TYS Games: September 2013

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure review

5th Cell’s noble attempt to combine the massive DC Comics universe with the imagination-fueled puzzle-solving of the Scribblenauts series falls notably short due to a lack of emphasis in the game on its source material.

Vicarious Visions’ president on balancing between two audiences in Skylanders

Vicarious Visions president Guha Bala chats with Digital Trends about what's to come in Skylanders: Swap Force and how the dev teams strikes a balance between kid-friendly play and depth for the older crowd.

Valve concludes its week of reveals with the Steam Controller

Valve caps off a week full of reveals with a first look at the Steam Controller, a new input method that resembles a traditional gamepad, only it features dual trackpads in place of thumbsticks and features a touchscreen interface.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 review

Konami strips the Pro Evolution Soccer series to its bare fundamentals for one last show on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 before shifting to next-gen consoles. While it sacrifices style for sparseness, the game is an admirably pure experience.

China’s 13-year ban on video games and console sales set to end

China approves plans to establish a free-trade zone in Shanghai, a policy change that includes putting an end to the country's 13-year ban on video game consoles and their games.

MSI GX70 review

MSI’s GX70 is one of the few all-AMD gaming laptops still sold. Pairing an A10-5750M with a Radeon 8970M, it brings the company’s biggest guns, but can AMD’s best hardware compete with Intel’s impressive fourth-gen quads?

Naughty Dog shows off a slightly more… whimsical alternate ending for ‘The Last of Us’

Naughty Dog’s ‘The Last of Us’ had one of the more powerful and emotional stories of the year. During the mo-cap filming of the finale though, Naughty Dog had a… different take on things.

Xbox One game capture offers picture-in-picture commentary

Microsoft's Phil Harrison shows off the Xbox One's Upload Studio, an app that allows players to capture as much gameplay footage as they like and then record a video commentary track for either side-by-side or picture-in-picture presentation.

‘South Park: Stick of Truth’ finally has a release date

‘South Park: Stick of Truth,’ Ubisoft and Obsidian Entertainment’s long-awaited RPG based on the popular cartoon, has been given a release date of December 10.

Forget the Steam Box, meet Valve’s ‘Steam Machines’

Following the debut of the SteamOS, in the second of three planned announcements this week Valve has announced a line of Steam-friendly devices designed for the living room.

‘Grand Theft Auto V’ three-volume soundtrack available now

Rockstar Games releases a three-volume soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto V, compiling new music featured in the game, a mix of the dynamic score from DJ Shadow, and a selection of tracks from the in-game radio.

Rayman Legends Review

It's true I was late to the party but still it's difficult to believe it's been just under two years since Rayman made his spectacular come back in 2011's masterful platformer Rayman: Origins. The title was an awesome return to form for the limbless wonder after a prolonged spell of absence during which time the Raving Rabbids were left driving the historic franchise forward in less than traditional style.

City of Villains Review

No more spandex and goody two-shoes acts of heroism. Dig out the barbed wire, tattoos and wooden legs. The time of the villains has come.

When City of Heroes was first released in 2004 it was pretty clear that the universe filled with superheroes was only halfway done. Just as Star Wars wouldn't be the same without the Sith Lords, no life of a hero can be complete without some super villains to fight. With City of Villains Cryptic and NCsoft's online RPG becomes a much more complete experience.

Exploring ‘Myst’ and its roots as we celebrate the game’s 20th anniversary

Digital Trends chats with Myst co-creator and Cyan co-founder Robyn Miller about the game's legacy on the eve of his post-mortem talk at the 2013 Game Developer's Conference.

‘Warcraft’ casting rumors: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, and more

Duncan Jones is set to start shooting his World of Warcraft movie adaptation in January 2014, and now we've got word on a number of actors who are either in discussions or being sought for lead roles in the 2015 film.

From ‘Halo 5′ to ‘Titanfall’: What we know about the Xbox One games coming after launch

We take an up close look at Microsoft's incoming platform exclusives for the Xbox One console. What should you be looking to play after the hardware is out? What's to come in 2014 and beyond? You'll find answers right here.

Ultimate Spiderman Review

Ultimate Spider-Man is Treyarch's third incarnation of the Spider-Man series on home consoles. Over the first two games there have been many ups and down with lots of interesting and many disappointing gameplay features. The old saying "third time lucky" may be proven to be true here however if you are of the superstitious kind Treyarch could have had some bad luck along the way as it looks as if everything did not go to plan.

War World Video Game Review

Mech games have had a well-established history on the PC but have tended to require a lot of effort to get into. Third Wave has decided that all the traditional fiddling with heat-sinks and jump jet settings is unnecessary and has stripped the old Mechwarrior concept down to the deep and dirty basics with War World.

Top 5 First Person Shooter World War 2 Games

The concept of FPS WW2 games is a bit of a dying breed. There is a growing favouritism being shown towards real-time strategy games set in the Second World War, which is leaving shooting fans in the lurch when it comes to satisfying their wants for modern FPS games set in this time period. With that being said, there's certainly a plethora of WW2 PC games that are waiting to be played. What are the five best ones? Let's find out.

‘Dark Souls II’ comes to PS3, Xbox 360 on March 11 with a big statue

Namco Bandai confirms a March 11, 2014 release date in North America for From Software's Dark Souls II. The highly anticipated sequels comes in both standard and Collector's Edition flavors.

Why one dev left 2K Marin to create a Lovecraftian indie game

Minor Key Games co-founder and Eldritch creator David Pittman chats about what inspired his upcoming game and what his goals are with the new studio that he co-founded with his game developer brother.

Gran Turismo documentary incoming, focuses on series creator

Sony reveals the documentary KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide, which focuses on Gran Turismo and series creator Kazunori Yamauchi, who serves as president at developer Polyphony Digital.

PlayStation 4 supports game capture via HDMI, voice and gesture controls

Sony confirms a couple of new facts about the PlayStation 4 during its 2013 Tokyo Game Show keynote. The console will support game capture via HDMI, unlike the PS3, and the newly improved PS4 Eye will allow for voice and gesture controls.

Best Free PC Games

They say you can’t get something for nothing, but now that the free-to-play gaming model is taking the industry by storm, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Nowadays there are hundreds of games you can download and start playing without paying a single cent, and some of them are just as polished, graphically impressive, detailed, and engrossing as some of the most well-known retail releases on the market.

10 Best SquareSoft Games

If you are a fan of RPGs then you are probably a fan of the developer known as Square-Enix (or to its most loving fans, Squeenix). However, you might not remember that SquareSoft and Enix used to be two completely separate companies, hence this list of the 10 Best SquareSoft Games.

Who Will Be The Top Tier of SUPER SMASH BROS Wii U?

Every Super Smash Bros character tier list has differed significantly. For example Jigglypuff was a bottom tiered character in the first Super Smash Bros (only above 4 other characters), in Melee the Puff was top 5, then in Brawl it fell all the way to 36.

PlayStation 4 supports game capture via HDMI, voice and gesture controls

Activision Blizzard separation from Vivendi blocked by court order

A Delaware court blocks the proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard from parent company Vivendi, a move that would have established the Call of Duty and Skylanders publisher as an independent entity.

‘Skylanders: Swap Force’ preview: Mix & match your way to victory

Vicarious Visions appears to have another winner on its hands in Skylanders: Swap Force, a revised take on the kid-friendly series that - true to its title - allows for different parts of characters to be swapped around, to varying effect.

Becoming the Dark Knight in ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’

We spend some time beating down Gotham City's criminals in a hands-on with Batman: Arkham Origins that highlights familiar returning gameplay alongside new features, as demonstrated in a boss fight against Deathstroke.

‘Wii Sports’ returns with HD and online play

Nintendo revives Wii Sports for the Wii U as Wii Sports Club, which breaks up the game's five sports into separate purchases, all of them refitted with HD graphics and online play support.

You can get the next Wii U fitness program for free

Nintendo reveals a free trial download for Wii Fit U that allows users to keep the personal fitness software at no charge, provided they purchase and sync a Fit Meter, which comes packaged with the full Wii Fit U release in December 2013.

Interesting Easter Egg in R&C Future: A Crack in Time

If you haven't had the interest of looking for easter eggs in the Ratchet and Clank games, then I shall explain one right now. It is located in Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time.

In order to understand this, you must have played Ratchet and Clank:
Going Commando (Locked and Loaded in Europe) and Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction.

Top 6 Games of September

September marks the unofficial opening of the holiday season, where the big name games begin to release, culminating in the outright brouhaha of November's two new console launches. This month is so good, we're extending our Top 5 to a Top 6.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Open seas walkthrough

Ubisoft has showcased Edward Kenway’s stealth and assassination abilities in the forthcoming Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag a few times now, but if you were curious about the nautical aspects of the game, then the latest 10 minute walkthrough will answer a few of those questions.

Rockstar warns against installing both ‘GTA V’ discs on Xbox 360

Rockstar Games advises against installing the "play" disc for Grand Theft Auto V on your Xbox 360 hard drive. As Digital Foundry discovered, doing so creates issues in the game's open world with texture pop-in.

The Wonderful 101 review

Platinum Games and director Hieki Kamiya head to the Wii U with an exclusive that shows the best, and the worst, of Nintendo’s Wii U.

The Wonderful 101 isn’t a very good communicator. The game is the product of Hieki Kamiya, who has a history with Nintendo. His GameCube title Viewtiful Joe was a highlight of that console. And like that memorable title, The Wonderful 101 is every bit as loud and full of color and light. Unfortunately, it’s also far more confusing.

Kingdom Hearts Not Enough to Dethrone Saints Row IV in UK

It looks as though despite a strong push from Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix at number two, Saints Row IV is going to spend one more week at the top of the UK sales chart. This, of course, should be its last week at the top with the scheduled release of Grand Theft Auto V this week.

‘Battlefield 4′ open beta heads into combat on October 1

Electronic Arts Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore confirms that the open beta for 'Battlefield 4' launches on October 1, 2013. This raises some questions about those with early access, as that portion of the beta was set for "early October."

‘Grand Theft Auto V’ companion app offers dog training and car customization

Rockstar Games releases iFruit, the companion app for this week's Grand Theft Auto V, in the iOS App Store. Players can use the app to customize cars and train Franklin's dog, Chop.

Grand Theft Auto V launches on September 17, 2013, but you can start getting yourself set up with the iFruit companion app, now available in the iOS App Store.

Weekend Recap: Sept. 9th to Sept. 15th

Another week, another collection of news stories. Here are five of my favorite reports from the week beginning Sept. 9th, and surprisingly they all didn’t happen at Sony’s pre-Tokyo Game Show conference.

PlayStation Vita Gets New Model – During the pre-TGS conference, should off these shiny new PlayStaiton Vitas. They are only set for Japan for right now, but they look very nice. Smaller, thinner, but with a wider screen, the only problem with these models is the lack of an OLED screen.

Gamed: Don’t trust Jay Rockefeller (yes, of those Rockefellers)

In this week’s Gamed, West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller’s bill to study violent video games may not be what it seems, J.J. Abrams had his feeling hurt, and Xbone. Just Xbone.

Jetsetter: Sony’s PS Vita TV may not make it way to the West

This week in Jetsetter, Sony announces that its new PS Vita TV console won't be making it to the US or Europe any time soon. Following its Japanese release in November, the device will move to other Asian countries but not the west. Plus, import only Final…

The Daily Five: Great Games With Zero Replay Value

People will espouse the virtues of their favorite medium, but for me there’s nothing quite like sinking my teeth into a great game. Whether it’s addictive gameplay or an enthralling story, gamers everywhere love discovering something that they just know they’ll want to play over and over again.

Trailers of the Week: September 9-13

Welcome to the first edition of Trailers of the Week, where we scour the internet and hand-pick the very best videos released over the course of — you guessed it — the past week. Sometimes it’ll be a big handful of trailers, and during down periods it might just be one or two. Game companies are unpredictable that way.

Randy Pitchford wants you excited for the new ‘Borderlands 2′ DLC, just not too excited

Gearbox Software president, CEO, and founder Randy Pitchford chats with Digital Trends about the upcoming content plans for 'Borderlands 2' and the reasoning behind the decision to not refer to the new content as a second "season" of DLC.

Killzone: Mercenary Review

It was not so long ago that people thought there would never be a proper first-person shooter on consoles; the only way to accurately control a FPS was with the mouse and keyboard of a PC. Then came Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64, proving that FPS could be done on a console and done well. Fast forward to the last decade, and a similar debate has erupted. Could handheld consoles ever be able to support a good first person shooter? Many had tried, and all have failed. I’m here to tell you today it can be done. Killzone: Mercenary is the Goldeneye 007 of portable FPS.

Gran Turismo on PS4 in “About a Year or Two”

Polyphony Digital isn’t well known for pumping out new entries in the Gran Turismo franchise very often, but it looks like they may be hitting the accelerator on the next entry.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate 10 Hours Long, Has Multiple Endings

Game Director for Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, Mark Pacini, recently spoke to The Escapist about the upcoming Vita title and shared a few new details about the Batman’s handheld adventures.

The Last of Us Review

It’s no secret that AAA games are in trouble. They’re costly and frequently forgettable, rarely justifying the ballooned cost of developing and marketing them. Why bother paying $60 for a game when you can have just as much fun with a game downloaded from Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network for a fraction of the cost? Then a game like The Last of Us comes along, reminding us that big budget games still have a place, and still capable of delivering experiences that you can’t get with smaller titles.

Dragon’s Crown Review

It seems like this generation has had its fair share of action-based role playing games as well as hack ‘n slash titles, but not since the classic Dungeons & Dragons arcade games have the genres come together in harmony. However, that’s exactly what happened when Vanillaware sat down to develop the PlayStation exclusive title, Dragon’s Crown.

Sony: “Triple A Exclusives” in Development for PS4

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe head honcho Jim Ryan confirmed that there are “triple A exclusives” being developed for the PlayStation 4 by Sony’s family of studios. Talking to MCV, Ryan responded to a question about why Gamescom was lacking a big game announcement:

“You are on a never-ending treadmill of these events and you have to get the balance between doing too much at one and not having enough at the next. We felt having that slightly different approach at Gamescom worked. But then you will have different days, when someone – hopefully me – will get on a stage and announce a triple-A exclusive, because those games are being made.”

Sony claims there are no big surprises left to show at the Tokyo Game Show, so the most likely time for announcement would come at Spike TV’s annual Video Games Awards show.

The PlayStation 4 will launch on November 15th in North America, and on the 29th in Europe.

Source: PSU

http://www.stealthybox.com

By Travis Tucker

Lemmings Touch Jumping Onto PS Vita

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHGv5O_nhIU&feature=player_embedded

The next entry in the classic puzzler/platformer Lemmings franchise is coming to the PlayStation Vita. The game will feature over 100 levels and will make use of the Vita’s touchscreen capabilities to allow the player to select individual lemmings and designate their roles. To save screen space, a radial pop-up menu will appear every time a lemming is selected. The touchscreen will also be used to aim cannons, set platforms, and move objects for the cute, green-haired creatures.

Developer d3t is also promising brand new, colorful environments with plenty of touch objects. d3t also teased that not all lemmings are what they seem. What does that mean? We will have to find out when more details for Lemmings Touch are revealed “soon.”

Source: PlayStation Blog – Europe

http://www.stealthybox.com

By Travis Tucker

Mass Effect 4 to Be “Fun”, “Ambitious”, “Beautiful”

There are a lot of new details, so let’s just get to it…

Initial PS Vita TV Compatibility List Missing Key Titles

Yesterday, Sony revealed the existence of the PS Vita TV, the inexpensive home Vita console that will allow consumers to stream media and play Vita games on their television, among other functions. It was revealed that many of the games that relied heavily on the unique features of the original, portable Vita (including the touchscreen, touch pad, cameras, compass, etc) may not be compatible with the mini-console.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Review

Let me preface by stating that the crippling server issues that plagued Final Fantasy XIV between its release and infancy had to be waited out, at least for me. It got into the North American server “Siren” only to find I could rarely log-in longer than a few moments before being erred out. I would then take the time to go to other servers like “Leviathan” and “Balmung” when they would open in the hopes of staying on longer each time.

The Daily Five: Dynamic Duos

Batman and Robin may be the Dynamic Duo in comic books and animation, but that never really translated well to the video game world. Sure, there was the SNES game based on the animated show, and Robin did make an appearance in Batman: Arkham City, but they never really felt like the Dynamic Duo of video games. However, there are some famous duos out there in Video Game Land that do an amazing job filling their shows. That’s why today Stealthy Box is counting down some of our favorite video game duos!
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first…

PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD Review

Gaming culture has long been a cynical one, even within one of the most imaginative mediums in mankind’s history. “Are they kidding me with this camera?” we ask, seven minutes into a game that took dozens of people at once several years to make.

DuckTales Remastered Review

DuckTales Remastered is WayForward’s latest project, keeping one simple if daunting goal in mind: recreating the 1989 NES classic DuckTales game from the ground up in high definition, while keeping intact the elements that make it one of the most fondly remembered games in history.
No pressure, right?

The Walking Dead (PS Vita) Review

Telltale Games have been a staple of adventure game fans for quite some time, but they took the entire industry by storm with their release of The Walking Dead in 2012. There were plenty of naysayers leading up to it as well.

Surviving in Sanctuary: Your guide to getting started in ‘Diablo III’

Check this feature out for a bunch of tips that will help you survive as you explore Diablo III's world of Sanctuary for the first time on your PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Gamed: You should be ashamed of yourself for not appreciating Hideo Kojima’s misogyny

This week in Gamed we look at Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima’s response to accusations of misogyny, Madden’s weak debut, and how to do a crowdfunding campaign right.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Review

It’s not unexpected for a PlayStation Network title to go unnoticed or ignored and, honestly, gamers miss out on a lot of great experiences because of this. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is one of the latest released on PSN and is developed by the studio that brought you Payday 2 — Starbreeze Studios.

The Daily Five: Best Mute Heroes

While well-written protagonists are always welcome, more often than not they’re not as compelling as their writers wish they were. They gruffly say something about Bravo Team or Point Bravo or what have you, then we roll our eyes and blow something up. Who cares.

How the director of ‘Riddick’ created a sociopath with compassion

If you are looking for more Wii U games, you may want to look at the Wii

Nintendo drops the price on three commercially successful Wii games - Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Wii Sports Resort - down to $30 apiece. The company also wants to remind you that all three are playable on a Wii U as well.

‘Dynasty Warriors: Gundam’ returns

Fans of the Gundam anime series have a new Dynasty Warriors beat ‘em up to look forward to, with publisher Namco Bandai Games announcing a Japan release of a fourth Dynasty Warriors: Gundam game in the latest issue of Famitsu (via Polygon).

‘Killzone: Mercenary’ review

The Vita’s library of just over 240 games is quickly approaching a dangerous level. When you add in the plethora of downloadable versions of older games, there is plenty to choose from, but there are still only a handful of games that really use the Vita’s functionality to its fullest. Killzone: Mercenary does that, and offers a competent and impressive FPS as a result, complete with all the tropes of the genre.
It’s just a shame that it feels likes half of a really good game.

It looks like US Xbox One buyers may receive a free game after all

Customers that purchase a Xbox One in Europe will receive a copy of FIFA 14, but as yet Microsoft has yet to confirm a similar deal in America. That may just be a matter of time.

‘Diablo III console’ review

Diablo III doesn’t stumble onto consoles like so many sub-standard PC game ports before it. Blizzard’s work here shines. There’s even an argument that the definitive take on Diablo III is realized in its console release, a content-complete port that is bolstered by a combination of perfectly executed gamepad controls, a streamlined user interface, and a handful of experience-improving feature tweaks.

Xbox One launches on November 22 in the US, UK

Get excited, people: Microsoft has confirmed a November 22, 2013 launch date for its next-generation Xbox One console, which arrives one week after Sony's competing PlayStation 4.

Nintendo spoofs itself with a cruel, elaborate hoax for the ‘Nintendo 1DS’

Following the announcement of the budget, tablet-like Nintendo 2DS, the company has gone and released an ad for a fake device called the Nintendo 1DS. Which makes us sad, because this thing actually looks awesome.

Double Fine’s Kickstarter hit ‘Broken Age’ features Jack Black, Jennifer Hale

A now-confirmed voice cast for Double Fine Productions' Kickstarter success, Broken Age (formerly known as Double Fine Adventure), includes the talents of Brutal Legend stars Jack Black and Jennifer Hale.

Rayman Legends review

My review of Rayman Legends is actually going to be a twofer. The bulk of the review was completed using the Wii U version, which has some significant differences that I’ll get to in a bit. I also played through several sections of the game on PlayStation 3 as well and, despite a few differences, the experiences are obviously similar. They feature the same clever level design, the same lush, cartoon-style animation, and, for the most part, the same incredible amount of content. There is a bit more on Wii U, but it is a bonus and you won’t feel its absence on the PS3/Xbox 360 versions.

Gamed: Games and war, which one is bad again?

Even as the country discusses war with Syria, another study concludes that violent video games don’t trigger violent tendencies in teenagers. Plus, Nintendo hates Australia, Iran hates female characters, and Uwe Boll hates us all.

Jetsetter: Japanese developer supergroup makes Mighty No. 9, a thoroughly modern Mega Man

This week Jetsetter shines a spotlight on Keiji Inafune, the future creative chief of Capcom and proud papa of the Mega Man series. Inafune returns to his platforming roots alongside a who's who of Mega Man developers for their new game, Mighty No. 9.

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