Monday, November 23, 2015

New Games

New Games


Noby Noby Boy has finally reached Pluto

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 03:30 PM PST

It's been nearly seven years (2468 days in total) since February 19, 2009, the day Bandai Namco unleashed Keita Takahashi's demented brainchild Noby Noby Boy upon the world.

Since then a dedicated community has been ardently stretching and feasting on their own asses in an effort to explore the solar system, travelling all the way from Earth to (as of today) Pluto.

Now that we've reached the controversial maybe-planet, Noby Noby Girl is now on her way to the Sun, a journey that figures to take quite a while. Hope to see you all back here in several years.

Noby Noby Boy (finally) Reaches Pluto [NeoGAF, Sir TapTap]

Noby Noby Boy has finally reached Pluto screenshot

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Killer Instinct is getting a HUD refresh soon

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 11:00 AM PST

The terrible twos aren't terrible at all when you're talking about Killer Instinct. The Xbox One launch title celebrated its second birthday over the weekend, and its future looks promising. Season 3 drops in March, but before then, Shadow Jago and updates to the HUD are coming.

Iron Galaxy promised Shadow Jago would join the roster with his own moveset by the end of the year. That's still the plan. The latest word is "not too late" in December.

As for the HUD changes, they'll arrive in title update 2.12 and are geared toward providing players and commentators with more information. Expect better visual feedback for things like reversals, combo breakers, and lockouts (as well as punishments, but not until update 2.13).

For a complete breakdown of those refinements, read this blog post.

Thanks for two wonderful years [Killer Instinct]

Killer Instinct is getting a HUD refresh soon screenshot

A Stormtrooper smacking his head is one of Star Wars Battlefront's best easter eggs

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 10:30 AM PST

Stormtroopers are kind of a clumsy lot. For supposedly elite soldiers, they sure do miss often with their blasters. Oh yeah, a bunch of Ewoks outsmarted and defeated them, too. It seems like if Darth Vader wants something done right, he has to do it himself.

A snapshot of the Stormtroopers' blundering ways can be found in A New Hope when one of them cracks his head on the frame of a door. It's an innocuous moment, but one that lives on as proof positive of their frequent ineptitude. And, now it continues to live on through Star Wars Battlefront.

EA DICE memorialized the 38-year-old head knock with a quick easter egg in Battlefront. Watch this video courtesy of Eurogamer. In the introduction to the Overpower mission, a Stormtrooper in the background is suddenly seeing stars. Get him to the sideline and he can't come back until an independent neurological consultant clears him to resume Stormtrooper activities.

Star Wars Battlefront Easter egg references classic Stormtrooper blooper [Eurogamer]

A Stormtrooper smacking his head is one of Star Wars Battlefront's best easter eggs screenshot

Now that's a video game screenshot!

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 10:00 AM PST

You don't need to know the first thing about One Piece to enjoy this screenshot from Burning Blood, Spike Chunsoft's upcoming fighter for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PS Vita.

A colorful robot fighting a dashing dinosaur? This scene is straight out of my childhood, except back then, it was with toys. Specifically, a bunch of Z-Bots and Kenner's rubbery Jurassic Park Tyrannosaurus rex with removable flesh (which I immediately and permanently misplaced).

Bandai Namco sent over a ton of screenshots, but this one is the best.

Now that's a video game screenshot! screenshot

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You can nab the first Fallout 4 update on Steam

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 09:00 AM PST

Bethesda has released a beta version of the first Fallout 4 update on PC, and if you were expecting a bunch of sweeping changes and bug fixes, well, give it some time.

New Features

  • Number pad keys can now be used for remapping
  • Remapping Activate now works on Quick Container

Fixes

  • General memory and stability improvements
  • Fixed issue where equipped weapons become locked after completing Reunions
  • Fixed issue with When Freedom Calls where the quest would not complete
  • During Confidence Man, fixed issue where player's health would continuously regenerate
  • Fixed crash related to jumping into water and reloading saved games
  • Fixed issue where Launcher would not save God Rays Quality setting properly

To try the update, right click on Fallout 4 in your Steam library, choose Settings, then Betas, then pick Beta Update from the drop-down menu, and click OK. The download should initiate.

I'm on the PS4 version, so I can't speak to these improvements yet. Expect the update to go through beta testing before it sees a full release on Steam and eventually works its way over to consoles.

Steam Beta Update Available for Fallout 4 [Steam]

You can nab the first Fallout 4 update on Steam screenshot

Take a fateful trip beyond the sun in Last Horizon

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 08:30 AM PST

Last Horizon is a space exploration game on Steam, Android, and iTunes where it's up to you to find a new home for the entire human race. It has the underlying sense of loneliness and dread that you might find in films like Sunshine or Frownhunters, but with controls and problems reminiscent of Asteroids and Lunar Lander. Managing your resources while navigating through an unpredictable, procedurally generated cosmos isn't a totally new idea, but it's still a heck of a lot of fun when done well. 

This affordable space adventure is on sale on Steam until Wednesday, so pick it up for cheap if you're in the mood for flying and dying. 

Take a fateful trip beyond the sun in Last Horizon screenshot

Itoi has a good reason for not doing Mother 4

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 08:00 AM PST

Mother 4? Not going to happen. Not with Shigesato Itoi, anyway.

"Totally impossible."

Speaking to Game Watch Impress, as translated by Kotaku, he said, "Among big-time pop stars, if they, you know, put out ten albums, around the fourth album, they can't make very good songs. The albums sell, but everyone at the concerts wants to hear songs from those first three albums. Everyone."

While Itoi is best known in the West for his involvement with the Mother / EarthBound series, his storied career extends far beyond the game industry. "I'm glad that video games are not my profession," he said. "If it was my job, I would've already made [Mother] 4 and 5."

I respect that restraint, but who knows. Maybe Itoi will feel inspired one day and come around.

We still have the upcoming fan-made Mother 4, and it looks groovy. I wanted to write this story with the soundtrack running, but it's mysteriously gone from SoundCloud. Bummer. The last blog, posted in late October, showed some enemy designs. The team noted it would be quiet over the holiday season and that regular updates would return in 2016.

糸井重里氏降臨! 「MOTHERとほぼ日と糸井重里。」インタビュー [Game Watch Impress]

Itoi has a good reason for not doing Mother 4 screenshot

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One of the Steam Machines is already 40 percent off

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 07:30 AM PST

Less than two weeks after it hit the market, Syber is already discounting one of its Steam Machines by 40 percent. As part of a "one day only!" event, the Steam Machine I has a reduced price of $299 from $499.

Syber has also discounted its other two Steam Machines by the same dollar amount, but the percent saved is less significant. The P model is $589 and the X model is $1,279. The Steam Machine I is considered a "value" PC (it comes with an i3-4160, GTX 750 with 1GB GDDR5, and 4GB RAM) while the X and its i7-4790k, GTX 980 with 4GB GDDR5, and 16GB RAM is for "hardcore gamers."

If anyone plans to jump on this, note that not all the savings are instantaneous. Of the $200 discount on each Steam Machine, $100 is instantaneous and the other $100 requires a pesky mail-in rebate.

It's the season where everybody's looking to save, but this seems awfully quick. This line just launched on November 10 and one of the models is already 40 percent off. Either these were priced with promotions in mind or this doesn't bode well for Syber's Steam Machines.

Steam Machine [Syber Gaming]

One of the Steam Machines is already 40 percent off screenshot

EA is handing out free Garden Warfare coins

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 07:00 AM PST

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was one of my most-played games last year. What a fun shooter! I won't get back into it, but I don't see the harm in opening a few card packs. As a celebration for passing the eight-million-player mark, EA is giving out 80,000 coins on all platforms.

Depending on which packs you choose, that's enough money to unlock two character classes (two Spectacular Character Packs at 40,000 coins each). Or you could just spend it all on bling.

After logging in, I also had a holiday pack waiting for me. It included some Christmas-themed cosmetic items and, hell yes, 20 Skip Challenge Stars for quick character leveling -- not that I'll need them. I'm done playing, after all. Yep, that's the plan. Definitely not straying from it.

EA is handing out free Garden Warfare coins screenshot

Just Cause 3's PC specs are a little high because Rico has a lot to blow up

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 06:30 AM PST

With just little more than a week remaining before Just Cause 3's release, the required and recommended PC specs come parachuting in. Right on time too, as some players may find themselves needing to take advantage of some Black Friday deals to upgrade their rigs.

Avalanche has posted what it'll take to run Just Cause 3 on the game's Steam page. For an ideal experience, the developer recommends that your PC be outfitted with:

  • OS: Vista SP2, Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1 (64-bit required)
  • CPU: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz / AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz
  • Memory: 8GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) / AMD R9 290 (4GB)

Just Cause 3's PC specs are a little high because Rico has a lot to blow up screenshot

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Street Fighter V is operating on a 'five year plan'

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 06:00 AM PST

We've always known that Capcom has a clear, unified approach to Street Fighter V. The game, according to the publisher so far, will not be constantly updated with "Super" and "Ultra" editions -- instead, there will be one base version that's added onto over time. Now we have a basic timeline.

According to Ono, the game is running on a five year plan, which will include constant balancing updates. Ono states, "simple maths [sic] suggest it'll take five years to get to the roster of Street Fighter IV [44], and we want to keep the game going for that amount of time." He hints that while this is the initial plan, it may change after the game releases, depending on its reception.

This is baically inline with what they've already done with Street Fighter IV. It debuted on consoles in 2009, and six years later, they're still releasing costume DLC for it.

Matchmaking, microtransactions and Street Fighter's comeback: Yoshi Ono on V [Eurogamer]

Street Fighter V is operating on a 'five year plan' screenshot

Sony, late to the party, confirms $300 Black Friday PS4

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 05:30 AM PST

Black Friday secrets are more poorly kept with each passing year. For example, this year we knew about the $300 Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection PS4 bundle since the beginning of the month. When every retailer comes out and posts the same deal, it's easy to confirm that the price-slashing comes courtesy of Sony, not from an individual store.

But, Sony felt the need to make it official. This morning, the platform-holder announced the $300 Uncharted PS4 bundle. The deal runs from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. You can pick it up most anywhere that sells PlayStation 4s.

Even though it's late to the party, we should make Sony feel as welcome as possible. "Hey, Sony! No no, you're not late at all! Yeah, these people have been here a while, but you showed up right on time. Oh, you brought Cool Ranch Doritos? Uhhh, just go ahead and set them on the table."

Black Friday Weekend Deal: $299 Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection PS4 Bundle [PlayStation Blog]

Sony, late to the party, confirms $300 Black Friday PS4 screenshot

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Bethesda: Fallout 4 console commands 'not supported or recommended' on PC

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 05:00 AM PST

In a very Bethesda-like fashion, messing around with console commands on the PC version of Fallout 4 might completely bug out your game more than it's already bugged out to begin with. Warning folks not to use the system at all, the publisher's Pete Hines noted that console commands are "not supported or recommended on PC. [They] can very easily mess up save games."

Players have been finding all sorts of cool goodies by using it these past few weeks, including underwater gear and a secret room with every item in the game. Have fun at your own risk!

Pete Hines [Twitter]

Bethesda: Fallout 4 console commands 'not supported or recommended' on PC screenshot

20% off one-year PS Plus membership courtesy of Newegg

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 04:30 AM PST

Over the last few years we think Black Friday has morphed from a one-day after-Thanksgiving sale to a week-long blast of offers from various retailers. Exhibit A: PS Plus one-year memberships are now $10 off (20% off) via Newegg:

20% off one-year PS Plus membership courtesy of Newegg screenshot

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The Splatoon team had over 70 ideas before they settled on squids and paint

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 04:00 AM PST

Did You Know Gaming has another episode ready for your eyeholes, and this time it's Splatoon related. While some of this was already known (it was supposed to be a Mario game, and then featured bunnies at one point), there's a lot of other cool facts afoot, like the fact that the punk rock theme permeated throughout the entire production, not just by way of the soundtrack. Also, I really want that Canadian Splatoon froyo.

As a side note, our own Destructoid reader Raguio has started editing for the Did You Know series, and I think he's doing a pretty fantastic job.

The Splatoon team had over 70 ideas before they settled on squids and paint screenshot

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What hellish humans have you crafted with Fallout 4's character creator

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 03:41 AM PST

Haha, man, I can't get over how good some of these Fallout 4 character creation templates are.

Beavis and Butthead is probably my absolute favorite, but I've seen so many great garish creations over the past few weeks. A number of sites have collected some of the best ones, with standouts like Louis C.K. and Walter White. I can't resist the fake John Cena inclusion, sorry.

See if you can figure out the mystery characters in the gallery below, and feel free to share your own!

What hellish humans have you crafted with Fallout 4's character creator screenshot

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Batman: Arkham Knight's Catwoman DLC looks as bad as the others

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 03:30 AM PST

The Batman: Arkham Knight Season Pass has been one of the most disappointing passes I've seen to date. In addition to a bunch of skins, there's a few okay to bad DLCs so far, and two more are coming up. Catwoman's Revenge is set to debut this week, and based on the video, it looks like another sub-30 minute time waster.

At the end of the clip there's a brief look at the new 2016 Batmobile and Batsuit that will be featured in the film Dawn of Justice. It's cool, but looking at it is all you'll need to do.

Batman: Arkham Knight's Catwoman DLC looks as bad as the others screenshot

A guided tour of Life is Feudal: Your Own's many, many loading points

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 03:00 AM PST

Life is Feudal: Your Own finally released on Steam last week after a hefty period in early access. The idea is great: take survival sims like Rust and The Forest, and add a pinch of Mount & Blade to make the ambitious medieval survival sandbox RPG I’ve been hoping for for a long time now.

It’s just a shame that Life is Feudal isn’t all that great. It performs incredibly poorly, it’s chock-full of bugs, and even the most populated servers feel like desolate wastelands. In my time with the game I’ve only ever swung between a vague sense of boredom and an inkling of frustration, with no hint of that thing called ‘fun’ to be seen anywhere.

Rather than focus on the negatives of Life is Feudal: Your Own, why not instead take a look at what is interesting about it? With games like this, it can sometimes be difficult to see a glittering sign of something good buried deep within, however I am up for the challenge.

And so, I give you uh... an exciting guided tour of the many, many loading screens and progress bars, and how they make a statement on the very fabric of our universe itself. Feudal may well be strange, but life is also art, and this game proves it.

A guided tour of Life is Feudal: Your Own's many, many loading points screenshot

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Nintendo Powerline Counselor conditions come to light in new interview

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 02:30 AM PST

AV Club has a great interview with a former Nintendo Powerline counselor, and I suggest you read all of it. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, Nintendo basically hired people to work in a toll-based call center to provide tips for gamers -- the program lasted from 1985 until 2005.

Highlights include the fact that the headsets shocked counselors if their feet touched the ground, and that the team "didn't have any more information than the public did," other than a few very, very rare" cases, or select individuals who would hand-draw maps to help people out. Color printers "weren't common" and employees needed permission to print in color, which made things tougher.

This piece brought me back. I called the Powerline once for Mega Man 2. It was for that part right before the Dragon boss in the Wily stage, and I was trying to figure out how to climb up the ladder. After a few minutes of "uhhhs" from the other end of the line, as I was playing, I figured it out, and asked "hey so do you use the platform item from the bottom of the ladder?" and got the response "yeah that's it."

What was it like to be a Nintendo game play counselor? [AV Club]

Nintendo Powerline Counselor conditions come to light in new interview screenshot

League of Legends promotes new Champion with a browser game

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 02:00 AM PST

Illaoi, the Kraken Priestess, is the newest Champion on the block for League of Legends. Riot Games is allowing players to get acquainted with her tough love personality by way of a minigame, which is playable in your browser.

Basically, it's a set of QTEs and whatnot, but it provides a decent look at what to expect for her, and gives us a bit of interactive backstory. I like how Riot goes above and beyond for certain characters like this when the opportunity arises.

Trial of the Kraken Princess [League of Legends]

League of Legends promotes new Champion with a browser game screenshot

Slain slips to a January release date, still looks awesome

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 01:45 AM PST

I've been keeping an eye on Slain!, a PC project (and PS4 + Xbox One, eventually, with a possible Vita edition) that's going to be released soon on Steam. Well, it was going to be released soon, as developer Wolf Brew Games has confirmed directly to Destructoid that it has now slipped from a December 9 target to January 27, 2016.

The reason for the delay is as follows:

The scope of Slain! has grown enormously since Andrew started working on it, alone, more than two and a half years ago. This extra month will give the Wolf Brew Games team time to spend polishing Slain! and making the boss fights as challenging and entertaining they deserve to be. There will be at very least 7 main boss fights, with a number mini-bosses to defeat in order to progress through to each of the 'Tower' sections of the levels. A 'good' player should be looking at a play through time of around 15 hours!

Alongside of the announcement, the developer sent over some new animations to show how they've progressed, and it's looking real good -- almost like a Blackthorne vibe. Expect more coverage and a review near launch, and here's the Steam page for good measure.

Slain slips to a January release date, still looks awesome screenshot

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Here's how to access the Bloodborne: The Old Hunters DLC

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 01:01 AM PST

Bloodborne, much like its predecessors, is a relatively esoteric game. Even simple things like locating a $20 DLC package can be hidden beneath the surface, so here's a quick rundown of how to enter the Old Hunters add-on.

Basically, you're going to want to beat Vicar Amelia in the main storyline in the Cathedral. Trigger the cutsene and return to the hub. Next to the doll NPC on the primary staircase is an item -- grab it, and head back to the Cathedral Ward. Then turn left immediately and go through the doorway, and veer right to the corpse underneath the dead tree.

From there, you're on your own!

Here's how to access the Bloodborne: The Old Hunters DLC screenshot

Review: Bloodborne: The Old Hunters

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 01:00 AM PST

While many gamers out there are fighting the good fight against DLC, From Software is certainly making the case for it. Dark Souls had one of the most fantastic add-ons of all time in the form of Artorias of the Abyss, which came months after release, and delivered a sufficiently packed universe that added on to the core game. Additionally, all three Dark Souls II packs brought something interesting to the table, and each had their own distinct feel.

By contrast the new Bloodborne DLC isn't nearly as good as it could have been, but it's more Bloodborne, which is going to be more than enough for most of you out there.

Review: Bloodborne: The Old Hunters screenshot

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Final Fantasy's Vaan isn't a street rat: I don't buy that

Posted: 23 Nov 2015 12:00 AM PST

I've always had a lukewarm relationship with Final Fantasy XII, and its protagonist, Vaan.

The only thing it really did for me was ape Final Fantasy XI's combat and add in gambits. Post-game content was pretty cool compared to most of the series, but the story and characters (outside of Balthier of course) didn't grip me throughout. I felt this way at launch, and a few years ago I replayed it and had the same outcome. I'd definitely play an HD version though.

As for Dissidia itself, it's set to launch in arcades this week in Japan. One cast member has been introduced per game, and now that we're on Final Fantasy XII, the only characters left to debut are Lightning, Y'shtola (from XIV), and Ramza (from Tactics). From there, Square says they want to work on "over 50 characters" to add in over time.

Final Fantasy's Vaan isn't a street rat: I don't buy that screenshot

Fallout 4 Script Extender has arrived, and with it the ability to make bigger mods for the game

Posted: 22 Nov 2015 09:00 PM PST

Bethesda games are known for being modding playgrounds, and Fallout 4 is no exception. It’s only been out for about two weeks, but there’s already plenty of worthwhile mods floating around.

Sevral mods for Skyrim, New Vegas, Fallout 3, or Oblivion have required their versions of an add on called a Script Extender to function. In return, the add ons have allowed for far deeper and more extensive mods than what Bethesda themselves support. Until now, Fallout 4 hasn’t had its own entry in the Script Extender series yet, what with it only being out for just under two weeks, but its time has finally come.

Finally Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE) has had its first early release on the Bethesda forums. It’s by no means finished, and it doesn’t do all the things its predecessors can do just yet, but considering it is the same team working on F4SE as previous games, and the Fallout 4 engine isn’t all too different from Skyrim, it’s reasonable to expect further updates to come soon.

Now that F4SE is out we can look forward bigger and better mods than we’ve had up until now. It’s not currently known for definite whether things like F4SE will work on the console versions of Fallout 4, which is getting mod support for the first time in the near future. Considering the installation of F4SE requires you to go into game files not normally needed for mods, I wouldn't get your hopes up.

But for PC players, you should expect it to be a pretty essential download if you want to improve your Commonwealth in any meaningful way.

Fallout 4 Script Extender has arrived, and with it the ability to make bigger mods for the game screenshot

Minecraft Pocket Edition and Windows 10 Edition finally have redstone

Posted: 22 Nov 2015 08:00 PM PST

Redstone is one of the most important things in Minecraft. It lets people build incredibly impressive things such as self-performing songs and fully-functioning computers. Seriously, the kind of stuff some people can do with redstone is amazing when all I can do is kind of get a door to open when I get near it.

Now you’ll finally be able to do some redstone wizardry on your mobile or Windows 10 device, as it’s finally come to Minecraft Pocket Edition and Minecraft Windows 10 Edition, which are both developed side-by-side.

As well as redstone tools, the newest update introduces bunnies, desert temples, a wider range of wooden doors, plenty of tweaks and bug-fixes, and it finally removed Herobrine.

You can see the full patch notes on the Mojang website.

We’re getting closer to feature parity with the console and main PC build, which is exciting. The Windows 10 version of Minecraft runs so much better, so it’ll be great when it’s finished.

Minecraft Pocket Edition and Windows 10 Edition finally have redstone screenshot

Overkill: 'For all the distress we've caused the past few weeks... we're sorry'

Posted: 22 Nov 2015 07:00 PM PST

Last week Payday 2 developer Overkill had a sit down to discuss various things with their Steam community moderators, who had gone on strike following even further tweaks to the game’s controversial new microtransactions.

Now Overkill has taken to their own steam forums to make an apology for uh… something. They never explicitly mention the microtransactions that caused this mess for them in the first place. They simply apologise for something, say they’ll fix it somehow, and then go on to talk about all the community figureheads they’ll be talking to shortly.

The past few weeks have been some of the most challenging in the history of this community. Players have been angry with us, media have written about us en masse and our volunteer moderators went on strike. For all the distress we've caused the past few weeks, I'd just like to take the time and say that we’re sorry. We've done a lot of things right in the past, but these past few weeks we screwed up.

We need to get better at many things, and we will do our best to improve as soon as possible.

For some, this apology might well be enough. It’s nice to see a company at least acknowledge they’ve made a mistake, which God knows doesn’t happen enough in the games industry. It wouldn’t be fair not to give credit where it’s due, so at least Overkill know they’ve been shitty the past few weeks.

The problem I personally have with this statement is that isn’t saying anything we didn’t already know from their interview with the steam moderators. Overkill knows they’ve screwed up, but it seem to believe it was a problem of simply not explaining the changes well enough to players, as opposed to going against their previous word and implementing those changes in the first place.

They acknowledge the “distress” they have caused, but without putting concrete plans in place to actually fix the problem, the apology is pointless. They even discuss an apparently undocumented conversation they had with the Steam community moderators, in which they gave suggestions on how to 'improve' the microtransactions and the underwhelming Completely Overkill pack. Sounds good, right?

Except then Overkill state that although they've had these suggestions and are "discussing" them, there is no promise they or any other change will actually be made:

Today we had a meeting with Ashley and Jones, two of our volunteer moderators. Ashley and Jones has been collecting questions from the community that we discussed during the meeting. Two of the topics were stat boosts and the latest COP [Completely Overkill Pack] reward. We're currently looking into what we can do to make up for the final COP-reward. Ashley and Jones gave several suggestions from the community that we are currently discussing internally. Our main goal is to try to find a way to reduce or remove the random elements of the final reward, whatever that reward will be.

Regarding stat boosts, Ashley and Jones suggested that we introduce something similar to StatTrak as part of future safes, a feature used in CS:GO in their cases. This is something we've been thinking about as well, and something that we will discuss going forward. I must stress however that we cannot currently make any promises but these are things we will be discussing as we move forward.

The big problem isn’t Overkill not listening to their game’s community (although that is certainly a problem); their big problem is the entire weapon skin drop system that pissed everyone off in the first place. If their apology was genuine, that system would no longer be there. Yet it is, and there are no promises to change them.

I also think it's funny that after this non-apology they then describe at length the PR campaign they will be doing to try and sweep all of this controversy under the rug. But that's a whole other complaint for another day.

Just come on, Overkill. Payday 2 is a great game, but you keep making these really basic mistakes that you don't want to admit to. That is why people are angry.

Last week Payday 2 developer Overkill had a sit down to discuss various things with their Steam community moderators, who had gone on strike following even further tweaks to the game’s controversial new microtransactions.

Now Overkill has taken to their own steam forums to make an apology for uh… something. They never explicitly mention the microtransactions that caused this mess for them in the first place, nor do they talk about the Overkill Pack being completely underwhelming.

They simply apologise for something, say they’ll fix it somehow, and then go on to talk about all the community figureheads they’ll be talking to shortly.

“The past few weeks have been some of the most challenging in the history of this community. Players have been angry with us, media have written about us en masse and our volunteer moderators went on strike. For all the distress we've caused the past few weeks, I'd just like to take the time and say that we’re sorry. We've done a lot of things right in the past, but these past few weeks we screwed up.

We need to get better at many things, and we will do our best to improve as soon as possible.”

For some, this apology might well be enough. It’s nice to see a company at least acknowledge they’ve made a mistake, which God knows doesn’t happen enough in the games industry. It wouldn’t be fair to give credit where it’s due, so at least Overkill know they’ve been shitty the past few weeks.

The problem I personally have with this statement is that isn’t saying anything we didn’t already know from their interview with the steam moderators. Overkill knows they’ve screwed up, but it seem to believe it was a problem of simply not explaining the changes well enough to players, as opposed to going against their previous word and implementing those changes in the first place.

They acknowledge the “distress” they have caused, but without putting concrete plans in place to actually fix the problem the apology is pointless. The big problem isn’t Overkill not listening to their game’s community (although that is a problem); their big problem is the entire weapon skin drop system that pissed everyone off in the first place.

Join us next week for another gripping episode of “Overkill Does the Stupidest Things”!

Overkill: 'For all the distress we've caused the past few weeks... we're sorry' screenshot

White Wolf can still license World of Darkness to other publishers

Posted: 22 Nov 2015 06:00 PM PST

People got cautiously excited when Paradox bought the popular tabletop World of Darkness IP and its creator White Wolf last month. The publisher is known mainly for grand strategy games (developed in-house) as well as their smaller titles by external developers like The Showdown Effect or Magicka.

World of Darkness hasn’t really had much of a presence in videogames bar the late Troika’s fantastic Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and CCP’s cancelled MMO, so trying to figure out what Paradox have planned for White Wolf has been tricky.

Thanks to an interview for Rock, Paper, Shotgun with White Wolf CEO Tobias Sjögren, we now know that maybe White Wolf and Paradox’s relationship is a bit more fluid that we may have expected it to have been. When asked about whether White Wolf could license their IP to other developers and publishers, he said:

Like most publishers out there Paradox is specialised and does certain types of games better than anyone else.

But if there is a publisher that is a better fit than Paradox for a product that White Wolf would like to license, we are definitely set to do the deal with that publisher. White Wolf is here to do what is best for Exalted and World of Darkness and the fans who love these properties.

It’s interesting that Paradox would buy an already established studio and their popular IPs, and then allow them to license the games on to third parties instead of go through their now established channels.

However, it’s also a good, low-risk move: Paradox might not want to take the risk on more ambitious titles like Bloodlines was when it came out, and so they can still make a tidy sum just by licensing the IP out to others. Plus it allows them to build up some more awareness for the IP in a way that doesn’t require the company to throw their own development studio at it all the time.

This statement doesn’t necessarily mean anything is currently ready to be announced though, so don’t go getting your hopes up. When asked about whether anything like CCP’s canned MMO would happen again, Sjögren said:

It is too early in the process and we currently don’t comment on any product strategies.

Bummer.

Still, it’s nice to know that White Wolf have relative autonomy following the acquisition. As awesome as a Paradox developed Crusader Kings­-style Vampire: The Masquerade would be, there are still lots of people eager for some sort of a continuation to Bloodlines.

White Wolf Interview: “There Have Not Been Enough Video Games Set In The World Of Darkness” [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

White Wolf can still license World of Darkness to other publishers screenshot

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