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Famed Touchscreen eSport title Vainglory Announces Premier Partnership with Amazon Appstore

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Today, Vainglory’s developer Super Evil Mega Corp and Amazon have announced the title Vainglory will be supported by Amazon Appstore to support the 2016 eSports season in both North America and Europe. The season officially starts today and will run through September 11th, 2016. The top eight teams per region will compete in the Summer Live Champions in North America through September 2nd through September 5th, while the European Summer Live Championships will run from September 9th through the 11th. Additionally, as part of the program, Amazon will be hosting the championships, which are expected to set new records for both viewership and participation in the events.

In addition, the Amazon Appstore will be rewarding players throughout the season with discounts and bonus Amazon Coins, the digital currency that lets customers save up to 25 percent off in-app purchases. The season’s competitive structure and events are managed by Super Evil Megacorp and Twitch as part of their multi-year deal to enhance and grow Vainglory esports events.

“We’ve been working closely with Amazon since our inaugural Autumn Season Championship, and their passion for and dedication to Vainglory is going to make our Summer season the biggest and best yet,” said Kristian Segerstrale, COO and executive director at Super Evil Megacorp. “Amazon’s support, along with the continued work from our friends at Twitch, will allow us to put on a top-notch season for Vainglory’s community of millions. We’re excited to kick off the Summer Season today in cooperation with the Amazon Appstore.”

With Amazon’s Vainglory Summer Season beginning today with their new eSports Structure, Twitch and Super Evil Megacorp have announced their “The Evil Eight,”, which is a new tier of elite competition for both Europe and North America, which features only the top 8 teams from the regions. The teams will battle it out each weekend on twitch.tv/vainglory in eight-team tournaments, earning points in championship standings. Alongside will be a community-run “Challenger” tier of competition, with weekly Evil Eight challenger battles. The two-tiered new structure for competitions will bring forth more opportunities to broadcast the elite eight teams as they duke it out for number one. Among these matches you’ll see elite teams such as Team Solomid, G2 eSports, Team Secret, mousesports and SK Gaming, while giving up-and-coming teams a path to their own tournament victories and ultimately the seasonal championship. More details to be announced soon.

“The Twitch community has shown a lot of love for Vainglory, making it the fastest-growing mobile game on our platform,” said Nick Allen, director of esports operations at Twitch. “Touchscreen esports has a lot of potential right now given the ratio of mobile devices to PCs, with Vainglory on track to really blow the doors wide open on this movement. Adding more momentum is the new Evil Eight competitive structure, which will make broadcasts of Vainglory even more engaging for viewers.“

Summer season is poised to have 3-5 million viewers tune in to the action, doubling the number of viewers from the Winter 2015 event. The Season will culminate in the Vainglory Summer Season Championships taking place September 2-4 in North America and September 9-11 in Europe. In addition to hosting the live events, Amazon and Vainglory will be offering special Amazon Coins offers on ICE purchases and more.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Psychological Thriller “Asemblance” From Nilo Studios Dated

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Known for his work on titles such as Halo 3, Halo: Reach, and Destiny, former Bungie Design Lead Niles Sankey has announced the release date and price for the pilot episode of the series Asemblance, which is set to premier on PlayStation 4 and PC on June 21st, 2016 for 9.99 USD. The series will follow in the steps of Twilight Zone by Rod Serling as well as Black Mirror by Charlie Brooker. The series’ first episode has already aired with a few trailers that will make one question everything around them as they take on a unforeseen turn of events.

“I was growing tired of AAA development. In my experience, AAA studios are forced to develop with giant audiences in mind, which makes creative experimentation really challenging,” says Sankey. “I wanted to see what could be done with a very small team and a particular vision. Asemblance as a series hopes to tackle the psychological thriller genre through stories of ‘man vs. machine.’ Each episode will be self-contained and driven by simple gameplay, fun but challenging narrative experiences, and sold at a cost that is relative to the player’s time investment. We hope this initial episode sets the stage for a long-run of games under the Asemblance banner.”

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The Asemblance pilot is a first-person, narrative-based puzzle game that draws its influences from games like PT and The Stanley Parable, the questioning of perceived truths exposed in the Serial podcasts, and the psychological methods and soundscapes of David Lynch.

“We wanted sound design to be a core to the Asemblance experience, to really take advantage of how immersive games can be and just bury you in sounds to pull you even further in,” says sound designer and co-composer Adam Burd. “We worked with local Seattle electronic artists Kid Smpl and Johnny Goss to set a tone that whispers to your subconscious in some pretty weird and abstract ways.”

In the opening episode to the series, players take on the task of exploring a building that’s run by an experimental memory machine. In turn, players will find themselves trapped within its mindset of systematic logic. The choice is yours to escape or go deeper within ones memories to begin uncovering the truth. To progress? Players will be required to move through a set of hidden clues that will help solve puzzles as well as the games overall narrative possibilities.

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ABOUT NILO STUDIOS

Nilo Studios was born out of years of experience in AAA gaming, science fiction literature, and the Seattle music scene.

Developers at Nilo have concepted, designed and implemented key sequences for Bungie, Monolith, and Volition; expanded universes for New York Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy series, including the game worlds of Destiny, Dead Space, and Halo; and worked with artists including Beat Connection, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Hey Marseilles.

Asemblance is their pilot in a series of games meant to evolve the narrative gaming genre through experiences that will remain resonant in people’s imagination. As The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, and The X-Files offered mind-bending stories for television, Asemblance delivers psychologically thrilling tales for the next generation of interactive entertainment.

DEVELOPER BIOS from Nilo Studios:

NILES SANKEY was the designer at the helm when you were surrounded by possessed mannequins in Condemned, the space flight level and fight to the death at the end of Halo: Reach, and the 2013 Destiny e3 reveal. With over fifteen years in game development, Niles founded Nilo Studios to make games with a small hand-selected creative team free of corporate drivers—games that engage the imagination and put the player at the center of the experience.

ADAM BURD has been the House Engineer at Avast Recording Co. for eight years and is a musician in the Seattle Music scene. At Avast he’s engineered for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Beat Connection, Hey Marseilles, and Zubatto Syndicate, among many others. He also does sound design and mixing for film (Frequencies: The Music of League of Legends; Welcome to the End of the World) and commercials (Uniqlo; Microsoft). Adam joined Nilo Studios to help create an audio landscape to give players an immersive psychological experience that engages more than the imagination.

ERIC RAAB is a writer and veteran of the publishing industry, working with authors including Michael Moorcock, Norman Spinrad, Steven Erikson, R. Scott Bakker, Peter Watts, Brian Evenson and Felix Gilman. In 2011 he joined Bungie Studios and helped build the world and stories behind Destiny,culminating in the curation, editorial, and contributions to the Destiny Grimoire. Eric joined Nilo Studios to give players stories just beyond the core experience and challenge their imaginations beyond logic.  

Stay tuned for our review coming for the first episode on Monday.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

For Honor to Land on Consoles and PC February 2017

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We’ve all dreamed of the day we could wield katana’s, war axe, shields, claymores, and much more. Today, Ubisoft has announced that the new action IP from their studios has opened up that players will be able to take on the story of elite and deadly warriors ranging from the honour bound Knight, Samurai, to the explorative as well as vicious  Viking’s. In this game, players fill be mixing skill with truly visceral combat as they meet a new and innovative Art of Battle. The game is set to launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on February of 2017. You can view the official E3 2016 Gameplay Walkthrough through the official Ubisoft YouTube channel.

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As one would expect, war is an art, and in the tale of these warriors from different parts of the world, players will experience their campaigns together, or alone. Inside the crucial moments of war, players will find themselves fighting through rampant combat, players will find themselves trudging through the front lines with each faction. As one would expect, each faction has their own unique form of combat whether it’s wielding a katana, a claymore, or even a war axe. Players will find themselves foiling the plans of enemy leaders such as Apollyon of the Blackstone Legions while storming castles and fortresses. Players will find themselves fighting as Heroes of their own legend while becoming symbols and models for a legacy unknown.

It has also been announced that players can head over to www.forhonorgame.com for a chance to take part in the forthcoming alpha and beta that will happen on all platforms. Registered fans will have a chance to play the game and provide feedback that will aid the For Honor team in providing the most immersive and enjoyable experience at launch. You can definitely expect our impressions regarding this title.

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Ubisoft has also outlined the editions that will release next year when the game becomes available so take a peek below at their official plans:

Deluxe and Gold Editions of For Honor were also announced. With the Deluxe Edition, gamers will be able to dominate the battlefield faster and in style with exclusive content, including gear, customization items, a special execution effect for all heroes, boosters and more. Additional details about the Deluxe Edition will be available at a later date.

The Gold Edition will include the base game, the Deluxe Pack items from the Deluxe Edition, plus the full Season Pass.

Additionally, fans who pre-order For Honor will receive the exclusive Legacy Battle Pack. This pack includes three exclusive armor designs, inspired by ancient tales of our warriors, and gamers can embody the legendary sprit of each faction in these legacy armor designs. These three armor styles are exclusive to the Legacy Battle Pack and wearable by the Warden, Raider, and Kensei Heroes.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Ubisoft Annecy Announces Extreme Open World Sports Game “Steep”

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What would you do if you had the world around you to yourself? What if you could parachute, snowboard, wing suit that would allow for players to traverse the alps in an open world experience that allows for players to take on others among the Alps at their will? Welcome to the world of Steep. This latest title is an extreme sports titles that allows for players to take to the alps however they wish and do-so against other players. This title will allow friends to take to the peaks in groups or to challenge the world alone for the pure enjoyment of this latest title. Steep is set to launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this December.

 

Steep will push players to the most extreme sports innovative feature to date as they will be using the titles trail feature that will allow players to relive their most inspiring ides, trailblazing achievements, and even share their doings on social media. This is what will make players choose to share their ride replays, their ability to issue challenges to friends, and even force players to create epic stunts as well as explore this massive playground while seeking out to be the best of the best.

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“Along with Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Kiev, we used our significant online and multiplayer expertise to create a game that captures the excitement and adrenaline we feel when we explore the snowy mountains surrounding us,” said Rebecka Coutaz, studio manager at Ubisoft Annecy.

“We love seeing videos of adventures and stunts that riders from all over the world share on social media,” added Igor Manceau, Creative Director at Ubisoft. “Steep’s open-world and wealth of multiplayer activities were built to inspire this type of creativity. We can’t wait to see what players will discover and share when they first experience Steep.”

In addition to exploring the Alps, Steep riders will be able to travel across the world and traverse the majestic slopes of Alaska, available as a free update after launch. You can head onto the game at www.steepgame.com for more information.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Ubisoft Announces The Division DLC 1: Underground

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The Dark Winter crisis is in full swing, with it the storms are getting worse, and the chaos is about come crawling from the underbelly of New York City. In this new world as dangers rise, players will dive into the underworld of New York in order to stop this new threat. In doing so, players will find new loot, new weapons, gear, and more as they scavenge through subways, tunnels, and sewers that teem with deadly enemies at every stop. With this content drop, there will also be free content for players without the season pass that will include more challenge mode missions, a new level of difficulty for main missions and incursions with the “Hero Difficulty”.

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The new Underground Mode will be claustrophobic, it will be fierce, and it will push players to their limits as they fight on through every enemy force. The new mode will feature randomly generated subways, mazes, tunnels, and the aforementioned sewers while players hunt down the previously mentioned new gear. With the new challenge modes and difficulties, players will fight like they never have when entering into the new mode, “Dragon’s Nest”. This is the biggest incursion to release to date, which will feature the cleaners as they prepare their ultimate weapon in order to cleanse the streets of New York despite survivor’s being around. This new mission will take place in Hell’s Kitchen, and the necessity of them being stopped is more important than ever. The incursion will be included with Underground.

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The new free Heroic Mode will allow players to take on both Falcon’s Lost and Clear Sky in the hardest challenge to date. Those of you who have Underground will also get to experience Dragon’s Nest in this difficulty. The new Challenge Mode missions and items will be available as well when players experience Hudson Yard and Queen’s tunnel in the new challenge mode, these will feature better rewards than before. The new DLC and free content update will be available starting June 28th, 2016 for PC and Xbox One while launching on August 2nd, 2016 for PlayStation 4. Stay tuned for our hands-on impressions of the content.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Ubisoft Shows off Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands

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We are getting used to Ubisoft’s latest games going for bigger, better, and more badass than ever. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands finally shows the scope of the game we’ve been waiting to see. From running through fields by foot, to riding motorcycles across fields while taking to the skies in helicopters.

The game seeks to evolve the franchise back to its cooperative roots while giving us one of the largest experiences to date. The latest trailer will give you the glimpse of the future for the franchise. The game is set to release March 7th, 2017.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

State of Decay 2 Lands on Windows 10 and Xbox One in 2017

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If you thought you could survive alone? You’d be wrong. The dead are coming and they are more aggressive than eve. In the latest reveal for Microsoft’s Xbox One, we’ve gotten our first glimpses of State of Decay 2, which is quite the gorgeous game.

In their title we’ve learned that the game will feature co-operative play that will
Microsoft has announced that State of Decay 2 is coming out in 2017, and it’s an Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive.

The CGI trailer showed a trio of survivors barreling down the road, taking out zombies staggering alongside the road. The game is a cross-play title with Windows 10, so it would seem that co-op play is a component of the title. The motto of the trailer was, “Nobody Survives Alone.”

Later in the game’s showcase, gameplay was seemingly shown, with survivors banding together and searching empty cabins and helping each other.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

New Xbox One called Xbox One S Officially Announced

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We all know Microsoft is always about making things better, easier to use, and more user friendly. Today at e3, the new Xbox One will have an intergrated power supply, a 2TB hard drive (internal, of course), a new wireless controller with textured grips, and a much better wireless range (it’s safe to say that it’s using wireless 802.11 A/C that’s become the new standard).

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With this announcement, Microsoft has also stated that the new console will be 40-percent smaller, but it will also retail for a hundred dollars less than current Xbox Ones. The new console will run for $299.99 and will hit shelves this August.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Announced

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If you didn’t get your chance the first time around whether it was on PC or console, your chance is up and coming this fall. As of today, Bethesda Zenimax has announced that the most appraised title next to fall out from BEthesda Game Studio’s has been officially announced for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

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The title will feature a very upgraded set of graphics, animation, and world-based details. Let alone does it feature this, for the first time ever, the console version will be given mod support through Bethesda.net, which will allow players to experience content never before seen on consoles. The new edition will also feature new content, new dialogue, new quests, and a lot more for players to explore on October 28th, 2016. Stay tuned for our review and comparisons.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Fallout 4’s Future Has Been Outlined and it Involves Vaults

/ Dustin Murphy / 2 Comments

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If you ever wondered what more insanity could come to Fallout 4, tonight has made your wonders come to an end as Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard has outlined the future of the title. Let alone does this include some new tools for you to use such as Elevators, Conveyor Belts, and the likes. This future also includes a new theme park entitled Nuka World that’ll be just what it sounds like; a theme park. Let alone does it launch near or with the Contraption’s DLC, we also got a look at one DLC that just may have stolen the show.

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The DLC that definitely caught the eyes of fans was the newly announced “Vault-Tec Workshop” DLC that will allow fans to create their own Vault. Let alone do they get to do this from the ground up, players will also be able to create what their Vault’s scientific goals are. Whether this is testing their vaults prowess in physique, substance uses, or even just all around to have one, the Vaults seem to be ones that can easily be invaded. If anything? It sounds like our dreams for Fallout Shelter being apart of Fallout 4 itself. If that’s the case? Expect some fun, weird, and delightful moments.

As of now the DLC does not have dates, but we are sure they’ll be coming soon as mods have just landed on Xbox One and later this month for PlayStation 4. Stay tuned for more updates.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. 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. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.