Gears of War Creator Cliff Bleszinski directed his followers on Twitter to a concept art gallery for his new, free-to-play first-person shooter currently codenamed , eventually opening his own studio, Boss Key Productions.
The studio's first title, Project Bluestreak, is set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world. The PC game will be published by free-to-play juggernaut Nexon America. No release date for the game has been announced.
No, Microsoft isn't trying to buy the Silent Hill franchise from Konami, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has recent reports of its intention to distance itself from the console gaming market in favour of mobile, as well as rumors surrounding the departure of Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima.
"Konami will continue to embrace the challenge of creating entertainment content via different platforms," Konami president Hideki Hayakawa said said. "Not only mobile platforms, but for home consoles, arcade units, and cards, to meet the changing needs of the times."
Ubisoft has retired Frag Dolls, its all-female professional gamer team, 11 years after it was founded, the Frag Dolls have announced.
"The Frag Dolls team – after almost 11 years, 22 team members, and who-knows-how-many games played together – is finally being retired," Frag Doll Morgan "Rhoulette FD" Romine, who retired from her role as Team Captain of the Frag Dolls in 2011 said in a post to
"Sad as it is to see something we have loved so much, for so long, reach its final days, there is a sweetness in this simple closure," Romine said. "As the wide community of gamers grows up, we are beginning to learn how to incorporate this burgeoning diversity into our cultural identity. There are growing pains, like with any cultural sea change. But as we say goodbye to the Frag Dolls, we welcome the emerging world in which it will be taken for granted that women do, of course, play and love games, because video games truly are for everyone."
Ubisoft didn't say why it was retiring the Frag Dolls, but several team members have left this year.
Romine thanked Ubisoft for its support over the years, and cited the team's Cadette program as its proudest accomplishment. The program, which provided mentorship and work experience in the gaming industry, helped more than 80 women land jobs at Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Nintendo, Oculus, and more.
According to Frag Dolls' website, the team also made history by becoming the first all-female team to take the first place in a professional LAN tournament (the Cyberathlete Professional League).
Welcome back to games have such lovely visuals, imaginative gameplay, and silly humor. I enjoy all these elements on paper, but I've never quite connected with them in LittleBigPlanet. I can't put my finger on why that is exactly. Maybe Media Molecule's new PlayStation 4 game will have something I'm terested in.
E3 is the biggest event of the year for the gaming industry, but it's always been a trade show closed to the public. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the organization that puts on E3, is starting to change that this year.
ESA's senior vice president of consumer and industry affairs Rich Taylor told .
Oculus VR, owned by Facebook, reached into its wallet this week and bought computer vision company Surreal Vision. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but here's what Surreal Vision had to say about the deal. "Ultimately, these types of technologies will lead to VR and AR systems that can be used in any condition, day or night, indoors or outdoors. They will open the door to true telepresence, where people can visit anyone, anywhere."
Activision spent $500 million on the development and promotion of Destiny, the most expensive game ever made. Destiny cost more than most summer blockbusters!
2. Grand Theft Auto V - 2013
In Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V, you can hijack an armored truck. The game's developers might've had to do the same, given the $265 million price tag on the open-world action game.
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 2009
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was an incredibly successful game that cost about $50 million to develop. Add on $200 million on launch and marketing costs, you've got a quarter-mil invested.
4. Star Wars: The Old Republic - 2011
The Star Wars MMORPG was developed by more than 800 people over six years and cost $200 million.
5. Final Fantasy VII - 1997
Spending $145 million on a game made in the '90s is hard to wrap your mind around. At least the final product was one of the best RPGs of all time.
6. Shenmue II - 2001
The sequel to the original Shenmue cost $132 million.
7. Max Payne 3 - 2012
The gritty shooter from Rockstar was a $105 million expenditure for the developer. It sure was a better use of money than the movie.
8. Grand Theft Auto IV - 2008
Back in 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV was the most expensive game of all time, at $100M. Now that figure looks minuscule in comparison to other games' big budgets.
9. Too Human - 2008
The Xbox 360 exclusive cost developer Silicon Knights $100 million to make. A sequel to the expensive original is reportedly in the works.
10. Red Dead Redemption - 2010
Red Dead Redemption will go down as one of Rockstar's greatest efforts. Venturing into the wild, wild west tallied $100 million for the GTA developer.
11. Disney Infinity - 2013
Disney put more than $100 million into the Infinity franchise. Disney Infinity uses various figurines that sync with the game and allow custom, interchangeable gameplay.
12. Deadpool - 2013
Activision's High Moon Studios spent an estimated $100 million on Deadpool. Unfortunately, the game was released to less-than-stellar reviews.
13. Tomb Raider - 2013
Reboots are never cheap, but they can definitely be worth it. This fresh take on the Tomb Raider franchise revitalized the game series and was well worth the $100 million price.
14. Defiance - 2013
Defiance was born out of a convergence of television and video games. Based on SyFy's series of the same name, an MMORPG was released at a price tag of $80 million.
15. Shenmue - 1999
An extremely pricey game to make at $70 million, Shenmue took seven years to develop and sold just 1.2 million copies.
16. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - 2008
With the amount of detail packed into Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, it's shocking that Konami was able to bring it to the masses for just $70 million.
17. Watch Dogs - 2014
Watch Dogs was long in development before its release in 2014. The open-world hacking adventure cost $68 million to make.
18. Crysis 3 - 2013
According to the Crytek CEO, the third installment in the Crysis series cost three times the original. That puts the charge at $66 million for one beautifully constructed game.
19. Final Fantasy XIII - 2009
The 2009 RPG from Square Enix cost the Japanese developer $65 million to produce.
20. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - 2012
The third-person cover-based shooter by Ubisoft comes in at $65 million.
Dragon Age: Inquisition players, a warning: If you venture out into the Emerald Graves too early, you regret it soon enough, thanks to an oddly stubborn fade rift with demons that dole out almost instant death.
2. The Great Palace
Who would have thought that mere birds could burn you from a distance in such an effective manner? In Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link, you find out.
3. Imperator Mar'gok
The latest World of Warcraft expansion introduces players to a super-hard ogre mage. Some have complained that the two-headed foe is actually too hard, compared with the rest of the game.
4. The Water Temple
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time has an underwater level featuring tons of doors, keys, levers, locks … and tears.
5. Big Score Obvious Approach
Fans of Grand Theft Auto V cite this mission as quite the pain, especially when players choose the higher-paying “obvious approach.” No wonder it pays $201.6 million.
6. The Great Maze
Don’t you just love facing off against all the bosses you’ve already killed? The creators of Super Smash Bros. Brawl seemed to think we would.
7. Tubular
In ‘80s-speak, tubular means “great.” Among Super Mario Bros. fans? Not so much.
8. Your random Dragon Priest
In Skyrim, some floating undead baddies can sport serious armor (such as powerful masks), not to mention very high magic skills.
9. Truth and Reconciliation
It can be tough to decide which task is the hardest in Halo: Combat Evolved. But plenty of fans still shudder when they recall this rescue mission, which is the first level in the game to introduce Hunters, Zealot Elites and Stealth Elites.
10. Chamber 18
As if this Portal room, packed with turrets and laser beams, isn’t taxing enough, you also get to hear GlaDOS threaten, “You will be baked and then there will be cake.” Thanks. Thanks a lot.
11. Master Core
This Super Smash Bros. boss eventually morphs into a candy-hued orb. Think that a gobstopper-colored ball is all pleasant and sweet just because it has pretty colors? Just try defeating it at level 9 intensity.
12. The Ender Dragon
Minecraft devotees know that defeating this boss isn’t just about hitting it; you also have to keep it away from ender crystals, which heal the creature.
12. Level 65
Candy is supposed to be fun. Candy is supposed to be a treat. But Level 65 of Candy Crush Saga is routinely described by players as quite the opposite of all that.
Twitch video game streamers are a colorful mixture of amateurs and pros all sharing the games they love. If you're new to Twitch, though, it can be a bit intimidating to find someone to watch. A pro like Felicia Day, famous for her hit series The Guild, has a charming and personable style. It's a great place to start before you jump into the weirder stuff.
2. TheMexicanRunner
The Mexican Runner is a man on a mission: play through and beat every single NES game ever released. Despite facing one of the hardest game catalogs of any system, this world record holder tenaciously marches forward. A must watch.
3. FishPlayStreetFighter
Nothing quite makes you feel like the future has arrived than watching a pair of fish compete in a game of Street Fighter live over the internet. It's a channel that lives up to its title, thanks to the ingenuity of their owner, who's mapped control inputs to sections of their fish tank. Take a moment to reflect on the wondrously strange world we live in.
4. Srwfe
If you thought Dark Souls was hard, try playing through the game using only your feet while millions watch in nervous anticipation. Even if you don't speak Mandarin or Taiwanese, watching Srwfe's amazing dexterity transcends national boundaries.
5. rabbitbong
Yoni has a diverse taste in games, ranging from League of Legends and Counter-Strike to more artsy fare like Child of Light. If you tune in often enough, you can even catch her singing impromptu renditions of They Might Be Giants songs.
6. GamesDoneQuick
Twitch has a ton of renown speed runners who plow through games with inhuman concentration and reflexes. Games Done Quick showcases a lot of these talented players while simultaneously raising money for charities like Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Incredible skills for an incredible cause.
7. IdleThumbs
Idle Thumbs is mainly known for their highly literate (and frequently silly) podcast, but their Twitch channel has gotten some much-needed attention with the recent addition of cast member Danielle Riendeau. You can catch obscure indie games, Bloodborne, Spelunky runs and more.
8. LAGTVMaximusBlack
Maximus Black became famous for his dual-lightsaber-wielding musical performances while comfortably dressed in authentic chain mail. If you need your game streaming laced with a healthy dose of absurdity, this is the fella for you.
9. itsHafu
Hafu became famous as a professional gamer with respectable showings in League of Legends, World of Warcraft, and most notably, Hearthstone. One of the coolest things about Twitch is watching pro players who are great at what they do and picking up some of their techniques.
10. TeamSp00ky
TeamSp00ky are the undisputed kings of the Twitch fighting game scene. They've been busy with Ultra Street Fighter IV, Mortal Kombat X, and Smash U lately. Make sure to tune in if you want to keep on top of the latest fighting game tournaments and events.
11. Virus610
Later this year, Nintendo is releasing a cool creator's tool called Mario Maker, It allows you to design your own Mario levels. There's already a thriving community of Mario ROM hacks, so if you want to explore the scene early, Virus610 has a great channel that regularly explores the strangest and most creative homemade Super Mario World tweaks.
12. StreamerHouse
It's like The Real World of video game streaming: A collection of gamers combined forces to set up more than 20 cameras in their house for 24/7 video game streaming. It's largely a novelty act, but you gotta respect the commitment to the cause.
13. Greenspeak
Jeff Green is a venerable games writer known for his work as editor-in-chief for Computer Gaming World magazine. He's also amassed quite a following for his amateur Dark Souls and Bloodborne streams on Twitch. With his decades of industry experience and hilarious style, Jeff runs circles around some of the younger subscription-obsessed streamers.
14. XeroKynos
Everyone with a soft spot for Final Fantasy should check out XeroKynos, who speedruns Final Fantasy VII, VIII & IX in gigantic one-sitting marathons. It's a fun way to relive memories of the classics with simply the best player around.
15. AriaBlarg
Aria Blag is a fun streamer whose infectious love for games really shines through. Her adorable family often shows up while she plays cute and odd titles such as Chulip, or Nintendo classics like Pokemon. She's also a talented painter, and you can frequently catch her crafting art that honors her favorite games.
16. DansGaming
Dan's channel exploded during his now-famous month-long horror game marathons. But he's still a regular guy with a down-to-earth sense of humor. He's currently playing a lot of Witcher in preparation for Witcher 3's release.
17. Tapezilla
Tapezilla grew out of a podcast supergroup, which, in turn, formed out of former IGN, 1up and Expert Gamer personalities. Now they're a successful Twitch stream with a good variety of retro games and newer releases. Come for the great game conversations. Stay for the randy dinosaur imagery.
18. missharvey
Stephanie "missharvey" Harvey is another pro player you'll want to watch, just to absorb her technical wizardry. She completely destroys at Counter-Strike, and she has a fun hosting style as well.
Resident Evil Zero is getting an HD remake; images of the new Xbox controller may have been discovered; and to get the best experience with Oculus Rift could cost $1,500.
Magicka 2 is even harder than its predecessor, which is really saying something.
Other changes are fairly minor. Movement is now smoother, and you can cast spells and run at the same time. You can pick a location, click to run to it, and then blast away at trailing enemies as you shuffle backwards. I found this incredibly helpful when retreating from crowds of monsters (well, at least until the game decided not to let me back up any farther). The old checkpoint save system has been automated with regular save locations that prevent a fair bit of backtracking (although there are some aggravating moments, and you are always set too far back if you get killed during boss battles). You can use unlockable artifacts to tweak gameplay, offering the ability to adjust everything from your health to enemy attacks and introducing goofy frills, like adding sitcom laughter to deaths. It’s an interesting concept, although I didn’t experiment much here. Artifacts seem to hold promise in boosting replayability, though.
Visuals and sound are in the same ballpark as the original game, although the graphics are more colorful and better detailed and the sound is a little more amped up and cartoony. As with the first game, there is a pleasant atmosphere to everything, with a bright color palette, NPCs speaking gibberish, and constant self-lampooning jokes--right up until the moment the first wizard explodes into shreds of red goo. Nothing here is funny in a laugh-out-loud way, although the combination of good cheer and bloody murder is twisted enough to raise a few smiles.
Playing cooperatively is the only way to experience the murderous mayhem that is Magicka 2.
Bugs are something of a concern. The game is stable enough that I didn’t experience any crashes, but I did run into a couple of glitches playing solo. Every so often, getting killed by the exit to a level’s section during the campaign would throw me into the next section as if I’d slain the bad guys. Given the spectacular difficulty of many of these fights, I wasn’t complaining. Still, there’s obviously a bug here.
Respawning is messed up in solo play. Almost without fail, getting killed once in the midst of a mob of enemies results in getting killed twice in the midst of a mob of enemies because you always respawn within inches of where you were murdered in the first place. To make matters even worse, you can sustain damage almost from the moment you appear, and magicks (including Haste, which is spectacularly useful in these situations), are greyed out for what seems like a thousand years after you pop back into existence. Because getting taken out twice sends you back to a save point, this automatic second strike is incredibly annoying.
Battles can get just a teensy bit chaotic, especially in Magicka 2 co-op, which is really the best and only way to experience the game.
A lot of the discussion above sounds pretty negative. That’s with good reason--I have to admit that at many times, solo Magicka 2 almost made me throw my mouse through my office window. But the terrific magic system, joyous carnage, and the ability to ditch single-player for the vastly more enjoyable co-op rescued the game and made it almost as compelling as the typical “after” model featured in a late-night infomercial. If you’re a social type, this is a must-play. But loners might want to give this one a pass, at least until the developers scale the difficulty better for single mages.
The official charging cradle designed for use with the New
Much like the charging cradle for the non-New variants of 3DS, this lets you easily drop your system in and charge it without having to specifically plug it in. This cradle is slightly different, however, in that the system stands up on its top when it's docked (rather than laying flat).
It's a minor convenience, but given the 3DS' relatively lackluster battery life, it makes it easier to keep the system charged at all times.
The charging cradle costs $15, with shipping prices starting at $5. Just the like system itself, an AC adapter is not included.
Watch extended gameplay footage from Splatoon featuring the Giant Bomb crew.
Resident Evil Zero is getting an HD remake; images of the new Xbox controller may have been discovered; and to get the best experience with Oculus Rift could cost $1,500.
Watch Ken take on Guile in the new port of Ultra Street Fighter IV on the PlayStation 4.
