PS5 Trailer looks amazing

Console wars are nothing new but the next gen console wars are phenomenal as both XBox and PlayStation are gearing up to take over our living rooms and our free time. The immersive nature of the games will be taken up several notches as graphics, load times and audio are notched up to 11. Details below.

Via T3

The PS5 video, which opens with a voice over from Sony’s Lead System Architect Mark Cerny (taken from the recent official “The Road to PS5” deep dive) then proceeds to show a wedge-shaped PlayStation 5 console that comes in white, black, red and (interestingly) metal colourways.

There are some lovely details in the design, too. As part of the console’s two-tone aesthetic, there are strips of square, triangle, circle and cross PlayStation button patterns running over the machine, while the notable V-shape that was evident on the PS5 dev kit is also retained when the system is viewed top down.

What is particularly cool in terms of design features is that the PlayStation 5 also has a removal top plate, which underneath hides a turbine style cooling system (we think every gamer can get behind Sony kicking things up a notch in terms of cooling efficiency and noise) .

In terms of ports, the PS5 here is shown to come with a brace of HDMI ports, a digital optical port, as well as a network connector and selection of USB ports, too. These are joined at the rear of the console by a dedicated SSD bay, which allows upgrading of the drive.

We also get a look at some games that could run on the console, as well as how the new DualSense controller would pair with it. Lastly, we see how a next-gen PS VR headset that is wireless could look and the sorts of experiences it could offer.

Overall, we think this is a really well made concept design for the PlayStation 5. We like the fact that the shape of the system remains faithful to the PS5 dev kit, but does so while looking much, much better. Slim, stylish and laden with advanced features — it is the sort of package we’d bite our own arm off to grab.

Hopefully we will, finally, get to see the real PlayStation 5 console design up close soon, as this latest PS5 video has just whetted our appetite for the next-gen console even more.

And, hopefully, the next PS5 event that Sony does will not be so misjudged as the aforementioned deep dive. While the Japanese maker should be applauded for being so candid about the intricacies of how certain parts of its console work, there is no doubting that the level of technical jargon left many gamers cold.

If Sony can follow up with a second event that focused more on the aesthetics, accessories (come on PS VR 2!) and games that will be the ideal scenario, as gamers will have got a look under the PlayStation 5 hood, as well as an introductory tour to its ecosystem.

And, with AMD confirming that it is ramping up production of CPU software for the PS5, it seems like the console is still going to release as initially promised in time for the winter holiday season 2020. Both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are confirmed as using AMD’s Zen 2-powered CPU, which will be partnered with a 7nm Navi GPU.

The new PlayStation has also been confirmed by Mark Cerny himself to come with a brand new custom 3D audio unit and an SSD that allows games, both new and old, to launch far faster than on PS4. Indeed, when Cerny first introduced the PS5’s SSD, he showed how the PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man loaded 18.75 times faster than on PS4, which is a speed increase of 1,774%.

XBox Oris Premieres

Details (and a stunning video) have arrived showing off the new Xbox Oris which is every bit an upgrade on the Xbox as the Xbox One was to the 360. A built-in projector? 3D audio? 8K video? Wireless recharging controllers? It’s all true. Fores has stated that the price will be $499 and that sounds about right. But for that much money, gamers will be walking away with one helluva system.

Via T3.com

The Xbox Series X sounds better and better with each passing day, with its next-gen gaming hardware looking set to deliver some truly wondrous new game worlds to explore. With a winter holiday period release date locked in, there’s going to be a lot of happy gamers opening new Xbox consoles comes Xmas morning.

But the next-gen gaming functionality delivered by Xbox Series X just got taken to an entire new level — say hello to Xbox Project Oris, which can be viewed in the below video:

Xbox Project Oris is the brainchild of talented designer Joseph Dumary, who when posed with the idea that “game consoles often remain just a console”, went ahead and designed a new Xbox console that not only includes an audiophile 3D speaker system, but one that can also project a high-resolution 8K HDR image of games thanks to a built-in projector.

Project Oris also has a digital assistant that can turn off a room’s lights, play music when asked from a user’s music library, and set gaming reminders.

The projector is very much the star attraction with Project Oris though, which is a laser, short-throw unit with high dynamic contrast with Motion+ technology and automatic wall detection. Brightness is rated at 2,500 lumens and its lamp life is visualised at 23,000 hours.

The Oris comes with a next-gen gamepad, too, which not only includes a centrally-mounted touchscreen, but also a fingerprint touchpad and over the air wireless charging.

Here at T3 we think this new Xbox console concept is incredibly cool and unlike anything we’ve seen to date, even if something like it is very unlikely to ever see the light of day.

That idea, though, of being able to have one portable games console that delivers audiophile sound quality and large-scale 8K HDR gameplay is the stuff that dreams are made of. It is very much a shut up and take our money proposition.

If anything, this awesome new concept design has just whetted our appetite for next-gen console power even more, so hopefully we will learn even more about the Xbox Series X soon.

Missile Command recharged coming to mobile devices

One of the most hectic and anxiety-inducing games of the the 1980’s was Missile Command. Capturing the heat of World War Three, the game pitched the player against never ending ICBM attack (and the occasional UFO). As a kid I struggled to keep my small cities intact from the assault with increasingly dire circumstances.

It’s about time the game got a face lift and a mobile version. Atari is here to deliver.

Via 9to5mac

Atari is reviving Missile Command with a new game that the company calls “a modern take” on the arcade classic for mobile devices. The launch of the game, called Missile Command: Recharged, coincides with this year’s 40th anniversary of the 1980 original.

Missile Command: Recharged maintains the same perspective of the original game, in which missile silos battle incoming rockets to protect civilian structures. Recharged uses a neon-colored visual design, à la classic arcade game reimaginings like Pac Man Championship Edition and Space Invaders Extreme. Gameplay has been remixed, with power-ups, an upgrade system, and an augmented reality mode that projects gameplay onto a ‘virtual arcade cabinet.’

Lego Doctor Who

I’ve been playing lots of Lego games with my son (I practiced a lot for two years beforehand so I can keep up). The upcoming Lego Dimensions opens the door to near limitless potential… including Doctor Who.

Content involving the intrepid Time Lord has been confirmed so this fan-made trailer may not be too far from the mark.

We shall see when Lego Dimensions is released in September.

http://www.lego.com/en-us/dimensions/

Vintage animation meets modern gaming in Cuphead

The animation style of times past remains alive in the modern world thanks to the game Cuphead. Bringing gamers into a world that is both familiar and new all at once, the wild visuals and fanciful jazz soundtrack bringing to life a dream-like realm full of possibilities. It’s an awesome accomplishment.

Via Huffington Press:

If your grandparents had video games, we now know how they would have looked.

A new game called “Cuphead,” which is set to be released in 2015, is animated in the style of a 1930s cartoon. In fact, it was created the same way that cartoons were created back then, using hand-drawn cel animation and watercolor backgrounds.

Painstaking? Sure. But the final product really does make the game look like it’s from another era:

“Cuphead,” which was previewed at this year’s E3 conference, is the first by Canadian developer Studio MDHR. And unlike other throwback video games, there’s no 8-bit music to be heard here. The game’s soundtrack is entirely made up of original jazz recordings, composed by Kristofer Maddigan.

The game’s creators describe it as “a classic run and gun action game heavily focused on boss battles.” While they haven’t yet announced every way you’ll be able to play it, we do know it will be released on Steam (PC) and XboxOne.

For more information, click here

Super Marios Bros. gets RiffTrax treatment

The world, characters, music, even the sound effects of the Mario video games are among the most iconic entertainment creations of the 20th century. So naturally if you made a Mario movie, you’d want to abandon everything that people liked and recognized about them, and then just in case people were still willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, throw in The Happening star John Leguizamo.

Let’s say you went to the cinema hoping to see your favorite character from Mario 3, the red carnivorous fish Big Bertha. Ignoring the fact that you are a moron for your favorite character not being the King of Ice World when he’s been transformed into a seal, you might be disappointed to to learn that in the movie, Big Bertha is instead a large, violent woman with prodigious cleavage who wears S & M-esque garb. (Or maybe you’re into that. In that case, you’re probably not welcome in many of the theaters that were showing Super Mario Bros.)

So Big Bertha isn’t a fish, the goombas aren’t tiny, stompable, sentient mushrooms, and there’s nary a Tanooki suit to be found. No big deal, as long as the Mario Brothers are still brothers, right? What’s that? For no apparent reason Luigi is the adopted ward of Mario? Well, maybe it could still work as long as the movie isn’t an incoherent, hideous mess full of shouting and chaos and cheap sets and… Why are you shaking your head sadly?

Strap on your Kuribo’s shoes and join Mike, Kevin, and Bill up on Jugem’s Cloud for riffing on the best live action Mario property that doesn’t contain Captain Lou Albano.

Download today at RiffTrax.com

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate -Under New Management

Since Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Dark Knight has enjoyed a reigning seat in the video gaming world. Utilizing innovative combat techniques and the inclusion of special sequences that employed the hero’s detective skills in a hellish crime-ridden world, these games have given fans a glimpse of what it might be like to *be* Batman.

And the grand tradition continues with Arkham Origins and a new handheld game Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Featuring Catwoman and Solomon Grundy, the handheld game will build on the Gotham City experience and allow more opportunities to lay down some vigilante justice.

Via GeeksofDoom:

Convicts. Criminals. Blackgate Prison is under new management.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate brings the Batman Arkham games to a handheld format for the first time to Sony and Nintendo handheld systems. Featuring stealth gameplay, free-flow combat, and Batman’s infamous gadgets, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate captures the genuine Arkham feel players have come to appreciate. With gripping 2.5-D graphics, fully voiced narrative, and a captivating storyline, you’ll will explore deep inside the bowels of this remote island penitentiary that plays an important role in the Arkham universe.

Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate are both available worldwide on Oct. 25, 2013!

LEGO Marvel Superheroes

Via BleedingCool:

The immense popularity of the Lego video games based on Star Wars, and particularly those featuring DC characters like Batman, have prompted speculation and demand for years from Marvel fans, wondering why Marvel hadn’t agreed to release a Lego Marvel game yet. It’s finally coming, of course, this autumn, and as if to make up for Marvel dragging their heels, this game will include over 100 Marvel characters and be available not only on Xbox, but also PlayStation, WiiU, as well as handheld platforms like the Nintendo DS. It will include one on one combat, epic battles, puzzle-solving, and, of course, humor, says Marvel. The latter is quite a selling point because these games are not only fun to play, but are appropriate for children to play and observe being played, which can be a rare thing when it comes to comics-inspired video games. And it’s arriving just in time for the holidays, even better for those big family gatherings.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Official Gamescom Trailer

From Star Wars to Batman and beyond, these Lego video games can be very addictive. The game play is amazing and innovative, the puzzle-solving can be challenging and the list of playable characters a major draw for fans of each respective franchise.

Including a character pool as diverse as the entire FF, X-Men and Avengers but including Marvel staff members Agent M, Alex Alonso, Joe Quesada and Howard the Duck, this could be the best way to spend an afternoon with the family (or an all-nighter with friends).

The game has a November 15th US release date.

Pre-order for X-Box 360

Pre-order for Wiiu

Pre-order for PS3

Play Marvel Heroes Online

Watch the origins of the Marvel Universe through the eyes of the Watcher, then jump into the role of a superhero!

Official press release:

SAN MATEO, Calif. – June 4, 2013 – It’s Clobberin’ Time! Gazillion Entertainment today released Marvel Heroes, the highly anticipated free-to-play action-MMORPG set in the Marvel Universe. Created by David Brevik, the visionary behind Diablo and Diablo II, Marvel Heroes lets gamers suit up as their favorite Marvel Super Heroes, including Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Captain America and Spider-Man, as they battle through an extensive original story crafted by Marvel super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis. Marvel Heroes is now available* worldwide as a free digital download for PCs at http://www.marvelheroes.com.

“For over three years we’ve been building Marvel Heroes to be an exciting, free-to-play massively multiplayer action game, and we are ecstatic to finally put it in the hands of Marvel fans and gamers alike,” said David Brevik, President and COO of Gazillion Entertainment. “The creation of Marvel Heroes has been a labor of love. As a die-hard Marvel fan, it’s an honor to give players the chance to take on the roles of their favorite Marvel Super Hero in an epic adventure.”

At launch, Marvel Heroes will feature 21 Super Heroes, each with unique and extensive leveling systems, power trees and equipment. Players can choose to wear costumes from over 70 years of Marvel history, including costumes from Marvel’s recent theatrical blockbusters Marvel’s The Avengers and Iron Man 3. At any time, players can swap between their favorite Marvel Super Heroes on the fly. Set across diverse locations from the Marvel Universe, Marvel Heroes offers fast-paced, action-packed game play with a robust crafting system, intense player-versus-player (PvP) combat, End Game, and much more.

Gazillion will be frequently releasing updates to add new content to the free-to-play experience, including additional story missions, new playable Marvel Super Heroes, end-game content and much more.

To download and start playing Marvel Heroes today, visit www.marvelheroes.com or download the game on Steam.

Marvel Heroes is available now on PC and is currently in development for Mac. To get the latest news on Marvel Heroes, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

* Internet connection required

Super Heroes is a co-owned registered trademark.

About Gazillion
Gazillion Entertainment is a privately held developer and publisher of free-to-play online games for all ages. Gazillion’s games feature revered brands, superior production quality and unmatched gameplay. For more information on Gazillion please visit http://www.gazillion.com.

About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit marvel.com.

Game Overview

Marvel Heroes is a FREE-TO-PLAY action-packed massively multiplayer online game created by David Brevik, the visionary behind Diablo and Diablo 2. Set in the iconic Marvel Universe, Marvel Heroes combines the core game-play style of Action RPGs and MMOs with the expansive library of heroes from the Marvel Universe. In the game, players can collect and play as their favorite Marvel Superheroes (including Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Spider Man, Captain America and many others). Team up with friends and try to stop Doctor Doom from devastating the world with the power of the Cosmic Cube in a story written by Marvel comic super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis.

Features

Play for FREE

• Experience the entire game without paying any money. If you choose, you can shop in the in-game store for even more heroes and items.

Battle as Marvel Super Heroes

• Play as Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Spider Man, Captain America and many other famous heroes.

Customize Your Hero

• Make your Hero unique with a range of spectacular powers and costumes. Discover enhancements to increase your hero’s power.

Explore the Marvel Universe

• Visit famous locations from the Marvel Universe, from Avengers Tower to Mutant Town to the Savage Land.

Fight Incredible Enemies

• Smash through hordes of Marvel enemies and face off against iconic super villains.

Team Up With Friends

• Join with your friends as you fight your way through the game.

System Requirements

If your computer does not meet these minimum requirements, you may have difficulty playing.

• CPU: Core 2 DUO 2.1 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.1 GHZ or better
• Graphics Card: DirectX10 Compatible Graphics Card with 512 MB VRAM or higher
• System RAM: 2Gb or higher
• Hard Disk Space: 10Gb or higher
• OS: Windows XP 32 bit or higher

Black Mask has put the hit on the caped crusader in Batman: Arkham Origins

It’s interesting to see news on the upcoming Batman video game and the name dropping of the all-but-forgotten Robin, Stephanie Brown.

Stephanie Brown cosplay by Aigue-Marine

Via Newsarama:

Game Informer’s month of Batman: Akrham Origins coverage, looking in-depth at the just-announced prequel to the popular Arkham games, continues, now revealing Batman’s new top foe. While The Joker ruled in Arkham Asylum and returned for a major arc in Arkham City, in Origins we’re seeing a much deeper underworld. The man hiring the assassins to come kill this new hero Batman has been revealed as Black Mask.

There are two characters who have been known as Black Mask in the world of DC Comics. The first, Roman Sidonis, is the one appearing in the game. As Sidonis, he could have run in the same social circles as Bruce Wayne, but as he transformed himself to Black Mask in the literal blood of his parents, he became the underworld leader who would, at one point, unite Gotham’s gangs and even kill a Robin (Stephanie Brown).

“We realize that Black Mask is not necessarily as prominent in people’s minds as some other classic Batman villains, so we realize we also need to do work to explain why he’s really cool and make him felt in the game,” creative director Eric Holmes told GI. “It’s not something people bring a lot of baggage to when you see the Black Mask, so we have to do the work to make him scary.”

As the head of Janus Cosmetics and the new Mob leader, Black Mask’s “brutal and sadistic” nature from the comics will translate over to the game, promises Warner Montreal.

“His thing is torture. That is what gets his rocks off,” Holmes said. “And he’s really good at it.”

The setting of a full Gotham City was also expounded upon. The game is set in midwinter of “Year 2” of the Batman’s crime-fighting career, with the Christmastime setting giving them “a beautiful thing in an ugly place,” says Holmes. Gotham will be a much larger world than the previous games, and will also represent a world lost to time, much like Batman: The Animated Series. The locations fans remember in Arkham City will still be there – but as normal locations in the more than twice-as-large city. To navigate the three-tiered city, a fast travel by way of the Bat-plane will be offered for the first time, as well.