The Point - How Content is Killing AAA Games

Some people enjoyed The Order: 1886 -- and while I wouldn't question their enjoyment of the game, I do wonder whether they bought the game themselves, or borrowed it from a friend or relative, or if someone else bought the game for them.

The answer to the question "Is this worth what I spent on it?" is a lot more likely to be "Yes!" if you paid nothing for it.

At $60, the game is worth a full eight-hour day of work at a minimum wage job.  Whether or not it is actually worth that amount of money (or time) is completely subjective.  A sixty-dollar price tag means roughly three hours and ten minutes at my own job, which isn't much.  Yet, 6-10 hours of gameplay isn't quite enough for me -- and more so when "gameplay" consists of so much walking around, watching cut-scenes, examining in-game objects, and quick-time events.

Again, if some people are into that kind of stuff:  cool.  Whatever. You like it.  I don't.  And don't feed me the garbage that I "have to play it before I can judge it", because I've played enough games like it.  Or, hey:  if there's something in The Order that wasn't in L.A. Noire or Resident Evil 4, let me know.  I spent plenty of time (50+ hours) with those games, enjoyed them, and felt they concluded well enough before the end credits rolled.

I would say the term "content" could use a bit clearer definition, however.  Games I've spent massive amounts of time with (at least 100 hours) include Disgaea, Final Fantasy (NES through PS2 era), Dragon Warrior/Quest series, Dark Souls, Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto (III - V), and Divinity: Original Sin.  (There's a handful of other games, as I've been gaming since 1978.  Just keeping the list short.)   Hell, even the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games on the NES have consumed hundreds of hours of my time.

Saying that all of these titles provided innovations and excellence isn't too much of a stretch.  If I ever did get the feeling "Oh, I've done this before" while playing these games, I couldn't necessarily agree that I'd done it better.  Not all game companies can do so well, though.  Gotta have some great and capable minds at the helm.  So I'd say that "content" and "what you do with it" are quite the same, and that some developers just tend to offer a bit more and do it a bit better -- and that little bit can make a huge difference in overall experience.

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GS News Top 5 - Final Fantasy XV Details, Microwaved 3DS and Kanye West?

Kanye West is making a video game, a rare Majora's Mask 3DS is destroyed, and GTA V is delayed on PC again!

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Riot's Marc Merrill Discusses SpectateFaker and Improving Community Relations

Earlier today, Riot Games President Marc Merrill issued a formal statement regarding his company's investigations into the "SpectateFaker" Twitch stream, the Azubu DMCA takedown notice that was issued against it, and Merrill's controversial comments on Reddit and Twitter last weekend.

This morning, I sat down with Merrill to discuss that statement, his interactions with the community, and what this means for Riot going forward.

Riot's statement frequently references Sanghyuk "Faker" Lee's personal desire to have the stream removed as a major motivating factor in their decision to issue the DMCA notice. With the only public comment on the issue coming from his team, SK Telecom, I ask Merrill if Riot had spoken to Faker. I also ask if it was necessary for Lee to personally want the stream taken down or if the organization representing him could request the removal on its own.

"I think that Faker, like any amazing pro athlete around the world, is in clearly high demand," he replies, "and our understanding is that he has a really good relationship with SKT. Otherwise, when he was getting crazy offers to go play for different teams around the world, the assumption would be that he would have taken something like that. That being said, I'm personally not super close to the details in terms of how his relationship works."

Speaking further, Merrill likens the scenario to traditional sports, where players don't have the time or interest to navigate all of the business dealings around their career and end up relying on agents or sports clubs to handle such issues for them. He believes that "it would be a situation like the [Patriots] speaking on behalf of Tom Brady."

"...our mutual understanding of this stuff will continue to evolve and become more clear over time as well."

Is SKT setting a precedent? Would the handling of any future requests for a stream takedown of a professional player's gameplay shift to the team organizations, whether it be in North America, Korea, or elsewhere?

"It's a case-by-case basis. I think we're covering new ground here and need to evaluate the types of things that are going to happen and unfold going forward. In the same way that when we originally launched League of Legends we didn't have the Summoner's Code, we expect these types of things to evolve over time as we learn and get more exposure to what types of divisions we're going to encounter."

Regarding guidelines, much of the public discourse around the SpectateFaker stream involved where the line was drawn. Could someone "unlock" the camera from Faker, create a "SpectateFakersOpponents" stream, or even more broadly, could they create a stream that spectated a team of players instead of an individual? How will Riot determine when "harm" is being done, as referenced in their statement?

Merrill admits that it's hard to figure out where the line is; "We think that the SpectateFaker case is above the line whereas SaltyTeemo is below the line. So that gap is the type of situation that I think is where we're all going to have to work together to figure it out. So we expect that our mutual understanding of this stuff will continue to evolve and become more clear over time as well."

He does promise that for anything "precedent setting," Riot will be transparent with the community and open a line of communication.

But for content creators and fans, this still leaves a lot of questions open. Hypothetically, if I want to create an automated Twitch stream that follows different members of Counter Logic Gaming across their matches, how do I know if I would be at risk for receiving a DMCA takedown notice from Riot after launching it?

"One of the things that I think would be great is if people who are working with the API and trying to build great systems on it, reach out to our dev relations team and talk to us. If they say, 'Here's what I'm trying to do, what do you guys think?' I think as we all figure these things out together, it's about dialogue and getting on the same page about the goal: Let's make sure we don't harm the community in any macro sense or a micro sense for an individual."

Riot hopes that by explaining its intent in today's statement, it's helped players and members of the community understand what the general boundaries are. Merrill adds, "If there's a gray area, we can collaborate to figure out what makes sense and what doesn't."

With its statement, Riot has formally acknowledged that Azubu had no valid right to issue the initial DMCA takedown notice. But did it take Riot over two weeks to publicly address its partner's overreach?

"Our goal is to nurture this positive and engaging global community"

Merrill explains that Riot "needed to look into it and double-check our facts." Now that they have, he feels comfortable clarifying its position, which is, "If there are going to be any takedowns, they will be from us."

Our conversation then turns to the individual that started it all: StarlordLucian, the SpectateFaker stream administrator. I'm curious if Merrill or Riot have reached out to him directly yet. "Our only communication currently has been through Twitter and/or Reddit. I would love to in the future, but we haven't done that yet."

Finally, we arrive at a more personal subject: Merrill's controversial and emotional comments the weekend before. Riot is no stranger to events unfolding in an unpredictable way that leads passionate fans to intense discussion. Why did this moment in particular spark such an immediate and unrestrained reaction?

Merrill describes his initial reaction upon becoming aware of the situation: "My mind instantly went to 'Oh my God! Precedent!' and we're theoretically entering this new gray area where a bunch of bad situations might manifest. The worst case scenario for me would be that Riot wouldn't stake the type of position where we can protect players in the way that we always care about doing. Our goal is to nurture this positive and engaging global community through esports and all those different dimensions. Everything that we've done has always been consistent with that, we think. And if there's ever something that isn't right, then we quickly adjust course, apologize, and try to evolve. We're going to continue doing that going forward."

The emotional reaction, Merrill attributes, to a personal sense of desire to help the disenfranchised. He recounts several life events where he was angered or frustrated by an individual or a group being mistreated. "That's why I was emotional in the reactions and what I clearly screwed up was, I muddied the message because of the emotion. I was meant to just talk about the case and the principles, but then I ended up doing some things which came across as attacking an individual which was definitely not my intention at all."

Merrill explains that while he was very active in the community in the early days of Riot, that involvement has dropped off as the company has scaled. He hopes that both he and CEO Brandon "Ryze" Beck can work to improve their personal relationship with the community so that players have better context and understanding when they make personal statements. "At the end of the day, the reason Riot is the way it is from a lot of dimensions is because we don't see ourselves as above the community, we see ourselves as a part of it. Sometimes we forget that we could be perceived as these dudes that have this powerful voice, because we don't see ourselves that way."

He explains that he never wanted players thinking his comments were an official statement from Riot. "What I was trying to do was say that we're going to look into this and come out with something. I'm concerned."

Ultimately, Merrill does not feel discouraged by the harsh feedback from the community, "A lot of the comments are really well-deserved. I botched a lot of the intent through bad, reactive messaging, so I don't blame the community for anything. We've been in their shoes many times and been pissed at online game companies that are doing things that we perceive to not make sense. The comments sting, of course, but I think it's the case where it motivates us to get more involved. If there was more of a relationship there, like there has been in years past, this type of stuff would be easier to reconcile."

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Destroyer Annihilation - Homeworld Remastered - Multiplayer Beta

@Gelugon_baat The idea of seeing your production line from a central base was fairly common; (I believe) it was introduced Dune. The main difference with Homeworld is that the central base itself is a character.

Aside from an 3d graphics overhaul, Gearbox improved the interface; it's much better now and also features scaling, which is great for people such as myself with poor eye-sight on a HD-TV; which makes reading text very difficult.

The main issue I see with Gearbox now (since they done a stunning job) is the future of the franchise. Will it become a console FPS? Will future sequels be designed with console in mind? Spammed with DLC? Selling packs of units? 

All this horrible crap is common now: expected. 

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Top Digital PlayStation Games Generate Twice the Revenue of Xbox Games

Sony's PlayStation 4 has had a strong start in 2015 and impressive sales numbers overall. But while the Xbox One picked up during the tail end of 2014, data from research company SuperDataResearch shows that the PS4 is still coming out on top in terms of digital game sales.

Looking at digital sales for the top 10 best-selling games of January (listed below) the PS4 and PS3 accounted for 43% and 20% respectively of total purchases. By comparison, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles totaled just 37% altogether.

It's worth pointing out, again, that the data doesn't take into account all digital sales data, only the top 10 games. Data for PC, Nintendo consoles, and mobile was not included in this study.

According to SuperData, the top 10 digital games for January 2015 were:

1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
3. Destiny
4. Dying Light
5. Battlefield 4
6. Resident Evil HD: Remastered
7. Minecraft
8. Call of Duty: Ghosts
9. Madden NFL 15
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops II

That contrasts with physical retail data from the NPD for January 2015 where Dying Light came out as the number one game. Collectively, digital game sales accounted for $133 million in revenue according to SuperData. These figures were pulled from from spending data for 37 million customers and include both full game downloads and DLC. Physical retail games according to the NPD generated $235 million.

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Capcom Apologizes For Lack Of Resident Evil Revelations 2 Local Co-op on PC

Capcom has issued an apology to users who purchased a PC version of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 for the lack of an offline co-operative mode.

Posting on the Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Steam page, the publisher explained that the feature "wasn't intended for this version and that caveat was mistakenly omitted from the product description on the Steam page earlier, and then included as soon as we were made aware. This was an unintentional error and again, we apologize for the confusion this may have caused."

Capcom assured that it was investigating the matter and "potential solutions," saying it hoped to bring out updates "very soon." This suggests that Capcom may not be end up implementing a split-screen co-op mode, but another alternative gameplay mode.

Offline co-op was initially advertised as a feature in Resident Evil: Revelations 2 on its Steam store page. The description of the game stated that players will be able to "overcome the nightmares in either single player mode with an AI partner or offline co-op." According to Capcom, offline co-op was removed to ensure more stable user experiences across different PC settings.

The first episode of Resident Evil Revelations 2 launched earlier this week, with the remaining three episodes to be released over the coming month. Check out how it scored in GameSpot's review.

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Raid Mode in Resident Evil Revelations 2 Ep. 1 - GameSpot Plays

No, the stages in Raid mode are from other Resident Evil games. The areas you are in during the first ones are from RE6. I'm hoping that when it gets further into it, they bring more areas from other RE's. So that discussion about it being a spoiler was a bit weird... The place you started at with Barry, on the first go, was the start of when you're Jake and Sherry in six, in Edonia. The school is the beginning with Leon and Helena, except you're going the opposite way of which you go in six's campaign. There are also dogs later on, and other types of enemies other than normal zombies, he seems to have played more than me, he should know. Just saying.

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GS News - Destiny Griefer says “Suck it Up”; New PS4 System Update?

Nvidia apologise for false advertising, an insider thinks a new PS4 system update is coming, and the Destiny PS4 Share Play drama thickens!

About GameSpot News

Join Jess McDonell every weekday for a punchy wrap-up of the biggest news to come out of video games!

Schedule: weekly

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Crew: Edmond Tran

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Quick Time Event Fails Montage - Out of Order: 1886

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1. Gaming Trends That Need to Die in 2015
2. Team Liquid management and coaching staff talk Piglet benching - Keith to play for week 6
3. Travis explains why everyone should be concerned about the SpectateFaker Azubu takedown
4. Doublelift after TSM: "Definitely the funnest LCS game I've ever played"
5. Lastshadow on coaching Gravity and commuting between Seoul and LA biweekly
6. Aphromoo explains how Doublelift must now adapt to CLG's new style
7. Reality Check - Can You Tell The Difference Between PS4, XONE and PC?
8. Take a tour of the NA LCS studios with Travis
9. Raid Mode in Resident Evil Revelations 2 Ep. 1 - GameSpot Plays
10. GS News - Destiny Griefer says "Suck it Up"; New PS4 System Update?
11. Shelter 2 - Release Trailer
12. Homeworld Remastered Collection - Launch Trailer

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Character Creation in Dragon Ball XenoVerse - Making Vault Buu

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1. Doublelift after TSM: "Definitely the funnest LCS game I've ever played"
2. Gaming Trends That Need to Die in 2015
3. Team Liquid management and coaching staff talk Piglet benching - Keith to play for week 6
4. Travis explains why everyone should be concerned about the SpectateFaker Azubu takedown
5. Lastshadow on coaching Gravity and commuting between Seoul and LA biweekly
6. Aphromoo explains how Doublelift must now adapt to CLG's new style
7. Reality Check - Can You Tell The Difference Between PS4, XONE and PC?
8. Take a tour of the NA LCS studios with Travis
9. Dragon Ball XenoVerse Character Customization of all Five Classes
10. How Shadow of Mordor's DLC Fixed the Ending
11. GS News - New Guitar Hero; Batman: Arkham Knight Rated "Mature"
12. Short Games Worth Playing

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Dragon Ball XenoVerse Character Customization of all Five Classes

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Play

1. Doublelift after TSM: "Definitely the funnest LCS game I've ever played"
2. Gaming Trends That Need to Die in 2015
3. Team Liquid management and coaching staff talk Piglet benching - Keith to play for week 6
4. Travis explains why everyone should be concerned about the SpectateFaker Azubu takedown
5. Lastshadow on coaching Gravity and commuting between Seoul and LA biweekly
6. Aphromoo explains how Doublelift must now adapt to CLG's new style
7. Reality Check - Can You Tell The Difference Between PS4, XONE and PC?
8. Take a tour of the NA LCS studios with Travis
9. Character Creation in Dragon Ball XenoVerse - Making Vault Buu
10. How Shadow of Mordor's DLC Fixed the Ending
11. GS News - New Guitar Hero; Batman: Arkham Knight Rated "Mature"
12. Short Games Worth Playing

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Aaru's Awakening Review

Some say that there is no such thing as love at first sight--that initial attraction and infatuation appeal only to our aesthetic pleasures, and that true love only rises when passion no longer clouds our judgment. Romantics and idealists may dismiss the notion, but the deep-rooted frustrations of Aaru's Awakening may drive them to reconsider their sentiment. This unusual game craves your affection, each of its radiant hand-drawn environments singing love songs until you're entranced. You may initially fall for this superficial beauty, but the game soon reveals its true form as a vindictive suitor, grossly untrustworthy in its controls and devoid of the fundamental assets of any good platformer. I am sorry, Aaru's Awakening, but I must cut this relationship short, and I am afraid it's not me: it's you.

I offer no insight into Aaru Awakening's actual development process, but it's easy to assume that visuals were prized over all other elements. Even the hub from which you access the game's levels is ravishing. It exquisitely represents the passage of time from dawn to night, each quadrant of a central orb depicting an abstract landscape that looks drawn by colored pencil. Within the side-scrolling stages, cross-hatching and asymmetrical markings provide texture and depth, while moving elements like lava floes and falling rocks are drawn frame by frame. It is through these techniques that Aaru's world comes to life underneath its unnatural magenta skies.

What a phenemonal-looking boss. What a tedious level.

The playable hero is Dawn's champion Aaru, a bearlike creature with a mane that stretches from head to tail, and he, too, moves with a charming hand-drawn inelegance that befits his illustrated world. Alas, the gracelessness of movement that makes Aaru initially joyous to watch in action becomes the game's most prominent failing. When a platformer requires finesse and quick response, as Aaru's Awakening frequently does, fluid animations and controls are vital. Aaru is anything but fluid, however, changing positions mid-air with all the precision of a sloth that has been dropped from a fourth-floor window. Aaru would be a delightful hero in a meandering adventure, but Super Meat Boy he is most certainly not.

As if to make up for his lack of leaping prowess, Aaru can rush ahead in a single whoosh, and can also propel an orb from his body that he can teleport to--and it is around these two mechanics that most of Aaru's Awakening's maddening puzzles are formulated. Navigating the game's spaces is a trial in and of itself, due to a wholesale absence of genre basics--the kind of basics we take for granted in the best platformers because of their ubiquity and necessity. We expect to be able to quickly identify what objects are collidable and which are background art, for instance, particularly when we need to make snap mid-air decisions. Here, the foreground and background blend with the gameplay layer. Is that branch sticking outwards a platform, or just a visual detail? Will I pass in front of that barrier, or will I collide? That Aaru's Awakening requires you to even ask such a question rather than for you to immediately know is a colossal problem.

The writing is lovely, but the narrator slurs her words in odd ways.

Without the fundamentals in place, any cleverness apparent in Aaru's Awakening's platforming challenges dissipate. What the challenges may even be is often a secret until you are dropping from a great height when the platform beneath you crumbles, or when a ramp has propelled you forward. You may not be able to tell whether you will fall to safety, or impale yourself on a bed of spiked rocks, until gravity makes the decision for you and the spikes rise into view, too late for you to do anything but succumb to death. Now you know for the next time--but when you bear the burden of this game's inconsistent movement and clumsy animations, it's difficult to build enthusiasm for a next time. And that's an issue: Aaru's Awakening is, by design, a trial-and-error platformer in which you shave off as many seconds from your completion time as possible. Your reward for success is the chance to show off your skill on the game's online leaderboards. I might have enjoyed chasing the competition had the challenge been to overcome tricky puzzles and perform perilous leaps, rather than to wrestle with my controller.

Putting down the controller is an option, though it's natural to reach for a gamepad when playing a platformer. Aaru's Awakening's controller support is not ideal, however, assigning the default jump move to an analog stick rather than a button. You must also activate the controller in the menus before you can use it, and should you unplug it during play, the game may stop responding to any input, even if you plug the controller back in. Regardless of your control method, the maddening levels may drive you to smash your hardware. The Dusk boss fight, for instance, requires that you rush across a series of platforms, some of which crumble, and some of which drop and then rise towards the spiked ceiling. You must teleport into the globes that float in this stage as well as avoid the poisonous river that waits for you at the bottom of the screen. Aaru's awkwardness turns what might have been an exciting sequence into a mess, during which you must perfectly execute your dashes and perfectly aim your teleport orbs at the proper angle within unimaginably narrow time gaps. There's no fun in the trying, and thus no fun in the succeeding.

Those are the kinds of goo-falls that don't hurt you.

Yet Aaru's Awakening hints at fun. You fire your teleport orb past a beam of scorching light, teleport again by angling your orb into a thin, winding passage, and an arcing ramp flings you into the sky. What a rush this moment is--a rush then halted when you land in the pool of lava that didn't appear until you were six inches above it. You destroy a hideous colossal housefly by teleporting inside of it--what a fantastic idea!--only to drown moments later because you must blindly teleport, not knowing what you might find until you've closed the deal. Aaru's Awakening is a dreamy display of artistic imagination that yanks you back to waking life with every awkward leap and every ill-conceived level.

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GS News - Destiny Deletion Drama Explained; Xbox One Launch Defended!

as for save files, i got all too used to losing my smash bros melee save data.

the weirdest one was when i lent my copy of kirby and the amazing mirror to a friend, and he one day showed up to me and was like "dude, your 100% file is gone, and the game is now in spanish for some reason" (being the EU version of the game, spanish was a supported language, but i doubt he wouldn't have noticed setting the game to spanish).

the most heartbreaking one was when my persona 4 save was corrupted and i lost 60+ hours of gameplay. i was so close to finishing it too... but it was for the best. i loathed the dungeons in that game, and i "finished" the story by watching the end parts of a full playthrough on youtube that had no one talking over it (a rarity these days)

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Destiny Maintenance Tomorrow Won't Affect Gameplay

Bungie.net and Destiny will be offline for a few hours tomorrow for maintenance, Bungie has announced on Twitter. The maintenance being carried out will be server-side and gameplay will not be affected.

Bungie also confirmed that update 1.1.1 will still be implemented this month. The patch will introduce compulsory match-making to weekly heroic strikes, removing the ability for players to solo them. This will affect all levels of the Weekly Heroic, though Nightfall will remain unaffected. Matchmaking has yet to be implemented for Raids, which Bungie says are more reliant on "groups of communicative players who are invested in each other."

Other changes which are part of patch 1.1.1 include a fix to the heavy ammo bug, balance fixes to weapons, and the ability to view a player's in-game reputation with faction vendors.

Destiny's next downloadable content pack will launch sometime in the second quarter of this year, and is called House of Wolves. Bungie has said it won't make the same mistakes in this DLC, with plans to improve the progression system.

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Star Citizen Crosses $73 Million in Funding

@karkar88  You do realize that it doesn't work that way right?  $73mil for a AAA game is cheap these days.  Really cheap.  Most AAA games these days cost a lot more than that.  Albeit, a ton of the funding in other AAA games goes into marketing alone.  Which Star Citizen managed to avoid by using community word of mouth, but AAA game development often costs far more than what Star Citizen is currently making (such as Destiny's $500mil or GTA5's $265mil).  That's why I find it hilarious when some nay sayers on here yell it will fail because of it now having a $70mil budget (claiming that's too much money), then go and preorder Destiny, GTA5, AC Unity etc.  Which all had budgets that are 3, 4, 5, 6 times the budget Star Citizen has.  GTA5, of which, being the only success, with the others sparking community rage at their failures.  

Which leads to the inevitable question.  So it's not OK for big publishers to fail at making AAA games, but for crowdfunded indies, they're demise is rooted for?  We complain about game innovation stagnation, the same games constantly be regurgitated over and over and over again (COD), but then root for the failure of an Indie company trying to bring something new to the table?  Are you serious?  What sense does that make?  Some people just don't have common sense or just enjoy their lives as walking contradictions.

I'm not telling you to buy Star Citizen.  Hell, I'm not even telling you to support Star Citizen.  All I'm asking is to be a little more realistic about Star Citizens current budget when compared to the current industry and to not root for it's demise out of some foolish urge to be a tr0ll.  Star Citizen has easily been the most transparent crowdfunded project I've ever seen.  They've had small delays, but actually have been producing tangible results.  And the quality of the work they've released so far has been top notch.  And because of this exceptionally high level of transparency, I am satisfied that they've been using the funds for the development of the game, rather than just sitting on it getting personally rich.  That's a lot more than I can say about any other crowdfunded game I've seen so far.  Although Kerbal SP ranks pretty high up there (even though they're not technically crowdfunded).  I have some complaints regarding the pricing of Star Citizen's ships (way too expensive), but that's crowdfunding.  I don't have to buy the ships, just like you don't have to buy the game until it comes out or if you want to at all.  But rooting for it's demise for no reason other than for your own personal chuckles is just downright uncalled for.

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AU New Releases: Dragon Ball XenoVerse Ki Blasts on to Multiple Platforms

Dragon Ball XenoVerse kaioken attacks on to multiple platforms at Australian retailers this week. The game will launch on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on February 26. A PC version will be released on February 27.

Xenoverse was originally scheduled to launch earlier, but according to publisher Bandai Namco the game was delayed to "ensure the highest possible gameplay experience" for players. Xenoverse is developed by Dimps, who also worked on the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series and co-developed Street Fighter IV. Xenoverse will feature a custom character creator, with players able to choose from a variety of races including Saiyans, Namekians, Earthlings, and Majins.

The story in Xenoverse centres on that of a malevolent force who is messing with time, changing the outcome of events in the past. With the help of Trunks, the player must step into the series' history and correct the timeline back to what it originally was.

If you prefer to go further back in time, Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires will launch for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this week. The game will feature 83 warriors to choose from and new customisation options, should you want to create your own original warrior.

For those who haven't picked up Dying Light digitally, the game is available at retailers this week. An open-world survival game, Dying Light contains elements of parkour and is set in a zombie-infested city. The game was praised in GameSpot's review for its movement and combat, but criticized for poorly designed missions. For more details on games out this week, check the list below.

February 24, 2015

Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires (PS4, Xbox One)

February 25, 2015

Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late (PS3)

February 26, 2015

Dragon Ball XenoVerse (PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360)

February 27, 2015

Dying Light (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

European Ship Simulator (PC)

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Dead or Alive 5 Last Round Contains Game-Breaking Bug, Devs Warn

Developer Team Ninja has issued warnings via Twitter for a game-breaking bug in the recently released Dead or Alive 5 Last Round. The bug in question occurs in Tutorial Mode Lesson 40.8 and 40.9, where it freezes the game and corrupts save data.

The issue affects the German, Spanish, French, and Italian versions of the game. The Japanese, English, traditional Chinese, and Korean versions of the game remain unaffected. The developer apologised and stated that it was trying to "fix it ASAP."

Dead or Alive 5 Last Round was released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in North America on February 17, and Europe on February 20. The PC version was delayed to March 30, but won't include online multiplayer at launch. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Dead or Alive 5 Last Round.

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Killer Instinct Teases Its Next Ghostly Fighter

Microsoft has released a new Killer Instinct trailer showing off Aganos, the sixth character joining Season 2 of the fighting game. As usual, the trailer ended with a tease for the next fighter that will join the game, who Microsoft is tentatively calling "Ghost Girl."

The mysterious character wields a curved sword, is dressed in a kimono, and looks a lot like an "onryo," a type of ghost from Japanese folklore that you might recognize from the original versions of horror movies The Ring or The Grudge. Over at the official Killer Instinct forums, Microsoft said that the character died 465 years ago, and that she's a new addition to the lore, not a returning character.

The most recent update from Microsoft also details changes to the game's leveling system, hints at future characters, and reveals new costumes.

Killer Instinct shipped on the same day as the Xbox One launch, with Jago available to play for free. Players could unlock other characters and items by paying a fee.

Killer Instinct developer Double Helix was acquired by Amazon last year, casting doubt on continued support for the Xbox One fighter. Microsoft claimed the game would not be affected and said that the franchise, which it owns and is now being developed by Iron Galaxy, would continue on.

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Ex-Battlefield Director Says AAA Development Stifles Creativity

Ex-Battlefield 3 lead designer David Goldfarb has said that the development process for big-budget games restricts creativity.

"I think the risk/reward for the companies that can spend the marketing money and that have big successful franchises, for them it's still worth laying out that investment," Goldfarb told Gameindustry.biz in an interview. "But for people who don't have that kind of capital, you're not really in a practical success loop. AAA is the equivalent of the One Percent right now. It comes with all these caveats. You can't make the crazy stuff really."

This isn't the first time Goldfarb shared this opinion about AAA game development. Last summer, after leaving his position at Payday developer Overkill Software, Goldfarb said that he's "abandoning AAA," for the same reason.

Other notable developers have also criticized AAA development lately. Last year, creative director of Just Cause 3 developer Avalanche Studios said that AAA development is unhealthy and unprofitable. Even Metal Gear Solid developer Hideo Kojima shared Goldfarb's sentiment last year, saying that it's hard to maintain creative freedom when working on such a large scale.

"I do think there's a spot between the $100-$200 million dollar AAA games and the $1 million indie games that is not being adequately explored," Goldfarb said. "To me that's a really rich field to plow and you can do awesome stuff there."

Earlier this week, Goldfarb announced a new, Stockholm-based, four-person studio called The Outsiders. The company's first project is an untitled role-playing game that is aiming to launch for PC and possibly other systems later.

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Battlefield Hardline Xbox One Is "Extremely Rare"

Sadly, so far all we have is this tiny picture of it, but a new, custom Battlefield Hardline-themed Xbox One has appeared on Microsoft's website (via NeoGAF).

It looks like the "extremely rare" Xbox One will be available only through a sweepstakes in Microsoft's Bing Rewards program. To enter, you'll have to create an account if you don't already have one, and spend points you earn by using Microsoft's search engine to enter a chance to win.

The custom Xbox One comes with a copy of Battlefield Hardline, a 12-month EA Access subscription, and without a Kinect.

This sweepstakes ends on February 26 at 9:00 AM ET and winners will be announced on March 17. You can find out more about the sweepstakes and its official rules here.

Battlefield Hardline's release date is March 17 in the US and March 20 in the UK on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Killer Instinct Season 2 - Aganos Trailer

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1. Doublelift after TSM: "Definitely the funnest LCS game I've ever played"
2. Scarra on his triumphant return to LCS, handshake blunders, and TSM vs CLG
3. Xpecial on recent TL drama: "a miracle" that there were no roster swaps
4. XiaoWeiXiao discusses rival midlaners, missing Mor, and more [English]
5. The Point - DLC Still Sucks
6. 1 out of 10: The Worst Games Ever Reviewed on GameSpot
7. Meteos predicts CLG to win against TSM and shares thoughts on jungle Nidalee
8. GS News - Mass Effect 4 Multiplayer News; The Order: 1886 Controversy
9. Reality Check - Can You Tell The Difference Between PS4, XONE and PC?
10. Travis explains why everyone should be concerned about the SpectateFaker Azubu takedown
11. GS News Top 5 - The Order: 1886 Disappoints; Cheap Xbox Games!
12. Top 5 Reasons Hardline Needs a Sniping Mode

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GS News Top 5 - The Order: 1886 Disappoints; Cheap Xbox Games!

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Play

1. Doublelift after TSM: "Definitely the funnest LCS game I've ever played"
2. Scarra on his triumphant return to LCS, handshake blunders, and TSM vs CLG
3. Xpecial on recent TL drama: "a miracle" that there were no roster swaps
4. XiaoWeiXiao discusses rival midlaners, missing Mor, and more [English]
5. The Point - DLC Still Sucks
6. 1 out of 10: The Worst Games Ever Reviewed on GameSpot
7. Meteos predicts CLG to win against TSM and shares thoughts on jungle Nidalee
8. GS News - Mass Effect 4 Multiplayer News; The Order: 1886 Controversy
9. GS News - New Rock Band Game; PS4 To Be As Successful As PS2 and Wii?
10. GS News - $114,000 Kickstarter Goes Dark; The Order Is A $100 Steak?
11. GS News - Bethesda Bullies 'Fortress Fallout'; Next-Gen Darksiders 2!
12. GS News Update: Google And Mattel Reveal Virtual Reality "View-Master"

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Reality Check - Can You Tell The Difference Between PS4, XONE and PC?

Cam undertakes the mother of all console war experiments: Can people REALLY tell the difference between PS4, XONE and PC based on graphics alone? Link to vote on the clips - tinyurl.com/RCGFXTEST Link to download the video file - tinyurl.com/RCGFXBLOG

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World Record 71-Hour Speedrun Set for Animal Crossing

Twitch streamer 0xa101 (Adrian) finished the GameCube version of Animal Crossing in 70 hours, 51 minutes. While the run was anything but speedy, it is the fastest time anyone's managed to complete the game while following community-set speed run rules.

While many players have finished the game in far less time – one in just 37 minutes – that's only to pay off all debts. What makes this run special is that it's the first 100% completion. To qualify, players not only have to pay off all debts, but also collect every item in the game, and fill the museum by finding every piece of art as well as every kind of fish, fossil and insect.

According to the rules, the timer for the run can't be paused. Adrian stopped playing close to the end of her run for an eight hour nap, but aside from that she played for nearly three days straight.

At time of writing, Adrian is the only person listed under the 100% completion tab for Animal Crossing on speedrun.com.

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Massive Exploit Found in Wii U Super Smash Bros.

Trevor Williams, a 24-year-old Smash player, discovered an exploit that could have some far-reaching implications for the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament scene. "PikAmp," as he calls the , is tough to trigger, but when done properly, can make one of the game's least-used characters, Captain Olimar, an unstoppable killing machine.

Another Smash player on the Smashboards forum described how to use the exploit:

Step 1. Throw Pikmin, preferably onto someone, or make sure the reflector is in between you and Pikmin (in this case, make sure they can walk to the reflector).

Step 2. Have player 2 reflect it so the Pikmin touches the reflector by walking by, or latching.

Step 3. Using the Order Tackle custom move, bring the Pikmin back. If they are done at the right timing, you can get almost 100% on your opponent.

Step 4. Note this Pikmin. it is now busted until it dies, is thrown, or used in a smash attack.

Completing these steps give Olimar several Pikmin that he can trow to instantly kill any other fighter. Earlier this week Williams posted a YouTube video demonstrating the technique, and its discovery has left some professional players upset. Because Smash Bros. aims for both casual and competitive players, it has a lot of options and rules to modify and toggle for those looking to make matches more or less balanced.

Since release, tournament organizers have been sifting through some of the new rules to figure out which ones would be okay to use in competitive matches. One of the more controversial options is "Custom Moves." When turned on, it lets players swap out special techniques for any of Smash Bros.' four dozen characters. While it has taken some time, the professional community has generally come to accept customizing character attacks.

That acceptance, however, has been tenuous. And there's fear that discovering this kind of exploit – one that makes one character essentially unstoppable – could herald a stream of exploits yet to be discovered. With Nintendo announcing that they won't be doing any more "balance" patches, this is something Smash Bros. might be stuck with – severely limiting its potential for play future tournaments.

While the GameCube's Super Smash Bros. Melee has been a consistent part of the fighting game scene for almost 15 years, its sequel, Brawl, was largely left out of competitive play. Brawl introduced mechanics like tripping that fans were not fond of. Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS has faced some skepticism from fans, with a lot of debate surrounding which events will host the game and how tournament organizers will establish standardized rules. Smash Wii U has generally favorable reception from the competitive community, but this exploit could hamper that.

"PikAmp," may simply be the first of many problems yet to be discovered. If there are more some in the community may continue to demand banning certain features or rules. If that happens too often, then its entirely possible that the competitive community will settle back into melee instead of staying with the Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Forums for Smash players like Smashboards and the Smash subreddit have been buzzing with players complaining about what this could mean for tournaments, asking for bans on certain rules that make the exploit easier or that Nintendo patch the bug out entirely. We reached out to Nintendo for comment, but at time of writing they have not responded.

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Disgaea 5 to be PS4-Exclusive, New Danganronpa Confirmed For Western Vita Release

NIS America has announced a slew of upcoming new games to be released in the West, including Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance exclusively for the PlayStation 4, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls for the PlayStation Vita, and Rodea the Sky Soldier for the Wii U and 3DS.

Role-playing game Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance will introduce a new Alliance Attacks feature to the series. The system will be available to main characters when their relationships are "appropriately aligned." The Recruitment feature makes a return from previous games, offering over forty races and jobs as options. Developed by Nippon Ichi Software, Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance will be released in Fall this year. Check out more screenshots below.

Danganronpa fans will be please to learn that Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls will be getting a Western release. The game takes place between the events of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. In it, players must shoot their way through action sequences and solve various riddles and puzzles to escape a city infested with strange teddy bears known as Monokumas. Komaru Naegi from the first Danganronpa game will return to star in Another Episode. The game will be released for the Vita this Fall.

NIS America also confirmed that new IP Rodea the Sky Soldier will be launching for the Wii U and 3DS this year. The action game will bring "speed and adventure together" in a "new journey through the sky."

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The Last Guardian Still in Development, Sony Assures

UPDATE: Following the publication of this story, Sony has since filed for a petition revive the abandoned trademark application, which can be found here.

The original story follows below.

The Last Guardian's trademark in the US has been abandoned, but it appears this was due to an administrative error at PlayStation America, as Sony has confirmed to GameSpot that the project is still in development.

According to documentation on the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the group sent Sony a notice in July last year, informing that the trademark needed to be extended.

Although Sony has, since 2013, habitually extended the game's trademark, it made no action following the most recent request. As such, the trademark was cancelled.

However, amid speculation surrounding what this means for the protracted and troubled project, Sony has told GameSpot that it "can confirm that the Last Guardian is still in development".

The Last Guardian has now been in development for more than half a decade after being formally announced in 2009, though director Fumito Ueda said his creative contribution to the project was completed a "long time ago."

The most recent news surrounding The Last Guardian was revealed in December last year, when Ueda said in an interview that the game was moving forward under "completely new conditions."

It's possible Ueda was referring to the game transitioning from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4. The Last Guardian was initially announced back in 2009 as a PS3 title, though Sony has dodged questions about platforms ever since.

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The Order Looks Impressive, But Graphics Will Only Get Better, Dev Says

Ready At Dawn's action game The Order: 1886 has been praised for its visuals, but the developer says that graphics in upcoming games will look "much better." Speaking in an interview with VideoGamer.com, Ready At Dawn chief executive officer Ru Weerasuriya said, "I know that there's games coming out that are going to be so much better than the ones that we make even, visually… this generation is going to be pretty sweet. I'm excited purely because of this and what I'm thinking is going to be next--what I know we're going to do next."

Weerasuriya explained that as games continue to improve graphically, the bar for visual quality set by The Order will become the norm. "I'm just excited because things are going to start looking better and better, and they're going to play better and we're going to be able to do every single type of game in this kind of visual fidelity," he said. He also denied claims that The Order is "a QTE game," saying that quick-time events in the game are "sparse."

The Order: 1886 recently came under fire for its alleged short length, following a leak on YouTube which showed the game from start to finish. Chief technical officer Andrea Pessino addressed this at a recent press conference, stating that a players tackling the game at a normal difficulty and pace would finish the game in "a window between eight and ten hours."

The Order: 1886 launches across Europe, North America, and Australia on February 20 exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

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Heroes of Might & Magic III - HD Edition Review

Even if you don't remember the specifics, you may remember greatly enjoying the original Heroes of Might & Magic III--and perhaps getting lost in it for hours, days, weeks at a time. The new HD edition of the game is also likely to sink its claws into you, so great is its power to absorb your time and your thoughts. That said, I have more than a few significant misgivings about the re-release's cost and content, especially when compared with the more complete versions of the original game on sale elsewhere online.

Set aside the aforementioned caveats for a moment, though, and note that this revamped HOMM III is mostly like the fantastic original game. As the title indicates, Heroes of Might & Magic III HD is the same 16-year-old game with a facelift to satisfy modern tastes for high-resolution graphics. The gameplay is fundamentally identical: You take on the role of fantasy heroes in campaign scenarios, some 50 individual scenarios (most with stories and settings that make them play like mini-campaigns), and a number of local and online multiplayer modes of play.

The best part of HOMM III is exploring the richly detailed world maps.

Activities are split between the three components of play: exploring, building cities, and engaging in combat. Exploring the world maps representing regions of the fantasy realm of Erathia is probably the most enjoyable part of HOMM III HD. There are an incredible number of goodies to be discovered, including resource pits, treasure piles, magical artifacts, wandering monsters, and even goofy treats like leprechauns with pots of gold. The intricate nature of these maps has long been a hallmark of the HOMM franchise. It's all a little ridiculous--you can't go five feet into the wilderness without tripping over a bunch of gems or running into a murderous pack of halberdiers--but the style perfectly brings to life a colorful, much-missed fantasy atmosphere that went out of vogue about the same time that Erol Otus stopped drawing the covers of D&D modules.

Combat runs a close second. Armies are fronted by heroes who level up and gain skills with might and magic as in any traditional Gygaxian RPG, but their ranks are filled with warriors, wizards, monsters, and more drawn from factions based on D&D archetypes. Castle comes with knights and angels, Inferno features imps and demons, Necropolis boasts wights and liches, Rampart is home to elves and unicorns, and so forth. Battles themselves are turn-based affairs taking place on hex maps, either out in the open or in sieges before city walls. The great variety of the units gives these scraps some real tactical texture. Armies need to be built smartly, with a real balance between melee and ranged units, or you'll inevitably get chewed up and spit out. Magic is also crucial. Your hero needs a reasonably thick spell book to be able to deal with larger battles, as the assistance of a well-timed fireball can mean the difference between victory and being vanquished.

Conquering and building cities are an integral part of every HOMM III scenario.

Finally, you have to spend time conquering and then building up towns specific to each faction. Conquest is a big part of every scenario, as you need access to new cities on the maps to increase production levels, vary the types of troops you can create, and just generally creep your way to victory. This can get a little grind-happy after a while. The selection of buildings and upgrades is fairly limited. You max out buildings fairly quickly with your first city, then do it again, then do it again. There are also few meaningful differences between the cities of the factions. So basically, there is a lot of rinse, lather, and repeat going on here while you're cranking out streams of troops.

Even after the passage of going on two decades, HOMM III remains one a sprawling, immersive experience that can take over your life. Time hasn't had much impact on one of the biggest (you could easily play the game for hundreds of hours between the campaign scenarios, the skirmish maps, and online multiplayer) and best titles from the golden age of PC gaming. It actually is a bit shocking today by comparison with modern games. The sheer size and intricacy of the maps, the diversity of the units, and the challenge presented by the AI even on the easy difficulty setting is like stepping into an ice-cold shower first thing in the morning.

Your hero needs a reasonably thick spell book to be able to deal with larger battles.

I am particularly taken aback by how tough the game is in the beginning. I had to restart my opening campaign four times before I got back into the groove and figured out the proper pace. HOMM III always forced you to maintain a tricky balancing act. Hole up in your cities to build up sizable numbers of troops, and you give away the goodies on the map to adventurous opponents. Expand too soon, and your troops wind up spread too thin, opening the way for enemy armies to sneak behind you and capture your cities without a struggle. It's still impressive just how thin a line you have to walk in order to succeed. In addition, the artificial intelligence is formidable when playing solo. It cheats a little, as enemy forces always know your weaknesses and notice when you make dumb moves like leaving a city wide open. Suffice it to say, the bad guys here are never pushovers.

So HOMM III is just where you left it. That's good. And that's also bad, because publisher Ubisoft could have been more generous. First of all, HOMM III HD doesn't include the two expansion packs released for the original game, apparently due to the loss of the source code. Regardless of the reason, this HD edition is not the entire HOMM III package. That causes some concerns about pricing, as $14.99 for this game via Steam arguably gets you less than the HOMM III Complete version with both expansions selling for $9.99 at GOG.com. Granted, this cheaper edition is the unadorned original game in all of its pixelated glory. But seeing as you can apply a free--and quite good--high-definition mod to that original game, the differences suddenly become a lot less significant.

The lumpy blobs of old have been turned into veritable wargame miniatures.

And the HD aspects of this re-release don't really amount to much. Yes, the game looks better, particularly in the combat screens, thanks to support for higher modern resolutions and widescreen monitors. Unit art has been dramatically upscaled, to the point where creatures look like little cartoons instead of the old-school colored blobs where you had to squint to make out a dragon's tail. But the animations are still rudimentary. Units just shrug when they rip off spells or swing swords. There are no frills whatsoever, so don't expect any snazzy cutscenes showing an ice bolt spell taking down a horde of skeletons. And some miscues spoil the presentation a little bit, mainly the way that map features like castle walls and other units in close combat frequently block key information like the number of units in a stack.

The main adventure map has some problems. While it is clearer than it was before, it still isn't actually clear--not even close. I had to constantly peer at the screen like an old man checking labels at the grocery store. Is that a gang of demons? Or is that an artifact? Is that odd-looking lump of grass just an odd-looking lump of grass, or is it something I can activate to grab some goodies? This map is also finicky when it comes to clicking, often demanding three and four tries to choose points of interest due to the game demanding that you select very precise spots before activating encounters. All in all, the "Huh?" factor is strong with this one, which can be frustrating in a turn-based game where wasting even the slightest bit of unit movement can kill you.

The sheer size and intricacy of the maps, the diversity of the units, and the challenge presented by the AI even on the easy difficulty setting is like stepping into an ice-cold shower first thing in the morning.

Even given the greatness at the heart of HOMM III, it is impossible to fully recommend the HD edition. Making such a legendary game accessible to a modern audience is always a good thing, but Ubisoft just didn't do enough here to set this refurbished version apart from the original and its free high-definition mod. More effort could have--and should have--been made to ensure that this would be the definitive and complete HOMM III that all fans of the series would have to have. As much as I loved this trip back in time, I would recommend that anyone else interested in the same sort of journey book it with a different and cheaper travel agent.

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Chilling New Rise of the Tomb Raider Screenshots Released

Some brand new, high-resolution screenshots of Rise of the Tomb Raider have been released, via All Games Beta, showcasing some of the new locations and hostile wildlife that Lara Croft will encounter on her next adventure.

Rise of the Tomb Raider will take Lara to the snowy wilds of Siberia as she searches for proof of her experiences in the previous game, Tomb Raider. This time around, a day and night system as well as dynamic weather will affect the type of animals that will be available for Lara to hunt, while the new location means new dangers including avalanches and fragile ice walls.

Rise of the Tomb Raider launches this holiday season exclusively for Xbox One and Xbox 360, with the latter version being developed by Nixxes Software. The game may come to other platforms at a later date.

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