Nintendo Direct Round-Up4/3/2016 Last night’s Nintendo Direct offered up some new nuggets of information on titles we didn’t know too much about, and titles we didn’t know anything about. From new footage of Star Fox Zero, to the announcement of Star Fox Guard and Paper Mario Colour Splash, to a plethora of 3DS games, this was one of the better Directs. Miyamoto also introduced Star Fox Guard (formerly just Project Guard), a tower defence game requiring the player to manage twelve camera screens at once, to prevent enemies from entering and damaging your mining site. You’ll be playing as Grippy, the uncle of the much maligned Slippy toad. It looks good fun, but we’re disappointed that it won’t be included with the main game, instead being released as a separate downloadable title (a special first print edition of Star Fox Zero will include a download code for Guard, along with a steelbook - WOOHOO!) Next up were some shots of Mario & Sonic at the Rio Olympics, which looks throwaway to say the least, along with updates and new features for Splatoon (improved match making, new weapons) and Super Mario Maker (spike pillars, pink coins, improved options for course searches). We also got a release date and a final name for the Shin Megami Tensei/Fire Emblem crossover - the terrible sounding Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE brings its blend of turn-based RPG gameplay and J-Pop musical stylings to our shores on June 24th. Next off the rank was Paper Mario Colour Splash, the latest in the popular RPG series. This time Mario’s on the island of Prism, and would you believe it, something is amiss! Prism has been drained of colour and it’s up to our chubby chum to paint the town red, blue and every other colour available. Time will tell if we’ve got a return to form for the series or another also-ran, we’ve got our fingers firmly crossed for the former. Four 3DS titles were next up; Hyrule Warriors Legends brings the same Zelda/Dynasty Warriors smash ‘em up fun to the handheld, Yo-Kai Watch will excite fans of quirky JRPGs, Disney Art Academy has the budding artist afraid to use real tools covered, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force did its best to convince us it’s not going to be terrible with a new “story” trailer. We use that term loosely as nothing of real worth was mentioned, aside from the fact that series protagonist Samus Aran just doesn't fit in with the story of galactic federation versus space pirates, so you’ll be playing as a faceless marine instead. A smorgasbord of indie titles were next up, covering everything from platformers to puzzlers to shooters to auto-runners - being huge supporters of independent developers expect to see many of these games feature in PTC in the future. Accompanying them was the Free-to-play multiplayer action game Lost Reavers, this Bandai Namco created game will have an open beta, coming to the Wii U on the 14th of April. The show rounded off with a gaggle of 3DS announcements, with Fire Emblem Fates finally getting a European release date (20th May can’t come soon enough) and not only a special edition containing all three versions of the game, but a super swanky new 3DS model too. Dragon Quest VII brings its RPG goodness to the handheld later in the year, and new Monster Hunter game Generations is also on the horizon. Dubbed as the most customisable MH experience ever, those commutes to work will never be the same again! Rhythm Paradise Megamix looks to be some stylus tapping fun, and Kirby: Planet Robobot will continue the long running series of pink puffball platforming. And there you have it, there are games out there for Nintendo fans this year! Fingers (and toes, and everything else) crossed we’ll get some solid footage of the new Zelda soon - keep those peepers primed on PTC for all the latest Nintendo news, and leave us your thoughts on the forums. EA's space opera is now penned for release during the first quarter of next year. The news comes from EA CFO Blake Jorgensen, who was speaking at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. When asked about the status of EA's non-sports games he replied that Mass Effect would be coming in EA's fourth quarter. EA's fiscal year ends 31 March which gives the title a new launch window of somewhere between January and March 2017. Andromeda is the fourth game in the Mass Effect series and, whilst we don't know much about the story, we do know that it takes place somewhere far removed from - and long after - the adventures of Commander Shepherd, the protagonist of the first three games. In Andromeda you'll play as a 'Pathfinder', a combat trained, but untested, explorer sent to the Helius Cluster to establish a new home for humanity. Mass Effect is far from being the only title to be delayed. Platinum Games' action RPG Scalebound has also been held back until 2017.
Uncharted 4 has been delayed once again and ReCore will be missing its intended spring release date, now due to release in the latter half of 2016. Ratchet & Clank, Dead Island 2 and Homefront: The Revolution were all originally scheduled to launch last year. Ratchet & Clank should finally be with us in April, Homefront in May and Dead Island hopefully sometime in 2016. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was also pushed back a few months from its intended release date and is now slated for release in August. The Division and Quantum Break have both had their fair share of setbacks but are set for release on 8 March and 5 April respectively. The delay of Mass Effect may be a disappointment to fans but at least there are still some great titles coming our way this year to keep us entertained until its release. Providing they don't get delayed too. Let us know your thoughts in the forums. With The Division due to release next week, Ubisoft and developers Massive have outlined how they will be supporting their open-world RPG with additional content, in order to keep the player base engaged once they reach end-game. The first of these update arrives in April and features a free Incursion with a focus on squad based gameplay. Players will need to team-up against incredibly tough enemies, with high-level weapons and equipment on offer as rewards.
April’s update will also add the community-requested feature of loot trading into the game, allowing members of the same group to trade rewards earned during a co-op session. The second free update is scheduled for May, adding new features to the PvP Dark Zone, plus another new Incursion set in the Columbus Circle. Summer sees the first addition of paid content, two expansions to be precise, a third following in Winter. Each is available individually or as part of the game’s Season Pass, as well as Gold and Sleeper Agent editions of the game granting access to the DLC. The three expansions and their contents are:
In a similar move to that made by Activision when Destiny released, there will be no day one reviews of The Division, due to the online nature of the game and the need to experience all it has to offer with a large active player base. Be sure to keep an eye on Pass the Controller for our review shortly after the game launches Tuesday, 8 March. Excited for The Division's impending arrival? What do you make of Ubisoft’s post-launch plans? Let us know in the forums. Codemasters and Koch Media have unveiled a new trailer for their upcoming racer DiRT Rally, showcasing the skills of the community. If that gets your motor running (I'm not sorry) you can pre-order the game right now. The limited DiRT Rally Legend Edition includes the full length documentary, Colin McRae: Rally Legend. The film tells the full story of the rally icon and inspiration behind the series.
Also in with the Legend Edition is the Fully Loaded MINI Pack, which unlocks and fully upgrades the MINI Cooper S, gives an exclusive livery for the car and provides a unique team mechanic with perks. Exclusive to GAME, the Legend Edition also includes the Fully Loaded Ford Pack, featuring the Ford Escort Mk II, while a limited edition SteelBook and Driver's Guide is available through Amazon. Pre-ordering the digital version will net you the above bonuses plus the Fully Loaded Rallycross Pack, which unlocks the Mini Classic Rallycross. The game is due to launch 5 April on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Let us know what you think in the forums. Uncharted 4 delayed again2/3/2016 Sony have today announced another (albeit not huge) delay to its flagship PS4 title Uncharted 4. Originally anticipated for a holiday 2015 release, the game was pushed back first to March of this year, then to the end of April, and now the (we pray) final date of 10 May.
While this manufacturing delay may inconvenience many of those planning to purchase the game digitally, as a prominent title for the PlayStation 4 it’s no surprise to see Sony doing all they can to make sure demand for Uncharted 4 is met, with copies of the game and limited edition consoles likely to be snapped up fast.
Are you jonesing for another Nathan-based adventure? If so, be sure to check out the latest story trailer released last week and let us know your thoughts on the game’s latest delay on the forums. Developers behind the multiplayer brawler Chivalry: Medieval Warfare have released a teaser trailer for their next project. The trailer shows off some rather interesting looking characters and locales, as well as some bone-crunching combat that'll be familiar to fans of Torn Banner’s earlier work, all rendered in Unreal Engine 4. Mirage will be coming to PC sometime this year, with other platforms currently unconfirmed. If you're interested in learning more about the game, be sure to keep an eye on Pass The Controller for more details when the full reveal trailer is released next week.
Are you intrigued by Torn Banner’s latest effort? Let us know over in the forums. It would seem Sony and Microsoft have been taking advantage of February’s bonus day to get some extra work in, as both companies have announced some new software features coming this month to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively.
Included in Musashi is the ability to create and organise gameplay events through the console or via the PlayStation App to allow like-minded players to easily arrange gaming events together. Event Hosts will also be able to edit events after they have been scheduled, with those invited being notified of any modifications. Also included in the update are notifications for when friends come online. While it may not be the most innovative of features to ever come to a console, this much requested addition will also allow players to apply notifications to specific friends, making it easy to know when your best mates are about if you have a large friends list. If you’re feeling slightly less social, Musashi also adds the ability to appear offline, allowing players to enjoy all PlayStation 4 has to offer without being disturbed. Other features included in the update are the ability to stream to Dailymotion direct from your PS4 and a new option in the PlayStation Plus destination that will allow easier management of online storage. Remote play will also be coming to PC and Mac, and while it won’t be supported in the beta, Sony state that players can look forward to it arriving soon. Lastly, we have Microsoft’s new features coming to Xbox One this month, including a number of top-voted requests from the Xbox Feedback page. See below for a full list of the features members of Xbox One Preview program can expect to arrive on their consoles shortly.
What do you think of the new features coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One? Are there any you would like to see added that haven’t been included in these updates? Let us know in the forums. Asobo Studio have partnered with Microsoft and revealed two projects they are working on for HoloLens. The two titles, Fragments and Young Conker, will be available to download on the development edition of Microsoft's AR machine. Check out the video for Fragments below. Young Conker is an adventure game in which you guide the titular hero through an ever changing world. Playing in different rooms and from different angles will give you a unique experience each time as Conker reacts accordingly to the landscape. He'll bounce along a couch or flail his arms when near the edge of a table, for example. See him action here. HoloLens is controlled by gaze tracking, gestures, voice commands and a Bluetooth clicker that comes with the device. It's fully untethered and self-contained, so no PC or console is required to use it. The headset has Windows 10 built into it and can access the app store.
Pre-orders for the development edition of HoloLens are now live for those in North America with $3,000 to spare, and the devices will start shipping at the end of this month. How do you think it will fare against the competition, PlayStationVR and HTC Vive? Let us know in the forums. |
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