Uncharted 4 Soundtrack Available on Vinyl This Week
UPDATE: The Uncharted 4 vinyl soundtrack is now available for pre-order on iam8bit's store. Cover art for both the standard edition and limited Avery Coin Edition can be seen below:
20 Images of Totally Awesome Japanese Star Wars Toys
Japanese toy manufacturer Kotobukiya is known for its incredibly detailed, high-quality figures, and its Star Wars line is no exception. From main characters like Han, Luke, and Vader to every variation of Stormtrooper you’ve ever seen, Kotobukiya makes replicas from the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and from The Force Awakens.
IGN recently visited Kotobukiya’s store in Akihabara in Tokyo, Japan and took photos of all of the incredible Star Wars merchandise on display.
You can swipe or click through the gallery above to see Kotobukiya’s impressive figure dioramas, plus its general Star Wars displays.
Galak-Z: The Void Review
Galak-Z is a game of tense moments and heavy decisions. Its first expansion The Void, to its detriment, is one long adrenaline rush from start to finish. Galak-Z's frenetic core mechanics are intact, but The Void has sacrificed much of what makes the game so great in the first place.
The Void's main focus is its score attack mode. It thrusts you into the titular abyss as you fight through familiar enemies such as space bugs, pirates, and mercenaries, all in the interest of increasing your standing in online leaderboards. There is no actual end--as long as you survive, you continue.
Galak-Z's Newtonian physics-based combat is still very much at play here. You can strafe, reverse, boost, and leap around groups of enemies within zero-gravity environments, and as is the case with the base game, these mechanics feel fantastic. There's a rough learning curve, but once you master your ship's weapons and thrusters--as well as its alternate mech form--the nuance of each skirmish creates an intricate kind of chaos. It combines tension and dynamism to form something exhilarating.
The expansion's arenas are much more confined than those of the original Galak-Z, which encourage exploration through the innards of asteroids and abandoned space vessels. The Void's new linear locales are bordered on either side by a torrent of purple energy that's damaging to the touch--they create a more cramped feeling, and another layer of danger in this already uninviting world. They increase the need for spatial awareness in more ways than one, however. Not only do you want to avoid them--you can push unsuspecting enemies into the flames along the way.
To further deviate from the base game's design, The Void offers a daily challenge with a specific set of ship upgrades and a preset level layout. By dictating which enhancements you'll have access to, and creating a level playing field for anyone attempting the mission, The Void lures you out of your comfort zone. One of these events focused on mech upgrades. As someone who usually focuses on ship combat, I felt more exposed, and more vulnerable, than ever before.
And Galak-Z's structure is its defining trait. While many modern roguelikes always return you to the beginning upon death, Galak-Z allows for checkpoints at the end of each "season." That is, if you complete five missions in a row, you complete that season and unlock the next one. But die before you finish that chain of victories and you'll lose everything except your ship's upgrade blueprints.
The Void delivers a fun new take on Galak-Z's formula, but relinquishes its exceptional structure.
The Void, on the other hand, fails to deliver the same thrills its base game does. It offers a fun new take on the Galak-Z formula, but relinquishes its exceptional structure, and the engaging risk/reward system it creates.
With the increased focus on score there's less of a compelling emphasis on survival. In its original form, Galak-Z isn't afraid to confront you with tough choices: should you venture off the beaten path in search of ship upgrades, or boost for the exit just to reach a checkpoint? Should you sneak by this group of enemies to maintain your health, or destroy them for currency, and increased survivability down the road? Galak-Z is exciting in the way it uses survival to drive its every aspect. The Void, though, is driven by leaderboard ranks.
Strategic long term thinking isn't completely absent in the expansion--more upgrades means better combat abilities in later chapters, and therefore, more points. But in basing The Void largely on score-chasing, it removes the weight of my decisions, which used to be the main thing between me and permanent defeat. I stop to consider my options much less frequently now.
Despite my complaints, it's hard to deny the sheer thrill of The Void: careening through space, leaping over a giant bug, and firing my last missile into a group of pirates before I speed toward the mission's evacuation point. The expansion may take a less engaging approach to survival, but it's still a frantic, intricate display of movement and reaction. The Void attempts to break ground of its own, and in some ways, it has. But the end result is weaker than the foundation it's built upon.
New Need for Speed Coming in 2017
Electronic Arts and Ghost will release a new Need for Speed game in 2017.
In an Under the Hood update on the Need for Speed blog, developer Ghost revealed the game alongside an announcement regarding updates to the 2015 game. Need for Speed's SpeedList update is now officially the game's last free content update for the game - it was released in November 2015.
Ghost will now use their time to "
upon the foundations that have been laid with Need for Speed." However, the developer won't be going quiet; Ghost intends to work with the community to get feedback on the new game's direction.
The Rock’s Jumanji Role Will Honor Robin Williams
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson says he thinks his role in Jumanji will make Robin Williams' family proud.
The Rock took to Instagram to say "You have my word, we will honor his name and the character of 'Alan Parrish' will stand alone and be forever immortalized in the world of Jumanji in an earnest and cool way."
He continues by saying the Jake Kasdan-directed Jumanji will be a "new re-imagining of this amazing story," and it will be going back to Chris Van Allsburg's original source material.
Johnson also recounted the tale of when he first met Robin Williams. "I also think Robin is somewhere lookin' down and laughing, remembering the first time we met backstage and I (for the first time ever) was a star struck bumbling idiot that couldn't even get my words out."
1 in 10 Dark Souls 3 PC Players Haven’t Reached the First Bonfire
The Dark Souls 3 Steam achievement page has revealed some surprising facts about what players have, or haven't, been doing in the game in the month since release.
As spotted by VG24/7, around 10 percent of players haven't reached the first bonfire, which is located just outside the tutorial area.
The first boss, which is also very near the start of the game and considered fairly easy, has been completed by just 86 percent of the player base. The game's final boss has been completed by 37 percent of players, so it appears the game isn't too difficult once you get past that pesky tutorial.
EA Will Bring Games to Nintendo NX ‘If It Makes Sense’
Electronic Arts is in "constant communication" with Nintendo, executive vice president Patrick Soderlund said.
When the Nintendo NX comes to market, Soderlund said, EA will be there—"if it makes sense." The EA executive told BBC that folks at the company "are huge fans of Nintendo." In fact, Nintendo is one of the reasons Soderlund himself began making games.
Back in 2011, EA promised an "unprecedented partnership" with Nintendo and Wii U. However, the publisher ended up releasing only a few games for the system.
Konami’s Switch to Mobile Has Worked out After All
Konami has released its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, and its profits have increased over the same period last year.
Konami's total revenue is up to 249.9 billion yen (nearly $2.3 billion), which is up from 218.2 billion yen in financial year 2015. Total profit before tax is up to 23.8 billion yen ($218 million) from 17 billion yen last year.
The company's total operating profit for the financial year is sitting at 24.7 billion yen ($226 million), which is a large increase from last year's 15.3 billion yen ($140 million).
Last year Konami announced it would now be focusing on mobile games. This followed such events as the cancellation of Silent Hills and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima's reported departure from the company.
Fallout 4 Mods Will Land on Xbox One After Far Harbor DLC
Xbox One players will be able to sink their teeth into Fallout 4 mods once the next expansion, Far Harbor, releases next week.
Bethesda announced the news in a tweet from its official account, saying that a closed beta for mods will hit Xbox One consoles after May 19.
PS4 players will have to wait until next month for mod support, when they will also be given the ability to create their own mods or download them directly from Bethesda.net.
PC players, meanwhile, have been able to experiment with mods downloaded from Bethesda’s official mod shop for almost two weeks now.
Uncharted 4 Microtransaction Prices Range Up to $50
The prices for the in-game currency for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End have been revealed.
You'll be using said currency to buy cosmetic items, and the prices range from a $5 pack of 500 "Uncharted Points" up to a $50 pack of 10,000.
Here are all of the increments on offer:
- $5 - 500 points
- $10 - 1,500 points
- $20 - 3,200 points
- $35 - 6,500 points
- $50 - 10,000 points
These points will be used to unlock multiplayer bundles and cosmetic items, but they will also be unlockable through simply playing the game.
Last week Naughty Dog revealed the Uncharted 4 DLC roadmap, which includes free multiplayer maps and modes.