The Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event in Los Angeles took place in the early hours of this morning, spilling fourth an absolute boat load of information for the upcoming JRPG. Both the release date and demo were officially confirmed during the event, along with special editions of the game, a CGI movie, an anime mini-series, plus new some new in-game footage. The demo is a fully standalone adventure - not just a sample of Final Fantasy XV - with its own unique storyline based on a young Noctis in a fragmented dream world. Titled Platinum Demo, it’s aimed at new players and fans of the series alike. Noctis will have access to a number of magic skills, weapons and even a drivable car; all the while guided by the Pokémon-esque Carbuncle. Completing the demo will grant access to the bonus Carbuncle Summon DLC for Final Fantasy XV upon release. Platinum Demo is available as of today to download on PS4 and Xbox One. The CGI tie-in movie is titled Kingsglaive, and is a feature length film that will be available to download digitally before the release of Final Fantasy XV. Kingsglaive focusses on characters King Regis, Luna and Nyx, whilst promising to deliver some epic battles set to the backdrop of warring kingdoms. Suitably for a story based on royal rumbles - no, not the WWE kind - Game of Thrones stalwarts Ned Stark and Cersei Lannister (aka Sean Bean and Lena Headey) will be voicing King Regis and Luna respectively, with Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul playing Nyx. As well as news of a CGI movie, a new anime mini-series was announced that expands the story of Noctis and his three comrades. The Brotherhood mini-series will consist of five episodes tying-in with the story of the main game. All episodes will be released for free, with the first available to watch on YouTube right now. You can get a small taster via the Brotherhood trailer below, or if you're already sold, watch the whole shebang. A number of collector editions for the game were revealed during the Uncovered event, as well as pre-order bonuses. Those who pre-order Final Fantasy XV through the Xbox One store will be gifted a Carbuncle pet and Noctis outfit for their Avatar, while anyone ordering the game through the PlayStation Store will get a special theme. The three collector’s editions and their contents are:
Square Enix also announced a tie-in mobile game is on the way soon. Justice Monsters Five, as it’s known, will be a pinball game that is said to incorporate role-playing elements with some of the series most iconic monsters. As well as releasing on Android and iOS platforms, the game will be fully playable in Final Fantasy XV itself. Meta. If all that info wasn’t enough to sate your Final Fantasy XV thirst, the new trailer titled “Reclaim Your Throne” was released, showing off new gameplay and featuring musical compositions from Yoko Shinomura and Florence Welch (of Florence + The Machine fame). So, there’s certainly plenty of new and exciting information for Final Fantasy fans to digest. Let us know what you make of the all the announcements from Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV over in the forums.
The information comes from screenshots of a survey which were posted on a Neogaf thread. Wait...does that make us the bad guys?
The description continues: "Experience the freedom to traverse and explore a planet-dense but seamless open-world galaxy, rich with discovery." A seamless open galaxy sounds ambitious, and will be new ground for the series. Previous Mass Effect titles were filled with hidden loading screens such as doors, lifts and FTL space travel. A further set of questions are in regards to a possible future version of Mass Effect. "There is a major battle brewing, and it awaits you. It is unfolding across a galaxy of planets, with creatures and species entirely unknown. Draw your weapon, because the fight is bigger than you thought. It's not just for your own life, it's for all of humanity - the ultimate battle for a place we can all call home". This could hint at a future sequel if Andromeda is to be the first game in another Mass Effect trilogy. In Mass Effect: Andromeda you'll play as a Pathfinder, a combat trained - but untested - explorer in search of a new home for humanity. It was planned to be released later this year but it looks like it's been pushed back until 2017. Hopefully we'll get some more details at this year's E3 which is due to kick off in June. What could Pathfinder and Humanity be facing in the new galaxy? Come and speculate with us in the forums. Are Sony releasing an upgraded PS4?29/3/2016 There have been many rumours surrounding the supposed PS4K and what it could mean for gaming.
It seems unlikely that it will be capable of full 4K gaming. The price would be one issue and space would be another. Even as microprocessors become smaller and smaller it wouldn't be easy to fit everything required into a console sized box.
Another problem would be the PS4's huge player base. The 35 million people who currently own a PS4 may feel hard done by if the console they've just bought becomes prematurely obsolete. What an upgraded machine could offer though is enhanced media capabilities and a resolution that is higher than the current gold standard of 1080p. Even if it doesn't quite hit 4K. With the ever increasing popularity of streaming services like Netflix this wouldn't be a bad move. It's not uncommon for newer versions of consoles to be released during a generation. The PS4K could be a slightly boosted 'Slim' or 'Elite' edition. Whilst you could benefit from upgraded media playback it wouldn't be a necessity and others wouldn't feel left behind. With the release of PSVR just a few months away, could Sony be planning on offering both in a bundle? It would certainly entice those who don't own a PS4 but are interested in virtual reality. Share your thoughts with us in the forums. Ghosts, Advance Warfare, Black Ops 2 and 3 have all dabbled with a slightly futuristic setting in recent years, but now it looks like the next entry in the Call of Duty franchise will be going further forward in time than any previous game has before.
So far the rumours have not been officially confirmed, with Activision remaining silent on the matter.
The next Call of Duty is being developed by Infinity Ward, and it will be their first game since Activision introduced three-year development cycles. Infinity Ward are not unfamiliar with an outer-space setting, with the opening level of 2013’s Ghost’s featuring a battle aboard a space station and zero-g combat. Would you like to see a Call of Duty set in the far future? Let us know over in the forums. New Pokémon GO features detailed24/3/2016 New details have been released for Pokémon GO, the Augmented Reality mobile game that has you hunting down pocket monsters in the real world (sort of). Water types, for example, will only be found near large bodies of water, such as lakes and oceans, and capturing the same Pokémon multiple times will lead to it evolving
Pokémon can be caught using Poké Balls (naturally) which are hurled via the phones touch screen. Poké Balls and other special items will be accrued at PokéStops which are located in real world landmarks, such as museums, galleries and historical monuments. Players will be given a Trainer Level which will upgrade as they progress, allowing them to capture rarer and more powerful Pokémon and access more items from PokéStops, including Pokémon Eggs which will hatch after a certain distance has been walked. Pokémon GO will also feature a competitive edge, with players able to join one of three teams and take part in Gym battles against rival teams, with the Gyms again situated in real world locations. Only one Pokémon per team will be able to occupy a Gym, with the two other teams able to challenge the current occupiers for dominance. Pokémon GO will be launching on Google Play and the App Store later this year. What do you make of the idea of hunting for Pokémon in real world locations? For the moment it looks like the closest we’ll get to actually being real Pokémon trainer. One can always dream... Let us know your thoughts over in the forums and be sure to check out James’ nostalgic look back at what the Pokémon series means to him. The two Rockstar titles have appeared out of the blue on the PlayStation Store for £11.99 a piece. Bully puts you in the shoes of Jimmy Hopkins, sent to Bullworth Academy by his parents to try to straighten him out. It's an open world affair that may seem like a diet version of Grand Theft Auto but there's a lot more to it than that.
During your time there you'll have to deal with various gangs of kids who don't take too kindly to outsiders, as well as the prefects who exist to uphold the school's firm rules. In between going to lessons, of course. Manhunt attracted a lot of attention when it released on PS2, due to the incredibly graphic nature of the murders you are tasked with committing. In the stealth based horror game you play as James Earl Cash, a death row prisoner who was supposedly executed but was in fact just given a sedative. Waking up in a long time abandoned part of the city you are given instructions, via earpiece, by a man calling himself The Director. Said instructions usually involve killing the roaming gangs of criminals you now share a home with, in any brutally inventive way you wish. It's definitely not for the faint hearted. Do you fancy revisiting these Rockstar classics? Let us know in the forums. Warner Bros. Interactive have released a new gameplay trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The new Multi-Build system looks to give players more options when tackling enemies or puzzles, while in game aerial combat lets you take control of some of the saga's most famous aircraft in arena style dogfights.
We also got a look at how the game will expand the narrative of the film it’s based on with exclusive story content, explaining how Han and Chewie captured the Rathtars and going further into the backstory of Lor San Teca. Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is due to release on 28 June on Xbox One, PS4, PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and 3DS. Telltale’s The Walking Dead returns this year in its main form with a third season, and the developer is working on a plan to remain true to the choices made by returning players, as well as welcoming newcomers to the series into the fold. Not an easy task given the multiple possible endings from season 2.
Carrying over earlier decisions may not be as straight forward as there were no cloud saves at that time but, fear not, as a solution is in the works, although Bruner didn't divulge any details.
An interactive recap could do the job, guiding players through the main points of the story and letting them choose their path. Might we see something similar to Mass Effect: Genesis? We should be hearing more about Season 3 during this summer's Comic-Con before its release later in the year. If you can't wait for your Telltale fix, the second episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne is less than a week away and Batman is scheduled for release in summer. Let us know what you think in the forums. UPDATE: Nintendo have since put a dampener on rumours that Wii U production will be halted, stating that reports made by Nikkei did not come from within the company and they plan to continue producing the console “through and beyond the next fiscal year”.
There’s no official word from Nintendo as to whether Wii U production will be grinding to a halt anytime soon, but with the company’s next console - currently known as the NX - widely believed to be releasing this year, it seems likely that the Wii U’s production days are numbered.
Despite having a number of popular first party titles in the Wii U library, such as: Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros., Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles, Super Mario Maker, Pikmin 3, Zelda remasters and more - the console has only sold around 13 million units since it launched back in 2012. That places it firmly in the colossal shadow of its predecessor, the Wii, which shifted more than 100 million units; a figure most gaming companies can only dream of. What do you make of the rumour that the Wii U’s days are numbered? Will the ceasing of production spark a late flurry of sales as stock becomes limited? If you're an owner, are you irritated by the console's lack of longevity, or just excited that this likely means NX is around the corner? Let us know your thoughts over on the forums. Patch notes for The Division have been released today, and Ubisoft say there's some new content on the horizon. You can read the full patch notes here - as you may expect, there are a host of bug fixes and some balancing tweaks to both weapons and skills, which will be applied during server maintenance today.
One of the issues fixed may be of particular interest to some who had found a quick and easy way to get their hands on new gear. According to the patch notes: "Named NPCs will no longer respawn after being killed in the Open World. This will prevent situations where players were able to kill a same named NPC over and over again". The unfortunate NPC in question is a character named Bullet King, who players were farming for high end equipment. People have been mourning the loss of ol' BK over on the game's official subreddit; a few even have ideas on how he could become immortalised, in a similar way to Destiny's loot cave. What do think about the new update? Looking forward to some new end-game content? Let us know on the forum. If you've not jumped into The Division yet, now would be a good time to see what James thought of it in our review. |
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