All Articles: Tetris Effect

Anthem nabs five nominations in Game Critics Awards’s Best of E3 2018 roundup

Posted on June 28, 2018 by John Scalzo

Every year, the Game Critics Awards, a consortium of more than 50 major publications that cover the video game industry, gets together to choose the best games at the E3 Expo. The nominees for “Best of E3 2018” were announced this morning, and BioWare’s Anthem lead the way with five nominations (including “Best of Show”).

From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is also in the running for “Best of Show,” and it’s standing close behind Anthem with four total nominations. After that, a mob of games collided in third place with three nominations apiece (including Battlefield V, Dreams, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Resident Evil 2, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). All but Battlefield V and Dreams are also up for “Best of Show.”

The PS4 was the most-honored platform with 58 nominations, followed by the PC (with 55), the Xbox One (with 51), and the Switch (with 10).

Several games that clicked with fans at home during the pre-E3 press conferences (including Cyberpunk 2077, Death Stranding, The Last of Us Part II, and many others) weren’t eligible for nomination because they weren’t available to play by the judging panel.

But most of those games will likely get another shot next year (especially since I expect to be old and gray before Death Stranding is released), and you can find all of this year’s nominees after the break. The winners will be announced this coming Monday, July 2. (more…)

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Tetris Effect is a psychedelic Tetris game from Tetsuya Mizuguchi

Posted on June 6, 2018 by John Scalzo

Sony and The Tetris Company have tapped Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Enhance studio to develop Tetris Effect, a psychedelic new entry in the popular puzzle series. Named after the real-life scientific phenomenon, Tetris Effect will be available for the PS4 this Fall with support for PlayStation VR and PS4 Pro:

Named after a real-world phenomenon where players’ brains are so engrossed that images of the iconic falling Tetrimino blocks (i.e. the Tetris playing pieces) linger in their vision, thoughts, and even dreams, Tetris Effect amplifies this magical feeling of total immersion by surrounding you with fantastic, fully three-dimensional worlds that react and evolve based on how you play. Music, backgrounds, sounds, special effects—everything, down to the Tetris pieces themselves, pulse, dance, shimmer, and explode in perfect sync with how you’re playing.

During the game’s pre-E3 announcements, Sony also assured players that they’ll be able to get in “The Zone” as they play Tetris Effect, which will also include classic modes like Marathon, Sprint, and Ultra:

Features

  • Includes the all-new “Zone” mechanic, where players can stop time (and Tetriminos falling) by entering “The Zone” and either get out of a sticky situation that could otherwise lead to Game Over, or rack up extra line clears for bonus rewards.
  • Over 30 different stages, each with its own music, sound effects, graphical style and background that all evolve and change as you play through them.
  • Fully playable on either a standard display (up to 4K and 60fps on a PS4 Pro), or optionally in mind-blowing 3D on PS VR.
  • Fan-favorite modes like Marathon, Sprint, and Ultra, with more all-new modes and other features to be revealed before launch.
  • A player grading and leveling system as well as variable difficulty to encourage and reward replayability.

Tetris Effect’s first trailer has been embedded above, and be sure to watch closely… you can can really see the influence of Mizuguchi’s Lumines and Rez in the short clip.

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