During the Xbox E3 2017 press conference Square Enix revealed the new prologue game to episodic adventure Life is Strange. The prequel is called Before the Storm, and acts as…
Read More
Xbox E3 2017: All the Exclusive Games Coming to Xbox One
Posted by Eric Watson | News, Video, Xbox One | No CommentsOne of the biggest issues with the Xbox One with this generation is the distinct lack of console exclusives compared to Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft heard these complaints and nearly every game announced or shown at their E3 press conference will be exclusive to Xbox One – or a “launch exclusive.”
A launch or timed exclusive means a game will first launch on one console, then release on additional consoles (and/or PC) at a later time. This has previously happened on titles like Rise of the Tomb Raider, which launched originally on Xbox One, then three months later on PC, then nearly a year later on PS4.
Here are the exclusive Xbox One games that were shown during the Xbox E3 show.
Forza Motorsport 7
What is it: Racing game with over 700 real licensed cars.
When is it out: October 3
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
What is it: Battle Royale online multiplayer shooter.
When is it out: Late 2017 (Already available on PC)
Deep Rock Galactic
What is it: Cooperative space adventure where you mine resources and kill aliens.
When is it out: Unknown
State of Decay 2
What is it: Zombie survival that features base-building and permadeath. The sequel will add multiplayer.
When is it out: Spring 2018
The Darwin Project
What is it: Survival multiplayer game with cartoony graphics.
When is it out: Unknown
Black Desert
What is it: Korean MMORPG that launched last year on PC.
When is it out: Early 2018
The Last Night
What is it: 2D, pixelated adventure in a neon cyberpunk world.
When is it out: 2018
The Artful Escape
What is it: A 2D platformer developed by a former rock group that failed on Kickstarter but found a home at Xbox.
When is it out: “When it’s damn ready”
Sea of Thieves
What is it: Co-operative and competitive open-world gameplay within a shared pirate world.
When is it out: 2018
Tacoma
What is it: A first-person mystery game on a space station from the makers of Gone Home.
When is it out: August 2
Super Lucky’s Tale
What is it: A Mario-like 3D platformer spin-off of the VR game Lucky’s Tale.
When is it out: November 7
Crackdown 3
What is it: The very long-awaited third title in the co-operative action series.
When is it out: November 7
Cuphead
What is it: A 2D platformer designed to look like a 1930s cartoon.
When is it out: September 29
Ashen
What is it: A stylistic, polygonal action-adventure game.
When is it out: Unknown
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
What is it: The sequel to 2015’s Ori and the Blind Forest, a metroidvania with a haunting story and gorgeous art style.
When is it out: Unknown
Metro Exodus
What is it: An open-world sequel to post-apocalyptic first-person shooter Metro: Last Light.
When is it out: 2018
Indie Game Montage
What is it: A collection of indie games being developed by the ID@Xbox program.
When is it out: Varies
Microsoft kicked off its E3 2017 press conference by revealing its new console, the Xbox One X (formerly Project Scorpio). It’s launching on November 7 for $499. The Xbox One…
All the Star Wars Sales for May the Fourth
Posted by Eric Watson | News, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | No CommentsMay the Fourth is affectionately known as Star Wars Day. It’s a celebration of the popular franchise, but also a chance for many gaming publishers and distributors to host thematic sales. If you’re missing any Star Wars games in your collection, now’s the chance to grab them. Here’s a list of all the big Star Wars sales.
PlayStation 4 has over 50 Star Wars games and DLC up to 75% off. Highlights includes Star Wars The Force Unleashed II for $4.99, Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition for $25.99, and a Star Wars Mega Bundle which includes a mix of Star Wars titles for PSP and PS Vita for $13.99. The PlayStation May the 4th sale ends on May 9.
Steam’s May The 4th Be With You sale is usually the most comprehensive Star Wars sale, and this year is no different. With a library of Star Wars games that stretches back to the early 90s, you can snatch up classics like TIE Fighter and Rebel Assault for $3.99 each. If you’ve been lax on your Star Wars games, check out the Star Wars Complete Collection bundle – 24 games for $60.68. The sale ends May 8.
If you prefer your PC games with no strings attached, check out GoG’s Star Wars sale. Each title is 75% off, and it includes mostly older games such as Star Wars Rebellion, Empire at War, and Knights of the Old Republic. The GoG sale ends May 11.
Xbox has the weakest Star Wars sale, and is overshadowed by a bigger Capcom sale running concurrently. You can get Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition for $20.00 and the deal doesn’t require an Xbox Live Gold membership. The weekly Xbox sale ends May 8.
Here Are the Full Stats for Microsoft’s Project Scorpio
Posted by Eric Watson | News, Xbox One | No CommentsThe future state of consoles has reached an interesting place. Video game technology has plateaued when compared to the leaps and bounds of the last few decades. Instead of large generation advances every five years, we’re likely going to see incremental upgrades in half the time. Exhibit A is Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro. Exhibit B is Microsoft’s upcoming “Project Scorpio.”
In an unprecedented reveal, Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry was invited to Microsoft’s Xbox headquarters in Redmond to show off their upcoming Xbox upgrade, still codenamed Project Scorpio. The upgraded Xbox One console isn’t expected to launch until later this year. But Microsoft was more than happy to share the full specs of this powerful 4K capable machine.
“The goal was that any 900p or better title would be able to easily run at frame-rate at 4K on Scorpio,” said Kevin Gammill, Program Director of Xbox. “That was our big stake in the ground, and so with that we began our work speccing out what the Scorpio Engine is. It’s not a process of calling up AMD and saying I’ll take this part, this part and this part. A lot of really specific custom work went into this.”
If talk of GPU horsepower, shader engines and memory bandwith excites you, the full article on Eurogamer has an excellent breakdown. But we’re all asking the most important question: what about the games?
Microsoft is claiming that every Xbox One game that plays in 900p or 1080p should be able to run at the new 4K resolution. For a demo, Microsoft showed Forza Motorsport running at 4K at 60 frames per second, using only about 66% of the the GPU’s power.
Kotaku reached out to Microsoft and received the following statement:
“All existing Xbox games (including Xbox One Backward Compatible titles) will run smoother, look better and load faster without requiring an update or any work from developers. All games running on Project Scorpio will achieve more consistent framerates, faster load times, improved anisotropic filtering, and will run at their peak resolution if the title implemented dynamic scaling. In addition, developers will also have the option to update existing titles to further take full advantage of Project Scorpio’s advanced capabilities including full 4K assets and 4K resolution.”
We should learn more about Project Scorpio, including name and price, in the coming months. E3 2017 could be a big win for Microsoft.
BATMAN: The Telltale Series – Episode 5: City of Light Review
Posted by Ingrid Hill | PC, PlayStation 4, Reviews, Xbox One | No CommentsAvailable On: Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, mobile
We Played On: PC
The Final Episode of BATMAN: The Telltale Series had a lot riding on it. It needed to tie up loose ends, provide a satisfying conclusion to the series arc, and still be an exciting chapter all on its own. Luckily, City of Light did all of this and more.
