New DLC based on ancient Greek mythology is now available for the versions of Minecraft.
Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 owners can now buy a $4 bundle that comes with 39 Greek mythology character skins (see the list below). There is also a custom texture set, new UI, and even an original soundtrack from composer Gareth Coker, who most recently did the music for Ori and the Blind Forest.
“Build a pantheon fit for the gods, trap the Minotaur in an elaborate maze, or set sail for adventures across the sea–the world is your square oyster!” Mojang said.
Pixels, the video game-themed comedy starring Adam Sandler and directed by Harry Potter‘s Christopher Columbus, was the top movie on Friday. It earned $9.2 million at the box office, according to Deadline’s industry estimates.
The movie, in which famous video game characters such as Donkey Kong and Pac-Man attack earth, achieved the results despite receiving poor scores from some notable critics (see below).
Deadline also notes that Pixels, though it debuted at No. 1 on Friday, is not expected to stay there for the full weekend. Instead, the site reports that current projections show the Marvel movie Ant-Man, released last weekend, to win the weekend with $26.1 million.
Pixels currently boasts a 27 score on GameSpot sister site Metacritic. Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers rated the four 1 out of 4 stars. He wrote in his review, “Yikes! I saw Pixels as a 3D metaphor for Hollywood’s digital assault on our eyes and brains. Not funny. Just relentless and exhausting.”
Neil Genzlinger wrote in his review for The New York Times: “The special effects are pretty cool, but the film is working nostalgia already thoroughly mined in movies (including the video game-themed Wreck-It Ralph) and television (The Goldbergs and such). So it’s not as original as it wants to be, despite having the able Chris Columbus in the director’s chair.”
Other critics were kinder to Pixels. Katie Walsh for The Washington Postwrote: “Pixels has its funny and fresh moments, thanks in large part to the supporting comic actors and inventive special effects.”
Xbox Sales Rising: Microsoft reported earnings this week and the Xbox numbers were strong. Overall Xbox Platform revenue was up year-over-year, including an uptick in console sales and first-party revenue. What’s more, Microsoft says the Xbox One is finally “building momentum.”
New Fallout 4 Details: Straight from Bethesda’s Quakecon event this week, director Todd Howard shared new details about the upcoming post-apocalyptic RPG. There’s new information about your dog, armor, and more. Get all the details here.
There is an NPC in The Witcher 3 who looks just like actor Michael Cera. No, really. Check it out.
Did you miss Valve’s VR demo from the Game Developers Conference in March? If so, you’re in luck, as new videos published this week show off the entire Portal-themed demo. Watch them here.
Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. There is an image of the supposed upcoming Games With Gold lineup making the rounds, but the picture “isn’t real,” Phil Spencer says.
US Women’s Soccer star Alex Morgan is the first woman to be on the cover of a FIFA game in the United States. She talked about it during a late night appearance this week with Jimmy Kimmel.
The next game from Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Desilets is mostly non-violent, he explains in a lengthy interview with Game Informer. The game is called Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey.
Following last year’s SXSW Gaming Expo, which drew a record-breaking 55,000 attendees, event organizers have announced that next year’s show will move to the much larger Austin Convention Center in Texas. The event will be held March 17-19, and organizers have also announced a VR/AR programming track to match the growing popularity of that field. You can read more about the SXSW Gaming Expo at the event’s website.
The next Conversations With Creators video from PlayStation is now online, this one shining a light on Call of Duty developer Treyarch, the studio that created Zombies and the Black Ops franchise.
Konami’s soccer game PES 2015 is now available in Brazil for GameFly’s cloud gaming service through Samsung Smart TVs. No console required!
According to Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda, some games need multiple sequels before they’re successful. Read his full quotes here. He also talks about the Final Fantasy company’s new IP, Project Setsuna.
Following Nintendo’s recent confirmation that it will indeed publisher Devil’s Third on Wii U in North America, the publisher has now posted a new gameplay trailer. Man, this game looks crazy! (In a good way–I think)
Legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto will not succeed Satoru Iwata as Nintendo’s next president. That’s according to a poll of analysts done by GamesIndustry International. You can hear what they had to say in this feature.
OK, it’s not gaming-related, but it’s worth watching. Pixar this week released the first full-length trailer for its next big movie, The Good Dinosaur. Watch it here. Actually, the song you hear in the beginning is called “Leap of Faith,” and it was written by prolific video game composer Inon Zur. So there is a game connection!
Might college basketball games be making a comeback? In NBA 2K16? Possibly! That’s according to documents unearthed recently by Operation Sports. Get the full story here.
Following all the drama earlier this year about Peter Molyneux’s god game Godus, Molyneux stepped down from the role of CEO of developer 22Cans. Taking his place was Simon Phillips–and he’s now given a new interview to Eurogamer about how the company will move forward.
Ever want to listen to John Carmack talk about VR for two hours? It’s your lucky day!
The Doom series has been around for almost 22 years, and next year the fourth game in the series will launch. Instead of a direct sequel, though, it’s a reboot–and this has proven to be a challenge for developer id Software and publisher Bethesda.
GameSpot sat down with Bethesda’s VP of Marketing Pete Hines and id’s Executive Producer Marty Stratton at Quakecon to talk about the difficulties of making a new Doom game more than a decade after the last one, Doom 3, launched. They both talked about how it’s vitally important that the studio stays faithful to the series, while also making sure it stays competitive with modern shooters.
“Id hasn’t made a game in the current pantheon of first-person shooters,” Hines told us. “It’s not a part of that conversation. You can go to any sixteen-year-old at Quakecon and ask them what their favorite shooter is and they’re going to say Call of Duty and Battlefield and Halo, but not Doom, because why would they? We haven’t put out Doom games. So id has to deal with the challenge because we can’t walk in and say, ‘Hey, we’re making a Doom game,’ and everyone’s instantly on board. Id’s got to prove [itself] and prove how this is still true to Doom and still relevant to first-person shooters.”
Stratton stressed the necessity of being faithful to the legacy of Doom, saying that they approached the reboot with caution, especially after transitioning away from plans to make Doom 4. The team spent a lot of time analyzing what was good about each game in the series and trying to apply that to the new project. “It’s challenging,” he said. “We talked a lot to [Bethesda Game Director] Todd Howard and to the Bethesda team, because they went through the same thing when they were working on Fallout 3. You always want to respect the game and that fondness for it and what it means to people, but at the same time we’ve looked ahead with every decision and every idea. We know what [players are] here for, we know [they’re] here for a Doom game, we’re going to give [them] the best version of Doom.”
Stratton also remarked that it was crucial for his team to innovate and think about the future. He continued, “We let fun determine how decisions are made and what choices we make, not holding onto things from the past.”
Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima and famed movie director Guillermo del Toro were working together on Silent Hills, which was cancelled earlier this year. In spite of that, however, the two are still talking and want to work on a different project together.
In an interview with IGN, del Toro mentioned that he and Kojima are still close and talk often. He also said that they’re discussing the possibility of future collaborations. “I love working with Kojima-san,” he stated. “We are still in touch. We are still friends and working into doing something together, but that’s not going to be [Silent Hills].”
He went on to share a little about Silent Hills, which was supposed to focus on psychological horror. “We were in the planning stages [when it was cancelled], and it’s a shame it’s not going to happen,” he explained. “We were talking about really pushing the boundaries of the new consoles, and making the game really mess with your head. One of the great moments in Metal Gear [Solid] was Psycho Mantis. The idea that a game can actually interact with you, and stuff like that.”
Most of what we know about Silent Hills comes from P.T., or “Playable Teaser,” which was a short game that’s supposed to evoke the concepts of Silent Hills. P.T. launched last year, but it was taken down from the PlayStation Store in April following the cancellation of Silent Hills.
Developer id Software isn’t developing Doom with esports in mind, executive producer Marty Stratton said today.
In an interview with GameSpot at this year’s Quakecon event, Stratton said that although competitive multiplayer is a big part of the upcoming Doom reboot, the developer isn’t specifically working on esports support. Instead, id is focusing on the multiplayer mode itself, and will reassess esports potential after the game comes out.
He told GameSpot, “We’re not developing [Doom] specifically with how we address esports. There’s tons of moments, even just watching the [multiplayer matches] at Quakecon, where there’s very esports moments in it. It really just illustrates how esports can be born out of that. But we’re really [working on] how we entertain millions of people on their couches everyday. So that’s really been our focus.”
Stratton didn’t count out id revisiting Doom and adding esports features in the future, however. He continued, “We have a lot of experience with e-sports on the Quake side. To do that stuff well, it takes some focus. And I can see us going down that path when it catches on with people. I think it’s a great title for it, and who knows down the road.”
Over the past few years, more and more shooters have included features that directly support esports competitions. Halo 5: Guardians will have a dedicated Spectator Mode for watching matches, and the last few Call of Duty games have had robust shoutcaster features included in their multiplayer modes.
Half-Life originally launched on PC in 1998. Now, 17 years later, it is playable on a smart watch.
YouTube user Dave Bennett got the game working on an Android Wear watch by using an app called SDLash to emulate the Goldsource engine that runs the original Half-Life. Originally, Bennett got Half-Life working on other Android devices, then realized that the same process could get the game running on an Android Watch.
The game works surprisingly well, too. Its frame rate is inconsistent, ranging from 2 to 60 frames per second depending on the setting. However, the game is fully functional, and the watch effectively renders its graphics.
Destiny: The Taken King, the upcoming expansion to Bungie’s shooter, will be released in September, and there are several preorder bonuses and limited editions to choose from. It can be difficult to know which edition to get, and what content is exclusive through preorders, so we’ve collected all of the different versions and put them in one place.
Preorder Bonuses
Suros Arsenal Pack
Announced on Bungie’s website today, the Suros Arsenal Pack features five new items coming to the game. Three of them are new weapons, including a pulse rifle, an auto rifle, and a scout rifle. There’s also a shader and an emblem included in the pack.
The Suros Arsenal Pack is based on the new Suros line of weapons coming to the expansion, which Bungie revealed and explained yesterday. There are two other brands–Hakke and Omolon–which all have unique characteristics and sets of perks.
Vanguard Weapons Pack
If you preorder, you’ll also get early access to the Vanguard Weapons Pack, which comes with an auto rifle, a pulse rifle, and a sidearm.
These weapons are exclusive to those who preorder until January 1, 2016, when they become available for everyone to earn through gameplay. Anyone who preorders the expansion will get the packs, regardless of retailer or edition.
Versions of The Taken King
Normal Edition — $40
Bought as a download, the regular edition of The Taken King just includes the expansion.
Legendary Edition — $60
The Legendary Edition of The Taken King comes with the base Destiny game, the Dark Below and House of Wolves expansions, and The Taken King expansion. It’s available on disk and as a digital download.
Digital Collector’s Edition — $80
This edition also comes with the base game and the first two expansions in addition to The Taken King. It includes nine in-game items: three shaders, three class-specific emotes, and three class items. It’s available as a digital download, and if you preorder it now, you can immediately play Destiny and the first two expansions.
Collector’s Edition — $80
This edition comes with the base game, the first two expansions, and The Taken King, and it also includes several physical items. It’s exclusive to GameStop. A purchase of the Collector’s Edition will get you:
Steelbook case.
Modified Treasure Island book with notes and illustrations from Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard in the game.
Cayde-6’s personal notes and illustrations.
Collection of pictures and cards.
Strange Coin replica.
In addition, you’ll get the emotes, shaders, and class items that come with the Digital Collector’s Edition.
In-Game Content
Founder’s Fortune Pack
If you’ve played both of Destiny’s expansions, or if you have a Destiny character at level 30 or higher, you’ll get the Founder’s Fortune Pack for free when you buy The Taken King. This pack contains a shader, a Sparrow vehicle, and an emblem.
Collector’s Edition Extras — $20
For players who just want the expansion and the Collector’s Edition in-game extras without having to buy the base game again, you can buy those extras for an additional $20. This pack comes with three shaders, three class-specific emotes, and three class items.
Destiny: The Taken King launches on September 15. Alongside the expansion, Bungie is releasing a big update that will rebalance weapons and overhaul the quest and bounty system. Keep an eye on GameSpot for more news about The Taken King in the coming months.
Capcom has deactivated its servers connecting players to the Street Fighter V Beta on PlayStation 4, little more than an hour after the game build first went live.
In a rapid response to a growing number of reports from users explaining they could not access the beta build, Capcom took test servers down and notified fans across social media.
At the time of going to press, the game is inaccessible, though Capcom expects the matter will be resolved very soon. [Update: Capcom has said the servers are once again live, adding that it will continue to investigate connectivity issues. Update ends]
The Street Fighter V Beta, which allows players to access an early test build of the game, launched around 6pm Pacific on Thursday (2am Friday UK time). Thirty minutes into the test, the publisher wrote on Twitter that it was “aware that users are having issues logging in.”
We are aware that users are having issues logging in, and are working to address the problem. We will provide updates as soon as possible.
After several hours of work on the game, with Capcom regularly updating its community of the progress it was making, the training mode portion of the beta had ben fixed. However, matchmaking problems remain unresolved, for now.
We are aware users are still having issues logging into the SFV beta. We are continuing to work on a fix. Thanks for your patience.
Destiny‘s next expansion, The Taken King, is about a month and a half away, and today developer Bungie showed off several of the new guns coming to the game.
In its Weekly Update, the studio revealed three new “product lines” of weapons, each of which has its own base attributes and specializations. These product lines are basically manufacturer brands for the different guns, and Bungie promised that there are more than just these three coming to the game.
The different gun brands are as follows, with the developer’s descriptions quoted:
Hakke
“Hakke weapons all start with a more tightly focused band of base stats that don’t spike as high or low as other weapon families, granting a solid foundation for growing the weapon. On a Hakke talent grid you’ll see a simplified set of scopes that work best for the weapon, front-loaded perk nodes, with the stat upgrade options occupying the final column. Hakke perk selection is focused on offensive actions and combat tactics. Hakke Pulse Rifles fire a burst of four rounds with damage adjusted to match the DPS of a three round burst, meaning the pulse rounds do less individually but are equal as a group. Fire time between bursts is slightly faster.”
Omolon
“Pioneers of energy weaponry, Omolon is the first foundry to experiment beyond the world of combustion ballistics. Sporting lighter ergonomic frames, Omolon weapons all start with generous base handling stats to build from. Omolon talent grids focus on behavioral perks over stat customization. Legendary talent grids are the only weapons that offer three perks: one as the first non-scope upgrade and two as a binary choice in the final column. Perk selection favors perks that are energy based and/or go beyond the weapon to interact with the wielder’s abilities or status.”
Suros
“Some say the best weapon for a Guardian is the one they can customize to match their intent. Suros believes in options–weapons that can be repurposed for a variety of combat situations. Suros talent grids offer two columns of two stat perks, granting more options for changing weapon stats than any other foundry. The single behavior perk is grounded in the middle of the talent grid as a focus point for the weapon’s core potential. If you want a weapon that can flex from CQ to ranged, quick to powerful, fast handling to hard hitting all with the swap of a few nodes: SUROS.”
In its Weekly Update, Bungie also mentioned that its Year One Art Contest is now open. If you like to make Destiny art, you can enter it for a chance to win a copy of The Taken King: Collector’s Edition or an in-game Blacksmith shader.
Additionally, this weekend’s Trials of Osiris competitive multiplayer event will feature six maps instead of the usual one. The maps are selected randomly from the pool of all six maps that Trials of Osiris has been on since the event began.
Finally, the developer also said that if you have a profile on Bungie.net and enter and confirm your email on your profile, you’ll receive 9 Strange Coins in your email on Friday.
Destiny: The Taken King launches on September 15. Alongside the expansion, Bungie is releasing a substantial update to the game which will feature an overhaul of the quest system as well as a rebalancing of the weapons in the game. Keep an eye on GameSpot for more news about Destiny: The Taken King in the coming weeks.
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