Syrim Hearthfire DLC announced
I’m a big fan of the Elder Scrolls, but let’s be honest. The Dawnguard expansion for Skyrim was, by most accounts, mediocre at best. Even after getting so involved with Skyrim that I blogged about my experience within the game, I remember watching the Dawnguard trailer and thinking, “that looks awful and the vampire lord looks ridiculous”. Then the PS3 release date was never announced, and I didn’t feel cheated. I was just glad to be saving $20 because, as bad as the Dawnguard DLC looks to me, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself.
Hearthfire, on the other hand, sounds much more interesting. This DLC will allow players to buy property and build a home. It will also allow players to build families by adopting children. This all sounds very “Sims”, but creating your own home, having a family and owning property sound like nice expansions to the almost year-old RPG. It has been announced that Hearthfire will be available on Xbox 360 on September 4th. PC and PS3 launch dates are still TBA. In fact, the Dawnguard DLC launch date is still TBA on PS3.
Ready for a sequel to Arkham City?
There’s lots of buzz online today that Rocksteady is working on a new game for their stellar Batman franchise, and rumor has it that this new version will feature the Justice League in some capacity. According the Variety, the addition of Justice League characters to the series is part of DC’s effort to raise the profile of the super hero team before making a movie.
Everything I’ve heard says that the game is said to be a prequel that explores Batman’s first encounter with the Joker. Supposedly the game will be influenced by 1950s Silver Age comics. I love most things pertaining to Batman, but here’s hoping they secretly mean Golden Age and that we’re getting this Batman and not this one. Either way, I’ll keep an open mind. I’m sure even if Rocksteady chooses to embrace the Silver Age style, we’ll still get a good game and much less silliness than comic book fans would normally associate with the Silver Age. Still, I have to say that I’d rather see a Batman Beyond sequel than a Silver Age prequel.
You should be seeing this latest Batman game on shelves sometime in 2014. The question now is will it be part of the PS4/Xbox 720 launch window?
Microsoft registered domains for ‘Xbox 8′
The interwebs tells me that Microsoft registered domains for XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com, XboxLiveTV.com, XboxCompanion.com, Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org. That’s really all we know, but allow me to offer up the kind of baseless conjecture that you expect from the internet.
I don’t see the next Xbox being called Xbox 8, so let’s rule that out. After all, calling the current generation Xbox 360 made no sense, but going from 360 to 8 makes even less sense. It also can’t be an internal name for the next console because they wouldn’t have bothered to get the domains. It’s much more likely that these new Xbox8 domains will be used to show consumers the different ways that Windows 8 and the current Xbox can interface. I’m guessing that XboxPhone and XboxTablet will be used to demonstrate ways to use your phone and tablet with the Xbox. It probably has something to do with SmartGlass or the upcoming Xbox Music service. The XboxLiveTV domain will probably be a website where you can check what kind of TV services can be piped to your Xbox in your service area. The XboxCompanion domain throws me a little, but I think Xbox Companion might be a site for account management. Based on the name, I think it will be geared towards casual and non-gamers and emphasize the use of services like SmartGlass and Xbox Music.
Worst of E3 2012: NBA Baller Beats
At every E3 there is something that stands out as being uniquely lame. When I went in 2005 it was The Bible Game for PS2. This year it seems to have been NBA Baller Beats. The idea is for the player to learn better ball handling skills by dribbling along to music as the Microsoft Kinect tracks your movements to make sure you’re doing it right. While I can appreciate the idea of using a real world object to interact with the Kinect, some things simply shouldn’t be, and a Kinect lesson on dribbling set to bad hip-hop (and it will be bad) is one of those things. There are lots of obvious flaws here but the biggest one I see is that most people have carpeted flooring in front of their TVs. Those who don’t probably still wouldn’t want to scuff their floors and endanger their belongings. Plus, do you really hate your downstairs neighbor that much? I can see the ad now…
“NBA Baller Beats because f*$% your downstairs neighbor!”
If you’re young enough for this to sound like a cool thing, go outside and play basketball for real. If you are over the age of 11 and still think this is cool, go stand in front of a mirror and call yourself terrible names until you cry.
Trailer after the jump.
E3 2012: Yay?
I have been following E3 for years. I even went once. E3 has delivered some excellent surprises over the years, but nothing really feels that way this year. I’ve been following E3 2012, and everything that looks interesting was announced long before E3. Still, I can’t help but be excited by one of the games because it looks it will be exactly what fans have been hoping for.
What is it? Not SmartGlass or the Wii U. Cocked Hammers has my attention, but not even Jason Bateman and Will Arnett can make me care about Call of Duty games. No, what has me excited this year is South Park: The Stick of Truth, and it looks awesome.
Max Payne 3 Meta Meta Review
As much as my friend said that he enjoyed the Max Payne 3 demo at E3, I had my doubts and still do, but it seems the internet is in love with Max Payne 3. I never expected this. Honestly, I thought Max’s time in the sun had come and gone, and I was expecting this game to flop. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the first two Max Payne games. I thought they were a blast, but sequels that are made so long after the last installment tend to be bad. That’s especially true of games that are delayed. Gran Turismo 5, anybody? Plus, when I heard the game was set in Brazil, I dismissed it as a cash grab that targeted the emerging markets. I know. I’m terrible and probably even more cynical than Max Payne himself, but I’ve been burned by too many terrible sequels not to be. I even rolled my eyes when I heard there was going to be online multiplayer, assuming it would be tacked-on crap that was only added because everything is expected to have online multiplayer these days, but I was wrong again. Reviewers seem to especially love the multiplayer, citing its fantastic depth, rewarding gameplay, and excellent stat system.
Right now on Metacritic, the Xbox version is showing an 88 and the PS3 version is ranked at 90.
So what did we learn? Never underestimate Rockstar and remember the old adage about assumptions. Oh, and sometimes it’s good to be wrong.
Get Dishonored this October
After however many months it’s been since its release, I just noticed that there is a little Dishonored flyer in the Skyrim box, and while, I’m still not quite sure what Dishonored is about, I am strangely excited.
Oddly enough, my discovery of the months old flyer happens to coincide with the announcement of a release date for the game. That right, the steam punk-looking game about being assassinating folk will be out this October on the 9th. It will be on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Unfortunately, the Bethesda Blog is listing Games for Windows as the only digital distributor. As a Steam user, that’s a bummer, but maybe that part of the announcement just hasn’t come yet. Fingers crossed.
Skyrim DLC coming this summer
Skyrim is getting DLC this summer. It’s called Dawnguard and will be a timed exclusive on the Xbox 360. I’d expect it to be available on PC and PS3 after a month or so. More details will be announced at E3.
Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in!
PS4 and Xbox 720 coming home for Christmas?
For whatever reason, we still insist on calling the current generation of gaming consoles “next gen”, so I’m not completely sure what to call the actual next generation of gaming consoles. Regardless, VG247 is reporting that the PS4 and Xbox 720 are just around the corner and scheduled for a Christmas release. Part of this big rumor is that the PS4 will use the PS Vita as an optional controller to create a gaming experience much like that we saw from the Wii U and its controller. As interesting as that sounds, I can’t help but look back at all of the broken promises of awesome PS3 to PSP connectivity. Combine that with Sony’s ridiculous attempts at motion controls with the Sixaxis and weak-selling Move, and I can’t help but feel like they should be innovating instead of playing catchup, especially when you consider just how amazing the the .
Another big component to these rumors is that the PS4 is expected to abandon the Cell processor for a more PC-like setup from AMD. I predict that the next Xbox and PS4 will be almost identical on the spec sheet. The winner in the next console war will be whoever provides the best services on their consoles in addition to gaming at launch. I also think lightning won’t strike twice for Nintendo with the Wii U.
PlayStation 4: Sony “confident” of pre-Xbox 720 release | VG247
Skyrim 1.5 Information
The Skyrim 1.5 patch is set to be released soon for everyone, but right now PC gamers using Steam can download the 1.5 beta. Details after the jump.
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