It’s a slow week for news, but we have a few small bits. Actually, it’s a slow week for gaming news; in my neck of the woods there’s a pretty significant non-gaming story from the weekend that results in a hearty congratulations to one of our ‘bots who got to celebrate a very special moment yesterday.
But most of you are reading for games:
Vanillaware’s new patch for Dragon’s Crown has added an Ultimate difficulty level, among other things. You can access Ultimate difficulty from the Temple once you’ve cleared the ninth layer in the Labyrinth of Chaos. Concerned your level 99 fighter may have a hard time with that difficulty. Just go ahead and earn them the additional 156 levels that were just added, making 255 the new cap. A new dungeon, the Tower of Mirages, was also added.
Drinkbox’s Guacamelee! is getting a next-gen port. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition will be coming to XB1 and PS4 with improved visuals and other extra content. You will find two new worlds, more new enemies, a “chicken-bomb” ability and new particle effects with the high-powered upgrade planned for Spring 2014. Another Drinkbox great, Mutant Blobs Attack, will no longer be a Vita-exclusive “sometime next year” when it arrives on XBox 360 and PS3.
Nordic Games and Farm 51 are teaming up for what sounds like a revolution in games. Get Even uses full 3D scans of real locations and people. It’s apparently some cutting edge tech developed with multiple research institutes and specialists. The plan is to link single player and multiplayer in a “unique way.” Forgive my pessimism, but I’ve heard this one. The plan sounds a little different though. Players can actually enter someone else’s campaign mode as a formerly AI-controlled enemy. Unpredictability would seem to be the goal of this tactic. The actual gameplay will be told from the perspective of two protagonists on opposite sides of the conflict, which also sounds like an interesting innovation. Choices by both characters reportedly affect the story, which will not to be told with the typical cut scenes and dialogue. No launch dates yet, but you can be sure I’ll be watching this one closely and you’ll find more in this column as soon as I hear it.
The Pinball Arcade has made its PS4 debut. It has been critically well-received, with particular accolades going to the lighting and reworked physics. Unfortunately, it’s launch has not been without its problems. A discounted Season Pass was to be available for those who had purchased the game on PS3, but it has not been available to everyone. FarSight Studios and Sony have confirmed that a fix is on the way and the issues should be corrected sometime today.
As I said in the opener, slow news for gamers this week. A Friday edition is still planned in case anything drops over the holiday. Hopefully you’ll have some new games under your tree tomorrow – maybe even a new console!