Paladins: How Smite Creators’ New Game Channels Team Fortress 2
Paladins, an objective-based team first-person shooter, has been unveiled by Hi-Rez Studios and is slated to launch in 2016.
In development for PC and current-gen consoles, Paladins is rooted in a colorful sci-fi fantasy setting featuring unique champions that have their own fire-function and abilities. Combat in Paladins is also nearly entirely projectile-based, meaning shots can be dodged.
A match of Paladins unfolds as two teams fight over king of the hill-style point capture objectives. When one team successfully captures the point, the match evolves as the team tries to push a siege engine through three layers of the enemy base.
Though each champion has its own personality and core abilities, a movement ability, and a mount -- to get around Paladins' much larger, wide open maps -- the real character variation comes from a deckbuilding card system that augments a champion in different ways.
Iam8bit Releasing Incredible Banjo, Perfect Dark Records
Some of the finest video game music of all time is coming to a record player near you. In the wake of its fantastic Battletoads vinyl, which was available at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, iam8bit is teaming up with Rare and Xbox to deliver a few more classic soundtracks in their own incredible packages.
First up is the Banjo-Kazooie original soundtrack, composed by Grant Kirkhope. The classic Nintendo 64 platformer has some of the most impressive, dynamic music of its time, and still holds up nearly 20 years later. Next is the Perfect Dark OST, with art that's inspired by classic James Bond book covers. Finally, the SDCC-exclusive Battletoads soundtrack is also being reissued.
Loads of New Songs Announced for Rock Band 4
A host of new songs have been revealed for Rock Band 4, including artists such as Fall Out Boy, Disturbed, System of a Down, Heart, among others.
The full list is as follows:
- 4 Non Blondes – What’s Up?
- The Black Keys – Fever
- Disturbed – Prayer
- Duck & Cover – Knock Em Down
- Eddie Japan – Albert
- Fall Out Boy – Centuries
- Halestorm – I Miss The Misery
- Heart – Kick It Out
- Heaven’s Basement – I Am Electric
Gears of War 4 Is ‘Personal, Intimate, and Dark’
The E3 reveal of Gears of War 4 was meant to evoke the original Gears of War, and its lack of spectacular action was by design, according to The Coalition’s Rod Fergusson. Speaking to IGN about the teaser, Fergusson said, "We always thought of it as a tease. People expected a flash of logo and a Marcus poem, and we wanted to overshoot that. Why not do a tease that speaks to the mood and the tone of the game?"
With Gears of War 4, Fergusson explained, "We’re going back to something personal, intimate, dark, and mysterious, being afraid of the boogeyman."
Gears of War was "a Monster game," and as the series advanced, by Gears of War 3 "you’ve got a war game. The Locust is an enemy army you know how to defeat, Wretches aren’t scary anymore." So The Coalition is returning to what made the first game so interesting and original — "that sense of mystery, things going bump in the night," as Fergusson puts it.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Special Edition Announced
Sony has revealed the Special Edition of its upcoming Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.
The bundle, which brings together Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune,Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception in one collection on PS4, was first revealed in June. Now, however, a limited edition of the package has been announced.
The Special Edition comes with a 48-page Art of Uncharted Trilogy artbook, a steelbook and some stickers. At the moment, the Special Edition has only been confirmed for Europe, Australia and New Zealand, though we're following up with Sony to see if other territories should expect to see it.
How to Get Every Gears of War on Xbox One for Free
Microsoft and The Coalition have announced that Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, and Gears of War: Judgment for Xbox 360 will be backward compatible on Xbox One this fall.
In addition to that, it was revealed that anyone who plays online in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition between launch on August 25 and the end of 2015 will gain access to every backward-compatible Gears game for free.
Don't forget that Ultimate Edition also earns owners access to the Gears of War 4 beta in Spring 2016.
Microsoft announced Xbox 360 compatibility on Xbox One during E3. Check out our early impressions of backward compatibility based on the preview program, as well as the complete list of backward-compatible Xbox 360 games.
Quantum Break Release Date Likely Coming This Week
We'll soon know how much longer the wait for Quantum Break is set to last, at least according to a tease from Microsoft's Phil Spencer.
The Xbox boss took to Twitter to respond to a fan asking if a firm release date for the long-awaited title would soon be announced. In reply, Spencer wrote "You'll see on Tuesday. I think you'll be happy," all but confirming a release date announcement during the company's upcoming Gamescom press conference.
Originally expected to be released in 2015, Microsoft announced in April it'd be moving Quantum Break to 2016 in order to extend its "incredible portfolio into next year with a monster new IP." We now know the game will be arriving some time between March and May.
Xbox Boss Still Wants More First-Party Exclusives in Future
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has explained that while the company wants to continue good relations with third-party developers, the future of its latest console is in the first-party arena.
Speaking to Chinese site Gamecores at China Joy, Spencer made it clear that while deals like the one with Square that secured Rise of the Tomb Raider for a period of timed exclusivity are certainly good, that's not his vision for the future.
“My strategy is more around our own first-party franchises, and investing in franchises that we own and probably fewer deals for exclusive third-party content," said Spencer. "I want to have strong third party relations, but paying for many third-party exclusives isn’t our long term strategy.
Nominees for the Gamescom Awards 2015 Announced
The nominees for the Gamescom Awards 2015 have been revealed.
This year there are 174 entries across 17 categories. Though most of the winners are selected by a jury, the public are invited to vote in the "Most Wanted Consumer" category - you can do so via the official Gamescom app from today onwards.
The results will be revealed at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm GMT on August 7 at the show itself - IGN will be there to bring you the winners as they're announced.
In the meantime, check out the list of nominees below:
Best Console Game Sony Playstation
- Final Fantasy XV
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
An Effective Ebola Vaccine Has Been Developed
The World Health Organisation has said that the experimental Ebola vaccine is 100-percent effective so far.
The vaccine has been propelled through a process that normally takes a decade in just 12 months. So far it has been 100-percent successful in preventing Ebola based on trials in Guinea, however WHO expects the final success rate to be somewhere between 75 and 100-percent.
Over 11,000 people have died since the initial outbreak of Ebola last year. It is hoped that this new vaccine will be the "silver bullet" against new outbreaks, however more testing is underway.
Earlier this year, Blizzard announced that it had raised nearly $2 million in support of the Red Cross' fight against Ebola. Plague Inc. also allowed players to donate money to Ebola relief.