Wednesday 20 January 2016

February 2016 New Game Releases: Mojang's 'Cobalt,' 'Toki Tori 2,' 'Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc' Launch Next Month

Three new games, "Cobalt," "Toki Tori 2," and "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc," will be launching in February 2016. Here are the details.
"Cobalt" from Mojang
Initially pegged for an October 2015 release, "Cobalt" is finally launching next month. The game is the creation of developer Oxeye Game Studio and published by "Minecraft" creator Mojang. The game will launch to Microsoft's Xbox One and 360, and PC on Feb. 2. The game will cost $19.99.
According to Mojang's Owen Hill, the game will take around eight hours to complete, but this could vary depending on how a gamer plays the title. Multiple local and online multiplayer modes could also distract players from the main game for hours on end.
In addition to all these features, PC players will also have Steam Workshop, which allows them to build their own levels. Those who bought the alpha also get a free Steam code through their Mojang account.


Play "Toki Tori 2" on PS4 "Toki Tori 2," the sequel to developer Two Tribes' first game ever, comes to the PlayStation 4 on Feb. 23. PS4 owners can buy the game both digitally and as a physical copy. The PS4 version adds five ancient telephatic frogs that will provide guidance to the game's protagonist, a chicken that only has two moves: whistle and stomp. "Toki Tori 2" on the PS4 also adds 15 achievements. The title is a large, open world puzzle game that deviates a little from its core principles by being semi-verbal. The telephatic frogs will provide players with details of their quest through thought bubbles. "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc" comes to PC Spike Chunsoft has announced the release date of the first installment in its graphic adventure game series, "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc." Although no specific date was provided, the developer-publisher revealed that it's targeting to launch the game's PC version next month. The game revolves around a group of students whose school has turned into a prison, thanks to a strange bear named Monokuma. He plays judge, jury, and executioner as the students engage in a battle of words in a mock trial for murder.

'Dragon Quest XI' Release Date News: Game to Launch Before June in Japan?

Dragon Quest VIII The Journey of the Cursed King
As one of the best-selling franchises that has ever been helmed by Yuji Horii, it is not surprising that the excitement for "Dragon Quest XI" is all around the gaming community.
The hype has only increased even more after news emerged in the past week that the game is getting prepared for release in 2017. To be more specific, Horii gave a few details about the game's development during the 30th Dragon Quest Anniversary Presentation last Wednesday, Jan, 13.
According to Gematsu, Horii said the story is almost ready to wrap up, meaning fans can expect additional information to be shared by the development team in the coming months. Aside from the story, Horii also said that some parts of the game's beginning are already playable.
It is then safe to assume that a gameplay trailer may be on the way in the next couple of months, especially since some areas of the game are ready for gameplay.
Despite the good news, fans shouldn't get their hopes to high on a release this year. This is because the game's volume is obviously massive and it will take time for the team to complete all aspects of the game, from setting, characters, weaponry, and all other things acquainted with the game.
While patience is obviously needed for fans of the game, another bit of good news has been revealed as Horii also announced that they are looking forward to releasing the game sometime between May 27, 2016 and May 27, 2017 in Japan.
The time difference given by Horii is somehow huge, compared to other creators and developers who give announcements about release dates. This is probably because of the time needed to make sure everything is set before launching a game. Fans wouldn't want a half-baked version of the game anyway.

New Doom level released by game creator John Romero

Tech Gone Bad Doom level 

John Romero, one of the developers behind the seminal computer game Doom, has released his first new level for the title in 21 years.
He is offering the new material for free via the file-sharing site Dropbox.
Mr Romero told the BBC he had made it as a "warm up" for a new project.
Doom was released in 1993 and had 10 million players by 1995. It has retained a cult popularity, and still has a dedicated community of players who also create their own content.
The source code - the computer program that powers the game, written in a human-readable computer language - has been available for some time.
As a result, Mr Romero estimates there are about 30 alternative versions of the entire game, and more than 100,000 add-on levels created by Doom fans.
"Every day people are still making new levels for it," he said.
His new level, Tech Gone Bad, is a boss level that offers an alternative climactic fight.
It ends in a massive complex with a huge computer room that links to different portals and "hell cracks" in the floor, he said.
Tech Gone Bad Doom level 

The original final level was made by the developer Sandy Petersen and not Mr Romero.
The new version is mostly based outdoors.
Mr Romero said that distinguished it from the original game, which was largely based on indoor play, with the exception of Mount Erebus in level six (E3M6 in the Doom register).
"Doom mapping is pretty easy to do compared with 3D engines," Mr Romero said of his own creation.
"But I did worry... the community that's been playing it for 20 years would tear [the new level] apart."
However the reaction from players has been positive, he added.
"It's been out for four days and it's exploded. It's crazy that a game that's 23 years old has so many people still super-excited about it."
He added he had no idea Doom would become such a perennial favourite back in the early 1990s.
"With Doom, it was mouse and keyboard-controlled on the PC when it was released, and you can still play it that way," he said.
"People remember how much fun they had a long time ago and I hope they will have that much fun again."




LEGO Dimensions Ghostbusters Trailer Released


LEGO Dimensions Ghostbusters Trailer Released


LEGO Dimensions Ghostbusters trailer debuts

Content for Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group’s hit game LEGO Dimensions continues to roll out with the latest level pack hitting stores today – Ghostbusters! You can check out the Ghostbusters trailer for LEGO Dimensions in the player below. The Ghostbusters Level pack has been released alongside the DC Comics Team Pack, which features The Joker, Harley Quinn, The Joker’s Chopper, and Quinn-mobile; and the Back to the Future and Doctor Who Fun Packs featuring Doc Brown and the Travelling Time Train, and a Cyberman and Dalek, respectively.
When a mysterious and powerful vortex suddenly appears in various LEGO worlds, different characters from DC Comics, The Lord of the Rings and The LEGO Movie are swept away. To save their friends, LEGO Batman, LEGO Gandalf and LEGO Wyldstyle journey to locations beyond their wildest imaginations, and they soon realize that Lord Vortech is summoning villains from across different LEGO worlds to help him gain control. As his power grows, worlds mix, unexpected characters meet and all boundaries are broken. Our heroes must travel through space and time to rescue their friends before the vortexes destroy all of LEGO humanity.
LEGO Dimensions is an entertainment experience that merges physical brick building with interactive console gameplay, and includes gameplay from “The Simpsons,” “Doctor Who,” Portal, Jurassic World, Midway Arcade, LEGO Chima and “Scooby-Doo!” These fan-favorite worlds, most of which have never before been in a LEGO video game, will converge with DC Comics, The Lord of the Rings, The LEGO Movie, The Wizard of Oz, LEGO Ninjago and Back to the Future worlds in one thrilling adventure playable with the LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack.
LEGO Dimensions is available for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii U.

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders Gets Official Trailer

Agatha Christie ABC Murders 

Announced earlier this month, Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders got its first official trailer earlier this week and it goes a long way towards showing us the secrets to how to catch yourself a killer. The video shows off the unique art style in the game, as well as just how you are going to be doing your investigating. The player steps into the shoes of Agatha Christie’s popular Hercule Poirot as he attempts to go through a number of witnesses, knowing that one of them is likely the criminal.
The video shows that the player needs to be able to look through a number of different scenes in order to find clues. Sometimes these clues will be plenty easy to find and other times it appears as though they are quite well hidden and will need a keen eye. There will also be a number of puzzles that will need to be solved in order to gather several different clues. Along the with this first official video, Microids and Kalypso Media released a statement detailing just why they decided to make this game.
“Recognised in the Guinness World Book of Records as the most successful novelist of all time, Agatha Christie specialized in locked room thrillers and classic whodunit mysteries. Her 66 novels, 154 short stories and 19 plays have been translated worldwide into over 50 languages. And Then There Were None, Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express are just some of the many titles that have been adapted for film and TV,” Kalypso Media stated. The companies said that Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders will be available on Steam on February 4 and on the Xbox One and PS4 on February 5. Those who preorder the Steam version will be able to get a 20 percent discount.


Darkest Dungeon Launch Trailer Teases Brutal Difficulty

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Darkest Dungeon is officially launched on Steam after a year of Early Access, delivering on its Kickstarter promise of unforgiving, uncompromising action.

Another Kickstarter darling has delivered, as the unpitying RPG Darkest Dungeon has been fully released on PC as of this morning. The final patch notes are live, the final and darkest dungeon has been added to the end of the game, a launch trailer is published, and developer Red Hook Studios cackles wildly from their throne of skulls. Darkest Dungeon can be purchased via Steam for $19.99, which is part of a two-week 20% discount ending February 2.
As part of their launch announcement, Red Hook Studios wrote a letter to their community thanking them for their support and discussing the process that had led to this point. Halfway through, they described Darkest Dungeon in a way that must be shared:
“Darkest Dungeon grew up in that second year. It was not friendly, or welcoming; it did not owe you a victory, or suffer fools. It wasn’t fair, like the horror movies and war stories that formed its foundation. It broke game ‘rules’; took control away, kicked you when you were down. It smoked behind the gym with its friends and skipped class.
Underneath all that badassery, though, it challenged you to think differently about heroism, and about the cost of adventuring. It taught you that preparedness was important, but thinking on your feet when the s*** hits the fan was the true test. And, of course, it reminded you that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. For all its unyielding focus on what can go wrong in an adventure, it showed why heroism is the only antidote for failed hope.”
It’s refreshing to see the developer be so direct about what kind of game Darkest Dungeon is, because there will inevitably be many players who outright refuse to play Darkest Dungeon again after it shows how truly vicious it can be. It’s best players know what they’re getting into so they have no one else to blame when the dungeon wins. 
The Darkest Dungeon began its life as a side-project developed by four friends. However, the scope of the project quickly grew beyond their means, leading to the launch of a Kickstarter requesting $75,000. The project would go on to raise $313,000 and funded the developers work through 2014. By the start of 2015, they’d have Darkest Dungeon in a playable state and launch the game on Steam’s Early Access. Over the past 12 months the game has changed in large and small ways, many the result of direct feedback from the community. Today it’s fully launched.
That Darkest Dungeon exists and is fully launched today is evidence of how far independent development has come in recent years. Kickstarter only launched in 2009. Steam Early Access only launched in 2013. That both of those platforms reached a stable point where a team of four friends could find success on each, thereby allowing them to bring Darkest Dungeon that much closer to launch, is incredible. Ten years ago, Darkest Dungeon would never have been made.
Ten days from now there will be a lot of frustrated players who will be wishing Darkest Dungeon was never made! It’s great to see games that defy the norm, games that have broken “game rules,” find the audience begging for them.

The Division Live-Action Series Gets Its First Trailer

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Ubisoft reveals The Division’s first live-action trailer for a four part series in conjunction with major YouTube groups like Rocket Jump, Corridor Digital, and devinsupertramp.

Ubisoft continues to crank the marketing machine into high gear for their upcoming open world shooter, Tom Clancy’s The Division. With the highly anticipated beta scheduled to begin in two weeks for those who have pre-ordered the title, new details and information has also come into light thanks to new trailers and gameplay footage from some users on YouTube.
The latest footage comes from Ubisoft themselves, as they’ve teamed up with major YouTube groups like Rocket Jump, Corridor Digital, and devinsupertramp to produce a four part live-action series based in the world of The Division. Known as Agent Origins, the live-action special examines the backstories and lives of four Division agents during the early stages of the outbreak in New York City.
These agents have been recently activated in an effort to restore order and retake New York City back from the rioters and militarized groups that have begun to appear within Manhattan. What’s interesting about the short films is that Ubisoft has not confirmed if any of these agents will make an appearance in some way during the events of the game, or if this is strictly for promotional purposes.
The total run time for the short film is around half an hour and can be viewed in full on Amazon Prime Video along with five minutes of exclusive scenes. For those without Amazon Prime, however, the live-action films can be found on YouTube through each of the respective channels.
Ubisoft has been fairly active in promoting The Division once the calendar year flipped to 2016. The flurry of news really began last week as a trailer detailed new gameplay footage and provided more insight into what it takes to become a Division agent along with sacrifices that one has to make. Players were able to see landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, though as Ubisoft later confirmed, that specific borough won’t be available to explore on day one.
Fans should also be happy to note that somewhat overpowered microtransactions like the ability to auto level a character won’t make it into the game and the developer has no interest in doing so post-release. While the game will come with microtransactions, Ubisoft has promised that they would be fair and won’t be pay to win. Still, specifics around what will be offered inside of the game have not been revealed, which may concern some players.
Are you excited to check out The Division next week in the beta or are you adopting a wait and see approach when the game releases in March? Let us know your thoughts below in the comments.
Tom Clancy’s The Division arrives for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on March 8, 2016.


Fable Legends New Trailer Reveals New Character

Man, Fable Legends has had just about the most protracted development cycle for any game not called The Last Guardian in recent memory. This is a game that was revealed years ago, and which has suffered multiple delays, and which is still not out. For now, it is supposed to release some time later this year, with a multiplayer beta due first.
For now, we have received a brand new trailer for the game, and this trailer reveals a brand new character. Her name is Winter, and she is a powerful mage who can control ice. Winter will be a support based character, who can slow down other characters and freeze them- her debuffs and status afflictions should help in any match.
Fable Legends is a free to play asymmetric multiplayer game which will launch on the Xbox One and PCs running Windows 10. You can check out the new trailer for it for yourself below.


Watch the trailer for Furi from The Game Bakers here

Arriving in 2016 – from The Game Bakers and Reverb Triple XP – is Furi, an intense all-boss fighting-combat game.  Also on board with Furi is Takashi Okazami, who is more famously known for Afro Samurai. Takashi Okazami will be bringing life to the game with his character design – which you can see in the trailer below – for which each shall have their own strengths and weaknesses and it’s upto you to locate and utilise.  With a soundtrack composed by electro musicians including Carpenter Brut, Furi is set to make our machines quake this coming year.
furi logoThe story of Furi starts ten years ago, when Emeric was asked what he would do if he could make his dream game. He came up with a game that would be one long boss fight. A boss fight against an opponent similar to you, not a gigantic creature or a demon. A boss fight that felt like a duel— a tense, exhausting, and utterly rewarding duel. Furi is the manifestation of this idea that stuck with Emeric, as he grew as a designer and set up The Game Bakers.
furi fight
Furi is a game where you fight for a reason. It’s a game that teases you before the fight, while you walk toward your fate, the same way you would be pumped up and stressed before a boxing match. The combat gameplay is designed with Japanese games in mind — ultra fast-paced and responsive. Your character moves as soon as you send an input. Skills and reflexes are required to dodge and parry the enemies’ attacks.

New Knuckle Sandwich Trailer Showcases Hilariously Weird And Random Gameplay



Knuckle Sandwich is still deep in development, but that hasn’t stopped creator Andrew Brophy from sharing some new details about the bizarre RPG. And for those of you who like pretty pictures, he’s sharing those new details through the ancient art of “gameplay trailer.”

After making its way through Steam Greenlight last October and wowing audiences with its equally out there demo/prequel, Tarantula, it looks like we’re getting closer to an actual launch for Knuckle Sandwich on PC and Mac. To help update folks on what they can expect out of this indie RPG, a new trailer has been released covering everything from the overworld, to shops and even combat.


If you’re watching this and getting a distinct Earthbound vibe, there’s probably a good reason for that. Knuckle Sandwich is wearing its inspirations on its sleeve, and classic RPG’s like Earthbound certainly appear to be part of the mix. The game’s art style also reminds me of Scott Pilgrim, but even that was in turn inspired by retro gaming, so who knows? The above gameplay trailer went live on the Knuckle Sandwich official website earlier today, complete with some additional details about the highly anticipated indie game. According to the description, Knuckle Sandwich follows the story of a dude who moves out on his own and gets a job at a crappy diner with some interesting new coworkers. Once you star working the new gig, you notice that folks have started going missing and, on top of that, a bunch of cults start popping up looking for answers. You know, standard small town stuff. Now it's your job to figure out what the heck is going on, so good luck with that one. While Andrew Brophy is designing the game, that funky soundtrack is the work of Gyms, in case you’re curious. Otherwise, games don’t get much more “indie” than this. That is, of course, not a knock against Sucker Punch. It looks pretty rad if you’re in the mood for a game that feels like it was built for the SNES, but with some modern tweaks. I know there are some youngsters out there who can’t appreciate this rising “genre,” but they can just stick to their Call of Duty and Madden and we’ll all keep getting along just fine. According to Brophy, that demo/prequel I mentioned earlier, Tarantula, will be made available soon. Since the game is being distributed through Steam, that’s a safe bet for where we’ll be able to find it once it goes live.

Unravel: new trailer explains sandbox gameplay

 

Platformer Unravel's out next month. Here's a new trailer that explains how its gameplay works - it's well worth checking out...

Update: EA-published indie game Unravel, thanks in no small part to its gorgeous graphics and unspeakably cute lead character - a skinny humanoid made from yarn.
It has to be said, though, that there's far more to the game than the simple 2D platformer than we were initially expecting. Yarnie's dangling bit of thread is more than just a means of traversing the landscape - it's an integral means of solving each area's puzzles. Yarnie only has a finite amount of thread - if he unravels too much, he won't be able to reach the end of the level. Each level is also a kind of sandbox, which means there are multiple ways of solving puzzles and finding your way to the end.
We've learned all of this thanks to the new gameplay trailer below, which elegantly explains how Unravel works. Simply put, there's far more to the game than retro platforming and pretty graphics - the way Yarnie can interact with the environment is ingenious, and will clearly lead to some downright mindbending conundrums.