One of the hardware differences between Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One consoles, is that the PS4 does not come with a camera accessory while the Kinect is included with the Xbox One. IGN reports that Sony sacrificed the PlayStation Camera’s inclusion with the basic hardware to bring down the price of the console.
According to multiple sources, in the months leading up to E3, Sony nixed plans to include the camera add-on with every system and shave $100 off its originally planned price of $499. Most importantly, it did so quietly, informing its retail partners only of the removal of the camera, not specifying the lower price so as not to tip its hand to Microsoft.
The absence of the camera in the PS4 box means that customers will have to buy the $59.99 accessory to push software developers to support its use. The PS4’s DualShock controller still has some integrated Move technology including LED lights that are used by the camera to track its position. Sony has said that even without the camera, the LEDs can be used to denote which controller goes with which player, and as status indicators. For example, taking hits in a shooter could result in a flashing light. These uses are limited however by the fact that the light is on the front of the controller, facing away from the player.
As a deck building game, Shelter is pretty simple. Before an encounter, you take your pick of any twenty cards from your collection. You also get to pick a survivor to accompany you, which adds a few extra cards to your deck. The riot cop gives you some nifty stunning equipment to buy you free turns, but are you sure you can do without the soldier’s bad-ass L22-A2 carbine? As for the girl with the construction equipment, she spends a lot of time on the sidelines. Sorry, miss.
At the beginning of every turn, draw your hand up to five cards. Spend your action points putting cards on the table or using the ones you’ve already played, which is usually a matter of firing your gun cards at zombies. The hunting rifle pierces armor, but the Baretta gets off more shots. Do you use your hollow point rounds yet? Which gun gets the reload card? At the end of your turn, you can put a single card at the bottom of the deck if you want to get rid of something you can’t use yet or if you just want to cycle your deck faster. Simple.
Then the zombie player gets to play his deck. He’s not really a player, though. The zombie side of the table is a face-up dummy hand drawn from this encounter’s zombie deck. The zombies on the table follow simple rules — basically they crowd forward and attack — and then new cards are played from the zombie hand by rolling dice. Shelter is a solitaire game that uses cards, dice, and a simple deck-building concept to present zombie sieges.
After the jump, did I mention that it’s an iPhone game? Continue reading →
Sony’s PS4 console will launch at $399. The Xbox One will be $499. For many people, that price difference will be the first consideration in their decision of which console to buy for the next-gen. Activision’s Eric Hirshberg told GamesIndustry International that Microsoft will have to prove that the price difference is justified.
It’s up to them to win the value argument. If you do a focus group of a gazillion people and you show them two prices for two competitive products, 100 percent always prefer the lower price. I think from a first impression standpoint the win goes to Sony, at least as it relates to pricing. Microsoft is going to have to win the hearts and minds and convince people that the higher price point is worth it, and that it provides really meaningful capabilities that will be meaningful to consumers. And it’s a long game, so I am sure that’s what they intend on trying to do.
Hirshberg believes Microsoft faces a similar value challenge with regards to the inclusion of the mandatory Kinect sensor with the Xbox One.
Playing a necromancer with a menagerie of writhing freakish beasts tagging as I saunter through exotic landscapes reminds me of another game by the same lead designer. Klaatu barada Flannum. Group three, guard me!
Another month, another Sims 3 add-on. Island Paradise adds houseboats and beach resorts. Intriguing, but that doesn’t necessarily make me want to jump back into The Sims 3. This, however, does:
…players can snorkel and scuba dive beneath the sea where they will discover an aquatic world filled with sea life, collectibles, caves and sunken treasure. Underwater explorations can lead to many new adventures including befriending mermaids, spotting legendary sea monsters and potentially life-threatening encounters with sharks.
Island Paradise is out today for $40. Yep, $40. With that kind of money, you could buy both Spiderman and Iron Man in Marvel Heroes. You could download about half of the DLC available for Company of Heroes 2. You could buy a copy of XCOM for the iPad and still have a little money left over. I’m downloading Island Paradise as I type this.
Man, Australians get no fun. Yesterday, we reported that Saints Row IV had been refused by the Australian Classification Board. Today, word comes from developer Undead Labs that its open-world zombie survival game has also been given the dreaded “Refused Classification” judgment effectively banning it for sale in the territory.
We’ve run afoul of certain prohibitions regarding the depiction of drug use. We’re working with Microsoft to come up with options, including changing names of certain medications in the game to comply with ratings requirements. Whatever our path forward, it’s going to take a bit.
I know this is frustrating – believe me, we’re frustrated too – but each country has the right to set its own rules about content, and it’s our responsibility to comply with them. Rest assured we’ll do everything we can to find a way to get the game into your hands. Stay tuned.
Polygon was able to confirm via Board documents that self-medication seems to have been the objectionable content that resulted in the refused rating.
High Explosive Anti-Tank shell 53-BP-540 left us at 1:00 am PDT today. It was 26 months old. It is survived by Armor Piercing shell 53-G-530 and High Explosive shell 53-OF-530. Condolences should be sent to the Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank.
Today’s 8.6 update to World of Tanks represents the most ambitious re-imagining of Wargaming.net’s popular “freemium” game since its 2011 launch. Even major changes like the physics patch or the removal of “pay to win” components of the game pale in comparison. This update hopes to resolve some of the legacy problems that have been around for so long they had begun to feel like features.
Over the next few days I’ll examine the patch and the current state of World of Tanks. But balance changes often have a feeling of “two steps forward, one step back” and the 8.6 update is no exception. Buried in the massive list of patch notes was the change that signaled the death of one of my favorite tanks:
KV-2:
Added shell MPB mod. 1915/28.
Removed shell 53-BP-540
After the jump: requiem for a derp Continue reading →
Cameron Booth, a graphic designer and illustrator, has accused Naughty Dog of appropriating his redesign of the Boston MBTA Transit map from 2012 and used it in The Last of Us. In this Tumblr, Booth alleges that the game developer used his map in their game without securing prior permission or compensating him for his work.
“For a software developer – especially a big developer working on a blockbuster title like this – to casually appropriate someone else’s work and incorporate it into their game without any discussion with the owner of that work is completely unacceptable. (Not to mention hugely ironic, as the software industry is always complaining about piracy of their work.)
Naughty Dog seems to have known that they couldn’t use the official map without paying a hefty license fee, so it looks like they just went on the internet and found another one. Cos, you know, images on the internet are free for anyone to use, right? Not.
To be clear: at no point have Naughty Dog contacted me about using my intellectual property (this visual representation of the Boston rapid transit network) in their product.
To be even more clear: if you want to use my work commercially, payment before usage is required. If you’re making money from your product, then you can pay me for my work as well.”
Naughty Dog has not responded to the accusation at this time.
UPDATE: Cameron Booth removed his earlier blog post (reprinted above) and noted that he spoke to Naughty Dog representatives via phone and they “acknowledge their error” and that “matters will be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.”
Sorry, Aussies! You won’t be getting the same Saints Row goodness the rest of the world will see. Australia’s newly revamped Government Classification ratings system, which now allows for adult rated “18+” videogames, has issued a Refused Classification rating for Volition’s upcoming Saints Row sequel. Being refused means that the title cannot be sold in the country. GamesIndustry International reports that the ratings board objected to the moral content of the game.
“Saints Row IV, includes interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context. In addition, the game includes elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards. Such depictions are prohibited by the computer games guidelines.”
Volition and publisher Deep Silver said they are reworking elements of the game for resubmission to the board. Saints Row: The Third was given a MA 15+ rating under the old system.
Leveling up your characters in Guild Wars 2 is only one form of advancement. There’s also your score, which tracks all manner of things you’ve done with all your characters, broken down into categories of achievements: crafting, combat, PvP, fashion, exploration, and so forth. The score doesn’t mean anything, but it’s a helpful way to compare how much you’ve played compared to your friends. For instance, Jason McMaster has 1078 points. I have 1226, thanks in part to the careful application of a flamethrower. I rest my case.
One of the cool things about events like the ongoing Dragon Bash is that the points system — known in some circles as achievement whoring, but there’s no need to be nasty about it — is used to encourage us to do stuff related to the event. For instance, I’ve been gathering all this taffy that gives me a brief boost if I eat it. Big whoop. Frankly, I can’t be bothered. So I’m sitting on about a hundred pieces of taffy that I might as well throw away.
Oh, look, there’s an achievement for eating the taffy. I might as well start pounding it down. After about ten pieces of the dragon-themed candy, the above screenshot ensues. Pretty sneaky, ArenaNet. Also realistic.
My favorite instance of overindulgence gimmicks in an MMO was in Lord of the Rings Online. Turbine tried mightily to make player housing and guild housing relevant. Among their attempts was furniture and trophies you could use in the instanced housing. Such as the keg someone put in our guild’s house. It had a warning label on it that basically said the ale in the keg was too powerful and you therefore shouldn’t drink it. “Seriously,” it suggested, “just don’t!” So, naturally, you drank it. At which point you were teleported to a random location and told that you didn’t remember anything that had happened. This triggered a cute Hangover style quest in which you talked to various people to piece together what you’d done during your blackout.
But my favorite part of the gimmick was that when you were teleported to the random location, you appeared without your pants on. But not to worry! You hadn’t lost your Reinforced Mithril Britches of Budgeford! They were safe in your inventory.
UPDATE: After finishing off all my taffy and vomiting a few more times, my score is now up to 1228. Jason McMaster’s score is still only 1078.
Reuters reports that Microsoft is bringing Age of Empires to mobile platforms. The mobile version of the game is being developed by KLab and will come to iPhone and Android before the Windows Phone version.
Microsoft did not explain why the game is coming to other mobile devices before its own Windows Phones. A Microsoft spokesperson did say that there were no further announcements at this time of other Microsoft-licensed titles being released on competitor’s platforms.
Age of Empires II HD (pictured) was released on Steam in April.
Company of Heroes is a classic real time strategy game for a reason. It brought design innovation and Hollywood kick to the genre, and it did it with a stultifyingly familiar setting. You loved Company of Heroes no matter how badly you were burned out on World War II! It did so many things right: the interplay of infantry and armor, the destructible terrain, the commander abilities, the four factions, the victory conditions, the various game modes, the voice acting, the interface, the fancy graphics, the gratifyingly tactical fiddliness.
After the jump, what would possibly go wrong with the sequel? Continue reading →
Well, that wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I logged in, dinked around with my skills a bit, and ambled over to check out a dynamic event in which some centaurs had occupied a human settlement. If I had five silver for every time that happened in Guild Wars! In the occupied settlement, I found three other players working on the event. They invited me to a party and there went the rest of the evening. I had been playing a necromancer based on debuffing enemies, which is a bit of a finicky way to fight a battle. However, I was able to easily rejigger her into a more accommodating pet class. Let my bone fields, blood fiends, shadow fiends, flesh golems, explosive bone minions, and adorable little jagged horrors get in there for the fighting while I get reacquainted with what’s what. It still got a bit chaotic. At one point, I didn’t even notice my party had moved on. Hey guys, wait for me and my army of freaks!
Crafting, on the other hand, looks like it’s going to be a nightmare to relearn. I think I’ll just let that sit for a while. As for the player vs player stuff, I can’t help but feel the allure of the new skill system for the world vs world larger-scale multiplayer. That was already a hole you could fall into for days at a time. Now it looks big enough to fall into for weeks at a time.
The worldwide event currently in progress, Dragon Bash, involves smacking dragon pinatas, burning dragon effigies (pictured), and some minigames that I have no desire to play, including bird race betting in the capital. A huge illusionary dragon presides over the capital, which seems like it would be unnerving for the people who live there. A series of new missions are playfully styled as fantasy noire. Unfortunately, I think they’re above my necromancer’s level (level 33 out of 80), as I’m being tasking with finding a suspect in an area with level 55 monsters. I’m not sure I’ll be able to progress into the next stage of the event, which begins tomorrow. It’s something about sky pirates. I’m tempted to call in the big guns (i.e. my level 80 engineer).
Tomorrow’s update also includes what ArenaNet calls the “largest balance patch ever”. What better time to relearn how to play?
One of the surprise announcements at E3 was that World of Tanks, the free-to-play PC juggernaut, will be coming to Micrsoft’s consoles. Xbox has struggled with the free-to-play concept, so how would Wargaming’s tank warfare MMO work with Microsoft’s notoriously difficult console game pricing and certification schemes?
Wargaming’s CEO Victor Kislyi spoke to GamesIndustry International about how they plan to “educate” the stodgy console industry.
“Everybody knows Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are traditional console companies which are huge in their own merit. They have lots of divisions, lots of departments, lots of regulations. We respect that, and whining and complaining about that structure does not help,” says Kislyi. “We’re now working hard with Microsoft’s people as a team to build this and to break a couple of rules inside Microsoft.”
“We as a company are definitely insisting on breaking all the rules. That’s the definition of free-to-play. Free-to-play has to be transparent, right? And Microsoft traditionally, as a retail boxed business model, has a lot of restrictions – technological, legal, and whatnot. For them and for us this is a big move forward and it’s quite risky,” offers Kislyi.
Kislyi said that he realizes that some compromises will need to be made on Wargaming’s side to bring the game to a console audience. He insists however that console companies need to adapt to the new realities of the F2P model or find themselves in “hard times.”
High Moon Studios has been doing yeoman’s work with the Transformers games. Can they rise to the absurdity required for a good Deadpool game? We find out this week.
Nintendo’s latest collection of Wario minigames comes out for the Wii U under the name Mario & Watch. I’ve played the multiplayer, where I found exactly one mode worth playing more than once. It’s a Super Monkeyball style game where you and other players try to land your pieces on scored targets. I mainly like this mode because I don’t have to dig out any Wiimotes to play an old copy of Super Monkeyball. Otherwise, I don’t see the appeal of Wario & Game for anyone who isn’t a Wario completionist.
Endless Space, a strategy game without an AI, gets DLC called Disharmony. Among the additions is an “Adaptive Multi-Agent Artificial Intelligence System”. I didn’t make that up. The developers made that up. That’s actually one of the new features. In my experience, the fancier the name for the AI, the dumber the actual AI. But I’d love to be wrong. Endless Space is far too stylish a sci-fi game to be left to languish brainlessly.
The DLC I’m really excited about is the dedicated Tiny Tina add-on for Borderlands 2. Or, as I like to call it, the Burches are back. The conceit is that Tiny Tina is dungeonmastering a session of Bunkers and Badasses. I just failed my saving throw to resist.
This year’s Magic the Gathering release, Magic the Gathering 2014, gets a new sealed deck tournament and more flexible deck-building. These seem like fine additions to an already fine game. At this point, the biggest drawbacks to these digital versions of Magic the Gathering is that you’re still only playing Magic the Gathering. I can think of about a dozen other card-based games I’d rather play.
If you like your vampires in hoodies, Dark is an action/stealth RPG from the German studio that made a Dungeon Keeper clone called Dungeons.
Finally, Company of Heroes 2 is out this week. Have you played the original Company of Heroes? If so, you’re good to go.
