No Man’s Sky: From Humble Beginnings

No Man’s Sky existed before Joe Danger. In the early days of Hello Games – around 2012 when there was just four people – it was far too ambitious to ever speak of in practical terms. Back then it was referred to as ‘Project Skyscraper’, and functioned more like a therapeutic daydream. During the production of Joe Danger, the studio’s first game, it was always there in the background, coming up in conversations while the kettle boiled – a necessary distraction when working on Hello’s charismatic stuntman became too stressful or frustrating. There was something about that simple idea of exploring an unknown planet – visited by no one, not even the developer – which never went away.

Continue reading…

New Total War: Warhammer Trailer Reveals the Demigryph

SEGA has released a new video showcasing the Demigryph, a type of cavalry set to star in the upcoming Total War: Warhammer.

Accompanying blurb describes the beast thusly: "Part lion and part eagle, these noble monstrous cavalry are ridden by only the most renowned knights of the Empire. Clad in ornate plate armour, their densely muscled frames enable them to thunder into combat, tearing their foes limb from limb and spreading fear among the enemy ranks."

The company has announced it plans to release several such videos this week focusing on battlefield units from the game, with an in-engine gameplay reveal coming on Friday.

Check out the Demigryph below and stick with IGN for all the news as it happens this week.

Continue reading…

Aerosmith, 10 Others Confirmed for Rock Band 4

Rock Band 4 developer Harmonix Music Systems confirmed 11 more songs for the on-disc soundtrack today, including one from legendary rockers Aerosmith. "Toys in the Attic" is the first track from Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Co. to be included on a disc in Harmonix's four-player series after a six-pack from the band was released as Rock Band 3 DLC in January of 2013. Other artists added today include Ozzy Osbourne, Paramore, Van Morrison, The Cure, Judas Priest, and Foo Fighters. This video not only gives you a taste of what the Expert difficulty note charts will look like for a few of these 11 songs, but it also provides a first look at Rock Band 4's revised note highway design, which has changed since we last saw the game at E3 2015:

Continue reading…

Jade Raymond’s New Studio to Work on Hennig’s Star Wars

Jade Raymond has announced she is opening a new development studio called Motive.

Motive will be based in Montreal, Canada, and is an Electronic Arts studio. In her announcement post about the new outlet, Raymond promised while new franchises would be coming, the first project they're set to work on is Amy Hennig's Star Wars game that is currently under development at Visceral Games. To help facilitate this, Raymond will also oversee Visceral's California studio.

The post also highlights that Motive will work "in close quarters" with the BioWare Montreal team currently at work on Mass Effect: Andromeda.

"I'm a huge fan of the games that have come out of Visceral and I feel honoured to be working with such a talented team led by studio GM Scott Probst," she writes. "I've also known Amy for years and have admired her work on the Uncharted games! I’m thrilled that the first big project that we will work on in Montreal will have Amy as Creative Director. An opportunity to work with her and the Visceral team, and to play in the Star Wars universe, is once-in-a-lifetime stuff."

Continue reading…

Sackboy Will Be in Tony Hawk’s 5 For PS Users

PlayStation exclusive content and new details about the online multiplayer in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 have been revealed.

Josh Tsui, president of developer Robomodo, divulged the new information on the PlayStation Blog today. PlayStation users will be getting Ratchet, Sweet Tooth, and Sackboy as unique character heads in the PS3 and PS4 versions. However, there will be no online play in the PlayStation 3 version of the game, which means it will cost $40 instead of $60.

"Freeskate levels serve as lobbies for up to 20 players," Tsui writes. "They act as hubs where players can hang out and skate between different missions and online matches."

Continue reading…

Miyamoto Releases Statement on Satoru Iwata’s Passing

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has released a statement following the death of his longtime friend and colleague Satoru Iwata.

In a statement issued to IGN, Miyamoto said: "I am surprised at this sudden news and overcome with sadness.

"The entire development team at Nintendo will remain committed to our development policy which Mr. Iwata and we have been constructing together and to yield the development results which Mr. Iwata would appreciate."

Miyamoto_Iwata

Continue reading…

Video Game Industry Pays Tribute to Satoru Iwata

The video game industry is streaming in tributes for Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata after news of his passing at age 55.

The products and leadership of Iwata’s long tenure at Nintendo, beginning in the 1980s as a programmer, has touched and inspired many video game developers and icons in the industry.

We have collected some of the messages flowing in paying respect to Iwata from the industry legend’s colleagues, those he inspired, competitors and developers.

Continue reading…

Batman: Arkham Knight’s Batgirl DLC Delayed on PC Until Further Notice

The upcoming Batgirl DLC set to be released this week for Batman: Arkham Knight will be delayed on the troubled PC version of the game until the main game is fixed, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment revealed on the game’s Steam page.

“Our continued focus on getting the right PC fixes in place for the main game has had an impact on the development of all DLC content for the PC version of the game,” Gary Lake-Schaal, the VP of Game Technology at WBIE, writes. “This means that the Batman: Arkham Knight – Batgirl: A Matter of Family DLC will not be available on July 14 for those who are currently playing the PC version of the game. We apologize for the delay and only want to make sure that any content that we offer is up to the standards that PC players expect.“

Continue reading…