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18 CommentsThe Xbox One can talk to you, will feature remote play
By Brian Crecente at 11:30a 05.24.13
Among the features not yet shown off for the console is the ability for gamers to have a friend take over gameplay remotely to help them through a difficult spot in a game and Kinect's ability to talk back to gamers.
The Xbox One's heavy reliance on the Kinect for voice commands will eventually include two-way conversations, according to a source who has tested out the still-in-development feature.
In one scenario, Kinect used its facial recognition to scan a room full of people and note if there was someone in the room it didn't recognize. It then told the console owner that there is someone in the room it didn't recognize and asked the new person to identify themselves. Once the person said their name, Kinect welcomed them and saved their information to the console.
Xbox One's...
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0 CommentsFightback, Ninja Theory's first mobile game, coming to iOS and Android this summer
By Samit Sarkar at 11:00a 05.24.13
Fightback, the first mobile game from Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and DmC: Devil May Cry developer Ninja Theory, will be released on iOS and Android this summer, publisher EA Chillingo announced today.
"Ninja Theory has always strived for the highest production values and that absolutely remains the case in this exciting new space," said Dominic Matthews, product manager at the Cambridge, U.K.-based independent studio.
The free-to-play title is an action game with touch-based combat and an '80s vibe. From the single screenshot released alongside the game's announcement, it appears to focus heavily on time-limited levels in which players attempt to rack up high scores to attain different levels of completion.
Ninja Theory will demo Fightback at E3 next month.
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13 CommentsEA moves toward a two game engine future
By Brian Crecente at 10:31a 05.24.13
Earlier this week Electronic Arts announced that their new sports game engine, Ignite, would be used to power nearly all of their future games. Speaking with Polygon later that day, EA Sports' Andrew Wilson said that the company is also looking to the Frostbite Engine to power most of their non-sports games.
The future for EA, Wilson said, would likely be a company that creates most of their games using these two engines.
Wilson also spoke with us about their decision to not show gameplay footage from Ignite during their on-stage presentation and how they hope to benefit from Microsoft's new relationship with the NFL.
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1 CommentMinimalist platformer Still Time turns time into an illusion
By Samit Sarkar at 10:02a 05.24.13
Still Time, an upcoming Flash game from indie developer Alan Zucconi, is a platformer that messes with time, and Zucconi told PC Gamer that he designed it with a minimalist aesthetic so players could focus on the game's puzzles.
"In the last years there have been incredible improvements in the level of realism that games can achieve, but so few breakthrough in their actual gameplay," said Zucconi. "I wanted to create something experimental to realize exactly the opposite." When time is paused, the screen takes on a CRT-esque filter, and players must utilize copies of themselves at different points in time to get through Still Time's puzzles.
You can watch a trailer for Still Time above. A rough alpha version of the title is playable on Zucconi's website.
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29 CommentsXbox One box art style unveiled with Forza Motorsport 5
By Samit Sarkar at 9:30a 05.24.13
Forza Motorsport 5 was the first Xbox One-exclusive title showcased during the console's reveal event this week, and publisher Microsoft Studios released the game's box art today to show off what Xbox One cases will look like.
Although the console itself is a black box with a glossy, half matte shell, and the controller's guide button eschews its green glow for a white light, Microsoft has said that green would still be a theme for the console. That's born out in the box art, which features a gray spine and a simple green border. We don't yet know what the cases for Kinect games will look like, but Microsoft told Polygon that purple as a branding color for the motion-controlled platform is going away on the Xbox One.
Forza Motorsport 5, which is in development at Turn 10 Studios, is...
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1 CommentSir, You Are Being Hunted gameplay trailer introduces the mountain biome
By Emily Gera at 9:00a 05.24.13
The latest gameplay video for upcoming tweed-punk shooter Sir, You Are Being Hunted shows off the latest environment in the game, the mountain biome.
While previous videos introduced its English countryside-styled setting, the mountain biome region which includes environmental features such as ruined villages and wooded areas, and allowing for more hunting and wilderness scavenging.
The game can now be pre-ordered from the Humble Store right here.
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1 CommentJoe Danger and Joe Danger 2: The Movie coming to PC
By Emily Gera at 8:30a 05.24.13
Joe Danger and sequel Joe Danger 2: The Movie are coming to Steam for Windows PC, Hello Games announced today.
Both titles will feature new content, including additional levels, different graphics settings and controller, mouse and keyboard support. Both titles will support full Steam Big Picture mode, in addition to ghost recording allowing players to compete with other users right in the game. Finally, the PC version is complete with a fully-featured level editor and is integrated with Steamworks which will let you browse levels through Steam Workshop.
"It's weird, PC is actually Joe Danger's birthplace," said managing director Sean Murray in a statement to Polygon. "We couldn't get hold of devkits when we started out, so I coded my first ever PC engine for the original Joe Danger,...
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15 CommentsWatch Dogs gives players the chance to become in-game pedestrians
By Emily Gera at 7:20a 05.24.13
Watch Dogs will use real-world gamers as inspiration for its in-game pedestrian, Ubisoft confirmed as part of a new competition.
The publisher is giving players the chance to get their name into the upcoming open-world title. Users need both a Facebook and Uplay account to enter their details into the competition, which requires their name, birth date, occupation and three additional facts about themselves.
Come launch, the game will include 30 randomly chosen participants who will be entered into the world as AI pedestrians. Users can enter their details here.
Watch Dogs is scheduled to launch Nov. 19 for PC, Wii U, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Versions for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are also on the cards.
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5 CommentsBioWare apologizes for accidentally banning over 100 Star Wars: The Old Republic players
By Emily Gera at 6:55a 05.24.13
BioWare took to its official forums today to apologize for accidentally banning between 100 and 150 players of its MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Yesterday a number of players were emailed a notification for a week-long ban from the game due to an apparent violation of terms of service.
Community Manager Eric Musco has since written an official apology on the game's forums, stating:
"What occurred, and what you folks reported, is that there was a small subset of players who were incorrectly caught in this tracking and subsequently actioned. Just to give you a bit of perspective, there were less than 150 people in total who were incorrectly actioned as a part of what happened yesterday. If you were one of those players who had not been exploiting and were wrongly flagged, you should...
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19 CommentsCall of Duty: Ghosts developer explains the difference between an upgraded engine and an entirely new one
By Emily Gera at 4:53a 05.24.13
The engine used to power the upcoming Call of Duty: Ghosts is an evolved version of a last-gen engine and will feature remnants of developer Infinity Ward's last engine, animation lead Zach Volker told Official PlayStation Magazine.
According to Volker, developers cannot create an entirely new engine from the ground up within a two-year cycle. The result is simply a highly upgraded form of an earlier engine; however, with enough major overhauls, this upgraded engine often has little in common with its predecessor.
"When we're talking about a new engine we're talking about upgrading significant systems within in that engine," he explained. "We're not talking about throwing it all away and saying we're starting from the ground up."
Volker went on to describe the difficulty of making...
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11 CommentsUnity supporting Linux-based platform Tizen
By Jenna Pitcher at 3:01a 05.24.13
Unity Technologies, the company behind the Unity multi-platform game engine, will provide support for Tizen, the Linux-based open source mobile operating system.
The deployment tools will allow Unity's community of developers to create games for Tizen-operated smartphones and tablets, and publish them to the Tizen Store later this year.
"Unity and Tizen have a lot in common in that they both aim to make the creation and the deployment of games and other apps as easy as possible for developers," Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason said in a statement.
According to The Verge, Samsung is expected to launch multiple Tizen phones later this year, along with a high-end Tizen smartphone due in September.
Earlier this week, Unity Technologies announced that it will provide indie...
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1 CommentRagnarok Odyssey Ace coming to the US and Europe for PS3 and the Vita in Winter
By Jenna Pitcher at 2:03a 05.24.13
Marvelous Entertainment and GungHo Online Entertainment are bringing Ragnarok Odyssey Ace to North America and Europe, respectively, for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita this winter.
The new title will feature Ragnarok Odyssey's dungeons, enemies, bosses and weapons, and cross-platform play capabilities. The game is set after the events Ragnarok Odyssey and includes a new set of story episodes, weapon customizations, a new battle system and a set of unique Ace abilities for the six classes: Sword Warrior, Mage, Assassin, Hunter, Cleric and powerful Hammersmith.
According to GungHo's executive producer Kazuki Morishita, Ragnarok Odyssey Ace is both a sequel and an expansion of Ragnarok Odyssey, which launched in the U.S. in October last year.
The Game Arts-developed title...
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9 CommentsRe-Logic reveals Terraria's new game mechanics for Windows PC
By Jenna Pitcher at 12:04a 05.24.13
Re-Logic released a video preview outlining the new game mechanics featured in Terraria's 1.2 update for Windows PC.
The sandbox adventure game first launched on Windows PC in May, 2011. In early 2012, Re-Logic announced that it would cease rolling updates for the PC version beginning February that year; however, a year later, developer Andrew Spinks asked the Terraria community what features they would like in future PC updates.
Around the same time in January, 505 Games announced that the game will launch on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 in March. The console version included new maps, weapons, armor, enemies, the ability to play in split-screen mode and online multiplayer. On March 28, it was announced that Terraria will also be ported to the PS...
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3 CommentsCounter-Strike: Global Offensive introduces community regulators with Overwatch
By Jenna Pitcher on May 23, 2013 05.23.13
Valve is introducing a community regulated scheme called the Overwatch into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, giving experienced community members the power to review and decide on disruptive behavior reports, according the official Counter-Strike blog.
Via the Overwatch button, Investigators will able to view reports of disruptive behavior and give a verdict accordingly. Verdicts are Postpone; Majorly Disruptive, which is applied to cheaters; griefing falls under Minorly Disruptive; and Insufficient Evidence.
A ban will be issued if investigators collectively agree that the offending player is guilty; however, a high-scoring investigator's decision has more weight than a lower-scoring investigator. Ban durations range given the "severity of the offense and the suspect's history of...
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4 CommentsSee Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate's Jacky and Ein brawl in all-new arenas
By Michael McWhertor on May 23, 2013 05.23.13
The Dead or Alive 5 roster will expand with returning fighter Ein and Virtua Fighter's Jacky Bryant — a fighter whose sister already appears in the game — when Tecmo Koei and developer Team Ninja release Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate later this year.
Today, Team Ninja released the first gameplay video of Ein and Jacky as they appear in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate. The video also shows two new stages coming to Ultimate, Lost World and Forest, and a handful of new costumes. New outfits coming in the re-release include a fetishized police uniform for Christie, a Canadian tuxedo for Hitomi and a tasteful cardigan and skirt for Kasumi. Team Ninja offers a closer look at those in a batch of fresh screenshots.
Tecmo Koei previously announced the addition of Ninja Gaiden's Momiji to the Dead or...
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7 CommentsDivekick adds Seth 'S-Kill' Killian to roster as its final boss
By Michael McWhertor on May 23, 2013 05.23.13
Seth "S-Kill" Killian, fighting game expert, former special advisor at Capcom and now producer at Sony Santa Monica Studio, has joined the increasingly bizarre cast of parody fighting game Divekick.
Featuring Killian's signature cross handed style, S-Kill will appear as the final boss of the game's story mode. He's also playable, with a unique set of moves. S-Kill can teleport — much like the Seth of Street Fighter 4 — instead of jumping before his divekicks and has the ability to parry.
S-Kill is a challenging character to play, as we learned during some hands-on time with Divekick last week (while playing against the real-life Seth Killian). While we'd never beat Killian in a fair fight in any other game, Killian seemed to be at something of a disadvantage while playing as...
