In this discussion, we talked about Zone of the Enders: Second Runner, Mars VR, a major re-release of another classic Kojima game. But with this, comes many questions along with it, because of the history of the game. Do some remasters matter? Does VR actually enhance anything? Should a game get released with a demo for another game? And what constitutes a rail shooter? As usual, we will talk about #onlythefacts.
Did you ever know this game was out? Elijah Wood personally came out to show off the game at two E3 showcases. But now the game is out, and not a peep. Also, despite heavily marketing it as a VR experience tailored for the PS4, it’s also available on Xbox One and PC. Which is suspicious, but how does it play? It plays like someone tried to combine Get Even with PT, that’s what it is.
That’s right, VR continues to make strides in becoming the best way to experience your favorite games. Announced on the Playstation blog, Borderlands 2 will be making its way to PSVR on December 14, 2018. One of the most popular first person shooter RPG’s of all time will be letting you experience its wild gunplay from the most first person perspective possible. The full game will be playable and available for the price tag of $49.99.
“Players will get the opportunity to visit Pandora in the most immersive Borderlands experience yet.”
Although Enhanced for VR, Borderlands 2 VR will not include the online multiplayer making this a single player only experience. The new Bad Ass Mega Fun Time will allow players to slow down time to prepare for the battles ahead. All four characters unique abilities that relied on multiplayer have been reworked into the BAMF Time, but its not entirely clear how.
Borderlands 2 VR is exclusively available on PSVR and pre-ordering the game will unlock a PS4 dynamic theme featuring the four vault hunters we’ve come to love. Let us know in the comments below how you feel about the lack of multiplayer in exchange for the VR experience.
Dear PS4 gamers, Sony is doubling down on trying to make us smile. Alongside rumors of PS4 name changing becoming a real thing and allowing cross-play on Fort-Nite, Sony has just reset PSNow Free Trials for all PS4 owners. Even if you’ve tried the PSNow service before, you can dive back in and enjoy a free trial again.
Why is Sony doing this? Simple guess is, they want everyone to be aware of the latest PSNow update that allows users to download games to their console. That’s right no more streaming only for the Netflix of video games. Actually, looking at the updated catalog, it’s more like the Hulu of gaming.
Playstation Now, PSNow, is a service that allows gamers to stream games from a wild collection of classic and current games from PS2, PS3, and PS4. Originally suffering from the same issue most internet based things suffer from, the recent update makes the service a lot more exciting.
Give it a shot and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Transference is a first-person sci-fi horror experience for VR. It was developed by SpectreVision and published by Ubisoft. It was heavily advertised as a psychedelic adventure and was heavily promoted by Elijah Wood during E3 2017 & 2018. The plot focuses on your navigating through a computer simulation of the minds of a three-person family. Depending on whose memories you explore, the layout of the house in which you spend the majority of the game will rearrange itself. Surprisingly, when the game came out in late September, it was largely ignored with no fanfare or ads. It also released on Xbox One and PC, despite being slated as a VR-only title. It’s quite possible that VR would enhance the experience, but the game still has to hold up on its own merits. This copy was reviewed without the use of VR, but still on PS4.
GRAPHICS: 2/2
This is definitely a case of style over substance. The game has a great array of really good looking lighting FX, visual glitches, transition sequences, and mocap. There are also several scenes that blend 2D videos into the 3D environment in interesting ways. The problems this game has come from a technical standpoint. Despite the spectacular use of props, colors, and layouts to represent different psyches, one thing takes you out of the experience. The texture quality is just abysmal. Cables look like squares, a jar of sand had jagged edges, a cassette tape looks like a blown-up JPG. That’s really too bad because it definitely shows that a lot of detail was put into everything else. You can pick up props and look at them but the details are muddy. Still, the overall look works.
STORY: 0/2
Absolute drivel. The story of this game is about a family man who went crazy and digitized the minds of his wife, child and himself onto a computer. But the context of why you’re experiencing these memories in the first place is never made apparent. You’re just there to stop in and look at some things that happened to this family. The kid had a dog he loved, and honestly, I can’t remember the actual fate of the dog. Just that something bad happened. The wife is sad because she thinks she gave up her career to be with this man, but I’m not really sure what it was he did that made her have to give everything up.
You never really feel like you’re in danger, and these NPCs are at worst a minor inconvenience…
And the husband? Well, he went crazy. Why? I don’t know, it appears that he just did. The game has several points where you get to watch camcorder footage of the family to get a better idea, but it felt very inconsistent. In one scene, they are at a park having a birthday party and the dad is acting just okay. You find another video later that appears to be the same time and location, but the dad has turned a complete 180 and was acting like a drunken abusive asshole. Why? I don’t know, it looks like he just did. Maybe the truth was hidden on one of the collectibles? That might be the case but it’s not much of a story if it’s mandatory for me to pick up every single object in every room. Also, the less said about the “acting” in this game, the better.
Audio: 2/2
Despite the terrible script and bad acting, the quality of the voice work is well implemented into the game. Several wonky features are added to the voices of the family, distorting them, echoing them, and burning them. This game dives into the reality of horror for the most part, and this game expertly implements the “horror atmosphere” that many scary games excel at. It has everything, cramped spaces, hums, random noises, door knocking, clock ticking, music boxes, the usual. This is amplified with a soundtrack that blends into the scenes you encounter. There are heavy padded synths feeding through distortion tubes as scenes get more and more intense. Zero complaints about anything in the audio department of this game.
GAMEPLAY: 1/2
This is a relaxed horror experience if that makes any sense. You enter an apartment, and spooky things happen. You will walk around, look at things, watch video logs, and avoid walking afoul of the enemies in the game. These phantoms you encounter look like the Endermen from Minecraft. If you touch them, you just get sent backward a little bit. You never really feel like you’re in danger, and these NPCs are at worst a minor inconvenience and one of the least scary things about the game. Thankfully, there really aren’t any jump scares. The biggest problem was that there were a handful of puzzles that either stopped the game dead or were extremely easy. I won’t be able to forgive this game for the “piano puzzle” sequence any time soon. Some of the puzzles made sense plotwise, while others were real head-scratchers.
VR: That said, VR might have enhanced the scares just a little bit. This is literally the only section that VR could have improved the experience. It might have been scarier to walk around this cramped place in a fully immersive manner.
FUN: 0/2
The couple of puzzles that stopped me dead in my tracks were rather annoying. Once I did figure them out, I didn’t feel smart. I just felt “Oh really? Just that? Okay then.” My interest in the fate of this family diminished by the minute. When the game rolled into its conclusion about 2 hours in, I was glad it was over, because I didn’t want to play it anymore. Even then, the ending is incredibly abrupt and completely unfulfilling, accomplishing nothing. You basically just rode around on a haunted mansion ride until you had to get off. The game just shrugs and says to me, “Yup, that’s it. Have a nice day I guess.” Maybe it’s my fault for having high expectations, but I’ve had these expectations for other games in the SciFi/Horror genre that live up to the hype. This one doesn’t.
This whole experience is basically a shaggy dog story about a broken family. Transference is content with itself; it tells you about a series of unfortunate events (which is a crap book series, fight me). This generation of gaming is finding more and more “AA” experiences resurface and make for some high-quality adventures. We got tales like Hellblade, Get Even, Soma, and several other games that serve as an experience on top of being a game. This particular title doesn’t really make the cut.
Stabilizers? Check. Laser Canons? Check. Frequency Blade? Probably not what its called but check. Let’s start f*cking sh*t up baby.
I’m in the cockpit of the all powerful orbital frame Jehuty and even though they keep calling me Dingo, Vega is ready to party. First objective is to get this gate open so I can get in there and see what the big hype over this other orbital frame is. I have two panels, obviously super far away from each other, and that should set things straight. Alright, let’s get to it.
{Game Over}
Ok, alright cool, let’s try that again. This time I’m gonna go for the one on the left first.
As I proceed to destroy these robots I start to wonder “Who the hell is piloting the enemy machines?” Eh, none of my business. Keep slashing and destroying this endless supply of machine enemies. I finally arrive at the panel and with an over charged spirit bomb (it’s not really a spirit bomb but dammit thats what it looks like) I destroy it. Now I gotta travel all the way to the other side of the gate. Let me save real quick in case something goes wrong. Playing this from a first person perspective is way harder than playing in third person. And the lock on system still doesn’t work properly.
On to the other side. Alright here we go, not doing to bad.
{Game Over}
What the f*ck! Why doesn’t this damn game lock on to the closest enemy instead of whatever f*cking random enemy it wants. Wait. Are you kidding me! It’s making me start over and I gotta clear the first panel again. Aahhh!
An Old Mech Game Given The Present of New Life By Future Tech
In a landscape nearly devoid of mech-based adventures, Konami (the company best known for being terrible) dug deep into its bag of old games and gave Zone of the Enders a second life. The irony behind Konami remastering another amazing series by the great Hideo Kojima is pretty amazing, but enough politics. Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner Remastered is a third-person action adventure set in a futuristic world where humans inhabitant both Earth and Mars and war is fought in space. Released for the Playstation 4 and PC on September 6th, 2018, the remaster was developed by Konami and Cygames. Does Zone of the Enders deserve to exist alongside the rest of the recent remasters?
More importantly, how does Zone of the Enders work in VR?
(Note: VR Review does not impact the overall score of the game because it is not the originally designed experience.)
Graphics 1/2
There should absolutely be a standard for allowing companies to use the term “Remastered” for any future game release. Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner treads the line between just better than the craptastic Shenmue remakes that Sega released and the absolutely stunning Yakuza remakes that Sega released. One major advantage for Zone of the Enders is the great way that the game was originally designed to not look hyperrealistic. The visuals paired with the level of fun the game carries makes it very possible to kick back and look beyond the broken character models. Without ever having been to Mars, its safe to assume that Zone of the Enders did a great job recreating exactly what the surface of the red planet looks like.
“Developers truly benefit from the skill of using cartoonish art styles and Zone of the Enders wins heavily thanks to its anime style.“
VR: The game looks worst. The real question here is: was anyone expecting any other response? When playing in first-person through VR the game doesn’t look bad but it definitely doesn’t feel immersive. Think about this one thing for a second. When playing in third-person all of the lasers and explosions are happening, visually at least, in front of the character. When playing in VR the player can look at all the angles of this lighting special effect that was designed to be viewed head-on. Boom, worst, not entirely immersive but not bad. Shenmue was still worse and it wasn’t even in VR.
Story 1/2
For anyone who has not played the first Zone of the Enders, STOP. There will be spoilers ahead because Zone of The Enders: 2nd Runner is a direct sequel. With that said, it’s been damn near 15 years, so get over it. Ready? Let’s go. The game takes place two years after the events of the original game. Playing as Dingo Egret, a miner working on the planet Callisto who comes across the all-powerful orbital frame, Jehuty. That is literally the last part of simplicity this game has until the very end credits. From that point it goes into true Kojima mode with main characters dying and being revived, past significantly important characters appearing then suddenly deciding they want absolutely no part of the new story, and a world-destroying battle between two superweapons on the brink that falls on poor Dingo’s shoulders to be smack dab in the middle of.
Anyone who has ever been a fan of Gundam, Metal Gear or any mech-based anime will absolutely love this. Anyone who read that last sentence and thought what the f*ck is a Gundam, maybe stay away.
VR: Same story. Really not sure what anyone expected to see here.
Audio 2/2
Sound effects help to drive the validity of any game’s atmosphere and Zone of the Enders sounds like a robot war. Nailed it; not a beat missed. Lasers flying by sound way more dangerous than they look. Explosions are short-lived, but in the moment they sound very great. The voice acting and dialogue is great even though it doesn’t seem like any of it was updated for the remaster. It was just really great from the source. The menu sound effects sound exactly like the sounds from Metal Gear Solid 1-3 so super fans should be prepared for some nostalgia. Some excellent nostalgia. Damn Konami why you do Kojima so bad.
VR: Sound is the most critical aspect of VR. If the game sounds right the player can get fully immersed in the experience. Zone of the Enders takes place in space and space is, by most accounts, pretty quiet. That empty atmosphere is great as long as there are no other sounds in the outside world. Most people can’t afford to play their VR in an isolated perfect environment but everything else sounding great is definitely a VR experience.
Gameplay 1/2
Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner Re-Mastered is a remastered PS2 game, and it definitely shows. The control schemes are extremely dated and very light on motor control demands. There are only a handful of buttons used from the entire DualShock remote. Even with the highly bragged about adjustment of the way the secondary weapons button works it still feels super dated. The biggest issue with the controls for the game is found in the lock-on system. For whatever reason, the lock-on system locks on to whatever target that it wants to and when changing targets, probably due to the fast-paced gameplay, the thing goes bonkers. Rather than simply pushing the analog stick towards the closest target to lock on, the game just cycles randomly through all the targets on screen. That’s a really bad thing to happen when playing what is essentially an on-rails shooter.
VR: Probably the best VR experience available to date. The entire game is playable in VR and it feels amazing. Jumping into the cockpit of the super mech known as Jehuty is everything most people want from a VR experience. This is a VR Experience that should not be missed. With better visuals, it would be the epitome of VR gaming. It still suffers from most of the things that made the non-VR version hard to play but in VR those are well worth the pain.
Fun 2/2
Wooooooooooohoooooooooo. Playing Mech games is arguably always fun. Anyone who disagrees is entitled to their opinion but is completely wrong. Outside of the frustration of losing a battle due to a faulty lock-on system, it’s very easy to let time fly by as Jehuty flies or slides all around the surface of Mars, the interior of a massive space battleship. It’s an on-the-rails shooter for the most part in the vein of a super modernized Gradius, but who didn’t like throwing quarters in those old arcade machines? The other issue with the game that hinders its fun levels just a tad is that the save system doesn’t play entirely nice with pick up and play gamers. Fortunately, the PS4 rest mode is a nice workaround for this objective-based issue.
VR: How do you make a fun game more fun? Add the latest technology to its tool belt. Playing Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner in VR mode feels like the way it was meant to be played. Zipping around Mars in first person perspective could only be more exciting in a Sword Art Online style full dive mechanism that doesn’t exist yet. Just to reiterate, everyone should play Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner in VR Mode at least once. It is truly an experience.
Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner is a remaster like no other. Sure, a ton of remasters exist that look a million times better, but Zone brings a brand new element to the game that hadn’t existed previously. Hideo Kojima must have shattered at least three or four rooms’ worth of valuable merchandise when he saw what Konami was able to accomplish with one of his crazy ideas. Honestly, it’s a bit confusing as to why Konami didn’t make the VR mode a more significant marketing push for the game. Priced at only $29.99 brand new, this is a must-have experience for anyone interested in VR.
Scratch that, anyone with a PSVR or PC-based VR system needs to get their hands on Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner today. Especially since the evil monsters at Konami published the game, so we never know what to expect. This last good review pushed them to start making pachinko versions of the game.
Alright so maybe my inner MGS fan read into the avatar name to hard but this VR game looks awesome. Multiplayer Co-Op launching on October 9th for PSVR is Evasion. Check out the trailer below and see “GreyFox” for yourself. And don’t hate me this game deserves the clickbait attention. (Also that might be GreyFox, I’m on hold with the developers, Archiact, right now.)
Who knew they meant playing the game when they said return to hell…
Damn. What a ridiculous piece of… Well, let me not say that. The damn thing probably just needs an update. It’s just stupid frustrating that I can’t just get the game to work. This is no where as fun as playing God of War. Let’s see how long this update it is… I really hope it’s just an update issue and not that I need to buy Move Controllers. What!? 36 hours to download the update! F*ck this, Doom is stupid. I’m gonna go buy Move Controllers this weekend.
(Flashback an hour)
Ok, I spent way too much time last week using the PSVR as a glorified 70inch screen that I could play on while laying in bed. Let’s bust open this Doom VFR and see what the hype is about. Maybe I’ll even learn what the F stands for in VFR haha. I walked over to the physical game palace (my wall shelf) and looked through the spines. I grabbed the fully sealed copy of Doom VFR that came packaged with the HMG PSVR. Cracked the bad boy open and threw it in the PS4 to install.
While the game began installing I did what everyone should do while waiting for games to install. I went to poo. How could anyone ever play any games on a fully loaded bowel. Even worse, a VR game. Yea not gonna get me to throw up anytime soon, I’m smarter than the average bear. For the record and for the young that was a Yogi Bear reference not a homosexuality reference. Moving on.
“I went to poo.”
I completed the deed and went back to find Doom had fully installed. Hazzaahhh it was time to shoot things. Or so I thought. I booted the game and for two whole scenes had barely any control of the game other than moving my camera and my head around. Oh and of course watching the on screen hands squeeze every time I hit the trigger buttons. Can’t pretend I wasn’t entertained by this. Then it happened, the game broke. Maybe? I’m not quite sure but when it was finally time to play, I couldn’t aim vertically and so I could not progress through the first tutorial prompt.
The first tutorial prompt people. I legit had to google a Doom VFR walkthrough video to see if I was missing something or just having technical issues. And that led us to where we are now.
(Flash forward an hour)
I really hope that getting Move Controllers will solve the problem, cause my internet sucks.
I woke up this morning, well rested from a well deserved long sleep. It was early when I went to bed. Maybe 11:30, midnight the latest. Yeah, that’s early for a guy like me. I usually find my self awake at all sorts of hours of the day and night because, well, that’s just the life I live. Either way, I jumped out of bed excited to take on the adult responsibilities of the day. Yes, I said excited and I said that intentionally. Why was I excited? Simple. The faster I got through the menial task of being an adult that we all hate, the faster I could dive into a whole new world. Quite literally.
If you’ve been keeping up with Hard Mode Gamers from the beginning, you’ll be familiar with me hounding Chet to get us a VR. And he did it. Yes, HMG has a shiny fun and exciting PSVR. It’s probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever played on. That’s not even me being a sooper fan boy yet either. That’s just on the premise of it being Virtual Reality. It could have been any VR headset and I’d be just as excited, but Chet went all out and got the best one.
“…Finish your play session by taking your headset off and getting out of bed.”
Today, I decided to explore what it would be like playing God of War on a VR. Before you get upset or confused, God of War is not a VR game at all. Using the PSVR however, puts you in a pitch black world where your screen is literally as large as it possibly can get. So I powered up the whole rig and dove right in.
A few hours passed of me beating down Hell Reavers and solving puzzles. Remember, this is now on what feels like a theater sized screen built just for me. At the end of my play session, I couldn’t help but wonder: how did I enjoy video games on a small screen before? How did I play God of War on a 55inch screen, sitting in a chair, with my head firmly planted forward? That’s the type of thought you’re allowed to have when you finish your play session by taking your headset off and getting out of bed.
That’s right, I went out handled business, came back home and laid down. I laid down and played one of the greatest games I’ve ever experienced. And the whole time, the world around me was non-existent. I know it’s not what VR is made for. But, you can’t get mad at me for having a grand old time.
Welcome back Jesus! Now tell me where the easter eggs are coming from and why these rabbits are so fascinated by them! It doesn’t make any sense at all. And another thing, why has it been such a slow past few weeks for gaming news? Does that mean that its going to be a huge E3 or are we about to be really disappointed? I need answers. In the meantime I’m going to be providing my friends who check out this post an update on why they should feel like lucky gamers.
1. Level-5 Levels up for Switch.
Right out the gate, Level-5 announced it intends to be a big supporter of the Nintendo Switch from this point forward. Level-5 is the well known studio behind popular games on Nintendo 3DS, so this isn’t to surprising. Popular series from the studio include Professor Layton as well as Yo-Kai Watch. They are also the studio behind Ni No Kuni, so who knows what can happen? The first game coming to Switch in Japan however, comes from neither of those properties. The Snack World: Trejarers Gold, which comes our April 12th in Japan, might not be the first experience we were hoping for but it is the experience we are getting. Enjoy!
2. Woah Woah Woah, PSVR got an official price cut!
Now, if i can’t get Chet to get us an official Hard Mode Gamers PSVR at this point, I don’t know what I’ll do. As of March 29th, the official starting price for PSVR is $299. Thats $100 cheaper the launch price of the best selling VR gaming headset. Boom! I said it. Come at me bro. And with Sony estimating over 130 games will be coming to the platform by the end of 2018, this is the best time to get one. You hear that Chet? BEST TIME TO GET ONE. Even if half the games will be shovelware, that’s 64 more games than I’ll finish.
3. A new iPad approaches.
I know, we are still kind of unsure of where we stand with mobile games. I think its important to note that, there are experiences for everyone. This isn’t even about that though. Apple recently announced a new slightly cheaper iPad for education purposes. With that said, it’s still just an iPad. Its the cheapest iPad to have Apple Pencil support and is designed to work flawlessly with the latest versions of pages and spreadsheet. Apple’s own Tim Cook seemed very adamant about bringing iOS into the education field, but has never digressed from being excited to support gaming. So, what this really means for teachers is: A whole lot of detention for playing Fortnite in class.
4. Fortnite continues to outshine PUBG.
Ok, so that title is absolutely intentionally controversial. But hey, remember we are still growing and we need some attention every now and then. The big news here is that Fortnite smashed a big YouTube record. Fortnite is now the current holder of the YouTube record for most uploaded videos of a video game in a single platform. It all set a record for the biggest single live gaming stream with 1.1 million concurrent viewers. I could go on and on about these wild achievements this game has but instead I’ll leave you with one fun fact. Fortnite Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, (the guy who played live with Drake) is reportedly making a handsome career out of streaming. Congratulations to a fellow gamer on his success.
5. Incredible Nostalgia incoming.
As I get older, I look back on things I enjoyed as a child. Things like animated movies, action figures, and dinosaurs. In the past few years we’ve seen an incredible resurgence of some of the IP in many industries that were from my child. I am ecstatic to share with all my friends that not only, as I’m sure you heard, is the Incredible 2 movie officially a real thing but, we are also getting an official game! And not the cheesy kind but instead Lego: The Incredibles will be coming to all major platforms on June 15th. I couldn’t be more excited about this if I tried. Also, Jurassic World Evolution, the theme park simulator, will be bringing some dino-park nostalgia on June 12th. Ah, to feel like a kid again.
6. No Man excused on Xbox.
I’ll admit that was a tough title. Let’s break down what it means quickly before you think I’m crazier than I am. Microsoft announced it can now ban Xbox accounts for “Offensive Language”. This isn’t a policy change, it is just an updated measure of enforcement that will be applied to all of you excessively potty mouthed gamers. Realistically, I think this applies not to the everyday use of F bombs and stuff but more to the players on line who are out of control. And this update comes just as Hello Games announces that No Man’s Sky will be available on Xbox One this summer. The Xbox One version will be released with updates to visuals and include all the major updates from the game.
7. And recently announced we have…
A long awaited announcement but one that we are excited about regardless. Dragon Quest 11 will be released on PS4 and PC on September 4th. There are currently no plans to release it for Nintendo 3DS and the Switch version still has a long way to go according to Square Enix. THQ Nordic also announced Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered will be coming to PS4 and Xbox One in Q2 2018. I applaud the naming convention and never got into this series so I might be down to give it a go. Last but not least we have Deathgarden, a 5-v-1 Shooter from the development team behind Dead By Daylight. Not much was said but they did say to expect to see it at PAX East for sure.
Back in my day I blew off class by playing Tetris on a graphing calculator. -Chet
Week 9, the drought continues. There hasn’t been any incredible news. E3 approaches ever so slowly but the rate of speculation continues. So here I am making sure to find all the coolest announcements possible. For you, for me, for us, here are the reasons you should feel like a Lucky Gamer this week:
1. Let’s Start Releasing.
We are going to be all over the place with this, so get your pen and pad buddy. Ready? Alright here we go. First off, PSVR is getting a cute little mouse adventure called Moss. The game which actually plays from a third person perspective is coming to the system on February 27th, 2018. Next, the blue bomber is letting us relive some of his memories again in the for of Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 and 2. This new classic remake is coming to Nintendo Switch on May 22nd, 2018 (my birthday!). The wildly rumored Burnout Paradise Remaster was officially announced and given a release date. Expect to race through exploding car crashes on March 16th for PS4 and Xbox One. And just for good measure we’ll throw in a release time frame. The long awaited game from Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment, codenamed P7, is slated for 2019.
2. And now the Death Stranding announcement that’s been baking.
As the slow drips continue to increase, we are lucky enough to receive more information about Death Stranding. Kojima and team have been very tight lipped about the project so any news is cause for excitement. This is particular though I’m pretty excited about. Voice actor Troy Baker and writer and actress Emily O’Brien have joined the cast. This Hollywood level cast continues to flex its muscle by adding a top tier voice actor and an elite actress with writing credentials. This piece of news helps us in absolutely no way at all with the mystery, but at least we know we are in good hands. No if only we get you know, David Hayter, maybe?
3. Paladins and Metal Gear need help surviving !
Released to absolutely no expecting audience, Metal Gear Survive finds its first headlines across the internet in a negative light. The first major piece of DLC comes in the form of paying an additional $10 for an extra in game save slot. Yea, you read that right. $10 to be able to have an extra save slot. It’s outrageous and few people were interested in this game to begin with. I can undeniably confirm that everyone at Konami has lost their damn minds. On the other hand, developers working on Paladins are working tirelessly to remove the controversial loot boxes. Chris Arson from Hi Rez Studios, the developers of Paladins, openly acknowledged how upset they have made loyal fans. He says the peoples voices have been heard and they will be shifting focus on getting rid of the Cards Unbound update. The update allowed players to purchase gear and weapons which gave an advantage over players who made no purchases.
4. Sony Launches “My Playstation”.
Anyone familiar with the convenience of using the Playstation app will tell you it started off terrible but blossomed very well. That may not be the case this time around. Sony just announced a browser based version of the Playstation Network compatible with almost any up to date browser. Similar to the app, this new site will allow users to search for friends, send and respond to messages and friend request, edit their profile, and many other core functions of the Playstation Network. Still no mention of PSN ID changes anytime soon, I know that’s important to some people. I, however, remain ever so content with my PSN ID: SooperVega. Come get this work. Kidding, I’m actually really bad at video games.
5. Watson, come join us at the gaming table.
Take a step into the next level of gaming, where partnerships between gaming companies and computer technology companies are growing at an amazing rate. First we saw Oculus purchased by Facebook, Apple buying AR companies, and now Unity partnering with IBM. This new team up will be working to bring the powerful Watson AI to video games. The announcement of the “IBM Watson Unity SDK” is already live in the Unity asset store and will allow developers to integrate the cloud based AI in their games. The hope is that this combined set of tools will unlock a brand new potential in the world of AR and VR, with obvious benefits for standard games as well. Who knows, is the world ready for such powerful AI? Does this mean NPC’s will now always remember that one time I hit them pretty hard while testing my new weapons? Find out on the next episode of – Sorry I’ve been watching Dragon Ball Super.
6. Barbie goes tomb raiding.
As Tomb Raider continues to become the first video game franchise to truly succeed in crossing mediums, we get to see another cool partnership. Mattel has announced that a Tomb Raider edition Barbie will be available for $29.99. The new collectible figure is based on and model after actress Alicia Vikander’s upcoming portrayal of the gaming icon. Rebooting Tomb Raider has ended up being an all around success so far, let’s see how the film does. The figure also comes with all the necessary tomb raiding tools like a map, axe, journal, and certificate of authenticity. That last tool is critical, that’s what gets the bad stuff to happen so you can escape it.
7. Net Neutrality Scheduled to officially end in April.
Sorry to take this moment to get political for a moment but I think all gamers can agree this is important. Net neutrality is scheduled to officially go bye bye on April 23rd. For those who don’t understand what Net Neutrality is, here’s a quick summary. Net Neutrality allows the government to treat internet as a base utility, like gas or electric. This prevents private companies from being able to out do smaller companies by offering more money to block other out. Example: a small gaming website like ours vs a major conglomerate like IGN; they have a larger budget than us, so if a major internet provider said, pay more to allow your visitors more bandwidth on your site, they would immediately win that war. (This is not a real situation yet, although it is plausible, sorry IGN just keeping it real, love you) Don’t take my word for it, go do your own research. Involve yourself and take action, let’s be the changes we want to see in the world.
