EA has posted what appears to be Xbox One and PlayStation 4 box art designs for Battlefield 4, but whether these are final designs is unknown.

It’s quite possible that both images are just mock-ups and do not represent either console’s final box art design. Neither Microsoft or Sony has offered up any official box art for any of its next generation titles as of yet. Both consoles are due out holiday 2013.

You can check out both pieces of box art below.

As we all expected, Crytek has announced that its Kinect game Ryse will be an Xbox One exclusive.

An update on the developer’s website confirms the news alongside a countdown which ends during Microsoft’s E3 press conference. ”Exclusively for Xbox One,” reads the website. “Fight as a soldier. Lead as a general. Rise as a legend.”

The website also notes that the game features ”Controller-based gameplay enhanced by Kinect,” which is different to the Kinect exclusive gameplay that was suggested during the game’s E3 2011 reveal. Last month rumors suggested that Ryse will be a launch title for Xbox One alongside Forza 5.

Microsoft has released six screenshots of the recently announced Xbox One’s new look dashboard showcasing the new Trending feature, Pins, and more.

Trending allows you to see what your friends, or what the entire world, is watching, playing, or listening to at any given time–similar to how Twitter’s Trending feature works. The Pin feature, which is currently available on the Xbox 360 dashboard, makes a return, but is now more streamlined and useful.

Users will also be able to open and close content on the Xbox One dashboard via hand gestures. As revealed yesterday, simply hold your hands out and push them together to close an app/movie/song and then pull your hands back apart to re-open it with no delay.

The Xbox One is expected to launch this holiday season and you can get all the details on Microsoft’s new console right here.

Carbine has delivered on its promise of new WildStar information by releasing two new videos for the game detailing the various Path choices that players can make.

Paths are different to Classes and Races as they determine how you like to play MMOs. There are four choices available when you create a character, Warrior, Scientist, Explorer, and Settler. Warriors are people who like to kill things and can access special super hard boss fights and encounters which offer greater rewards. Scientists like to examine the world around them learning interesting bits of information, discovering hidden rooms, and more.

Next up is Explorers, this group can scale huge buildings/trees/mountains, set up time challenges, and discover secret caves and dungeons. Finally there are Settlers who basically create buildings for themselves and others to use such as buff stations, vendors, hidden quest givers, and much more.

You can check out all four of these paths in action in the videos below.

Electronic Arts has posted up a screenshot of a Koenigseggon on the official Need for Speed Facebook page, which appears to be teasing a reveal of the next Need for Speed game for next generation consoles.

The image comes with the caption ”Have no rules, show no mercy,” and the car has the words ”Police Pursuit” written across the side. EA is set to reveal the next generation of its Need for Speed franchise during its E3 press conference on June 10.

Prepare for battle as DICE has announced that Battlefield 3‘s delayed 96 hour double XP event will kick off tomorrow.

The event will begin tomorrow, May 23, and run until May 27. During this time all players can enjoy double XP on all platforms and in all game modes.

Don’t miss the upcoming BF3 double XP event — 96 hours worth of double XP starts tomorrow morning: bit.ly/147B8rw #BF3

— Battlefield (@Battlefield) May 22, 2013

Activision has released six screenshots for Call of Duty: Ghosts to go alongside the game’s official unveiling at Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal event.

At the event it was confirmed that the game will run on a new next generation engine, be set in a new universe, and feature a brand new cast of characters. Players will also be able to lean round corners and slide along the floor before opening fire.

The publisher also shed some light on the game’s multiplayer, stating that its maps will feature dynamic aspects such as flooding rooms, breakable doors, wildlife, and traps. Finally customization will be at its fullest, with players able to change their characters armor, clothes, and helmets.

For a full rundown on all the details and a look at the reveal trailer you can check out this post here. The screenshots below are taken from the Xbox One version of the game.

Microsoft has revealed that a historic Rare IP will be announced at next month’s E3 event for Microsoft’s new Xbox One console, but what could it be?

“Fans of Rare and Rare IP I think will be pleased with what we’re going to show at E3,” Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer told Polygon. “We had a limited amount of time today and a lot of story to tell. But Rare remains an incredibly important part of our development capability.

“That historic IP that they’ve built I think can play a real important role on Xbox One.”

The developer currently retains the rights to franchises such as Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, Perfect Dark, and Killer Instinct. Microsoft recently renewed the trademark for one of these classic franchises, Killer Instinct, could this be the historic franchise being talked about? We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to find out.

EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has confirmed that the publisher will offer a first look at its Star Wars plans during its E3 press conference next month.

The press conference will include ”a first look at our plans for the Star Wars partnership with Disney,” Gibeau said on the company’s Beat blog. Earlier this month EA announced that it had signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Disney for the rights to produce Star Wars games. Studios such as BioWare, Visceral, and DICE will all work on games in the franchise, but the first is not expected until after April 2014.

EA’s E3 press conference is set to take place at 4pm Eastern Time on June 10.

Bungie has confirmed what most of us already knew, that Destiny will be releasing for Microsoft’s newly announced Xbox One console.

“Today, we’re happy to announce that we’ve added a fourth console to the list of Destiny platforms,” the developer said in a statement. ”Destiny will ship on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and the recently announced Xbox One.

“We’re excited by the opportunity to reach more players than ever before, and we can’t wait to show you more of what we’ve been up to at this year’s E3.”

Destiny is just one of several games confirmed for the console. Others include Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, Forza 5, Quantum Break, and FIFA 14.

Microsoft’s stance on pre-owned games and game ownership with Xbox One has been more than a little confusing, however it appears that pre-owned games are not dead, but there are some catches involved.

Microsoft’s Phil Harrison tried to explain away the confusion. Basically when you buy a game and install it to your hard drive it will be locked to your account, so as long as you’re signed in to your account you can play the game without restriction and anyone in your house can also play the game as long as they’re signed into your account.

“So, think about how you use a disc that you own of an Xbox 360 game,” he told Eurogamer. “If I buy the disc from a store, I use that disc in my machine, I can give that disc to my son and he can play it on his 360 in his room. We both can’t play at the same time, but the disc is the key to playing. I can go round to your house and give you that disc and you can play on that game as well.

“What we’re doing with the digital permissions that we have for Xbox One is no different to that. If I am playing on that disc, which is installed to the hard drive on my Xbox One, everybody in my household who has permission to use my Xbox One can use that piece of content. [So] I can give that piece of content to my son and he can play it on the same system.”

However, when you leave the house that’s when things get tricky. If you take your game round a friends you can play it as much as you want without a fee as long as you’re signed into your profile. If you want to play on your friends profile or leave the game with him then your friend will have to pay the list price of the game on Xbox Live to unlock the content.

“I can come to your house and I can put the disc into your machine and I can sign in as me and we can play the game,” Harrison explained. ”The bits are on your hard drive. At the end of the play session, when I take my disc home – or even if I leave it with you – if you want to continue to play that game [on your profile] then you have to pay for it. The bits are already on your hard drive, so it’s just a question of going to our [online] store and buying the game, and then it’s instantly available to play.

“The bits that are on the disc, I can give to anybody else, but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That’s no different to how discs operate today.”

This doesn’t mean that pre-owned games are dead though, Harrison also mentioned to Eurogamer that Microsoft has a system in place to allow users to trade in digital content at a retail store. Quite what this system entails is unknown at this time.

“We will have a system where you can take that digital content and trade a previously played game at a retail store,” he said. “We’re not announcing the details of that today, but we will have announced in due course.”

How do you feel about fees for friends and trading in digital content? Share your thoughts below.

Source: Eurogamer

Following Microsoft’s unveiling of the Xbox One yesterday Sony’s share price has risen by nine percent. Was it really that bad?

The company’s stock price has fallen by around 1.23 percent before the presentation, but then jumped two percent in after hours trading, GamesIndustry reported. The stock continued to rise and is now sitting at an increase of 9.25 percent.

The reaction to the Xbox One has been mixed, with some loving the look, new features, and games, however there are some who are upset about certain restrictions that Microsoft is imposing–such as the fee for pre-owned games.

Trion Worlds is set to introduce a new loyalty system when RIFT goes free-to-play offering players a chance to earn free items when they spend real-money or the game’s real-money substitute REX.

Players will receive loyalty points whenever they make purchases, subscribe to the game, or consume REX. Current and former subscribers will also be given some loyalty points based on how long they have been a member. These can be spent on exclusive costumes, new target icons, and dimensions.

RIFT is set to make the switch to free-to-play on June 12.

EA has confirmed the official release date for its highly anticipated next and current-gen shooter Battlefield 4, and also announced the China Rising DLC pre-order bonus.

The game will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC from October 29 in the U.S. and November 1 in Europe. The publisher was unable to offer up a specific release date for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions except for holiday 2013.

Players who pre-order the game will receive the China Rising digital expansion pack at no extra cost which includes four ”massive multiplayer maps, using all-new vehicles and high-tech military equipment.”

Square Enix and Eidos Montreal have announced that Thief will be heading to the recently announced Xbox One.

“The team at Eidos-Montreal is thrilled to confirm that Thief is coming to Xbox One. The next generation of home consoles allow us to create the best and the most immersive Thief game ever. The feedback we have received so far is simply amazing and we can’t wait to show more of Thief at E3 this year” said Stephane D’Astous, General Manager, Eidos-Montréal.

The game is currently scheduled to release for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC in 2014.

As promised Activision and Infinity Ward has unveiled Call of Duty: Ghosts to the world. There’s much higher graphical fidelity, a dog, multiplayer character customization, and that’s just the beginning.

Activision’s Eric Hirshberg took to the stage at the Xbox One reveal to confirm that the game will run on a new next generation engine and be set in a new universe with new characters. Traffic and Syrianna writer Stephen Gaghan has penned the game’s story which sees the American military crippled. The Ghosts team is comprised of elite soldiers from several different groups who have adopted the most effective fighting styles from around the world.

Not only do you get some new characters, but for the first time in the franchise’s history you get a dog for an ally. He will protect the team from attackers and sniff out bombs, among other things. There are also a few tweaks to gameplay, players can now lean around corners to get a better view and can slide along the ground before firing.

Ghosts‘ multiplayer introduces dynamic maps which see certain areas flooding, destroy-able doors, traps, and wildlife. Players can customize their avatars fully, including their armor, clothing, and helmet. Finally the game will feature Kinect voice commands, co-op, and second screen functionality.

As with the Xbox 360 all Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC will be a timed exclusive on Xbox One.

While the specifics the arrangement remain unnamed, Microsoft announced they’ll be partnering up with the NFL to bring “exclusive, interactive content.”

The only noticeable element to this partnership is the seamless integration of Xbox Smartglass and the Xbox One by way of easily pulling up Fantasy Football league information during live NFL games without interrupting the game itself.

343 Industries’ general manager Bonnie Ross took to the stage at the Xbox One reveal event and announced that a live action Halo television series is heading to Xbox One.

The series currently has the name Halo: The Television Series–of course this may change in the future–and will be directed by the legend that is Steven Spielberg. No other details were offered about the series, but it appears that it will be a Xbox One TV exclusive for Xbox Live members.

Turn 10 Studios and Microsoft announced Forza Motorsport 5 for Xbox One, while Remedy Entertainment—the studio behind Alan Wake and Max Payne—revealed an original IP, Quantum Break.

Microsoft promised more details on Forza 5 during E3.

The teaser for Quantum Break was brief, but what we saw reminded us a great deal of television show Fringe, focusing on quantum disturbances as investigated by police.

These two games are among 15 exclusive titles coming to the Xbox One in its first year, 8 of which are described as “brand new franchises.”

EA has announced a new partnership with Microsoft and will be developing four sports games for Xbox One, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 14 and UFC. If that wasn’t enough, all of these games will use a new engine known as EA Sports Ignite.

All four of these games will be available in the next 12 months and use a next generation engine which will change the face of sports games forever. The EA Sports Ignite Engine takes into account player emotions, motion, and intelligence. The engine also allows developers to generate 3D crowds, a genuine atmosphere, and new daily content for its games.

“Through years of investment and innovation, we have built technology across EA Sports to create a game engine that will deliver stunning accuracy, realism and experiences that we previously could only dream about,” said Andrew Wilson, executive vice president and head of EA Sports. “With EA Sports Ignite and the power of next generation consoles, our games will come alive—with more authenticity, more emotion, more connectivity, and more fun.”

“EA Sports Ignite will deliver the dynamic movements and biomechanics of the world’s best athletes. With 10 times more animation depth and detail than previous consoles, and thousands of new sport-specific animations to drive new locomotion systems, players now plant, pivot and cut, quickly change speeds, and shift momentum with the agility and explosiveness of superstar athletes,” the publisher explained.

The publisher also mentioned that FIFA 14 Ultimate Team will “only be on Xbox.”

Microsoft has revealed some of the technical specifications of the Xbox One.

• 500 GB HDD
• 3.0 USB
• 8GB of RAM
• Blu-ray Drive
• Dedicated serves
• Interplay between Kinect, controller, and Smartglass
• Game DVR with native editing and sharing tools for easy upload to the cloud

According to Microsoft, where 15,000 serves power the modern Xbox Live experience, 300,000 servers will power Xbox One’s, relying heavily on cloud-powered media storage.

The new Xbox Live will carry over your existing membership and progress (in short, you gets to keep them sweet, sweet cheevos).

The Xbox One’s controller (seen above) has been redesigned slightly, boasting a much tighter-looking D-pad (something the Xbox has needed for years), with the Xbox jewel pushed higher up and noticeably deeper concave analog sticks.

More on the Xbox Reveal as it continues.

Well the Xbox One is official, but what you really want to know about is its features right? So far we know about “Instant Switching” and “Snap Mode.”

First up is Instant Switching, this basically does exactly what it says on the tin. Thanks to this feature with just a single phrase you can instantly switch between games, TV, movies, music, and more. There’s a nanosecond wait and you’re away. It was pretty impressive to see especially seeing as it’s impossible on the current Xbox

There’s also gestures for closing programs and reopening them with no delay, simply grab the outside of the screen and push your hands together to close, and pull them back apart to re-open.

Next up is Snap Mode, this allows you to open up a second window at the side of your movie/music/game similar to Windows OS. Users can open up Internet Explorer, Favorites, and more all without interfering with whatever you are doing. Want to search the web while watching a film, no worries, simply use Snap Mode to open the browser and the film will continue to play.

Today, we can finally put to bed all the various Nextbox name rumors. Microsoft has revealed their next console will be called “Xbox One.”

Details are still emerging from Xbox Reveal, but what we know so far is that the Xbox One is cloud-powered and features a slightly redesigned Xbox controller. Microsoft’s goal is to crete an all-in-one home entertainment experience with their new console, championing how quickly it can shift from playing games to browsing the web to watching television, and how this is controlled through the voice-commands via the new Kinect.

More on the story as it develops.

Get all the latest Xbox One news below:

• ‘Instant Switching’ and ‘Snap Mode’ Announced for Xbox One
• Microsoft Details Xbox One Tech Specs, Features
• EA Announces FIFA, Madden, NBLA Live, and UFC for Xbox One, Use New EA Ignite Engine
• Forza Motorsport 5, Quantum Break Announced for Xbox One Among 15 Year-One Exclusives
• 343 Industries Announces Live Action Halo TV Series for Xbox One
• Microsoft and NFL Partnering Up to Create ‘Exclusive, Interactive Content’
• Call of Duty: Ghosts Officially Unveiled, Higher Polygon Counts, a Man’s Best Friend, Player Customization, and More
• Thief Announced for Xbox One

A new trailer for Media Molecule’s Tearaway has been released alongside a batch of screenshots.

Tearaway is a Vita exclusive starring ”adventurers from another dimension” who are trapped inside the handheld. The game is due to release October 22 in North America and October 23 in Europe.

Via: AllGamesBeta

Cryptic Studios has decided to offer an olive branch to Neverwinter players to apologize for the server rollbacks and exploit that occurred over the weekend.

Players lost seven hours worth of gameplay following a rollback to fix an economy exploit which allowed players to obtain billions of Astral Diamonds, one of the game’s currencies. To say sorry the developer is offering all players the Caturday Survivor’s Pack for free.

All characters created before 5am PDT on Sunday, May 19 will find this pack sitting in their mailbox. The pack contains a Stone of Health, a Dwarven Facemask, 5 teleport scrolls to the Protector’s Enclave, 2 Adventurer’s XP boosters, and a Cape of Catastrophe.

Capcom has released a launch trailer for Resident Evil: Revelations‘ HD makeover to celebrate the game’s release in the U.S.. It’s due out in Europe later this week.

If you fancy trying before you buy then you can download a demo right now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii U.

You can read Eric L. Patterson’s thoughts on the game in our review here.

Sony Japan Studio has officially announced that its mysterious title, codenamed Panopticon, is in fact called Freedom Wars and will be a PlayStation Vita exclusive.

A trailer was released for the game which appears to show a prison of some kind–or the world has become a prison, or it’s a metaphor, I have no idea–with each character having how long they have left on their sentence displayed above their heads. Sony lists the game’s genre as “Recovery Multiplayer Action,” so make of that what you will.

You can check out the trailer below.

Scarlet Blade‘s major selling point is that it offers a choice of only female characters to play as, well that and the ability to completely remove your character’s clothes. However, that is about to change in Taiwan–where the game is known as Queen’s Blade.

Due to the recent demand of players, the decision has been made to add a male character to the game. Whether this character will be added to the Western version is unknown at this time. You can check out the first trailer for this new character below.

Activision is giving Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 players a chance to vote on one of four new Personalization Packs which will be added to the game.

Every player gets one vote and the two with the highest will be added to the in-game store on May 29. Each pack comes with a weapon camo, three reticles, and a calling card. Voting is set to begin on May 23 via the game’s Message of the Day, so you’re going to have to play the game to vote.

The four choices are:

Source: One of Swords

Nintendo has released a new system update for the Wii U taking it up to version 3.0.1.

The update improves system stability and compatibility with certain software, according to the company. The platform holder offers the following advice before updating: ”Performing a system update may take an extended amount of time (for some users it could take an hour or more to download and install). Do not power off your console or remove the Wii U AC adapter during this time.”

A major update for the console is set to go live this summer which will increase its overall performance.

Codemasters really doesn’t want you to forget about GRID 2 as it has released yet another gameplay trailer for it, this time showing a race around the Yas Marina circuit.

If you haven’t had enough GRID 2 media then you can check out yesterday’s Elimination trailer here. GRID 2 is set to release May 28 in North America and May 31 in Europe for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Techland has released an official launch trailer for its downloadable Western shooter Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, whose main character has a fondness for shooting people in the face.

Gunslinger sees you battling some of the greatest names that the Wild West has to offer such as Butch Cassidy and Jesse James. The trailer showcases some of the abilities that you have at your disposal such as Sense of Death which allows you to dodge incoming bullets and Concentration mode that allows you to slow down time.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will be available to download from Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and PC from May 22 for $14.99.

Civilization V‘s upcoming expansion, Brave New World, will introduce the Moroccan and Indonesian civilizations to the game as playable options, according to the game’s Facebook page.

Indonesia’s leader is Gajah Mada, who was the prime minister of the Majapahit Empire. Morocco is led by Ahmad al-Mansur, who was sultan of the Saadi dynasty. The expansion will also add eight new wonders, two new scenarios, nine playable civilizations, a new trade system, and the Culture victory path.

Brave New World is set to release July 9 in North America and July 12 in Europe for $29.99.

NCsoft and ArenaNet have announced that Guild Wars 2‘s latest content update “Last Stand at Southsun” will be going live on May 28, extending the game’s Living Story, adding custom PvP Arenas, adding Infusions, and much more.

“In the newest extension of the Living Story, the culprit behind the recent wildlife attacks on Southsun Cove has been revealed as the Sylvari renegade, Canach. In a confused attempt to free the new settlers from The Consortium, Canach has turned the creatures of the island into tools of destruction,” the developer explains.

A full list of features can be found below:

• New Improved World XP: ArenaNet has improved the award system for World XP in World vs. World, allowing players to gain rewards for a much wider range of activities in the Mists – everything from destroying siege weapons, repairing walls, escort missions and more.
• Greater Variety and More Rewards in WvW: Earn World XP for playing the way you want with WvW daily achievements. Each time players gain a new World rank, they’ll earn a bonus chest with WvW loot.
• New WvW Abilities and Matchup Changes: Choose to become even deadlier in The Mists with new abilities like Burning Oil Mastery or new ranks in Defense Against Guards. WvW matches allow players to face new opponents in new matchups and test their world’s skill against more foes.
• Custom PvP Arenas and Spectator Mode Beta: Based on feedback from beta players, ArenaNet has been able to fix bugs and further improve these new features. Now players can extend the time of their favorite custom arenas with added Custom Arena Time Tokens in the Gem Store.
• Introducing Infusions and Ascended Gear in WvW: ArenaNet has introduced the ability to purchase Ascended rings and amulets and to upgrade WvW abilities with six new Infusions that give players’ characters special WvW bonuses. Just speak to the new Laurel and Badge Merchants on each map.
• New Southsun Cove Rewards: Players can find their very own Mini Reef Rider – a loyal floating friend available only until June 11. Dedicated defenders of the Southsun settlers can also earn rare new limited-edition rewards from creatures and chests in Southsun Cove, and by playing Crab Toss.
• Exclusive Southsun Items: Players who help keep the peace during the Secret of Southsun can earn two exclusive new back items, the floral Fervid Censer and the writhing Sclerite Karka Shell.

EA has confirmed that a new Ultimate Fighting Championship game will be unveiled today, May 21, the same day as the Next Xbox reveal event. Coincidence?

The publisher posted teaser images on Facebook and Twitter along with the message: ”First news: May 21.” EA has already confirmed that FIFA 14 will be at the Next Xbox reveal so it stands a good chance, based on the timing, that this UFC game will also be there.

EA’s UFC title is currently in development at EA Canada, the team responsible for the Fight Night series. Microsoft’s Next Xbox reveal is set to begin at 10am Pacific Time today and titles such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, and FIFA 14 will be on show.

Call of Duty: Ghosts will be officially unveiled at today’s Next Xbox reveal event, and Xbox Australia has released a video showing fans reacting to an early screening of the debut trailer running on next generation hardware.

Now this has to be the cheesiest and most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen, but I thought I’d share it in case any of you really wanted to see it. It’s basically just a bunch of guys whooping, cheering, and pulling shocked faces at a computer screen that we can’t see.

I highly doubt that I’ll react like any of these people when the debut trailer is shown later today, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Will you lose your mind at the trailer or stare blankly wondering what happened? Share your thoughts below.

Via: MP1st

Some new Battlefield 4 information is just on the horizon, according to the game’s official Twitter account. Could the Next Xbox reveal have something to do with it?

Big announcements are coming soon! Retweet to alert your friends!#BF4

— Battlefield (@Battlefield) May 20, 2013

This pretty much confirms that Battlefield 4 will play some part in the event later today. However, it won’t be the only EA game on show: the publisher has already confirmed that FIFA 14 and a new UFC title will be showcased at the event.

Previous rumors have suggested that EA has signed some kind of exclusivity deal with Microsoft for the Next Xbox. It’s expected that this will either involve exclusive DLC or timed exclusive content releases like Activision currently has with Call of Duty‘s DLC.

Microsoft’s Next Xbox reveal event will begin today, May 21 at 10am Pacific Time.

FIFA’s next-gen incarnation will be revealed during tomorrow’s Xbox event, according to an image on Facebook by EA Sports.

“See the next generation of FIFA,” reads the image posted to Facebook—complete with “#XboxReveal” hashtag.

EA revealed FIFA 14 mid-April, along with a handful of screenshots and a few details, so it’s safe to assume whatever’s being teased here is just the next-gen version of FIFA 14 and not the next installment altogether.

Microsoft’s Xbox event is being held tomorrow at their Redmond campus at 10 a.m. PT. The event will be live streamed over Xbox.com, Xbox Live, and Spike TV. And obviously we’ll be in attendance reporting live as the next iteration of Xbox is revealed.

Adorable versions of ManShep, Liara, Garrus, and Wrex are coming to LittleBigPlanet by way of a Mass Effect Costume Pack being released tomorrow.

The costume pack will be compatible with LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet Karting, and LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, and in addition to the aforementioned skins, also includes armor accessories and in-game stickers.

I’m guessing LittleBigPlanet is quite a hit in the U.K., since they’ve got a release date and price—May 22 for £4.79, while the North American release remains up in the air. Expect a similar price (’bout 5 bucks) and similar release window (soon).

World of Warcraft‘s 5.3 patch is set to go live later this week adding a new battleground, arena, four new scenarios, heroic scenarios, and a lot of class changes.

You can check out the long list of patch notes here and also catch a video of the new Tiger’s Peak arena (via MMO Champion) below.

Ubisoft has released a new trailer for Splinter Cell: Blacklist, showcasing some gameplay footage from the game’s co-op campaign featuring Sam Fisher and his partner Isaac Briggs.

Blacklist‘s co-op campaign features four mission types spread across 14 maps and can be played either online or via local split-screen. The game is set to launch August 20 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii U.

You can check out the trailer below.

Sony has released a new trailer for the PlayStation 4 teasing an official hardware unveiling at E3 2013.

The PlayStation 4 was revealed to the world back in February along with details regarding its specifications and information on various software currently in development. However, the company failed to offer us a look at the actual console. That wrong will be righted on June 10.

The video description reads: ”Watch our world exclusive teaser video and See it First at E3 June 10th 2013. Make sure you are the first to see it first. Sign up: http://eu.playstation.com/PS4.”

Sony’s E3 2013 press conference is set to begin at 6:00pm Pacific Time.

Warner has released a new set of screenshots for Batman: Arkham Origins confirming that The Joker and Anarky will feature in the upcoming prequel.

GamesRadar reports that The Joker will not be voiced by Mark Hamill, that honor will go to Troy Baker, who played BioShock Infinite‘s Booker DeWitt and the male hero in Saints Row: The Third. Also, despite Kevin Conroy seemingly confirming that he will voice Batman in Origins, GamesRadar reports that the role will be filled by Roger Craig Smith, the voice of Ezio from Assassin’s Creed.

Earlier today the publisher released a five minute gameplay trailer for the game which you can check out here.

Cryptic has been forced to roll back Neverwinter‘s servers seven hours following a major exploit over the weekend which allowed players to obtain billions in Astral Diamonds, one of the game’s main currencies.

The company took the servers down yesterday to investigate the issue and found that the only way to repair the damage was to roll back the servers, meaning that players lost all progress between 5:20am PDT and 12:20pm PDT.

“Rather than let the malicious efforts of a few unsavory players linger and continually impact the game’s economy and balance as we progress through these later stages of Open Beta, we have made the extremely difficult decision to rollback Neverwinter to a time shortly before the abuse and exploitation began,” the developer wrote on the game’s forum.

“This means that roughly seven hours of progress made between 5:20 AM and 12:20 PM Pacific Time will be lost to all players. For that, we do sincerely apologize.

“Rest assured, the issue has been corrected and we have taken appropriate action against all players who took advantage of the bug, including but not limited to enforcing permanent bans.”

Microsoft has filed a new trademark for something called “Forzavista,” which appears to be a vehicle viewing system for the next Forza title.

The trademark (via Siliconera) describes Forzavista as ”a feature of interactive video game software which allows players to obtain statistical information of internal and external features of a vehicle and to virtually navigate and operate those vehicles.”

It appears that this is similar to the “Auto Vista” system used in Forza 4 and will allow players to take a virtual tour around the game’s vehicles. A previous rumor suggested that Microsoft’s Next Xbox launch line-up will include a new Forza title. Could we see the first glimpse if it at tomorrow’s Next Xbox reveal or will we have to wait until E3?

Following a teaser trailer last week, Warner bros. has released four minutes of Batman: Arkham Origins goodness featuring the likes of Deathstroke, Deadshot, and Black Mask.

In the trailer below you can catch a full-length version of Batman’s fight with Deathstroke before Deadshot interrupts it with some smooth sniping. Finally we get a glimpse of Black Mask who has hired a group of assassins to take Batman out.

The trailer also confirms earlier news that Deathstroke will be a playable character in the game, but it still lacks any details such as how he will be used. Could it be a series of challenge rooms or is it similar to Catwoman in Arkham City where he will get his own campaign.

Batman: Arkham Origins is set to release October 25 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii U.

Microsoft’s Next Xbox reveal event, scheduled for tomorrow, will only be part one of a two part plan, according to Microsoft’s interactive entertainment chief of staff Aaron Greenberg.

Tomorrow’s first stage will focus on the console itself and a second presentation is scheduled for E3 where the company will focus squarely on the new platform’s games. ”We have so much goodness that there’s no way we could have packed it all into one event,” Greenberg said while on Major Nelson’s latest podcast (via CVG).

“The best way I can describe it is, we’re really going to tell one story across two events. So we’re going to start on the 21 [of May] and really that’s about revealing the next Xbox platform and our vision for the future of games, the future of entertainment. We definitely have a lot of surprises planned.

“People are going to get a great inside look at the making of the new platform and the team that brought it to life. To be honest it’s really about the team, the people here. We’ve never done this before, so it’s really exciting to be able to do that.

“It’s a lot of laying the foundation, and then just a couple weeks later we go to E3, and E3 is all about the games. It’s going to be tons of exclusives [and] world premiers.”

The Next Xbox reveal is set to happen tomorrow, May 21 at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington.

Ouya has announced that its booth at E3 will be located outside the convention center and will be open to all members of the public, no credentials required.

The console will be playable from June 11 to June 13, directly across from the convention center’s South Hall. According to Ouya, the booth will ”provide everything [developers] need to put on a killer game demo.” It is “100 percent open to the public, no credentials required.”

Ouya is set to hit retail stores on June 25 following a slight delay to meet increased demand.

Carbine is teasing some new information for its highly anticipated MMO WildStar, could it be a class reveal, stress test details, or something else entirely?

A single image was posted by the developer with the phrase “Class Dismissed” and a date of May 22. Some fans believe that it’s a hint for a new class reveal and others think that Carbine will finally put a date on the promised stress test. What do you think?

We’ll have to wait until May 22 to find out.

A little something to look forward to: ow.ly/i/28qok

— Team WildStar (@Team_WildStar) May 17, 2013

Codemasters has released a new trailer for GRID 2 showcasing the game’s Eliminator game mode which takes place on the streets of Dubai. Eliminator sees drivers partake in a normal race, but with a catch, every 20 seconds the driver at the back of the pack is eliminated. Stay away from the back to win this event.

GRID 2 is set to release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC next week in North America and Europe. You can check out some more footage of the game in action here.

Naughty Dog has released a new developer diary for The Last of Us focusing on the game’s resource management, exploration, crafting, and in-game choices.

The Last of Us is now ready to roll and will launch worldwide exclusively for PlayStation 3 on June 14. Sony is pretty sure that it has a hit on its hands and has registered domains for two followups.

You can check out the video below.

ArenaNet has announced that its eight-year-old MMO Guild Wars will no longer receive any new content following a switch to automated support. The developer said in a post on the game’s official website that it wants it to be “in a place where it’s able to take care of itself.”

“Over time, our focus has shifted to updates that not only help maintain Guild Wars but help the game maintain itself,” the post reads. “With this focus in mind, we’ll no longer be releasing any new content for the live game except in support of automation. Our goal is to get the game to a place where it can continue to run and be available to all of our fans. We have a lot of love for Guild Wars — it’s the game that made us what we are today — and we want to continue sharing it with everyone!”

ArenaNet promised that a small team will still be available for critical fixes or server crashes.

A pre-order image for Batman: Arkham Origins on Amazon has confirmed Deathstroke as a playable character via DLC.

In a teaser trailer released last week Batman and Deathstroke were seen going toe-to-toe in the snow, but how he will fit in as a playable character is unknown. Could he be part of some form of multiplayer, or will it be similar to Catwoman in Arkham City where he gets his own mini-campaign?

A full-length trailer for the game is set to go live later today.

A new teaser featuring work-in-progress footage has been released for Call of Duty: Ghosts ahead of the game’s full reveal at the Next Xbox event tomorrow.

The short clip was released via social media site Vine and shows several in-progress shots from what I’m presuming is the full reveal trailer.

Call of Duty: Ghosts is set to release November 5 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The game is also in development for next generation consoles. Ghosts will be the first game to use a brand new next generation Call of Duty engine–which should be a nice change for fans.

Some new Gran Turismo 6 footage has appeared online offering an early conceptual look at some of the game’s cars and tracks.

Gran Turismo 6 will include seven new locations, once of which is Silverstone, and a total of 1,200 vehicles, which includes ever car from Gran Turismo 5. The game will also “bring new levels of authenticity to the ‘Real Driving simulator,’” according to Sony.

The game was officially revealed to the world last week for a holiday 2013 release on PlayStation 3, with a demo planned for July. Polyphony has stated that a PlayStation 4 release could be on the cards for next year, but so far the only confirmed platform is PlayStation 3.

Source: AllGamesBeta

After three weeks in the number one spot Dead Island: Riptide has finally been dethroned by 4A Game’s Metro: Last Light.

Dead Island: Riptide was knocked down into the number two spot, with FIFA 13, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 rounding out the top five.

You can check out the full chart below:

1. Metro: Last Light (Deep Silver)
2. Dead Island: Riptide (Deep Silver)
3. FIFA 13 (EA)
4. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity (Nintendo)
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Activision)
6. Tomb Raider (Square Enix)
7. The Walking Dead (Telltale)
8. Injustice: Gods Among Us (Warner)
9. Assassin’s Creed 3 (Ubisoft)
10. BioShock Infinite (Take-Two)

Porting games from one platform to another makes sense. With the production costs that today’s developers face, why only get one chance to make money off of all the hard work and asset creation that went into a particular project? Give the first release a chance to hit the market, see what other platforms would make sense for the game, and port that puppy over!

The thing is, if you’re asking me which sorts of ports would make the most sense, going from the 3DS to HD-focused consoles is potentially one of the lowest possibilities that could be on my list. Putting aside the extra horizontal pixels it needs to produce its 3D effect, Nintendo’s current handheld is basically running games at a resolution of 400 x 240. Not only is that a far cry from what your HDTVs are having fed to them, but it’s even far lower than most smartphones these days.

And yet, that’s exactly what Capcom did when they decided to resurrect their early 3DS title Resident Evil: Revelations. Looking only at the game itself, I can’t blame them. Revelations was hailed as a fantastic release for the portable both in terms of gameplay and visuals, and as much as I love the 3DS, it didn’t seem logical for Capcom to keep the game exclusive to the system at this point.

In order to have Revelations make the jump, however, Capcom would need to give its visuals a serious makeover—and that’s exactly what they’ve done. While its graphics might not be up to par with the previously released Resident Evil 6, playing this version of Revelations gives few hints that it was once on a platform that was pushing one-fourth the resolution. The game’s stages and monsters dutifully set up that trademark Resident Evil atmosphere, but it’s the character models that really shine, with all of the playable protagonists—such as the beautiful-yet-tenacious Jill Valentine—looking simply fantastic. (I’ve seen some who say that Jill looks “off” in Revelations. Those people are wrong.)

One aspect Capcom didn’t muck around too much with was the game itself, and this was an area where I wasn’t sure how Revelations would turn out on consoles. Given the natural difference in how portables are played, Revelations was designed for shorter, more compartmentalized play sessions. Each chapter starts out with a recap of what happened previously, the next mission is mostly self-contained, characters and locations are mixed up to keep things fresh and interesting, and the whole experience ends on a cliffhanger.

How does all of this turn out when, instead, you’re sitting back on your comfy couch, ready for some more involved gaming? Far better than I would have imagined—to a point where I might actually prefer the game as it is now, instead of what it was originally intended to be. With how things are set up and the length of each episode, at times, I swore the game could instead have been called Resident Evil: The TV Drama. (I say that in a good way.)

That feeling—like I was delving into something different than everything that’s come before in the franchise—was what helped me look past those few aspects where I thought Revelations could have been better. This is far from a bad game; playing on a controller, using the “Shooter” control scheme, I had great fun taking down the various monstrosities that the game constantly threw my way. Still, the reality is that—given the limitations that were in place hardware-wise at the time of Revelation’s original development—gameplay and control options aren’t as deep or refined as other recent Resident Evil projects. The biggest example of this is the lack of any sort of proper run/dodge option, and without it, some enemy encounters end up being more frustrating than they should be.

At the end of the day, Revelations can’t escape its past—and Capcom didn’t go as far as they could have in making the transition as smooth as it should have been. However, the negatives that came along with the game don’t come close to overshadowing its positives. The core of Revelations is not only still as fun as it ever was, but maybe even more so now that it can be played with a proper controller and on a bigger display. As well, Raid mode—the included side missions where players see if they can survive an increasingly difficult set of challenges while upgrading their characters—is as engrossing as ever, especially with the new additional weapons, characters, and co-op options this revision brings.

If you didn’t get around to playing Resident Evil: Revelations the first time around, then this is the chance to finally see what you missed. While what Capcom produced here is, at times, very different from previous Resident Evil games, it also has a number of elements that should make old-school fans of the series happy—including those of you who hated Resident Evil 6. (While I still don’t understand your side of that argument, this time, I’ll at least respectfully agree to disagree.)

If, on the other hand, you’ve never once enjoyed a Resident Evil game before, who knows—this might finally be the one to change your mind.

Square Enix has released a brand new batch of screenshots for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn highlighting some of the possibilities that the game’s character creation tool offers.

Several options are available such as vibrant hair colors, long hair for females, tattoos, and much more. You can check out the screenshots below.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is set to release this summer for PlayStation 3 and PC, with a third beta test scheduled to begin June 3.

BioWare has announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s reoccurring Gree event will be making a comeback next week.

The Gree starship Grey Secant will return to the planet Ilum on May 21 and will remain there until May 28, allowing players to earn reputation and purchase Gree related armor, mounts, and pets.

The game’s 2.1 patch, titled Customization, went live earlier this week, adding a new playable species, character re-customization options, and an armor dye system.

Metal Gear Solid fans rejoice as Konami has confirmed that Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection will be releasing this July in the U.S.

The collection will arrive on July 9, priced at $49.99, and includes Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 (includes the original MSX versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2), Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Trophy Edition.

Metal Gear Solid 2, 3, and Peace Walker will be in their HD forms. The collection also includes two Ashley Wood digital graphic novels which have never been released outside of Japan before.

The Legacy Collection is a PlayStation 3 exclusive due to Metal Gear Solid 4 being too big to bring to Xbox 360, according to series creator Hideo Kojima.

Trion Worlds has posted the first screenshot of RIFT‘s free-to-play store which will go live alongside the MMO’s business model change.

The screenshot shows off a few items which will be available to purchase such as a 30-day Patron Pass, faction change scroll, character rename scroll, guild rename scroll. The developer also posted up a second picture featuring one of the game’s new female outfits which you can check out below.

RIFT will make the switch to free-to-play on June 12.

Microsoft is preparing a public beta of its next Xbox 360 dashboard update for release in June/July and it will feature several UI changes along with the beginning of the company’s move to phase out Microsoft Points, according to a new report.

Sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans have told The Verge that the beta will begin either in June or July with a full release scheduled for August. The user interface will get a makeover with smaller Live tiles, similar to the planned Windows 8.1 changes, and the overall look will be tweaked thanks to the ability to choose from lighter or darker themes.

The Verge also reports that Microsoft is planning to transition Xbox 360 users over to its new gift card real-currency system that it will use for the Next Xbox with this update. The plan is to replace Microsoft Points with real world currency options and allow users to purchase gift cards similar to iTunes cards from retail stores.

Microsoft is set to reveal the Next Xbox at a special event on May 21. The new currency system will be announced at E3, according to recent rumors.

Kotobukiya has announced they will release an ARTFX statue of Deathstroke this November.

The 12-inch tall, 1/6 scale statue is based on the way the DC Comics character looks since the New 52 makeover, and comes with a display base.

But the coolest thing about it is that his mask is attached with magnets, so you can chose to display him with his face showing or covered.

The statue will retail for $119.99.

Gentle Giant has announced they’ll release a new Walking Dead mini bust and the newest addition to their line of Star Wars Kenner Jumbo Figures early next year.

The Walking Dead mini bust is of the zombie who had been chasing after Sophia. Each 1/6 scale bust is hand painted, individually numbered, and comes with a certificate of authenticity. It will retail for $75.00.

The Star Wars Kenner Jumbo Figure is of the bounty hunter Zuckuss from The Empire Strikes Back. Scanned from the original 3.75-inch tall action figure, this 12-inch tall version is full y articulated and comes with his trusty blaster. It also comes with a replica of the original packaging, albeit one that opens up so you can take Zuckuss out and play with him. It will retail for $80.00.

Both collectibles can be pre-ordered from Gentle Giant here.

Shout! Factory has announced they’ll release an 11-disc DVD & Blu-ray boxed called The Bruce Lee Legacy Collection on August 6th.

The collection will include The Big Boss, First of Fury, Way of the Dragon, and Game of Death on DVD and, for the first time, on Blu-ray.

It will also feature the documentaries I Am Bruce Lee, The Grandmaster and the Dragon: William Cheun and Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee: The Man, The Legend, as well as the updated version of that documentary, Bruce Lee: The Legend.

In addition, it also features numerous extras, including the original trailers and TV spots, new interviews, the previously unreleased original Mandarin audio and English dub audio tracks for Boss, a montage of Game outtakes, extensive still galleries, commentaries on the movies by Hong Kong film expert Mike Leeder, new interviews with famous fans and disciples, new English subtitles on Boss, Fist, and Way, and other extras yet to be announced.

There will even be extras for the documentary I Am Bruce Lee, including the original trailer and Lee’s Hollywood audition tape. The documentary comes housed in a deluxe book-style package that has 68 pages of previously unseen photos, archival materials, a new essay on Lee’s legacy, and, of course, much more.

The box will retail for $119.99, and is available for pre-order from both shoutfactory.com or some website called Amazon or something.

The core tenet of any great survival game is tension. Not cheap scares or unfair disadvantages, but rather a persistent sense of dread that keeps you on the edge of your seat, constantly looking over your shoulder, eyes darting from corner to corner. Creating that tension—and stretching it until it’s nerve-rackingly taut—is something Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us seems to do quite well.

With a month left before The Last of Us launches on PS3 worldwide, Naughty Dog and Sony gave the gaming press an opportunity to spend some hands-on time with their latest exclusive before its release. The demo they provided was short, consisting of only two excerpts from the game, but it offers a taste of what’s in store for protagonists Joel and Ellie.

The first part of the demo is set in Lincoln, Pennsylvania. About 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, it’s a town so small it doesn’t even have its own post office. If not for the haunting absence of townsfolk and its state of ruin, Lincoln would be an idyllic slice of rural life. As the demo opens, Joel and Ellie—and players—see some of the beauty that’s survived. Hopping a highway guardrail, they take a shortcut through a lush deciduous forest still vibrantly alive with flora and fauna. The Last of Us is set in a world in ruin, yes, but not in devastation.

That unassuming sense of serenity, of safety, is betrayed by the town itself, which has been barricaded with barbed wire and laced with traps. Because Lincoln is locked up tight, getting in requires a bit of creative thinking by way of environmental traversal through simple puzzle-solving.

Getting Joel and Ellie into Lincoln—where they hope to find Bill, an old acquaintance of Joel’s he believes can supply the two with a working vehicle—involves leveraging a plank of wood as a resource. It’s not a terribly complex puzzle (using the plank as a bridge linking the roofs of two buildings), but the solution isn’t immediately apparent. It took me a moment or two to figure out how to get the plank up where I needed it, and the solution—while obvious in hindsight—still felt rewarding.

Once inside Lincoln, it wasn’t long before I encountered my first Infected—hearing the creature well before spotting it in a nearby toolshed. The sounds made by the Infected are perhaps the biggest contributor to tension in The Last of Us. See, these once-humans are blind and emit a series of unsettling clicking sounds to navigate by sonar. Naturally, they’re aurally sensitive and easily alerted to Joel and Ellie’s presence by even the slightest scrape of their boots. It took me three attempts to successfully sneak past this particular Infected.

One-hit kills from Stage 3 Infected—Clickers, as they’re colloquially referred to—also ratchet up the tension. At the advice of the demo’s tutorial, I attempted to distract the Clicker by throwing a brick. It worked, but as soon as I made a run for it, the creature picked up on my footfalls and was quickly on top of me. Dead—try again. The next time, I took a makeshift melee weapon—a pipe with scissor blades duct-taped to one end—and bashed in the creature’s skull. That approach was more successful, but the ruckus drew the attention of another Clicker, who summarily dispatched me.

The third time was—as always—the charm. By tossing the brick again, I drew the Clicker away from the toolshed, hunkered down, and crept safely past it into an abandoned building. And while I managed to survive, a sense of threat lingered as the sounds of the Clicker carried in from the shattered windows and broken walls of the building. I was convinced it might find its way through the same door I got in through, and I’m inclined to think that had I rummaged through the remains of that building more noisily, I might have turned around at some point and suddenly found the creature feasting on my neck.

Deeper into Lincoln, another Infected encounter—this time Stage 1, the Runners. They’re less fungal than their Clicker cousins, but still rabid. Drawn to pounding coming from a door to an apartment, Joel—against Ellie’s protest—decides to poke around. Inside, I found the hastily abandoned remnants of the apartment’s former occupants—pictures of a family, the personal touches of home décor, ghostly fragments of pre-infection normalcy.

Entering the kitchen, I was blindsided by a Runner—presumably the husband of the household. And while Runners don’t instantly kill Joel, the whole experience was thoroughly unsettling—as was the way Joel callously shrugged off the attack and continued to ransack the house. Not so much in the fashion videogame characters typically tend to dismiss things like emotionally detached monsters, but because this is everyday life in Joel and Ellie’s broken world. It was a jarring, if not sobering, realization.

After weaving through more of Lincoln’s abandoned streets and alleyways, Joel finds himself on the receiving end of one of Bill’s traps, ensnared and dangling from his feet. And since his capture causes quite a stir, players must protect Ellie—immobile and strung upside down—while she tries to sever the counterbalance and free Joel. Armed only with Joel’s handgun, the controls during this sequence felt awkward. Perhaps this is intentional—an attempt to convey Joel’s compromised state. But it didn’t feel altogether tense—just frustrating, like fighting for decent control over the game. Had Ellie died, I wouldn’t have felt like it was on me. I would’ve faulted the game.

The Lincoln section of the demo wraps up with Ellie eventually freeing Joel and the two of them being rescued by Bill, who leads the way during a hair-raising flight from the remaining Infected. While the gunplay didn’t feel like a great fit, this moment certainly did, and it was a thoroughly satisfying endnote for the first part of the demo.

The second half of the demo takes place after Joel and Ellie have procured a truck from Bill, as they enter Pittsburgh. Much shorter than the Lincoln excerpt, the Pittsburgh portion illustrates another type of enemy found in The Last of Us—Hunters, uninfected human raiders. As Joe and Ellie are ambushed by a pack of Hunters and forced out of the truck, a firefight ensues. Again, I’m not sure if the shooting in The Last of Us just doesn’t feel satisfying, or if perhaps I want the game to rarely—if ever—devolve into excessive gun battles. The point is, I was considerably less interested fending off Hunters than I was avoiding detection by Infected. It’s not that it’s bad or incongruous to the atmosphere Naughty Dog is trying to cultivate in The Last of Us—it’s just rote and typical. Ammunition is far from plentiful, and once I ran out of bullets, I was left only with my bare hands to dispatch the remaining hunters. Dealing with intelligent, strategic human enemies definitely shakes things up from Infected encounters—as it should. But it’s certainly less satisfying.

Was I impressed by what I played? Certainly. The Last of Us is, expectedly, gorgeous. It has a lot going for it, but I’m not without reservations. I’m concerned there may be a disproportionate amount of bullet-swapping exchanges reminiscent of Uncharted, when the emphasis in The Last of Us should really be on balancing exploration with less-bombastic moments drenched in tension. There’s certainly a place for the Hunters and other still-human encounters, but they should take a backseat to Joel and Ellie’s efforts to survive. If The Last of Us proves two-thirds exploration and survival, relegating shootouts to only a third of the overall experience, then Naughty Dog will have—as far as I’m concerned—nailed it.

XL Games has released a new trailer for ArcheAge‘s upcoming Chinese beta phase, and after watching it you’ll really want Trion Worlds to hurry up and get the game released for the west.

It has everything, wing gliders, boat construction, housing, combat. I seriously can’t wait for this to get released over here so I can try it out.

You can check out the trailer below.

I grew up in the gaming era where, when you mentioned the name “Donkey Kong,” most folks didn’t think of rolling barrels down girders or Mario trying to save a damsel in a cage. No, we thought of Donkey Kong rocking out with his buddy Diddy, lounging around in the jungle, protecting his precious bananas from a bunch of fruit-deprived reptiles. While some around the office still swear by the arcade original, Donkey Kong Country is how many of us more fondly think of the big ape.

After Donkey Kong Country’s initial yearly success on the SNES (yes, the first three games came out in back-to-back-to-back years), the series had difficulty adjusting to the N64. And when DK finally made the jump in 1999, it was a mistake that still haunts many of us—particularly that awful “DK Rap.” (Which is, also, oddly beloved by certain individuals in the EGM offices.) Because of this shame, Nintendo relegated DK to the shadows for over a decade.

Thankfully, Nintendo franchise-saviors Retro stepped in to save the day. After their success with Metroid Prime, they were approached by Shigeru Miyamoto himself and asked to bring back DK. Retro obliged, dropping the hip-hop and returning the super-strong simian back to his platforming roots with Donkey Kong Country Returns, which released in 2010. Even Diddy came back—with a bit of a rocket-pack upgrade—along with the rest of the core gang: Cranky Kong, Rambi the Rhino, and Squawks the Parrot. Retro had done it again.

But now the bad news: Clearly, Nintendo feels that since Donkey Country Returns was such a huge success on the Wii, they can just cash in again by slapping some 3D on Retro’s gorgeous visuals and making the game portable.

It’s at this point of the review where, as EGM’s resident curmudgeon, I’ll try to channel my inner Cranky Kong. Just call me Cranky Carsillo. Sure, the core of the original remains intact, and, yes, this could possibly reach a new audience who didn’t play the original Wii version, but there’s absolutely no need for this game. Their big selling point this go-round? An Easy mode.

Back in my day, gamers didn’t need an Easy mode in our platformers—we simply learned the levels and got better. If you didn’t, you sucked and never got your 15-second ending and credit roll and lived with it, in shame. I’m sick and tired of Nintendo not only porting games over to their portable platform in a desperate attempt to produce titles, but then catering to people because the experiences are “too hard,” coddling a generation of soft gamers.

Sure, Donkey Kong Returns 3D features a handful of new stages, but the game doesn’t offer enough new content for those who played Retro’s offering in 2010 to come back to DK’s isle a second time—especially if you found the plethora of collectibles once already.

Essentially, developer Monster Games just slapped on a coat of 3D paint in order to hide the lack of new features. Donkey Kong Country Returns was a 2.5D platformer; this 3D look does very little for the overall visual experience because of the tricks of the eye Retro already tried the first time around. And don’t forget: We were lucky to get that extra half-dimension when I was a kid, and we were grateful for it! We would’ve walked barefoot in the snow for miles, uphill, for a full 3D experience back then.

OK, time to take off my cranky pants. At the end of the day, I’ll admit the great gameplay that made the first game such a hit returns here. It’s a throwback of a platformer if you play it the way it’s meant to be played—and if, for some reason, you missed Retro’s 2010 offering, this is a nice way to catch up. But if you played the original version a couple of years ago, there’s very little here to make it worth picking up again.

Nintendo has announced the official release date of New Super Mario Bros. U‘s upcoming Super Luigi U DLC and also revealed that it will be getting a standalone retail release.

The DLC will be available as a digital download on June 20 in both North America and Europe. However, a standalone retail version will be available to purchase from July 26 in Europe and August 25 in North America. You won’t need a copy of New Super Mario Bros. U to play the standalone version.

Nintendo also revealed that Nabbit, a little creature who chased you in the first game, will be added as a playable multiplayer character with Super Luigi U.

During today’s Nintendo Direct Broadcast, worldwide president Saturo Iwata announced that the next game in the Sonic series would be coming exclusively to Nintendo Wii U and 3DS.

A new partnership with Sega means that Sonic: Lost World will be a Nintendo exclusive. The title is described as an action platformer and more details will be released before E3.

City Interactive has released a new teaser trailer for its upcoming downloadable co-op shooter Alien Rage, previously titled Alien Fear.

“Alien Rage puts the player in the role of a highly trained elite commando on a mission of sabotage. Featuring non-stop, visceral run-and-gun action in an explosive environment with meaningful co-operative gameplay,” the developer explains.

Alien Rage is scheduled to release later this year for XBLA, PSN, and PC. A list of key features can be found below:

Visceral Gun Combat

• Strong thru-the-gun experience – impressive visual effects, satisfying physical impacts and great gun animations make gun play a whole damned lot of fun;
• Fast-paced, close quarters combat – the action moves fast, enemies are always advancing, and you never, ever have to look back;
• Solve all your problems with a gun – don’t look for keycards, don’t push on buttons, just point your gun and pull the trigger, demolishing the environment as you go;
• A veritable arsenal of weapons – nine unique guns that don’t just differ in looks, but have different effects, abilities and functionality.

Co-op Experience

• Co-operative environmental puzzles –challenges that require team work to alter the physical environment in order to proceed or complete objectives;
• Impactful choices and rewards – compete cooperatively to gain a better individual score, but beware, you will lose points if you let your teammate fail;
• Co-op centric mechanics – work together to breach open doors, gain access to areas that are otherwise unreachable, and provide medical support when your teammate is down.

A new batch of screenshots for Evolution Studios PlayStation 4 exclusive racer Drive Club have been released, featuring plenty of expensive-looking cars and beautiful vistas.

Drive Club is set to be a launch title for the PlayStation 4 this holiday season and the developer promises visuals that are ”borderline insane.” For those who don’t know the game is a multiplayer-focused racer which allows players to join Clubs and compete in both real-time and asynchronously.

You can check out the debut trailer for the game released earlier this year here.

Via: AGB

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 players on all platforms can enjoy double weapon XP from today all weekend to celebrate the release of Uprising on PlayStation 3 and PC.

From 10am PDT today until Monday, May 20 at 10am PDT players can earn double weapon XP in all game modes. So clear you schedules and go earn that XP!

Black Ops 2‘s Uprising DLC released for PlayStation 3 and PC yesterday.

Hideo Kojima announced during his HideoRadio podcast that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is finally going to get a release on PC.

The game released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 earlier this year. Platinum Games creative producer Jean Pierre Kellams later confirmed the news.

I am excited to see Rising hit the PC. BTW – direct all please direct PC MGR questions to @konami.

— JP Kellams (@PG_jp) May 17, 2013

Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy VIII is set to get a PC release complete with a high-res graphical upgrade.

The game has currently only been slated for a Japanese release, with no release date set, but I’d expect a western release to be announced at a later date.

The publisher didn’t say whether it will contain any additional content, but I’d expect it to be a straight up port. Two images of this high-res upgrade have been released so far, one of Squall visiting the doctor and one and a battle.

Source: Famitsu (via Kotaku)

The PlayStation 4 version of Diablo III will use the console’s DualShock 4 touchpad for inventory management, Blizzard has revealed.

Speaking in Sony’s latest Conversations with Creators video, Blizzard Entertainment production director John Hight revealed that making use of this new feature will help streamline the game’s inventory.

“Diablo is a pretty deep game and we don’t like a lot of overload on the buttons,” he said. “We want to keep it really simple so you can get to the things you need to get to fast as you need to do it because the monsters are pouring at you no matter what. We think the touch pad’s going to give us a lot more opportunity to make that interface a lot easier.”

No additional information was given regarding how the touchpad will be used to achieve this. Diablo III was announced for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 at Sony’s PlayStation 4 reveal event back in February.

Dontnod Entertainment has released a new story trailer for Remember Me, which shows Nilin fighting the Memorize corporation, and also some snazzy new concept art.

Remember Me is set to release June 4 in North America and June 7 in Europe for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Zenimax Online has released a new gameplay trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online which focuses on the game’s crafting skills and resource gathering.

Just like in every Elder Scrolls game before it anything in the The Elder Scrolls Online‘s game world can be picked up and stored in your inventory for later use, such as bread, grain, and bottles. These items can then be used in crafting recipes.

Players will also have the ability to fish and take up lockpicking to access locked chests that are discovered while adventuring, which contain rare gear and items.

You can sign up for The Elder Scrolls Online‘s beta here.

GameStop has removed Rainbow Six: Patriots from its database and it is no longer available to pre-order sparking rumors of the title being cancelled.

A source with intimate knowledge of the retailer told IGN that GameStop ”actively flipped a switch” to remove Rainbow Six: Patriots from its system. “GameStop tends not to remove big-name games from major publishers without an official confirmation that a title is dead,” the source said

Other retailers such as Amazon and GAME are still carrying pre-order listings for the game casting a cancellation into doubt. It could just be that the game has suffered a significant delay due to a overhaul, or it could mean nothing at all. If I had to have a guess, I’d go with a next generation overhaul of the game which will be announced at Ubisoft’s E3 press conference.

Rainbow Six: Patriots was announced back in 2011, but very little has been heard about the game since. When asked about the listing removal Ubisoft told IGN, ”We have nothing further to share about Rainbow 6: Patriots at this time.”

Cryptozoic’s Kickstarter for its MMOTCG Hex: Shards of Fate has reached the $600,000 mark and to celebrate the developer has revealed two more stretch goals.

First up is the addition of three new raids which will be ready for when the game launches and, as a backer bonus, all tiers Squire and above will receive three Booster Drafts for free. Next up at $660,000 five new game boards complete with new animations and effects will be added as well as a backer bonus of a new PvE card for Knight tier and above and an additional copy of every bonus PvE card for all tiers.

The game is currently sitting on $598,428 with 21 days still to go, you can check out its Kickstarter page here.

Nintendo has filed a “content ID match” copyright claim on a large group of “Let’s Play” videos on YouTube featuring its games. If successful it would mean that the company could place advertisements in user’s videos and receive revenue from them.

Several Let’s Play YouTubers claim that this would mean that they are unable to receive revenue from their own videos. Let’s Play YouTuber Zack Scott posted the following on Facebook, “I love Nintendo, so I’ve included their games in my line-up. But until their claims are straightened out, I won’t be playing their games. I won’t because it jeopardizes my channel’s copyright standing and the livelihood of all LPers.

“With that said, I think filing claims against LPers is backwards. Video games aren’t like movies or TV. Each play-through is a unique audiovisual experience. When I see a film that someone else is also watching, I don’t need to see it again. When I see a game that someone else is playing, I want to play that game for myself! Sure, there may be some people who watch games rather than play them, but are those people even gamers?”

Nintendo offered the following statement to defend its actions,  ”For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.”

Several other Let’s Play YouTubers have come forward on Reddit claiming that Nintendo is filing copyright claims against them.

This is kind of a gray area to be honest, on the one hand these YouTubers are making money off showing footage of titles that Nintendo owns the copyright to, but on the other they are only making money because of the personality which they inject into the videos.

Do you think Nintendo is right to make these claims? Share your thoughts below.

Via: BBC

Valve has revealed six new titles that will be added to its Steam service via the Greenlight system, one of which is the incredibly popular Game Dev Tycoon.

The new titles are:

• Bleed
• Game Dev Tycoon
• The Legend
• Legends of Eisenwald
• RIOT
• Stardew Valley

“These titles were selected on the same criteria we have been using in the past: Votes in Greenlight give us a hugely valuable point of data in gauging community interest along with external factors such as press reviews, crowd-funding successes, performance on other platforms, and awards and contests to help form a more complete picture of community interest in each title,” Valve stated.

Sony has updated its official PlayStation 4 website with a new section which suggests that the Vita Remote Play feature showcased at the console’s reveal event will be a standard feature available with most games.

A message on the website reads, “Play your favorite PS4 games on your PlayStation Vita’s beautiful 5-inch display using Remote Play.”

Of course this doesn’t mean that every game will support it, but it does strongly suggest that the majority will. It would be pretty bad advertising if it turned out that only a handful of titles actually supported the feature.

Would you make use of this feature? Share your thoughts below.

Via: PSMania

Rockstar has released four new Grand Theft Auto V screenshots to help see you through this final day before the weekend.

The screenshots feature some deep sea diving, Franklin on a dirtbike, a little bit of criminal activity, and Trevor on the run. You can check them out below.

If you’ve got a bit of time you can take a look at the game’s latest trailer featuring all three main protagonists here.

Epic Games has revealed “Lost Relics,” the next round of multiplayer DLC for Gears of War: Judgment.

Lost Relics adds four new maps: Ward—an OverRun map—Lost City, Museum, Ward, and Checkout. Longtime Gears fans might recognize Checkout, which is set in Hanover’s most famous grocery store, from Gears of War 3.

The upcoming DLC also adds a new single-objective game mode called “Breakthrough”—in which one team must deliver a flag to a set location while the opposing team defends the line with unlimited resources—new armor, and new weapon skins.

The Lost Relics DLC will be available for download sometime in June.

Atlus has released a new, English trailer for Shin Megami Tensei IV, in which—without a doubt—you play as a samurai.

While not terribly long, the video does offer a brief glimpse at gameplay, the RPG mechanics, and the general premise behind the 1492-set fourth proper entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series.

The last proper installment of Shin Megami Tensei was 2004′s Nocturne on PlayStation 2.

Shin Megami Tensei IV twists time and space on 3DS July 16 in North America, and sometime later in the summer for Europe.

A leaked product page and confirmation from Maxis has revealed SimCity’s next add-on will be the Amusement Park Pack.

A video from webshow Hypnotoad Productions outed the DLC after spotting screenshots of it on Green Man Gaming, an online downloadable game retailer.

“Some of you may have seen thrilling new SimCity content that arrived too early at the gate. It’s coming May 28th. We think you’ll be amused,” a post made earlier today on the SimCity Facebook page reads.

Care to guess what the Amusement Park Pack adds to SimCity?

The Red Son DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us, previously a GameStop pre-order exclusive, will be available for purchase to all next week.

The Red Son DLC adds alternate costumes for Superman, Wonder Woman, and Solomon Grundy, as well as 20 additional missions inspired by the Red Son storyline, which imagines a world in which Superman was reared in communist Russia instead of ‘Merica.

The Red Son-related tweet also polls its followers on what other characters fans would like to see in the Red Son universe, implying that additional communist costumes might be added to Injustice.

For more on NetherRealm’s superhero scrapper, check out Ray’s review of Injustice: Gods Among Us.

The Red Son DLC will be available for download Tuesday, May 21.

Telltale Games’ latest adventure title, The Wolf Among Us, will feature RPG-like choices that impact the story more dynamically than in The Walking Dead.

In an interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Telltale president and co-founder Kevin Bruner described how their Fables-based game, The Wolf Among Us, expands upon the choice mechanics from The Walking Dead.

“We’ve come up with new storytelling techniques. We call it the evolution of choice,” Bruner told Rock, Paper, Shotgun. “A big thing in Walking Dead was going where the story took you, and we would throw these choices at you, but you couldn’t really determine what was going to happen next. Whereas in Fables, the choices you make in the moment are all there, like in Walking Dead, but there are places where it branches timeline-wise.”

“If you go one way, people will be like, ‘Where were you? We were over here and we could have really used you,’” Bruner added. “You have to explain why you weren’t there. These are all new role-playing aspects that we’re using as tools to help us stay within the bounds where Bigby Wolf can be Bigby Wolf and the Fables universe can stay consistent.”

Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us is due out on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime this summer.

Posting on Kotaku, domain bloodhound Superannuation reports Sony has privately registered domains for The Last of Us 2 and 3.

Sony’s American division, SCEA, registered “lastofus2.com” and “lastofus3.com,” hinting not only at a continuation of the yet released action-adventure survival game, but perhaps even a planned trilogy.

While The Last of Us is supposed to be narratively self-contained, it’s no surprise that Sony would want to turn their latest exclusive IP into a franchise. Personally, I don’t mind sequels—so long as they’re simply set in the same world as the original game and not a direct continuation.

It’s also more than likely that these continuations will be PS4 exclusives.

Sony also registered a series of domains for something on the PS4 titled The Order: 1866, grabbing up the dot com, dot net, “theorderps4.com,” and “theorderps4.net.”

The Last of Us launches exclusively on PlayStation 3 June 14 worldwide.

City Interactive today announced a new fantasy action-RPG, Lords of the Fallen, being developed for PC, PS4, and the next Xbox.

“From the very beginning, Lords of the Fallen will intrigue and satisfy players’ hunger to explore each corner of a brand new world, freely customize and build their own character, and take down some of the most epic enemies ever seen,” executive producer Tomasz Gop said in the press release.

Gop previously served as senior producer on CD Projekt Red’s The Witch 2: Assassins of Kings. Speaking to Eurogamer, Gop described Lords of the Fallen‘s as a challenging action-RPG in the same vein as Dark Souls, with its skill trees reminiscent of Borderlands’.

Lords of the Fallen, as described in the press release, sees players assuming the role of protagonist Harkyn as he travels throughout the game’s fantasy world on a quest to “stand against an apparently unstoppable supernatural force.”

Lords of the Fallen is slated for release sometime 2014. CI Games says the action-RPG will be presented live at this year’s E3.

NHL franchise producer Sean Ramjagsingh returns in the latest dev diary for NHL 14 to talk about one-touch dekes and gameplay balancing, including the addition of defensive strafing.

“The new one-touch dekes are intuitive: simply press the left bumper, or L1, and select a direction with the left stick,” describes Ramjagsingh in the video. “See space to the right? Simply hold that direction and press the button. Need to toe-drag around a defender? Hold that direction and tap deke.”

According to Ramjagsingh, pivots and high-speed turning have also been improved from NHL 13.

NHL 14 skates onto PS3 and Xbox 360 September 10 in North America, September 13 e’rywhere else in the world.

Twisted Metal and God of War creator David Jaffe has joined indie developer Pixelbionic to create a new car battler: Autoduel.

“I was super excited when I heard Pixelbionic’s vision for Autoduel,” said Jaffe, who is acting as Pixelbionic’s creative advisor. “As a huge fan of the genre, I’m really looking forward to contributing to the game’s vision and design goals.”

Jaffe joins several other game development veterans, including Max Kauffman, who worked on The Bard’s Tale; Mike Arkin, who worked on Battlezone; Scot Kramarich, who worked on Interstate ’76; Rafael Paiz, who worked on Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and others.

“Our mission is to assemble a team of car combat visionaries to deliver the game fans want to not only play but also help create,” Pixelbionic co-founder and president Mike Arkin said. “Autoduel pairs the vision of the best talent int he industry with the enthusiasm and support of gamers, a combination we are confident will set the bar for what can be achieved in a new PC vehicular combat game.”

Autoduel will be PC-exclusive. Pixelbionic will be crowdfunding development of the multiplayer car combat title through a Kickstarter campaign.

Insomniac Games has released a launch trailer for their upcoming third-person shooter Fuse.

The trailer focuses primarily on the main characters of Fuse—no, not the Overstrike 9 team, but rather their xenotech weapons—four distinct firearms built around the game’s fictional Fuse technology to create crazy weapons that can generate bullet-catching barriers, fire “living crystal” rounds that encase enemies, burn through enemies with Fuse-augmented mercury, and blow them apart with small-scale singularities.

Fuse lights up PS3 and Xbox 360 May 28 in North America, May 31 in Europe.

Four U.K. members of the hacking group LulzSec have been given jail sentences for their parts in the group’s cyber attacks on several companies.

The group targeted companies such as Nintendo, Bethesda, Sony, 20th Century Fox, the CIA, and the U.K.’s Serious Organized Crime Agency.

“It’s clear from the evidence that they intended to achieve extensive national and international notoriety and publicity,” prosecutor Sandip Patel stated. ”This is not about young immature men messing about. They are at the cutting edge of a contemporary and emerging species of criminal offender known as a cybercriminal.”

Ryan Cleary, Jake Davis, Mustafa al-Bassam, and, Ryan Ackroyd had all pleaded guilty at earlier court hearings. Cleary will serve 32 months and admitted to additional charges of hacking the U.S. Air Force and possessing images showing child abuse (which will be dealt with at a separate hearing), the BBC reports.

Ackroyd was sentenced to 30 months and Davis to two years. Al-Bassam got off the lightest receiving a 20-month suspended sentence.

Via: Eurogamer

Crysis 3 is set to receive some multiplayer DLC, according to a recently posted set of Achievements for the game.

The list appeared on Xbox 360 Achievements and indicates that a new multiplayer pack will be released for the game adding 250 Gamerscore worth of Achievements. The pack will include four maps–Creek, Crossing, Ascent, and Coastline–and two new modes–Frenzy and Team Possession. It will also allow players to use a boat oar as a weapon.

You can check out the list of Achievements here.

A website for a new fantasy MOBA titled Dawngate has just launched, listing EA as its publisher. It appears as if the website has gone live a little earlier than originally planned.

Superannuation spotted the site earlier today. Links to the game’s Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch pages all lead to inactive or private pages. The game is being developed by Waystone Games.

“Dawngate is a new MOBA built from the ground up to look and feel familiar while offering a whole new way to experience MOBA gameplay. Dawngate empowers you to forge the champions you love for the roles you want in a competitive arena, shaped by ever-evolving, community-driven content and story,” the website reads.

Players can use their EA Origin account to sign up for the game’s beta right now.

Via: Joystiq

Warner Bros. has released a teaser trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins which sees Batman taking on Deathstroke in a snowy Gotham City.

The game is set in Gotham City on Christmas Eve and features a younger Batman then the one featured in previous games by RockSteady.

Arkham Origins is bring developed by Warner Bros. Montreal and is due to release October 25 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii U. A full trailer for the game is set to go live on May 20.

Codemasters has released yet another gameplay trailer for GRID 2, this time showcasing a drift event taking place in the Japanese region of Okutama.

Yesterday the developer released a trailer featuring several of the game’s Asian tracks and events which you can check out here. The game’s full track list was also announced, take a look at it here.

GRID 2 is set to release May 28 in North America and May 31 in Europe for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Coffee Stain Studios has released an official launch trailer for its first-person tower defense title Sanctum 2, which is available now on Xbox 360 and PC.

You can check out the trailer below.