New Games

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• Luftrausers releasing on PSN, PC, Mac simultaneously
• This week's impressive Kickstarter is Darkest Dungeon
• First Nosgoth footage full of fun vampire carnage
• Vita getting God of War & Sly Cooper Collections this May
• Ubisoft and Sony Pictures are making a Rabbids movie
• New Spelunky update adds Pro HUD for streamers
• Japanese sidescrolling shooter Wolf Fang on PSN this week
• 16GB iPhone with 'rare' Flappy Bird going for £6 million
• Live show: The 2014 Winter Mash Olympics
• Payday 2 free for PS+ tomorrow, TxK on sale for Vita
• GTA V players snatched a car in midair with an airplane
• PS4: 100 games are coming in calendar year 2014
• Rome II update replaces Indian elephants for African ones
• NEW PS Vita coming this spring to North America
• Final Fantasy X HD gets kissy-kissy for Valentine's Day
• Justin.tv becomes Twitch Interactive
• Nintendo updates Club Nintendo rewards, adds Mario RPG
• EA Sports UFC fighters look great, have detailed nipples
• This year's Call of Duty to prioritize PC, PS4, Xbox One
• Podtoid 282: Don't do your parents' drugs
• Crystal Catacombs excavated on Steam Greenlight
• Retro City Rampage DX is the best version of the game
• Delays send Ubisoft sales down over 30 percent
• Catapult for Hire Kickstarter campaign has launched
• Microsoft investors want new CEO to kill Xbox
• Xbox 360 is getting two new limited-edition controllers
• Yoshi's New Island getting a limited 3DS console bundle
• Worms Battlegrounds announced for PS4 and Xbox One
• Watch Dogs Wii U delayed, other versions due before June
• Kiss Ltd wants to bring more ARC System Works to Steam
• Microsoft allegedly working on an eReader for Windows 8
• Play HTML5 games on the Wii U through PlayBoxie
• Dark Souls II earns a 'T' rating from the ESRB
• Two new ID@Xbox games revealed, one is a new Worms game
• World of Speed: A free-to-play online racing MMO

Luftrausers releasing on PSN, PC, Mac simultaneously Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST Vlambeer's arcade shooter Luftrausers will see a simultaneous release across Windows, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita this year, publisher Devolver Digital has announced. It's been taking a while but for a small team like this to support multiple platforms on day one while also developing other titles, fair enough. I can remain patient. And besides, I haven't yet been disappointed by a Vlambeer game. Devolver says it hopes to have a release date soon. Devolver Digital [Twitter]

This week's impressive Kickstarter is Darkest Dungeon Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:00 PM PST I must've missed hearing about Darkest Dungeon originally as there's no way I would've seen that footage (embedded again above) and gone on with my day like nothing had happened. Now, months later, this turn-based dungeon crawler has reappeared with more gameplay details and a Kickstarter which is on track to meet its funding goal early in its campaign. Besides the art direction, it's words like "uncompromising" and "unforgiving" that have me interested in Darkest Dungeon. Your characters may be heroes, but they aren't always heroic -- their stress levels, among other psychological factors, will need to be taken into consideration. Another layer of strategy to manage in what's looking to be an already challenging game. The footage we've seen represents nine months of full-time development and Red Hook is targeting January 2015 with an initial release on PC/Mac, followed by possible ports to consoles, tablets, and 3DS. Textbook example of how to make a strong Kickstarter pitch. Darkest Dungeon by Red Hook Studios [Kickstarter -- Thanks, Shane]

First Nosgoth footage full of fun vampire carnage Posted: 10 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST In-game stuff that isn't menus starts at 4:30. While Chris was bitter about it cashing in on the Legacy of Kain name, he did find Nosgoth a surprisingly enjoyably F2P third-person shooter in his preview. From this footage, I can see why. The four versus four, humans versus vampires set up looks fun, particularly when you get to play as vampires, running up walls and snatching humans up into the air and dropping them to their death. It's all a lot more lively (and colorful) than I expected. The fourth vampire class, the creepy-looking Deceiver, is revealed in the third part of the video. They can masquerade as your teammates, down to the green aura around them that signifies friendlies. Pretty sneaky. Read more...

Vita getting God of War & Sly Cooper Collections this May Posted: 10 Feb 2014 11:30 AM PST Hey look Vita owners, more ports! Yay. God of War Collection will contain the first two God of War games, and will be out on May 6 for $29.99. Sly Cooper Collection is also on the way for the Vita, and that will contain Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racconus, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. It's all fully remastered in HD, and optimized for the PS Vita too. Expect this one to release May 27.

Ubisoft and Sony Pictures are making a Rabbids movie Posted: 10 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST After getting a number of videogames, tons of merchandise, and even a television series for Nickelodeon, the Rabbids are now on the path toward a full-length feature film at Sony Pictures Entertainment with oversight from Ubisoft. Seems like a no-brainer, really. "Sony Pictures has tremendous experience developing hybrid live-action-and-animated blockbusters for audiences around the world, which makes them a natural fit for what we want to achieve with a Rabbids film," said Ubisoft Motion Pictures executive director Jean-Julien Baronnet. I can't say that I care much for the Rabbids but now that we have a pair of great Rayman games behind us, I don't outright detest the little furballs like I once did.

New Spelunky update adds Pro HUD for streamers Posted: 10 Feb 2014 10:30 AM PST As you might know, Spelunky has been my videogaming obsession over the last six months or so, therefore it's no surprise that I'm actually keen to read through patch notes for the game. Version 1.4 has gone live and the big addition is the new Pro HUD mode that greatly reduces the size of things like the health meter, bombs, and ropes and adds new timers to show how long your run has been. That's something people have been clamoring for as the HUD and item counters were quite obtrusive, especially when you couldn't see one of those dammed spiders about to drop on your head. I've no interest in streaming my games (y'all don't want to see a semi-sober Scottish guy be really bad at Spelunky, do you?) but after a quick test run I can say that I really like the new minimalist HUD. Of course there's assorted bug fixes and updates, almost all of which I've never even realized that were a potential problem. Did the skeletons really need to make a different sound when you jump on them? Not really but there doesn't seem to be much here that's going to make a difference to how I play; now here's to another 190 hours!

Japanese sidescrolling shooter Wolf Fang on PSN this week Posted: 10 Feb 2014 10:15 AM PST One more week until Tomba! 2 releases on PlayStation Network. Until then, we're getting the fifth title in MonkeyPaw Games' Retro Rush event, Wolf Fang, a sidescrolling shooter sequel to the 1989 shoot-'em-up Vapor Trail: Hyper Offense Formation. (Aren't these names just the greatest?) After watching videos of Wolf Fang and reading about it on Hardcore Gaming 101, I'm on board. You pilot either a preset mech or one of your own creation using customizable parts and must then shoot all of the things. After taking enough hits, your pilot will have to eject and continue on foot until another mech can be obtained via collectible power-ups. The game will be priced at $5.99 for PS3, PS Vita, and PSP when it arrives tomorrow. MonkeyPaw Games Retro Rush Week 5: Wolf Fang [PlayStation Blog]

16GB iPhone with 'rare' Flappy Bird going for £6 million Posted: 10 Feb 2014 09:45 AM PST You can find all sorts of stuff on eBay. I like finding rare games and seeing if I can get a good deal (I'm currently still trying to snag a copy of Die Hard Arcade for Sega Saturn for under $30) but sometimes some deals just seems a little...off. Take this one for example: someone is selling a 16GB iPhone 4S with a copy of the now-delisted Flappy Bird game pre-installed on eBay's UK site. As if that wasn't enough to warrant an eyebrow raise, the current high bid is a whopping £6,000,500. Holy shit. Nevermind the fact that someone with only a marginal sense of design could recreate the game in an hour, but this is just ridiculous. I can't believe that the top bidder will actually pay that much for this, but I guess we'll find out, as the auction has about two hours left. I mean, wow. WOW. Apple iPhone 4S - 16gb - Rare Flappy Installed [eBay]

Live show: The 2014 Winter Mash Olympics Posted: 10 Feb 2014 09:30 AM PST [Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Dtoid.TV. Watch Rick 'King Foom' Olson play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.] I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely adore the Winter Olympics. For a few weeks every four years, I have any event that I can watch playing on as many devices as humanly possible around my home. So, while my Olympic fever is burning quite brightly at the moment, I decided to take a trip through a collection of games fitting of the occasion tonight on Mash Tactics. I'll be doing my best this evening to win as many gold medals, in as many different contests as I can, all for the glory of Dtoid.TV. Games to be played include Vancouver 2010 (PS3), Winter Games (NES), Winter Olympic Games (Genesis), Lillehammer '94 (SNES), and possibly a few others. Cheer me on -- or laugh at my fails, your call -- just be sure to get there and check it out! QotD: Have you been watching the Winter Olympics? Read more...

Payday 2 free for PS+ tomorrow, TxK on sale for Vita Posted: 10 Feb 2014 09:15 AM PST PS3 owners should plan for a Payday 2 play date tomorrow. It's the next free game in this month's offering for PS Plus users. It's a great co-op game and it being free for PS+ users should hopefully make it easier to rope your pals into a game. TxK, the sequel to the Atari Jaguar Tempest 2000 from its original creator, is also going on sale for Vita owners tomorrow. It will be 20% off ($7.99) this week. After going back to Lumines: Electronic Symphony for the first time in a year and a half last night, I'm in the mood for more colorful, rhythmic, zen-inducing gameplay.

GTA V players snatched a car in midair with an airplane Posted: 10 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST Make your own fun. It's a lesson that we sometimes forget in the glut of linear, Hollywood-style "cinematic" games. I once spent an afternoon among friends in Ultimate Spiderman seeking out the highest building in the game, climbing to the top, then leaping off, free falling until the last possible moment before doing a web zip to save Spidey from being smushed. It turned into a competition to see who could get nearest to the ground. It was fun. Now I want to mess around in Grand Theft Auto V some more. I haven't done a single story mission.

PS4: 100 games are coming in calendar year 2014 Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:53 AM PST John Koller, vice president of marketing at Sony, released some metrics to the press today in Santa Monica at a seasonal kickoff event. He started with the big number: 4.2 million PS4 units have been sold globally so far, making it the biggest launch in gaming history. The PS4 is available in 53 countries now, and Japan's launch is right around the corner. Sony says that there are 34 million average hours a week spent on PS4 gaming globally, and this is out of 50 million hours spent a week overall with the PS4 on. They also say that 90 percent of PS4s are connected in the United States, and that 172 million online hours have been played so far. More interesting stats: 48 million plus shares have been captured so far, and 1.7 million hours of live streaming have taken place since launch. Koller says that digital game sales are seeing substantial growth, though he didn't give any hard numbers. He did say that the PlayStation Plus retail card business is up 120 year over year. PlayStation Plus membership has grown 90 percent, too. And drumroll: 100 games are coming to PS4 in calendar year 2014, including big ones like Destiny. That's everything, from indies all the way up to AAA -- it's going to be a big year for Sony. Watch out for tomatoes and fries, and stay tuned for previews in the coming weeks of the big games for 2014 from PlayStation.

Rome II update replaces Indian elephants for African ones Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST In his review of Total War: Rome II, our own Josh Tolentino was left unhappy at the buggy state of the game but was happy with the level of historical accuracy displayed. I wonder if he would have docked the game an extra point if he knew the default elephant models were not African elephants, which would have been historically accurate, but Indian ones instead! A new update will fix this problem that surely only the most anally-retentive minds would have noticed, replacing the generic Indian elephant models with their larger-eared African cousins. Now you can re-create Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, just as it happened in 218BC.  Creative Assembly has also added four new units to the Epirus faction from the Greek States Culture DLC pack: Royal Peltasts, Thessalian Cavalry, Illyrian Coastal Levies, and a mercenary Indian War Elephant Unit will all be included in the game. So wait, is that last one Indian mercenaries riding War Elephants or just regular mercenaries riding Indian War Elephants? Never realized our big-eared friends were at the heart of such confusion. A new way to be trampled: Total War: Rome II updated with geographically accurate elephants [PCGamesN]

NEW PS Vita coming this spring to North America Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:20 AM PST The new PlayStation Vita will be launched this spring, coming in a Borderlands 2 bundle. This was confirmed today at a PlayStation media event in Santa Monica. It will include the game with six DLC packs (Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, Psycho Character Class, Mechromancer Character Class, Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 1 and the Collector’s Edition Pack.), an 8GB PS Vita memory card, and will all retail for $199.99. For this new model, battery life is now 4-6 hours for gaming, and a new LCD screen replaces the current version's OLED one. Its shape has changed a bit -- it's more rounded and a bit more portable. It's the same one we saw released in Japan last year, and Europe earlier this year.  Yay? Read more...

Final Fantasy X HD gets kissy-kissy for Valentine's Day Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:15 AM PST V-day? More like X-day. Hah. Final Fantasy X HD is out next month. This Valentine's Day video from Square celebrates one of the more romance heavy iterations in the series as Tidus and Yuna chew up screen time laughing into the ocean. Square Enix also announced a pre-order bonus for the Vita bundle: three art cards. You know what you could do for me for Valentine's Day, Square? Final Fantasy XII HD.

Justin.tv becomes Twitch Interactive Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST Gaming-focused streaming site Twitch has become so popular for owner Justin.tv, Inc. that the company has decided to rebrand itself as Twitch Interactive. According to Twitch founder and CEO Emmett Shear, it has "eclipsed our previous initiatives." Back when the spinoff first happened, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the decision, but streaming games has taken off in the years since and it only seems to be growing in popularity -- Twitch itself was ranked fourth in US peak Internet traffic, reportedly. My ability to predict the future is sadly non-existent. "Given our total focus on serving the gaming community, it makes sense to reposition it as our primary brand," said Shear. "Seven years ago, Justin.tv pioneered live video on the Web, and while I remain proud of all the work we did under that name, I'm even more excited about our new future as Twitch." One Million Monthly Active Broadcasters [Twitch]

Nintendo updates Club Nintendo rewards, adds Mario RPG Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:30 AM PST Nintendo has updated their Club Nintendo digital rewards for February, and on the 3DS side, you're getting Donkey Kong Jr. (150 Coins) and Pictobits (150 Coins). In the Wii and Wii U arena, there's Punch Out!! (200 Coins), and Super Mario RPG (200 Coins). I need to stress this -- although Super Mario RPG is listed as "Wii U," it does not actually run on the native Wii U interface. It can only be used by way of the Wii emulation mode or on an actual Wii. Punch Out!! will run on the Wii U with all of the GamePad and save state related fix-ins. Having said that, if you haven't played Mario RPG yet, I'd suggest doing so now. It's one of the most entertaining RPGs I've ever played, and it's full of charm at nearly every turn.

EA Sports UFC fighters look great, have detailed nipples Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:15 AM PST When I previewed EA Sports UFC last E3 my intent wasn't to write erotica, but I did, a little. Similarly, my intent when I watched this UFC trailer wasn't to focus on the highly detailed, true-to-life nipple recreation on each fighter, but I did. And after watching the video four times to examine the nips, I noticed the crotch bulges. It's not my fault. They didn't show off any fighting to distract me with. Just enviable examples of the human form. For the first time in the series, the new UFC will also feature female fighters, who don't have faithfully recreated nipples because they wear tops. EA Sports UFC is coming to PS4 and Xbox One this spring.

This year's Call of Duty to prioritize PC, PS4, Xbox One Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST Now that there are three separate studios heading up new installments of Call of Duty, we'll be looking to Sledgehammer Games for its take on the franchise this year after Infinity Ward dropped the ball with Call of Duty: Ghosts. Publisher Activision has extended the franchise's development cycle, giving these teams and Treyarch more time to get it right. Speaking to IGN, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said that "Sledgehammer is approaching [the new Call of Duty] as a next-gen-first development," although Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will also be developed. Because money. "Obviously in the console-transition year, anyone who developed a cross-generational game last year had to deal with the fact that the technology of the next-gen platforms was still coming into focus and changing quite a bit during the development process ... Now that we have the next-gen hardware out in the marketplace and solid, that is our primary development," he said. According to Hirshberg, Activision's directive for Sledgehammer was "You know what makes this thing great; now go do it your way." Sledgehammer's Call of Duty is "Next-Gen First" [IGN]

Podtoid 282: Don't do your parents' drugs Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:30 AM PST This week on Podtoid, Max Scoville, Conrad Zimmerman, and Andy Dixon warn about the dangers of consuming prescription drugs intended for your parents. Plus, talk about the reaction to King's unsavory trademark actions, Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight jam, and Jazzpunk. Put it in your earholes via direct download or subscribe on iTunes.

Crystal Catacombs excavated on Steam Greenlight Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:15 AM PST Crystal Catacombs enjoyed a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012, funded at more than twice its initial goal. Now, after almost four years of development, the pixel art metroidvania with roguelike elements is nearly complete, and developer Maxwell Jensen is hoping to get it on Steam through Greenlight. The video above shows off Crystal Catacombs' almost Super Meat Boy-esque platforming, through many of the different areas available to explore. The exact setup of the locales, the enemy spawns, and the item locations are all procedurally generated, but that might be the only major roguelike influence. Whether it gets on Steam Greenlight or not, Crystal Catacombs is currently available for pre-order through the Humble Store for $9.99.

Retro City Rampage DX is the best version of the game Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST Retro City Rampage has hit the 3DS in the form of a DX version, which brings a few upgrades with it. Now, you may have already played Rampage on multiple platforms -- so what's better about this version?  First off, you're getting all the patches that the previous iterations have obtained, as well as a new method of ditching the police (clearing the screen), a new drive camera, new control options (jumping and shooting), streamlined missions, and most importantly, a bottom map screen. Gameplay-wise more checkpoints have been added, as well as a balanced difficulty and a generally better mission flow. As someone who has beaten the game previously, I noticed these upgrades almost immediately. But it's not a perfect port, however, as there are a few limitations involved. Circle Pad Pro support has oddly been left out in favor of a more responsive control scheme -- and one wonders why it couldn't have simply been an option for those who prefer it. The lack of twin-stick shooting doesn't ruin the game at all as it's easy enough to pick up the L button free-aim system, but it would have been appreciated. To compensate for the smaller viewing area, developer Brian Provinciano created a "dynamic" camera that pans ahead while driving. While the 3DS is technically less sharper-looking than the Vita version, the upgrades add to the package and ultimately take precedent over visuals for me. It's not flawless, but Retro City Rampage DX feels in its natural habitat on the 3DS -- a platform that keeps growing and growing every month. If you're looking for an open-world game to just screw around in, this is it.

Delays send Ubisoft sales down over 30 percent Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:45 AM PST Ubisoft managed to get Asssassin's Creed: Thar Be Pirates out on about every console for the holiday season, but Watch Dogs is still a few months away, delayed out its prime position to launch with the PS4 and Xbox One. For the sales quarter ending on December 31 of 2013, sales are down 35.2 percent ($709 million) from the same quarter, 2012 ($1.09 billion). This isn't a shock to Ubisoft, though. It landed within the company's own revised sales projection of $628 million to $736 million. And while digital sales are down 4 percent in the quarter, they're already up 12 percent on the year. Similarly, sales of older titles (notably Far Cry 3 and Assassin;s Creed 3) are down 21 percent for the quarter, but still up 6 percent on the year. The Division not being dated like Watch Dogs and The Crew probably implies a delay. But Ubisoft is releasing Child of Light in April and that's all I really want anyway. Ubisoft Sales Down Over 35 Percent In Third Quarter FY2013 [Game Informer]

Catapult for Hire Kickstarter campaign has launched Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:30 AM PST Last time we heard about Catapult for Hire, it was taking its brightly colored physics-based puzzle-exploration to PAX Prime 2013. Since then, developer Tyrone Henrie has continued working on it as he has been for the past four years, and it has finally progressed to the point where it is now up on Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight. Most interesting about the gameplay shown above is that Catapult for Hire is not just about being stationary and lobbing items at targets. With its different payloads and modifications, including a teleporter, it takes on an almost Zelda-esque dungeon exploration, with pressure plates to trigger and secret areas to find. It already looked neat before, but now it is sounding good enough to put money toward.

Microsoft investors want new CEO to kill Xbox Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:15 AM PST Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella is under pressure to turn Microsoft around. According to The Washington Post, to "[t]wo influential Microsoft shareholders," this means scuttling the Xbox, Surface, and Bing in order to focus on what the company was built on, selling software to businesses. Windows profits last year were at $9.5 billion, down from $11.6 billion in 2012 and $12.3 billion in 2011, which is attributed to low consumer sales. Unsold Surface sales also contributed to a $900 million loss. Hopefully they end up at clearance prices. I might get one. But it seems a bit odd to me that certain stakeholders would rather Microsoft focus on selling Windows (particularly to businesses) rather than, I don't know, make Windows an operating system people want to buy (for an example of what not to do, see Windows 8). The Microsoft division that runs Bing reported $1.3 billion loss in 2013, which is actually better than most years. Kill that thing. Nadella's predecessors, Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, are both still on the board at Microsoft. Nadella asked Gates to step away from his board chairman position to advise Nadella on products and devices, so it doesn't look like Nadella will try to kill off those divisions. There is a new presence on the board, Mason Morfit, who was reportedly among those who urged Ballmer to step down and wants Microsoft to shed some of its consumer goods. Business! Investors want Microsoft’s new CEO to kill Xbox, Bing and Surface [Washington Post]

Xbox 360 is getting two new limited-edition controllers Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST With the exception of the Nintendo 64 era, I have never gone too wild with owning differently-colored controllers. Generally speaking, the default one (or two) styles are good enough for me. That's looking to be the case with Xbox 360. Microsoft will begin selling a pair of new limited-edition Chrome Series Xbox 360 gamepads for $54.99 each come this March. Available in purple and black, these controllers feature that coveted "transforming" D-pad and will be exclusive to the Microsoft Store and Best Buy in the US. You'd have to adore the color purple to get that one, I think. Xbox 360 Special Edition Chrome Series Purple and Black Wireless Controllers [Major Nelson] Read more...

Yoshi's New Island getting a limited 3DS console bundle Posted: 10 Feb 2014 04:45 AM PST Not that I'm complaining, but I am starting to get a bit confused at just how many limited edition 3DS's Nintendo plans on releasing. Is it to plant a "collect 'em all" mentality? Are the nostalgia mainlines every few months a business strategy to recapture old fans or prompt sporadic double dip purchases from existing 3DS players?  Japan just got a nice Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy one, while a Yoshi's New Island console (bundled with the game, of course) popped up sans pictures on a retailer's website and subsequently had its veracity confirmed by IGN. The bundle will be priced at $200, same as the Link Between Worlds 3DS XL, and available in North America on March 14, when Yoshi's New Island is expected. Don't have a 3DS yet but like Yoshi's Island so much that this is the system for you, sight unseen? Yoshi's New Island 3DS XL Bundle Leaked [IGN]

Worms Battlegrounds announced for PS4 and Xbox One Posted: 10 Feb 2014 04:30 AM PST After Microsoft dropped the news this morning of a mysterious new Worms game for the Xbox One, developer Team 17 has announced Worms Battlegrounds for the XB1 and PS4. Team 17 makes a special mention of its participation in the ID@Xbox program, as it's one of the original supporters of the initiative. Not a whole lot is known at this point other than a nebulous release date of 2014, but odds are there's going to be a lot of worms, weapons, and destruction involved.

Watch Dogs Wii U delayed, other versions due before June Posted: 10 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST In its earnings report for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2013, Ubisoft briefly confirmed Watch Dogs' release window following a delay last year. The open-world game is set for launch sometime between April and June of 2014 for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. As for Wii U, it's not canceled as had previously been rumored, but it will be coming later. "We made the difficult decision to further delay the release of Watch Dogs on Wii U to focus the team's resources where they could have the broadest possible benefit for both our customers and Ubisoft," explained CEO Yves Guillemot. Poor system can't catch a break. The fact that Watch Dogs has taken longer than expected to finish has made me want to play it all the more. Always wanting what I can't have. Ubisoft reports third-quarter 2013-14 sales [Ubisoft via Game Informer]

Kiss Ltd wants to bring more ARC System Works to Steam Posted: 10 Feb 2014 03:30 AM PST Last month's release of Guilty Gear Isuka on Steam has fans of ARC System Works' fighting games hoping that more of their titles might make it to the platform in future, and a campaign has developed to encourage publisher Kiss Ltd. to pursue this in earnest. Petitioning from fans has already triggered a response from Kiss, stating on the company Facebook page that they are indeed working to deliver more PC releases, noting that, "it is a complicated process," and, "the rights seem to be spread far and wide." The publisher also asked petitioners to focus their efforts on Facebook and not the contact e-mail address listed on their website so as to keep the inbox clear for any actual business mail relating to the titles. I don't always play fighters but, when I do, I prefer ARC System Works. They're brightly colored, beautifully animated, delightfully weird ways for me to get utterly obliterated in a genre of gameplay I have no talent for. Where other fighting franchises will drive me away after my fiftieth beating, Guilty Gear and BlazBlue have kept me entertained. That's no small feat, so I'm a big fan of the idea that they could expand the fan base further by publishing on PC. [Via Shoryuken]

Microsoft allegedly working on an eReader for Windows 8 Posted: 10 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST According to sources close to The Verge, Microsoft is working on a new eReader system (books, magazines, comics, news) that will be integrated with Windows 8. It's not known yet whether or not this tech will show up on the Xbox brand, but it's always a possibility. This is following a $300 million investment in Barnes and Noble's Nook line that has yet to really bear results. While I'm not sure I'd sit down and read a full novel on my Xbox One, I'd definitely check out a comic or two on a TV -- it worked out great for the extras in Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. Microsoft building an ‘Xbox Reading’ app for Windows 8 [The Verge]

Play HTML5 games on the Wii U through PlayBoxie Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:00 AM PST While it's been operating on a few other platforms for a while now, the online portal PlayBoxie is now compatible with Nintendo's Wii U. Basically all you do is visit PlayBoxie on an Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, or PC, and you're good to go. Button inputs will work just like a normal game. Don't get too excited -- the selection isn't that great, and the framerates leave much to be desired. But it's still something extra to do on your Wii U while you wait for Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze to drop. PlayBoxie allows you to play HTML5 games on you Wii U browser [GoNintendo]

Dark Souls II earns a 'T' rating from the ESRB Posted: 10 Feb 2014 12:30 AM PST Well this is pretty surprising. Unless it's a mistake, Dark Souls II has been given a "T" rating from the ESRB for "Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Violence", whereas the first two games have been granted an "M." It's not a reason to freak out of course, as we'll need to see the finished product to see if anything really makes a difference. As for the actual listing, some of the explanations include, "Players use knives, swords, and arrows to defeat enemies. Combat is highlighted by cries of pain and small splashes of blood. The words 'bastard' and “pr*ck” can be heard in the dialogue." I highly suggest staying away from the full ESRB listing because they spoil a few bosses. Dark Souls II [ESRB] Thanks Jeff!

Two new ID@Xbox games revealed, one is a new Worms game Posted: 09 Feb 2014 11:30 PM PST Microsoft has revealed two new games that are a part of their ID@Xbox program, and one of them is a new title in the storied Worms franchise. Not much is known about the new iteration other than that it exists, though. The next game is Nutjitsu, a ninja squirrel themed title from Ninjabee. It's apparently a derivative of Pac-Man, and it's already on Windows Phones. So yeah, not the most exciting reveals, but at least some people are getting involved with Microsoft's indie program now that the Xbox One seems to have a much more receptive infrastructure. New ID@Xbox games revealed for Xbox One [OXM]

World of Speed: A free-to-play online racing MMO Posted: 09 Feb 2014 11:00 PM PST World of Speed is a racing MMO that sets to accomplish a goal that no other racer has been truly successful with so far: making racers cooperate with each other. Slightly Mad Studios has 10 years in the racing game business under their belts, with games like the Need for Speed: Shift titles, Project CARS, and GTR2, but they say they're looking at other game genres for inspiration, including online first-person shooters. Oh, and World of Speed is a free-to-play game. Read more...

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