Blizzard has announced that it will be releasing the 1st new patch for WarCraft 3 since 2011. As with the Diablo 2 patch, released last week, it is likely that WC3 update will be focused on making the game run better on newer operating systems. In a video released for the very active Chinese WC3 community, Robert Bridenbecker said that this is the first stop among many improvements for the game.
On March 15 Shot Online will be updated with a huge content expansion that brings more than 5000 minutes of gametime to players. The content includes 160 quests, special AI bots that allow players to benefit from party experience gains. To celebrate the release, the team will be hosting a number of in-game events to boost characters to higher scenario levels.
Webzen has announced the release of the Season 11 Part 1 for MU Online that includes a number of content expansions such as a new area for high level characters and new set items.
Portalarium has published the latest newsletter that has some information about the development behind several locations in the game: Brittany, capital of Novia, Skrekk and Shores of Malice. In addition to that, the newsletter details a fan created PvP/Entertainment event called Sandillox Wrestling Federation and St. Patrick's day Pre-party in the city of Owl's head.
The team behind Darkfall: Rise of Agon has posted the first information about the release schedule for its version of the game. Alpha is expected early in Quarter 2, 2016, with closed beta in the summer and public beta in late 2016.
Bungie has released a new video to give interested viewers a behind the scenes look at how the sounds and music of the game were created and implemented. It's a fascinating look at some of the unsung heroes of Destiny's development.
Epic Games has released latest in the series of Paragon gameplay videos, this time featuring Gadget, one of the game's casters. Gadget's abilities and skills are shown, so take a look and let us know what you think!
My thoughts on The Division so far. I have a lot of them actually I like the game. But I think they have a way to go on a few things. I'll cover them in the pro's and the cons.
This is an overview and guide of Tree of Savior's Pyromancer class that aims to give light on the many aspects of the class, how it works and if it is right for you.
Nowadays, the MMO industry seems to have attuned to every other industry, in terms of pumping out products as fast as possible regardless of quality. Are MMORPGs Gradually Becoming Less Addictive? Let's have a look.
[Sup Holmes is a weekly talk show for people that make great video games. It airs live every Sunday at 4:00pm EST on YouTube, and can be found in Podcast form on Libsyn and iTunes.]
We've had some great game dev duos on Sup Holmes in the past, including Rami and J.W. from Vlambeer, Dennis and Jonatan from Dennaton, Jo and George from White Whale Games, Sarah and Colin from Northway Games, and many more. Seeing how the relationship between two developers bleeds into their style of game design never stops being interesting to me. Good thing there doesn't seem to be any shortage of game development teams out there that fit the bill.
Above with have Joni and Sean, creators of Anodyne (coming soon to Xbox One and PS4) and the upcoming Even the Ocean. Their particular interpersonal dynamics played a huge part in how their games have turned out, with their latest being the most interesting mesh of their individual personalities yet. The same goes for the creators of the sloppy make-out simulator, Smooth Operator, who's episode of Sup Holmes can be found... below.
As for tomorrow's episode, we're lucky to be joined Danielle McRae, voice actress from Skullgirls, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. We may even be able to announce a game that we're both going to be in! Or not! I honestly don't know! You'll haed to watch it live to find out.
It seems as if the Shadow Jago toy release for Killer Instinct was a success, so Ultimate Source is giving it another go with the iconic Fulgore. The toy company notes that it will be release "very, very soon," and he'll arrive with Spinal, Jago, Hisako, and Sabrewulf this month. I uh, may need to get one of these.
Oh, and like Shadow Jago, all the toys will unlock an extra costume with an accompanying code, amiibo style.
Like many of you, I expected Pokkén Tournament to play like Tekken but with Pokémon in the ring instead of the usually assortment of robots, animals, and other eccentrics from Namco's long-running fighting franchise. Boy was I wrong. Pokkén has some elements in common with Naruto Shippuden, Dead or Alive, Marvel vs. Capcom, but not much about it feels like Tekken.
More than anything, I've been taken aback by how much breadth and depth there is to be found here. While depth in a fighting game is usually measured by how far down the skill hole you can get each character through that game's specific combat system, breadth is measured more by how wide the potential tool set is in the game, and boy howdy, does Pokkén offer plenty of both. Not only does every character have a completely different move set from the last, but right off the bat, you start a round being able to move on the X, Y, and Z axis. That is until you or your opponent pull off one of a few specific types of moves, then presto-chango, you're suddenly playing a traditional 2D fighter. This makes Pokkén essentially two fighting games in one, overlapping each other in ways that allow skilled players to take advantage of both styles of play, sometimes in rapid succession.
There are also at least two overlapping "Rock Paper Scissors" power triangles to consider. Normal attacks blow through throws, throws intercept counters, and counters snuff normals, and on top of that, overheads are strong against low attacks, low attacks have priority over anti-airs, and like you probably already guessed, anti-airs almost always win against over heads. It's not quite as complicated as the strengths/weaknesses algorithm used in the mainline Pokémon games, but it's definitely up there compared to other games in the genre.
With a system that complex, it's not surprise that Marvel vs. Capcom pro-play legend Justin Wong and other well-known faces from the FGC have taken to the game. While Nintendo may have ended up with more a crowd-pleaser if it had diverted the budget for Pokkén to a Pokémon Snap sequel, it may still end up with a hit on its hands here. It's just question of how many people out there have the drive and the interest to pick up a fighting game that feels truly new.
Does the team over at Arc System Works ever sleep?
In addition to making dope fighting games they also branch out to just about every genre imaginable, and that includes remaking the original River City Ransom for 3DS. It's called River City Ransom SP, and will have additional content added on top of a reworked visual style. There's also a 2D fighter minigame added, and an enhanced RPG system.
I love campy medieval guff. If there's a knight strutting around a small wooden village of peasants under the command of a king eating an over-sized turkey leg, I am totally up for it. And that’s exactly why I was drawn to A Bastard’s Tale.
It's been a little over half a year since WildStar went free-to-play, but developer Carbine Studios is still going through a tough period. They've just announced a number of layoffs, and accompanying them is the decision to cancel the launch of the game in China -- a country that contributes huge MMO numbers.
The studio shared the news on their forums, noting:
Earlier this morning, Carbine Studios completed a reorganization of its operating structure. Moving forward, the studio will focus on operating and updating WildStar as a live game in the US and Europe. As part of this change, the studio has canceled its plans to bring WildStar to China. Unfortunately, as a result of these changes, we’ve had to reduce staff. These cuts are directly tied to WildStar’s evolution from a product in development to a live title, to the cancelation of work to bring WildStar to China, and to the overall performance of WildStar since launch in 2014.
Sad news for sure. WildStar is a great game with a killer art style, but it struggled to keep its hardcore fans satisfied very early on, likely bleeding subscribers.
Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.
It will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.
This entry is all about Super Metroid. Feel free to share some of your own favorite things about the game in the comments!
I've been playing Nintendo Badge Arcade all week thanks to the extra two free plays to celebrate one million downloads, and now Europe is getting another cool little promotion. Their version of Arcade is getting three free plays instead of two per day. Also, if you net the bonus, you'll get another free play.
The free-to-play scheme doesn't seem ideal, but as many of us in the community have attested to, we've acquired a ton (sometimes, hundreds) of badges without paying a cent to help decorate the 3DS menu. It feels better than paying for Xbox One or PSN avatars or icons.
Japan is inching ever closer though, as fans who pre-order tickets to the film, Volcanion & The Ingenius Magearna, will snag one. From April 16 on, you can find the serial code on the actual ticket, a promotion that will run until July 16. It'll be level 70 when players finally get it.
In other Pokémon news, CoroCoro will also start releasing "monthly updates" on Sun & Moon starting April 15.
The puzzle game was initially supposed to arrive next Monday, March 14, but is now being delayed until April 25 to give the publisher more time to test the game and iron out any bugs.
Destructoid's resident horror expert Zack Furniss recently took the PC version for a spin, and didn't find many problems wit the port, but it's always nice to see publishers take some extra time to ensure every player has a smooth experience, rather than rush games out to market before they're ready.
When Harmonix first announced Amplitude, it was gunning for a PS3 and PS4 release. But January came, and nothing was said about the former. According to the publisher the wait is over, and it will hit last generation systems sometime in April after certification. Harmonix notes that backer codes will have Cross-Buy capabilities.
I found this round of Amplitude to be less compelling than the first, mostly because it lacked a distinct identity this time around.
[Update: Fallout 4's 1.4 console patch is now live.]
Ah Fallout 4. You had so many good things going for you, but Bethesda kind of...forgot how to do a good story over the years? Obsidian held up the series honorably with Vegas but where are these awesome Morrowind and even Oblivion/Shivering Isles-esque storylines?
Alas, if you're still big into Fallout 4 and happen to play on a console, Bethesda is prepping patch 1.4 as we speak. It'll go live by the "end of the week" on PS4 and Xbox One, and the update is already available on PC. You can read all about its various fixes here.
The Automatron DLC is still coming this month for $9.99, though the publisher has not named a date yet.
Not much else is known about the Nintendo 3DS game at this time, other than that it's coming to the Nintendo 3DS eShop in Japan sometime this spring. A western release hasn't been announced.
Stella Glowis out now across Europe, NIS America has announced.
The SRPG is the final game from developer Imageepoch (Time and Eternity, Criminal Girls), as the studio was forced to closed its doors one month before the Nintendo 3DS title was released in Japan.
While Stella Glow couldn't save Imageepoch from declining sales and insurmountable debts, it did, at the very least, manage to be a enjoyable role-playing game and fitting swan song for the studio.
Atlus USA released Stella Glow in North America last November.
