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Pre-order Alien: Isolation digitally, watch it download in terror
Digital pre-orders for Creative Assembly's frightful first-person game Alien: Isolation are now available. Players can put money down in advance of the game's impending launch in one week on Steam, PSN and Xbox Live to pre-download the game and pick up its season pass. Xbox One players can pre-purchase the game's Nostromo Edition on Microsoft's store, which includes the full game as well as the "Crew Expendable" bonus content. PS4 and PS3 players can scoot over to PSN to pre-order either the Nostromo Edition or the Season Pass bundle, with individual passes available on launch day, October 7. Likewise, the Nostromo Edition as well as the Digital Deluxe Edition are available to pre-purchase on Steam, the latter of which also includes the game's season pass. The $30 season pass give players access to Alien: Isolation's survivor mode map packs. [Image: Sega]
Destiny State of Service: Week Three
This is State of Service, an ongoing review of the online service of a recently launched game. You can read our scored review of Destiny here. Tuesday, September 30 | T-minus 9 days until final verdict Current State of Service: Good Summary: Destiny servers have been largely stable, with a couple of hiccups. Bungie closed the "Loot Cave" exploit, though players have already flocked to a new one. An upcoming patch aims to improve the loot system. Destiny's third week was mostly a smooth one, with only a few isolated server problems. Bungie noted sign-in issues across all platforms on Thursday, September 25, which were resolved quickly. Xbox 360 players ran into similar trouble on Monday, September 29, but these too were quickly rectified. The Joystiq staff encountered no outstanding complications at all last week. Meanwhile, Bungie states that it is still addressing outlying networking issues, reporting that "Bee," "Lion," or "Fly" error codes have been reduced by 50 percent over the last week. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Bungie put an end to Destiny's infamous "Loot Cave." Undaunted, players immediately latched onto a different Loot Cave. Perhaps in response to the design problems that the Loot Cave represents, Bungie announced that patch 1.0.2 will significantly change the loot system. Namely, Purple Engrams will guarantee Legendary quality items, while Blue Engrams will guarantee Rare or better quality items. If you encounter any connection problems while playing Destiny, let us know in the comments, or on the Joystiq Twitter or Facebook accounts. Use the hashtag "#sos" and specify your platform, please.
Get a push, win the belt in WWE 2K15's 'My Career' mode
2K Sports offered details today on WWE 2K15's other career mode, My Career. Much like the mode of the same name in Visual Concepts' NBA 2K series, in My Career, players take a custom wrestler through the career path of a WWE superstar. The mode begins by having players learn the ropes at the Orlando-based WWE Performance Center, eventually headlining WrestleMania and winning the top championship titles in the company. The mode features seasoned trainer Bill DeMott and general manager Vickie Guerrero, the latter setting matches and giving wrestlers goals to advance their career. As the journey unfolds, wrestlers improve their attributes and unlock new abilities and moves while developing alliances and rivalries with others on the WWE roster. With each decision a player makes in My Career, the crowd's reaction will change and "multiple branching storylines, surprises, twists and turns" will manifest, complimenting the game's other, historical career mode, 2K Showcase. WWE 2K15 will launch October 28 for Xbox 360 and PS3, arriving later on November 18 for PS4 and Xbox One. [Image: 2K Sports]
Dreamfall Adventures debut chapter arrives in late October
Despite earlier reports, developer Red Thread Games has announced that its episodic adventure game Dreamfall Chapters will premiere on October 21. "Book One of the Kickstarter-funded game will be distributed to project backers, and will be available to download on Steam for PC and Mac, and on Linux on Tuesday, October 21," reads the developer's announcement. No specific date is offered for the PlayStation 4 version of Dreamfall Chapters, but the developer claims the console game will be available in "early 2015." According to Red Thread, Book One will cover the game's prologue and first two chapters. The game's remaining four Books will complete the tale, though there's no word on when those additional episodes might arrive. [Image: Red Thread Games]
PSA: Dark Souls 2's 'Lost Crowns' DLC trilogy now complete
Following a recent, unexpected delay, Dark Souls 2 fans can now download the final entry in the dark fantasy game's DLC trilogy, dubbed Crown of the Ivory King. Like its predecessors, Crown of the Sunken King and Crown of the Old Iron King, Crown of the Ivory King is designed to test those Dark Souls 2 players who have bested the game's core challenges and are now ready for something even more difficult. "[O]nly the most hardcore, determined, and unrelenting fans will survive the onslaught of new enemies, traps, and bosses that have been devised to stop players from completing their quests in Crown of the Ivory King," reads the DLC's official description. Like the other Dark Souls 2 DLC releases, Crown of the Ivory King can be purchased for $10 from the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Marketplace or Steam. Those who would prefer to buy all three DLC packs at once and are playing Dark Souls 2 on a PC can grab the game's Season Pass from Steam for $25. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Track, time Destiny public events online
Public events in Destiny can be hit-or-miss, but there's a simple way to up your own hit ratio: DestinyPublicEvents.com. This website isn't sanctioned by Bungie or Activision, but it offers a collection of events happening right now and those to come soon. Each event is on a timer, and the site displays the amount of time left in each entry. Everything is broken down by region: Earth, Moon, Venus and Mars. Be lonely no longer, Guardians, and have fun collecting that Glimmer. Thanks for the tip, @PunkrawkBbob! [Image: Destiny Public Events]
Project Cars targets 1080p on Xbox One, PS4
Visual fidelity has always been important to players, especially when the resolution between two versions of a game doesn't match. A class-action lawsuit was even filed over a multiplayer game that failed to live up to its promised resolution. With that in mind, racing fans will be happy to know that Project Cars is aiming for 1080p and 60 frames per second on PS4 and Xbox One. Slightly Mad Studios' Andy Tudor told Eurogamer that while recent Xbox One demos of the racer were "not quite 1080p at the moment," the developer is "still aiming to get there." "Towards the end of the game you're always optimizing, and during development it's a rollercoaster. Sometimes you look at the game and think oh god, that's not working, that's not working. But other days you hit 60 fps, and it's awesome," Tudor said. He explained that the "physics underneath runs at 600 times a second," and that the developer calculates "the input you're doing on the controller 250 times per second." The racing sim will launch on the next-gen systems as well as PC on November 18, arriving in 2015 on SteamOS and Wii U. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Bungie: Leaked Destiny DLC descriptions are real, not final
The nuggets of information about coming Destiny DLC packs have been verified by Bungie Community Manager DeeJ in the Destiny forums. Some players this weekend hit an in-game glitch that revealed information about two DLC bundles, The Dark Below and House of Wolves. "We noticed that you noticed that we already have plans for upcoming content packs in Destiny," DeeJ writes. "We do! They have activity names (which may or may not change) and we have a really good idea what they're going to contain. They even have placeholder nodes in the Director, as you've already discovered. But neither of the Expansion Packs we've announced are finished."
Destiny at the drive-thru: Taco Bell gives away white PS4 packs
Starting October 9, purchase a PS4-branded Taco Bell Big Box and text the included code for a chance to win a bundle including a white PS4 and Destiny. Taco Bell and Sony Computer Entertainment America promise to pick a winner every 15 minutes during the promotion, which ends on November 19. The bundles include a white PS4, white DualShock 4, a physical copy of Destiny, two additional Destiny download codes, a voucher for the Destiny Engram "Gear Pack" and a 30-day PlayStation Plus membership (available only for new Plus members only). Plus, you get whatever food you ordered in the first place. Taco Bell has held these promotions before, notably with the Vita and the launch of the PS4. See links for the official rules and a visual breakdown of the contest here. [Image: Taco Bell]
Rejoice! Visceral says Battlefield Hardline 'will work' at launch
Battlefield Hardline will operate as expected at launch, according to Ian Milham, creative director at Visceral Games. "What you're basically asking is, 'Is your game going to work?' And the answer is yes, it's gonna work," Milham told Game Revolution. The statement follows a rough launch for the last game game in the series, DICE's Battlefield 4, which suffered months of connectivity issues after its October 2013 arrival. That led to multiple law firms alleging that publisher EA issued "materially false and misleading statements" regarding Battlefield 4's playability. When a CEO like EA's Andrew Wilson publicly deems a game's launch as "unacceptable," questions about the next game's stability will certainly come up.
FIFA 15 kicks Destiny from top spot in UK
It's the post-FIFA portion of the year on the Chart-Track UK sales charts. Historically this means we'll likely have EA Sports' FIFA XX at the top until Activision's Call of Duty shows up, but there's always the possibility for Just Dance or a Zumba game to mess with that. Anyway, FIFA 15 is out now and it accounted for 80 percent of all software sales and 87 percent of all revenue for the week. Chart-Track estimates if one were to align all the week-one FIFA sales for every platform (it was staggered last year), FIFA 15 unit sales would be flat year-over-year, with a 6 percent revenue increase. The Xbox One and PS4 versions account for 54 percent of unit sales. The only new release last week to break the Top 40 is Fantasy Life, the Level-5 (Prof. Layton, Dark Cloud) RPG, which debuted in the eight spot. The UK top ten can be found after the break.
Report: America favors gaming consoles for media streaming
Game consoles aren't really game consoles anymore. Sure they play games, but they're also capable of plenty of non-gaming activities. In today's age, we have an abundance of apps and features installed on our consoles that make watching our favorite shows and movies easy and convenient. But of course, you already knew this. What you may not have known is that researchers at Parks Associates claim that game consoles are currently not just able to help us catch up on the latest season of <your favorite show>, but are reportedly the most popular method of doing so in the US. As reported by Home Media Magazine, Parks' data shows that roughly 46 percent of broadband-connected homes use a console to access non-gaming content via the internet, and of those homes, 28 percent use the console as their primary connected device. This high percentage of users edges out connected Blu-ray players, as well as streaming devices such as a Roku box or Apple TV. Smart TVs are reportedly the second-most popular way for people to enjoy non-gaming internet media. This may sound surprising, but really, using game consoles for non-gaming entertainment has been around for some time; after all, one of the PlayStation 2's most-touted features was its ability to play DVD movies. Remember those? Remember physical media? Good times. Gooooood times. Update: An earlier version of this story incorrectly related the statistics regarding usage of game consoles. It has been corrected. [Image: Sony/Microsoft]
Destiny's Iron Banner event kicks off October 7
Hear ye, hear ye: The Lords of Iron will challenge Destiny players to prove their mettle (and, coincidentally, their metal) in the game's PvP mode during the Iron Banner event, beginning on October 7. If you participated in the Destiny beta, you may already be familiar with the rules. For freshly-resurrected Guardians however, here's the jist: in normal Crucible (see: PvP) matches, there are limits placed on a player's gear to prevent victory and defeat from being determined by the loot you or your foes have amassed. In the Iron Banner playlist of PvP matches, no such limitation exists. This means the dedicated loot farmers and equipment hoarders of the galaxy are likely to have an advantage over those less-equipped. Your rewards, should you excel in this particular event, will be high-level weapons and armor, emblems and special color schemes for your Guardian's armor. If you don't already have equipment with awe-inspiring numbers attached to it, might we suggest you take a tour of Destiny's fabulous, loot-filled caves? [Image: Activision]
PlayStation Home closes its doors worldwide in March 2015
PlayStation Home, the PS3's social space where users hang out and play games via avatars, will shutter up worldwide on March 31, 2015, according to a post from PlayStation Network Senior Community Manager "Tempest_Fire". March 31 was previously shared as Japan's date to vacate Home's premises, but yesterday's announcement makes it clear that the entire community will soon need to find a new home away from Home. Though the publishing of new content will cease on November 12, 2014, Home residents can stock up on downloads until December 3, 2014. As a thank you to fans, PlayStation will also offer a "series of free content" before March 31's global sign-off date. We can only hope Home's final moments bring everyone together for a rendition of Semisonic's "Closing Time," where a melody garbled by voice chat gives avatars a chance for one last dance. [Image: PlayStation]
T-shirt, tarot cards join Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in Europe
Hyper-kinetic 2D fighter Persona 4 Arena Ultimax won't reach Europe until November 21, but Persona fans on the other side of the Atlantic can look forward to two additional bonuses, assuming they pre-order the game from online retailer Rice Digital. For £38, customers can now pre-order the Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Fan Edition, which includes a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 copy of the game alongside a "free mystery t-shirt" and the "Tarot Card Set #1." According to the Rice Digital listing, those vague descriptions indicate that the design of both shirt and tarot cards has not been finalized, and will be voted on by fans at some point in the future. If you're located outside of Europe, don't worry, Rice Digital is willing to ship the Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Fan Edition to a long list of foreign countries, including both the United States and Canada. For those willing to forego the shirt and deck of cards, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will reach North American retail shelves on September 30. [Image: Atlus]
The Crew closed beta drifts to consoles next week
The Crew will enter its closed beta phase on consoles next Tuesday, September 30. The game took multiple pre-release spins through PC tracks in July and August, but those hoping to be picked to play the game early on PS4 and Xbox One will need to register on Ubisoft's official website for the game. The Crew presents an open-world-style recreation of the United States, or at least as it appears through the window of a car driving at least 80 miles per hour. Following a delay nearly one year ago, The Crew will launch November 11 for PC, Xbox One and PS4. Ubisoft is aiming to reach 60 frames per second on PC, but the game will be locked to 30 fps on consoles. For a lengthy look at The Crew, take a joyride with us in our hour-long archived Joystiq Stream of the PC beta from July, or check out our video preview from April. [Image: Ubisoft]
Destiny's Cryptarch sees a loot-happy upgrade in 1.0.2 patch
Bungie has unveiled the changes en route to Destiny in next week's 1.0.2 patch, and they should please fans unhappy with how often the game currently offers quality loot.
The Truth Inside Destiny's Loot Cave
The loot cave is dead, but its spirit will haunt other venues and hover over Destiny for a long time. Bungie will keep persecuting it, having barred item trading and proclaiming, "You should be able to tell a badass story for every sweet jewel in your arsenal." The Man Who Shot Into The Cave A Whole Bunch doesn't quite have that "legendary" ring to it. It's easy to side with the loot cave, though, given Destiny's parsimonious grip on worthwhile weapons and armor in the endgame. The cave, an exploitation space constantly filled with enemies if you stand outside in just the right spot, is an oasis of rewards in a desert of so-so shotguns, and the ideal way to exact revenge against the game's overlords. Really, if you're looking for the most corrupt figure in games right now, it's Destiny's super shady Cryptarch – an embezzling creep who takes futuristic blueprints extracted from exotic alien corpses, disappears into his shop and brings back the equivalent of a rusty shovel. And so you can either hit more things with your shovel, hoping a superior engram will fall out, or go shoot into the latest loot cave for a more assured fortune. It's poetic vengeance wrapped in weathered rock.
Joystiq Giveaway: 12 Skylanders Trap Team Legendary Starter Packs
Bet you thought we were done after Destiny! Nope. Joystiq is all about doling out the gaming goodness. We're shifting away from the go go grim gun fantasias for our next big giveaway, though! This time, it's all about action figures. Joystiq is giving away 12 Skylanders: Trap Team Legendary Starter Packs, three each for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and for the first time in the series, a tablet version of the game that is feature complete. Every Legendary Starter Pack comes with that console's version of the game, the new portal, two Skylanders figures, two traps, sticker sheets with secret codes, posters, and trading cards. What's more, every one of our 12 winners will also get a random assortment of Skylanders Mini figures, standard figures, and a lucky few will also get deluxe Trap Master figures as well. All you have to do to enter is "Like" Joystiq on Facebook using the widget below between September 26 and October 10, and also be an American or Canadian citizen over the age of 13. You can extra earn extra chances to win by following us on Twitter and Twitch.tv/Joystiq. Full prize list and giveaway rules after the break. Joystiq Giveaway: 12 free copies of Skylanders Trap Team [Images: Activision]
Far Cry 4 nets PS4, PS3 hardware bundles in Europe
Ubisoft revealed today that it has a pair of PlayStation hardware bundles in the works for players who want to pick up a new console alongside the latest entry in its Far Cry series later this year. Far Cry 4 will be included with new PlayStation 3 and PS4 hardware bundles launching in the UK in November. Currently, these special edition packages have only been announced for Europe; Ubisoft has not revealed plans to release equivalent hardware bundles in North America. Far Cry 4 debuts worldwide on November 18. A new trailer showcasing a lovely breakfast with antagonist Pagan Min premiered earlier today. [Image: Ubisoft]