Activision has released a new 13 minute single-player video showcasing some of the campaign mission ‘Black Sky’ from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. This demonstration footage was released as part of Activision’s San Diego Comic Con festivities and was actually shown behind closed doors at E3 last month as well.
Here is the official description of ‘Black Sky’ from the Call of Duty YouTube channel:
“When the Settlement Defense Front attacks UNSA forces in Geneva without warning during Fleet Week, Lt. Reyes and his squad have only one option: Fight back against the SetDef and give ‘em hell. Check out the Campaign gameplay from “Black Sky” in Infinite Warfare.“
Infinite Warfare continues the series’ march into the far future, this time blasting players off into space with sub-orbital dogfights featuring smaller spacecraft but also large capital ships. During the single player campaign Lt.Reyes will actually get command of one of earth’s last remaining capital ships in a narrative that will take players across the solar system.
The first single-player gameplay from Infinite was released at Sony’s E3 press conference and our next chance to get a look at the game will be at Call of Duty XP from September 2-4th.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will be released on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on November 4th.
Skylanders has kept quite fresh over the sixth year we’re going into. This latest installment, Skylanders Imaginators, is no exception. Toys For Bob who brought gamers the original Skylanders release is behind the helm on this one. The big gimmick this time is an item called Creation Crystals. With one for each of the ten elements, and the base game including a fire element Creation Crystal, gamers will be be able to design their own in game Skylander for the first time.
From what we’ve seen in the trailer below there are a TON of parts to use to build your own creation. New Sensei Skylanders are also included now. No details have been released on them yet that we’ve noticed, but the base game does come with Master King Pen, a large penguin Skylander. Also surprisingly there will be villain figures this time! The base game itself includes the Golden Queen who was introduced in Trap Team.
Kotaku noted from an interview that customization is huge. “Body parts, costume pieces, colors, special effects, weapon types, catchphrases, voice type and pitch, abilities, special moves—it’s a ridiculously deep system,” Mike Fahey noted. He also mentioned that the reason behind this new gimmick is that Kaos has come into posession of Mind Magic, the tool originally used to create the Skylands by an ancient race. Naturally Kaos is using this power to create an army of aptly named Doomlanders to take on the world.
What will this mean for game play? The original game featured players fighting off against Kaos controlled dark Skylanders in boss battles. Does this mean the game will draw upon this rich creation system to randomize enemies gamers will be fighting as well? Those possibilities are especially intriguing.
The NFC figure market has been struggling lately. Skylander Superchargers unfortunately underperformed despite being unique in adding racing and different types of levels that went beyond the typical element inspired content. Size change content especially played an interesting role in Superchargers, so I’ll be curious to see if any of that returns. Many factors could have played into this slump however. Canada especially has been heavy hit this past Skylanders generation because of the falling Canadian dollar. Figures at times were much higher priced than the audience was accustomed to and with Superchargers being the fifth version, that may have deterred parents.
Regardless of all those details Toys For Bob is making a strong comeback. This is certainly a huge option for fans to explore in creating their own Skylanders. One thing the series needs more of is content to keep players busy through the waves of figures released in that games cycle. It will be interesting to see what the game has in store this time to hopefully add more interest to keep players involved.
Activision’s Skylanders Battlecast launches today. Based on the Skylanders videogame series, Skylanders Battlecast is a new, free-to-play mobile card game where players build their ultimate deck of cards, master strategic card combinations and use them in never before seen battles!
In addition to the digital cards in the game, physical card packs are also available for purchase in retail stores.
The special card packs bring Skylanders Battlecast cards to life as players scan their physical cards with their mobile devices to bring them to life through augmented reality. The game also allows players to add cards to an in-game digital spell book.
It’s scary news seeing a Toys to Life series like Disney Infinity come to an end. Especially after Skylanders fans have heard that Supercharger sales aren’t up to expectation. The franchise has a lot of life left in it and I only hope we will see the changes needed to keep it going. Following is my advice for what I’d like to see.
Skylanders is a series I’ve enjoyed for a long time now. In the beginning it was easy to even laugh at. We had characters with names like Eruptor and Whamshell that at the time sounded silly. As time went on though and you got into playing the games, you came to treasure these members of your team. Now, so many years later we’re about to move on into the sixth Skylanders game. Obviously the concept took off.
Even other companies began to produce their own toys to life games. Disney Infinity, amiibo, and LEGO Dimensions joined the ranks of NFC figure titles. The concept was popular and very lucrative. But how can that keep going? Read More
With the reveal of the first teaser trailer for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, rumors abound for months about the game’s premise and a leak of the game’s marketing materials last night we know a lot about the game. Yet, perhaps the one thing that everyone is overlooking is how an overpriced re-master of an 8 year old game really is.
Don’t get me wrong, I played a whole ton of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in my college days back in ’07. I spent late nights with friends, huddled around the television cheering as we passed the controller between rounds but can a re-master of an aging game that is available on every major 7th generation platform recapture that magic? Or is Activision and Infinity Ward mining the nostalgia for the past to get players to fork over some additional cash?
Supposedly the re-master of COD 4 will include the full campaign and 10 multiplayer maps. Why has Infinity Ward taken the time to re-master one of their most successful and refreshing titles in modern memory but not taken the effort to include all 20 original maps from the last gen version of the game, let alone the four maps that shipped as part of the Variety Map Pack back in ’08?
A re-mastered COD4 would have been a great pack-in with all editions of the game but by supposedly only including it in the $109 USD ‘Legacy Edition’, it puts the value of the COD 4 re-master at half the price of a full retail release. Activision might as well have called the Legacy Edition the Fuck You Edition, because even if COD4 re-mastered is a fantastic game it will never recap the magic of the original and will only contain a sliver of the original content.
Don’t be fooled – remember that some of the key folks from the original Modern Warfare team left Activision years ago and now have their own series!
The next entry in Activision’s popular FPS series is getting teased on their official channel thanks to the new teaser trailer titled “Know Your Enemy”. The end of the trailer mentions a “settlement defense force”, perhaps the rumors about this game being full of far-future space combat will be true. I also happened to pause the trailer at just the right moment and well – hey it’s ghost’s mask, which has been reoccurring in infinity war’s COD games.
Activision and Sony Pictures has announced a pair of new Ghostbusters video games set in and inspired by the comedic action world of the upcoming Ghostbusters film, which hits theaters on July 15th.
Taking place after the events of the new movie, both Ghostbusters games introduce new casts of rookies keeping watch over the station while the now-famous Ghostbusters tour the country stopping high-profile poltergeists. When paranormal phenomena unleash apparitions across New York City, these new squads of recruits must don their proton packs and wrestle those rogue spirits back to the afterlife!
The console game, Ghostbusters, is a third-person action role-playing game positively charged for thrilling couch co-op with up to four players locally. As rookie Ghostbusters, players can level up their characters’ gear and abilities by tackling objectives, defeating ghastly creatures and discovering hidden collectibles in Manhattan’s most haunted haunts. There are four heroes to choose from, and each has his or her own unique personality and play style, bringing special strengths to support the team.
This weekend’s Steam deals include a number of deals on several Activision titles across a number of genres. Everything from several Call of Duty titles, multiple Transformers games and Platinum Game’s recent Legend of Kora title have been heavily discounted until Monday morning. If you’ve wanted to jump in on older Activision games like 2012’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD, which seems to be several times better than last year’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 now is the time time to do so for less than $5!
Yesterday was no party for the folks who work hard on Activision’s long running Guitar Hero and Skylanders franchises. As first reported by game informer via an anonymous source, it appears that the layoffs have specifically affected the development staff based in Minneapolis Minnesota.
The first entry in the Guitar Hero franchise in a number of years, Guitar Hero Live, was developed by Freestyle Games based in the United Kingdom. GH: Live was well received by critics, including us, especially for its Guitar Hero TV Mode which allows players to try out specially curated playlists, limited-time special events and downloadable content without spending any real world cash. GH: Live was a re-invention of sorts for the franchise with a revised guitar controller.
Skylanders saw the release of Skylanders Superchargers almost every major platform including mobile. With a focus on vehicles and a special partnership with Nintendo that ended up in the creation of two hybrid Skylanders / Amiibo figures it is a little surprsing that this entry developed by Vicarious Visions and Beenox under performed.
Both franchises were singled out as under performing during Activision’s recent earnings call. Although they did not confirm the layoffs to major gaming press they did issue a statement which in part read:
“We are refocusing to better align with Activision’s long-term priorities because, as always, our strategy evolves to keep us ahead of a rapidly-changing industry. We are working with those impacted by the changes to offer outplacement services and support.”
Our sympathies to everyone affected by these recent round of lay offs. The games industry can be a cruel sector to work in and turn over is never easy.
Today marks the start of the first season for the Call of Duty: World League, Activision’s brand new international e-sports ladder for the Call of Duty franchise. For the next 11 weeks teams from all over the world will battle it out in a series of “Best of Five Matches” in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The current slate of matches will culminate in regional LAN events to determine who will enter the first stage of the CWL this March.
Live streams will be available today and tomorrow for three different regions: North America, Europe and Australia / New Zealand. Each region also have their own team of commentators who will be calling each match for viewers.
You can watch all of the matches today and tomorrow on Activision’s official website. Here’s the full line-up for the next two days including times and casters:
Today, Activision announced that two all-new standalone Nintendo SuperCharged Combo Packs for Skylanders Superchargers for the Nintendo Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS.
Last year, Activision joined up with Nintendo to release exclusive Skylanders for their latest game Superchargers. The team up brought Donkey Kong and Bowser to Skylanders Superchargers as guest stars. These special characters were previously only available with the starter pack of the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS games so if you didn’t want to buy one of each you were out of luck.
If you’re in the mood for some fast paced futuristic Call of Duty multiplayer but don’t feel like shelling out $60 for the privilege of ranking up your custom soldier, thanks to Treyarch and Valve, you don’t have too. From now until 1PM PST on Sunday the Multiplayer component of Call of Duty: Black Ops III is free for all Steam users.
This free weekend was originally confirmed via Treyarch’s official twitter account before appearing on the Steam Store front page:
Free #BlackOps3 Multiplayer (PC) weekend is now live on Steam (ends Sunday at 1pm/PST). Jump in now and enjoy! https://t.co/u2SnabAe41
In terms of installation size you’re looking at a 29GB install to try out Black Ops III – so if you’re on capped internet this might be a bit of a behemoth to download just for 48 hours of free access. Wondering whether or not your rig is powerful enough to run the game? Here are the official recommended specs:
MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 7 64-Bit / Windows 8 64-Bit / Windows 8.1 64-Bit
Please note that this review covers the PS4 version, and some features are not available for the PS3/Xbox 360 versions
Treyarch does an amazing job once more with another installment in the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops 3. The series has come a long way from the World War II era setting of World at War, to Cold War settings of Black Ops 1, and the more recent near future settings of Black Ops 2 and now 3. Just like Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch tries to keep the Call of Duty fresh and engaging for it’s fans, and I feel that it has succeeded with those objectives.
Upon starting up the game and getting the necessary content downloaded to be able to play single player, I brought up the menu and happened upon the Identity section and was immediately taken aback when I explored further into it. I was taken aback due to the fact of the sheer level of customization that can be done with individual weapon setups. A new feature in the franchise is the ability to customize optics, attachments, camos, and paint jobs. In addition to that, the player can save multiple variants of individual weapon setups and use them across Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies, provided that the weapons and attachments are unlocked though each mode. One thing to note is that similar to the emblems, paint jobs add an individual flair if one wants to take the time to make use of a whopping 64 layers for the left and right sides, and the top of the gun. All of that can be done within Gunsmith or Paintshop sub-menus. Also making returns are unlockable calling cards and customizable emblems, franchise staples introduced in Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops 1, respectively. Expanding upon those two features you are now the abilities to unlock calling cards via Campaign, Zombies, and from Supply Drops found in Multiplayer.
Acitivision will be bringing brand new content to the GHTV service today including new tracks from the likes of Black Veil Brides, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Blink 182 and many more. If that sounds like a lot of playable content – well it is, with the addition of three different categories to chose from.
Here’s how Activision described the new Guitar Hero Live content in their press release:
Black Veil Brides Premium Show, which includes playable footage from the band’s live concert DVD “Alive and Burning,”will be live on Friday. The DVD chronicles the band’s first ever recorded live performance during their successful Black Mass Tour in November 2014 at the legendary Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Three of the songs from the DVD will be playable in GHTV, including “Heart of Fire (Live)”, “Fallen Angels (Live)” and “In the End (Live).”
Legendary Headliners Premium Show, including “Monster” by Paramore,“Sugar, We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy and “First Date” by Blink-182 is live now.
Pop Goes GHTV Premium Show, featuring “Chocolate” by The 1975, “Believer” by American Authors and “Budapest” by George Ezra is live now.
The Guitar Hero TV service allows players to select content from a number of different themed “channels” providing them with new content that rotates in and out of circulation similar to how songs are played on radio stations. New tracks are introduced in “premium shows” which typically will run for about a week. On-demand tracks on GHTV are selectable by either using an in-game currency or a real world micro-transaction.
Activision will be running a promotion from Friday November 6th thru Sunday November 8th which will allow all Guitar Hero Live players to access GHTV without paying either premium or in-game currency.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be in the hands of eager fans in just a weeks’ time – November 6th and Activision has released a brand new trailer for the bonus Nuk3town map. This isn’t the first time that Nuketown has appeared – it dates back all the way to 2010’s original Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Here’s what Activision had to say about the Nuketown Map:
Set in 2065, this fan favorite map from Black Ops has returned in a big way. Nuk3town has been re-designed from the ground up to highlight Treyarch’s new momentum-based, chained-movement system, allowing players to battle in this adrenaline-charged multiplayer map. Players will experience a new take on this classic run-and-gun, close-quarters map. Escape a harsh reality and enjoy this virtual neighborhood of the future.
