rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 rss_modified:rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 http://www.gamespot.com/mashup/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Wed, 06 Aug 2014 08:42:05 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/new-assassins-creed-rogue-resident-evil-remake-and/2300-6420634/ 2300-6420634Wed, 06 Aug 2014 08:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/assassins-creed-rogue-trailer-reactions-analysis/2300-6420636/ 2300-6420636Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:58:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-says-call-of-duty-not-immune-to-industr/1100-6421532/ 
Game pre-orders are on the decline, Activision stated in an earnings call today.
Speaking in the call, Activision publishing president and CEO Eric Hirshberg said that a downturn in pre-orders is being experienced throughout the industry and results from a number of factors, such as, "increased digital consumption, particularly on the next-gen consoles, titles being widely available on day one, and the decline overall of demand for software on previous-gen consoles."
According to Hirshberg, Activision's Call of Duty series is "not immune" to the effects of the downturn. "However, within that context, we still expect for Call of Duty to lead the industry in pre-orders once again this year," he added. "We look to other metrics as well, and we're seeing a lot of strength in those metrics... It's important to note that pre-orders are just one data point that we look at in determining the momentum of a franchise like this."
Based on such metrics, Hirshberg stated that purchase intent for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is "significantly above" that of Call of Duty: Ghosts, and is on track with the publisher's past top performing games, despite having not yet revealed details for the game's multiplayer mode.
Those interested in learning about the changes made to the multiplayer formula for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare don't have much longer to wait. The first details will be revealed on August 11 at 10 a.m. PDT. For more on what we know about the game so far, check out GameSpot's coverage.
]]> 1100-6421532Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:21:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/halfway-review/1900-6415836/ Space is cold, lonely, and wholly apathetic to the struggles of humanity. That inhospitality gives Halfway its emotive essence. It doesn't ask you to conquer, to win, or to triumph. Here, on a bent and broken ship aimlessly drifting through the infinite dark, you're just trying to survive. Halfway opens with Lannis, an aging security guard for the Goliath colony ship, coming out of stasis quite a bit later than he expected. Immediately it's clear, both in the environments and the steady, solemn tones driving the ambient sound track, that this is not a happy story.The lead into the more omnipresent feeling of dread is slow at first. Peeking and probing, you search about the first few areas of the ship, seeking other survivors. Even after establishing a rudimentary basecamp, the seemingly endless hordes of mutated crew members are an evolving and lingering threat. From your base, you launch missions with a growing group of survivors to gather needed food and supplies and ultimately take back the ship.
Each excursion has a series of core objectives punctuated by scripted, turn-based combat sequences. With the ship adrift, its computer has gone haywire and is warping the ship to random locations every few minutes. When one of these jumps triggers, whatever room you're in floods with intruders. Fighting these baddies off isn't terribly difficult most of the time, but if you're reckless, you'll end up wasting scarce ammunition and resources. I lost several missions just because I was a bit too cavalier with my bullets.
As you progress, you fight tougher and more severe mutations of the Goliath's former crew. Some barely have any of their humanity left, and amount to little more than walking steel cans firing massive and deadly lasers from their chests. To combat the tougher foes, you need to scavenge for equipment--health packs, guns, and armor--and distribute them among your team. You can also find items which provide a permanent stat boost to your crew's aiming, their agility, or their health. These pick-ups serve as role-playing elements that supplement the tactical core, although even with those additions there isn't much mechanical depth.
Each character under your command has two special abilities: one that's passive, and another than can be used every few turns. Besides using these skills and attacking, there's not a lot to do in a given turn. There's only one proper defensive option, "retaliate", and it's not terribly effective as it only works if you are directly attacked as opposed to when an enemy crosses a threatened or monitored area. Most of the strategy comes from appropriate timing and movement. In addition to wasting ammo, wasting your abilities and having to wait for the cooldown to expire could mean a failed mission. For the most part, the lack of complicated tactical options doesn't matter all that much. It does, however, make some of Halfway's difficulty spikes rise from challenging to maddening.
As I was nearing the end of my run, I hit a massive road block and it took half a dozen tries to finish the section. There were so many enemies, all with seemingly much better aim and armor than my own team. When I finally made it through, it was only because I took a side mission to get better gear, but even that run was substantially more difficult than the rest of the game. Those occasional spikes in difficulty also muddle the pacing of an otherwise laudable narrative. For the first few hours, there's brilliant mystery unfolding, built around the events that led to this disheartening circumstance and the methods used to recapture control. As the game approaches its climax, though, the brutal sequences kick in and the tempo halts. The abrupt difficulty is not a killer, but that's largely thanks to Halfway's non-gameplay pieces, and after a few failed missions, seeing your squadmates revived again and again undercuts the sense of despair and hopelessness that underlies the rest of the game.
Unlike with similar games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Fire Emblem, death is not permanent, and though Halfway's message still resonates, the music and visuals are what properly express the game's thematic weight. Seeing a crewmate that barely survived your last mission gently pulling drags from a cigar as he looks out over the stars carries with it great emotion. Rooms are littered with the pieces of stories told in times past. Bullet holes, shell casings, and piles of ashes set the grim tone and remind you that your characters that they may not survive for much longer.
The morose tone is further darkened by a stellar soundtrack. The main theme kicks in with hard synth beats that evoke the era of science-fiction classics like Alien and Blade Runner before shifting into wistful, distant chords. Each battle theme is a faster, layered version of the same area's ambient music. This musical consistency establishes a constant sense of place and provides an extra bump of adrenaline for making action sequences feel exciting and important. The menu and home base tracks lack combat variants altogether, expressing the somber state of affairs and depicting how distant even the slightest hope for survival seems.
Halfway's environments, writing, and musical score convey a sense of quiet perseverance, but the gameplay doesn't communicate that feeling as clearly as it should. Persistent characters help give the adventure grounding, but Halfway doesn't have the conviction to make its subjects mortal. Yet there's something to be said for the way in which this foreboding game uses style to convey substance, pushing you from one battle to the next so that you might shed light on a chilling galactic mystery.
]]> 1900-6415836Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:37:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/the-giant-eye-of-doom-in-rogue-legacy-the-lobby/2300-6420633/ 2300-6420633Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:42:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/why-wasteland-2-is-an-rpg-that-lets-you-kill-absol/2300-6420632/ 2300-6420632Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:30:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-evolve-delayed-new-assassin-s-creed-game/2300-6420631/ 2300-6420631Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/gta-5-ships-34-million-units-more-than-borderlands/1100-6421531/
Take-Two today announced its financial results for its first fiscal quarter (ended June 30, 2014). Certainly the biggest news is that Evolve has been pushed back until February, but the company also revealed sales figures for several of its games, including Grand Theft Auto V, which has now shipped 34 million units.
That figure is up one million units since Take-Two's previous financial briefing in April, and is sure to grow further later this year, when an enhanced version is released on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. GTA V was already one of the best-selling games of all-time, and this brings it closer to surpassing another of the top sellers, Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii, which has sold 35.53 million units. Unfortunately, we don't know just how many of GTA V's 34 million copies have actually sold through to consumers--the shipped numbers Take-Two provides represent the numbers sold to retailers.
Take-Two posted a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) loss for the quarter of $35.4 million, which is less than the $61.9 it lost during the same period a year ago. Coming off a record-setting year, this may sound surprising, but the company notes it didn't have any "major new releases" in the quarter. It called attention to its strong recurrent consumer spending--basically, ways of allowing gamers to continue spending money on a game after buying it--citing Grand Theft Auto Online (GTA V's multiplayer component) and NBA 2K14 as the two primary contributors.
A number of sales figures for Take-Two's games were revealed during the call. NBA 2K14 has shipped more than 7 million units, Borderlands 2--already 2K's best-selling game ever--is over 10 million units, Civilization V is over 6 million units, and BioShock Infinite is approaching 7 million units. Combined, those four games still haven't shipped as many copies of GTA V.
Zelnick said Take-Two is "well-positioned to deliver non-GAAP profits every year for the foreseeable future." He also mentioned Take-Two has "groundbreaking new intellectual properties" in development in addition to new entries in existing franchises, though he offered no indication as to what any of these games might be. My fingers are crossed for a new Bully or Red Dead.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
Don't expect Call of Duty and Skylanders company Activision Publishing to launch its own version of the subscription-based EA Access program anytime soon, management for the company said today. Responding to a question during a post-earnings financial call today about whether or not the company might launch such an initiative, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg outlined his company's plans.
"As you know, we have a very focused strategy as a company, and we tend to focus our resources and our people on the biggest and best creative and commercial opportunities," Hirshberg said. "And right now, I think we have our strongest slate ever and we're broadening that slate, so we have a lot to focus on and a lot to make sure we get right in the coming months to keep our tentpole franchises driving and establishing new ones as well. And we think everything we're working on has huge potential."
Activision Publishing's tentpole franchises are Call of Duty and Skylanders, with Destiny situated as the company's next major franchise. The company expects the Bungie-developed game to join those two as the company's third billion-dollar series.
Hirshberg made it clear that Activision is constantly examining the current business landscape for ways to better serve players (and shareholders), but he said the company--at least for now--will instead focus on its mantra of doing a few things and doing those things well.
"So of course we're always looking at new opportunities to better serve our players and our communities; and we're always evaluating new business models," Hirshberg said. "And once those models are proven, we'll pursue them if we think it makes sense for our players and for our business. But right now we're continuing to focus on the things we discussed on our call, which include a wide range of business and monetization models, all of which will deliver we think the best experience for our fans and a great return for our shareholders."
Battlefield and Mass Effect publisher Electronic Arts announced EA Access last week. For $5/month or $30/year, you receive unlimited access to The Vault, a collection of EA games, the first of which are Madden NFL 25, FIFA 14, Peggle 2, and Battlefield 4. You also get a 10% discount on digital EA games and content, as well as access to upcoming games five days before everyone else. The service is currently in beta on Xbox One, with a wider release scheduled for this month. Sony said no to the service for PlayStation 4 because the company thought it did not represent a good value for PlayStation fans.
]]> 1100-6421530Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:35:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/my-wing-crashes-and-collisions-war-thunder/2300-6420629/ 2300-6420629Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:19:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-360-and-xbox-one-weekly-deals-include-7-resid/1100-6421527/The details of the latest Deals With Gold promotion have been announced, and, combined with a separate sale on a number of Capcom games, make for some pretty good discounts--particularly if you still have an Xbox 360.
The Xbox One Deals With Gold discounts (which require an Xbox Live Gold membership) are relatively limited this week. Call of Duty: Ghosts Gold Edition is $40 after a 33-percent discount, and Angry Birds: Star Wars, despite a 50-percent price drop, is still wildly overpriced on consoles at $25. Meanwhile, a handful of first-party games--Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, and Kinect Sports Rivals--are all getting a permanent price cut to $50 each. This new price will go into effect on August 6 on the Xbox Games Store and at retail.
As if often the case, it's on Xbox 360 that you'll find the best deals this week if you have Xbox Live Gold. Ghosts is discounted 50 percent, bringing it down to $30. Rock Band 3--one of the better music games out there, provided you have the necessary hardware--is only $10, and Terraria is just $5.
Even if you don't have Xbox Live Gold, you can still take advantage of Capcom's Xbox 360 sale. The highlights include Dead Rising 2 for $7.50; Resident Evil Code Veronica X HD, Resident Evil 4 HD, and Resident Evil 5 for $6.60 each; and Devil May Cry HD Collection for $10.
You can see the full list of deals below.
Xbox One Deals With Gold:
Xbox 360 Deals With Gold:
Xbox 360 Capcom sale:
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
World of Warcraft lost 800,000 subscribers during the April-June quarter, publisher Activision Blizzard announced today as part of its latest earnings report. As of June 30, the game had 6.8 million subscribers, which is down from the 7.6 million subscribers as of March 31.
Activision says the downturn in subscribers came mostly in the East. The company called the decline "seasonal" and pointed out that the dip in subscribers was similar to what we saw in the second quarter of 2012, ahead of the release of World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria.
The next World of Warcraft expansion is Warlords of Draenor, which launches this fall for PC. The expansion's release date will be announced during a special event next week in Los Angeles. Though the expansion isn't out yet, it has already sold 1.5 million units in pre-purchases, Activision Blizzard said today.
Though World of Warcraft's subscriber count is down, revenue from the game is up, Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime said. He did not provide a specific revenue figure, and Actvision Blizzard does not share this information publicly.
Activision Blizzard also announced today that Diablo III has now sold more than 20 million copies. This figure includes sales of Diablo III itself and the expansion Reaper of Souls, which was the top PC game during the quarter in terms of dollars in both North America and Europe, Activision Blizzard said. Diablo III originally launched as a PC-exclusive, but is now available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will be released this month as the Ultimate Evil Edition.
Overall, Activision Blizzard posted better-than-expected earnings results for the quarter. Revenue was $658 million compared to $608 million this time last year. Net income, on the other hand, stood at $45 million, just half of the $90 million the company posted last year during the same quarter. On the bright side, Activision Blizzard reported that a record 73 percent of the company's total revenue came from digital sales.
"Today, we have more opportunities to create great content using new platforms and business models while also expanding into new geographies, and are embracing all of these growth opportunities with the same commitment to excellence that we have demonstrated over the past 23 years," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement. "As the world's largest and most profitable independent interactive entertainment company, we remain focused on creating the most compelling, engaging games for our dedicated audiences and providing superior returns for our shareholders."
Activision Blizzard is currently holding an earnings call to discuss these results and answer investor and media questions. Check back later for more.
]]> 1100-6421529Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:40:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/evolve-delayed-until-2015-after-being-positioned-a/1100-6421528/Update: During a call with investors, Take-Two explained that Evolve's delay stemmed from a desire to provide Turtle Rock with additional time to polish the game. "We are encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response from press and fans, and believe by extending development by a few months, it will allow the team enough time to fully realize their creative vision for Evolve," president Karl Slatoff said.
In response to a question about the delay later in the call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick added, "Historically, we've always benefited from giving the creative teams more time to polish the titles; we've never regretted it." He also noted some of the other benefits of the delay, describing February as a "pretty terrific release window. It's not at all crowded, and we will benefit from the fact that there are a lot of holiday sales of consoles so the install base will be bigger."
Original Story: 2K Games has delayed Evolve, the upcoming cooperative shooter from Turtle Rock Studios, the developer responsible for Left 4 Dead. Originally scheduled for release on October 21, Evolve will now be released on February 10, 2015.
This news comes as part of 2K parent company Take-Two's announcement of its financial results for the most recent quarter. No reason was cited for the delay, but Take-Two is scheduled to host a conference call with investors this afternoon, and we may learn more then. We'll update this story with anything Take-Two may share about the nature of the delay.
2K Games had claimed Evolve would be the "defining" Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game of 2014. The game won the top prize from the E3 2014 Game Critics Awards and was of numerous major releases scheduled for this October. However, a number of games have moved out of the month, including Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, which is now coming in September.
Evolve is planned for release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC; no last-gen versions have been announced to-date. A PC-only alpha test recently took place for the game. For more, check out our Next Big Game feature on Evolve.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
Naughty Dog isn't done supporting its acclaimed post-apocalyptic action game, The Last of Us, just yet. One week after the release of The Last of Us Remastered--a PlayStation 4 version of last year's PlayStation 3 game--the developer today launched new content for both versions of the game, and some fans aren't happy about it.
The Grit and Gear Bundle includes six headgear items for $7. Naughty Dog points out that each bundle features an exclusive item that can only be had through the bundle. New gestures (at left) are also available today, as part of a $2.49 bundle.
That's not the end of The Last of Us DLC, however. Next week, Naughty Dog will release another headgear pack, the Professional Sports Bundle. This content will also be available for PS3 and PS4. Looking further out, the developer teased that another expansion with new maps and weapons will be released "two weeks from now." This is likely the multiplayer expansion Naughty Dog announced last month.
The announcement of this new Last of Us DLC has drawn the ire of some PlayStation fans, who wrote in the comments section on the PlayStation Blog that Naughty Dog is "nickel and diming" them with the new content. Responding to these criticisms, Naughty Dog community strategist Eric Monacelli pointed out that all the DLC released until the Last of Us season pass ended in May is available for players in Remastered. If you didn't buy the DLC pass, you missed out on an "insanely good" deal, Monacelli said.
Another commenter said sarcastically, "Yay!!! The people love our game; let's shove some more DLC down their throat every two weeks…" Monacelli replied, "Ha. Not at all. We want you to play with new gear. Also, if you don't want to buy now we have bundles and sales coming."
The Last of Us Remastered does not offer a DLC pass, though it does include the Left Behind single-player add-on and multiplayer expansions Abandoned Territories and Reclaimed Territories. For more on The Last of Us Remastered, check out GameSpot's review.
]]> 1100-6421526Tue, 05 Aug 2014 12:38:00 -0700rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 rss_modified:rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 http://www.gamespot.com/mashup/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Wed, 06 Aug 2014 08:42:05 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/new-assassins-creed-rogue-resident-evil-remake-and/2300-6420634/ 2300-6420634Wed, 06 Aug 2014 08:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/assassins-creed-rogue-trailer-reactions-analysis/2300-6420636/ 2300-6420636Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:58:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-says-call-of-duty-not-immune-to-industr/1100-6421532/
Game pre-orders are on the decline, Activision stated in an earnings call today.
Speaking in the call, Activision publishing president and CEO Eric Hirshberg said that a downturn in pre-orders is being experienced throughout the industry and results from a number of factors, such as, "increased digital consumption, particularly on the next-gen consoles, titles being widely available on day one, and the decline overall of demand for software on previous-gen consoles."
According to Hirshberg, Activision's Call of Duty series is "not immune" to the effects of the downturn. "However, within that context, we still expect for Call of Duty to lead the industry in pre-orders once again this year," he added. "We look to other metrics as well, and we're seeing a lot of strength in those metrics... It's important to note that pre-orders are just one data point that we look at in determining the momentum of a franchise like this."
Based on such metrics, Hirshberg stated that purchase intent for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is "significantly above" that of Call of Duty: Ghosts, and is on track with the publisher's past top performing games, despite having not yet revealed details for the game's multiplayer mode.
Those interested in learning about the changes made to the multiplayer formula for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare don't have much longer to wait. The first details will be revealed on August 11 at 10 a.m. PDT. For more on what we know about the game so far, check out GameSpot's coverage.
]]> 1100-6421532Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:21:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/halfway-review/1900-6415836/ Space is cold, lonely, and wholly apathetic to the struggles of humanity. That inhospitality gives Halfway its emotive essence. It doesn't ask you to conquer, to win, or to triumph. Here, on a bent and broken ship aimlessly drifting through the infinite dark, you're just trying to survive. Halfway opens with Lannis, an aging security guard for the Goliath colony ship, coming out of stasis quite a bit later than he expected. Immediately it's clear, both in the environments and the steady, solemn tones driving the ambient sound track, that this is not a happy story.The lead into the more omnipresent feeling of dread is slow at first. Peeking and probing, you search about the first few areas of the ship, seeking other survivors. Even after establishing a rudimentary basecamp, the seemingly endless hordes of mutated crew members are an evolving and lingering threat. From your base, you launch missions with a growing group of survivors to gather needed food and supplies and ultimately take back the ship.
Each excursion has a series of core objectives punctuated by scripted, turn-based combat sequences. With the ship adrift, its computer has gone haywire and is warping the ship to random locations every few minutes. When one of these jumps triggers, whatever room you're in floods with intruders. Fighting these baddies off isn't terribly difficult most of the time, but if you're reckless, you'll end up wasting scarce ammunition and resources. I lost several missions just because I was a bit too cavalier with my bullets.
As you progress, you fight tougher and more severe mutations of the Goliath's former crew. Some barely have any of their humanity left, and amount to little more than walking steel cans firing massive and deadly lasers from their chests. To combat the tougher foes, you need to scavenge for equipment--health packs, guns, and armor--and distribute them among your team. You can also find items which provide a permanent stat boost to your crew's aiming, their agility, or their health. These pick-ups serve as role-playing elements that supplement the tactical core, although even with those additions there isn't much mechanical depth.
Each character under your command has two special abilities: one that's passive, and another than can be used every few turns. Besides using these skills and attacking, there's not a lot to do in a given turn. There's only one proper defensive option, "retaliate", and it's not terribly effective as it only works if you are directly attacked as opposed to when an enemy crosses a threatened or monitored area. Most of the strategy comes from appropriate timing and movement. In addition to wasting ammo, wasting your abilities and having to wait for the cooldown to expire could mean a failed mission. For the most part, the lack of complicated tactical options doesn't matter all that much. It does, however, make some of Halfway's difficulty spikes rise from challenging to maddening.
As I was nearing the end of my run, I hit a massive road block and it took half a dozen tries to finish the section. There were so many enemies, all with seemingly much better aim and armor than my own team. When I finally made it through, it was only because I took a side mission to get better gear, but even that run was substantially more difficult than the rest of the game. Those occasional spikes in difficulty also muddle the pacing of an otherwise laudable narrative. For the first few hours, there's brilliant mystery unfolding, built around the events that led to this disheartening circumstance and the methods used to recapture control. As the game approaches its climax, though, the brutal sequences kick in and the tempo halts. The abrupt difficulty is not a killer, but that's largely thanks to Halfway's non-gameplay pieces, and after a few failed missions, seeing your squadmates revived again and again undercuts the sense of despair and hopelessness that underlies the rest of the game.
Unlike with similar games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Fire Emblem, death is not permanent, and though Halfway's message still resonates, the music and visuals are what properly express the game's thematic weight. Seeing a crewmate that barely survived your last mission gently pulling drags from a cigar as he looks out over the stars carries with it great emotion. Rooms are littered with the pieces of stories told in times past. Bullet holes, shell casings, and piles of ashes set the grim tone and remind you that your characters that they may not survive for much longer.
The morose tone is further darkened by a stellar soundtrack. The main theme kicks in with hard synth beats that evoke the era of science-fiction classics like Alien and Blade Runner before shifting into wistful, distant chords. Each battle theme is a faster, layered version of the same area's ambient music. This musical consistency establishes a constant sense of place and provides an extra bump of adrenaline for making action sequences feel exciting and important. The menu and home base tracks lack combat variants altogether, expressing the somber state of affairs and depicting how distant even the slightest hope for survival seems.
Halfway's environments, writing, and musical score convey a sense of quiet perseverance, but the gameplay doesn't communicate that feeling as clearly as it should. Persistent characters help give the adventure grounding, but Halfway doesn't have the conviction to make its subjects mortal. Yet there's something to be said for the way in which this foreboding game uses style to convey substance, pushing you from one battle to the next so that you might shed light on a chilling galactic mystery.
]]> 1900-6415836Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:37:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/the-giant-eye-of-doom-in-rogue-legacy-the-lobby/2300-6420633/ 2300-6420633Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:42:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/why-wasteland-2-is-an-rpg-that-lets-you-kill-absol/2300-6420632/ 2300-6420632Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:30:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-evolve-delayed-new-assassin-s-creed-game/2300-6420631/ 2300-6420631Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/gta-5-ships-34-million-units-more-than-borderlands/1100-6421531/Take-Two today announced its financial results for its first fiscal quarter (ended June 30, 2014). Certainly the biggest news is that Evolve has been pushed back until February, but the company also revealed sales figures for several of its games, including Grand Theft Auto V, which has now shipped 34 million units.
That figure is up one million units since Take-Two's previous financial briefing in April, and is sure to grow further later this year, when an enhanced version is released on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. GTA V was already one of the best-selling games of all-time, and this brings it closer to surpassing another of the top sellers, Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii, which has sold 35.53 million units. Unfortunately, we don't know just how many of GTA V's 34 million copies have actually sold through to consumers--the shipped numbers Take-Two provides represent the numbers sold to retailers.
Take-Two posted a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) loss for the quarter of $35.4 million, which is less than the $61.9 it lost during the same period a year ago. Coming off a record-setting year, this may sound surprising, but the company notes it didn't have any "major new releases" in the quarter. It called attention to its strong recurrent consumer spending--basically, ways of allowing gamers to continue spending money on a game after buying it--citing Grand Theft Auto Online (GTA V's multiplayer component) and NBA 2K14 as the two primary contributors.
A number of sales figures for Take-Two's games were revealed during the call. NBA 2K14 has shipped more than 7 million units, Borderlands 2--already 2K's best-selling game ever--is over 10 million units, Civilization V is over 6 million units, and BioShock Infinite is approaching 7 million units. Combined, those four games still haven't shipped as many copies of GTA V.
Zelnick said Take-Two is "well-positioned to deliver non-GAAP profits every year for the foreseeable future." He also mentioned Take-Two has "groundbreaking new intellectual properties" in development in addition to new entries in existing franchises, though he offered no indication as to what any of these games might be. My fingers are crossed for a new Bully or Red Dead.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
|---|
| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
Don't expect Call of Duty and Skylanders company Activision Publishing to launch its own version of the subscription-based EA Access program anytime soon, management for the company said today. Responding to a question during a post-earnings financial call today about whether or not the company might launch such an initiative, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg outlined his company's plans.
"As you know, we have a very focused strategy as a company, and we tend to focus our resources and our people on the biggest and best creative and commercial opportunities," Hirshberg said. "And right now, I think we have our strongest slate ever and we're broadening that slate, so we have a lot to focus on and a lot to make sure we get right in the coming months to keep our tentpole franchises driving and establishing new ones as well. And we think everything we're working on has huge potential."
Activision Publishing's tentpole franchises are Call of Duty and Skylanders, with Destiny situated as the company's next major franchise. The company expects the Bungie-developed game to join those two as the company's third billion-dollar series.
Hirshberg made it clear that Activision is constantly examining the current business landscape for ways to better serve players (and shareholders), but he said the company--at least for now--will instead focus on its mantra of doing a few things and doing those things well.
"So of course we're always looking at new opportunities to better serve our players and our communities; and we're always evaluating new business models," Hirshberg said. "And once those models are proven, we'll pursue them if we think it makes sense for our players and for our business. But right now we're continuing to focus on the things we discussed on our call, which include a wide range of business and monetization models, all of which will deliver we think the best experience for our fans and a great return for our shareholders."
Battlefield and Mass Effect publisher Electronic Arts announced EA Access last week. For $5/month or $30/year, you receive unlimited access to The Vault, a collection of EA games, the first of which are Madden NFL 25, FIFA 14, Peggle 2, and Battlefield 4. You also get a 10% discount on digital EA games and content, as well as access to upcoming games five days before everyone else. The service is currently in beta on Xbox One, with a wider release scheduled for this month. Sony said no to the service for PlayStation 4 because the company thought it did not represent a good value for PlayStation fans.
]]> 1100-6421530Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:35:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/my-wing-crashes-and-collisions-war-thunder/2300-6420629/ 2300-6420629Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:19:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-360-and-xbox-one-weekly-deals-include-7-resid/1100-6421527/The details of the latest Deals With Gold promotion have been announced, and, combined with a separate sale on a number of Capcom games, make for some pretty good discounts--particularly if you still have an Xbox 360.
The Xbox One Deals With Gold discounts (which require an Xbox Live Gold membership) are relatively limited this week. Call of Duty: Ghosts Gold Edition is $40 after a 33-percent discount, and Angry Birds: Star Wars, despite a 50-percent price drop, is still wildly overpriced on consoles at $25. Meanwhile, a handful of first-party games--Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, and Kinect Sports Rivals--are all getting a permanent price cut to $50 each. This new price will go into effect on August 6 on the Xbox Games Store and at retail.
As if often the case, it's on Xbox 360 that you'll find the best deals this week if you have Xbox Live Gold. Ghosts is discounted 50 percent, bringing it down to $30. Rock Band 3--one of the better music games out there, provided you have the necessary hardware--is only $10, and Terraria is just $5.
Even if you don't have Xbox Live Gold, you can still take advantage of Capcom's Xbox 360 sale. The highlights include Dead Rising 2 for $7.50; Resident Evil Code Veronica X HD, Resident Evil 4 HD, and Resident Evil 5 for $6.60 each; and Devil May Cry HD Collection for $10.
You can see the full list of deals below.
Xbox One Deals With Gold:
Xbox 360 Deals With Gold:
Xbox 360 Capcom sale:
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
World of Warcraft lost 800,000 subscribers during the April-June quarter, publisher Activision Blizzard announced today as part of its latest earnings report. As of June 30, the game had 6.8 million subscribers, which is down from the 7.6 million subscribers as of March 31.
Activision says the downturn in subscribers came mostly in the East. The company called the decline "seasonal" and pointed out that the dip in subscribers was similar to what we saw in the second quarter of 2012, ahead of the release of World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria.
The next World of Warcraft expansion is Warlords of Draenor, which launches this fall for PC. The expansion's release date will be announced during a special event next week in Los Angeles. Though the expansion isn't out yet, it has already sold 1.5 million units in pre-purchases, Activision Blizzard said today.
Though World of Warcraft's subscriber count is down, revenue from the game is up, Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime said. He did not provide a specific revenue figure, and Actvision Blizzard does not share this information publicly.
Activision Blizzard also announced today that Diablo III has now sold more than 20 million copies. This figure includes sales of Diablo III itself and the expansion Reaper of Souls, which was the top PC game during the quarter in terms of dollars in both North America and Europe, Activision Blizzard said. Diablo III originally launched as a PC-exclusive, but is now available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will be released this month as the Ultimate Evil Edition.
Overall, Activision Blizzard posted better-than-expected earnings results for the quarter. Revenue was $658 million compared to $608 million this time last year. Net income, on the other hand, stood at $45 million, just half of the $90 million the company posted last year during the same quarter. On the bright side, Activision Blizzard reported that a record 73 percent of the company's total revenue came from digital sales.
"Today, we have more opportunities to create great content using new platforms and business models while also expanding into new geographies, and are embracing all of these growth opportunities with the same commitment to excellence that we have demonstrated over the past 23 years," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement. "As the world's largest and most profitable independent interactive entertainment company, we remain focused on creating the most compelling, engaging games for our dedicated audiences and providing superior returns for our shareholders."
Activision Blizzard is currently holding an earnings call to discuss these results and answer investor and media questions. Check back later for more.
]]> 1100-6421529Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:40:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/evolve-delayed-until-2015-after-being-positioned-a/1100-6421528/Update: During a call with investors, Take-Two explained that Evolve's delay stemmed from a desire to provide Turtle Rock with additional time to polish the game. "We are encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response from press and fans, and believe by extending development by a few months, it will allow the team enough time to fully realize their creative vision for Evolve," president Karl Slatoff said.
In response to a question about the delay later in the call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick added, "Historically, we've always benefited from giving the creative teams more time to polish the titles; we've never regretted it." He also noted some of the other benefits of the delay, describing February as a "pretty terrific release window. It's not at all crowded, and we will benefit from the fact that there are a lot of holiday sales of consoles so the install base will be bigger."
Original Story: 2K Games has delayed Evolve, the upcoming cooperative shooter from Turtle Rock Studios, the developer responsible for Left 4 Dead. Originally scheduled for release on October 21, Evolve will now be released on February 10, 2015.
This news comes as part of 2K parent company Take-Two's announcement of its financial results for the most recent quarter. No reason was cited for the delay, but Take-Two is scheduled to host a conference call with investors this afternoon, and we may learn more then. We'll update this story with anything Take-Two may share about the nature of the delay.
2K Games had claimed Evolve would be the "defining" Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game of 2014. The game won the top prize from the E3 2014 Game Critics Awards and was of numerous major releases scheduled for this October. However, a number of games have moved out of the month, including Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, which is now coming in September.
Evolve is planned for release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC; no last-gen versions have been announced to-date. A PC-only alpha test recently took place for the game. For more, check out our Next Big Game feature on Evolve.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
Naughty Dog isn't done supporting its acclaimed post-apocalyptic action game, The Last of Us, just yet. One week after the release of The Last of Us Remastered--a PlayStation 4 version of last year's PlayStation 3 game--the developer today launched new content for both versions of the game, and some fans aren't happy about it.
The Grit and Gear Bundle includes six headgear items for $7. Naughty Dog points out that each bundle features an exclusive item that can only be had through the bundle. New gestures (at left) are also available today, as part of a $2.49 bundle.
That's not the end of The Last of Us DLC, however. Next week, Naughty Dog will release another headgear pack, the Professional Sports Bundle. This content will also be available for PS3 and PS4. Looking further out, the developer teased that another expansion with new maps and weapons will be released "two weeks from now." This is likely the multiplayer expansion Naughty Dog announced last month.
The announcement of this new Last of Us DLC has drawn the ire of some PlayStation fans, who wrote in the comments section on the PlayStation Blog that Naughty Dog is "nickel and diming" them with the new content. Responding to these criticisms, Naughty Dog community strategist Eric Monacelli pointed out that all the DLC released until the Last of Us season pass ended in May is available for players in Remastered. If you didn't buy the DLC pass, you missed out on an "insanely good" deal, Monacelli said.
Another commenter said sarcastically, "Yay!!! The people love our game; let's shove some more DLC down their throat every two weeks…" Monacelli replied, "Ha. Not at all. We want you to play with new gear. Also, if you don't want to buy now we have bundles and sales coming."
The Last of Us Remastered does not offer a DLC pass, though it does include the Left Behind single-player add-on and multiplayer expansions Abandoned Territories and Reclaimed Territories. For more on The Last of Us Remastered, check out GameSpot's review.
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