Tag: Xbox

Obsidian Entertainment Unveils Grounded


Honey I Shrunk The Kids hits the video game market (not really) as Obsidian Entertainment unveiled its next title: Grounded.

Grounded is a survival first person shooter where you play as one of a group of kids who have inexplicably been shrunk to the size of an ant. You and up to three other players are going to need to build items out of ordinary materials and live off the land if you are going to have any hope of surviving. No word yet on giant oatmeal cream pies.

“Grounded offers our unique take on survival games, creating an unforgettable experience,” said Adam Brennecke, Game Director at Obsidian Entertainment. “It’s a perfect setting to flex our creative muscles. We want to create a versatile sandbox where players can create their own memorable experiences.”

Grounded will come out in Spring 2020 and will be the first early access game to be made available to Game Pass owners. Obsidian Entertainment is currently riding high from the recent release of the fantastic The Outer Worlds.

Source: Press Release

PSA: Grab Too Human On Xbox (Free) Before It Goes Away


Too Human broke real ground after its launch in 2008, and not because of anything in the game play itself. Along with several other Silicon Knights products, it stands as one of the only titles in the industry to have a judge order all stock be recalled and destroyed. Way back in the year of 2007, developer Silicon Knights headed by President Denis Dyack filed a lawsuit against Epic Games over contract disputes, mostly alleging inadequate support and missing deadlines with the Unreal Engine. Sometime during the trial information came forward that Silicon Knights had filed the lawsuit while simultaneously stealing the Unreal Engine source code to build their own platform. Thousands and thousands of lines with typos and developer commentary were stolen, with Epic’s copyrights ripped out, and claimed as Silicon Knights creation.

Thanks to the company’s criminal behavior Silicon Knights lost their lawsuit, lost a countersuit by Epic, and was forced to pay millions in damages and recall all copies of the games developed using the Unreal Engine code and the company went bankrupt and shut down shortly after. Founder Denis Dyack has gone on to form new developers in the time since, however has had no luck in crowdfunding at least partially due to the controversy surrounding his name.

Coming as quite a surprise and after six years of the game being unavailable for purchase on digital stores, Microsoft re-released Too Human and has made the game backwards compatible and available for free on the Xbox Store. You’ll want to activate the game to your account sooner rather than later, as the game won’t be around long. For a week, you can pick up the game plus the pre-order armor pack, as well as two themes if you are still going to play this on your 360.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Heads Westward on Xbox and PC


Phantasy Star Online 2. Most of you have probably given up hope of this 2012 title ever coming to the west, but those who kept up their hopes have been handsomely rewarded. Today’s E3 conference brought the announcement that Sega will finally be bringing the MMORPG to the west.

Players of PSO2 become a member of a research expedition called “Arks,” which belong to a fleet of interplanetary cruising ships, setting out to a research a variety of different planets. Visiting places for the mission (quest) always evolves into a fresh and surprising adventure, including auto-generated maps, sudden events, and a Multiplayer Party Area, where up to 12 players can play together simultaneously.

PC and Xbox gamers will finally be able to get their hands on the free to play title in 2020 with crossplay between the two platforms.

Microsoft Releases Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Details Ahead of Conference


Xbox Game Pass is coming to PC systems, according to Microsoft and you don’t even have to wait for today’s conference to get more details. While there is sure to be more on display later this afternoon, Microsoft has already started rolling out its Ultimate Game Pass and you can actually get your hands on it now.

The Ultimate Game Pass costs $14.99 per month, but you can grab the first month for $1, and it combines Xbox Live and Game Pass in one handsome bundle. Alternately, if you just want the PC Game Pass you’ll be glad to hear it comes at a discount. $5 compared to the Xbox Game Pass being $10. This is also available for a $1 introductory price.

But Connor, I hear you asking, what if I’m a jerk like you and literally just renewed my Xbox Live for six months two days ago? Do I need to wait until December to make this worth it? The good news is that no, you don’t have to do much. Just spend the $1 for the ultimate game pass and your existing membership in both Live and the Game Pass will be converted to the Ultimate Game Pass time. So in my case, I spent $1 for the upgrade and now my membership doesn’t renew until January as the six months I had on Live and whatever days I had in the game pass were automatically converted in.

Beta information for the PC game pass will no doubt be in today’s conference as well as information on games coming to it.

Black Desert Hits Xbox Game Pass This Month


April showers bring May video games, and May is looking to haul in quite the bag of goodies.

Microsoft has announced the games coming to Xbox Game Pass in May, and Black Desert is among the list. Black Desert joins Wolfenstein II, Wargroove, Lego Batman 3, The Surge, Tacoma, For the King, and Surviving Mars. The title will be available on May 9 and presumably offers what is available in the standard edition. Game pass users will be able to upgrade for a 20% discount on the standard, deluxe, or ultimate edition bundles as well as 10% on all consumables.

Source: Xbox

TERA Reloaded Hits Xbox One and Playstation 4


En Masse Entertainment has finally launched the biggest update ever for TERA on consoles. Tera: Reloaded introduces the Elin Gunner class and brings with her intense firepower. Whether or not you’re interested in the high-caliber cutie, you’ll be able to indulge in the new enchanting system, Guardian Legion Missions offering daily quests, and new endgame dungeons with a hot new gear system.

Twitch Prime members will also find a number of promotional goodies coming to Twitch Prime April 2. The package includes cosmetics, codes, and more for all of En Masse Entertainment games. TERA players can check out the trailer at the link below or just boot up your console and start playing.

[Not Massive] Steam Users Are Angry Over Early Tomb Raider Discounts


Shadow of the Tomb Raider is currently on sale and customers aren’t happy.

The third and final installment in the latest Tomb Raider reboot series, Shadow of the Tomb Raider launched on PC on September 14 to pretty favorable reviews and Steam numbers. This week, the game was discounted 34% off on October 16, 47% off for the Croft edition bundle that contains extra DLC. Since the sale began, the game has been bombed by negative reviews citing the game’s sale price. So why the issue?

Normally sales would be a great thing, but early adopters are not happy about Shadow of the Tomb Raider going on such a deep discount a month after launch and not even during a heavy sale period for Steam. More specifically, many of the negative reviews appear to be coming out of China where players are expressing frustration between two major topics: That the game is going on sale so soon after launch and of long wait times to import the game into China adding to the fact that the game is on sale so soon after many received their copies. In short, people feel burned that Square Enix discounted the game so heavily and so quickly after launch.

It seems more than likely that Square Enix is offering this deal because sales from Shadow of the Tomb Raider have been far less than anticipated. Back in September, Eurogamer noted that Shadow’s physical sales in the UK were down 70% from 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot, a more troubling idea considering that Tomb Raider initially launched just on the Xbox and this time around launched on all three major systems (PS4, Xbox One, PC) simultaneously. It also doesn’t help that Shadow cost about $100 million to make. Not a good sign.

Oddly enough, Amazon has the Playstation 4 edition of Shadow of the Tomb Raider on sale for $44.95, a 25% discount, while the Xbox version is only 5% off at $57. I guess we know which version sold better.

We fully expect Square Enix to comment on Shadow’s sales as the company has been pretty forthcoming about its opinions in the past.

It’s Choring Time: TERA Releases Checklist For Server Merger (PS4/Xbox)


TERA is merging servers, and if you log in over the next week you can get your hands on five free character slots either in preparation for the move or to preserve more of your alts. In preparation for the movie, En Masse Entertainment has posted the following checklist of instructions to make sure you’re ready for the move. Check out the list below and click the link for more information.

  • Claim your 5 Additional Character Slots between August 13 and August 20.
  • Apply your Additional Character Slots to the server where you have the most characters (to accommodate your characters from other servers of that type) and note the total number of Character Slots you have here.
  • Identify characters on any server that you don’t need, save any important items and gold they might have, then delete them until the total number of active characters remaining on that server type is equal to or less than the total amount of Character Slots you just noted above.
  • Confirm that any Guild you might be a part of has more than two members. (If a guild drops below two members for any reason—such as characters being removed during the merge—the Guild will disband.) Or if you think it might not, remove your valuables from the guild bank.
  • Remove any items you have listed with the Trade Broker.
  • Come up with several backup character names, in case any of your favorite names are already taken on your new server.

(Source: TERA)

Perfect World Announces the Torchlight MMO, Finally


The folks at Runic Games have been talking about a Torchlight MMO since day one, meaning today’s announcement has been more than a decade in the making. Perfect World Entertainment and their new studio Echtra Games today announced that Torchlight Frontiers is in development, an MMOaRPG from the minds that brought us the two Torchlight games that many gamers still hold in high regard.

“Evolving the Torchlight universe into a shared world has always been a goal for the franchise, and I’m excited that we’re finally able to make it a reality,” said Max Schaefer, CEO of Echtra Games. “Torchlight Frontiers will be a living, breathing universe that will still feel uniquely Torchlight, while we add our own creative spin to the game. The team is building something truly special, and we can’t wait for fans to play it for the first time at Gamescom and PAX West.”

Perfect World has described Frontiers as a shared, persistent, dynamically generated world, meaning we may be seeing more of an instanced, hub-like MMO as opposed to one that is 100% open world, ala World of Warcraft. More information can be found on the official website. Frontiers will release on PC, Xbox, and Playstation

(Source: Perfect World Press Release)

No Man’s Sky: Steam Concurrency Explodes With New Update


Somewhere the folks at Hello Games must be breaking out the champagne. Following the launch of its latest update, dubbed NEXT, No Man’s Sky has seen a population explosion on PC. Steam figures currently show a concurrent user count of just under 50 thousand, up from a peak of two thousand in June. Reviews have similarly seen a dramatic increase, up to an 83% “very positive” rating. In addition, No Man’s Sky is currently available for a 50% discount, down to $29.99.

Coinciding the the launch of the Xbox One version, No Man’s Sky’s latest update NEXT introduces a number of improvements to the game, including the multiplayer mode, an extensive visual overhaul, unlimited base building, and commanding freighters. For more information on the NEXT update, check out the trailer below, and the patch notes here.