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Grim Fandango Remastered lives again on January 27
Death comes for us all, but on January 27, it comes for your PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in the form of Grim Fandango Remastered. Sony revealed the release date for the Double Fine adventure game (not to be confused with the Double Fine Adventure Game, which became Broken Age, which is also coming to PS4 and Vita) as part of their PlayStation Experience event happening this weekend in Las Vegas. To check out the game in action, just watch the teaser posted above. [Image: Double Fine]
Double Fine bringing Broken Age, Day of the Tentacle to PS4, Vita
Double Fine's Broken Age will launch on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on the same "day and date" that the second half of Broken Age's PC version launches, studio founder Tim Schafer announced during the PlayStation Experience keynote. Additionally, Double Fine will be bringing its classic adventure game, Day of the Tentacle, to PS4 and Vita at some unannounced point in the future. There's no additional information on Day of the Tentacle: Special Edition just yet, but we imagine that's secondary to the excitement all the '90s kids in the audience feel right now. If you're in the mindset for something a little more modern, Double Fine will also be bringing Gang Beasts to PlayStation 4. Similar to games like Surgeon Simulator, Gang Beasts is a purposefully-difficult-to-control brawler that recently rose to prominence thanks to popular YouTube celebrities. If you want to see it in action, we've got a trailer after the break.
The Banner Saga, Suikoden 1&2, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, more coming to Vita
The Vita got plenty of love during the PlayStation Experience keynote, as ports for Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, The Banner Saga, Suikoden 1 and 2, Super Time Force Ultra and Towerfall Ascension (and its expansion) are all on the way to Sony's handheld. Both Suikoden games will arrive next week on Vita (as well as PS3), and Resident Evil: Revelations 2 will launch in the spring of 2015. A Vita version of Drinkbox Studios' Severed was also announced during the PlayStation Experience keynote, joining ports of Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions and Bastion (which is also going to PS4) that were announced earlier in the show.
Shovel Knight brings shovel-based platforming, 8-bit Kratos to PlayStation
Yacht Club Games' spade-wielding hero, Shovel Knight, will be bouncing to PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, Sony announced today as part of their PlayStation Experience keynote. The 8-bit hero will be bringing some company as well, as God of War's infamous god-murderer Kratos will also make an appearance in the game. Don't believe us? Check out the teaser above. [Image: Yacht Club Games]
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions to blow shapes to bits on Vita
Vita owners, you can get in on Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions' vivid chaos when the game arrives on Sony's handheld in spring 2015. The port was announced during the PlayStation Experience keynote, though whether it will be cross-buy compatible with the existing PS4 and PS3 versions remains to be seen.
Have some free PlayStation games this weekend, courtesy of EA
Starting today at noon PST and lasting until midnight on Sunday, December 7, EA will give PlayStation console owners free games. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare on PS4, Mirror's Edge on PS3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted on Vita will all available for free on the PlayStation Store for the length of PlayStation Experience.
Bastion rebuilding worlds on PlayStation 4, Vita
Supergiant Games' Bastion has already conquered plenty of platforms, but why not add the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 to that list? Sony announced that the much-loved game about a kid - sorry, The Kid - rebuilding his world will be coming to Vita and PS4 as part of their PlayStation Experience keynote today. A teaser trailer is also viewable above. [Image: Supergiant Games]
Resogun saves the last humans on PS3, Vita this month
Carousel-scrolling shooter Resogun will reach PlayStation 3 and PS Vita on Tuesday, December 23 in North America. The game will launch nearly a week earlier in Europe on Wednesday, December 17. Resogun first arrived as a launch title for Sony's latest home console, PlayStation 4, in November 2013. While originally developed by Housemarque, the PS3 and Vita ports are courtesy of Climax Studios, the developer behind the PS4 and Vita version of Housemarque's Dead Nation. PlayStation Blog notes that the PS3 and Vita versions of Resogun run at 30 frames per second as opposed to the 60 fps seen in the current-gen version of the game. The game will be Cross-Save and Cross-Buy compatible, so those that own the PS4 version will be able to download it on the other two systems for free instead of ponying up $14.99. Resogun on Vita will feature ad-hoc cooperative multiplayer and the ability to customize controls in order to use the system's touch panel options. [Image: SCEE]
Metal Slug 3, fan-chosen Neo Geo games coming to PSN
SNK Playmore will port select games from its Neo Geo back catalog to the PlayStation Network starting with next year's release of the classic run-and-gunner Metal Slug 3 for the PlayStation 4, PS3, and PS Vita. Metal Slug 3 saw an upgraded Steam release earlier this year boasting online multiplayer and leaderboard support. An Xbox Live Arcade version was released in 2008. SNK Playmore is polling fans to determine its next PSN release among a list of 15 possible games. Featured candidates include competitive shoot-'em-up Twinkle Star Sprites, acclaimed golfing sim Neo Turf Masters, and combo-driven brawler Sengoku 3, along with classic fighters like Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Samurai Shodown 5 Special, and The Last Blade 2. [Image: SNK Playmore]
Space shooters Ultratron, Titan Attacks flying to new platforms
Curve Digital will publish two of Puppy Games' arcade-style space shooters on new platforms: Ultratron and Titan Attacks. Ultratron will reach PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Wii U and Vita early next year, and features twin-stick "arena shooter action." As for the Space Invaders-like Titan Attacks, Curve will distribute the game on 3DS in early 2015 as well. Titan Attacks launched on PlayStation systems earlier this year. Ultratron arrived on Steam in March 2013 and is considered a "throwback" to Vid Kidz' 1982 arcade shooter, Robotron. The game features a "full upgrade system" and adaptive difficulty settings. Ultratron will be Cross-Buy-enabled on PlayStation systems, and is expected to launch in the same week on Wii U and Xbox One. Head past the break to check out a trailer of the game's PC version. [Image: Puppy Games]
The best game about depression stars a homicidal toy bear
Whether it's because you can't afford to give the gifts that society says mark you as a good person, or because you're missing someone who used to be at your celebrations, or even just because it's cold and dark, depression can hit particularly hard during the holidays. One of the biggest problems with depression is trying to explain it to people who've only ever experienced the transitory kind that everyone faces at some point in their lives - the kind that hits after a breakup or a loss. They tend to think that depression means you're sad and just need a good cheering up. If you're suffering this holiday season, rather than suffer through another round of suggestions that you "shake it off," consider handing your well-intentioned friends a Vita and copies of Danganronpa:Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair and let Monokuma explain how depression really feels. I'm as surprised as you are that a game starring a homicidal mechanical bear would be a good instructor on the nuances of mental health, and I rather doubt it's what the developers had in mind, but Danganronpa does a surprisingly elegant job of conveying what it can be like to live with depression. In case you're not familiar with the games, they involve a group of exceptional students who are kidnapped, have their memories erased, and are forced to kill each other if they ever want to return home. Admittedly, it's a situation that just about anyone would find depressing - murder someone or never see your loved ones ever again - but the most important part is the villain of the games, known as the Ultimate Despair. Every one of the students is the Ultimate Something-or-other - baseball player, programmer, swimmer, traditional dancer - but the villain's speciality is making people feel despair on such a deep level that they lose all hope. In that state, they become part of the Ultimate Despair's terrorist network because, really, why not? When you don't see the point in anything, does it really matter if you destroy entire cities or kill yourself? Nothing's ever going to get better anyway. It's an extreme depiction that serves the over-the-top nature of the game, but it's a pretty apt description of what it's like to live with depression.
Fan-made Persoronpa Q mash-up looks beary interesting
This fan-made recreation of the Persona Q opening with Danganronpa characters is a little old and it's also quite spoiler-ish, but we figured it's still worth highlighting because, well, it's fantastic. Also, since it's apparently open season on crossovers in Japan, maybe it will nudge Atlus and Spike Chunsoft in the right direction, hmm?
SteamWorld: Heist expands to consoles, PC platforms
Image & Form's turn-based strategy game SteamWorld Heist is coming to "all current platforms," studio CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson revealed this week. SteamWorld: Heist is now scheduled for release on the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, and Xbox One, along with Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. Heist follows up on the studio's mining-themed action game SteamWorld: Dig, which was featured as one of last month's free PlayStation Plus releases. Image & Form is also considering a mobile release, though plans have not yet solidified. SteamWorld: Heist will premiere as a staggered release across all of its announced platforms starting in spring 2015. [Image: Image & Form]
Sony rings in the holidays with four weeks of PSN discounts
Sony wants to make it a bit easier to avoid the hazards of brick and mortar retailers this holiday season with a fully digital, four week-long PlayStation Network sale on television shows, movies and games for each of the publisher's platforms. From now until the end of December, PlayStation Network visitors will find a wide swath of releases available at up to 65 percent off. Those discounts jump as high as 75 percent off for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Highlights include the PlayStation 4's alternate history shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order at $36 ($30 with PS Plus), both crude cartoon adaptation South Park: The Stick of Truth and racing sim Gran Turismo 6 at $20 ($16 with PS Plus) and Capcom's lesser known yet highly addictive action platformer Dustforce for $5 ($4 with PS Plus). A full list of ongoing discounts can be found on the PlayStation.blog. If you can't find anything appealing there, have patience. This promotion adds new discounts each week, with the biggest discounts presumably arriving as we inch closer to December 25. [Image: Bethesda Softworks]
Cyberpunk bartending for racist corgis, Waifu in VA-11 HALL-A
VA-11 HALL-A is like Papers, Please, but with alcohol instead of immigration papers. Developers at Sukeban Games lovingly call VA-11 HALL-A a "booze-em-up" game. It's set in a post-dystopian, corporate-controlled society where every citizen is infected with nanobots designed to oppress, and law enforcement agents called White Knights trawl the streets, ensuring no one breaks the law. And of course there are racist corgis with translation devices. As a bartender in a small downtown joint called VA-11 HALL-A – or just "Valhalla" to regulars – players meet and talk to a wide range of people, hearing stories of this brave new world and helping customers through their issues. "While the player can perform different actions besides bartending – changing the tunes in the jukebox on past versions of the game is a good example – the bartending will be the only way the player has to interact with the character," Programmer Fernando Damas tells Joystiq. "This is mainly because that format offers a more seamless experience between gameplay and story. It also offers a more complex yet easy-to-understand approach to the choices menu and dialogue trees these kind of games have."
Y2K: Paranormal elevator death, new RPG systems, no hipsters
Y2K stars Alex, a young man with thick-rimmed glasses, a full beard and a flannel shirt over a nerdy retro tee and jeans. He fights enemies with vinyl records. Need more hipster cred? Developer AckkStudios describes the plot of Y2K as follows: "When an erratically behaving elevator claims the life of a young woman, unemployed recent college graduate Alex Eggleston takes to a primitive 1990s message board to find answers about the death of this stranger. His quest for answers leads to more questions as his research points him to a mysterious van the internet has dubbed the 'Death Cab.'" Yes, Death Cab. Y2K may seem like a hipster paradise, but AckkStudios co-founder Brian Allanson tells Joystiq that Alex isn't a hipster – he's just a guy who knows what he likes. The same goes for the entire, real-life development team. "For the characters in the game: No, they don't view themselves as hipsters," Allanson says. "Alex is a little bit oblivious to the fact that he's so hip. He's just living his life with his interests. Personally, speaking for the team, we don't call ourselves hipsters. If someone called us that we'd accept that as a description because we are some young people making an indie game – and that's pretty hip, I guess. Although we're really nothing like the characters in Y2K."
20th Anniversary Edition PS4 pays homage to original PlayStation
On the morning of the PlayStation's 20th birthday, Sony's gone full time-warp by unveiling the limited edition 20th Anniversary PS4. There are just 12,300 units worldwide of the commemorative console, and Sony warns there's "very limited" supply in the US & Canada. The "Original Grey" PS4 echoes the clean hue and colorful logo of the first PlayStation, along with the iconic grey and black design of the DualShock. The system and controller are both embossed with a special pattern of the four PlayStation face buttons, with 2s in front of the circles to make 20s in honor of the anniversary. Also, each system is numbered with a plate in the bottom-right corner of the front, showing which of the 12,300 it is. In addition to standard extras and special packaging, the birthday boy PS4 comes with the PlayStation Camera, vertical stand and mono headset, all in the same Original Grey color. If you fancy Sony's link to the past, you'll need $499 (499 euros) and you'll want to watch the PlayStation Experience event on Saturday, December 6 at 10AM PT (1PM ET). Sony says pre-orders open on December 6, and it'll reveal more details in the Experience keynote.
PSN Tuesday: Game of Thrones, The Crew, Secret Ponchos
Ask your parents or significant other to pack you a basket of sandwiches, because you have an entire country to drive across in Ubisoft's The Crew, now available on the PlayStation Store for $59.99 (standard edition). If you prefer to travel within a fictional realm, the first episode of Telltale's Game of Thrones series is also available for $4.99. Read our review here. The PS4 debut of Secret Ponchos, the previously PC-only online shooter from indie dev Switch Blade Monkeys, is available free for PlayStation Plus members ($14.99 otherwise). Other free PS Plus library titles include Injustice: Gods Among Us (PS4), the Hitman HD trilogy (PS3), Deadly Premonition: Director's Cut (PS3) and Vita games Titan Attack and Final Horizon. [Image: Ubisoft]
Last of Us art director abandons swans for tombs
The Last of Us Art Director Nate Wells has joined with Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, according to a tweet from the artist. Wells departed from Giant Sparrow after spending roughly eight months with The Unfinished Swan developer. The art director previously worked at Irrational Games for 13 years before leaving the studio for Naughty Dog in August 2012, then Giant Sparrow this past April. Wells' departure from Giant Sparrow follows the release of The Unfinished Swan on PS4 and Vita in late October, and the developer's next project largely remains a mystery. It announced "Edith Finch" in March 2013 before changing its announcement to "Unannounced Giant Sparrow Project." The next project will not be a sequel to The Unfinished Swan, though the developer said it's "not a million miles away either." [Image: Giant Sparrow]
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth dev has 'big plans' for expansion
It's been less than a month since The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth returned players to the dark, unsettling basement of action-dungeon crawler The Binding of Isaac with a host of new features, yet designer Edmund McMillen is already planning ways to expand the upgraded re-release. "[O]nce the holidays end, the [N]icalis gang will be jumping back into the abyss and digging into the very large design doc [I] have ready for [them]," McMillen writes in a recent blog entry. "[I] have big plans for this expansion, [I] hope to add a very huge chunk of gameplay in the form of a new game mode that will almost double the amount of things you can do, [I'm] very proud of this new design." Additionally, McMillen notes that the expansion will include additional enemies, bosses, areas, endings, items and a new playable character. As it's in the very earliest stages of development, there's no release date nor title for the next Binding of Isaac expansion. While you wait, McMillen would like your help adding new items to the game. He's currently accepting suggestions on Reddit. [Image: Nicalis]
