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Here's that Mega Man 25th anniversary statue
It may not be a new game, but Capcom is celebrating Mega Man's 25th anniversary with a collectible statue, which it announced during its PAX East panel this weekend. Capcom offered a few photos and details about the statue, which you can view in the gallery below.The collectible character stands at 10 inches tall, and is made by Multiverse Studios. It features USB-powered LED lights on the statue's base as well as Mega Man's helmet and arm cannon. Capcom hasn't said exactly how many will be produced, but there will be under 2,000 of them made. It will go on sale exclusively at San Diego Comic Con in July. %Gallery-183674%
Contrast preview: Shadow puppet theater
Once upon a time there was a young girl with a troubled home life who took solace in the imaginary universe she dreamed up when she was alone. We've heard this story before, told in variant forms by Guillermo del Toro, Lewis Carroll and Zack Snyder, but Compulsion Studios puts a new twist on the tale with Contrast.Didi, an inquisitive 9-year-old living with her mother in a 1920s noir world, manufactures a landscape of shadows populated by her lone, best friend, Dawn. Dawn is a young woman, more mature and powerful than Didi, and has the ability to shift between the real and shadow worlds. In Didi's reality, Dawn can climb shadows as if they were solid ground, allowing her to scale areas unreachable by flesh characters. She interacts with few real-world objects, and people, aside from Didi, are invisible to her -- only their silhouettes exist.Contrast is a puzzle platformer, starring Dawn as she shifts between shade and density, helping Didi as she follows her mother through the dark city streets. The game is infused with jazz and tainted innocence: Didi's mom, the cabaret singer; her dad, absent; and a decrepit circus, just rolling into town.%Gallery-183660%
Seen@PAX East: 'Super Poor Indie Area'
Engineer Thomas Macrina set up an anarchic indie booth along one wall of the PAX East showfloor, behind a row of exhibits and under a pair of escalators, with three very hand-made signs. Still, he attracted our attention and a small crowd of curious players: Each person took turns holding Macrina's iPhone 5 as if snapping a MySpace profile photo, made a gun with one hand, held it to one cheek and went to town, snapping that thumb and rotating the phone around the room. Macrina called it Pig Hunt, an augmented reality game for iOS devices. Think Duck Hunt, with your hand as the zapper and the world as your playground. Try not to smile.
First impressions of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Yesterday at PAX East 2013, Blizzard unveiled their first free-to-play game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The upcoming title is a digital, collectible card game akin to Magic: The Gathering Online, but designed to be easy to learn and accessible to a larger audience. The game is currently being demonstrated on the showroom floor at PAX, and I was able to play it a couple of times. When starting my first game, I expected to find Hearthstone confusing because I've never played Magic: The Gathering or any other strategy card game (e.g. Pokémon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh!) before. I am familiar with some of the terminology of MTG, having spent most of my life around hardcore players, but I don't really know the rules or how the game is played. This unfamiliarity didn't seem to get in the way of Hearthstone, though. Within two turns I understood my resource system, and how to play and use cards. By the fifth turn I felt like I understood all the basic mechanics of combat. Then, by the time my seventh turn came around, I was cursing paladins for being overpowered and itching to play another game.
PAX 2013: Hands-on with Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a brand-spankin'-new online collectible card game from Blizzard, announced just yesterday here at PAX East 2013. And since I love you guys soooo much, I took the time to stand in line to take a look for myself. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that I flock to CCGs like a moth to flame. No sirree. Of course, this isn't your traditional MMO, so it's difficult to write a traditional review, especially considering I was able to play only a single match (which I won by a landslide, thank you very much), so instead I'm just going to give y'all a rundown of how the game plays and let you draw your own conclusions. Shuffle your cards, cut your decks, and read on for the skinny on Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.
Don't Starve coming April 24, six months of additional content to follow
Don't Starve, Klei Entertainment's upcoming survival PC game, is slated to launch on April 24 for $15 on Steam, the Mark of the Ninja developer told Joystiq at PAX East today. Don't Starve drops players into a procedurally-generated world in which they guide their character through an island on a quest to survive the elements.The game operates on the notion that in order to survive, players must balance three gauges: health, hunger and sanity. As the character loses his or her sanity, they will begin to see creatures that exist only in their heads, which also gradually become more real and more hostile."You can entirely lose all of your sanity, and then come back from that," Sound designer Matthew Marteinsson said. "There's lots of things you can do to keep up your sanity: you wear dapper clothing, you pick flowers, you do civilized things, and then your sanity comes back." The game offers an advantage to those that lose their sanity, as some items can only be collected when players are severely unstable.The game won't just feature its main character, Wilson, but will include other unlockable characters with their own special abilities. One example shown at PAX East was Willow, a girl that lights her own fires when the screen goes pitch black during the game's night cycle.Klei Entertainment is promising six months of free content to come after the game's full release in April. Don't Starve is currently in closed beta, during which Marteinsson says the team has released additional content every two weeks.
PAX East 2013: EVE Online Odyssey expansion announced
CCP Games has just announced at PAX East that EVE Online's next expansion will be called Odyssey and will hit the live servers this summer on June 4th. CCP told convention attendees that the focus of the expansion will be on exploration and shaking up the status quo of the classic space sandbox. The studio has simultaneously unveiled an official website for the expansion; it promises, among other features, "a re-imagined scanning system, intuitive navigation and new exploration modules" that "will aid you as you search the heavens for your next conquest." [This story is developing -- stay tuned as our PAX attendees post more info!]%Gallery-183651%
PAX East 2013: Hands-on with WildStar's Spellslinger and Warrior
When you start following a game, you always worry that it won't live up to your expectations. It's inevitable, really. I didn't fall in love with WildStar after years of playing; I fell in love based upon a trailer and a design philosophy that appealed to me. The game itself could be far removed from my first impressions, or it could be a cocktail of half-finished systems and unsatisfying gameplay. Without some personal experience in Nexus, all I could to do was wait for the game and hope that it matched my hopes. Of course, WildStar hit the ground running at PAX East 2013. I wrote on Friday about my experiences with the new housing video and some of the game's zones, but that's no substitute for playing the game. So it was with a slight sense of apprehension that I found myself standing behind the demo station controls and jumping in for the first time at PAX. Would I be satisfied, or would this turn out to be a love affair that didn't survive contact with the game itself?
PAX East 2013: Hands-on with City of Steam
I don't know what it is about steam engines, brass goggles, and copious amounts of clockwork mechanisms that excites me so much, but the steampunk genre has a special place in my heart. With that in mind, it should be no surprise that when I discovered that Mechanist Games, the studio behind upcoming F2P browser MMO City of Steam, was going to be at PAX East, I immediately claimed the assignment. For the uninitiated, City of Steam is a title that mixes the traditional fantasy flavors of magic, elves, and goblins with steampunk staples of industrialism, clockwork automatons, and airships to create what is described as "industrial age fantasy in a fallen world." During my time at PAX East, I got to spend just under an hour exploring the world of City of Steam and chatting with the game's developers who were milling about the booth. It's a fairly ambitious title that's aiming to bring a high-quality, modern MMO experience to players' browsers, but will it run like clockwork or go up in a cloud of steam?
Supergiant may break free of publisher model with Transistor
Supergiant doesn't have a publisher for its next game, Transistor – but more importantly, it doesn't need one. Supergiant worked with Warner Bros. to publish Bastion, and since its launch in 2011, it's sold 1.7 million copies across PC, Mac, Linux, XBLA and iOS."It did well everywhere," Supergiant Lead Designer Amir Rao tells Joystiq at PAX East. Supergiant is now in a position to publish its own games, and Transistor might be the ideal candidate."We're showing it to the world for the first time," Rao says. "We don't have deals with anyone. This is the first time anybody has seen this game. It's really way too early for us to say if we'll have a publisher or what platforms it will be on."For what it's worth, Bastion moved the most units on Steam, Rao says. Supergiant may not seek a publisher at all, but anything's possible, Rao says. If it did want to snag a publisher, Transistor faces an issue recently vocalized by Epic Games and Dontnod. It features a female lead, and apparently that can make it a tough sell to publishers. Internally, it's not an issue for Supergiant."We put characters in our games that are representative of the worlds they're in," Rao says. "We don't think of her as a female character. She's just our character."
PAX East 2013: Red 5 on Firefall's new gaming TV channel
Red 5 Studios' MMOFPS Firefall is probably familiar to the Massively family, but it presentation Friday at PAX East was a chance to get a look behind the curtain at how far it's come and how far it has to go during testing. CEO Mark Kern and Lead Game Designer Scott Youngblood presented a little history of the game's development so far, with a look to the future. But if that's not enough to get you to gear up and plant a Thumper, maybe their announcement about a brand-new video channel devoted to everything and anything involving gaming will catch your interest.%Gallery-183638%
Ronimo Games considering crowdfunding for Awesomenauts content
Awesomenauts developer Ronimo Games is considering a crowdfunding approach to make its next project a reality. The developer self-published Awesomenauts on Steam in August 2012, and has since offered a number of updates and extra content for the PC version of the game.Though the developer's next project is "not Awesomenauts 2," it does have ambitions to expand on Awesomenauts. "There are some bigger features that we want to try to do, but we don't have the capacity to really do that right now," Ronimo Games co-founder Jasper Koning told Joystiq during PAX East.Crowdfunding extra content has lead to success before, most recently in the case of a successful Indiegogo campaign to bring new characters to Skullgirls. The campaign reached its $150,000 goal in less than 24 hours.As seen with Lab Zero Games, the costs for creating new content for its fighting game made the goal a reasonable one to obtain. Likewise, Ronimo Games has added four characters and a number of maps to Awesomenauts in the game's lifetime, and has offered that content to Steam players for free.Not every piece of additional Awesomenauts content is free, as the developer sells character skins. Without revealing any specific numbers, Koning told Joystiq the "skins do very well, we're not getting really rich off of it, but well enough for us."
PAX East 2013 in pictures
There's nothing quite like the experience of being on the show floor at PAX East. From fan gatherings to the booths to the general atmosphere throughout the show, it's a unique experience. It's also a unique experience you probably don't get to have if you're not in the northeastern part of the United States, since traveling to Boston is a dicey proposition at the best of times. And most people can't afford to give up rent for a month just to go to a game convention. Obviously, the Massively away team is doing its best to give you a sense of the show floor through our articles about the big reveals, but what about the rest of the festivities? We've collected a gallery of our pictures taken on-site throughout the three-day exposition, and we'll be updating it through the remainder of the weekend. It's the next best thing to being in Boston and standing in line for an hour to see a panel about stuff you already knew! %Gallery-183635% Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of March 22nd to 24th, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2013. Whether you're dying to know more about WildStar, DUST 514, or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
The Daily Grind: Are you excited for WildStar's housing?
Yesterday was a big day for existing WildStar fans, as it was a chance to finally take a look at the game's housing system. It was also a big day for people who hadn't previously been fans of the game, as a lot of people sat up and realized that yep, this game will have quite a robust housing system at launch. It's one thing to be told that the game will have a housing system and quite another to be told exactly what it will do, how much it will benefit you, and how many different playstyles can take part in the fun. Of course, some people may still be unmoved. Maybe they still have a hangup about WildStar's graphics. Maybe they're not convinced that the housing video is anything more than a beautiful lie. Or perhaps they're just opposed to in-game housing. So today we ask you, dear readers. Are you excited for WildStar's housing system? Does it make you eager to play the game or just reinforce an existing eagerness? 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!
PAX East 2013: Hands-on with The Elder Scrolls Online, round two
Last October, I paid a visit to the ZeniMax Online studios in Maryland in order to get some hands-on time with the studio's upcoming MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online. Well, today at PAX East I got to pay the lands of Tamriel a second visit to see how far the team has come since my first look at the game. Honestly, I was initially dreading writing this because I was sure that I wouldn't have anything to say that I hadn't said in my previous review, but thankfully, I was worried for nothing. The game was hardly recognizable to me because of the sheer amount of attention that's been given to it since I first played it in its alpha stage last fall. Gone was the functional-but-barebones UI with which I was familiar; it's been replaced with a sleek, polished interface leaps and bounds above the (notoriously awful) interfaces seen in the single-player entries of the series. On top of that, I got my grubby paws on a different faction, swapping my Dunmer of the Ebonheart Pact for a Breton of the Daggerfall Covenant. After character creation (which, by the way, is insanely detailed with dozens of appearance sliders and customization options), I was dropped into Stros M'Kai, the starting zone for members of the Daggerfall Covenant. From there I was let loose to roam, explore, quest, and fight for a solid two hours.
Two new Awesomenauts on the way, latest map in two weeks
Ronimo Games is demoing a new level for Awesomenauts called Aiguillon at PAX East. The level takes inspiration from the game's character Leon, as it features a power-up that grants Leon's stealth ability to whoever grabs it first. Ronimo tells Joystiq that the map will undergo a closed beta phase before being released in two weeks on Steam.Awesomenauts will also receive two new characters, one of which is currently in production. The other character will be the result of a community survey on Facebook, which gives fans a chance to see their character designs in the game.
PAX East 2013: Marvel Heroes releases June 4th, will have PvP on launch
The news from PAX East 2013 keeps on flowing. Gazillion Entertainment has announced that Marvel Heroes will officially launch on June 4th, with early access early access starting May 28th for owners of the Founders pack. For those of you who just can't wait until the early access or launch, closed beta is still ongoing and has been expanded to include owners of the Premium pack. At the PAX East panel, Gazillion also confirmed that PvP will be available at launch and talked about endgame content in the form of boss runs and "ultimate powers." Massively's intrepid PAX East team will be meeting with Gazillion to talk about Marvel Heroes, so stay tuned for more information. [Update: We've updated this post with the new villain trainer after the break!]
PAX East 2013: Diablo III console video sizzles, Blizzard hints at other platforms
Diablo III's console edition is the cornerstone of Blizzard's booth at PAX East this weekend (but by no means the only product on display), so it stands to reason that the team would have cut together a new trailer to promote the coming console conquest. As we mull over the prospect of Blizzard winning over large swaths of the current console market, the PA Report discovered that Diablo III might not stop at just the PlayStation 3 and 4. In an interview, Blizzard did not want to make any official announcements but did state that the Diablo III console edition was "not necessarily a Sony exclusive." You can watch the "sizzle reel" of Diablo III with the adjusted UI after the jump! Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of March 22nd to 24th, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2013. Whether you're dying to know more about WildStar, DUST 514, or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
PAX East 2013: Hi-Rez Studios' Todd Harris talks SMITE, Global Agenda 2
SMITE just recently celebrated the release of its 32nd playable deity, Aphrodite, but she's far from the last thing in the wings for Hi-Rez Studios' borderline blasphemous MOBA. We got the chance to catch up with Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris at PAX East to find out what awaits in the studio's future. Obviously the studio's immediate focus is on its new golden child, SMITE, for which Hi-Rez (partnered with Twitch.tv) is holding a $10,000 tournament at PAX East over the weekend. Harris also mentioned that SMITE is looking to officially release once its roster reaches about 40 deities, which he says will likely be sometime this summer. And for those of you with itchy trigger-fingers, Harris also mentioned that Global Agenda 2 is, in fact, still alive and kicking, though right now further details are scant. What we do know is that the team is focusing on the game's PvP for launch, which may be somewhat disappointing to fans of the original Global Agenda's co-op PvE, but Harris says that the studio wants to put forth the most polished PvP experience possible before looking into expanding the game into PvE territory. Unfortunately, that's about all we know right now, so we'll just have to content ourselves with knowing that it hasn't been relegated to the realm of development hell. Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of March 22nd to 24th, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2013. Whether you're dying to know more about WildStar, DUST 514, or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
PAX East 2013: A first look at WildStar's housing and new zones
If you've been keeping up with activity here on Massively over the past couple of years, you know that I'm pretty excited about WildStar. So I was pretty happy to sit down and get a look at the game's high and low areas, not to mention the game's housing system. I was a bit less happy that said look didn't include a chance to play the whole thing myself, but if I had that opportunity I probably never would have let go of the demo station. While the demo was hands-off, it did give plenty of opportunity to see a sample of the game's starting areas, what the high-level regions look like, and what players can expect when they sit down to start building their homes. So let's start out at a region that's both high in level and high above the rest of the game... because it's in high orbit. (And don't forget the housing video past the break!)%Gallery-183604%
