It’s been an odd week and it’s now winding down into a hopefully quiet weekend. Before we get into our weekend gaming fugues, let’s take a look at what’s happened over the last few days.
We’ve already seen one major story this week that may change more than just video games. Facebook’s purchase of Oculus Rift could be a major shift in communication and innovation that will change the way we view our world.
On a less world-changing note, Microsoft is already cutting prices on the XBox One. In marketing speak, they are “limited time savings,” but these are basically discounted bundles. The Xbox One Play and Charge Bundle for $600 includes the system, controller, charging kit, and a “Forza Motorsport 5” download code. The Complete Bundle for $700 includes the console, 12 month Gold membership, your choice of two games, and the Forza 5 code. The $800 Ultimate bundle is the console, 12 months of Gold, three games and Forza 5. You can expect these deals at Microsoft’s US store, Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon.
While Microsoft is cutting prices Sony is cutting staff. It’s become a sad reality in game development that lay offs occur at a fairly regular clip. Sony has confirmed layoffs at Evolution Studios (“Driveclub”) Guerilla Games Cambridge (“Killzone: Shadow Fall”), and SCE Sony London. Sony says development of “Driveclub” will “not be affected.” It’s an odd statement, considering the game was scheduled to release at PS4’s launch and is still MIA.
While on the topic of Sony staff changes, Seth Killian has left the company. Killian was a Capcom staple that formed a backbone of their fighting franchises. He joined Sony in 2012 and worked on “PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.” His future was not disclosed by Sony or by his public social media outlets. Seth is a staple in this business and I expect we haven’t seen the last of him.
Here’s a new one for a special edition, “Wolfenstein: The New Order” comes with some nice goodies but is lacking an important staple of special releases. The Panzerhund Edition comes with a vintage footlocker box, 11 classified documents, 8” articulated statue, steelbook, 14 “weathered” postcards, three embroidered patches, and custom replica dog tags. So what’s missing in this $100 kit? The game! According to the Bethesda Store (http://store.bethsoft.com/brands/wolfenstein/wolfenstein-the-new-order-panzerhund-edition.html) “This collector’s edition does not include a copy of the game. Keep your pre-order at your favorite retailer and we’ll send you these goodies separately – this way we can ship these boxes worldwide and you’re not stuck waiting for your game to come along with an oversized, expensively shipped box.” A bit of an odd choice, but whatever. It’s coming May 20, 2014.
Tuesday’s VGQH saw some details about about “Assassin’s Creed: Unity” and this edition brings news of its last-gen counterpart, “Assassin’s Creed: Comet.” The two games are companions despite releasing on different console generations. Unfortunately, this is only rumor for now. It comes through an obscure French blog and a Reddit translation. According to these rumors, the game will star Shay, a Templar sailor who mutinies against his captain. The expected timeframe and locale is 1758 North America. This could lead to in-game appearances by Haytham and Adewale from “AC IV.” We’re keeping an ear to the ground and will let you know if/when any of this is confirmed as true or false.
Naughty Dog is seeing some more staffing changes. We reported recently that Amy Hennig had left the developer after successfully guiding the “Uncharted Trilogy.” The next blow is Justin Richmond leaving for Riot Games. Richmond was the game director for “Uncharted 4.” It’s probably okay to assume the fourth game is coming anyway, but Naughty Dog may be moving away from the franchise considering the success of “The Last of Us” and the recent reveal that it’s being ported to PS4.
If you’ve been holding out on a next-gen console purchase, you’ll want to see this list of 2014 PS4 games. It’s pretty extensive, so I’ll leave you with that:
- Out Now
- Awesomenauts Assemble!
- Basement Crawl
- Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition
- Don’t Starve: Console Edition
- Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition
- FEZ
- inFAMOUS Second Son
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
- Outlast
- Rayman Legends
- Stealth Inc: Ultimate Edition
- SteamWorld Dig
- Strider
- The LEGO Movie Videogame
- Thief
- Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
- TowerFall: Ascension
- Spring 2014
- 1001 Spikes
- Anomaly 2
- Bound by Flame
- CastleStorm: Definitive Edition
- Cel Damage HD
- Child of Light
- Daylight
- Divekick: Addition Edition
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
- Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition
- KickBeat: Special Edition
- King Oddball
- Lego The Hobbit
- Mercenary Kings
- MLB 14: The Show
- Octodad: Dadliest Catch
- Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty
- Pure Pool
- R.B.I. Baseball 14
- Ready to Run
- Secret Ponchos
- Sportsfriends
- Switch Galaxy Ultra
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- Strike Suit Zero
- The Swapper
- Titan Attacks
- Trials Fusion
- War Thunder
- Watch_Dogs
- Wolfenstein: The New Order
- Summer
- CounterSpy
- Destiny
- Final Horizon
- GALAK-Z: The Dimensional
- Helldivers
- Murdered: Soul Suspect
- OlliOlli
- Pavilion
- PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate
- Sniper Elite 3
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- The Evil Within
- Race the Sun
- Transformers: The Rise of the Dark Spark
- Velocity 2X
- Fall
- Alien: Isolation
- Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Evolve
- Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
- Rocketbirds 2: Evolution
- The Witness
- Winter
- Assassin’s Creed Unity
- Guns of Icarus Online
- Hyper Light Drifter
- TBA 2014
- Assault Android Cactus
- Aztez
- Backgammon Blitz
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Blast ‘Em Bunnies
- Cosmic Star Heroine
- Defense Grid 2
- Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition
- Driveclub
- Dying Light
- EA Sports UFC
- Energy Hook
- forma.8
- Foul Play
- Hands of Fate
- Hohokum
- Home
- Hotline Miami
- Legend of Raven
- Lords of the Fallen
- Mad Max
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Minecraft
- N++
- NBA 2K15
- Nuclear Throne
- The Order: 1886
- Pier Solar and the Great Architects
- Planetside 2
- Putty Squad
- Road Not Taken
- Rogue Legacy
- Samurai Gunn
- Savant Ascent
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
- Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments
- Starbound
- Super Exploding Zoo
- The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
- The Crew
- Tom Clancy’s The Division
- Transistor
- Tropico 5
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War
- Volume
- Worms Battlegrounds
- WWE 2K15