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PAX Prime 2013: Guild Wars 2's story, boss revamps, LFG, and the next big update
Not many MMOs can say that they've done as much in their first year as Guild Wars 2. The team at ArenaNet is rightly proud of what it's accomplished over the past 365 days, but the devs also know that all of what's come before is just a drop in the bucket compared to their plans for the future. At PAX Prime yesterday, Lead Game Designer Colin Johanson brought us in for an overview on Guild Wars 2's progress and upcoming direction. It's not just living story, although there is a lot of that; the team has ambitious plans that are only beginning to be revealed to the playerbase after months of preparation and build up. We've got the full scoop on where the game's headed in both PvE and PvP (or WvW if you're nasty). You know you want to know. Go ahead. Click. Let's do this.
Pounding beats and dragons in Crypt of the NecroDancer
I'm all alone in this dark dungeon. I've only got a dagger and I'm on my last heart of health. The thumping beats and pulsating sounds of Danny Baranowsky's energetic soundtrack keep pushing me forward. From out of the shadows, a dragon emerges. I'm ill-equipped to fell this beast, so I use my freeze spell to stop the enemy. Then I charge in time to the beat and strike. This is Crypt of the NecroDancer, a charming and wholly original hybrid roguelike/rhythm-based experience from seven-man studio Brace Yourself Games. It's unlike anything I've played before and represents everything that I treasure about the indie games scene.
PAX Prime 2013: WildStar dungeon preview
WildStar's dungeons won't be for everyone. They're a bit tougher, a bit wilder, and a bit longer than the standard MMO crop today. If you're looking for a breezy PvE experience, you might not even want to consider running one. However, Carbine hopes that you'll look past the increased difficulty and run-time to be intrigued by some of the most unique encounters and locales in the game. This was the word from WildStar Design Producer Stephan Frost at PAX Prime. Frost ran us quickly through a pair of dungeons -- The Ruins of Kel Voreth and Stormtalon's Lair -- to give us the lay of the land and an idea of what we'll be in for when we timidly step over these thresholds. These dungeons might not be everyone's cup of tea, but those who appreciate a challenge will find it and the rewards to match.
PAX Prime 2013: A first-timer's impressions of WildStar
Sometimes you just know that an upcoming game is going to be perfect for you. You know this because the art style sends shivers of delight down your spine, the video previews send you salivating for more, and the news that it's adopting a sub-only model doesn't quite faze you as much as you would've expected. Still, even though you know it'll be right for you, you don't really know until you get your hands on it for the first time. And even then, you don't really know until you've played it for a good, long while to see whether it sticks or not. While my total playtime with WildStar is a few sessions spread over two days at PAX Prime, I have seen nothing that makes me regret being interested in this title as both a super-professional video game press dude and as a humble player. I can recall letting out my breath in relief in the first zone once I saw and felt how it handled. WildStar may not be for everyone -- and that's fine -- but it left me happy, satisfied, and smiling. That's what the Chua said.
Galak-Z and the thrill of being vulnerable
There's a distinct vulnerability at the heart of Galak-Z, a top-down space shooter that plays like a sped-up version of Asteroids on psychedelic drugs. Galak-Z marries the style of '80s anime cartoons with a panache of vibrant explosives and deft enemy AI as you pilot a slip-slidey ship through hostile space environs.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch will include PS Move support on PS4
Octodad: Dadliest Catch will feature PlayStation Move support on PS4, developer Young Horses announced during Sony's PlayStation Indie Arcade event at PAX Prime. Players opting to use motion control when guiding the game's octopus father will only need one Move controller to do so. The game will still be playable with the Dual Shock 4 controller, if waving your arm to control virtual tentacles isn't your idea of fun. Octodad: Dadliest Catch was announced for PS4 during Sony's E3 press briefing in June. The first Octodad launched on PC in 2010.
Dustforce cleaning up PS3, PS Vita and Xbox 360
Capcom will publish Hitbox Team's lauded 2D clean-em-up platformer Dustforce on PS3 and PS Vita. The game will benefit from cross-play functionality on PS Vita and PS3, Sony's Adam Boyes mentioned during the PlayStation Indie Arcade event at PAX this evening, though no exact details on how that will work have been offered. The Sony side of the publishing agreement was revealed during the PlayStation Indie Arcade event tonight at PAX, though a Capcom-Unity post notes the game is also coming to Xbox 360. Despite being widely praised and earning close to $700,000 for the developer, the game was ultimately a financial wash for Hitbox. Hopefully these new console ports will help tidy up Hitbox Team's bottom line.
VVVVVV heading to VVVVVVita
Terry Cavanagh's challenging platformer VVVVVV is heading to PlayStation Vita, Sony announced during its PlayStation Indie Arcade event at PAX Prime. VVVVVV first launched on PC in January 2010, then showed up on the 3DS eShop in December 2011. No release date was given for the Vita version of the gravity-flipping, chiptune-infested game.
Zeboyd Games' Cosmic Star Heroine coming to PS4, PS Vita
Zeboyd Games has revealed its next game, Cosmic Star Heroine, is coming to PS4 and PS Vita in addition to PC and Mac. This sci-fi RPG is inspired by '90s classics such as Chrono Trigger, the Phantasy Star and Suikoden series. The game's story follows the titular heroine Alyssa L'Salle, a spy for the galactic government who stumbles upon a conspiracy and subsequently has her cover blown by her own government. Zeboyd Games, perhaps best known for Cthulhu Saves the World and wrapping up the Penny Arcade Adventures series, is an independent developer founded in 2009 by Robert Boyd and William Stiernberg. The studio is best known for creating retro-inspired 2D roleplaying games.
Road Not Taken takes road to PS4, Vita
Road Not Taken will come to PS4 and Vita, developer Spry Fox announced during Sony's PlayStation Indie Arcade event at PAX Prime. The developer behind Triple Town plans to launch the game in 2014. Road Not Taken is described as a "puzzle roguelike," in which players set out to rescue children from forests and solve ever-changing puzzles along the way. The game includes permanent death upon failure, and with each entry into the forest, the woods will regenerate to keep the challenge going. Road Not Taken will also launch on Windows and Mac via Steam.
Divekick, Warframe are now PS4 launch games
Both Divekick and Warframe will be available on PS4 when the console launches November 15. The news was revealed during the PlayStation Indie Arcade event tonight at PAX by Adam Boyes, VP of Publisher and Developer Relations at SCEA. Divekick, a deceptively complex two-button fighter, launched as a "Cross Buy" game on PS3 and PS Vita on August 20 in addition to Steam. Warframe, a free-to-play co-op shooter from Digital Extremes, is currently available on for the PC on Steam.
Sony creates Third Party Production division
Sony created a new division with the purpose of bringing third party games to its platforms, Vice President of Third Parties Adam Boyes announced during the PlayStation Indie Arcade event at PAX Prime today. During the event, Boyes elaborated on how the division came about, and it started with the desire to bring Borderlands 2 to Vita. "We realized that we had to build an entire division in order to make Borderlands 2 on Vita happen," Boyes said. To create the division, Sony hired Gio Corsi, former lead producer at LucasArts and executive producer of the now-halted Star Wars 1313. "The big vision there was for us to be able to take these IPs from publishers and famous IPs that people love and then let developers work with it," Boyes said. Iron Galaxy Studios, developers of the recently-released fighter Divekick, will develop Borderlands 2 on Vita.
Double Fine working on DLC for 'The Playroom' on PS4
During the PlayStation Indie Arcade event tonight at PAX Prime, Sony's Adam Boyes announced Double Fine is working on DLC for PS4 tech demo, The Playroom. The DLC will be available to all PS4 owners free of charge. The Playroom, first demoed at E3 this year, includes a variety of micro-games and augmented reality experiences meant to showcase the features of the PS4. The Playroom will be bundled with every PS4 system when it launches on November 15.
PAX Prime 2013: Hands-on with The Crew
I originally learned about The Crew from friends rather than from gaming hype. "Ask them if we can walk around on foot!" they hounded me. They're all anticipating The Crew, and when I showed up to Ubisoft's PAX Prime booth earlier today, I realized they aren't alone: Hordes of people were lined up to play Ubisoft's MMO racer. Naturally, I decided to try my luck. But sorry, guys -- you can't walk around on foot.
PAX Prime 2013: Dragon's Prophet adds frontier system, new zone, and mounted combat
The timer only has a few days left until Dragon's Prophet emerges from its beta cocoon and becomes a fire-breathing butterfly. Does that faze the devs? Not so much; they're quite excited to take this dragon-taming MMO to the big leagues. You might think you know everything about Dragon's Prophet from our hands-on impressions, although that's just part of the story. The team is adding a serious amount of new content and fixes for launch day that nobody's seen yet... and we've got the full scoop.
Monster Loves You on iOS and Android this October
Monster Loves You, Dejobaan Games' ferociously charming adventure game, will arrive on iOS and Android this fall. The game launched on Steam in March, and is available for $9.99. Dejobaan told Joystiq at PAX Prime that the studio is aiming for an October 10 release date for the mobile version of Monster Loves You. Describing how the game evolved on PC, Dejobaan Games' Ichiro Lambe said that the month Monster Loves You launched on Steam, it underwent changes from being a "life simulator" to a choose-your-adventure game, cutting a number of the game's elements out entirely. Choices made by players in the game affect different personality traits, from kindness to honesty, shaping the arc of the game's story, which Lambe said is a carry-over from its original life simulation ambitions.
Enemy Front moves up in spring 2014
City Interactive's Enemy Front, now under the direction of Far Cry 3 narrative designer and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine director Raphael van Lierop, is expected to launch in the spring of 2014 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The game is currently being shown at PAX, with gameplay featuring the game's non-linear combat sandbox. Players can approach the game's WW2 missions through combat or stealth. Enemy Front was first announced back in 2011, under the direction of Stuart Black. Following the established trend, Black left the project in late 2012 over what were reportedly creative differences with publisher City Interactive.
LocoCycle priced $20, available via Xbox One marketplace at launch
Twisted Pixel's LocoCycle will set you back $20 when it wheels onto the Xbox One online store at launch. The first next-gen game from the Comic Jumper and 'Splosion Man studio is also due on Xbox 360, but we're waiting for details on that version to cycle through. In LocoCycle you play as a sentient superweapon motorcycle that's escaped the lab, on the run from another sentient motorcycle. I.R.I.S, the escaped super-bike, can jump into the air and use her tires to perform kung-fu style kicks against enemies, as well as use Pablo, the mechanic she drags around by her rear wheel, as a human sub-weapon. As the name and the studio's previous fare suggested it would be, LocoCycle looks all kinds of weird. If you're at PAX this weekend, you can find and check out LocoCycle on the show floor. For those stuck in front of screens, you can always read our summer preview.
The Daily Grind: What can PAX Prime 2013 do for you?
August is always a patchwork of gaming conventions, and since August is almost over, that makes this weekend's PAX Prime the last major gaming con of the year (if you don't count BlizzCon, anyway). In fact, PAX is one of the best cons for MMO and MOBA fans. This year, Massively's sending Justin Olivetti, Patrick Mackey, and Jasmine Hruschak to PAX, and we've overloaded them with games to cover. Both Guild Wars 2 and Final Fantasy XIV are hosting massive off-site events; The Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar will be out in force with hands-on demos on the show floor itself. Naturally, we'll be checking out SOE's lineup -- EverQuest Next, Dragon's Prophet, and DC Universe on the PS4 -- as well as The Crew, The Repopulation, Wander, Guns of Icarus, and Wargaming's roster. We've even booked our MOBA expert to check out Smashmuck Champions, SMITE, Strife, Infinite Crisis, and the League of Legends NA regionals. Now you know what we're hoping to see. What are you hoping to see (other than "let me in the beta!")? Which games do you wish were going? What do you want to see from the big-name MMOs, launched, relaunched, and not-yet-launched, and the little indies? What announcements weren't made at Gamescom last week that really ought to land at PAX before the last pre-holidays convention opportunity is gone? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Game Show Night at PAX Prime: Shenanigans and prizes
If you ever see Joystiq's own Managing Editor Susan Arendt at PAX, you can count on two things: There's a 50 percent chance that "Hey, Ladies" by The Beastie Boys is going through her head, and there's going to be a Game Show Night. Game Show Night is three back-to-back (to back) hours of live game show action, and this year, it even has prizes, courtesy of our friends at 80stees.com. Hour one, hosted by Susan, is Blankety Blank, which is based on the classic Match Game. The second hour, hosted by Activision's Dan Amrich, is Jeopardy and has real lock-out buzzers and everything. Game|Life's Chris Kohler has hosting duty for the super-crowd pleasing Family Feud in hour three, and in between games, Ars Technica's Kyle Orland will be running some Let's Make a Deal-style giveaways. Prizes, people. Stuff! Neat stuff! It's raucous, it's got its mind firmly in the gutter, and it is amazing to experience in person. Want an idea of how it goes? Check out Game Show Night from earlier this year at PAX East. (Blankety Blank is very not safe for work. Or children. Or anyone with good taste, really.) Game Show Night starts Friday night at 7pm, in the Kraken theater, but get there early if you want to increase your chances of being picked as a contestant. The entire shindig is also being streamed on Twitch in case the fates conspired to prevent you from attending PAX Prime this year.
