Release Date and Pre-Order Bonuses Confirmed for NBA 2K16
Players who pre-order NBA 2K16 will be able to play the game four days in advance of the release date, September 29.
Pre-orders will also receive 10,000 VC (virtual currency), with current-gen versions receiving three MyTEAM Emerald Packs (each with a guaranteed Emerald player), and last-gen players receiving a MyTEAM Gold Booster Pack with a guaranteed Gold player and four additional gold items.
NBA 2K16 will release on the PlayStation 3 and 4, and Xbox One and 360, on September 29 in both Europe and North America.
We recently learned that the game will boast three different covers -- Stephen Curry, James Harden, and Kevin Durant -- and reported that filmmaker Spike Lee is apparently involved with the career mode in NBA 2K16.
The Witcher Was Nearly A Diablo-Inspired Top-Down ARPG
The Witcher developer CD Projekt RED originally pitched the popular RPG as a top-down, Diablo-esque action role-playing game.
In a recent video, former project lead Ryszard Chojnowski offered insight into the "humble beginnings" of the RPG series, revealing that the 2002 demo -- inspired by Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and built using the same engine that powered 1999's Mortyr -- had little progression, only one Witcher sign, and hadn't even placed Geralt as the leading character, a decision that the developer thought kept in line with the novels..
A year later, the demo version was dropped, and the studio began the four-year campaign to develop The Witcher as we know it today.
Bioshock Lead Designer Reveals New Horror Game
There's something strange about the estate on Echo Bluff.
After months of seeing the place in haunting visions, Cassie Thornton has finally found the real thing, overlooking the ocean in Gloucester, Massachusetts. And now, she's taking the chance to explore it, despite the fact that she's blind.
So goes the description for Perception, the Kickstarter project from The Deep End Games. The studio is composed almost entirely of developers who worked on Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite, including Bill Gardner, The Deep End's founder. He was design director on Bioshock, and lead designer on Infinite, both of which garnered critical praise in their own right for their first-person storytelling. With Perception, though, Gardner wants to change how horror games are played.
Ninja Theory Builds a Better Lightsaber
No disrespect to Mickey or Woody or Elsa, but I’ve always only ever really had two questions for the team beyond Disney’s toys-to-life game, Infinity. First, where’s Spiderman? And second, where’s Luke Skywalker? After last year’s rollout of Marvel in Infinity’s 2.0 launch, it seemed a sure bet that Star Wars wouldn’t be far behind. Disney finally revealed that Star Wars is coming this fall in a three-part rollout.
The first piece is called Twilight of the Empire, and it focuses on the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars cartoon. (Information on the other two parts – Rise of the Empire and The Force Awakens – has not yet been released.) The core of the story involves leading the Republic forces in a battle against the Separatists.
This Week’s Xbox Live Deals With Gold Are…
This week's Deals with Gold have been revealed, discounting a number of noteworthy titles across both Xbox One and Xbox 360.
On the new-gen front, Xbox One owners can purchase a "Digital Pro" copy of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for 33 percent off, while the "Gold" edition has received a 17 percent price reduction. Major Nelson's blog also notes that Screamride and Alien: Isolation have been discounted as well, with the former being 33 percent off and the latter discounted by 60 percent.
Both Alien: Isolation and Advanced Warfare have been discounted for Xbox 360 owners as well, with Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, and World at War all receiving 50 percent price reductions, too.
New Madden NFL 16 Screens Showcase New Lighting
EA Sports has released eight new screenshots for Madden NFL 16.
According to EA, lighting and time of day have both been improved, and “helps highlight” Madden 16’s updated player likenesses. In a similar vein, receivers and defenders now deliver the most “authentic exchanges to date.”
The game is said to feature a host of new two-man interactions. This comes in tow with the returning on-the-field cameras which was introduced last year, as well as an improved playmaker highlight reel featuring “new player spotlights, dynamic goals and achievements.”
Madden NFL 16 is due to drop on August 25. For all the latest Madden news, and to see who is 16’s cover star, keep an eye on the IGN Madden channel.
Ayami Kojima Joins Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Team
Ayami Kojima will be creating special packaging artwork for some Kickstarter backers of Koji Igarashi's new game Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Kojima has previously worked alongside Igarashi on the "Igavania"-style games, such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Harmony of Despair, doing character design and illustration. Her art will be on the packaging that's associated with the $100+ tiers on Kickstarter.
Although Kojima has said she can "only offer a small amount of time" to the project, Igarashi said that the "most important thing is just being able to work closely with my old friends again. We created something amazing before and to get one more golden opportunity to do this again makes me so happy."
Hearthstone Pros on the State of the Game
Hearthstone has changed a great deal since it was officially launched more than a year ago. In that time we've seen two adventures released - Curse of Naxxramas and Blackrock Mountain - both of which introduced 30 new cards to the game alongside PVE content. We've also seen one expansion - Goblins vs Gnomes - which dramatically expanded the card set, adding more than 120 new cards.
While Hearthstone's meta game is in a constant state of flux, the dust is definitely settling on the new cards introduced in Blackrock Mountain, so I thought it might be fun to take the pulse of the pro/streamer scene. What are the top players and personalities into right now? What's their take on how the game has changed? How would they like it to change?
Documentary in Works about Mad Max Director’s Aborted Justice League Movie
In the wake of director George Miller’s blistering return to the big screen with the spectacular Mad Max: Fury Road, a documentary aiming to explore the story behind Miller’s cancelled Justice League movie – Justice League: Mortal – has been announced.
Australian director Ryan Unicomb, who announced the project via Inside Film, has procured the assistance of film writer and author Maria Lewis to help assemble the documentary. Unicomb plans to interview cast and crew and arrange access to see never-before-seen artwork and costumes, but notes they are yet to approach Miller and his long-time producing partner Doug Mitchell.
Capcom Announces Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster
Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster will launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC in early 2016, Capcom revealed today.
The announcement, spotted via Dengeki Online, doesn’t detail pricing information, editions or launch information for regions other than Japan. Hints of its existence surfaced in December when a Biohazard Zero game icon appeared on Capcom's Japanese site.
The survival horror game was first released on the Nintendo GameCube in 2002 as a prequel to Resident Evil 1. We thought it was scary, fun and flawed, and we loved it.