Geekly Review #124

What have you been up to recently? Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been doing and what’s been going on!

WARTILE

I wanted to try out Wartile over the weekend as I’ve had my eye on it for a little while ever since it popped up on Kickstarter. There is only a short demo of the game available on steam at the moment as it is still in development, but the demo was really enjoyable.

WARTILE delivers a game experience unlike anything you’ve seen before. Bring a collection of miniature figurines to life as they aid you to battle it out in a real time strategy video game. Position figurines, use their strengths and be mindful of their weaknesses, activate their special abilities and play action cards to gain the upper hand on the playing field.

KEY FEATURES

• Take control of a band of miniature figurines as they come to life.
• Engage in battles on gorgeous battle board dioramas with a true tabletop feel.
• Play Godly and Tactical cards and change the course of the battle.
• Experience a novel twist on the real time strategy genre!
• Customize your units with weapons, armor & new abilities found throughout the game
• Expand your collection of figurines & widen your palette of possibilities
• Venture into the Viking Campaign rich on Mythology, story and lore
• Play against friends in quest oriented multiplayer matches or go full competitive

The content of the demo is only a short tutorial missions and one other level to play through, but it gives you a good sense of the game. I think the game is looking really good and the concept of it is something I’ve not played before and I found it very interesting.

It almost works like a turn based game, but it’s not quite turned based as you don’t technically take turns…. Anyone can move at anytime providing the cool down for them has passed, so whilst there are turns for each character you don’t actually have to wait for someone else to make a move or move in any predetermined order, which I thought was actually quite a good mechanic as it doesn’t allow you the time to sit and plan for too long. You will need to act a lot quicker as you could be getting shot from an archer in a tower and unless you do something to counter it he will keep shooting you.

The addition of a power card system adds a little extra to the game. It allows you to perform special abilities like activating a lightning strike, or giving a buff to all your players.

The game is still very much in the early stages but I think it looks really promising, go and check you the game on Kickstarter and maybe give the game some backing if you fancy it!

Planet Coaster

I loved Theme Park, I loved Roller Coaster Tycoon and I love how Planet Coaster is shaping up. This week the Early Bird access goes live for the game and I’m excited. I don’t actually have access to it – mainly because I don’t want to stump up the money for it right now. But I will be keeping an eye on YouTube for any content relating to the game – if there is no NDA that is, as there is still no official confirmation from what I’ve seen.

There have already been quite a few Dev Diary videos popping up on the Planet Coaster YouTube channel and from what I’ve seen so far the game looks great. Just check out the one below – if you’re a fan of any of the theme park building game, I don’t see how you can’t be excited about this one!

As for what I’ve been playing, well, I’ve not actually been on The Division loads over the last week – I know, shocking right! But I’ve been hooked on Football Manager 2016. I always go through these stages where I just can’t get enough of the game and almost any spare minute has been spent trying to make Real Zaragoza a great team. I’ve already managed to get them back in La Liga and managed to secure a spot in the Europa League for the next season. The good times are flowing!

The Black Death Q&A

We also had a Q&A with the developers of The Black Death last week. We got to ask a lot of questions and got some great answers for the upcoming game. It’s all sounding very good indeed. Check it out here.

– Will

 

Last week there were 3 major talking points in the gaming world. And what’s great about it, is that 1 piece of news came from each of the 3 major console manufacturers. Great to build the hype up before E3 right…. well… um maybe? Check it out…

Nintendo NX Controller / Handheld (We don’t know?) “Leaks”

Last week Destructoid sent the gaming world upside down with a supposed leak and image of Nintendo’s latest console / handheld hybrid input (and output by the look of it) device. The NX controller. The threads on forums went into 100+ pages and more sources apparently confirmed or denied the thing. Who knows? We’re not far off from a reveal if it’s to be shown at E3, so it’s incredibly likely that this thing is out there in the wild at game developers and such. But is this really what we’ll see in June?

it remarkably similar to the patent documents that were doing the rounds from December 2015.

 

Source: http://www.destructoid.com/are-these-leaked-images-of-the-nintendo-nx-controller–349431.phtml?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

PlayStation 4.5 or PlayStation4K is coming

The next rumour came courtesy of Kotaku. Over the past few weeks Microsoft have been a bit of a mystery with regards to what’s next for Xbox. The latest yet to be confirmed rumour that is building the most steam up is that they will be releasing consoles more frequently in a form of upgrading consoles like phones. A new faster model. While we scoffed at this and some of us hate this idea (I do), It appears Sony could potentially be considering following this business model as rumours are flying that they are working on an upgraded PS4 that’s capable of 4K output. My first thought is that this will not be a cheap upgrade. No way. The more worrying thing for me is that this is not going to be considered a PS5, or the next gen, this is an updated console for this generation. I know Nintendo do this alot and get away with it (DS > DSI, 3DS > n3DS) but it’s a bit unheard of in console generations for this to happen.

Sony is currently planning a new version of the PS4 with increased graphical power and games running at 4K resolution, developer sources tell Kotaku.

We don’t know whether current PS4 owners will be able to upgrade or if they’ll have to buy an entirely new device to benefit from this power boost, but from what we hear, Sony has started briefing developers.

Based on conversations with developers who have spoken with Sony, this ‘PS4.5’ will include an upgraded GPU both to support high-end 4K resolution for games and add more processing power that can enhance the games supported by PlayStation VR, the headset Sony will launch this fall. It’s unclear if ‘PS4.5’ is an official name or just a nickname that developers have been using. One developer jokingly called it the ‘PS4K’ while telling me about the device.

In layman’s terms, 4K resolution is around twice the pixel size of 1080p, which is the current standard for games on PlayStation 4 and competing consoles. The current PS4 can output 4K photos and videos, but cannot support 4K resolutions for games. With this upgrade, it would. Besides resolution, developers would have an opportunity to push more effects and other graphical tweaks to make their games look better, thanks to the new GPU.

 

Source: http://kotaku.com/sources-sony-is-working-on-a-ps4-5-1765723053

 

Microsoft GDC Party featuring erotic schoolgirl dancers

Umm… Yeah, so this happened. At the Microsoft party at GDC, they hired dancers dressed up as schoolgirls as entertainment. This seemed to have caused a stir, and even warranted an apology from Microsoft and Phil Spencer himself. Ironically Microsoft actually hosted a “Woman in games” lunch at GDC prior to this.

At Xbox-hosted events at GDC this past week, we represented Xbox and Microsoft in a way that was not consistent or aligned to our values. It was unequivocally wrong and will not be tolerated. I know we disappointed many people and I’m personally committed to holding ourselves to higher standards. We must ensure that diversity and inclusion are central to our everyday business and core values. We will do better in the future. – Phil Spencer

 

So E3 2016 conferences looking like this. Nintendo showing off their Stewie Griffin head shaped controller, Sony somehow selling us PlayStation VR for £350 along with PlayStation 4K for £600 and Microsoft bringing the dancers.

My Weekend…

Away from the exciting gaming news, my weekend was spent binge watching Season 2 of Daredevil, Playing MicroMachines V3 (Yup the PS1 classic), Watching Rugby and playing Football Manager.

Daredevil Season 2, so far I’ve watched 7 episodes. I have to say the 3rd episode was one of my favourite things ever from any TV show. It was incredible. The interaction between Daredevil and Punisher on the roof was just incredible. And then they managed to top the corridor scene from season 1 with the stairwell scene that ended this episode. Sensational stuff. I’m obviously still away from finishing the season, but i’ll say this now (it maybe premature but)…. Fuck Elektra. I hate her, cannot stand her and wish she wasn’t in the season.

Roll on next binge watch of it.

– Murr