Instead of its typical pre-show E3 press conference, Nintendo opted to open up its exhibition booth to journalists a bit early this year, teasing a few Wii U games, such as Pikmin 3 and the long-awaited Super Mario 3D World. Much to the amusement of attendees, Koichi Hayashida, the director of that latter title, joined journalists “dressed as a cat,” as you can see in the image above. There were meows and everything. Such is our reward for an unusually long wait for the abbreviated event to kick off.
At Nintendo’s E3 presentation that’s not actually happening at E3, we’ve heard the next installment of the Mario Kart series is coming to the Wii U sometime in spring 2014. Mario Kart 8 doesn’t stray too far from what fans expect of the casual racer, but there is one new twist. Courses now have 3D aspects to them, allowing you to “defy gravity, racing up vertical walls and upside down.” Features like air gliding, underwater racing and the option to ride motorcycles have been included from previous games, but apart from that, it’s standard red-shelling carnage. We didn’t hear much about online multiplayer, but we’re told it “will have deep integration with Miiverse.” Head past the break for the E3 trailer.
Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.
Gallery: Mario Kart 8 Nintendo Direct trailer
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Nintendo
Source: Nintendo, Nintendo UK (Twitter)
This week the folks at Nintendo have revealed the first Mario Kart game for the Wii U, bringing on a new collection of abilities for a new generation as well as pushing together a set of the best hits from past iterations. This game will be known as Mario Kart 8, and will be released
When we were first introduced to the Xbox One, we heard about the hardware. Today, at Microsoft’s E3 keynote, it was all about the games. We had a look at Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, a One-exclusive Killer Instinct reboot and Ryse: Son of Rome (both an exclusive and a launch title). We also learned that Minecraft would be getting some expanded multiplayer options when it hits the new console, and checked out the “open-world shooter” Sunset Overdrive. That wasn’t all: we caught some stunning footage of Forza Motorsport 5, as well as Quantum Break (exclusive), Crimson Dragon, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and zombie survival game Dead Rising 3 (arriving “this holiday” as a One exclusive). We saw some hectic action in Battlefield 4, which will have a “Second Assault” DLC available to Xbox One users first, and spied Titanfall, another exclusive landing “spring 2014.” You can also make your own games in Project Spark, and there are a bunch of trailers for the titles mentioned above available now at the YouTube source link, including some for games that weren’t featured on-stage. Oh, we almost forgot to mention. New Halo.
Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft
Source: Official Xbox YouTube channel, Microsoft
Battlefield 4 was announced back towards the end of March. It was during that earlier announcement when we learned the title was heading to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Windows. Today, during the Microsoft E3 announcement we got a bit of a look at Battlefield 4 for the Xbox One. And in
Minecraft will be coming to the Xbox One. The game will arrive as the “Xbox One Edition” and while there are still some unannounced details, there were a few key items mentioned during the Microsoft E3 event. The game was introduced by Microsoft Corporate VP Phil Harrison who said Minecraft will arrive for the Xbox
Mojang’s best known for the indie blockbuster Minecraft, but today heralds the launch of the open beta for its new game, Scrolls. It’s been a long time coming, and the title itself was the focus of a courtroom squabble, as much as Notch would’ve liked to hash out the early roadblock in a rocket-filled arena. While it’s admittedly not “feature complete,” you can test your card-battling skills in casual and ranked online match-ups. The card trading forum is up and running, as is the in-game store for bolstering your deck using gold earned through triumph, and “shards” purchased with real dough. You can tweak your deck using the builder and 25 trials are available off the bat to school you in strategy. Access to the open beta will cost you $20, £13 or 15 euros, but really, you’re buying the full game early, as all future updates will be free to beta adopters. The purchase page isn’t live just yet, but it’ll be available to download for PC and Mac at some point today. Hit the source link to brush up on the mechanics if you can’t wait to attack the trials, or check out the trailer below for a quick fix.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Scrolls
Peter Molyneux’s Curiosity cube is now open, contents still a mystery (update: prize revealed!)
Posted in: Today's ChiliAfter seven months of cooperative tapping, Peter Molyneux’s Curiosity experiment is finally over: the cube is open. As Molyneux’s studio, 22Cans, teased the game’s last layer over Twitter, players descended upon it, chipping away the last million cubelets in a matter of minutes. “We have a winner,” the game’s creator wrote on the social network. “They should get a message now.” 22Cans is currently trying to validate the player who tapped away the final block. After the final block disappeared, so did the cube, presumably to be opened privately by the winner. So, what was inside the box? We may never know — but if you just happened to win, fill us in, would you?
Update: The winner asked Molyneux to share the winner video with the community. Their prize? Godhood, according to 22Cans. The winner will be featured as a deity in the company’s next game, Goddess, and will able to “decide on the rules that the game is played by.” The winner will get a share of the revenue generated by the title. Check out the full video for yourself after the break.
Source: 22Cans
Retailers reportedly briefed on how the Xbox One used-games market will work
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe stage lights had barely dimmed at the Xbox One event before the internet started tripping over itself with questions about how the second-hand market was expected to operate — or if there was going to be one at all. Microsoft assured us there would be, but aside from whispers of a used game “activation fee” the finer details were kept under wraps. We may know a little more now, however, as MCV claims to have heard specifics from retailers who have been briefed by Redmond on the trade-in process. Allegedly, shops that wish to buy and sell a title will need to be hooked up to a Microsoft database so that access to the game can be removed from the previous owner’s account and transferred to a new one. A retailer can sell the game for whatever it likes, but the system will ensure that a cut goes to publisher as well as Microsoft. It all sounds fairly logical, but who knows? The truth could be even more complicated.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: MCV