This looks interesting, albeit not the usual entry into the Halo Universe. Opening with the Halo Way Point logo this top down action shooter is hitting Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 in July.

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Rumors have been floating around the gaming world for the last few weeks that Scorpion would be next in line to join the Injustice cast. WB Games confirmed this morning that he is infact coming to the roster very soon. I’m not angry, or upset, I do feel that Scorpion is a great character and based on their changes and the trailer he will fit into the line up very well. I also think that their are a lot of really good DC characters that need to be piled in before him. (Where the hell is my Swamp Thing?!?!). What do you folks think? Are we due for MK to enter the realm, or is this a money grab?
Trailer below:

Update:
Anyone else think that Martian Man Hunter moving towards the screen after the end title was a bit odd?? Is he coming next?!?!

VGQH has been on an unscheduled hiatus recently, but not due to a lack of news. There’s a lot I’ve missed for the last couple of weeks, but I’ll do my best to round up the highlights:

The biggest story, of course, was Microsoft’s reveal last week of XBox One. Much like Sony’s PS4 announcement, we didn’t get nearly as much as we wanted, but there was some cool information. The always on Kinect 2 has raised a lot of questions, and the almost always on internet connectivity is definitely furrowing some brows. I’ll leave off most of my commentary until E3 when we get more details on both consoles, but I will note that I’ve personally seen a lot of 360 owners considering a switch to Sony next generation, but no one going the other way. Part of that is the avenues of my exposure to those comments, but not all of it. Some die hard XBox users have expressed very legitimate concerns to me.

Then again, Don Mattrick of Microsoft says they are investing over one billion dollars in exclusive titles. That argument in itself won’t sell the console, but the results of the investment might. Add a retail listing on Amazon Italy, since removed, for Mirror’s Edge 2 exclusive to the XBox One and you now have a compelling a sales pitch. It also appeared briefly on EA’s Help Center website. Cleaning up consumer trepidation about the hardware, with exclusives like this, and Microsoft could be all set for a real winner.

Also announced last week were the two special editions of Grand Theft Auto V. The Special Edition will include the game, a collectible steelbook, a blueprint map, extra single player flying missions, a special ability boost fore ach character, bonus character customizing options, and additional weapons. This looks like your basic preorder content with the exception of the map and steelbook.

The Collector’s Edition is a little more expansive. That one comes with all of the Special Edition perks, plus a locking security deposit bag, snapback cap, custom characters for online play, and unique in-game vehicles in a special garage.

All versions will be available September 17, 2013 and all preorders will get access to the in-game Atomic Blimp vehicle. I believe this is the first time a dirigible will be a playable vehicle in the series.

TT Games announced two characters for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes at last weekend’s MCM Expo. The Human Torch and Venom minifigures are joining the cast for what be the largest Marvel roster in a single video game ever. Venom has his lovers and haters, and I can’t argue with any of them. But my question comes with the Torch. It’s safe to assume that the entire (standard) Fantastic Four cast will be included, but could we also be getting the original Human Torch that teamed with Captain America and Namor in World Ward II? I guess we’ll know for sure when this one launches later this year.

Ever since Rayman Legends was delayed on the WiiU to spread to other consoles there have been rumors of it coming to PS Vita as well. That has now been confirmed. This handheld version will feature five extra levels, controlling Murphy the green bottle fly using the rear touch pad. It will also come with two extra costumes: Sam Fisher for Globox and Prince of Persia for Rayman. Every version of the title is now planned for release August 27, 2013.

Naughty Dog has revealed plans for DLC on the The Last of US, including how it will tie to the Season Pass. The first DLC content will be for the single player, while the next two will focus on multiplayer. The Season Pass will be $19.99 and reportedly saves buyers about 30% over buying individually. A little basic math tells me the individual pieces will average out to about $10. Other benefits of the Season Pass include some in game bonuses (faster crafting, healing, 9mm reload speed, and increased capacity in the rifle clip) and a 90 minute “making of” documentary.

That seems to be it for now.

Doug TenNapel rocks my world. If you’re like me, you were first introduced to him through Earthworm Jim, one of my favorite video games of the early 90’s. Maybe it was Catscratch on Nickelodeon, or one of his awesome comics, like the incredible Iron West. TenNapel means awesome, people! And right now, you can be awesome to him as well.

Armikrog is TenNapel’s newest video game, described as the “spiritual successor” to the Neverhood. I could tell you all about it, or you could just click this link and watch the cool-as-hell video. Seriously, kids… Claymation video game! Woohoo!

This is what makes Kickstarter so awesome: When used for good, awesome, creative people can follow their dreams without some middle-man barging in and mucking up the works. Funding for Armikrog ends on June 27th.

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I’ve been playtesting the new Neverwinter MMORPG from Cryptic since the open beta launched last month, and I have to say, it’s a ton of fun. But one thing seriously missing is Alignment. For those of you unfamiliar with Alignment in Dungeons and Dragons, let me sum it up: Alignment is essentially your moral code. A Lawful Good character follows the laws of goodness, where as a Chaotic Good character is just good for the sake of goodness, but doesn’t follow any rules to be so. A Lawful Evil character has a code that she follows in her quest for evil, where a Chaotic Evil character is just a rampaging lunatic, wreaking havoc with no rhyme or reason. You also have your Neutral alignments, which gives you more of a grey area to operate in.

Without Alignment, certain character classes have little in-game consequences for playing out of their “moral” role. A Paladin could wantonly kill without any repercussions, an evil Cleric could avoid cruel deeds and still hold favor with his gods. With Alignment, there are consequences. You could lose your powers, or your god could curse you.

Alignment is a hard thing to implement in an MMORPG, but it looks like Goblinworks is doing just that with their Pathfinder game. Here is Rich Baker (one of the Goblinworks game developers) with more information:

Including a reasonably faithful implementation of the alignment system helps Pathfinder Online provide a better translation of the tabletop game into a MMORPG. After all, what’s the point of including the paladin if we don’t define objective standards of “lawful” and “good” in the game? Without those, the paladin would be just another fighter with some cross-training in cleric, or vice versa. Likewise, clerics dedicated to serving good-aligned gods should experience real consequences for committing evil acts, and monks who abandon their lives of discipline and community should likewise suffer the loss of special abilities arising from their devotion to a philosophy greater than themselves.

In addition to specific character abilities dependent on alignment, alignment also matters for dealing with NPCs, equipping certain magic items, and the alliances a character can join—the Hellknights don’t have much use for chaotic folks, for example. Settlements also have alignments; a settlement’s alignment is selected by its leader at founding, and anyone who wishes to join the settlement must have an alignment within one step of the settlement’s alignment. Unlike Reputation, alignment isn’t immediately apparent on inspection. There are spells and abilities that allow you to discern a character’s alignment, but without magic, you’ll have to rely on careful observation to determine if someone is evil or simply misunderstood.

What’s exciting about this to me, personally, is that Role Playing will end up being a much stronger part of Pathfinder Online’s core game mechanic. I love playing Neutral Good Rangers, and now, the game will expect me to stay in character. Playing a Paladin as a paragon of virtue is going to be more than just a choice; you will need to conduct yourself accordingly, or risk losing your powers.

For more information on how Alignment will be incorporated into Pathfinder Online, check out the dev blog here!

During their Xbox Reveal today, Microsoft announced that there would be a new Halo TV series via Xbox TV. Directed by none other than Steven Spielberg. I’ve heard varying opinions on this since the announcement today and opinions have been differing. I’ve seen it described as “a waste of his talent”, to “OMG THE AWESOMEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN”. I’m somewhere in between, not being a film buff I have to take a completely objective gaming approach to this. First of all it’s Halo, fully capable of providing enough depth and story to make a long running TV show phenomenal. With Steven Spielberg who is an openly avid gamer with loads of passion behind it the funding and direction know no bounds, his name brings swagger and Halo deserves that. Hopefully they reach out to some powerful sources to make the product go further and look better, but I for one am on board with this! I don’t have much more to say, I think they picked the right man.

Thomas Winkley is the gaming editor for Big Shiny Robot!, you can follow him on Twitter @thomaswinkley, or email him thomas@bigshinyrobot.com

The Xbox Reveal is starting soon! We’ll be going live at 1030 AM Mountain Time to discuss what we hope to see, what we expect to see, and then follow up after! Join us!

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Today, Sony released a brief video revealing a blurry look at the new console. It doesn’t provide much information (other than the time and day of their E3 press conference), but it was enough to whet our appetites and get us counting down the days to June 10.

We’ll have a robot on the ground at E3, so keep an eye out here for more info as it becomes available.

Another weekend has come and gone, and with it another convention. The first year of what I’d consider a damn good set up was held at the University of Utah. Originally thought to be a tournament only convention, it was really a convention for tournament players, casual players and fans of video games.
Like many first year conventions, the amount of panels, vendors were slim, but the quality of what was there was comparable to any of the big conventions around.
I’m here to tell you what you missed, and hopefully what you’ll have to look forward to next year.

Tournaments were the name of the game with guest competitor Justin Wong coming in for all the competition goodness. Watching Wong play is amazing and seeing his competition was great as well. The big news of the convention was the fact that several local players were able to beat Wong.

Amongst the players there was also commentating talent provided by Twitch.tv famous Brett Young and Alex Jebailey, with occasional commentating by Albert Wesker himself, D.C. Douglas.
Non-competitors could watch live with a projection of the fight on a big screen or you could see it all through Twitch.tv.

The Projector!

The panels there were a mix between amazing and not so good. Some of the local panels had less than 10 people in the room while others were filled to the max.
The best panel or event (not counting tourneys) of the whole night had to be the panel with D.C. Douglas and Quinton Flynn. The two had an 18+ panel that felt more like one of the funniest and most offensive stand ups I’d ever seen. The two answered (or tried to answer) questions by the audience which resulted in some heartfelt conversations about voice actors playing the games they star in, how to pick up chicks, and hilarious dialogue between Wesker (Resident Evil), Axel (Kingdom Hearts), and Raiden (Metal Gear Rising).
If you didn’t know D.C. Douglas voiced Albert Wesker in the most recent Resident Evil games as well Legion from Mass Effect. Quinton Flynn is known for fan favorite character Axel from Kingdom Hearts and Raiden from Metal Gear Rising and MGS4.
The best thing about all the guests was that at any given time you could meet them around the convention floor and have a decent chat with any of them.

Quinton Flynn, D.C. Douglas

For those who had money to burn, there were plenty of options. Hitbox was in attendance selling their arcade controllers, for those that haven’t used a Hitbox before: you could try it out and play on consoles provided at the booth. Worlds Game Store was also there with games, consoles and rarities(they had a virtual boy).

The Vendor Hall

Aside from an empty and spread out first day the convention was a riot. Free to play arcade machines decorated the halls and the casual gaming room was ready for action, it was, however, a bring-your-own-controller setup. A Starcraft 2/computer gaming room was also available. Local dealers were there and willing to chat as well as cosplayers, though there were considerably less than a regular anime or comic book convention.

Overall, it was a blast. I enjoyed seeing a great mix of pro and casual players fight against each other in tournaments. I even participated in a Pokemon tournament and ended up fighting a world tournament participant (and got my ass handed to me).
Conventions that start out this big send a message to conventions like EVO and Comic Con. That though they may be big, they’re not the only conventions around. The size and quality of this convention was top notch and a huge step up for the local gaming community. New con attendees also had fun and didn’t have to participate in tournaments or dress up. Apart from garnering a local crowd there were also attendees from the surrounding states like Idaho, Nevada, California and even as far as Florida.