Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Game games snuck up on everybody and became an absolute critical darling, garnering a considerable amount of awards that included several game of the year awards. While you might say that The Walking Dead brand cancels out the game's indie cred, the gameplay screams otherwise. This isn't a first-person or third-person shooter, it's an old-school point-and-click adventure that's all about the narrative. It wants to evoke some of the darkest emotions out of the player and titles like this usually don't see the success that Telltale has seen. Fortunately, The Walking Dead isn't done infecting consumers through as many platforms as possible, adding the Playstation Vita to its arsenal.
In both the digital and retail world, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm has managed to successfully Zerg-rush a little over 1 million PC/Mac users in a 48 hour time window. Heart of the Swarm is the first expansion to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (which managed to sell 1.5 million in the same time window), putting you in the shoes (does the Queen of Blades even wear shoes?) of Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of all things Zerg. Essentially, Kerrigan's just really pissed off at this guy Mengsk for abandoning her during a mission that took place in the first StarCraft that made her who she is now. So, naturally, all she wants to do is get even -- as in bring the millions of Zerg forces down on his head.
Is there a service out there that thrives off only 1,600 users? If there is, just know that OnLive, a game-streaming service, couldn't be anymore envious. This god-awful statistic popped up after OnLive founder and president, Steve Perlman, stepped down. Oh, and let's not forget that at least half of the staff was reportedly laid off and that OnLive supposedly filed for bankruptcy around the same time Perlman left. All of this hit the fan around August of last year, seemingly dooming OnLive yet the company still survives today, servers and all. Now, the current chairman of OnLive is saying this was all a misinterpretation.
Remember when Square-Enix Chief Technology Officer, Shinji Hashimoto, revealed at the Playstation 4 reveal that we should be excited for E3 (hell, he practically begged us to be)? That his company has another Final Fantasy game cooking away for the next-gen? Well, according to an unknown source that has allegedly leaked intel to VGLeaks, perhaps this game is actually an upcoming exclusive to the PS4 -- namely, Final Fantasy XV.
During the Black Hat security conference in Amsterdam, an attack was demonstrated on EA's infamous Origins service (think of it as the company's Steam). The fact that an estimation of 40 million accounts could be in danger is obviously alarming but what's even more distressing is how long it took to execute the attack -- it only took seconds.
Who could forget that insatiable thirst to double the speed limit after watching The Fast and the Furious back in 2001? Firebrand Games (NASCAR Unleashed) apparently has't forgotten their lust for speed. According to a listing by EB Games that has since been taken down, a tie-in game to the upcoming Fast & Furious 6 is currently in the making. The Nintendo Wii U will allegedly receive the game on May 15th, with the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 following suit on May 22nd.
God of War: Ascension hasn't even been out a week and yet here we are, possibly looking at what may be the next installment of Sony's brutal hack n' slasher. Relatively early on in the game, during The Cistern level to be exact, is an image that says, "Of all the prophecies I see, this one haunts my dreams. QUJIKPHIUEEEKMJQUJ. The full truth of this nightmare yet remains hidden". If you were like me upon reading that, then "what the hell?" was your response, too. If it helps (and it doesn't), it's Aletheia that speaks these words. If that didn't help, then maybe seeing the actual picture will (it won't).
Ever play Fallout 3 and have a burning desire to represent your Vault 101 pride in the real world? Do you have those nights where the dark seems scarier than usual and you'd feel safer if, say, a 16-inch Dragonborn statue was there to shout any boogeymen away? Bethesda has finally heard your cries and have decided to officially launch their own online merch store.
Looks like the gaming industry is making another push for the mainstream conscience, as you could be seeing some trailers for M-rated games in theaters in the near future. The ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) has made tweaks to the restrictions placed on marketing Mature-rated games. Publishers can now put up trailers for M-rated games before a movie plays at the theaters.
The upcoming Splinter Cell: Blacklist is boasting quite the bevy of special editions available for your choosing. There are four different options (five if you include the previously announced Paladin Multi-Mission Aircraft Edition) that you can choose from come August 31, 2013.
