Category: Gamespot

Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive has announced that its SimCity-style game, called Cities: Skylines, will be released on March 10 across PC, Mac, and Linux. The game was developed by Finnish outfit Colossal Order (Cities in Motion) and will sell for $30 at release.

Paradox has also announced that players can now pre-purchase the game’s $30 standard version and its $40 Deluxe Edition, which comes with bonus in-game items and a soundtrack. Head to Paradox’s website here for more information.

To mark the announcement of Skylines’ release date, Paradox has published a new gameplay trailer, which you can watch above.

“It is no exaggeration to say everyone internally at Paradox has been playing this game for months through every stage of development–it is quite addictive,” Paradox chief executive Fredrik Wester said. “And we are genuinely thrilled that Cities: Skylines will soon be in the hands of players everywhere.”

Skylines is described as a “modern take” on the classic city-simulation genre, featuring sandbox gameplay elements and extensive modding support.

The game’s minimum and recommended PC system requirements are below.

Minimum:

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1 (64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, 3.0GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+, 3.2GHz,
• RAM: 4GB
• Graphics Card: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 260, 512 MB / ATI Radeon HD 5670, 512 MB

Recommended:

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7/8/8.1 (64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-3470, 3.20GHz / AMD FX-6300, 3.5Ghz
• RAM: 6GB
• Graphics Card: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, 2 GB / AMD Radeon HD 7870, 2 GB

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A group of decorated Rare developers, who were instrumental in creating some of the studio’s most iconic games during the ’90s, have formed a new indie studio with grand plans to create a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie.

The new studio, called Playtonic, was formed by Gavin Price and Chris Sutherland, two highly experienced Rare developers who were laid off in the summer last year.

Price started out in quality assurance at Rare, working on a broad range of N64 games, from Jet Force Gemini to Donkey Kong 64, Perfect Dark, Banjo Tooie, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Later he went on to design some of Rare’s more modern work, such as Kinect Sports.

Chris Sutherland, meanwhile, is a coder whose influence at the studio dates back to the late ’80s when he was hired as an engineer. Sutherland, who also provided the voices of Banjo and Kazooie, was instrumental in coding Rare’s most iconic games, such as Donkey Kong Country.

The two are joined by Steve Mayles, a renowned artist who created the Banjo Kazooie characters. Three other developers currently work at the studio, while Grant Kirkhope–a famed composer for many Rare games–has been hired for Playtonic’s first game.

According a new article in Edge magazine, the current plan is to expand the team to around 15 people. It is expected that many of them will be former Rare developers.

The studio’s debut game is called “Project Ukulele,” and while details are thin for now, the game is expected to be a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie. A teaser image of the game has been posted online, and fans have already begun to speculate what characters it will depict.

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A group of artists at Bungie have flaunted their creative flair with a series of galleries of various weapon models and characters in Destiny.

David Stammel, a hard surface artist at Bungie, has published nearly thirty high fidelity renders of in-game Destiny items, from exotic sniper rifles to shotguns, Vex weapons, and Fallen arms.

A sample of his work is found below, with a full collection available here.

Meanwhile, Bungie’s senior artist Mark Van Haitsma has also published some of his work online. His images, which can be found here, include other in-game miscellany such as turrets and a Hive throne.

Rajeev Nattam, the studio’s art lead for hard-surface models, has published a whole range of images, and in particular has artwork for the game’s unusual and arresting vehicles.

Finally, senior artist Milton Cadogan has published a gallery of heavy weapon renders, as well as fallen relic models.

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Sega has announced a new downloadable content pack for its action-horror game Alien: Isolation. The DLC pack, named Lost Contact, is available for purchase from today and adds a new Salvage Challenge to the game’s Survivor Mode.

Lost Contact also adds the second Survivor Challenge in which players only have a single life with which to complete their objectives. Completing challenges grants rewards and points that can be used to access new items. If enough points are gathered, players can spend them on a save slot, but their final score and position on the Alien: Isolation leaderboards will be lower.

The DLC pack features Axel, who is stranded on a more remote part of the Sevastopol space station. The player must complete ten tasks which become increasingly more challenging to escape.

Alien: Isolation was released in October last year and has sold over a million copies. The game has been nominated for a number of BAFTA awards, including “Best Game.” For more on Alien: Isolation, check out GameSpot’s review.

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Game developer Cryptozoic announced an official Ghostbusters board game earlier today. The crowd-funded project is running right now on Kickstarter, and it will feature “ghosts from the movies, cartoons, comics, and toylines.”

Campaigns for the miniatures-focused game will take between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on the difficulty selected. And the game’s figures design comes from IDW Ghostbusters’ comics illustrator Dan Schoening. But the game is still an officially licensed project, so you’ll take on the familiar roles of Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, Peter Venkman, and Winston Zeddemore, fight Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and ride around in the iconic Ecto-1.

The Ghostbusters Kickstarter runs until March 11, but given the current funding amount, it looks like they’re on track to hit the $250,000 goal way before that.

Cryptozoic is keeping it simple with pledge levels: $80 (plus shipping) will get you the base game plus stretch goals. The $125 (plus shipping) level includes the base game with a custom box, additional episodes, and some other backer-exclusives items.

The early bird discount pledges are already sold out, and the “retailer pledge” level, which includes six copies of the game, is only for verified game sellers.

The Ghostbusters board game is expected to ship this October, but Cryptozoic adds the caveat: “Please keep in mind that this is a projected date. As an experienced board game company, we at Cryptozoic know that unexpected delays can occur during the production and shipping of a game. … In the highly unlikely event that we are not able to deliver the game for some unforeseeable, calamitous reason, we will refund all pledges.”

Personally, I’ve already backed the game, and I’m curious to see what kind of stretch goals the developer puts together. But hopefully one option down includes the line is the glow-in-the-dark Slimer boss (which is currently just a retailer pledge exclusive) as an add-on for everyone.

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Just a week after the most recent major League of Legends controversy was settled comes another report of a scandal surrounding the massively popular PC MOBA.

German professional League of Legends team Meet Your Makers (MYM) have fired their manager Sebastian “Falli” Rotterdam after it was revealed that he threatened a player in an effort to keep him from quitting the squad. Writing on Facebook, MYM announced that Rotterdam had been “released” from the team, though the group later explains the situation more bluntly, saying he was “fired.” The in-depth Facebook post explains the drama and what MYM is doing to combat future problems.

“We’ve always trusted our managers to do what’s best for the players and exercise discretion in their decision making. In this instance, our trust has been abused” — MYM CEO Khaled Naim

Among other things, MYM says it will host “1-on- 1” sessions with its players and a neutral party with the objective of understanding management areas that need improvement. The team also hopes it will be able to more proactively identity similar issues going forward as a result of the 1-on-1 meetings.

But that’s not all.

“We’ve always trusted our managers to do what’s best for the players and exercise discretion in their decision making. In this instance, our trust has been abused,” MYM said. “Going forward, we will host regular bi-monthly chats with all players and management to keep updated on any ongoing concerns. Management will also need to ask for approval from the CEO for any decisions involving player changes so that ultimate responsibility lies with CEO Khaled Naim.”

Check out the full, lengthy Facebook post for a further explanation of the controversy and what MYM is doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

The Daily Dot was the first to report on the MYM scandal. Editor Richard Lewis wrote that Rotterdam threatened a player looking to leave the team by saying he would make sure the player’s mother–who apparently signed his contract–“would lose the house” she lives in.

Rotterdam later apologized for his remarks, saying it was a “big mistake” to say such things. He also said he would be willing to step down from his position as a result of the fallout, something he’s now done.

This is the second League of Legends scandal to come to light in as many weeks.

Last week, a Philippines-based eSports organization drew controversy concerning new League of Legends rules that stipulated a team would be limited to one gay or transgender woman per squad over fears that they “probably have some unfair advantage.” The group, Garena, has since apologized and changed course.

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With big-name exclusives coming this year including Bloodborne, The Order: 1886, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, you may be thinking about picking up a new PlayStation 4.

Retailer GameStop is now helping make that decision easier. On Tuesday, the company announced a new trade-in promotion whereby you can get a brand new PS4 for only $275.

Now through March 1, GameStop shoppers that trade in a PlayStation 3 (120 GB or greater) or an Xbox 360 (250 GB of greater) toward the purchase of a new PS4 will receive $125 in store credit. That means you can pick up a standard $400 PS4 for only $275.

You’re really getting a new PS4 and a copy of The Last of Us Remastered for $275, as all PS4s now come with the game. This deal is valid at all GameStop US stores.

The PS4 has sold more than 18.5 million units worldwide since its launch in November 2013. However, in the US, the rival Xbox One outsold Sony’s new console in November and December. Can Microsoft extend its winning streak to three months? We’ll find out this coming Thursday when January NPD data is released.

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If you’re a pessimist, you might look at months like January as bone dry when it comes to video game releases. An optimist, however, sees such a month as a chance to pay close attention to games that might have otherwise flown under the radar. And as it happens, January of 2015 had a great many smaller gems worthy of your time and your love. One of them, the beautiful and imaginative Lost Constellation, even allows you to pay what you want, so there’s no reason not to engage in its delights. The words “beautiful” and “imaginative” also describe Gravity Ghost, a short puzzle game with an aesthetic sensibility so unique that it’s hard to escape its pull once you set eyes on it. Now is the time to catch up on what you’re missing, for it’s at the fringes that you find games that are truly special.

January also brought us excellent strategy games in the forms of Grey Goo and Blackguards 2. Grey Goo in particular is a return to form for the prototypical RTS formula, harking back to a time when base-building and combat stood on equal footing. With StarCraft II dominating that landscape, and with beloved franchises like Command & Conquer apparently left to slowly die, Grey Goo’s traditional gameplay feels remarkably fresh in 2015. Then there is Blackguards 2, rising from the Might & Magic tradition, and making it fun to be a bad guy in a world full of nasty possibilities. If the PC is your gaming home, then January made it perfectly comfortable to remain there.

It was a multiplatform game that most inspired the GameSpot staff, however: Dying Light. Given its flaws, you wouldn’t expect it to gain such favored status, but it’s hard to ignore the power of good parkour. This is a game in which you’re generally best off avoiding the crowds of zombies that fill the streets, and gives you the tools to take to the rooftops and leap above the undead. Dying Light’s fun factor is off the charts, coming to a head when day turns to night, and the threat keeps you racing through the streets as well as above them. This is when tensions rise, your heart thumps loudly, and you alternately hide and sprint, knowing that peril is always only a few steps away. We therefore name Dying Light as GameSpot’s Game of the Month for January, 2015, due to its uncanny ability to make running for your life so enjoyable.

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Ahead of the upcoming PlayStation 4 free play weekend, Sony will perform regular maintenance on the PlayStation Network, the company has announced.

The network maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, February 12 from 9 AM-12:30 PM PDT. That’s 12 Noon-3:30 PM EDT or 5 PM-10 PM UK.

“During this time we will deploy a series of back-end improvements to the network,” Sony said in a statement posted to the PlayStation Support website. This is the same exact wording Sony has used to describe the most recent PlayStation Network maintenance periods, suggesting the upcoming upkeep is nothing out of the ordinary.

PlayStation Network users who have signed into PSN before the maintenance period begins will still be able to play games online and access entertainment apps such as Netflix throughout the downtime.

However, the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home (which itself is soon going away for good), and Account Management will not be available during the maintenance period.

“We thank you for your patience and support and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” Sony said.

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Looking to buy a PlayStation 4? Here’s a deal you may want to consider. Online retail giant Amazon is currently selling a bundle that includes a PS4 system and copies of The Last of Us Remastered the Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor for $400.

All PS4 bundles now come with The Last of Us Remastered, but the Shadow of Mordor bonus is pretty nice. The game has won all kinds of awards lately, including GameSpot’s overall Game of the Year.

Something to note with this bundle is that the copy of The Last of Us Remastered is digital while Shadow of Mordor is physical, if that matters to you.

Bundles are in stock as of 8 AM EDT today.

Looking for more video game deals content? Check back later today for GameSpot’s comprehensive video game deals roundup, which compiles the day’s best deals for all major platforms.

Via: Slickdeals

GameSpot’s gaming deals posts always highlight the best deals we can find regardless of retailer. We also occasionally use retailer affiliate links, which means that purchasing goods through those links helps support all the great content (including the deals posts) you find for free here on the site. Got questions? Email news@gamespot.com or ask us in the comments!

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