Nintendo Switch update 3.0 now available20/6/2017 Nintendo have released the latest system update for the Switch, adding in a few features to make Switch owners lives that little bit easier. Here’s a list of the other new features:
Update 3.0 is free for everyone and is available to download from today. What do you make of the new changes? Let us know below. Niantic and The Pokémon Company have detailed some of the changes heading to Pokémon GO in the latest update, which began rolling out to users earlier today. A new motivation system means defending Pokémon will now lose Combat Power (CP) “over time and as they are defeated”, according to Niantic, but this can be prevented by teammates giving defending Pokémon some Berries.
Players can also earn Gym Badges which can be levelled up to earn rewards and bonuses, and, much like PokéStops, Gyms will now feature a spinning photo disc that dispenses unique items. The second part of the update, which adds cooperative elements to the game, did not get a specific launch window, with Niantic only stating that the new co-op features would be introduced in the coming weeks. Raid Battles are “timed in-game events that will temporarily take over a Gym”, allowing trainers to team up and take down “extremely powerful” Pokémon called Raid Bosses. Taking part in Raid Battles gives players the opportunity to earn special new items and potentially catch the powerful Pokémon, while those who want to play with specific friends can set up their own Private Raid groups by using a special code system. Share your thoughts on Pokémon GO’s latest updates below. Maximum Games have announced that their unique take on the zombie shooter, Dead Alliance, will be getting an open beta in July. With the help of mind controlling zMods, the zombies in Dead Alliance can be manipulated into hunting down the opposing team, flushing out campers and/or simply serving as an obstacle to obstruct movement.
There will be a variety of single player and 4v4 modes available at launch, including Attrition - a MOBA-like game mode where players will battle over two lanes separated by jungle in an attempt to take over the enemy's base. Dead Alliance launches 29 August on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Those wanting to go hands-on before that date should look out for the open beta which runs 27 - 31 July. What do think of the trailer? Looking forward to the beta? Let us know in the comments below or over in our forums. ENDED: The Town of Light giveaway19/6/2017
Steve Berridge (@Scotwolf2Steve) was drawn as this week's winner!
IO Interactive have announced on their site that they are once again an independent studio after agreeing to a management buyout from Square Enix.
IO Interactive CEO, Hakan Abrak, described returning to their roots and becoming an independent developer once again as a “watershed” moment for the studio:
“As of today, we have complete control over the direction for our studio and the Hitman IP – we’re about to forge our own future and it’s incredibly exciting. We are now open to opportunities with future collaborators and partners to help strengthen us as a studio and ensure that we can produce the best games possible for our community,” he said. “I would like to say a big and sincere thank you to all of our players, community, friends in the media and everyone else connected to the studio for the messages of support that we have received in the last few weeks. I would also like to thank Square Enix; it has been a great family to be a part of and we are proud of what we have achieved together in the last eight years.” IO will share more details about their plans for the latest HITMAN sometime next week. Are you pleased to see the futures of both IO and the Hitman franchise secured? Let us know below. Extinction gameplay debuted15/6/2017 The first gameplay video for Iron Galaxy's action adventure title has been released, and with it details on Extinction’s story and setting. Attacks can be chained together in numerous ways and cancelled into dodges and powerful Rune Strikes. Mixing up these attacks with movement abilities will be crucial to your survival.
As Avil kills minions, dismembers ogres and saves civilians, his momentum will build, granting him the energy he needs to land a lethal killing blow. Extinction is due to release early next year and will feature a story-driven campaign, side quests, daily challenges and custom battles. More details will be announced in the future. What do you think of the gameplay so far? Share your thoughts with us in the forums or the comments below. Despite the press conferences (which you can get caught up on here) having concluded, E3 news is still coming in, as evidenced by Focus Home Interactive (who recently published The Surge and Seasons After Fall) revealing two new titles today. The second game, Insurgency: Sandstorm, is the sequel to 2014's PC only shooter, Insurgency. Building on the formula of the original, Sandstorm adds new modes, first and foremost of which is a Story Mode. It’ll see your team cut off from support and tasked with traversing a war-torn landscape in a deeply personal narrative. Sandstorm will be supported with additional new modes and content after release. The trailer is narrated by one of the main characters, a US army veteran turned volunteer soldier, who had allied with a female fighter native to the region. The gameplay is said to reward teamwork and objective play over pursuing personal success. Features include drivable vehicles, character customisation with unlockable cosmetic items, fire support requests and ranked matchmaking.
Both games are coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC, while both games don’t yet have a release date. Have either piqued your interest? Let us know in the comments below or over in the forums. During the Xbox briefing, plans were announced to unify the console, mobile and Windows 10 editions of Minecraft, allowing cross-platform play, and at the Nintendo Spotlight it was announced that Rocket League on the Switch will also have crossplay. Sony, however, aren't on board with the idea.
When asked about the reason for not allowing cross play, the marketing head stated, "We've got to be mindful of our responsibility to our install base. Minecraft - the demographic playing that, you know as well as I do, it's all ages but it's also very young. We have a contract with the people who go online with us, that we look after them and they are within the PlayStation curated universe."
Even though there are no current plans, Jim didn't dash all hope that things could change in the future, adding, "I don't think anything is ever a done deal." The Better Together Update for Minecraft launches on mobile, VR, Xbox and Switch in summer. Players will receive the new version for free and all DLC and created worlds will be carried over. Additionally, any extra content purchased will be accessible across all the various devices. The update also brings with it cloud-hosted servers. Initially there will be for open servers - Lifeboat, Mineplex, InPvP and CubeCraft - with more to be added over time. What do you think about the update? Disappointed about Sony's decision? Sound off in the comments below or over in our forums. With Nintendo having brought us some announcements in the run up to E3, such as Pokkén Tournament coming to the Switch, we weren't sure how much 'newness' there would be in Nintendo's Spotlight presentation. As it turns out, there was a fair bit, so here's the best bits. The big gameplay addition this time is that Mario's hat has been possessed by a ghost-like entity called Cappy (above), giving him the ability to take over enemies and objects to gain different abilities for a short time. So far we've seen him turn into posts, rockets (complete with moustache) and tanks as he explores the open world areas. The one you'll remember being heavily featured in the reveal trailer is New Donk City, a version of New York City with some serious verticality in its design. There's also the Sand Kingdom, which is heavily inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead style with its more traditionally Mario-like inhabitants, compared to the human-like ones in NDC. The aim of the game is to collect moons this time, which power Mario's ship the Odyssey to reach new worlds, but there's not too much detail on that just yet - other than the fact that you'll be able to customise the inside with in-game items. One particularly nice feature is that some warp pipes transform the game back to 2D Mario, which has quite a surreal look when surrounded by a lush, 3D world. The game overall is looking extremely good and rest assured we'll be picking this up in a few months time. Metroid Prime 4 & new Pokémon title are in development There's not much to say about this announcement just yet, but it was one of the 25-minute presentation's biggest surprises. Fans have been longing for a new Metroid Prime title since 2007's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and so Samus' return was extremely well received. On the Treehouse afterwards, it was also announced that MercurySteam, the team behind the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series and the upcoming Raiders of the Broken Planet, would be releasing Metroid: Samus Returns on 3DS on 15 September 2017. The game is based on Metroid II: Return of Samus and will include "features like actions never seen before in the Metroid series, a stunning recreation of the planet SR388 and classical Metroid gameplay elements," according to Yoshio Sakamoto, senior officer of Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning & Development Department, and the producer of the overall Metroid franchise. There was also a very quick message from Game Freak to confirm that a full RPG-style Pokémon title is now in active development. Hardly the confirmation of Pokémon Stars which gamers were anticipating ahead of the Pokémon Direct a week ago, but a glimmer of hope for something in 2018/19. Yoshi and Kirby are back in... Yoshi and Kirby Both slated for 2018, two titles featuring similar B-level Nintendo heroes - Yoshi and Kirby - were announced. Kirby (a working title, according to Nintendo) looks to be more of an action platforming title with some pace, similar to the recent iterations of Rayman but in full 3D, and featuring a plethora of items and costumes. You can zap some NPCs too and get them to join your team to take down larger foes, or work together with friends. Yoshi meanwhile seems to be a more specifically co-op orientated experience with shades of Paper Mario, as the world can be flipped to unlock different areas and secrets, and has a charming, children's primary school craft aesthetic (above). The trailer tells us there are two sides to every story, and every stage in the game, meaning there could be a fair amount of replay value to the levels to unlock their secrets. Get your animé on with very Japanese-looking titles Despite being a Japanese company, many gamers might not look at Mario and immediately point to Eastern influences, but the footage we saw from Xenoblade 2 and Fire Emblem Warriors on the other hand had big swords and over-the-top characters abound. Xenoblade 2 sees you explore an ocean of clouds, where the last remnants of civilization live on the backs of colossal beasts called Titans. You follow Rex and Pyra, who is a mysterious creature known as a Blade. The game plays like a simple, third-person RPG game, something akin to Phantasy Star Online or even Final Fantasy XII, thanks to its style. Fire Emblem Warriors on the other hand is more of a brawler, and features Marth, who you may recall from Super Smash Bros. titles. Two siblings must face an evil dragon and so have called for help from a variety of heroes, as you take on dozens of enemies at a time in some cases. Fire Emblem Warriors will arrive in the Autumn, while Xenoblade 2 is due at some point before the end of the year. Zelda's DLC Pack 1 dated & more details on DLC Pack 2 We already knew that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild should expect two DLC Packs this year, one this summer and one around Christmas, and now we have a date for Pack 1: The Master Trials - 30 June, including Trial of the Sword, which seems to take away all your items and put your combat skills to the test. There were also some details on Pack 2, known as The Champions' Ballad, which seems to be focused on the four champions you meet by visiting the four Divine Beasts in the game. In celebration, there are now Amiibo figures for each of the four champions, which will have as yet unannounced functionality in the game. You can pick up the Expansion Pass for £16.49 from CD Keys. So that's what Nintendo had on offer this year, on top of several days of streaming from Splatoon 2, Pokkén Tournament and ARMS, what was your highlight of the show? Let us know in the comments and we hope you've enjoyed all of our E3 coverage. You can re-watch any of the E3 streams, including Nintendo, from our E3 guide.
E3 Recap: Sony conference round-up14/6/2017 Given the unenviable task of following their own 2015 and 2016 press conferences, Sony certainly brought the fire this year, but fell somewhat short of making the same impact. A taster of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy kicked the show off, with a story trailer placing focus on Uncharted veteran Chloe Frazer and newbie Nadine Ross as they trek across the Western Ghat Mountains in pursuit of the Tusk of Ganesh. We’re introduced to villainous warmonger Asav, and get an insight into Chloe and Nadine’s rocky relationship, so check out the trailer below. Horizon: Zero Dawn: Frozen Wilds DLC After receiving critical acclaim, Guerilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn is getting DLC in the form of The Frozen Wilds. Not much detail was shared, so it’s hard to say what direction the narrative might take, but we do know it’ll be arriving later this year. Days Gone Looking decidedly more polished than when it made its debut at last year’s show, Days Gone could be the reinvigorating new IP the zombie genre needs. The trailer focuses on the use of tactics and stealth, exhibiting the game’s impressive swarming AI tech and the constant threat from all of the world's inhabitants - living or dead, human or animal. Shadow of the Colossus Shadow of the Colossus fans, rejoice! A remake of the original is in the works, coming to PlayStation 4 players sometime in 2018. This isn’t the game’s first remaster, mind, having also released on PS3 back in 2011. Call of Duty: World War II It wouldn’t be E3 without a gameplay trailer from the next Call of Duty, would it? Sledgehammer dropped another trailer in which we see soldiers storming the trenches, boasting an arsenal of authentic WWII weaponry, such as the Flamethrower and Thompson. Call of Duty: WWII is set to release on 3 November. A whole lot of VR titles. Ever dreamed of playing Skyrim in VR with motion controls? If you have, those dreams have now become a reality, with Bethesda revealing a teaser for Skyrim VR. Alongside Skyrim VR were four new IPs, including Star Child - a colourful, side-scrolling platformer - and The Impatient - a PS VR exclusive set 60 years prior to the events of Until Dawn. Other titles included Bravo Team (a military shooter from Supermassive), Moss (a cutesy, Zelda-style adventure game), and Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy 15 (a fishing game, by all stretches of the imagination). God of War One of the most memorable moments from Sony’s conference was the latest gameplay trailer for the upcoming God of War reboot, originally announced at E3 2016. In this latest trailer, we further explore Kratos’ relationship with his son, Atreus, and witness the moral challenges of being both a father and a seasoned God - of war. Of course, there is plenty of hack-and-slash combat to satiate the bloodthirsty among us. God of War is set to release early 2018. Detroit: Become Human Furthering their cinematic pedigree, Quantic Dream shared a trailer for the upcoming Detroit: Become Human. It reveals a new character, Marcus, a humanoid who rebels against society and causes widespread havoc in the process. Marcus is one of the three playable characters announced so far, joining Connor from last year’s demo, and Kara, a character who originated from the PlayStation tech demo baring her name that released back 2012. Spider-Man An extended preview of Marvel’s Spider-Man, developed by Ratchet & Clank studio Insomniac, closed the conference, with nine minutes of gameplay starring the web-slinging, spandex-wearing man himself. Beautifully animated, seamlessly acrobatic combat and navigation saw Spidey make a real impression. That said, love ‘em or hate ‘em, there are a lot of quick time events. Conspicuous in their absence were The Last of Us: Part II, which had debuted at PSX late last year, and Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima’s latest project. Hopefully we’ll see more on them soon enough.
Take a look at Sony’s 2017 E3 conference in full, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. |
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