I’m not feeling clever enough to write a great intro so I’ll just skip it. Here’s the news:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is coming in August. We’ve been expecting it to come in two forms, the standard $60 retail box and the $70 Augmented Edition. The extra $10 gets you an artbook, promotional DVD (making of, motion comic, etc.), and a sturdier box with some great art. Recently announced is a third version of the game. The Collector’s Edition includes all of the Augmented Edition bonuses, plus even more exclusive box art, extra mission pack, exclusive in-game weapons, 10,000 in-game credits for weapon upgrades, and an Adam Jensen figurine. But there is a mean-spirited catch. Right now the Collector’s Edition is only scheduled for “select” European countries, Australia, and New Zealand.” Oh, yeah. They’re also extremely limited.
In separate, but related news, Eidos Montreal has shown they are listening to their fans. Recent footage of Deus Ex has shown the “augmented reality” tool that highlights objects of interest through Adam’s cybernetic implants. This can certainly make gameplay more simple for puzzles and other needs, but fans of the older games didn’t like the handholding concept. So, the developers have changed the feature to a toggle option. If you want the highlights, keep it on. If you’re insulted by the feature, turn it off. Personally, I think options like this are great, especially in games that cross genres. Think about this way, if you’re an excellent driver and want more challenge, but suck at gunplay, those two options could have separate difficulty controls in a game that features both – like anything from Rockstar. This makes a better personal experience for each user.
I’ve got another story that’s different but sort of related, mostly in the idea of developers following fan wishes but in a totally different game – Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. For those that remember Oblivion, horses are a topic of disagreement. Some people enjoyed them, but they were basically worthless for gameplay and really just served as vehicle for the horse armor DLC. For the next game, Bethesda doesn’t seem like they want to give up on the idea of mounts, but if they aren’t making the game better they’re not adding them. This seems like a good policy, especially on open world games. There were many little things in GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout, etc. that seemed fun, but they didn’t actually do anything for the game (I’m looking at you John Marston’s terrible horeshoe skills). Representatives of the company also had a good time joking about still trying to sell the DLC even if the feature is cut. It’s refreshing to see that the company at least pays attention to how fans feel about the nickel and dime method, even if I don’t think they were entirely joking.
Of course, Bethesda also announced this week that Skyrim would have mammoths, which they’ll show at E3. And while the two announcements were separate, I can’t help but combine them in my head and think how ridiculously cool it would be to fight a dragon from a mammoth’s back. Especially if I had an armored mammoth.
For those of you waiting for Driver: San Francisco and getting antsy about the delays, it has been given a release date. While it was originally supposed to be coming in November 2010, it is now planned for September 2011.
Now flip that good news on its head if your a fan of Team ICO. Both the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection and The Last Guardian have been delayed. The HD remastering of the two PS2 classics has shifted from Spring 2011, to an undefined date. That seems odd. The new IP has shifted from Holiday 2011 to some time in 2012. Again, the vagueness is strange. While delaying a title that’s already six months or more out isn’t unusual in the gaming world, the indefinite delay of a game planned for the current season is a weird turn. Team ICO has a strong reputation for quality though. If this is what they say they need, I’ll have to trust them.
Yet another delay was announced this week, but one with decidedly less impact. Shadows of the Damned has been pushed back two weeks from its June 7th release date. Shinja Mikami and Suda51’s collaboration will now be available on the 21st. If you haven’t heard of this game, I’m not surprised. It hasn’t received a ton of press, although both developers have a strong reputation for quality and innovation. The story sounds like a bit of Dante’s Inferno ripoff, as the hero, Garcia Hotspur, treks into Hell to retrieve his lover, Paula. Except this game has a semi-sentient gun with a skull that can morph into even cooler guns.
If you haven’t heard about Yoostar 2 you need to, especially now. This is basically the ultimate drinking/party game. If you like movies, acting, karaoke, or laughing then you are the target audience. The game utilizes Kinect or Move, depending on your console, to put you and your friends into scenes from movies, karaoke-style. You can even save your efforts and upload them to Facebook. A new update to the game now incldues YouTube compatibility as well. That means your strange antics reaches millions more potential viewers. In addition, the Facebook side of the game, Yoostar Playgrounds, has received an update as well. You’ll now be able to post your performance on someone’s wall, use power boosts to move up the leaderboards, and receive DLC and other alerts. This all sounds great, but we all know this is just a veiled excuse for homemade satire porn.
PSM3, a UK magazine, is talking up a rumor from an “unnamed source” inside Sony Santa Monica. According to this source, God of War IV will be coming out in September 2012. While the studio did say that GoWIII ended the trilogy, they also promised it would not be the last game in the series. File this under rumor for now. If this is true, you’ll most likely hear something official from E3.
PSN users may have noticed outages of the service in the last few days. Unfortunately an end isn’t necessarily in sight. What’s going on? Sony hasn’t exactly said, but Patrick Seybold (Senior Director, Corporate Communications and Social Media) did announce that it may take a few days to identify and correct this issue. This is a rough week for the problem considering Mortal Kombat, SOCOM 4, and Portal 2 all just launched with very heavy online components (not to mention the inFamous 2 beta codes started being sent). It’s also a long weekend for many people, with today being considered a holiday in some states and countries. Internet conspiracy theorists are all over this one. Although the hackers at Anonymous have denied responsibility they seem to be the number one suspects. Others are saying it’s a Sony plot to convince users that if they paid for the service things like this wouldn’t happen. Regardless, it’s a tough situation for online players and it does raise a question for Sony about how to handle users who already pay to access content, like Plus subscribers or DCU Online players.
And… I guess I’ll leave it on that odd little down note. I hope you all enjoy your weekend, extended or not. Don’t forget, if you’re in the Salt Lake area, you can celebrate Easter with some of the BSR! bots, the Geek Show Podcast, and our friends from the Big Movie Mouth-Off at Brewvies. They’ll be showing two Easter themed movies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (there’s a rabbit) and Life of Brian (there’s a crucifixion), free. They also have great food and even better local beer, but those aren’t free. See you next Tuesday on the next edition of Video Game Quick Hits.