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Written by Dustin Murphy
This week indeed has been a long and interesting one thanks to PAX South down in Texas as well as some of the information that was released outside of it. Some of the biggest news though came directly from there thanks to Randy Pitchford, the head of Gearbox Studio. We’ve learned several big things outside of that as well regarding titles such as Toukiden: Kiwami, Dead or Alive 5 Last Round, Destiny, and even the discontinuation of Nintendo Club as we know it. So lets take a look at the big announcements by Randy Pitchford and his team at Gearbox.
As stated, the first up is “Borderlands: The Handsome Collection”, which is a big try for Gearbox and publisher 2K to find a home on next generation consoles. In this attempt, much like others have made, is an attempt to make a game updated to the next gen consoles with 1080p as the resoluation and we can hope 60fps as the set framerate. The game will feature all content that is released and will also have some DLC coming up shortly after release, which should set gamers into a huge gaming binge with the hundreds of hours of content that will be readily available at launch this March 24th, for 59.99. For those with a bit of money to splurge there is also a version that 2K is creating 5,000 Borderlands: The Handsome Collection Claptrap-in-a-Box Editions. The limited edition package will also be available March 24, retail for $399 and include a remote-controlled, speaking Claptrap and 12 lithographs.
Pitchford also went on to state that the sales of this version can possibly determine if the studio as well as Gearbox will be putting effort into a remastering of Borderlands and all of its content, which would set players on the next gen consoles with a full array of games to experience all at once. Those who DO have pre-existing characters will also be able to move their characters around so that they do not lose their progress. So hopefully you haven’t sold your copies yet folks!
In other news this week we also got a release date for Toukiden: Kiwami as well as all of its pre-order bonuses that have been made available to those who are interested in hunting Oni once more can now enjoy the game on both PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 and reap the rewards from continuing on from Toukiden: The Age of Demon’s when it is made available on March 31st, just a week after the release of the Borderlands: The Handsome Collection launch.
For The Elder Scrolls Online players, we’ve finally received a date for the long-awaited PS4 and Xbox One version as they had been a bit absent in the news as of late. Well this week that changed when Bethesda gave the game a date and a bit of information regarding the game going free-to-play with paid options for members whom have already subscribed or players who wish to join the ESO premier service, which allows for bonus content to be added constantly for them. This will all be available this spring with the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Starting on June 9th, 2015 players will be able to experience the title on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and PC will get to benefit from the new free-to-play system starting March 19th, which sets them up to save a bit of money for the bombardment of upcoming games this spring.
This past week we also got to see the release of Patch 2.5 “Before the Fall” when it released on PC, PS3, and PlayStation 4. The patch setup the game to finally conclude with all of the current content so that both veterans and newcomers a like will be able to finish the current raid content, challenges, and prepare for the upcoming release of “Heavensward” when it releases later this spring and brings a large array of new content for both veterans and newcomers to enjoy. This is the content that many players are looking forward to as the game prepares to expand, add new, and fix some of the old stuff to make the game more accessible as well as enjoyable.
That wasn’t the only game that a mention this week when a member of Destiny’s development team took to NeoGaf and stated that they are not going to have raid gear invalidated by raid gear like they for VoG raiders with gear taking players up to lv. 30 almost 31. They also stated that upgrading exotics will no longer be degraded by being reset, instead now Exotics will keep their upgrades and just see themselves upgraded to the new damage level, which is surely to receive a bit of a sigh of release when – DLC2: House of Wolves – releases this March. Though they didn’t state whether or not that the questing will be more integrated than it was with “The Dark Below”, which is still heavily criticized for being a waste of many and being too short for what it is. According to Luke Smith, a developer ont he title, they don’t want to see that same thing happen again as it dad last time, and they want players to feel like their “gears are being lessened on the grind”, but he also stated that the CE drop rates vs VoG comment “The Forever 29 meme was a killer for us” so they “sat down and talked about the rwards for VoG and the rates vs CE and ended up following the following:
- increase drop rates globally in CE: we wanted dedicated players to be around 32 or real close by the time Hard mode came out.
- increase the variability of perks that a given piece can roll.
the goal here: players would reach 32 easier than 30, but would have more customization and options to build the perfect set (in terms of stats, perks, weapon affinities)”
Even with their approach Destiny still feels a bit of a punch when it comes to vendor gear since the shards and energy have become a major grind for those that aren’t doing Vault of Glass and makes their life a miserable Hell. So why not just make Shards and Energies obtainable by trading in Vanguard and Crucible Points? It’d be logical. Even though they stated, “We want fewer barriers to equipping upgrades. The shard economies erect these barriers between the players and the new piece of gear they just got” and then went on to state, “We’re not intending to adjust the shard economy for this Tier — we don’t want to invalidate player effort (again). But removing the barrier between that new drop you’re excited to get and actually being able to equip it as a member of your arsenal are something we will do going forward.”
So does his statement mean shards and energy will become a thing of the past? We can certainly hope so as I personally have found that as a bit of a punch leading up to that news!
This week we also got a chance to sit down with the recently published by Atlus title “Citizens of Earth” (click the link for our review), which we found as a game, was amazing. The game borrowed from smash hits like Earthbound, Pokemon and a few others, and left us highly amused as we continued to play it. Even as a failed Kickstarter title, we are glad that a company like Atlus picked it up, and left us giving it a score of 7/10 since it did have a few features that were lacking and would have seemed almost required for folks that decide to buy multiple versions of it that could cross-save if the development team focused on that, but overall, we left amazed by it.
Take a peek at more of this past weeks news by visiting the links below:
- Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy Gets an April Release
- Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX to Land on Nintendo 3DS
- Inside Gaming Culture: Men, Women, and Gaming Pt. 2
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, MMO’s, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable and can’t be softened by even the biggest names in the gaming industry. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. To follow Dustin, hit him up on Twitter over at @GamingAnomaly, find him on his Google+. Wanna game with him? You can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Oh man destiny house of wolves dlc looking back i prepurchased the dlc pack due to the fact that I loved playing the alpha and beta. After the game released and I put a ton of hours into the game creating all three characters lvling them to 24 within the first month then i hit that giant grind wall and I haven’t gone back to the game since. Its a shame must be my age getting the better of me rest in peace destiny!
So far, the Destiny DLC – House of Wolves – is worrying me due to the delays. However, this also does not stop the anticipation that leads up to the games changes that are coming out when it does. With the current delay, it’s only a wonder on when the game will release a solid set of changes, content, and replayability. Sadly, once geared, the raid does not boast much to it, and can at times can leave players wondering what happened in development. We’ll keep you informed with upcoming reviews pertaining to the content once it launches.