You can be among the first to blaze a trail through the wild frontiers of Destiny, the next evolution of entertainment from the creators of Halo.
Activision Publishing and Bungie today announced that fans who pre-order the game at participating retailers worldwide will get early access to the Destiny Beta, which will include a diverse sampling of major activities featured in the full game. The Beta will begin in early 2014 on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360.
To celebrate the announcement, Activision and Bungie have released a new trailer entitled “The Moon,” featuring a highlighted destination in the game and the Hive, one of the four enemy races featured in Destiny.
“We have no doubt Destiny is not only a great action game but also the next great entertainment property,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “That means we’re putting all our creative support and all our expertise in creating blockbuster franchises into a colossal Destiny Beta that we believe will set a new bar for the next generation of games. Fans have a lot to look forward to in 2014.”
“Destiny is the most ambitious game we have ever made and it’s our chance to transform the way you experience a new Bungie universe,” said Harold Ryan, Bungie president. “From day one Destiny has been an incredibly bold vision that Activision shares with Bungie. Destiny is a massive universe that is populated by the players and for that reason we need fans to get their hands on the game, fans all around the world. We can’t wait!”
Destiny Beta Redemption Codes are only available while supplies last. Upon pre-ordering the game at a participating retailer, fans can visit http://bungie.net/beta and follow the instructions on the page to secure their spot in the Beta.
The release date for South Park: The Stick of Truth has been announced. Many fans have been waiting to hear this date, including my self!
Ubisoft, South Park Digital Studios and Obsidian Entertainment announced South Park: The Stick of Truth, will be available in the UK on the 13th of December for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The Windows PC release date will be shared at a later time.
In addition, the South Park: The Stick of Truth Grand Wizard Edition, a must-have for any self-respecting South Park fan, will also be available on the 13th of December and features a trove of mystical items from the deepest reaches of South Park to aid you in your quest to acquire the Stick of Truth and rid the realm of evil.
In the Grand Wizard Edition you will receive:
-South Park: The Stick of Truth Game
The full game on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.
-Grand Wizard Kidrobot Cartman Figure
Own the Grand Wizard Cartman and his stick of authority with this six-inch replica figure from Kidrobot. The Grand Wizard Cartman figure is not available in stores and can only be found in the Grand Wizard Edition.
-Kingdom of South Park Map
The entire town of South Park has been mapped for the first time in South Park history.
-The Stick of Truth Ultimate Fellowship Pack
Unlock the ultimate fellowship with the one pack to rule them all! Choose your class and pick your perk with four exclusive Stick of Truth costumes that come equipped with special abilities. Suit up as the Necromancer Sorcerer to increase your fire damage, earn extra gold by equipping the Rogue Assassin outfit, deal extra weapon damage with the Ranger Elf costume, or raise your defence with the Holy Defender outfit. The choice is yours, New Kid.
You can check out the latest action in South Park: The Stick of Truth by watching the new “Destiny” trailer. In the trailer, the New Kid steps forth and fulfils his…destiny.
It’s the end of the week so it is time for the industry news round up.
Electronic Arts’ exhaustive search for a new CEO led it to promote from within after all. The publisher today announced that executive VP of EA Sports Andrew Wilson is now the company’s CEO, replacing the seat left vacant by John Riccitiello’s resignation in March. EA executive chairman (and a former CEO of the company himself) Larry Probst will stay on as executive chairman for an undetermined length of time in order to assist Wilson with the transition to his new role.
Shinji Mikami, the father of survival horror, is back to direct The Evil Within, a game embodying the meaning of pure survival horror. Highly-crafted environments, horrifying anxiety, and an intricate story weave together to create an immersive world that will bring players to the height of tension. The Evil Within is in development for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC and is slated for release in 2014. A new trailer has been released for the game. If you are over eighteen and aren’t of a nervous disposition you can watch the trailer here, http://youtu.be/Z4WqOQTxisM
Blue Manchu is happy to announce that Card Hunter is finally available for all to play at www.cardhunter.com. Created in collaboration with legendary Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, Card Hunter is Irrational Games co-founder Jonathan Chey’s first game since BioShock. Its unique mix of card collecting, board gaming and fantasy role-playing is set to reinvigorate the collectible card gaming scene. Card Hunter is a free to play game.
Jasper Smith, CEO of PlayJam, the company behind the highly anticipated micro games console – GameStick, confirmed a Global on-sale release date for the device of Tuesday 29th October 2013. Retailers GameStop, GAME, and Amazon will partner for the launch with additional outlets in Canada, Europe and the Middle East receiving stock prior to the end of year Holiday season. The console, which broke onto the games scene in January of this year following a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, has moved from paper to production in just 9 months.
Game Lab Social, a vibrant co-working space for creatives, is pleased to announce the opening of a new studio space in Leamington Spa designed to foster creativity, collaboration and knowledge sharing. As the vision of industry veterans Ollie Clarke and Steve Stopps and supported by Warwick District Council, Game Lab Social will open a space to work with local talent in specifically created workshops, on-site training and access to marketing, pitching and monetization expertise. Game Lab Social will also work to talent match, combining developer skills to create new development teams with the business infrastructure in place to support burgeoning talent, including graphic design, accounting and legal services.
It’s the end of the week which means it’s time for the industry news round up!
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment unveiled a new trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins titled “Nowhere to Run.” The trailer showcases the indomitable super villains hell-bent on taking down the Bat and gives a first look at Firefly, one of the eight assassins featured in Batman: Arkham Origins, capable of raining fire from above. You can watch the Batman: Arkham Origins – Nowhere to Run – gameplay trailer here: http://youtu.be/gTQQaZm5Mzc
Continuing the superhero game theme, LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes are back, this time revealing the brick-building plot of the game, with an all-new new trailerAm! Do you have what it takes to destroy Dr. Doom and his Dr. Doom Doomray of Doom? Check out the awesome trailer (with a huge villain reveal) here: http://youtu.be/Nvpug0_-xAQ
It’s time to step back into the darkness. Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, the follow-up to the genre-defining horror game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, is now available for pre-order with a 20-percent discount. From the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Dear Esther comes a new first-person horror game that will drag you to the depths of greed, power and madness. It will bury its snout into your ribs and it will eat your heart. Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is survival–horror at its most unsettling; helpless and alone, no weapons to soothe your nerves, and the dim light of your lantern to offer any comfort.
Broken Sword: The Serpent’s Curse is the fifth instalment in the adventure game franchise. It was kickstarted to give Revolution Software full control, giving them total freedom over the games look and feel. It is also the first Kickstarter project to be picked up by Sony to put on the Vita. The Serpent’s Curse will also be available on iOS, PC, Mac, Android and Linux and you can see an early trailer for the game, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3jQu1riTcYg
After years of Comic Book Movies, Publishers are really making a play for videogames to muscle in. EA have a Need for Speed movie starring Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad, and Ubsioft already have Michael Fassbender attached to Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell with Tom Hardy. Now they’re taking upcoming Watch_Dogs onto the big screen too, forming a partnership with Sony Pictures and New Regency. Video Games have a very hit and miss track record with going to movies and some are only good because they are so bad. With all these games going to Hollywood though, it shows games are being accepted more and more.
It’s the end of the week which means it is time for the industry news round up!
Jason Holtman, who spearheaded Valve’s Steam business for eight years before leaving the company in February, has a new job at Microsoft with a focus on PC gaming and entertainment strategy. At Valve, Holtman was the primary point of contact for developers that distributed games on Steam – and, to many in the gaming world, was the service’s driving force. While he certainly wasn’t the sole reason for its success, he was its biggest cheerleader and an even bigger proponent of digital distribution. What this means for Microsoft is yet to be seen.
The Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer trailer was revealed yesterday and the franchise has finally introduced female characters to play as! You can enjoy the trailer on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2lJcbeBerQ
Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches, the final add-on pack for Arkane Studios’ critically-acclaimed first-person action game, is now available worldwide via Xbox LIVE (800 Microsoft Points), Steam (£7.99 / €9.99 / AU$14.45) and on PlayStation Store. Additionally, a new gameplay trailer for the add-on was released which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLEfvTkYHeE
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced it has released Zatanna, the latest downloadable content (DLC) character to be added to the DC Comics fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Based on NetherRealm Studios’ interpretation of the famed DC Comics character, Zatanna is available now on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points and will be available on the PlayStation Network at a price of £3.99 soon. A second generation magician and a master of trickery known for her clever escapes and summons executed by speaking backwards, Zatanna is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the futuristic world of Injustice: Gods Among Us. If my geek memory serves me well I believe her and her father helped teach a young Bruce Wayne that art of escape in one of the Batman story lines.
Finally Little Orbit, a worldwide video game publisher, today announced a partnership with TNT to bring the epic alien-invasion television series Falling Skies to multiple video game consoles. Depicting a world gone mad after an alien invasion, the Falling Skies video games will grab a foothold in the gaming world with a mobile game due out this holiday and multiple consoles launching in 2014. Falling Skies is based on the popular TNT show of the same name and will tie directly into the television series, with a scenario that will weave itself into the existing universe and feature voice work by the show’s actors. This has worked incredibly well for The Walking Dead but time will tell how this one will do!
2K and Irrational Games announced yesterday that BioShock Infinite: Clash in the Clouds, the first downloadable content pack for BioShock Infinite, is now available for download.
BioShock Infinite: Clash in the Clouds, developed by Irrational Games, is an action-focused downloadable content pack that presents players with a series of unique, intense challenges and a whole new gambit of combat opportunities. Players will combine a diverse toolset of weapons, Vigors, gear, Tears and Sky-Lines in four new areas inspired by the classic BioShock Infinite environments. In addition, by completing all 60 Blue Ribbon challenges, players will unlock exclusives in the Columbian Archeological Society, gaining access to new Voxophones, Kinetoscopes, concept art and more.
BioShock Infinite: Clash in the Clouds is available for £3.69 (400 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live for Xbox 360) via online marketplaces on all available platforms, and is included in the BioShock Infinite Season Pass.
Also in development at Irrational Games, BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea is a two-part add-on campaign featuring an all-new story for Booker and Elizabeth, set in the underwater city of Rapture before its fall. These two campaigns will be available individually for £9.99 (1200 Microsoft Points), and are also included as part of the BioShock Infinite Season Pass.
“We are really excited to offer our fans the content that they have been asking for,” said Ken Levine, creative director of Irrational Games. “With Clash in the Clouds, people get a pure action experience that takes BioShock Infinite combat to its highest challenge and intensity level. With the Burial at Sea episodes, we are building a Rapture-based narrative experience that is almost entirely built from scratch.”
The BioShock Infinite Season Pass is available now for £15.99 (1600 Microsoft Points) and includes all three pieces of add-on content, as well as the Early Bird Special Pack, which includes powerful weapon upgrades, exclusive gold weapon skins and infusion bottles to upgrade abilities.
It’s Friday so it is time for the end of the week games industry news round up!
Microsoft has begun inviting Xbox Live members worldwide to participate in the public beta for its 2013 Xbox Live Update for Xbox 360. The update will include improvements to overall performance and the ability to conduct transactions with local currency, as Microsoft Points will be retired later this year. To join, interested 360 owners should look for the Xbox Beta Program tile on the home hub of the Xbox Dashboard and once the places are filled the beta will be closed to the public. You will be required to sign an NDA for security reasons.
In celebration of summer, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces that all its mobile games in the App Store are priced at £0.69 this week including Man of Steel, LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7, Batman Arkham City Lockdown, Scribblenauts Remix, LEGO Batman DC Superheroes, Midway Arcade and Bastion. Man of Steel, Batman: Arkham City Lockdown and Scribblenauts Remix are also available on Google Play at the same low price.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition is available for PC from Steam and other digital download portals. Originally developed by NetherRealm Studios, led by Mortal Kombat co-creator and creative director Ed Boon it has been adapted for PC by High Voltage Software. If you have always wanted to try your hand in Mortal Kombat, now is the time.
2K unveiled the WWE 2K14 cover art featuring WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The official reveal, which took place during an episode of Monday Night Raw, showcased cover artwork designed in partnership with “The People’s Champion.” The cover art reflects The Rock’s physicality and signature in-ring pose. To further celebrate, 2K recently launched a consumer contest for the opportunity to create alternate cover artwork to be included with WWE 2K14 retail copies. “I am exceptionally grateful to be chosen for the cover of WWE 2K14 and serve as the first cover Superstar under 2K’s leadership,” said The Rock.
Square Enix has released a new Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII trailer dubbed “The Divine Task”. The latest video reveals more about the game’s story, including the appearance of supporting character Hope. Lightning Returns was revealed at the Final Fantasy 25th anniversary event in 2012 and is billed as the last entry in the “Lightning saga”. The Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII’s release date has been confirmed as February 11, 2014 in North America and February 14 Europe on Xbox 360 and PS3. You can enjoy the trailer, here.
The brand new Deadpool game launches tomorrow in the UK and this is what the Maniac, Merc with a Mouth had to say about it.
Mission accomplished! I, Deadpool, have created the ultimate Deadpool video game masterpiece! I call it…wait for it…DEADPOOL! It’s pretty much the greatest thing I’ve made (besides my ill-fated root beer float hot tub incident of ’93) and is available now in popular retail establishments and most major chimichangerias (like a taqueria…but with chimichangas!) across the UK. Oh yeah, and those video gamey and comics guys at High Moon Studios, Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc and Marvel Entertainment kind of helped, too.
“I’ll never forget the day I threatened convinced Peter Della Penna, the head of High Moon Studios, to make a kick-ass, third-person comic book video game with extreme combat and bikini-exploding action, starring me,” said Deadpool, Big Chief and Head Honcho of Things & Stuff regarding DEADPOOLat High Moon Studios. “Peter looked me lovingly in the eyes and said in return, ‘Deadpool, I’ll do whatever you want; just please stop filling up my kitchen with pancakes!’ It was that first moment where I really felt like Peter and I had a connection – an understanding that has stuck with me to this very day. Coincidentally, his family dog stuck with me too, you know…for leverage.”
Fans can rest assured that the first order of business while making DEADPOOL was purchasing a life-size replica statue of me for High Moon Studios, so that my outstanding team of talented, dedicated nerd types could gaze endlessly at it in order to make the digital me look as good as real-life me. I also instructed them in the art of building a fast, fluid combat system that mixes all my upgradable bang-bangs with my mad kung-fu-chop saki skills and mutant abilities, so the Deadpool in DEADPOOL (i.e. that’s me…heh…), is a one-stop wrecking machine, perfect for stealth and balls-out explosive frontal assaults alike. Forget walking away from explosions in slow motion – I jump right into them to see how hot they are…REGENERATIVE HEALING FACTOR, baby!
I also filled a windowless room with terrifying spiders and locked…er…hired veteran Deadpool writer Daniel Way and provided him with really, just a stupid amount of spiders a “package” to convince him to pen a script that would befit Marvel’s most lovable character’s debut as a leading man. DEADPOOL is the rare game that plays with you while you play with it, delivering a $#!t ton (it’s just a better system of measurement, people – I can’t stress that enough) of fourth-wall-eviscerating humour voiced brilliantly by yours truly, doing a bang-up imitation of what it would be like if a young up-and-comer I discovered named Nolan North were trying to sound like me (Got that?…).
I am currently available and accepting dating offers – please send full-body shots. In other news, my DEADPOOL video game is also now available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and on Windows PC. If you’re not into hard, packaged goods, the digital me is also available for digital download (Did you think I wouldn’t diversify my distribution network? In this economy? Newbs!) on the PlayStation Network for the PS3 and Steam. I will also be available later this summer on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360. And of course, I…DEADPOOL, am rated PEGI 18! Because if there’s one word that describes Deadpool, it’s “mature.” Want more information? Well, let your fingers inappropriately caress your keyboard over to www.DeadpoolGame.com, or follow along at www.facebook.com/RealDeadpool or on Twitter @RealDeadpool.
You can enjoy my AMAZING trailer, lovingly crafted by yours truly, below!
2K and Gearbox Software announced today that Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, the fourth and final add-on content campaign for Borderlands 2, is available for download today for all available platforms.
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep features the popular Tiny Tina as she takes on the role of Bunker Master in a game of “Bunkers and Badasses.”
Players join the vault hunters on an epic quest of revenge and redemption through dynamic and fantastical settings filled with castles, dungeons and magic forests. Borderlands fans will also fight off more new unique enemy types in Dragon Keep than in all three of the previous add-on campaigns combined, including sorcerers, wizards, orcs, dragons and more.
“The Borderlands franchise has set a high bar for the quality and value of add-on content,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “Today, that bar is raised even higher with the release of Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, the most substantial add-on campaign in the franchise’s history.”
“As Bunker Master, Tiny Tina can change the game scenario however she wishes, making Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep the most dynamic add-on campaign Gearbox Software has ever produced,” said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. “The Borderlands 2 development team here at our studio really pulled out all the stops to create what we think is the best value in DLC ever offered.”
Critics exclaim that Dragon Keep is the most ambitious and impressive add-on campaign for Borderlands 2, with IGN calling it “The biggest and craziest DLC yet.”
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep is the fourth and final add-on content campaign included in the Borderlands 2 Season Pass. The Season Pass, which also contains the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack, is still available for purchase and provides nearly $45.00 worth of content for $29.99 (2400 Microsoft Points), including:
Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty;
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage;
Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt;
Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack;
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep.
Players can also individually purchase Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep and the three previous add-on campaigns for $9.99 each (800 Microsoft Points) as well as the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack for $4.99 (400 Microsoft Points).
Additionally, there’s never been a better time for new Vault Hunters to jump into the world of Pandora and experience the critically acclaimed shoot-n-loot mayhem, as the base game of Borderlands 2 is now available for $29.99 MSRP. When combined with the Season Pass, players will get nearly $75 of content for $60, offering hundreds hours of gameplay for an outstanding value.
You can enjoy the trailer for the new DLC below if you are over 18.
It’s Friday which, of course, means it is time for the games industry news round up.
Mark Cerny, the lead system architect on Sony’s PlayStation 4 console, will deliver the conference keynote at Develop in Brighton, which takes place at the city’s Hilton Metropole from 9-11 July 2013. Cerny’s keynote, Changing the Game: Developing into the Next Generation, will see the industry legend take delegates through the journey he has been on to bring the console to reality, looking at the lessons learnt from previous console generations, the future vision for PS4 and how embracing the Indie community will have a key role in fulfilling that vision. To find out more about the event, go to http://www.developconference.com/
Gamers competing via the Xbox Tournaments with Virgin Gaming app on Xbox 360, now have a new way to win cash and show off their gaming skills. With the new update, available today, players can now enter buy-in tournaments and head-to-head challenges using their own money. Since launching nearly two months ago, Virgin Gaming has awarded Xbox 360 gamers nearly $100,000 in cash prizes, while also allowing players to seamlessly browse, enter, challenge, play in and track tournaments for their favourite games directly from Xbox Live. Gamers that are not already using the app can register for an account at http://virgingaming.com/xbox and download the app from Xbox Live.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey will be available for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita handheld systems in Europe on 21st June. A Nintendo DS version will follow this Autumn, as will a free-to-play online world, LEGO Legends of Chima Online. The new games all complement a line of branded products and TV content based on the LEGO Legends of Chima action packed world ruled by eight animal tribes that tells the classic story of good and evil, friendship and family.
Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 will be releasing on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PC/Steam, PlayStation Network, iPad, and for the first time on Android tablets next week. As with previous years Wizards of the Coast are rolling out the release of the game over two days across the myriad of platforms. The game will be released on June 25 for iTunes, Google Play and Amazon App Store. The following day will see the release on PC, Xbox Live and PSN. Associate Community Manager Sean Gibbons gives the community a first look at the new Sealed Campaign and deck editor in the upcoming Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers, which you can enjoy here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEQVZf8qxYo
Finally, some good news for those of you who are looking forward to the new Thief game. You won’t have to buy a next generation console for the game. Eidios Montreal has confirmed that the game will also be coming to Xbox360 and PS3. No word yet on a WiiU release. Senior Producer Stephane Roy acknowledges that the developers “have to be smart” in transferring the demands of the software to consoles at the end of their life cycle – suggesting that the breadth of the world may be scaled down to accommodate present-day hardware.
You can be among the first to blaze a trail through the wild frontiers of Destiny, the next evolution of entertainment from the creators of Halo.
The Train2Game Blog 