This week, Ready At Dawn’s supernatural shooter The Order: 1886 hits Australian retailers on February 20. The game is set in a steampunk Victorian era and revolves around an order of knights who fight to protect the world from half-breed werewolves.
The Order: 1886 has been in development for three and half years. For our early impressions of the game, specifically with regards to its gameplay, check out editor Mark Walton’s preview.
Total War fans will be interested in this week’s release of Total War: Attila, the latest standalone entry in the series of strategy games. The game is set in Europe around 400 A.D. Total War: Attila was positively received in GameSpot’s review, praised for its gorgeous and well-scaled world map and unpredictability, but criticized for its glitches and cluttered interface. To see what everyone else is saying about the game, we rounded up all the reviews right here.
For more details on games out this week, check the full list below.
YouTuber PlayMeThrough has uploaded a complete playthrough of The Order: 1886 to their YouTube channel. The footage totals roughly five hours of playtime, including both gameplay and cutscenes. The time devoted to cutscenes appears to be roughly half of that playtime, and the cutscenes are reported to be unskippable.
The leak has arrived shortly after rumours circulated that the game was only three hours long, and after Ready At Dawn founder and CTO Andrea Pessino responded to a query that the game was less than five hours long by stating that was “not true”. Pessino later tweeted that he would no longer comment on such questions.
Note: I am done commenting on clickbait rumors about game length, “downgrade” idiocy and such nonsense. Don’t bother asking.
Nintendo TVii, which attempts to collect several different video streaming services and your existing television channels into one convenient Wii U channel, will not launch in the Europe, Nintendo has announced.
“Due to the extremely complex nature of localising multiple television services across a diverse range of countries with varied licensing systems, regrettably we have taken the decision not to launch the Nintendo TVii service within the European region,” Nintendo said. “With this in mind, Nintendo of Europe has launched the Nintendo Anime Channel, a new video-on-demand service on Nintendo 3DS which offers users the chance to stream anime series from the likes of Pokémon, Kirby, and Inazuma Eleven.”
Nintendo also said that it will add new content to the Anime Channel regularly, which you can access freely by simply downloading the application from the Nintendo eShop.
In his year two review of the Wii U, GameSpot’s Rob Crossley wasn’t too impressed with the feature, saying it is “notoriously slow, which outright negates the convenience of turning to it in the first place. Elsewhere, the remote control app, which runs on the GamePad without needing to powering on the console, makes for a nice emergency replacement, but is far too basic to be a true alternative to the TV remote.”
Take-Two Interactive, which wholly owns Grand Theft Auto studio Rockstar Games, says that the games business is still growing, but that it’s also becoming more expensive and risky.
“It’s an expensive business, and the risk profile reflects that,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told Bloomberg TV. Zelnick also said that the hit ratio for a well-run interactive entertainment company is in the 80s, while the hit ratio for a well-run movie company is in the 30s comparison.
“That said, those very expensive production, marketing, overhead, in the case of sports titles, licensing, they do create a risk profile,” Zelnick said. “And from our point of view it embeds the winners even further. It actually creates a barrier to entry in our business.” Zelnick added that a developer “cannot get in not without having a couple hundred high quality engineers and artists, loads of capital and lots of money to market the title.”
Nintendo remains steadfast in its refusal to develop games for mobile devices, but we now know one of the ways it plans to leverage that market to its advantage: a Mii-focused app.
In an interview with Japanese publication Nikkei, Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata was asked about the company’s plans for mobile. He reiterated his hesitation to allow the company to get into the smartphone or tablet games business, stating, “In the past, I have opposed making smartphone and tablet versions of Nintendo titles. Prices for content aimed at smartphones and tablets are falling quickly. I am still wary of the category. We intend to develop products that will allow customers to identify with Nintendo products and make people pay attention to Nintendo games.”
He offered one example of how Nintendo intends to accomplish this: “[S]ome Nintendo game consoles incorporate Mii, which creates a digital avatar to represent players. It would be fun for players to use their Mii characters as icons on social media. We are currently developing an application that will allow users to do that. The app will be announced around the time our full-year results are released.”
Iwata didn’t share any further details, so it’s unclear if the app would have any functions beyond that. Nintendo’s fiscal year runs through the end of March, suggesting an announcement will be made in either April or May.
In a statement to investors last month, Iwata offered a vague outline of Nintendo’s plans for mobile development. A small team is at work on the initiative with a goal of “achieving greater ties with our consumers on smart devices and expanding our platform business.”
“It is our intention to release some application on smart devices this year that is capable of attracting consumer attention and communicating the value of our entertainment offerings,” Iwata added at the time.
In a post on Reddit’s Planetside subreddit, Higby announced his departure, saying, “Working on Planetside 2 has been the absolute highlight of my career, but after 4 years working on the game, it’s time for a change. Today [Friday] was my last day on the Planetside 2 team and at Daybreak games.”
This news comes not long after layoffs at the studio which affected, among others, longtime EverQuest producer David Georgeson. Higby, however, said he’s been contemplating a move for some time. “This is a move I’ve been considering for a while now, and the reorganization provided the right opportunity for me to exit,” he wrote.
“Planetside 2 is in great hands, with terrific people who honestly care about the game and the players. I can’t stress this enough, the folks working on every aspect of the game, developers, marketing, community are talented, hard working people who care more than you can imagine–I’m fully confident they’re going to do an amazing job on the next leg of the journey.”
Higby is not the only Planetside 2 developer that Daybreak lost this week; producer David Carey announced on Twitter this week that he was also leaving the studio.
As part of its layoff announcement, Daybreak claimed the “reductions will not affect the operation of current games.” Its stable of games includes titles like H1Z1, EverQuest Next, and DC Universe Online in addition to Planetside 2.
Planetside 2 was released for PC in 2012, and a PlayStation 4 version is currently in the works. A closed beta for the PS4 version began last month, and Daybreak has already stated its intent to develop games for non-PC and Sony platforms, including the Xbox One, although no specifics have been announced on that front so far.
EA Teases Titanfall 2 Won’t Be Xbox-Exclusive:It may not be much of a surprise, but Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen said this week that a second game in the series, which is “probably” in development will have a “bigger footprint than just a single platform.” Translation: Expect Titanfall 2 to show up on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Rocky Road Ahead For Godus As Key Devs Depart: Drama surrounding Peter Molyneux and his new studio 22Cans dominated the headlines this week, beginning with news that several key developers had left the studio amid worries that 22Cans would not be able to fulfill promises made during Godus’ original Kickstarter campaign. Things only went downhill from there, as Molyneux said he and his family faced threats over the news.
THE OTHER STUFF:
Hello Games isn’t focused only on the ambitious space game No Man’s Sky, you know. The developer announced this week that its racing game Joe Danger is coming to soon to Android, and with controller support, too. Huzzah!
Tickets for the Brasil Game Show went on sale this week. Haven’t heard of BGS? It’s the biggest game show in Latin America, and this is its eighth year. It will be held October 8-12 at the Expo Center Norte in Sao Paulo. Buy your tickets here. www.brasilgameshow.com.br
PlayStation 4 game The Order: 1886arrives in just two weeks, but if you just can’t wait, here’s 11 minutes of leaked footage. Be warned, there are spoilers of course. And it’s not the best quality. But if you’re OK with those parameters…enjoy!
“Open Letter To Parents of League of Legends Players“– That sounds like something potentially terrible, but there is actually some great advice here, or what sounds like great advice. I don’t have kids, but if you do, and if they play League of Legends, you might want to read this very well-written and thoughtful advice column.
Ever wonder what classic GameCube game Super Mario Sunshine would look like at 60 frames-per-second? Wonder no more, as the folks at Dolphin Emulator have created a 60fps version of the game, and it’s a sight to behold.
Did you know that Nintendo was among the bidders who, in 1998, pitched author J.K. Rowling with ideas for Harry Potter video games? It’s true, apparently. Insiders told Unseen64 all about it, even providing some tantalizing concept art.
You like hot deals, right? GameStop has announced its latest suite of promotions, offering NBA 2K15 for $40 through February 17, and $20 off select Turtle Beach headsets now until February 15. Head to GameStop’s website to see all the deals.
With just two weeks to go before the release of PS4 game The Order: 1886, Sony announced this week that award-winning composer Jason Graves scored the title. You can hear his music when the game is release only for PS4 on February 20. Graves also wrote the chilling music for Dead Space, and he also did the score for 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot.
What the heck is going on in this GTA 5 video? Does it matter? Watch and enjoy:
Weekends are great, especially long weekends such as this one. If you live in New England like I do, you’re likely buried until 17 feet of snow right now. So you should definitely stay inside and play video games. Speaking of…Guerrilla Games has announced that, all weekend long, Killzone: Shadow Fall players can enjoy double XP. So play, play, play, but don’t forget to tell your Mom you love her on Valentine’s Day.
Activision announced this week that its $3 billion Skylanders series is growing further still through new marketing arrangements with General Mills and Crayola. Specially marked General Mills cereal boxes will come with an interactive version of Skylanders, while Activision’s arrangement with Crayola for a new initiative called Skylanders Trap Team Crayola Color Alive! Video games, man.
OK. It’s not video game news per se–or even a little–but this Harry Potter video is too good not to share. Snape has always been one of the best/most interesting characters from J.K. Rowling’s series, in part because his story is cripplingly tragic. Watch this video to see Harry Potter from Snape’s eyes, unfolding in chronological order. Such sad.
This year’s Call of Duty Championship, a marquee event where the world’s top teams will duke it out for a share of the $1 million prize pool, will be the first in the show’s history to be open to the public. Activision this week announced that it will sell a “limited number” of tickets for the event starting at 10 AM PDT on February 17. Tickets start at $50, but you can also buy a “Platinum Package” that comes with Advanced Warfare DLC, a sweatshirt, VIP seating, and more. You can buy tickets from MLG’s website.
Not interested in SimCity? Paradox Interactive announced this week that its city simulation game Cities: Skylines will launch for PC, Mac, and Linux on March 10. The game is also now available to pre-purchase, and Paradox has even launched a new gameplay trailer to mark the occasion. Watch it below.
New Star Wars skins are now available for Microsoft’s sandbox game Minecraft on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Players can now buy the Star Wars Rebels Skin Pack, which comes with 23 new Minecraft skins based on characters from the TV series, for $3. Some of the characters are Ezra, Bridger, Her Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, and Chopper.
Veteran Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski, who has since left Epic Games to start to his own company, celebrated a birthday this week. His friends marked the occasion by tweeting what you might consider to be embarrassing photos of him. Bleszinski took it all in stride, though, retweeting some of his favorites, such as the one at right.
Good news for gamers taking part in the upcoming first-ever Halo Championship Series competitive gaming event. Tournament organizers announced this week that they will double the Season 1 Finals prize money, meaning the prize pool is now $100,000.
Kalypso this week announced the latest DLC for Tropico 5, and it may not be what you expect. The DLC is called “Gone Green” and it’s an eco-friendly add-on that sees El President needing to “go green” to get out of trouble and protect his Swiss Bank account. The tongue-in-cheek add-on is available now on PC for $4.
Free-to-play shooter Warframe is expanding. Developer Digital Extremes announced this week that the game is getting new modes, features, weapons, and more. Read all about the new additions here.
He did it. After years of false starts and troubles, Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter finally finished and released a mobile game based on the series called The Prospect. It’s available to buy right now on iTunes, but IGN has also done a great interview with Sutter about it. He talks about the challenges of making the game, how it ties into the larger Sons fiction, and more. Read the interview here.
Here’s something to do this weekend…Activision and Sledgehammer Games have released a “Gun Game” playlist for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Gun Game is quite simple–you start with a pistol and unlock a better gun for every kill you get. What’s more Sledgehammer is enticing you to try the mode by offering double XP all weekend long. Enjoy!
Last but not least comes yet another look at a canceled Justice League game. I’m a sucker for looking at canceled projects, even for franchises I’m not even particularly interested in such as Justice League. Maybe you are? Check out the gameplay video below.
You may have noticed some games on the App Store recently with censored or changed images like the one above, but Apple has offered reassurances that this is just part of a misunderstanding between developers and the storefront.
Several developers including Splash Damage (best known for the console version of Batman: Arkham Origins), Elektron, and Team Chaos noticed that their games were being rejected from the App Store on what seemed to be arbitrary criteria. According to a report from Pocket Gamer, a UK blog dedicated to mobile gaming, these studios were being asked to edit images and preview materials on the App Store to remove references to guns or violence against humans.
Apple’s app review guidelines can be vague. Speaking with PocketGamer, a spokesperson for Elektron said, Since the metadata is visible to all users on the App Store, this content must meet the 4+ rating requirement, even when purchasing is restricted by a higher rating.” This also wouldn’t be the first time that Apple has restricted what can published on their digital store front. Games like Sweatshop and Endgame: Syria, which covered Apple’s use of sweatshop labor to make iOS devices and the Syrian civil war have been consistently removed from the App Store.
OrangePixel, one of the developers affected in the apparent crackdown on guns and violence, fought Apple’s ruling. The developer tried to release an update to their game, Gunslugs 2, in mid-January. In a blog post from January 30, it claimed that the update was rejected “because [a] screenshot (and possibly all screenshots from my game) show violence against a human being.” At the time, other games with much more graphic content were promoted on the App Store without any problems, leading to some confusion among developers.
However, a source close to GameSpot revealed that this has all been a misunderstanding. Developers who have resubmitted their games are now clearing the approval process without a problem. OrangePixel’s blog also confirmed the change.
“The update was eventually approved, without having to modify screenshots. And another update has since also passed without problems.”
We’ve reached out to Apple for further comment and will update this story with additional details as they’re made available.
A League of Legends broadcaster on Twitch is claiming that spectator matches he streamed of Sanghyuk “Faker” Lee’ were removed unfairly by rival streaming service Azubu.
Two days ago, a reddit user by the handle StarLordLucian posted on the League of Legends subreddit that his “SpectateFaker” stream on Twitch had received a DMCA takedown from Azubu. The user provided the start of the email which reads:
“Dear Twitch Broadcaster:
The content you streamed and archived on Twitch at www.twitch.tv/spectatefaker was the subject of a takedown notice we received from Azubu pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). This organization has asserted that it owns this content and that you streamed that content on Twitch without permission to do so. As a result we have cleared the offending archives, highlights, and episodes from your account and given you a 24 hour restriction from broadcasting….”
Users streaming copyrighted content on Twitch (such as tournament restreams, movies, etc.) are often subject to DMCA takedowns, but the Twitch streamer claims that none of the content he was streaming was owned by Azubu.
Specifically, the streamer operated a channel named “SpectateFaker” which broadcast any matches that World Champion League of Legends player Sanghyuk “Faker” Lee played using the solo-que matchmaking system in the game. Azubu does have a claim to Lee’s personal stream through a deal between the Korean Esports Association and the streaming service, but the effected Twitch streamer was operating his own stream independent of the professional player.
He was able to stream the games by using OP.GG, a service that allows anyone to look up a League of Legends account and then spectate their game directly within the game’s client. He also claims that his stream was not partnered with Twitch, and that he was not personally making any profit off the running of it, but was instead using a chat bot to direct user’s to Lee’s own stream on Azubu.
While the full DMCA takedown notice and email from Twitch have yet to be made public, the streamer writes in his post:
“Azubu does not own what I was broadcasting. I was broadcating live spectate games from OP.GG which is content made available by Riot Games and owned solely by Riot Games. Azubu does not own the trademark or brand “Faker” – I checked. I never broadcasted any game directly from Azubu.”
As is the new trend with many gaming companies that wish to encourage community content creation, Riot Games provides a legal document, entitled “Legal Jibber Jabber” explaining what the company allows in terms of community intellectual property use.
The document explains:
“No Licensing. Generally, you cannot license your videos to any third party for a fee or other value without our approval. However, there are important exceptions:
Partner programs with YouTube or the following streaming websites: own3D.tv, Ustream.tv,Twitch.tv, Justin.tv, Blip.tv (no prior permission from us required).”
Eventually, Riot employees reached out to the streamer on reddit and requested that he submit a support ticket. He later received a response from Riot and updated his original post to include it:
“If you are going to stream another player’s games, it makes sense to reach out to that player first (in this case Faker) and get their permission. It’s simply the right thing to do. Raising the visibility of a person’s match without their knowledge is questionable because they may be assuming that they are just casually playing a game with friends when in reality they are being broadcast to a larger audience.”
While the response seems to contradict the company’s own decision to frequently and randomly feature spectating opportunities of highly skilled players in their own client, it also does not address the fact that Azubu, not Riot Games, issued the DMCA takedown notice for content that the streamer claims they do not own.
Yesterday, Matthew Gunnin, Azubu’s Director of Content tweeted that a response to the reddit thread would be published later that day. As of yet, no such comment has been made:
We will comment later today regarding the Reddit DMCA thread and best answer everyone’s questions.
Based on the information provided by the Redditor, it appears that Azubu had no legal right to issue the takedown notice for his stream and the removal of the content contradicts the streaming policy put into place by Riot Games.
As of press time, Twitch, Azubu, and Riot Games have not responded to requests for comment. The redditor declined a request to comment further.
