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What to expect from E3 2018
The Electronics Entertainment Expo is basically New York Fashion Week for the joystick crowd, five days brimming with an overwhelming number of media briefings and new game announcements. And now, E3 is upon us once again. Despite Walmart Canada's leak of alleged product listings last month, there are still a lot of question marks for this year's show. As always, the Engadget crew will be on the ground, bringing you all the news as it unfolds in downtown LA. Sony has come out and said not to expect a new hardware announcement from its keynote this year. Microsoft and Nintendo both released new consoles in the past year, too, so barring any wild surprises, this should be the first E3 in a while that's all about software. You know, the reasons we buy gaming consoles and PCs to begin with.
How Troy Baker's Naughty Dog work influenced 'Shadow of War'
Troy Baker has lent his voice and performances to some of the biggest games of the past decade. From six roles across Darksiders 2 to playing Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite or stepping into The Joker's shoes in Batman: Arkham Origins, you might not realize it's actually him delivering the lines until you see the credits. That's because he approaches each performance incredibly differently. With Middle-earth: Shadow of War his job was particularly complex: In addition to reprising his role as Talion, a Ranger of Gondor who's more or less possessed by an undead prince, Baker served as the director for all of the game's performance-capture story sequences. For that task, Baker relied on his experience with director Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog and his roles in the studio's The Last of Us (TLoU) and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Naughty Dog is widely regarded as having some of the best performances and shot composition in video game story sequences -- there are definitely worse places to look to for inspiration.
'Maguss,' the game that definitely isn't 'Harry Potter Go'
It's a little bit complicated," Ondrej Tokar says with a laugh. Tokar is the creator of Maguss, an augmented reality mobile game that transforms players into wizards wandering around a world of spells, potions, duels and fantastical creatures. But let's get one thing absolutely clear: It's not a Harry Potter game. Tokar has to emphasize this fact because his team has already been contacted by someone claiming to represent the Harry Potter brand, asking them to distance Maguss from J. K. Rowling's world, or else. Strangely enough, this is precisely what Tokar wants.
JXE Streams: 'Mortal Kombat X' pits Engadget against College Humor
Mortal Kombat is funny. NetherRealm's decades-old fighting series has never been Old Boy by way of Hostel. Its brand of dumb, outsized action is Shogun Assassin crossed with Evil Dead 2. When you pull off fatalities in Mortal Kombat 2, people explode and multiple ribcages fall from the sky. Where did the extra ribcage come from? Who cares! To celebrate the arrival of Mortal Kombat X's abject silliness, we have decided to indulge in a little friendly competition with College Humor on today's stream. Don't worry; everyone's ribcage will likely be fine.
JxE Streams: Bring on the Bright Lord in 'Shadow of Mordor'
Last year was a mixed bag for fans of magical rings and short dudes with a penchant for going barefoot. On the one hand, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies was a disappointing close to the mediocre second Tolkien film trilogy. On the other, Monolith Games made one of the best pieces of Lord of the Rings-related fare in years in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Its thriving world and "Nemesis System," which has you intimidating, manipulating, and confusing an army of monsters, made it one of the first standout successes on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. We're diving into "The Bright Lord," a brand new downloadable story campaign, on JxE Streams at 4PM ET.
Lego Jurassic World, Lego Marvel's Avengers announced
No word yet if Lego Chris Pratt will feature those Guardians of the Galaxy abs, but he will feature in the upcoming Lego Jurassic World. Also announced this morning is Lego Marvel's Avengers. Although that's quite exciting, there's still a part of us pining for regular ol' Lego Avengers, starring Emma Peel and John Steed. "We look forward to expanding the successful [Lego] series with this very exciting line-up of new LEGO experiences for players of all ages to enjoy on console, handheld and mobile gaming devices," said Executive Vice President and General Manager of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment David Haddad, betting his little blue bonnet. The slate of upcoming Lego games includes the aforementioned titles, along with Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin, The LEGO Movie Video Game for mobile (more Chris Pratt abs!), which is actually out now, and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (more Bat abs!) for mobile. There are plenty of apps to refine your abs on mobile also.
Watch 14 minutes of The Witcher 3's gameplay
Have you finished reading about the first three hours of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt? If you don't want the wild ride to end, then check out this 14-minute gameplay trailer to see some horseback riding, conversations and exploration in the game. The Witcher 3 will launch on May 19 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. While the PC game can import save files from The Witcher 2, the console versions will not. Rather, the PS4 and Xbox one versions will simulate world states in the game based on an in-game conversation. The Witcher 3 was previously expected to launch next month, but CD Projekt RED delayed the game back in December. [Image: WBIE]
Dying Light launch trailer shows catastrophe on a hot tin roof
Dead Island creator Techland is once again chucking a ton of undead at your face, but this time you have to freerun from them. "Go anywhere, climb anything," but try to stay alive, eh? Dying Light is available now on Steam for $60, with physical copies also out today in North and South America for PS4, Xbox One and PC. In Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa you' can download it tomorrow, January 28, while disc versions are due on February 27. Slide below the break to check out the launch trailer, and when you're done with that, clamber over to the recent Joystiq Streams expedition through Techland's open world.
Kung Lao, Kitana, Goro officially join Mortal Kombat X cast
He's a stoic monk in a murderous hat and she's the buxom princess of a demonic alternate reality, but there's one thing they can both agree on: That four-armed guy at the end of this trailer is a real jerk for crashing their unveiling. [Image: WBIE/Netherrealm Studios]
2015 DICE Award nominations led by Shadow of Mordor
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for this year's DICE Awards, recognizing a total of 56 games. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received nine nominations, including the Game of the Year award. The other Game of the Year nominees are Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4 and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Far Cry 4 received seven nominations, one being for Action Game of the Year. Destiny and Hearthstone each had six nominations, whereas Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Monument Valley received five apiece. The 18th Annual DICE Awards ceremony will be held at the The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas following the 2015 DICE Summit, which runs from February 3 through February 5. The event will be livestreamed on DICE's Twitch channel, starting at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT). Head past the break for a partial list of nominees; the full list can be found on AIAS' website.
GDCA 2015 finalists led by Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
The finalists for the 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards were revealed today, led by Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, which received five nominations. Monolith's third-person action game was nominated for Game of the Year, Innovation, Best Design, Best Narrative and Best Technology awards at the ceremony (on top of also being Joystiq's favorite game of 2014). The other nominees for the 15th annual GDCA's Game of the Year award are Bayonetta 2, Alien: Isolation, Destiny and Hearthstone. Blizzard's collectible card game received three nominations in total, the other two for Best Design and Best Handheld/Mobile Game. Destiny also received two other nominations for Best Audio and Best Technology. The ceremony for this year's Game Developer's Choice Awards will be held during the Game Developers Conference on Wednesday, March 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. PT) at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. Head past the break to see the full list of nominees.
Joystiq Top 10 of 2014: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. One game to rule them all, one game to find them; one game to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor brilliantly defies so much of its own definition – it's a game based on a movie franchise based on a beloved series of books, a description that is normally worthy of a grimace and a passing glance. Instead, Shadow of Mordor is not only a truly excellent fantasy-action game, it introduces an innovative and playful enemy-character system that is sure to be replicated in the industry for years to come.
Shadow of Mordor rings in Lord of the Hunt DLC today
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor today welcomes into its fellowship the "Lord of the Hunt," Warner Bros. informs Joystiq. The DLC will be available to purchase on its own for $10, or you can acquire it through the $25 you-shall-not season pass. Lord of the Hunt is already available on Xbox One, and should hit PS4 and PC in North America later today. As previously detailed, the DLC offers new story content courtesy of Dwarven Hunter Torvin, as well a bunch of extras. There are Uruk Beastmaster Warchiefs to fight, new beast-hunting challenges to take on, an Ultimate Beastmaster skin for Talion, five new epic runes for mounts, and more. But, most importantly of all, you get a toxin-puking Wretched Graug to mount and make your friends sick with jealousy. Or sick with something, at least. Hunt down the DLC's rather bloody, perhaps NSFW launch trailer below the break.
Ka-pow the 3 Arkhams for $10
Bundle Stars has a zlonking deal going on: $10 for three Arkham games on Windows PC. That's the extras-stuffed Game of the Year editions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, while Batman: Arkham Origins comes with the season pass and the Black Mask and Online Supply Drop DLC. In other words, it's as tight with value as Adam West's Batsuit. (Sorry, Blackgate fans, it's not included)
Mortal Kombat developer grapples with WWE Immortals next year
WWE is partnering with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios to create a new spin on the wrestling company's brand of brawling, WWE Immortals. The game will launch on iOS and Android devices for free next year, and will feature "epic Superstar battles in a fantastically re-imagined WWE world." In this case, we're hoping "Hell in a Cell" is taken more literally by the Mortal Kombat developer. While no other details are known about WWE Immortals, NetherRealm will handle the development in conjunction with Phosphor Game Studios. Phosphor is the developer behind first-person survival shooter Nether and The Dark Meadow, a creepy mobile adventure game. WWE has found ways to capitalize on its wrestling roster in the mobile space this year, as the company launched trading card battler WWE SuperCard in August, reaching 1.5 million downloads in its first week. [Image: WWE, WBIE]
The Witcher 3 dev: The market is afraid of badly-polished games
When CD Projekt RED delayed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to May 19, 2015 earlier this week, the developer said it saw "many details that need to be corrected" in the game before it was ready to launch. The group's President and Joint CEO Adam Kicinski added to that statement, telling Polish financial journalists (as translated by Eurogamer) that the studio's fans "took our decision very well. [The] market is afraid of badly polished games on next-gen platforms." While Kicinski did not name any games or developers in particular, games such as Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Unity, Sony's DriveClub and Microsoft's Halo: The Master Chief Collection encountered varying, severe issues at their respective launches on PS4 and Xbox One this year. The CD Projekt head also said the developer wants "to disarm the opinion that [The Witcher 3] doesn't exist. It will be closed by the end of the year in line with the schedule." Kicinski said there are "a lot of small errors" in the game, which are "the only reason behind the delay," and that the company doesn't want to "release the game with bugs that undermine the gameplay." CD Projekt admitted it "set the release date too hastily" when it aimed for February 2015, which itself was a delay from The Witcher 3's previous 2014 launch window. [Image: WBIE]
The Witcher 3 delayed to May 2015
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been delayed to May 19, 2015, CD Projekt RED announced. The game was previously expected to launch in February 2015, but the studio said it sees "many details that need to be corrected" as the game nears the end of its development. "When we release the most important game in our studio's history, we must be absolutely sure that we did everything we could to limit any bugs to a level that will allow you to enjoy the game thoroughly," the developer added. CD Projekt said it "set the release date too hastily," and that it owes its fans an apology for the delay. "It's a hard lesson, one to take to heart for the future. We know what we want to do to make Wild Hunt one of the best RPGs you will ever play. And we continue to work hard to achieve just that," the developer said. The Witcher 3 is in development for PC, Xbox One and PS4. [Image: WBIE]
Watch the Batmobile burn robbers in Arkham Knight trailer
Okay, they're technically criminals and aren't necessarily robbers, but we do have a pun quota to meet. Anyway, the second part of Batman: Arkham Knight's triforce of trailers profiles the Batmobile in Battle Mode, as the caped crusader gives the Ace Chemicals plant a good tanking. Check out the video below the break. If you want to watch the third voyage into Arkham Knight's chemical plant zone, it's due to debut at this weekend's PlayStation Experience event. As for the game proper, the final entry in Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy is coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC on June 2, 2015.
Batman glides into Arkham Knight gameplay trailer
Warner Bros. offered the first in a series of three gameplay trailers for Batman: Arkham Knight today, showing the caped superhero rescuing workers from a chemical plant. Found after the break, the video features a healthy dose of gliding and Batmobile action, as well as some good old-fashioned ass-kicking by the dark knight. Batman: Arkham Knight will launch on June 2, 2015 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The final installment in Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy was delayed this past June. The game is "five times larger," and is set one year after the events of Batman: Arkham City, the developer's 2011 entry in the series. With a little help from the developer, diligent players recently unearthed an Easter egg in Arkham City with a special message from Calendar Man. [Image: WBIE]
Doodle Jump DC Super Heroes offers a not-so-serious Batman
Doodle Jump DC Super Heroes is the Batman game iPhone deserves, but is it the one it needs right now? Who cares, it's a cute re-skin of Lima Sky's bouncy vertical platformer that swaps in batsuits, arch-nemeses like the Joker, and bat-powers that include the bat-grappling gun, bat-copter and... er, bat-trampoline. Still, nothing beats an old-fashioned bat-climb. It's free to download right now (in-app purchases are tied to crystals that you can collect by playing), and the Batman episode is one of a number of DC Comics installments coming to the game. According to Warner Bros, future updates will include Superman and Wonder Woman, along with their respective galleries of rogues. And if that's not enough mobile DC Comics tie-in for you, there's always the roster of heroes coming to Puzzle and Dragons next week. [Image: WBIE]
