RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

The new South Park RPG entitled The Stick of Truth got a release date at the Microsoft press conference earlier today. THQ and Obsidian will be shipping the little bugger out on March 5th, 2013.

If covering the news has taught me anything, it’s that companies would openly shoot at each other Syndicate-style if only they could get away with it. Anyway, welcome back, on this lovely evening before E3 kicks off! Here’s what’s happening:

• Silicon Knights loses in their lawsuit against Epic, and then loses the countersuit for damages.  Expect Denis Dyack to insist that Too Human will continue… somehow.
• Epic, by the way, rescued members of Big Huge Games, rolling them into a new studio and tasking them with another fantasy action-RPG.  Talk about paying it forward.
• Meanwhile, Activision settles out of court with West and Zampella, thus freeing Activision to keep making Call of Duty and spying on its own people.  “But the future refused to change…”
• CD Projekt reveals their non-Witcher property: Cyberpunk.  Apparently that’s the title of a pen-and-paper game easily confused with Shadowrun.
• Nintendo hosts a pre-E3 video demonstration showing off the Wii U… the exact same aspects we saw last year.  Oh, and a classic-style controller and Nintendo-centric social network.
• E3 predictions: Nintendo needs to have some game demos ready, Sony’s going to spin like an overclocked centrifuge, and Microsoft will be my cue to go get a drink.
• A Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer is mistaken for FFXV, Sony may have picked up Gaikai for PSN-related announcements, and more!

Are you ready?

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – War By Other Means’ »

By way of retail pamphlet, Atlus has revealed they will be releasing a demo for the upcoming Etrian Odyssey IV. The date has not been announced, though it is known that players will be able to carry data from the demo to the retail version.

Source: Andriasang

Via Dengeki Playstation, Falcom announced that the Vita redux of Legend of Heroes: Zero No Kiseki – subtitled Evolution – has been delayed to a fall release from its original August timeframe.

Source: Andriasang

This week’s Dengeki has brought to light Nippon Ichi’s upcoming Vita title. Tokushu Houdoubu – “Special Report Division,” apparently – is an adventure game based around television reporting and production. File that one under “did not see coming.”

Anyhow, Tokushu Houdoubu is set for an August 23 release, priced at ¥6,090 for retail and ¥5,000 for download.

Source: Andriasang

Following recent speculation over a possible 3DS Tales entry, Namco Bandai’s Yoshito Higuchi clarified via twitter that he is not involved in any of the upcoming games. The rumor began from a misinterpretation of Higuchi’s prior tweet, mentioning he was bringing his 3DS to the upcoming Tales of Festival event and hoped that fellow 3DS-using attendees would turn their SpotPasses on.

Source: Andriasang

Via Famitsu, Atlus has dropped the news that Shin Megami Tensei IV has begun development for the 3DS. Little is currently known about the title, but Atlus intends to open the game’s official site starting tomorrow.

Source: Andriasang

Say what you will about obscure Korean MMOs, but they come up with some catchy (if unrelated) promo videos. But I digress. News time! Here’s what’s going down:

• 38 Studios and Big Huge Games got shuttered this week, their staff laid off and Amalur now property of Rhode Island.  Sadly, not too surprising given the money hole they were in.
• Conflicting sales goals hide the real issue of what those 300+ developers – and their shiny new second mortgages from relocating – are going to do now.
• Meanwhile, BioWare lays off some of its own people from The Old Republic team.  How’s that $200 million development cost working out, guys?
• All this prompts Pachter to speculate that MMOs are dooooooomed!  My take: maybe, if everybody keeps trying to imitate/defeat World of Warcraft.  And speaking of which…
• Diablo III got hacked, with reports of stolen items, money, and even characters.  Getting hacked in a single-player game has got to be some kind of record.
• The horrible, horrible contract between Activision and Bungie is revealed.  Short version: 5 million sales of a new property in six months, and eight titles in eight years.  Read it and weep.
• Sony patents a technology to interrupt your game with advertisements, Japan developers alternatives to kompu gacha, and more!
  

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Endless Online Phenomenon’ »

Bethesda has revealed the next big addition to Skyrim: mounted combat. One of the much-touted features from the Skyrim Game Jam video, mounted combat will be rolled into the game for free with the next patch. It’s currently part of the latest Steam Beta Update (1.6), with console versions to follow.

For further details and patch notes, check out the official blog, located here.

Over on the game’s official Twitter feed, we’ve learned that Bravely Default: Flying Fairy looks to clock in 60-70 hours of playtime. Follow-up posts clarified that as the length of the core quest, with 100% completion likely taking longer.

Source: Andriasang

Evening, everyone. Tragedy strikes the nation as I learn that “grilling food in polite company” and “editing/recording the podcast” are mutually exclusive activities. Thus, What Happened This Week will be up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay folks, but in the meantime I hope you’re enjoying the holiday weekend! See you all tomorrow night!

SlayerGhaleon: Hey Joe, never link the same media screens twice again.
SlayerGhaleon: You green, spiky, son of a bitch.

Continue reading ‘Mass Media 05/26/12’ »

Bioware has announced the release of the Rebellion Pack, a second free DLC for Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. The Rebellion Pack will give players new weapons, six unlockable characters including Vorcha and Ex-Cerberus agents, and two new maps: Firebase Jade, an abandoned Salarian reservoir on a jungle planet, and Firebase Goddess, an Asari stronghold on Thessia. Additionally, players will receive a gear slot that allows them to carry a gameplay bonus from match to match. A new in-mission objective will be added to the existing three that randomly occur during waves three, six, and ten.

The Rebellion Pack is due for release on May 29 for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 in North America. PS3 owners in Europe will see a release date of May 30. The pack is free for all those with an Online Pass.

Full details available on Bioware’s blog

During a press conference regarding 38 Studios, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee revealed the studio’s MMO, currently titled Copernicus, is planned for a June launch next year. Little is known about the project other than its basis in the Amalur franchise.

In a recent Game Informer interview, The Elder Scrolls Online director Matt Firor revealed a few choice details about the upcoming MMO. Most notable was that the game’s main quest can be completed entirely by a single player. Quoting from the interview, “The last thing you want to do is have the final confrontation with Mehrunes Dagon as he’s stomping across the Imperial City, and you see like 15 guys behind you waiting to kill him because they’re on the same quest. We have a whole part of the game that is 100 per cent solo, which is the main story, where the world focuses on you.”

Additional details include PVP matches of up to 200 people, and that the game will be played in the typical (for an MMO) third-person perspectve.

Title has it all. By way of Dengeki Playstation, Compile Heart has revealed the launch date for God Dimensional Game Neptune V: August 30.

Source: Andriasang

“Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” John Maynard Keynes said that, and I’d wager he knows a little more about the economy than you do, because he invented it! Yeah, the financial world is abuzz over Facebook’s IPO, and we’ve got our own take on that, along with a few other items of interest. Behold:

• 38 Studios (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning) owes the state of Rhode Island $75 million in loan payments.  I don’t even have a quip, you have to hear the whole crazy situation to believe it.
• Facebook, as mentioned, went public, and then immediately flatlined before dropping a few bucks today.  Cue me feeling smug in three… two…
• Activision drops its suit against EA over the Infinity Ward fiasco, on revelation that they went to absurd lengths to dig up dirt on IW staff.  Bobby Kotick, up to no good?  Pshaw, sirrah.
• Epic unveils the Unreal 4 engine, prompting a new wave of speculation as to how many shades of brown and grey it can render.
• CD Projekt’s hiring for a modern IP.  Given their work with fantasy IP, I expect good things.  Difficult things that kill me in the tutorial, but good things all the same.
• Diablo III goes live, then dies, then lives again, then dies again, and so on.  Who could possibly have forseen difficulties with millions of players going online at once?
• Square Enix is profitable again, Bamco keeps busy with the Tales series,  and more!

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Go Public or Die Trying’ »

Heya folks! Due to unexpected interference from reality, What Happened This Week will be uploaded tomorrow instead of tonight. Fortunately, thanks to this happy accident – which in no way involved napping in a warm sunbeam listening to the Sox humiliate the Cubs – I’ll be able to gauge how Facebook’s doing on day two and whether what happened Friday is part of a long-term trend. Sorry for the hold up. I’ll see you all tomorrow night!

A recent batch of screenshots has unveiled a few more Pokemon Black/White 2 details. A World Tournament arena lets you stage fights using single battle, double battle, and other rules, and you’ll have access to historical trainers through this mode. The game also supports Nintendo’s wi-fi connection service, which unlocks unique downloadable trainers. And lastly the game features a movie-making mode, aptly titled “Pokewood,” though the extent of its options is not yet known.

Source: Andriasang

Along with the next main Tales entry, Namco Bandai has revealed a Droid-based strategy title for the series. Tales of the World: Tactics Union, as is customary with those of the “World” designation, will feature existing characters battling each other, this time in a strategy RPG context. The title goes live on July 2 – currently Japan only – and by itself is free to play with item transactions, though you’ll also need membership in KDDI’s AU Smart Pass program (¥390/mo).

Source: Andriasang