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Celebrate 20 years of 'Quake' with a brand new game episode
Quake fans have plenty of reasons to celebrate these days. Wolfenstein: The New Order developer MachineGames is championing id Software's classic first-person shooter's 20th anniversary and offering fans a little something special in return: A brand new episode of the game, downloadable for free.
Best of the Rest: Thomas' picks of 2014
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved I love listening to music alone. When no one's looking, I'm free to tap out drum beats, put on emotional lip-synchs and flail in synch with a song's swelling heights. Playing Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved is a lot like those solo jam sessions in the way it grants a free pass to completely lose myself in a song's components. Sure, I look ridiculous, but I have to! Matching notes with halfhearted swipes and restrained punches just leads to broken combos, as if the Kinect is the all-knowing gaze of an instructor ready to belittle a cold, tired performance. Substituting instruments and creating remixes adds a welcome element of experimentation to Fantasia, but it's the core focus of moving with music that brings me back each week. It's increasingly difficult to ignore life's noise while playing a game as I grow older, but Fantasia's peak moments tune out every distraction, leaving me with an uninhibited excuse to enjoy twisted, endearing remixes of songs that I love.
Best of the Rest: Anthony's picks of 2014
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Unlike a surprising number of vocal individuals on the Internet, I happened to like Final Fantasy XIII. Its world of cruel, mercurial gods and long, fashionable coats worked for me despite some miserable pacing and some truly unlikable characters. (Why would anyone try to save Serah or help Snow? They're insufferable.) I didn't love it, though. I honestly thought that I'd finally grown out of Final Fantasy's style of drama. And then came Lightning Returns, the best game to come out of Square's internal Japanese studios since 2006. Everything about Lightning Returns clicked for me. The weird costume design was leveraged to make a speedy, delectable battle system that rarely emphasizes level grinding over skill and strategy. Manipulating the passage of time while sticking to the game's ceaselessly diminishing clock before the world literally ends never feels cumbersome or stressful as in other time management games, it only adds to the driven feeling that fuels the story. And what a story. Lightning Returns trades mewling melodrama for a tale about a post-death world. When everyone lives forever, when nothing changes, what matters? The wooden Lightning of past games instead becomes a powerful point-of-view character for the player, an anchor for our questions about this fantasy world works and what's at stake. Square hasn't made a game this powerful or weird in years, and part of me wishes this was the only Final Fantasy XIII in existence.
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]
PS4 games added to PSN's Summer Sale in Europe
PlayStation 4 owners in Europe have access to a catalog-spanning sale on the PlayStation Network this week that discounts Don't Starve: Console Edition, Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, Trials Fusion, and other platform standouts. PS4-specific Summer Sale highlights include Murdered: Soul Suspect for £29.99, Wolfenstein: The New Order for £44.99, and Thief for £29.99. A number of digital-exclusive PS4 games also see steep discounts this week, including Transistor for £11.59, TowerFall Ascension for £6.49, and SteamWorld Dig for £3.99. Sale prices are effective through August 20. Additional discounts are available for PlayStation Plus members. [Image: Ubisoft]
June NPD: Hardware sales up, Watch Dogs and Mario Kart top games
June was a big month for the gaming industry, according to the NPD, as hardware sales shot up by more than 100 percent, and collective sales of hardware, software and accessories grew by 24 percent. "The 106 percent increase in hardware sales was lifted entirely by console hardware sales, which were up by over 200 percent," notes NPD analyst Liam Callahan. Sony claims the PlayStation 4 was yet again the highest-selling console (for the sixth consecutive month), and Microsoft says that the Kinect-less Xbox One doubled its sales in June. Nintendo's Wii U has experienced a 48 percent growth in hardware sales for the first half of 2014, a feat the company attributes primarily to the success of Mario Kart 8. Despite a decline in overall portable console sales, the 3DS saw a 55 percent increase in sales over May, according to Nintendo. Though Mario Kart 8 has been very successful, it did not take the top software sales spot for June.
Xbox Live Deals with Gold: Wolfenstein, BioShock series
Those that missed out on the final day of the Xbox 360 Ultimate Games Sale yesterday have more deals to look forward to this week on Xbox Live. Both paid and free Xbox Live subscribers can enjoy a 33 percent discount on Wolfenstein: The New Order for Xbox One as well as four XBLA games for Xbox 360 at half price: Quake Arena, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Doom 2. Each of these deals are good from July 17 to July 20 only. As for the rest of the week's deals, starting today through July 21 for Xbox Live Gold subscribers only, Xbox One owners can pick up Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare at 40 percent off. The BioShock series received major discounts on Xbox 360 this week, with BioShock and BioShock 2 now available at a quarter of their respective prices and BioShock Infinite slashed by 57 percent. Four pieces of DLC for the latter game are on sale this week as well; both the Clash in the Clouds and Columbia's Finest add-ons are half-off, whereas both Burial at Sea episodes are 33 percent off. [Image: Bethesda Softworks]
Wolfenstein: The New Order developer discusses potential sequel
Though a follow-up has not yet been officially announced, Machine Games is already plotting a sequel to its alternate-history FPS Wolfenstein: The New Order, creative director Jens Matthies told Giant Bomb this week. "We would love to do a sequel," Matthies said. "We have a very, very clear idea of what we accomplished with this game, and what we want to accomplish with a sequel." Matthies notes that the studio will focus on pre-production if it tackles the Wolfenstein franchise again. "[B]ecause these projects are so long in terms of development -- this was three-and-a-half years for [The New Order] -- and given how long it takes to make a game these days, this kind of game, and whenever you design in terms of preproduction, what becomes the plan for all of those years, has to be a flawlessly polished diamond," he explained. "If it isn't, you end up paying for that further down the line. You have to react to it, change, and do stuff." Wolfenstein: The New Order launched for consoles and PC platforms last month. Our review found that The New Order suffered from "a jarring inconsistency of tone and cohesion," resulting in an experience that was "not really slick enough to be an action classic, and not dramatic enough to draw you in." [Image: Activision]
Wolfenstein enjoys 2014's second-biggest debut in the UK
Wolfenstein is only second to Titanfall for first-week UK sales in 2014, after notching a quarter of the country's physical software sales last week. Even more impressively, that translates into 36 percent of all revenue for the week. The New Order in the UK charts has MachineGames' shooter on top, with Minecraft: PS3 Edition in second after debuting a place lower. FIFA 14 and Titanfall were swapping reigns at the top, but they have to make do with third and fourth respectively. This week it's a stand-off between Watch Dogs and Mario Kart 8, although the Wii U game launches three days later. The multiplatform Watch Dogs looks the most likely winner, but the venerable karter may just have a blue shell up its sleeve. [Image: Bethesda Softworks]
Joystiq Weekly: Amplitude is funded, Wolfenstein review, video previews and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Amplitude fans just discovered a new favorite month of the year, as Harmonix's Kickstarter for a Sony-exclusive continuation of the lane-changing rhythm game cleared its goal within the final day of its funding campaign. Regardless of the original Amplitude's quality, the button-tapper's fan base is pretty niche - if games catering to slivers of the broader gaming population can find the funding they need via Kickstarter, it makes us wonder what other dream sequels we could get away with. There are always the down-and-out series begging for continuations like Shenmue 3, but that almost feels too obvious. What if we launched a Kickstarter for a team to continue an established property? We could start a campaign to glue the pieces of Wipeout developer SCE Studio Liverpool back together, then launch another to cover the resurrected studio's costs to make a new F-Zero! What's that you say? F-Zero is owned by Nintendo and is definitely not a property we can just give out to whoever we wish? Well, we can launch another Kickstarter to fund a protective shield until SCE finishes the game, and then Captain Falcon can finally get back on track with his career! On second thought, maybe we shouldn't take swings at the legal beehive. We'll have to think our F-Zero revival strategy over, but until then, we've got the cliff notes from this week's news and content ready for you. Details about the Xbox One's June update, reviews for Transistor and Wolfenstein: The New Order and video previews for Driveclub and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Morder - it's all ready for you after the break!
Metareview: Wolfenstein: The New Order
Video game villains don't get much more classic than the occult-loving Nazis of the Wolfenstein series - they've been goose-stepping and zeig heil-ing for more than 30 years. Unfortunately, the gameplay of the latest game in the series, Wolfenstein: The New Order, is anything but classic. From our three-star review: "It's almost as if there's a tug of war going between the big dumb shooter and the attempt to be subversive, with the result being a game that's not really slick enough to be an action classic, and not dramatic enough to draw you in." We're not the only ones sending the Nazis packing, though. March on past the break to see what other soldiers thought of Wolfenstein.
Wolfenstein: The New Order review: Nein out of ten
Wolfenstein: The New Order is a brassy and unapologetic shooter – the kind of game that Nazis typically find themselves in. The heroes are damaged and bitter, the enemies endlessly disposable, and the player's portrait gets dressed like a baby if he picks the easy mode. You know what you're getting into, for the most part. But first you get into the burly mega-neck of William "B. J." Blazkowicz, the blue-eyed Wolfenstein guy that's been kicking Hitler in the teeth since the early 90s. He's the kind of guy who slaps the fear out of whimpering soldiers and gets them to thank him for it, sir. After his allied assault smashes against the walls of General Deathshead's impregnable castle in 1946, Blazkowicz wakes up in an alternate reality of 1960. Stumbling out of a 14-year stint and stupor in a mental hospital (tremendous muscle mass curiously intact), he learns that the German army has taken over the entire world, its many technological victories documented in scraps of propaganda and newspapers that proclaim the Earth a calmer place under oppressive rule. Worst of all, London has ditched fish and chips for sauerkraut and sausage. THE NAZIS MUST PAY.
Wolfenstein: The New Order PC specs outlined for 'intended' experience
PC owners need fairly burly systems to play Wolfenstein: The New Order the way it was meant to be played, according to Bethesda. The publisher detailed system requirements for MachineGames' soon-to-be-released shooter, but went on to say they're the specs "to deliver the PC game as it was intended to be experienced." So, while the specs are listed as "system requirements," Bethesda stopped short of calling them "minimum" requirements. Make of that what you will. Anyway, the specs in full are: 64-bit Windows 7/Windows 8 Intel Core i7 or equivalent AMD4 GB System RAM 50GB free HDD space GeForce 460, ATI Radeon HD 6850 High Speed Internet Connection Steam account and activation required As for the consoles, PS4 and Xbox One owners need 47GB free for installs, while it's 8GB for installs on Xbox 360 and PS3 - that goes up to 17GB for a PSN download. The New Order remains primed for launch on May 20, when players will see the return of steely hero B.J. Blazkowicz, but in an alternate reality where the Nazis won the war. So, a bit like the movie Sliding Doors, except... nope, let's end that analogy right there. [Image: Bethesda]
Choose stealth or mayhem in latest Wolfenstein trailer
This trailer for Wolfenstein: The New Order depicts two schools of thought players can embrace when mercilessly killing Nazi soldiers in the game: Stealth and Mayhem. The MachineGames-developed FPS is slated to launch May 20 for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Return to the castle, watch half an hour of Wolfenstein: The New Order
Bethesda is streaming bits of upcoming old-school shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order, and the publisher uploaded roughly the opening half-hour for your eyes to scrutinize. The game proper storms the world on May 20, coming to PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. [Image: Bethesda]
Pre-order Wolfenstein: The New Order, earn Team Fortress 2 hats
Alternate history Nazi shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order is now available for pre-order via Steam, and Valve has opted to sweeten the deal by offering free Team Fortress 2 hats to anyone who plunks down early cash for the PC game. Though Valve's announcement makes no mention of what exactly these hats will look like, it does describe them as both "exclusive" and patterned after some element of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Whether that means historically inaccurate pickelhaubes or the combination helmet and gas mask worn by the grunts in this trailer remains to be seen, but, again, these are free bonuses so try not to look this gift horse in the mouth. Alongside the newly-revealed gratis chapeaus, a pre-order of Wolfenstein: The New Order also grants players access to a beta of id Software's next entry in the hallowed DOOM franchise. However, as we mentioned earlier this month, that beta will only be available to those who pre-order Wolfenstein: The New Order on PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. [Image: Zenimax Media]
Fascism takes the field in Wolfenstein: The New Order trailer
Despite the upbeat intro courtesy Martha and the Vandellas, the latest trailer for MachineGames' Wolfenstein: The New Order reminds us that the only thing more evil than a Nazi is a Nazi soccer referee. [Image: Bethesda Softworks]
Wolfenstein's Doom beta only planned for PS4, Xbox One, PC
Those craving a modern dose of classic shooter franchises can earn beta access for the next Doom game by purchasing Wolfenstein: The New Order. Although New Order will reach the PS3 and Xbox 360 in addition to PC, Xbox One and PS4, the Wolfenstein FAQ has revealed that fans will need to own a capable PC or current-generation console in order to partake in the Doom beta. The page explains that those who have pre-ordered New Order for Xbox 360 or PS3 will still earn beta access, but it will be for the most recent offspring in Sony and Microsoft's families of consoles. Beta access is determined by which console your pre-order is placed for, so you won't be able to get PS4 beta access from a Xbox 360 copy. Although beta keys will be packed in with physical copies of New Order on its May 20 launch date, a kickoff date for the beta itself has not been shared. [Image: id Software]
Wolfenstein Panzerhund Edition includes everything but the game
Wolfenstein: The New Order Panzerhund Edition runs $100 and includes an 8-inch, fully articulated Panzerhund statue, a folder containing 11 "classified" documents, 14 alternate-reality vintage postcards, three patches, dog tags and a steelbook case – but it does not contain the game. The Panzerhund Edition is a collection of premium items, with the game, Wolfenstein: The New Order, sold separately. The special edition is limited to 5,000 worldwide and each one comes with an individually stamped number plate. Pre-orders are open now, with an estimated ship date of May 20. Wolfenstein: The New Order also launches on May 20 worldwide. [Image: Bethesda]
Wolfenstein: The New Order EU, AUS release dates brought forward for simultaneous launch
Europe and Australia are now getting Wolfenstein: The New Order on the same day North America does, after publisher Bethesda revised the regional release dates today. Australia and Europe were due to get the single-player shooter on May 22 and May 23 respectively, but the game is now launching in all three regions on May 20. We'd like to think Bethesda announced/evilly laughed its plans for world domination from inside a chaingun-wielding mech suit - we've yet to see if a certain Fuhrer will return in MachineGames' take on the World War 2-themed series. What we do know is William "B.J." Blazkowicz is back as the gruff-voiced hero, and he's now trying to deal with an alternative post-WW2 scenario where the Nazis won and have the game's 1960s world shackled under their control. We also know The New Order is coming to Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, and that pre-orders will receive a beta code for id Software's next Doom game. [Image: Bethesda]
