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Square Enix Dedicated An Entire Hour To Disidia NT Gameplay Premiere

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix dedicated almost an entire hour of their nearly seven-hour E3 live stream to their upcoming fighting game, Disidia NT, during day one of the conferences. Previously known as Disidia Final Fantasy Arcade, this newest entry in the cross-game franchise pits heroes and notable characters from almost every FF title against each other in teams of 3, using a unique battle system. Up until this E3 Disidia NT was confined to the arcades of Japan but now it will be released in North America on PS4 by the end of 2017.

Disidia NT’s battle system is quite unique when compared to other team-based fighters out there. After choosing your Final Fantasy favorites you’ll be paired against two other teams of three in an all out battle. Heroes are divided into 4 distinct roles – Vanguard, Assassin, Marksman and Guard. Each different character type has a distinct role and play style that also determines their position on the field. For example, Guard type excel at being tanks and are useful at the front of the party’s space, agro-ing enemies. Assassins are fast moving characters who excel at reaching the backline of an enemy team’s position and unleashing quick attacks before getting out. Disidia NT’s battles can take place either up in the air or on the ground, a team is eliminated when they suffer 3 deaths – but not necessarily one of each team member. Combine all of these mechanics with two different attack types (HP and BRAVE) and the fact that Brave Points can be traded between players and the ultimate attacks, Limit Breaks can turn the tide of battle and you have one of the most unique/complicated fighting game systems.

Confirmed Characters

  • Warrior of Light
  • Garland
  • Onion Knight
  • Cecil
  • Kain
  • Bartz
  • Exdeath
  • Terra
  • Brantford
  • Kefka
  • Cloud
  • Sephiroth
  • Squall
  • Zidane
  • Kuja
  • Tidus
  • Shantotto
  • Vaan
  • Lightening
  • Noctus

If the battle system sounds a little overwhelming make sure to watch through the entire one hour presentation. Disida looks like a lot of fun, even if I am not really familiar with the franchise up until Final Fantasy VII – yup I came into FF quite late so I’ve missed out on some of the great 16-bit entries.

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Search For The Infinity Stones In The Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite Story Demo

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Fighting fans can go hands-on with Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite a full three months before its’ official release this September thanks to the surprise release of the Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite Story Demo exclusively on PlayStation 4.  The universes of Marvel and Capcom once again collide due to the use of two of the Infinity Stones by “Ultron SIgma” – a fusion of the Marvel villain Ultron and Mega Man antagonist Sigma.  Heroes and villains from both universes will have to band together in-order to stop this ultimate fusion from destroying reality itself. 

Team battles return from previous entries in the Marvel Vs Capcom series, however with the release of infinite Capcom is going back to the series roots by paring teams back to 2 Vs 2 rather than the 3 Vs 3 team compositions that made their debut in Marvel Vs Capcom 2. Rather than using predetermined partner assist attacks that are dependent on a player’s chosen characters – instead Infinite allows a player to call in their back-up at any time, even during long animations. In theory this means that chaining together combos between characters should be easier.  Hyper combos are also no longer activated by inputting a specific set of commands, but simply by pressing two of the face buttons on the Dualshock controller. It is clear that MVC: Infinite shakes up the established formula by changing the amount of total characters, drastic changes to controls + inputs and the removal of pre-canned assist abilities.  

Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite‘s Story Demo is now available on the PlayStation Store. The full version will be released on September 15th for Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4. As of the writing of this article there have been 24 confirmed characters on both sides combined with more expected to be revealed soon. 

Confirmed Capcom Characters:

  • Arthur
  • Chris Redfield
  • Chun-Li
  • Dante
  • Megaman X
  • Morrigan
  • Nathan Spencer
  • Ryu
  • Strider
  • Zero

Confirmed Marvel Characters:

  • Black Panther
  • Captain America
  • Doctor Strange
  • Gamora
  • Hawkeye
  • Hulk
  • Iron Man
  • Nova
  • Rocket Raccoon
  • Thanos
  • Thor
  • Ultron

Full 23 Minute Demo Footage

Official Trailer 

Official Screenshots

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Massive Quake Champions Patch Adds B.J Blazkowicz From Wolfenstien

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Id Software and Sabre Interactive rolled out a massive patch for Quake Champions that should make returning testers and new players very happy. The E3 patch adds a brand new champion – the nazi slaying B.J Blazkowicz from the Wolfenstein series. Alongside B.J’s debut in QC this patch also adds 3 new maps for various modes, the much requested “custom games” option for parties of players and so so much more content than can fit into a single paragraph.

B.J’s kit includes the ability to dual wield any weapon in the game by using his ultimate ability. While the ultimate ability timer counts down BJ will spawn a copy of whatever weapon he has active. This duplicating effect carries over to any weapons he might pick up while the ultimate is active or have in his inventory. Want to run around with two railguns, killing everyone in sight? With B.J you can!

Here is a breakdown of B.J’s abilities as they appeared in the patch notes:

NEW Champion: 

B.J. Blazkowicz added to the Champion roster! 

  •    Dual Wield (Active) 

BJ calls for back-up and answers his own call. Double [censored] weapons, BJ takes turns firing them in rapid succession to lay down some heavy fire, but he will burn through some serious ammo to do so. 

  •    Regeneration (Passive) 

BJ can regenerate any damaged health inside one 25 HP block, if he doesn’t receive damage for 3 seconds. 

  •    Stats: 
  •    100 / 100 HP 
  •    25 / 50 AP 
  •    310 -> 560 ups 
  •    Customizations includes 3 outfits and 1 vanity item. 

If you’ve got a whole party of friends who want to play a specific mode or map with a different time limit, frag limit or default team size then perhaps the Custom Game mode is for you. Right now the custom game options are quite limited and there is no server browser or matchmaking for custom games. This isn’t exactly a replacement for dedicated servers, for those that care about that sort of thing. 

The following options are available for custom games:

Custom Game:
–          Party with friends to play private matches on the arena and game mode of your choice!
–          Party Leaders can pre-configure teams in the Match Lobby by dragging players between pillars.
–          Start Match button will be disabled if the amount of players present is lower than required
–          Start Match button will be disabled in Duel mode if players don’t have 3 Champions available

Also added in the E3 patch is the ability for visitors to a game to spectate. Friends who join a custom game can either be assigned to either Red or Blue team or in the “Spectator” role. Those in the spectator role can freely switch their camera either from room to room or between players regardless of which team those players are on.

The patch notes describe the spectator mode thusly:

NEW Spectator Mode: 

  •    Spectator mode added within Custom Game!

o    Invite friends to your party and drag them to the Match Lobby Spectator Box to allow them to spectate the match. 

o   Spectators can toggle camera modes between players, rooms, and free-float by pressing [L. SHIFT]. 

o   Players can cycle through players or rooms with [LEFTARROW] and [RIGHTARROW] or by pressing [1]-[0] number keys for specific players or rooms. 

o   Spectators can press [X] to toggle x-ray outlines to see players locations through walls to help follow the action.

So much more content makes up the large E3 patch than I can cover in one news article – including the three new maps, small bug fixes, a new tutorial system and some menu changes. If you’ve watched the B.J reveal trailer embedded above make sure to head on over to the Quake Champions forums to read the patch notes in their entirety.  

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Spider-Man Does Whatever A Spider Can In First PS4 Footage

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

It has been awfully quiet on the Spider-Man front as of late. Oh sure, there is a huge co-produced Marvel & Sony Pictures film coming out next month but I meant in terms of Insomniac’s web-slinging simulator announced at E3 2016. A year later and Sony closed their press conference last night with an [X] demo, surely they were hoping to wow the crowd by recreating Spider-Man’s signature moves in video game form.

The demo picks up with Spidey taking on a series of henchmen on the inside of an unfinished skyscraper. Spidey dodges, leaps and performs acrobatics exactly like you’d expect someone with superhuman reflexes to react – seamlessly going from launching a henchman up in the air with a high kick, only to web-shoot him out the window mid-jump a split second later. All of this action is broken up by a mid-demo FaceTime conversation between Spider-Man and an imprisoned Kingpin. All of these henchmen that Spidey have been laying waste to are actually trying to take down Kingpin’s assets while he’s imprisoned and if Spidey wants to discover the true identity of this criminal mastermind Spider-Man will have to rescue Kingpin’s men and save the high-rise. Without giving away the climactic action sequence towards the demo’s end or the surprise post-credits reveal, it looks like Insomniac’s Spider-Man is going to be worth the wait until it ships sometime next year.

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Ubisoft’s Skull & Bones Takes PvP Action To The High Seas

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Ubisoft announced a brand new IP at their E3 press conference this afternoon, the swashbuckling multiplayer title Skull & Bones. Players try to work their way up the pirate food chain to amass riches across multiple trade routes on the Indian Ocean as a freelance pirate captian. Taking place in an online open world that is persistent – the obstacles players have to face are ever changing – whether those are raging storms, rough seas or other pirates looking to sink their ship.

Players will create their own custom pirate avatar through a character creator and can play by themselves, solo, or group up with up to three friends for some high seas adventures. Like last year’s Division, Skull & Bones will offer both Player Vs Player combat and Player Vs Environment activities to enjoy. PVP is not turned on by default (like in The Division) there is a specific area of the map, called Disputed Waters, where it is permissible to sink another captain’s vessel. Ships will come in three sizes according to Ubisoft – Frigate, Brigantine and Sloop-of-War. Each type of ship has its’ own drawbacks and advantages so captains will have to build their armada will some strategy in mind.

Skull & Bones is being developed by multi Ubisoft affiliated studios including Ubisoft Singapore as the lead studio, Ubisoft Chngdu in China and Blue Byte in Mainz, Germany.  It is due out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. It will have support for PlayStation Pro and Xbox One X enhancements. Interested freelance pirates can sign-up at the official website to be put in the queue for an upcoming technical test.

Screens

PVP In-Engine Gameplay

Cinematic Trailer

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State of Decay 2 Brings Post Apocalyptic Scares Next Spring

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

State of Decay 2’s trailer asks us the hard questions about surviving in an urban post apocalyptic hell-scape like:  “who do you decide to save?” and “do you kill a friend or do everything you can to save them?”. Player choice, player action and the consequences of both of those are front and center during the gameplay reveal trailer shown at Microsoft’s E3 press conference earlier today.

We see the survivors make choices like where to build their settlements, whether or not to give a party member the last remaining antidote and whether or not to take revenge against the creature that just ripped your friend in two. Literally, there is a visceral scene near the end where we see a survivor get picked up by a large hulking zombie and then torn in half at the waist with visceral levels of entrails spilling onto the floor. Clearly State of Decay 2 is not for the faint of heart.

State of Decay 2 will release on both the Windows 10 Store and Xbox One Store in Spring 2018. It will feature enhancements for the newly announced supped up Xbox One X as well.

Trailer below:

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Assassin’s Creed Origins Coming October 27th

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Rumors about the Assassin’s Creed franchise making the trip to ancient Egypt with a pair of Assassin’s Creed: Origins videos unveiled at Microsoft’s E3 press conference this morning.  Players will witness the birth of the order of Assassins featuring the first person to ever don the hood of the order who oppose the Templars. The game’s protagonist is an “Egyptian Sheriff” of sorts according to the game’s Creative Director.

It will be out on October 27th, check out both the cinematic trailer and five-minute gameplay demo below.

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Super Lucky’s Tale Looks Charming As Heck

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Shown during Microsoft’s E3 live press conference it was confirmed that an enhanced version of 2016’s Lucky’s Tale will be coming to Windows 10 and Xbox consoles. Super Lucky’s Tale looks like a whimsical and charming platform adventure where players guide the titular Fox, Lucky and a bug companion through colorful worlds.

Lucky’s Tale minus the previously required VR headset looks like it could be a very fulfilling and enjoyable romp. It will be out this November, check out the debut trailer below.

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New Kingdom Hearts III Trailer Still Lacks Release Date

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix released a brand new trailer for Kingdom Hearts III almost a full four years after it was originally revealed at E3 2013. My original headline about the game’s announcement so many years ago told readers that “no you’re not dreaming, Kingdom Hearts 3 has been announced” and now this latest trailer opens with “Don’t assume your dreams are just fantasy” – for the entire series fan base and enthusiast press playing KH III has been relegated to the realm of dream or fantasy since the title has yet to appear at a major industry convention or conference in anything but pre-rendered trailer footage.

As for the details about what’s going on in this trailer… well, I haven’t the slightest gosh darn clue. My wife and I are slowly playing through the series and I’ve still got three games left (Dream Drop Distance, Birth By Sleep, 2.8 Prologue) before I am completely caught up. So far the series plot (to me) is slightly disjointed but still enjoyable, if not a little off the wall.

If you want to see pretty visuals of Sora pulling off cool combo moves, Pete and Maleficent rendered in crisp PS4 HD and for the first time four party members active at once – watch the trailer below.

While there’s no release date the end of this trailer, Square Enix does promise the reveal of a brand new world and another new trailer at D23 this coming July.

Come on Square – can we have a release date now? Don’t let our dreams be dreams and give us a release date.. JUST DO IT

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Search Your Feelings, You Know Star Wars Battlefront II Gameplay Looks Impressive

Posted on June 10, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

EA dedicated a very lengthy section of their four hour livestream this afternoon to DICE’s sequel to 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront reboot. This included an on-stage presentation and featurette about the group of skilled players who helped provide input to developers about the type of changes needed to make Battlefront II’s multiplayer a success. We also got our first look at an actual full multiplayer battle thanks to their Battle on Theed promotion.

DICE has made a number of fundamental changes to how the gameplay systems work in Star Wars Battlefront II. The most obvious is that units, heroes, maps and technology from all three eras (A New Hope Era, Prequels Era, The Force Awakens Era) are all present within a single match. Want to have Rey fight alongside Han Solo? You can do that! Want the Emperor to electrocute Jar Jar Binks, GO FOR IT (okay.. even in my wildest fan dreams we don’t know if there is an actual playable Jar Jar.) Power-ups and ship combat have changed as well – instead of picking up a token on the battlefield to spawn a special weapon, vehicle or hero, players are provided “battlepoints” for almost every action they perform . Whether you’re shooting an enemy player, blowing up a ship with a tracked missile or capturing an objective you’ll earn battlepoints for all of them – at one point during the livestream we saw a ship simply spawn and then crash into a building, and that player still earned BP. The amount of MP to spawn with a different class, weapon, hero or vehicles differs – so we don’t have a clear sense as to how much each of the specific types of purchases cost.

During the livestreamed Assault on Theed multiplayer match, which takes place on the planet of Naboo the Separatists (which include clone troopers from Episode II, the Rebels from A New Hope era and The Resistance from The Force Awakens era) must defend the palace from a large mobile bomb being escorted by the forces of the Galatic Republic (Empire from A New Hope Era, The New Order from Force Awakens Era). Matches on Theed are divided into three distinct phases: a large open urban area where aerial dog fights happen alongside multi-unit battles in the streets of Theed. If the Galactic Republics continues their push the courtyard near the palace gate will unlock, funnels ground units into a narrower space. The final phase of Assault on Theed takes place in the Queen’s throne room and is designed for full on close-quarters combat. It is quite interesting to see Battlefront II adopt three distinctly different gameplay flows and map styles within a single match, very similar to what DICE tried to achieve with the Death Star DLC for the original Battlefront.

Other interesting tidbits included the inclusion of Episode I’s Battle Droids and Darth Maul as selectable units after accumulating enough battlepoints. It was also confirmed during the match that both Han Solo and Boba Fett will return from the first title as Hero Units alongside newcomer Rey. With EA promising 3 times as much content as the original title and free Hero, Mode and Map updates for all players without a season’s pass Battlefront II should have Star Wars fans excited. Star Wars Battlefront II will be out on November 17th 2017 on Xbox One, PS4, PS4 Pro, PC and Xbox Scorpio.

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Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Story Trailer Released

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

A brand new Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age trailer has been released ahead of E3 2017. This trailer focuses on some of the major story beats as well as a footage from the introduction cinematic (which still looks drop dead gorgeous after all of these years). Don’t worry about major spoilers as these story moments are shown out of sequence and without any context. Regardless if you’ve played the original XII or not, one thing is clear: The Zodiac Age is one beautiful remaster.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age will be released on PS4 and PS4 Pro on July 11th. It should be playable at E3 however you won’t have to go that far to get a taste of the game, several Best Buy stores here in Canada have had an early XII: Zodiac Age demos at their PlayStation kiosks for months.

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SEGA and Atlus Bringing 9 Games To E3 2017

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

SEGA Europe and Atlus USA have announced that the two companies will have a combined presence of 9 titles coming to the E3 2017 Expo in Los Angeles next week. If you’re a fan of the Yakuza franchise you’ve got two brand new titles to look forward too. The sonic fan base is surely going to be pouring over every frame of Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania footage to come out from the show. Also of note are the trio of Atlus RPGS for the 3DS announced for Fall 2017 / Spring 2018 yesterday.

Here is their full line-up:

3DS

  • Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond The Myth
  • Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS4 Pro

  • Sonic Forces
  • Sonic Mania

PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3

  • Yakuza Kiwami
  • Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

PS4, PS Vita

  • 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

PC

  • Total War: Warhammer 2

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Nintendo Announces ARMS & Splatoon 2 Tournaments For E3 2017

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Splatoon 2 Title

Upcoming Switch titles ARMS and Splatoon 2 will have their own dedicated tournaments at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles California, Nintendo has announced. Featuring brackets for amateur and professional gamers both tournaments will allow fans and professional gamers to get some hands-on time with both titles before their respective release dates.

2017 Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational – Tues June 13 @ 2:30PM Pacific

4 four person teams from different worldwide regions will participate in a round-robin style tournament. The specific rulesets used in the World Inkling Invitational will change as teams progress forward: Round 1 – Turf War, Round 2 – Ranked Mode, Round 3 – Best of 5, Round 4 (finals) – Best of 7. Up for grabs are not only bragging rights but also the chance to have the winners names engraved on a special Splatoon 2 trophy.

The four teams that rose through the local tournaments to come to the E3 finals include:

Deadbeat from USA
Dynameu from Japan
Rising Moon from Europe
Blue Ringed Octolings from Australia

2017 Arms Open Invitational – Weds June 14th  @ 3:30PM PST

Nintendo’s other big multiplayer title, ARMS, will have an open competition where any E3 attendees can swing by Ninty’s booth between 10am and 1PM Wednesday the 14th for a shot at being one of the final 4. The four selected attendees will go up against 4 professional gamers for a shot at bragging rights as the winner of the Arms Open Invitational and best ARMS player at E3 2017. Let’s hope those going to E3 got a lot of practice in during the Arms Global Test Punch.

Both of these tournaments will be streamed via Nintendo’s YouTube, Twitch and special E3 website. If you happen to be working or miss one of them – like all of Nintendo’s E3 presentations they are archived on Youtube the same day they are live streamed.

 

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Tekken 7 Confirmed For Early 2017 Release On PC

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7 PC Release will be available in Early 2017 via Steam. Confirmation of this comes as the official Steam Page for the game has gone live – you can view it right here.

During Microsoft’s E3 press conference the game was confirmed for both Windows PC & Xbox One with a trailer showcasing a battle between long time series antagonist Heihachi and new guest character, Street Fighter’s Akuma.

Tekken 7 is also expected to be released on PlayStation 4, although the publisher only had the Xbox One version of the game on display at E3, which we got the chance to play.

Here is the official description of Tekken 7 from the Steam Page:

Love, Revenge, Pride. Everyone has a reason to fight. Values are what define us and make us human, regardless of our strengths or weaknesses. There are no wrong motives, just the paths we choose to take.

Experience the epic conclusion of the Mishima clan and unravel the reasons behind each step of their ceaseless fight. Powered by Unreal Engine 4, TEKKEN 7 features stunning story-driven cinematic battles and intense duels that can be enjoyed with friends and rivals alike through innovative fight mechanics.

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E3 2016 Video and Vlogs!

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Rae and I were CRAZY busy at E3! Despite that hustle, Rae and I manged to get a few minutes on camera each day to share with you. If missed it because you aren’t  subscribed to our YouTube channel. Which you should totally fix! But I’m going to drop them all here in on MEGA E3 VIDEO POST!

So first lets do the VLOGS, then make sure you keep scrolling because there is a special secret video at the end!

E3 Day 0

E3 Day 1

E3 Day 2

E3 Day 3

If thats not enough E3 Content for ya! Check out this bonus video of an interivew Rae did with one of the lead developers of Elite Dangerous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7ULveIDMM

Keep watching, keep reading, and keep being awesome, we do it all for you <3

 

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