Fairy Fencer F English Screenshots Released

Fairy Fencer F English Screenshots Released
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Kennard Daniel Prim



 Recently released by NIS America, take a look at some screenshots of the cast, of the upcoming RPG title Fairy Fencer F. Developed by Compile Heart, this game will be coming to the Playstation 3 on September 23rd. Featuring both the titular Fencers and their Fairy partners, these images introduce us to our cast. With character art done by Tsunako, an artist known for her work on games such as the Hyperdimension Neptunia series and Cross Edge. Concept art has been brought to us by the masterful hands of Yoshitaka Amano, of Final Fantasy fame. Beautiful melodies await, as they were brought to us by renowned composer, for the Final Fantasy series, Nobuo Uematsu.


 Ages ago, a war was fought between the Goddess and Vile God, of the world. Being equal in strength, they took it upon themselves to create special weapons. Each bestowed with their power, and containing the life force of a fairy. A great deal of time has passed since the battle of the Goddess and Vile God. Since then these weapons, which have become known as Furies, are highly sought after by beings known as Fencers. A young man, by the name of Fang, pulls a Fury from a stone, becoming a Fencer in the process, and changes the course of his destiny.



 Featuring an enhanced version of the battle system present in Hyperdimension Neptunia, battles will be epic. Whether you’re swarming your foes with an Avalanche attack, or delivering a punishing Air Attack, after launching them into the sky, you will find many ways to dominate enemies. Another feature of the game is, a grand scale of, character customization through the use of Shaping Effects, gained by collecting Furies. Shaping Effects customize both your characters, and dungeons. Whether you want to deal more damage to enemies, gain more experience, or even harm your allies, there’s a Shaping Effect that grants the ability to do so.

The Future of The Elder Scrolls Online Part 1

The Future of The Elder Scrolls Online’s Looks Bright – Part 1
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Dustin Murphy



 To many of us, The Elder Scrolls is a series that resonates a very alive setting. A world that churns with each fleeting moment, like a finely greased wheel, in a giant machine. However, how does this work out in something so big that has taken a spin into the MMO world? At QuakeCon 2014, we got to see a vast set of changes that will be taking place in the very near future. These changes include mechanics, scenery, enemies, spell, combat, animation, and activity, but this also means vast improvements that will take place, over time. With the vast amount of changes we saw, we’d love to be able to just split it up into multiple sections, but it will be hard to break it down in small parts. For those of you wondering, we do not have press images at this time, and will hopefully see them in the very near future.

 As we know, and Brian Wheeler the PVP Designer emphasized, Cyrodiil has been a place where a devastating amount of combat has taken place and the war has begun to cause the Daedra to begin assaulting the area while Molag Bal’s Planemeld begins. This means a few things, players must kill tons of bosses, and mini bosses, this means hours and hours of fun, and lets not forget, players must clear out enemy players. How do you do this? Capture and hold different districts of the Imperial City, and this is done by clearing out the sewers. Seem familiar? It should, it’s a nod to the highly successful The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Now we know you’ll want to know something regarding the captured districts and what this means, and we have answers. When clearing out the cities, players will get rewards, can respawn in those districts, obtain repeatable quests that feature high gold and XP rewards.

 One of these new additions to the Imperial City portion is the Imperial Daedric Armors. We’ve also got a bit of detail regarding each of the new zones, which is something we know you want. For those of you wondering, one of the first places is the Arena District. Daedra have taken over this area, the scene is very grim. Cyrodil changes from the market being controlled by Daedra to Imperial as the area is cleared and un-phased over time.  Graphics display blue portals, broken houses, statues, and an overall, from what we saw, inhumane place to be. A place, within the game, that’s truly noteworthy, is that the Imperial City has gone under siege and is very dangerous. Within seconds the screen begins to flash, as we are given a display of an area, which looks much like the previous, the only difference? It’s the Temple District and it has seen a massive amount of damage dealt to it due to Molag Bal’s devastation having began to take its place. As the panel begins to move one, the creatures of the area begin to phase in and we see the Daedra, in their place, as they begin to channel their spells, in order to help Molag Bal’s devastation take place. As the screen moves on through this area, we find out that they will get to take it over, phase out the enemies and of course allow their factions to take over there. With this games graphical capabilities we are witness to something that was set to as a standard, thanks to titles such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. As the graphics begin to render more, we are witness to the next zone: The Daggerfall Entry. In this panel, the renderings and concept art let us see an area that is dreary, having apparently seen a downfall of its own, to the point that water is dripping from the features, near the edges of the walk ways. Sewage canals seem plentiful as we see rogue-like figures hiding along the walls underneath the areas, which are patrolled by guards. We also are informed that these areas also let both factions find themselves entering forth from different places. 

This is known as the “Crossroads”, which is a sewer level. This one allows players to fight against Mo’lag Ball’s legions of evil and claim it for their own people. Within the Crossroads Sewer Level, they were able to display the given area where the forces of evil have taken over and large creatures, which will definitely present a heavy fight, have taken over. Some being easy to fight for more advanced players, others will seem to give the rest a very terrifying fight for them to experience. The most intricate part we saw was how the Imperial City can be taken over by opposing factions in each district, and allow the opposing factions between players to take over, control, and of course obtain quests and items there. This will we something we are interested in seeing as players will be flagged the moment they enter those zones, which will also in themselves, feature new sets of armor!

 As the screen moves on we are introduced to Richard Lambert, Lead Content Designer. As he does, we are witness to the fact the game will see new grouping updates, which is something many players have been wanting to see get updated. In his session we learned that they will be focusing on multiple aspects, and most importantly: grouping. This is because many players have taken to the official forums, reddit, and even social media to voice their opinions about how hard it is to group due to players being out of sync within the content. In his panel, Richard notified us of how they are working with shared quest advancement, the ability to group with a leader so that players will sync with them when grouped, and of course, my favorite part, allow players to see what content has been completed for future referencing. The concern here I’ve come to conclude? What will happen if we complete content ahead of the rest of our storyline that we have accessed? Will we be capable of going back and still doing it? This is a question we do not have an answer to at this time, but know we will see something come up soon. We however did learn that there will be a quest tracker to show what common quests players have as they progress through the games campaign itself. This feature will also allow for quest sharing and notification of the acceptance or declining of it when the occasion arises.

 In Richards’ speech, we learn that the City of Ash will be making a return for players who wanted to see it once more in Veteran Mode. What does this mean? Players who want a higher rise will get it. The problem? The village elder still has not arisen and a Daedric portal has opened within this Bosmer village once the Daedra have laid siege to the area. After having completed the village to where most are used to, the dungeon will now take them to them into the Deadlands. Within this new area within the instance, we’ve learned that players will go in, find out what’s going on, and of course disembark whatever enemy has caused this, and end their terror. This instance will not be available till the release it is scheduled for with Update 5.

 We know many of you have been tired of how fast dungeons have leveled up so that you can’t go into them. With the team having listened, Richard has stated that there is a new solution to this such as what I will mention next. Dungeons will now scale to the group leader, this includes monsters, items, XP, and last, but not least – gold. They’ve also taken note from those who play, that the solo instance difficulty was too high, and this will cause high amounts of frustration. What do I mean by this? The punch the screen time. In turn they have decided to scale it to the player so that you, the player, do not feel as if you are being put through a grinder and tossed up in the air and put back through it. This earned a heavy applause from the crowd at QuakeCon 2014. What else have they listened to? Dungeon repeatability, which is something the players have wanted as they progress through the game. This will cause players who want to return to dungeons more than once, to do a daily run. This will allow for Undaunted Armor types, new passive skills, daily rewards, and of course normal as well as the feeling of success.  We also learn that Craglorn will get a Third Chapter, which allows for improved itemization, a new crafting trait that can be obtained and of course a new twelve player trial that will focusing on the Serpent. With this we can only tell you there is so much more for us to bring to you and that is something we will do soon with Part 2 of our editorial relating to the panels from QuakeCon 2014.

DOOM Gets Re-Imagined with Latest Installment Reveal

First Impressions of DOOM – A Dark and Very Deadly World
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Dustin Murphy



 At E3 2014 we were given a glimpse at the future of DOOM. For many, you will remember the trailer that displayed flesh, machine, and evil beginning to merge. The creatures body began to come to life before us as the camera zoomed in upon something very twisted, sick, and evil corruption that has tainted flesh, machine, and UAC parts. For many of us, the anticipation began to arise within us when we saw the Cyberdemon come to life and power-up its weapons right before our eyes. This all seemed surreal when it turned and moved towards the nearest airlock to it. Within those moments we got to hear the classic airlock sound play, the classic shotgun load come through, and then the trailer end saying “DOOM” in all the glory it has earned. With the trailer showing the name, viewers were informed that on July 17th, 2014, would be the date of the reveal. The first day of the Bethesda hosted event named Quakecon. Our hope was once more rekindled for DOOM as that trailer ended. From there we could only wonder what was going to happen.

 Within minutes of being seated, the lights focused in on the stage as Marty Stratton, the executive producer at id Software, made his way to the stage. His excitement definitely seemed to feed off the crowd as he waved off the stated 50,000 or so viewers and bid them a farewell so that those attending Quakecon 2014 could see the closed door event. Now that the room was emptied out of live streamers, we got to hear a bit more about the project. What we learned was one thing that we all wanted to hear. This latest installment is truly a reimagining of the series. They want to return it back to its roots from the days of DOOM and DOOM 2, where it was a fast paced, non-stop, blood spilling shooter. On the stage we got to hear Marty state what we all wanted to hear, “DOOM is not about taking cover. It’s not about finding a place to hide to let your health regenerate. It’s about fast, fluid combat, dodging projectiles, finding that next target and charging forward with nothing in your way of slaughtering that next demon.”

 After having said that, Marty took our attention to a brief history of DOOM. It highlighted things such as the Revenants, Cacodemon, Imps, Hell Knights, and even the most beloved of enemies: Cyberdemon. He also visited the weapons that make DOOM unique such as the fan favorite, double barrel shotgun, chainsaw, and last, but not least, the BFG. All of these are going to assume will be making a nostalgia filled return. Some of them we know will and can only hope you are excited for them as the crowd was. After a brief discussion of DOOM remaining on mars and the franchise history, we are witness to a legacy that has become something we knew once before. This meant one thing. DOOM 3’s go forward and push back occasion that had seemed very present even in the BFG Edition is now gone, and will allow for a return to the once fast paced series. After a short briefing of the footage for the E3 trailer we saw played, one thing was evident: the crowd knew what was coming from just what we saw. When we heard Marty Stratton say the following quote, “You’ll see crazy demons. Unbelievable mechanical demons built through secret and corrupt UAC experiments. Demon’s like hell knights, the cyberdemon, zombiemen, the revenant, pinkie and many more. Whether these demons are something familiar, or something totally new, each of them is designed to create a unique combat experience, regardless of whether you are fighting against it, killing it, or being killed by it.” 

 When Stratton said that? We saw him build the crowd’s excitement as claps roared from the Ventrilo Main Stage ballroom at Quakecon 2014. After a few more small notes that were made, a few jokes, and acknowledgements about the new id Tech 6 (jokingly stated as we heard from him, id Tech 666 Engine, the pun is fully intended), Stratton introduced Steven Serafin from the DOOM development team who was making his way up onto the stage. 

 As Steven got the demo ready for us to see, Stratton confirms that DOOM is committed to 1080p at 60 frames per second. What does this mean? We are unsure at this time if that is for both PC and the new-gen or just PC. We can only assume that they mean both, which is something we really can’t wait to have, and the crowd confirmed that theory, and what came out next? We were not disappointed as fellow writer Jonny Red leaned over, commenting about the HUD design popping up as the main character put his helmet on for seemingly the first time, and with it, a very futuristic screen that displayed a booting sequence within the helmets face piece. 

 In the following minutes, Serafin dispatches several demons rather brutally as they spawned in around him, allowing him to move to them, melee them, rip out the first imp-like demons heart, only to drop it once done. Within seconds he moved for the next demon only to once more demonstrate one more of the many brutal kills we saw, which was his character snapping the enemies arm in order to proceed to the killing blow that followed shortly after. This was not the only one we would get to see and we knew it. Stratton knew we would see a game that was brutal, fast, and in your face. That is exactly we got to see and now need . After a few seconds Serafin  was once more dispatching another enemy, sweeping it from its feet only to deliver a curb stomp-like killing blow. Once the room was clear, Serafin began to venture on, letting us see the new face of the revenant as it flew by with its jet packs allowing him to hover momentarily. It even remained to have the pure bone face that made Jonny and I think of only one thing: it needs to die and soon. Venturing on through his destination, Serafin moved to a bio scanner for the doors. What does this mean for him? He needed a hand-print and the only ones that would be around are well… Dead. In order to solve this problem, a body in the corner was spotted and the only logical thing would be to drag the corpse and use the hand. What’s the fun in that when demons are lurking around every corner? This made us not think out of the box like the development team did. Who ever thought he would use the corpses hand in order to unlock his door he needed open? He did just that by ripping the hand off the body, then using it for the what he needed so that he could walk through the now unlocked door. This gave us a look at the fact this game is meant to be brutal, dark, and very gory. Now we learned something unexpected, DOOM definitely has some new tricks up its sleeve on the side of brutality and exploration.

 With us being as excited as we are for it, one thing is now for certain, id Tech 6 is an engine that could possibly set a standard for many of the games coming out within the near by future. This is something I’m sure many of the artists within id Software can be very impressed with, especially with how well received the demo’s came off as from the fans at Quakecon 2014 as they walked around the showroom floor discussing the game.

 Stepping aside later, I was able to discuss the games future, the graphics, and even what was impressive about it with both team members of the development team, but also other journalists. From here there was something that began to come through from everyone. DOOM is back and ready to allow players to once more provide a very dark setting for us to fight through in the environments designed for this game. 

 With all things put aside, DOOM is returning to what we knew and loved as kids. With all that said we truly can’t wait to get our hands on it. Unfortunately, it seems that it may be a year or so before we do, but it’ll be time well spent waiting as anticipation grows within those who witness the reveal demo’s. All that can be said is this. There are a lot of new features, the graphics are the best witnessed to date, and what has been made will push a new look and standard for in-game graphics. With E3 2015 only a year out, we can expect something big between now and then, and if the time is right, a press kit for us to share with you. Till that time, we’ll be waiting just like you.

Ar Nosurge Collectors Edition Announced

Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star Collectors Edition Available!
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Dustin Murphy


 If you are a person who likes to collect Limited Editions, NIS America has you covered, dood! As of today, we are proud to state, Gust and Koei Tecmo have teamed up and of course made this game available for North America. Let alone the fact the Limited Edition is headed your way also! What does this mean? Well Gust (publisher) and Koei Tecmo (localization team) have made this turn-based ‘7 Dimension’ RPG well worth your while when it launches on September 23rd, 2014.

 So what are all these yummy little goodies inside? First of all, the game itself. That’s a given, I’d hope. A hardcover art book, which is presented in full color throughout it’s approximate 26 pages. The original soundtrack, with its jewelcase there, and the Ar Nosurge poster, which is 16″x23″. Oh and a nifty little collectors box!

 If that doesn’t get you slightly excited to get this game. Hopefully the official information below does!

About the game:
 Ar nosurge is a Fantasy, Sci-fi, ‘7 Dimension’ RPG, that takes place in a world where music and song can create magic. It tells the compelling story of a civilization that lost their planet and has been roaming the edge of space for 2000 years in search of a new home.

 In Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star, the player follows two sets of characters: Delta and Casty, whose goal is to protect humanity and save the world, and Ion & Earthes, who are trying to find Ion a way home to Earth. The player can interchange between both pairs and soon discover a way to combine their storylines and strengths to eventually solve the mystery that shrouds their ongoing struggle.

From the Screen to Reality: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and the EXACTO Round

From the Screen to Reality: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and the EXACTO Round
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Dustin Murphy



  If any of you played Ubisoft’s published title, Tom Clancy Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, you know the, painstakingly, accurate bullet called the EXACTO round. This bullet allowed for players to get a hard lock on each other and shoot multiple times without being precisely targeting that person. The downside was the other player almost always died. In recent years, we know our military has been making massive leaps in order to better protect our men and women, of the armed forces, around the world as well as civilians. Recently DARPA has released test videos of this bullet using a tracer round version, and just how well they are developing this thing. The scary part is it’s almost done, and uses target designation in order to go where it needs to. This means anything, anyone, and place could be targeted by this round. The cool part is that Lockheed Martin and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging seem to have this down to almost a perfect equation.

  In Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon the EXACTO round can be loaded into any gun, which made it versatile, and even deadly. In real life, we’ve seen the bullet, and luckily, it’s not as versatile – yet. In real life we’ve seen the round fired from what’s seemingly a high-powered rifle, unfortunately we don’t know what kind of weapon they are using it or at what distances they are firing it. What we do know is this. It’s real, it’s accurate, and it works. The question that will come down in time is the always easy to ask – will it work in the field? From the video I’ll share, or you can go to the DARPA website or even Google, Bing, or even Yahoo and search for DARPA EXACTO Round. The results will astonish what one will think. The video demonstrated where the bullet should go and where it didn’t on the original first test fire, which shows it mess, and by a lot. In the most recent one, which was recently posted, we got to see where they were targeting and where the bullet was going. It did not miss. Instead it hit dead on and made its mark. Had it been a target the military needed taken out? Someone would be calling the local coroner for a clean up.



 Outside of the grim reality of what this round is meant for, it also gives us an idea that research and development is doing one thing right: trying to make things safer. With this round the friendly fire rates could go down if the bullet could be mass produced for the standardized military and police equipment. Unlike the tracer round that helped identify who was firing and if it was friendly, unfortunately that chance is gone and being used already. One thing is for sure. What Ghost Recon did, isn’t too far off and provides a very realistic take on what the future could shape up to be. Now if only they made optic camo.

Destiny Demos Coming to Best Buy!

Destiny Demos Coming to Best Buy!
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Article by Josh Turner



Are you dying to get your hands on Destiny? Well don’t feel alone. It’s currently you, me, and a few million other people, that are dying to play this upcoming title. Gratefully, the beta will shortly begin for PS4 users. However, that doesn’t exactly help out the rest of the gamers out there now does it? Good news though, Best Buy has come up with the solution for that! Starting July 19th, at 70, lucky, locations, they will have the beta exclusively available, in stores, for customers to enjoy between the hours of 6-9pm. 

Best Buy has defiantly gone on the offensive, as of late, when it comes to video game sale, in an attempt to take over the market. They have begun offering $10 in store credits for select games, as well as a new “Gamers Club” system, where shoppers can receive 20% off of any new video game, or collector’s edition. In a recent interview with Benzinga, Chris Koller, Best Buy’s Vice President of Gaming, had this to say about the future of gaming and Best Buy. “Our Strategy is to position Best Buy as THE destination for all things gaming, and we are giving gamers more reasons to visit Best Buy. These unique events allow us to provide early access to consumers, for the latest games and technology.”

Recently, they held a Super Smash Bros pre-launch event that drew thousands into local stores, and gave gamers their first chance to get their hands on the much anticipated title. So far it doesn’t look like there is an exact time frame on how long the Destiny beta will be accessible in store, other than Saturday July 19th. Who knows, they may decide to elongate the demo time, or possibly expanded it to more stores closer to launch.

For more information regarding the event, or to find a local store precipitating in the event please visit the link below.

Samurai Warrior 4 Gets New Images

Samurai Warrior 4 Gets New Images
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review on Facebook
Written by Kennard Prim


KOEI TECMO America has revealed new images, for the upcoming addition, to their historical hack and slash, Samurai Warriors series. They revealed art and screenshots for several characters, and stages, as well as more details about the game itself.

Boasting new gameplay features and units, Samurai Warriors 4, promises to be the grandest game in the series yet. Players can switch between two units, in the midst of battle, creating the potential for even more havoc amongst the enemy ranks. Featuring an expensive roster, larger than any other game in the series, you can pick your favorite character, from a roster of over 50 warriors. Included in the ranks; are the newly introduced Nobuyuki Sanada, Yoshitsugu Otani, Takatora Todo, Naotora Ii and Munenori Yagyu. Existing characters have had additions made to their movesets, adding more flair to fan favorites such as Nobunaga Oda, Date Masamune and Yukimura Sanada.

Promising even more character customization than previous entries, as well as the new Chronicles Mode, players can explore the world of Japan during the Warring States era, with their own character. Interacting with new officers and gathering items, amass your strength and carve your way into the history, of the Warring States era. Wage battles across all platforms with cooperative crossplay in all game modes, connecting Playstation 3, Playstation 4 and PS Vita, take your battles with you with the cross save feature, allowing you transfer data between the three systems. Glory will be at your fingertips on the go and at home.

Explore the true depth of the beautiful landscape and stages on the Playstation 4, where the battlefield almost comes to life. Marking not only the sharpest graphics this series has ever seen, but the first Samurai Warriors title on a next generation console.

The battle is coming to your home on Playstation 3, Playstation 4 and PS Vita on October 21st, 2014 in the United States.

Opinion – The Console Wars: 2014

The Console Wars: 2014
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
By Allen M.K. Jenkins



The race between consoles and PCs has always been a hotly contested topic.

The standard arguments are rote to most gamers by now—PCs always have the graphical and performance advantage, and consoles have exclusive games, and the benefit of being playable on the television, rather than at a computer desk.

However, in today’s world, as consoles become like less capable Personal Computers, and the release of the Steam Box and the Steam Controller looms ahead, what can console developers do to stay relevant? This is a question that most of the heavy-hitters in gaming have attempted to answer, in one way or another. Each company seems to have its own strategy for upping the ante, and staying one step ahead of the PC market.

Exclusive titles are the easy answer, but the consoles of the new generation have only just started to gain traction with their lineups, or have their biggest titles on the way. Gone are the days of Super Mario 64 on launch day—then again, it’s only partner on launch day was Pilotwings 64, so all the talk of the awfulness of today’s launch lineups seems a little misplaced. So, what are developers doing to keep ahead of the game?

Microsoft, for what seems like an eternity, has been pushing the Kinect as (expensive) hook to grab gamers who might be on the fence between the Xbox and PC. Then again, Microsoft is the only company whose console directly competes with computers that carry their ubiquitous Windows operating system as a gaming platform. In the new generation, Microsoft seems to have partially lightened up on the Kinect evangelism in favor of marketing to people who still use Jurassic cable with Xbox One’s Live TV capabilities. Sony seems to be using every bit of bad press that Microsoft has had, using the tried and true politician’s method, otherwise known as “not being the other guy.”

Although it’s been said before, Nintendo seems to have answered this question by doing the only sensible thing—not competing in the same market at all.

Nintendo, since the advent of the 3D age of gaming, has never really been in the same market as Sony or Microsoft. With the Wii’s cheap price and accessibility, Nintendo marketed directly to families and non-traditional gamers. Although the sales of the Wii U have been poor so far, their performance at E3 shows a similar zeitgeist in the newer system. One of the biggest problems that the Wii U had at launch was a lackluster lineup of games, combined with a price tag bigger than its predecessor.

Everyone expected a title along the lines of Mario 64 or Ocarina of time—instead we got yet another uninspired Mario 3 port a la New (old) Super Mario Bros Wii U. The system often felt like a rehash, due almost entirely to their software library.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—software makes the console, not hardware. There seemed to be a different Nintendo at E3, standing in stark contrast to the other developers in attendance. They showed off games that were essentially ready to play, with the exception of Zelda. They had interviews with, believe it or not, the actual passionate developers of those games. They even showed off a few new IPs. Most importantly, the people at Nintendo seemed to have fun, and that fun was infectious. From Dragon Ball Z style battles between Iwata and the Regginator, to sitting in on a developer discussion in a Japanese yarn shop, and an animated sequence from freaking Robot Chicken, everything about Nintendo’s appearance was exciting and fun, like the anticipation before opening presents on your birthday.

Nintendo finally seems to be back on track with the Wii U, but more importantly, they seem to be marketing to the only people the industry seems to have forgotten. Not the hardcore online gamers, not the phone gamers grabbing a few minutes of Angry Birds on break, but to the gamers on the couch, in front of the TV. They promise to make their console experience about having fun, and their games about PLAYING. They’ve made a console, and now there is a library of great software just around the corner waiting to fulfill that promise.

Ubisoft Sales Are Up From Last Years First Quarter Reports

Ubisoft® Releases First Quarter Sales for 2014-15
Originally Published on the Blast Away the Game Review Official Facebook Page

Written by Dustin Murphy



If you are like us, there is also something interesting always happening, and this is something to be proven with the figures we’ve seen. As of their ending date of June 30th, 2014, we’ve learned that Watch_Dogs® has moved more than 8 million units, and is the largest selling new franchise by them at this time. Ubisoft has stated that they have earned more than $489 million in just the first quarter. This means their sales went up 374 percent compared to last years slightly above $103 million dollars. In turn this also means that we can assume that Watch_Dogs® played a huge role in this move and has secured Ubisoft’s future for the time being. According to the figures we’ve seen, their digital releases also were a smash hit with titles such as Trials FusionTM, Child of LightTM and Valiant Hearts The Great WarTM. These also provided part of the 149 percent growth that Watch_Dogs took part in. That alone providing roughly $114 million in sales.

We’ve also learned that a huge number of interest was peaked during E3 2014, this is because of their highly anticipated titles Assassin’s Creed Unity® and Far Cry® 4 took first and second place respectively in the Gamespot Trax E3 chart, which also recognized Ubisoft as top publisher. This means one thing: Ubisoft is doing something right.

Yves Guillemot, co-founder and chief executive officer, said, “The success of Watch Dogs and the quality of our games portfolio presented at this year’s E3 highlight our strategic positioning as well as our continuous drive for innovation, and affirm our long-term approach. Watch Dogs is now well positioned as a major franchise and we will be able to replicate and build on its success in the coming years. Its sales performance testifies to Ubisoft’s expertise as a creator of blockbuster brands. That expertise enables us to stand out from our competitors at the beginning of each console cycle and therefore to reach a new dimension. Additionally, Ubisoft created a strong impression at the last E3 with titles such as Assassin’s Creed Unity, The Crew, The Division, Far Cry 4, Just Dance Now and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.” “Although the financial year has only just started, our confidence for fiscal-year 2014-15 has been reinforced by our first-quarter performance and the keen anticipation for our upcoming games.”

We can only hope this means that Ubisoft’s mission stays the same and that they will remain working rather intently upon the titles we’ve seen. This also means we can only hope to see such sales remain high up in future releases.

SDCC Super Smash Bros. Tournament Announced

Got What it Takes as a Brawler at SDCC with Super Smash Bros.?

Originally Published on the Blast Away the Game Review Official Facebook Page

Written by Dustin Murphy



 Are you a brawler who thinks they have the best controller skills on screen? Nintendo will be hosting its first-ever tournament for the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS entry at San Diego Comic-Con on July 25th, 2014. If you are there you can attend at the Nintendo Gaming Lounge at the Marriott Marquis & Marina located at 333 W. Harbor Drive (adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center) for a chance to participate! This means those of you who want overtime can do so by going there.

 So when does it start you wonder? Well we hope you ate an early lunch – the tournament starts at noon. For those who attend, there will be a preliminary round where they can set up groups of four brawlers in order to go on their fist flying frenzy. We do advise however, you do not wait, and this is because the slots are limited, and will be first come first served. If you attend, we’d love to see photos, and even get your feedback about what makes this event so unique by Nintendo! We already know it is just by how they are handling it.

 For those of you who will not be at SDCC, we have received information from Nintendo so that you all at home can watch! How? Head on over to Nintendo’s official Twitch channel here: http://www.twitch.tv/Nintendo. For those attending, there will be more additional activities occurring at the Nintendo Gaming Lounge, so please, stay tuned.
Official Information for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros.:

 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS launches on Oct. 3. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U launches this holiday season. For more information about Super Smash Bros., visit: http://www.smashbros.com/us/.

For more information about Nintendo 3DS, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

For more information about Wii U, visit: http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu.