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Category: Gamespot

  • Ubisoft Takeover Fears Deepen as Vivendi Closes In

    Michel Guillemot, chief executive of mobile developer Gameloft, is expected to resign from his position after the company’s shareholders backed a hostile takeover bid from French media conglomerate Vivendi.

    Guillemot and his brother Yves, the latter of which is the chief executive at Ubisoft, have tried in vain to resist Vivendi’s unsolicited takeover of Gameloft. French regulators are expected to announce on Friday that Vivendi’s bid has been accepted by Gameloft’s board, which would give the conglomerate enough voting power to boot Michel from his role.

    Ubisoft is the world’s third-largest independent video game company

    Some analysts suspect that Vivendi, having acquired Gameloft, is plotting a wider plan to buy Ubisoft in the same manner. If such a plan is successful, it would mark one of the biggest games company takeovers in history.

    In October 2015, two years after selling its controlling stake in Activision Blizzard, Vivendi acquired a minority stake in both Gameloft and Ubisoft. Over time, it has increased its stake in Ubisoft, leading to the takeover speculation.

    Currently, the Guillemot brothers have control of 15 percent of the votes on Ubisoft’s board of directors. As of April, 2016, Vivendi has a stake in 18 percent of Ubisoft’s votes.

    Despite increasing its shares in Ubisoft, Vivendi recently stated it has “no plans” to attempt a Ubisoft takover. But the company says that its 18 percent stake in Ubisoft means it deserves representation at board level.

    The Guillemots are currently working with financial advisers to build a defence plan against a potential takeover attempt from Vivendi.

    Yves Guillemot previously vowed that Ubisoft will “fight to preserve our independence” and described Vivendi’s investment in the company as unwanted.

    “Our intention is and has always been to remain independent, a value which, for 30 years, has allowed us to innovate, take risks, create beloved franchises for players around the world, and which has helped the company grow into the leader it is today,” he said.

    “We’re going to fight to preserve our independence. We should not let this situation–nor any future actions by Vivendi or others–distract us from our goals. Our best defense is to stay focused on what we have always done best–deliver the most original and memorable gaming experiences.”

    Ubisoft’s management have met with “a dozen potential investors” in Montreal and Toronto in an effort to “build support for the company’s founders and current management.”

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  • How to Play Mirror's Edge Catalyst on Xbox One Right Now

    How to Play Mirror's Edge Catalyst on Xbox One Right Now

    EA’s free-running sequel Mirror’s Edge Catalyst isn’t scheduled to come out until June 7, but Xbox One owners with an EA Access membership can play it right now.

    The six-hour EA Access trial for the game was not expected to begin until June 2, but the game popped up today (via NeoGAF). In the EA Access hub on Xbox One, the trial is still listed as “coming soon,” but if you visit the game’s Xbox Store page, you can start your download there.

    Catalyst weighs in at 16.21 GB on Xbox One. The trial period will also be available on PC for Origin Access members, but it’s unclear if that version has also started early as well.

    The game was originally expected to launch on May 24, but after a delay, it’s now set for launch on June 7 in North America and June 9 in Europe. It will be available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

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  • Mafia 3 Collector's Edition Detailed, Mafia 2 Re-Releasing on Steam With Huge Discount

    Mafia 3 Collector's Edition Detailed, Mafia 2 Re-Releasing on Steam With Huge Discount

    2K Games announced Mafia III’s $150 Collector’s Edition back in April, but now, the publisher has provided many more details about what’s included and also released an image of it.

    As you can see in the image below, there’s a lot here. In addition to the game, you get the soundtrack on vinyl, a 56-page art book, dog tags for main character Lincoln Clay, and faux leather drink coasters. Also in the package are Playboy lithographs, while 2K also confirmed today that these will be in the game as well for players to find and collect.

    The Collector’s Edition also comes with Mafia III’s DLC Season Pass, though none of its contents have been announced. The $80 deluxe edition of Mafia III also comes with this.

    2K also announced today that Mafia II is being re-released for PC on Steam today. To mark the launch, 2K is offering the game and its DLC for 80 percent off. The deal is good through June 8.

    Mafia II has a connection to Mafia III, as Mafia II’s Vito Scaletta shows up in Mafia III as one of Clay’s lieutenants.

    Mafia III Collector’s Edition Includes:

    Descriptions written by 2K

    • Mafia III: Official Soundtrack of New Bordeaux – 180 gram vinyl pressing featuring some of the ’60s greatest hit makers, including Otis Redding & Carla Thomas, Sam Cooke, The Animals, and more. The vinyl is a sampling of the larger in-game soundtrack, that includes an eclectic mix of Rock, Rhythm and Blues, and Pop, all colliding against a backdrop of war, civil unrest, and sweeping social changes that defined the 1960s.
    • Mafia III: Original Game Score – 180 gram vinyl pressing of the original game score for Mafia III. Composed by Jesse Harlin and Jim Bonney, two of the industry’s great composers, the Mafia III original game score is a Rhythm and Blues inspired tour through a city ruled by organized crime and corrupt officials, and the setting for Lincoln Clay’s emotional story of loss and revenge.
    • Exclusive Collectible Art Prints – Two lithographs from Playboy and the Alberto Vargas Estate representing a vast collection of art for players to discover in-game.
    • The Art of Mafia III Collectable Art Book – A 56-page visual look at the creation of New Bordeaux, a new game world fashioned after New Orleans in the summer of 1968.
    • Lincoln Clay Replica Dog Tags – 1960s US military issue replicas. These are the tags of a combat-hardened Vietnam vet fueled by the need for military-grade revenge against the Italian Mafia.
    • Faux Leather Establishment Drink Coasters – Representing the Paradiso Casino and Sammy’s in-game criminal establishments, these aren’t just souvenirs, but symbols of Lincoln Clay’s motivations for revenge.
    • Season Pass – Future post-release downloadable content bundled at a discount.

    In other recent news potentially relating to Mafia III, it’s been suggested that Rockstar’s rumored Red Dead Redemption 2 may in some way tie in to the game.

    For more on Mafia III, which launches on October 7 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, check out GameSpot’s new stories stories and features below:

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  • Star Trek: Beyond Will Be "Very Different" From Previous Films, Director Says

    Star Trek: Beyond Will Be "Very Different" From Previous Films, Director Says

    Star Trek Beyond is the latest film in the long-running sci-fi franchise, and the third since it rebooted in 2009. While JJ Abrams directed the previous two movies, Fast and Furious veteran Justin Lin has taken over for Beyond, and has now spoken about how he hopes to make it different from what has come before.

    In an interview with Collider, Lin explained that he wanted to bring the influence of the original TV show to this movie. “I feel like it’s important to maybe try to deconstruct why Federation, Starfleet, and why Star Trek is special,” he said. “It is very different than the other two. But it reflects kind of my chapter or my turn as a gatekeeper for this one.

    “I felt like I’ve had years and years as a fan, as a kid kinda growing up watching the TV show, I wanted to really kind of explore the five-year journey, and also to kind of explore all the relationships.”

    Lin also gave a few hints as to what fans could expect from Idris Elba’s mysterious bad guy Krall. “It definitely is not a character you’ve seen before,” he revealed. “For me it was important because this film would not exist without this character. And I feel like it was important when I had that first meeting, and once I decided what journey this film should take, it really was hinged off, again, this antagonist’s philosophy. And so, that’s one of the things, and also getting one of Idris’s caliber and talent has been amazing.

    “I wanted to create something that would challenge, and also in a very valid way, the philosophy of the Federation. “

    Earlier this week a series of new posters were released, featuring the movie’s iconic heroes. Check them out in a gallery here.

    Star Trek: Beyond is set for release on July 22, 2016. It stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Anthon Yelchin.

    In other news about the franchise, the video game Star Trek Online is coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later this year. You can watch a trailer and see some screens here.

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  • The New Skylanders Game is Like Diablo For Kids

    The New Skylanders Game is Like Diablo For Kids

    As a parent, I’ve always thought of the Skylanders series as a gateway for kids to other games. The franchise has, after all, always had simple controls that even very young gamers could grasp, making them perfect training grounds for little ones before they tackle more grown up action adventure fare.

    The latest in the series–Skylanders Imaginators–acts as another gateway, but this time it’s not only for action games. With a ridiculously in-depth character creation system and what seems to be a fairly intricate loot-drop mechanic, Skylanders Imaginators is pushing more into action-RPG territory, and it could be the most “grown up” Skylanders game experience to date. It’s Diablo for kids, if Diablo made you buy each character as a separate toy.

    So yes, there is still an element of commerce about the game, as there are new physical toys for you to buy in order to get the full Imaginators experience. There will, of course, be new Skylander characters; these newbies are called Senseis, and much like the Trap Masters from Trap Team, are powerful characters with unique abilities. But the most interesting addition are toys called Creation Crystals, which allows you to create your own Skylander from scratch within the game.

    These creations–the titular Imaginators–is where a lot of complexity for the new game can be found. The level of customisation shown to me during a brief demo of the game was outstanding, and it likely be something that kids (and adult fans of the franchise) will obsess over. To start off with, there are 10 different classes to choose from, roughly aligning with your typical game character archetypes like tanks, ranged, and more. It gets much deeper once you hit character customisation, with the amount of individual tweaks that can be made to how a character looks, sounds, and behaves bordering on the excessive. Yes, you can tweak head and body parts to the nth degree, but you can also do things like change the color of individual body parts, change the sound your character makes when using their weapon, decide what music plays when they start attacking, create your own catch phrases (and change the pitch of your character’s voice), and more.

    That customisation extends into the game itself. While Skylanders games have long featured a very light gear system, Imaginators is embracing loot in a much more expansive way. Defeated enemies will now drop random loot, and they’ll be categorised much like gear in other action-RPGs via their rarity (in Imaginators case, common, rare, epic, and mythic).

    I didn’t get to actually have hands-on with the game during my preview session, so it’s hard to say just how impactful these new loot drops will be when playing. From what I saw, the game plays similarly to every other Skylander game before it (that is, a cute yet simple action adventure game). But will there be a huge variance in loot, compelling you to keep playing and keeping you in a constant state of swapping out your gear? Will this increase the replayability of the game? It’s hard to tell right now, but it is an exciting new direction for the Skylanders franchise to take. Given how tough it is to be in the toys-to-life business right now, this move towards expanding the game side of Skylanders over the toy gimmick side is welcome one indeed.

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  • Battlefield Hardline's Getaway Expansion Is Now Free, But Only for a Limited Time

    The Getaway expansion for cops-and-robbers shooter Battlefield Hardline is now completely free on all platforms as part of EA’s “Road to Battlefield 1” campaign. It won’t be free forever, though, as the content will return to its normal $15 price point on June 7.

    Getaway, which was released back in January, adds four new maps (Pacific Highway, Train Dodge, Double Cross, and Diversion), as well as more weapons and vehicles. It also introduces a new game mode called Capture the Bag. This is essentially capture the flag, but instead, teams are trying to capture and secure bags of money.

    EA is also challenging Hardline players to complete a community mission titled Hotwire Score. If the community can collectively score 500,000,000 points, everyone gets a free Gold Battlepack. The mission ends at 9 AM PST / 12 PM EST on June 6.

    The Road to Battlefield 1 campaign has already seen the release of Battlefield 4 DLC, and it sounds like more offers are coming in the future. In this blog post, EA said players should keep their eyes open for announcements about more free DLC, as well as double XP events.

    Battlefield 1 launches on October 21 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC, though people with an EA/Origin Access membership or those who pick up the deluxe edition can get in on October 18. Additionally, a beta will be held sometime before launch.

    In other news, we recently learned that EA Studios boss Patrick Soderlund initially rejected the pitch for Battlefield 1. EA has also confirmed it will showcase 64-player gameplay for the World War 1 shooter at E3 2016.

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  • Overwatch's Competitive Mode Delayed

    Overwatch‘s ranked competitive mode will launch in July, instead of its previously suggested June window, Blizzard has confirmed.

    Responding to a Twitter message asking about competitive seasons, the official Overwatch account said Blizzard will be “introducing our Competitive Play (hopefully) in later July.”

    It followed up with clarification that the studio is currently aiming for “mid-to-late July.”

    In May, Blizzard revealed it had decided to hold back Overwatch’s competitive mode when the game was launched in order to redesign it.

    “We worked extremely hard to get competitive play in the game for closed beta,” designer Jeff Kaplan previously said. “We’ve been reading feedback from the community and taking it all to heart. As a result, we’ve temporarily disabled competitive play for open beta so that we can rework the system and make it better.”

    Overwatch’s competitive play option was part of the game’s beta and allowed players at level 25 to rank up through a series of divisions and tiers. As they progressed higher up the ranks, new rewards such as sprays, player icons, and voice lines were also unlocked.

    A penalty system to punish players that leave in the middle of matches was also tested in the beta. Those who abandoned games had their completion percentage lowered; once it dropped below a threshold, they received a warning. If they continued to to leave games early, they were docked 75 percent of the collected experience in future games.

    As of yet, it’s not clear what will be changed for the new competitive mode, but Blizzard has discussed its approach to ranked matchmaking in depth.

    Blizzard’s Overwatch debuted at No.1 on the UK sales chart and became the fastest selling console title the studio has released. Overwatch launched on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

    You can check out GameSpot’s Overwatch review for more details about the game, and we’ve also got tips for playing every character effectively.

    You can also check out the comprehensive guide to every Overwatch character on GameSpot’s YouTube page.

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  • New Ghostbusters Movie Is Scarier and Funnier Than Originals, Dan Aykroyd Says

    New Ghostbusters Movie Is Scarier and Funnier Than Originals, Dan Aykroyd Says

    According to Dan Aykroyd, who wrote and starred in the first two Ghostbusters films, this summer’s female-led reboot has more laughs and scares than the fist movies. Writing on Facebook (via IGN), Akyroyd praised the film overall.

    “As originator of the original: Saw test screening of new movie. Apart from brilliant, genuine performances from the cast both female and male, it has more laughs and more scares than the first two films plus Bill Murray is in it!” he said.

    “As one of millions of man-fans and Ray Stantz, I’m paying to see that and bringing all my friends!”

    The new Ghostbusters stars Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth. A number of actors from the original 1984 movie will also feature in cameos, including Aykroyd, Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver.

    Ghostbusters is directed by Paul Feig, who was also behind Bridesmaids and Spy. The film opens on July 17. You can watch a trailer here.

    The first Ghostbusters was released in 1984, while the sequel came out in 1989.

    There have been numerous Ghostbusters video games over the years. The next of these are new console and mobile games from Activision coming out this summer.

    The latest major Ghostbusters game was Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which came out in 2009 and featured the voices of original cast members. Aykroyd said at the time that it was “essentially the third movie.”

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  • WWE 2K17 Preorders Come With Two Versions of Bill Goldberg

    2K Sports announced today that Bill Goldberg, the former WCW and WWE wrestler who also played professional football, will appear in WWE 2K17. However, you will need to preorder to get the wrestler right away.

    Two versions of the wrestler will be available, based on his WCW and WWE personas. In addition two arenas–WCW Monday Nitro and Halloween Havoc–are being offered as preorder bonuses on all platforms. A new, cinematic-style trailer for this news has also been released. Check it out:

    In a statement, Goldberg said he is “incredibly honored” to work with 2K and the WWE for this promotion. Other wrestlers who were made available as preorder bonuses in past WWE 2K games include Ultimate Warrior, Sting, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

    Goldberg said he credits his son with helping seal this deal.

    “My son was a big part of this coming together, and I can’t wait for him to see his dad kicking ass in a WWE ring through the magic of video games,” Goldberg explained. “I encountered the likes of The Rock, Triple H, Brock Lesnar and Ric Flair during my WWE career, and now through WWE 2K17, I’ll be taking on the biggest and baddest Superstars of today–showing them once and for all that I am still ‘Da Man!’”

    One of Goldberg’s wrestling career highlights was when he went 173-0 in singles competition in WCW fom 1997 to 1998. He also held titles including the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.

    Goldberg also appeared in movies like The Longest Yard and Universal Soldier: The Return, as well as the TV show The Celebrity Apprentice.

    WWE 2K17 launches in October for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.

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  • PSA: The Witcher 3's 30-Hour Blood and Wine Expansion Out Now

    PSA: The Witcher 3's 30-Hour Blood and Wine Expansion Out Now

    It’s the end of the road for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as it relates to add-on content. Developer CD Projekt Red today released the RPG’s major Blood and Wine expansion, which is the final piece of expansion content that the Polish developer plans to deliver.

    Blood and Wine offers over 90 new quests and around 30 hours of gameplay in its new region of Toussaint. There are 40 new points of interest to discover, while players can collect more than 30 new weapons and 100 individual pieces of armor. There are also 20 new monsters to slay.

    GameSpot’s Blood and Wine review scored it an 8/10.

    “Perhaps we will join him in yet another adventure, but if Blood and Wine is the White Wolf’s final interactive appearance, he at least departs in style,” reviewer Kevin VanOrd said. “I’ll miss you, Geralt–your impossibly perfect hair, your mercenary disposition, your stoic approach to horrific crimes and unspeakable tragedies. If you and Roach must ride into the sunset, then I’m glad the time we spent together was so enthralling.”

    For lots more on Blood and Wine, check out GameSpot’s tips to get you ready.

    Though you will need to buy the expansion (it’s $20 on its own and is included with $25 DLC pass), all players benefited from a new patch that came out on May 30. This added an enemy upscaling option and a system to help make it easier to collect Gwent cards, as well as lots of bug fixes.

    Looking ahead, CD Projekt Red has informed Witcher fans not to expect to see The Witcher 4 anytime soon, if ever. You may not have to wait much longer to hear about what’s coming next from CD Projekt Red, however, as the developer recently teased that it may show a new game at E3 next month.

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