Xbox gamers will still need a paid Xbox Live Gold account to play games like The Elder Scrolls Online or World of Tanks despite Microsoft ditching the Xbox Live Gold members-only restriction to entertainment services like Netflix and Hulu. This again puts Microsoft in the firing line when compared to services available on the PS4 as Sony’s console currently allows non-paying subscribers to use extra services and play free-to-play games without any additional fees.
Developers have been left fruitlessly chasing the ghost of 2004’s excellent Spider-Man 2 tie-in, with each of the releases since fixing and breaking things in equal measure. We’ve had cool cel-shaded art makeovers, noir and future settings to change things up, but we’ve also seen devs knacker the web-swinging and flush us down more sewer pipes than we’d care to remember.
Despite the numerous letdowns, I’ve been cautiously optimistic about Spidey’s next-gen debut, although this is more of a port rather than something purpose built for the new machines like Infamous: Second Son.
Even as a resolute console gamer, I couldn’t wait to get my face into an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Even with the recent Project Morpheus announcement for the PS4, I was keen to see how the one that got the ball truly rolling for VR again handled.
Was Oculus Rift set to become the future of gaming? Well to look forwards, I needed to look back. More specifically, I visited the Play Blackpool expo, an event that focuses on retro consoles and arcade cabinets. So rather appropriately, I was able to try out one of the earliest attempts at VR in the Nintendo Virtual Boy and Mario Tennis. Who was I kidding though; the main reason I had for attending was for a little glimpse of the future by being able to get my head into an Oculus Rift. Continue reading Oculus Rift Hands-On Preview – Say goodbye to your TV→
RPG games are usually big-budget epics with the promise (threat?) of at least forty hours running time. Ubisoft’s Child of Light is here to change that assumption by providing a low-priced downloadable alternative.
Others have failed quite miserably (Hello, Mars: War Logs), but ze Germans made a solid effort with the tough Rainbow Moon. But with Ubisoft providing genre classics in action, shooters and platforming (Assassin’s Creed IV, Far Cry 3 and Rayman Legendsif you’re asking), we can’t wait to see how they handle an RPG.
The first thing we all noticed about Child of Light was of course the visuals -and they don’t disappoint. Using Rayman’s UbiArt engine, Ubisoft have this time favoured a watercolour approach to the visuals instead of bright colours and cel-shaded lines. This has resulted in a classic fairy tale aesthetic that gives the game its own unique endearing personality throughout the ever-changing landscapes.
Here it is then, the final piece of Irrational and Ken Levine’s adventures with the Bioshock series. With Levine’s decision to close down the studio, the only Bioshock content we’ll be seeing in the future is if 2K decides to put a new team together and go on ahead without the game’s inspirational creative lead. Today though, we’re here to see how Irrational bow out on one of the most respected legacies in gaming.
To fully appreciate everything that Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode 2 has to offer, you really need to have completed not only Episode 1 and Infinite, but also the original two Bioshock games. Gameplay innovations are thin on the ground here, but Burial at Sea carries on where it left off by serving as a tribute to the fans and a link between the worlds of Columbia and the underwater city of Rapture.
That’s right folks; the Dubstep craze has hit Middle Earth! While questing towards a lengthy Platinum Trophy in Lego The Hobbit, you can unearth one of the many Red Bricks that act as cheat mods for the game, giving you anything from stud multipliers, disguises, super slaps and many more besides. Well, activate one called Middle Earth Festival and you’ll never get bored roaming around the open world hunting down those final Mithril Bricks.
Have you ever wanted to see your favourite Lego The Hobbit characters get down to some seriously bangin’ dubstep including dialogue samples from The Hobbit and LOTR movies as Middle Earth is bathed in disco lighting? Who hasn’t! It already sounds better than watching any of the Hobbit movies again.
Take a look at this quick video I pulled from my PS4 this weekend that shows various minifig characters getting down. The video includes dancing from the likes of Bilbo, an elf, Sauron, Gandalf, a dwarf and naturally, Gollum.
Lego The Hobbit has turned out to be quite a buggy and lazy release from Traveller’s Tales, but with the promise of an easy Platinum Trophy and some fun co-op adventuring (that’s what I’m calling recruiting my girlfriend into halving the workload) I’ve managed to find an amusing way to grind through the final hours. There’s a retro 8-bit cheat mod too, but in all honesty, it’s a bit rubbish.
As amusing as it is, it won’t be enough to stop me slinging the finished game on eBay as soon as I’m done, despite the final part of the Hobbit trilogy coming later in DLC form. Frankly, I’m still a bit disappointed that Warner Bros are fleecing fans by releasing the game now instead of December as a complete edition. That said, I’d expect a complete re-release around then for the same price Lego The Hobbit is now. So maybe, it’s best to wait if you’ve not picked up the game yet.
Let us know your thoughts about Warner’s odd timing for Lego The Hobbit or if you’ve found anything amusing in the game so far too.
Yes, this is a review, not an advanced preview for a game which (with any sense) wouldn’t see a release until December when the final Hobbit movie hits cinemas. Instead, this Lego title encompasses the first two films with the third to be added as DLC later this year.
It would take the most upbeat of optimists to suggest that WB will do the right thing and release the add-on (the rest of the game) for free, but my cynical nature tells me to expect something around £15.99 –an oddly specific guess I admit. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see this game re-released complete with the remaining content in December for the same price it is today. So, I guess the only real question left, is how many Lego games do you need in your life? With Lego Marvel and the Lego Movie tie-in released just five and two months ago respectively, you have to wonder why WB didn’t wait.
It’s no secret that bargain-savvy gamers the world over are guilty of buying more games than they’ll ever have time to play. Each Steam sale is greeted with excitement and regret as the pile of unfinished games inevitably grows. Well, it would seem that many Steam gamers are too busy to even try some of their purchases, with new research indicating that 37% on the games purchased on the PC’s top platform have never even been booted up.
The extensive user data was compiled by Ars Technica who used Steam members’ public data and a computing system to gain a wide random sample that allowed them to create a reasonable average.
It’s no secret that bargain-savvy gamers the world over are guilty of buying more games than they’ll ever have time to play. Each Steam sale is greeted with excitement and regret as the pile of unfinished games inevitably grows. Well, it would seem that many Steam gamers are too busy to even try some of their purchases, with new research indicating that 37% on the games purchased on the PC’s top platform have never even been booted up. Continue reading 37% of Steam Games Sold Have Never Been Played→
As an industry fuelled by both fans and media constantly looking forwards to the future of the big games, it wasn’t long after finishing Infamous: Second Son, that many minds started to wonder what the future held for the Infamous series. Strong sales so far suggest that a sequel is highly likely, as Sony will want to strengthen the brand into a PS4 front-runner along with their critically acclaimed Uncharted series.
If the Infamous series is to continue though, it will need to evolve in order to remain a relevant IP. Second Son was a solid next-gen debut, but it could be argued that it was a remarkably safe entry. For a sequel, players will be expecting Sucker Punch to push the boat out and get creative, as (graphics aside) there was little to differentiate the latest game from the old ones. Sucker Punch has hit the ground running on the PS4 and proved that they have no problems getting some gorgeous visuals from the new hardware, but what else can we looked forward to in the fourth Infamous game?
Not long to go now before Mario Kart 8 lands on the Wii U and today we get to see some of the new weapons in action. Mario Kart 8 has long been touted as the Wii U’s most important game, with many gamers and critics thinking that it could turn things around for the struggling Wii U.
Sales of Nintendo’s latest console have been sluggish but Mario Kart 8 could be the first genuine system seller and should see them throw some serious marketing money at it if they want to replicated the previous Wii game’s success on the Wii U. With the last game still being advertised on TV less than a year ago, the series has proved it has serious staying power and could once again become a huge hit again when Mario Kart 8 lands at the end of this month.
Edge magazine are one of the few publications to have reviewed Mario Kart 8 and have awarded it a massive 9/10. The series has had huge success with casual and hardcore gamers alike, but will the latest title be enough to convince them to buy a new console?Both crowds have moved on from the Wii, with the hardcore players probably still rubbing their wallets after splashing out on a PS4 or Xbox One and the more casual crowd enjoying the mobile/tablet gaming explosion that’s hit since the Wii’s heyday.
There’s no denying that Mario Kart 8 is looking all sorts of awesome though. These new trailers, which will be all over your TV and interrupting your YouTube playlists soon, show off some of the new weaponry in the form of a Boomerang that allows multiple hits or the Super Horn that sends out a radial blast similar to a weapon in the fairly successful Sonic Racing series that emerged during Mario Kart’s slumber. Thankfully, none of them look as cheap as Bullet Bill or that controller-crushing Blue Shell.
After not getting around to finishing the final version of the original Vita release late last year, I was delighted to see that Blackgate was making its way to the main consoles in a similar manner to Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD. Keen to fill the long gap between now and Rocksteady’s next-gen Arkham adventure I dove in with both feet -but sadly without a cape.
Blackgate takes place three months after the events of Arkham Origins, making its original simultaneous release a little odd. But now we’ve had time to finish the console game, we don’t have to worry about spoilers; although I’ll not give any away today.
Replay Events are bringing all things retro to the Play Blackpool Expo event next month and tickets are on sale now. The expo will be packed with arcade cabinets from the deepest decades of gaming history along with every console you can think off, giving gamers old and new the chance to experience some classic titles on their original machines.
Over the course of the weekend there will be tournaments, cosplay events and a few showings of modern indie games too, including a few using the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Naturally, there will lots of stalls selling merchandise, classic games and consoles too. Continue reading Retro Gaming Expo Coming to Blackpool Next Month→
When looking online for headsets you’re usually flooded with options and a range of incomprehensible user reviews or samey tech descriptions lazily copied from the manufacturer’s PR sheet. Well we thought it was about time to try out a few and give you an in-depth opinion.
With the free bundled headset with the PS4 offering terrible mic quality, I looked towards some third-party manufacturers to do better. So today, I’m reviewing three different PS4 headsets from Orb Accessories including the Wired Chat, the Elite Chat and the GP3.
Sony’s Invizimals series has been through some changes since its inception on the PSP and has finally made its way to the PS3, ditching the augmented reality features to bring a traditional action platforming experience to the console.
As expected, it doesn’t threaten the genre dominance of the Ratchet & Clank games, but is worth a look for younger gamers. Parents, older siblings, or other family members of young children should take a look at this one instead of settling for the usual movie/TV licensed guff.
In Magenta Software’s game, you control Hiro, a teenage secret agent who has been sent to a distant world populated by the mystical Invizimal warriors to help them fight a robot army. It’s all very child-friendly and features enough bright colours and energetic characters to keep them entertained in short bursts. It’s is an easy game to play thanks to basic controls and a gentle difficulty curve. Some players may find it similar to the Skylanders games, but parents will be glad to hear that they won’t have to succumb to pester-power for new toys to play with in-game.
TowerFall Ascension is all about traditional local multiplayer. So much so, there’s no point even reading the rest of this review if you’re not likely to invite friends round to your house to play with you. Still here? Did I mention it would help if your friends were regular gamers with a fondness for pixelated sprite-art games that could have run on a Sega Master System without breaking a sweat? Try not to make too much noise on your way out. Ok you two, thanks for staying.
This multiplayer-focused game features screen-sized arenas to duke it out against each other in 2-4 player deathmatches / team deathmatches or you can play 1-2 player co-op against waves of monsters over multiple maps.
A recent European Parliament ruling has told Internet Service Providers that they will not be able to charge online companies that have data-intensive natures more. This has been an issue in recent years as broadband speeds have allowed for enormous amount of data to be streamed rather than downloaded.
The best example of course is Netflix, which manages to stream HD movies with download speeds as small as 5Mb. The ruling will also extend to future services on the horizon, like the much anticipated PlayStation Now service, which will stream video games from the PlayStation back catalogue. Let’s face it, streaming The Last of Us is potentially going to need more broadband oomph than an episode of Breaking Bad.
Despite critical acclaim two years ago when released on XBLA and PC, Fez has taken its time to come to the PlayStation Platforms. Rather than a discount for its tardiness, the asking price of £7.99 gets you a cross-buy copy of the game that you can download to your PS4, PS3 and PS Vita complete with cloud-based cross-save functionality.
For those of you new to the world of Fez, allow me to catch you up. This is a puzzle platformer that opts for an 8-bit retro style. What’s decidedly not retro though (unless you count Echochrome and Crush as retro) is the rotating mechanic adding depth to the 2D platforming. With a tap of a shoulder button, the whole game world rotates 90 degrees. This begins simply enough when you’re just navigating a singular structure, you could even be forgiven for thinking it’s just a gimmick as it’s essentially a traditional flat 2D stage that you push forward with these ‘rotations.’
Creative director at Ubisoft Jonathan Morin has confirmed via Twitter that Watch Dogs will not be getting a downloadable demo on any platforms. When responding to a deluge of -oddly impatient- fan questions on Twitter, he responded with the below Tweet.
@Rawfan306 Dude relax, I receive too much tweets… They are no demo planned before release. Sorry for the wait, doing my best…
While we’d love to have a demo for Watch Dogs before release, we’re not exactly surprised that Ubisoft aren’t even working on one. This is a game that has seen very few hands-on opportunities and even the upcoming PAX East Expo will only feature a hands-off demo for attendees. The lack of a playable Watch Dogs Pax demo strikes me as more strange as expo demos are easier to put together as they can run off a machine of the developers choosing, with as much game data stored on them as needed. Should we be concerned that Ubisoft won’t let anyone play their game when they were so open with the likes of Assassin’s Creed IV? Or are they trying to create an aura of mystery about the game similar to Rockstar and the GTA games?
As far as a downloadable Watch Dogs demo goes though, was that ever likely? Probably not. Do you remember ever playing a demo for any of the Assassin’s Creed games or Far Cry 3? Exactly, these games are way too big to be able to be compressed into a PSN/XBLA demo. Sure, they could give us a confined warehouse shootout, but that would be a poor representation of the intriguing open-world adventure that awaits us in Watch Dogs.
Still not sure about whether to pre-order Watch Dogs? Well, the truth of the matter is, nobody is holding a gun to your head, wait for a few reviews if you’re not sure. It’ll still be there a week after launch. Personally, I’m back on Team Excited for the game after seeing the Welcome to Chicago trailer. That and Ubisoft’s last two open world games in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Far Cry 3 have been amongst the best I’ve ever played.
Amazon has invited members of the press to a media event in New York on Wednesday and speculation suggests that the online retail sales giant is poised to announce their long-rumored console. The official line for the event is quoted as an “update for our video business.” Continue reading Amazon Console to be Announced on Wednesday?→
Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths
The No Sleep Gamer 