Overkill adding 5 DLC packs to Payday 2, would 'love' to add mods

Overkill Software's Game Director, David Goldfarb, recently said the studio has "a year of DLC planned" for Payday 2, its multiplayer heist game that launched this week on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 (August 23 for Xbox Games on Demand). Goldfarb tells Joystiq that five DLC packs in total are in the works.

"Payday 2 - just like its predecessor Payday: The Heist - is a living thing. We have 5 DLCs planned together with 505 Games for the coming year." Goldfarb went on to say that Overkill would continue to update the game with both paid and free content, "just like we did with the first game."

In Payday 2, the same maps are recycled over many different types of jobs, suggesting a natural fit for modding support or Steamworks integration. "We would love to add support for creating community generated content," Goldfarb said, but in the meantime the team will "continue to look into this."

Almir Listo, a producer at Overkill Software, posted a message on Steam yesterday about absent safe house customization options and Cloakers, special heavy-duty police units seen in the beta. Both will be added down the line: "The safe house is what we intended it to be at release," Goldfarb said. "Just like Bain says when you enter the safe house for the first time, it's not much at the moment, but give it some time. He's working on it and he'll let us do some decorating soon."

Finally, Goldfarb addressed the idea of further franchise crossovers. The first Payday had a mission set in the No Mercy map of Left 4 Dead, serving as a non-canon prequel to Valve's co-op zombie shooting gallery. On this point Goldfarb said, "We can't discuss if we have any crossovers planned right now, but we will let you know when/if that should change."

Overkill adding 5 DLC packs to Payday 2, would 'love' to add mods originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Aug 2013 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lioness gets funded on Kickstarter with over 3 weeks to go, refuses stretch goals

Zak Ayles and Phillip Lanzbom's PC adventure game Lioness recently received funding on Kickstarter, reaching its $7,000 goal with over three weeks to go in its campaign. Typically, this is the part where creators add stretch goals to the project, pushing the funding, and the game itself, far beyond its initial scope. In a July 11 update, the developers described why that will not be the case for Lioness.

"We disagree with the idea that there's any direct correlation between quality and scope in a project like this," the duo wrote. "When you force a game or film past its own scope and design it just begins to cannibalize its own narrative and vision by stretching it until it breaks."

Also known as Lionheart Drive, the game is an "experimental adventure game about human connection" where players control freelance journalist Eggert Kirby, seeking information on seven missing people. Along the way, Kirby "befriends a nicotine addicted cat and unravels a plot involving time-travel, yakuza, and interdimensional coffee."

The first reward tier for $7 pledges promises access to the game's seven "sessions," as well as seven new games from the Braingale collective, a ragtag group of indie developers and artists. Those seven games are Francis by Andrew Brophy, Killing Man by Jerry Mickle, Gabbage Day by Todd Luke, Namragog's Shadow Creatures are in the Sky, Star Bizarre by Lulu Blue, an untitled game by Alec Stamos and The Devil's Throne by Manuel Magalhaes.

"The more money we have, the better we can invest ourselves into pursuing our vision unencumbered," the update concludes. The project has raised $9,400 to date, with 23 days left in its funding period. Ayles and Lanzbom are hoping to have the first episode of Lioness out by the end of 2014.

Lioness gets funded on Kickstarter with over 3 weeks to go, refuses stretch goals originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 14 Jul 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Resident Evil 6's 'Napad' enters Left 4 Dead 2

While we've seen the Left 4 Dead 2 gang holding their own in Resident Evil 6, we've yet to see Valve's side of this crossover event on PC. Above you can see the Napad in Left 4 Dead 2, a tank variant you can add to your game through Steam Workshop. The Napad is a fusion of infected corpses, all mashed together in some horrifying, Akira-like monstrosity.

The PC version of Resident Evil 6 launched on March 22. The Left 4 Dead 2 cast will be playable through a free update, available for download this Friday.

Gallery: Resident Evil 6 x Left 4 Dead 2 Crossover

Resident Evil 6's 'Napad' enters Left 4 Dead 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK Charts: Xbox One doubles Xbox 360's opening weekend

The UK kicked off its November next-gen madness with the Xbox One last week, ahead of the PS4's launch across Europe this Friday. No surprises, then, that the country's charts are dominated by a flurry of Xbox One launch games, but stifle that yawn because Chart-Track does have a noteworthy statistic to share: According to the data gatherer, the Xbox One sold twice as well as the Xbox 360 across its opening weekend in the UK.

Some context: Microsoft shipped around 300,000 Xbox 360s to Europe for the system's launch in December 2005, and it was speculated that meant around 70,000 for the UK. MCV is putting the Xbox One's 48-hour sales figure at 150,000, but that's not confirmed.

As usual, Chart-Track didn't provide any hard numbers with its stat, but we do know the Xbox One sold more than 1 million units in its first 24 hours, albeit across 13 markets; the PS4 also hit 1 million-plus on day one, but just in North America.

We'll have a clearer picture of who's nudging ahead once the PS4 is out and about in Europe, so let's focus on the all-formats game charts for now: FIFA 14 became the new No. 1, with numbers boosted by 328 percent after being bundled in with Day One consoles in Europe. The rest of the top ten provides some idea of which games Brits chose to pick up with their shiny new Xbox Ones: Call of Duty: Ghosts came in second, followed by Battlefield 4, Assassin's Creed 4, and Forza 5, Lego Marvel Super Heroes and Dead Rising 3.

Heading down the charts, Grand Theft Auto 5 is the first previous generation game to appear, sat at eighth. More surprisingly, it's ahead of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, which debuted behind it in ninth. If you're wondering where Super Mario 3D World is, so is the UK: The Wii U game doesn't arrive in the country until November 29. Finally, Crytek's Ryse: Son of Rome rounded off a top ten that featured eight Xbox One games.

Continue reading UK Charts: Xbox One doubles Xbox 360's opening weekend

UK Charts: Xbox One doubles Xbox 360's opening weekend originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Nov 2013 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaming deals: $200 Batman, The Last of Us PS3 bundle, Xbox One games, Battlefield 4 for PS4 $50

Black Friday is making our wallets cower as it looms in the distance, but why wait until then to start your financial downfall? Kmart is currently offering a 250GB PS3 with The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins for $200.

If you've already jumped into the current console generation, Amazon is selling select Xbox One games for $50, including Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and ... Angry Birds: Star Wars. If you'd prefer to play on the PS4 and are generally optimistic, you can also buy Battlefield 4 for PS4 for $50 and hope that its issues are resolved before it reaches your doorstep.

Since we're talking deals, Steam users can pick up Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Rage for $4.99 each this weekend, the latter of which can be played for free until 4pm Eastern Time. The ARMA series and most of its DLC can also be had for 80 percent off, meaning you can pick up Steam's ARMA selection for $18.98.

Update: Amazon is also offering select games from the PS4 launch lineup for $50 apiece, including Knack, Need for Speed: Rivals, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Madden NFL 25 and FIFA 14.

[Thanks, Jack!]

Gaming deals: $200 Batman, The Last of Us PS3 bundle, Xbox One games, Battlefield 4 for PS4 $50 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Halo 4's 'Majestic' map pack arrives Feb. 25

Halo 4 is laying down the red carpet to provide its Majestic DLC with a royal entrance when it arrives next week on February 25. Like Crimson before it, Majestic brings three new maps to 343 Industries' shooter, each one a small-scale affair. There's the metropolitan wreckage of Landfall, the arena-like Monolith, and the rooftop mayhem of Skyline.

Majestic comes with two new playlists too, one a free-for-all for eight players and the other a 4v4 team-based line-up. Also, the new free-for-all Infinity Rumble game type is a timed-exclusive for owners of the DLC. Infinity Rumble is all about earning and using personal ordinance, this doled out for killing stylishly and special medals.

The DLC is priced at 800 MSP, and is free to those with the War Games pass. The third map pack DLC, Castle, is coming sometime in April. Given the accuracy so far of this leaked ad from last year, our gut is telling us it's coming April 1. But our gut is also very hungry.

Gallery: Halo 4 (Majestic Map Pack)

Halo 4's 'Majestic' map pack arrives Feb. 25 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Worms: Clan Wars is free, series on sale this week through Steam

The Worms series is 50 and 75 percent off this week on Steam until 10:00am PT on Friday. 17 games can be purchased in one collection for $22.49 or individually for their respective discounted prices. The Worms Collection includes Worms ($1.99), Worms: Armageddon ($7.49), Worms: Blast ($1.99), Worms: Crazy Golf ($2.49), Worms: Pinball ($1.99), Worms: Reloaded ($4.99) along with its Forts, Puzzle, Time Attack and Retro packs for $1.24 each, Worms: Revolution and its season pass for $7.49 each, Worms: Ultimate Mayhem ($3.74) and the game's single player DLC ($4.24) as well as its multiplayer pack and customization pack, each discounted to $1.49.

One game that isn't part of the pack is the latest from Team17, Worms: Clan Wars, which is $12.49 on its own. The game is free to play until 1:00pm PT on Sunday, so players that act fast can get a taste of the game before buying it at a discount. Team17 recently announced that it would publish its first third-party game in nearly two decades, a stealthy game called Light by Just a Pixel.

Worms: Clan Wars is free, series on sale this week through Steam originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Nov 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon outlines Black Friday deals, including $34 for GTA 5

Amazon gets into the Black Friday mood a little earlier this year, with offers starting Sunday, November 24 and running through to the violently bustling climax on November 29. The online retailer will as ever have plenty of quick-fire deals on games and consoles, but it's already noted a few eye-catchers on the way.

Software-wise, Amazon has Grand Theft Auto 5 and Batman: Arkham Origins pinned for a $34 sale, and the just-released Call of Duty: Ghosts to go at $40. Other recent blockbusters like FIFA 14, Madden 25, and Battlefield 4 are set to come down to $25, and there'll be a buy-2-get-1-free offer on Skylanders: Swap Force characters too.

As for the consoles, Amazon is going with the 250 GB PS3 bundle that's doing the rounds at several other retails, including The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins for a $200 total. On the Xbox 360 side, there's a 250GB bundle featuring Halo 4 and Tomb Raider for $190, but Best Buy tops that by chucking in Darksiders 2 and Batman: Arkham City in too.

If you can't wait that long to make your wallet lighter, you strange person, then Amazon's Black Friday Countdown has a few decent offers too. Among the standouts are a couple of 2012's big hits in Gears of War Judgment at $20 and Max Payne 3 at $10, while on the PC downloadable side there's all three BioShocks for just $15, and both Borderlands for $12.

Continue reading Amazon outlines Black Friday deals, including $34 for GTA 5

Amazon outlines Black Friday deals, including $34 for GTA 5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Nov 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clockwork Empires mates world-building, steampunk, Elder Gods

Clockwork Empires, the next game from Dungeons of Dredmor developer Gaslamp Games, appears to be a typical, steampunk-themed bureaucracy simulator, with one major twist: Instead of ordinary catastrophes like floods or fires, your biggest concern are attacks by squamous, unknowable Elder Gods.

If it helps, imagine a less militant Age of Empires as written by H.P. Lovecraft. The cities you create, while arguably typical, always hold an air of malice, even before your citizens burst into flame or are driven mad by obscene geometries. "Build mighty colonies populated by foppish aristocrats, ambitious middle-class artisans and clerks, and the toiling lower-classes who labor in your magnificent factories, scientific laboratories, lavishly decorated houses, farms, cathedrals, pubs and more," reads the game's official description. "But be careful - every character in your society has its own personality, motivation, and (sometimes deadly) secrets."

That would be concerning if it weren't for the game's extradimensional horrors. If your society declines or succeeds in certain ways, you may earn a visit from one of Cthulhu's poker buddies. Fortunately, how your society evolves is entirely up to you.

"Ultimately the creation and outcome of this incredibly nuanced world is dictated by the player, but as developers we've steered clear of directing the actual outcome of each society players will create," stated Gaslamp Games CTO Nicholas Vining. "The outcomes can vary so greatly it was important to design the game to be as shareable as possible. From building to strategizing, exploring and the emergent player-to-player shared content, no two games will be alike. That's the gruesome and wonderful nature of Clockwork Empires."

Clockwork Empires will debut on the PC, Mac and Linux platforms at some point during 2014.

Continue reading Clockwork Empires mates world-building, steampunk, Elder Gods

Clockwork Empires mates world-building, steampunk, Elder Gods originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Kickstarter developer in the final seconds of his campaign: 'It's so bad'

When a Kickstarter campaign enters its final seconds, the page begins counting down in real-time. The widget that normally reads out the number of days remaining for a project switches over to read out seconds, starting with 100, 99, 98, 97 ....

"Two minutes to go," says Steve Swink, the creator of Scale, over a Skype video call. "I just want balloons to come down - oh. It transferred to a second count. It's counting down 100 seconds. That's weird."

Swink started the Kickstarter campaign for Scale on October 17 from his house in Tempe, Arizona. He watched the project's final seconds tick down on November 16 from an exchange house outside of Stockholm, Sweden, where he and his fiancee, Gravity Ghost developer Erin Robinson, were staying to teach a three-week college course on game development. Though he'd just spent more than 20 hours traveling across the world, Swink stayed awake to watch his Kickstarter page, pointless as that was.

"I've been up for like 30 hours, I think," Swink said, with 15 minutes to go on the Scale Kickstarter. "It's pretty gnarly. Actually, I feel happy. I just have the Jurassic Park theme running in the back of my head the whole time. I'm happy. I'm good; I'm feeling a lot more relaxed. There's not really anything I can do at this point. It's like Pinewood derby - I feel like I got my car all ready and everything, I sanded it down, and I just pushed it down the hill a while ago. I've kind of just been blowing at it and I don't think it's doing anything."

Scale is a puzzle exploration game starring a genius ex-con with a gun that can shrink and grow everything, featuring Ashly Burch of Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?, Sarah Elmaleh of Gone Home, and music from FTL's Ben Prunty and Super Meat Boy's Danny Baranowsky. It ended up raising $108,020 of a requested $87,000, so whatever Swink did (or didn't) do seemed to have worked.

Continue reading A Kickstarter developer in the final seconds of his campaign: 'It's so bad'

A Kickstarter developer in the final seconds of his campaign: 'It's so bad' originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Nov 2013 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ridiculous Fishing hooks Android soon, same price as iOS

Vlambeer's amphibious hunting game, Ridiculous Fishing, is on its way to Android after eight months on iOS, the studio announced today. An Android port of Ridiculous Fishing has been on the table basically since the game launched, but the task was daunting, studio co-founder Rami Ismail said in March. However, Vlambeer couldn't ignore the fans for long.

"We've always thought of Android with a bit of reluctance, and we still think it's an awfully rough platform to develop for," Ismail tells Joystiq. "In many ways, the development of Ridiculous Fishing was a struggle for us, and to be honest we weren't sure about launching it or not until a week ago. There just were so many requests for the game on Android from our fans, so we couldn't withhold them the game if there was any way to make the game happen. We found a porting partner in Apportable, and they're the ones that really made the game happen on Android."

Ridiculous Fishing caused a few waves with its price point, charging $3 rather than the App Store's norm of free-to-play. It worked out: The game sold 300,000 units at $3 by August, and it ended up with an Apple Design Award (plus we liked it a ton). Ridiculous Fishing will cost the same on Android, but it's going to launch with a "sale of sorts," since the Android market appears to behave differently at launch than the App Store, Ismail says.

"We're really curious to see what'll happen after the launch - in many ways, we feel that how Ridiculous Fishing performs financially on Android will be an interesting comparison to the iOS ecosystem," he says. "For now, we're adding final tweaks and fixes to make sure that we can launch really, really soon. We really hope Android gamers will be happy with the effort we put into making this happen - this one is for them."

Ridiculous Fishing hooks Android soon, same price as iOS originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 17 Nov 2013 20:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dark Matter temporarily removed from Steam, GOG offering refunds

Dark Matter is not available on Steam for the apparent time being, following complaints over the game's incomplete story and lack of labeling as an episodic adventure. The game was removed this morning, with a notice going up on its Steam page saying "Currently there is a known issue at the end of the game. The developer is aware of the issue and they are working on a patch as a solution."

Meanwhile, GOG.com is offering refunds to those who bought the game before its description was updated on the site. Now GOG's listing indicates Dark Matter is the "first half" of a story, an update that "adequately reflects the game" according to the retailer.

Dark clouds circled around Dark Matter over the weekend, when players vented their anger over its "to be continued" ending, accusing developer InterWave Studios of seemingly releasing an unfinished product. Erik Schreuder, CEO of publisher Iceberg Interactive, responded by clarifying that the 2.5D horror platformer is the first episode of a larger overall saga, one that was originally planned as standalone game.

InterWave Studios brought Dark Matter as that standalone game to Kickstarter earlier this year, with plans to sell it for $30. The game wasn't funded, and a few months later Iceberg Interactive released the now controversial first episode, also called Dark Matter, for $15.

Schreuder said Dark Matter is "exactly as described on Steam," but the store page makes no mention of the game being episodic. Schreuder was forced to concede the ending "may cause confusion and is not satisfactory," and noted a "more conclusive and satisfying ending" is in the works - as perhaps indicated by the new notice on Steam. At the time of writing, the game remains on sale at GOG.com

Dark Matter temporarily removed from Steam, GOG offering refunds originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Oct 2013 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inafune: Mighty No. 9 looks like Mega Man due to my art style

Mighty No. 9 could present some legal issues due to its similarity, both in terms of art and gameplay, to Capcom's Mega Man series. When it comes to the former, Keiji Inafune told me at PAX Prime it's because he created both Mega Man and Mighty No. 9 - and it's only natural the two should share some resemblance.

"If you really do look at something that a lot of people really don't realize, that character - Beck - may look similar to Mega-Man at a precursory glance, but it's because I created it. Artists have their own style and they get comfortable in that style, so the things they make look very similar," Inafune said. "Picasso paintings look like Picasso paintings, so that's my style - I can't help it, that can't be changed, it is what it is." Inafune elaborated that despite the style, Beck and Mega Man are two very different characters, "from the color, from the fact that one has a cannon on his arm and the other doesn't, from the eye size, from the headgear - it's very different."

On the note of legality, Inafune admitted he had some concern how Mighty No. 9 may be perceived, but reiterated the game is "one hundred percent, from the ground up, built originally" and doesn't take anything from previous Mega Man games. "I can't say I have absolutely no worry but it's really impossible to say how one side is going to view something. There was no ill will and ultimately I think if it did come down to any sort of legal issue, it would be like: Did I actually have ill will towards Capcom when coming up with this concept? And to that I can one hundred percent say no that is not the case. So for me, it was merely, one hundred percent, I heard the voice of the fans and I've always been somebody who likes listening to them and that's what I'm trying to do with this project."

Inafune: Mighty No. 9 looks like Mega Man due to my art style originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Sep 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weekly Webcomic Wrapup has seen the future, and the future is references

Greetings, from the world of tomorrow!! Hail, friend! I am a visitor to your time, having traveled here from the far, far-off future of next week. I picked up a PlayStation 4, you see, and just had to come back in time to tell you about it. It's ...

Wait. No, this is a bad idea. I can't tell you about the future! What if you receive an almanac and win big money by gambling when you know who's going to win? Or what if we get stuck re-living the same day over and over until we learn a valuable life lesson? Or you get so excited that you decide to build your own time machine so you can get one before I come back in time to tell you about them, which creates a paradox and - aaaaaaaa!! No, I'm sorry. I can't tell you what the PlayStation 4 is like. Too much is at stake. You'll just have to wait.

Hey, why not check out and discuss these webcomics while we all sit patiently for November 15 to roll around and see for ourselves what Sony's next-gen console will bring? And hey, feel free to bring up your favorite time travel movie references in the comments too.

Penny Arcade (Canis Superior)
8BitGamer (Friendship is Magic)
Awkward Zombie (Photo Finished)
Dorkly (The Bravest Next Gen Console Defender on the Internet)
Nerd Rage (Gentlemen's Agreement)
VG Cats (Unbreakable Bonds)

Continue reading Weekly Webcomic Wrapup has seen the future, and the future is references

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup has seen the future, and the future is references originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 09 Nov 2013 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch today's Nintendo Direct on upcoming 3DS games right here [update: all over!]

Update: It's over! Fret not, gentle reader, because you can watch replays of the North American and European livestreams here on this post. Also, we have all those lovely news morsels for you to digest right here.

Blah blah PlayStation 4 blah Xbox One blah. Yes, there may be some new consoles nearing the wild, but for half an hour starting at 11AM ET (8AM PT) the focus will shift to arguably the hottest gaming system already around (well, I'd argue it): the 3DS.

It's been a stellar year for the multi-liveried handheld, with the likes of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokemon X/Y, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team all coming to the popular portable. The upcoming line-up looks strong too: Mario Golf: World Tour, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy and Bravely Default: Flying Fairy to name but a few of those waiting in the 3D-enhanced wings.

Nintendo says today's Direct will focus on already announced 3DS games that are due between now and early 2014 - possibly including the games I listed, possibly others. You'd think there'd be a few release dates frittering about, but I've predicted what seemed like sure-fire release date hauls before, only to end up with nothing but a few trailers and an image of Iwata dressed up as Luigi, or Phoenix Wright, or Donkey Kong (image not found). In other words, let's wait and see.

Either way, you can find out right here on Joystiq, either via the North American stream up top or the European stream below the break (no Japanese stream today). If you just want the newsbites, we'll chew into all the major announcements as they come.

Continue reading Watch today's Nintendo Direct on upcoming 3DS games right here [update: all over!]

Watch today's Nintendo Direct on upcoming 3DS games right here [update: all over!] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Walmart Black Friday deals: Cheap 2DS, consoles, starter packs, games

Walmart has posted its Black Friday deals, which kick off on 6pm Thursday, November 28. Walmart will roll out the discounts throughout the weekend during "events," the first of which highlights video games.

The savings begin with a few console specials. There's a 250GB Xbox 360 (without Kinect) for $100, a 12GB PS3 system for $150, a 250GB PS3 system with The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins for $200 - the same bundle Target is offering - and a $100 deal on Nintendo's new 2DS handheld.

Naturally, select games will also be discounted. Starter packs for both Disney Infinity and Skylanders: Swap Force will be down to $40, as will Call of Duty: Ghosts on current-gen platforms. Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, NBA 2K14 and GTA 5 and more will be on sale for $35; Beyond: Two Souls, The Last of Us, Injustice, Diablo 3, Battlefield 4 and more will be $25. For $15, you can grab StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Tomb Raider, Borderlands 2, MineCraft: Xbox 360 Edition and more.

The full online ad, which will serve up your local Walmart's deals automatically, is visible through the link below. Happy spending!

Walmart Black Friday deals: Cheap 2DS, consoles, starter packs, games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Diablo 3 PS4 won't feature Remote Play (but may in the future) [Update]

Though Blizzard would like to allow players to enjoy the upcoming PlayStation 4 version of Diablo 3 on their Sony-branded handhelds, the House That Warcraft Built sees the Vita's screen itself as reason to nix Remote Play functionality.

At this weekend's Blizzcon event, Gamespot asked senior level designer Matthew Berger about the possibility of Remote Play, and were immediately shot down. "The Vita is an amazing piece of kit, but the screen is still smaller," stated Berger. "And when you look at - and also it has its own aspect ratio - and when you look at Diablo 3, there's a lot happening on-screen already. You get surrounded by your enemies, lots of effects flying off in every direction. The inventory can be pretty complicated to navigate sometimes when you have lots of items."

Despite this, Berger says Blizzard is still considering the feature. "[Remote Play] would be a little bit more of stretch. It's kind of percolating in the back of our mind, but we don't really have any plans right now," he said.

Corroborating the eventual possibility of Remote Play is senior console producer Julie Humpreys. "[Remote Play] is something we are looking into," Humphreys told CVG. "I would say we are in the earliest stages of looking at that. We want to make sure that it is readable and is a good user experience."

Diablo 3 makes its PlayStation 4 debut at some point during 2014.

Update: Earlier today, Gamespot again asked Berger about Remote Play, and were met with a decidedly different response. "As long as PS4 supports Remote Play, [Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls] will support it," Berger said.

Update 2: Blizzard moved in to clear up confusion. The official Diablo Twitter account tweeted, ""Will Remote Play on the PS Vita be available for Diablo 3 Ultimate Edition on PS4?" The answer is yes, and it's awesome!" along with a photo of it in action.

Diablo 3 PS4 won't feature Remote Play (but may in the future) [Update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Streaming Xbox 360 games on Xbox One 'problematic' right now

Back in September, at a Microsoft company meeting, cloud-based games streaming was demonstrated using a copy of Halo 4, which was seen running on a PC and a Windows Phone with attached Xbox 360 controller. Albert Penello, lead planner on Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Kinect, said the technology is simultaneously "really cool and really problematic" to pull off.

"It's really cool and really problematic, all at the same time, insofar as it's really super cool if you happen to have the world's most awesome internet connection," Penello told Polygon. "It works way better than you'd expect it to. So managing quality of service, the tolerance people will have for it being crappy. Can you imagine, in this day and age, with the bad information around, and we can't control the quality of that experience and make sure it's good, or have to tell people they can't do it?"

Penello went on to say this specific demonstration was "a grand experiment" but it's all a matter of improving the Xbox Live network before going forward with any kind of feature launch. Penello also didn't rule out the possibility of streaming Xbox One games. "I know we did a lot of work behind it, and we said this is one of the things where the network just has to get better before we can do it. When that happens, you're going to have a really interesting conversation around that, can I actually run Xbox One games that way as well."

While backwards compatibility is clearly on Microsoft's mind now, that wasn't always the case. When the Xbox One was announced back in May, it was originally going to do away with backwards compatibility entirely. Don Mattrick, who was Xbox head honcho at the time, then famously said, "If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards." Mattrick wasn't at Microsoft much longer after that, taking over as CEO of Zynga just a few weeks later.

Streaming Xbox 360 games on Xbox One 'problematic' right now originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Nov 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Xbox One dashboard, download details leak after consoles ship early [update]

Twitter user @Moonlightswami has posted impressions on the Xbox One after claiming to receive his console early from Target, Engadget reports.

Moonlight Swami claimed that in its current state, the Xbox One takes 17 seconds to reach its dashboard during boot up. A 500 MB update was allegedly present after the console was booted for the first time, which could be the day one download that's required to use the system. Moonlight Swami stated he was also able to begin playing games once they were 50 percent installed onto the console's hard drive.

The Xbox One Marketplace seems to be partially stocked, as well - Moonlight Swami tweeted supposed screenshots of the marketplace detailing the download size for various games. The photos suggest the largest game available is NBA2K14 at 43 GB, with Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag trailing at 20 GB, Dead Rising 3 at 19 GB and LocoCycle at 13 GB. Moonlight Swami also installed Call of Duty: Ghosts from a retail disc, which he claims requires 39 GB of hard drive space.

Moonlight Swami's tweets offer a glimpse at a supposed dashboard section for "featured challenges," which seem to be time-specific tasks for individual games. The involved picture shows things like playing a game of football within two weeks of Madden NFL 25's launch, or earning 5 million SP during a certain period in Need for Speed Rivals.

The early impressions party stopped once Microsoft banned the console, but Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has reached out to Moonlight Swami for information and to get the scenario "sorted out."

Update: In a NeoGAF thread related to the incident, Major Nelson has stated that Moonlight Swami's console "will not be permabanned, that is for sure." Kotaku is also reporting that a Target representative confirmed the shipment of a small number of consoles before their street date due to a "systems error."

Report: Xbox One dashboard, download details leak after consoles ship early [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 09 Nov 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NBA 2K14's MyGM mode on Xbox One, PS4 gives players franchise control

NBA 2K14 on Xbox One and PS4 will feature a new franchise management mode called MyGM. In MyGM, players assume the role of General Manager - the guy in charge of everything from player contract negotiations to how much it'll cost for hot dogs at the stadium on game day.

The backbone of MyGM is a new conversation system. As GMs converse with the owner, players and the press, they'll build a rapport: make decisions that benefit the franchise and you'll gain trust from the organization; lie to the press and you'll incite their ire. Make enough mistakes and you'll get canned.

NBA 2K14 Producer Eric Boenisch is quite proud of the evolved franchise mode. "Franchise modes are a passion of mine. They're my go-to modes in sports game," Boenisch prefaced during a conference call overview of the new mode earlier today. "I appreciate the level of shrewdness that goes into building a roster, whether that be trying to beat other GMs to trades or making very opportunistic free agent signings. It's a mind game and one that I enjoy and tried to piece together for fans of our games."

The mode is very much individualized to your GM. Players will upgrade their attributes, which will include things like being more persuasive in trade and salary negotiations or unlocking the ability to sell more things in your stadium. MyGM is not only about nurturing the growth of your organization, but also growing your character's skill set.

MyGM is exclusive to NBA 2K14 on Xbox One and PS4. When asked why the mode isn't available on Xbox 360 and PS3, Boenisch said, "I don't know if we could've done this in a single full development cycle." He elaborated that the mode is something the team has been working on "for a good while" now, implying that it's been in development for more than a year.

"Then obviously delivering it convincingly, visually, requires the next-gen consoles. When you're having these conversations with ridiculously high-res people at the tables talking to you, the owner - you've all seen the trailers, you know what our graphics look like - that experience carries over into this mode. And MyGM as a whole is a completely new experience. Getting it done in a year was something that's very difficult to do."

NBA 2K14 will be available alongside the PS4 launch on November 15, as well as alongside the Xbox One launch on November 22.

NBA 2K14's MyGM mode on Xbox One, PS4 gives players franchise control originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 09 Nov 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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