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'Spider-Man: Miles Morales' is about half as long as the original game
The PS5 game will be similar in scope to 'Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.'
Insomniac's first Magic Leap game made me an alien plant gardener
Insomniac Games, a studio that's built up a reputation for action-packed games and bold VR experiences, wants you to take care of a plant. It's not just any plant, though. In Seedling, the company's first Magic Leap experience, you're tasked with taking care of alien vegetation. By doing so for a few minutes every day, you help to repopulate the galaxy after a mysterious event wiped out every trace of life outside of Earth. There aren't any blasters or space battles in Seedling -- just the joy of nurturing what's effectively an alien bonsai tree in augmented reality.
Robots reign supreme in new VR games for Oculus headsets
As Oculus hosts its annual OC5 event in San Francisco this week, the company isn't just looking back at its five years in existence, it's looking forward. Specifically to "the latest and greatest in gaming content," Steve Arnold, head of Oculus Studio Content, told assembled reporters at a preview event held the week prior.
Your PS4 'Spider-Man' dreams will continue with a season pass
We're only a few short weeks out from swinging through New York City in Marvel's Spider-Man, but today the team at Insomniac is talking about everything you'll do after you wrap the story. Because this is a huge AAA game, of course there's a season pass with additional episodes. Collectively, they're called "City That Never Sleeps." It's a trio of add-on stories in this case, with the first, "The Heist" out October 23rd, or, a few scant days before Red Dead Redemption 2.
'Spider-Man' is my web-slinging dreams come true
Sony first revealed Marvel's Spider-Man for PlayStation 4 at E3 two years ago, but how it actually plays remained a mystery until now. At this year's show I finally got to go hands on with the PlayStation 4 exclusive. My demo was a little different than what Sony showed off at its media briefing. Rather than a frantic mission during a stormy night above and around New York City's East River, I had an hour to explore a sunny daytime chunk of Manhattan's Lower East Side, mostly as I pleased.
'Knights and Bikes' captures childhood in '80s England
Knights and Bikes is a game about friendship, adventure and a county in the southwest corner of England called Cornwall. The area is littered with sandy beaches and quaint seaside towns that attract British families looking for a cheap summer holiday. Tourism, though, is not enough to sustain the region during the winter months. Rex Crowle, an artist, animator and video game developer, knows this all too well. He grew up in Cornwall in a farming family that raised sheep. It was a "pretty hard life," he said. Enough so that he sold his own flock at age 10 and bought a Commodore Amiga 500 computer.
'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' reaches PS4 and Xbox One on September 21st
After years of speculation and more than a little teasing, it's official: the Spyro series is getting a remake. Activision and Toys for Bob have unveiled the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, which reworks the first three Insomniac-made games (Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage and Spyro: Year of the Dragon) for PS4 and Xbox One. Not surprisingly, the graphics get the biggest upgrade. Toys for Bob has "faithfully" mapped the original levels, but with loads of added detail and flourishes that weren't possible on a PlayStation 20 years ago. And then there's the characters -- much like the Crash Bandicoot overhaul, Spyro and company look better than the original box art (not to mention Spyro's fiercer appearance in Skylanders).
‘Spider-Man’ arrives on PS4 September 7th
Spider-Man swings to PlayStation 4 on September 7th this year. Of course, developer Insomniac Games' web-head adventure comes in three flavors: standard ($60), digital deluxe ($80) and collector's edition ($150). The digital deluxe and collector's edition are identical in terms of bonus features, aside from the collector's edition coming with an art book, a steelbook case, the game on a Blu-ray and a pretty cool statue. According to the PlayStation Blog, pre-ordering the digital deluxe version will net you a custom pin. Both have special cosmetic items like alternate Spider-Man suits and add-on missions. The trio of post-launch narratives will feature new villains, characters and suits as well. For a sneak peek of the game in action, check out the brand new video embedded below.
Xbox's lack of compelling games won't be fixed next year
Microsoft's 2017 started six months early. At E3 2016, Xbox chief Phil Spencer closed out the company's keynote by teasing the "most powerful console ever." At this year's show, he finally revealed the Xbox One X, and in November, the hardware was at retail. In the time it takes to earn a bachelor's degree, Microsoft addressed one of the internet's loudest complaints about the Xbox One: that it wasn't powerful enough compared to the PlayStation 4.
Watch Disney's D23 video game event at 4PM Eastern
You probably don't think of a Disney fan expo as a go-to source for video game news, but you might need to reconsider this year. The media giant is livestreaming a Video Game Showcase starting at 4PM Eastern, and it promises better looks at Disney-themed games than you might have had in the past. The event will center around Square-Enix's elusive Kingdom Hearts III, Insomniac's take on Spider-Man and EA's much-hyped Star Wars: Battlefront II -- those first two in particular haven't had much screen time. Whether or not there are any big revelations, you'll have plenty of opportunities to tune in. Hosts Jacksepticeye and Strawburry17 are streaming the event on their respective Twitch and YouTube channels, while Disney itself is offering a live feed through the D23 website as well as its Facebook games page.
Insomniac's 'Spider-Man' gets what it means to be Peter Parker
When Sony revealed that Insomniac games was working on a PlayStation 4 exclusive Spider-Man game set in an original universe, the specter of another game hung over the announcement -- 2004's Spider-Man 2. This movie tie-in is widely regarded as the game that perfected web swinging, as well as the title that no subsequent Spider-Man game ever lived up to. Creative director Bryan Intihar is aware of the stigma, but he doesn't seem worried. He's confident his game will make players feel like Spider-Man. His goal is more complicated. He wants players to feel like Peter Parker.
Game developers take a stand against Trump's immigration ban
The opposition to the Trump administration's immigration ban has spread far and wide. Video game developers are joining the chorus against what some see as an unconstitutional policy put forth with no thought or consideration of the outcome. For a number of studios, that means making donations to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the non-profit organization that successfully challenged the ban in court over this past weekend.
Oculus and 'Ratchet and Clank' studio reveal two more VR games
Insomniac Games and Oculus Studios have partnered to create Feral Rites, a 3D brawler set on a mystical island, and The Unspoken, a player-vs-player spellcasting game, both exclusively for the Oculus Rift VR headset. They're based in disparate realms of fantasy, from lush jungle temples to the mysterious shadows of big-city alleyways.
'Edge of Nowhere' and 'Song of the Deep' land in the summer
Edge of Nowhere and Song of the Deep sound like perfect games for the summer. Edge of Nowhere is a single-player VR game about the secrets hiding in Antarctica's ice sheets, and Song of the Deep is a 2D sidescroller that takes place under the sea -- that makes two cool titles coming out at the height of the year's heat index. Insomniac Games and Oculus Studios will release Edge of Nowhere on June 6th for the Oculus Rift, and Gamestop will publish Insomniac's Song of the Deep on July 12th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
How 'Ratchet and Clank' preserves history by starting over
If you could go back and redo anything you've created, would you? The team at Insomniac Games was able to do that and give the original Ratchet and Clank from 2002 a complete overhaul. But it isn't a "definitive edition" like we've seen with Uncharted or Gears of War. Insomniac isn't taking a page from Resident Evil's book and just rereleasing the original game, warts and all, on a new console, either. Creative Director Chad Dezern says doing a quick-and-dirty nostalgia grab like that didn't jibe with what the team ultimately wanted to do. "It's about trying to make a game that's great on its own merits and not just because you remember what it was like the first time you played," he says.
'Song of the Deep' is GameStop's first published game
GameStop is making its debut as a gaming publisher with Song of the Deep. Created alongside none other than Insomniac Games, the studio behind acclaimed titles such as Ratchet & Clank, this 2D platformer promises an action-packed journey -- and there are stunning visuals to boot. Song of the Deep's story wraps around a girl's search for her missing father, through an underwater adventure that will require you to explore and use discovery skills to accomplish your goal.
'Ratchet & Clank' hits PS4 on April 12th
The PlayStation 4 version of Ratchet & Clank, a mega-remaster of Insomniac's PlayStation 2 game, lands on Sony's new console on April 12th. That's just before the Ratchet & Clank movie hits theaters on April 29th. Ratchet & Clank on PS4 is more than a simple visual upgrade: It's a completely new game based on the PS2 version, with an expanded story, more planets to explore, new weapons, fresh controls and other goodies.
At E3, I saw the missing pieces of the VR puzzle
The excitement around virtual reality may have started when Sony unveiled Project Morpheus last year, but last week's E3 was its coming out party. The thing is, I've been around long enough to remember the hype and subsequent commercial flatline over gaming in stereoscopic 3D. So going into this year's grand gaming gala, I was skeptical -- I had that awkward tech history footnote in mind -- and to a point, I still am. But Oculus helped me get over that a bit. All it took was a game from a trusted developer -- Insomniac Games -- and an input solution that makes VR feel less isolating.
'Ratchet & Clank' for the PS4 looks like more than a remake
When Sony and Insomniac Games teased that there would be a "re-imagining" of Ratchet & Clank for the PlayStation 4, that raised at least a few questions. Would there be a genuinely new story? New mechanics? Or would it be yet another remaster? Apparently, you can rest easy. Insomniac has offered its first look at the action series' reboot, and it's definitely not just a visual upgrade. While it's undoubtedly prettier (see above), you'll also get "modern controls" and a heaping of new content that includes an expanded story, several new planets, refreshed gameplay segments, and a weapon collection that's largely built from scratch. Your muscle memory from the original game isn't going to help here, folks.
Playdate: We're livestreaming 'Sunset Overdrive' on Xbox One! (update: game over!)
We've been singing Sunset Overdrive's praises for awhile now and it's finally time that the rest of the world gets a chance to play it. The Xbox One exclusive isn't just a killer game, but it's one of the stand-out releases in this year's crowded holiday launch season. What makes it so awesome? Well, for starters it places pure fun over everything else, and coming from the folks responsible for the excellent Ratchet and Clank series for PlayStation hardware it really shouldn't be a surprise. Sunset City is where you're free to dress up exactly how you want (my character is rocking an orange-and-blue pompadour and a pair of underwear with a stuffed kangaroo head dangling off the front; seriously) and shoot ridiculous weapons at former humans while grinding around on power-lines and bouncing off of cars. Never before have we seen vinyl records used to mow down cartoonish mutants, but hopefully it happens a lot more in the future.
