The annual mayhem has wrapped up and it’s been a big year. The top story was the big reveals for the XBoxOne and PlayStation 4, but there’s plenty of news about games as well.
Telltale finally confirmed The Walking Dead: 400 Days. It’s not the new season. This will be a single episode as an add-on for the first season. This meshes with what Gary Whitta said about the next thing we see from the series not actually being season two. The episode will apparently feature five characters’ (Vince, Bonnie, Russell, Shel and Wyatt) stories in the single episode. Run time, release date, and cost are still unannounced. You can bet there are plenty of fans chomping at the bit for this release. Last year’s The Walking Dead took may by surprise, even topping some game of the year lists.
If you caught Sony’s E3 press event you’ll recall seeing a tech demo of a Quantic Dream’s The Dark Sorceror. You can find it on your favorite internet video sites now. I’m not convinced that demo actually has anything to do with the game, but the graphic capability is impressive nonetheless. Yet, according to David Cage, that doesn’t even come close to taxing what the PS4 is capable of doing. According to Cage, “On PS4 everything looks great because the machine offers power that was totally inaccessible up until now. We can feel that we are closing in little by little on the kind of graphic quality we find in CG films. The PS4 engine used for The Dark Sorcerer is only in its first iteration and most of the features scheduled for the final version of the engine haven’t yet been implemented. This demo is only a first test that is well below the visual quality we hope to achieve in our next game.” This is not unusual, as console launch releases tend to be slightly prettier versions of games that are also releasing on the prior generation. It’s not usually until the second wave of games (I’m thinking Q2 2014 at the earliest) that we’ll see what the next gen is truly capable of showing.
After disappointing everyone with the announcement that the next Deus Ex is a mobile title, Eidos and Square Enix have announced that the director’s cut of Deus Ex: Human Revolution is coming to XBox 360 and PS3. This cut was originally planned as an exclusive for the WiiU, but that console is once again getting the shaft. The new cut will include two DLC add-ons, Tong’s Rescue and Missing Link, as well as a myriad of other fixes and tweaks. The off-kilter boss battles have also been balanced. The planned content for the WiiU’s screen controller will use tablets (and probably Vita) on these versions. No release date has been announced and we also do not yet have clarification on whether existing owners of the game will have to buy this new version (probably) or if they will just receive a title update (doubtful).
Mirror’s Edge 2 will apparently only be Mirror’s Edge, according to EA. The new adventures of FPS Parkouring Faith will have the same name as her first adventure apparently. Not sure if they’re doing as a reboot (a la Tomb Raider and Devil May Cry) or if EA just wants a cleaner logo. The first game has become a cult classic, not necessarily selling a ton of copies but building some die hard fans. It may be they just don’t want to scare away customers who think it won’t make sense if they didn’t play the first game. It’s also going to be open world, which has its pros and cons. Make of that what you will.
Microsoft has released some clarification about their impending switch from Microsoft Points to real money transactions. If you have questions, you should probably check their official FAQ. Generally speaking though, you’ll still be able to use existing point cards “through 2014 and for a limited time thereafter.” Existing points will flip to real money when the conversion happens, though they haven’t clarified the exchange rate. Adding new points after the switch will automatically convert them to your local currency. You’ll still be able to switch regions, but if you added points as US dollars they won’t switch to EU euros when you change regions. The switch is happening in Fall 2013, likely coinciding with the XBoxOne’s release.
Ubisoft has confirmed that Rainbow 6 Patriots is now being developed as a next-gen game. No word yet on when it will release, but it may be getting a name change in the process.
I’m not sure how I feel about a steampunk Zod, but he’s coming to Injustice: Gods Among Us whether I like it or not. This DLC character will be coming in July, though a smart marketing person would have released it next week, considering he’s the villain in Man of Steel, in theaters today.
Microsoft decided to address some of complaints and concerns about their XBoxOne in the days following Monday’s press conference. I’m of two minds on this. Addressing the complaints specifically legitimizes them, which I don’t think Microsoft should necessarily do. On the other hand, they’re standing behind their decisions, which shows a strength they need. Suddenly dropping their price by $100 to compete with Sony would be a very weak move. Regarding the price, vice-president Phil Harrison “couldn’t be happier.” Harrison says “It’s a unique architecture, with Kinect and the power of the cloud. What we showed… was the most incredible games line-up in any first few months of a platform launch, many of which are exclusive and all of which have advantages being on Xbox One. That’s what’s really going to drive value.” Which is probably true. Then again, they’ve also gotten a bit snarky about the DRM issue. Don Mattrick told Geoff Keighley that they “have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360.” While it is true in the short term, it’s not exactly the best way to pimp your new product. Frankly, the whole issue is probably a little over blown. Many gamers, myself included, are pretty negative on the One right now. There are some legitimate concerns, but three years from now the sales numbers are going to be totally fine and the console will likely be a huge success. Most of us won’t even remember complaining about used game problems or online connectivity.
As a side note to the connection requirement with XBoxOne, those outside of the initial 21 countries seeing its release needn’t bother importing one. Due to region restrictions on the console, you won’t actually be able to make that important daily connection to XBox’s servers if you’re outside a country where active sales are underway. More widespread global release is planned for 2014, but if you’re outside this initial 21, you’re just going to have to wait. The countries planned for initial release are:
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Russia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
That wraps up this crazy week. Have fun this weekend and try to digest all of the excitement coming soon to our favorite hobby.