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PSN Store Update: Stop He's Already Dead Edition
That scene in The Simpsons? November's new release pile-up is like that, except the games industry isn't about to let up. A glance here should tell you there's still an absolute drove of games waiting to beat us all up before the year ticks over. Brace yourselves, people. This is a particularly games-stuffed edition of our weekly PSN Store updates; there are 13 games out on PS4 alone, including the small matters of Far Cry 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Grand Theft Auto 5 and LittleBigPlanet 3. Since it's so games-stuffed, we're going to take a leaf out of our eShop round-ups and condense all of this week's new releases into a nice, digestible list. You'll find that below the break, complete with links for further coverage as well as SEN store links.
Explore Alaska Native stories with Never Alone's ice climbers
In a week stuffed with all-guns-blazing, triple-A new releases, something like Never Alone is a distinct anomaly. Out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC, it combines challenging puzzle-platforming with a story infused with Iñupiat folklore that comes direct from the source. Co-developers Upper One Games and E-Line Media collaborated with "nearly 40 members" of the Alaska Native community, including elders and storytellers, and the project was funded by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council to ensure its cultural authenticity. The end result is a 2D platformer in which an Iñupiat girl and an Arctic fox struggle against an immense, eternal blizzard as they climb and clamber together through the harsh Alaskan landscape.
Hyrule Warriors takes Twili Midna for a twirl next week
Hyrule Warriors' next DLC delves into the Legend of Zelda's past and retrieves one of the series' most memorable companions as a playable character. Reprized in her True "Twili" form as seen at the end of Link's GameCube and Wii adventure, the Twilight Princess pack brings Midna and her wiles to the Wii U hack-and-slash on November 27. Zelda series producer Eiji Anouma explained on Miiverse why the Twilight Princess returns in Hyrule Warriors as Twili Midna rather than her more familiar form. "When I was developing Twilight Princess," Anouma wrote, "I thought it was such a waste to let a beautiful princess like her only appear in the ending. Now Koei Tecmo Games has made my wish to see more of her come true."
Iron, man - Destiny's 'reforged' Iron Banner 2.0 goes live
It's hammer-time for Destiny, now that the game's "Reforged" Iron Banner event is up and running until Monday, November 24. Hammer-time, get it? You know... forges... hammers... can't touch this? Oh, never mind. Bungie pitched the first Iron Banner as a limited-time PVP event in which "power matters." It was designed to remove the level playing field of the regular Crucible competitive multiplayer mode. In reality, the level-enabled advantages weren't that advantageous. This time, Bungie knowingly introduced the tweaked Iron Banner by saying, "Power. Does. Matter! (no, really)." According to the developer, players within three levels of each other will be competitive, while "players out of your league will seem like a boss."
Halo: MCC matchmaking patch delayed until 'later this week'
Halo, is it matchmaking you're looking for? Sorry, but the Halo: The Master Chief Collection matchmaking-focused patch originally scheduled for tomorrow, November 19, is now due "later this week." After a week in which the Xbox One compilation's been beset by online troubles, 343 Industries said the extra time allows the studio to include more fixes in the title update, as well as ensure a complete testing and certification process. "This content update includes a variety of fixes across the title," reads 343's update on Halo Waypoint, "including matchmaking performance issues, general UI and game stability improvements, as well as fixes for game-game specific issues in Halo: CE, Halo 2, and Halo 2: Anniversary, and more. The full patch notes will be posted later this week, in advance of the content update release."
Goat MMO Simulator will WoW fans for free later this week
If you're a MMO player LFG - Looking For Goats - then you're probably mad. You're also exactly the kind of oddball who'll be interested by Goat MMO Simulator, a free expansion for Goat Simulator that's releasing on Steam this Thursday, November 20. Note the placement of MMO in the title; as developer Coffee Stain Studios puts it, the patch delivers "MMO simulation so good you'll think it's real." Regardless, the DLC features five classes that include Warrior, Rouge (yes, Rouge) and Microwave (still yes, Microwave.) The level cap is 101, sheep and goat factions are at war, and there are mermaids. And, 'cos it's Goat Simulator, there's another great trailer to watch below the break.
Terraria carves out an Xbox One release today
Re-Logic's 2D sandbox exploration game Terraria expands its reach to yet another platform with today's launch of an Xbox One port. Terraria arrives on the Xbox One with a bevy of new items and characters not featured in last year's Xbox 360 version, including new construction components, pets, NPCs, and bosses. Over 1,000 new items are included in all, putting it on par with the recently launched PlayStation 4 edition. The port also boasts new tutorials aimed at first-timers, along with a split-screen co-op mode that supports up to four players. The Xbox One version of Terraria is available digitally for $19.99. [Image: 505 Games]
Color in your calendars for Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Nintendo's lining up Kirby and the Rainbow Curse for February 13, 2015, according the publisher's Facebook page. The big N previously outlined the Wii U game for February, but it's always good to draw a line under things with a specific date. So, you'll all be lining up outside stores... alright, we'll stop with the line thing. If you hadn't guessed, in Rainbow Curse you draw multicolor lines on the GamePad for Kirby to roll along as the pink puffball traverses weird and wonderful worlds. Talking of the weird and wonderful, check out the game's adorable Japanese box art below the break.
Bloodborne due date pushed back to March 2015
Bloodborne isn't delivering on February 6, 2015 as scheduled, after Sony announced a month-and-a-half delay for the PS4 game. The new action-RPG from Souls studio From Software is now due to launch on March 24 in North America and March 25 in mainland Europe. Japan follows suit on March 26, then UK and Ireland are last up on March 27. "While development continues unabated, we would like our team to deliver the best possible final experience," Sony's Masaaki Yamagiwa said on the PS Blog. "We were gratified by the feedback and data we received from those who participated in our limited alpha test. The extra production time will also allow us to better integrate these learnings."
Nano Assault NEO-X swarms PS4 in North America next week
Microscopic twin-stick shooter Nano Assault NEO-X will premiere for PlayStation 4 consoles in North America next week, developer Shin'en announced. Similar in premise to Housemarque's early PS3 release Super Stardust HD, Nano Assault NEO-X challenges players to circumnavigate hazard-filled, rotating terrain while blasting away at enemy hordes. The PS4 port follows up on a 2012 Wii U release, and boasts a new split-screen co-op gameplay mode along with an upgraded 1080p presentation. Nano Assault NEO-X will debut in the PlayStation Store on November 11. [Video: Shin'en]
Elite: Dangerous blasts off in December
Elite: Dangerous will reach PCs on December 16, Frontier Developments announced via press release. The fourth game in the Elite series is the first to launch in many years, as Frontier: First Encounters arrived in 1995. Elite: Dangerous puts players in the cockpit of a spaceship, exploring the open galaxy in both single-player and massively-multiplayer online modes. The Mercenary Edition of the spacefaring game is still up for pre-order via Frontier's online store for $50 (£35 / €40), slashing a cool $10 off the final $60 (£39.99 / €49.99) price tag. Access to the game's ongoing beta is priced at $75. Elite: Dangerous began as a Kickstarter project, earning £1,578,316 (roughly $2 million) in January 2013 to fund its creation. [Image: Frontier Developments]
Doodle Jump DC Super Heroes offers a not-so-serious Batman
Doodle Jump DC Super Heroes is the Batman game iPhone deserves, but is it the one it needs right now? Who cares, it's a cute re-skin of Lima Sky's bouncy vertical platformer that swaps in batsuits, arch-nemeses like the Joker, and bat-powers that include the bat-grappling gun, bat-copter and... er, bat-trampoline. Still, nothing beats an old-fashioned bat-climb. It's free to download right now (in-app purchases are tied to crystals that you can collect by playing), and the Batman episode is one of a number of DC Comics installments coming to the game. According to Warner Bros, future updates will include Superman and Wonder Woman, along with their respective galleries of rogues. And if that's not enough mobile DC Comics tie-in for you, there's always the roster of heroes coming to Puzzle and Dragons next week. [Image: WBIE]
Check out the Majora's Mask 3D Special Edition for Europe
Dah-da-dah-daaaaah! Now imagine that music with a European accent, because Europe's chest-openers will find a Special Edition of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D waiting for them when the game launches in spring 2015. As revealed during yesterday's continental Nintendo Direct, the "limited-quantity" Special Edition packs in a few goodies with the 3DS remake. There's a pin badge of Majora's Mask itself, a double-sided poster and a blue steelbook case also clad in the game's iconic logo. To see Nintendo's fancy video of the Special Edition contents spinning around - you know you want to - head below the break. You'll find the game's announcement trailer there too.
Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition hits PS3, Vita in January
Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition will launch on Vita and PS3 in January, Devolver Digital announced via Twitter today. The game will arrive in North America on January 13, 2015 and in Europe the following day. The port was revealed in August 2013, months after its launch on Steam in March. The PC, Mac and Linux versions of the Megaton Edition includes the core game as well as three DLC packs, and is still available for $10. It also received competitive and co-op multiplayer gameplay modes in a January update, allowing up to eight player to duke it out across the three platforms. The PS3 and Vita versions hit a few bumps since Abstraction Games took on the porting duties; the games were submitted to Sony in May and ran into "lots of certification issues" as of September. [Image: Devolver Digital]
Philosophy, puzzles and Tetris in The Talos Principle next month
First-person puzzler The Talos Principle is coming to Steam on December 11 for PC, Mac and Linux, with PS4 and Android versions scheduled for the first quarter of next year. You'll likely recognize Serious Sam makers Croteam as the developer, but compared to its previous fare the studio's latest effort is an altogether different beast. Self-proclaimed as a "philosophical" game, The Talos Principle explores the greenery and stone of a ruined castle that's curiously interlocked with futuristic technology. So one minute you're strolling down an idyllic woodland path, the next you're moving laser projectors around a courtyard to get past a barrier of light. All the while, as Joystiq's Jessica Conditt put it in her Gamescom write-up, the narrative "approaches death, religion and other deeply introspective topics" as you seek to decipher the underlying mystery. You can watch Jess taking The Talos Principle for a spin at Gamescom by exploring beyond the break. Point the video to the 3:21 mark to skip to the game, or just watch her dying aplenty in two of Devolver Digital's other upcoming offerings, Not a Hero and Titan Souls.
It's that Nintendo Direct time again, broadcasting tomorrow
Nintendo will peel the proverbial banana that is its line-up of upcoming games in a new Direct streaming tomorrow, November 5. The Nintendo of America broadcast will provide "updates about upcoming games for 3DS and Wii U," and it's set to go out at 2PM PT/5PM ET. As ever, Nintendo's European and Japanese branches are running simultaneous broadcasts for their respective regions; that's 10PM UK time tomorrow and 7AM in Japan on November 6.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U bumped up to Nov. 28 in the UK
Nintendo has pushed up the UK release date for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, announcing that its crossover brawler will now hit Europe on November 28. Nintendo originally pegged Smash Bros' UK debut for December 5 before deciding to bump it up a week. A special edition GameCube controller, four-port adapter, and controller bundle will also premiere in the UK in November, but players holding out for the region-exclusive Mario Amiibo bundle will need to wait until December 5 to join the battle. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will launch in North America on November 21. [Image: Nintendo]
The Dark Below expands Destiny on December 9
The first expansion to Destiny, The Dark Below, will launch on December 9, Activision revealed today. The Dark Below takes players below the surface of the moon to compete in new missions and blast through story quests that reveal The Hive's sinister plans to summon a god known as Crota. Which sounds a little too similar to "crouton" for us to be too worried about its desire to destroy Earth. The Dark Below will cost $20 on its own or can be obtained by purchasing Destiny's Expansion Pass, a $35 ticket to both The Dark Below and an upcoming expansion. The Dark Below raises the game's level cap to 32 and adds five bounty slots as well as new weapons and gear, including legendary and exotic items. It also features three competitive arenas – Pantheon, Skyshock and The Cauldron – as well as the cooperative strike mission The Will of Crota and the six-player raid mission Crota's End. PS4 and PS3 players will have access to The Undying Mind, a strike mission that will be exclusive to PlayStation platforms until "at least fall 2015." The expansion was announced during Sony's Gamescom press conference in August. Descriptions of the expansion's content, though determined to not be final at the time, were leaked in September. [Images: Activision]
Costume Quest 2 dresses up on PS4, PS3 tonight
A follow-up to Double Fine's Halloween-themed adventure game Costume Quest makes its console debut tonight, publisher Midnight City announced. Costume Quest 2 once again finds twins Wren and Reynold dressing up in outlandish costumes as they take on enemies in turn-based combat. Our review praised Costume Quest 2's dialogue and humor while criticizing its "plodding, padded pacing," describing the overall experience as "often sweet, sometimes sour, and (for the most part) worth the occasional tummy ache." Costume Quest 2 will hit the PlayStation Network following tonight's PlayStation Store update, and will be priced at $14.99. [Image: Double Fine]
Dragon Quest Heroes hits Japan in February, Metal Slime PS4 out this year
Square Enix's Dynasty Warriors-styled action-RPG Dragon Quest Heroes will launch for PlayStation consoles in Japan on February 26, but series fanatics can grab a special edition PlayStation 4 adorned with a Metal Slime later this year. The Metal Slime PlayStation 4 retail package debuts in Japan on December 11, bundling a limited-edition console with a silver DualShock 4 controller, a code for a Dragon Quest Heroes PS4 theme, and a voucher that allows console owners to download Dragon Quest Heroes 24 hours before it hits store shelves. If you'd rather not coat your console in metallic goo, the Metal Slime figurine itself is detachable. Look at that goofy grin, though! How could you even think of removing it from its rightful place atop the PS4? You monster. Square Enix additionally revealed that Dragon Quest Heroes will run at 60 frames-per-second on the PlayStation 4, while the PS3 edition is locked at 30 FPS. Neither Dragon Quest Heroes nor the limited-edition PlayStation 4 have been announced for a North American release. [Video: Sony / Square Enix]
