Sony has given us a preview of the games included with Playstation Plus for January, 2014. PS4 owners can rejoice as they are receiving a new free title, and some pretty solid games from 2013 will be hitting the PS3 and Vita as well. For the first time in the PS+ announcement history, they have also included a video showing off some of the games included. The games from the preview are as follows:
Don’t Starve – PS4
Bioshock Infinite – PS3
DMC (Devil May Cry) – PS3
Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons – PS3
Smart As – PS Vita
Worms : Battle Islands – PSP
Don’t Starve, DMC, and Bioshock are worth their weight alone, and adding Brothers simply sweetens the deal. During the usual post Holiday lull, Playstation owners will have something to hold them over. The first three games fall into the category of, if you haven’t played it you’re doing it wrong. January gives you the opportunity to do it right.
REVIEW: The Walking Dead Game: Season 2 – Episode 1
Nothing is sacred in the world of “The Walking Dead’, and Season 2: Episode 1 makes sure you remember. To the excitement of fans worldwide we are put in control of the innocent and loveable Clementine from the first season. If you remember the end of season 1, Clem is alone and seeing 2 shadows walking in the distance. Luckily, it is our friends Omid and Krista who, like most characters, are only used as a reminder that nothing lasts.
Even after playing through Season 1 twice and diving into Season 2, I’m amazed that point and click controls can feel as stressful as the game makes them.
I haven’t mashed buttons this hard since I thought I was good at Tekken.
The controls at times create a panicked feeling that I haven’t felt since “Resident Evil”, and the phenomenally written story makes you instantly love the core characters. It almost feels like a cheap shot giving us Clem as the main character since she was so well loved in the previous title. Telltale can basically throw anything at us they imagine and it is a hundred times worse, simply because she is involved. Clem aside the ancillary characters are built well, and the Telltale crew did a phenomenal job building their personalities in such a short time.
If you play nothing else this year, please play this!
$4.99 for 2 or so hours of teeth gritting gameplay is more than a value, and $24.99 (prices do vary based on discounts and system) for all 5 seasons is a steal for something this enthralling. You have to play the game at least twice, just to see the different parts of Clem that have developed in her two years away from Lee. I reiterate my feelings that using Clem gives Telltale so much more leverage, due to the fact that she was so well received in the previous title. But the adult-level decisions she (and you by proxy) is required to make had me stopping to think at regular intervals. What effects will this have on my story? Do I leave them to suffer? Can I trust these people? A point-and-click adventure has never been able to make us question our decisions until Telltale came along. I don’t care what you play this on, just go out and do it. You won’t be disappointed.
Nintendo drug gamers out of bed bright and early today to show us what titles are coming in early 2014 for the 3DS and WiiU. We are in what we here at Big Shiny Robot! call the affirming your purchase phase.
Hyrule Warriors
Direct first opened with a trailer for “Hyrule Warriors” (Working Title). Developed by Techmo-Koei this Dynasty Warriors collaborative will feature our favorite swordsman from Hyrule vs. hordes of enemies. This game is exclusive to WiiU and releases in 2014.
Kirbys Triple Deluxe
Next we were given the title and two new game modes for the previously announced Kirby game. “Kirby’s Triple Deluxe” will be releasing next year and will feature a rhythm game titled “Dedede’s Drum Dash, and Kirby Fighters. Drum Dash will have you tapping and moving rhythmically to get Dedede across worlds to various tunes. Kirby fighters will allow you to test out different move copies against friends or an AI opponent in head-to-head combat.
Yoshi’s New Island
Produced by Takashi Tezuka, who also produced the original “Yoshi’s Island”, this will feature new eggs and abilities, and of course new levels. Nintendo would never just upscale and release a game right? This 3DS exclusive releases in Spring of 2014 for all you Mario heads out there.
Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder
Originally on Game Cube Chibi-Robo! was an absolute riot, so why not make an exclusive eShop game in 2014? This game features your bot trying to help Mr. Curator in restoring his museum. You do this by taking photos of NostalJunk a.k.a everyday stuff that people leave laying around, or use, and getting it displayed in the museum. You can check out the trailer below, and prepare to become the worlds most helpful robot.
Pokemon Bank and Poketransfer
They’re still coming on December 27, (that’s ten days from now if you happened to fail calendar math). If you download the apps between Dec. 27th and Jan 1st you will be eligible for a 30 day free trial of the app, aaaaand, get a free Celebi! If anything it’s worth grabbing the legendary Pokemon to add to your collection. Subscriptions for this will run $4.99 per year for server maintenance and allow you to transfer Pokemon from the Black and White games, as well as Pokemon X and Y. This is the best deal of the year if you’re a Pokemon player.
NES Remix
Letting you play different levels from various Nintendo franchises, “NES Remix” lets you post scores to MiiVerse to challenge friends, or simpy beat a personal best. The game will feature levels from Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, and more. Check ou tthe trailer below!
Bravely Default
Nintendo has been blasting us with information about the unique RPG coming to 3DS next year, and this months Direct was no different. Featuring a gameplay demo and announcement that you can download an exclusive demo for your system that will feature a side-story, that is available on January 2. The system we here at BSR! are most interested in is the sleep points. For every 8 hours your system is in standby mode you gain points that allow you to manipulate parts of combat. This encourages you to leave the game running, and I suppose take frequent breaks. Either way, it looks neat.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
If you watched the abomination known as VGX, you would have seen that we are getting Cranky Kong as a playable character! Cranky and co will help you travel across various island to reclaim your tropical paradise from the evil “Snowmads”. You will be able to play as Donkey, Diddy, Dixie and Crankie in your wild, gorilla-packed adventure. These characters along with the new “Kong Pow” mechanic that is activated once you’ve collected 100 bananas Go forth and ride barrels.
Sonic: Lost World DLC
Sonic: Lost World will be receiving 2 DLC packs very soon. The first is available immediately and happens to be free! This DLC pack puts Sonic through Yoshi’s Island themed levels, with his own flare of course. Nintendo did not announce what the second pack will be based on, but you can assume that it will involve a popular release from 2014.
Dr. Luigi
Why drop pills in a line when they can be L-shaped?! Dr. Luigi will be releasing December 31st on Nintendo eShop and will even include touch screen controls on your WiiU Game Pad. You can, of course, play like you did on classic Dr. Mario, but where is the fun in that. The game will feature online and side-by-side multi-player, and various single player difficulties.
Wii Sports Club – Golf Is Available!
Golf for Wii Sports Club is now available and features everything promised during that first preview at E3 a few years ago. It also features the main Wii Sports level as well as a special level from the NES Golf game, that Iwata himself worked on more than twenty years ago. The game will allow you to see the ball on your game pad, and also preview the course before shooting. The game is available as a 24 hour free trial starting today and of course you can purchase it wiith cash money.
Rosalina and Luna in Super Smash Bros.
Keeping the characters rolling in one Direct at a time, Rosalina and Luna were announced as part of the Super Smash Bros. lineup. Originally featured in Super Mario Galaxy, and then in Mario Kart this duo will be playable, and seem to be formidable with some decent ranged attacks. Smash Bros is still slated for next year on 3DS and WiiU, we can only hope to see it sooner than later.
Mario Kart 8
Featuring an all new buggy mode, where your characters baby version can now race against the standard karts, or motorcycles. The new trailer was shown, and we can definitely say that it looks like a Mario Kart Game. Check it out!
So there you have it folks, Nintendo is sending a message that 2014 is the year of games. Hopefully your piggy bank is overflowing with coin to pick up all the releases they will be throwing at you. Unless you’re a hater, you aren’t a hater are you? You like to have fun yeah? Sound off below as to which game has you most excited, or maybe you hate Nintendo, tell us why?
During Nintendo Direct this morning. Iwata and co treated us to a another character announcement for Super Smash Bros. Originally featured in Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 Rosalina and Luna were previously non-playable in those games, before being featured in Mario Kart. Smash Bros is shaping up to be incredibly diverse as they join an already stellar line-up. Smash Bros is slated for Nintendo 3DS and WiiU in 2014.
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze was delayed to the dismay of many, until next year. Tropical Freeze, releasing February 21st was just given a new character that we can all look forward to. If you didn’t read the excerpt because you slept in, didn’t watch Direct, and now are cruising the internet for trailers so that you can digest your data in small, baby-size chunks, I’ll go ahead and tell you.
WE’RE GETTING CRANKY KONG AS A PLAYABLE CHARACTER!
There, I said it. Check out the trailer below and sound off if you’re as stoked as we are.
Nintendo wants you to know that owning a WiiU is going to pay off next year, and their title line up from today continued to impress. Just after announcing a new character set for Super Smash Bros. They then revealed the trailer for Mario Kart 8 releasing in Spring of 2014 for WiiU. Based on the trailer, we can see that motorcycles are making a comeback along with your standard karts and your mini or baby karts. This will sell consoles, whether or not you’re tired of Nintendo refreshing old IP, you have to know that everyone is a Mario Kart fan. Trailer is below, are you in?
Disney Interactive announced today that Star Wars: Attack Squadrons will be releasing for the PC. Attack Squadrons will be a free-to-play space shooter developed by Area 52 games, Disney Interactive, and Lucas Arts. Star Wars: Attack Squadrons will allow players to custmize and tune their favorite vehicles from the Star Wars Universe including X-Wings and Tie Fighters and compete in 16 player dog fights. The closer this is to “Tie Fighter”, or “Rebel Assault”, the more I’m in. You can register for the beta HERE, and the trailer is below.
GAMING: Sony/Microsoft Release Next Gen Sales Numbers
Yesterday the NPD Group released the sales data for the PS4 and the Xbox One and both manufacturers began announcing the data with loud celebration. Since the launch of the Playstation 4 on November 15, 2013, the console has sold 2.1 million units. On the other side of the coin, the Xbox has sold 2 million units since the launch on November 22, 2013.
As soon as this data was released the Playstation Blog released the following:
It’s now clear that the launch of PS4 is one for the record books. This afternoon we learned from market research firmNPD Group that PS4 was the top-selling console for November and PlayStation was #1 in sales overall for home consoles. This news comes on the heels of yesterday’s confirmation that the PS4 launch is the biggest ever in the history of game consoles. Ever! And it’s all thanks to you.
Not to be outdone, Microsoft released a statement via The Xbox Wire
Xbox has seen record-breaking sales with the recent announcement of Xbox One selling more than 2 million units through to consumers worldwide since its launch. November NPD Group figures released today revealed 909,132 Xbox One units were sold in the U.S. in the console’s first nine days, making it the fastest selling console on the market in the U.S. Xbox One sales averaged a volume of more than 101,000 consoles per day, significantly outpacing the nearest competitor.
Globally, both consoles hit the 2 million point during November, and both announcements are true. Playstation 4 was the most successful console launch in history, and the Xbox One did sell at a faster pace due to the shorter time frame of availability. I guess the biggest news to me is the staggering sales numbers for the next generation launch. The Playstation 3 only sold just over 81,000 units during its first month of availability. The Xbox 360 sold roughly five times that during its debut month. That generation was filled with the cries of victory from Microsoft, and of course, fierce battling between fan boys. This generation has released very differently, while the two manufacturers try to show their victories and reaffirm their consumers purchases, I truly believe we are one step closer to getting every game, on whatever we have.
The news truly states that whichever system you bought, you are a winner. Developers have ample reason to release titles on both platforms due to the staggering numbers. Releasing for both gives them a chance to increase their sales by 100%. Third-party developers would be amiss to develop for one console exclusively without special contracts in place from the manufacturers. Exclusivity will still be something we see continuing in the coming years, but mark my words, it is going to be a lot less common now.
With Telltale Games announcing the return of their critically acclaimed episodic game, “The Walking Dead”. Gamers have been chomping at the bit for the release. With the game set to release “before Christmas” on a slew of systems, at least we get to watch this a few times over to prepare ourselves, right?
