Sony Celebrates 5 Years of PS Plus
PlayStation Plus is five-years old today, and to celebrate the occasion Sony is sending out a special gift to those who’ve been with the service since day one.
Sony hasn’t said what the gift will be, but if you’ve been with the service since the start, keep an eye on the email associated with your Sony sign in.
"To celebrate those of you that have been with us from the very beginning, a limited edition gift will be arriving in the mail for those of you that have been part of the journey since the very start," says Chris Howe on the PS Blog.
PES 2016 is Getting a Demo Soon
Konami has announced that PES 2016 will be getting a free demo on August 13.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Pro Evolution Soccer series, and the demo will be the first opportunity for you to get your hands on all the new features before it releases on September 15 in North America and September 17 in Europe.
The demo will "feature both club and national sides and will offer a perfect snapshot of the many on-field advances the new game offers," according to the press release.
New MGS5 Gameplay Trailer Coming This Week
Konami will reveal a new trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain this Wednesday, August 5, at Gamescom.
In a post on Twitter, Konami Europe teased the video's release, confirming it will include brand-new gameplay footage.
New #MGSVTPP gameplay footage and trailer coming on the 5th of August! Stay tuned: http://t.co/vI0smz91tF pic.twitter.com/NDLATELTzo
— KONAMI Europe (@konamieu) August 3, 2015
Josh Gad Calls Angry Birds Movie “Unexpectedly Smart”
Josh Gad has been talking about the forthcoming animated adaptation of mobile game Angry Birds, claiming that the film will be “unexpectedly smart and really beautiful.”
Heads were scratched when a movie of relatively plot-free mobile game was announced, but the huge success of the ridiculously addictive title meant an animated film was inevitable.
The feature then managed to attract a pretty impressive voice cast, featuring the likes of Peter Dinklage, Jason Sudeikis, Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, Bill Hader and Josh Gad.
The latter recently visited IGN’s London office to discuss his new movie Pixels on the UK podcast, and talk turned to the animated adaptation, and whether or not it was actually a real thing…
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.