Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs has been one of the largest commercial successes of the new generation of consoles. The hacking thief-’em-up title set the Ubisoft launch day sales record when it was released in May of this year, sold 4 million copies in its first week, setting the record for the fastest-selling new IP in the process, and went on to top the software sales charts for June. And that’s all without the Wii U version, set to launch in November....
One of the many reasons for the open-world genre’s rise in prominence is the level of freedom offered. In many cases, players can choose where they go and what they do within the first couple of hours in such a game. Consequently, a group of gamers could play the same open-world title and all have completely different experiences. Although people’s paths will branch off into unpredictable ways after a couple of hours of gameplay, there’s one section of the game where many players will have the same experience: the introduction....
Even though a game may be canceled and/or lost to time, that doesn’t mean it is not important. Everything is important to preserving video game history, from the lowest phone game to magazines to trailers to the biggest games themselves. That’s why sites like Unseen64 and the somewhat newer formed Video Game History Foundation are so important. Both of these companies find value in even the most obscure games. It is through their efforts, along with many others, that canceled and lost games can turn up....
In the industry, games often get announced far ahead of schedule and just sort of fade away until they’re ready to be shown again. Although the silence can help ramp up hype on a specific title, it can also lead gamers to forget some of these titles were even announced in the first place (unless they were following the communities closely). Within the last generation (which offered up some fantastic titles), many games were announced with no further follow up in terms of a new trailer, gameplay, or even a release window....
It pretty much goes without saying at this point that the entire world is waiting with bated breath for Cyberpunk 2077 to finally hit store shelves — something that seemed like an impossibility at one point, given the number of delays that the game has faced for the longest time. However, December 10th seems to be the absolute final date on which the game will release, and fans can’t wait to finally get their hands on this masterpiece in the making....
Fire Emblem has brought tons of strongly written and likable characters that still stand the test of time. Characters like Hector, Lucina, Sigurd, and many others have made impacts on the fans for their gameplay and, in some cases, their characteristics. However, there are some characters who have a reputation that makes them very unlikable. Few of them have redeeming qualities, but they are mostly despised for a variety of reasons....
The Nintendo Entertainment System laid the groundwork for 2D side scrollers, creating entire genres and laying out the fundamentals of game design. The Super Nintendo had all of these tools out the gate, so, when developers were creating games for the system, they could focus much more on making unique experiences that were unlike any other games. Another notable thing about the 16-bit era is that gaming was still relatively new, so there weren’t as many fans begging for sequels of certain games, and games were also infinitely cheaper to make, allowing for a lot more creative freedom....
Playing video games is always a ton of fun. People who get really into games totally love to play their favorites over and over again, making sure that they find every single little detail, Easter egg, and hidden side quest that the game has to offer. But there are some things in certain games that people find that just cannot be explained. Whether it’s a strange hidden message, a weird glitch, or a quest that seems to have no end, there are a lot of weird things that are hidden in games that don’t seem like we were ever supposed to find....
Most Pokémon fans learn early on that evolution is the key to obtaining the most powerful Pokémon. Training and evolving your young Pokémon into higher stages comes with several benefits including higher stats, new moves, and some different or additional typings. As a result, most Pokémon are utterly useless in their lowest forms. There are several exceptions, however, as many items and strategies in the game have made some unevolved Pokémon just as powerful as their later evolutions, and in some circumstances, they can be even more competitively viable than their fully-evolved peers....
MMORPGs come in wonderous varieties, but they all have one common feature, an almighty body of lore that governs the basic rules of the world. Even if you don’t roll on an RP server, your character will interact with non-player characters (NPCs) and travel to locations that are all part of local legend. Older MMORPGs like World of Warcraft have had decades to amass various stories and legends about the world of Azeroth and it’s heroes....
Raven Software recently took to Twitter to keep Warzone players appraised of its ongoing efforts to keep Warzone clear of cheaters. Today’s take: “Over 13,000 accounts banned,” according to Raven. “Keep them coming!” The studio didn’t elaborate on the reason for the bans or give any additional statistics for things like whether they were wall hackers or account smurfers. It’s the second wave of bans in a week and the first major banwave announcement since February’s blockbuster 60,000 permabans....
By now most gamers have pored over every frame of the Fallout 4 trailer in the hopes of gleaning some additional clue from Bethesda Softworks’ first in-game teaser. They’ve analyzed the narration, scrutinized the Boston landmarks, and even tried to align current clues with past rumors. However, those who simply watched the trailer, closed the YouTube player, and moved on may have missed a few of the more interesting details. There aren’t a ton of clues in the Fallout 4 announcement trailer, but there are some worth talking about....
One of the year’s most anticipated games, Batman: Arkham Knight, finally launches next week, giving the players another chance to take on some of Batman’s greatest villains like the Scarecrow, Two-Face, and newcomer, Arkham Knight. While the countdown to release continues to tick down, fans who’ve gone all in on the special Batmobile Edition of the game have started receiving disappointing notices from Rocksteady and Warner Bros confirming that this version of Batman: Arkham Knight has been cancelled....
Spawning out of E3 2014, where more details and gameplay footage were shown for Visceral Games’ Battlefield Hardline, players could play a small slice of the game from their homes via the closed beta. Players who signed up via the official site or got codes at E3 could try the title out on PC and PS4. The closed beta features one map and two new modes (Blood Money and Heist) and it was meant to closed down last week....
Dedicated servers are a staple of PC gaming, which is why it was so jarring when Modern Warfare 2 completely omitted them. Thankfully, that won’t be the case with the PC version of Black Ops 2, which will make use of dedicated servers. The news comes from Treyarch’s Cesar Stastny, who tweeted over the weekend that Black Ops 2 will use dedicated servers for ranked games. This is a step up from Modern Warfare 3, which only employed them for unranked matches....
After first abandoning the DRM requirement for the recently released Driver: San Francisco, Ubisoft is now announcing that the multiplayer section of the game will never require an online pass and will be free on all platforms forever. This announcement comes as a result of a printing error in US copies of the game — something to do with the UPlay Passport — and instead of Ubisoft playing the bad guy they have decided to simply do away with the online pass for this particular title....
It seems that for every faithful force-user who enjoyed Star Wars: The Old Republic, there were as many as ten dark side-devotees lined up to denounce the series’ MMO makeover. A stone cold cult classic, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, along with its rough-and-ready 2004 sequel KOTOR II, were both big sellers in their day. Big enough, in fact, to prompt then-license owners Lucasarts to take their second stab at MMO success via the franchise....
While many once-exclusive franchises are now going multiplatform in the hopes of boosting sales, some are still showing their console allegiance through console exclusive content. Case in point: Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and its PS3 and PS4-exclusive mission, Déjà Vu. While the set-up for Déjà Vu isn’t entirely the clear, the above trailer reveals why die-hard Metal Gear Solid fans will want to play this exclusive mission. Yes, that’s a polygonal version of Solid Snake from the original PS1 classic, Metal Gear Solid....
Gone are the days when split-screen gameplay reigned supreme. Over time, the exhilaration of sitting on a couch within punching-distance of your friends has given way to the simplicity of online gaming. While both have their own distinct advantages, many gamers still yearn for those bygone days of couch-based glory. Luckily for them, Sportsfriends is on its way to bring the spirit of competition back in the wackiest way possible....
In just a few days, gamers around the world will finally get their hands on one of the most anticipated releases of 2014: Titanfall. Most have likely played the beta — if not watch our preview — and are ready to see the full breadth of Respawn’s multiplayer experience. Unfortunately, just a few days before the launch of Titanfall we bring bad news for our fellow gamers in South Africa. Titanfall will not be “dropping in” on that region, with inconsistent Internet serving as a primary reason behind the decision....
