Archived News:

Tuesday, Apr 11, 2017 National Pet Day (USA)

PC Bayonetta Released

Following an 8-bil April Fools gag, SEGA now offers the surprise release of Bayonetta for Windows, bringing PlatinumGames' hairy action game to PCs just seven years after its debut for consoles. This is available on Steam, offering updated graphics supporting high-resolution 60 fps gameplay, as shown in the PC launch trailer. Here's word on the release, where SEGA promises more PC conversions from their back catalogue:
Bayonetta is back! SEGA Europe Ltd. can reveal that PlatinumGames’ universally acclaimed action masterpiece is available via Steam on PC, today right here. Experience the over-the-top stylish action in 60fps, at unlocked HD resolutions. For a limited time only, the Digital Deluxe Edition is available at no extra cost to all customers who purchase before Tuesday, April 25th.

The Digital Deluxe Edition includes a 5 track soundtrack sampler and digital art book from the original Climax Edition, enhanced with even more concept art, and exclusive wallpapers and avatars.

From PlatinumGames’ legendary director Hideki Kamiya; of Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry fame, SEGA brings one of the most universally acclaimed character action games of all time, Bayonetta, to PC. Bayonetta is the last survivor of an ancient witch clan who keep the balance between light, dark and chaos. Entombed to protect herself – and the world as we know it – Bayonetta is discovered and revived after 500 years, sparking a chain of events with cataclysmic repercussions.

Thrust straight into battle, with only one clue to her past, Bayonetta must discover the truth and fight for the future. Her daunting conquest sees her face off against countless angelic enemies and giant foes in a game of 100% pure action.

“We are dedicated to bringing high-quality, best practice PC conversions of our back catalogue games to our fans, and Bayonetta was a great fit.” Said John Clark, Senior Vice President of Commercial Publishing for SEGA Europe. “Bayonetta is one of the most often requested PC conversions of our games, so finally being able to launch it on Steam is fantastic. There’s more to come!”

Bayonetta follows Typing of the Dead™, Valkyria Chronicles™ and the SEGA Mega Drive Collection™ which SEGA has successfully converted for Steam. Keep up to date with all SEGA news on Facebook www.facebook.com/Sega and Twitter www.twitter.com/SEGA.
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Ghost Recon Wildlands Narco Road Next Week

UbiBlog has details on Narco Road for Ghost Recon Wildlands, saying this expansion will land on April 18th, adding new vehicles and factions to the shooter. They say this will be preceded by a patch for the game later this week to pave the way for the expansion, and add some free content. Here's the plan:
New targets, new vehicles, and a new approach to taking down the cartel are all coming soon in the Narco Road expansion for Ghost Recon Wildlands. In order to dismantle a smuggling ring led by the elusive El Invisible, you and your squad will have to infiltrate the gangs under his control and earn the respect of three new bosses. Each boss commands a gang with its own identity, including the thrill-seeking Kamikazes, the muscle car-loving Jinetes Locos, and the Santa Muerte-obsessed Death Riders.

You’ll take on more than 15 new campaign missions, as well as four new types of side missions and racing challenges, all with the goal of earning fame and followers. The more followers you acquire, the more you’ll ingratiate yourself with the gang bosses, and the closer you’ll get to your goal. Along the way, you’ll want to get comfortable with the new vehicles Narco Road is bringing to Bolivia. Muscle cars with nitro boosts, planes built for acrobatic flight, big chopper bikes, and hulking monster trucks will all be available for you to use as you please.

In addition to these four new vehicles types, Narco Road will introduce four outfits and nine weapons when it launches for season pass holders across all platforms on April 18 (or individual purchase for owners of the standard and deluxe versions of Ghost Recon Wildlands on April 25 for $14.99).

Narco Road will be preceded by a free title update – April 12 for consoles and April 14 for PC – that will introduce live season challenges and new rewards to Wildlands. The first themed-season, “The Rise and Fall of Unidad,” will challenge players to target Unidad operations. The challenges for the first season will refresh every Wednesday for six weeks, and reward players with up to three unique rewards per week.

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Released

The Beamblog has all the details surrounding today's release of Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition. The post has details on the journey from the original game to its remastered version, and Beamdog says this has brought valuable lessons, saying some of these may benefit future Infinity Engine Enhanced Edition titles. Here's a bit:
The journey from PS:T to PST:EE has been an interesting one. From acquiring the license, to deciphering the source code, and working through the unique solutions put in place by the original team, the journey has been filled with valuable lessons, some of which we may bring to our other Infinity Engine Enhanced Edition titles.

We’d like to thank the original Black Isle team for bringing Planescape: Torment into this world. We’re all fans of the original and having the chance to bring games like this to both a new generation of players and back to fans who were there at the beginning is why many of us are here at Beamdog. A special thanks goes out to original Black Isle team members Eric Campanella, Kenneth Lee, and Tim Donley for taking the time to answer questions and point us in the right direction.

Yooka-Laylee Released

Team17 and Playtonic Games announce the release of Yooka-Laylee for PCs and consoles, with the Windows, OS X, and Linux editions available through Steam or GOG. The launch trailer offers a look, and here's the pitch:
Award-winning veteran games developer and international games label Team17 and Playtonic Games, the UK studio formed by veterans of the platforming genre, are excited to announce that Yooka-Laylee is out now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac and Linux!

Yooka-Laylee is an all-new open-world platformer from genre veterans Playtonic! Explore huge, beautiful worlds, meet (and beat) an unforgettable cast of characters and horde a vault-load of shiny collectibles as buddy-duo Yooka (the green one) and Laylee (the wisecracking bat with the big nose) embark on an epic adventure to thwart corporate creep Capital B and his devious scheme to absorb all the world’s books… and convert them into pure profit!

Using their arsenal of special moves, our heroes will tackle a huge variety of puzzles and platforming challenges in their search for Pagies, the golden bounty used to unlock — and expand — stunning new worlds, each jammed to the gills with oddball characters, hulking bosses, minecart challenges, retro-tastic arcade games, quiz shows, multiplayer games… and much more!

Yooka-Laylee features:

  • 5 engrossing worlds that can be explored and expanded. Expanding a world adds in new areas to explore, new characters to meet and even a boss to defeat! Visit Tribalstack Tropics, Glitterglaze Glacier, Moodymaze Marsh, Capital Cashino and Galleon Galaxy.
  • A colourful hub world to navigate. Start off in Shipwreck Creek, Yooka and Laylee’s home, moving into Hivory Towers, pesky Capital B’s lair!
  • 8 unique local multiplayer arcade games for up to four players
  • Bee-Team! Connect an additional control to buddy up. Taking control of the Bee Team, the second player can grab quills and collect and store butterflies for when Yooka and Laylee are in need of a boost
  • A dream soundtrack. Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) and David Wise (Donkey Kong Country) combine for a melodic masterpiece! Seriously, clean out your ears – they’re in for a treat.

Continue here to read the full story.

Sexy Brutale Released

Sexy Brutale is now available for Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, offering a time-looping 3D puzzle game set in an unusual casino. A look at the setting and gameplay can be found in the launch trailer. Here's the announcement:
“Never-ending masked ball turned murderous” adventure puzzle game The Sexy Brutale is out today for Windows PC, PlayStation®4 and Xbox One.

Set during a single, endlessly-looping day within The Sexy Brutale – a stately English mansion converted into a bizarre casino and named by the enigmatic Marquis – players take on the role of elderly priest Lafcadio Boone. To progress, Boone must hide, watch and learn the colorful stories of the other guests at the ball in order to save them from grisly deaths at the hands of the mansion’s staff.

By discovering the key moments and methods how each guest can be saved and gaining occult-seeming powers linked to their masks, Lafcadio is able to explore deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the mansion’s past and inhabitants to uncover the truth hidden at the heart of The Sexy Brutale.
"The Sexy Brutale has been our first collaboration with another studio. Our first Pan-European co-production,” said Raúl Rubio, CEO & Creative Director at Tequila Works. “The first game published by us. Only the combination of talents from England and Spain could produce such a charming, decadent, exhilarating result as The Sexy Brutale.”

“Today we feel honored to invite you to join us at the Grand Opening of The Sexy Brutale Casino Mansion," adds Rubio.

“The Sexy Brutale is our sincere attempt to create a game that is exciting, original and different,” says Cavalier Game Studios design director Charles Griffiths. “We’ve spent years crafting this experience and we very much hope that players will enjoy their time in the mansion.”
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Crawl Crawls Out of Early Access

Crawl is now available for Windows, OS X, and Linux on GOG and Steam, offering a PvP dungeon crawler with a distinctive throwback look. This is on display in this launch trailer, so be sure its set to run at 1080p. Here's word:
Crawl is the local multiplayer dungeon crawler where your friends control the monsters! Battle through dungeons and power up your hero - if a friend kills you they take your place and it’s their turn to crawl. It's a race to gain enough XP and loot to take on the hulking final boss!
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Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - Continuum Trailer

A new trailer from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - Continuum shows off multiplayer action from the upcoming first-person shooter sequel. This is coming next week to the PlayStation 4, so it should be about another five weeks to come to Windows and Xbox One. The clip includes the following description: "Four bold new maps are coming in Infinite Warfare’s second DLC Pack, including the long-awaited reimagining of Modern Warfare 2’s Rust as the sprawling metropolis of Excess. Engage in frenetic firefights in the post-futurist art gallery of Archive, flip your perspective in gravity-defying sniper perches in Scrap, and hunt your enemies throughout the elite resort of Turista." Continue here to read the full story.

Paradigm Released

Steam now offers the release of Paradigm for Windows and OS X (thanks Mordecai Walfish). This is a point-and-click adventure that draws inspiration from some of the classics of the genre like Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. Here's a bit more:
Paradigm is a surreal adventure game set in the strange and post apocalyptic Eastern European country of Krusz.

Play as the handsome mutant, Paradigm, who's past comes back to haunt him in the form of a genetically engineered sloth that vomits candy.

Paradigm’s unfortunate life begins at DUPA genetics, a company who sells prodigy children to the rich and powerful who don’t want to leave their inheritance to their poor excuse for biological children.

Something went wrong during Paradigm’s growing process and he was left horribly mutated. To save their reputation, DUPA dumped the hideous infant in a nearby post Neo-Soviet abandoned town, forcing him to fend for himself.

On Sale

Evening Crowdfunding Roundup

  • Disturbing the Verse - Zero Gravity 2D Fighter by Joseph E.A. King — Kickstarter. "Disturbing the Verse is a 1-4 player zero-gravity fighting game for PC and Mac currently in development by Gremlin_Ent in association with Luminary Apps. It originally started as a thought exercise: What would Zone of the Enders be like as a 1v1 fighting game? What if it was 2D and we added elements from Street Fighter and Smash Bros? What if we use a Sci-Fantasy setting and made our own weird characters (space angels, cyborgs, mutants, etc.). How about support for up to 4 players? What if we spice things up with optional weapons?" Also on Steam Greenlight. Here's a trailer.

Evening Interviews

Gatherings & Competitions

Overwatch Uprising Event Begins

The Overwatch website now pays off on last week's tease with the announcement of Overwatch Uprising, a special event for the first-person shooter that was the worst-kept secret since the last Overwatch announcement. This is now underway, offering special loot boxes filled with skins and other items themed around the origins of the Overwatch team. The trailer for the event is now officially released, and here are some details:
CELEBRATE THE OVERWATCH LEGACY
Starting today, all in-game Loot Boxes have been replaced with Uprising Loot Boxes. These special time capsules have been filled to the brim with mementos from the earlier eras of Overwatch—including Mercy’s "Combat Medic Ziegler" and Tracer’s "Cadet Oxton" skins, "Talon Widowmaker," "Blackwatch Genji," "Blackwatch McCree," and more!

As with our previous events, any Loot Boxes you earn or purchase will contain at least one skin, highlight intro, emote, spray, or player icon from the Overwatch Uprising collection. While the contents of each Uprising Loot Box are random, you can unlock a variety of these cosmetic customization options with credits in the Hero Gallery throughout the event's duration.

Once you've unlocked an Overwatch Uprising item, it will be yours forever, which means you can use it all-year round. The collection will be re-encrypted on May 1, however, when the event concludes, so be sure to fire up your favorite gaming machine and browse the archives before it's too late!

WELCOME TO THE TEAM, AGENTS
From now until May 1, you and three friends must journey seven years into the past, joining forces as Tracer, Torbjörn, Reinhardt, and Mercy to quell an uprising on the streets of King’s Row. A group of omnic separatists known as Null Sector has overwhelmed the area, and you must defeat the robots to liberate the city. The future depends on you.

To defeat this new threat, you’ll need to work together with your team, developing new strategies and adapting on the fly as the seemingly unstoppable force continues its assault. The robots of Null Sector will stop at nothing—so you and your fellow agents need to be prepared for anything.
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KOTOR Reboot & New BioWare IP Rumors

SWGameOutpost has a word of a premium Patreon rumor (of all things) suggesting BioWare is currently prototyping a KOTOR reboot (thanks GameSpot). This comes from Liam Robertson of Unseen64 and Did You Know Gaming, and IBT highlights another tidbit from the same podcast, discussing a new IP codenamed "Dylan" (thanks VG247). "Dylan is, from what I understand, a sci-fi themed game, it is sort of Destiny-style, takes some elements from The Division, it has like MMO elements," he explains. "Someone described it as a 'semi-MMO'. I don't know much more than that... it is a huge scale project, perhaps the biggest BioWare has ever done. It's bigger than Mass Effect Andromeda, considerably so. It will have co-op." Back to the first rumor, here's a transcript of the KOTOR bit:
"I’ve learned now that [BioWare Austin is] pretty much now exclusively working on Star Wars games and they’re going to be doing that for the indefinite future," he said during a podcast segment. "What they’re currently working on right now—and I have this on good authority—is a sort of remake/revival of Knights of the Old Republic. I don’t know when this is set to come out, but it has been in development for a little while now."

The Elder Scrolls Online Free Week

The Elder Scrolls Online website has details on a free play week that's getting underway today in Bethesda's MMORPG. The game is also on sale on all platforms for the duration of the event. Here's is the scoop:
The Elder Scrolls Online Free Play Week will start globally tomorrow, April 11, 2017, at 10:00 am EDT on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Steam (PC/Mac). Once it has begun, you can download and play The Elder Scrolls Online on your platform of choice for the entirety of the event.

Planning to join in on the fun? Check out the details below:

  • The event starts on April 11, 2017 at 10:00 am EDT on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Steam (PC/Mac) and ends on April 18, 2017, at 10:00 am EDT.
    • Xbox Live Gold membership required to play on Xbox One.
  • When the event starts, you can download and play The Elder Scrolls Online on your platform here (if the Free Play version is not yet available for your platform, check back again later):
  • You'll have access to the full The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited base game, not including DLC game pack areas.
  • Upon account creation, you will receive 500 crowns to spend in the in-game Crown Store. Perfect for Crown Crates, unique outfits, XP boosts, and more!
  • Any characters you create, Crown Packs or Crown Store items you purchase, and progress you make during the Free Play event will carry over if you decide to purchase the game.
  • If you participated in any previous Free Play events, any characters, progress, Crown Packs and Crown Store items you acquired during that time will still be available to play as well!

On top of all that, we're still right in the middle of our three-year anniversary event, granting you an item that provides an XP boost!

Battlerite Free Week

A free week for Battlerite gets underway today at 1:00 pm EDT on Steam, offering the chance to check out this Windows early access action game gratis until Sunday. The game is on sale for the duration, and all progress from the free trial will carry over if you buy the game. Here's word:
If you've been curious about Stunlock Studios new arena brawler, Battlerite, you can play it completely free this week. From 10am PT on Tuesday April 11th to 1pm PT Sunday April 16th, the full roster of 20 heroes and 8 maps will be available to everyone. There is a 33% discount during the event and players who buy into the Early Access receive all current and future champions for free, forever! All progress from the free trial week will be transferrable to the full version if you decide to pick it up later on.

The fun doesn’t stop there! Celebrate Easter the best way possible in Battlerite’s first ever holiday game mode, “Bakko’s Egg Brawl”. Stunlock Studios are also releasing the long awaited legendary skin for Freya. There are plenty of reasons to enter the arena this week!

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Launch Livestream

A livestream is getting underway later today on Twitch to celebrate the launch of Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition. Here are details on how you can party with Beamdog for the release of their remake:
Join us April 11th on Twitch from 1:30pm to 2:30pm PDT as we launch Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition!

Beamdog Design Director Philip Daigle will be hosting a variety of team members as they show off features, share stories about PST:EE’s development, answer questions, and give away prizes!

Come for the lore, stay for the chance to win Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition Steam keys, Lady of Pain t-shirts and… wait for it... a highly-coveted Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear Collector’s Edition.

See you then cutter!

Brawl of Ages Early Access

Steam now offers early access to Brawl of Ages, calling this a CCAG, as apparently a Collectible Card Arena Game is a thing. This is a soft launch, as this is a free-to-play offering. Here's an announcement trailer and here's what to expect:
Brawl of Ages is a free to play, multiplayer Collectible Card Arena game that draws elements from the most fun, exciting and competitive gameplay aspects of several different genres, including CCGs, MOBAs, RTS & Tower Defense.

Brawl of Ages Features

  • Fast-paced 1v1 arena battles.
  • Matchmaking & Ladder rankings.
  • Full Featured Brawl Clubs (clans): Text & Voice Chat, Friendly Challenge with up to 50 Club members. Compete in the Club v Club Ladder and earn extra free content together.
  • Built-in VoIP and text chat in Smash Parties where you & your friends can challenge each other and compete for the bounty rewarded to the final champion.
  • Robust crafting system allowing players to directly craft the cards they desire most.
  • Gameplay modes & experience that caters to both highly competitive & casual gamers

Total War: WARHAMMER OS X Next Week

Feral Interactive announces the OS X edition of Total War: WARHAMMER is expected on April 18th. They offer a dedicated mini-site for their ports of the fantasy strategy game with a coming soon trailer. Here's the plan:
Feral Interactive announced today that Total War: WARHAMMER for macOS, powered by Apple’s new graphics API, Metal, will be released on April 18th. The game was developed for Windows PC by Creative Assembly in partnership with Games Workshop, and published by SEGA.

Total War: WARHAMMER for Mac, a game of grand strategy and high fantasy, is the union of three forces: Creative Assembly’s Total War series, Games Workshop’s magical setting of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, and Metal, innovative technology from Apple that brings impressive performance and graphics to Mac games.

A fantasy strategy game of colossal proportions, Total War: WARHAMMER combines an addictive turn-based campaign of skillful empire-building with explosive real-time battles as players strive to conquer all at the head of one of four mythic Races.

The deep and rich universe of Warhammer opens a new era for Total War by taking the series into a magical realm of grand high fantasy. Gigantic monsters, flying dragons, legendary heroes and regiments of nightmarish warriors all take their place on the bloody battlefields of Warhammer’s Old World.

The first in an epic trilogy of titles, Total War: WARHAMMER delivers hundreds of hours of absorbing gameplay and will combine with two further standalone installments and additional content packs to create the single largest Total War experience ever.

“Bringing this first installment of Total War: WARHAMMER to the Mac has been an immense endeavor,” said David Stephen, Managing Director of Feral Interactive, “We know the huge level of expectation from Mac fans of the series, and we are delighted to at last deliver them this wonderful game in all its spellbinding glory.”

Total War: WARHAMMER will be available through the Feral Store, Steam, and the Mac App Store.
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Steam Hammer Beta

Big Way Games is now offering access to the beta version of Steam Hammer, their crowdfunded hardcore steampunk RPG. This comes at a premium, but they are not calling it early access, saying that's still to come (so they are working off their own playbook here). This trailer offers a look, and here's word on what to expect:
Your airship was downed over one of the Acribo islands. Make use of your engineering skills to survive – work your way from building a makeshift machete to your own airship fleet with the help of an extensive crafting system.

You’ll get to fight both on land and in the air. Free PvP for 64 players with a non-target combat system. Grab your steam jetpack and get ready to hijack the enemy’s airships! Seize impregnable forts surrounded by turrets in mid-air!
Continue here to read the full story.

Game Reviews

Hardware Reviews

Out of the Blue

Thanks Neutronbeam for the heads-up that today is National Pet Day, an occasion with the motto "Don’t shop! Adopt!" And though the Gunnar-man did come from a breeder (we need hypoallergenic dogs in the BlueTower), he and I still plan on celebrating, as that doesn't make him any less a pet, or any less loved. We're already into two walk-a-day weather and he basically gets constant indulgence, so I'll have to figure out some way to make this special. Maybe I'll let him run free without his diaper so he can pee on the stove again. We already have to replace it to sell the house anyway.

Pet Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: Idle Adventurers Guild Master.
Reform.
Stories: Airlines make more money selling miles than seats. Thanks Slashdot.
To save money, Kentucky Coal Museum turns to solar panels.
Media: Workman Stuns Audience With His Piano Skills.
Cars Fly On The Fourth Of July. Alaska, the Florida of the north.
How Much Plastic is in the Ocean? Spoiler alert: A lot.
Follow-up: United CEO Doubles Down, Blames Passenger Who Got His Ass Kicked by Police.
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