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'Batman: Arkham Knight' never feels too big to play
This article contains spoilers for Batman: Arkham Knight; you've been warned. I didn't want to like Batman: Arkham Knight. In the long run-up to its release, I'd become increasingly disinterested every time developer Rocksteady Studios mentioned how the game had grown compared to its prequels. Twenty times bigger than Arkham Asylum! My eyes glazed over. Drive the Batmobile around Gotham! Yawn. My worry was that Arkham Knight would be a product of the Warner Bros. Interactive marketing department, riddling the series I love with bloat and unnecessary features solely because the PlayStation 4's and Xbox One's more powerful hardware allowed for bigger experiences. It's been a while since I was this happy to be wrong: Arkham Knight's genius is that despite its physical size, the game never feels larger than whatever carefully constructed moment you're in.
Latest Xbox One test update is rolling out slowly, for a reason
Heads up Dashboard Preview Program members: Microsoft's announced that invites for the opt-in Windows 10 update on Xbox One are rolling out right now. Check your inbox to see if you made the first wave of folks to the party, but don't get too excited or disappointed (depending) though because while the overhauled user interface might look tempting, there are scads of known issues with it. What're those? They apparently range from annoying -- hard resetting the console after basically any issue crops up, screen discoloration while playing Forza Motorsport 6 -- to possibly game-breaking.
Playdate: taking on The Taken King in 'Destiny'
We're officially in "year two" of Bungie's connected shooter Destiny and what better way to celebrate than by streaming its first big expansion pack, "The Taken King" ? Both Sean Buckley and myself are lapsed Destiny players who've largely stepped away from the game in pursuit of other, not-grindy experiences. But Bungie's been touting the changes it's made as being more welcoming to new folks and those who've been overwhelmed by what it took to get the best gear and weapons previously. So join us at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT for two hours of hot new Guardian action as we discover how accurate the developer's claims are. As always, you can check out the broadcast right here on this post, the Engadget Gaming homepage, and, if you want to join us in chat, head over to Twitch.tv/joystiq.
GameStop won't sell consoles bundled with digital games
Perhaps more than any other retailer, Gamestop has serious clout when it comes to selling video games. The retail chain makes money hand over fist on game trade-ins and the resulting used game sales, and in an effort to protect that, it's made an edict that it'll only sell bundles that include a physical disc rather than a download code. In a shareholders call (PDF), chief operating officer Tony Bartel specifically cited the current Madden '16 Xbox One bundle. Rather than carrying the official deal, the company worked to offer a free physical copy of the annual football title with the purchase of a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, refusing to stock the digital bundle at all.
Playdate: We're getting weird with 'Metal Gear Solid V'
I have no idea what's going on with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's story. That has a lot to do with my only experience with the series resting squarely on playing half of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance on Xbox and nothing else. I never had an original PlayStation (Playdate regulars know that I have a history of owning the wrong console) so I didn't fawn over Metal Gear Solid and traipsing around the game's Alaskan military base the way everyone else in the late '90s did. Hell, if it weren't for our Twitch regular Chris "lXDUKEXl" Duquette's suggestion the other week, Sean Buckley and myself wouldn't even be broadcasting ousted auteur Hideo Kojima's latest for two hours today starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT.
'Dark Souls 3' is coming for your patience next April
Don't have a PlayStation 4 and Bloodborne but still want in on some punishing action by way of the folks at From Software? Good because Dark Souls 3 hits PC, PS4 and Xbox One next April -- right in line with the "early 2016" window we were teased with during E3 this year. And for those who need something to do between now and then, perhaps the recently announced "The Old Hunters" expansion for Bloodborne will whet your whistle come its November 24th release date. Here's to hoping you're suitably prepared to die evade peril by then.
'Mighty No. 9' demo delay gives backers more reason to be upset (updated)
What a long, sad trip it's been for folks who backed the Mega Man spiritual successor Mighty No. 9 on Kickstarter. A demo, which was originally planned as an apology for the game being delayed, has been pushed back. Developer Comcept writes that this tardiness is a result of issues that arose pertaining to the distribution method -- Steam. No other updates or info was given, and this news was buried at the bottom of a blog post about a custom-design contest (hey, we're running one of those too!). It's probably safe to guess that those involved feel pretty bad about the whole ordeal and how Comcept plans to make up for this is going to be interesting. Could another apology even suffice at this point? Update: Comcept tells Kickstarter backers that the delay stems from both deciding to remove copy protection from the demo (since it was already having trouble with Steam distribution) and responding to backers' requests to remove the time limit. That's reportedly going to take some time, in part because the DRM-free delivery involves making arrangements with Humble Bundle.
Wanted: your custom 'Super Mario Maker' levels
Something happened when we were broadcasting the Wii U's Super Mario Maker on Playdate last week. Sean Buckley and myself (and almost assuredly someone from Twitch chat) thought it'd be a great idea to play through levels that the community made, live on the internet. And guess what? That's absolutely what we want to do, but we'll need your help. For a future stream we'd love to do nothing but play custom levels created exclusively by our loyal Playdate viewers. All you need to do is take the ID code for your masterpiece and drop it in an email to EngadgetPlaydate@gmail.com. It's easy! We're playing pretty loose with the rules too. You can send us a couple of your favorites (but fewer than 30) if you're having a tough time narrowing it down to just one, and all that we ask if you not have anything lewd contained therein.
'For the King' is a hard, cute co-op game that needs your help
At first blush, it's easy to dismiss a game based on its marketing bullet points: persistent choices; rougelike, online co-op. But sometimes it takes actually seeing it in motion for the cynicism to fall away. That's what happened to me with For the King, a gorgeous little game that hit Kickstarter recently and was almost entirely funded ($26,739 of a needed $30,210 as of this writing) in its first day. Roguelikes by definition are typically solo affairs, but For the King supports three-player online co-op and the developer promises the game's "unforgiving" in nature. So, expect a lot of death once the procedurally generated game launches next June.
Playdate: Running wild in 'The Deer God' and 'Castle Crashers'
Fun fact: If you do a Bing voice-search on Xbox One for The Deer God, instead of coming back with the option to download the indie sidescroller you'll see results for the 1996 Greg Kinnear flick Dear God, an Avenged Sevenfold album with a song named "Dear God" on it and absolutely zero games named The Deer God. Actually finding the absolutely gorgeous venison-focused title takes a lot more work, which is strange considering that it's one of this month's free downloads as part of Xbox's Games with Gold promotion. No matter! We did the digging for you and are going to play the game live on Twitch (along with Castle Crashers Remastered) starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT.
PlayStation 4 is getting a price cut in Japan
If you were holding off on a price drop before buying a PlayStation 4, I hope you're living in Japan. Sony just announced that its latest home console is getting a price cut to 35,000 yen (around $300) in the region, starting October 1st. You might be asking how this affects everyone else. Well, for starters this is a Sony sanctioned price cut and this is the first official one for the PS4. With the upcoming Paris Games Week (that Sony's pledged to be at in a big way) this could very well signal a price drop in Europe. And then we have the upcoming PlayStation Experience show in the United States later this year, which could see the asking price drop domestically too.
Watch PlayStation's Tokyo Game Show keynote right here!
Sony was entirely absent from Europe's annual Gamescom tradeshow last month, but the electronics juggernaut isn't going to sit out the premiere event on its home soil, the Tokyo Game Show. In fact, the outfit wants everyone to watch it tonight during a livestream. The keynote's scheduled for an English broadcast and we've embedded the live player right below. What can we expect come 3AM ET? Probably an update on how many PlayStation 4 consoles the company's moved since it last announced that 20 million number, and maybe even a hard release date for the console's big 3.0 system software patch.
Xbox One's upcoming overhaul has an opt-in beta
That new Windows 10 Xbox One update sounds pretty great, right? Well, how it works is a little different than folks in the console's Dashboard Preview Program are used to. Previous updates were pushed out automatically and you had no choice over installing them, but here you can choose as to whether or not jump into this massive overhaul. Xbox spokesperson Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb says that Preview members will get a message in their system's inbox and you'll need to register and opt-in from there. But if you're not quite sure about being even more of a guinea pig that's totally okay: You can choose to not participate in the double preview and still get the regular dashboard updates ahead of the general public.
'Dota 2' is the first title running on Valve's new game engine
If you want a look at just how much PC gaming powerhouse Valve (and gaming as a whole) has changed consider this: When the company launched the original Source Engine back in 2004 it did so with a beta for a new version of Counter-Strike (Counter-Strike: Source) and then went wide a few months later with Half-life 2. The first game running on Valve's follow-up engine, Source 2? Dota 2. Specifically, Dota 2 Reborn. As Eurogamer points out, the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) has been running in Source 2 in beta since June, but now the game's sporting a new UI and more game modes on Source 2, including support for 20-person matches.
'Pokémon Go' uses your phone for real-life Mewtwo hunting
We've seen Pokémon in VR before, but how about getting them about and playing with them in the real world? That's what Pokémon Go wants to achieve. It's a collaboration between Niantic Labs (the folks behind the GPS-based Ingress) and The Pokémon Company. From what we can tell, it's going to use Niantic's location-based backend to have you catching, fighting and trading the pocket monsters in the streets around you. Of course, there's a wearable involved dubbed the Pokémon Go Plus too. It's a Bluetooth device from Nintendo that's shaped like one of the series' Pokéballs (capture-gizmos that store monsters after defeating them) that pairs with both Android and iOS to flash and vibrate, giving you alerts when something is happening in the game in your vicinity. It goes a bit further than that though, and you can even use the Go Plus to capture a monster with it.
$30 'Fallout 4' season pass guarantees all add-on packs
A real-life Pip-Boy might be painfully out of reach, but Fallout 4 developer Bethesda has something else that might make up for it: a season pass for add-on content that actually sounds like a hellacious deal. Bethesda admits that it doesn't even know what future packs will look like, but says that they'll start hitting early next year. Thirty bucks for "all of the DLC we [Bethesda] ever do" sounds like a great idea, though. Almost every piece of post-launch content for Fallout 3 fundamentally changed how the game played in pretty significant ways, be it turning the role-playing game into an objective-based affair with "Operation: Anchorage," a survival horror romp in "Point Lookout" or "Mothership Zeta's" corridor-shooter sensibilities, so there's precedent for some neat stuff coming down the pike.
Playdate: We're going the distance in 'Forza Motorsport 6'
We're going for speed. We're (not) all alone in a time of need. All '90s song references aside, today we're going to race through two hours of the latest entry in Microsoft's racing simulation, Forza Motorsport 6. What's that mean for you? Well, you'll be able to watch me careen around race tracks, cause massive amounts of vehicular carnage and generally turn my Drivatar into everyone's worst nightmare. If that sounds like your type of party, come back here at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT to witness the glory (Tim's feeble racing skills) and the hilarity (Sean Buckley's amazement at said driving skills).
The year of change for 'Destiny' starts next week
Developer Bungie is treating Destiny a lot like an MMO and come next Tuesday the game shifts into version 2.0, what the studio is effectively referring to as "year two" for the game. There are a ton of changes coming, and even if you don't snag the kick-off expansion pack "The Taken King," you'll be able to benefit from them. Bungie's latest blog post gets into the nitty-gritty, but we're going to keep it mostly high-level here. First up: new modes and new maps for the game's adversarial multiplayer mode, Crucible, are out now but unless you buy the next expansion, will disappear once "King" launches in earnest next week. A new subclass for your character is available as well. Everyone, not just "House of Wolves" and "Dark Below" purchasers, will get the benefit of an increased level cap (bumping up to 34), but again, buying "King" will increase it further (to 40).
'Halo,' 'Destiny' composer Marty O'Donnell wins lawsuit against Bungie
Developer Bungie's former in-house composer Marty O'Donnell had his day in court and it's time for Bungie to pay the piper. In addition to the initial payout of $142,500 he's owed as a profit-sharing program, O'Donnell also gets to hold onto what VentureBeat describes as a "considerable" amount of stock in the company responsible first for Halo and now Destiny. As part of the terms, apparently unless O'Donnell gets permission he can't publish any music from Destiny as his own without Bungie's blessing. In June, O'Donnell revealed that he was starting a new studio with other game-industry vets, Highwire Games. [Image credit: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP]
'Borderlands' is the latest backwards compatible game on Xbox One
Even if you spent $399 on the ultra-crazy edition of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection there was a pretty gaping hole in it. No, I'm not talking about what that purchase did to your bank account, I mean the anthology's distinct lack of the series' first game. Well, for Xbox One owners that's changing because the Vault Hunters' first trip to Pandora was recently added to the list of Xbox 360 games playable on Microsoft's newest console -- something that was teased back at E3 this year. Folks in the Dashboard Preview Program can start playing right now, of course, but everyone else who got stuck on Dr. Ned's zombie island (Microsoft says all save files, add-on content and achievements will transfer over) have to wait until the feature launches to the public this November. You still had a few lunar side-quests left to finish for Handsome Jack in the meantime anyhow, right?
