Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Gets Brutal New Trailer, PC Release Date

Capcom provided two big updates on their squad-based shooter Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City today.

today. For starters, they've released a gory new trailer entitled "Brutality."

Operation Raccoon City brings players back to the zombie-infested town seen in Resident Evil 2 and other games. However, this time you'll experience the action from a different perspective. Players control members of the Umbrella Security Service, a highly-trained and well-armed team sent to eliminate any evidence of Umbrella's involvement in the breakout.

Being corporate mercenaries, the USS team isn't bound to any sort of moral code.They'll gladly use a human survivor as a shield in battle. They're also well-accustomed to the sight of blood; the trailer shows them dispatching enemies in extremely grisly ways.

In addition to releasing the trailer, Capcom firmed up some details about the PC version. Raccoon City will hit the PC on May 18th. As compensation for making PC gamers wait two more months than console gamers, Capcom will be including NVIDIA 3D support.

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Assassin's Creed Syndicate's first-week sales impacted by Unity's troubled launch

It seems Assassin’s Creed Unity’s shaky launch haunted the first-week sales of the recently released Syndicate.

As part of Ubisoft’s latest earnings report, the publisher revealed some details on Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s launch performance. While specifics were not released, Ubisoft did say that first-week sales for Syndicate were down when compared to Unity. Second-week sales did improve, however.

CFO Alain Martinez mentioned during an earnings call that Syndicate’s first-week performance was impacted “by what had happened with Assassin’s Creed Unity.” Unity’s launch in 2014 was plagued by bugs and technical issues, though Syndicate’s launch was much smoother. This could be why sales improved in the game’s second week.

CEO Yves Guillemot mentioned that reviews for Syndicate were mostly positive, and that word of mouth is acting in the game’s favor. He added that Syndicate’s sales trend resembles that of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which sold 10 million copies by the end of 2014. Guillemot also said that Syndicate’s total playtime is “massively up” when compared to Unity. For digital versions of the latest Assassin’s Creed, “all key metrics” showed improvement over Unity.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The PC edition is coming later this month. You can check out Gamespresso’s review of Syndicate here.

Halo 5 is getting infected with a new mode

Perhaps one of Halo’s most iconic game modes, Infection, is making its way to Halo 5 multiplayer.

The announcement was made during a 343 Industries live stream, in which they offered a teaser trailer for the returning mode. You can take a look at the trailer below, or on their YouTube page.

Infection first made an appearance in Halo 3, modeled after the ever popular custom mode found in Halo 2, Zombie Mode. Since then the multiplayer game mode has been featured in both Halo Reach and Halo 2: Anniversary Edition.

Infection features two separate teams, splitting players off according to how many Alpha Zombies are to be in the round. The two teams, Survivors and Zombies, are then put into a map where they’ll go head to head.

If you are killed by a zombie, you switch teams and are then trying to help kill the remaining survivors. The goal of the survivor is to last until the end of the round, with odds of survival getting slimmer as each team mates is killed.

If only one player is left on the survivor team, they become “Last Man Standing”. At this point the player is given unique traits, typically a waypoint revealing their location is included. Survival becomes an extreme challenge at this point, unlikely that you’ll make it to the end of the round.

Street Fighter 5 DLC Characters? Get Your First Details Here

We already knew that DLC characters would be coming to Street Fighter V , but now Capcom has begun the process of releasing details as to what fans can actually expect out of the game’s post-launch plans.

Until now, the latest crop of details surrounding Street Fighter V came to us via the PlayStation Experience hosted earlier this December. Now, thanks to a recent interview with 4Gamer, Street Fighter V Producer Koichi Sugiyama has started to talk a little more directly about what fighting fans can expect out of the game’s first five DLC characters.

Along with releasing lots of new trailers for fighters new and old over the past several months, Capcomhas revealed that five additional fighters are currently planned to kick it up a notch in Street Fighter V , including Urien, Juri, Ibuki, Alex, Balrog and Guile.

Sugiyama explained that details are especially scarce on those characters because they are still early on in the development stage, though team member Woshige said that fans should expect to hear some additional information soon, as he’s already got plans on how he wants the fighters to turn out. Will Guile get a Ryu-esque beard? Could Cammy’s butt slap be transferred to Balrog? Only time will tell.

As for the timing of release, it sounds like Capcom is planning to bring out the fighters one at a time, every two months. That would mean a year’s worth of DLC following the initial launch of Street Fighter V later this year. That’s great news, especially since Capcom has already pulled back the curtain on a surprising new delivery method.

For starters, yes, you will be able to buy the new DLC charactersas they are released. You won’t have to purchase them, however, as you’ll also be able to spend a form of in-game currency called Fight Money. You’ll earn Fight Money simply by playing the game, taking the battle online and competing in daily challenges. In other words, Capcom is using DLC characters as a way to reward the game’s most loyal players, which is also a great way to get less dedicated players to put in some additional time with the game to keep the community more active.

Even better is the fact that, unlike the past decade’s worth of fighting games like Street Fighter IV , BlazBlue and the like, Capcom has promised that there won’t be a new version of Street Fighter V every year. One version of the game will launch for PlayStation 4 and PCin 2016 and all updates will be plugged into that version of the game rather than requiring payers to keep buying the newest version with some tweaks and additional characters thrown in. This model sounds like a step in the right direction, one that should save gamers some money as well as keep the folks who play the game united under a single umbrella.

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New Street Fighter V Trailer Shows Types Of Gameplay

Capcom has released a new three minute trailer detailing all the different game modes that will be available in Street Fighter V on day one when it launches on PC and PS4 on February 16th.

on day one when it launches on PC and PS4 on February 16th. The game will feature Tutorial, Story, Survival, Training and Network modes.

You can check out the trailer that covers each mode via the Street FighterYouTube account.



As the video details, the Tutorial Mode teaches you how to play while also covering some very basic story elements between Ryu and Ken when they were young and learning how to fight. This hearkens back to the days of Street Fighter: Alpha , where it took place in the old days before Ryu became a world weary fighter and Ken became a movie star.

The Story Mode follows the story for each of the characters on the roster, both new and old. The mode will be a lot more in-depth than previous Street Fighter games where character stories were usually last minute additions that were barely fleshed out and had throwaway endings. Given that Mortal Kombat X really stepped up their game in the story department (though admittedly the story wasn't quite as good as Mortal Kombat 9 ) Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono has decided to rival NetherRealm with an equally compelling story for the Street Fighter pugilists. The mode isn't just about characterization, though, it allows you to unlock story mode costumes for the characters. The costumes can be unlocked either with the in-game fight money or via the cash shop using real money.

There's also a Survival Mode, offering an endless wave of fighters for players to face off against that get increasingly difficult. The trailer above reveals that there is more to it than just fighting an opponent forever; there are also specific battle conditions in the mode as well. This sounds a little like the survival mode in the older King of Fighters and Soul Calibur games where various conditions were added to the match that players would have to overcome.

The Training Mode is also making a comeback so that players can test out their moves and get the most out of the game's characters. Now the one thing that I thought was fascinating is that what's new in Street Fighter V is the ability to assign training conditions to the DualShock 4's Touchpad. That's right, you can have the AI perform certain actions or even assign specific reset conditions to positions on the Touchpad. That should make training a lot more streamlined than in previous games and limit how often players will have to go into the options menu to reset the conditions of the training session.

Last but not least is the Network Mode, which has been finely tuned for online play for casuals, hardcore tournament players and everyone else in between. You can play in online ranked matches to move up the stats and potentially become the best in the world, or you can settle for playing casually and just for fun.

What's really cool about the Network Mode is that it's possible to play the Story Mode or dip into Training while you wait for matchmaking to find you an opponent. Another feature is the ability to see where you and others rank using the new Capcom Fighter Network, which ranks players, tracks their stats and even allows others to check out replays of these players. It's an all new profile initiative by Capcom that will give the FGC even more options on how they view and interact with other players.

Street Fighter V is set to arrive on PC and PS4 starting February 16th.

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Xbox Boss explains why Halo 5 isn't headed to PC anytime soon

Talking at a media Q&A at Microsoft’s Build 2016, Xbox Head Phil Spencer addressed questions about whether the Xbox One’s biggest game would head over to PC.

“In terms of Halo FPS on PC, I think there’s a ton of opportunity for us right now, but I don’t want to get into a world where we’re looking back, like at Halo 5,” Spencer said according to a report by PC Gamer. “It doesn’t mean there’s nothing there that could ever end up on PC, but I’d much rather look forward with what our plans are.”

The Xbox Boss felt that games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza 6, and Quantum Break work on both platforms, but the process shouldn’t be applied to every title. “I don’t want to make it some kind of artificial mandate, because then I think we end up with ‘Frankengames’, games that really weren’t meant for a certain platform. And because some suit said, ‘Hey, everything’s gotta run on both platforms’, you end up with something people don’t want.”

Spencer continued, “You should expect it when franchises look like they belong on both platforms, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a mandate for the studios because it’s not.”

Fans have been asking about a PC portever since the game came out last October, but with the consistent repsonse from Microsoft and 343 Indutries that it won’t happen, fans can only dream that they’ll one day see Halo 5 on PC.

Street Fighter 5 For PC Didn't Do So Hot In Its First Week Of Sales

It looks like Capcom’s latest fighting game, Street Fighter V , isn’t doing so hot on PC.

, isn’t doing so hot on PC. According to the latest figures, the game has barely moved more than 100,000 units in its first couple of weeks on virtual shelves.

These figures come do us via Steam Spy, who is reporting that Street Fighter V has only sold 106,589 copies since launching on Steam a little over a week ago. That figure apparently has a margin of error for just over 7,000 units, so it’s probably not too far off the mark. That’s…well, that’s not a whole lot of copies. By comparison, Fire Emblem Fates launched last Friday and, according to Nintendo, that game shipped 300,000 copies in its first weekend along. We’re not exactly comparing apples and oranges here, but since Fire Emblem launched around the same time as Street Fighter V , we can at least rule out the possibility that people just forgot that video games existed for a week.

Unfortunately, we don’t have console sales figures for Street Fighter V on the PlayStation 4 just yet but, if I had to make a guess, those numbers will likely make up for the game’s poor performance on PC. I’d wager that most folks are playing the game in front of the TV, not the monitor. Then again, some pretty rough early reviews for Street Fighter V has it pegged as a pretty buggy mess at times, and there’s also the fact that an expected mode or two are missing. Maybe folks are just waiting for the game to stabilize before jumping in?

To further drive home how poorly the game is doing on Steam, the stats include the fact that the peak number of concurrent Street Fighter V players yesterday was just 6,329. Again, that’s not a great figure for a competitive multiplayer game that launched just a couple of weeks ago.

Far be it for us to judge, but we’ve got to stop and wonder why Capcom didn’t promote the PC version of Street Fighter V as heavily as the PlayStation 4 version. They kept billing it as a PS4 “exclusive” in the early goings, then sort of mumbled under their breath that it was also coming to PC. Given the shoddy state that the PC version of the game is in, it’s possible that early warning signs made it clear that the PC version of the game was going to have a rough launch, but now we’re straying completely into the realm of conjecture.

So tell us, readers, did you pick up Street Fighter V for PC? If so, how has your experience been so far? If not, and you were originally planning to, what has kept you from pulling the trigger? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Halo 5's new Warzone Turbo mode available for a limited time

343 Industries has announced a new game mode for Halo 5, but the caveat is that it’s only available for a limited time.

a new game mode for Halo 5, but the caveat is that it’s only available for a limited time. Warzone Turbo takes the classic large scale Warzone and makes everything more frantic by boosting players to level 9 once the home base is secure. Players also get “near-instantaneous energy regeneration” and have full access to their entire REQs throughout the entire match.

“Funny enough, originally we had no plans to ever release Warzone Turbo,” Lead Multiplayer Designer Lawrence Metten said on the site. “We created the game type at the request of our test team so that they could more efficiently test Warzone features and functionality without having to wait to level up or refill energy. Then one day we made the “mistake” of giving the mode a whirl during our afternoon studio playtest. It was incredibly chaotic and surprisingly a ton of fun to play.”

Metten continued, “After a bit of extra polish, a couple tuning tweaks, and a handful of scattered adjustments later and Warzone Turbo is ready foryour enjoyment. I look forward to jumping into the playlist and joining the pandemonium with you all this weekend!”

Gamers who want to try out Warzone Turbo should act fast as the game mode is only available this weekend and will disappear Monday morning April 4th.

Watch This Baby Totally Dominate In Street Fighter V

When Capcom said that they were making Street Fighter V easy enough for casuals to pick up, I'm sure most people did not have in mind a baby mashing on the buttons of a fightstick and actually being able to win.

easy enough for casuals to pick up, I'm sure most people did not have in mind a baby mashing on the buttons of a fightstick and actually being able to win. Well, that's exactly what happened when a baby mashed on some buttons and beat the Story Mode with Birdie.

Kotakuspotted the video that has been making its way around the internet, featuring a young baby that can't even talk, mashing on the buttons of a fightstick and actually winning in Street Fighter V . You can check out the video below from YouTuber Papapaint.



It starts off with the baby punching and kicking F.A.N.G., to death in a somewhat close match. The baby manages to pull off one of Birdie's specials to finish up the match. There's similar results when Birdie takes on Chun-Li, managing to punch and kick his way to victory... nothing special, just the basic button mashing being employed.

The baby then faces off against Karin in the final match, but stops short of winning the match by just one hit. The parents encourage the baby to go in for the kill and win the Story mode in Street Fighter V .

It's a little hard to tell if the baby understood what was going on and if it knew that the game was actually being played or if it was just interested in mashing buttons. The six-month old baby seemed to understand in some way that the buttons corresponded to the characters reacting on screen; a couple of times the baby looks up to see if anything is happening and then proceeds to wiggle the joystick and duck its head down to mash on the buttons some more.

In a way, it's kind of impressive that a baby was able to play Street Fighter V . On the other end of the spectrum it looks kind of ridiculous that a baby was able to play and beat the Story Mode in the game. It makes it look like the game is designed to be a lot more dumbed down than Street Fighter IV .

Even still, the video is pretty funny seeing the baby concentrate enough on the fightstick to pull off a few specials and beat the opponents.

Some of the comments in the thread note that the video may be faked, but the dad in the video wrote in the description that Birdie has a few charge specials that can be executed by holding down a few buttons. In the video we see the baby do this a couple of times to unleash Birdie's charge special.

A couple of other characters have had similar charges throughout Street Fighter's history, so it's not too surprising that the baby was able to pull off a few moves. That's also probably why the dad picked Birdie for the baby to play. When Capcomsaid they had made the game more accessible, I wonder if they thought that it could be beaten by babies?

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Casual Street Fighter Gamers Might Be Able To Compete In eSports, Says Capcom

There are many out there like me who have not memorized the moves for Street Fighter games, but rather have button-mashing down to a science.

games, but rather have button-mashing down to a science. Well, your casual button-mashing ways might finally be acceptable in a Street Fightercompetition. Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono has been consistently stating in interviews that they want to broaden the audience for Street Fightergames and find ways to welcome new types of players.

In an interviewwith Engadget, Ono was asked about how much thought went into esports when developing Street Fighter V. Ono let some details slip about the direction of competitive play in the future, stating,
We want to reset the entire game so that we can reset the playing field and let lots of new people jump in and start competing.
Ono went on to explain that Capcom wants to cater more towards casual gamers within the Street Fighter universe.
Looking toward the future — it's not going to happen this year, but we're looking into creating tournaments geared more toward the casual player.
Plans to include more casual gamers in Street Fightercompetitive gaming could include things like parent and child competitions where the parent plays along with the child against other participants.

So while it’s not officially confirmed, it’s safe to say the esports world of Street Fighter might be filled with a whole new generation of gamers, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I know whenever I try to play Street Fighter online, I get whipped only because I have no idea how to do the special signature moves in the time that the other, more experienced player takes to take me out. And like me, there are plenty of Street Fighter fans who only wish they could compete for fun. Generally, casual competitions have been limited to places like video game stores, but the fact that they might be featured directly through Capcomis pretty thrilling and really opens up the esports world to those who formerly thought they weren’t good enough. I think Capcom is taking a brave step is tackling a new audience and willing to open up competitive gaming to a casual audience. Esports has always been for the hardcore, so it it will be interesting to see how the plan unfolds.

Street Fighter V will be releasing on February 16. You can read the whole interview with Yoshinori Ono and Engadget here.

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The Street Fighter 5 CG Trailer Is Just As Badass As You Think

Capcom released a CG trailer showcasing some of the new faces and a lot of returning characters as they prep for the game's release in the middle of February.

Capcom released a CG trailer showcasing some of the new faces and a lot of returning characters as they prep for the game's release in the middle of February. The trailer clocks in at just over three minutes and features many of the announced fighters as well as showcases how they look in action.

Gamespottook note of the trailer that Capcom posted, giving gamers a look at the Unreal Engine 4-powered graphics in action. You can check it out below.



Things start off with several characters lacing up their boots, tying their hair up in a knot and getting ready to head into battle. We see M. Bison walking through a corridor toward a bright light and we get to see Ryu meditating on a mountain.

What's interesting is that there's a strong story being told underneath all the flashy visuals and fancy attacks. Two stories in particular stand out: there's one with Charlie and M. Bison and one with Ryu and Necalli.

The Charlie Nash and M. Bison feud goes all the way back to the Street Fighter Alpha days, where Charlie was one of the top guys going after Bison. In the last Alpha game, Street Fighter Alpha 3 , Nash was presumed dead after fighting Bison in his lair and the lair being blown up. As we can see in the trailer above – and as Capcom revealed many months ago – Charlie is back in the fight and ready to get revenge. He appears to have parts of his body grafted together. It's interesting because he appears to be a serious top-tier character in Street Fighter V based on his original reveal trailer and how he's depicted in the CG spot above.

Charlie and Bison's rivalry will most certainly be an interesting story to explore in the game's new and improved story mode.

Another highlight in the Street Fighter V CG trailer is Ryu and Necalli. As mentioned, the two square off and hints of Evil Ryu are tossed in as the fighter gets frustrated going against the new face on the roster. Necalli activates his V-Trigger and appears to go in a rage mode. Fans are already speculating that he can feed on the raw energy of Evil Ryu and that he needs it to grow more powerful. This is similar to but not quite the same as Ryu's rivalry with Akuma.

Speaking of Akuma... it would be rad to see the fiery, red-haired demon pugilist step foot into the arena once more. It would be a dream fight to see him and Necalli go head to head in Street Fighter V .They have very contrasting styles but similar goals and personalities. Well at least Akuma
will be making his presence known in Tekken 7 later this year.

Anyway, gamers can look for Street Fighter V to go live on the PS4 and PC starting February 16.

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Crew Member Dies On The Set Of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

The set of the new Resident Evil movie has seemingly become an incredibly dangerous place to work.

movie has seemingly become an incredibly dangerous place to work. Only a couple months after a stuntwoman was in a terrible accidentthat left her in a coma, another crew member, who had nothing to do with stunts, died after sustaining an injury on the set. What’s worse, is that this accident happened nearly a month ago but the news is only now coming out.

Ricardo Cornelius was a crew member on the film’s shoot in South Africa when he was standing near a Humvee that was located on a rotating platform. Apparently, the Humvee was not properly secured and it slid off the platform. According to Deadline, when this happened it pinned Cornelius against a wall and crushed him. The crew member was rushed to the hospital and placed on life support, but he passed away a few hours later.

The curious thing is that this terrible accident apparently occurred on December 3rd, but has only come to light in the last day. There has been no public comment by the studio, director Paul W.S. Anderson, or anybody else involved in the production. At the very least you would expect a comment offering condolences to the man’s family. The complete silence is deafening. It’s understandable that from a business perspective nobody wants to make a big deal out of the tragedy, but by not saying anything at all it gives the impression that nobody cares.

It’s possible there was an intentional attempt to avoid even more bad publicity. This fatal tragedy comes on the heels of a near fatal one, where stuntwomanOlivia Jackson was in a motorcycle crash that left her in a coma. A camera on a mechanical arm failed to move out of the way, and Jackson crashed into it at hish speed. While she has since awoken from the coma, the accident resulted in her having an arm amputatedand left her with severe facial injuries.

The film has reportedly completed its production, which at the very least means that there won’t be any additional reports like this one. The new movie is also titled The Final Chapter and the word is that the franchise will be living up to the title and wrapping up after this so whatever curse is following the movie will not continue onto another.

Our condolences go out to the wife of Ricardo Cornelius, Shafiefa, who had only been married to the crew member for a year. Movies are supposed to be escapes from reality, so it’s truly awful when horrible things like this occur while trying to create entertainment.

Why Krampus Was The Silent Hill Movie I Always Wanted

This past Sunday marked the 17-year anniversary of the release of the very first Silent Hill game onto PlayStation.

game onto PlayStation. And even though a couple sad excuses for Silent Hil lmovies have attempted to recreate the horrifying story through film, I felt that there hadn’t been any as satisfying as the game itself—until I saw the movie, Krampus , this past Christmas.

Now you might grimace when I relate the movie, Silent Hill , to the 2015 holiday horror movie, but there are some very strong examples of why Krampus was everything I wanted a Silent Hill movie to be. And if you haven’t heard anything about Krampus or what it is, you can watch the trailer below.



First, the setting. Silent Hill was originally set in an abandoned, cursed town riddled with creatures from Hell and what fell from the sky was this unstoppable flurry of snow. In Krampus , when the presence of the demon fell over the neighborhood, it was overtaken by snow, which made visibility almost impossible. In Silent Hill , you could only rely on your radio to signal when a creature was near because of the bad visibility. When watching Krampus , seeing the snow immediately made me think of Silent Hill , but I quickly shook it off thinking it was nothing.

But then, the creatures came out. I had seen the previews for Krampus and knew some of the creatures were straight out of a Nightmare On Elm Street movie, but I wasn’t expecting such a likeness to one of my favorite video game franchises of all time. The jack-in-the-box in the attic transformed into a giant, man-eating slug with a mouth that was very similar to that of 1987’s Predator. And suddenly, I was thinking about the Scarlet boss in Silent Hill: Homecoming , the china doll that had transformed into a massive, spider-like creature. The creature design in Krampus was equally as terrifying as the design in Silent Hill . And do you remember the grey children from Silent Hill ? They attacked you at the beginning of the first game, and also revisited you in the school. They were small, dwarf-like creatures that came at you with knives. Well, in Krampus , the elves and dwarves that invaded the household very much reminded me of the grey children and I started to pay closer attention to the likeness to Silent Hill .

And that’s when it hit me.

In one scene in Krampus , the grandmother talks about her experience with Krampus when she was just a little girl, and she said Krampus merely existed to punish those who have misbehaved or have been nasty to others. Well, Pyramid Head first appeared in the Silent Hill franchise in Silent Hill 2 . And he only existed as a manifestation of James’ guilt over killing his wife. Pyramid Head existed to punish James for his sins, very much like Krampus existed to only punish those who were naughty.

And with all of this information in mind, I suddenly saw this not as some cheesy holiday horror movie like the horrible Jack Frost (no, not the depressing one that makes you cry, but the horror version), but as what the Silent Hill movie franchise could’ve become. Krampus had everything, from the hellish minions, the frightening and powerful Pyramid Head-like creature who was sent to punish the naughty, the abandoned town setting lost in the low visibility of a snowstorm and so much gore and death.

And as a couple of young and naive teenagers stormed out of the theater five minutes before the ending, screaming, “This movie blows!”, I could only sit and relish in the fact that they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand what this movie was really about. So if you’re a fan of Silent Hill , I strongly urge you to watch Krampus on DVD. Maybe you’ll see what I saw...and maybe not. But in any case, while I may never get another Silent Hill game as long as I live, or a decent cinematic interpretation of Silent Hill , I at least have the overwhelmingly satisfying version nestled in a refreshing and welcoming horror title called Krampus .

The movie is estimated to releasein April of this year.

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Halo 5 Ghosts of the Meridian update pushed to early April

Though 343 has been able to keep a pretty regular cadence of monthly free multiplayer updates, latest coming to Halo 5 is unfortunately delayed by a bit.

Though 343 has been able to keep a pretty regular cadence of monthly free multiplayer updates, latest coming to Halo 5 is unfortunately delayed by a bit. Taking to Halo Waypoint, it was announced Ghosts of the Meridian, the fifth free update to the game’s multiplayer is still coming, but just needed a little more time to get everything just right, moving from a late March release to one in early April.

Considering we don’t even know what content is coming in Ghosts of the Meridian, there’s not too much to get upset about. 343 promises to tell us more about it in the weeks to come.

If the past free updates are anything to go by however, Halo 5’s latest could be a lot to look forward to. The most recent update, Hammer Storm, added three new game modes, including Grifball of Red vs. Blue fame, a new map, and even new weapons in the form of the gravity hammer and Halo: CE pistol.

What additions are you looking forward to in Ghosts of the Meridian? What would liven up your Halo 5 multiplayer more than it is already? Let us know in the comments. As we learn more about this update and the future of Halo 5 as a whole, you’ll find it all right here on Gamespresso.

Halo 5 is half price

Halo 5’s World Championship is starting this week, and Xbox has a few surprises in store for fans of the game; or people who have yet to pick it up.

Halo 5 is on sale for half price from the Xbox Store, so the game will be around $25 rather then the regular $55. The deal ends Sunday at 12:00am PT. On top of that, there is a new REQ pack available. The REQ pack has a higher chance of granting REQs from content updates Infinity’s Armory and Hammer Storm, as well as 14 new weapon skins. It’s available for purchase until Sunday at Midnight PT.

You can watch the World Championship on Halo’s official Twitch channel.

The Championship will consist of 3 days. March 18th from 9pm to 8pm PT, March 19th from 9am to 9:30pm PT, and March 20th is the finals from 4pm to 6pm PT.

Both Day 1 and Day 2 (March 18th and 19th) will have a second stage, on ESL Halo Twitch channel.

Resident Evil 6 Really Is The Final Chapter, According To Ali Larter

Adapting a video game to film presents a hard enough challenge, now imagine creating a successful franchise.

Adapting a video game to film presents a hard enough challenge, now imagine creating a successful franchise. Somehow, over the last thirteen years, director Paul W.S Anderson has cultivated a lucrative film series based upon the popular Resident Evil games – however, it appears that will soon come to an end.

In a recent interview with IGN, Ali Larter – known for playing Claire Redfield in the series – admitted that the upcoming entry to the franchise – Resident Evil: The Final Chapter – lives up to its name. After thirteen years, six films, and almost one billion dollars at the worldwide box office, Aliceand the rest of the Resident Evil ensemble will be put to rest. Larter spoke definitively about the nature of The Final Chapter , We are not allowed to say one thing. I am held to secrecy, but what I can tell you is that the script is amazing. They're really wrapping up the whole series, so that just makes it a little more poignant. To be able to come back and reprise my role as Claire and my relationship with Alice, with Umbrella Corp. -- you know, I'm excited to get back in it. I think the fans are just going to be beyond excited.

Directed by Paul W.S Anderson, the Resident Evil series had humble beginnings. Starting off as a loose remake of the original Resident Evil game, the series slowly evolved and took on a life of its own – slowly becoming more action-centric, while still retaining the survival-horror spirit of the games upon which it takes inspiration. The films introduced new characters, but also found new ways to spin classic ones – such as Larter’s Claire Redfield.

As The Final Chapter indeed marks the literal final chapter of the franchise, it adds a previously unseen element of danger to the proceedings. Knowing they they will not return for another entry to the franchise, Anderson and Larter -- along with series headliner Milla Jovovich -- have carte blanche to take risks with the project. Unlike certain modern franchises, whose primary concern is longevity -- such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- the Resident Evil franchise can now take serious risks. For example, they can now easily kill off their main stars with no concern about cliff-hangers or sequel possibility, instead focusing wholly on creating a tense, dramatic atmosphere for the audience.

That all being said, it's not necessarily an enormous surprise to see the Resident Evil series come to an end. Despite its overall popularity, the series has flagged in recent years, with the recent Resident Evil: Afterlife failing to achieve the success of its predecessors. Ending with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter could mark a sincere attempt to send the tired franchise out on a high note.

It’s hard to say what made a long-term franchise like Resident Evil succeed and thrive when so many other video game adaptations failto draw an audience with just one installment. On one hand, it could be a willingness to deviate from the narrative of the original games and forge its own path – a trait not shared by many failed adaptations, such as Doom . On the other hand, it also succeeds partially because of its willingness to embrace the aspects of the game that do work, while still creating its own identity – see: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider .

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter hits theaters September 2, 2016.

Why Growing Up In A Video Gaming Family Was Anything But Normal

The earliest video game memory I have takes place when I lived in a small farming town in Southern Indiana.

The earliest video game memory I have takes place when I lived in a small farming town in Southern Indiana. I was maybe four or five-years old. My dad took me downtown to the local video store, which was a small hole in the wall as part of the square in town center. It was here we’d rent Sega Genesis games and it was that moment in my memory that I discovered. My entire life, my family has been centered around the world of video games partly to blame because of my father, and being brought up in that kind of environment was an experience not a lot of other kids get to have.

Shortly after living in Indiana for a few years, my dad decided he wanted to go back to school and get his college degree. So we moved way up north to Houghton, Michigan where my dad attended Michigan Technological University as an undergrad. At the time, we not only had a Sega Genesis, but had just gotten a PlayStation One. Because my Dad’s schedule was weird due to schooling and odd jobs, he would have blocks of free time outside of homework. Having been through Michigan Tech myself, I don’t know how he made the time to play with us, but he did.

My sister and I would spend summer afternoons watching him play games at first, and the first game we watched him play was. Watching my dad play games was like watching a movie and it kept me engaged—it consumed me. Other games we watched him play were the earlygames, Apocalypse (starring Bruce Willis),and T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger . Eventually, my sister and I took to playing and thus my childhood in gaming began.

When we weren't playing video games, our life was still filled with them. Every year around the time of E3, we were huddled on the couch watching G4 to see coverage from the event. Usually typical mornings were spent watching X-Play together and talking about the games they showed off and our opinions on them. It was this constant connection with the gaming world that kept me involved, and I didn't mind one bit.

The number one side effect of growing up in a gaming family is that we always crave adventure. We were always exploring places we probably shouldn’t have been. Being in a community that was brought up in copper mining, there were ruins and things to see in almost every town around us. Right on the canal sat an abandoned smelter used to smelt copper back in the day—and it was right across the street from our old schoolhouse apartment building. So my dad would take us on a weekend and we’d sneak across the road and through the patch of trees. We’d have to walk through old Julio’s junkyard to get to it, and my dad would hush us and tell us to be as quiet as a mouse. The smelter would appear through the trees like this great being, writhing in the dark sand around it and wrought with the memories of a time long ago.



As my sister and I got older, we of course fell out of gaming as much as we did, as homework stacks got larger and social lives got bigger. But somehow we could always make time for a round of Quake with the family. And eventually, my sister and I took part in Quake Online when we couldn’t play in the same room together anymore.

It wasn’t until college I really got back into gaming. Michigan Tech has its fair share of nerds and they aren’t afraid to let everyone know, so naturally many of my friends were heavy into gaming—so I fell into, Battlefield and Halo and got an Xbox 360. My taste in gaming changed a lot through college, from being a heavy Xbox FPS user to switching to PC gaming (many of my friends built their PC’s) and becoming a heavy Steam user. But I emerged from college once again wholly dedicated to Sony PlayStation.

Being raised in an environment where video games aren’t evil, but rather this doorway into the imagination was something that was so positive for me, that fed my creativity. My life is filled with all of these adventures, from exploring the smelter in Upper Michigan to moving cross country from Michigan to California for my first real job in video games. And it’s because of this constant presence of adventure in my life that I feel I keep growing and learning. I approach a situation now analytically and work on problem-solving as if I were in the midst of apuzzle. I’m even less stressed when I spend a couple hours gaming. I can talk extensively about the story in a game and understand the growth of characters and the climaxes in action and plot twists. Sometimes I even wonder if the stories in video games is what got me interested in storytelling to begin with.

While growing up in a gaming family isn’t normal, I know I wouldn’t be the same person I am today if I had grown up differently. Video games have affected both my life and my family so much in so many ways that I couldn’t envision life without gaming. So if you take away one thing from this article, know that video games don’t melt kids’ brainsor make them dumber, rather they are sharpening certain skills and creating this wonderful foundation for creativity and innovation that those same kids will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

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Fatal Frame II Haunts PlayStation Network On Tuesday

Survival horror is making a resurgence of sorts, so long as you don't mind getting your dose of frights through old school gaming.

Survival horror is making a resurgence of sorts, so long as you don't mind getting your dose of frights through old school gaming. It looks like the extremely hard to track down Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly will be coming to PlayStation Network next week, providing thrills and chills as the latest addition to the PlayStation 2 Classics collection.

The original Fatal Frame was released as a PlayStation 2Classic just a couple of weeks ago, much to the delight of fans of having the crap scared out of them. Just a couple of days ago, series director Makoto Shibata shared some background on the game's development, explaining that the inspiration for Fatal Frame came from his own real life experiences where he saw “stuff.”

Now Shibata is back on the PlayStation Blog, sharing some background details about Fatal Frame II , which is set to hit the PS Network on Tuesday. Given the usual asking price of $9.99 for a PS2 Classic, it's a safe bet that you'll be able to swipe this rare horror title for just 10 bucks.

In the Fatal Frame games, players have to take pictures of wayward spirits with their camera obscura. There are no real weapons in the game, making this the ultimate in survival horror when it comes to making the player feel powerless. Even Harry Mason has a lead pipe and a few bullets to sling around Silent Hill . In Fatal Frame , you only have your wits and a freaking supernatural Nikon to keep you company.

According to Shibata, the original Fatal Frame turned out to be too scary for some players, forcing them to quit the game before ever reaching its conclusion.

“Since we received lots of feedback that players got too scared to complete the game, we shifted our attention to making the storyline more interesting to encourage such players to overcome the scariness in wanting to see the end of the story,” Shibata said.

You'll be able to find out for yourself if it's still too scary when Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly launches on the PlayStation Networknext week.

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Survival Game The Wild 8 Looks To Kickstarter For Funding

Indie studio Eight Points has an interesting game in the making called The Wild Eight .

. It's a survival game made for cooperative play for up to eight players. The isometric title is currently seeking $50,000 on Kickstarter and they've managed to get off to a strong start already on the crowd-funding platform.

The developers hail from what they call one of the coldest and strangest places on the planet, Yakutia, a small republic in the northern region of Russia. It's a harsh place to live and the developers are using that experience to help craft a survival experience out of the upcoming The Wild Eight , which follows eight survivors of a plane crash in the snowy mountains of Alaska. There's a pitch video you can check out below from over on the official Kickstarter page, which further explains the concept of the game and the actual gameplay.



Essentially gamers will play the title as a hybrid strategy-action game. Similar to other games in the genre such as The Forest, Subnautica or Rust , players will gather up food and supplies by scavenging the wilderness for useful resources.

Unlike other games where players will have all manner of fancy weapons at their disposal with a few sticks and stones, ala ARK: Survival Evolved , gamers will have to rely on using things like rocks as throwing weapons and large sticks to beat the crap out of wild animals. Given how crude some of the early weapons are, players will have to use a lot of teamwork when playing cooperatively.

That one scene in the pitch video above where a player was running through some thick snow while a pack of wolves were hounding them down reminded me of the movie The Grey with Liam Neeson. The lighting, the wolf behavior, and the desperation of the player trying to get away was depicted with a nice hint of brilliance. It's moments like that where The Wild Eight could manage to stand out from all the other survival simulators either stuck in Early Access or seeking votes on Greenlight.

It's not all about combat survival, though. The game will have a story mode. You won't just survive endlessly like inthere will be objectives and side-missions for players to complete in addition to building a camp, making fire and desperately fending off survivors from the harsh wildlife of northern Alaska.

The Wild Eight may be yet another game in the somewhat over-saturated survival genre (a genre that's now branching off into the sub-genre of Battle Royale -style survival games like The Culling ) but Eight Points have a unique take on the genre with the setting, the eight-player cooperative play, the isometric view and the fact that it's no longer about fighting off endless hordes of zombies, but simply surviving with basic equipment while facing off against the harshest forms of nature.

I would definitely like to see more of this game, and assuming it can reach its goal of $50,000 on Kickstarter over the course of the next month, we'll likely see the game come to fruition on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC starting December, 2016.

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Silent Hills Petition Gets Guillermo Del Toro's Attention

It looks like Konami really struck a cord with horror and gaming fans when the publisher decided to cancel Silent Hills , the follow-up to the long-running series boasting a collaborative team of Hideo Kojima and Guillearmo del Toro.

, the follow-up to the long-running series boasting a collaborative team of Hideo Kojima and Guillearmo del Toro. Del Toro admits that the game's cancellation was a hard loss to take, even going so far as to say he would like to add his name to the internet petition trying to get the project back on the rails.

In a recent chat with IGN, the film director best known for his work on Hellboy , Pan's Labyrinth and Pacific Rim was blunt about his feelings concerning the cancellation of Silent Hills . He referred to the collaboration between himself and Kojima as “beautiful,” saying that both creative minds were in agreement as to where they wanted the game to go.

Del Torowent on to say that the duo wanted to “take the technology and make it as cutting-edge as we could in creating terror in the house. The idea was very, very atmosphere-drenched.”

Since the game's cancellation, internet fans have banded together to create a petitionin the hopes of getting Konami's attention. Del Toro mentioned the petition in his chat with IGN, saying that he would add his signature to the collection. He even offers a painfully slim sliver of hope that the project may one day return, holding back details concerning he and Kojima's plans for the game and what made it so new for the franchise “in case it comes back.”

I don't think I can handle anymore heartbreak concerning Silent Hills , so I'm going to take that last comment as extremely wishful thinking rather than del Toro hinting at discussions going on behind the scenes. If something does get announced, though, I'll be the first person bellowing their excitement across the vast, cold emptiness of the internet.

Silent Hills has led a bizarre, tragic existence, beginning with a mysterious “Playable Demo” known as P.T. , which managed to use a single hallway and a couple of rooms to scare the pants off ofloads of PlayStation 4 gamers.

Earlier this year, planned director Hideo Kojima and Konami had a falling out, one casualty of which was the Silent Hills project. Konami went so far as to remove P.T. from the PlayStation Network, also making it impossible to redownload the game even if you already have it on your system. This, of course, led to some interesting antics over on eBay.

After a bizarre attempt to erase Kojima from the Metal Gear game series, Konami has gone on to announce that it feels the future of gaming lies with mobile, which is where its focus will be once The Phantom Pain launches this September. That, to me, doesn't bode well for a potential Silent Hills revival.

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Fatal Frame Is Coming To Wii U, Along With New Movie And Novel

Tecmo Koei is finally doing what third-party publishers should be doing to bolster the appeal of the Wii U: they're creating strong brand appeal for a Wii U game while exploring additional market expansion for the property.

Tecmo Koei is finally doing what third-party publishers should be doing to bolster the appeal of the Wii U: they're creating strong brand appeal for a Wii U game while exploring additional market expansion for the property. It's just common sense.

Gematsupicked up word from Famitsuthat the beloved but underrated Fatal Frame is getting a new entry for release on the Wii U.

The game is a horror adventure title that will bring plenty of frills and thrills to the table for those looking for it, and given that this is planned to be a Wii U exclusive, we can expect that Tecmo Koei will make good on the Wii U's “secret sauce”.

Tecmo Koei has announced the game in conjunction with Nintendo, making the joint efforts by the duo extend beyond the upcoming Dynasty Warriors -style action game that Tecmo Koei is working on called Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors .

There's also a movie supposedly in the works that's set for release this fall, starring two models from the Seventeen magazine I've never heard of. If you follow teeny-bopper news both Ayami Nakajo and Aoi Morikawa might sound familiar to you. Of course, there's always Google... or if you're feeling frisky... Bing.

Now for those of you worried that the movie might be a fail, take note that director Mari Asato is at the helm of the project, a renown director for other horror movies such as the Chasing World series and Ring of Curse. She doesn't have Christopher Nolan-style films under her belt, but she's certainly got better scoring movies than Uwe Boll.

Tecmo isn't done, though. The company also plans to turn Fatal Frame into a media force to be reckoned with, as a new novel is being planned for release along with a visual comic book. They're going all in on this thing, eh? Fatal Frame for Koei has kind of turned into what The Hunger Games is for Lionsgate.

This kind of brand expansion comes at a pretty good time to really help feed the Wii U some notable titles to help keep the system moving off store shelves. All it needs is a good smattering of software titles here and there to keep interest moving along. Even with nothing really big launching in March the Wii U still managed to move 70,000 SKUs, as reported on Player Essence.

With titles that challenge the status quo and a nice helping of console-marketing by Nintendo, games like Fatal Frame could help push the Wii U out of the sales inanition that it suffered from throughout the first two and a half quarters of 2013.

Of course, it will take a lot more than an esoteric horror game to position the Wii U against the sales juggernaut that is the PS4, but a good, strong mixture of niche titles set against more widely known first and second-party properties (such as Hyrule Warriors ) could really help the Wii U get closer to regaining the crown as the eighth gen leader.

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Halo 5 is getting its very own Firefight Mode

Introduced back in Halo 3 ODST, Firefight has been absent since 343 Industries took over the Halo franchise.

Introduced back in Halo 3 ODST, Firefight has been absent since 343 Industries took over the Halo franchise. The team is set to change that with Halo 5 though.

While detailingthe new additions to the game in the recent free Hammer Storm DLC pack, 343 Industries revealed players can look forward to Halo 5’s very own take on the co-op horde mode, Firefight. Called “Warzone Firefight” it “will bring PvE to Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer and let players battle together against common foes (and truly show off their custom Spartans to boot!)”

For any that don’t know, Firefight was an early step in the modern trend of wave-based game modes, similar to Gears of War’s Horde Mode, where a team of players must stand their ground against increasingly hard waves of enemies. Things are kept interesting as weapons and vehicles drop throughout the match. Considering the “Warzone” moniker added to Halo 5’s take, it’s not hard to imagine how big the game might take the old fan favorite mode.

While the post didn’t say anything beyond that the mode was in the works, more information was promised for the coming months.

Hammer Storm added new maps and even new game modes, like Grifball, to Halo 5.

What do you think of a redone Firefight? Already planning what friends you’ll take into battle? Let us know in the comments.

Why Sound Design In Horror Gaming Matters

In the opening scene of Silent Hill , it’s the first time players finally get to hear the notorious siren.

, it’s the first time players finally get to hear the notorious siren. This is probably the sound effectthat defined the rest of the Silent Hill franchise and is something even fans today still wince at when they hear it in real life. This is how powerful and mesmerizing sound designcan be in a horror game.

First of all, the types of horror games where sound designmatters the most is going to be those games that utilize atmospheric horror. Those creepy sounds you hear somewhere on the path ahead of you? Yeah, that’s part of setting the scene for atmospheric horror. Using Silent Hill as probably one of the best examples in early horror gaming, the uncomfortable feeling that makes  your skin crawl probably came from the dread of turning the corner and not knowing what you’d find. Or hearing the scuffling of a creature’s feet on the ground coming your way, only you can’t see them yet. Pyramid Head’s sword dragging on the ground? It’s all fantastic and cleverly-designed sound design that truly creates the fear in a horror game.

So why does sound designmatter then? I feel like sound design in video games is vastly underappreciated. While we’re hovering over our controllers and drooling over the realistic graphics, do many of us even stop to think about the sound in a game? Probably not. Unfortunately for me, I live with a video games sound designer, so I am forced to consume the knowledge of video game sound designon a daily basis whether I like it or not, and what I’ve learned has made me realize just how important sound design really is in horror games. Knowing what I know, playing through horror games has me listening in a whole different way.

I recently reviewed the game Layers Of Fear back in February or March, for the PS4. It was obvious that in this game, sound was a strong component of gameplay because this is how they formulated their jump-scares—with sudden sounds. Without good sounds, their jump-scares would have been unimpressive. I also recently backed a game on Kickstarter, called Visage , which was overwhelmingly successful in its funding. Watching the gameplay video with headphones on made me realize how important the sound was. It wasn’t cheap thrills like jump-scares, but an ambiance created by small movements and changes in the environment. It could’ve been footsteps or breathing coming from directly behind my head, but the sounds in that game created this heavy atmosphere of dread and it wouldn’t have been the same without it.

via GIPHY

And then there are games like the upcoming Perception , where the idea of translating sound is the epitome of the gameplay. In Perception , players take on the role of the game’s blind heroine, Cassie. And the only way to get through the game is to use—you guessed it—sound. Using a cane, you tap it on the ground which briefly illuminates the room, but only for a split second. The idea is to use echolocation to be able to “see.” The sound designis the most important part of this game.

But most importantly, sound design is going to be extremely important in virtual reality horror games. More than likely, the player is always going to be wearing headphones, so it’s important for the sound designer to correctly and efficiently use panning (without overdoing it), which is when a player might hear sound in a certain ear of the headphone, and then hear it in another headphone ear. The sound design in VR will be a major part of the immersive experience, because it will not only be the feeling of being a part of the environment, but also feeling like the sounds are really around you, or behind you, or to the side of you, rather than just on your head. I could argue that sound design in VR horror games will be the most important component of all. Because without the footsteps coming up behind you, or the chains dragging in the next room, or a door shutting by itself somewhere down the hall, there really isn’t an atmosphere for horror, and without that, there is no horror. And the scariest part of everything is, the sound design needs to be done correctly in order to be impactful.

So, sound designers actually have a pretty difficult job with, quite literally, the virtual world resting on their shoulders. So the next time you sit down to play a horror game, really listen to the sounds and the ambiance, how they affect the gameplay and how they make you feel. Because more than likely, a frustrated sound designer spent hours trying to get that sound just right, and still probably isn’t satisfied with it.

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Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Launches On Wii U

Considered by many to be the best game in the entire series, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time finally makes its way onto the Wii U eShop as part of the regularly scheduled weekly update.

You heard that right: Wii U gamers can finally get their hands on the Nintendo 64 classic, the first Zelda game to ever leap into the third dimension. Just like Mario 64 before it, though, Ocarina of Time stuck the landing on its first try, offering a classic adventure that folks still rave about to this very day.

In case there's some confusion, I should probably mention that this is not a digital copy of the recently released remastered version of Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 3DS. This is the original game, brought to you exactly as it was back in olden times. It may not look as pretty as its new sibling, but even without the reworked areas and spruced up controls, the original still stands the test of time.

In case you've forgotten what the original version of the game looks like, here's one of the original trailers for Ocarina , which boasts a surprising (and pretty hilarious) bit of snark.



Ah, memories.

This is only the most recent of multiple big announcements coming out of Club Link. Recently revealed during E3 2015, the Hyrulian warrior has two more adventures currently heading toward the 3DS, including the multiplayer-focused The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes , and the slightly scaled down version of the Wii U hit, Hyrule Warriors: Legends . Of course, there's also that brand new fully-fledged Zelda game that's currently in release date limbo, which doesn't actually have a name just yet.

If, however, you're not in the mood to tackle Ocarina of Time this week, then your eShop optionsare actually pretty slim on both Nintendo's handheld and home consoles.

Only two games made it onto the 3DS eShop this week, including Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 and Mercenaries Saga 2 . Over on the Wii U, you can get your hands on Roving Rogue or Quadcopter Pilot Challenge .

There are also a handful of sales available, in case you're looking to celebrate Independence Day by saving a buck or two.

Wii U gamers can enjoy discounts on games like Bombing Bastards , Ittle Dew and Plenty of Fishies , while gamers on the go will enjoy discounts on a couple of Phoenix Wright games and a few other smaller titles.

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Blues And Bullets Is Coming And It Sounds Fascinating

The PlayStation 4 is set to get a healthy dose of noir this week as the episodic adventure game, Blues and Bullets arrives for digital download.

arrives for digital download. The first two chapters will be available right out of the gate for sleuths looking to start solving a dangerous mystery in a world of black, white and red beauty.

From The Walking Dead to The Wolf Among Us and Life is Strange , episodic story telling is becoming more and more popular in the world of video games. The latest entry in that genre comes from indie developers A Crowd of Monster, who are inviting players to step into a world where crime and intrigue rule and you find yourself at the heart of a dangerous web of mysteries.

As mentioned above, the game launches with the first two episodes ready to roll this week on the PlayStation 4, so get ready to start downloading this Tuesday, April 19.



For those interested in learning more about the game, Art Director Dani Candil and Lead Designer Dani Castellanos recently dropped by the PlayStation Blogto explain why Blues and Bullets might be just the type of “who done it” fans of the genre have been waiting for. There aren't a lot of straight mystery games these days, so fans of the genre will want to listen up.

For starters, Blues And Bullets is set in the 1920's in the fictional US city of Santa Esperanza. As is typical in these kinds of hard-boiled tales, the star of this episodic adventure is Eliot Ness, a former legendary cop who, after putting Al Capone behind bars, wants to spend the rest of his life in peace, working behind the counter of a diner.

Unfortunately, ever since Ness turned in the badge, the city has really gone down the toilet and is now run by crime and corruption. When a bunch of kids suddenly go missing, Ness finds himself drawn back into the world of police work though, without a badge to hold him back, he can now rely on less by the book methods of getting results.

You'll dive into shootouts, search for clues and rough up a few cronies in order to get to the bottom of this mystery in Blues And Bullets .

You may have also noticed that the game world is set to stark black and white with a few splashes of red, similar to the underrated action game, The Saboteur . According to the developers, the team decided early on to use this particular artistic direction in order to pay homage to the most famous crime noir films, as well as the same type of lighting techniques utilized in the moves of the '40s.

If you like games like LA Noire or the Sherlock series, this might be worth checking out when it hits PS4 later this week.

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Why The Guitar Hero MMO Was Never Brought To Life

Only the most dedicated Guitar Hero fans will likely remember that, for a time, Activision planned on launching an MMO set within the game's world.

fans will likely remember that, for a time, Activision planned on launching an MMO set within the game's world. Even fewer will remember why said game got canceled but, thankfully, the Unseen64 video series has provided all the details.

For starters, you have to remember that this Hero MMO, which would have united additional games such as DJ Hero , was being worked on back in 2011, which was definitely in the midst of the series' hot streak.

The game was originally going to launch on multiple platforms alongside a Facebook game that, while called an MMO, sounds suspiciously like one of those Facebook “games” that were so popular back in the day. In short, you would be in charge of running your own venue, and you'd hire your fans gaming on either the PlayStation, Xbox or Wii versions of the game to play for your customers. How they played in the various Hero games would determine how well they performed at your club and, thus, determine how much money, star points and the like you would receive.

To it's credit, at least this MMO planned to incorporate actual gameplay into the midst.

However, the game died in the water, despite the fact that everyone was pretty gaga for those peripheral games at the time. The Youtube series Unseen64has looked into why that is, and their findings are pretty interesting.



While most folks will likely think of the developer Harmonix when they think about the Hero series of games, it was actually the DJ Hero team, Freestyle, that pitched the MMO to Activision. Since the game would have united all current and future Hero games, the video points out that the MMO would have cleverly united them in a way that would have kept players involved and perhaps incentivized them to check out additional titles.

Unfortunately for Freestyle, they were too inexperienced to handle such a large undertaking, and so the task passed to the team at Virtual Fairground, work on Hero World began in earnest.

Actually, everything about this game seems like it would have been an almost guaranteed hit. Unlike most Facebook MMOs that were popular at the time, Hero World sounds like it would have been a pretty robust offering that cleverly brought players together across multiple games and platforms. So, planned to launch in early 2011, why didn't it take off?

According to Unseen64, the fate of the Hero brand of games sealed the MMOs fate. The past year's worth of game sales had dropped off staggeringly, leading Activision to finally shut down plans on any future titles. Without more Guitar Hero and DJ Heroes coming down the line, there was no room for Hero World either.

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Castlevania Developer Unveils A New Multiplayer Game, Check It Out

Mercury Steam, the team behind the recent Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games have finally announced their next project.

games have finally announced their next project. It's called Raiders of the Broken Planet , and it's an online competitive romp.

Sadly, we don't have too much extra information beyond that name. Mercury Steam has released a single image for the game, which can be seen above, as well as a small handful of details. Obviously more information will be provided leading up to the game and, as I keep pointing out, E3 is just around the corner and might serve as the perfect opportunity to blow the doors open on a new game like this.

For starters, anyone interested in getting in on the ground floor of Raiders of the Broken Planet can head to the official websiteand sign up for the Beta. There's an animated banner on that page that looks like a bunch of wasteland survivors crossed with vampires staring down a baddie with a glowing green hand, a flowing red scarf and, in the background, a massive mechanical tentacle monster that would feel right at home in a steampunk tale from Lovecraft.

Earlier this week, the Mercury Steam Twitter page put out a message that said, quite simply “...Tomorrow a new future begins to dawn.”

As promised, the above image was posted on Facebookthe following day, featuring the game's name and a few tidbits to chew on. One of the, we assume, heroes is chomping on a cigar and getting ready to punch a dude in the foreground. A hulking baldy hangs out in the background with a massive gun drawn. Further back, a flying craft swoops in.

You are more than welcome to start speculating as to the game's narrative in the comments section below, but we're going to wait for more details from the former Castlevania team before we go too far out on any limbs.

Along with the picture, Mercury Steamhas stated that Raiders of the Broken Planet is an “epic multiplayer online asymmetric adventure,” and that's about it.

My first thought was that this sounded a heck of a lot like a MOBA, somewhere along the lines of Smite , League of Legends or Paragon . But something about the use of the words “asymmetric adventure” has me doubting that this is just a straight battle arena. Maybe we're looking at more of a cooperative experience? Maybe there's some sort of campaign that goes along with the multiplayer antics? Again, we'll just have to wait for Mercury Steam to feed us more details.

Until then, feel free to share your thoughts with us. Were you hoping for a new Castlevania or are you happy to see the developer move on to an original project? Let us know in the comments below.

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Halo 5's Grifball gets first look in latest community update

Halo 5 developer 343 Industries has released a teaser for the upcoming Grifball in their latest .

. In addition to adding Grifball to the game, the developer will be adding a new map entitled “Torque” and a bunch of new REQs.

The new REQs include the Marauder, Decimator, Helioskrill Warbound, Helioskrill Bloodgorger, Jumpmaster Dispatcher, and Shinobi Heartless armor sets. The weapon REQs include Fury, the Last Dawn Assault Rifle Skin, and the Last Dawn Magnum Skin.

More update details will be shown off at the Hammer Storm Live Stream on Halo’s Twitch channellater today. The event will air Tuesday, February 23rd at 3pm PST. A quick look at the new map and armor can be seen in the slideshow below.

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Bear Simulator Dev Calls It Quits After A Barrage Of Drama

Making video games is no walk in the park.

Making video games is no walk in the park. Yes, tools these days make it easy for anyone to pick up the development mantle and make their own game, like Bear Simulator . However, the developer found out the hard way that sometimes criticisms can be harsh and the internet harsher, and in result he's decided to quit game development.

Kotakudid a large editorial about the Bear Simulator situation. They recount how developer John Farjay managed to rack in $100,000 on Kickstarterto make Bear Simulator , and after two years of development managed to get the game through Greenlightand on Steam. However, after receiving some criticisms from the likes of PewDiePieand some gamers and backers who weren't pleased with the final outcome, Farjay has decided to hang up his boots.

On Kickstarterthe developer made an update, indicating that he was done with game development, writing...
Well the game didn't have a great reception, has a stigma against it's name and there's plenty of other problems so making any updates or going further is basically a lost cause now. Plus not skilled enough to make the game better than it currently is or write better updates than previously.

[…] Also don't want to deal with the drama anymore. Can't ignore it because that causes more drama and can't do anything about it because that causes more drama.
He mentioned that it would have been better to just give the game away for free instead of releasing it on Steam. Why? Well, if you check the Steam store page for Bear Simulator you will see that the game has a “Mostly Positive” rating on Steam. While that's actually pretty good, Farjay is only focused on the people who have not been the most positive.

Out of the 146 reviews on record (at the time of writing this article), 31 of those reviews are negative. While Farjay has focused on those negative reviews, the reality is that they actually aren't that negative. Most praise Farjay for the Bear Simulator concept but note that the game is really rough around the edges and they've encountered numerous bugs and glitches in the game. Many also note that the fighting isn't very refined and they've managed to find other animals and objects stuck in the ground.

Most of the negative reviews contain constructive criticism... the kind of thing that a developer should want in order to make improvements to the game and make it a better overall experience for everyone. A few of the criticisms also point out that Farjay hasn't been the most communicative when it comes to letting financial backers know what was up with development, and that he didn't always explain why the game was delayed or what roadblocks he was running into.

However, the negative reviews coupled with a negative video from YouTuber PewDiePiesent Farjay over the edge. He notes that he's still going to produce some updates and fixes for Bear Simulator but that he isn't enjoying life as a game developer at all, writing in the Kickstarterupdate...
Will make another game update with Kickstarter Island included and some other fixes, leave a comment below of what you really want fixed. Will work on fixes and features until you're all happy and content then stop.

Must be doing this PC game dev thing wrong because it is way too hard to stay happy and productive.
When it comes to creative works there's really no such thing as pleasing everyone. The fact that Farjay's first game was positively received on Steam– arguably the biggest digital distribution outlet in the world – is something most people would have been ecstatic about. However, Farjay sees it as a cup half full and what negativity he's garnered from his Kickstarterproject (which managed to rack up a surprising amount of financial support to be from an unproven developer) has left a permanent scar on his outlook on game design.

Bear Simulator is available right now for $14.99. Based on Farjay's comments, this will likely be his first and last video game.

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Halo 5: Guardians removes Arena Breakout mode

The new update that hit Halo 5: Guardians this week removes the multiplayer Arena Breakout mode.

The removal was confirmed via Twitter by the game’s multiplayer designer Quinn DelHoyo.

“Team Arena is now Slayer, CTF, and Strongholds. Arena Breakout has been removed. May come back as a Weekend playlist in the future,” he wrote.

No details were given for the removal of the mode other than the official Halo Twitteraccount stating it was due to “fan feedback.”

Arena Breakout was an experimental mode that, according to 343, “takes Breakout rules, and then merges them with Arena settings on Arena maps, which will feature custom weapon placement for this game type. The result is a fast-paced game of Elimination featuring a Neutral Flag, complete with Breakout player count display and audio, on the maps you’ve come to master since launch.”

DOOM's Open Beta Is Available To Play For A Limited Time

The DOOM open beta has finally gone live across all platforms, meaning folks looking to “fight like hell” can do exactly that, but only for the next couple of days.

The DOOM open betagoes live today, April 15, and will only be open on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam through this Sunday, April 17. That means you’ve got just 48 hours to get in, frag some fools and get out. After that, you’ll have to wait until DOOM celebrates a full launch on May 13 to get your demon-slaying fix.

Unlike the recent DOOM closed beta, absolutely anyone can jump into this weekend’s event, no codes, pre-orders or anything like that necessary. Just download the beta client and get to shooting.

As for what FPS fans can expect out of the beta, you’ll enjoy two different competitive multiplayer modes that pit teams of six against one another, including Team Deathmatch and Warpath. The mapsavailable in this beta will be Heatwave and Infernal, just like in the closed beta.

Both of these modes also feature the Demon Runes folks have been talking about, which turns the player who grabs them into a terrifying monstrosity. You’ll become a Revenant that enjoys extra health and a rocket launcher that will turn your opponents into tiny little giblets.



If you’ve got any additional questions concerning the beta, the DOOM team has set up a handy little FAQ on the game’s official website. It’ll fill you in on details about recommended PC system specs for the beta, concerns with streaming beta content, download steps for each platform and ways players can provide feedback on their DOOM beta experience.

If, however, you’d like to gain a little edge over the competition while the DOOM beta is downloading, then PlayStation Social Media Senior Manager Sid Shuman’s recent coverage on the PlayStation Blogshould be right up your alley. It provides a rundown of the beta’s seven main weapons, including the heavy machinegun, super shotgun (memories!), plasma rifle, rocket launcher, static rifle, vortex rifle and lightning gun.

DOOM bears a lot of similarities to older games in the series, but players will be faster, more agile and deadlier than ever this time around. You won’t be bolted to the floor while trying to fight demons, in other words.

Also, these guns may behave a bit differently from what you remember in past DOOM games, so a quick rundown on what you can expect certainly won’t hurt your chances of surviving the weekend’s multiplayer beta.

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See All Of The Homefront: The Revolution Pre-Order Bonuses

With Homefront: The Revolution set to launch next month, there's still time to get in your pre-order for the upcoming open-world shooter.

set to launch next month, there's still time to get in your pre-order for the upcoming open-world shooter. If you do so, you'll get a bunch of in-game treats that might make your day-one purchase a little more exciting. We've also got details on a special edition of Homefront that includes a remote controlled car, just like the one used in the game.

Se to arrive on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PCcome May 17, Homefront: The Revolution will be available in multiple flavors. While the core game will cost you the usual $60 no matter where you get it from, your options when it comes to pre-ordering Homefront vary.

We haven't seen this sort of pre-order setup in a while, since gamers have started becoming more and more vocal about disliking making a purchase decision based on which extras the game comes with and where. It looks like Homefront will go all out, though, with a variety of goodies spread across multiple retailers.



No matter where you pre-order Homefront from, though, you're going to be guaranteed a “Revolutionary Spirit” pack, which includes a “Red Skull” skin for your bike, a gold skin for your pistol, as well early access to a trio of items for your co-op character, including a scope for your sniper rifle, a marksman rifle, as well as remote explosives. So, again, pre-order The Revolution anywhere and you'll get your hands on that digital swag.

There are additional bonuses, though, depending on if you pre-order Homefront at GameStop, Best Buy or Amazon.

Hit up GameStop and your early purchase will come with five Resistance Crates boasting random weapon blueprints, attachments and gear, as well as some Combat Stimulants to enhance your stats.

Pre-order from Best Buy and you'll also be getting a collector's steel book for the game.

Make your purchase on Amazon and you'll net yourself a “Wing Skull” pack, which includes a Wing Skull skin for your bike, as well as a silver pistol skin.



So, as you can see, nothing *ahem* revolutionary here, but you'll get something different depending on where you shop. You gamers in the UK haven't been forgotten, though. Pre-order from GAME and you'll get the exact same virtual additions as GameStop here in the States.

If, however, the standard game isn't enough for you, then you can also drop an additional $100 on the Goliath Edition of Homefront: The Revolution . That set includes the game, the pre-order DLC, an exclusive steel book for the game, a 32-page art book, a season pass for expansions, as well as a working Goliath Drone remote controlled car.

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Shovel Knight Sells A Massive Amount Of Copies, Get The Details

The Dynamic Digger, Shovel Knight has finally hit that coveted 1 million copies sold mark.

has finally hit that coveted 1 million copies sold mark. Huzzah for shovel justice!

In case you’re one of the sinners who has overlooked Shovel Knight this past year, it’s the team at Yacht Club’s fantastic throwback to gaming of yesteryear. Unlike most nostalgic romps, however, Shovel Knight is a wholly unique experience that captures the essence of classic gaming without relying on references and sly winks to the player.

Originally launching on the Nintendo 3DS, Shovel Knight has since gone on to be published on the Wii U, Xboxand PlayStation consoles, as well as PC. The Blue Burrower earned such a fan following that he even got his own Amiibo, as well as an outpouring of support to see the character added to Nintendo’s mascot brawler, Super Smash Bros. .

Now that this indie gem has made its way to just about every console imaginable, Yacht Club has announced that Shovel Knight has inched over its biggest milestone yet, selling 1.2 million copies.

Over on Go Nintendo, the team broke down its success, explaining that 32 percent of those sales are courtesy of Steam while 29 percent come from the 3DS. The Wii U accounts for 17 percent of Shovel Knight sales with the PS4 moving 10 percent of that figures. Both the Xbox One and PlayStation Vita ar at about five percent of the 1.2 million copies, with the PlayStation 3, Humble and GOG pushing one percent apiece.

Apparently 200,000 of that final figure are physical copies of the game, which was a move Yacht Club was able to make after the initial launch of the game met with such success. As the developer points out, Yacht Club’s other successful games usually top out at about 50,000 copies sold. In other words, Shovel Knight was a huge success for them.

And pardon the fanboy outpouringhere, but the game absolutely deserves every bit of this success. Shovel Knight is reminiscent of classic games, though it stands on its own two legs thanks to great characters, tremendous level design, fast and fun combat and an absolutely killer soundtrack. The team even plugged in additional bosses from God of War and Battletoads when the game branched out to additional platforms, as well as a brand new campaign that lets you play as Plague Knight, one of the original game’s diabolical bosses.

If all of that isn’t enough to convince you to give Shovel Knight a gander, then maybe this will: In celebration of hitting the 1 million copies mark, Yacht Club has announced that Shovel Knight is now available at a discounted price. It’s only for a limited time, so you might want to dig in soon if you want to take advantage.

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Xbox revenue rises even as hardware sales fall

Even as the Microsoft is reluctant to share the exact number of units sold, the company’s most recent earnings report can give us a fairly good idea of how Xbox is doing.

In the earnings report for the quarter ending on December 31 (via Gamespot) Microsoft shared that revenue from gaming was up 5% over last year, a solid $192 million. This comes even as hardware sales were down 9%. Microsoft explained the drop, pointing to fewer Xbox 360s being sold and the reduced price of the Xbox One compared to what it had been selling at previously.

Despite this, revenue was still up however due to a massive 47% climb in revenue from game sales, heavily contributed to Halo 5 and the continued high sales Minecraft. Additionally, there was a 24% spike in revenue from Xbox Live.

Explaining the Xbox Live revenue increase, Microsoft stated that not only had monthly subscriptions hit 48 million, 30% over last year, but there was also a general rise in digital game sales. Gamers are not only buying more digital games, but are spending more on each purchase, something that can be expected as the number of people purchasing AAA games digitally increases.

While we don’t have exact numbers for Xbox Ones sold, a bit of reasoning from the reported Windows 10 suggeststhe number was around 18 million earlier this month. Around the same time, Sony announcedPS4 sales had reached 36 million worldwide.

There's A Way To Run Oculus Rift Exclusive Games On The HTC Vive, Check It Out

Just in case you picked up an HTC Vive and were bummed you wouldn’t be able to play Oculus Rift exclusives, there’s already a program available that makes at least some of those games for the latter playable on the former.

The Rift and Vivehave been out for a few weeks now so, of course there’s already a homebrew piece of software that makes it possible for the two VRdevices to play nice. The software is called Revive and, according to reddit user CrossVR, it serves as an Oculus compatibility layer proof-of-concept. CrossVR explains that anyone wishing to give the program a go would head on over to GitHubin order to grab the files and instructions on how to use them.

While Revive might actually work for more Oculus games on the Vive, its creator explains that the software has only been tested on and confirmed for two exclusive games including Lucky’s Tale and Oculus Dreamdeck . With this software, users should be able to tackle those experiences on the HTC Vive even though they are only supposed to be played on the Rift.

If you scroll down through the comments, some folks are reporting that Revive is working as advertised for those two games while others are reporting problems. Since it’s a pretty tricky process to go through, this could of course be due to user error. Also, we’re talking about extremely new hardware and software that lets you do things you’re not supposed to do, so we aren’t surprised if there are some bugs popping up.

CrossVR went on to explain how the whole shebang actually works, saying that it basically implements functions from Oculus Runtime and translates them to OpenVR calls. They further state that they’re going to continue working on the software and iron out issues as they arise, with “many more” versions of the software planned for the future.

That is, of course, assuming that Oculus or HTC don’t squash this functionality in a future update. Again, the software allows the Vive to operate in a way it was not intended to and makes it possible to play games that are supposed to be platform exclusives, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see steps taken to make it more difficult for software like Revive to function.

In a weird sort of way, this might actually prove especially harmful for the Rift. Plenty of folks are already sore that the Oculus headset has been delayedfor delivery to some by up to a couple of months. If folks decide it would be easier to buy a Viveand just use backdoor methods like Revive to play Rift games, that could certainly hurt sales of the Oculus machine.

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This Is When You'll Be Able To See Ubisoft's E3 Press Conference

E3 2016 is just a couple of months away and, as of today, Ubisoft has made their plans for the big show known.

E3 2016 is just a couple of months away and, as of today, Ubisoft has made their plans for the big show known. Get ready to learn more about the publisher’s plans for the next year on June 13.

As is standard practice for the E3 games conference, publishers have started announcing that their press conferences will be held the Monday before the show actually kicks off. This year, that date falls on June 13, with the show floor opening from June 14-16.

Ubisoftusually has their press conference in the middle of the day on that Monday and, this year, they’ll be following suit. Ubisoft announced through its official twitter feedtoday that its press conference will begin with a pre-show at 12:30 p.m., followed by the full press conference at 1 p.m.

Since Microsoft has already announced it will hold an E3 press conference that same morning, we’re guessing that Sony will soon reveal a Monday evening showing that, again, would keep in line with previous years.

The countdown is on! #UbiE3is coming... pic.twitter.com/eYjpoghkMs

— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) April 14, 2016

This slot is actually a couple of hours earlier than Ubisoft’s usual E3 schedule, with the publisher sliding down to fill in the space left vacant by EA, who announced they won’t have a booth at this year’s show. EA will be present at E3, though not in the traditional sense. Instead of being part of the big show, they’re hosting their own event through the first several days of E3, including a press conference and large blocks of time from June 12-14 when folks can play their games.

As for Ubisoft, we imagine The Division will have some sort of presence on the press conference stage, perhaps discussing DLC, but it will likely be joined by a number of upcoming games from the publisher.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole was revealed during last year’s show, so it seems likely that we’ll get some additional details during the 2016 press conference. Also, there’s Watch Dogs 2 , the new Ghost Recon game, Wildlands , and For Honor . Since the Assassin’s Creed team is taking some additional time to work on the next major game in the series, we don’t expect to see any wrist-blades making an appearance this year. Then again, maybe we’ll see something on a smaller Assassin’s Creed project or perhaps even a look at the motion picture.

Let us know what you’re looking forward to seeing out of the UbisoftE3 press conference in the comments section below. Are you most excited for something listed above, or do you perhaps have your fingers crossed for a revival series or maybe a big surprise? Give us your predictions.

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The Division Still Has A Ton Of Issues, Get The Details

It looks like The Division is still stuck in a Dark Zone of sorts, with players reporting multiple issues across the open-world shooter.

is still stuck in a Dark Zone of sorts, with players reporting multiple issues across the open-world shooter. The most recent hiccup, it seems, is the disappearance of the Daily Challenge mode. Again.

Over the weekend, Ubisoftreported that Daily Challenges in The Division had mysteriously disappeared, but that they would return and the kink causing the issue would be worked out following this week’s patch. Said patch has gone live, but the problem persists.

The official twitter accountof The Division stated this morning that Daily Challenges were once again missing and will not be available for 24 hours.

We are aware of the missing Daily Challenge mode. While we won’t be able to fix it today, we can confirm that it will be back tomorrow

— The Division (@TheDivisionGame) April 13, 2016

As you might have guessed, that’s causing quite a few fans to react, shall we say, poorly. But we doubt that said reactions are tied directly to frustration over the missing Daily Challenge mode and have more to do with the fact that, weeks following launch, The Division is still suffering from various issues on a regular basis.

Some folks, for instance, are finding their characters deleted on the Xbox One following the most recent patch. Still others are finding themselves unable to play The Division ’snew Falcon Lost Incursion. Pile issues like this up and you start to see why fans might be getting a bit frustrated.

To their credit, the team is constantly rolling out support and trying to keep up with the issues but, again, we can’t blame consumers for feeling like enough is enough.

On the flip side, The Division was in development a long time and, for a while there, we weren’t sure the game would ever see the light of day. The fact that it finally launched and, aside from these unfortunate setbacks, seems to be keeping folks entertained, shouldn’t be overlooked. And, again, Ubisoft and Co. are being open about the issues and what is being done to address them.

Here’s hoping the road levels out for The Division soon and folks are able to keep diving into post-apocalyptic New York without issues popping up on the regular.

To our readers, how is The Division treating you these days? Have you been affected by any of these issues? If so, do you find your experience is being hampered greatly or are folks, perhaps, overreacting a bit? That, of course, excludes anyone who had their character wiped. Anyone in those shoes has every right to shout their frustrations from the highest mountain.

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Diablo 3's Lead Designer Is Now Working At Obsidian

Diablo III lead designer Leonard Boyarsky has left Blizzard, but he certainly rebounded into a new position with a quickness.

lead designer Leonard Boyarsky has left Blizzard, but he certainly rebounded into a new position with a quickness. It turns out he’s now working at Obsidian, though no word yet on what he’ll actually be doing there.

Boyarsky’s Facebook pagewas updated yesterday with a rather simple message. “Left job at Blizzard,” it said; short, sweet and to the point.

We didn’t have long to wonder what the lead designer of Diablo III would be up to next, however, as yet anotherfilled in the blanks. This time around it was Obsidian’s Timothy Cain hitting up social media, claiming that he had a “new co-worker,” and that he hoped “he doesn’t talk too much.” That post was coupled with a pretty funny picture of Cain looking over his shoulder cautiously at Boyarsky, who was in turn looking over his own shoulder at Cain with a rather suspicious expression.

And just in case there are any conspiracy theorists out there with far too much time on their hand, working to prove that Cain’s photo was meticulously edited and faked, the Obsidian Twitter account has now stepped in to set all doubts aside. Here’s their confirmation:

Why yes. Yes he is! https://t.co/kBwCUpPont

— Obsidian (@Obsidian) April 13, 2016

So, there you have it. We’re not clear on the actual timing of this transition but, from the looks of things, Boyarski departed Blizzardand, in record time, made his way to Obsidian. We expect further details to surface in the coming weeks but, for now, we’re at least happy to see a talented guy like Boyarski wasn’t on the market too long.

Other than a new World of Warcraft expansion and the highly anticipated Overwatch , we’re not sure what Boyarski may have been working on at Blizzard when he made his exit. It’s entirely possible he wrapped up work on one of those games, or maybe something tied to Diablo III , and felt it was time to shake things up a bit.

Since Boyarsky worked on the first two Fallout games and Obsidian developed Fallout: New Vegas , we can’t help but wonder if something from that post-apocalyptic universe is in the works at Obsidian again. But that’s pure speculation, so don’t quote us or anything.

What’s also highly likely is that Boyarsky has been brought in to work on the new RPG coming from Obsidian, Tyranny . Again, the guy has a lot of experience in the genre and could probably provide a huge hand in getting a new IP off the ground.

If you happen to be a near and dear friend of Boyarsky’s and have some sort of insider information as to his new position at Obsidian (or if you just want to lie to our faces about it), feel free to drop the details in the comments below.

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Corpse Party Western 3DS Release May Have Just Been Leaked By ESRB

Horror fans gaming on Nintendo’s handheld console might soon have a new reason to boot up their 3DS on dark, stormy nights as an ESRB rating makes it look like the original Corpse Party could be coming West.

According to a recent post on Gematsu, it looks like XSEED Gamescould be bringing yet another Corpse Party game to North America. The ESRB recently posted a new rating for Corpse Party on the 3DS, rating the game Mature for blood, strong language, suggestive themes and violence.

As the rating summary points out, Corpse Party is a survival horror game that features high school students dying in rather violent fashion. Whoever said ghosts can’t hurt you clearly never played a Corpse Party game.

The original Corpse Party actually launched last July in Japan for the 3DS, bearing a decidedly more convoluted name, Corpse Party: BloodCovered…Repeated Fear . A version of this game had previously launched on iOS and the PlayStation Portable in Japan, which was in turn a remake of a game from 1996.

For those of you who feel like the name Corpse Party is ringing a few bells, it’s because the series has already found a home here in the states on PlayStation consoles. The PSP original is also playable on the Vita, which is where the two sequels, Book of Shadows and Blood Drive , are also available.

The original Corpse Party follows a group of high school students who have the brilliant idea of performing a questionable ritual while at school late one night. They’re quickly sucked into a nightmare realm where horrible, horrible things wait around every corner. The twisted world is known as Heavenly Host Elementary School, a sort of purgatory for youngsters and maniacs alike who died on the school grounds.

The original Corpse Party was an action adventure game, with players exploring the campus from a top-down view, solving light puzzles and doing their best to avoid the vengeful spirits. Get one of the game’s many wrong ends and you were “treated” to a grisly soundscape and description of the character’s demise.

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows was a sort of retelling of the original story with some additional tidbits thrown in to give more background. This game was more of a visual novel, with first-person exploration sequences complemented by lots and lots of narrative.

Finally, Corpse Party: Blood Drive hit the US last fall and was a full-on sequel to the original game, sucking surviving characters from the original tale into a new nightmare.

If this new ESRB rating is to be believed, 3DS players could be in store for the first (and my favorite of the lot) journey to Heavenly Host, complete with some new chapters and extra bonuses for good measure.

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