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A few stiff drinks saved 'No Man's Sky'
I'm alone on a freezing planet blanketed in snow; pine trees the color of rusted metal hang heavy with white powder. It's minus 163 degrees Celsius (minus 261 Fahrenheit), but my suit keeps me warm. For now. The thermal meter in the bottom-left corner of the screen slowly ticks down, warning me to find shelter or make some with the grenade attachment I recently crafted onto my gun. It shoots orbs of energy that blast through stone like warm butter, sometimes revealing massive underground cave systems dotted with spiky red plants rich in minerals for me to mine. Or, I could simply leave the planet. I could hop into my ship and blast off into the inky, star-studded universe. I could find a more hospitable planet occupied by strange, dinosaur-like creatures. I could find a more luxurious star system, a more dangerous galaxy, a more exciting adventure. The universe is mine. Actually, it's Sean Murray's. He's the mastermind behind No Man's Sky, the creator of this digital universe packed with 18 quintillion planets, each one unique and begging to be explored. No Man's Sky has captured the attention of the gaming world and beyond -- in the past year alone, Murray has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, met privately with Elon Musk and accidentally ignited a conspiracy theory involving Kanye West. Three years after its announcement, thousands of people around the globe are impatiently waiting for the game to finally launch. And it will, on June 21st. All of this -- the media attention, the anticipation, the entire universe -- started with four developers working out of a tiny English office in 2009, building a game called Joe Danger.
'No Man's Sky' $150 edition comes with a model spaceship
Sure, No Man's Sky finally has a price and release date, but can a game truly claim to have made it without its very own exorbitantly priced special edition? Presenting the No Man's Sky "Explorer's Edition," a limited-run (10,000) version of the game sold exclusively by iam8bit. In it you'll find a hand-painted cast metal space ship, an enamel pin, a "diorama display backdrop," and a "mystery item" with a $10 value. Oh, and a PC game code for Steam or GOG. The price for all this goodness? $149.99. That's pretty high, but iam8bit says the individual components are worth $210.
'No Man's Sky' finally takes off on June 21st for $60
No Man's Sky, the stylish space-exploration game that's roughly as big as the actual universe, will reach PlayStation 4 and PC on June 21st (June 24th in the UK), and pre-orders are live today. It even gets a physical Blu-ray edition on PS4. No Man's Sky is an independent title built by a team of 10 or so developers at Hello Games -- but it's absolutely massive, innovative and highly anticipated, which are a few reasons it'll cost a full $60 (£40 on PC and £50 on PS4). There's also a $150 "Explorer's Edition" courtesy of iam8bit, along with a slew of other game-related goodies. $60 is the standard price of a blockbuster game like Call of Duty or Star Wars: Battlefront, and No Man's Sky promises at least as much replay value as those titles. It has 18 quintillion unique planets to explore, after all. Plus, No Man's Sky has a better name than most AAA games, according to creator Sean Murray. "The thing I was really going for was something that felt like it could be the name of a book or an album or a band, or something like that," Murray tells Engadget. "Because games -- games are all just called the same thing."
'No Man's Sky' launches in June
At Sony's inaugural Paris Games Week press conference today, studio Hello Games revealed that its much-anticipated exploration survival game will hit store shelves some time next June. The developers were also kind enough to drop a new trailer for the game, which you can see immediately below.
'No Man's Sky' will get a Stephen Colbert 'Late Show' demo
With Apple CEO Tim Cook and other guests, Stephen Colbert has shown that tech will be a big part of his Late Show appeal. That includes gaming, judging by two segments scheduled for next week. On Friday, Colbert will welcome Hello Games founder Sean Murray, who will do an interview and demonstration of No Man's Sky. The title has made numerous appearances of late, including in our own Twitch interview (below). Sony is no doubt building hype for a release of the presumed blockbuster, which will debut on the PS4. The question on everyone's mind, of course, is "when is it coming?" We doubt that'll be answered on Late Show, but you never know.
PBS explains the magical math behind 'No Man's Sky'
No Man's Sky is impressive. It's a mind-bogglingly massive game and from what we've seen, it's pretty to boot. But enough about that -- let's talk about math. Specifically, the math that makes this game possible. The YouTube channel PBS Game/Show has collected the numerical information that makes No Man's Sky tick and presents it in a lovely, straightforward fashion for everyone to enjoy. No Man's Sky lead Sean Murray makes a few appearances in the video, of course, and we got a one-on-one, hands-on demo of the game with him during E3. Suffice it to say, 10 minutes isn't long enough to properly enjoy No Man's Sky -- but a lifetime probably won't be long enough, either. See for yourself below.
These were E3 2015's best games
E3 is (thankfully) over, and that means the press that cover the event have recently cast their votes for what they thought were the best games from the show. You know those blurbs on box art saying "winner of over 90 awards" and the like? This is partly where they come from. Collectively known as The Game Critics Awards, the governing body for them is made up of staff from over 30 editorial outlets, including Engadget, that attended gaming's Paris Fashion Week. For a game to even be up for consideration though, it has to be playable -- a stage demo or non-interactive trailer won't cut it. What's it mean for you? In the end, a better idea about what it's like to actually play the biggest games from E3, because we got to go hands-on with them. Without further ado, the winners are in the gallery below. Spoiler: Fallout 4 was pretty successful.
All the news you need to know from the final day of E3 2015
From Day Minus-1 to now, it's been one of the most exciting E3s in recent memory. No new consoles, but lots of actually exciting sequels, ideas, games and cos-players. As we rub lotion into our lanyard rashes, we present our picks from the last day of madness. We'll be delivering our final doses of gaming news today from LA, but we'll all be talking about what was announced this week for at least the next year. Check out everything that game from our LA stint right here. Thanks for following along -- now hit it!
'Minecraft' meets 'Grand Theft Auto V' in space
Imagine: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, reclines behind a desk built out of spare rocket ship parts. A gleaming saber rests to his right. Sean Murray, founder of the independent development studio Hello Games, sits across from him, chatting about Hello's new title, No Man's Sky. There's a break in the conversation and an awkward silence threatens to stretch between the two, but then: "What do you think is the percentage chance that we're living in a simulation?" Musk asks. Murray hardly has time to answer -- he's running late for an appointment with Steven Spielberg and his communications director is getting antsy. At this rate, they won't have time to meet up with Kanye.
JXE Streams: Talking 'No Man's Sky' with Hello Games
Another E3 has come and gone. This one was particularly spectacular. We got to play Volume with Mike Bithell. We got to talk about Yooka-Laylee with legendary Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. We even got to bask in the announcements of seriously unlikely sequels like Shenmue 3 while simultaneously reveling in brand new games like ReCore. E3 2015 was amazing, but we're not done! We have one more developer stream in store for you. Join us on Twitch.tv/Joystiq at 12PM ET/9AM PT while we discuss No Man's Sky with Hello Games.
'Gears of War: Ultimate Edition' and 'Killer Instinct' will come to PC
Microsoft hasn't offered a whole lot of affection to PC gamers in recent years, but it's making some reparations for that today: the company's Phil Spencer has revealed at the PC Gaming Show that both Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and the 2013 version of Killer Instinct will come to Windows 10. He didn't have much to say about when these ports will show up, or whether or not they'll have any new tricks up their sleeves. However, Iron Galaxy Studios' Dave Lang has confirmed Spencer's hint that KI will have Fable Legends-style cross-platform play that lets you brawl with your Xbox One-toting friends.
Sony at E3: from 'Horizon: Zero Dawn' to 'No Man's Sky'
Sony has surprised audiences at its E3 event by revealing a full-blown Final Fantasy VII remake, the new Call of Duty and The Last Guardian gameplay. It has also announced a seriously lengthy list of games other than those three, including a title for it upcoming VR headset and ones that feature PS4-exclusive content. Check 'em all out below the fold!
'No Man's Sky': the game that 'won' E3 2014
Ever heard of Joe Danger? That's okay, you're not alone -- most folks haven't heard of the motocross-based platformer, despite it receiving glowing praise from critics and earning healthy sales from gamers. That said, if you followed last week's annual game industry trade show, E3, you've likely heard of No Man's Sky. The same small team of scrappy Brits that created the cartoony Danger series, Hello Games, is applying its years of game industry experience to a much more ambitious project in No Man's Sky. This is how Hello Games lead Sean Murray described the game at Sony's E3 2014 press conference: "We've created a procedural universe. It's infinite, and it's one that everyone can share. We're gonna start every player on a different planet so no two people will have the same experience. This universe we've created...it's so vast, it's so boundless, it's actually infinite, and we don't even know what's out there." So, how in the world did a team of four game developers transition from indie hit makers to triple-A rogues? We asked Hello Games just that, late last week in an evening demo session for No Man's Sky.
