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Bungie's Destiny ships worldwide on September 9th, 2014
Wondering when you can get Bungie's first big post-Halo project, Destiny? Wonder no more: the company has revealed that its ambitious, MMO-like shooter will ship worldwide on September 9th, 2014. PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 users will get first crack at the beta test sometime earlier in the summer, although Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners should eventually have their turn. That's a long time to wait, especially if you're using a new console that doesn't have many titles to start with, but Bungie's track record suggests that patience will be a virtue.
Destiny launches worldwide on September 9, 2014
Bungie has announced its next game, Destiny, will launch worldwide for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and PS4 on September 9. The game will be published by Activision. "Destiny has always represented a new beginning for our team. It was born from brave possibilities," the announcement post on Bungie's site reads. "We dreamed of a renewed and independent Bungie. We found partners willing to bet big on some crazy new ideas with us." Destiny is Bungie's "mythic science fiction" open world multiplayer shooter first revealed last November. A beta for Destiny, which pre-orders will get first crack at, kicks off first on PlayStation platforms in the summer of 2014.
Destiny launches on September 9, 2014
Bungie has announced that its Destiny sci-fantasy online shooter will launch worldwide on September 9, 2014. The beta will begin sometime in the summer, and will be "available first on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3."
The Daily Grind: How influential is pre-launch art?
Slowly but surely Bungie is roping me onto its Destiny bandwagon. It didn't take much, to be frank, since I rarely meet a sci-fi shooter I don't enjoy at least a little bit. And hey, I'm one of those infernal dudebros who loves the heck out of the Halo franchise, too! Anyway, Destiny. It's got some really sick art. Plus it seems like Bungie has taken the time to create a proper world and properly age it, if yesterday's art-focused video is any indication. That leads me to this morning's Daily Grind question. Does concept art affect your excitement for a title one way or the other? Put another way, how influential is a game's pre-launch art? 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!
Explore Destiny's early fantasy, sci-fi, and space western art
Game Informer is gearing up for some Destiny content reveals, the first of which is a six-minute video journey through the sci-fantasy shooter's art direction. The clip also features an extended Thundarr the Barbarian segment, so there's that. Art director Christopher Barrett says that for a while, Bungie wasn't sure if it had a fantasy, a space western, or hard sci-fi on its hands, and the early art reflects a lot of that "fun exploration." Most of the ideas ultimately ended up in the game, too, as Barrett says that Bungie was able to create a sort of "historical or aged look with sci-fi that felt new."
Free for All: MMORPGs for your new console
Consoles and MMOs do not have the stand-offish relationship that they used to have. In fact, there are so many different MMOs to choose from on consoles that it's seriously tempting to pick up one of the new ones -- the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 -- even though I wasn't planning on it for a long, long time. I enjoy using a controller with MMOs so much that I plan on covering the subject more in the future. So let's get to the list of MMOs that are currently on consoles or that will be coming out on consoles in the near(ish) future. Massively's own Mike Foster put together a fantastic list last summer, but I thought I would update and pass it on. After all, the new consoles are officially here... so be sure to reference the list when you need a new MMO to play on your shiny new console!
Destiny beta coming to PlayStations first
If you're an MMO player looking for a reason to pick up the PlayStation 4, well, there's DC Universe Online. There's also Destiny, which is sporting a new in-engine trailer and which will be coming to Sony's gaming machines before it appears on rival MicroSoft's. Destiny's beta is scheduled for early 2014, and you'll need a PS3 or PS4 to test it on day one. Pre-ordering the sci-fantasy title guarantees beta access, according to the new trailer which we've embedded after the break.
PS3 and PS4 will have the earliest access to Destiny beta, exclusive content in MGS 5
Beyond the obvious new hardware flying about and news from Naughty Dog, there were a few additional tidbits revealed tonight at Sony's PlayStation 4 launch event. The PlayStation brand as a whole will offer gamers a few things they can't get elsewhere, with the PS3 and PS4 both offering the earliest access to a beta test for Bungie's Destiny (if you haven't pre-ordered, check the blog for invite codes) early next year, plus an exclusive "classic" Solid Snake skin and mission in Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes when it launches next spring. Finally, the next entry for Sucker Punch's Infamous series has a release date, as it revealed Infamous: Second Son will be released March 21st, 2014. There's a trailer for each after the break (plus an overall PS4 launch trailer), view and plan your next-gen purchases wisely.
Destiny beta launches first on PS3, PS4 [Update: trailer!]
During the PlayStation All Access event on Spike, Bungie COO Pete Parsons presented an exclusive trailer for Destiny. But more importantly, after the trailer, Parsons announced the beta would be coming first to PlayStation. "We're going to give first access to the PlayStation nation, PS4 and PS3 owners," he said. The Destiny beta is scheduled for early next year for folks who pre-order.
Bungie: Destiny beta needs a 'million gamers crashing against it'
With Destiny, Bungie hopes its beta in early 2014 will help to ensure a smooth launch for its online-enabled features. In an interview with IGN, Senior Writer Eric Osborne spoke to the importance of slamming their servers with players, especially in light of GTA Online's launch issues. "From our perspective as a developer, it's hard to fault GTA Online for caving under something like 10 million players trying to hit servers at the same time," Osborne said. "We need people to play story, multiplayer and co-op. We need them to go and create characters so we can understand those systems and what they mean for us. We need lots of people to hit the servers at the same time, see how they use guns and play the early stuff, what the competitive multiplayer looks like with many different levels. Working on Destiny every day doesn't compare with a million gamers crashing against it." Osborne said that Bungie doesn't want to "rely on guesswork. We're going to push as many people against it as possible. We'll forge it in fire and hopefully that'll make it a better experience day one for everybody."
Destiny devs on Star Wars influences and the MMO stigma
How does Bungie plan to escape the shadow of its own Halo megaverse in the upcoming sci-fi shooter Destiny? By going the Star Wars route, according to a piece at IGN. The dev team even has a name for its genre-melding mashup, and the ingredients include Force-like abilities and gunpowder to go along with the new IP's spaceships and ray guns. "Internally we've started calling it Mythic Science Fiction; a world that's rooted in science fiction but with more fantastical elements than we've ever had before, at least with Halo," said Bungie senior writer Eric Osborne. "So you can have a guy with a cape and a gun that shoots gunpowder but then he can use the power of the Traveller, which is effectively light, to fire flames at his enemy and disintegrate them." So, is Destiny an MMO? Sort of, according to Osborne. "There are certain places where the tag is certainly applicable. We want to bring players together in a shared space while making everyone feel unique. That's certainly the realm of MMOs, as is that social aspect of getting people to meet one another and play with one another and form bonds and lasting relationships," he says. "So there are [MMO] aspects, it's just that out of the gate we wanted to explain that it's an action game from Bungie."
Destiny devs on weapons, vehicles, and more
There's a new eight-minute Destiny video making the rounds, and you'll want to set aside time to watch it if you're curious about vehicle customization, weapons (three different classes, yo), and social features in Bungie's upcoming sci-fi shooter. Plenty of gameplay footage is on hand, and Bungie says players may choose to play a solo campaign and/or avoid PvP in spite of the title's online multiplayer stylings. Sadly, there's still no word of a PC version, so if you're OK with that, have a look at the video after the cut.
Bungie posting Destiny beta codes on Twitter, Facebook this week
If your Destiny is to get into the beta for Bungie's upcoming shooter, you'll want to keep your eyes on the game's Twitter account this week [Update: and Facebook too]. Yesterday, the ex-Halo studio said it'll post beta codes randomly on each day of the coming week. The other route to the beta is a little less reliant on your ability to stare at social media: just pre-order the game. The Destiny beta is scheduled for early 2014, and is coming to all of the game's platforms, namely PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360. The game itself is pinned to arrive in the spring.
Pre-order Destiny and get beta early access
Bungie is not-so-subtly nudging players in the direction of the Destiny pre-order by offering one tantalizing morsel: early access to the game's beta. By pre-ordering Destiny, players will get a code that will get them into the beta when it starts up in early 2014. Previous pre-orders will automatically receive beta codes as well. There's a bunch of fine print to this one, so keep on reading. First of all, you'll need to pre-order at a participating retailer: Amazon (US and UK), Best Buy (US), Gamestop (US), Walmart (US), Smyths (UK), Tesco (UK), or Blockbuster (UK). The studio further requires that you have either a PS4, PS3, Xbox One, or Xbox 360 as well as a bungie.net account.
Bungie to offer Destiny beta access as early pre-order perk
We've all seen the demo, but none of us have actually played Destiny, Bungie and publisher Activision's forthcoming first-person-shooter / MMO-like effort. But starting today, Destiny's persistent open world will begin opening up... to gamers that buy in early, that is. A limited amount of pre-orders placed now at select retailers will garner gamers beta access to Destiny, which is scheduled to launch early next year on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. If you happened to jump the gun and plunk down for a copy before today, don't worry, as your order automatically reserves you a spot for the beta. Depending on your method of purchase, redemption codes will either be emailed directly or printed out at the time of purchase, so hold off on trashing those receipts. You can find the full details of the program and a new trailer just after the break.
Destiny beta launches early 2014, pre-orders get first access
The beta for Destiny launches in early 2014 on PS3, Xbox 360, PS4 and Xbox One, Activision announced today. Those who pre-order at participating retailers will get early access to the beta: In the US, these stores are Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop and Wal Mart, and in the UK it's Amazon, Smyths, Tesco and Blockbuster. Check out the list of participating retailers, by country, here. Those who previously pre-ordered Destiny from the appropriate retailers are automatically entered into the beta and will receive vouchers via email. In September, Destiny Design Director and 15-year Bungie veteran Joseph Staten left the company to "tackle new creative challenges."
Destiny Design Director Joseph Staten leaves Bungie after 15 years
Joseph Staten, Destiny's writer and design director, is leaving Bungie. According to an announcement posted to Bungie's official site, Staten is "leaving to tackle new creative challenges." For his sake, we hope those challenges don't include real-life hostile aliens. During Staten's 15-year stay at Bungie, he was both creative lead and writer for the Halo series, and he spent the last four years on Destiny. Destiny, published by Activision, is slated to launch in 2014, and while Staten won't be around to see it ship he noted that he will be cheering on the rest of the development team when it does. Read Staten's full goodbye note below.
No pain, no gain: Bungie on cross-platform development
Bungie has pushed live another lengthy edition of its long-running Mail Sack feature, this one covering questions from the community about board games (the team likes them), podcasts (Bungie's shall return), Destiny's best moments (all too spoilery to reveal), and the reveal date for the release date of the studio's upcoming next-gen shooter-MMO hybrid (totally sometime in the future, maybe). Also discussed? The reason Bungie built Destiny as a multi-platform release. According to the studio, creating a game that isn't exclusive to one console gives the Bungie community an opportunity to "welcome new players who may have never experienced a Bungie game before." Bungie contends, "Developing a cross-platform game is hard, but the perks outweigh the pain." The other likely bonus of going multi-platform, in which a developer practically doubles the potential install base of a title, was left unsaid.
Destiny celebrates its summer appearances
Like a well-dressed soldier ducking and weaving around enemy bullets, you can enjoy a few tantalizing seconds of Destiny if you dodge the back-patting that goes on in Bungie's summer celebration video. Destiny is hot off a string of trade show appearances, and the studio is using this opportunity to show a few glimpses of the crowds that came to see it, the awards that Destiny won, and several in-game shots of high-tech parkour. So if you're the type of person who likes to torture yourself with glimpses of something you weren't able to see in person and won't be able to play for a while to come, we've got the full video after the break!
Bungie: Destiny is different 'every time you experience it'
Bungie's David "DeeJ" Dague sat down for an interview with the official PlayStation blog at Gamescom, discussing Destiny's world design, class mechanics, and replayability. According to Dague, Destiny takes place in a world of "mythic science-fiction" where fantasy, mysticism, and technology collide. Destiny's plot revolves around humanity's quest to recover the artifacts of the Golden Age and find redemption in the post-apocalyptic wastelands that its brazen rush for advancement has created. Dague explained that Destiny is about making choices, with one of the most important being the class you decide to play. Whether it's the tanky Titan, the stealthy Hunter, or the magic-y Warlock, class selection will determine how you interact with the world, and groups with mixed classes will see greater success. According to Dague, the dynamic world of Destiny and its reliance on inter-player reactions ensure that no two playthroughs are the same. Bungie is expecting the game to have a very long life cycle due to the idea that "the game is completely dynamic and will be different every time you experience it with other people." Also mentioned was Destiny's focus on dynamic group events and the way in which players choose to deal with them. If you're on your own, you may see a public event and decide that you want to jump in and participate in it, or you can bypass all of the actions over here and continue on your own path. You're going to see other players participating in their own portions of the game and you can decide to participate or just go your own way.
