenomorph (from Alien), Bo Rai Cho, and Tri-Borg (a composite character that fuses together Cyrax, Sektor, and Smoke). The new characters are incredibly fast and the chainsaw-fu practiced by Leatherface (against Jason Voorhees, I might add) is incredible.

Players who purchase Kombat Pack 2 will also receive a fifth playable character, the mighty Goro, and a number of costumes that were previously exclusive to Mortal Kombat X pre-order customers:

  • Goro – The feral, four-armed Shokan warrior will be available as a playable combatant.
  • Brazil Pack – The Brazil Pack features three new character skins: Futbol Cage, Capoeira Liu Kang, and Gaucho Kung Lao.
  • Kold War Pack – The Kold War Pack includes three new character skins: Motherland Sonya, Tundra Sub-Zero, and Revolution Kano.
  • Kold War Scorpion – Kold War-themed Scorpion character skin.
  • Apocalypse Pack (Never-Before-Released) – The Apocalypse Pack features three new character skins, reimagining characters Takeda, D’Vorah, and Erron Black with an apocalyptic theme.

NetherRealm will release Kombat Pack 2 sometime in 2016, though they’ve previously said that all four characters will be available in early 2016.

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Warp Zoned’s 2015 Golden Pixel Awards: Honoring Our Favorite Games From Last Year

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The conventional wisdom will tell you that 2015 was a down year for games and that all the good stuff got pushed back to 2016. But how can you trust the conventional wisdom when last year featured a ridiculously entertaining string of good games starring kid squids, gothic hunters, glitchy sci-fi heroes, and the lone survivor of a nuclear war. And all that’s before you dip into the millions of user-created levels from Super Mario Maker.

Yup, we think 2015 was a pretty great year for games, especially the ones that took home some hardware during our annual Golden Pixel Awards… (more…)

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