/// EPISODE 107
Below are the news stories that may not have made the headlines today but are worth reading!
Gamers never die…..
Just like the Games of Our Lives…
/// GAMES FEATURED
►Resogun
►Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
►Bloodborne
►Evolve
►Oreshika
►Helldivers
►Hotline 2
►Shovel Knight
►Mass Effect 4
►Super Smash Bros.
►Ratchet & Clank PS4
►DriveClub
►The Order: 1886
►Destiny
/// Resogun ‘Defenders’ DLC Launches Next Week; Free ‘Challengers’ Update Out Today!
Resogun Challengers is the largest content update to date for the game and brings with it a new system of player levelling which is achieved by earning Challenge Points as a reward for completing new challenges and feats across all existing game modes.
Challenges task you with playing a specific level or game mode with different rules or modifiers designed to provide a new challenge. Can you rescue 200 humans in a single level if every enemy drops one, or better yet can you complete survival mode using the Super Stardust Ship?
Challenges change things up and give everyone a reason to revisit all Resogun game modes for a new experience.
Performing well will award Challenge Points which will advance your player level higher unlocking rewards and bragging rights.
Alongside the Challenges we have also included Feats. These are long goals that are tracked across all game modes and award Challenge Points for achieving huge milestone goals. Have you rescued a cumulative 1,000 humans or just dodged 13 wrecking balls in Demolition Mode? There’ll be a Feat and reward for that. Only a true Resogun Hero can ever hope to achieve all the Feats but we’re sure you’ll have fun trying. [Source]
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/// Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture Enters Alpha Stage!
Well, we made it. Last week we submitted the alpha build for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture to Sony Santa Monica for build approval and they gave us the big thumbs up. This means we’re hurtling straight towards Beta and then Gold.
>>> FAST FORWARD >>>
QA kicks in hard now, with both Sony’s internal teams and our new in-house QA tech – Foucauld Escaillet, who we’re incredibly happy to welcome onto the team – will be playing the game over and over and over looking for everything from texture seams to places where things could, well, just be tightened up a notch (and there’s always plenty of those). The art team split their time between bug fixing and environmental storytelling; now the world is there in its major components, it’s time to focus on the small details that really sell the sense of place and people.
>>> FAST FORWARD >>>
Nope, we’re not going to GDC. Nope, we’re not doing any interviews at the moment. Nope, there’s no new trailer or screenshots coming your way for a little while yet. It’s heads down time, the unglamorous bit of development where you just grind away, making it as good as you can – the bit where you understand game development is about craft as much as it’s about art. We’ll surface again sometime around March with more news, but for the moment, we just wanted to let you know where we are, and that we’re making something we’re really proud of. This is going to be our best game yet.
[Source]
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/// Check Out Bloodborne’s Gorgeous, Gothic Environments!
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/// There’s $130 Worth of Optional Evolve DLC Not Included in Season Pass!
The worst of the three digital storefronts is Xbox’s as there are over 40 items available for sale that can be picked up a la carte. If you want to pick up all of these pieces of DLC, many of which are just skins that can be applied to various Hunters and Monsters, you’ll have to spend over $130 in addition to Evolve’s retail price.
The Season Pass for Evolve only includes three exclusive skins as well as access to four new Hunters. On the other hand, new maps are expected to be released completely for free.
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/// PSN Offline for Some Users, Sony Investigating!
Some users are reporting issues with PS Store and online gameplay, our engineers are investigating.
— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) February 12, 2015
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/// Pachter Predictions 1: “Sony doesn’t mind ending up in second, but they want to be first!”
“I’m curious to see if Sony is as serious about winning because when you speak to the Microsoft guys and you say, ‘Do you really care if Sony sells more consoles than you, but you sell 150 million consoles of Xbox?’ Microsoft would – and I’m paraphrasing – say, ‘F***in’ A yes I care,’” said Pachter.
“If you say the same thing to Sony, they would say, ‘If we sell 150 million consoles who cares what Microsoft does?’ So I think the attitude at Sony is to perform well and make a lot of money, and I think the attitude at Microsoft is to win. People have different opinions about what’s the better way to be.”
[Source]
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/// Vita Video Reveals Spring Window for Oreshika, Helldivers, Hotline 2, Shovel Knight!
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/// Pachter Predictions 2: “Xbox One price will never go back up!”
““People weren’t buying the Xbox One and clearly a bunch of people migrated to PS4 from Xbox 360 because they didn’t want Kinect.”
“So I think unbundling Kinect was the right idea. I’m not sure why Xbox didn’t start outselling PlayStation right after they removed Kinect, because they didn’t until they cut the price to $349 and started giving away free games.”
[Source]
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SECOND HALF
/// Mass Effect 4 Multiplayer Possibly Coming!
According to Mass Effect 4 senior development director Chris Wynn, it’s going to have some sort of online component. EA is now actively recruiting an online producer for the role.
Things are getting real now and I need an excellent Producer to come shape online for the next Mass Effect – http://t.co/L4G3OBAn87
— Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) February 11, 2015
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/// Super Smash Bros. was Shaped by the 3DS!
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/// Ratchet & Clank PS4 Update!
In 2015, we have the rare (actually, for us, unprecedented) opportunity to expand Ratchet’s universe simultaneously in two forms. We’ll continue our involvement with the Ratchet & Clank feature film. And we’re excited to announce that we’re also developing a game that shares the film’s vision of Ratchet’s origin story. As featured in Sony’s press conference, the game re-imagines the original Ratchet & Clank, with updated gameplay and completely new visuals built from the ground up for the PlayStation 4.
Our California and North Carolina studios are making the game together, marking our deepest cross-country collaboration to date. Many of the original developers responsible for the very first Ratchet & Clank game have an opportunity to create the stunning Solana Galaxy that they–and our fans–have always wanted to see. Longtime Design Director Brian Allgeier, Studio Director Chad Dezern, and Game Director Shaun McCabe will lead the project. [Source]
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/// New DriveClub Car Teased in Video; New Update!
Evolution’s also been answering some questions on Twitter over the last few days, revealing that “there are over 30 new cars in development right now, but we can’t reveal what they are just yet.”
Coming “very soon” – likely around the same time as the February 2015 content – the next DriveClub update will include customization upgrades. Evolution wouldn’t say exactly what they’d be, but changing the color of your car becoming a standard option could be one of them.
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/// The Order: 1886 Dev: Play Time Depends on Player Ability; Doesn’t Utilize PS4 100%!
In recent interview, Ready at Dawn’s Dana Jan revealed that players can expect the “average” length that’s offered within the third-person shooter genre, but also stated that it’s also dependent on the players ability and familiarity with the genre.
Jan goes on to state that, remarkably, The Order: 1886 doesn’t utilize the PS4 to it’s full potential. Despite being a contender for ‘most-realistic looking game’ amongst fans, the developers think there’s even more to be gotten out of the PS4. [Source]
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/// SONY is so AWESOME!
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/// And So it Begins: Layoffs Hit EverQuest and H1Z1 Studios 1 Week After SOE Buyout!
Daybreak Game Company, the studio formerly known as Sony Online Entertainment and developer of the EverQuest franchise and H1Z1, has suffered a round of layoffs which includes David Georgeson, SOE’s director of development.
Georgeson confirmed his departure on Twitter.
Yeah, I'm sorry folks but it's true. LM, eqn, eq and eqii are no longer guided by moi. Other dreamers will steer now.
— David Georgeson (@DaveGeorgeson) February 11, 2015
